“-And so I think that’s everything.” Van finished after a while. “Sorry… I know it’s a lot to put on your plate…” He apologized.
Rosalyn had sat back down on the throne as she listened intently to everything and then let out a long tired sigh. “Honestly… I’m not even surprised anymore…” She gave him a rueful smile. “Trouble just seems to follow you everywhere, doesn’t it?”
She hopped off the throne. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to help you. You are my husband, and that is all I need to know.” She hesitated. “Though… Please promise me you’ll won’t complicate our future any further. Otherwise, even if I tide you to the bed and used you for your whole life, it still wouldn’t be enough for all the trouble that you’ll put me through.” She joked.
“Sorry…” Van responded, feeling her words hit harder than she meant.
Rosalyn sensed this and apologized herself as well. “No, I actually didn’t mean it my love...” Walking over and motioned him to bend down which he did and she gently cupped his face into her hands. “You’ve been through a lot my love. You didn't deserve any of this. Not what happened, not what's happening, not what’s going to happen…”
“You are my love. I will help you. That is all that matters.” Giving him a gentle and caring smile filled with her warmth for him. “No matter what happens, that will always be true…” Gently leaning forward and giving him a delicate kiss on the lips.
“Now…” Slowly pulling away. “Let me think over what you said for a while and maybe I can come with something that will not make an enemy out of house Taldor for your treacherous intentions.” Hoping it was more clear now she was joking to Van. “You sit back and relax, your still recovering from what Karmila did to you after all. I’ll go back out and discuss this with Duvessa and some of my other trusted aids.”
“Your… Not against me eating Malon?” Van asked, unsure of how to phrase it.
Rosalyn paused and turned back to Van. “Didn’t you say that it would be more like the two of you fused together? While I’m not looking forward to having my husband be even half of that man… If it is just a simple matter of two becoming one without death of the other… Then I can’t see why even Malon himself might not agree to it if presented favorably.”
Van was taken aback by this. “You mean… He might actually agree to it without being forced to?”
Rosalyn tilted her head. “If I have to be honest, I don’t think this fusion thing you describe can be done any other way… Unless you have something to force it through?”
He never thought about it like that before. “True… Ren always said that being in each other's presence was dangerous and might force us to consume the other. But I guess he meant it in a way that was done without both our consent… Like how two blackholes might go at it if they're close enough to each other. That implies that we might lose a lot of what makes us… Well… us! But peacefully fusing with each other means not only do we keep our memories intact, but get all the power that comes with it. I guess if I was given an ultimatum of be consumed or fused, I’ll choose fused any time of the day, if only for the hope that there will be a piece of me alive someway. The only question is… Will Malon really agree to it? ” Van was silent for a while, fully pondering this thought thoroughly.
“Well, whenever you figure out how you want to work this tell me. I better get going, I’ve been gone long enough as is, and knowing Duvessa…” She chuckled. “She’ll really lay into me if I take any longer. Maybe even punish me by finding an extra few stacks of paperwork to do.” She shivered as that thought crossed her mind. “Well, anyway, don’t be a stranger Van. Come say hello to Duvessa when you have a chance, I’m sure she will be happy if you took her for another spin, even if her joy will be masked behind that grumpy face of hers.” Giving him a genuine mirthful smile. “If it becomes too much, tell me and I’ll pop off her head with a snap of my fingers.” Giving a playful demonstration with a snap of her fingers.
She then waved him goodbye. “See you Van. Bye Bye!” She turned away from him and concentrated and soon vanished from his soul realm.
Van waved his wife away and sighed, already missing her. Rosalyn really was a breath of fresh air in his life, and while he loved Luna and Lyn to bits! There was a maturity and gentleness in Rosalyn that was addicting to say the least. Her constant pampering was a nice change of pace compared to his other wives. But he should probably cut off that train of thought before it becomes any ruder.
“So master, what are you going to do now?” Kassandra asked. “Are you going to stay here? Or are you going to look around?”
He thought about it. “I think I’ll just take a look around and see what’s changed. So much has happened… I’m going to need to see things for myself and get a new feel for everything.”
Kassandra gave a small bow. “And as always, i’ll hold down the fort here.”
Van paused a moment since that kinda felt like he was putting all the work on her shoulders while he played hooky. “Actually… Before I leave.” Turning to her. “Please have Lyn and my double turned death knight help you out. See if you can’t train them up. Also, if you have anyone in mind that can help you out then please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Kassandra gave a nod. “As you wish my master.” Giving him a thankful smile.
Van gave one back in return and left through the window, flying over his ever-shifting domain. He turned his head back, taking a good long look on how different his castle had changed now that it was completely fused with Luna’s soul.
For one thing, the castle seemed to have quadrupled in size and seemed to be built in and on top of a large and imposing mountain with a large silver-leafed tree intertwined from within and around. The roots emerged all the way from the bottom upward, curving and arcing around the castle and its many new walls and buildings, creating miniature pillars and supports that also beautified the place with it’s many leaves and strange red and blue glowing flowers. A long winding staircase snaked around the mountain from the base to the top with many portcullises and gates.
The castle had become more of a fortress, with new defensive structures and buildings. Yet there were also grand cathedral-like structures with stained paintings depicting some of his greatest exploits. A large temple complex to which a saw many Annas milling about and around, a massive inner courtyard and garden, stables to keep their mounts, a barracks that could easily hold a few hundred soldiers, and a robust kitchen complex to feed them all, alongside a decent sized smithy.
