An Arrival


The next day, after everything Blossom determined she needed had been loaded onto a ship, she waved goodbye to her family from the stern and watched their figures grow smaller and smaller as she drifted to Hael. It took about an hour to go from Floria's western shore to the island chain and she told the captain there was no need to rush; they didn't even put up the topsails. But soon enough the water turned especially murky from all the mineral runoff, and flags led the way to the harbor which was its own small island. The closer they drew to land, the more solidified magma there was to avoid. Eventually, far in the future, the islands and continent would be as one.

The Elven vessel had beaten the Pixies, logical since the northernmost point of Fairweather was within rowing distance of Hael's southernmost island. Blossom spotted Buttercup overlooking things from the bow and waved to catch her attention. The Elf nodded in greeting. A few minutes later, they stood together onshore. The sailors held an assembled crowd of Demons at bay, forming a path for the princesses' belongings to be transferred into the capital. "Do you think our husbands know we are here?" Buttercup mused.

Not two seconds after she spoke, a circle of glyphs appeared on the ground and a hellmouth opened to dispense Lucifer and his queen, Lilita. They made an intimidating couple and the princesses immediately bowed. "Please rise," Lucifer said, "you are family now."

Lilita stepped forward to place her talons beneath their chins, scrutinizing the young women. Long horns emerged from her head in elegant spirals, and she possessed a pair of bat wings that lay folded against her silvery back akin to Blossom's own. At first glance, her eyes appeared to be jet black but upon closer inspection they were a deep, dark red, like pooled blood. "Hmm… I suppose our sons could not have done better than you two," she said in a tone of natural detachment. "Your beauty puts the Angels to shame."

"Thank y—" Blossom started to say, but Lilita cut her off.

"Do not thank me for stating facts. Come, I shall show you our kingdom." Each and every one of her subjects made a show of deference while she walked up the path, skirting the porters.

"There is more than one royal residence?" Since Elves were people of few words, Blossom was fine with broaching the questions that surely also occupied Buttercup's mind. Hunter's instinct demanded she focus on learning the lay of the land.

"But of course," Lilita replied, "Demons are viciously territorial. My sons nearly tore each other to pieces before we gave them their own castles." Harbor Island connected to the main island via a wide suspension bridge. Beneath it, shellfish farms followed the shore all the way around. At the far side of the bridge, black walls rose so high that the princesses had to crane their necks to see the mouth of the dead volcano. The capital of Hael was a natural fortress, nigh impenetrable from every direction save the sky. Numerous staircases had been carved out of the rock in a pattern resembling a honeycomb, but only one path, the royal one, had a railing to prevent people from falling right off into the sea.

A wall of mist obstructed the main entrance into the cone, and once through it, Blossom froze in awe as her companions kept walking. "Welcome to Hestus, the heart of our kingdom. As you can see, we are industrious people." The mist was actually steam vented by a sprawling network of pipes. They came in many colors indicating different compositions such as steel, copper, and even gold. There did not seem to be a single structure or dwelling that didn't have a pipe emerging from it, and many of them were interconnected. Lilita noticed Blossom was no longer with her and turned around, a little smug. "Does our technology impress you?"

"I have never seen anything like this…" she breathed. "I had no idea that anyone had even envisioned something like this!"

"We did. It is merely that the rest of Erd remained ignorant of our scientific pursuits. However, no one else has an abundance of natural materials to experiment with. Let us press on." Lilita explained that most of the buildings they currently saw were related to mining. Raw materials went through a variety of refinement processes before being sent out for export or allocated for domestic use. The noise from the machinery was phenomenal. The next district consisted of artisanal workshops and smitheries, and Buttercup's eyes got big as she took in all the armaments on display. The functional gear was forged from steel, bronze, and obsidian while the ornamental items featured gold, silver, and gemstones, and there was almost no trace of wood. Lilita smiled at her. "Our blades are not made of diamonds, but they accomplish necessary tasks."

"Do you not mine diamonds?" Fairweather dominated the trade but Hael was right behind them.

"Of course, but ours are not Asters." Aster diamonds were the strongest material in all of Erd and so named because they fell from the skies above Fairweather, gifts from the moon goddess according to them. Using Asters was the only way to craft regular diamond weapons, and the Elves had no inclination of sharing them. They did sell their indestructible creations for exorbitant prices, though.

