Chapter 262: The way the cookie crumbles

I can’t help but suck in a breath when the presence of Goddess washes over me from afar. Despite the walls between us, I reflexively turn to look in her direction.

With how sensitive I am to Espir fluctuations, sensing her is a bit like stepping outside on a bright sunny day after spending way too long cooped up in a dark room.

Seeing her sweep away the chaos storm was one thing, but actually feeling her power in person sends shivers down my spine.

To my surprise, I find that I can’t actually estimate the size of her Espir Pool—other than that it’s much larger than mine—but it really only makes sense.

When I estimate the size of a being’s Espir Pool, I essentially do so by trying to judge the density of their Espir by the fluctuations formed where they brush against the fabric of the Realm.

While I can tell her Espir is incredibly dense, it’s so far beyond anything I’ve come across that I basically have no proper benchmark to compare it against, and therefore can’t attach even a ballpark number to it.

Her companions are a little easier to judge, at least.

Two figures accompany her, only one of which I’m familiar with.

Marty the monocled manatee with the top hat merrily blows bubbles out of his pipe as he drifts after her on her left. He appears to have dressed up for the occasion, as he’s now also wearing a sharply cut, deep-crimson doublet. While I know him to be the mayor of Hangspire, it’s the first time I see him truly look the part.

However, compared to his couture, his Espir Pool isn’t that impressive; only about 6000 motes deep. I guess that means he’s a local, born and raised here.

Behind and to the right of Goddess there’s an upright, female, gorilla-like figure—though with a long tail—covered in silver fur and wearing a black suit, with a severe look on her face. Her Espir Pool is actually even bigger than Bhat’s, at around 16.000 motes, and if it weren’t for Goddess overshadowing her, I’d probably be alarmed by her presence.

Actually, seeing her muscles ripple underneath her far-too-tight suit, I’m a little alarmed regardless. She looks like she could burst out of her sleeves at any moment, and her whole look just screams barely contained violence, in a way that leaves me no doubt that she’s Ascended to this Realm.

Suddenly, Goddess lifts her head, her eyes swivelling up to stare straight at me, one eyebrow curled up in surprise.

With a shudder, I retract my gaze.

“Emma?” Kaitlynn asks. “What’s the matter?”

“Goddess is here, with her war council,” I reply quietly. “This is it, Kait.”

Biting her lip, Kaitlynn grabs my hand.

The thing is, while I don’t doubt that we’re all united against the Peilor, I fear Kaitlynn and I currently have a very different timeframe in mind regarding any actions we wish to undertake.

What it boils down to, is that the beings of this Realm can afford to wait and see how the situation develops, and we cannot. And if we’re going to stand any chance of saving Earth, we’ll have to convince them not to wait, but to take action alongside us.

“So that’s why she asked me to wait,” Akir grunts, before letting out a heavy sigh. “Well, I suppose there was no way I wasn’t going to get dragged into this mess.”

I turn to him, a pang of guilt in my stomach. “Akir... You know I don’t expect you to fight or anything, right? I know you promised Mirta that you would never become that being anymore, so—”

Akir lifts a tentacle, cutting me off. “I won’t run from this battle, Emma. There’s a big difference between going down there with you to slaughter the innocent for power and standing up to the Peilor. The bastards threaten our very existence... if it’s to protect this Realm, these people, even if I had to become that monster I once was again, I’d do it.”

“Well said,” Goddess intones, suddenly in the room, her voice like a triumphant hymn sung by a massive choir.

It’s only thanks to the split-second heads-up I received through the fabric that I manage not to startle.

Brief as my glimpse at her translocation method was, it was enough for me to notice that her approach is radically different from mine. Rather than having the fabric form a tunnel, it seemed like Goddess simply had it move the space that contained her and her companions to inside our room.

It makes for a truly sudden entrance, and Kaitlynn can’t help but let out a startled squeak.

Akir fares a little better, managing to keep his calm—apart from the slightest flinch—and smoothly rising from the couch to incline his head towards her. “Thank you, your Highness,” he says in the formal tone I only ever hear him use in the presence of Goddess.

Pssh. Suck up.

Still, I follow his lead in getting up and bowing to her, while Kaitlynn is only a fraction later with her curtsy.

Despite the rather undignified sound she released earlier, she doesn’t seem at all frightened, curiously taking in the figures beside Goddess.

Looking over the room, the monocled manatee smacks his meaty lips. “Well well,” he glubs around his bubbling pipe, drawing out the words in a sedate manner. “I suppose this explains all the secrecy. It is a pleasant surprise to see you again so soon, Emma.”

