Zagreus carried Lilithana to the door.
The door opened to find Jade spinning wildly in a hovering chair, giggling like crazy. She was almost slung out of it when the chair froze in place. “Hey!” She protested mashing the controls to no effect.
“That is for me.” Lilithana said.
Her face scrunched up. “Can I play with it later?”
“You can spawn an illusionary one in the sim-room, during your recreation time.”
Jade smiled broadly and hopped down.
He put Lili in the chair and they went towards his sim-room. The chair moved smoothly along. The hover-chair would have been worshiped as a marvel of the gods in the Deep Dark. Here it was not unique. Not even special. It was just another tool.
“So what is my surprise?” Jade demanded as she walked backwards in front of him bouncing and hoping with anticipation.
“Don’t you have something you want to ask Lilithana?” He slowed to give them some space.
Jade hung her head and reluctantly took up position beside Lilithana’s chair. “Can I have real food again?”
“What did you do to get put on paste only?”
“It was an accident.” Jade wouldn’t look at her.
“Tell me what you did.”
“I went exploring and I saw a drone go in a door so I took a look. There was a glowing green circle in the floor.”
“You went into the teleporter room?”
Jade nodded.
“That room is dangerous. Enemies can attack through there. Did you tamper with anything?”
Jade shook her head, “No. I didn’t touch anything. Bug-Girl came in and went somewhere with a slanted floor. She talked to the people in the shiny place up the stairs. And… I accidently went too. I found cheese and I talked to a nice infernal lady and she got to be the new king.”
The chair stopped and Lilithana didn’t speak for an eternity.
Jade shifted uneasily and looked back at him.
He shrugged.
Lilithana finally spoke. “Let me get this straight. You escaped the lab and went on a collection with Cinder, and she replaced a king with an infernal female?”
Jade nodded.
“Describe the infernal.”
“She was wearing a pretty white dress. She had big scary wings and horns and claws and a tail, but she was really nice.”
“No. Her skin color.”
“She was green.”
Lilithana nodded. “Now, tell me what happened, from beginning to end.”
Jade tried. With occasional pointed questions from Lilithana they managed to get a general idea of what had happened.
“I will think about your punishment. We will talk later.” Lilithana said. The hover chair continued forward.
Jade followed with sagging shoulders.
Zagreus wanted to cheer up Jade, but this had distracted her from where they were going. It would make the surprise more impactful and he could avoid more questions while they walked.
They reached the sim-room. The door opened to a tunnel of grey stone. This looked like a random cave in the Deep Dark, except the smooth floors and the row of light crystals hanging from the ceiling.
Jade moved closer to him. “What is this?”
He held out a hand. “This is your surprise. Come on.”
She took his hand and they walked along the tunnel. They eventually turned a corner onto a wide flat area overlooking a dark void. The lights prevented him, and Jade from seeing what was over the edge.
But Jade had noticed something more interesting. “Food.” She let go and darted around a pillar of stone.
In the couple seconds it took him to catch up she had reached the table of food. She had a palm sized baked treat in each hand. The first one was gone in one more bite. The other one followed moments after.
“This is only part of your surprise. Come, let me show you.”
She drank some juice and sent. *Food time.*
He smiled then left her to eat. He went back to Lilithana.
“I told you this would happen.” Lilithana said.
“I tried to hide it.” He chuckled. “Do you have my order with you?”
“Poseable characters from her favorite video series.” Lilithana held out a hand and a wooden tray appeared on her lab. There were four characters crafted out of metal and they looked beyond expensive sitting on it. “I could not find any originals in the old storage cubes. These were custom built and far better than the mass market ones.”
“These are amazing.” He said.
“They are pretty, but they are built to be used. Just make sure to tell her not to eat them.”
“I will.” He nodded. He was feeling weak but he pushed through it. He had planned this day for Jade for a long time. He could rest afterwards. He felt two presences nearing them. Cinder and Karimere flew into the chamber and landed on the arm of Lilithana’s chair.
Cinder erupted on Lilithana. “What in the world have you been doing?!”
