29. Count Beailor

  Hien Ro held the ring in his hand. It was the second heaviest ring he’d ever held. Not in terms of weight, but significance. The entire alliance was built upon the ring that he’d once found sitting on the floor of the rooms he’d shared with Little Bug, Yara, and Adan. He’d picked it up and, figuring that it belonged to Little Bug, put it on his finger to keep himself from losing it until the next time he’d seen his friend.

  Unaware that it contained the entire archive of the Six Mountain Sect, which would later be leveraged to form the Many Peaks Alliance.

  This ring might be even more impactful. After the Dao Companions had returned, they had explained that they expected each of the invitations to include a formal alliance. Little Bug’s avatar had yet to disclose the full details of his own encounter with Duke Doe, but he had announced that while the measures he’d developed to counter the dimensional tides during the trip weren’t sufficient to protect the girls.

  They’d worked well enough on the rabbit, but the worms had died. The rabbit, which had turned out to be pregnant, had been released on Majeesha to live whatever sort of life it could manage there. Most of the worms had been dead on arrival.

  Hien Ro wasn’t willing to risk his daughters, and since they were staying behind, they needed at least one of their parents to stay behind as well. It only made sense, and yet separating from Yara and the girls felt like he was tearing out half of his own heart. He wished again he could master the secret of Dao Avatars, but every time he felt that he was close he hit another road block.

  And, perhaps, in light of the tribulation, that wasn’t the best idea after all.

  He sighed, looking up from the ring to Little Bug’s mortal avatar. “It has to be today?”

  “Time is running short,” Little Bug said. “You don’t have to stay long. But you must make the journey soon. I would offer to go myself, but—”

  “No, that’s a terrible idea,” Hien Ro said. “You shouldn’t ever put yourself through that again.”

  “I’m fairly confident that you will not find on Beailor’s world what I found on Duke Doe’s,” Little Bug said. He shook his head sadly. “But if you do, return immediately. Don’t challenge a tower, don’t enter a tournament, and don’t accept any duels. Just go there, see what Beailor has to say, and return.”

  Hien Ro nodded. “I’ll leave tonight. After dinner. I need to say goodbye to the girls, and explain that I might be away for a while.”

  Little Bug nodded.

  “How is the other you doing right now?” Hien Ro asked. “The last I saw you weren’t in very good shape?”

  “I don’t know,” the avatar admitted. “I can’t see through his eyes. He can see through mine, but he dares not look lest his power leaks.”

  “Yeah, that would be bad,” Hien Ro agreed. “They’re building you a mansion outside of town, you know. A big fancy one. Ten miles away. We didn’t tell them to do it, they didn’t ask us if they wanted us to. They just announced that they were constructing the project for you, and they fully expect that is where you’ll stay when you return.”

  “Instead of in the center of the city. If they knew that I had an avatar in the Di family complex, they would be most uncomfortable. I will make certain to thank them when the construction is complete,” Little Bug said.

  “It must be terrible for you, to be a source of fear like this,” Hien Ro said.

  “I knew that it would happen when I reached a certain precipice of power,” Little Bug said sadly. “I was pushing up against that precipice for some time before I finally fell off. And because I put them at risk, nine mortals are dead.”

  “It’s not your fault. You didn’t intend—”

  “Intentions and results do not always go hand in hand,” Little Bug said sharply. He exhaled. “There is a reason that most Xian Lords only consider those of the golden path to be true cultivators, Brother Ro. The weight of our presence, it bleeds out if we’re not careful. I think that it’s best if I do not make many public appearances for a while. If I continue to grow in power, and I must, then the danger I pose will—”

  “Don’t worry about the alliance,” Hien Ro said. “We’ll manage it without you. Just focus on whatever it is that you need to do to keep yourself together.”

  Little Bug smiled. “What did I ever do to earn such loyal friends?” he asked sadly.

  Hien Ro shrugged nervously, and took the ring with him as he said goodbye to his friend, mentor, master, and leader. He stepped out of the Di compound, then flew off into the distance, traveling to the headquarters of the alliance, where he reported that he would be on a diplomatic trip for some time.

  Then he returned home, where he quietly made love to his wife while the daughters napped, and then helped her prepare dinner while they discussed the upcoming trip. She agreed with his conclusions, that he would go and she would stay behind with the girls. When the girls emerged from their bedrooms, Yara sent her husband to play with them until it was time for dinner, and then together they explained to the children that ‘daddy would be going away for a while.’

  He stayed with them until bedtime, then after telling them their story and tucking them in, he waited until they were asleep before channeling his Qi into the ring and allowing it to drag him into another universe.

  He emerged through the veil into a large platform, decorated in gold and platinum and diamonds. He was not alone; the ring had sent out a signal ahead of his arrival and there was an old man with white hair and a mustache to match. He was dressed in a tails coat, and he bowed politely.

  “Welcome to the demesne of Count Beailor, honored emissary,” the servant said promptly. “How was the journey? Some find it disorienting. If you need time to reorient yourself, or relieve any physical symptoms, the others are not expecting you to leave this room for some time, so there is no rush.”

  “I’m fine,” Hien Ro said, having been scarcely affected by the journey. Sure the forces between dimensions had pulled on him, but his identity core was strong and it would take more than that to unravel him. “Although this journey has taken me away from my family, so I ask that any unnecessary delays be cut to a minimum.”

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  “A robust one, and a family man? The Count will like you,” the servant said. “Very well. You have arrived in the middle of the night here, so I shall show you to your quarters, where you may rest for six hours. In the morning, I shall introduce you to the court.”

  “Okay,” Hien Ro agreed.

