The capital city was arranged around a titanic rock overlooking two forks of a river coming together. The cold air of the High Plains had been replaced by humid air that had turned the sky hazy if not cloudy. By the princess's instructions, they had slowed and floated their bikes along the road the last few miles, not wanting to test if the city had aerial defenses. Corvayne used the time to marvel at the complexity of the city, it's vibrant earthy tones different from the grays and black buildings that dominated Cascadia.
Bell took the lead, floating past the few carts waiting to get inside the walls. The past few weeks of battle, delving, and travel had seen her lose a few years in Corvayne's estimation, at least physically. With her anger diminished, she had been quiet on the trip to the capital, and with the great stone gate looming ahead she looked nervous. Given the way the men checking people on their way in studiously stepped back to avoid interacting with her, she might rightly have suspected that she was going to reap what years of being spoiled had sown.
Or not... it was entirely possible her time with Corvayne was a fluke, and in a few weeks she'd revert to loosing her temper and bossing people around. It wasn't his place to find out. He had been eyeing the palace now for the better part of an hour of travel and waiting in line, it's orange-red rock form visible over the wall, lines of palace emerging from a 'rock' that was closer in size to a small mountain. As he passed under the huge arch into the city proper, it helped anchor which direction they were headed even when they were not moving directly towards it.
He heard Spears giggle and felt her tap his back, following her arm when she pointed at a halfling worker carrying a massive crate followed by a minotaur struggling with a much smaller one. Corvayne appreciated that rather than getting annoyed they were stuck in foot traffic, she delighted in the colorful stalls and people milling about. She was close enough that even with his new [[Unity]] power under a tight leash, he could still feel joy, wonder, and her affection trickling into his back.
Bell, on the other time, showed off that she had been picking up Cascadian swears beyond just 'fuck', but even as she was shouting up a storm she did not run anyone over. Tutu, on the back of her bike, just held on, looking listlessly up at the castle while they were winding their way to through dusty brick streets and around wood and stone buildings in all shades of brown, red, black, yellow, and orange. Those colors were accentuated by flashes of blue and maroon cloths and tiles, with brass and copper catching the hazy sun. When there wasn't much wood built into buildings Corvayne could almost pretend he was back in the Village of the Watchers, save for how many more races of people he saw and the occasional groups of armed guards, wearing uniform gear and moving in fours.
Having spent time in Cascadia, which was many degrees larger and stranger to him, he began to enjoy the languid push through the streets at walking speed on their bikes. Passing a bakery, he could smell fresh bread and a hint of the sweeter offerings. The rhythm of hammer on metal and the warmer air blowing out of the smithy made Corvayne a little sad to keep pushing forward, as it was still a touch colder than he'd like, and while he had probably the most exotic and beautiful woman in the whole city with her arms around her, he did spare a sideways glance at a 'tea house' before which were two scantily clad and well tanned cat-girls, which of course caused one to hurry over and hand him a flier.
Spears plucked it from his unresistant hands but, before she could no doubt destroy it, Nyxion plucked it from hers.
"Thank you, save the poor ladies some parchment." He said as he let his own bike drift back. Spears frowned. "It was a cat cafe with petting... that sounded wholesome!"
Corvayne did not correct her on the flier specifying 'heavy petting'. A flower shop had her elbowing him, house of ill repute forgotten as she leaned on the bike to guide it closer to the rainbow of plants set up out front. Corvayne spotted a flower with the same teal shade that Spears had, and slowed just enough to buy a bundle and then present it to his passenger while the procession of hoverbikes waited for a very slow trio of oxen to cross the road.
"I saw them and thought of you... oh we'll need a vase fo-"
He stopped as she just took the cut flowers and placed them into her hair, stems visible inside her head. "Or not." He turned back to the road and saw a man with clay all over his hands frowning, possibly the proprietor of the next shop with pottery on display.
Brines, on the other hand, slid right past the flowers to look at pots, while Bearer-of-Burdens sat behind him reading. She had not bothered to hang on, yet somehow stuck to the bike as if glued to it. Corvayne suspected it was some other aspect of her supposedly being able to channel [[Grace]]. She had been on good behavior since the wolf incident. He supposed that questioning his own judgment about letting her come along again might also be related to working on his curse. [[Understanding]] gave him a sort of hunch that he had just pushed his Curse back down to 39%, but he wasn't sure what had triggered it.
