The Legend of Meili (closed)

[The Eridani Imperium]

Elyas considered how he wanted to explain himself. His military training told him to only state his name, rank, and serial number, while another told him to cover his ass and come up with some story.

Finally, a quieter part told him to tell the truth. Remember what you came here for.

“I will try to explain myself the best I can. But I can’t make any promises,” Elyas began. “But my explanation is simple: I love your daughter. I don’t quite know when I started loving her, nor what prompted it, but I love Meili. I would protect her with my life, and go through Hel and back to save her if I had to.”

The Captain’s current posture was akin to that of a person who was giving a report, but somehow more personal - it was in his voice, steady, yet thick with emotion. Elyas even ventured to look Damalin right in the eyes, allowing the Emperor to see the truth reflected in the Captain’s eyes.

The Kadrian paused for a moment, then withdrew the silver cylinder he had chosen as a gift earlier. Elyas then knelt, holding it out for the Emperor to inspect.

“If nothing else... please accept my sword as a symbol of my good intentions. If I break my word, do what you will with it.”

[Roania]

"..." The Emperor waved a hand. This was apparently a symbol. The others wandered off. Prince Cao gave Elyas a thin smile, though even he seemed somewhat put out with the elf. The Emperor ran a finger through his black hair, dark eyes scanning Elyas from toe to head. "...walk with me." It was not a request, and if Elyas refused, he would receive rather firm prompt from the guards.

The Emperor swept down past the party and around the lake, giving his turtle (chewing contentedly on a minister's shoe) a pat on the shell. The reptile considered the Emperor and Elyas with placid indifference. The two men followed the path and into the little wooden and stone house house's courtyard, enclosed on the three sides by the two stories of the building. "...I will be blunt. Through your thoughtlessness, and my daughter's foolishness, you are now her life." He spoke swiftly, quickly. "If I were to run you through here, now, she would die as surely as though I ran her through." The Lord of Ten Thousand Years certainly sounded as though he regretted this inconvenience. "I assume she did not explain this to you?"

[The Eridani Imperium]

“She... did not, sir.” Elyas stated, reaching his own conclusion. Crap.

He had three months until his current tour was over. The Captain didn’t expect there to be any trouble, but...

The Captain considered for a moment, and then decided to explain his predicament to the Emperor. There was likely nothing the Emperor could do, but it was worth a shot.

“Sir - or Emperor - if what I’m hearing is right, and my life is hers, then my military service may be a problem. I have three months left on my current tour of duty, and while my journey’s been uneventful, that could change. I would never dream of putting your daughter at risk, but I have a duty to Empress Silvershield...”

[Roania]

The Emperor pinched his nose. "...this is something I will have to take responsibility for. I will send to my sister and we will discuss this. Come with me back to breakfast. You must be hungry. We will discuss this with my wife."

[The Eridani Imperium]

“Very well - I hope there’s at least some meat available.” Elyas stated, turning to follow. “If not, I can work with that - after all, your daughter said she’d show up...”

[Roania]

The Emperor said nothing in response to that, though his frown deepened as he walked with the taller man towards the room. "I shall have to speak to her about communicating with people... this is a problem that could have been avoided...like so many others..."

And then Lixuan walked into the garden, without Meili. The air between her and Xeiri crackled with hostility, and that between her and Seig was scarcely less vicious. But the other unrelated men in the room trailed after her as she walked through, kissing her mother on the head, strutting when space permitted, always showing off. She was heading towards them. Again, without Elyas' wife.

[The Eridani Imperium]

Grey eyes locked onto Lixuan, and the glint in them was not benevolent. In fact, Elyas looked like he was just about to launch an brutal interrogation, right then and there.

The Captain took a few breaths to settle himself, ensuring he wouldn’t attempt to pummel her into the floor before she began talking. He remained deadly silent as Lixuan approached, eyes narrowed and mouth thin.

[Roania]

Lixuan paid Elyas no heed. "Meili is in place. Everything is working out exactly as I planned."

The Emperor pinched his nose and scowled. Heavily. "Did your plan including your sister bonding to this man?"

