Down With a Bad Case of Peace
While the leaders of Lareen are discussing their upcoming war….
… we see a massive golden throne, set at the end of an impossibly long hallway. There are tall pillars a hundred feet high lining the hall, and the center is paved in shimmering stone. Despite there being no torches here, the place is brightly lit.
Even though the edges of the room are far away, there's a window somehow right next to the throne, despite there being no wall it's attached to. After all, the dimensions in this room are bent and shaped just the way its master wills it.
Sitting on the golden throne is an old man clothed in purple and golden robes. On his head is a golden circlet with 7 purple amethysts embedded in a circle. If his face wasn't obscured by a mask of white mist, then no doubt, his face would be wise, and his eyes deep.
The old man is leaning back on his throne, and one of his legs is propped up on his knee. Straight ahead, he's staring into the strange, floating window.
Through the window, this ancient being can see an office with a long table. Lining it are all of the government officials elected by his people in Lareen.
… "Now, wars take a lot of planning, so we'll be here a while. Anyone need refreshments before we get started?"…
The old god frowns when he hears the Prime Minister say this.
"Get started?" this mysterious old man hisses angrily. "When did I give you permission to 'get started'?"
'Ugh,' the old god thinks derisively, 'These mortals really thought I wasn't paying attention to this business about the world gate being found? I'm the god-king of Lareen.'
The Lareen god looks up and sighs heavily. 'I suppose I have to flex my power every couple of decades, or else these fools will forget about me again.'
Without thinking anymore about these foolish mortals, the god of Lareen holds out his left hand, and a shimmering crystal ball materializes.
"Haskil!" he calls.
Moments later, a young man in his 30s runs over from somewhere behind the throne. Once he gets in front of his master, he clasps his ankles together and stands at attention.
Seeing that his attendant is ready, the Lareen god gives his orders:
"Haskil, I need you to take this to the Rumors Guild. Tell them that it's a recording of a private meeting between the Prime Minister and his allies. Tell them that if they don't publish this conversation, then I'll have their skins separated from their bodies. Also, send a message to the Prime minister. Tell him to report to me immediately."
Haskil bows solemnly, then hurriedly leaves to fulfill his master's order.
'Heh,' the god-king frowns angrily, 'Trying to start a war while I'm still here? You'll have to wait till I'm dead to try such a preposterous thing! Now, of all times, is a bad time to start a war!'
His frown softens, and the view of his window shifts to the World Gate. Almost wistfully, the old god sighs under his breath, "Well, I could've picked any world to become the god-king of, but I picked yours, Haalfrin. I hope you like what I did to your world."
He sits back on his throne and sighs again, "I wonder if you're still alive, Haalfrin? I haven't been able to find you in the death realm at all."
'Well, if he's not in the Death Realm yet, despite 150 thousand years passing, then he's somehow still alive,' the old god thinks. 'In that case, we'll probably be meeting soon enough...'
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'Any minute now… an army of humans and their war golems are going to march through that world gate…,' Haalfrin sometimes thinks to himself whenever he glances at the World Gate through his balcony.
'Hmm… They've already set up a gravity lift from the floating World Gate down to the ground. They've even built a fort around it already. Clearly, they're already in a good position to move a lot of people at once.'
Still, the hours tick by, then days… then months…
Nothing is happening at all…? No violence? Explosions? Nothing.
What about the Rehkin? Will THEY try to invade the humans?
'Well, if it was before, then all it would take is one human to sin against the clans for the Clans to invade the humans. Isn't that the reason why the Hawk clan hated Brancotte so much? – because one of our princes abused and destroyed one of their children?'
Odds are, there's at least ONE human who'd be willing to do something so horrible, right? After that happens, will the Rehkin retaliate with their armies?
Just as Haalfrin is thinking about this, he suddenly feels a Spiritual Pulse rippling on a Spirit Thread.
Feeling intrigued, Haalfrin closes his eyes and reaches out for the thread.
As soon as he touches it, he hears Fina's voice in his head, "If you're wondering if the Rehkin clans will ever invade the humans, then don't hold your breath."
