Tales of the Ice Harpy from Glacia

It was almost time for then to catch their portal home, but Morton had cautiously decided that there was enough time to visit one more landen village before they left. Even Julian didn't have much a problem with this, mollified by the five Blood males (and seven females) that Karla had handwavily, because cons are exhausting offered a place in her First Circle, once she'd made her Offering.

Once there, they'd scattered to their respective duties with an ease that came with having done the same thing many times within the past two weeks. Karla took over whatever building was the largest, more interested in being a Healer than a Queen, taking care of whatever ailments came her way, either with Craft, mundane medicines, or just some brisk advice. Warren sat nearby, making sure she had plenty to eat and drink, while talking to the people about their problems and their woes, making sure they felt heard, understood, and cared for. People who might otherwise have been afraid to come to Karla were set at ease by his openness and, more importantly, his lack of Jewel.

Jono and Julian were teamed up elsewhere, talking frankly about the war that Karla would be bringing to Glacia, about her plans to depose the current Queen and her Ruling Council, and making it clear that any landen who wished to fight--or even learn to better defend his village--was welcome to join with them. Jono made it very clear that the landens that joined with them would be more than simply fodder for the Blood. Their willingness to fight for a Queen that would see them as people too had even Julian offering a grudging respect.

Morton was out in the fields, delivering the Queen's Gift to nourish the crops. A cupful of Karla's blood in a bucket of water was enough to give the tiny plants new life and fullness, ensuring that the village could meet their new tithes while still having enough leftover for themselves. And Kaelas remained outside of the village, keeping watch with his superior kindred senses, which he never failed to point out to their group of tiny noses and ineffectual teeth.

[NFB, and all PCs modded with permission. Violence and dark themes in the comments, because what would a trip to Glacia be without those?]

A lot of things had happened in Faerie since the weekend, when Leda, Karla, Blossom, and James had taken down the tyrant. A surrender had been negotiated. An ally had been buried. The rebuilding had begun.

Karla hadn't seen any of it. Immediately after her plea for clemency had been delivered, Blossom had taken her aside and proceeded to bully and browbeat her within an inch of her life. She'd been terrible. ( Blossom fights dirty, y'all. )

Yeah. So, that had happened. Even now that she was back to her normal size, Karla was not best pleased with Momoko for shriveling her. It was so...so...so stupid! She would have been even more upset if she didn't agree that her own behaviour had been equally stupid. Not then, she hadn't, of course. But time and distance (and food and rest and reflection) had done an excellent job of reminding her that she was a compulsive (and impulsive!) idiot.

Oh, and Warren had helped. Oh yes, he had made his feelings on the matter VERY CLEAR, pretty much from the moment that Blossom had shown up in Sunnydale.

( Special Delivery! )

As Karla had started to stutter out another excuse, Warren had come to a decision of his own. He had calmly dropped her in his candyless shirt pocket, calmly proceeded to book a portal to Kaeleer, and calmly called the Hall to let Lucivar know that they would be arriving shortly--he'd needed to be somewhere he could hit things and not have to worry about pretending to be normal. Karla was pretty sure he'd also needed to be somewhere he could throttle her and not get arrested for it. They'd both known that when he finally dropped this illusion of calm, things were going to get violent.

And now, almost a full Kaeleeran week later, Karla still hadn't seen Warren since he'd handed a tiny her to Saetan. He'd been sleeping in the Consort suite with the door firmly locked between then and had risen each morning with the sun to go out to the grounds to work through his temper. For a week. Now Karla had a portal booked back to Fandom and she wasn't entirely sure she'd be seeing him before she left.

[Preplayed & co-written with heromaniac and not_a_parakeet who are rock stars, yo, and continued in comments with mega SP. Another post will go up (tomorrow?) for other folks who wish to yell.]

Karla checked her itinerary another time, waiting for the portal that would take her home. Seven layovers, including a long one in...Revolutionary France? Huh. That sounded interesting. Maybe she'd pick up some tips for her eventual bid to regain Glacia from her uncle--wait. No reason to think of that now. Nope, no thinking, time to look over the itinerary again, it didn't matter that she'd practically memorized it. It was a nice distraction from--Oh, look! Another one in Pompeii, and the itinerary was stressing the fact that it was for November 22, 79AD. And, hey! Her last stop would be four hour layover during "The Blitz" in London! That sounded like...some kind of fair, or something! A bit of fun and excitement before...

Before...

Dinah. Momoko. Tahiri. Hayley. Leda. Priestly. Countless others that she hadn't known, but had reached out across the multiverses to let them know that something was wrong, that worlds were disappearing into the ever-night.

Before she ended up in Kaeleer. Before she stood with her people as Kaeleer finished its descent into the Darkness and faded away to a memory in the minds of the very few who remained on Fandom island.