Lixuan seemed apathetic, instead looking Elyas up and down. "It didn't come up, I have to say I didn't bother to get close enough to smell him." Lixuan grinned. "Wow, just like that? After all these years, who knew that it was only that local boys were too s..." Whatever she was going to lost when her father caught her eye. The silent exchange then shook the earth with its intensity.

The elder daughter slowly sank to her knees. The Emperor rested one boot very gently on her back, and pushed. "Apologize to the Captain."

"I am very sorry, Captain Halfmoon." Lixuan muttered, from her position on the ground. "But father, she didn't say anything! It's obvious now, but.."

"...No, I am slowly realizing that is not something my younger daughter does." The Emperor lifted his boot . "...go and get some breakfast, daughter. We will have to determine how to resolve this problem. Halfmoon, with me." That was not a request.

[The Eridani Imperium]

The Kadrian remained silent for a long time - long enough that one almost thought he was going to reject Lixuan’s apology and take off her head right then and there.

Fortunately for Imperial relations, Elyas only sighed and said “Apology accepted.” When Damalin ordered the Captain to follow him, he did so at a military clip.

When Damalin stopped walking, Elyas was quick to start talking. “Where is Meili? What was this plan Lixuan mentioned? What’s the problem that needs resolving?”

[Roania]

Damalin pinched his nose again, tight enough that it had to actually hurt. "Asen Lixuan." He snapped, tiredly. "Mind your manners. Politeness is important. Your wife is in no danger. Yet."

The Emperor sighed and pulled something from his pocket, a little disc of silver and brass. "...My younger daughter has always had a very romantic streak. It is my fault. I let her spend too much time watching these... cartoons and reading those books. And one thing she's always told us is she wants to be rescued from a dragon." The Emperor turned to face Elyas. "So persistent was it, so insistent was she, that we half-came to believe her. My wife certainly did. Worried that the girl's soul had been warped by those cartoons. I told her no." He turned to Elyas, looked him up and down, then scowled. "...she threw herself into... hedonism. Some of the best men from the best families, my guards... doctors, scholars, gentlemen... perhaps it was too much to hope that you would not bed her. That you would be the one... even she must have been tired of the game by now."

The Emperor toyed with the disc, his fingers rummaging over it and around it, twisting it, turning it. It was some sort of Roanian stresstoy, perhaps. "A week ago, my elder daughter told me that she had found a man who could save her sister from a dragon. You. Perhaps the potential was enough. Souls are tricky things." They rounded the corner, past the sleeping turtle and its half-eaten shoe. "Grand Secretary!"

The fox-man appeared in a flash. "Yes, Lord?" Seig looked Elyas up and down, sniffed the air, and turned back to his master, his eyes narrowing slightly. "...as I said before..."

"Yes, yes." The Emperor waved it away. "I don't particularly want to talk to Mistress Zai this morning. I know you don't either, Greizon Seig, but one of the advantages of my position over yours is that I can make you."

The Grand Secretary smiled despite himself. "As you wish, Lord. You wish me to have the inventory of this man's crew brought here?"

"Always anticipating my needs. I knew there was a reason I tolerated taking your sister as my daughter." The Emperor's good cheer was somewhat thin on the ground today. The Grand Secretary simply bowed, smiled, and looked to Elyas. He almost seemed as though he was going to say something, but didn't. Instead he vanished in another flash. Damalin put the disc away in his pocket. "...come on, we have a minute or two." Before what? The Emperor didn't seem disposed to say. "Ask your questions."

[The Eridani Imperium]

Elyas did in fact have questions - probably enough that they couldn’t be answered within a minute or two.

The Captain decided to start with the most puzzling one. “Ser, when you say the potential was enough, do you mean for our souls to... bond? Also, could you elaborate on that further? All I know about that is what you told me earlier.”

[Roania]

"...I am saying, Captain Halfmoon, that my daughter bonded with you because she believed you could slay a dragon." The Emperor once more took the little silver disc from his pocket and flipped it up and into the air.A moment later, the image of Meili appeared, looking somewhat confused and perplexed, but otherwise okay.

