Falias, Finias Chapter Thirteen
Suggested Theme: There are spoilers for the first three novels in the Dune series, so if anyone is planning on reading them in the future, put this chapter on hold and go read them. Particularly, Dune Messiah because I take an excerpt from it that spoils the entire ending of that book.
Main Theme- The Fireman by Angelo Badalamenti
Lucy's is the pure little sister of Lacey's, a brand of stores centered on lingerie for women and men, almost puritanically devoted to clothes that do what they're supposed to do: cover up. To Kazdan, this is all well and fine; he didn't like revealing himself at school, and the clothes are dirt cheap during sales.
His mom takes a pink cart from the line and heads towards the Young Men's section. He follows her long enough to check out the dressing rooms.
Shit, there's like seven guys, and they're using the ottomans for card matches. I can't go to the Men's or Women's because they don't have any ottomans there. I can't go to the entrances/exits because those metal benches are so uncomfortable. And Children's have no chairs. So that leaves one place.
He immediately abandons his mom and goes to Young Women's. He has made up his mind if anyone there asks why he's there; he'll say that he's waiting for his sister.
I won't have to worry about being grilled considering how deserted this place is. Do all the girls at school just shop at the mall? Then again, I don't see anyone with modern sensibilities shopping here. He gags inwardly at the pink shag carpet he's walking across that felt more at home in a 60's porno. He rounds the corner of flannel jackets to see bright pink ottomans. And a very familiar man reading a book.
"Lazarus?" Lazarus, father of Tom Majors and source of his good looks, blinks at him with his liquid, green eyes.
"Kazdan? I see you're looking for a quiet, comfortable spot. Those kids have been dueling for almost two hours now." He shakes his mop of silver, feathered hair.
"They're having a Chaotic match; dueling is for other card games." Kazdan corrects, and Lazarus smirks.
"Tom never explained the difference to me."
"Did you make fun of the game?" Tom is only good at teaching when he perceives his audience being positive; even a hint of confusion has him clamming up. Like when I kept asking what his Ballet jargon meant.
"To him, I did, but why would the Flash lightning bolt stand for Power?" Kazdan shrugs his shoulders.
"To separate the chafe from the wheat?" Or to mess with people. He holds back this thought.
"Or to mess with non-players. Or maybe to attract only the diehards. I found the art and little quotes interesting, but the game mechanics are vexing." Lazarus frowns like Tom did when he was doing History homework.
"How much did Tom tell you about the world of Chaotic?" Lazarus shakes his head, and Kazdan nearly sighs.
"Did he even bother to go into any details?" Like his favorite Tribe; I bet it's the OverWorld.
"He mentioned that the OverWorld Tribe was the best Tribe out of the four and Maxxor's the best." Kazdan shakes his head, while Lazarus raises a salt-and-pepper eyebrow. "Is he wrong?"
"It's his opinion, so he isn't wrong. But it's…limited." He says diplomatically, but Lazarus smiles like he can read his mind.
"Shot in the dark, I'm guessing you're an UnderWorld fan."
"Yes, but I'm not blindly devoted to it." Not anymore. Not after seeing Chaor waste a church full of thieves, getting involved with his child, hanging out with H'earring and Accato, serenading Lystone. Both Tribes have given me so many…adventures.
"Enlighten me to the UnderWorld." Lazarus issues the challenge, and it takes a minute for Kazdan to come up with his strategy. He goes to sit across from Lazarus on a heart-shaped ottoman. He then takes out his deck box from his pocket; he had intended to organize his deck while he was trapped here.
He searches his deck and chooses only three cards.
He first lays down UnderWorld City.
"Red defines the city; from the rocks to the Supreme Ruler of all, red colors the subterranean hellscape. Then, the heat bakes the color into its structures and sears the skin come its Summer Death Throes. Smoke chokes the air and acts as clouds in the sky-less Location."
He closes his eyes and sinks back into his memories.