The market district was next, filled to the brim with food stalls, clothing shops, and apothecaries. Any common items the princesses needed could be purchased there. Finally they came upon the royal parade grounds and the primary castle beyond. Most of it was actually embedded in the rock, composed of a labyrinth of magma tubes. Bubbles caught up to them just in time for a quick tour, and then Lilita directed each princess to follow their trail of belongings to the appropriate places of residence. Given that they were total strangers to the realm, the trio had no desire to split up just yet.

"What should we do?" Bubbles asked. "Explore some more?"

"I want to buy a sword," Buttercup announced, "and a bow." Although a veritable armory had accompanied her, she didn't own any Haelish weaponry and wanted to see what kind of quality the Demons offered. Blossom and Bubbles accompanied her to a smithery. As soon as the clerk realized he had the Princess of Fairweather as a customer, he gladly showed her the items reserved exclusively for nobles, but they were more flashy than functional. She went to the next shop and spurned those offerings as well. After telling ten clerks that she wanted something with real cutting power and durability yet finding neither in the same package, she gave up… until a haggard Demon shambled out of an alley to invite the princesses into her store.

They marveled at the small arms on display. There were short swords, bodice knives, boot daggers, and even blades concealed in hair combs. Throwing knives, stilettos, and hand crossbows also vied for attention. Mounted on the wall behind the sales counter was a bow that called to the Elf. It was of the compound variety, with a fine steel string and steel gears for adjusting the draw weight. It had a leather-wrapped grip, ironwood limbs covered in black animal horn, and some ingenious bladed sleeves that could be bolted over the limbs for melee use. Buttercup had to have it. Wooden arrows would not do, so the Demon sold her two dozen metal arrows with a variety of tips from bodkin to broadhead. All she needed was a test target.

"Now can we explore?" Bubbles questioned after they left.

"Where do you wish to go?" Buttercup returned. She didn't mind, because maybe they'd stumble across something to use for target practice.

"Mm… the beach! I saw one while my ship sailed in, on the north side." That meant they had to return to the bridge and walk along the shellfish farms. Without Lilita to command her subjects' attention, everybody stared at the foreign princesses and they received more whistles and lewd propositions from afar than was reasonable.

"Does it seem like most of these Demons are male?" Blossom whispered at the risk of sounding sexist.

"I think they are," Bubbles agreed, "but that must be normal for them. There are more female Fauns than male."

"Really?"

"Mhm! But there are more male Satyrs than female, so it evens out."

"What is the difference between the two?" Buttercup asked.

"Fauns are like deer and Satyrs are like goats," she explained. "Only the men have horns. And they're way hairier. And they say way worse things to women than these Demons." Bubbles smiled and waved at a fisherman on his boat, and he nearly fell overboard. She giggled.

Blossom unfurled her wings to fly a bit farther ahead; she wanted to ensure the narrow strip of solid land they followed wouldn't suddenly turn into cooling lava or end in water. Everything looked fine leading to the beach so she touched back down. "You have not done that before," Buttercup observed.

"Done what?"

"Fly, at all, since we met." Green eyes studied her. "Why?"

Her cheeks warmed. "I suppose… I did not want you to think I am above you. We must face this situation together, I mean, and I did not want to seem as if I would fly away and… leave you on your own." She hoped that made sense.

"That's nice of you," Bubbles said, "but I'm happy my marriage was arranged."

"You are? Truly?"

"Mhm. No complaints here!"

Now Buttercup scrutinized her. "Would you not have rather chosen a husband?"

Bubbles shook her head, curls bouncing. "If I waited for my turn to get married the traditional way, my sisters would've chosen all the good men before me. I mean, the nice and good-looking ones. And it's not like I have a shot at becoming queen, so anyone who wanted to marry me would be doing it for the title of prince. Now I have a real prince who's strong, handsome, and makes me laugh. That's more than the youngest princess like me could hope for!"

"Do not be afraid to aim your sights even higher, as high as you want. No one can set a limit to your success," Blossom quoted.

"I know!" Bubbles beamed. "I've already got a plan for myself. First, I need to get some plants to grow."

Blossom glanced around, really taking in their surroundings. "There is so little vegetation here."

"But there's a lot over there." Bubbles pointed to the neighboring island covered in trees, then eyed the sandbar connecting the two. "Should we check it out?"

"That adventure may need to wait until we learn the tides," Blossom advised.

"You're right," Bubbles sighed, "wouldn't want to get stuck there when our princes are expecting us."

Buttercup folded her arms at that. "If they were so eager, they should have met us at the harbor."

Blossom said nothing, glad that only Lucifer and Lilita had shown up. She wanted to spend as much time as possible out from under Brick's doubtlessly oppressive thumb.