Chapter Text
Scott was decidedly not looking forward to the next House Blossom meeting.
You’d think with almost two hundred years of ruling experience, he’d be used to the loud, brash politics and arguments that came with the empires’ fortnightly meetings. They’d been a mandated event twice a month ever since Lady Katherine of the Overgrown came into power about a hundred years into Scott’s own rule.
“That’s enough!” Katherine slammed her fist onto the table. Ah, yes. Scott leaned back against his chair, absolutely zoning out of the conversations until now. Things have finally gotten interesting. He watched, trying not to smirk, as vines snaked around the table, reaching up towards each of the rulers’ arms. They froze, just inches away from touching them, as Katherine let out a frustrated sigh, her eyes glowing a fierce pink, “sit. Down,” she hissed, her glare withering.
The rulers in question paused, continuing to shoot daggers at one another. Finally, it was the Codfather who sat down with a huff. Count fWhip of the Grimlands grinned triumphantly, clearly taunting the Codfather.
“That includes you too, Count fWhip,” Katherine growled, “sit down,” the Count had the grace to look just a little ashamed as he, too, took his seat. Scott heard fWhip murmur something not very nice to Sausage on his right. “These meetings,” Katherine began again, snapping Scott’s attention back to the fae, “are a chance for us all to help one another and help establish trade agreements, so I’d appreciate if you could all leave your sword-waving and violence for outside of the Overgrowth,”
There was a brief silence.
“So, who’d like to start?” Katherine cleared her throat expertly, the vines around the table retracting back into the dirt.
“I’d like to, actually,” Prince SmallishBeans of Mezalea spoke up from his spot between the members of the Cod Alliance. His mother, Queen CarmenBeans had long given her duties to the prince, due to her old age. Scott blinked as his eyes met the Codfather’s, the two locking gazes for a moment, before Scott looked away, his attention on SmallishBeans once more, “Mezalea has lost its queen,” he announced blankly, and a murmur of shock, grief and condolences filled the air.
Scott grimaced slightly; he could still remember attending his first House Blossom meeting with Carmen’s mother. He would miss Carmen. She was a level-headed and fair queen, like her mother before her. Scott couldn’t say the same for Smallish yet, but who was he to make a judgement on someone he hadn’t known that well until a couple months ago? Scott caught Pixlriff’s eye from across the table, the two of them exchanging the same old, tired look of grief they’d developed over the years.
“As the heir, I will become King of Mezalea,” SmallishBeans continued, “my coronation will be in a few weeks. Invitations should begin arriving at your kingdoms over the next few days,” he sat back down, the prince biting his lip; a motion Scott recognised as the human trying not to cry. A pang of sympathy blossomed in his heart as he looked away.
“I’m sorry to hear about that, Prince Joel, and I offer my deepest condolences,” Katherine spoke up again from her spot at the head of the table. Scott winced. Her use of the prince’s true name was not lost to him, nor anyone else. It was a show of power, but also sincerity. If the Mezalean prince had any complaints about this, he didn’t voice them, “Ocean Queen?” She prompted the blue axolotl hybrid seated beside Joel. Ouch. That’s a tough act to follow. Scott was internally thankful he wasn’t next.
“The Ocean Empire offers its condolences, too,” the Ocean Queen began, dipping her head at Prince Joel. Scott distantly recalled that the two had been childhood friends, “the Ocean Empire would be happy to offer any support Mezalea may need in this period of mourning,” she turned her gaze back to the other rulers, “in other news, my empire is doing well. Prismarine production has been flourishing lately, and the same could be said about wild fish and other ocean produce, like seaweed,”
“That’s gre-” Katherine’s words were cut off as the Ocean Queen raised her hand.
“I’m not done,” she interrupted regally, “I’d like to reiterate that the Ocean Empire stands with the Cod Empire. The two empires may no longer be one, but I will provide all aid possible to my brother and his empire,” the Ocean Queen was staring straight at the Wither Rose Alliance now.
Scott was surprised as the merwoman’s glare swept across the table, her furious stare meeting Scott’s for a moment. What had he done wrong? Sure, he was technically allied with fWhip and Gem, but he had hardly done anything to offend the Ocean OR Cod Empires.