"Yet, there is a theater that you'll watch weird one-act plays. There is an inn that you'll spend your week's copper on the peppery wine and smoke mutton. There is a cathedral that you'll pocket its funeral petals."
He lays down Everrain by the city.
"There are green spots, few and so far between. Everrain's rains comes from the High Muge's lake seeping into the crevices and sowing the land. There is no sun, so the plants generate their own light that lasts even when you take grass blades from its home. So long as you give them water."
He lays Chaor above the two; the high point of the triangle.
"Chaor, Supreme Ruler of the UnderWorld, has seven secrets. Six are hidden in the lowest drawer of his stone desk, while one roams freely in the castle. Tragedy are inexorably linked to them. But these secrets do not hold back his ambition."
He lets pride and anger consume his voice.
"He wants to conquer Perim, starting with Maxxor and his OverWorld."
Kazdan whistles as he makes his way to Chaor's Castle; a twin-headed werewolf UnderWorlder growls at him as he walks by. He whistles softer as a compromise and then stops all together when he reaches the gate.
But his grin stays on his face as he passes the masked guards.
I bet they're thinking I'm a weirdo, and I'm fine with that! He thinks as he knocks on the door; Dairus opens it with the toddler wriggling like a live worm on a hook. She's grinning, showing her jagged, yellow teeth.
"Your enthusiasm is so….refreshing." He feels his heart sink. "Today, you and the babe get to go to the best seamstress in Perim."
"B-But H-H'earring and I and the toddler were supposed to go to the UnderWorld Colosseum." Her grin holds strong, while his good mood quickly fades.
"Lord Chaor wants the both of you to go to the seamstress."
"I-I…completely understand." He takes the toddler and then puts him down, allowing for him to walk, but holds his hand to prevent escape. The toddler glares up at him with his piercing blue eyes, but Kazdan glares right back.
"Don't worry your tickets won't go completely to waste!" Her voice is saccharine enough to rot out the rest of her teeth. "H'earring and I will have a fun day together."
"What about the third ticket?"
"Those under eight solons get in for free, so no ticket's needed for the babe." And H'earring just screwed me out of ten coppers! Kazdan reminds himself to get back at H'earring, preferably in the near future.
"How long will this take?"
"As long as Lachima wills it."
Approximately, one hour and thirty-five minutes later, they reach the place that Lachima dwells. What surprises Kazdan about the place, aside from its near isolation from civilization, is the shop itself. He imagined it to be like most of the houses in the city: crumbling stonework and scrap metal. But as they went past the city limits and stepped on centuries-old lava, he altered his imaginings but left the design to be rudimentary.
He gawks at the feast of reality.
Deep green swards and reddish-orange lilies sprout up from the black ground like a natural moat. But wholly unnecessary for the building they guard. The building's brickwork shine like newly-born obsidian, black reflecting the nicks of crystal stars. The mortar, silver with flecks of lime green, hold the bricks together like it was only poured moments ago.
Those archways look straight from Ancient Rome, but the columns are more Grecian. If not for the color, this would belong in Kiru City!
He says none of this, but his gawking speaks loud enough for Dairus.
"The Needle's been around long before Chaor was born, and it'll exist long after us." What careful wording in such an isolated place. Chaor must truly have spies everywhere. The toddler then snorts like he has a pebble up his nose.
"Is Lachima the only seamstress in the UnderWorld?"
"No, but she's the oldest, thus making her the best!" He holds his tongue from making a cheeky retort about the shortened lifespan when he looks down at the toddler. The toddler ignores him and has bright blue eyes fixed on the lilies.
"Want one?" The toddler takes it as permission and quickly wrenches his talon-hand out of Kazdan's; he advances on a clutch of them and decapitates one. He then strides back and presses the lily into Kazdan's empty hand. He, in turn, looks at Dairus for permission.
"Too late now, but I'll keep my lips sealed about this." Don't ever do that again! He hears the subtext and then hands the offensive lily to Dairus. She quickly stows it in an empty pocket of her soot-stained apron.
