Chapter 7

The Emperor of Alcamoth

Eda payed close attention to the route that she and the kids were taking as they were all marched towards the audience chambers of this place's emperor, probably the last person that she wanted to see today. There were guards all around them as they walked though she wasn't particularly worried about them. They'd already showed to be just as much pushovers as the typical coven guard back home. As far as she was concerned the only real threats around here were the trio that she had fought earlier: the two not-humans and the little Nopon, Riki. While Riki and the big guy whose name escaped her had already left, the blonde kid with the weird sword was still accompanying them. Shulk was it?

Eda also kept her eyes trained on the princess – Melia if she remembered correctly – that had brought Luz to them. While Eda was beyond relieved to have Luz back, she still wasn't willing to trust Melia fully. Eda had spent most of her life rebelling against authority figures, especially these royal types, and that's not something that's easily shaken no matter how reasonable the princess may seem. She only wished that the others shared in her skepticism.

"This construction of yours is astounding." Melia said to Amity as she marveled at the wheelchair-shaped abomination that was currently carrying Luz and King; the latter riding on the former's lap. "And you can just shape it to whatever form you wish?"

"Yup!" Luz turned to give a proud looking smile at her girlfriend who was currently pushing her chair along. "Amity's the best Abomination student in her grade. Probably even the whole school!"

"Thanks," Amity said with a blush. "But it's not anything I want. I'm still a student after all. There's a lot that I can still improve on."

"Regardless, it's still quite impressive from where I'm standing. As is that living staff of yours." Shulk said, looking at Amity's palisman with a mix of awe and nervousness as she rode on Amity's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Ghost won't hurt you anymore." Amity reassured.

"Eda, is your staff alive as well?" Melia asked, looking at Eda's palisman.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Eda responded bluntly. Grabbing Owlbert from the tip of his staff, Eda placed him in her hair for safekeeping. To her dismay though, Owlbert flew out a second later and headed towards Melia. "Hey!"

Owlbert landed on Melia's shoulder, looking at her with wide eyes. Melia smiled and rubbed his belly with her fingers which Owlbert leaned into with a pleased "hoot".

"Traitors." Eda mumbled under her breath.

Eda eventually managed to convince Owlbert to come back to her. She then spent the next several minutes staring suspiciously at the princess while the kids all talked among themselves. The conversations jumped between various topics of their respective titans. King was in the middle of regaling everyone with his somewhat inaccurate stories about demon-kind when they eventually arrived before a large set of double doors.

The guards gave Melia a bow before one of the said to her, "Princess, the emperor would like to talk to you and the wielder of the Monado before seeing the visitors."

"Very well then." Melia said before turning to Eda. "Please wait here for a moment. We'll be back shortly." She and Shulk then proceeded to walk into the chambers.

"I can't believe you agreed for us to meet with the Emperor of this place." Eda said to Luz once they were on their own. Well technically there were still the guards around them but she paid them no mind at all.

"Sorry. I didn't feel like I had a choice with how crazy things ended up getting around here." Luz said.

"Of course you had a choice. It's called making a break for it. Now come on, there's still time to do that." Eda raised Owlbert in the air, fully ready to ditch this place.

A nearby guard looked at her nervously, clearly overhearing the conversation. Eda just gave him a sly smirk causing him to avoid eye contact completely. He seemed content to pretend like he didn't overhear her plans just now. Smart man.

"Come on Eda, just give them a chance. I mean, Melia's really nice. I'm sure her dad can't be so bad." Luz said.

"Let's hope so." Amity said, looking appropriately nervous.

Luz seemed to start doubting herself as well, holding King tighter for comfort, which the young demon happily returned.

The doors opened again a minute later, much sooner than Eda had expected. Though, instead of the princess, a single High Entia man that she didn't recognize walked out. He clearly wasn't a guard either based on his appearance and Eda was prepared to write him off as unimportant, but apparently Luz did know him as she jumped out of her chair – placing King on the cushion in the meantime, much to his displeasure – and rushed towards him.

