Ar'Kendrithyst

All of House Benevolence was lit in white light, shining down upon the peaks of the domed cylinders, bringing an almost iridescent quality to the white eternal stonewood of the building. The lands outside of the House had been dimmed, either due to Erick asking the wrought and the Wayfarers and the embassy of Portal to turn down their lights, or due to Darkness coiling around the land, making lightwards fail everywhere. It was hard to tell which event had more of an effect, for there was no one to ask in those darkened places what was going on; they had all been evacuated.

The only people in this Gate District were those who had invitations, though Erick was sure that some fools were still around here, somewhere. Some eyes still looked into this land from afar, as well, particularly of the [Scry] variety, but most of the security of this land was absent. Even Burhendurur and Enforcement and all the parts of House Benevolence that kept the peace, were gone. Off to protect the Greater Candlepoint Area, and to subtly pressure the party to remain inside the Gate District, even though there was no real ‘pressuring’ capable of being inflicted upon Shades who did not want that pressure. They still tried though, but from afar.

Even the Gates were cold and empty, a chilly desert breeze blowing through empty squares of dull white wood. The only Gate that remained open in this land was one Gate, inside the House, that led to kitchens over in Candlepoint. All of the Cooks Erick had hired for this event, and all of the bare-bones staff, were located at that kitchen space, separated from this festival space. Hopefully that would be enough of a barrier to keep the Cooks and staff somewhat safe.

The only people obviously present in this land were the ones scattered across the first party area, which took place on the House’s southwest roof; upon the flat expanse of white wood that was very slightly angled to allow rain to flow, and which held above office space that Erick had sealed away, since there was no way to utilize that space right now. This party space was an open floor plan, without real walls, but with a few wall-like suggestions Erick had put down, with the bar to one side forming a sort-of edge, and the band forming another, and lines of white and subtly-rainbow light forming the rest of the marked-off area. Tables and chairs and couches and a few other bits of furniture minimally filled the space, while a single table filled with small snacks held to one side, near the drink bar. This was not a place to eat to one’s content; that would come later.

Erick descended to that area now, his sunform roiling around him like a fireball, and a lightning orb, at the same time.

There were guests to greet.

Seven Shades.

Farix stood with Lapis.

Hollowsaur stood with Treant.

Goldie and Queen stood together.

All of them stood beside standing tables with drinks in hand, courtesy of dependable Volaro. The Carnage Dragon Overseer of Law was acting as bartender for this part of the evening, and he seemed to be doing it well, since everyone had drinks and most of those drinks were half-full. Aisha and Zolan stood close to the drink bar, watching everyone else, while a pleasant band played in the background. Quilatalap stood near the food, with one other prominent person who also stood mostly alone. This last person was perhaps the second-most important person for Erick to greet tonight; the seventh Shade.

Fallopolis looked about as pleased to be here as any one person could possibly be about anything. The old woman with frizzy white hair, and black men’s-cut suit, looked supremely enriched by the wild grin on her face and the brightness of her radiant white eyes. She swung her arms wide as Erick floated down from the sky, her shadow-blackened kendrithyst staff floating away, spinning in the air on its own as Fallopolis called out, “HelloOooOOOO, ERICK FLATT! Fire of the Age! Wizard, Dragon, Benevolence King! You’ve been doing so well for yourself! And for the world! Such a good speech, too, but I was expecting a song!”

The shadows of the entire House shifted underfoot, barely, fractionally, but they shifted.

Every single person noticed.

Every single person ignored it.

Erick said, “Good things come to those who wait, Fallopolis. Now is not the time for that, but there will be lots of time at midnight. Besides! All the guests have not yet arrived.” Erick turned his sight to the sky, asking, “Fairy Moon! Where are you—”

Springtime opened to the side of the party like a crashing expansion of pink and green and white and the scents of a thousand flowers in the center of a deep forest. It was a [Gate]. Two women walked out of that [Gate]. With all the powerful people standing around at the party, it was hard to take the addition of two more dangers-to-the-world that seriously, but Erick did.

