Sen and Shade trailed after Amelia and the rest, earning amused glances from Forsythe and Raven. They were really starting to like the two. Amelia knew they would. The moment she had met Shade she had felt an instant affection for him. Forsythe had wandered off while they were finishing off the murderer guild. Normally, Amelia would have taken their guild name down and made a Chronicler of the Heavens story so MKC Online could run some sort of special on the murderer guilds in and around Elysium. The murderers could have fun by being on the stream and everyone else would come out and hunt them; which would be a double win in her opinion.
Except, they had been entirely too weak to warrant such a reaction. Instead of both sides having fun, which is what Amelia would have wanted, she was sure that everyone would come out of the woodwork to harass this player killing guild. They hadn’t been any sort of mean or petty or anything. Indeed, they had been amusing in their own right and didn’t deserve to get chased out of Elysium by everyone looking for a quick laugh.
Anyone who they robbed or killed would get angry but have fun stories to tell. It had been annoying but they’d actually been quite civil, playing the brigands well without going too far. They had just been unlucky that Amelia and her group had returned to Aspiria near the coast instead of Blutonsi like they had originally intended. Amelia had been largely thinking about that sort of thing while she wrote the events of the battle while they happened when Forsythe had messaged them over the party channel indicating he had found someone who was just watching. He had described them as a bystander.
Then, like the evil people they could be sometimes, they had played with Shade for a bit. Initially, Amelia had just intended to scare him. When he started talking about his friend though, Shade’s eyes had lit up almost as if he didn’t even remember the danger. She felt a soft spot for him then. She really thought she saw in those young eyes the gaze of promise and hope that she recognized from the old Shadow Fall days. Sen, the young and willowy yet tawny youth, reminded Amelia of a mixture of herself and Raven. Her outrageous reaction, as though it were all Shade’s fault, had caused her to smile.
“Hey,” she had whispered casually over the guild channel. “Don’t you think these two are fun?”
“Yeah. Let’s get them.” Aidan had immediately replied. “I can’t wait to see their faces when we actually do something crazy.”
“They do have pretty funny faces.” Raven had said shortly after some thought.
“New members.” Forsythe had acknowledged. Hunter and Elisha had readily agreed and War hadn’t commented. War was still in his guild, though he had largely left it to his friends Larkin and Fate in his absence while he wandered the worlds with the others.
He and Raven were very thick right now, though, Amelia still didn’t know the nature of their relationship. When she had asked about it Raven had shrugged, as if she too, didn’t know the nature of their relationship. That seemed pretty crazy considering War had left his job in real life and went to Australia to be with Raven. Amelia had yet to meet War in real life. Something always came up when they visited Australia or when Raven joined them in the states. As if War were purposefully avoiding everyone else in the real world. More suspiciously, it was as if Raven were actually hiding War from them.
Elairdrin, King of Brack, brought Amelia out of her thoughts and she turned her gaze away from their fledgling new recruits. They hadn't accepted her invitation yet, but she doubted they would decline. They were both looking excited, though Shade seemed more excited by the idea that Sen was excited. It was rather telling that they had drifted along after Amelia and her friends without a word of protest.
Who would immediately give up a chance to go into the palace anyway? Amelia supposed she didn’t mind being used to get into the palace.
“Empress Amelia.” King Elairdrin paused in front of the long hall that lead to the main room of the communal palace of Elysium. “It has been too long.” He took her hand and squeezed it gently, his eyes smiling. “I have heard that there are a great many people waiting to see you.”
“I missed this place,” Amelia whispered, blinking after a moment as she realized she was mostly referring to Blutonsi and not this particular place in the palace. She had only been here a few times, actually.
She was surprised at the sincerity in her voice. Two years had been too long. They could have spent twenty years exploring the new worlds but all of them had decided they had been away too long. They had been alone too long. After Void had been defeated they’d celebrated intensely, as if the world could still end. When it did not Amelia and the others had quietly decided they needed to be away from the spotlight for a bit. They needed to be somewhere that the fate of the world couldn’t drop on their shoulders at the drop of a hat. Amelia finally understood Aidan’s comment so long ago when he had mentioned that he could no longer carry the weight of the world. Someone else, he said, would have to do. They sent the occasional adventurous stream to MKC Online but for the most part abandoned the streaming scene. It was more common to see Pluto and Hysteria than Amelia or Shadow Fall’s lead cast.
Two years later they had returned to a world that barely recognized them. The Residents knew instinctively as if they had only been gone minutes, but everyone else had moved on. It had been almost lonely as they walked through the streets together. Even though everyone flocked to see who they were, no one had called out to them or smiled in their passing. Just the Residents once again expressing their pleasure at their Empress returning. The Transients she had hoped to see were obviously visiting other worlds or somewhere else in the continent. It was a little narcissistic, Amelia chided herself, to think that they would all just be casually hanging around waiting for her return. But who doesn’t wish that?
