christmas special
“Tell me, Kaaree, what is this ‘Christmas’ you are subjecting me too?” The Visitor asked, pulling a long string of colored baubles from thin air. A flick of her hand replicated the hovering lights, while another gesture sent them spinning around the Godlet’s Ginkgo orchard, decking the trees in warm colors of gold and orange. There was some slight irony in bringing a winter holiday into the seemingly perpetual autumn of The Visitor’s court. Of course, it paled in comparison to the irony of a Christian holiday being - how ever grudgingly - allowed into the Goddess of Evolution’s home.
Karakael, of course, relished the irony. “I would not know. One of those holidays invented for your son, correct? My children seem quite taken with it.” He smiled, his shimmercloak happily producing fluffy blue and white garlands for its master to string from tree to tree.
The Visitor clucked. “It certainly was not my idea. My holidays surrounded the winter solstice and existed for a very intentional purpose. This obsession with reciprocation and commerce was never my intent.”
“Yes, but your holiday existed to ensure that your peoples survived until spring.”
“Apparently, tradition was not nearly a good enough reason to keep them celebrating the sensible holiday.” In anyone else, one might have heard a petulant pout, but The Visitor simply stated it as fact. “But one must appreciate its tenacity, if nothing else. Do you know that my Guardians wanted to sing some of those horrid ‘songs’ in their university? They are quite beautiful, if one ignores the dreary lyrics.” With a snap of her fingers, the entire glade changed seasons, as a whirlwind blew through and coated the forest in snow and ice.
Her companion managed to not blink and the sudden shift, having grown used to such things around his chaotic friend. His cloak protested, and grew a darker shade of blue as it rapidly grew an extra lining, fidgeting all the while. He, however, merely glanced around the glade, nodding approvingly at the lights, garlands and streamers, and the frozen décor.
“Now all that is left is presents.”
“Surely you completed that ritual with your children already.” The Visitor strode through the glade toward her throne, her bare feet making tracks in the snow while his shorn feet crunched along beside her, marring the display.
“Yes. But their gifts were mere trifles. Heartfelt, but somewhat meaningless.” After all, they were just children, despite being several thousand years old. The toys would entertain them for a while, but offered no real challenge for the former Inquestor. “Yet a gift for you would be equally as meaningless, correct? To give a gift to one who has everything.” He stopped before the steps that lead to her seat, running his hands across the low table at its base.
“I hardly have everything, Kaaree. But I doubt there is anything you could give me that I need.” Except, perhaps, his companionship. But that was a gift she had always been to proud to request. “Still, I have something that might interest you.”
She laid his gift on the table, the wrapping folded elegantly into a spiral of stiff paper. He curiously lifted it, the textures of the paper grating against the coarse skin of his hands until he found the tab to release the covering. The spiral unfolded in an explosion of flowers and leaves, which his shimmercloak happily engulfed, leaving him only with the small wooden box.
“Cattamaran’s Game?” He glanced up, a smile already playing at the edge of his lips. “Lady, you know me too well.” The box revealed a worn board, two matching sets of dice, and four elegantly crafted animals. To the trained eye they would seem to pulse with power, but to the untrained they would appear rather underwhelming. “A malachite mouse and a turquoise turtle? How did you find these?” But his fingers already drifted to the sparkling bird made from Fools Gold. Deceptively simple, yet for a man who lived on symbolism, even a wooden phoenix would have been an adequate warning. The smile turned to a grin as he returned the pieces to the box.
“History there is, and no history. Are you challenging me to a game, Godlet?”
“Hardly, Hokh’Ton. I would be far more interested to see where such a game would take you.”
“It would only be interesting with you by my side.”
He was good with flattery, but it got him nowhere with the Visitor. “I am sure you could entertain yourself quite adequately on your own.”
“But then I might not be able to escape.” As she raised a brow he interrupted, not allowing her to protest more. “But I have a gift for you as well. Take it as a challenge to you intellect, and your skill.”
With a flourish he produced a childishly wrapped package - a tube tied at the top with a foppish bow. She received it gracefully, and tore into it with every sign of pleasure, not attempting to do anything but rip and shred the paper. The powerful woman was not above enjoying what little fun she allowed herself.
The paper revealed small clear crystal tube, attached at both ends with the intricate and organic ‘thinkhives’ Karakael’s universe was known for. As a whole, the device hummed with power, countless energies focused on preserving what it held. A single, blood red flower bloomed within the cage, frozen in time - unwilting, unchanging, and beautiful in its way. It was stark in its simplicity, all outlandish displays of color and fragrance discarded in favor of a single minded drive towards reproduction. The Visitor found it fascinating. There were few other species as blatant as the plant within her hands, and she could not wait to take it apart and examine what it was about the flower that intrigued her so.
“They bloom in an instant, then die. A single, endless cycle, near impossible to escape from.” Only now did she notice the pin tying his cloak together - it bore an emblem of the plant he had given her. “They are native to a world of mine now long fallen beyond. Yet they remain, even after their homes destruction, living upon one of the moons.” He paused, clearly remembering. “The entire surface is covered with the flowers, as there is nothing else that can survive there.”
“I was not so foolish as to release the flower upon your world uninvited. But I thought you might appreciate the opportunity to study such a unique weed.” The final word played on his lips, referring to her favored hobby of inventing resilient creatures, often ones that would plague her ‘sentient’ species for eons before they began to understand their unique beauties. “You are welcome to both the moon, and the species. Surely you would be able to find some way of altering it for your pets.”
The flower was set beside the game board. “An intriguing challenge indeed, Hokh’Ton.” The Godlet leaned on the table, mimicking her companions pose as she stared up at her steps and throne. “There are few whom I have allowed give me such thoughtful presents.”