"No more flowers today." He lightly warns the toddler. The toddler narrows his eyes, while Kazdan patiently waits for his obedience. It takes a minute, but the toddler inclines his snowy head.
"I'll put it in his room when I get back to the castle; I needed to get my purse anyways." She turns her back to the shop.
"What, no introductions?" She swivels her green face towards him.
"How many humans do you think serve Lord Chaor? You're quite infamous, and I'm in a hurry." She leaves before he can inquire further about that comment. Kazdan wisely decides to scan the Location in case something horrible happens like in Everrain.
So all I have in flavor text is "Initiative: Wisdom" and nothing else. I have a feeling that the CodeMasters programmed the scans to be bland as possible, so players would still buy cards just to get more lore.
"Ready to brave whatever monster lies there?" He teases as he looks down at the toddler, but the toddler looks at the shop for a minute, waiting for the monster. He then frowns and decides to brave the den like a knight, while Kazdan trails after him like a squire.
But the toddler meets his greatest nemesis: the door. Kazdan snickers as the toddler jumps and ups and down, trying very hard to reach silver knob.
"You'll be tall enough…..when you're older!" He lightly teases, while the toddler narrows his Chaor-blue eyes at him. He reaches out to the knob, but then pauses as he notices that the knob blinks at him.
"…." He stares at the golden eye as it stares right back at him. He then looks down at the toddler who just shrugs his shoulders.
"I'm here to see Lachima." The eye shuts itself and flattens itself into a proper knob as though it was never there in the first place. He hesitantly touches the knob, expecting to feel a squishy eyeball, but is greeted with lukewarm metal. He turns it and pushes the reddish door open.
And it's a poorly-lit like every house in a horror movie. Logically, I shouldn't go in there, but Chaor would probably kill me if I dared to disobey him. Shit. With great reluctance, he goes inside with the toddler digging his claws into his pants leg like rose thorns.
At first, it's pitch black, and Kazdan worries that he's committing breaking and entering. Half a second later, light as dim as fireflies appears. He sees light crystals encased in triangular wall sconces.
Huh, maybe they're motion-sensitive? But how can that be? Mugic? Naturally occurring in nature? I wish they were brighter because I can hardly see the floor. He holds his questions for later and walks for two minutes before meeting a fork in the lights. He sees no difference between the left or the right, so he looks down at the toddler to see if he can pick a direction.
The toddler points a black talon to the left, and they set forth in that direction. It takes two minutes before they reach the end of the lights and find themselves back in the dark.
A heartbeat later, blue light bathes the room in an ocean tint, and they find themselves face-to-face with an oblong-shaped, brass-colored mirror. The mirror shows their reflection and a yellow eye hovering above them. He reflexively looks up and sees only a blue orb as the source of the light. His eyes return to the golden eye in the mirror, and he takes in a deep breath before looking behind him.
"I thought you'd be a screamer; you must be courageous for your kind." Kazdan laughs nervously and shakes his head, while the toddler narrows his blue eyes on the crone before them. The crone is a hunchback, but she's nearly as tall as Kazdan. Her hump is less severe than Quasimodo, but he can't help but wince at her. It doesn't help that her skin is the same shade as moldy bread and that her hair looks plucked from frozen hay bales. She has only one golden eye in her right eye socket, while the other one looks like an empty black hole. He knows where the other eye is.
"Uh, that's not it….Lachima?" She nods her prune-wrinkled head.
"You're nearly as tall as Melinoë, but far flatter than her." Her eye looks down at the toddler who regards her suspiciously. "And you look so much like her."
She reaches out, most likely to tuck a limp curl behind his ear, but the toddler bites her offending finger instead.
"No biting! No biting! No biting!" Kazdan scolds and tries to pull the toddler away from the finger, but the toddler's mouth refuses to let go.
"But pure Chaor." She sighs wistfully, and the toddler finally relents. He allows himself to be pulled away and looks up at Kazdan with a confused frown.
