Landing in the clearing where he left Lyn, he half expected that she and her friend would still be around, considering the state he left them in, and their own discretion to smoke weed afterward. But instead found nothing but completely empty woods. Even the blankets were gone.
Taking the air once more, he surveyed his territory, trying to figure out where they went. But could not find hide nor hair of them. Focusing, he used his connection to figure out her general location. An area that even before the change to his soul realm, had unusually more trees than normal. Now it could be considered a very small forest. Albeit one you could probably travel across in half an hour.
Flying overhead, he was in for quite the shock. Beneath him, was a swarming mass of bugs, insect-kin, and fairies, with a few rabbits, squirrels, and other small furry creatures dotted around. They all seemed to be in a huge panic, darting around this way and that.
Taking a closer look, he found that he was probably the cause. As he noticed what he could only be described as small wooden tree houses, littering the floor of the forest. With fairies and insect-kin desperately trying to pick up the pieces.
At the center of it all was Lyn and her friend. Issuing orders and yelling at others, telling the other fairies and insect-kin what to do and where to put the broken debris. Mostly just trying to help manage proper search and rescue and disaster relief from the sudden increase of the growing land, as well as the sudden sprouting of giant trees that burst through their communities.
Van paled when he saw that. “Oh… shit…” he thought, as it dawned on him that he probably was the cause for all of this. “I probably should go back and wait until things cool. I could always ask Lyn for that story another time.”
But just as he was about to turn, he was spotted by an insect-kin, who immediately told Lyn, who then started yelling for him to come down.
With a mixture of resignation and guilt, Van slowly floated down towards Lyn. As he did, the many insect-kin and fairies who were flying about, slowed down to see and inspect the new visitor. Some even going so far as to remember who he supposedly was.
When he finally reached her, he found that she had her arms cross and was tapping her foot in midair. “You could have warned us about what you were going to do,” she said a little peeved, a strange regal air enveloping her, her stance and tone one of authority
“Sorry… I had no idea things would turn out this way. I’m really sorry.” Van said sincerely.
Lyn stared hard at Van, but her expression quickly softened. “Well, no one was seriously hurt, and if anything we have more room now before it was a bit too crowded. And just between you and me, we were going to be late for our appointments anyway after what you did to us. So it all worked out in the end.” she said that last one with a wink and her usual smile. Or at least tried to, as her eyes still contained some worry lines.
“Sorry…” Van said again, his shoulders slumping a little.
Lyn shook her head and sighed. “Again, no one was seriously hurt, and if anything, we're better off now than we were before. Just please warn us first before you pull something like this again. Okay?”
Van nodded.
“Good!” Lyn said a little cheerfully. “Now, what was it that you wanted? You did come to me for something right?” she asked, clearly still busy, but putting in the time for Van instead.
“No, it's okay, it can wait until later,” Van said
“Nonsense.” Lyn said “you are my master, your worries are mine. Even if it’s nothing, please tell me. It’s what I’m meant for.”
“Umm…” Van did what to talk to Lyn about a few things, and not just for the story, he was in fact hoping to talk to the insect-kin queens. But they too were probably busy right now, and he realized that perhaps fixing his mistake, would go a long way into putting him in their good graces. After All, they only tentatively serve him, it’s Lyn they seem to follow.
Van took a good look at Lyn, to see how she was holding up and saw that she was somehow able to clean up pretty well after what happened an hour ago. No signs of what they did showed. But she clearly didn’t look as energetic or happy ethier, giving Van another pang of guilt.
“Actually... if you don’t mind. Is there anything I can do to help?” Van asked politely.
Lyn was somewhat taken by surprise but appreciated the offer, she was going to turn him down though, it didn’t feel right to order her master about. But considering all the work ahead of her, and the expectations of all her followers, it might not be a bad thing to enlist his help either. It could also help her followers realize her master’s power and generosity, and save her a lot of time.
“Hmm…” Lyn thought. “Can you somehow… undo some of the changes you made?”
That was actually a unique idea for Van, but now that he thought about it. It certainly wasn’t impossible. After all, he was the absolute ruler of his soul realm, and he could shape it as he saw fit if he wanted to. But that probably required sitting on his throne, and he wanted to show off in front of Lyn’s friends.