  He followed the servant through gilded halls, noting idly that the man himself was at the golden path. Having stood next to Little Bug during the course of the tribulation, attempting to push forward to reach his master to do something to help, not knowing what he’d do but desperate to do something , he understood the need for a Xian lord’s servants to be powerful by themselves.

  He had been challenged in ways that he was still struggling to comprehend by that day. Rather than sleep when he arrived, he sat for a few hours and contemplated the sensations that he had experienced, feelings that had roiled off of his master. He attempted to put them into the context of his own life, and found that they surprisingly coincided quite well with his own emotions recently.

  He needed to be strong for his family.

  Seeking strength would take him further and further away from his family.

  The middle ground was so narrow, where he balanced seeking the power and a love that did not threaten the ones he sought to protect. Finally, after dawn, he refreshed himself in the bathroom, changed his clothes, and waited patiently for the servant to reappear.

  When the servant reappeared, the man handed over a strange device. It was black and gold, with a silver button on one side and a blue button on the other.

  “I apologize for not giving you this last night, but I expected you to rest, not contemplate complex emotions,” the servant said. “Consider this a personal gift from the court. It is a recorder.”

  “A recorder of what?” Hien Ro questioned.

  “Emotions,” the servant answered. “They are very popular in this corner of the multiverse. Mostly because if you capture a particularly pleasant or intense emotion, there is a chance the count himself will reward you. The feeling of holding ones first child for the first time, the scent of returning home, the triumph of a hard earned victory, there are many popular life events that are recorded with these devices. Now and then the Count will put out a bounty on a particular emotion. Currently he is searching for nostalgia.”

  “So, I feel something into this,” Hien Ro said, making certain he understood, “And someone else can feel the way that I did when I recorded it?”

  “Yes, or you can revisit your emotions at a later time. You press the silver button to record, and the blue to revisit. Be warned, however, that it has a numbing effect. The listless are those who have over-commercialized their feelings, leading to a life of ennui and boredom. But casual use is quite safe.”

  Hien Ro considered for a moment, then activated the device and allowed himself to feel the intense longing to return home to his family for a moment. Slowly, the feeling subsided. He stopped the recording not when he felt nothing, but when it was just not so keen as it had been before.

  Then he handed over the device. “I doubt that’s worth anything, but you can have it back. I don’t intend on selling my feelings during my stay.”

  The servant took the device, then set it aside. “As you say, but I will leave it with you in case you change your mind. Come, let’s visit the court. Your request not to waste time unnecessarily has been relayed to the Count, and he has personally expedited your visit to include only a third of the planned events.”

  “Consideration for which I am grateful,” Hien Ro said, and they walked off to a flying platform which brought them over the horizon, to the largest palace that Hien Ro had ever seen.

  With emerald spires and silver domes, it was a palace of dreams. The platform landed, and Hien Ro was greeted with trumpets and dancing children who through confetti as he marched forward to the receiving room, where he bowed politely towards the throne.

  “The honorable Hien Ro, brother by oath and disciple to the Xian Lord Little Bug, sent as an honored emissary to establish relations,” a herald announced him. “Hien Ro, you stand before the majestic Emil Beailor, count of the emerald court.”

  “Thank you, Majestic Count Beailor, for seeing me on such short notice,” he said, his words as much for the court as the count himself.

  “We understand that you are in a hurry to return to your family. It is only fair and just that we consider your needs paramount,” the count said, a sonorous voice filling the court. “I shall present the offer to your lord plain. I wish for Little Bug to join my court as an honored lord of full standing. I offer them a world in my demesne to extend their presence and power, and offer a defense pact.”

  Hien Ro nodded. “This is the same offer that Prince Yema has extended, more or less, if I am not mistaken. Yet my lord cannot serve two masters, can he?”

  “No. We are in a competition, I admit, to see who will secure his loyalty,” the count said. “The terms have been agreed upon. Equal offers, except for Duke Doe who keeps his own council. But the choice of whose court your master joins will forever effect both him and the world of Atla, so it is not one to be made in haste. I understand you are in a hurry to return home, yet I encourage you to spend some time at court and learn of our philosophy and morals before returning, so that you might best serve your master by presenting his options plainly and accurately.”

  “I thank the count for the consideration. I shall spend a few days at court at least,” Hien Ro promised.

  The count smiled. “Tell me, Hien Ro, have you ever felt the joy of standing at the pinnacle?”

  “The pinnacle of what?”

  “Everything,” the count answered.

  “I can’t say that I have,” he admitted.

  A servant approached and handed him a recorder, but one that did not possess the silver button. He understood that he was expected to relive the emotion recorded within it, and so he picked it up and pressed the blue button and--

  They served him. They worshiped him. Everyone in this dimension, for the next ten thousand years or more, would see him as a god. He was omnipotent and omnipresent, and he--

  He snatched his hand back as the insidious feelings crept into him. The court laughed at his response, but he simply shook his head.

  “I see. So that is what it feels like to be you, your majesty?” he asked.

  “Of course not. That recording was taken when I had first consolidated my rule six thousand years ago,” the count said. “Most of the thrill has tapered off since then, but now and then I am feeling nostalgic and I reach for the feelings of old.”

  “I see,” Hien Ro said.

  “Now then, I have several other matters to deal with during this audience, and then there is a ball scheduled to celebrate your presence in my court,” the count said. “You may depart to prepare for the ball. Welcome to my demesne, Hien Ro of the Peach Blossoms. Might you have a pleasant stay.”

  Hien Ro bowed politely, then allowed the servant who had brought him to court to lead him away.

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