**Author's note: Hurray, over 400k words! Thank you to all my readers!**
Alberich and I strode away from the sounds of the speeding Wheelers. They were, no doubt, on their way to the bloody massacre outside of Harry's bookshop, and we didn't want to be there. That random guy had a book called "The Wizard of Molech", and he had called me a Traveler! How did he know all that stuff?
I began to speak as we walked. "Hey, wait, maybe we should go back after the Wheelers are gone? I mean, that guy knew things."
"I would strongly suggest not, my leader," Alberich replied calmly as we continued hustling away. "There is dark aura around that man, despite his helpful facade. His eyes have seen evil things, and he might just be looking to deceive you. I will follow you wherever you go, but with this, I warn you that it is a danger to listen to that man."
With humbled annoyance, I was forced to agree. I reminded myself that the charismatic marine was a fucking Word Bearer, and I didn't need to be hanging around one of those monsters, no matter how nice and normal he appeared. "Alright, you win. That guy was probably bad news," I conceded to the beastman, who nodded his head as we walked. It still bothered me that Harry apparently knew what he knew, though. I wondered briefly who else knew about Travelers in this dimension, and maybe even who (and what) the Emperor was.
"Are we going the right way?" Alberich asked, ducking us into an alley as a Wheeler zoomed by on its way to the bloody bookstore massacre. "I think we got turned around."
With a brief pull of my intuition, I was able to discern where we were in relation to Paradise Boulevard. "I know the way now. Follow me," I instructed the beastman as we walked back to the touristy section of Evna. As we hastened, I heard an angry cheep from Jiminy on my shoulder.
"You sure have a talent for trouble, Scion!" Jiminy's criticized in a cartoonishly high voice. "Here I am thinking that you'll keep a low profile, and what do I see? You staring down a damn Word Bearer! Cultists with knives! Using your gifts publicly with reckless abandon! You're a veritable singularity of trouble, I swear!"
Walking alongside me, I heard Alberich lightly chuckle at Null's frustration with me before he went back to keeping an eye on the local area for more danger. I reached up to give Jiminy a pet on his swiveling ruby marble head as he perched on my shoulder. "Nice to hear from you too, Null. How's it going? You at Nimmie's tower yet?"
The drone dodged my patronizing pets with a flutter of gold wings, and said, "No, not yet. I'm waiting for her. I'm on her schedule and I'd rather stay away from the trouble you attract, but maybe I should have come with you so I could be a voice of reason!" the drone grumbled at me with another pinch on my shoulder. I even heard Null angrily sigh over the transmission. "Are you coming back here yet? Have you been seen by the costumer?"
"Give me a break, buddy. It wasn't my plan to run into that guy and get attacked by cultists. Our guide got summoned away from us by the planetary governor, and we got unlucky while taking a walk. Relax," I responded to Null's exasperation through his mantis drone. "We have to go back to the costume shop soon for the rest of the fitting, so we were just killing time." Alberich and I passed dirty alleys and mostly-empty streets as we hastily continued making our way to more populated areas. A slight paranoid shiver passed through me, and I saw that Alberich's feathers were slightly on edge as he studied the area with watchful eyes.
"By the looks of what you were just involved in, it looks like you're killing more than time," Null snarked. "Hrmph. Well, just, I don't know. Telling you to be careful apparently doesn't work, so I'm the one who alerted the authorities in this case. I contacted Magos Amee personally to get more than one battle servitor out to help you. So, you're welcome!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," I said with a sigh. Alberich's ears perked up and he turned on his heel to briefly walk backwards, checking behind us. He turned back around, his face concerned. I then remembered our discovery concerning the Navigator that hated me, and began to inform the tech-priest on what I had learned. "So, I've figured something out, by the way. You know that ship we ran down after Kolch?"
"The Ebon Hare, yes. The spying mercenaries."
"Turns out they had a survivor. Their Navigator survived all that, and his name is Ven Tristan. He was the drunk with the red bandana on Evring's ship. That's one hell of a coincidence, don't you think?"
