Roxy couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the group walk through the door.
"Yo, Roxy!" A young man with maroon hair called out. "Have you joined Immortal Skye, too!?"
The brunette pixie opened and closed her mouth, unsure what to say. She turned to the blonde major for help, but the latter was transfixed on the emperor with shaky eyes.
"You first, Mars," she said hesitantly. "Have you guys joined Immortal Skye?"
Kaze, Kiera, and the other women stood inside the double doors, wearing relaxed expressions. Alongside them were nine people wearing togas, all of whom were Vincent Ramble's soldiers! That was half the people who stayed behind that morning!
"Wait, don't tell me you chose to join voluntarily!" Mars laughed. "That's some great foresight. We all got stomped and learned the hard way!"
A crushing silence befell the room, with many trying to process the unabashed teen's words, especially Roxy. While she wanted to negotiate and become allies with Immortal Skye, she never considered joining. It wasn't even a consideration—she had things to do in the Sky Plane.
"What happened to Major Ramble?" Roxy asked in a daze.
"What do you mean, 'what happened to him?'" Mars chuckled mockingly. "He's dunzo, chief. These people are surprisingly lenient, so long as you strike them directly. But, oh, boy—they're fucking ruthless if you do. If you followed the Major's orders, you'd be dog chow right now."
His words hit the drunken cultivators with a tremor of fear. They fell silent and took deep breaths, putting up their hands to declare their legitimate ignorance.
"I can explain…." Roxy said, hurriedly turning to the regent.
"Don't insult us," Veronica laughed. "We knew you were here to attack us from the second we saw you. Our efforts accounted for that."
"Woah, hold up, Roxy!" Mars requested concernedly. "If you guys haven't submitted heart and soul to these people—you better do it. Forget us, Lord Emerson attacked this place with the Silver Fucking Medallions, and this guy slaughtered all of them."
Roxy felt the icy jaws of anxiety close in as she considered his words.
Converted Crux.
Killed Mary Emerson.
The Silver Medallions, too.
Rayton Blackfoot wasn't playing games on the Mortal Plane—their opponent was of a different caliber entirely.
"No, we haven't...," the brunette pixie said embarrassedly. "We haven't gotten an invitation or talked about it... directly."
"Waiiiiiiiiit! Hold the phone," Kiera demanded cutely. "You came here to attack us and got food, clothing, and intact limbs as party favors and still didn't get the memo? What more do you want? Some meat sprinkles?"
Mars laughed, shattering the silence permeating the room, but everyone remained awkward and speechless.
"Ahem," Kaze cleared his throat awkwardly, rolling his eyes. "You were having a great time mere moments ago. Please, continue doing that—forever."
A few chuckles rippled through the crowd, crackling like a campfire at night's end.
"At the very least, enjoy yourself tonight," he smiled mockingly, reaching into a rift and pulling out massive condors and eagles. "Immortal Skye feasts tonight to welcome new citizens—and everyone's invited. So throw your life away on your own time; don't ruin everyone else's celebration."
"Wooooooo!" The hesitant silence was shattered by Captain Taylor, swaying next to Roxy with his fists pumped. "I thought it would SUCK to convince Lady Grace to join this place, but now we're celebrating it—yes! Or, thank you! Wooooooo!"
While the man's drunken rambling was as esoteric as 18th-century philosophy, it was shockingly articulate. A bolt of positive synesthesia surged through most cultivators like lightning, flipping the [oh, fuck yes!] trigger on the dopamine release mechanism. And as if the soldiers hadn't just heard a past enemy murdered their superior, they resumed their raucous cheering and drinking.
However, his words expressed the opposite for the cultivators like Roxy, who [didn't] want to stay. They realized being an Immortal was never an option; their guest reception was just smoke and mirrors to make accepting easier.
…
Kaze held a grand feast outside the Central Mansion to celebrate shutting down a major threat and gaining recruits. He demonstrated the soul pact with Immortal volunteers to showcase that harming the Immortals and betrayal was impossible. Explosive cheering and excitement spread through the group once he did.
As concessions to the ex-Killians, the pact did not require them to divulge secrets or be honest with Kaze as long as the secret didn't harm Immortal Skye. Moreover, they could fight back but not initiate fights or use excessive or dangerous force. Their pact wasn't perfect, but it was an amicable solution for all parties, and people felt safe.
After an invigorating speech, everyone ate a grand feast of condors, eagles, wolves, and other animals, supercharging their elementals. Kaze, his harem, and Crux ate special meat with far more explosive effects. The cultivators who met Kaze were okay with them not sharing.
As time passed, the Immortals and cultivators sat around bonfires near the water, drinking and talking the night away. Roxy walked from one to another, searching for someone.
"Roxy!" Mars yelled excitedly, jumping up from the fire pit, running across the grass, and jumping into the woman's arms. "I'm so glad you weren't part of the 50% who ended up in the arrogant-and-thus-dead category!"
He wore khakis, a black v-neck, and a charcoal gray sports coat. The teen clearly asked for style advice from Kaze, perplexing and relieving the brunette, "I'm glad I'm alive, too.
Speaking of which, I was worried that you would've started a fight and gotten into trouble. However, you seem to be on friendly terms after getting 'stomped….' What happened?"
"Oh, that?" he asked, his eyes glided to the left. "Well, I did initiate a fight."
The brunette pixie looked at him sternly, "You're not in trouble, are you? These people aren't messing around. If you're on their radar, you must take it seriously."
"Yo, chill, tricks," Mars smiled, bopping her nose with his finger. "I walked up and was like: yo, let's do this shit. And you know the woman with the pink hair?"
"Yeah?" Roxy asked.
"Well, she made a really good argument that prevented me from getting on their bad side." Mars said chipperly.
"What did she say that got through to [you]?" She laughed in disbelief.
"Simple, actually," he grinned, puffing out his chest and coughing. "She said: [Look, bro; If you're desperate to get your ass beat, you can just ask. We'll happily take turns.]."
Roxy's jaw lowered slightly in confusion, "That's all?"
"Not exactly," Mars chuckled. "She also said: 'But beware, reddy: if this is a femdom fantasy and you getta chub, prepare to lose your manhood before the torture session commences."
The pixie's expression turned from confusion to emotional beleaguerment. "I'm asking if that's all it took for you to join, Mars. Start from the beginning: what happened?"
"Hey, are you talking about the Princess?" Larkin abruptly joined the conversation from the other side of the fire. "Pink hair, super fiery?"
He had no shame snooping, which made Roxy uncomfortable. However, the teen next to her had a completely different reaction.
"Yeah, that girl!" Mars cried excitedly, "We're talking about my fight with her!"
"Wait, what?" Rein turned, moving from uninterested to engrossed. "You fought Kiera?"
"Yep! I gave her a run but lost in the end," Mars announced chipperly. "Do you want to hear about it?"
"Hell yeah, I do!" Larkin yelled excitedly. "There's not a person in Immortal Skye who wouldn't want to hear about it. One sec!"
Roxy watched in a daze as Larkin started hyping people up around the fires, and soon dozens surrounded her and Mars. She wanted to exercise damage control; instead, she was at the center of a public spectacle! However, the teen beside her had madness in his eyes, feeling glorious as he began his story.
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