“Right,” Katherine looked nervous now, “thank you. Smajor?” Scott blinked, startled, before standing up, ignoring the way his chair scraped against the marble floor loudly.
“I’d also like to extend mine and Rivendell’s condolences to Mezalea,” Scott glanced at Prince Joel with what he hoped was a look of grief and sympathy. He then continued to give a pre-rehearsed speech about how wool production was just fine, thank you and the winter has been harsh, but Rivendell is thriving nonetheless.
“I’m sure it is,” the Codfather grumbled quietly to his neighbours, clearly thinking Scott had not heard.
“Would you like to repeat that, Codfather?” Scott paused, allowing his eyes to gleam a powerful gold and cyan. The cod hybrid let out a few splutters, before falling silent. Scott shifted his wings uncomfortably, before taking his seat once more with a nod at Katherine.
Eventually, each of the rulers said their piece, and people were beginning to file off, taking off on their elytra or rowing away on small boats. Scott offered Prince Joel a few more private words of condolence, before shaking his wings out, fully prepared to head home there and then, until the sound of Pixlriff’s voice calling for him forced him to stop and wait.
“Smajor! Would it be alright if I spoke with you and Lady Katherine quickly?” The Keeper appeared quite serious, so Scott nodded curtly, following the man back into the now-empty meeting room.
“What’s this about, Pix?” Katherine dropped all formalities once the three of them settled down, “why did you need to speak with Scott and I?”
“The two of you remember the Lost Empire, correct?” Pix also eased into more casual speech easily. Scott nodded, watching Katherine react the same way out the corner of his eye.
“The empire that used to sit north of the Grimlands in the jungle?” Katherine reaffirmed uncertainly, “I don’t believe it was around during my reign, but I’ve certainly heard stories,”
“The Lost Empire disappeared about twenty years before your birth,” Scott told Katherine off-handedly, although his tone remained stiff and formal. As much as his friend berated him for it, old habits died hard, “but how is this relevant, King Pixlriffs?”
“I had a vision,” Pix mumbled, his eyes clouding over, “of the Lost Empire returning, along with another empire that I don’t recognise,”
“That’s great and all, Pix, but how does this concern us?” Katherine frowned, although her butterfly wings buzzed with excitement from the news.
“The three of us are the oldest rulers, and are the only immortals,” Pix shrugged. Scott held back a scoff. They all knew that wasn’t true, “and,” the Copper King added, after a moment of consideration, “we are the only Champions of the Gods amongst the rulers,”
There was a moment of silence that lasted too long and too short, all at once.
“What are you asking of us, King Pixlriffs?” Scott finally asked, his wings twitching impatiently.
“I’m asking the two of you to accompany me to the jungle,” Pix’s eyes sharpened with clarity, “I’d like to see the state of the Lost Empire for myself,” before Scott could protest that he had very important work to do and couldn’t come, Pix continued, “Katherine, isn’t your job as the head of the House Blossom Alliance to guide new emperors and empires?”
“I guess…” Katherine shifted uncomfortably. Scott grimaced as Pix turned to him next.
“And isn’t the jungle close to Rivendell, Scott? Wouldn’t you want to ensure your empire’s safety above all else?” Pix grinned when Scott remained silent, knowing the Keeper was correct.
“When do we leave?” Scott forced out stiffly.
“Now,” Pix softened ever so slightly, “I assume you both cleared out your schedules for today’s meeting anyway, correct?” Scott nodded, only a little annoyed by how perceptive Pix was, “then we leave now, so we may return to our empires by nightfall,”
Scott let Pix lead the way, following the trail the Copper King’s rockets left. He fell in line with Katherine, the two of them flying with ease side by side. The fae let out a heavy sigh, breaking the comfortable silence.
“Is everything alright?” Scott asked as gently as possible, trying to match his best friend’s wingbeats, although failing to do so due to his much larger wingspan.
“Long day,” Katherine replied off-handedly, “these meetings will be the death of me, I swear,”
“They’re your meetings,” Scott reminded her, trying not to snicker in a very unprofessional way, “I for one don’t remember ever asking to be invited every fortnight,”
“Yet you haven’t skipped a single one in two hundred years,” Katherine shot back smugly.
“I’d rather this than dealing with my council,” Scott tried his best to shrug in midair. His attention was drawn back to Pix, who was yelling at them from ahead to land.