"And are you planning on killing him while you're here too? Is that why you're telling me this?" Null's irritation actually made the little drone's voice crack as it squeaked out angry words. The tech-priest was very angry with me. Since I had healed him after Nubua, Null's temperament had mostly been deferential, but now, the tech-priest's hot-headed nature had emerged once again. In Warhammer 40k lore, I remembered reading about how logical and level-headed tech-priests were concerning their reverence for the "purity of the machine" or whatever. Null's moody nature went against everything I had read, which was somewhat funny to witness. Another frustrated sigh, and the tech-priest added, "Blast it! Whatever you do, don't be so damned public about it! We have yet to resupply, and I do not want us getting in trouble before we can depart this world!"
I shook my head. "I don't want to hurt that guy, Null. He's been through enough. You know what's messed up? I ran into him again at the costume shop, and he recognized me. I don't know if he's stalking me, but I'm actually worried he might try something with us."
"Come now, Scion. What can one Navigator do against you now at your strength? If he attempts murder against you, simply dispatch him. You will not be held liable at all for any self-defense, despite what that drawling fop of a Word Bearer told you. And, for Omnissiah's sake, stop listening to traitorous renegade marines! They are not your friends, even if they try to bait you with knowledge! How are we supposed to integrate into the Imperium with your repeated shenanigans?"
Null sounded really upset with us, more so than usual. I wasn't in the mood for a conflict, and I wanted to diffuse the situation so we wouldn't be seen arguing with a metal insect by anyone passing by. "I know, I know. I don't want to cause anymore trouble. I seriously didn't mean to run into those cultists or the Word Bearer guy, and-"
Alberich interrupted me, and with a soft but strained voice, said, "Pardon my interruption, but Null, please ask your contact about suspected cultists from the Am'Erika entity in the area. Those are the cultists that attacked us. They have a presence here."
Oh! That was a good idea, I thought as I watched the beastman nervously swing his ears to and fro like a spooked horse. What was he hearing? I pulled Alberich's arm and we ducked into an alcove of someone's small row home.
"Will do," Null replied through Jiminy, his emotions now cooling. "It is... quite concerning indeed that cult apparently exists here. I will contact you shortly." The drone then fluttered its wings again before quieting with a short beep, resting on my shoulder once again.
"Do you see anything?" I quietly asked Alberich, who had closed his eyes and appeared to be concentrating. He was probably remote viewing the area, and his fluffed head feathers definitely let me know that he sensed something unusual. We were only a few blocks away from the more crowded areas, thank goodness.
"I thought I heard something, but it could have been anything. I think all the Chaos Americans that were chasing us are dead. Perhaps rats or someone out on a walk," the beastman conceded as he opened his eyes. "I'd like to wait a short while to see if I can pinpoint whatever it is."
I snorted a laugh. "Chaos Americans, heh," I repeated, amused. That's what I was going to call these cultists from now on.
After about ten minutes of hiding in an alcove and listening for danger, Alberich and I emerged, and began fast walking toward Paradise Boulevard once again. He still could not find whatever was causing him paranoia, and that worried me. A block before we hit the main drag, Jiminy cheeped on my shoulder again. "Pick up your transmitter, please. I'd rather not have this be overheard," the drone trilled quietly. His tone was decidedly less confrontational.
Oh, right, I have a phone now. "Hold on, let us find a good place to stop here," I said to the drone as I picked my way through the dirty alley.
Alberich and I both stopped to lean against the side of what appeared to be a shadowed pathway adjacent to a casino. We were about five meters away from Paradise Boulevard, and I could now see happy vacationers and other pedestrians laughing as they walked down the street. It was unnerving to see this after what I had just witnessed a short time ago. I pulled out my small rectangular mobile phone device-thing, and saw that the name "Null" was flashing. I hit a button, and placed the device to my ear.
"Hi," I said. "What's news?"
