Chapter 40: Chapter 39: War And Diplomacy Part 1

“Hey guy’s Kitsunoko has really been pranking me hard lately.” Gillian asked as they crashed in the lounge of the forward base on Mirage after a day of detailed surveying and a diplomatic meeting.

“Dude, do you seriously not get what’s going on?” Alysse laughed with amusement at his obliviousness.

“If I did, it probably wouldn’t be hurting my self-esteem so much.” He chuckled, with far less sarcasm than he would have liked.

“She’s trying to take Carl’s mind of everything going on. If I had to guess, Equinox probably recommended that she target you after the whole “Noxy-boy” incident.” Blanc said, finishing Alysse’s thought as she looked too exasperated to do so.

“What? Nah…. Noxy-boy, loves his nickname.”

“Everyone, our head of diplomatic relations. I think we need to find Carl some resumes to look over before we are at war with everyone or just become the universe’s time-shared pets.” Alysse said with a slow clap.

Alysse then went her own way to have a bath, whilst the boys went to have their own. Gillian was oblivious and obnoxious but when you pointed that out to him he usually took the time to reassess and after ten minutes in the hot spring style bath that Carl made, he realised how stupid and annoying he had been.

“Okay guys, sorry but I need to keep Sitter with me from now on, he has a name to live up to.”

“He finally realises!” Blanc said with the same slow-clapping that Alysse had used.

“How is it going out there anyway, all Sitter tells me is chemical formulas, elemental compounds and newly discovered landmarks… He’s a bit too rigid, talks like he’s reporting to his boss, not like Squidge is with Carl.”

“Maybe that’s because you act like his boss… When was the last time you two did anything to bond? You told us about how Carl used to talk to Squidge about things he wanted to see and do even before he could talk back. That kind of bond takes effort dude, figure out what relationship you want with Sitter, then figure out how much effort you want to put in. If you need a day off to chill with him, just ask.”

Gillian sank into the water, he was a pretty open and free spirited guy but he had been taking himself a bit too seriously lately and investing all his energy into work. He started to wonder if he really did need some time off…

“Nah, can’t ask him to give me a day off while he’s got everything going on, hell he hasn’t even had time to make yours and Alysse’s pets yet.” Suddenly, Carl appeared out of nowhere.

“Gil, you’re an idiot, I have enough on my plate. Consider all three of you on leave for three days and tell the others as well. Sorry for worrying everyone and I haven’t sorted the pets yet because there is an a creature Noah is working on for each of you.”

“Where did you even come from?”

“The most torturous game of interplanetary tag in history.”

“Interplanetary tag?”

“Where I try to catch up with everything going on but no one replies, so I have to go and tag them to get an answer, all whilst playing actual tag with Kitsunoko so she actually wants to sleep at night.”

After that Carl sank into the water further than Gillian had, letting his breath slowly escape in bubbles that popped as they reached the surface.

Everyone had officially been put on break for three days, Carl even added it to the faction calender under “Founding festival” A three day break they would get annually.

“What are you guys planning?” Gillian asked as they dig into dinner at a full table for the first time in ages.

“You are all inviting your parents and friends here immediately you idiot” Lydia and Kon said together.

It was a fair statement, they hadn’t rested properly in weeks and everthing at HQ was fully disclosed to keep it free from Committee inspection, which was something the adults had been fighting off under false pretense since Lillim and Kyubi departed.

It also meant that they were free to host guests as they wanted and they desperately needed a proper break, the only one who refused to stop was Carl and that was because he was distracting himself from thinking about Klaire or the fact that Lillim and Kyubi had been out of contact for a week.

“Any chance we can get Carl to sit still for a party?”

“Don’t even bother…” Lydia grunted bitterly at Blanc’s question before Carl could answer himself. “…Aside from Kitsunoko, he isn’t exactly in a people mood.”

The statement quickly devolved into an argument about how he had “more important things to worry about”, but Carl was solid in his position and then he got a notification through…

[ LEVI REQUESTS PERMISSION TO MUTATE ]

[ LEVI REQUESTS PERMISSION TO EVOLVE ]

[ RELAY STANDING PERMISSION? Y/N ]

“Yes! Relay it now!” He shouted immediately and silenced everyone, before starting to pace around the room.

[ PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED ]

[ BAHAMUT HAS SENT A MESSAGE ]

[ TIAMAT HAS SENT A MESSAGE ]

“Open messages!”

“Faylorna Bashe has attacked the realm of dragons, it has come to my attention that you were attacked and subsequently killed by a wyvern, I regret the oversight and do not wish to see hostilities between your faction and supporters and dragon-kin that might result in needless death. I formally seek a meeting with you to seek amicable resolution.”

“Bahamut has informed me that a stray wyvern attacked your group and Faylorna has chosen violent repercussions, I would like you to know the stray kin was not of my domain and hope you will pass that along to Faylorna…. If she tries to attack my children, I will have no choice but to retaliate.”