Scott landed neatly on the grass beside where Pix was, his eyes trained on the edge of the wild jungle. Normally, he tended to avoid this part of the Overworld as much as possible, but standing at its edge now, Scott could clearly tell that something had changed about the jungle. It appeared slightly less wild, and a little more tame. Wordlessly, Scott followed Pix through the tight trees, keeping his wings folded and tucked close to his body to avoid crushing them.
“Well it certainly looks different,” Katherine crossed her arms with a frown, “the array of plants seems to have changed,” she tentatively touched the branch of a tree, closing her eyes. Pix and Scott stood to the side, watching patiently as the fae spoke telepathically with the tree. Her eyes snapped back open with a glint of green and pink power, “something has definitely riled the trees up. A change in the nature magic around here,” Scott bit his tongue, trying to hold back a snark reply that that was quite obvious, even without needing to connect to a plant on a telepathic level.
A rustle from above made Scott freeze, his ears flicking upwards.
“Scott?” Katherine was staring at him, noticing his change in movement. Scott pressed a finger to his lips, listening as the soft sound of feathers brushing against leaves caught his attention. Without another word, Scott lunged upwards, beating his wings hard until he breached the tops of the tree. Something- no, someone with scarlet parrot wings fell backwards with a yelp.
“Who are you?” Scott demanded, his hands flying to the hilt of the sword at his hip. It was an avian hybrid of some kind, dressed in what Scott distinctly recognised as the attire of residents of the Lost Empire, before they vanished. He was vaguely aware of Katherine and Pix flying up to join him on the treetops, with Pix stumbling slightly as he struggled to keep his footing without wings to keep his balance like the two fae.
“Scott,” Katherine murmured, tugging at his arm with a stern glance. Scott sighed, releasing his hold on his sword.
The avian smirked at him slightly, tilting his head upwards in what had to be a cocky and overconfident manner.
“I’m Emperor Joey,” the parrot hybrid declared, “emperor of the Lost Empire,” Joey’s eyes sharpened with curiosity, “who are you?”
“I am Lady Katherine of House Blossom,” Katherine leaned forwards, a diplomatic smile immediately covering up the rest of her emotions, “and these are King Pixlriffs of Pixandria and Lord Smajor of Rivendell,” Scott kept his expression blank and nonchalant, even as he felt relief knowing that Katherine hadn’t given this stranger his true name.
“We felt a disturbance in the magic of the empires, and came to investigate,” Pix added, his eyes darting towards where Scott knew the city of the Lost Empire once stood, “I would be correct to assume that the Lost Empire has returned, then?”
“Yes,” Joey’s wings fluffed up with pride, “it has,”
“Then I’d like to offer you a seat in the House Blossom Alliance,” Katherine offered hopefully.
“Katherine!” This time, it was Scott’s turn to hiss a word of warning. They knew nothing about this strange avian. For all they knew, he just randomly appeared one day. That was hardly enough information to let him in!
“Scott,” Katherine shot back off-handedly, her hand brushing over his. It was their secret code for ‘trust me’, so Scott fell silent.
“Of course,” Joey accepted, “I’ve been meaning to meet the other empires anyway. Maybe that weird gnome from that mushroom-y empire will be there,”
“What?” Katherine frowned, “who?” Joey shrugged.
“Oh, you haven’t met her yet? Called herself Shrub. Weird name if you ask me,”
“Could you perhaps point us in the direction of her empire?” Pix already had his rockets back in his hands. Scott suppressed an annoyed sigh as Joey gave them rough directions. Why was he here again? The three bade their goodbyes, with Katherine promising to send the new emperor an invite to the next meeting, before making their way west, towards the ‘mushroom-y empire’ Joey spoke of.
“Wow,” Katherine’s eyes widened as they approached what was definitely an empire swarming with giant, cushiony red mushrooms everywhere.
“Well this is new,” Scott blinked, equally in awe, although he tried his best not to show it. The three of them landed on the path, staring all around them.
“This is it!” Pix’s eyes sparkled with excitement, “this is the empire I saw in my visions!” Doesn’t seem like much of an empire yet, Scott thought to himself ruefully.