Looking about, Van noticed one tree that was clearly not supposed to have grown there. Instead of trying to fly back and do it in the throne room, he wondered if he couldn’t do it here, on a smaller scale.
Focusing hard on the tree, he willed it to reverse its growth, back down into the dirt. After a whole minute of silently staring at a tree, much to his embarrassment since he had many onlookers watching. The tree finally, and slowly shrunk back into the ground, picking up speed as Van’s understanding and power over it grew.
He turned to Lyn with a small smile. “I think I can order some of the trees here to grow or shrink. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” he said with some pride.
Lyn was impressed. This was exactly what she needed. “This is perfect! Quick! Can you shrink that one over there?” she said pointing at another tree.
Van nodded and concentrated, and was able to shrink that tree down faster than the previous one.
Lyn looked very happy at this turn of events. Immediately she turned to her friend. “Amie!”
“Already on it,” Amie said, writing notes on her clipboard. The two then started talking rapidly, pointing at some of the surrounding trees and back towards the clipboard. After a few minutes, the two seemed to have come to a decision.
Lyn turned to address Van. “Van, can you follow Amie here and shrink or get rid of some of the new trees that have gotten in the way of our village? I need to stay behind and make sure everything is operating smoothly.”
The more Van watched Lyn work, the more amazed he was by her mature attitude. Making him realize how much she has grown, even if she still acted like crazy from time to time. This… this was a ruler in the making. Someone who was not only willing but able to lead and actually put work into ruling.
Obviously, the only thing Van could do was agree. She clearly knew what she was doing, and standing around wasn’t going to help anyone. So he turned to follow Amie’s lead out of the small clearing.
What followed was Van being ordered about by Amie on which tree to get rid of. Along the way, Van found out he could not only get rid of trees by shrinking them, but by also making them shrink so far they disappear. Not only that, but he could manipulate the trees as well. Which helped when he had to move large branches out of the way for a few trapped fairies stuck in their home.
Taking this into account, Amie then started having him work on not only getting rid of some trees but also some landscape terraforming while they were at it. It made him feel like he was being taken little advantage of, but he really didn’t have a right to complain when it was mostly his fault everything was like this, to begin with. With that, Van not only became the guy who got rid of the trees but the guy who landscaped for the fairies as well.
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Almost an hour later, they were mostly done. And Van needed to take a break, though not very physically taxing, it was mentally.
“Hmm…” Amie said, looking at her clipboard and back up to Van. “I suppose you have done enough.” she said reluctantly “for now…”
Van was a little too happy to hear that. A little perturbed at the ominous feeling at the end there, but happy all the same.
Amie put her clipboard away. “So Van. What brought you to visit? By your expression when you first arrived, it didn’t seem like you knew what happened.”
“Oh. that? Well… actually I wanted to talk to Lyn about a few things. Mostly about meeting with the insect-kin queens. I want them to formally acknowledge me as their leader.” he then tried to quickly explain what happened and how his soul realm matured.
“Hmm… interesting… well… I suppose it would be harmless…” she said, thinking deeply about it. “It might be a little difficult to convince them to bend the knee. But not impossible, the queens do owe Lyn much after all…”
“Alright,” she said, coming to a decision. “I'll quickly spread the news that you want an audience with the queens. Just head back to where Lyn is, she should be about done by now. By the time you arrive, everything should be prepared.” Amie said, bringing out her clipboard once more. She then zipped out of view to get to work before Van could ask anything more.
Feeling like there was nothing else to do. Van took Amie’s advice and set out towards Lyn. Once he had arrived back at the clearing, he noticed that most of the damage had been taken care of and things were mostly back to normal. Upon arriving, Lyn noticed him and waved him over.
“How did it go?” Lyn asked
“Fine…” Van shrugged. “A lot more mentally tiring than I was expecting. But at least we got everything mostly done on our end.”
“That’s good,” Lyn said with some relief. “Now, what was it that made you come to visit again?” She asked, trying to be helpful.
