Chapter 294: Ain’t no party like an... (Patreon)

While Akir sets up his bar, the rest of us drag over some of Herman’s folding chairs and collect firewood from the sparse trees on the outskirts of the pocket dimension.

These are all things we could conjure, of course, but there’s something satisfying about doing it by hand. Besides, I’d rather not accidentally let my chair Fade while I’m plastered, and end up on my behind.

Soon enough, we’re seated around a nice little campfire, drinking Akir’s creations and eating the snacks Trisha’s drones prepare on the spot. We start out ordering a bunch of zirot wine and Honey-Yam Mead, of which Akir manages to whip up quite faithful renditions. Soon, however, we branch out to other nostalgic drinks from back on Earth, and then more interesting stuff.

By the time I’m sipping on a ‘Greatest Hits by Abba,’ bobbing my head to its intoxicating rhythms, Herman shows up with Farouq as well.

“Ah, man, a party? Sweet!” Herman states. “Got room for a couple of surfer dudes?”

There’s a beat of silence, in which a lot of eyes flick between Alec and the awkwardly shaped crystalline spiritform of Farouq, which quietly hovers next to Herman.

Of course, Alec is rather a lightweight—physically as well as spiritually—so he’s long been three sheets to the wind. “Of course there’s room, mah dudes!” he exclaims, some of his ‘Gorgeous Flower Arrangement’ sloshing over the rim of the wide glass in his hand.

And soon enough, Alec, Loudmouth, and Farouq are discussing the merits of some old Hoig mosaic art style that apparently involves the use of shards of shattered shells.

With all the commotion, it’s naturally only a matter of time until Koko’s sensitive ears hone in on us, so it doesn’t take long before Kirri comes sailing up onto the beach, bearing her Bloodborn friend, and pulling a barge full of Kaitlynn’s cuties.

The former Ascendants seem very interested in the drinks Akir’s mixing, but we manage to keep them away from the alcohol. Mostly.

Koko naturally wants to try everything, and is soon a giggling mess. Kirri can’t really drink in her current shape—not that I’d let her anyway, she’s far too young—but her drunken friend clearly amuses her quite a bit.

And once Whiskers and Sal get into a barrel of zirot wine Akir ‘accidentally’ left unattended, things get really crazy.

Most of my attention, however, is on Dave. His reactions to our stories range from keen interest to open-mouthed astonishment—though that might also be a side-effect from the red and green ‘Christmas Morning’ he’s nursing.

In particular Alec’s retelling of our mind-meld—though he refers to it as our ‘fusion’ into ‘Emmalec’—has Dave cracking up.

He tells us about his own experiences as well, of course, though he’s had relatively few. It seems after his host training, Yog kept him in Boreum quite a lot, and only really took him out for special events.

I suppose a Lustrous-tier Peilor like Yog must be spoiled for choice when it comes to hosts.

And of course, we talk about the situation regarding Earth, and the war and various battles between Goddess and Starmother. I don’t expect any instant solutions from Dave—especially while intoxicated around a campfire on a beach—but there’s no harm in bringing him up to speed.

After a while, however, despite my buzz, I can’t help but notice that Suri is sitting kind of outside of the circle that’s formed, and not really interacting much with the rest.

It probably doesn’t help that she hasn’t figured out how to drink or eat yet with her spiritform. She hasn’t given up on trying yet, but considering the circumstances, she hasn’t had much time to practise.

Seeing her sit by herself plucks on some string in my heart, and before I know it, I find myself moving over and flopping down in the sand next to her. “Hey Suri, I couldn’t help but notice... back during the show, you guysh took up shop in our eye shockets, but outside you’re all like, up in people’s foreheads. What’sh up with that?”

Suri remains quiet for a moment. “Well, there’s a couple of reasons, I suppose. I believe the main one was to make it more believable to you all that we were what we said we were; simply tools to aid you. Though I reckon there was definitely an entertainment factor intended there as well, from seeing the reactions of humans when they realised one of their eyes had been removed.”