Corvayne caught a flash of chrome. He turned to see Lady Blood Claw's new bike; Mosh had her one with a seat specialized for her floating Squid. She took a casual glance back then said in a low voice, “No changes. She seems bored.”
Corvayne kept his focus elsewhere but nodded. “Keep an eye on her.”
The foot traffic lightened as they reached an open plaza before the rock itself. Part of the plaza extended off at an angle, gently sloping down to the docks and shimmering water. Passing merchants and priests and entertainers all competing for coin, Bell guided her bike past a huge vaulted gate in the rock to what looked like a road carved into the rock, wide enough for five of their massive trucks to drive up it side by side, but still decorated with stonework planters and handrails and ornate statues.
Corvayne felt more and more sure the more he looked that the whole palace was inspired by The Source, as he could imagine the structures would look very similar if one went to the far past. He could see the balconies and window-implied warren of tunnels starting part way up before the rougher rock gave way to murals and bricks and glass arched windows that would be a defensive liability closer to the ground. Broad stone pillars anchored the upper floors.
Bearer sped past Corvayne and nudged Bell with her elbow, then jerked her thumb at the metal gate. "Not going to take us in the cool secret way?"
“It's forbidden.” She glared at Bearer, then put her chin up.
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“Oh. Well, can you explain why? They don't like mysteries.”
Bell sighed. “The palace was built to seal a forgotten evil. Our imperial family was given powers to keep the seal safe.”
“Well, you just blabbed it out. Why not at least keep it a secret?”
"You should be careful about how you treat me." Bell replied coolly. "This is my empire."
"Yeah, wouldn't want to upset your dad. Good thing we are your friends, guests, advisors, and lovers thus are beyond protocol."
Bell forgot to steer for a moment, causing Tutu to cry out. "Hey!"
"Give it a few weeks, I'll help you with Spears." Bearer-of-Burdens gave them a thumbs up.
Brines started tugg. "Please can we not pick a fight with them? They are VIPs here, let's leave them on a good note."
Looking at the door, now that Bearer had pointed it out, Corvayne could see the massive gate in the side of the rock was more ornate looking than he had pegged it when he first glanced over it, the metal showing hints of the same folded red and black The Source weapons had, merged into a sort of faint purple from age or whatever else. Still, it hinted to Corvayne that there was something connected with the Towers in the palace.
There were guards watching the ramps up to the palace, and a few made their way to block Bell the moment they saw the bikes. Within a few steps they recognized her and fell back while saluting. One of them, either the bravest or highest rank, didn't move out of the way but instead walked up to the bike and began talking. It took Bell a few moments of gesturing before Corvayne decided pull up close enough to hear what was being said.
The man obviously was tense, as if expecting the princess to explode. "Your highness, I only delay you because your previous suitor, the Avarian, had arrived rather unexpectedly in the last day and has been making a rather pointed fuss in an attempt to see you or raise assistance from us."
"Is my daughter with him?" Bell asked, and Corvayne thought it sounded like she was hopeful and somehow terrified at the same time.
"I know it's related to her. Perhaps you can see him, as your father-" The guard hard started to move for for her to continue, and she flicked a switch and shot straight upwards, causing Tutu to holler out "Why am I on your bike?"
Corvayne looked at Spears-Like-Water behind him, and with a nod did the same, skipping the winding path.
He saw a surprised woman with a basket of fruit tottering near the stone handrail, no doubt staggering from Bell whipping past, so he applied his Gravity power to keep her from falling, then sped past after Bell. The princess flew into the huge open doors into the palace and skidded to a halt sideways in the grand hall, using her boot as an extra break before she hopped off and grabbed a random woman in fine robes.
"Where is Kroo? The Avarian?"
The woman didn't know but Bell simply went to the next ornately dressed person that was too slow to escape her, then the third and finally someone pointed her where to go. Corvayne had already caught up at this point, abandoning his bike to avoid running anyone down. Bell had the presence of mind to announce, "They are with me!" as she stormed through the titanic entrance hall, causing a number of guards to lower weapons. He hardly had time to take in the massive plants and statues in the hall, nor the tapestries and perfectly carved statues lining a side passage, nor linger to see a garden view of the city below. Bell was ignoring it all as she stormed past scattering guards and servants that likely had a hundred different jobs.