“Oh. about that.” Van began, only for a sudden sound of swarming to drown him out. Soon, Amie came flying back, with the queens and their entourage following close behind.
“Van. I give you the council of the queens,” she said, sweeping her hand over the assembly of insect-kin queens.
Van noticed that they all were about a foot taller than Lyn and Amie, making them almost two feet. Their bodies were mostly humanoid, like Lyn and Amie. some having chitin in places that emphasized their bodies, and colorful fuzz that gave them a strange cuteness, and regal clothing that hugged their bodies. But all of them carried themselves with a sense of power and authority. They assembled themselves in a semi-circle around him and addressed him.
One by one they introduced themselves. The queen of the bees. The queen of the zappers. The queen of the butterflies. The queen of the moths. And the queen of the ants. With a bunch of minor queens staying silent.
“We heard that you wanted an audience with us.” the queen of the bees said. “To what do we owe the pleasure of Lyn’s master visiting?”
Van felt a little intimidated by the assembly of all these figures of authority. But tried to get to why he was there in the first place. “Well… first I would like to apologize for what happened,” he began. Asking for forgiveness of all the queens, and then explaining what happened and why he was here.
“Hmm… I see…” the moth queen said. “So, you want us to formally acknowledge you as our ruler, yes?” then giving it some thought. “Well… I'm not against it. Especially after what I heard from Evergreen.”
“ Evergreen?” Van asked, confused.
“Of course, you met her, she’s the one the Lyn calls Amie.” the queen said.
Van slowly turned to Lyn with a questioning look on his face.
“What? Evergreen is a silly name.” Lyn said.
“And a fairy named Amie is better?” Van asked.
“Well, I would like to see you come up with a better name for a fairy!” Lyn said, pretending to be offended.
“I did, and I named her Lyn,” Van said proudly. “Though… If I had to choose a name for her, and keeping into account the names she received. why not name her-” Van began to say.
Immediately, unbenounced to Van, he had everyone's full attention as they waited with bated breath for what he was going to say next. Lyn’s eyes went wide with panic. “Wait! Don’t na-” But it was too late, and Van finished what he was about to say.
“Amelia Evergreen?” Van finished.
“-me her!” Lyn finished. But it was already too late.
“You know so that Amie would be short for Amelia. And-” immediately Van’s eyes went wide as energy poured from him into Amie and a connection formed between them.
Amie began to change, light pouring from her body, her body growing a few inches, and her figure somehow becoming more beautiful. Her wings became pristine, and she seemed stronger than before. She then kneeled in midair. “Amelia Evergreen Viridia greets her master.”
Immediately Lyn flew towards Van and grabbed him by the collar. “Do you have any idea what you have done! Never name a fairy! Or even an insect-kin! Especially not in your own soul realm!.” She then pulled herself up until she was eye to eye with Van. “I only had this much.” she began, putting a hand in front of Van’s eye with two fingers very close together. “Only this much on her.” she continued. “And now look at her! She is so much taller!” She complained.
Van stared at Lyn for a solid few seconds, a realization dawning on him. Women in this world are crazy, but fairies are crazier. “Umm… sorry?” he said, though he also was genuinely sorry, he didn’t mean for Amie to become a familiar.
Lyn then turned to Amie. “And you! Why did you just accept the name!”
Amie shrugged and smiled. “Because why not?”
“Ugh! You're so difficult sometimes! Lyn said.
Van raised a brow at that but decided to get things back on topic and address the queens. “Sorry about that… about what we were talking about before…”
The queens laughed lightly. “Well, after what you did, how could we say no?”
“I agree…” Amelia said, and then took the knee and swore fealty.
Immediately Van felt a connection, making him go wide-eyed as he realized that not only was Amelia Lyn’s secretary but a queen in her own right. And the connection wasn’t just between him and the fairy queen, but all of her subjects as well. He even got a pop-up, something that can only happen in his soul realm, stating that he had the fairies as his subjects now.
“If our allies the fairies join, so will we.” the queen of the butterflies said. Then taking the knee and swearing fealty.
“It should go without saying I will follow Lyn’s lead.” the zapper queen said. “And since she would want me to swear fealty, I will.” She then also took the knee and swore fealty.
