Wish upon the Stars chapter 1012

My speech was honestly kind of underwhelming. But…well, I could TALK, so I was doing better than Devon. Whatever that sanction had done to him hadn’t been gentle, and his own attempt at an opening statement had been even more rambling and incoherent than MOST of the shit he’d been saying since I’d met him.

His mother looked thoroughly infuriated, but under the pressure of the triumvirate of former Wishmasters she had almost no room to object. Crell and I made it out unscathed and suspiciously quickly.

Despite that, I wasn’t pleased. Crell seemed to pick up on it. “You look worried. It went pretty well I thought.”

“Too well,” I said with a frown. “I know this was just the opening statement, but someone is pushing him into this. I don’t believe anyone is bored enough to arrange this kind of challenge just to waste my time. Assuming this is someone’s plan, either that person is a complete dipshit, or we’re not seeing all the angles. The BEST case scenario is that they have a hidden trump card that’ll screw us later in the trial.”

“Because if not, it means the trial wasn’t ever the point,” he sighed. “And if that’s true we have no idea what their endgame is, and our one even tangentially solid lead goes up in smoke.”

Blowing out a long breath, I nodded. “Yeah. So honestly I HOPE something goes wrong. Hope Devon has a trick up his sleeve. Because if not, then we’re missing something BIG, and I don’t even want to think about what that might be.”

“Ah, cheer up,” Zeke said, appearing beside us as if he’d been walking with us the whole time. He slung an arm over each of our shoulders. “If you spend all your time wondering if someone is plotting your horrible demise, you’ll never have any fun. It’s a completely pointless thought exercise most of the time anyway.”

“Why, because it’s pointless speculative paranoia and usually nothing comes of it?” I asked hopefully.

He snorted. “No, because they almost always are. There’s just no point thinking about it.”

“Thanks,” I drawled. “That’s super helpful.” We made it back to the suite soon enough, and Callie and my parents were waiting to confirm I wasn’t dead.

 My mom, ever the worrier, swept me up into a tight hug when she saw me, and my dad gave me a solemn nod, which was his version of composing a ten page epic  on his worries about my safety. “Shane!” my mother said anxiously. “You’re ok. What was it like?”

Callie, oddly, was the most serene, probably because she knew what I was capable of best of all. It warmed my heart to know she had so much faith in me.

“It was awesome,” I said blandly. “They had pizza, ice cream. They even hired a clown. It was the most fun I’ve ever had having the course of my entire life decided by a trio of ancient sociopaths who I neither know nor trust.”

She rolled her eyes and smacked me in the shoulder, glaring at my dad. “That smartassery is all you. Now why don’t you tell me what actually happened?” I chuckled, then filled her in on the events of the day. She frowned. “That’s…nice. I’m glad it went well. But I’m not sure that’s a good thing, exactly.”

“That was my thought,” I grimaced. “Not much to do about it for now though. Anyway, Crell is going to get back to reading the charter, but I’m pretty wound up from all this trial stuff. So I was thinking maybe we could head over to the big event. It should be a few days in right? We can meet up with some of the visitors, check out that stuff they have going on. Not just the local tournaments they’re having here, but the main tourist stuff.”

The majority of the dignitaries were staying in the Back Palace, a connected but separated space that wasn’t too vulnerable or close to the core area. “Willit be awkward to show myself though?” I asked after a little thought. “I AM on trial.”

“Which none of them have any clue about,” my father snorted. “Do you know how BAD that would make the WCP look? Not just the accusation itself, but the result will either be you getting ousted or the humiliation and execution of a direct branch descendant. Consider the fact that none of the accusations against any previous heir have actually come to fruition, why would they possibly disclose something like that?”

I shrugged. “Ok, so then they don’t know. What should we go do then? I assume you know some of the events that are happening? What do you suggest for our first outing as a family? Also where are grandma and grandpa?”

