Hey all. So after a year of not uploading, I am back.
So this is a little late in uploading. There was a lot I was unhappy with but I have finally tamed this beast. Some parts were incredibly hard to translate from my brain to the page.
This is a 4 chapter fic plus one deleted scene as its own chapter. They will be uploaded every two weeks. That gives me time to write the others a little more and I can promise there are at least three more in this series, some talking about alluded events in this story. I have a few more ideas in this universe so hopefully those pan out.
I would like to thank Azurimi for beta-ing and Shippo704 who has put up with over a year of me writing this story and sitting me down to actually finish it.
This fic is completely written. I do not post without finishing a fic if there are multiple chapters.
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Chapter 1 – THE FOOL(ish question)
It started as a whisper which turned to the talk of the town in under a day.
"The Gathering is this year!"
"Is it?"
"Oh my! What should I wear?"
The tittering town gossip spread like wildfire and Lavi, the apprentice of the head Bookman, had heard it by the end of the day, remembering what year it was.
"Bookman, is it true? Is this the year I attend the Gathering as your apprentice?" the teen asked, excited.
Bookman frowned. "Did I say that?"
"Yes, yes you did, gramps!" Lavi began to celebrate until an ink bottle was thrown at him.
"Settle down you idiot. If you embarrass the Bookman clan, I will personally kill you."
"Okay, okay," Lavi said, getting the message and rubbing the developing bump on his head.
"Now get out of my sight and start packing. We leave tomorrow." Bookman shooed his grandson and apprentice out of the library.
When the door slammed behind him, Lavi just stared at the opposing wall, his face slowly breaking into a smile. He began to laugh and cheer.
"Yes! Finally!" the teen began to dance until he noticed he was being watched by the passerbys, to which he smiled wider, waved and ran down the hallway to his room. Bursting through the door, he searched for his suitcase. Seeing it hadn't been unpacked from his trip two and a half weeks ago, he upended it and shoved new, slightly cleaner clothing into the depths. He made a side note to remember to do laundry at some point. There were only so many times you could re-wear the same shirt before someone noticed.
Lavi sighed when he thought about how ridiculous he was being. He unpacked the suitcase and repacked it no less than four times, each time adding objects of importance such as his toiletries and clean note books for fresh notes. Pens were found and added and clothing was folded after being rigorously checked over and made to match other parts of his wardrobe. He could wash them later, when he got back.
When everything lay flat and he was content with his choices, he chose to enter his bed and sleep on his excitement.
It didn't work.
When Bookman came to wake him for the day, Lavi was sitting on his bed, nose deep in a history book, dark bags under his eyes.
"Did you sleep at all?" Bookman did not sound happy.
"No. I was too jittery. I thought reading would help but not at all. I read four books last night and I'm still not tired."
"Well, it doesn't matter because we are leaving soon whether you have slept or not. Get ready and don't go to sleep!" The old man left the room and left the teen to get his morning started.
Lavi nearly tripped getting out of bed, having not noticed that his blankets had twisted around his legs. He managed to catch himself just in time and extract himself and change into his uniform of a Bookman Apprentice. His breakfast was a lousy cup of coffee, a piece of toast and one egg with some ham he had stolen from someone else, but he was too excited to care and Bookman was rushing him. Lavi followed and before he knew it, they were loaded on a train and riding towards the Centre, the centre of four very different Kingdoms and the greatest feat of peace in history.
Lavi rambled. "I can't wait to get to the Centre. I heard it really is a mesh of the four kingdoms and that everyone actually gets along."
"Yes now shut up." Bookman went back to ignoring the red head.
"But what about the Core, we are sitting in the Core right?"
"Yes."
Lavi grew excited as time passed, every so often dodging missiles from Bookman. He tried to sleep for some of the trip and did succeed for a while, but eventually his excitement woke him again. Bookman would not engage in conversation and no one on the train was in the mood for games, so Lavi returned to trying to contain his excitement.
That plan was foiled when Bookman informed him that they were outside the Centre and to 'find his pass right now or he will be sent all the way back home.'
Bouncing as he pulled out the pass, Lavi watched the train pull into the station. He began to see the Core in the middle of the town. The colossal stadium stood out from all the other shorter buildings surrounding it and quarter of it seemed to be decorated in different fashions.
Hurrying through the barricades and bringing their luggage with them since they were late due to complications on the railroad, they made their way to the Core. When Lavi walked through the arches, he nearly stumbled.
"Whoa…" he said.