“What do you mean?” Lilithana said.
“I was almost killed by the door to the power node in the farm.”
Lilithana took a deep breath, “I am sorry. I thought that node would hold. The implantation process was much more energetic than predicted.”
“That is irrelevant. It should not fail catastrophically. All of the safety equipment was bypassed. That node was a total loss.”
“Enough.” Karimere spoke firmly. “You two will not argue about this. I will personally finish rebuilding that node, then I will run collections on all remaining locations. Lilithana, complete a full overhaul of the power network and have enough spares on hand for emergency repairs. Make a list of any parts. I will get the Chosen to harvest them from the Fallen Fortress if needed.”
Cinder and Lilithana stared at her in silence.
Karimere nodded. “Things are happening now. We need to be prepared for any eventuality.”
“Yes, Karimere.” Lilithana nodded.
“Who are the Chosen?” Zagreus asked.
Karimere stared at him. Her head tilted farther than seemed possible then she looked at Lilithana. “What have you been teaching them? He doesn’t know who the Chosen are and the Second thought he was going to leave the moment he got his mecromail.”
“There is a lot of material to cover. Not to mention deferalizing the child. But, I will review what lessons I have given them.”
Karimere groaned and nodded, then addressed him. “The Chosen are mortals that serve us directly. They mostly gather intel and maintain contacts with the various factions. They make up a small military force as well.”
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“Ok.” He said. Then he had an idea. “There are four of us and four figures. Now everyone can give Jade a gift.”
The three of them stared blankly at him. Karimere spoke first. “I came here to talk with you. I have no interest in this ritual.”
“It won’t kill you. And it will help her feel at home here. Can you play along?”
She took a moment then said, “Yes. We, will play along.” She landed on the tray beside the model of a knarklaw, a grey skinned turtle-like biped. It had violet markings on its shell, like the character. It was almost a head taller than the aerial. “I choose this one.”
He geabbed the shadowcat with deep green stripes, Jade’s favorite. He folded it into his mecromail.
Lilithana picked up the pale skinned infernal male with long crimson hair. He held an arcane staff with a large red gemstone at the top.
That left the ogre for Cinder. It was much larger and had cobalt blue hair. It held a tall staff that was flat on the top and spiked on the bottom. Cinder landed beside it, only coming up to its waist. She stared up at the beast.
“Do you want to swap?” Lilithana asked her.
“No. You will just act as my servant and lift the gift for me.”
Lilithana bowed her head and added sarcastically. “As you wish M’Lady.”
He left and went to check on Jade.
She was curled up under the table in a food nap, with a half chewed hunk of cheese in her hand. Her hands, face and shirt were covered in crumbs and sauces. There was barely anything left. Luckily the golems had only put out some of the food. There would be plenty for everyone.
He shook her.
Jade mumbled and pushed him away.
“Wake up Kitten. You are going to miss your birthday party.”
She blinked and grumbled. “I don’t have a birthday.”
“Well I am throwing you a party anyway. Get up. We got you presents.”
“Presents!” She shot up, hitting her head on the table. “Ow, ow, ow, ow.”
He rubbed her head and helped her up then they went back to the others.
Karimere and Cinder stood on the empty wooden tray in Lilithana’s lap.
“You said presents.” Jade glared at him.
“I will go first.” Karimere held out a hand and spawned the knarklaw model with violet highlights.
“Sara Shovels!” Jade snatched up the model and spun in circles.
“You are supposed to say ‘thank you’.” Zagreus said.
“Yes.” She bowed low. “Thank you Pur… Karimere.”
Lilithana spawned the pale infernal with red hair and held it out.
“Boom Stick Bob!” Jade thanked her then grabbed it clutching both to her chest.
Cinder spawned the cobalt haired ogre.
“Frida Freeze!” Jade looked at her hands, clearing wishing she had a third. She reluctantly set the two models down and picked up the new one. She bowed. “Thank you, Cinder.” Jade examined the ogre, moving it all over while making fighting noises. Then she looked at him with a side eye. “Gimme.” She held out a hand.
