Welcoming Arrivals and Explaining the Three Gifts.

[Mandaz]

Arc
“Alice” peeped the one on Arc’s left “Esra” squeaked the one on his right. They were blushing wildly as he spoke to them, each one giving the other incredulous looks. “You’re from one of the main lands, right?” “Oh I don’t remember what it was like over there at all.” “Is it horrible?” “You must be brave” “And strong” “Are there flowers?” “Are all the boys as cute as you?” “Esra!” “Alice!” They giggled and blushed and both looked away, yet kept their arms locked with his. Excitedly berating him with questions just to get him to speak again, the two seemed to be having a good time already. They also made sure to keep him on track and lead him directly into the castle, otherwise Arc may have vary well spent most of his time observing, missing the party completely.

--
Cornelius
The girl took Cornelius’ passive aggressive put down’s as true compliments, and only proceeded to nuzzle into his arm more. “You don’t need to give me any gifts! The party’s not for me!” she laughed, practically hanging all over him now. “And your money’s no good here, the best currency is happiness! I’m sure you’ll find something here that makes you happy. Otherwise the trip would have been wasted! And that’s no good. I know if I went across the ocean I’d want to take in everything the new places had to offer and find at least one thing that made me happy! Once you meet the king I’m sure you’ll have no choice but to smile! He’s really nice. My name’s Chira. You don’t have to tell me yours if you don’t want too!”

--
Nock
The children that surrounded Nock all cheered and laughed for him, each one excitedly awaiting their turn to be lifted high into the air by the musical anomaly. They swung on him but did not overwhelm him, although by now he had amassed a crowd of enough children for a small army. They also made sure to tug him along and keep him en route to the castle, chiming “Hurry” and “Come on” with excited inflections.

--
Kali
He smiled as he was complimented by the beautiful new guest. The red haired young man kept at her side, trailing over the flower petals on the way to the castle. The ropes in his hands becoming a longer lanyard as he knotted them together in his small yet intricate design.

“I don’t think my lord has reasons for the things he does. In fact, sometimes I don’t think he knows what reason is at all. He’s like…I’m not sure how to explain it…like the wind, or a rainbow or something like that.” He mumbled, his attempts at sounding deep and philosophical to impress the lady were failing miserably. “He doesn’t really need an excuse or a reason to be or do…he just is and does.”

His lanyard was nearly complete, placing the final loop on the end to finish it. He held it up, revealing that he had actually tied a little brightly colored shell in the middle, making a necklace with nothing but a little rope and something he had found on the beach, It seemed all of the islander’s fashion was simple, yet intricate in that way. Hand made and woven, yet died and colored to match the theme of bright, vibrant colors that seemed to be so prominent on this island.

“My name is Bale.” He mumbled to Kali, embarrassed that he hadn’t given her his name earlier. “Here, take this. As a welcoming present.” With an outstretched hand he offered her the shell necklace he had just woven.

--
Fifteen and Arethusa
“Oh, the girl!” One of the islanders spoke up, leading the rest of them to mumble and whisper excitedly. “She’s adorable. A doll, really. I can see why the king admires her. Those people who made her are awful strange though. You’d never know such a beautiful soul came from such shady people” The others nodded with what he had said, all agreeing wholeheartedly. Although they hadn’t really answered the noble’s question, the answer provided seemed to be satisfactory for them, as they continued to mumble about how sweet the girl was, compared to how dark her ‘creators’ were. Which was strange in itself that the two responsible for the girl in question were called ‘creators’ and not ‘parents’.

--
Emli
“My hands are so small compared to yours.” Laughed the girl, Emli’s savior. Her little hands were almost swallowed up by his massive paws, but she wasn’t scared or intimidated, more tickled than anything else. She gently tugged him along with the crowd, carefully not to pull him around too roughly, but like the rest of Edric’s followers, she could hardly contain her excitement. “It’s not far.” She sung. “Wait till you see it, it’s really pretty. I even helped paint one of the banners!”

--
Baleron
As the crowd moved towards the castle, singing praises and throwing flowers, one young man turned back to take a final look at the beach. It was there he saw the new guest, washed up on the shore, panting. With urgency and a slight nervousness in his step he ran back towards the beach, using the speed he had gained from running down the hill to help push him faster. The wind rushed through his hair and past his body so quickly, the young islander felt as if he could fly. And indeed he did push his arms out and jump a few times, too overwhelmed with the joy the entire island was radiating. Problem was, when he neared the beach and Baleron, he had much difficulty stopping. To avoid ramming the guest head first, the brash island boy heaved himself to the side, forcing his balance off which sent him crashing into the sand right next to the guest.