Fairy Moon looked as ethereal as she had that one time when she had been on Erick’s balcony, and she spoke of the truth of her name; the epitaph of it all, and about all the never-dead fae that were waiting to come back to life as soon as they could. But parts of her were real, and probably just enough to give touchstones to all the rest. An airy green and white dress. Pink flowers all around. Shining white embroidery. Two bright eyes, one of deepest emerald green, and the other of almost neon pink. She had a cascade of flowers in her hair that seemed different every time Erick moved his focus away from her, and then back. Red flowers, and then yellow flowers, and now orange and blue, and then colors that almost didn’t exist except they clearly did, for Erick was looking at them right now. Black flowers, with edges made of rainbows. Deep flowers that held worlds beyond their window-like petals.

Fairy Moon smiled radiantly, like the queen she was, but the woman at her side seemed much more queenly.

Bright Smile looked about as much as Erick remembered; almost like a female version of Redflame. Human, dark skin, ram horns. Tall and strong. Her red dress matched her Carnage-tinged red eyes. Erick had been worrying about her for a long time, ever since he first made Benevolence and he saw Bright Smile with a ring of lightning around her neck that no one else could see. She had been marked by Benevolence somehow, and it wasn’t till a while later that Erick truly understood what that marking had meant. But now that she was here, and that months had passed since that last encounter, and Erick and House Benevolence had changed the trajectory of the world…

Erick was all too relieved to see Bright Smile’s thread of Benevolence lightning was gone. Her neck was cleared of lightning. She was no longer a tangle of Benevolence; a person who would destroy or brighten the world with their power. She was just Bright Smile. And she was who she was.

This could only mean one thing.

Bright Smile had slain or conquered all her enemies. She was now the Dragon Empress of Ar’Cosmos.

Or at least she was way more than halfway there. Erick considered that he would have to offer asylum to Illustrious Moon and House Fae, along with Inferno Maw and House Death, if House Carnage was truly taking over Ar’Cosmos. Which was probably happening. It was inevitable that Bright Smile would truly become empress, so when the ousting of all others happened, Erick would have a place for the ousted dragons here, in the Greater Candlepoint Area.

All that was a concern for the future, though. For now, here at the Feast, there was only Bright Smile and Fairy Moon, which meant that one of them would be taking over their presentations to the group.

Everyone was supposed to have a presentation of the good that they had done this year, but these two were not the only ones lacking in presentations, or personnel for those presentations. Ah. Whatever. That would be a problem for tomorrow, unless someone brought it up sooner.

Erick breathed in a little, then said, “Welcome, Fairy Moon. Bright Smile. Glad of you to join us.” He turned to the people, and asked, “So who got the band? I asked around for one, but I couldn’t find one.”

Farix stepped forward, saying, “I invited them. They’re from New Brightwater, and they wish to make themselves useful for the Feast.”

Erick asked everyone, “So you have brought extra people to give your presentations about expanding civilization? You’re not doing that yourselves?”

Fallopolis said, “Quite a few extras have joined us this year, Erick, both for the presentations and for other reasons. They’re all at the tower you gave us under a few hiding wards, so it’s normal that you have not picked up on those extras yet. But there’s a problem!” With a non-serious tone, she said, “You haven’t assigned us any servants for the Feast!” She smiled, turning to Fairy Moon, adding, “And while your presence was expected, it’s still surprising. Can we trust you not to cause disturbances while under the auspices of the Feast?”

Fairy Moon smirked, saying, “I’ll even limit my speech as much as I am able.”

“… Great!” Fallopolis asked Erick, “Where are the servants? And while we’re at it, a list of grievances: A Privacy for the Feast is necessary right now, a house per Shade is usually how it’s done but since you’re so gold-poor the apartments will have to do, you’ll need to give that song in your dragon form, and this is a very inadequate first party, Erick. Where are the guests wearing nothing but string, or clouds? Where is the drug bar? Where are the rest of the appetizers? One table is not enough! Where is the orgy room, Erick? You might not have gone there last time, but it certainly existed.”

