"I told them all 'no,' and avoided getting my mind changed without my permission. Then some idiots summoned something that they shouldn't have to my home world, and the world was invaded, and the survivors - myself and my sister included - ran for our lives to another plane. It was lacking in various supplies and wasn't properly built to house humans, but it was too much trouble to try to get everyone to leave it to search for a better spot, so I went looking for another plane for helpful materials and found -" He grins. "- Isabella."
Snuggle. Isabella picks up from here. "I'm a witch, we're a minority but not a tiny one, grew up the same place you were born, Phix, near my clan's lands - my dad is also Charlie but my mother's named Ranata Ekamma and she never hared off with me to Phoenix. I went to mortal school through tenth grade, then quit to study magic full-time, then met," grin, "Adarin. There proceeded to be quite a lot of magical collaboration and now I have a portal network and an army of alien robots and we run a colony on the planet where we found the alien robots and I have a better way to read my alethiometer than anybody else who has one does and I'm heavily subsidizing the mass resurrection and immortalization of people in my world in between going on welcome wagon trips for new folks."
".... Ooooooo," says Darren, looking at Cypress like he's his hero. "An army of alien robots?"
"We went planet shopping for a colony. We found a planet that was filled with alien robots, and then Isabella made them hers. Through a huge hole in their security systems."
"I mean, to be fair, the hole in the security systems only proved relevant when the aliens in question were all extinct. They're well past caring and their planetary infrastructure wasn't in good enough shape for me to strongly consider resurrecting the aliens sooner than later so they could have it back; they'll have nearly as much luck colonizing a different rock. Phix, maybe we should check for aliens in your world, since you're from a world that matches mine some ways."
"I'm not sure how much to expect matching. I mean, our Earthly species don't even match. Did the aliens have daemons?"
"Welcome to the zombie club," says Edarial, dryly. "Enjoy your stay, drinks and refreshments are to your left."
"I mean, to be fair you aren't properly zombies. If this were a horror movie you wouldn't act just like normal people only with mysteriously invisible inaudible daemons that are never in anybody's way, there would be other effects from the soullessness. And since you aren't actually human I can sort of categorize you like you're bears, I guess. Though the bears say their armor is their souls."
"I don't know if sky-iron rusts, and doubt they tend to leave it out like that, but I suppose? If I leave Path out in the rain I get a waterlogged soul. This sort of thing happens when you don't keep your soul creepily insubstantial."
"It's something to get used to, certainly. But I have 'gone native' and now you're the strange one in my eyes."
"And a good thing you have gone properly native. If Chamomile didn't confer daemons on visitors you would not have one and then where would we be?"
"Not married, and that would be terrible." He kisses her forehead, smiling.
He wonders if Cypress is even aware that he's doing it, now. Probably not. He can't even blame it on the soul birds this time. It's just - so blatantly in love. Again.
"I'm missing some life stories. Already heard the gist of Spring's, so, you two are up."
"Okay, that's weird," opines Ice. "...Sorry for - but it's weird. Forks, South Fork - Spring?"
"I can't for the life of me remember the name of the town. I didn't dare write any of my personal notes in plaintext until I got to Pantheon - or even a cipher, someone could have beaten the translation out of me. I used to do everything in drawings that I didn't expect to keep. Sorry."