Thankfully not injured, in fact he couldn’t stop laughing at the whole spectacle of it all. The islander rolled to his back in the sand to stare up at the new guest who seemed to be brooding about something. Persistencia wasn’t an island for brooding; anyone would be hard pressed to find a single frown for miles. The native wasn’t much older than Baleron, but held a youthful glow that made him seem that way, especially now that he couldn’t stop laughing and he was half covered in sand. He was like all the other inhabitants, dressed in hand woven slacks with just a few wraps around his chest and designs hand painted on his skin, specifically a red line spanning the width of his face.

“You’ve going to miss it!” he said through his laughter. “What, did you swim the whole way here or something?”

He found his way up, shaking the sand out of his dark hair with his fingers.

“C’mon, everyone needs an escort. Follow me and you’ll still make it. I’m Gyve, welcome to Persistencia.”

--
All
Eventually every one of the guests would have been shuffled into the throne room. A room large enough to hold nearly an entire city let alone a whole crowd of foreign guests. At the end of the room, sitting on top of a brightly colored and comfortable throne was the host himself, the angel of Lucidity. His clear blue eyes dance with excitement as he watched every new person make their way inside. Once everyone was there, he stood, and a hush fell over his follower’s chatter for they new he had something important to say.

“It’s better than I expected!”

There seemed to be a song in his voice, and his words were almost tangible, touchable, tasteable as he giggled them out. The way he smiled and carried himself, he seemed just like a child, but different. Like a being completely constructed by innocence and grace; an angel, but an imperfect one. The black wings on his back were testament to that, small enough that a parakeet could rival his wingspan. No function, only decoration, and a mark of his lineage, a peek into his past. His present, however, was ruler, king, majesty, all mighty, completely and obsessively loved by his subjects. Though, to look at him, one wouldn’t see a tyrant, a megalomaniacal lord, or even a noble war veteran. Edric was Edric; a blonde haired youth, gap toothed, freckled, dressed in his absurd royal dress, the perfect king for this strange island.

“Welcome welcome again, everybody! I’m really excited that all of you found your way safely. The sea is a pretty dangerous place, and I guess I’m guilty of keeping my island a secret. But you’re all here now! So I can share all the wealth that Persistencia has to offer its inhabitants! My name is Edric, if you don’t know me already. That’s the name I like the most, but you can call me whatever pops into your head when you think of me.”

Edric was no great orator at all. He seemed to stumble and stammer over some of his words when he became nervous or unsure, but most of all he just said the first thing that came to his mind. The first words were always the best ones, or so he had come to believe.

“Ah! I’ll ask you not to stay too far off! I have an announcement to make to our guests. Now I’m sure you’re all wondered just why I’ve decided to throw this little celebration! Well, in a way, I wanted to hold an event that honored the joy of life and the living creatures who survived the terrible tragedy our world. We’re alive! Why shouldn’t we rejoice? Today, we celebrate life by honoring a very special one. I realize that most of you are unfamiliar with the laws and culture of Persistencia. Uhm…how should I explain this. There’s nothing more important to me than freedom. Well…a few things…but freedom is a big one! Creative, scientific, religious, the human mind is too much of a treasure to hold in shackles by moralities and rules. Because of this freedom that everyone is given on Persistencia, we have several brilliant minds achieving brilliant things. The most recent and beautiful achievement is to be revealed to all of you today. Right now, actually! She is the reason we celebrate. A life made by human genius, a life given a second chance. Happy rebirthday! Surprise!”

[Nayt]

As if prompted by the grand speech of the king of Persistencia, a new arrival was brought forth form one of the side hallways—specifically the one that lead to numerous, seemingly private rooms. Three bodies combed the halls in religious file, walking sanctity as priests guarding the precious cargo between their forms—the two outer bodies robed in black and walking in such a slow and masochistic rhythm, eternally confusing the much shorter body between them, sparking her shifty gaze to cast a forward glance, a backwards turn, and a side-ways stare, all without rhyme or reason. She truly had no knowledge of the proceedings.

Between the figures clad in darkness, uncharacteristic of the denizens of the Rift, stood a girl no taller than five feet and four inches tall, a height she may well have obtained through the means of tall shoes; as far as nature was concerned, she was easily two inches shorter. This girl was not dressed like those around her; she had a preference, and that preference just happened to be cool colors. On her thin frame was a sun dress of a sky blue color, perfectly form fitting, yet perfectly modest.

Her attire matched the preferences of the islanders, yet her skin was off: the color was of a green tone. Not olive; that was natural. This unnatural color of skin even had the slightest hints of blue hues, with some portions of her a darker color than others. Luckily—or unfortunately, perhaps—these changes could be spotted: they were always marked by stitches. Stitches in a perfect circumvention of her elbow joint lead down to a much lighter, almost normal colored, forearm, while the bicep and shoulder were all quite green. There were not many of these to be seen; mostly, these stitches were around major joints—the shoulders, the elbows, the knuckles, and the neck; never betwixt the center of established and unbroken bones. Her right cheek, however, had a certain degree of patchwork applied; it was subtle, difficult to see unless close up, but there were stitches across her cheek leading up from the corner of her lips. Dark hair, perfectly normal, was kept short, almost boyishly short, but still purposefully feminine and mussy . . . to an extent. Purposefully mussy, perhaps.

