At last, Hydropolis. I really don't have much to say here so...read on.
The Chief Consul's Diary
By Bilbo-sama
Entry 9 - How do you say 'one ring to rule them all' in cat?
Day 188/September 27, 20XX
Archon Leander frowned as he reviewed what the Surveillance Eye has seen so far. An unknown ship containing a wealthy-looking woman, a girl dressed as a wild child, and a seasick man who used a trip door to return home only to come back an hour later with a boy with grimalkin ears and a man in a long blue coat who Leander recognized from his occasional forays into Leafbook as King Evan and his Chief Consul, Roland Crane. The wealthy woman demanded that her companions to behave themselves as she wandered off to explore parts of Hydropolis that only people of her standing go to. She may have just tagged along with no intention of doing whatever King Evan and his entourage were planning to do.
Mr. Crane spotted the Eye and whistled a tune that made his companions and some bystanders stare at him.
"Ah...sorry, it just reminded me of a story from my homeland," he said, "I'll tell you about it later."
A couple of women sighed when they spotted him, only to quickly look around as if hoping they weren't spotted by the guards. Another quickly snapped a picture of the Chief Consul with her Leafbook Viewer.
The Queen had wanted to ban the Viewers when they first arrived in Hydropolis but eventually relented when it was pointed out that this would only instigate a rebellion that could bring harm to many citizens. Which in turn, he didn't mention, would cause the spell keeping the kingdom alive to strain. Somehow the Viewers themselves hasn't harmed the spells in place. It was fascinating but Leander was reluctant to experiment.
Now...this man, he hasn't done anything in the kingdom so far besides acknowledge the Four Pillars, speak with a few townspeople and purchase some supplies. But if he deliberately did anything to provoke the population (there's no way he's unaware of the fans he's accumulating in the past few weeks) he'd be punished, diplomacy be damned.
[Meanwhile on the Roland Crane Fanclub board on Leafbook]
Cleo: Guess who showed up in Hydropolis!
Merv: He looks cuter in person!
Tiffany: Why is he there?
Bracken: Boring political stuff most likely.
Cleo: Aw...
[Private message from Timaeus, Earl of Summerlands to Lady Penelope]
(Message sent twenty days ago) Timaeus: Have you arrived to Hydropolis yet?
(Message sent eight days ago) Timaeus: Are you there yet?
(Message sent three days ago) Timaeus: How hard could it be to go in a straight diagonal line from Evermore to Hydropolis?
(Message sent one day ago) Timaeus: I see that you've arrived if the local women are in a tizzy at Mr. Crane's presence.
(Message sent 19 hours ago) Penelope: What?
(Message sent 19 hours ago) Timaeus: Haven't you been on Leafbook lately?
(Message sent 19 hours ago) Penelope: There's no signal in the ocean therefore I couldn't access it.
(Message sent 19 hours ago) Timaeus: I saved this screenshot before the post got deleted. Behold!
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Penelope: Oh my.
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Timaeus: He's even gotten a fan club forming! Granted they moved it to a private group where they can make lewd comments where our King can't see.
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Penelope: King Evan is eleven. The age filter wont lift until he's sixteen. They'll move on to better things by then.
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Timaeus: But still...I can't believe this degenerate is allowed near our King! Think of the things he could be teaching him!
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Penelope: Like what?
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Timaeus: Like lying about things such as claiming to be married when you are clearly not! He acted surprise when I pointed out that he lacked a ring. He looked at his hand and mumbled something about not having it when he was younger. He even had the audacity to look upset before he remembered I was there.
(Message sent 17 hours ago) Penelope: Timaeus...Are you're saying that you think he's lying about being married when we live in a world where there are monsters who are short tempered and highly skilled in magic?
(Message sent 16 hours ago) Penelope: Timaeus? Are you still there?
(Message sent 16 hours ago) Penelope: ...You're sulking again, aren't you.
The next day, Leander was alerted by a guard.
"Sir, there's a marriage proposal happening on a broken bridge right now," the guard shouted.
"Then arrest them," Leander adjusted his glasses in annoyance. This one must be new. "I will confront them afterwards."
He reviewed the Eye's footage to see who would break one of the four pillars.
It turned out to be King Evan who was proposing in a very nervous fashion. Who was foolish enough to sell that ring to him? And that tuxedo?
"About time..." said the Chief Consul when the arresting guards arrived.
Right. This wasn't dumb tourists breaking the rules. This was deliberate and was staged to grab his or Queen Nerea's attention.
Well, they got it.
But didn't they arrive with someone else? He adjust the Eye's sight and found the rich woman noticing the crowd that was beginning to dissipate once the rule breakers were captured. She looked confused until she activated her own Viewer. And then she became shocked and angry.
She had no part in this mess. Leander decided to not alert the guards of her presence as he headed for the dungeons.
[Private message from Timaeus, Earl of Summerlands to Lady Penelope]
(Message sent 20 minutes ago) Timaeus: Now do you believe me?
Leander had been waylaid by the Queen who had ordered him to bring the prisoners to her. He was approaching the dungeons when he heard a woman shouting.
"WE'VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR ONE DAY. ONE BLOODY DAY! YOU AGREED TO ACCEPT THE FOUR PILLARS WHEN WE ARRIVED BUT YOU JUST HAD TO PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS ONE!"
Leander glanced at the guards who shifted nervously.
"Sorry, Archon, but she demanded to speak with them," said one.
"BAILING YOU OUT OF DUNGEONS IS NOT WHAT I CAME HERE TO DO, YOUR MAJESTY! AND YOU. MR. CRANE, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HIM?"
