Ribbons's birthday quite an affair as was to be expected. Tieria had taken precious little notice of it up to this point, having been lulled into a kind of borderline catatonic slumber of sorts- what in human terms would pass for a deep depression, except extended across several human lifetimes, which both nuanced and depleted his emotional and intellectual resources- but had been surfacing toward a greater awareness, from an inner abyss, so that while not even remotely back to his former self, he had a firmer grip on his surroundings than he had had in a very long time.
His Veda connection surely went a long way toward this development but be it as it may, Tieria was now fully capable and even eager of taking place in the oddball spectacle that was Ribbons's birthday.
As a celebration it was as artificial as, well, Ribbons himself: none of them had actually been born and while adopting human habits and cultural norms, tweaking them in varying degrees of weird, was very much one of the things Ribbons greatly delighted in, Tieria could not help feeling that the so called birthday was still a particular piece of lunacy.
For starters, despite being called a birthday, it was a movable date- according to calculations Ribbons kept to himself- as it took place as many times in the year as Ribbons saw fit. Having established his own calendar, one that surprisingly matched those based on Earthly ones, Ribbons had no qualms springing his birthday every three months, on occasion.
There was an official date to be observed with great care across all colonies but Tieria had so little to do with it that he had even forgotten about it. As it turned out, the world at large celebrated Ribbons' birthday on Christmas day, which did at times coincide with the party Ribbons more or less forced on his, for lack of a better term, kin.
Tieria suspected that the reason why Ribbons went to all this trouble was a mixture of the obvious egocentric ways and a desire to keep all Innovators on their toes. Then again, there was a connection between these two. A fixed date would allow everyone to just fall into the routine but the way the celebration would be sprung on them with only a few weeks in advance made them all very much forced to dance to Ribbons's whim.
Tieria suspected that it would have been even more effective without the weeks in advance but Ribbons still wanted everyone to get him a nice gift and get cool, fancy clothes. Usually there would be a theme and while the richly embossed invitations were presented as if the party were a voluntary event, Ribbons Almark Being Ever So Honored if You Would Grant Him With Your Presence, it was all too clear that skipping was not an option.
Regene might get away with it but would not lose it for the world. It was great fun, not for any reason Ribbons had in mind but more at Ribbons's expense.
For everyone else, getting a gift proved a greater challenge than might be expected. What could you possibly give someone who could literally have anything he wanted? Ribbons encouraged crafty gifts and should be thrilled to receive something that was less than impressive as long as time and effort went into making it. But that, too, was part of Ribbons's playing at the benevolent leader when in reality, they better get him something he really liked. Or else.
Not that Ribbons would go as far as to kill or even overtly punish those who did not please him in this particular case but he made it known that he wielded more than enough authority to make things very bad for them. The way Ribbons low-key kept everyone in line, despite- or perhaps precisely because- of his eccentricities- was nothing short of masterly.
And then there was Tieria's own assigned birthday, December 9th. Lockon, Neil, that is, had somehow found it out and organized a party in which he teamed up with Sumeragi in order to get Tieria drunk. It had backfired as Tieria was more than capable of out-drinking any and all humans. The party ended with Neil and Sumeragi finally passing out as Tieria downed yet another shot and swung back on his feet without so much as tottering. From there on, Neil and Sumeragi gained a certain rueful admiration for him. Other birthdays were less chaotic and much more meaningful, like the one time Setsuna went out of his way to present Tieria with a cloyingly sweet milkshake, so thick the straw stood upright right in the middle of the oversize cup, or when Allelujah had gone to great pains to ask the rest of the crew just what kind of gift Tieria would find acceptable.
With a start, Tieria felt a wet trail rolling down his cheeks. Tears. They shocked Tieria greatly. To the point he immediately wiped them away and even linked up to Veda very briefly so as to do away with any signs of crying from his eyes. It was a very useful trick he had picked up when it was far too late to do any good. Which was very much the story of his entire existence.
Maybe not entirely too late in this particular case as such then a sudden noise brought him back just as a very distraught Mileina burst into the chamber, her own eyes surcharged with unshed tears. Before he could ask what was wrong, Mileina's crying caught up with her, falling on her knees in a convulsive mess of sobs.
"She- she says,"
Her distress was such that Tieria was genuinely worried. He crouched next to her, hesitating whether to pat her back, deciding against it. But he keyed his voice to be both commanding and reassuring, making sure to use her name as much as possible so as to focus her attention.
"Mileina, tell me what's wrong."
