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Akira’s palace had its own personal sun and moon, which provided a seasonal cycle, as well as day and night to the palace. They did not rotate particularly quickly, but fast enough that it did not become tedious.
The second letter arrived exactly six solar rotations after the first did.
It was written on a piece of parchment so similar to the first that one could spend weeks searching for any difference, with identical handwriting (if it was written by hand) and in the same style. The second letter was simple, informing her that the celebration would begin exactly half a solar cycle following the second letter’s reception– and would be apparently indicated by the appearance of a sigil on the bottom half of the letter– as well as reminding her of the rules and method of arrival.
Akira had dismissed Nakai and Saho to go dress themselves (she knew that plenty of gods had received letters, and she was not going to let them enter potentially dangerous territory alone), and was considering her own disguise. She almost ordered Saho to stay at the palace, considering the state he was in after the deaths of his mortal friends, but ultimately decided that the celebration might help him take his mind off things.
(Several rooms away, Saho sat numbly, staring at the softly glowing souls of Rio and Fuyuko. With shaking hands, he lifted them and carefully placed them side-by-side in an empty lantern.
They reminded him of the campfires they would gather around at night while tracking the Demon King. The cloudy blue sky they would stare into during the breaks between quests. The grass and trees and animals he had never seen before, that they had taken so much care in introducing him to.
He couldn’t stand the thought of losing his friends again.)
Akira could admit to her failures. She wasn’t the best when it came to understanding mortals or their feelings, but she had faith in Saho. Hopefully, he would be able to move on, as Kaito, Mei, and Yuuki had concerning the death of Hifumi.
(Yuuki would still address her sister sometimes, and turn to where Hifumi would usually stand, for a moment not remembering she was gone. Sometimes she would wish that she had spent more time with her sister. Sometimes she would sit for hours or days in her room, not doing anything at all.
Kaito was quieter these days. He was the king of the gods. He could not show any weakness, even to his closest friends and family. But sometimes he would wander in a haze, and find himself alone in a library. Sometimes he would wake to find his eyes wet and tired, his hands and breath shaky, and he would always know why.
Mei still set Hifumi’s table setting. She still knocked on the door to her room when she entered. She still called out to her when it was mealtime, and would look down upon the mortal races from above, trying to puzzle out which one her daughter had disguised herself as this time. Sometimes she would stand in front of Hifumi’s door, and remember.)
Something simple, Akira decided. Nothing that could be recognized as being even tangentially related to her. Earthy brown cloth, fastened around the waist by rope, like the robe of a monk. silk gloves and thick leather boots to conceal her hands and feet. A twine necklace with a wooden pendant of a leaf. For the final piece of her disguise, a simple porcelain mask of a blank elven face, from which only the soft glow of her eyes could be seen.
She had been practicing hiding the constant aura she emitted and had finally been able to reign it to the point that she might even be able to pass as a mortal if she wanted. She would be just another body in a crowd. One more anonymous guest. A faceless, nameless silhouette no more unique than anyone else in attendance.
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Arriving at the door she had prepared to enter the party using, she took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Her reflection was unrecognizable. It didn’t look like her at all. Even her eyes, still slightly visible behind the mask, didn’t look like they belonged to her.
The ever–present dread that had consumed the whole palace since the letter’s arrival seemed to lift slightly.
Nakai arrived a few minutes after she did, wearing a simple tunic with gloves and a hood, as well as a blank mask similar to Akira’s own. Saho came after them, draped in the tan garments of a traveller, carrying a glowing lantern and wearing a frowning theater mask.
The only reason Akira even knew it was them was because of context and her intrinsic knowledge of her creations. Their disguises were perfect.
This might not be so bad. Maybe it could even be. . . dare she say. . . fun.
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Receiving a letter concerning her own coronation to orc goddess was not something that Hifumi expected happening even in her wildest dreams.
The letter was unfortunately completely unreadable to her as a result of being blinded, and it appeared to her as a silhouette against the magical glow of her created fortress in the abyss, set comfortably between nowhere and nothingness. Nahi had read it aloud to her, allowing her to actually know what it said, alongside the small note attached to it.
The note itself simply congratulated her on her achievements (particularly the living organism she had made) and informed her that yes, while it was her coronation and thus her celebration, she would still have to follow some of the rules. She could reveal herself if she wanted to (she did not), and request for certain guests to be forced to leave (she might consider that), but she would still have to conform to the majority of the rules concerning conflict between guests.
The arrival of the letter caused Nahi to almost immediately start fussing around with outfits that they pulled from. . . Somewhere. Presumably from the same place Nahi obtained the ingredients for the meals they made. Unfortunately, while she was sure that whatever Nahi would pick would look lovely, it would be impossible for Hifumi to sense it on its own. Meaning she would have to make her own outfit. Not a problem, considering that she had just made an entirely new lifeform out of nothing just a week or so ago.
Traditional orc clothing was handmade and somewhat utilitarian. Leather, cloth, chainmail, fur, pelt, armor plate, essentially whatever they could get their hands on, mixed into something protective and surprisingly comfortable. Pendants were also rather popular, with stone especially popular among warriors, and bone among thinkers.
So, Hifumi created the materials first. Leather, cloth, fur, chainmail, and rope fiber to hold it together. It would be hard work, but that was part of the experience of crafting it. She began with a chainmail base, which wasn’t too hard to make, and then sewed the cloth into a fashionable hooded battle robe alongside leather gloves and boots. Fur lined the edges of the robe, adding to the look while insulating it, and a simple iron crown and a makeshift mask made by wrapping her head in the leftover cloth finished it. It took her several days to complete, but by the end, she couldn’t imagine herself wearing anything else.
When the second letter arrived, Hifumi was ready. She had added some extra wear to her disguise for authenticity, practiced with movement while wearing it, and even how to dance in it, if she were forced to. Besides, knowing how to dance in an outfit generally also translated into knowing how to fight in it.
Nahi had simply put their hood up and crafted a bird-shaped mask to cover the opening. Nahi appeared to suddenly lose a third of their height when their hood was raised, and their hissing voice seemed to stabilize into something smoother as the mask slid into place.
Their method of entrance to the celebration area given their location was by carving a ritual circle that had been provided to them in the letter onto a pendant, which would allegedly transport them there and back without issue at the snap of a finger. Truthfully, Hifumi was somewhat nervous. There was a good chance that Adho would be in attendance, and though she had seen him upon her first moments in the abyss, this could be the first time meeting him.
She and Nahi watched (well, Nahi watched and described to her) the sigil draw itself on the letter. A circle with a five-pointed symbol Hifumi had never heard of before in the center.
The celebration was open. The time for worry was past. The time for party was now.
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