"Husband! ...father." The young Reixan woman packed love and loathing into the same glare, somehow not spilling either onto the wrong man.

"Ah, number 2 daughter." The Emperor's voice could have frozen a volcano. "You have arrived safely, then. This is good. May I suggest you spend some time pondering on the meaning of 'communication'? I will provide your... husband... with this communicator when my business with him has finished." The Emperor grabbed the spinning disc from the air, and Meili vanished. "...good. She is well. Now, here is, as they say in Sol, the deal."

"My younger daughter has spent all her life seeking a man who could rescue her from a dragon. So I have said. At present, she is in no danger. However, she is technically a captive of a dragon. The original plan was for you to ride forth, slay the beast, and claim her, thus putting an end to one of the many problems that vex me." The Emperor looked Elyas up and down. "...However, I cannot risk your life. Despite our differences, she is my daughter. I will have my men slay the dragon, retrieve your wife, and bring you both to a place where you will be... safe. I know my Sister to be a reasonable woman. I will pay her weregild for you, Elyas Halfmoon." He waved a hand, dismissing his son-in-law. "...now, back to your breakfast, and whatever it is you would do with your day."

[The Eridani Imperium]

“A... dragon, you say?” Elyas raised his eyebrow. “I can slay a dragon. I even slayed one in the process of avenging my captain.”

The Kadrian Captain reached for a previously unseen amulet - a dragon fang torn from the corpse of the Jörmungandr. “And I will do it again. Especially for Meili.” There was a unusual brightness in his eyes at this - whether it was from the bond or his personal determination was not clear. “Give me a small team of my men, and some of my weapons, and that dragon will regret the day it knew my name.”

[Roania]

Damalin stopped in his tracks, not facing the Kadrian warrior. There was a slight sound... a gasp? A sigh? A tired exhalation? Elyas would never know, because when the Emperor turned around, he seemed... warmer, certainly, though still far from pleased... even if there was a hint of happiness in the older man's eyes. "...you would go that far? Risk your life and hers? Hm... very well. But do plan well. I would rather gain a son, than lose a daughter." He slapped his hand on Elyas' back, and walked him back to the ground. "People of the Empire! I present my new son-in-law!"

[The Eridani Imperium]

Elyas tried his best to smile, despite the circumstances. As the Captain was greeted appropriately as per his new station, Elyas Halfmoon had only two things on his mind – getting in touch with Meili so he knew she was safe, and picking the right men to help him rescue her.

[Roania]

As the mandarins finished their breakfast and returned to work, and the Emperor went to his throneroom to argue with the Foreign Secretary, Elyas was left with his new family. AiQien, who seemed in a fit of pique with her husband and her eldest daughter alike, smiled at Elyas. "Well... welcome to the family, son. We can talk later, I have some business to attend to." She walked past, and grabbed Lixuan by the ear as the pink-haired girl moved to stand up. "Come along, number one daughter. We will discuss this matter while you help me clean off coal stains and oil a few pistons."

Serahyle, plainly uncomfortable with how this had worked out, had apparently left for his regimental command while Elyas and Damalin had been talking.

That left Cao and Xeiri. The Crown Prince didn't leave his wife's side, even though she seemed rather intent on getting up on her own without him. Eventually, she accepted his arm and used him as leverage. They had a brief exchange, the root of which was that as he had gotten her into this position, the least he could do was stand there and be useful on her terms. Still, she approached Elyas with more grace and dignity than would, perhaps, be expected in a woman of her advanced pregnancy. And her orange eyes were still sharp and focussed as knives. "...well, welcome to the family. You seemed like a good guy last night." Xeiri looked him up and down. "So, what's your plan? Hope you're not running off to fight a dragon on your own." Speaking of knives, she had two on her person that Elyas could see, both on her left leg. One strapped to her hip, the other pointing out from under her skirt on her calf. Her right hand fiddled with the one at her hip. "Lixuan usually means... fair. Don't hold this against her too much." There was an undertone there, but no explanation coming. "We're just visiting. I'm due in a month. But since we're here, I can help... not as much as I'd like to, but." She shrugged, her tail wagging behind her.