"I've asked Magos Amee about this cult, and she states it is very new, only becoming visible in the last few weeks. I also asked her about the statue outside of Evna, and apparently, it has been under construction for two hundred years. It was financed by many independent parties that include the..." Null took a shaky breath. "The planetary governor herself, Lady Langwidere, and members of the Sinclair family. It is called 'The Statue of Libertine', and it is a monument to the freedom and spirit of the entirety of the Conglomeration of Ev."
"Statue of Libertine? Are you serious?" I stuttered out reflexively. What the fuck, man. "Does the Magos know what you know about that statue?" I asked hesitantly. "Do... do we have to get out of here early?" As I said that, Alberich's head turned toward me, his eyes wide with alarm.
"She does not. This is a conversation that must be had in person at her tower," Null informed me nervously over the line. "If you understand me here."
I looked up, and looked both ways down the shadowed alley, suspicious of invisible cultists again. Another paranoid shiver raced through me. Despite the laughing and happy people walking down sunny Paradise Boulevard, there was a deep metaphysical rot that existed under this planet. "Your judgement better be right concerning your trust in her, Null. That's all I gotta say," I said gravely, swallowing my burgeoning dread.
"I sincerely hope that as well, Scion," Null replied, which did not make me feel better. "Time to go. I will periodically check in through Jiminy. Try not to get in more trouble."
"I'll try," I said, hanging up my transmitter. Looking left and right again, I now noticed that a Wheeler was now observing me from the main drag. It was peering into the alleyway, its creepy CRT computer monitor head glowing with an expression of curiosity. These things were awful and they gave me the creeps.
"Excuse me? Ma'am?" I almost jumped straight up into the air as a rake thin young teenage girl appeared in the alley from where we had come. She was dressed in a dirty outfit that had once been a knee length blue and white dress. She was barefoot, and had the look of someone who had seen too much.
Alberich walked protectively before me, blocking her path to me. I felt psychic energy bristle from the beastman as he prepared to defend us. "Go away," the beastman quietly snarled at the newcomer. "We've had enough trouble today. Shoo."
The girl slurred a greeting, and she spun around before us in a clumsy pirouette. She then pointed at me. "You're just one person, but many at the same time! All the people you've eaten! Many! Can you do addition? What's one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?" the girl said with a mad laugh as one of her bare feet found a filthy puddle to splash in. Alberich stood ahead of me, his fists clenched and ready to fight. We both looked at each other. The girl seemed harmless, but insane.
A lunatic? Alberich asked me in mind, and I cautiously nodded. We both began to slowly make our way back up to Paradise Boulevard as the insane girl sang and spun near us. She then abruptly stopped singing, and ran ahead of us, partially blocking our way.
"Saw you in a dream, I did. You're the white queen through our looking glass, woman of the apocalypse, sister of the Weeping King, gold angel fallen from heaven," she said to me, displaying rotten teeth. "Can you help me escape this reality? Please? Pay the ferryman for me!" the girl then quickly reached inside her pocket as her eyes went wide. Before anything else could happen, a bright red flash lit up the shadowed alleyway, and she was now falling down, a small smoking hole bored straight through her head!
Many things happened at once. First, I screamed as the mad girl's soul was pulled into the Key. Her soul was laughing as she died, almost relishing in her own doom. The Wheeler (now displaying an angry face) that had been watching us quickly rolled down the alley toward me, and I could now see that a mechadendrite holding some sort of laser-like contraption rose from its back.
On top of my heightened emotional state, the energy of the mad girl's willingly sacrificed soul caused my Corona to involuntarily surge, surrounding me in a pale gold glow. My sudden heightened psychic strength then informed me that someone else was watching me from the rear of the alley!
Slowing time, I whirled around, trying to discover who I had sensed behind us. A lurking shadow dipped away from the side street, and the sensation of being watched almost immediately dissipated. I then heard the grating sound of Wheeler wheels squealing down the alley toward us as time sped back up. I quickly turned back around just as an angry battle servitor loomed before us. It was investigating the mad girl's corpse, which now lay face down in a puddle. Numerous mechadendrites with razor sharp claws emerged threateningly from the servitor's back, and began to prod at the corpse at my feet as if examining it.