"Dr. Saelin! You're okay." Luz gave the man a large hug. He stood there frozen for a moment before awkwardly giving her a small pat on the back.

"Thanks Luz. Though I should say the same about you. I was quite worried." He said back.

"Oh, Eda, this is the doctor that fixed me up after I fell." Luz introduced. Well that instantly shot him up to Eda's favorite person here.

"Thank you for taking care of Luz for us. We're so grateful." Eda said.

"It was my pleasure. Your girl is quite the fighter." Dr. Saelin said.

"Luz!" Amity called out, gesturing to the empty wheelchair.

"Oh come on querida! I appreciate the ride here, but I'm doing fine now." Luz raised her arms in protest, but quickly brought them back to her sides to try to hide how much they were shaking. "Well, mostly."

"You still shouldn't be moving so much. You don't want to overexert yourself." Amity responded.

"I don't think just standing around counts as overexerting myself." Luz stubbornly said back. She'd only reluctantly agreed to sit on the wheelchair to begin with after Melia informed her of the long walk it would be to the emperor's audience chambers.

"Okay, time out. Let the doctor speak," Dr. Saelin cut in. "Generally I suggest patients not use wheelchairs if they don't want to and can stand without one. I don't want my patients to be to inactive while recovering. That being said Luz, it might actually do you well for now. After all, I didn't want you moving around this early anyway, and all that running around you must have done since escaping Lorithia couldn't have been good for your aching muscles. You may be much more hurt than you realize."

"Fine." Luz whined before trudging herself back to her wheelchair where she picked up King and sat herself down with a pout. It quickly went away after Amity placed a comforting hand on Luz's shoulder, which she leaned into with a smile.

This naturally caused King to get grossed out and jumped out of Luz's arms onto Eda's shoulders. Eda couldn't help but chuckle at that. Oh well, he'll grow out of that eventually.

"Don't worry Luz. You should feel a lot better after a goodnight's sleep. Besides," Dr. Saelin leaned in with a pretend whisper that was clearly loud enough for everyone to hear. "There are no chairs in the audience chambers so I'd take full advantage of that wheelchair if I were you."

"Haha. Thanks." Luz giggled.

Soon the large doors opened again to show Melia waiting on the other side. "The emperor is ready to see you four now. Please follow me." She said while gesturing them all to enter.

"Alright." Luz said before waving towards Dr. Saelin. "Bye Dr. Saelin. Thanks again for the help."

"Take care Luz. If anything feels wrong feel free to come see me right away." Dr. Saelin said before they all finally entered the room where the emperor was waiting.

The audience chambers was a long and wide hallway with several guards posted on either side. Melia walked them near the end of the room where Shulk stood. Just before them was a small staircase that led up to a throne. Sitting on top of the seat could only be the emperor himself based on his overly elaborate robes and gaudy crown. A young man that bared a striking resemblance to the emperor stood to his side. Eda presumed that to be the emperor's son.

The emperor slowly rose off his seat before addressing Eda and the kids. "Travelers from another world. I am Emperor Sorean Antiqua, ruler of the High Entia. I welcome you all to the city of Alcamoth."

"Hey there emp. Good to meet you," Eda lied. At this point she was just trying to get out of here without any trouble. "So, about that little fight of ours…"

"Please, there is no need for apologies." The emperor cut in. Eda's not sure why he thought she was going to apologize but she decided to roll with it. "On the contrary, it is I who must extend my most sincerest of apologies for how you've been treated here today. Based on testimonies I've heard from one Dr. Saelin as well as Lorithia's personal security, you all had every right to defend yourselves against such unprovoked attacks. I wish to assure you that Minister Lorithia had no authority to issue your arrests or to demand the execution of a young child."

"WHAT!" Eda shouted, as did Amity and King.

"Where is this woman. I've got a few words I need to give her." Eda said completely fuming.

"Why would she do that!" Amity yelled, her voice a combination of shock and anger.

"Wheeeee!" King released his infamous squeak of rage, which gathered the opposite reaction to what he probably hoped as many of the High Entia around just gave him a fond smile.

"And this is why I warned you to send Lorithia here ahead of us." Luz whispered to Melia.

