Shattered Moonstone

“And just what was that?” Alagos hissed through clenched teeth as he sank into his chair behind his desk, not bothering to look up at the gaggle of people in his office as they shuffled around for seats. 

His office may be spacious, but cramming five people into it was really pushing the limit as Cemi took the only other chair across from him leaving the others too… he didn’t really care at this point. In fact, if he had been thinking he probably wouldn’t have immediately stormed out of the council room while ordering the “delegation” to follow him. He was positive there would be questions about that later, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to care right now.

Eironn had hinted that his wives were here, and honestly, he would rather be entertaining them right now than dealing with this. It wasn’t unheard of for his wives to visit him at work, well Fae would drop by from time to time; she had a habit of just doing what she pleased after all. Though that had slowed down after he, being the chairman of Defense, had to give her an official warning to stop “hindering” the guards while they were on duty. 

Just remembering that particularly awkward meeting did not help his mood at all. After all, it's not every day you have to sit your wives down and hand them an official reprimand from the council. Sure, he had been happy they were getting along, but Fae needed to stop visiting Remi while she was on duty; how that had ended up with him sleeping in the other room for a week he will never know.  

Grinding his teeth, he fought back his bubbling annoyance. Steading himself he finally looked up only to find that his question had either not been heard, or simply ignored. 

Cemi was sitting in the chair across from him with her head in her hands, still trembling just like she had been in the council chamber. The poor woman looked pale, and at this point he didn’t blame her. 

This whole ruse was on a razor's edge and in the end, it was the two of them who had the most to lose. They could probably talk their way out of it if, and when, everything fell apart but their positions as chairmen would be unsalvageable even if the others believed them about what Amethyst and Hecatolite are. 

But it was too late now. They had started the lie, and after that little interruption they had no choice in the matter. If it came out that the cause of the disturbance was the delegation, there would be no hope of an alliance. Even if the council waved it all off the moment the public heard that a delegation from a human nation had caused that uproar, the people would rebel against the idea and at that point their hands would be tied. 

He couldn’t let that happen. This alliance with Crown was too important. Sure, Felnnor could survive this war with Oceania and Utopia, but that’s it. If Alamgir reinforced Utopia, as he is sure they will, then the losses to his people… they could survive, even put up a fight; but for how long? He didn’t need to be a seer to guess what would happen.

Being attacked from both sides there was no way for them not to lose ground. They would be whittled away. Right now, they are holding because no one has committed a full scale attack yet. 

There have been probing attacks and a lot of information gathering, but no one has actually marched an army… Well Oceania and Gala have been battering one another but that’s nothing new; the humans to the south have been chipping away at each other for ages now. But the rest of the world is trembling as everyone scrambles to prepare for the first salvo, and honestly, he would be far more comfortable if Crown was on their side when that dung covered boot dropped. 

Right now their acting plan is to commit fully against Oceania while trying to stall Utopia to the north. They would focus their main force on defeating the lesser threat to their south and hope that the southern human nations would aid them… or worst case, allow them refuge while Utopia and Algimar marched on the great forest. 

But if Crown could commit to helping them then Oceania would be a non-threat, Gala and Crown would decimate that smaller nation while Felnnor held back Utopia to keep them from reinforcing their ally to the south and then they can form a unified front against the northern human nations. 

But before all of that, he needed to get the two little disasters under control, and hopefully out of his nation as fast as he could. Amethyst was a completely pleasant young woman, in fact if it had just been her none of this would likely have happened. She would have arrived, been welcomed and the alliance would have already been secured as far as he is concerned. 

But her sister, her sister, was a spark in a dry field. Amethyst may be harmless, but he did believe her when she claimed to be a Deity; meaning she was dangerous under the right circumstances, those circumstances however… he was no fool, he saw how close the two sisters were and if Hecatolite decided to cause a problem Amethyst would be right beside her and his nation would burn. 

He could maybe, maybe, fend one of the girls off. Amethyst for all of her power seemed to lack… not training but resolve. He had seen it during the trial of his brother. The young girl likely didn’t even realize it, but she had flinched when he drew his sword; and Railter had said she struggled in her battle with Astari. If push came to shove, he could probably fight Amethyst… if she was alone. 