Erick politely asked Fallopolis, “Where is your presentation for the good things you have done this last year?” He asked everyone, “Where are allof your presentations? Some of you have been here for a day or more, and yet you didn’t set up your booth! I know you were given rooms in the atrium to do so. So how about we all get along for the next few hours to ensure that nothing else monumental happens, then I’ll put up the time delay and the Privacy, and then we’ll have days to get to all of those vices and virtues you mention, Fallopolis, though I do hope we skew more toward the good than the bad. Presentations will be set up by tomorrow morning, though.” He looked to everyone. “All of them.”

Fallopolis nodded along, and then she declared, “Quilatalap! Your God calls upon you to provide some servants for the Feast for all of our guests. Lapis! We need some actual Privacy! Queen! Where is decadence? You might not be the Shade of Opulence anymore, but you can still spin gold and marble from nothing at all, so do so! Farix get the drugs. Hollowsaur and Treant and Goldie, look pretty, or help in some other way!” She never lost her smile as spoke, “Our Host has done as much as he can and so it falls to us to get this place ready for the real party in four hours!”

While Fallopolis spoke, Erick had another thought.

He could go against what she was laying down, or he could go with it, and perhaps, in this case, it would be better to go with the flow than to go against the flow. Fallopolis was trying to create a certain narrative, and like with improv comedy, if you contributed to the narrative and tried to shape the entertainment in joyful ways, everything usually worked out. But if you tried to go against the joy of it all, then things tended to fall apart. Erick was already pushing back pretty hard on her...

He could not afford for things to fall apart.

As eyes made of light glanced at Erick, to see his reaction...

Erick had Ophiel take to the sky, following his commands as he said, “I’ll handle the Privacy now, Lapis. You may decorate to your heart’s content, Queen. Non-addictive drugs only, Farix, and go ahead and set up by Volaro, if you please. Goldie is already in charge of helping me ensure the Feast works well, so her duty is spoken for, and she will assist wherever. And Quilatalap, if you wish to make some servants, I would ask that they be ethically sourced.” With a jovial tone, Erick asked, “Hollowsaur, Lapis, and Treant, what would you all like to do to make this party better? And Fallopolis? What are you bringing to the Feast? Also: Hello. Good to see you again. I hope the year treated you well, and you treated the year well in return.”

Fairy Moon stepped forward. “Give me a task too, before the talking begins; I’ll leave Bright Smile behind to listen and learn in my stead.”

“Assist Queen, if she wishes for opulence. Or perhaps Hollowsaur and Treant wish for some nicer wild spaces here at the House?” Erick spoke without missing a beat. “Goldie? Got any areas that need improving?”

Goldie spoke right up, “We here at House Benevolence firmly believe that everything can always be made better, and that includes our parties. I’m sure I can find tasks for everyone.”

Farix set a large glass bowl of joints onto the drink bar’s edge, saying, “I’ll find some more goodies soon enough, but this darkweed should get us started right. Careful! It’s potent, but it won’t kill you and it’s non-habit forming.” As he finished he picked up a joint, lit it, and stuck it in his mouth, saying, “Exactly what the Wizard ordered.”

And then Fairy Moon was beside the bar, also setting down a glass bowl of joints, saying, “Belly shroom! For a good laugh, and not much more!”

Fallopolis asked, “Got any lucent shroom?”

Fairy Moon set down another bowl on the bar but this one was filled with loose, dried mushrooms. “This one is a tad addictive, but we’re all adults here. Have at it!”

And then Quilatalap summoned a ghost in the shape of a butler, asking, “How many people want a [Ghost Servant]? It’s not a real person so it can’t do much, but they can do simple tasks.”

A few people wanted Servants, but most decided to move on quickly to whatever it was they wished to do.

And things moved fast, and mostly pleasantly.