A few sobs later she started:
"Sister Soraia says that I can't keep the doll, that it's blasphemy- but I don't mean it like that! I've had him for so long but she is going to throw it away, so I took him with so she couldn't get him, and,"
"Who is this Soraia person?"
Tieria was greatly confused. Humans could be very roundabout and he wanted to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. There was something about human pain that affected him deeply and he had grown more attached to this frail young juvenile more than he was willing to admit. Also, he feared that Ribbons was somehow behind this and if that were so, he needed to scramble for damage control immediately.
Mileina made an effort at gathering herself.
"Sister Soraia is the overseer priestess at the dorm. She found my doll,"
"What doll?"
By now Tieria was convinced that this would go easier if Mileina was given short questions to answers. Mileina nodded, then looked around as if she expected this ominous person to be lurking in a corner and then slowly dug from the folds of her robe a creepy doll that she presented with a bowed head.
"My Tieria doll. My mother sewed him for me when I was a baby."
That might explain why it looked so frazzled. Now that Tieria looked at it closely, it did vaguely resemble himself. It had a mop of very straight, brightly colored purple hair over two reddish buttons that served as eyes. The clothes had been obviously been washed repeatedly, the Innovador pajama-like uniform, as Tieria often thought of it, looking even more faded than the real thing. It was remarkable ugly but in every stitch on the rough, course fabric, Tieria read a token of family love.
"And according to this Soraia person, the doll poses a problem?"
Mileina was busy wiping her eyes clear of tears after having carefully refolded the doll anew. Just when she seemed to be getting a grip on herself, something occurred to her- Tieria could see it in the sudden widening of the filmy, shiny eyes- and Mileina threw herself on the floor in the by now all too familiar gesture of submissive entreaty, now veering on despair.
"I know it's wrong- the scripts say it's blasphemy- but, but- Master Tieria, please don't send me away!"
This would have been funny if not for Mileina's very real distress.
"Mileina, calm down. I'm not sending you away. You can keep your doll."
She was back on her haunches.
"Really…?"
"Yes, really. I'll have a word with this person myself."
If Ribbons was not involved and by all indications, he was not- at least not directly, this 'blasphemy' nonsense was ultimately his doing, either that or Regene was trolling yet again- then Tieria should be able to diffuse this crisis. In order to do so, though, it behooved him to dress the part. He moved to one of his many closets. He had many more clothes than he had need of and as of late Regene had installed a whole new bundle of 'ritual garments' to be worn in Tieria's religious function as high priest or whatever he was supposed to be. It was so profoundly silly but if Regene and Ribbons were so dead set on dragging him into their religion play acting then he might as well take advantage to him.
He settled for a glittery, metallic looking gown that shimmered a dark shade of purple. The interlocking metal plates gave it an intimidating look and Tieria was not even that surprised to find a matching crown, complete with horn-like decorations, that looked ever so much like what a Disney villain would don.
For shoes he stepped into gladiator style sandals complete with a crazy heel- one of these days, Ribbons should get to actually walk on the monstrosities he saw fit to force Tieria into- and thus Tieria stood arrayed in all the glory of deranged gaudiness. Posing before a mirror, he wondered if he was overdoing it, maybe it would backfire.
"Master Tieria, what a beautiful, beautiful frock!"
Tieria blinked. Apparently, it would do just fine. He chuckled despite himself- what would Ribbons think if he were to find out his sophisticated taste matched that of a six year old girl's.
"Right. Well, this should do the trick. I'll summon her...wait, how do I even do that,"
Tieria frowned in frustration. He should know how to do this. Then again, if he were to put Soraia in her place, he might as well do so before her peers. "Forget it, I'll just go to her. Lead the way."
Tieria removed the shoes, no need to torture himself actually walking in them. Mileina had risen to her feet but seemed torn between fascination and excitement.
"Oh, Master Tieria shouldn't walk all the way there…"
Tieria, long before he was 'Master' anything, had trekked for hundreds of miles in all sorts of harsh environments, ranging from tundra, to desert and deep jungle. The suggestion he that could not make his way on his own feet to any location, no matter how relatively distant, in this compound, was enough to make his eyebrows twitch. But of course, Mileina had no idea of any of this and since she would get tagging along, it would be easier if they just took transportation there.
"Fine. We'll take one of the carts."
Confronted with the door that lead from his actual quarters, Tieria grew almost apprehensive. He was not entirely sure it was not locked. And if it was, he was no mood to ask Ribbons- not even Regene- for permission. He might just kick it open, something he was entirely capable of doing.
Fortunately, the door slid open onto the long, gold burnished hallway. A small, open frame vehicle decked in plush seats was nearby. Tieria boarded and was inputting the destination when he noticed that Mileina had yet to join him. "Take a seat. Is Soraia in the 'human quarters' section?"