But she didn't want to think about that. About nothingness and darkness--a darkness she could only hope was the same as the loving embrace of the Darkness and not a complete obliteration of everything she'd ever known. Of course, what else was there to think of? How she'd taken the coward's way out and left handwavy messages for the friends she couldn't bear to say goodbye to in person? How she'd kissed Warren's sleeping face one last time and crept away while she still had the nerve to leave and do what was right?

Hopefully, Fandom would do what they did best and figure out some way to fix whatever was going wrong before the island itself was swallowed up. Maybe they'd even find some way to reverse it, though she doubted that. It didn't matter. Her place wasn't here. It was with her people, watching over them until the stars blinked out and there was nothing left.

And then there was no more time for thoughts; the portal was opening in front of her. Taking one last breath of Fandom air, Karla prepared to step through. *Goodbye,* she sent on a psychic thread to anyone who would hear. *I will love you for as long as I can.*
( Goodbye, Fandom )

[Preplayed with the amazing not_a_parakeet who likes to make me cry because she is mean!]

The meeting took place after dark. For all that the Hall was filled with dark power that had seeped into its very stones, it was still easier for the demon-dead to arrive after the sun had set. Several bottles of yarbarah were already warming--this might be a war council, but Mrs. Beale would never allow Mephis, Prothvar, and Andulvar to go without refreshment.

( All war councils need tea and cookies )

[Establishy, unless them that are there wish to talk to people! NFB.]

[Cont. from here]

( More arguing ensues )

[And we're....done? I think? OMG, I think we are! NFI, NFB, OOC would be awesome, and post mater list is still here. Thank so, so much to everyone who read, and thanks even more to everyone who helped out. (There will be a real thank you post in a few, but I wanted to say it again).]

There wasn't a line of people waiting to yell at her, stretching from her door to the courtyard as she had feared. Instead, people were drifting in and out, as news spread that was awake and up for seeing people. On the one hand, it was nice, because it meant she could sneak small naps while she was waiting for someone new to show up at her door. On the other hand, it meant that she was continually expecting the next person to show up.
( More people were coming, that much she knew. )

[And still the Agio plot continues! NFI, NFB, OOC is grand. Master plot list is here]

(Cont. from here)

( Wherein they learn what really happened to Karla. )

Karla was glad they had spent the night at the Hall, rather than turning around and heading straight for the meeting spot. Not only did Morton look better for a decent night's sleep for a change, but the route they had taken to get back to Glacia was circuitous at best. Karla hadn't been able to sense anyone following, but Morton wasn't willing to take the chance of a direct route. Nor would he let Karla take them on the Sapphire Wind, which would have cut the travel time down by half, if not more. But Morton had argued that taking the Wind associated with her Birthright was a dead-giveaway in case anyone was watching that one, and made them stick to the Rose.

The worst part? Ben agreed with him. This was not helping Morton's belief that he was the reincarnation of Bund in the least.

Not that Karla was grumpy or anything. No, not at all. In fact, she was in a perfectly swimming mood for someone who had been dragged all around the Realm, then snuck across the border into her own damned Territory, to end up in this cabin in the middle of the mountains, wearing a long, blue dress that was completely impractical to move about in, and then told to wait for the other males to arrive. Where she would then get to convince them that not only was she really Karla, that also that she was going to be an excellent Queen one day, so they should risk their lives for her right now, while she was off going on dates in Fandom.

Wonderful. How could this plan fail?

[For the two in Glacia with her, please. NFB for distance]

Karla was Not Best Pleased. Not only was Jaenelle gone to Little Terreille—again!—but she’d left a new housemate in her absence. Not the tiny Sceltie and the tiny Arcerian kindred she’d found (Karla was half in love with Kaelas already), but the stupidly-huge Eyrien warrior Jaenelle was now calling her brother. Brother!

( Their first introduction hadn't gone well. )

[Establishy. NFI, NFB, OOC=love]

The landing web beckoned Karla, and she launched herself out of the Winds down to the brightly glowing Jewels below. Landing neatly, she took a moment just to inhale. It smelled of Kaeleer; of strong, dark psychic scents tempered with kindness and the need to protect. Of plants and herbs that only grew here. Of wildlife and water and, most importantly, of Witch.

"Lady Karla, it is a pleasure to see you again."

"Beale!" Karla grinned, running up to the doorway of the Hall. The Red-Jeweled Warlord gave her a warm smile of welcome--more emotion than the impassive butler usually allowed--at least until he caught a hint of her psychic scent. Then, without warning, he reached down, scooped her in his arms, and began carrying her toward the High Lord's study.

Karla was a little annoyed and a little embarrassed that he was carrying her and also a little flattered that he hadn't called one of the footmen to do it. Though from the way Holt had gone by them to shut the door, some kind of message had been sent on a spear thread. Males, she thought fondly.

( Uncle Saetan was sitting behind his great blackwood desk when she was deposited in his office. )


[Establishy. NFI, NFB, OOC is love]