“Sen. Approach.” Amelia commanded, having a thought.
“What?” Sen started, nearly jerking from her place behind the others. After a long moment she moved to the front, looking terrified.
“King Elairdrin. This is the Sen. I expect great things from her.” Amelia whispered to the King of Brack shamelessly. What else was fame and reputation and phenomenal cosmic Empress power for?
The world needed people like Sen.
Amelia had thought it instinctively when Sen had recognized them. It wasn’t hubris or ego that made her feel this way. Sen was someone who obviously loved the world and had poured long and loving hours into watching old streams and videos. It was knowledge Amelia had gained at a glance, even without the weird system appraisal thing that so many bosses or ‘gods’ were rocking in the game.
Of course, it helped that Amelia could see her name and statistics. A perk of being an Empress of the territory. Privacy settings meant nothing to her eyes. It might seem unfair? It was. She would have to send a ticket into the system to get the privacy ignoring feature removed from her rank. Amelia briefly bit her lip and internally tried to talk herself out of giving up the privacy ignoring feature.
She returned her attention to the matter at hand. Amelia’s battle had been long done by the time Sen had joined the game. Amelia was certain she would be much higher than level 55 if it weren’t so. “Her companion is new to this world as well, but he has a characteristic I have not identified. I believe it is luck.”
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“Luck?” Elairdrin was smiling gently at Sen who looked like she wanted to die and ooze into the ground. With the last of Amelia’s words he turned his gaze to Shade. Shade approached as well, looking down briefly to Sen who looked like she was going to have a heart attack. He nodded cordially and without any hint of fear. “This one… reminds me…” Elairdrin squinted and straightened, a sudden distasteful look on his face.
“Ahahaha.” Aidan started laughing in the background, having apparently caught up to them, earning a dry and exasperated look from King Elairdrin. The King smiled grimly, obvious pleasure warring against irritation. A smile threatened to take the corners of his mouth but never seemed to twitch correctly into being.
“I see you there.” Elairdrin acknowledged. “Yes. I see the likeness now.”
Shade stared blankly between the two of them. “Please don’t tell me I’m like him?” If his face hadn’t been purposefully blank it would have seemed like a plea.
“Shade.” Amelia said, suddenly feeling playful. The fact that Elairdrin had immediately thought that Shade was like Aidan suddenly endeared him to her for a variety of other reasons. “You know, you’d make a good Emperor.”
“What?” Shade’s face scrunched in horror and immediately turned thunderous. “Don’t speak idiocy.”
Apparently Shade had been following them just long enough to decide he didn’t have to be meek. His reaction was exactly like a certain someone she had grown fond of and loved. The one she was thinking of immediately spoke out.
“No kidding.” Aidan glowered, perhaps just the tiniest bit of jealousy leaking through.
More interesting to Amelia was that Sen seemed to immediately recover and was standing with her back straight, standing just far enough away from Shade to appear aloof and just close enough to stare daggers at her.
Amelia couldn’t help it and laughed.
“I’m sorry! That was too much of a joke, I guess!” Amelia grinned, watching the surprised faces of even her close friends. She supposed they hadn’t seen this side of her in some time. She was truly happy to be back among people again. She hadn’t realized how much she loved this world until she had travelled the others and returned. Even with all her talk of how Aspiria was hers and she wouldn’t give it up, when the battle had ended she had run away.
Even real life had taken a turn of normalcy. She was a different kind of bystander there with different obligations and the ability to fade into the background. Their names and identities still protected well from the media. Here though, here was where she could be true to who she really was without fear of repercussion or damaged reputation.
“Sir Hendrick.” Elairdrin said with a smirk. Apparently he was getting used to the Shadow Fall reputation for liveliness all over again. “Hello there, and welcome to the palace.”
“My King,” Hendrick bowed smoothly and moved forward. “I was guessing that I might be of service.” Amelia hadn't seen him come in and guessed that he had left the shop in the hands of his assistant and rushed directly here.
“Service?” King Elairdrin inquired, eyes narrowing. “What might a grandmaster and legendary merchant such as yourself provide for us?” He smirked, eyes twinkling. “That we have not yet discerned ourselves?”
“I think Amelia is about to host a party.” Hendrick laughed. “You should see the numbers of Shadow Fall in the city. They are already moving toward this place with grim purpose. I fear you will be overrun by over a 1000 Transients in the next few hours. It would be truly terrifying if they were an enemy army.”