That being said, he was no fool. Hecatolite did not have the reservations her sister did, and he didn’t think he could fight her. Thankfully, she seemed to be insane, but harmless. As harmless as a divine being that eats people can be that is. Something had held her back from killing Astari outright when they fought, and she has been relatively tame since. To the point where he hadn’t even questioned it when she had run off with, arguably, the two most important people in his life. 

Why had it not seemed odd to him at the time? Remi was well beyond needing to be protected, sure. But Fae was… fragile. So why did he just wave them off when Hecatolite had all but abducted them? Did he… trust the little monstrosity? She had killed his brother, eaten his arm in front of him without the slighted hesitation. In fact, she had eaten his arm while he was still alive, she only killed him when he started screaming about it and even then Eryl had to stop her from eating more than just his arm. 

Looking back at it, it was a brutal execution. He knew that it was justice, of a sort, and would not argue on Astari’s behalf but it was excessive in hindsight. Even knowing now that she had somehow used Astari’s arm to heal Himari… why was he just ok with that? Was it some kind of coercion? Was it because she’s a Deity?

He hadn’t actually given it much thought until now, not that he had time with all the fires Hecatolite was starting just  by being around. With a sigh he realized that now was not the time for it either. 

If he was somehow being coerced to trust the Deities then… well there wasn’t much he could do about it now. They were in too deep, as his old commander would say; besides in the end their proposal and offer of an alliance was almost too good to pass up. 

Almost. If they keep causing problems though… just how far could he allow them to bend that trust? And wouldn’t questioning that mean he isn’t being coerced? So far, they haven’t actually hurt anyone in their nation, and he knew that was a line he wouldn’t let them cross unpunished, so knowing there is a limit to what he could overlook…

 He would need to hire a soul mage after they left, or maybe visit a temple? After all, what better way to purify yourself than having a priest of a different religion purify you? He should have paid more attention to his lessons on religion; in his defense he never thought he would be dealing with divine beings, and you can’t really just stab that problem… normally. 

Shaking his head he looked at the others in his office. Amethyst was currently standing beside the window that overlooked the city, the young woman… waving to something in the distance; completely unbothered by the situation around her. 

“Again, would someone care to explain what…” He glanced at the other two in his office.

Eryl and the small human Himari were huddled in a corner with one of those floating terminals, their mouths moving but no sound escaping… had they erected a privacy barrier in his office? What could they be discussing that was so damn important! They had less than an hour to revise their story to include whatever the hells that was and they were all just… 

Amethyst turned back to him and sighed, “I don’t think Hecatolite will be coming.” She sagged a little as she sat on the windowsill. “I waved at her, but she just waved a bag at me and ran off again.”

Alagos closed his eyes, took a deep breath and counted to ten. After the second time… He was still furious. Not that Hecatolite wasn’t going to join them, he couldn’t see her helping the situation any even if she was here. Making it worse… well she managed to do that from wherever she was, so it didn’t… 

“Wasn’t she with Fae and Remi?” Cemis voice trembled as looked up at him, her eyes wide as they met his and her words sunk in.

“Eironn had said… they were here to visit me…” A small part of him had just assumed they were here to drop off Hecatolite, but if she wasn’t coming… then why were they here without her? 

As if to answer his question there was a knock at his door. “Sir, your wives are here to see you?” A nervous guard called through the door. “Should I tell them to…”

“Send them in.” He called out cutting the man off. He prayed, actually prayed to the holy mother herself, that somehow his wives were just here to visit. Maybe with a funny story about their adventures though the city with Hecatolite. 

Just one glance at his wives as they entered was enough to squash that delusion. Remi had an arm around Fae’s shoulders, helping the slightly shorter woman along as she walked; her eyes darting around the room nervously as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. 

And Fae… Alagos' heart sank as he saw her. She was hunched over, her hands clutched to her chest as walked with her head down, her long red hair hanging in her face as if trying to hide behind it. 

“Fae?” His voice shook as he stood, “what happened?” 

When Fae looked up at him his world froze. Her face was deathly white as her usually vibrant green eyes were filled with terror, her entire body trembling as she clutched a ragged bag to her chest. her mouth opened as if to speak but no words came out, her lips quivering as she just stood there shaking.