“I also owe much to Lady Lyn. you will have the bees.” the queen of the bees said. Swearing fealty.
“Evergreen is like my own daughter, and I trust Lyn very much, so you will have the moths.” the queen of the moths said. Swearing fealty.
“Lyn is strong. Your power is also great, Nor do we wish to return to the outside world, so you have our fealty.” the queen of the ant’s said, swearing fealty.
“This is going easier than I thought it would.” but Van kept that thought to himself and instead turned to Lyn. “now all that’s left is to…”
“Lyn…” Van said, trying to get her attention.
“Yes?” Lyn turned to Van, even she was surprised by the fact that they all so readily agreed to swear fealty.
Van took a deep breath, feeling very nervous right now, but knowing it had to be done. “Would you…” he began but had to steel his nerves once more. “Would you… soul bond with me?”
Lyn just looked at him for a moment, not understanding what he just said. But the second it clicked, her eyes went as wide as dinner plates and she brought her hands to her mouth in shock as she tried to stop tears of joy from running down her face.
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!” Lyn said repeatedly. “Yes! Of course, I would! I mean I will! YES!
“Umm great,” Van said a little awkwardly. “I suppose we should do this later when we get a ritual ready.”
“We can do it right now!” Lyn shouted. “We are in your soul realm! So we don’t need a ritual circle!”
“Uh, okay… Lyn, do you want to do it right now?” Van asked.
“YEESSSS!!!” she yelled/hissed. Then as if becoming self-conscious, she started to pat her clothes and fix up her hair and started fussing with every little thing.
“Umm, Lyn?” Van asked, now a little worried.
Lyn looked at him as if he was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. She then flew towards him and tried to grab his hand. Van helped, and they got to something close to clasping or holding hands together, she then looked him in the eye and began her oath.
“I, Lyn, do swear to obey and protect my master, and husband. To have no other than him, to give mind, body, and soul, to his needs. To offer my life in exchange for his own. My heart in exchange for his happiness. So do I swear on my blood, so do swear on my soul. Now and forever, and in every life.”
She then flew up toward Van’s face and gave a gentle kiss on the lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve been practicing that oath for…” a wide smile on her face.
It happened then, she floated away and power and energy seemed to pour into her as a more intimate bond formed between them. Light shining out of her, her body grew bigger and taller, wings becoming more pristine, breasts bigger, skin smoother, just generally becoming more beautiful with every passing second. Her clothes becoming tighter on her. After a while, it was done, and a new Lyn was reborn in front of him.
“Lyn, you are now my wife and my Vassal. I put you in charge of the other queens, you will rule as high queen of them all.” Van said.
Lyn’s eyes went wide. Then even to the surprise of both of them, even more power poured into her. And she went through another metamorphosis, the same process happening again. As power not just from Van poured into her, but the waiting other queens as well. She then turned still wide-eyed towards the queens. “You all accept me as high queen?”
“We accepted you as high queen a long time ago, it was only you who didn’t realize it until now.” the moth queen said.
Tears formed on the rim of Lyn’s eyes. “This is the best day ever!”
“One I wish I could enjoy with you a little longer,” Van said. “But unfortunately I am being called and have to go now. Take care of everything for me okay?”
Lyn sniffed a little. “Is this why you came to visit?” she sniffed again, her joy barely contained. “To make me the happiest girl in the world?” not realizing how silly and embarrassingly she was acting.
“Well that, and I wanted to hear about your amazing adventures,” Van said with a grin, trying to hold back his mirth.
When Lyn heard that, her eyes went wide again with love. “You. Are. The. Best. Husband. EVER!” she said seriously.
Van chuckled at that. “But I have to go right now. But I promise, next time okay?”
Lyn nodded her head vigorously up and down.
“Alright… goodbye… my love…” Van said that last part seductively, knowing exactly what that would do.
Lyn literally swooned and looked like she was going to fall out of the air, she was so happy.
Van chuckled once more, and with that, he left. With Lyn yelling that she would differently tell him her story and to come back soon. He then woke up back in the carriage with a light heart.