"I understand your anger," said the emperor. "Rest assured that Lorithia's title as head Minister of Research has been revoked and she will be under constant supervision for the foreseeable future. She is currently being held at the Ministry of Investigations until they have concluded a full-scale inspection of all her past decisions as head minister."

"Well gee don't I feel better now." Eda said sarcastically. So that was it? This was entirely the fault of this Lorithia woman and the emperor holds no blame for what had happened to them? She wasn't buying it. "Lets cut to the chase, are we free to go or are you keeping us prisoners here?"

"Eda! Stop it!" Luz shouted.

"Don't give them ideas." King said.

Eda could feel the glares coming from Amity and the princess as well, but she made sure to keep her eyes trained squarely on the emperor. To her surprise his eyes widened in shock at her accusation.

"I understand your worry towards us after everything you've been through today. I can not offer any assurances beyond my word, but I promise that we will not keep you here against your will. You all may leave whenever you wish. However, you should know that the discovery of a new titan is completely unprecedented. There are so many things that we could learn from each other, and I don't want to pass up this opportunity. The mere existence of beings without any ether completely changes our understanding of the world." The emperor said.

"Apologies father, but If I may interject," the man standing by the emperor's side spoke up. "Only the girl in the wheelchair there has no trace of ether in her system."

The emperor gave a stumped look. Melia looked surprised as well before giving a low bow to her father. "Forgive me for the false information. I only knew about Luz's lack of ether and had assumed that was a trait shared with the people of this new titan."

"Apparently not," said the young prince. "The others were scanned as they entered the palace and all were shown to have ether as expected. The two women seem to have a surplus in fact."

"Wheh? What about King!?" King whined, as if he were just insulted.

"The dog talks?" The prince asked. The emperor and even several of the surrounding guards gave a look of surprise too.

"Wait a minute," Amity jumped in, sounding thoroughly confused. "We've never even heard of ether before today, so how is it that we all have it?"

"Because magic and ether are the same thing." All eyes turned to Eda as she said that. "Am I right?"

Eda had been theorizing that for hours now, ever since Nene compared their magic to the powers her dad could do. After seeing these powers in-person, and with the way this conversation was going, Eda was sure of it now.

Shulk was the next to speak up. "We've never referred to ether as magic before, but both you and Amity did recognize our healing arts that way. Could we actually be referring to the same thing?"

"Um, excuse me." Luz spoke up. "What is ether anyway? It might help us understand if we're all on the same page."

Melia gave them a nod before explaining. "Ether is an energy source that's emitted from the body of our titan, the Bionis. It surrounds us all and makes up the fundamental building blocks of life in our world. The powers we've displayed are performed by manipulating the ether in the surrounding atmosphere in order to use it for our arts."

To demonstrate, Melia extended her arm out and after a moment of concentration, a magical ball of ice formed over her hand.

Luz let out a loud gasp, her eyes widening in amazement. "Eda's right, that is magic! Watch this." Luz pulled out one of her glyphs and activated it, forming another ball of ice over her own hand. "It's just like how Eda explained magic to me back at the Knee. That's why my glyphs work here!"

Everyone in the room went silent for a minute as they all took in this discovery. Shulk was the first to speak up after walking up to Luz to get a closer look at her ice ball.

"This is amazing!" He said, placing his hand on his chin in deep thought. "We know that even the Mechonis has its own flow of ether. Ether must be a natural by-product that all these titans create. So our two civilizations must have come up with different names for a titan's energy and evolved two completely different ways of manipulating it." He then directed his attention to Amity. "Those attacks that you used in our fight were like nothing I've ever seen."

"But there are plenty of similarities as well." Amity said. "Like those healing spells you and Riki used. They looked and felt just like what the Healing Coven can do. Only without any spell circles."

"It's also like wild magic." Luz said. She got the princess's attention before asking her, "You said that you manipulate the magic/ether/whatever in the environment right? So do you not use your internal ether for your powers?"

Melia shook her head. "No. How would one even do that? Wouldn't that quickly drain your entire ether supply? Unless… is that where your surplus of ether comes in?"