Hollowsaur and Treant spoke some small words about turning the circular gardens in front and behind the House into something nicer. Hollowsaur took the northern, main entrance circle, while Treant took the south entrance gardens. Soon, new trees and life began to grow from both locations, turning rather cultivated green spaces into something more wild.

Queen was quiet as she looked to Erick, to see if he was really okay with her adding things to the House, and when Erick told her that he was fine with some ornamental changes, Queen brightened a little. She was still subdued, though. If the looks shared between Queen and Goldie were anything to go on, Erick would be discussing the Chelation War with Queen and Goldie at the same time, eventually. But not right now. Queen and Goldie went together to start decorating the House for the Feast.

Fairy Moon joined Queen and Goldie, and soon, parts of the House began to transform into gold and silver. Fountains came out of the otherwise flat roof underfoot, while paths and hills and artfully crafted trees popped up here and there.

All the while, Erick had Ophiel surround all of the Gate District with stretched out Privacys that would prevent people from [Scry]ing past those barriers. Instead of doubling up on that duty, Lapis decided to work with Farix to expand the mind altering substances available for use. And so, Lapis and Farix left. After only 20 seconds away, they came back with a second bar and set it beside Volaro’s bar, multiplying the counter space times over with a very full array of everything anyone could ever want to truly fuck themselves up. Fallopolis partook, and tried to get Erick to, but Erick explained how he would not be partaking of any of those items, as he needed to keep his mind clear to host the party, but they should all go ahead if they wished.

Most people were only drinking alcohol. Erick had a lemon-lime soda.

An hour after sunset, with most tasks either handled or being handled, Erick found himself sitting with Fallopolis and Bright Smile at a large table, under the stars, only twenty meters away from the band. The band had somehow expanded twice over when Erick wasn’t looking, but now he was looking, for the band was playing an excited bit of music that was on the verge of being something you would pay money to listen to, and not a simple distraction to fill the silences of awkward conversations.

Erick said, “The Feast is going well, so far. No one dead yet, which is an improvement over last year.”

Bright Smile remained silent, which was apparently her choice tonight. She would not speak unless spoken to directly, and no one had spoken too directly to her in the past hour. She still sat at the table with Erick and Fallopolis, though, silently drinking a fruity alcoholic drink as she listened, and watched. She did a lot of that; listening and watching.

Quilatalap was at the alcohol bar, getting another drink, and speaking to Farix and Zolan.

Aisha was speaking with Lapis at the hard drugs bar; a polite conversation filled with subtext that probably went five layers deep, at least, and which Erick had no basis to understand. Aisha pointed to a drug labeled ‘moonwhisker’ and Lapis spoke of some other drug not listed, called ‘moontwister’, which caused Aisha to narrow her eyes ever so slightly, and for Lapis to almost-grin. Erick had no clue what the fuck was happening there.

Fallopolis, though, had been eager to talk this whole time, since he was overseeing all the transformations of the House, and Fallopolis had opinions about everything. Now, though, the Shades were loose, and the fairy was having her way with the building, and so Erick had sat down, and Fallopolis had sat down with him.

“Remember last year! By this time you were killing Dorofiend!” Fallopolis cackled. “That guy deserved so much worse than you gave him!”

Erick wanted to change the subject away from killing, so he said, “I do try for expediency in action, Fallopolis, but I think someone else did some expedient action on me when I wasn’t looking this year. Where’d the other people in the band come from?”

Fallopolis lost 90% of her mirth as she looked to the band, and then she raised an eyebrow and looked to Erick. “What other band people?”

Erick scrunched his face as he gestured right to—

“… Huh.” Erick said, “There were 12 people playing, but now it’s back to 6.”

Fallopolis looked to Bright Smile. “A fae troupe, perhaps?”

Bright Smile said, “Ar’Cosmos overflows with Fae Magic these months; some of that probably got through.”

All of Fallopolis’s lost mirth returned in an instant as she declared, “A fae troupe! Been a while since I saw one of them!”

“Is that harmful for the band?” Erick asked, looking at the band.