"If you need anything, p-please ask." Cao's eyes were not notably sharp, but were the same midnight blue as his hair. The future Emperor gave Elyas a friendly smile. "Just.. kind of a shock. I wasn't expecting my sister to bond so quickly."

Xeiri grinned. "You must have been pretty good to her. Hope you got as good as you gave." Her husband made a quiet protest, and Xeiri rolled her eyes. "...so. You'll want men and weapons, I expect?"

[The Eridani Imperium]

Elyas looked at both of them, considering his options. “I do need men and weapons. In fact, I need three people in particular - Rykan 'Resovai - my chief security officer, Falwyn Windthorn - my ship Battlemage, and Falwyn’s husband Korsen Windthorn - the ship’s deputy engineer. When you get in contact with Rykan, tell him to bring me a register of the melee weapons we have in the armory. Falwyn should be able to bring her Battlemage equipment, while Korsen should be able to get his engineering tools.”

[Roania]

"We'll take care of that, but why don't you go back inside the house... um. Follow us." He was led back into the structure that Damalin had brought him to, then up the stairs and to the left. Cao stepped back, but Xeiri opened the door. "Here... this is your wife's old room. Make yourself at home, and feel free to call her."

The room had been vacated fairly recently, and there was plenty of Meili around the place, even if most of her property had relocated to her house. But most importantly to Elyas, it smelled of her... and her presence was still heavy about the place. With a smile, Xeiri took the coin from him, and flipped it into the air. When it landed, Meili's face and body were floating there, almost the same as life size.

She was sitting on a distant bed, looking pensive. But all that changed when she saw Elyas. "E-Elyas?" The Kadrian affectation tasted strange to her, but she said it gladly anyway, looking up at him. "Min svass!" Her entire attitude changed. She almost went to him, but stopped when she remembered the space between them. "I... I'm so glad to see you, I thought my father would..." And she began to cry, tears of joy.

Xeiri had already closed the door.

[The Eridani Imperium]

A massive amount of tension melted away from Elyas’ shoulders, as the Captain was surrounded by his bondwife’s smell and her presence - regardless of her actual physical location. “Meili - astín mín, I’ve missed you.” He almost came to her as well, wanting nothing more than to take her into his arms and nuzzle her neck, reassuring his mate that everything would be alright. After realizing that she was not, in fact, in the room, Elyas did the next best thing - he sat on her bed, leaning forward. “And yes - after a bit of explaining, your father decided to let me live. But, tell me - are you alright?” Elyas’s grey eyes glittered with worry.

[Roania]

"My bitch of a sister forced me onto a shuttle and brought me here." The young woman grumbled at her husband. "Said that this was for my benefit. That you were going to kill a dragon. I don't know where she's going to find a dragon for you to kill." Meili touched her ear, which had twitched at a sound. "I mean, there's nothing here. It's a pretty enough estate, I guess, for someplace that's been abandoned for years and years... but I don't get it. Why would I need you to kill a dragon? We're bonded already..."

Then, outside, there was a sound very much like a very large thing landing; something that had no right to land so heavily had landed very heavily indeed. Meili gasped at something behind the 'camera'. "Daiqiu!" She dashed forward and grabbed whatever was projecting his image, and turned it to the window.

A giant red eye, the size of Elyas' head, was peering through the window." It blinked, then rolled away, momentarily revealing an immense suit of scales. Then it was gone, faster than should have been possible.

[The Eridani Imperium]

When Meili turned the camera back to her, Elyas took a steadying breath. The Captain hadn’t changed his position, but the white-knuckled grip he had on his leg and the near-feral look in his eyes told a different story. “At this point, Meili? I might just have to kill that dragon for my sanity, and then bind myself to you for good measure. In the Kadrian way.”

[Roania]

Her cheeks went bright red at the thought. "...so long as you come to me swiftly, my love, I will be yours in any way you care to name." Meili sat down and stared at him. "...I love you with all my heart and soul. Be safe. Be strong." She smiled deeper. "And make sure that dragon knows to be sorry he messed with you."