Oh shit, I thought, realizing that my Corona was fully visible! Was I about to get killed next?
"Look, man! I didn't do this! You saw it!" I cried out, shaking my head and pointing at the dead girl. There wasn't even any blood, as the kill shot to her forehead had been cauterized, and the wound lightly smoked from the back of the poor girl's head. "I didn't! I don't know what happened!"
The Wheeler then turned to me again, and as it watched me, its display flickered to that of a smiley face. What? "Threat eliminated. Please go about your day, citizen!" With that, all the threatening brutal mechadendrites retracted back inside the servitor's body, and I watched as it swiftly turned around, and made its way out of the alley, slightly twitching as it wheeled off.
Alberich and I were both left speechless as we looked at the unfortunate dead girl in the street. Jiminy began to cheep again. Oh boy, here we go. "What is it now? Your heart rate just went up again, I can't just-" the drone stopped squawking as I saw it observe the dead girl. "Did you do that?" Jiminy asked with resignation in his high squeaky voice.
Before speaking again, I forcefully dimmed my Corona, which caused a strange ache in my chest. To my dismay, I noticed that I couldn't completely shut off my halo right now, and I was still emitting a faint glow from around my crown and eyes. "No. A Wheeler killed her, I think. Maybe?" I answered. "I don't know. This girl came up to us randomly and started acting crazy, and the Wheeler just blasted her and told us to go about our day. What the fuck is up with this planet, Null?"
The drone did not speak for a few heartbeats. I then heard a weary high-pitched sigh. "Something is rotten in the city of Evna. I will speak Magos Amee about this as well. Best not to speak about it or criticize the Wheelers right now. Keep to populated areas from now on. Do not wander off the beaten path any longer! And turn off that light!" With that, Jiminy beeped and went back to silently clutching my shoulder.
"Yeah, we have to be careful," I said as I continued clutching at my heart, feeling an ache spreading through the rest of me as I forcefully kept myself under control. Upsettingly, I could now also see a new figure peering into the alley, curious as to what had happened. Fuck, man. This was a cold-blooded murder! She wasn't hurting us!
Alberich stood over the girl's corpse, stunned and saddened. An acrid ozone smell filled the area, along with horrible notes of burnt hair. "Why did this happen?" the beastman quietly asked.
"Maybe the Wheeler malfunctioned, or something? Is being a homeless crazy person a crime? I... I..." I stammered, not having a good answer. I then remembered the mysterious figure I had sensed behind us, and turned around again, down the darker part of the alley. My intuition told me that whatever it was had gone, and I wasn't in any mood to turn around and go hunting for it.
"Maybe the wheel-creature thought the girl was reaching for a weapon? Let me see here," Alberich said, kneeling down to investigate.
"Be careful," I said, fumbling inside my pockets for my calming chain, and forcing my Corona to remain as dim as I could force it to be. My heart still ached, and I breathed heavily to calm myself. I now had a feeling that keeping my light guttered all the time was causing me a lot of strain, and that I'd be much calmer if I just let my halo come out when it wanted to. The dead girl's soul had energized me greatly, and the excess energy was roiling inside me like a hurricane. It was almost like she had wanted to die, and somehow, she also wanted me to have her soul.
And, like the Word Bearer, she also seemed to know uncanny things. She had even mentioned the Weeping King...
Alberich began to cautiously reach into the dead girl's pockets as a man started to curiously make his way down the alley to us. "Hey, what happened! What was that light, and what was up with that Wheeler? Everything okay here?"
The beastman stood back up, and turned to the gawker, who then laughed mockingly at him. "One of those trashy bird mutants getting sucked off, I see, and-" his eyes found the dead girl on the street, and I got the sense that he was about to scream.