And then, the echo of the king’s words finally rang out and affected her mind. The girl, perfectly capable of fluid movement and free thought, perked up immediately. Surprise was evident, and she stared out into the gathering crowd with a pair of tri-toned eyes. Had she the means, her “heart” would have beat faster and faster with every passing second of silence. Her escorts departed, leaving her set perfectly between the regal Edric and the amassing crowd come by Edric’s invite for her benefit.

“Wh-what? A-all this? All this for me~?” She whispered nervously, yet excitedly—enthusiastically, joyously, tumultuously ecstatic, yet hushed in such a way to falsely mute her escalating rapture. There was a silence from her, as her joy nearly brought her to the state of panic. Sweat dotted her bow, just a fraction of a second before she broke her own nervousness, announcing enthusiastically to the crowd (albeit rough at first): “U-ummmmm~~ umm, uhn, h-hello everyone!”

[Baleron87]

Heavy footsteps near to him brought Baleron out of his thoughts and made him look up to see one of the apparent natives of this land hurling himself down the hill toward him with almost reckless abandon. His hand took a firm grip of his short sword, preparing himself against a charged attack. He would have more than likely pulled the blade if not for the out of control running that the boy was applying to the constantly shifting sand. Baleron sighed and simple stepped back with his left foot, his body turning on the off chance that the boy wasn't capable of getting far enough to the side.

Once the islander was resting comfortably on the sands after his great fall, laughing high and loud, Baleron's dark gaze studied the features of the man, guessing that he was around the same age as him. A moment of confusion passed over Baleron's thoughts, wondering why such a grown man would be laughing so freely, almost as if not a single worry had ever passed his gaze or thoughts. Somewhat intimidated by the fresh and innocent laughter, and the effect that it had in tandem with the island's own unique aura, Baleron couldn't help but let loose a small smile of his own. It was the first time he had ever smiled since that horrible incident.

The islander returned to his feet and offered his exuberant welcome, and Baleron offered yet another small smile and a polite nod. He didn't bother to introduce himself, unsure of himself in this new setting that seemed much too alien compared to the world he had just left. His eyes continued to watch everything around him, taking in structures and paths, strategic thoughts of battle or escape idly crossing his thoughts. He allowed himself to be sheparded into the castle and throne room along with a few of the remaining stragglers that had just finished unloading off of the boats, and he found a place for himself near the back of the group against a nearby pillar. It would do him no good to try and search for Caela now, with so many people grouped together and intent on hearing the King speak. He would wait for the introductions to end before his work would begin.

With nothing else to do, he sat patiently and listened to the King's speech and his introduction of the young girl that was mentioned on the card. Originally, Baleron had not figured to bring a gift at all for the girl, having assumed that once he had found Caela they would leave together immediately. But memories of Caela and the fear of her not being there made him decide on a special present for the girl, something that meant quite a lot to him. As he watched the procession continue on, and the girl introduce herself in her nervous tone, he raised his hand up and slid his mask down over his face, hiding another one of his smiles from the crowd around him.

[Shin]

Arc --

'Oh my god. Two beautiful girls and ME...they came up to ME and grabbed ME by the arms!' Arc looked from Alice to Ersa, quickly memorizing which was which, the same boyish smile etched across his face. 'Wow!'

The questions came so fast that before he could answer the first the second one was aksed and a third ontop of that.

"Yes. No. No... I mean yes...flowers?..yes i mean no..err.. some?" He simply couldn't keep up with the girls and blushed, turning several shades of red before he managed to get enough control over his own lips to put together a proper sentence, though he didn't remember the order of questions to answer them correctly.

"Im from a small college in the north west of the mainland, a bard community."

"Well take a look around at the people that got off the boat, if you think they are cute then there is your answer." As he spoke he kept looking back and forth to the two girls, luckily they were there to hold..turning his head back and forth so much made him a little dizzy.

"Of course there are flowers...actually." As they walked he unhooked his arms and swung his gigantic backpack around to his front and opened a small flap in the front. "I was going to try and make a salve out of them..."

He pulled out to beauitful and strangly colored roses, one was a deep blue with streaks of crimson, the other a bright and vibrant green with a matching crimson streaks. He handed one each to the girls, swung his pack around to his back and took they arms as they lead him to the main hall.

'Im so smooth.' He told himself ...

His self indulgence lasted only a few moments longer, when Edric came into view Arcs heart nearly stopped in his throat and his eyes locked on to the strangly angelic (at least to him) king. His jaw dropped..