“We should find its ruler,” he said instead, his ears perking up as he strained to use his enhanced hearing in an attempt to find clues of any residents.
Scott flinched, however, when a loud voice sounded from near them.
“Hi!” a tiny woman in mushroom-themed clothing waved at them, “I’m Shrub Berry! Who are you?” Scott decided he already liked this one better than Joey.
“I’m Katherine,” Katherine blurted out before Scott could introduce himself. He allowed himself a small smile, seeing her wings flutter on her back, “uh- Lady Katherine of House Blossom,” the fae amended, standing up straighter as she noticed Scott’s smirk.
“Lord Smajor of Rivendell,” Scott bowed expertly, before straightening up.
“King Pixlriffs,” Pix introduced himself absent-mindedly, seemingly more entranced in their surroundings.
“The Copper King and Keeper of the Vigil,” Scott added quickly.
“Oh!” Shrub’s eyes were round with surprise, “I’ve heard of the Vigil. Allows those connected to it to conquer death, doesn’t it?”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Pix responded, snapping his attention back to the gnome. Scott grimaced. The vigil was a sore topic amongst the rulers. Respawning was a vulnerable process, after all, and didn’t happen often. At least not for Scott.
“Well what brings you to the Undergrove?” Shrub seemed to notice the tension between the three rulers, changing the topic cheerfully.
“We wanted to invite you to the House Blossom Alliance,” Katherine stepped up, then flushed ever so slightly, “we hold fortnightly meetings with all the rulers of the empires,”
“Of course!” Shrub bounced with excitement, “I’d love to!”
“Great! Then- uh- we’ll leave you to it!” Katherine turned around quickly. Scott let out a yelp as the fae grabbed him and Pix by the wrists before dragging them up into the air.
“Lady Katherine,” Scott protested once they were high up in the air, “what was that?”
“I’m sorry!” Katherine glanced back at him, flustered. She didn’t even have time to scold him for his use of titles, “I don’t know what came over me! It’s just- she’s so cheerful and light. It was-”
“Refreshing,” Scott finished, “I get it,” he shuddered glancing behind him as he felt a strange presence watching him. He paused in midair, his powerful owl wings beating hard to keep him in the air against the cool autumn wind.
“Scott?” Katherine called, “everything alright?”
“Yeah,” Scott tore his gaze away from the Undergrove with a frown, “I must’ve been imagining things,” instead, he turned to the ruler of Pixandria, “King Pixlriffs? Did you get what you wanted out of this excursion?”
“I think so,” Scott had never seen Pix look so hesitant, “we should get back to our empires. It’s getting dark, and I have an alliance meeting tomorrow,”
“Right,” Scott agreed, “Lady K-”
“Scott,” Katherine glared at him, pouting.
“Katherine,” Scott amended quickly, “shall we head back?”
“I suppose,” Katherine grinned triumphantly, “after all, I’ve got to prepare for the next meeting. With two new rulers,”
“Three, once Prince SmallishBeans has his coronation,” Scott reminded his best friend.
Katherine hummed thoughtfully at the reminder. Soon, they parted ways, and Scott was soaring back to the cliffs of Rivendell, relaxing into the cooler climate of the mountains. He landed on the snow outside the gates of Rivendell with a content sigh.
“Lord Smajor!” the head guard looked both surprised and completely unsurprised to see him.
“Good evening, Aster,” Scott greeted the guard coolly, “everything peaceful?”
“I believe so, sire,” Aster glanced behind her, “although the council wishes to speak to you, I believe,”
“I’m sure they do,” Scott tried his best not to roll his eyes, “I best be on my way, then,” he slipped through the gates and into the city.
It was quiet in Rivendell at this time of the night. The soft warm glow of lanternlight filled the crisp evening air. The beginnings of what appeared to be early snowfall fell softly on the cyan rooftops of the houses. Elven children played along the paths as their parents chatted away. Scott walked through the streets of Rivendell, enjoying the view. Every now and then, some of the elves would greet him. Older elves would fuss over his pale complexion, whilst younger elves - male and female alike - would try to woo him. Scott easily brushed them off with short, polite answers before making his way up to the palace.
“You’re back late,” a familiar elf with sunset orange hair greeted him, “the council has been asking for you. What held you up, my lord?”