"I apologize for him; he's really young–" She raises her bitten finger for him to be silent.
"Not even two solons old, and he's already walking like he's eight solons old. I suspect he'll be talking any day now, or, perhaps, he already has and is wisely hiding it." She smiles like a proud grandmother. The toddler ignores her, lost in his ponderings.
"…..So you knew his mother?" Kazdan hopes to change the subject and receive the partial confirmation of the toddler's parentage.
"Oh, yes, Ustrinor burned with fierce wisdom, balancing Chellus's gentle foolishness." Holy shit, are those the names of Chaor's parents!? He keeps his mouth shut, but his ears open.
"She ruled Chellus better than Gothos's sister ever could." She sighs deeply. "But Chellus's foolishness must've rubbed off on her; giving the South to Gothos and his kin would never make them forget their old grudges!"
"W-What happened to them?"
"The same thing that will happen to Maxxor and his kin if Chaor succeeds in his conquest." So death then. But why did Gothos spare Chaor? Chaor would have the strongest claim to the throne and most usurpers tended to slaughter "true" heirs. Did the sister plead mercy on Chaor's behalf? Did Chaor's parents fake his death and hid him away like King Arthur? Did Chaor pledge loyalty to Gothos and helped him murder–
"I must be getting quite old if I'm reminiscing this early in the day." She claps her hands. "Kamangareth is waiting for her delivery, so off you go!"
"You mean me?" She nods energetically. "But don't you need to measure me?"
"Oh, I still have Melinoë's measurements; all I need to do is remove the bust and hip lines. Really, I just need to measure the child here."
"Why do I have to make the delivery?"
"Because it's part of the discount I gave Chaor." His eyes widen, and she smirks.
"Just because he's the Supreme Ruler doesn't mean he's exempt from paying like everyone else. But he does get discounts."
"….Okay. I don't know where this Kamangareth lives."
"She has a cave in Fear Valley."
"Is it the scary mouth cave?" Lachima laughs hard enough to slap her knees.
"No, no! You might as well said she lived near Twisted Palace!" She wipes the tears from her eyes. "Just go east of the scary mouth cave for about 600 glents and turn right."
"…Can you take care of the toddler while I'm gone?"
"Wise question, and yes. He may have Chaor's spirit, but I doubt he can handle the horrors there!"
"And you're certain I can?" He nearly squeaks, but Lachima nods strongly.
"Of course. Chaor is so fond of you and he's never been fond of cowards."
When he bit the crone's bony finger, he could see Chaor as he once was: short like him and annoyed with the touchy crone. There was a lady with him, tall like Chaor is now and red like Chaor has always been, but half his mass. She wore a golden veil that sat heavily on her red-feathered head. She was scolding little Chaor for biting just like his Caretaker did.
Chaor…..
Chaor was supposed to scold him for entering his room without permission last night. Especially without Caretaker.
But Chaor stilled like the nighttime shadows at the stack of white stones. And he figured it was because little things, like twin babes, must have special powers. He learned that from one of his Caretaker's stories.
He could see the page from the gray book in his Caretaker's soft hands. He read as his Caretaker read aloud:
Paul bent his head, listening. He no longer could hear the mourners. He thought of the ancient Fremen rite being performed now deep in the sietch, far down in the room of the death-still where the tribe recovered its water.
"There was no choice," Paul said. "You understand that, Duncan?"
"I understand."
"There are some things no one can bear. I meddled in all the possible futures I could create until, finally, they created me."
"M'Lord, you shouldn't . . ."
"There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers," Paul said. "Nothing. Nothing can be done."
As he spoke, Paul felt his link with the vision shatter. His mind cowered, overwhelmed by infinite possibilities. His lost vision became like the wind, blowing where it willed.
He could not pinpoint the emotion in Chaor's face, but this phrase seems to describe the feeling: There are some things no one can bear. The white stones that made his Caretaker cry softly for hours in his room were something that Chaor should not bear. But he does.
