Just a Friendly Tea Party

It took a moment to shake off my bewilderment at it all, but I managed to calm down after an imp servant guided Dahlian and me to our seats in the council chambers and served us some tea.

“Please, be at ease, you two,” said the queen. “I also wish to correct our misunderstandings with each other as much as you do.”

That’s asking for a lot, especially when we have to sit with the scariest demons of Erudios! Dahlian and I glanced at each other before neverously nodding back.

“Haruma, you’ve officially hit an all-time record of ‘how crazy in trouble could I find myself at day one’ in the team,” Dahlian whispered.

“You didn’t have to mention that, man,” I mumbled back. “And since when was that a competition?”

“Since now.”

“Ugh, give me a break. I didn’t know we’d get into so much trouble.”

“Heh, that’s what we all said too!”

“Oh, come on! Half of this is your fault too!”

“My fault? Nah, man, it’s all thanks to me.”

“How can you be so proud of it?”

“What can I say? Trouble is my friend.”

“Wow, I wish I had half of that confidence…”

“You do realize that we can hear you two blabberin’ over there, right?” Entrophys interjected, giggling on the other side of the table.

“It’s fine, Entrophys. Everyone is allowed to relax,” said the queen, sipping her tea.

“You’re too lenient, Your Highness,” said Morienelle. “If they’re disturbing you, just let me know. I’ll shut them up on the spot.”

“Violence is prohibited in the council chamber, Morienelle,” said Wymond. “You’ll do well without trying to scare our guests.”

“Hey, I never said I’ll use violence.”

“That’s rich coming from the one who suddenly chopped off my head last night,” said Entrophys.

“You totally asked for it.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Maybe I should open up your brain and prove it.”

“Hah, I’d like to see you try.”

“If you’re going to fight, take it outside,” said a new voice.

We all paused from our idle chatter and turned to the entrance, where Silvestine stood with her arms crossed. “I just showed up, and I’m not getting wrapped up in another fight again,” she said. “Also, what the hell are these brats doing here?”

“Believe me, I asked myself that a few times already,” I mumbled.

“Yep, yep. We’re just tagging along. Don’t mind us,” said Dahlian.

“How are they so relaxed too?!” Silvestine asked. “Just what happened while I was out?!”

“Please have a seat,” said the queen. “And we’ll have each side explain their side of the story.”

Silvestine reluctantly took her seat across from us and listened to my encounter with Wymond and our dueling session before Dahlian interrupted us and brought up our knowledge of their plans, leading to our arrival here. The queen also confirmed that right around that same time, a group of Florathea’s followers went after her, which led to that graphic scene upon our arrival.

“More importantly, you mentioned partaking in a fight as well, Silvestine?” asked the queen. “Were they Florathea’s followers?”

“Yeah, a whole bunch of them showed up out of nowhere during my border patrol and said they were going to exorcise me, or something like that,” she said, scratching her head. “I honestly had a harder time keeping Sugar Plum from outright crushing them, though.”

The queen intertwined her fingers and furrowed her brows, deeply pondering to herself. “At this rate, that damned goddess will infect my whole kingdom with her curses,” she muttered. “This must be a sign that we’re doing things wrong after all.”

“But that’s impossible,” said Morienelle. “Your plan was flawless.”

“There is no such thing as a flawless plan. All of you should know how many lives we’ve lost in the last war because of our overconfidence and lack of communication.” The queen’s expression drastically grew darker, making me shudder in my seat. If her looks could kill, Dahlian and I would be dead by now.

“Haruma, Dahlian, how much do you know about the War of Florathea?” asked Queen Verisette.

“Uh… I know that the goddess brutally killed lots of people,” Dahlian simply said. “And that it barely ended a few years ago.”

“So basically nothing,” said Silvestine.

“He’s not entirely wrong,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Florathea had caused a lot of destruction through bioweapons and famine. Her fungal spores drove people mad and violent, her curses prevented crops from growing and wiped out villages, and her forests became hostile and uninhabitable, even for elves and forest animals. It was like she rejected the very concept of fauna and civilization trampling over her creations and turned them against us.”

“So you’re more than familiar with it,” said the queen. “Did you also fight in the war, Haruma?”

“No, but my village was almost wiped out by the famine she caused. They’re still recovering from it to this day.” Thank god I didn’t have to live through that hellish backstory!

“Whoa, really?” asked Dahlian. “The village that I used to live in almost starved to death too.”

I blinked. “What village was it?”

“Lavendell.”

“Oh.” Huh, I actually didn’t know that. The more you know. “That’s near mine, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. What a small world.”

“It seems you both fell victim to her curses as well,” said the queen. “Then we have no reason to quarrel with one another.”

“You’re saying that you’re all been through something similar?” I asked.

“Oh, totally,” said Entrophys. “Everyone did! Even the elves, the ones that supposedly worked the closest with her, hated her guts too! Did you know? Florathea made their sapling familiars kill all their kids and wildlife, so they had to chop them all down. Oh, how much I wish I’d been there to see all the tragedy unfolding, haha!”

You being there would make it a hundred times worse, though. “I-I see…”

“What’s a sapling familiar?” asked Dahlian.

“They’re a special type of tree only elves could tame,” I said. “They possess magic, have a consciousness, and can communicate with their owners, and if they grow up healthy, they can even do lots of things like sharing unique spells with their owners.”

“Ohh, so they’re kind of like those special pets only elves can have?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Dang, that’s a low blow to have them turn against their owners like that…”

“Right…”

My mind immediately went to Sloane and his sleeping disorder. He never really shared his past in the RPG’s storyline, but his character profile did vaguely mention something about his home being "claimed" by the forest and that he fought in the War of Florathea against his will, but it was never elaborated on.

I couldn’t believe the game writers would even neglect him too.

I gripped my fist and shelved this thought for later. “So, what’s the war got to do with our current situation?” I asked.

“As you’ve heard from Florathea’s followers a few times already, they claim that the goddess responsible for ruining our lives is still running amok,” said the queen. “However, Lord Malistraeus ensured us that he and his army eliminated all chances of her possibly surviving that war, so that cannot be true.”

“I and a few others have witnessed it as well,” said Wymond. “We can verify Florathea is undeniably deceased in the war.”

“Physically, at least,” Silvestine murmured. “Her body’s gone, but clearly her influence is still spreading like an incurable plague.”

“Most of Florathea’s followers who still had some brain cells had already stopped worshipping her during the war,” said Morienelle. “But like any other massive fan club, there will always be diehards who remain blindly loyal to her, even after all the war crimes she committed.”

“Pop quiz time!” said Entrophys. “If you’re a diehard worshipper, what would you do if your goddess died?”

Dahlian and I traded glances.

“I dunno, cry about it?” Dahlian answered, shrugging.

“I was never religious, but… uhhh, I would… uh… also be sad. I guess,” I said, copying him.

“Wowee, you two are such normies!” said Entrophys, cackling. He leaned forward and stretched his theater mask into an abnormal, sinister grin. “The correct answer is: you try to bring her back to life.”

I widened my eyes in horror. “What? But that's... Wait, so that's what all her followers were up to? What you’re saying is…”

Queen Verisette nodded and set her teacup down. “Their presence here, their discernible numbers, their resilience, their bizarre schemes, and most of all, their unwavering belief that their goddess will return… We have more than enough proof that they’re trying to revive Florathea right here in my capital city.”

Dahlian and I gaped at each other and back at the queen. She furrowed her brows and squeezed her intertwined fingers together, her hands trembling in fury. “And once that happens, Erudios will once again plummet into another catastrophic war.”