Orion, Amelia, Karteira, Dramia, and Drania, the five of them moved their chair on the sides of the room.
Before sitting, Karteira brought a sixth chair for Kamala to sit on, who was going to be directly confronting the Tree of Life Tiohr-nam, the Remnant who created the fairies that were once hunted by humans.
To say that she wasn't perceived in a good light by Dramia and Drania was an understatement. Except that the moment they laid their eyes on her and read her information, the sisters stopped glaring.
Once Kamala sat, Tiohr-nam began the conversation.
"I heard that you are trying to close the bridge between humans and fairies. I also heard about your ways to rule a city."
"We fairies have our ways to see through the lines that makes you who you are. Like a piece of paper with all kind of details about yourself."
"The moment you entered, me, and those two other there judge you immediately."
She looked at Dramia and Drania that were sitting opposite of the Orion, Amelia, and Karteira.
Kamala stayed silent the whole time. She already learned that from Karteira before coming, but she was also incredibly tense.
One wrong move, one bad say, and the whole thing was over. She really had to play carefully in front of a Remnant.
This was also a rare occurrence to have a human talk to a Remnant. They usually wouldn't bother with other faction members other then the one they had created.
But this situation was the most important in years. It was to repair the damage done between the humans and the fairies.
So, Kamala, with a dry mouth, finally began to talk.
"What was your judgment?"
The sisters looked at Tiohr-nam, who was already observing them. With a nod, they gave their approval.
Tiohr-nam's Avatar straightened, and with a powerful voice, she declared.
"Welcome to the Fairy Realm."
With a sight of relief, Kamala relaxed a little.
"A human that tries to break the threads of conflicts is not something that happens regularly. We will at least give you the time to explain your goals in requesting a meeting with me."
She sounded overbearing, but she had the status of Ruler over the realm. She had to show modicum of appearance in front of others.
Acting like this was usual for her to those that had an audience with her.
"Thank you very much. I know you already know my name and my status, but let me introduce myself properly."
She stood up, placed a hand on her heart, and bowed gracefully.
"My name is Kamala Genathis, the Lord of Hocride. I manage this city with the idea of accepting everyone, with no concern for the faction they belong to."
"Right."
Tiohr-nam nodded.
"Creating equality between the factions is a good start, though, you will be unable to erase all of the concerns your citizens have."
Straightening her body, and sitting back on the chair, Kamala stared inside the eyes of Tiorh-nam's Avatar.
"I am working to make it as little as possible. I have cleaned this city from any discriminatory individuals, or reformed them."
"Let me ask a question. What do you think causes those individuals to act like this?"
Showing a little surprise, Kamala began to think.
"I have heard that corruption takes over the ones that have strong vices, and develop them slowly over time. I think that conflict is born from those people."
"Are you saying that it depends on the individuals?"
With a strong nod, Kamala answered.
"Yes. Not everyone have the thirst for conflict. Every single citizens I rule over is doing their best to remain neutral. Of course, people have vices that are difficult to contain, but my position only requires to quell any form of animosity or discrimination."
"But even without me, I am sure that most of the humans on Triazils do not wish for conflicts."
Tiohr-nam's eyes began to glow.
"They only wish to live comfortably, build a family, and sometime complain about random problems that are easily solved."
She smiled.
"When we rescued the few survivors of Kaios, I told them that they would have to live together with the beastmen residing in my city, or they would have to find somewhere else. None of them refused my words, and are now trying to recover from their trauma. The health center I created in the past is almost entirely composed of beastmen."
"I have not heard a single word about discrimination. On the contrary, I heard that they openly accepted them."
"This is why I believe that individually, people are not prone to conflict. They are either in a bad circumstances, or order by those that shouldn't be placed in such high position of power."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The Avatar kept her glowing stare on her.
'She is saying the truth. There was no fluctuations in her aura.'
"What about the corruption. As an Apostle, directly in contact with Elliot, what do you think?"
Kamala was waiting for this type of question. The title of Apostle was almost impossible to detach from her identity.
"I have never accepted the corruption. Being in contact with it in my youth, it was enough to understand how dangerous and troublesome it is for those around the ones corrupted."
"Elliot is a dangerous individual, and is the one that stated that drinking the cores of the corrupted beasts was a blessing."
"I will agree on the fact that it makes the one who drinks it stronger, but the cost for it is too great to ignore. Losing the sight of what is good and bad, and losing your own self, falling into insanity."
Tiohr-nam, Dramia, and even Drania, who usually never listened to such heavy topics, were all impressed by the serenity she displayed and the choice of words she spoke.
With one last question, she used her most oppressive tone.
"Lastly, in which side will you stand?"
Turning her head toward Orion, her mind was already set. She stood up and looked straight into the glowing eyes of the Avatar.
With determination, she gave the most honest answer she could mutter.
"I will stand next to Orion. Someone who had lost the will to pursue her goals, who fell to self hate because of her past, and who couldn't walk forward without tripping at every obstacles."
"That is who I was before he saved me. I want to think that my purpose is to help him make our continent a place worth living in."
"And I want the fairies to be a part of it!"
Her words echoed in the room, until silence took over. Orion was smiling, knowing that she chose the best way to make her words stick to them.
Tiohr-nam closed her eyes.
'I see. She really came to end the conflicts between both of our factions.'