"Dreaming of a play?" The crone teases, pulling him away from his heavy thoughts.
"…"
"Melinoë would always do that when I was measuring her. She couldn't perform in her condition, but she could write."
"…"
"She wrote so much in such a short period of time….Chaor was the one who talked her into bedrest for the final month!"
"…"
"I'm so happy that you're here. But I have one favor to ask of you."
"…"
"Don't become a stone."
"Okay."
"Of course. Chaor is so fond of you and he's never been fond of cowards."
Kazdan has been replaying Lachima's comment for 300 glents, nearly two miles, while distracting himself from the pain of pulling the cart like a workhorse. He pauses to pull out his canteen from his draw bag and greedily sucks down a mouthful.
No wonder she gave Chaor the discount! Because no one wants to work in 100˚ heat. Then again, she is old and shouldn't be working in the heat, even if she's an UnderWorlder. And why did she say all that? Just to encourage me to do the job? Or was it true?
He puts the canteen away and continues his hauling.
I haven't exchanged one word with Chaor; I've only seen him through door cracks. So how could he be fond of me? Is it because the toddler has outlasted all his other…maybe? Or is it because I'm the only human that he has any use for?
The wheels get caught on a very tough rock and he has to spend two minutes pulling to get the cart moving.
Honestly, all I'm good for is babysitting his kid. I can't fight like Creatures here, even H'earring could kick my ass. But wouldn't it make more sense to place the kid with someone who can fight back? Someone who wouldn't pass out at the sight of a massacre?
About an hour later, he makes it to the fork and turns right. Within two minutes, he reaches the cave. The cave is surrounded by brambles with green leaves and purple berries; he realizes that Fear Valley is also one of the few places in the UnderWorld with greenery.
What's the etiquette for caves? Do I just holler in? Or do I walk in like one of those stupid teenagers from "Zombie Troopers III" and get my face ripped off by bad CGI? Probably should try the former before attempting the latter.
"Kamangareth, this is Kazdan the human with your delivery from Lachima!"
"Kamangareth, this is Kazdan the human with your!"
"Delivery from Lachima!"
And there's an echo effect, which means the cave is fairly large. And still very dark. And I have to go in because leaving the delivery outside would probably get stolen like on Earth, but I would get punished. Probably by Lachima.
"Look, I'm going in and leaving your delivery inside, please don't kill me."
"Look, I'm going in and leaving your delivery inside."
"Please don't kill me."
Kazdan grimaces and uses the flashlight function on his Scanner. He bites down on the top and then slowly pulls the cart into the cave's mouth. The light shakes as he tries to keep it from falling, so he only get snatches of the inside.
A depression in the center.
A dead crystal in its earthen sconce.
A red Mandiblor missing his left mandible.
He drops his Scanner immediately and it lands at the legs of the crimson Mandiblor; the light becomes a spotlight, casting the bottomless eye sockets into focus.
"I-I-I–"
"Human, I long for the sight of my earthen abode!" The blind Mandiblor moans like a Shakespearean ghost.
"S-S-So–"
"Give me your eyes, so I may see the sweet lode!" The Mandiblor lurches forward, and Kazdan stumbles back and slips. His head cracks against the cart, letting in sweet darkness.
He regains consciousness in a haze of bright red. He knows it's the light trying to reach his eyes and grants its wish. He groans at the sting, but quickly adjusts and takes notice of his surroundings.
First, he's on a clay-colored slab that was about as soft as Chaor's body. Second, there's a pink quilt on him that itches his bare arms. Finally, there's a blue stone where his head laid; he touches it and pulls back out of shock from the cold.
"You should keep your head on the glacier stone; you have a nasty knot on the back of your head." He turns right and above the depression. There's a half-centipede, half-woman using her blue hand to twirl a wild strand of her red hair.
"Kamangareth?"
"Kammy, call me Kammy."
"Kammy, I think there was a Mandiblor here!"