Corvayne heard Brines apologizing in stilted Nel'Ferral behind him, but kept up with Bell as she reached some sort of hybrid between a waiting room and a pillow, where a humanoid bird was sitting. He shot to his feet as Bell stormed in. Even if he had closed his eyes, Corvayne could literally feel the desperation rolling off the birdman, permeating the room in a way that made him want to open a window.
“Bellithica, I have been trying to see you! Time is of the essence! I know-”
She waved a hand in her face snapping her fingers. “Get to the point Kroo. Where is Hylal?”
“Our Daughter was training for her rite of passage at the Maw of the Sea when there was a dungeon break.”
Bell froze. “A break? How long ago?”
“Weeks ago. When I got the news I made haste here.”
Bearer-of-Burdens looked around. “Then what's the hurry? She's gone.”
Kroo turned on her. “There is still hope!”
The woman walked over to a chair and sat, crossing her legs and putting her arms behind her head. “Logic and reason time: If the dungeon break was something you guys could deal with, you'd have the fire put out already. Generally they take a few weeks if you don't have someone vastly stronger the monsters. It happened weeks ago.”
She unfolded her legs, put her hands together and gave both Bell and the bird-man a level look.
“Nobody else wants to say it, either because they are too nice, Kroo is too important, or because they have to save face regarding the royal line... but your daughter is dead.”
Corvayne saw Bell start to turn, tears and fury coiling to strike Bearer, but of all people Nyx had caught up and caught her hand. “Bearer is right, for once.”
“I'm usually right.” The woman reached over without looking and found a bowl of grapes, then started flicking them up into the air into her mouth. Her aim was perfect, which made Corvayne almost as angry as anything she had bluntly said. After some chewing, she spoke again.
“What do you think Bell can do? Nyx will be the first to tell you, there's only so much princess number 10 in line can do, especially one who's been grinding away any and all goodwill she had... recent exploits excluded.” Bearer stood, pointing a finger at Kroo.
“The first question is why you are HERE rather than at this maw place.”
“We tried... there is an endless tide of monsters flowing out of the entrance.”
Corvayne put a hand on Bearer's shoulder before she could respond. He looked at Bell, and Kroo. “My... associate-” “Best Bud” “-is sadly correct. I suspect you have tempered your expectations, but to say it again: Even if we can break into this overflowing dungeon, if it was weeks ago chances are good we are too late. If anyone goes in, it would be to find her body and lay her to rest.”
Corvayne guessed that even with a hover bike three months ago, the 'weeks' would place the dungeon break at the same time everything else seemed to happen. He saw that his words had crushed Bell, and the birdman had fallen to his knees and started wailing.
Lady Blood Claw, whom Corvayne hadn't noted entering, looked to Spears, and Spears nodded. She stepped next to Corvayne, and gave him a small shove forward. He felt her emotions then... and it confused him. Pride... in him? Confidence. A small hint of jealousy, but also conviction. That, and love for something.
He saw Bell turned to him. Kroo watched her, and turned to him as well. Standing closer to them, he felt the sort of frayed connection they had, but also something swelling in them.
“Bell, I'm not a miracle worker...”
She dropped to her knees, head on the ground, then looked up at him. It was the most defiant begging he could imagine. Then her face softened.
“Corvayne, I have asked you for the impossible before. I don't know what we can promise you that you haven't already earned but please...” He looked around for someone else to say what he was thinking. That they would be risking their lives on trying to find someone who likely was dead for months. Nyx, however, had a calculating look. Lady Blood Claw seemed pleased with herself. He could feel the connection to Spears giving him something like... mischief? It also was confidence in him. Pride too. Oh no. Brines was nodding, and Corvayne felt that he was worried they needed to hurry! Those jerks, didn't they see they were leading Bell on?
He looked to Bearer-of-Burdens as a last bastion of logic, and he [[Understood]] that [[Unity]] was telling him that she 100 percent agreed with his assessment, and the woman just smiled and gave him a thumbs up. “Corvayne, this sounds like a good side quest!”
Bell was pushing back horror, even through his shields he could feel hope starting to flare in her. He wanted to shut the power off and tell her to just start grieving, that he did not want to give the woman false hope.
He couldn't do it. A spear moves forward, and he had to be honest and try to find her something that would tell her what she couldn't accept yet. She was looking up at him, and of course looking at Bell she suddenly seemed radiant, and he could feel the connection getting stronger.
“Please... Corvayne... find my daughter.”
Dammit. Everyone in the room was playing dirty. “Of course.”