Leander at that point decided to make his entrance, "Indeed, what exactly was your intent in flagrantly ignoring our laws?"
The people behind bars looked incredibly relieved at his sudden presence. The rich woman looked incensed about getting interrupted in her ranting.
"Are you Archon Leander?" King Evan asked, his grimalkin tail swishing behind him. Leander found the young king fascinating. He hadn't realized that someone had succeeded in birthing a live human-grimalkin hybrid that survived past the age of three. What else has he missed during the past 300 years before Leafbook arrived?
"Yes," Leander confirmed, curious now.
"Finally, we meet him," said the red haired girl, still wearing her very pink dress. She and King Evan were still in the outfits they wore to the staged proposal. They weren't given time to change when the guards descended upon them.
"Forgive us," said Mr. Crane, sounding apologetic, "We were forced to use, ah, a little artifice to gain your attention."
"Is that so?" Leander tilted his head. "Why?"
"In hopes of discussion of treaties and diplomacy," sniffed the woman, "so much for that now."
"Lady Penelope..." began the burly man, getting a 'hmph' in response from her.
Leander felt exasperated and sympathized with the Lady, "If this is about forming a union between our two nations, I'm afraid I must decline."
"Just like that?" said the burly man.
"If it were up to me, yes," said Leander, nodding his head to a guard, "But Queen Nerea has ordered that you be brought before her." For the life of him, he couldn't understand why.
"Can we change first?" asked the red head as a guard unlocked the jail cell.
Queen Nerea had proceeded to grant King Evan's entourage a test. If they succeed in slaying the monster Cetus, they may have the treaty signed. She also assigned Leander to the mission, much to his confusion, but he relented to her wisdom.
The journey to the labyrinth where Cetus dwells would take five days, three if the winds greatly favor them.
Lady Penelope declined in accompanying them, stating that she would be a hindrance. She had her own reasons for coming to Hydropolis so she'll remain there.
She was also displeased that the dress she made for the little girl was worn so soon.
Day 191/September 30, 20XX
They have been sailing for two days and Leander couldn't help but feel touched to see how excited the young King Evan felt about the sea. The boy watched in wonder as cuttyfish and flyfish breached the ocean surface. He spent a whole hour on deck with his eyes closed as he felt the breeze bring the scent of salt water and fish as it gently brushed his hair aside.
The sailors laughed and taught him how to steer the boat, calculate your position with the stars, and how to clean a fish to make it safe to eat. He was reluctant to get himself dirty with the last one but grimalkin greatly prefer fish and he was no different.
It was lunchtime, the sailors retrieved the fishing nets and sorted out their haul. Evan had his back turned and was speaking with Tani this time so he wasn't aware what was caught.
"Hmm, an octopus," observed Roland, "I never had eaten one before."
"Ya might not like it. Socktopi are an acquired taste," said the sailor holding it.
"What's an acquired taste?" asked Evan, catching the last bit of the conversation. He turned around and saw what the sailor was holding.
To everyone's surprise, Evan's blond hair puffed up in all directions, he hunched as if he was trying to arch his back, and his tail stood ramrod straight. An angry 'Mrrrrrroooowwwwwwww' emerged from the boy's lips before he hissed.
"Evan?" squeaked the red head Leander had learned to be named Tani.
"What the flip?" commented the strange Kingmaker named Lofty. Leander wasn't aware Kingmakers could be that small until Evan arrived.
Evan blinked as the socktopus was quickly dropped back into the sea. He blushed, "Ah...sorry, I'm not a fan of those." He retreated to the cabin, embarrassed.
"...I think I now know what you meant by acquired taste," said Roland after a brief, shocked silence.
Evan emerged an hour later, acting as if nothing happened. No one brought it up.
Evan later went down to the hold to retrieve a spare spear. In Leander's haste he forgotten to grab his second-best weapon and was forced to rely on magic to fight off intruders from the boat after a smaller Jelly Queen had managed to break his spear into two. Evan found himself wincing when he saw that happening, which is strange because it's just a weapon. Then again, Batu and Roland also cringed...
Evan looked around and was surprised to find a familiar book. Curious, he turned to the latest page.
Entry 49
September 30, 20XX/Summersend 11
The incident earlier today had made me realize that I had forgotten Evan's status as a hybrid. I suppose that when you live in a world where most of the population isn't human, you get used to seeing animal traits on people you speak to.
But it hadn't occur to me that he could vocalize like a cat...well, grimalkin. I sure hope he wasn't using profanity in that moment. I doubt Lord Summerlands would ever forgive me if he caught wind of this.
A creak in the floorboards of the ship interrupted Evan and he placed the now shut book back down. He then turned around and found the spare spear he was looking for.
He hoped that this wasn't going to lead to Roland eventually deciding to give him The Talk. Father already took care of that last year when he wasn't incredibly sick yet and they both left it feeling mortified.
Roland shall never know what he had said in Grimalspeak.
As he left the hold, he didn't notice Roland stirring from a nap in his chair.
I figured there was grimalkin (and dogfolk and mice) hybrids before Evan but it was only recently they figured out how to consistently get the child to live longer. D:
I don't even know what Lady Penelope is doing while she's in Hydropolis. The muses wont tell me.
Do you guys know how hard it is to not make a Lord of the Rings reference about the giant eyeball thing in Hydropolis? It's really dang hard.
Also not really sure how Leafbook viewers are working in Hydropolis when there's no fantasy wi-fi hot spots in a town that's been in stasis for 300 years. I'm really reluctant to go with 'lol magic.'
9/4/18 edits: Extended Leander's view of the proposal scene