'I am actually in his presence.' He looked from girl to girl then back to Edric, Arc was so awestruck that he hadn't paid much attention to the actual words that were spoken or the fact that this was all a birthday party for someone.

'I have to talk to him...but what about? Maybe i'll sing a song! or...' Arc began to panic, worrying himself he began to sweat visibly.

"Its hot in here..."

--Drakketh

He picked a spot near the front of the group, grabbing a glass of wine off of a cart that was being brought around, and listened intently to the people around him. Drakketh was actually enjoying himself. He took pleasure in the sights and sounds and smells and most importantly the intoxicating feeling that blanketed him.

He sipped his wine and took in the collection of creatures around him, nothing to out of place he told himself. This entire island was out of place! So while to Drakketh the entire situation may have seemed odd, he assumed it was simply another day for its inhabitants.

As he was near the front Drakketh got a rather good view of Edric and heard his speech clearly. On cue he turned to see ...well he didn't know what it was. Whatever it was it was in the form of a girl, that was stitched together. Drakketh had seemed similar creations in his home city, matron mothers often called them Flesh Golems....however this was obviously different. This girl possessed inteligence it seemed...perhaps more?

[littlebean]

Emli couldn't limp behind his new friend fast enough try as he might, but his feet did not hurt him at all. For some reason, just being on this island made years and years of slavery in the minds completely escape his mind. He was happy now. There wasn't any real reason to be happy, it was just this island that made him feel giddy. The only real reason he had to feel so joyous was attached to his hand leading him off somewhere, women always without a doubt made him happy.

Especially pretty ones like this one.

If it weren't for the island and it's permanent happiness Emli might have felt upset that he couldn't understand what she was saying. With limited hearing and limited speech communication was going to be almost impossible, but not if Emli could help it. He would try his damned hardest to talk to such a pretty girl.

"HAHAHAHA!PAI'IN! WHA' IH RIKE OOO PAI!?"

[supernal]

Fifteen shot a knowing glance to Arethusa and, the very moment that their eyes met and the voiceless message conveyed, he tore his eyes away from her and settled them once more into the distance before him. In time, Fifteen and his beloved were led into the mansion proper and there, among the undulating throngs of people who had been invited to take part in such a joyous occasion, Fifteen held his ground.

By now the natives were sure to leave his side, if not because they had fulfilled their obligations, then because the four men carrying the cumbersome chest would take their place along the couple and gently force away any others who harbored the thought of lingering. Fifteen was ready to comment on the amazing turnout that his lordship had managed to assemble, but his breath was cut short, for the king himself had chosen to speak.

At the end of the oration, Fifteen stood nearly stunned. Not by the speech or even the presence of the girl herself, but from the sheer volume of jubilation that followed shortly thereafter; all manners of clapping and cheering and hooting and stomping that threatened to knock him from his feet. When the hullabaloo finally tapered off, Fifteen leaned closer to Arethusa’s ear, smiling with eyes pointed to the stage.

“My, she is an absolutely darling girl, isn’t she? I wonder her connections with the king, you figure?”

There was more to say. Much, much more, but thought it better to stay his tongue for now lest he offend the natives, the girl, or King Edric himself. He was no stranger to propriety, and so his face remained the absolute paragon of subtle civility; smiling politely, eyes alight with wonder at the sights to be seen on this island, and smile drunk with the joviality that seemed to be infected everyone else.

Whereas inside Fifteen was as cold and as empty as he had always been.

“Our gift shall be the first! Come with me if you’d like, but if you fancy yourself fraternizing with the plebeians, then by all means.”

Depending on Arethusa’s response Fifteen would either break from her grasp or would step forward with her in tow, but would step forward regardless. When he had finally managed to work his way through the masses without much need for shoving or other such indecency, he cleared his throat and waved slightly to grab Edric’s attention.

“Your lordship Edric. I do want to seem as if I wish to rush through the celebration or anything of the sort, but was wondering if it would be appropriate to present a gift to the young lady on behalf of myself and my wife, Arethusa? You see, the men grow tired of carrying it…”

[Portafortuna.]

As they arrived to the castle, Kali did her best to not keep her focus on her escort, not wanting to make him feel uneasy—or perhaps more uneasy than he already seemed to be, by way of his fidgeting with the ropes—and instead allowed her sights to sweep over everything around them slowly, taking it all in. So many wonderful people, so many delicious and tantalizing smells; everything was beautiful—everything was perfect.

His lord sounded seemed to have had a childish nature, and Kali smirked. His lord seemed to hold no reason, no logic, and therefore made himself of interest. The fact that the kind seemed to do so much of everything on just a whim and a desire, he was free. Pure freedom intrigued Kali, she felt she must meet this king of his.

“Your lord sounds wonderful, and sure knows how to throw a good party!”

She glanced over to her escort for but a moment, not wanting to stare while his hands moved in their working.