“Why did this have to happen now? Why would Faylorna attack the dragons?”

“She did what!? Carl you need to talk to u-”

“No, this is good, I’m inviting them both here now. Everyone get ready, Equinox I know you’re holding back, but if things get ugly I need you to get everyone out and leave me to deal with it. I have a plan if things go that w-” A loud *crack* silenced everyone, the shock of seeing Lydia slap Carl so aggressively overwriting everything they though they knew about the woman.

“Ignore me again Carl and I’ll make Klaire a widow to save her from your thick-headedness.”

“I received a message from both Tiamat and Bahamut, Faylorna attacked in retaliation for the wyvern. I want to bring them here and explain that Faylorna isn’t an official ally and ask them to work with Lillim and Kyubi to force a gate open.” Lydia slapped Carl again.

“Everyone out!…” She yelled, forcing everyone to abandon the table, then when the room was clear she continued. “…Is your plan to start a war? Because that is exactly what that would do.”

“How?”

“Honestly, I’m starting to think Klaire took your brain with her. If you declare Faylorna an independent party, acting in retaliation for a slight that she had no say in, the dragons will seek revenge. They are proud and vastly more numerous. Klaire’s entire family will be wiped out.”

“What do you mean had no say in? Klaire is-”

“A member of your faction. Half-banshee or not, Falorna had no right to attack as far as any of their positions, including her, is concerned. Faylorna thinks with her heart, as far as she is concerned killing every living thing because someone harmed her kin is acceptable, is that what you want though?”

“Of course not, but I don’t want the dragons thinking we’re going to start a war over what happened when they told us they wanted amicable relations just a few weeks ago.” Lydia was only growing more concerned with his answer, she hadn’t really paid much mind to his idealism before, but now she realised how self-destructive it could be.

“Carl, I get it, you want everyone to be friendly and live in peace. Very noble… You’re an idiot with no idea what you are doing. Think about this for a second, Faylorna is one of the youngest and has no power in comparison to theirs. What would you prefer, to try and make everyone friends and get somebody killed in the process, or to let them bicker it out in a way that you might one day convince them to get over it?”

“I want to understand though, what if I invite them here and just explain that Faylorna is in the middle of a Howling and must have been looking into Klaire’s memories and acted on reactively to seeing it first-hand?”

“Better, but you need to make your position clear. Dragons or Klaire’s family which might not even be interested in joining you?”

“I’ll back Faylorna, even if Faylorna is a total stranger to me, Danielle and Klaire are family and Danielle is still part of the Bashe clan. I’ll leverage their interest in Equinox if needs be, name him an official emissary to the dragons, his power is being wasted at the moment and it will give him the chance to explore their world as well.”

“Good. Slightly less stupid… I’m starting to think yo-”

“Please don’t call me a masochist, I might start believing it if people keep telling me.”

“Get your head out of the gutter, I was going to “your not as stupid as you act”, but I guess I had been speaking too quickly. Now stop the nonsense and be a leader, you have to tell everyone what you’re planning and act.”

Lydia hugged him, she still thought of him as her nephew and Klaire as a niece. She would never admit it but she had realised most of her anger came from her own frustrations about Klaire’s absence and the repeatedly negative updates Danielle had been sending her.

Without delay, Carl assembled everyone, apologised for going a bit stir crazy, then outlined his plans and the situation.

’Dad, no offence but I think Kitsunoko fried your brains.’ Squidge’s summary was as humblingly astute as Carl had come to expect. He had been going on explorations of other worlds, testing new materials and their flight capabilities which had become a hobby and funny little quirk of his.

“Shut up Squidge, you still need to defend your own intelligence after changing into magma mid flight and starting a forest fire. That said, I need you looking big and tough when they arrive so brains are optional.” Carl laughed.

“What about me Dad?” Kitsunoko asked with childish innocence Carl was not stupid enough to trust.

“You get carried the entire time so I know you aren’t going to play tricks on them. Anyway, if everyone is clear on the plan and there are no objections, I’ll send the message.”

“I have an objection.” Gillian said, making everyone expect him to say something about time-off. “Look, I know Carl’s the boss and everything, but I don’t like this. Without Lillim and Kyubi we’ll be at the mercy of beings like them.”

“You have a point and do any of us know where they are on the power ladder?” Alysse added.

“Tiamat is a rung below Lillim, Bahamut is a rung above, which normally would be a good thing and yet he was the one Faylorna attacked.” Lydia answered.

“Maybe I can call Nergal, or one of the others as a neutral mediator?”

“By all means try, but I would imagine they are eager to see how you resolve this on your own.” Kon shrugged, revealing Kyubi had mentioned in passing how amused they must all be watching them in various situations.

“Fine, I’ll ask and one way or another set the meeting for the day after the break ends, enjoy your time-off guys.” Carl spoke then left to set things into motion.

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