No! No more trouble! Hoping that no one else would see me, I reached into my Sight, and punctured this man's mind as my halo brightened again. You will remember nothing of this! I screamed deep inside his mind as I burned away the last hour of his memories. I then commanded him to wander somewhere and lock himself in a bathroom to get him out of the way. The man, now bleeding from an ear, turned around, and began to stumble away back onto Paradise Boulevard.
Breathing deeply, I leaned against the alley wall. A trickle of blood fell from my nose. Calm down, Erika, calm down... What would the Emperor do in this situation, I wondered. Unexpectedly, a vision passed through me, and I witnessed a scene of an infuriated Sebastian immolating a group of people that threatened him with white-gold fire, burning them down to their very bones. Okay, yeah, that's not a good idea. No.
Jiminy wasn't activating this time, and I shook my head as I turned toward Alberich. "What did you find?" I asked the beastman in a hoarse whisper as I intentionally kept my voice hushed. My chest continued to ache, and I clutched at it, trying to get a hold of myself.
"T-this." Alberich opened his hand to display two battered gold coins. He cringed away from my gold light, which was apparently on bonfire mode right now.
"We should go," I said to Alberich. With a great deal of effort, I was able to forcibly swallow my Corona again. This time, it took considerable effort. It felt like I was restraining an angry lion behind a flimsy gate.
"Agreed," he replied, putting the coins in one of his trouser pockets. In my pocket, I reached for my calming chain, and took it out. I tried to get it around my neck, but now found that it wasn't able to latch without being uncomfortable, so I just held it firmly in hand as we started to finally make our way out of the alleyway. It did seem to help, at least.
We spent the next two hours wandering up and down Paradise Boulevard after buying a large novelty alcoholic drink in the shape of a boot from a beverage cart. It tasted like a long island iced tea, and unfortunately, I could only slightly feel it after my fun adventures in watching people get killed today. In addition, I definitely felt energetically overloaded after the absorption of the vagrant girl, and not being able to "vent" my Corona right now was incredibly uncomfortable. When I had absorbed Nabopolassar's soul, I had felt a similar (but far more potent) rush of energy from his willing soul. Keeping myself "dim" was taking a lot of effort, but we had drawn enough attention to ourselves today, so I kept myself in check.
After about thirty minutes of walking around, we noticed what appeared to be some kind of ambulance appeared next to the alley we had come through, followed by what looked like a news van from Sinclair News Network. I hoped that no one else had seen what had happened. We didn't go looking for trouble today, but trouble definitely came looking for us.
After briefly talking with one of the catgirls outside of the Cat's Meow casino (it turns out, the term "catgirl" was offensive, and we were told to call them Felinids), Alberich and I started walking back to Silk-Hand's Costumery. I hoped that Ven Tristan was done with his appointment so we wouldn't run into him again. Today had been way too eventful. The effort of holding my nerves together after seeing people killed and keeping my Corona under control at the same time was now causing me to develop a slight tremor, which was embarrassing. Our relaxing walk had not worked out for us.
"Ah, hello!" Silk-Hand warmly greeted us as Alberich and I were again welcomed into his shop. Luckily, the Navigator wasn't present, so there was no confrontation. We apparently did not look our best, as the tau pulled his mouth into a thin line as he observed us, and furrowed his brow. "Beg your pardon, my friends, but your... your clothes? Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that blood?" Silk-Hand asked us. His bright blue eyes were very concerned as he noticed that my hands were shaking.
"Unfortunately, yeah," I said, barely holding myself together. "We saw some bad guys, but..." I couldn't finish my sentence. I felt a rush of heat around my neck. Keeping the halo back right now was downright painful!
"Say no more. Say no more," Silk-Hand held his hands out in a gesture of geniality. "If the encounter was frightening, I do have... something for that, should you desire, my friends." The tau then walked behind a small desk in the rear corner of the room, and unlocked a metal strongbox with a key he had produced.
Pallai, the tau's human assistant, appeared from the back room behind the beaded curtain, and she walked to the front of the shop after also politely greeting us. She turned the sign around to read "closed", and locked the door. This set my instincts off again. Calm down, I thought, clenching my shaking fists. Calm down!