There had been a slight interruption in the music when everyone looked their way, and when the ‘fae troupe’ vanished and the band seemed to come out of a half-daze. But they corrected themselves quickly, and now they were back to playing their cellos and violins and wind instruments like nothing had happened at all.

Bright Smile said, “The troupe might appear again if we pretend they don’t exist.”

“That’s probably going to be impossible for me,” Erick said, now fully on alert and trying to play it off as nothing happening at all. “What’s going on in Ar’Cosmos these days, anyway?”

Fallopolis chuckled a little as she eyed Erick, obviously thinking him too wound up. But she didn’t offer a smoke of her joint; Erick had already declined all of that rather solidly.

“Ar’Cosmos is going well.” Bright Smile casually said, “But apparently, I had a Benevolence marker upon my soul that had been there since you made that Element, and quite a few people tried to kill me because of that. I, of course, did not understand that this is why those assassins had tried what they tried until about two hours ago, right before we were getting ready to come here. Fairy Moon informed me of this circumstance because she was worried I might have made a spectacle of myself if I did not know, and also to inform me that the marker was gone as of 3 weeks ago. So other than that, and with the expansion troubles which you are already aware of and have taken care of, mostly, Ar’Cosmos has been doing rather well since your gift of those runic [Renew] rings.”

Fallopolis’s eyes went wide as she chuckled a little. “Oh! How interesting!”

Erick decided to tell Bright Smile something that would likely transform how she did things in the future. Perhaps it would work out better for everyone involved. So with a casual tone, Erick said, “I’m glad that it all worked out for you, but your marker is still there inside Benevolence itself as of a few hours ago. I’m pretty sure you’re going to be the empress of dragons if you keep it up, but I do hope you’re being noble in the true sense of that word.”

Bright Smile’s eyes went fractionally wider as her pupils dilated. She breathed in a little; too little to call it a ‘gasp’, but it was a definite reaction. And then she controlled everything about herself. “I will endeavor to live up to House Benevolence’s expectations.”

“Great!” Erick said, “I’m really thankful for all the dragons that you sent my way, by the way. They made taking over the Sovereign Cities quite a lot easier, alongside Kromolok and Kirginatharp and Quilatalap, of course.”

Bright Smile easily kept up with the flow of conversation, saying, “All the ones you Blessed were good choices. We look forward to linking up with Emprazala’s group once they establish themselves in the Cities and turn that whole Decaypool of humanity into something less detestable.”

“… I heard they were after your throne in Ar’Cosmos? You don’t hate them for what they tried to do to you?”

“Hate is a strong word. They fought with word and willpower, not claw and fang. I harbor them no ill will, but their removal has made consolidating power less strenuous than it would have been. Though now that you have emplaced them in the Cities, you will have a large problem removing them.” Bright Smile asked, “You are aware that they will attempt to wrest the Cities out of your control entirely, to make a nation under their own power?”

“Yes. I’m aware. It’ll also be a lot better than what came before so I’m not too concerned, and besides; that place needs actual defenders from the monsters now that the nobility is too weak to do the job.” Erick changed the subject. “Did you hear about that slavery trade in the Curios? I’ll probably tackle that next week, gods willing. Maybe do some real work down in Nergal, too, for I’ve barely ever been down there; Hardly know anything about the place.”

Bright Smile had nothing to say to that, so she went silent.

Fallopolis had been slyly grinning this whole time. Erick suspected she was fascinated with somehow becoming less than the center of attention. But at the talk of Nergal, and at changes, Fallopolis spoke, “I would have suspected that you would try something over in Quintlan next, dear Erick. What with the proximity between the Cities and that ooze-covered continent and your burgeoning connection to Frostflower.”

“If you’ve heard of some connection between the Cities and Quintlan, I’d hear what you know, but I did not see such while I was over there.”

“Nothing too current, I fear.” Fallopolis said, “A thousand years ago many people from before the Fall of Quintlan went across that narrow ocean to escape the nobles, and then finally to escape the oozes. They landed in the area that would become the Cities. Perhaps all the old families of the Cities are truly dead and gone and all their connections to their original homes are lost, but if you went looking in Charme, in particular, I’m sure you’d find some deep connections to Quintlan.”

