Standing stationary in the tower that held their only active platform, the two guards glanced over their shoulder, hearing that specific vibration in their eardrums upon the activation of their Transportation Platform.
Their guard lowered upon recognition of the individuals that came.
"Sorry for the interruption, and the unexpected visit. I mean no harm, I'm Imuru and this is my secretary Yosho," Imuru kindly greeted the two guards to quell their worry.
The guards all knew who Imuru was; welcoming him and Yosho with a graceful bow. Imuru gave a run-down of his presence, to which one of the guards decided to accompany him to the monarch's palace. Through the busy streets of the capital, it seemed that everyday life was back to normal; everyone going about their day in calm strides or in a rush.
Reaching the enclosed grounds of the royal palace, the guard who had accompanied them approached the towering iron gate. Along the walls, men lined the parapets at strategic points, observing from their towers with watchful, disciplined eyes.
The guard spoke with the royal sentries beyond the gate, exchanging low, formal words. Imuru and Yosho waited a few paces back, patient and composed. After a brief exchange, the massive gates began to groan inward, swinging open with slow, deliberate weight.
Their accompanying guard gave a short bow and took his leave, returning back to his duty.
One of the royal sentries approached the pair. "Lord Imuru. It's a pleasure to meet you, and…?"
"Yosho," Imuru spoke up to complete the sentry's sentence, "and it's a pleasure to meet you too."
The sentry gestured for Imuru and Yosho to proceed toward the main door, where a pair of royal guards stood at attention. The guards opened the heavy doors in unison, allowing them entry into the royals home.
On the other side, they were greeted by a palace attendant, who offered a polite bow before ushering them along through the palace to a door, toward the royal garden. They were directed down a winding path through an intricate garden maze, the hedges tall and meticulously trimmed. Finally, they emerged into the central hub, an open space lined with elegant seats and surrounded by vibrant blue and white petal flowers, their fragrance soft on the breeze.
There were the voices of children; along with joyful screaming and laughing, though the person to notice them first was the champion warrior of Fernum Urin o'. Hands crossed across his chest, looking down from above on one of the many crystal pillars in the garden.
"Ah~... It's the hero himself."
Urin o' leap down from the tower down to the ground. "Great Hero, Imuru, it's an honor to see you again. I'll alert the royals to your presence—" Urin o' paused, directing his attention to an annoyed scream.
'Not again!" The voice of Ori echoed.
"Sorry, they're…" Urin o' scratched his head, "involved in a game of Chase and Catch. It seems Ori must be first out again. She's going to lose it if she keeps going out first."
"Chase and Catch?" Imuru thought, giving a blink of delight and curiosity. "Ohhh! That sounds fun. But… If Slite is involved and is as skilled as I think he is then I'm certain there's no winning, unless he allows you to," He thoughtfully proclaimed, in an amused manner, thinking of Ori's potential failed attempts to catch her grandfather.
"Question? Who's winning?" Imuru inquired.
"The King Father of course. Master Slite is highly skilled, and even considerably stronger than myself," Urin o' replied. "I know all too well, since I trained with him regularly."
"Is that so?..." Imuru murmured, a bit surprised by the news for a specific reason in regard to the Fernum incident.
"Well, I expected as much… We'll have a seat until the game is over, no need to bother them."
Urin o' gave a nod, leaping back up to the tower in one motion, to have his gaze once again tracing over the area to ensure security.
This game of Chase and Dash between the royals, slowly started to screech to an end. The twin boy; Slute, came around the corner exiting the maze in a huff, loudly gasping when his emerald eyes landed on Imuru.
Soon came the other twin; Orin from the other side, mimicking her brother's loud gasp. She stood watching her brother, messing with Imuru's sword; the Demon Lord gently tried and failed to manage Slute's antics.
Orin held her hands close to her chest, sticking her gaze to the ground shuffling over to the seats where they sat. Yosho and Imuru spotted Orin simultaneously, and what came with this split second distraction was Slute continuing to be trouble, pulling Imuru's sword from its sheath.