"What are you talking about," I asked slowly. Alberich sat down on the plush bench, and I sat down next to him, gripping the velvet of the cushions.
"No worries, and no judgement. None at all. For you, I can offer something exceptionally rare. We just got a shipment in this morning, if you would like to enjoy it as I fit you. I will need you to stand still as well, as your shaking will not help me during your fitting. This will aid your mental state, and calm your mind after your difficulties."
"What is it?" I asked. Was this drugs? This sounded like drugs.
"A rare and fine elixir from the Imperium. Dreamer's Obscura, they call it there. We were paid in a shipment of it from another person seeking my fine costumes. This shipment, I was told, is refined and specialized to be free of the depressive side effects."
I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. The excess energy taken from the willing sacrifice was writhing in my form, demanding to vent. There was no way I'd be able to sit still unless I either became intoxicated or I bled this energy off, somehow.
I took a deep breath, and looked at Silk-Hand. "I'm totally sorry that I'm like this right now. Do you have a confidentiality policy with your customers?"
Silk-Hand appeared almost insulted as he looked up from rummaging in the strongbox. "But of course. I've seen the intimacies of many a governor. It would be unprofessional if I did not."
"Alright," I said, breathing deeply. I glanced back at the locked door. "So, don't tell anyone what you see about me, okay? And it's harmless. It's just a little light, and it won't hurt you. Please just keep this a secret."
The tau now held three small dark vials of fluid, and he nodded before me. "Of course, my lady. Whatever it is cannot be something that I have not see-"
I dropped my conscious control of my Corona, which immediately caused gold light to spill around my head and neck. Oh wow, that felt better than taking off a bra at the end of a long day! It honestly felt like my soul was soaking in the world's most luxurious hot tub, and I sighed in incredible relief. "That's so much better. Thank you," I said with my resonant voice, feeling myself relax.
Both Silk-Hand and his assistant were now gazing at me with a mixture of fear and awe. I closed my glowing eyes to make myself less intimidating, and breathed deeply. "So, I have this ability. It's not evil at all, as I'm sure you're feeling. It's just part of me, but if I keep it bound up too much, it can get really uncomfortable. It also can make my voice sound strong, like this."
I basked in the feelings of awe from Silk-Hand's human assistant, who I sensed was fighting an urge to kneel before me. "I must say, you are impressive!" Silk-Hand purred with glowing admiration. I opened my eyes again, and I saw that the tau was clasping his hands in front of him in delight. "That gold light is absolutely stunning! Why keep it hidden if it is harmless?"
"I-" I swallowed, and managed to hush my voice without much difficulty, but left my halo glowing. It felt so much better to keep my Corona "on" right now. "I don't want to attract to much attention. I mean, look at me."
"People keep calling her 'Empress'," I heard Alberich joke beside me. "She's bashful of such things."
"Well," Silk-Hand began to softly laugh. "The comparison, I must say, is apt. The human God-Emperor is always depicted wreathed in gold light. If you didn't have that white shock of hair, you could almost pass yourself off as a lost daughter of his!" The tau displayed his three small vials. "So, my offer still stands. Would you like a dose of Dreamer's Obscura? It will make the rest of your afternoon go swimmingly after the ordeal that caused these blood specks on your collar."
You know, drugs sounded great considering how my day had gone so far. I could just use the Sight to see if these little bottles were mild, and not like space heroin. "Okay, but I want to check it out before I take it," I said as the tau handed me the vial.
"I assure you the quality is sound, my lady."
"I just want to study it," I replied. Having my Corona on full blast meant that absolutely no one wanted to argue with me. I even watched as Pallai finally fell to her knees as she gaped at me, completely overwhelmed with my presence. Deep within me, I felt a strange sort of satisfaction at seeing her do this.
Humans are your flock, tend to them as a shepherd... an instinctual whisper then pulled across my very soul like emotional wind across a Warp prairie.