“Of course there wash,” I grumble. “Bastards.”

We talk for a while longer, about various topics, as Alec and Farouq go head-to-head in a sandcastle-building competition moderated by Dave, and Suri gradually seems to relax a little more.

“So,” Suri chimes after a beat of silence. “At the risk of spoiling the festive mood, I’d like to ask you a serious question.”

“Shoot,” I reply easily, tracing lazy circles along the top of my glass of ‘Happily Ever After.’

It’s a bit sappy for my taste.

“Would you say you’re ready to forgive me yet?”

I blink, and glance over at her, incredulous. “Serioushly?”

“Well, yes,” Suri chimes defensively. “I’d like to know where I stand, if you don’t mind. I meant it when I said I’d like to be your friend someday.”

“No, that’sh not...” I shake my head, and take a moment to gather and quarantine the intoxicating Espir from Akir’s drinks inside my spiritform, so I can answer her seriously. With my head cleared up, I sit up straight and look over at her earnestly. “That’s not what I meant. Look, I know I haven’t said anything, but... after all the shit we’ve been through, after the way you stepped up and helped us save the rest of the Blue Dragons? Yeah, of course you’re forgiven. Very much so, in fact, and, well... we are friends, Suri.”

“Oh,” Suri chimes sounding pleasantly surprised.

“Was I not giving off that vibe?” I ask, scratching my neck.

“Well, I didn’t want to assume. Quite presumptuous of you to unilaterally declare us friends, by the way.”

I snort, tossing some sand at her in retaliation.

A comfortable silence falls over us for a bit, as my attention is momentarily drawn by Alec taking Jacob by the hand and pulling him into the surfboard shed. For a moment, I can’t help but be reminded of what happened between them at the reunion party.

It’d be easy enough for me to check if there’s a repeat of that kiss occurring in there, of course, but... I decide to keep my tuned-in senses to myself. In the end, it’s none of my business. Still, I keep half an eye on the shed until they emerge with surfboards a minute or two later, and follow Herman into the water.

“You know,” I finally say, putting the thoughts out of my head as I turn back to Suri. “There’s an idea I’ve been mulling over, that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Shoot,” Suri chimes.

The corner of my mouth quirks up a bit, but I quickly suppress it. “I’ve been thinking about what to do about Peilor society should we succeed in getting rid of Starmother. I know, I know, we don’t even have a plan yet, but—”

“No,” Suri chimes. “It’s good to plan ahead, both for worst-case scenarios, and borderline delusionally optimistic ones alike.”

I roll my eyes, but fondly. “All right, so here’s what I’m thinking. If we defeat her, perhaps you could... replicate Starmother’s technique. If you took over other Peilor, one by one—perhaps even remnants of Starmother—and amassed a great number of them, then, with our help, you would definitely be in a position to take her place. It’s not the most palatable solution, I’m aware, but if it stops another war...”

Suri is quiet for a long moment. “You would trust me with all that power?”

I shrug. “You’ve come a long way, Suri.”

“I have, haven’t I?” she muses. “A couple of months ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity, but now... I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass.”

I blink. “I’m sorry?”

“Yes, I’m surprised too, dear...” she chimes. “The thing is, I’ve had a lot of time to think, and the more I consider Peilor society from a distance, as objectively as I’m able, the less I like it. Replacing one dictator with another... that’s not true progress. And no matter how bad our society has gotten, I don’t believe we Peilor are inherently evil. Even for a better future, I couldn’t justify the lives I would have to destroy to become powerful enough to rule Peilinor unopposed.”

I frown. “Surely there will be some Peilor who deserve it. You really won’t consider it?”

“We’ll find another way to reform Peilinor,” she replies firmly. “A better one. I have faith in you, Emma.”

“Shit. You really have changed.”

Suri laughs, the sound not unlike the clear tinkling of a tray of crystal glasses being carried by a slightly hurried waiter.