“What…” everything faded away as he lunged across his desk, nearly knocking Cemi over as he threw his arms around his wives. Fae ended up smashed between him and Remi as she shook, still clinging to that bag. “What happened to them?” His own voice sounded far away as it boomed through the room, the wind around them whipping up as papers were flung around the small office. Fae flinched in his arms snapping him back to reality as he wrestled his aura back under control.

“They are in shock.” The calm voice beside him nearly caused him to jump as Eryl seemed to just appear. “They should be fine after some rest and time to… process. I doubt there was any harm done to them, but I would advise letting Himari give them a check up regardless.”

“Shock?” He asked in disbelief. He knew what it meant, but what had happened to cause it? 

He was about to ask when Eryl clicked her tongue. “This is why the divine aren't allowed to use their magic on the mortal realm.” She hissed as, much to his surprise, she snatched the bag from Fae. Or tried to, Fae staggered forward as she clung to it.

“Bag… she… just gave it to me.” Fae stammered and Himari of all people slapped Eryl’s hand away.

“You can’t just take it.” Himari chastised the taller woman in solersol. Looking at Alagos Himari softened her voice, “you should ask her for that bag though, it's… important.” She seemed to struggle to say that, her face scrunching up for a moment as Eryl shook her head. 

“Oh, that’s why Hecatolite waved a bag at me.” Amethyst said, slapping her forehead, “that makes sense, that’s why she had…” she snapped her mouth shut as Eryl glared at her. 

Eryl sighed, “Alagos, I know this is… stressful. But I need that bag.” With a shake of her head she changed from elven to solarsol, if he had to guess it was to keep Fae and Remi from hearing what she said next. “Hecatolite may have asked another devil to help her put something inside of that bag; and Fae… well, you felt the wave of divine power and that was from all the way across the city.” She let out a long sigh as her ears drooped, “how she convinced him to help her… just what was that moron thinking, to use that much power on something a mortal was carrying.” She rubbed her temple as she shook her head. 

Alagos stared blankly down at the bag in his wife’s arms. It was just a plain leather bag, a rather ragged looking one at that. It had small flecks of red all around its flap… inside the bag. His brain caught up to what she said.

It took several minutes to convince Fae to let them look in the bag that she continued to clutch to her chest. She kept insisting that it was a gift, and only when they promised to try and give it back to Hecatolite did she let them open it; Amethyst helpfully informed them that Hecatolite wouldn’t take it back. why she called it a bribe, he didn’t know. 

Inside the bag was an alarming amount of sparkling red… powder that coated everything once it was opened. Buried in the powder was a stack of papers covered in messy handwriting, and a black deer skull.

A skull he recognized, partly at the very least. It was a thunder stag skull, clearly, and he knew Hecatolite had a thunder stag skull… but hers was white, and broken… wasn’t it? just how many legendary skulls did she have; and, why did this one look as if it had been burnt? The small horns that are normally a sky blue were a hazy gray, and it looked as if they had been cracked. 

Staring at the cracked skull Alagos could feel… something. It was clear that Hecatolite had done something to it, likely enchanted it like she kept talking about; but that didn’t feel… right? Taking a breath, he attempted to identify it only for… nothing to happen.

Well, something happened as the terminal floating beside Eryl flashed red and Himari furrowed her brow. “An error?” She looked to Eryl, puzzled as the elven woman shook her head.  

“Later.” She sighed as she quickly plucked the papers out of Cemi’s hands. “Please don’t read that yet.” 

Amethyst giggled as Eryl started to flip though the crudely written papers. Looking directly at Alagos, she mimed putting something on her head…

It… was her hunting hat… a hat… 

Eironn had “suggested” he greet his wives, as if it was important enough to stop the meeting for... And Hecatolite had apparently created this skull and went to great lengths to get it to them… she had said she would… solve the problem? Despite everything, Hecatolite was a… Deity. She was partly a god, and partly a devil. She has caused nothing but chaos since arriving, but she has not hurt anyone…

There was a loud thunderclap as Eryl groaned. “You just had to put it on.” She hissed as Alagos stared blankly at the floating slab in front of him while little black flecks rained down around him. 