I flinched, and summoned myself back to reality.
Holding the small bottle in my hand, I pushed my Sight through it, curious about what it was. Immediately, I understood that it was a minor soporific. Because of my innate poison resistance, I knew that I would need two bottles for a pleasant mild relaxation effect, and because of that, I assumed that one bottle would be good for Alberich.
"Everything checks out here. I might need two doses instead of one, but yeah, let's do this!"
After giving Alberich a bottle, Silk-Hand reached inside the strongbox and removed an additional vial. "Here you are," the tau said as he handed me a second dose.
The beastman appeared fatigued as he held his bottle, also apparently stressed by today's fun. This would help, I thought. "It's safe. I checked it. Minor relaxation."
"Okay," Alberich said, beginning to unscrew the bottle. Before anyone else had downed their dose, Alberich drank his immediately.
I also unscrewed my vial and drank the syrupy liquid. It tasted like a strange mentholated honey. As I swallowed it, my attention was brought to Pallai again, who was now standing up. Her soul radiated confused reverence.
What is she? What is she? the assistant repeated in her mind. I turned to her with a smile, and she looked away, unable to hold eye contact with me. The gold woman of my dreams!
"Sorry," I sheepishly offered with a shrug as the four of us took a short walk to the back room.
I was feeling much better as I stood partially clothed on the grey dais in front of many different mirrors. Jiminy had perched on a clothing mannequin, and my Corona was still up and scintillating with an almost playful ripple across my head and shoulders. After a short while (and a stiff drink) the tau was now able to adequately ignore my gold light and not have it be too distracting. Pallai was a different story, and I felt her human soul echo with perplexed admiration toward me. It was somewhat flattering, but awkward at the same time. I'd be able to pull in my light soon, but for now, I just enjoyed feeling its warmth across my shoulders. It was nice not to have to keep my halo suppressed. And it looked super pretty in the mirror!
I gave permission for Alberich to be in the same room after Silk-Hand gave me a gold slip dress to wear instead of my underwear. It was cut perfectly to the measurements I had given him earlier in the day.
"So, my lady, now we come to the part where you tell me what you would desire to be at the masquerade ball. I have selected materials that I believe work with your general color and shape. All you need to tell me is what you desire to be, and I will now do my best to make it appear!"
"You should go as an Empress, I'm telling you!" Alberich hiccuped as he drank a cup of tea in the corner of the room. "Do not fear any intimidation from enemies, my leader!"
"Really?" I giggled, enjoying my slight intoxication. I realized that my inhibitions were slightly lowered, and now, my cynical anxieties had somewhat quieted. Maybe dressing up as a God-Empress would actually be fun? I mean, the Wheeler didn't arrest me earlier for having my halo up, so maybe I could get away with it? "You guys think so?" I asked, happily observing my shimmering gold light in the mirror. Man, this halo was impressive, and having it out like this made me feel powerful and awesome.
"I think with that halo, you'd really turn heads!" Alberich encouraged.
She is from my dream! The destroyer-angel! I picked up a stray thought from Pallai, who stood near Silk-Hand as she organized various bolts of cloth. An Imperial Living Saint? Here to kill the wicked of Evna?
I cleared my throat as I tried to tune out Pallai's thoughts. "Wouldn't I get in trouble with like, blasphemy laws if I did that? Don't they have them in the future?" I asked, watching the light play irregularly across my shoulders like a luminous heat mirage. My Corona honestly looked really fascinating when I actually took the time to observe it.
"Tar Vigaz is an independent frontier world, and not under the jurisdiction of the Imperium of Mankind. There have been past balls where people have dressed as historical figures from humankind's past. In fact, I have already designed a costume for a man who will be dressed as Malcador the Sigilite for this upcoming ball!"
"Wow," I said. "Maybe I can get my picture taken with Malcador? Wow." I continued watching my Corona in the mirror as Silk-Hand placed bolts of fabric against my skin. "So, how would dressing me up as an Empress work?" I asked. "Like, do you have power armor or something to put me in? I'm a little short for the part."