“Maybe those connections are in all the books we plundered from the Blood Mage people.” Erick shrugged. “I haven’t read those books yet; Quilatalap hasn’t had a chance to organize them into the library.”

Fallopolis teased, “Your hoard grows, Dragon King.”

Erick laughed once. “I don’t have a hoard.”

“You do, though!” Fallopolis said, “Or perhaps you’re still trying to understand what your hoard is.”

Offhandedly, Erick said, “If I’m collecting anything its ‘allies’.”

Bright Smile’s eyebrows creased fractionally. Under her breath, Erick heard a ‘tsk’.

Fallopolis’s eyes went full wide, and then she cackled like a madwoman.

Erick understood some of their mirth, but probably not all of it. Still, though, he grinned a little. “It’s a hoard I’m happy with growing and which is hard to strategize around, with the possible bribing of gifts, so I’m rather glad it worked out this way.” He said to Bright Smile, “The books your people gave me about ‘what it means to be a dragon’ only partially went over the ‘call of the hoard’, though, so all of that still feels fake or culturally-born to me, rather than a matter of Dragon Essence itself.”

“The Call of the Hoard doesn’t feel like a real need until someone starts to threaten it,” Bright Smile said.

“… Oh.” Erick said, “That part wasn’t in the books.”

“The Call of the Hoard is an understanding of the self that is supposed to be passed down from parent to child, or as a part of the culture of growing up in Ar’Cosmos. Dragon-Essence-derived dragons usually only know of their Call well after they’ve started to acquire said hoard.” Bright Smile added, “That you are able to casually speak of having allies as your Hoard means that yes, it is rather hard to game around.”

Bright Smile spoke the word ‘Hoard’ with deeper meaning than Erick was willing to give that word, which was… whatever.

“Allies for a hoard bodes well for all the rest of us, for sure!” Smiling brightly and in a way that Bright Smile was unable to do right now, Fallopolis continued, “Theories as to the Dark’s hoard is a fun little question to pose to the young of our Clergy. Care to take a guess, Dragon King Erick?”

Moving right along with the conversation, Erick instantly said, “Either planets, or populations of people.”

“The right direction, but you missed the target!” Fallopolis looked to Bright Smile. “I’ll be floored if you don’t know this one, so don’t disappoint me, ‘Empress of Fairy’.”

The Shade’s tone had taken a hard edge when she named Bright Smile an empress. There was a lot going on there, in that naming. Fallopolis was not careless with her words after all; no matter what persona she might display to the world, all of her words had meaning.

And this was a test.

Erick realized it instantly.

Bright Smile recognized the test half a second after Erick. It was not a test she was fully willing to commit to, though, so she said, “I already know the answer, for the Hoard of the Dark is a story we are told at a young age. I learned that story from Redflame, as did many others, but I imagine you have a better grasp on the true meaning, and I admit I am interested to hear your take on that old tale.”

Fallopolis grinned, inclining her head a fraction as she took in Bright Smile’s non-answer. She found the empress’s response adequate, so she nodded; test over.

The Shade’s voice turned jovial again as she answered her own question, “It’s space itself!” Fallopolis laughed. “Territory of all types! From the worlds inside every Element, like the one inside Benevolence, to the very sky and land of the Surface, to the Underworld down below. To the moons, and to the stars! The Dark expanded, making territory for us all to live within, and we were privileged to do so… or at least that’s how it used to be in the Old Cosmology. But the Old Cosmology is dead and all we have is what we have right now, which is barely anything at all. But soon! Soon, eventually, the Darkness will regain His hoard of stars.”

Fallopolis gave no reverence to the phrase ‘hoard of stars’, so Erick suspected some sort of minor trick.

Or maybe not?

At Last Shadow’s Feast, Erick had cast a minor blessing between the both of them.