"That must be our bile sacs. It's an organ that gives us all the extra magic we need to use our spells." Eda explained.

"Which I don't have by the way." Luz said to Melia. "So instead I have to use my glyphs to command the magi-ther in the environment, just like you."

"I see. That still begs the question, how are you the only one without ether?" Melia asked.

Luz gave a quick explanation on being from a different dimension where magic didn't exist. This led to even further questions and the discussion on parallel universes and multiverse theories.

All the kids were getting quite invested in this conversation and Eda couldn't deny that she was interested as well. An entire civilization that practiced wild magic, with no bile sacs needed? That didn't require spell circles or glyphs of any kind? While Eda had never cared about the rules and regulations of school back at Hexside, she did always enjoy learning about different types of magic.

Soon, the emperor regained everyone's attention by clearing his throat. "I'm sure the conversations here could go on for hours on-end, but we are limited on time. Still this experience has shown how much our two civilizations could learn from each other. I will not force you all to cooperate with our people if you do not wish, but I believe that it would be a great benefit for us all. Would you at least consider informing your leaders that we would be completely open to a diplomatic meeting between us."

"Oh… um about that." Eda said, sharing an awkward look with Luz. "We're not exactly on speaking terms with our emperor."

"We're all traitors!" King shared happily.

"Traitors? Don't tell me we're harboring fugitives here?" The prince asked. "Father, are you not worried this could negatively impact our relations with this new kingdom before it begins."

"It's not our fault. Belos is evil!" Luz said. "And he'd probably hate the way you guys use your powers here anyway. He thinks any form of wild magic is an 'insult to the titan'." Luz provided air quotes at the end.

"An insult to the titan?" The emperor asked.

"Emperor Belos is able to talk to our titan." Amity said.

"Or so he says!" Luz added. "I think he's full of it."

The emperor was quiet for a moment, taking in the information he was given. "Your concerns are noted and will be accounted for, but I still wish to at least attempt to extend an arm of communication. Would we be able to at least send an ambassador with you back to your titan to meet with your emperor personally?"

Eda didn't know how to answer. She still didn't entirely trust this emperor, and having him and Belos meet could lead to either a war or some big alliance between them. Neither sounded good for her long term freedom as an outlaw. However, with how insistent the emperor's being on learning more about the Boiling Isles, she's wondering how quickly his promise of not imprisoning them would change if she tried to cut him off here and now.

Before she could come up with a proper answer to give, Amity gave the first response. Walking up before the emperor she gave a low bow before saying, "Great Emperor Antiqua. My name is Amity Blight, of the Blight family. My mother and father are close business partners with our Emperor Belos. We would be honored to work as a messenger between Alcamoth and the Boiling Isles."

"I see. Miss Blight, based on your connections do you believe that your emperor would be willing to meet with an ambassador of ours?" The emperor asked.

"Certainly. This discovery is unprecedented for us as well. Emperor Belos would surely take the time to setup a meeting with you." Amity said.

"Father. If this is true, it may be our best chance to establish a line of communication between our two countries." The prince said.

"I agree with Kallian. Our chances for peace would be best if we were introduced by someone close to their emperor." Melia added.

"Yes. I believe you two are correct." The emperor said.

While the royals talked, Amity walked back towards Luz and Eda. Once she was close, Luz asked in a low voice. "That was awesome batata, but do you really think Belos would be happy with meeting another ruler?"

"I don't know." Amity admitted with a shrug. "But Mom always taught me when making business offers to be concise and confident no matter what. Plus, setting up this meeting under the Blight name would help smooth things over with mom for being gone all day."

"You were gone because you were saving the life of someone you care about. Shouldn't that be enough?" Luz argued.

"Luz, you know it won't be." Amity said with a frown.

Luz gave a small pout. Eda knew that Luz was trying to not seem as upset as she probably felt. Eda couldn't even blame her. Odalia sounds like she's just as bad now as she was back during school.

"Very well then, Miss Blight." The emperor spoke back up. "If your family can begin a line of communication with your emperor then I welcome for our two civilizations to collaborate. We can discuss further details in a few days time."