“Give what?” He played innocent.
“I know you have Karla Kitty.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“You suck at lying.” She set the ogre down and glared at him with her hands on her hips. The other three laughed. Jade demanded. “Gimme Karla Kitty.”
He smiled and spawned the shadowcat figure with dark green stripes.
Jade grabbed it, threw her arms around him squeezing him tight, while thanking him repeatedly.
He said. “I got you one more surprise.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
Come here. He took her hand and walked her to the edge. The floor dropped off into a wide void in front of them. He nodded at Lilithana who activated music. The song was hard and fast.
Jade gave him a questioning look.
“Sing.”
She hesitated. “You always tell me to quiet down.”
“Sing as loud as you want here.” He gestured towards the void.
At the next beat drop she started singing, softly.
He barely understood the words of this song normally. He was thankful because Jade’s half-learned, butchered version was an abomination to language. This was one of her favorite songs and he had heard her singing it from across the hall many times. Small lights appeared a few meters below, moving with the rhythm.
She smiled singing louder and more enthusiastically. The lights multiplied and brightened to reveal a crowd of illusionary people cheering her on. She handed him the toy shadowcat and started dancing wildly to the beat.
He smiled and walked back to the others.
“What is the point of this exercise?” Karimere said.
“It’s fun.” He shrugged.
Lilithana added, “It can teach her language and get her more comfortable in front of people.”
“Who is next?” He said.
“Next?” Cinder said.
“Looks like we have a volunteer.” He said.
“I… I have to get back to work.”
Karimere giggled. “This is a wonderful idea. Lili find a duet song for them to sing together.”
He, conveniently, looked back at Jade who was starting up another song. “I think it’s going to be a while. Lili, can you have the rest of the food delivered? I’m getting hungry.”
“Yes.”
“Thanks.” He walked away and along the edge of the cliff, to the side of the crowd. This was a good spot to watch the show.
Karimere flew over to him and landed on his shoulder. “Are you ignoring my orders Eleventh?” She teased.
“Not at all.”
A wide couch, with several fluffy pillows on it, appeared beside him. “Take a seat.” Not a request.
He sat. Sitting felt good. He needed the rest.
She landed on his knee. “Cinder is over there trying to pick a song to sing with you.”
“You are enjoying tormenting me, aren’t you?”
“Your sentimentality is adorable.” She smiled. “If you don’t know how to talk to her, just tell you want to fuck. You can tell her it is an order.”
He groaned into his hands as he realized that he had an evil aerial godmother.
“If you don’t want to play with Cinder today, you could play with me instead.”
In contrast to his dread of seducing Cinder, he felt a sort of satisfaction in denying Karimere. “My schedule is full today.”
“What about tomorrow.”
“Nope. Not happening. No offense, but you are a nightmare with a smile.”
“Thank you.” She bowed.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to talk to me about something?”
“Don‘t move.” She warned.
He froze as a line of deep purple arcane trialed down his leg, sending pleasant sensations as it went. It ran along the surface of the couch disappearing over the edge. A moment later a suit of armor appeared on an armor stand in front of him. Then a small weapons rack appeared, holding two mecrotech power spears with long slender heads and two short, slender, double-edged mecrotech power swords. The purple line vanished with a warm, tingling, sensation.
She playfully said, “I can do, interesting, things with my arcane, Eleventh.”
“I am Lilithana’s claim.” He said without a thought as he stood to look over the equipment.
Karimere ignored being roughly ejected off his leg and landed on his shoulder.
The armor was a black, form fitting, cloth suit. Or it looked and behaved like a thick cloth. He knew it was some hi-tech, arcane infused, nonsense with threads of mithril woven into it, making it super strong. There was a mecrotech helmet and armor plates over vital areas and along the limbs. But all were sized and positioned so they would not hit each other. Stealth was a big part of his fighting style. The weapons were copies of the illusionary ones he had chosen. The short sword was for close quarters and spear for more open areas.