"Oy!"
The frightened Imuru reacted swiftly, resheathing it with the sheath. "Now listen, if you're gonna play with it, don't unsheath it, okay?" Imuru gently told Slute. Though the boy was stunned, it was for only a few seconds; his smile returned blazing, bright as it was.
"Hi there, what's your name?" Imuru sent a warm smile her way.
"Orin…" Orin answered, her voice steady, barely above a whisper. She came closer sitting down on the other forward facing seat, flashing glances up at Imuru, a guarded glint in her eyes.
"Awe." Yosho quietly thought, in a welcoming posture. "Ori's family is beautiful. Great Imuru did a great deed indeed."
"I swore I had him… I swore I had him…"
A familiar voice came shouting to the garden center—to the surprise of none; with everyone familiarly acquainted.
"Well holy—" Ori covered her mouth and nose, muffling a sharp snort. "My mistake, unholy." Ori waved over to them in her approach, taking a seat down beside her sister. "How have you all been? If I were to guess you're not simple here for simple chit-chat, right?"
Before Imuru could open his mouth again, a tired couple; King Alistaar and Queen Lara came around huffing, their grandfather strolling into view a few seconds behind, a calm and nonchalant plastered on his face.
" " "Demon Lord Imuru!" " "
The king and queen tried to gather their composure, to retain their look of royalty in the presence of Imuru.
"Demon Lord?" Imuru sighed internally. "Righttt! I guess it was sooner or later Slite or probably Ori told them. Ohw, whatever, I guess I can use that to my advantage, now without the need of a deep explanation for the requests I'm about to make. Is that right? No, but I'll return the favor."
"Mom! Dad! Cut it!" Ori spat out flashing them an exasperated look begging them to simply drop the act.
For a batter seating the relocated to the quad seating area. The king and queen sat together on the seating that faced Imuru's—Ori sat with her sister—Slite sat alone, and Imuru, Yosho sat together accompanied by the little twin boy Slute.
"It's wonderful to have you here again. We didn't know you were… The Great Demon Lord in her last meeting," Alistaar started off the conversation, nearly forcing out a groan from Imuru.
"That's quite a serious bit of information left out."
Queen Lara playfully slapped Alistaar on the shoulder. "Please now," Lara shot Alistaar a sharp look. "Imuru dare, we were just very stunned by the news at the time when we were being briefed of your generosity by lord father Slite. Forgive my husband if his words came off in an… unbecoming manner to you."
Imuru inhaled deeply and exhaled, his shoulders rising then lowering. "No need," A smile tugging faintly on his lips, "It's preferable to get that out of the way."
"Hmph."
King Alistaar held a forceful smile for his wife, measuring his tone to address Imuru. "Young Master or would you prefer Great Demon Lord? I must ask,what distant land holds the claims to your roots?"
"....."
"....."
"....."
Imuru turned to Yosho in confusion, kinda understanding what he was saying but wanting clarification before he responded. "Where was your place of birth, Great Imuru," Yosho swiftly leaned over to whisper to him.
"Uh…" Imuru rolled his eyes as if to say 'obviously'.
"Tha—" He paused, remembering he doesn't fully have his memories. "Of course… Memory lock. In a situation like this, I could say I'm from an unknown dimension, a simple boy adopted by a fairy," Imuru shrugged and smirked subtly, "No harm here, might as well roll with it."
Imuru cleared his throat for his theatrical response. "My origins are complicated, even to myself, but what I can say is that I'm a simple boy adopted by a fairy, and a shadow entity that I assure I do not fear in the slightest."
Alistaar and Lara leaned back, taken aback by the response and his tone, that bordered on the line of seriousness and a joke. Unlike the king and queen, Slite and Ori weren't as confused by Imuru's words.