"Father, is there a reason for the wait? I believe it would be best to start this as soon as possible." Melia asked.

"Have you forgotten my child? Tomorrow we will need to focus on your investiture ceremony." Turning to Eda and the kids he said, "If you four wish to stay the night, you'll be able to witness as Melia is officially announced to all of Alcamoth as my successor to the throne."

They're taking an entire day to celebrate the announcement of their next ruler, which likely won't matter until years later? Eda couldn't imagine who would get all excited for something like that.

"Oh my gosh! Congratulations Melia!" Luz cheered. "That's so cool. Oh, Eda please can we stay?"

"Not a chance." Eda said.

"Aw." Luz pouted.

"Father, is this not premature?" Melia asked.

"Of course not Melia," The prince spoke. "You passed the Trial of the High Entia Tomb and returned unharmed. Just as was planned."

"But it was a trial I was suppose to do alone. If Shulk and his friends hadn't arrived when they did…"

"Melia, you'd already reached the end when we arrived. They shouldn't hold the assassination attempt against you." Shulk said.

"An assassin?" Luz gasped. "That was real? I thought that was just another lie from Lorithia."

"I'm afraid not." Melia frowned. Turning back to the emperor she said, "Which only proves that I'm not fit for the throne. If not even Mother would accept me as empress despite passing the trial, what hope do I have with the rest of Alcamoth?"

Mother? Did her own mom try to have her killed for the throne? For once, Eda was starting to sympathize with the princess. Appearance wise she'd put Melia at late teens to early twenties max. Practically still a kid as far as Eda was concerned, and far too young to have to go through all that.

"Well I think you'd do great!" Everyone turned towards the direction of Luz's sudden shout. She looked a bit bashful at her outburst but continued on. "I mean, you saved my life. You saw I was scared and took the time to listen to me. You helped break up the fight between our friends. This whole meeting only happened because of you. You're already way ahead of our own emperor in my book."

"I agree." Shulk spoke up next. "Melia, it's clear that you care deeply about your people. I'm certain that you'd make a fine empress one day."

"Melia my child," the emperor actually walked down the steps of his throne placing one hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I wish I could say that all will accept your rise to power with glee, but there will always be those who will disapprove of your rule. However, do not let the actions of a few individuals taint your view of the greater population. There is no reason to doubt your legitimacy to the throne. Even outsiders can see that, and the majority of the people will see that as well."

The prince came down the steps as well, giving his sister a warm smile in the process. "Believe in yourself, Crown Princess. Just as your friends believe in you."

Melia let out a grateful sigh. "Thank you all for your support. I will not let you down."

Eda felt a lull in the conversation and thought it was the perfect opportunity to leave. "Well if we're all done here, I think we should probably get going." She said as she tried to direct the kids to the exit. "I'm sure the Blights will get in touch with you in a few days. Byeeee."

"Eda, can't we stay just one night, pleeeease!" Luz begged.

"No way. Now come on. It'll be a long trip back to the forest. Plus you wouldn't want your girlfriend to get into further trouble with Odalia would you?"

"Amity, do you really need to head back right now?" Luz asked, her eyes pleading her girlfriend to back her up.

Eda rolled her eyes when Amity predictably responded by saying, "Well… I guess one night wouldn't hurt. Snagging this meeting should still keep me out of trouble."

Melia came up to them in the middle of their talk to say, "If you're destination is Makna Forest, then I'd strongly suggest you stay the night here. The forest is even more dangerous at night, especially for travelers unfamiliar with the woods."

"And they were dangerous enough as is during the day." Luz reminded.

"And do you even remember where we left the portal anyway?" Amity asked. "I certainly don't."

"Um… I know it was next to some trees." Eda said.

"If you choose to stay, I will provide you all with a place to sleep tonight as well as any other services you'd require." The emperor said. "You will be far safer here tonight than blindly wandering around Makna, and in the morning I can send a search party to track down the teleporter you used to get here."