The city down below him had also changed. The eerie blue glowing lamposts were replaced by floating lanterns with the same blue glow, but now brighter and with more gentle light. All the buildings seemed to have grown by a whole level and all the roads and bridges were now made of chiseled stone. The walls that led in and out of the city were reinforced with metal and where taller than before, though he still didn’t know why they had one in the first place considering there was no enemies, though was still an impressive sight nonetheless.
Off in the distance was Lyn’s share of his soul realm seemed to be in constant flux but slowly calming down. Many of the fairies that were temporarily displaced returning to their homes and being pleasantly surprised by their new elevation or new look and bigger homes. Thought that still didn’t change the fact that many of them were still flying about like their asses where on fire. Perhaps due to having to move everything around and getting things back in order as soon as possible. He had to admit it did give a new impressive view for his soul realm, perhaps even a tourist attraction?
He almost laughed a little at that thought wondering who was going to just walk into his soul realm just to see the sights. Or even if he would allow such a thing… Though it was probably an interesting idea… Maybe make tours of his soul realm for money…
He actually laughed a little at that and threw such a silly notion away as he continued to look around. “I should probably see how my girls are doing. Let's start with Venus…”
Van flew over the the large greenhouse that seemed to have gone through a big renovation. He landed gently and seemed to have surprised a few of the mandrakes by his sudden presence, a few quickly going inside to tell their mistress and dragging her out to see him.
“Oh my Van, I didn’t expect you. How can I help you?” Venus asked, quickly trying to get the dirt off her dress.
Which was a new thing he noticed as Venus usually walked in the nude. “Hello Venus, I like your dress, I just wanted to check up on you and your friends to see how you were doing and if you needed anything.”
Venus gave a shy smile at his compliment. “Thank you Van, but we're doing just fine. Especially after everything settled down. We have a lot more room to work with and the new spiritually dense atmosphere has really helped the plants to grow. Not to mention your helpful butterflies.”
“Butterflies?” Van tilted his head in confusion until he remembered the creatures he made in part thanks to following Ren’s instruction book. “OH~!” He exclaimed as he recalled everything. “Those butterflies… Thanks for reminding me!” He laughed at how silly he could be to forget such a big thing.
The two shared a chuckle and continued their conversation, now with the added benefit of remembering the book Ren gave Van to read. After a short while Venus told him everything he wanted to know ending with.
“-And that's all. For the most part we have everything we need. If you can get us more fertilizer and soil we can expand our operations further. And of course…” She blushed. “If we are going to expand our operations then we are going to need more workers so…”
Van got what she was getting at. “Yes… Don’t worry… I’ll come back sometime later and… We can discuss just the two of us on how we can fix that issue…” He said meaningfully, which earned a few squeals from the mandrakes and rewarded with an even redder-faced Venus.
After a few more words he left to go check on Sela who was happily mining away at the base of his mountain fortress. He was actually surprised by how quickly they had set up the supports and the mining carts, but then again he had been banned from overseeing his soulrealm while in custody…
“Oh hey Van!” Sela said happily. “It’s been like… A long time!”
He felt a little bad about that because it was true, it had been a very long time since he last seen Sela. “Sorry about that Sela, had a lot on my plate… Like a lot… And it kept filling up… No matter what…” He said playfully serious.
Sela chuckled. “Don’t worry I get it. So what brings you here?” Giving him a bright smile.
Van was a little surprised out by her smile since they weren’t really on the best of terms, but she seemed very happy with where she was it seemed to be. Also… “Did you… Grow Sela?”
Sela gave another chuckle. “Somewhat, I think I finally hit my peak! I guess I just need a small nudge from you and I’ll probably rank up into a high Troglodyte. Maybe evolve into a troll-kin or gargoyle.”
“Is that why you're so happy?” Van asked.
She laughed. “Nah.” Then suddenly got serious. “Even though we lost a lot of sisters after that last battle…” Referring to the fight with Karmila. “The changes done to this soul realm are… Agreeable to us. Most importantly we can finally dig into a mountain and start making a proper home for us to live in.” She motioned with her arm waving him in. “Why don’t you see it for yourself?”
Now curious, Van followed Sela inside the large cave they dug and was surprised to see what he found after just ten minutes of walking. “Wow…” Was all he could say.
At the end of the tunnel was a large hollowed-out cavern with massive glowing crystals and what appeared to be a natural spring forming in the center surrounded by stone huts. Glowing fish seemed to swim happily inside the lake as bright lichen grew on the stalactites giving a starry-like ceiling. Large tunnels with rails for carts wove their way through the gentle slopes and valleys of the cavern, even being used as an impromptu bussing service for some of the miners and workers.
“Not bad right?” Sela said proudly. “We may be no dwarves… But we're pretty good in our own right!”
Van nodded. “This is really amazing Sela.” He said, meaning it. “And sorry for your loss… I promise to get back to you later and… Help fix the mess I made in that regard…”
Sela blushed but then leaned back and laughed. “Alright then! I’ll be expecting it!”
He was once more surprised by this Sela. He remembered that supposedly they were abused by their last masters and wondered now that they finally seemed to have a home that they were finally calming down and relaxing around him. But he couldn’t continue reminiscing the past and began talking shop with her about what they need to help them grow.
“Other than producing more eggs?” She looked around. “Perhaps some help with creating a smithy? A brewery would be welcomed as well. Other than that perhaps a few more mining equipment?”
“Done.” Van said with a nod. “I’ll get right on it.”
Sela was surprised by his surety but then smiled. “Thanks Van, appreciate it.”
The two talked a bit longer and parted happily. Van leaving to continue talking to each and every girl of his he thought needed some help, as well as getting their impressions on the changes and suggestions on what they could do in the future.
Calippya· Apr 19, 2024