"...Oh. I think he meant Mister Le-va-none?" Ori said to her parents. "Mister Le is Imuru's parent, and a very sweet fairy. I only knew him for a short time, but he was one of the kindest person I've met."
"And a very unusual fairy," Slite interjected, his voice calmly slipping into the conversation. To the curiosity of everyone but Imuru. "I'm not as sharp in my assessments as I once was, albeit I'll say that Le-va-none has a very special nature."
Imuru expected as much from Slite, his discernment being spot on, even if he doesn't have the full picture. "In that short time he met Le… That's some experience and knowledge on full display," Thought Imuru.
"Thank you father. If we'll put the Great Demon Lord's mysterious origins aside for the time being."
Alistaar tried to stir the conversation back to Imuru's reasons for the visit, his voice narrowing all their focus. "If you're here, it must be important, so what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Right, to the actual topic for my arrival," Imuru thinks, running through a few options on how he should request what wanted.
"... First off I'll start off by saying, I'm in motion of regrouping and rebuilding broken alliances between the Great Forces Of The Sacred Forest. Collon and I are very good allies and now the Lizard King Murk have decided to form a pact with us as well. During our latest meeting, an offer was made, and I insisted on building a Transportation Platform in the underground; if such a thing is possible."
"Uh. Yes, Imuru dare, it's applicable underground."
Queen Lara's eyes widened in deep interest in the news of Imuru's actions, her voice on the edge of joy. "Imuru dare, I hope you haven't forgotten about us in your dealings. If you're rebuilding such alliances, then we insist on participating—if you so wish."
"Well, that can be worked out. We're already close in a different manner compared to others so you can expect future cooperation between one another," Imuru spurted like a reversed speech. "At Cherisnot there has been quite some development—we've begun trading resources in the form of raw materials with the Lizardmen."
"Ha…" Alistaar smiled faintly. "Trading resources with the Lizardmen. Time has broken its wave against him in vain; Murk remains the same. I advise you to be wary of the Lizard King, he's more cunning than you think."
"Erm… Thank you… I'm aware of his unusual tactics," Imuru assured them.
"Talk about a reputation," Imuru thought with a shrug of his shoulder.
"Good, good, good…" Ori loudly reclaimed her presence in the conversation. "Imuru wants us to build more Transportation Platforms for him, then it will be done. Technically we owe him our lives, and he'd return to our aid in any time of need, because that's just who he is. Not for money, favor or something to hold over our heads."
Ori stood, and took a hold of Imuru's hand. "If you'll excuse us for a moment."
Ori brought him from the garden center, onto the stretch that led out of the garden.
"Free from prying eyes, and ears. Gee this diplomacy thing really isn't for you, huh?" Ori teased, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
Imuru breathed a deep sigh of relief, propping his hands on his hips. "Hm-Mm. Thanks for reading through me. Uh, was it really that easy?"
"Heed no worry," Ori waved her hand dismissively. "It's a simple combination of my time with you and your clearly revised words, along with saying what one wants to hear—now that's clever, most are unlikely to see through it."
Listening as Ori dismantled his intentions and words, he could almost cry, and recoil in embarrassment. "That's… wonderful… wonderful. Saying what someone wants to hear, is it really that much of an issue?"
"No and Yes. My advice to you is to adjust your tactics based on the individuals in front of you. Depending on your situation; if in a room of many, try to get the majority," Ori advised. "I'm telling you this due to your kindness. If it comes down to it, you'll need to lie and deceive—If necessary; a thought to keep in mind."
"...Hiy…" Imuru scratched his chin contemplatively. "That I understand. I'll keep it in mind. Even if it comes to such a point, I'll still try to be truthful."
"See… what I really like about you." Ori locked eyes with Imuru. "Having this out of the way, if you want to you can stay for dinner or some tea?"
"Sorry, I have to get going. I'm actually busy to a degree. Collon had been working hard to get me an audience with the Cat Daughter…" Imuru paused momentarily, and narrowed his eyes.