“Perhaps. Or perhaps I’ve simply grown wiser, been taught better, by a certain special human.”

A warm glow suffuses me.

Wait a minute...

I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re talking about Kaitlynn, aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m referring to Kaitlynn,” Suri chimes smugly. “Who did you think I meant?”

I groan, though mostly at myself for having fallen for her trap.

“I’m just teasing, dear,” Suri chimes a moment later. “I’ve honestly learned a lot from each of you.”

“Yeah yeah,” I grumble, flanking over at Kaitlynn, who’s caught in an animated discussion with Farouq. “You make a good point though. Perhaps what we need to protect humanity after all this is over isn’t a new dictator, but... an ambassador.”

The party continues in full swing, and with Akir’s intoxicating Espir no longer quarantined in my spiritform, it’d be hard not to enjoy the sight of Dave and Kaitlynn going head-to-head in a race around the lake on a very drunk Whiskers and Sal.

Of course, because of how fragile Dave is in this Realm, he can’t safely ride a drunken former Ascender on his own, so the drone from Trisha that’s supplying him with Espir accompanies him on the ride.

While all the craziness on the beach is lots of fun, I also really enjoy it a bit later when I’m seated on Kirri’s prow, hair blowing in the breeze as she carves circles around the intrepid surfers, the waves she produces sending them stumbling off their boards more than once.

By the time they flee from her assault towards the beach, I’m crying laughing.

I’m still wiping tears from my eyes by the time Kirri gives up the chase to drift into calmer waters. Despite that, I can’t help but notice that Alec and Jacob don’t immediately return from the shed.

“So, how are you holding up?” I ask after taking a minute to recover. “Going stir-crazy in here yet? I know there’s not a lot of room to fly, relatively speaking...”

“No, it’s okay, Em,” Kirri replies. “I’m having quite a bit of fun here. Shelly is starting to learn how to speak, and Uncle Herman is really nice!”

“Good, I’m glad,” I say with a sigh as I lie back on her deck, my feet still dangling in the water.

“I’m just... kind of scared,” she admits after a moment.

I blink slowly. “What about?”

“About you. All those things you’re getting up to, infiltrating Peilor society, trying to stay hidden from Starmother... it’s all pretty scary.”

I hum. “Yeah, I get that. In fact, it’s scary for me too.”

“Really?” Kirri asks, sounding surprised.

I snort. “What, did you think I never get scared? Don’t you remember us fighting about you taking all those risks and moving out of my detection range all the time?”

“Yeah, but that was you being scared about something happening to me, not to yourself,” Kirri says. “Hey Em... Starmother, she’s not like the other things you’ve fought before, right? They were always pretty dumb, but... she’s not, is she?”

“No. She’s not dumb,” I admit. “But she has other weaknesses. She’s arrogant. Overconfident.”

“So you’re going to set a trap for her?”

I nod. “Probably. We haven’t figured out all of the details yet; we’ve been pretty focused on getting all of our friends back, but we’re getting on that soon.”

“And you can’t just... call it off here?” she asks weakly. “I mean, you’ve already saved your friends...”

I sit upright with a sigh. “I wish I could, sweetie... but I can’t just save them and turn my back on the rest. There are lots more people who’ve been captured by the Peilor, and even more than that back on Earth, who are about to die or be captured as well, including my family. Heck, in the end, even this Realm won’t be safe if we don’t take out Starmother. So no, I can’t call it off. I need to see this through. You get that, right?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Kirri says dejectedly. “But... once you defeat her... ehm...”

“Then I’m going to spend lots of time with you,” I tell her. “Promise.”

She swings her boom in a way that comes off to me as embarrassed but pleased.

However, at that moment, I see one of Trisha’s drones flag us down from the beach. Once we arrive, she delivers us a summons that sobers me up real quick.

By the decree of Goddess, the Cinnamon Circle is being convened.

Seems like they’re done questioning Yog... I guess the party’s over.

Author's note:

Thanks for reading! ^^