“Thank you for escorting me—“

It was then that the man turned to her, having completed his creation; a necklace! She would have never figured. A slight blush tinted her cheeks and a smile was brought to her countenance as he offered her the necklace. Taking it quietly, she stared at it carefully, studying the intricate designs and admiring the shell. Carefully, she slipped it around her neck and fingered at the shell in the middle once it dangled at her chest. And then, his name.

“—Bale. Yes, of course. My name is Kali. Thank you, Bale. This is absolutely beautiful.”

Kali almost shyly chuckled as they made their way into the throne room, her still-dampened feet—but slowly drying!—pitter-pattered on the elegant floor in their drippyness. She idly wondered if anyone behind her and Bale would have spotted her drip-drop footprints on the floor and the small smear of wetness the hem of her dress left in her wake. Silly her.

It was then she spotted their host. A brow arched in curiosity as she watched him, my how unexpectedly he looked. He appeared young, kind of frail, and awkward. But, nonetheless, like a king. Kali glanced beside her to her escort and gave a light nod as the king spoke of his celebration and its ‘reason’ being for behind the party; a birthday! Then Kali remembered the gift she had been requested to bring to this gala, and she gave Bale a grin as she reached into a stow-away place in her dress and seemingly pulled out of nowhere, a shell of her own. It was a normal shell in size, shape, and appearance, except it seemed to give off just a bit more of a shine than would any normal shell from the sea. A gift from the sea.

“I’ve brought this for the girl. I hope she likes it. It’s very special where I come from.”

[Nightmare]

Rodrik had stood where he knew that the invite would come from. He had arrived just at the moment that the invitation was expected. It had not failed his expectations; it had arrived-just as he knew it would-by the means he had anticipated. He had turned it over in his hands a few times, without looking at it, without taking the time to run his hands over it and experience the craft of it, without bothering to savor it. He knew everything about it in its entirety before it had ever arrived, so why bother to study it now; he knew what it was. Without even thinking, he had pocketed the invitation and returned to his dwelling.

That had been a short time ago. Now he walked across the sea. The water itself seemed to solidify into a turgid gel-although it did not freeze-just before his feet touched it. This continued with every step he took. The waves and spray of the sea seemed to steer clear of the man, as well, as if the water itself feared his visage, and why shouldn't it? All who knew Rodrik steered clear of him, not like it mattered. He knew who his acquaintances would be, what they would do, and what he would do to and with them.

Throughout the journey he had not taken the time to remove the invitation from his tunic; he knew where he was going-he had known long before the invitation had ever arrived. Thus, his tardiness could not be blamed upon inability to find the island, it could only be based upon other factors: choice or perhaps destiny. Upon finally reaching ground he turned, spotting his impatient escort already waiting for him. He would have chuckled to himself, if he cared, but he did not. It was almost amusing to him to see others express emotions towards the inevitable, as if they could change it. His own emotions had fallen long ago to the plague or clairvoyance, and his eternal existence had since been nothing but an embodiment of lethargy.

Fools, he thought.

Rodrik was dressed for a party, he knew exactly what this event was for. A bright elaborate silver and white tunic adorned his chest, covering from pelvis region up until his nose-thus his lower face was not visible at all. The tunic looked hand crafted and an original. If one didn't know any better, they'd imagine that this man was royalty. On his hands were stark white gloves, that seemed to give him air of snobbishness. Silk pantaloons hung down below his tunic, coming to a close at his ankles; below that were his shoes which looked more like white ballerina slippers than anything else. At every place where fabric parted on man, some puffy sort of handkerchief emerged, which only reinforced the aura of arrogance that the man carried. His eyes were a tired silvery color, showing no signs of life or interest in anything.

He ran his hands through his hair-which only covered half of his head; the other half of his head was nothing but pale mottled skin. Absent mindedly, he removed a small box from his tunic and handed it towards his greeter, before mechanically walking off towards the place where the festivities had already begun.

"Pray hurry, we're running late," he said, with a lack of interest or charisma.

[nocturne]

Arethusa walked in perfect unison with Fifteen. Their pace and gait were identical. They even looked into each others' eyes at the same time, as they crossed the threshold. Unlike Fifteen, however, Arethusa politely waved with her free hand towards their escorts as they were ushered away by the couple's chest lugging servants. It was strange, she thought, that this girl was purportedly made, not born, and from the machinations of a supposedly shady group. Stranger was the rhapsodic aura that permeated Persistencia, but in that it seemed hollow to her.

As a noble, she was not taken aback by the lucrative decor of the palace, but there were simply too many colors for her. The room was nearly vibrating from it, even when the crowds stilled and hushed for the childish ruler, who was dressed most loudly of all, to speak. Edric's tone was casual, not royal, and he seemed to have a speech impediment, much to her amusement. The room became more dazing as applause rocked them. Even though it was loud, Fifteen's low voice cut through the clatter.