Lavi had never seen such declarations of pride. The Kingdom of Wind had draped their quarter of the stadium in silk ribbons that danced in the lightest of breezes. The green fabric had a gradient to white making it seem that the ribbons melted into the sky itself. The Halidom of the Lotus were all donned in their cultural fighting kimonos. Various traditional weapons hung from obis, ropes and sat in sheaths, within easy access of the warrior folks react. The citizens of the Kingdom of the Mountains wore much earthier colours, but were decorated in diamonds, sapphires and rubies. They had all been surprised at the changing colour of skin as they washed off the dirt stains from their bodies. The nobles from the Kingdom of Red were smartly dressed with pressed tuxedos and flowing dresses. Top hats and elaborate up dos were not uncommon on the red quarter. It was obvious that only the rich could come to the Gathering, but that didn't stop the lower class citizens from all the regions that lived close from standing outside the Core. It was harder to follow the conversations and debates that happened on the podium, but they were not bothered Lavi found out. They were just honoured to be so close to such an event.
Lavi had fallen behind Bookman, but easily caught up to the man. The elder led his wayward and distracted apprentice to their seats and sat down, telling Lavi to do the same.
"It was difficult to get these seats. Don't make me lose them."
As the stadium filled, Lavi could appreciate their placement. It was right above a vomitorium, ensuring that no one was directly in-front of them. It had a perfect view of everything. They were right in the middle and Bookman had said to not surrender any area of it. If you surrendered an inch, you would suddenly lose all of it.
Lavi looked down at the podium at the table set in the middle. Four chairs were set up and behind each, about ten feet away; there was a small raised area, designed for the Supports of the royals to stand on and watch the crowd. They had originally been to watch for assassins, but now it was all decoration, an echo of an old tradition.
"So cool!" Lavi wheezed.
"Now shut up and take note. Here come the Kings and Queens," Bookman said as he nailed Lavi in the head with his notebook.
The first in was the King of the Wind Kingdom, King Yeegar. The stunningly tall, well-dressed man with a perfectly manicured beard and a graceful set of robes was not to be taken lightly. The young girl at his side wore an almost inappropriately short skirt. When Lavi thought about it, the length made sense as they were a kingdom of wind users and excessive amounts of layers and fabric would get in the way. The apprentice noticed the little tie at the front of the King's robes and deduced it was for ease of shedding layers, just in case.
The Halidom of the Lotus's Queen, Queen Alma, was a shorter figure, but none the less intimidating. She did not become the leader of the country because she was beautiful. Her smile was as pointed as the sword she donned on her hip. Regular sharpening of both were worked into her schedule. Lavi had only seen it once, when he was curious and stupid. He rubbed his scarred left palm at the memory.
The third Kingdom, those of the mountains, entered and Bookman explained that they were ruled by a set of twins and that they switched off each year, King Tapp and Queen Cashe. This year it was the brunette queen, sweeping in, covered in precious stones that meant nothing to her, but cost a fortune anywhere else. She was a stocky figure, none the less beautiful, showing off her full circle skirt of deep rustic red and beaded sequins that forms the ridges of her home. Her Support walked with an attempted march, but looked ridiculous behind her and her graceful entrance.
The King of the Red Kingdom walked in with his robes hanging off his shoulder and a bottle of whiskey in hand. His red hair was messed up and his mask shading half his face was covered in red lipstick.
He was alone.
"Where is the Red King's support?"
Bookman was silent. "Ah, I see you have not done as much research as you said you have. I will not tell you, but if you can figure out who it is by the time they begin the second meeting, I will consider your studying sufficient for now. I will only give you three guesses and one hint; they are not within the inner circle."
That didn't make much of a difference considering there were only five other people inside the inner circle besides royalty and their Supports.
The royals took their seats, the Supports taking their place around the edge of the platform, backs to their Kings and Queens. The meeting official began as the four of them sat down.
The crowd was silenced immediately.
Nothing happened for a minute, an entire minute of silence, of no movement. Four figures, each dressed in a different colour robe, carried a goblet up the steps to their designated member of royalty. Each monarch took the goblet and raised them to the sky and took a sip, replacing them on the platter held out to them by the servants.
Another minute of silence. No one dared breathe for fear of breaking the peaceful atmosphere.
The King of the Wind Kingdom stood and announced the commencement of the Gathering and then took his seat again. For the following two hours, pleasantries were exchanged, statistics on crops, cattle, the citizens were discussed, plans of the future were brought to light and the captivated audience did not care that these were some incredibly dry topics, they were just watching the leaders of four nations come together and speak on all equal terms.
All the while, Lavi began to search the crowds and the staff of the Core for the Red Kingdom's Support. No one who stood out, no one armed with any sort of weapon that could be called upon to act as security if something were to happen.
Except for that one figure right in the Red Kingdom's crowd situated on the floor, right up against the podium in the middle of the stadium.
Lavi finally clued in.
"Is the Red King's Support…him?" He pointed to a figure at the front of the crowd.
Bookman looked semi-impressed. "No one suspects the fool."