Elairdrin paled slightly, seeming to be speechless at the thought of providing entertainment for such a huge number.
“Yeah, I suppose one of your side jobs now is party planner?” Amelia inquired.
“Well, I do seem to get a lot of that when you’re around!” Hendrick smirked. “If you can pay for it?”
“Mmm.” Amelia reached into her bag and produced a small orb. Aidan looked immediately unhappy, narrowing his eyes. He made a small tongue clicking noise. “Now, now. We weren’t ever going to use it.” Amelia chided him without looking.
“Well, yeah, but…” Aidan seemed at a loss. “If you just give stuff like that away people will get angry at you.”
Amelia turned her head slightly and blinked uncomprehendingly.
Aidan just sighed in a long suffering way and shut up.
“What is that?” Hendrick moved over, already using his Appraise skill. As he looked at it a dawning horror stretched itself over his face. “You didn’t get that from Aspiria!”
“No. I got this from a world called Kalimphear.” Amelia said, moving it gently in front of him. His gaze never left it. Cold calculation was setting over his face. “Do you know what it is?”
“I’m a Grandmaster Appraiser Amelia, and that skill is telling me that what you’re holding is a baby seal cub.” Hendrick stared at it. “So please tell me what level item you’re holding and what it does, because that’s obviously not a baby seal cub!”
Amelia smirked. Appraise gave false information if the Appraise skill wasn’t adequately high enough or, in this case, the skill hadn’t encountered items from the world the item was from.
“It’s a wyvern egg. A one person flying mount. You can raise a flying wyvern that will imprint on one person. If it is killed it reverts back to the egg and must be raised once more, but it isn’t lost.”
“You can ride it?” Hendrick raised an eyebrow. “You mean you can really mount a flying wyvern and fly around on it? Anywhere?”
“Sure, I guess? I mean, I haven’t used it so a lot of it will be discovery.” Amelia said loftily. “So I was thinking this is probably going to be a big party. Not a problem I take it?” Amelia tossed him the egg. He caught it with reverence and it immediately disappeared into his inventory. With an item like that he could name his price. It could have more zeroes than any auction item ever listed and SOMEONE would buy it.
“Uh. Sure. I’ll break out the good tablecloth I suppose.” Hendrick grinned. “I am so pleased to see you again.”
“I’ll bet.” Amelia grinned.
“Can’t we give him something else?” Aidan said sounding pained.
“We could always give it to Raven, I suppose,” Amelia finally began to relent.
“Nevermind. Congratulations on your deal Hendrick.” Aidan moved forward and began shaking his hand vigorously. The idea of Raven flying around above them at any time of the day obviously terrifying him.
“Do you think you could lose the red name before then?” Hendrick looked pained. “I know you’re all good people and you’re still giving me the heeby-jeebies.”
“Hey, this isn’t our fault!” Raven piped up. She hadn’t heard about the wyvern egg or she’d be asking for it. She must have somehow known they were talking about her though.
She was dancing around Hendrick now as if she couldn’t stand still. Hendrick had always been the one a little wary of Raven. Raven was the one that always seemed to go crazy and break things, and that had always been a sore spot of contention between them.
“Yes. I suppose not.” Hendrick agreed dryly. “I suppose peaceful diplomatic solutions never occurred to you?”
“They occurred.” Raven said regally. She half-bowed. “We dismissed them as inadequate to the circumstances! Plus, we didn’t like them!”
“What’s with your appearance anyway?” Hendrick suddenly demanded. “Raven has longer hair and a different sword and two arms? You have spiky hair Amelia, Hunter is more red than blonde..?”
“We’re in disguise.” Hunter said genially, having arrived with the rest.
“Uh huh.” He made a face that informed them of what he thought of their disguises.
“At any rate. I am invoking a new tradition.” Amelia said suddenly. “If I’m going to have to sit on that throne for even a second tonight, it’s going to be for fun. Let any who have a story to tell me approach, and approach alone. I will record their tale in my Chronicler’s Book. These tales will be added to the Elysium Grand Library!”
Elairdrin looked impressed and immediately explained to the guards that word should be spread through the city.
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Empress Amelia of Elysium Will Hear Your Tale
For a limited time the Heavenly Chronicler Amelia is willing to listen to tales of valor and of adventure! Approach the palace with the quest and be granted entrance!
Rewards: Experience. Tale will be added to the Grand Library of Elysium
Rewards: Entrance to the palace and the party to take place.
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“You think many people are going to come?” Aidan asked doubtfully.
“Of course. Who wouldn’t?” Amelia grinned. “Who do you think I am? I’m the Empress of Elysium.”
“My queen!” His voice sounded sour but his smile seemed pleased.