“Vaeril,” Scott nodded at his personal assistant, “let’s talk later,” he took the stack of papers Vaeril offered him before heading into the meeting room. Scott was greeted with twelve cold-faced elves, all older than him by many centuries. He took his seat at the head of the table with a sigh, mentally preparing himself. The council members of Rivendell could make House Blossom meetings seem like a walk in the park in comparison.
“Lord Smajor,” Sage, an older green-eyed elf spoke first, their eyes glinting with a mixture of worry, disappointment and relief, “the council has noticed your tardiness today. What was the reason for the delay?”
“I was kept up,” Scott shrugged, already frustrated, “the Copper King needed a favour between champions,” he lifted his chin ever so slightly so that he was looking down his nose at them, “as the representative of our great Aeor, I felt it was my responsibility to oblige,” This shut up whatever other complaints the council members had. Scott shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, “besides, I thought I kept my schedule clear for today, with the alliance meeting and all,”
“Did the other empires have anything notable to say?” Faürel, another council member with stormy grey hair, leaned forwards curiously. Scott held back a scoff. Since when did he have to report to his council?
“Prince SmallishBeans is set to succeed the Mezalean throne,” Scott informed them instead, “and there may be two new empires joining the House Blossom Alliance,” This caught the other elves’ attentions.
“Two?” Sage’s eyes widened, “all at once?”
“The Lost Empire has returned,” Scott kept his face and voice neutral, despite wanting to smirk at seeing the reactions he’d been able to draw from the usually stone-faced elves, “and a new empire has emerged, just beyond the jungle. The Undergrove,”
“So you’ve met the rulers,” a third elf spoke up, eyes narrowing. Scott bit his lip, unsure how to reply.
“Yes,” he admitted finally, “but the meeting was brief,”
“You haven't sullied our good relations with the other empires, have you?” Faürel hissed with contempt. Scott felt a wave of fury and exhaustion rush through him. He stood up, seat scraping the ground loudly. Scott drew to his full height, unfurling his wings intimidatingly. He watched in satisfaction as his council shrunk backwards at the sight.
“That’s enough,” Scott snapped, “our good relations are only thanks to my negotiations, which, I remind you, the council was highly opposed to for the first hundred years of my reign. So forgive me if I ‘ruin’ our ‘good relations’,” his eyes flashed a dangerous golden colour, “you are all dismissed,”
Scott turned, yanking the door open before slamming it shut behind him. He stomped down the hallways, barely able to contain his anger. In no time, Scott was already by the door to his private quarters, throwing himself into the main room, when a voice suddenly snapped him out of his fury.
“The council as unhelpful as always?”
“Cleo!” Scott let out a relieved sigh, sagging against the shut door, “thank Aeor,”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” the burnt orange-haired elf lent him a small smile, “someone should really get rid of those old oafs,”
Scott scoffed, “I wish! Aeor knows that’ll never happen. Not when they can pull the whole ‘age rank’ thing on me whenever they want,”
“You need a break,” Cleo softened, pulling the heavy cloak off Scott’s shoulders and hanging it onto the wooden rack near his door, “a proper one, at that,”
“I’ll take a break when you finally stop treating me like a child,” Scott teased, rolling out his sore shoulders with a sigh. He and Cleo had been friends since Scott was a child, and she’d helped him out in his early years of ruling.
“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Cleo rolled her eyes affectionately, reaching for the door, “call me if you need anything?”
“Of course,” Scott spent the next hour brewing himself a cup of tea, getting through some work, and then taking a nice, warm bath. He had just finished drying off his hair and preening his wings when a knock came at the door.
“Sire? It’s Vaeril,” his secretary’s voice came through the door apologetically. Scott crossed the room, opening the door with an easy smile fitting for a king.
“Good evening,” Scott greeted the elf cautiously, “what brings you to my quarters?”
“Apologies, my lord, but the Codfather is here,” Vaeril bit his lip, “and is requesting an audience with you. I have him waiting in the waiting room,” Scott bit back a groan of annoyance.
“Very well,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I’ll head down now,”
Scott grabbed his crown and gingerly placed it on his head before making his way to the sitting room. As he reached the door to the room, he couldn’t help but think, what could the ruler of the Cod Empire possibly want at this hour?