Eda was still tempted to just leave, but she didn't want to risk the safety of the children, especially not after they just got Luz back. Her decision was finalized when she looked back down at the kids. Not because of the puppy-dog eyes Luz was giving her (that only works some of the times now), but instead because of how tired the girls looked. She could already feel that King had nodded off in her hair, and with the excitement of this whole meeting having died down, the girls looked ready to keel over from exhaustion themselves. Plus, Luz was still hurt and none of them had eaten anything all day.

"Alright fine. We'll stay the night." She said getting a half-cheer, half-yawn from Luz and a look of relief from Amity. "Okay your majesty. We're going to need your best four bedroom first-class suite. Full room-service as well if you can."

"It shall be done."

"Wait really?"

The meeting ended soon afterwards. The emperor had ordered one of the rooms in the palace to be setup for them. Once it was ready, Melia had volunteered to walk them to their assigned room while Shulk had left them a few minutes beforehand. The walk to their room was far less energetic than the walk towards the audience chambers earlier as the events of the day were quickly starting to catch up to the girls. Eda had even offered to push Luz's chair for Amity, but the girl had stubbornly insisted that she could do it herself.

They only had to walk for a few minutes before Melia stopped them all in front of a specific room.

"This can serve as your room for as long as you wish to stay here. I hope the accommodations are to your liking." Melia said before opening the door with a keycard. She then handed the card to Eda and opened the door to let them in.

The 'room' was more like a small home with a large living room area with connected kitchen and doors that must have led to the four bedrooms that Eda had requested.

"There's a menu on the table and a communication pad on the far wall if you wish to call for room-service. The options are a bit limited this time of night, but it should still be sufficient if you are hungry. There are also changes of clothes in the closets of each room if you require them." Melia said.

"Thanks so much for everything Melia." Luz said with a large smile. Amity nodded as well.

"Ya, thanks princess." Eda said. She had to admit, if these royals are planning on backstabbing them later, they at least put on a much better show of being generous than Belos ever did. "You might not be so bad after all."

"Um… thank you. Well, if there's nothing more you need, I shall leave you to yourselves. Goodnight." Melia gave a small bow before she headed out the door, closing it behind her.

Eda waited a few seconds and then rushed to the door to make sure they weren't locked in. Thankfully they weren't.

"Really? You still don't trust them?" Luz asked, both her and Amity giving her a flat look.

"Hey, we can never be too careful." Eda defended. She reached into her hair and pulled out the sleeping King. Placing him in Luz's arms she said, "Now why don't you kids go get ready for bed. You all look about ready to fall over."

The kids all gave her a nod and went over to the nearest bedroom.

"Are we home yet?" King roused awake as they left the living room.

"No King. We're sleeping here for the night." Luz said in a soft voice.

"Okay then." King gave a large yawn before curling himself further into Luz.

Eda gave another look around the living room area to make sure there wasn't anything out of the ordinary around here. After finally accepting that nothing bad is going to happen (for now at least), Eda plopped herself down on the center couch, letting out a relieved sigh.

She was tempted to pull her feet off and relax on the comfortable couch, but her grumbling stomach had other plans.

From her seat she grabbed the menu to see what was available. Almost all the ingredients meant nothing to her (what even is a Pagul Hot Pot anyway), but she did at least recognize things like salad and sandwich.

"Hey kids. I know you must be hungry. Want to try ordering something from here?" Eda called out towards the room they were in.

Getting up from the couch, she walked towards the bedroom they were in to show them the menu. "I'll need to make a taste-test potion first to make sure nothing's poisoned, but afterwards we should be good to-"

Eda looked into the room and cut herself off. The kids were all sound asleep, looking like they instantly dozed off as soon as they hit the bed. Luz and Amity were embracing each other in their sleep while King was curled up snuggly between them. A warm smile crept onto Eda's face at the sight.

"Goodnight kids." She whispered before shutting off the lights and closing the door.

A/N: This chapter took the longest for me to write. Not because of its length but because a lot of it is exposition. And there were still a lot more exposition that I was tempted to include but were cut for the sake of pacing. Still I tried to at least make the talking as interesting as I could. Hope you enjoy.