“System terminal unofficial personal interface deer directory Babylon obsidian xerograph” Hat

This enchanted hunting hat is a relic formed in the name of “X47 the mad devour”. This relic will allow authorized users to request a personal system terminal, pending administrative approval, while they are in contact with any part of the hat. All pieces of the hat are soul bound and will return to their user when requested. All parts of this relic are imbued with the will of “X47 the mad devour” and are unbreakable by mortal means. 

Current soul bonds (3 of 10)

All-goose

Fae

Remi

This is a provisional item and subject to change or removal by adm… Eryl, don't remove my hat! Please! I worked really hard on it; do you know how long it took me to come up with that amazing name! it spells “stupid box hat” that was really hard you know! Oh, I could have used directory instead of deer for D! What do you mean I can’t change it now! I’ll show you stupid box!... I guess this is the Stupidd Box hat now… also All-goose you should totally give a piece of this hat to Cemi… what do you mean? Of course, he will be the first person to put it on… I should rub a piece of it on Fae and Remi first though just in case. Now Albatross… that’s not your name? Veritas? Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean… was that racist... it's just you have wings and… they're super pretty, and it’s just… I’m sorry. I’m starting to regret agreeing to let you all watch this. No, I am really happy that Sofria agreed to help me write the apology letter, but I think I can take care of this part. What do you mean I did it all wrong, I put a tiny little piece of me into it, and poof it’s a relic, isn’t that how it's done? Oh yeah, and how many relics do you have? That’s what I thought, so I don’t need to hear it from you sis con. Why are you in Sofia’s grove again huh? Every time I call her you’re there, rather suspicious if you ask me. Listen If you keep distracting me I’m going to break this terminal and I won’t let you watch anymore! That reminds me, hey cookie cult guy you do space magic right? Wait! Why are you still writing! Eryl will not be happy about this… do any of you know how to delete a system prompt? What do you mean… fine. All-goose don’t let Eryl read this part, or the last part… or any of this… 

“It's… a relic.” Was the only thing Alagos could think of saying as he shook. He was wearing… a relic on his head. A relic to an insane goddess… that had help from, at the very least, four other divine to create…  

Calmly, he took the skull off his head and placed it on the desk before him. The terminal before him simply vanished the moment he placed the once blackened bone, now a polished cream white with glimmering white horns, down on the desk.  

His hands trembled slightly as he looked around the room. Cemi was understandably stunned as she stared at the skull with a slack jawed expression. Fae and Remi huddled behind Cemi as they both still stared blankly at the new item. 

Amethyst was chuckling quietly, “well, that should make it easier to convince everyone of our story.” She managed to say through her giggling and Alagos wondered if he had misjudged her as the sane sister. “Would the creation of a relic cause that big of a… Eryl?”

His attention snapped to the tall elven woman that loomed over the desk, her face was… calm, serene in fact, though the way the papers in her hand crumbled then ignited as she tossed them onto the desk. “Why did she even bother with the letter?” Eryl spoke through clenched teeth as she glared at the skull, as if her look alone could cause it to crumble… which it did.

Almost as if the burning papers hitting the desk was the trigger, the entire left side of the skull shattered leaving it much in the state he remembered it in. One large piece with a single horn and… nine other smaller pieces. “Oh, she only had the one skull, that’s good to know.” He said dumbly as Eryl turned on her heel and stormed out of his office. 

“I have the feeling,” Himari sighed, “we will need the two rooms for tonight.” 

Alagos… vaguely remembered the rest of the council meeting. Eironn, apparently fed up with how long everything was taking, took control of the meeting when they came back and… everything went surprisingly smoothly. 

The other members were understandably unhappy when the relic refused to acknowledge them; though they couldn’t argue with the “divine fuckery” excuse that Amethyst gave with a completely straight face. But that was a problem for… whenever he felt like dealing with it. 

Walking home after the meeting Himari had promised them that she would come by tomorrow and give them all a checkup, but a good night’s rest should be all they needed. Why she had included Alagos and Cemi in that… he wasn’t going to argue, best to just nod as she told him to lead his “ducklings’ home”. Nor did he protest as Cemi simply followed them home and collapsed into the bed beside the stunned Fae and Remi.