"She looks like seaweed," Arethusa returned in a whisper far too ephemeral to catch, "I wonder if we'll find an urchin near." Her eyes followed a path towards the throne and Arethusa likewise followed Fifteen when prompted and came to stand before Edric. She held a curtsy until her name was mentioned and took a submissive role, allowing her husband to speak. For now, Arethusa looked more like an absent minded trophy than a companion.

[Mandaz]

Arc-
“A bard! He plays! Or sings! Or both! I bet you have a wonderful voice. Simply fantastic. You speak well. You should sing for our king! Or that girl. They say he treats her like his own daughter. Oh but look look! Flowers!”

Each of the girls swooned in tandem, eyes lit up with enthusiasm. Alice favored the blue one while Esra snatched up the green one, both of them setting the flowers in their hair behind their ears. They kept on his arm, closer than ever now, resting their heads on his shoulders, but straightening up as their lord spoke. The two noticed how much Arc tensed as Edric gave his piece, and they smiled once they realized how nervous he was.

“Don’t be afraid. The king is really nice. And super kind. He gave me a hug once! Well he went picking strawberries with me. I’m sure he’ll like you. He likes everyone!”

Emli-
The girl smiled as Emli shouted out his strange, broken, words. It took her a moment of replaying the syllables back in her head, but after mouthing it out she got the gist of what he was saying, or asking rather.

“Everything, anything. It’s really fun. The colors, the feel of the paint on my hands, I think someone with big hands like you would love it. But for now, let’s get you cleaned up. I live in the palace; we’ll go to the servant’s room and see what we can give you to wear. Can’t have you meeting our lord all sick looking.”

She led him through the palace, through the smoke filled hallways and faint sounds of giggling and moaning. After a short walk they’d end up behind a pair of heavy wooden doors, in a room of beauty and luxury. The floor was nearly lined with soft pillows, and it seemed in places that the mounds of pillows were replacements for beds, comfortable, soft, and free. The girl let go of the moleman’s hand and started searching through cloth and fabric that lay around the room. After grabbing an armful of colorful, flowing fabrics the girl rushed to a basin in the corner of the room, and brought a small bowl of water and a rag to Emli.

“Here, let me wash your things.” She cooed, rubbing the gunk off of his mask. “Underneath too? Do you mind?”

Kali-
“It’s really pretty…really pretty. It’s perfect for her. She really likes bright colors.”

Bale was transfixed by the shell’s beauty, but couldn’t help bounce his eyes back and forth; from the shell, to Kali, and back, unsure of which was more beautiful to watch. She stepped away shyly for a moment, as if contemplating something.

“Y-you know. I could weave it into a necklace like that one. That way it’ll be easier for the girl to keep without loosing. She looses things a lot, especially little things like beads and…her fingers. But I haven’t seen her loose her head once!”


Fifteen/ Arethusa/All-
Edric’s brow raised as Fifteen approached him, possibly taken back by being called ‘lordship’ by someone other than his followers. He smiled warmly at the guest, giving his words his full attention. The angel king seemed delighted as Fifteen mentioned the prospect of gifts, almost as if he had forgotten the idea entirely. He clapped his hands together from under his large sleeves, causing the fabric to bounce just as happily as he did.

“That reminds me. Oh thank you thank you, how quick I am to forget. I’ve made a little habit out it these past many years. Forgetting, that is. Since you’re so eager, and she’s so eager, let’s start with you and go in order of eagerness!”

He took a side step away from his thrown, gesturing for the girl to come to his side. The long sleeve bounced upon his throne, patting it playfully, enticing the stitched creation to test its comfort for herself.

“Sit here. Today you can be the princess, center of the gala! Before we get to your gifts though, you should introduce yourself to the fine guests. I can only do so much of the talking for you, yes? Yes. Go on now; I’ll give you my gift once you’ve received the others. Enjoy your life, dear girl.”

He pet the girl made of patches of flesh sweetly on the head after she sat on his chair. Edric then turned to Fifteen, his beloved, and the rest of the guests that began to approach the girl with their gifts. He gave a playful bow of respect to them, warmly grinning as if unable to stop.

“It was nice to meet you, all of you; I should like to get everyone’s names before the end of the gala. Especially you sir!” He gestured towards Fifteen. “And your wife, Arethusa, that’s such a lovely name, there should be a song made for it, is there a song already, ah don’t let me hold you. Give the sweet girl her gift and meet me later in the palace. Such a big trunk, I do hope there isn’t another body in there, she has quite enough parts already!”

He laughed before hopping away from his throne and into the throng of guests and natives to mingle. Edric loved to laugh and joke and mingle with the people of his land, but he was particularly excited about meeting new people.

