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The Lord Ruler is in his palace, when he sees a sight he hasn't seen in centuries. Trees, sunlight...is he hallucinating? The fact that there's a forest in his living room isn't the surprising part. The fact that there's a forest on his planet is. As soon as he walks through the door to where his living room isn't, it's definitely not a hallucination.
His stores of Allomantic metals abruptly disappear. They're still physically there, but the power is completely gone. He immediately turns to go back, only to see more forest.
At least his Feruchemy still works—he can tell because he's still alive—but that won't last him forever. He only has so much stored youth, and without both sets of abilities he can't replenish it. He hasn't been in so much danger since the beheading that one time. Returning to Scadrial is the highest and currently only priority. If spontaneous forests are a thing, he needs to find someone who can explain them and more importantly how to get back.
The next few hours are spent walking in an essentially randomly chosen direction, with the sun to his right. He's quite certain that suns are supposed to be moving across the sky, but that's not a pressing emergency. He already knew he wasn't on his own planet when he saw proper trees and plants instead of ash-covered monstrosities. Whenever he calls out, nobody responds. If it's an empty spontaneous forest, he's probably doomed.
After some time, he hears his stomach growl. He hasn't seen much that looks edible, but possibly that's just because he's not used to real plants. Berries. Berries used to exist. Those berries look tasty, and if they're poisonous it's not like he needs to worry about it. As always, he has a truly ridiculous amount of stored health in his gold jewelry. Tapping gold just in case, he eats a handful.
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unprophesied_of_ages
unprophesied_of_ages
Well, this is awkward. But saving himself, the ruler of the world, from vassalage is kind of more important than being polite.
He knocks louder. "Promise? Something came up." Eh, forget it. He breaks the lock and proclaims into the room, "It's an emergency!"
He knocks louder. "Promise? Something came up." Eh, forget it. He breaks the lock and proclaims into the room, "It's an emergency!"
imeanforever
Promise wakes up and goes to the door and opens it. "What is it?"
unprophesied_of_ages
"I'm going to give you copper Feruchemy. You may turn off your sense of touch if you like. It turns out now that I'm unassailable, I don't actually have much reason to be cruel."
He removes the spike, and fails to use it on her.
"On second thought, you put it in. Right there; on the side of your leg."
He removes the spike, and fails to use it on her.
"On second thought, you put it in. Right there; on the side of your leg."
unprophesied_of_ages
"Now store my name in this piece of copper, and then give me the spike."
unprophesied_of_ages
He re-inserts the brass spike into his own leg, and sees an extra copy of his name in the copper. Then he takes it out, and breaks it into pieces as small as he can manage.
"And now, there's something I think you're going to want to see." He starts walking downstairs.
"When Yellow caught you, it was only by your name, right? Not by food?
You can speak freely, by the way."
"And now, there's something I think you're going to want to see." He starts walking downstairs.
"When Yellow caught you, it was only by your name, right? Not by food?
You can speak freely, by the way."
imeanforever
"I can't follow you unless you say I may," she points out, standing still.
unprophesied_of_ages
"Oh. Right. You can follow me. Invisible, if you prefer to cast that first; there's no hurry."
imeanforever
She turns herself invisible. She follows him. "Yellow got my name from Thorn."
unprophesied_of_ages
"Good. Because I can't make him not have fed you, but he doesn't know your name any more."
unprophesied_of_ages
"Haven't decided yet. You want some of the same things I do and will be much more effective if you're not merely following orders. Setting you mostly free to help my planet is an available option. Of course, so is only deploying you on specific short-term problems and routinely ordering you to take no new action after each one."
unprophesied_of_ages
And they reach the dungeon. Alendi opens the door, and reveals Yellow.
"And here's your ex-master. Would you like revenge?"
"And here's your ex-master. Would you like revenge?"
imeanforever
Yellow is mid-cry.
"No," says Promise. She looks at Alendi. "If you're ever tempted to let me go, you might remember that I'm not a vengeful person."
"Promise," says Yellow. "Promise, help."
"I can't," she says.
"I was nice to you."
"You improved on the standard of living I enjoyed with Thorn," says Promise, "I'll give you that."
"Help!"
"I can't."
"No," says Promise. She looks at Alendi. "If you're ever tempted to let me go, you might remember that I'm not a vengeful person."
"Promise," says Yellow. "Promise, help."
"I can't," she says.
"I was nice to you."
"You improved on the standard of living I enjoyed with Thorn," says Promise, "I'll give you that."
"Help!"
"I can't."
unprophesied_of_ages
"No? But you said...
Oh. I forgot about forgetting." He taps the relevant coppermind, and laughs. "That makes more sense, then.
Do you care what I do with him now that it isn't hypothetical?"
Oh. I forgot about forgetting." He taps the relevant coppermind, and laughs. "That makes more sense, then.
Do you care what I do with him now that it isn't hypothetical?"
imeanforever
"I care about a lot of things. You could command him to seek no names and give no enforced orders and send him home."
unprophesied_of_ages
"And that would at best neutralize one fairy until someone vassalizes him. There has got to be something more effective than that, even with all your moral constraints.
Oh well, he isn't important any more. I'll think of something eventually."
Oh well, he isn't important any more. I'll think of something eventually."
unprophesied_of_ages
Alendi cares not at all about Yellow's feelings. He closes the door behind them.
"If I set you completely free right now, what would you do? Don't try to deceive me."
"If I set you completely free right now, what would you do? Don't try to deceive me."
imeanforever
Promise thinks about this question. For quite a while.
Then she says, "I would go through the gate, and close it, and go to the Steppes, and make another gate from there to the same place on this end, and then I would go someplace very, very far away from the steppes and from where Thorn operates and where he found me, and I would try making a home again. Maybe one day I'd try to find out how your people were doing in the Steppes, if you went there. Or go back to my tree. But that would depend on what rumors I heard and whether I got caught earlier in the process."
unprophesied_of_ages
"And then my people all get vassalized by whatever fairy most recently lived on the steppes. Or I suppose I could make Yellow claim it and just not let him take advantage of the kingdom's worth of vassals."