“This is an outrage!” shouted a Sprite Senator as she thumped her table.
“Simply disgraceful!” roared a Pixie Senator as he jabbed his finger to the ceiling. This was just a taste of the utter uproar in the Senate Chambers. Rellmeer had finally had enough.
“EVERYONE, SHUT UP!” she shrieked as she banged her gavel. Her harem girl, Felfar, rubbed her temples as she fiddled with the extremely long boa around her neck. “Senators, I understand that this is a rather…unusual thing for a Kitsune to do,” addressed Rellmeer.
“Unusual?!” snapped a Fairy Senator as he stood up sharply. “With respect, My Empress, you’re under-selling it! No Kitsune has ever attacked our Republic since the Realm War!”
“We must strike now!” roared a male Sprite.
“Senator Baltar, you’ve always been hungry for war!” snarled Lantii, the female Sprite that declared the incident to be an outrage.
“I SAID, ENOUGH!” shouted Rellmeer. “We’re not going to war against the Kitsunes! I won’t permit this during my reign!”
“So what, pray tell, do you have in mind?!” snapped the Fairy Senator.
“The Endeavor can be called upon to help out,” answered Rellmeer. “Arsha has graciously offered to find out why that Kitsune is attacking us and I see no need to refuse.”
“She’s a Blender of Kitsune and HUMAN origin!” argued another Fairy Senator. “What good will she be?!”
“A lot more good than you lot at this point in time, that’s for sure!” shouted Rellmeer. “I have already made my decision! Now kindly clear off!” The Senate filed out, grumbling all the while. Once it was just her and Felfar alone, Rellmeer roared in frustration.
“So, can I film now, Mistress?” asked Felfar.
“Bunch of idiots!” snapped Rellmeer. “I’m trying to keep the peace here with the rough equivalent of a stale cookie and a used pen!”
“It’s the Senate,” replied Felfar, “what do you expect? I can tell you, right now, that every government has had some weird legend around it. Why, did you know that the Galdredan Kingdom’s Constitution has, not one, but FOUR curses on it?”
“A Kitsune’s attacking our territory from its very heart,” snarled Rellmeer, “probably in some hair-brained Over-Splitter scheme to keep us from reaching any other Realm and will most likely burn the entire Northern Continent in the process!”
“Mistress, I think you’re over-selling this a bit,” countered Felfar. “You said that they only sent you a letter but haven’t exactly challenged you. Considering that they need a Fae’s natural connection to magic, I don’t think attacking you would be in their best interests.”
“Oltor’s been more cunning than we give him credit for!” replied Rellmeer. “If I’m right and this IS a Splitter plot, he’ll probably see destroying civilizations as some twisted version of saving them from the other Realms!”
“Oh, I see,” snarked Felfar. “A guy who wants to kill and destroy everything. The Realms certainly have a shortage of those. Even your Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather was like that before you stopped him.”
“…No, Oltor’s something totally different,” answered Rellmeer.
“How, Mistress?!” demanded Felfar. “No, really, how?! Ever since you got that letter last month, you’ve been going bonkers! You beat him! You beat the Over-Splitters MULTIPLE times since before he became the Supreme Over-Splitter! If this IS a Splitter plot, this should be old hat to you by now! I’ve read about the Over-Splitters’ operations! Depths, I even did an episode from that very seat!” She indicated Rellmeer’s usual seat whenever the Fae Senate was in session. “What makes Oltor so different than any of his predecessors?! What makes you think this is even a Splitter plot?!” Rellmeer took in a breath before answering.
“They’ve always hated that we are staunch allies of the Kitsunes,” she answered. “Their magic connection almost rivals a Fae’s. They would, most likely, want to split us apart since we both oppose the Splitters. I WON’T let that happen.”
“You need me to what?” asked Melandra to Arsha.
“I need you to cast a web in front of the Kitsune,” answered Arsha. “With any luck, they’ll be stuck fast and we can get that mask off so we can get straight answers.”
“You HAVE seen how I use my silk to decorate my quarters, right?” inquired Melandra. “My webs go all over the place. I’m a 3-D Drider, not a net-casting Drider OR a Bolas Drider. Why not ask Thengo?”
“Her silk skills lie in lining her quarters with it,” countered Arsha. “It will take too much time to build a significant trap. No, I need you.”
“Very well,” sighed Melandra. He set to work making the net out of his silk. After an hour, they went outside and set themselves onto a branch. Melandra then saw a flash of movement, then the top of a Jumping Spider’s head. Given their current size, the spider could easily make a meal out of the two. However, it jumped elsewhere, finding more familiar prey. Melandra exhaled. Arsha saw the whole thing.
“I heard there was an arachnophobic Drider on my crew but I never pegged YOU to be that Drider,” she mused.
“It’s the fact that it doesn’t have an upper torso that terrifies me,” explained Melandra. “Besides, you’d be terrified if you were the size of a spider’s prey!”
“Fair point,” conceded Arsha. Something then made a twig snap. “Armored foot on the forest floor,” guessed Arsha as she transferred her hairpiece to her waist and summoned her armor.
“I see our target,” reported Melandra, readying his crude net.
“On three, we pounce,” directed Arsha. “One…two…THREE!” They jumped off the branch and cast a spell to return them to normal size. Melandra’s net was thrown over the Kitsune as Arsha punched the intruder repeatedly. The intruder stopped struggling and went limp. Arsha then took out a medical scanner and checked for life-signs. It showed up positive. “Let’s shrink down and bring the intruder in,” ordered Arsha as she cast the necessary shrinking spell. She then cast a levitation spell so they would float towards the entrance Rellmeer and various guards were waiting. They landed and handed the intruder off to the Fairies.
“Tend to the intruder’s injuries,” commanded Rellmeer. “Post a guard on the intruder at all times. Get them out of that armor and get some answers, use truth potions if you must.”
“Understood,” confirmed the Captain. He then led the guards towards the Fae Hospital.
“Truth potions?” gulped Arsha.
“I need to find out what’s going on by ANY means necessary,” replied Rellmeer. “That’s what a ruler needs to do.”
“I see,” muttered Arsha, not sure if she agreed. She then scratched the back of her neck.
“Captain?” asked Melandra.
“Just a minor itch,” assured Arsha. “See if the doctors tending to the intruder will give me an update.”
“Aye, Captain,” replied Melandra as he scuttled off to obey. Arsha sighed as she thought on the potential unfair treatment the Fae would give the intruder. Fae WERE ruthless when they felt threatened. She wondered how she would soothe this over.