Silk-Hand laughed indulgently. "Oh no. You'd wear the formal dress that a lofty person of your stature would wear to a ball, of course. I'd dress you in fine classic Imperial styling. I do hope you enjoy gold and eagles."
I started to laugh. "Yeah, you might say that I do," I replied with a smile. I thought back to how the Emperor was always depicted in the lore, and suddenly realized that he had put gold and eagles on basically everything. It was absolutely ridiculous how much he seemed to like gold and eagles. Oh, but wait a minute. Did the Divine Retribution get into his mind and force him to like gold and eagles? Wow, fuck, I'm totally screwed, I thought again with a more nervous laughter. I'd better get used to liking gold and eagles, I thought, laughing at my own morbid thoughts.
"So, what do you think?" the tau asked me with a smile.
"About what?"
"What do you wish to dress as, my lady?"
"Oh," I said. I had been paying more attention to my own reflection than thinking about what I should be for the party. I thought for a moment, looking at my Corona as it shimmered around my head. I had told Null that I would try not to attract too much attention, but I had already screwed up that promise, so what's so bad about a little more attention now? I mean, that Chaos American cult already knows I'm on this world, right? And you know, I had always liked Halloween parties back home, even if I was too broke to come up with an awesome costume. But here, I was actually being paid to dress up to go to some rich playboy's space ball. If you ignored the whole "there's someone who wants to murder me" prophecy, this all sounded pretty fun!
"Go big or go home," I said with a shrug. "Okay, yeah, Empress me," I replied to Silk-Hand's query.
I heard Alberich clapping his hands nearby as the tau beamed, very pleased. This delighted the beastman, and I was intoxicated enough that this didn't actually sound like a terrible idea.
Over the next hour, I was fitted with various opulent flowing gold fabrics, and a form-fitting flexible metallic gold bustier was tightened around my midsection under a wrap of silk. A fine cloak of red and gold was swung around my shoulders, and long gold metal feathers were pressed against my upper arms and shoulders. It was explained to me that these thin flexible gold feathers would cover the top part of my cloak. Bracers of gold inlaid with red gems were fitted to my arms, and precise size measurements were noted. The tau wanted to put me in gold heels, but I said no. Screw that.
After ninety minutes of this, I was beginning to sober up, and on top of that, I felt as if I could start suppressing my light again without too much effort. Silk-Hand demanded that I keep the Corona up as he finalized his costume for me.
It was decided that I would be wearing some kind of royal gold warrior Empress outfit. Since formal silk robes were rather shapeless on me, Silk-Hand decided to go with partial armor along my torso, taking a flexible metal bustier and dressing it up with long flowing gold fabrics that clung to me in a modest, but at the same time, alluring manner. He didn't have a crown of gold laurels, but he promised that he would find one by tomorrow, or a crown would be made for me.
Silk-Hand explained that he would personally come to our hotel with his team shortly before the party, and that they would attend to dressing and primping me for the big party, which included hair and makeup. The tau wanted to make sure my dressing went absolutely perfectly. He had already been informed where we were staying, and Silk-Hand expressed great glee that he would have an opportunity to make a "proper" God-Empress.
After I had been fitted and dressed, I was guided to a small bench so I could watch Alberich's fitting into whatever he would choose to be. And, I would've watched his fitting, had I not fallen asleep, either from the exertion, drugs, or both.
I was woken by the beastman nudging me with sleepy amusement, who said that our transportation was waiting outside. Despite Silk-Hand's hesitance on this idea before, Alberich had decided to go as the Divine Retribution instead, and that they would be painting his beak gold when they dressed him up before the party. The beastman appeared cautiously excited, and even wondered aloud if there would be more Tzaangors there that he could meet with.
Jiminy fluttered back down to my shoulder and squawked as we prepared to leave. With many thanks, Alberich and I were now finally back on our way to the hotel in a slick black futuristic limousine.
What an eventful day!