"From what I remember reading, I think Collon said something about having to fight her too… not quite sure, the writing at that point was no longer… illegible."
Ori giggled softly. "Illegible enough to have you wonder if it was written by a man or a frightened bird. Collon aside, you may carry on, no need to fuss. You have a lot of work ahead of you afterall."
"In any case I'm willing to sign a few pacts to express my full cooperation to your parents," Imuru expressed to Ori—halting the princess from speaking, as he insisted to legitimize the relationship between them; not for each other but for the outside world.
With his reasons being stated to Ori, Imuru returned to the garden center, where in a few minutes; they both started to sign a few pacts, explaining to one another the structure of their nations upon signing.
On this day, The Round Treaty Of Fernum And Cherisnot was signed. A flexible pact between the two; enabling adjustable rules as long as both leaders can fall upon an agreement.
"Splended… and this is.." Imuru did the last strokes to finish signing, "it. All down." He stretched his arms upwards—yawning a little.
"On to my final endeavour." Imuru looked outwards past the three surrounding advisors of the royal family, lifting himself from his seat.
"If you all would excuse me, there's something I must attend to…" He turned to his secretary; Yosho stood and bowed, removing herself as per her Imuru's wishes.
Ori tilted her head, in curious observation. "I wonder what's the rush? Hmph, perhaps he couldn't bear sitting any longer?" She modestly thought, sparking up a conversation with the royal advisors, hurrying them along to look over the signed agreements, with a playful gesture.
Marching through the palace halls they once came, Imuru sprang up a little chat with Yosho. Starting off with a simple question. "Have you heard of: Calling Out To The World, before?"
"Yes, I have," Yosho was quick to answer, "the system that governs the world; God's Will they call it. Is there something the matter?"
"No, no. I'm just gonna test it myself in order to claim my authority over the Celestial Lake," Imuru replied.
Yosho batted her eyes, a glint in her eyes as her expression brightened. "Claim authority? If that so be the case, then I wish you luck in your claim. Does this mean we're paying a visit to the lake? Is that safe, Great Imuru?"
"Urin o' and I have been there before, we're still here, so I think we should be fine… for the most part."
Imuru reassured Yosho to clear her doubt; while he had his own. "Unless there is something I don't know? In which case I can blame the soul? Consciousness?... are whatever it was for not leaving me with instructions. Yeah with this in mind, maybe I should start writing down my own for when I hand it over to someone else? Play my part in making someone's life much easier. Hm-Mm. Also I'll need a good speech, like: 'farewell hero, I must now take my rest, and leave the rest up to you'. Sounds badass enough, or cliché?'
Together they went to the towering walls guarded by men, Imuru sighed looking down at the drop.
"It's convenient at least. Can you manage the fall, Yosho?" Imuru asked. Though his secretary was not quite in their world—her eyes riveted and left silently mesmerized, by the silver shimmering light show on full display.
With his secretary spacing out Imuru approached a guard to inquire of another way of getting down; to which there were many to the outside the walls on the inside, made impossible on the outside. He patted Yosho on the back, snapping her back to reality, gesturing for her to follow, as they directed down to a gate that opened to a dark passageway, which slid open at the end.
"Here we are, just a bit ahead," Imuru said, both strolling along a couple hundred meters to the shore of the lake.
"Try not to touch it, I'm going in."
"In? Great Imuru, are you certain?" Yosho warily inquired.
Imuru looked over his shoulder back at her with a calming smile. "Don't worry, I'm planning to part it in half," He said in delicate casualness. Reaching out both arms closely forward, he parted his arms in a slow, deliberate motion and the Celestial Lake responded instantly. A strong rush of wind, as the shimmering, silver-tinged waters began to part in half, splitting down the center with a resonant hum, revealing a dry path between the towering walls of liquid light.
Looking back he threw a thumbs up, and grinned. "Alright I'm going in." He stepped off leaving Yosho behind. "If it's successful then…"