“Then I am lucky.” He too stared at the symbols of her power, content that he no longer was forced to pretend to control such things.
“Perhaps. I must be a God for a little longer. When I am done…”
“Will you look for more interesting Consorts?”
She laughed. “No, Kaaree. I will not. I doubt any could take your place.”
Karakael, of course, relished the irony. “I would not know. One of those holidays invented for your son, correct? My children seem quite taken with it.” He smiled, his shimmercloak happily producing fluffy blue and white garlands for its master to string from tree to tree.
The Visitor clucked. “It certainly was not my idea. My holidays surrounded the winter solstice and existed for a very intentional purpose. This obsession with reciprocation and commerce was never my intent.”
“Yes, but your holiday existed to ensure that your peoples survived until spring.”
“Apparently, tradition was not nearly a good enough reason to keep them celebrating the sensible holiday.” In anyone else, one might have heard a petulant pout, but The Visitor simply stated it as fact. “But one must appreciate its tenacity, if nothing else. Do you know that my Guardians wanted to sing some of those horrid ‘songs’ in their university? They are quite beautiful, if one ignores the dreary lyrics.” With a snap of her fingers, the entire glade changed seasons, as a whirlwind blew through and coated the forest in snow and ice.
Her companion managed to not blink and the sudden shift, having grown used to such things around his chaotic friend. His cloak protested, and grew a darker shade of blue as it rapidly grew an extra lining, fidgeting all the while. He, however, merely glanced around the glade, nodding approvingly at the lights, garlands and streamers, and the frozen décor.
“Now all that is left is presents.”
“Surely you completed that ritual with your children already.” The Visitor strode through the glade toward her throne, her bare feet making tracks in the snow while his shorn feet crunched along beside her, marring the display.
“Yes. But their gifts were mere trifles. Heartfelt, but somewhat meaningless.” After all, they were just children, despite being several thousand years old. The toys would entertain them for a while, but offered no real challenge for the former Inquestor. “Yet a gift for you would be equally as meaningless, correct? To give a gift to one who has everything.” He stopped before the steps that lead to her seat, running his hands across the low table at its base.
“I hardly have everything, Kaaree. But I doubt there is anything you could give me that I need.” Except, perhaps, his companionship. But that was a gift she had always been to proud to request. “Still, I have something that might interest you.”
She laid his gift on the table, the wrapping folded elegantly into a spiral of stiff paper. He curiously lifted it, the textures of the paper grating against the coarse skin of his hands until he found the tab to release the covering. The spiral unfolded in an explosion of flowers and leaves, which his shimmercloak happily engulfed, leaving him only with the small wooden box.
“Cattamaran’s Game?” He glanced up, a smile already playing at the edge of his lips. “Lady, you know me too well.” The box revealed a worn board, two matching sets of dice, and four elegantly crafted animals. To the trained eye they would seem to pulse with power, but to the untrained they would appear rather underwhelming. “A malachite mouse and a turquoise turtle? How did you find these?” But his fingers already drifted to the sparkling bird made from Fools Gold. Deceptively simple, yet for a man who lived on symbolism, even a wooden phoenix would have been an adequate warning. The smile turned to a grin as he returned the pieces to the box.
“History there is, and no history. Are you challenging me to a game, Godlet?”
“Hardly, Hokh’Ton. I would be far more interested to see where such a game would take you.”
“It would only be interesting with you by my side.”
He was good with flattery, but it got him nowhere with the Visitor. “I am sure you could entertain yourself quite adequately on your own.”
“But then I might not be able to escape.” As she raised a brow he interrupted, not allowing her to protest more. “But I have a gift for you as well. Take it as a challenge to you intellect, and your skill.”
With a flourish he produced a childishly wrapped package - a tube tied at the top with a foppish bow. She received it gracefully, and tore into it with every sign of pleasure, not attempting to do anything but rip and shred the paper. The powerful woman was not above enjoying what little fun she allowed herself.
The paper revealed small clear crystal tube, attached at both ends with the intricate and organic ‘thinkhives’ Karakael’s universe was known for. As a whole, the device hummed with power, countless energies focused on preserving what it held. A single, blood red flower bloomed within the cage, frozen in time - unwilting, unchanging, and beautiful in its way. It was stark in its simplicity, all outlandish displays of color and fragrance discarded in favor of a single minded drive towards reproduction. The Visitor found it fascinating. There were few other species as blatant as the plant within her hands, and she could not wait to take it apart and examine what it was about the flower that intrigued her so.
“They bloom in an instant, then die. A single, endless cycle, near impossible to escape from.” Only now did she notice the pin tying his cloak together - it bore an emblem of the plant he had given her. “They are native to a world of mine now long fallen beyond. Yet they remain, even after their homes destruction, living upon one of the moons.” He paused, clearly remembering. “The entire surface is covered with the flowers, as there is nothing else that can survive there.”
“I was not so foolish as to release the flower upon your world uninvited. But I thought you might appreciate the opportunity to study such a unique weed.” The final word played on his lips, referring to her favored hobby of inventing resilient creatures, often ones that would plague her ‘sentient’ species for eons before they began to understand their unique beauties. “You are welcome to both the moon, and the species. Surely you would be able to find some way of altering it for your pets.”
The flower was set beside the game board. “An intriguing challenge indeed, Hokh’Ton.” The Godlet leaned on the table, mimicking her companions pose as she stared up at her steps and throne. “There are few whom I have allowed give me such thoughtful presents.”
“Then I am lucky.” He too stared at the symbols of her power, content that he no longer was forced to pretend to control such things.
“Perhaps. I must be a God for a little longer. When I am done…”
“Will you look for more interesting Consorts?”
She laughed. “No, Kaaree. I will not. I doubt any could take your place.”