She said, “Polymorphing armor is extremely difficult to produce. Use it enough to make sure it fits and works properly, then keep it in your internal storage at all times. I don’t want you to ever be without it.”
“Your concern warms my heart.” He said sarcastically.
“I think we should get you a shield, maybe multiple sizes for different situations. I will add some to your training regimen.”
Jade appeared beside him holding a spear and wearing his helmet. He saw illusions of the items vanishing from the stand as an illusionary singing Jade vanished from back along the cliff.
He could copy himself and what he was wearing but making copies of other objects was extremely difficult. Copying other objects while running a singing and dancing copy of himself would be impossible. Jade had done it seemingly effortlessly.
Jade giggled waving the spear over her head. “I am a MECROMANCER! MUHAHAHA!” An illusionary anterra appeared in front of her. The giant stripped ant chittered at her. She attacked it clumsily. She groaned and snatched the helmet off, tossing it in his general direction.
He barely caught it.
She attacked again. Her moves were obvious, but enthusiastic. The spear repeatedly passed through the bug without resistance.
“Did you add the bug to the program?” He quietly asked the evil aerial on his shoulder.
“What?” Karimere said softly. “That is not a program… Has she done this before?”
“She copied a sandwich, while being cloaked, the first day I met her.”
“The Second has illusion skills… and she made a whole anterra with no training.” Karimere sounded like a kid who found a new toy. “Ask her to make more.”
“Jade.”
She gasped. “What Zaggy?”
“Can you make more bugs?”
“Duh.” She scrunched up her face and another bug appeared, then a third flickered roughly into existence.
“Can you make them all move?” Karimere said.
Jade took a deep breath and after a few moments the three bugs walked in perfect unison. One walked over the edge of the cliff but treated the open air like ground. Another walked half into a wall. It looked like she was controlling one and having the other two copy the moves. It was a shortcut, but this was far more than he could ever hope to do.
“That is enough.” Karimere said. “Can you make a solid illusion?”
The bugs vanished into sparkling motes. Jade cupped her hands and a metal looking ball appeared in them. She squeezed it repeatedly. She was sweating and straining while focusing on her task.
He gave her a minute or so then said, “Stop.”
“I can do it!” She protested.
“I am sure you will. But you don’t have to do it right now.” He put a hand on her head.
Jade let go of the illusion and her whole body slumped.
“That was amazing.” Lilithana said as she and Cinder neared them. “Illusions are a powerful ability. I will incorporate them into your lessons.”
“Uuugh. Not more lessons.”
“Not more, just different. This is a complex ability. It will take time to master. But your natural affinity has given you a head start. Being able to manifest a full anterra convincingly at your age is amazing.”
Jade beamed a smile.
Zagreus sat down and rubbed his head.
“Are you ok?” Lilithana said.
“Yea. I think I did too much.”
She spawned a healing unit and scanned him. “Just lie down and rest. Everyone, give him some space.”
Karimere flew off and the music changed, then a three meter tall illusion of her started singing a slow and sensual song.
Cinder bowed. “I will let you rest today.” She flew over towards the food table.
He groaned and stretched out on the large couch.
Jade looked concerned. “You need anything?”
“I’m hungry can you fix me a plate?”
She nodded and ran off.
Lilithana stood slowly and got onto the couch with him, curling up behind him with them facing the concert. “Do you mind if I rest with you?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Jade returned with a plate. It was piled high in meat, cheese and pastries. Lilithana added a low table to the program. Jade sat on it and started eating from his plate.
“Where is my food?” He teased.
She held out a pastry. “Have a yum-yum.”
“Yum-yum?”
“I named them that because they are so yummy.”
He took it. It was flakey and sweet and filled with creamy goodness. Jade would give him something else each time he finished the piece he had.
“Want a yum-yum?” He handed a pastry to Lilithana.
She ate it. A drone soon appeared and brought Lilithana a plate too.
The party continued for hours with Karimere and Jade singing many more songs. Cinder was even goaded into singing one by Karimere and Jade. She sang well, but she left immediately afterwards. Karimere left soon after.