Chapter 174 – The Beanbag Throne

Savri

I instinctively dove to the floor of the room where we put Phosi when I heard the explosion and subsequent rattling of the windows. Luckily, none of them broke. A back full of glass shards would be a terrible way to start the day.

I waited for a few heartbeats to ensure there were no follow-ups and then slowly rose to my feet and looked outside just to see a small mushroom cloud dissipate into a massive plume of black smoke some distance away from the keep.

This Strickland was in radio contact with someone. I guess that was their hideout.

Conflicted, I looked at the still unconscious sconryoll. On one hand, she was my patient and was in serious, if not critical, condition. On the other hand, my presence at the explosion site would likely save some lives.

The great “needs of the many versus the needs of the few” conundrum was made even worse by the fact that the “few” in this case is a friend. Wait… was the pointy-eared dude in a blue sweater the friend of the Captain? But he sacrificed himself. That wasn't the Captain yeeting him to the wolves.

I could always ask Nyx to bring back Caeileera so that she could look after Phosi, but I was very hesitant to do that. All three of the lovebirds needed a break, and truth be told, I’d rather Rennie join them. She went through as much as then recently and didn't even have time to rest back at Mer-Cas.

‘G-go,’ I suddenly heard a weak raspy groan. ‘I’ll be fine.’

I looked down and saw Phosi looking back at me.

‘You’re awake,’ I stated the obvious.

‘T-the explosion woke me up,’ she humoured me nonetheless.

‘Not how comas work,’ I replied automatically.

‘Wasn’t in one. It is called [Regenerative Torpor]. Never been in it before. Wouldn't recommend it. I was still somewhat aware of the passage of time so I could monitor the surroundings for danger, but it was only through hearing. So imagine being paralysed in complete darkness, feeling your insides stabilise themselves.’

‘That sounds awful,’ I winced. ‘Sorry you had to go through that.’

‘And I’ll make sure Strickland pays for every second of it tenfold. He has no idea who he fucked with.’

Note to self: do not piss off vengeful spirits.

‘You sure I can leave you?’ I asked to change the subject.

‘Yes,’ Phosi rasped. ‘Go.’

Caeileera

I wasn’t quite sure what I expected from Nyxie’s throne room, but it wasn't the wide chamber with the floor and ceiling of grey marble and walls of polished blue sandstone. The throne, such as it was, appeared to be a large, misshapen, white pillow with golden seams.

‘Are those beanbag chairs?’ Lilyth asked, pointing to other oversized pillows of all colours and sizes. Strewn all around the room.

‘Sure they are,’ Nyxie beamed. ‘Why won’t we grab a few of them and have a talk about what comes next, eh?’

‘Damn, I could get used to that,’ my blue-haired light bug sighed in pleasure as she sank deeper in the chair, a cup of warm cocoa that Nyx conjured in her hands.

I couldn't help but agree. This “beanbag” and the cocoa were the pure stuff of heaven.

‘Glad you like them,’ the goddess, who to her credit was sitting cross-legged on one of the normal chairs, smiled. ‘I always try to make my guests as comfortable as possible. That… and well… people are already scared enough of coming here as it is. Might as well make them as comfortable as possible. A goddess is less intimidating when she sits down as an equal with you.’

‘What about the beanbag throne then?’ Lilyth asked.

Nyxie let out a melodic laughter.

‘The Beanbag Throne. I like that. That one is for the very rare official meetings. Like some ambassador from another realm seeks my blessing for a trade deal. Or that one time a Vandarian emperor came here to ask for my favour.’

‘Still, Nyxie, I expected this place to be well… more you,’ Lilyth said, echoing my earlier thoughts. ‘Like… I don't know… naked statues, lewd posters, that kind of stuff.’

‘We bring those out for official visits from stuffy old people,’ Nyxie chuckled. ‘I mean, if you come into my house expecting preferential treatment you will be sorely disappointed. It was bad enough that he treated his subjects like dirt due to thinking himself superior to them, that alone would warrant some humbling, but do that to my people and you get the deluxe package. And let me tell you, that emperor was not happy about the reception. But other than that I prefer this to be a place of equals. As much as possible, anyway.’

The whole story gave me a brief pause. Not because of the emperor thing, as Lilyth would put it, “fuck that guy”, but because of something directly tied to Aki and me.

‘Nyxie, you said that we have to limit our time here, yet based on what you are telling us, people come here somewhat regularly,’ I voiced my concern. ‘It seems… weird.’

‘You mean that it doesn't make sense,’ the goddess smiled sadly. ‘With the undertones of “Did I lie to you?”. And the answer is no, I didn’t. It is just that this is complicated. The short answer is: No place in my realm is safe for mortals and the less time you spend here, the better. The long answer is: It depends on where exactly you are. Think of my palace as a campfire and the realm of Air as… well… the camp. The closer you are to the fire the hotter it gets.’

‘And we are inside of it,’ Lilyth said with a thoughtful expression.

‘Correct. Unlike a fire, though at some point you reach areas where the level of elemental energy remains stable, though there are… let’s call those additional springs, though they have less profound effects.’