She ignored the question.
"Humans aren't allowed to ride on these."
Not this again. Tieria was not allowed to laugh as all this was absurdly serious to Mileina on some level, actually serious since in the current pecking order, any human who went against Innovator law would be unnaturally selected out of existence, but the ridiculousness of it all ignited a streak of mischief in him. With the helmet-like crown, he already looked very imposing as it was. Tieria gathered straightened his back and linked up to Veda.
"We, Tieria Erde, command you to sit with us."
Mileina gasped and dutifully did as told. Tieria felt a twinge of remorse at playing her like this so he relaxed into what he hoped was an affable smile and switched his Veda connection off. "Now, where are we even going?"
"Human quarters,"
"Right."
Tieria pushed a button and the vehicle was on its way automatically. Tieria had a fairly good idea of the general layout of the compound but new areas were constantly being added- Tieria at times wondered whether one of the days the structural integrity would not give way one of these days; Regene would waltz off to one of his trips, Ribbons would go through one of his fits of self-aggrandizing and add one too many areas, causing the entire thing to collapse- so his knowledge was spotty. Adding to that that vast areas were a complete mystery to him- like the others' living quarters, other than Ribbons's and Regene's- and it did not came as that much a surprise that there was an entire quarter dedicated to human temple personnel.
But as the vehicle swung into a narrow corridor he had not even noticed before and kept going for what seemed to be a very long time, Tieria began to get somewhat discomfited. "Do you also live in these human quarters?"
Mileina nodded.
"It's not only place humans are allowed to be in the Holy Residence."
"Do you walk to my quarters every day?"
Another nod.
"Humans can't ride the vehicles."
Tieria checked their route on a screen.
"We're not even halfway there. It's a very log distance for you to cover."
Tieria's quarters were so, so vast that he could very easily set Mileina in a set of rooms or arrange for her to be moved somewhat nearer to him. But that would mean she was much more likely to run into Ribbons or one of the others, which might prove deadly to her. And she would also end up witnessing scenes like the one that time Regene had gotten creative with the aphrodisiac.
"I don't mind, Master Tieria."
Maybe she did not but Tieria sure did. By the time they finally reached at an elegant, pillared building, Tieria had decided to get her a personal vehicle. She could not program it but Tieria could easily do that for her.
Feeling more reassured, Tieria redid his attire, putting back the helmet and strapping on the shoes. He climbed the stairway with Mileina at his heels and at the wide entrance he ran into some attendant who immediately dropped to her knees. This was so tiresome. "Convene everyone at the hall, I have an important address to give."
She scurried away to do his bidding. Tieria had done a quick check of the building's blueprint so he knew there was a major hall and precisely where to find it. Mileina's actual quarters were further back and considerably shabbier but he had decided to eschew going there altogether. While giving a dressing down to this Soraia would be very satisfying, it would not solve much. It might even backfire: were she to lose face because of Mileina, there was no telling what amount of bullying might not come Mileina's way.
In no time the hall filled with priestesses, a few priests and several attendants. He had Mileina point Soraia to him but paid her no heed for the time being. They settled in neat rows, dutifully kneeling but interestingly enough keeping rank. The senior clergy were closer to the dais on which Tieria stood. So even in abjection there was a hierarchy.
"Rise to your feet, o humans."
The vocative was expected of him but still made him cringe. But he would say anything to make them stand and face him. Actual equality was impossible but at least he would not address a multitude of bowed heads and groveling bodies.
"I, Tieria Erde, have gathered you all here in order to impart a message that is of the utmost importance. From now on, you and any and all humans are allowed to represent my image as a way of expressing devotion. I am not a wrathful Innovator and look with favor upon such display. Let it be known and punishment for those who have depicted me and/or carry such object themselves is strictly forbidden. May the light shine upon you all and may the Earth prosper and grow."
At this point they all chimed as one,
"Amen."
Tieria found it quite chilling but it was as he had planned. Throughout this spiel he kept his eyes firmly set on Soraia who squirmed considerably. Good.
On their way back, just as the vehicle was reaching Tieria's quarters, Revive ran into them.
"Hey, Tieria!"
Tieria was tempted to just drive on but it would not do.
"What?"
"I heard you already have Ribbons's birthday present ready...so I was thinking, do you have any tips? I don't know what to get myself…"
Tieria pretended to give it some serious thought. He had discarded the absurd crown but still looked regal enough.
"An oversize mirror."
And with that he got the vehicle moving again before Revive could ask further questions.