[Nayt]

The girl didn't know what to say or what to do--this was all so new to her. A re-birthday party . . . and so many people had come for it! She couldn't be anything but ecstatic, unable to do anything less than smile with child-like enthusiasm.

"A-ah? G-gifts? For me . . .?" she was still surprised--everything seemed to surprise her, in fact; it didn't quite matter what the surprise was. It could almost exclusively be pleasant to her.

The two that had closely approached seemed to have something of the sort, too! How many people had come with gifts? That was an odd thought; she wasn't selfish in the least, but she was, at the very least, curious. If they all came with gifts, where would she put them all? Not that the concept wasn't genuinely exciting. If it wasn't clear enough, she didn't have much more than her stitched up limbs.

Guided by her King, she nervously sat where directed--the throne. The throne! Why did this feel so strange? Her sitting there, with a mass of people before her, alone, wherein individuals could approach with their group and provide rebirthday gifts to her . . . she was too innocent to know what it felt like to be conceited or self-important (or any other prerequisite for traditional royalty), so the resulting feeling of being both on the spot and humble (via ignorance) was an awkward one.

"U-ummmmm . . . m-my name is E-Eroina!" she exclaimed happily; her nervous stutter quite audible, but not to the degree that it made her seem any less jovial.

This felt so weird, though. She was sitting in the throne, like some sort of princess. Even though her King had said it was all right, even someone as new to the world as Eroina felt a little awkward in this position. Though . . . maybe it would turn out well! There were gifts, right? Eroina hadn't received many of those before, and her excitement clearly trumped the awkward feeling of misplacement she had developed.

[Baleron87]

It was fairly amazing what royalty was capable of. Baleron had now witnessed two entirely different leaders of seperate nations, and he was still trumped on explaining how royal blood elicted a response from everyone around them that exuded confidence and loyalty. Baleron couldn't help but chide them for falling so easily into the spell the island had cast. However, as time had continued to pass during and after Edric's speech, the effect that the island had was beginning to hammer at his normally expressionless visage. He had stopped trying to force himself to frown, as a smile had quite unexpectedly taken over his lips and was hard-pressed at being turned down. He probably would have been blushing for the sheer power he had tried to exert to stop the smile from ever occuring, but the mask hid his face well enough that he figured he could live with people wondering what was behind it for the duration of his visit.

Instead, with his glaring smile thankfully hidden, he surveyed the scene as many of the guests began to haphazardly line up one by one to provide their gift to the girl that was now sitting on the throne. An odd little thought crossed his mind, and he couldn't help but laugh all of a sudden. Normally it would have made him mad enough to leave the island right then and there, but for some reason he could only see it as a funny afterthought of it all. He tried to quiet down his laughter, realizing all too suddenly that he had laughed just a little too hard, and had gained some onlookers wondering what had occured to the poor crazy man against the wall. Baleron lowered his head, leaning back against the wall and sighing softly. "I got tricked into a birthday party for a girl I don't even know... by a king, of all people..."

Giving the thought a final small laugh and a regretful sigh, he pushed himself off of the wall and moved into place where he figured the line ended. Thankfully it wasn't so long that he would be waiting for a long while to present his gift. He had a feeling that many of the others still waiting for the other guests to go figured they had a better gift that deserved to be the last one opened. Baleron was glad that he couldn't be that conceited. He left that up to the old mage, even after he went missing when they needed him there the most. Instead he waited patiently as the line slowly filed closer to the young girl, and he finally came to his turn.

Slowly, trying to be reverant as possible, Baleron moved in front of the girl. Figuring she was royalty, he did the only greeting he had learned to give to the upper class. His right hand closed into a tight fist which he pounded against his heart, and he swept down onto one knee in front of her, bowing his head in a loyal posture. "Good afternoon, Princess Eroina. My name is Baleron Delrano Seydra. I was the former Captain of the Guards in the now demolished kingdom of Xexoria. Thank you for inviting me to come to your party." He raised his head, and as he did so he held out his hand, on which a small box laid. His hand seemed to shake slightly for just a moment, a last minute hesitation of giving away Caela's necklace as a birthday present. It didn't last long as he produced his hand further to let her know she could take the gift from him.

[supernal]

He turned to the king and offered him the vestiges of a smile, so light and airy that one would have missed it if not looking closely, before promptly turning his eyes towards his wife. He moved to her side, his fingers made an earnest play at the back of her hands, before he spoke in a dulcet tone.

“There is. There is a song about a beauty so rich, but I’m afraid that no ears shall ever hear it. To this day, I’ve never figured out how to retrieve that song from the depths of my heart.”

For a short while, a very short while, Fifteen allowed himself to be lost inside of Arethusa’s arctic gaze; in those eyes he swam to infinity and back again. Before long however, a man (Baleron) deemed it fit to approach the court and Fifteen was swift in interposing him. He placed himself directly between the lady and stranger, if only to ensure that his was the first gift unveiled.