“You too, Marty,” I tell him with a smile.

I always did like the jovial manatee with his unshakeable calm.

“Is Kirri still in one piece?” he asks, floating down onto a comfortable reclining chair, his tail propped up on a velvet-covered ottoman.

“She is. Though, ehm, she may have a few scratches and scorch marks here and there,” I reply sheepishly, recalling the hours Marty spent carefully shaping her railings.

He chortles. “Nothing we can’t spiffy up, I’m sure.”

Meanwhile, Goddess is looking at me, her eyes pits of unfathomable darkness that seem to contain all. “You are listening to the fabric,” she muses out loud. “Tell me, child, how did you learn this?”

“I was taught,” I answer truthfully. “By Elder Ori, Apex and leader of the Bloodborn, a sightless, bat-like people that live in one of the middle Realms, called the Realm of Darkness.”

“I see,” she says with a sigh like a summer breeze. “Still, even with a teacher, for a creature born of Material Realmspace to learn such an advanced technique, in so short a time… Truly impressive.”

The figure to the right of Goddess steps forward next, her muscles bulging under the material of her suit, which looks like it would have been screaming in protest, if only it had a voice. “Allow me to introduce myself,” she states curtly, with a deep and clear, yet unmistakably female voice. “I’m Agath, Chief Steward under Goddess. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

As Kaitlynn and I echo similar statements, I can’t help but wonder why I’ve never met her before. However, I soon learn why.

Apparently, Agath is in charge of overseeing pretty much all of this Realm’s administration, which means she’s usually locked away in the crystal palace somewhere, going over paperwork or—I imagine—yelling at some poor lackey for not sticking to the letter of protocol or something.

The final addition to our little get-together is Trisha herself, who shows up with a tray absolutely laden with tea and cookies, plus a scroll and a bottle of ink, apparently here to take notes.

Though I can’t help but grow a little suspicious of her reason for accepting that task when I notice that she seems to jot something down whenever anyone takes a cookie.

Despite this, I can’t resist the sugary goodness in front of me.

Once we’re all seated—Kaitlynn and I on a couch with Akir, our guests on various chairs—Agath clears her throat. “If there are no objections, I hereby open the first meeting of the newly formed Cinnamon Circle.”

I stop mid-bite, to glance down at the biscuit I’ve got half-stuffed in my mouth. Huh. I thought that tasted familiar.

“That’s obviously a code name,” Agath continues, glancing sternly at the rather amused-looking manatee opposite her. “This is, in effect, the new war council. We’ve had to slim down its ranks a little to ensure secrecy. I’m sure you all appreciate the need for discretion, and will act accordingly.”

Once the word ‘war’ falls, Marty no longer looks as amused.

Agath remains quiet for a moment, seeming to wait for a reaction from him, then keeps going when he keeps his silence. “To begin with, I’d like a full debrief from Emma and Kaitlynn regarding the actions the Peilor have taken in the Realms below, and the information they’ve already learned from the prisoner.”

At the word prisoner, Marty’s eyes go wide, but he quickly schools his features, before turning expectantly towards us.

I share a glance with Kaitlynn, take a deep breath, and start talking.

Kaitlynn and I take turns going over the various events that occurred, from the way she slowly slipped off most of Suri’s mental shackles, to how we took down Lio in a massive battle witnessed by countless raptors of the Great Guardian Tribe in the Realm of Glory.

And finally, we talk about what we’ve learned about the fate that’s awaiting Earth, and the countless people living there.

Apart from Trisha’s quill scratching over the parchment of her seemingly endless scroll, it remains quiet in the room as we tell our story.

Goddess shows barely any emotion on her face apart from the occasional minute twitch of her bright-white eyebrows. Agath mostly looks kind of constipated and angry, but I get the feeling that’s a pretty regular expression for her.

Meanwhile, Marty continues to merrily blow bubbles from his pipe, but his big, dark eyes are thoughtful.

I’m not all that surprised when he’s the first to respond after we finish.

“Well well,” he glubs around the stem of his pipe. “If what you learned of the Peilor’s plans regarding your people is accurate, that's certainly quite terrible. But to be honest… I don’t entirely see why this new war council has been convened.”

My stomach sinks, and I can feel Kaitlynn tense up next to me.

“Don’t get me wrong, Your Highness,” he continues, turning his attention to Goddess. “I’m very sympathetic with our dear Visitors’ plight, but… we’ve had many centuries of peace now. Are we truly prepared to throw that all away?”

Author's note:

Thanks for reading! ^^