She reopened her eyes and released her ability, while speaking more gently.
"What about the past? I understand that none that happened in the past was your fault, but most of the fairies, even those that weren't created at the time, despise humans for butchering their kind."
"You cannot erase the past, nor can you force them to accept it. What can you do to resolve this?"
Sitting back on the chair, Kamala had multiple solution, but there was one that she strongly believed into.
"With the help of Orion, and your approval, sending groups of our citizens to the other party would help them understand that the past conflicts has been resolved long ago, that humans are not going for their lives anymore."
"Humans will also learn to coexist with fairies. Throwing the fairies back into the continent without preparation could cause many problems too."
Once again, she impressed the three fairies in the room.
'This is carefully planned. She truly thought about both accepting each other. With such a plan, it could be possible to break the mindless settings of the past.
"What about the other city and Apostles? Once they know fairies had return, won't they come for them?"
She already knew the answer. Of course they would come for them. But Kamala was already prepared.
"Any actions taken against the fairies in the city will be instantly punished, while any aggressor will be destroyed the moment they appear near the city. I will not tolerate any harm caused on your faction members, you have my words."
The expression on Karteira's face was showing how determined she was in making this work.
'If I can't make this work, no one can. And this will be the end if that happens.'
As if reading her mind, Tiohr-nam nodded.
"Before agreeing, I will have to ask my citizens for approval. I will not force any of them in this."
"Of course. I do not expect everything to settle in only a few days. This is going to take months before any real progress could be made."
They exchanged one last gaze, before the topic got closed by Tiohr-nam.
"I will accept your proposition. Your words were honest, and you idea is worth trying. If you can promise no harm will be caused to my children, then no harm will be caused to your brethren."
"Orion, thank you for finding someone able bring fairies and humans together.
Suddenly, the conversation turned to him, who was only watching quietly.
"No need to thank, she was the one who requested this meeting to happen. I thought it would be a good idea to leave this matter in her hands. I am not human, as you already know."
"I can't speak for them."
His disposition made him look close to a human, making others think of him as one. Except the fairies who could easily differentiate from his mixed aura.
"This is true. And there is the matter you spoke about earlier too. You can leave this in our hands, we will do whatever we can to make your life easier on that front."
He smiled at the Avatar.
"I'll take care of the frontline."
They both nodded.
With the whole conversation done, Orion stood up.
"I will leave a portal in this room for Kamala to speak with you. This will also serve for you to send groups between each other."
"Can we go too? We haven't seen a human city in forever!"
"Drania?! What are y-"
But Tiohr-nam cut her off before she could finish speaking.
"Of course you can, but for you two, I'll be hiding your fairy features. You are way to important to simply show in broad daylight on the other side."
Tilting her head, Kamala asked.
"Why is that?"
"Right, you haven't been introduced to these sisters."
With her usual speed, Drania approached Kamala and stopped right in front of her.
"I'm Drania! One of the queens of this realm."
She turned around and looked at her sister who was pouting from being cut by Tiohr-nam.
"That's my sister, Dramia. She might be a little cold, but please ignore that."
"Hey!"
Drania instantly made the room more friendly.
After laughing for a bit, the group consisting of Orion, Amelia, and Karteira approached Tiohr-nam.
"I will create a direct portal between your realm and mine. Dramia and Drania are the only one allowed to enter it, so send them if you need something."
"Take the room you stayed in before. It will be easier to hide it there."
"Thank you. We will return for now, since there's a matter I cannot miss."
"Oh? What could it be?"
"The meeting with the Lamia queen."
Orion stopped talking and began to think, when a question popped in his mind.
"By chance, would you happen to know who is the Remnant that created the lamias?"
"The lamias? That should be Velridar, the same Remnant that created the dragons."
"Velridar? Is there a way to find it?"
With a strong shake of her head, she answered.
"There is currently no way. He appeared recently in the Northern Sea to help his dragon children, but then immediately disappeared back in the sea. There is no way to track his movements."
"No lead then. That is not good."
"Why would you need his help for?"
Amelia, who was next to him, answered.
"The lamias are having a problem with ratio men to women. For a hundred lamias, only one male is born."
Thinking, the Avatar closed her eyes.
"That is a serious problem. They are close to being extinct as a species. How many men remains in their faction?"
"Six."
She opened her eyes in shock.
"You should go see the dragons. The are closely related to the lamias, so maybe the could be of help on this matter."
After nodding to herself, she continued.
"This cannot be ignored anymore. I hope you will find a way to stop this, or we would have to cross another faction from the continent."
"We will try."
After creating every portals he spoke about, and sending Kamala back to Hocride, Orion talked to the sisters about the portal to Horizon.
"We're coming!"
Was Drania's first sentence. Even though Dramia was once again dragged by her sister, she didn't refuse. She also wanted to see Horizon for herself.
Since Tiohr-nam already gave them the permission to leave, they returned to Horizon with them.
"So, what do we do now? Are we waiting for that man, Florian, to show up?"
Karteira asked, trying to find out what was Orion's next plan.
"It means that he hasn't obtained the audience I asked for yet."
But after they returned, and took the time to refresh themselves, one of the portal opened.
Florian walked out of the portal, and knocked on the door.
"Orion, are you there? I have news for you."
"I was waiting for you. Please enter."
He opened the door and lead Florian to the living room.