"Oh, that was Rustle." She puts a hard emphasis on the t.
"Are you friends with him?" She throws back her head and laughs like a haughty noblewoman.
"Never. But he was my favorite Danian."
"Was he an informant for Lord Chaor?" There's no way Chaor would allow Tribe-mixing unless he's getting something valuable like information.
"Never. A staunch loyalist to the bug queen like the rest of his tribemates, but unlike most Mandiblors, he could've been great. Even Odu-Bathax saw that." His face twists with suspicion at that last remark because he knows that players, particularly the Danian fanatics, would have been using such a legendary Mandiblor.
"Alas, he had a weakness. He just couldn't leave behind his fellow Mandiblors, so he tried to raise them to his level. Which proved to be impossible."
"He's dead, isn't he?"
"How did you figure it out?"
"You keep using past tense."
"And you are right. He fought nobly like an OverWorlder, but crunched like a Danian. It was like killing two Tribes with one Coil Crush."
And her lower half is a Coil Crush. But why was he–
"I couldn't leave something that spectacular for those bugs, so I took him with me and made him my eternal companion." She had him mounted and stuffed like a stag. Will she do that to me? He pales with horror, feeling like he will faint again.
"Calm down, I would never harm anyone in Lord Chaor's favor." She snaps and scowls at him with her pupil-less red eyes.
"…That's good to hear." Some color comes back to his face, but he's still as stiff as the stone beneath him. "May I have my Scanner?"
"Yeah, after you answer a couple of questions."
"Okay."
"How did you get into Lord Chaor's good graces?"
"I suppose it was because I'm taking care of h–Melinoë's child." She frowns like she sucked on a lemon.
"It's still alive."
"Yes," He nearly grits out, "He's walking and soon to be talking."
She uncrosses her arms and raises her cherry-nail hands.
"Cool your coals, I didn't know about the kid's gender. He could've been a she, both, or neither. It's safer to use it until someone tells you otherwise."
Huh, so there's non-binaries in the UnderWorld. Is it the same for all Tribes? I don't think so because the Danians are mostly male drones serving a queen.
"So what's your next question?"
"Does Lord Chaor have a favorite color?" I think she's blushing. The blue in her face looks more like a sapphire than a sky.
"…I haven't talked to him since he hired me."
"Oh. When you do find out, do tell me."
"I will."
"I got my clothes, so you can go now." She waves him away like he's a servant.
"Okay."
"And Kazdan."
"Yes?"
"You will not tell anyone about this conversation. Ever." She then pulls his Scanner from her utility belt and tosses it to him. He catches it without fumbling.
"Understood."
After that non-conversation, Kazdan wonders what kind of horrors are awaiting him back in The Needle.
Through the red door, he wanders the dark halls until the lights pointed right, while the left wallows in darkness.
Millions of years of human instincts have him going right, into the light, and into the unknown room.
The silver room is bathed in a warm, gold light that comes from crystals glowing lava red and producing no smoke. By the crystal pit is Lachima, she's rocking in a wooden chair that appears to be carved by the same person who did the carvings on Chaor's Dining Hall throne. She's sewing in dozens Thanatos blossoms into a pink, lacey veil.
"Where's the toddler?" She brings the silver needle up and then points it to the curtained section of the room.
"In the dressing room, he wanted a private place to read." He quickly goes through the curtains and finds the toddler waving around the Chaor stature, while Dune Messiah lays beside him.
It looks untouched, and of course it'd be. I haven't taught him how to and I don't know if I'm supposed to. I really should exchange it for the next one. I'm pretty certain that the rental place has the next one, even if the bot said that the reading selection is sparse because players typically have no desire to read in Perim.
His eyes then linger on the toddler's new clothes.
And he has on a different outfit. Shit, she's fast! It's really form-fitting, highlighting his elfin build. It's nearly black, but I can see traces of purple in the darkness. On the left breast, right on top of his little heart, is a blue, seven-spoked pinwheel. Do the UnderWorlders have such toys here? A pinwheel would be better suited for the OverWorld.