Fifteen motioned to the four men and they were quick in responding to his unspoken demands. The four brutes lowered the casket gently to the ground, afraid to the damage the precious treasure that lay within and, as once, they laid hands at the top of the chest and pried it open.

What lay inside was a giant eyeball, easily eclipsing the head of the average man. It lay naturally unblinking, rested atop of crushed velvet pillow to support it without bruising the sclera. Fifteen rung his hands, delighted in himself, and his eyes nearly wept with pride.

“It was an extremely dangerous journey, your highness, to track the oldest kraken in dystopia. It took the length of an entire day to slay it and harvest its remains and another to excise the eyeball with no damage. When eaten, it grants the courage and strength to face all manners of trials and tribulations. An utter delicacy from whence Arethuas and I hail.”

He stepped back, folded one arm across his waist, and bowed deeply.

“I hope our gift is pleasing.”

[nocturne]

Flattery did not crack the glacial adamance in Arethusa's stare, but her expression was rich with joviality and Fifteen's words made her cheeks flush. It seemed silly, but the love between them was entirely serious and Arethusa had a sense of undying loyalty that likely transcended even that. She did not respond and waved meekly as the King Edric loped into the crowd to socialize. They had been the first to approach and the first to give gifts. That was more than enough.

As Fifteen intercepted the other gift givers to present the fruits of their labors to the young girl, Arethusa walked beside the throne and leaned over to speak to her.

"Eroina? What a delightful name. Here now," Arethusa reached forward and brushed the stray hairs from her eyes as their servants unbound the chest, "you should be able to see all of your gifts properly." She produced a hair clip from one of her sleeves and was not shy about touching or doting on her, which seemed to be the whole point of this party. It had a large, swollen heart on it, which she showed to Eroina before fastening her hair above one of her ears. "It represents all of the love your people have for you, and a token of our new friendship."

[Nayt]

There were other members of the party that wanted to provide her gifts, too--many of which were approaching already, but Fifteen had stepped in, stopping them. The girl was a bit confused, but her attention was removed once Fifteen's wife began to address her, holding out what looked like a cutely designed hair clip, one that Arethusa was giving much sentimental value to.

"A-awwww~! Thank you!" the girl chimed joyfully, "It's really pretty!"

She didn't try to resist Arethusa's actions; in fact, Eroina had leaned in to make it easier, as soon as she understood what Arethusa was doing. Once it was set in her hair, the clip allowing a wide lock of hair to hold together right by her ear. Eroina lightly touched it, all the while smiling widely. Just as Arethusa had no qualms about openly touching, Eroina had no issues with openly hugging. Leaning towards Arethusa, whilst still sitting in the throne, the girl wrapped her arms around her thankfully. It wouldn't be long after she released her soft embrace that she'd catch the image of Fifteen and Arethusa's main gift, a large eye harvested from a recently hunted kraken.

"W-wo~w!" Eroina exclaimed in awe.

She hadn't expected something along these lines--but, truth be told, she hadn't expected anything for today. One could assume that giving a person such a thing, a massive eye harvested from a sea kraken, would be insulting and disgusting, especially when it was supposed to be edible--at least, presented in such a way. Not to Eroina, though. No, that looked absolutely amazing! Delicious, in fact. Eroina had excessively bizarre eating habits; anything and everything had the potential to be edible. Animals, insects--anything. Living people, not so much. Dead people, totally. If prepared correctly, anything could be delicious!

For a moment, Eroina drifted into fantasy. She imagined herself, clad in an apron, standing before a stove top, happily humming. One pot sat before her, with a pan right next two it; the contents of the pot, with almost a tar-like appearance, but much more liquid texture, were boiling subtly, while a thick strip of white, in the shape of a steak, was frying in garlic and butter. Eroina finally set the strip of white upon a plate, and already had a knife out on the counter. A ladle full of the black liquid was taken and let fall onto the "steak." A schlera steak, fried in butter and garlic, smothered in boiled retina sauce!

Eroina's fantasy was broken once she realized that she was drooling in public. She quickly shook her head to shake the (delectable) fantasy off, and wiped the drool away. Without so much as a second thought, she hopped off of the throne and skipped childishly over to the kraken's eye. She had to try it! Eroina reached in, tapping the ivory white schlera. It was tough, hard to pierce, but she had strong fingernails. After half of a minute of trying, she finally got a small, bite sized piece off, and slid it into her mouth. It was tough, definitely; hard to chew, but after enough of Eroina's chewing, it softened, and she was finally able to swallow the small piece. The process of eating that one bite sized piece sent a euphoric sensation throughout her body--a truly marvelous taste!

"Mmmm~ that's so delicious~" she cooed, before finally skipping up to Fifteen and throwing her arms around him, "Thank you so much!"