"F-fina? When did you learn to do such long-range telepathy? I mean, how did you know what I was thinking?" Haalfrin yelps in surprise.
Technically, it's possible to communicate through Spirit Threads, though you have to be fairly close to your target while you do it.
"Easy," she replies. "You forget that I'm a Rehkin goddess now. I can feel the thoughts and feelings of everything my Spirit Threads touch."
With her Spirit Threads touching every living thing in this world, it's fair to say that she's blind to nothing in this world.
Indeed, she can pop in on any conversation at her pleasure… It's just that she has a reclusive personality, so she chooses not to.
"Anyway," Fina continues with her original thought, "I already talked to the Clans. Any human offenders will be dealt with at my discretion. There will be no invasions. Plus, I trust that you'll be there to stop any invasions – at least so long as you haven't aged to death first."
She suddenly adds, "Oh, and Dakka had a chat with our children. None of the dragons on this world are going to cause any trouble. They're also banned from traipsing around the World Gate. Can you keep an eye out for any young dragons trying to flee through the World Gate on your end?"
Indeed, dragons tend to be reckless, and they usually don't care about the rules. If one of them goes near the World Gate… then that'll be a disaster waiting to happen.
Haalfrin hears this and sighs. "…Alright."
"… Haalfrin, I know that you want to see your wife again," Fina says after a long pause, "but it's not very nice to wish for a war to start."
"… Sorry."
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Of course, it really doesn't take long before the humans of Lareen find out what an Arkin REALLY is, as well as how to become one.
Haalfrin had heard from Lyr that these Lareen people are just as scared of necromancy as Brancotte was.
With that in mind, Haalfrin actually expected Lareen to panic upon finding out that all the Arkin are dead.
However, for some strange reason… this never happens. When Haalfrin asks around about WHY, he learns that Lareen's god has issued a decree, saying, "Necromancy is breaking the Death King's Laws and binding a Spirit Unwillingly. Death magic is wielding Death Aura and interacting lawfully with the denizens of the Death Realm."
Well…, that's technically true, but Haalfrin didn't expect anyone over there to be this considerate of his powers. It's also weird that everyone just accepted the old god-kings words at face value. Human fear is an emotional that isn't exactly connected to logic, after all.
So, with all concerns of the Arkin being "taboo" out of the way, the Arkin become quite popular subjects of gossip among the humans of Lareen. Maybe it's due to their ridiculous talent with magic and universal beauty, but they're simultaneously feared and respected.
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The years go by, and a steady stream of visitors from Lareen come through his fortress. Of course, Haalfrin has given anyone free access to come and go from his castle, so long as they stay in the outer palace.
His Arkin need SOMETHING to do, right? It's good to have visitors they can attend to.
Still, Haalfrin starts to notice that things are steadily changing around the Valor Hall, as well as the rest of Arra.
First off, the Rehkin and humans finalize their treaties, and they start to trade with each other in earnest.
With trade being open, the accumulated technology of Lareen and Arra is pooled together.
Haalfrin watches as the Rehkin learn to make insanely tall buildings – nearly reaching a mile high. They also gain easy access to basic conveniences that the humans seem to have mastered a long time ago – particularly, spatial folding and teleportation.
The Rehkin, in turn, share deeper insights into enchanting with their neighbors, as well as some more advanced techniques to harvest mana from the environment. Most importantly, they actually impart their more advanced Spirit Techniques. This openness would've been unthinkable in Brancotte's era.
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The years tick by, and Haalfrin is getting more and more baffled at the strange ways that Arra is transforming.
Many times now, Haalfrin has been offered a tour through Lareen – always by some politician or businessman trying to make some connections with him. Haalfrin, of course, always turned them down.
He DOES hate the idea of being asked out on ulterior motives.
However, curiosity seems to have gotten the better of him. What's his homeworld like after so long?
Desperately wanting to see his homeworld again – specifically, to see how much it's changed, he picks up a random invitation letter from the stack on his desk.
Then, he calmly writes a return letter and sends it back to the sender.
"All right. Let's see what it's like on the other side."