The toddler raises his arms up; Kazdan picks him up and then kneels to pick up the book with his other hand. The toddler presses the statue into Kazdan's heart.
"It's time to go back to him." He teases very lightly, while the toddler looks at him seriously. He goes through the curtains and still sees Lachima sewing.
"Queen's blue was Melinoë's favorite flower." Oh, so it's a flower. Huh, does it grow in Everrain?
"Where does it grow?"
"In the OverWorld." His face contorts with confusion.
"Has she been to the OverWorld?"
"No, she was quite weak in the Power department, but made up for it in Wisdom and Courage."
"Then, how did she know about the flower?"
"From books. Ancient books, far older than I will ever be."
"Oh…so does the flower stand for something?"
"Back when the OverWorld had an official monarchy, the flower was an ingredient for ink that the royals used for their documents."
"Then why wasn't it called royal blue?'"
"It became Queen's blue when a Royal Historian, looking through several generations of royal documents, picked up a quirk amongst the queens: all used this particular shade of blue when writing private letters. Melinoë wrote a comedy around that fact."
"Oh…..did you use fabric from that play to make the toddler's outfit?"
"No, I used the leftover fabric from The Lorn Heir."
"A tragedy?"
"Yes, and an operatic epic. It's about Kiru and his deformed heir."
"Deformed?"
"The OverWorlders were quite limited to sexes back in those ancient times, and arguably to an extent now, so anything that didn't fit neatly into female or male was considered deformed."
"What about shape-shifters?" Like this Iparu I read about in the old message boards; he can apparently be any Creature he chooses to be, regardless of gender.
"I don't know and never cared to learn."
"So what happened to the heir in the end? Was it killed? Was it mugically rendered normal?"
"You would need to see it."
"….It's one of those open-endings, isn't it?"
"You would need to see it to form your own opinion."
"…I'll see it when I can afford to." He looks down at the toddler who has his eyes closed and loosely holds the statue. "It's time for us to go."
"Yes, you did your delivery for today."
"Today?"
"Didn't Dairus tell you? Lord Chaor has loaned your services to me for about a month's worth of deliveries. So I will see you again tomorrow."
"…See you tomorrow then."
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
Here is the link to the ancient roman warehouse that inspired The Needle in this chapter: a href=" . "Link/a
Here is the link to Kamangareth. She actually gets an appearance in The Ultimate Guide to All Things Chaotic in its copyright section. However, she doesn't get a summary, so I had to work with the flavor text of her card and her Disciplines. I figure that she takes great pride in killing Danians and sort of views it like a game, making her sort of playful. I also read on the questionable wiki that she has a secret crush on Chaor, which amused me greatly: a href=" . /revision/latest?cb=20131201223442"Link/a
Here is the link to what inspired the toddler's new outfit. The outfit is Richard III's from Aya Kanno's Requiem for the Rose King manga: a href=" . /requiemoftheroseking/images/d/d0/IMG_20160806_ /revision/latest?cb=20160806182950"Link/a
There's a small cameo of Ragetrod aka the UnderWorlder that looks like a two-headed werewolf. I may do something with him in the future.
And for those wondering where Kammy's cave is; it's the same cave from season two's, episode six's "Chaor's Commandos Part I." I didn't know where exactly that cave was, so I made up some directions since the show didn't seem clear to me.
The Zombie Troopers comment is a nod to season one's, episode thirty-four's "Trading Cards." Coincidentally, there is a Legends/EU book of the same name in the Star Wars universe.
Queen's blue is another fictional flower I have come up with for the UnderWorld's flora, which I find almost odd that I've created more flora for the UnderWorld than the OverWorld. Maybe I should give the OverWorld some fauna…
Next chapter will hopefully come out some time in March as long as I'm not swamped by life. Also, next chapter will have the return of Accato and a surprise human guest.