‘So the farther we are from the palace the longer we can stay?’ I asked.

‘Yup,’ Nyxie smiled. ‘I imagine, though, this is a non-factor in this case.’

I just nodded. I couldn't imagine not staying here with Lilyth.

‘So… how much time can we spend here safely?’

The goddess shrugged.

‘On average it takes around five days for initial signs of elemental contamination to appear for people who stay in the palace. I have seen some people develop them in two or three days, while some took up to ten. Now… normally it wouldn't be much of an issue. People rarely stay here that long, and after they leave, it is even rarer for them to return.’

‘But that doesn't apply to us,’ Aki shook her head. ‘Since we want to be with Lilyth.’

‘Yes. Which is why I have to limit the time two of you can spend here. As I said before, that doesn't mean that you can't stay the night here now and then. Tonight even if you want.’

Lilyth visibly brightened upon hearing that, but said nothing.

She doesn't want to force us to risk our health for her wellbeing, does she?

This time I couldn't really blame her too. To say that I was mildly disturbed by the idea of elemental energy just filling up my body would be an understatement.

Nyx suddenly furrowed her brows and said with pain in her voice:

‘It is possible we will have to cut this visit short. There was another… incident in Ror-Bhyk and while Savvie and Rennie will never ask for this, they could use some extra hands.’

I could see the light die in Lilyth's eyes with every word.

‘We’re never getting a break are we?’ she muttered and began to weep.

‘That answers that question,’ Nyx sighed. ‘I was torn on whether to raise the explosion with you or not. You do have a right to know stuff like this, but…’

She pointed to Lilyth.

‘... as you can see this is not the time for that knowledge. Now, I won’t stop you guys, but I DO NOT recommend any of you go there right now. Especially you, Lilyth.’

‘B-but h-how can we just s-stand idly by?’ my wife blubbered.

‘Quite simple - by sitting on your ass and drinking your fucking cocoa,’ Nyxie said with a pleasant smile. ‘I admire your willingness to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, but at some point, you have to let others do it. In this case… me and the other gods.’

‘Wh-what do you mean? I thought you couldn't interfere. ‘

‘Nothing in the rules says that fae cannot volunteer to take part in a relief force. We’ve done it before. In fact, the Children of Elements are probably the oldest organisation in all of the realms.’

‘The Children of Elements?’ Aki asked.

A union of fae from all walks of life who go wherever help is needed. Mages, doctors, builders, firefighters, even farmers sometimes. Unfortunately, they had to stop their operations on Dwynveia after the Church of Light came to power. The risks were too great. Some still try but risking death over wanting to help is… too much for many. But now… the Church’s position in Ror-Bhyk is weakened to the point that the thing I was waiting for can finally happen. The return of fae to Dwynveia.’

Ren

I wasn’t prepared for what we found at the blast site. The screams, the massive crater where multiple houses once were, several buildings turned to rubble with more on fire, mangled and charred corpses, severed limbs and people bleeding out on the streets.

And the smell… Burning flesh, excrement and blood... I felt my breakfast stir inside my stomach, but I managed to hold it down.

I want to say that I immediately rushed in to help, but I just froze. I had no idea what to do. How to help. I looked at Deirdee for help but she also just stood still, her face a sickly shade of green. To her credit, she almost made it to the side alley before she fell to her knees and vomited.

‘Not a sight you are used to, Dee?’ I asked her while helping her get up.

‘N-no,’ she replied. ‘No. No matter what we did… it was never that bad. Why would someone do this…’

She bent over again and vomited again.

‘I never expected to say this, but I miss the days when your family were running the underworld here,’ I suddenly heard Sergeant Milten say.

He and his squad were standing next to us, most of them staring dumbfounded at the scene of carnage. The kid - Sol, I thought his name was, soon joined Deirdee in returning their breakfast on the streets.

‘I’ve served the Viscount for over twenty years and have never seen something quite like this,’ the Sergeant continued and then, not waiting for my answer, turned towards the rest of the guards. ‘We’re not paid for gawking! Get to it!’

That also broke me and Deirdee out of our stupor and we hurried in to help and, soon, we were also joined by Savri. But even with the staff Lilyth made, the almost never-ending tide of wounded and dying was too much for her.

It is when Sav began doing triage and choosing who lives or dies that I realised we needed a miracle to get the hang of the situation. I looked around. Several bucket lines formed to try to put the quickly spreading fires out, and dozens of people risked their lives and limbs to dig their neighbours out of the collapsed buildings or help people out of the burning ones.

We can't do it, I thought with despair.

‘Help is coming,’ I suddenly heard Nyx say. ‘Sorry it took me so long.’

The area was suddenly lit with white light, and a dozen multi-coloured people suddenly appeared in the street, standing on a pentagram that wasn't there before.

One of them, a man with brown sand-coloured skin wearing a white robe, briefly surveyed the area and began barking orders.

‘Kavhi, Drex - open a portal to the Compound! Xesziq, Farym go help the demon with the wounded! The rest of you - let’s put those fires out!'