“The Back Palace,” my mom said with a chuckle. “Apparently, my grandfather decided to send an official representative. Specifically, my Uncle Moon.” At my uncomprehending silence, she rolled her eyes. “The Moonlight Pope. You said you met him once, right?”

“I mean, MET is a strong term,” I laughed. “I SAW him once, during the god skirmish where Black Sorrow killed Raxus. Isn’t it kind of a statement sending him though? He’s the second strongest S-ranker in the universe, right? The Church’s secret weapon? That almost feels like a power play.”

My mom just shook her head. “Uncle Moon doesn’t play games. If he wants to make a point he makes it. Grandpa can’t even control him most of the time, though he usually doesn’t try. Uncle Moon was his first disciple, and he’s even on decent terms with my grandmother, which is frankly absurd. He’s here to observe and to see me, I think. But it’s definitely not a bad sign that he’s around. Barring Lark deciding to attend, there’s no better guarantee of safety.”

I smirked to myself at the idea of Lark showing up in bunny slippers or something, having been summoned during his morning coffee or something. “Well, who did the Empire send? Was it Schrader?”

Schrader had been the third participant in the fight against the vanished gods. An Imperial King, and a combatant on the same general level as Lark and Moonlight, I assumed he was another of the top five strongest demigods, though to be fair I hadn’t heard the whole list.

“No,” my mom said firmly. “Schrader is an invaluable combat resource. The Emperor can’t spare him for a symbolic event. Uncle Moon goes where he wants and does what he likes, so he’s not leaving any specific engagement unattended. He’s more of a troubleshooter. Or I guess troublestabber. Not to mention he tends to solve problems quickly. There’s a reason he’s considered second only to Lark below the divine level.”

“I’m sorry,” cut in Fade, who had appeared out of nowhere. “I couldn’t help but overhear, are you implying that the MOONLIGHT POPE is going to be at this event?”

I blinked at him. “I mean, not implying. She just confirmed it. Why, you know him?”

“Do I kn-” he sputtered. “No I do not KNOW the Moonlight Pope. That’s like asking someone if they know the Red Revenant himself!”

“But I DO know the Red Revenant,” I pointed out. “I’m actually related to him.”

“That’s not the POINT!” he shouted in frustration. “That’s obviously not a NORMAL thing to say. Most people don’t know the gods. You’re just weird. Similarly, I do NOT know the Moonlight Pope, the Single Sword Sovereign, the Butcher of Radiant Light,the King of the Cutting Edge-”

I held up a hand. “Did you hit your head or something?”

“Uncle Moon has a lot of titles,” my mom added with a laugh. “You tend to pick them up when you’re an S-ranker. Or even before that. You haven’t got any because you’ve been growing too fast, but Callie has one or two. Godslayer, Demoncharmer, Night Witch. That one was from when she was training with my mom.”

Fade looked aghast. “Pardon me for being in AWE of the presence of the most skilled and powerful practitioner of the blade in the known universe. The Moonlight Pope is the idol of every sword wielder who knows what an S-ranker IS. Even on the Heirworld we used to hear stories about the things he’s done. His duel with the Devil Prince Corfel right after he broke through to S-rank was the stuff of legends. And his defeat of the Demon Dragon of Velneth Thirty? They wrote SONGS about that!”

“Yeah, really obscure ones,” Zeke snickered. “I don’t think I’ve even heard the Ballad of Velneth Thirty. You’re a huge fan huh?”

Fade looked embarrassed, but my mom just smiled at him warmly. “It’s alright dear, we all have our heroes. There’s no need to feel self-conscious about it. Would you like me to ask him to sign something for you?”

“I’m not feeling self-conscious,” he said defensively. “I have a perfectly normal level of interest in the Moonlight Pope.” He paused, not meeting her eyes. “And yes, I’d like that thank you.”

“Well, guess we know where we’re going,” I laughed. “So where exactly can we find your Uncle his holiness?” My mom snorted at the form of address, but she seemed plenty interested in visiting her Uncle.

My dad chimed in. “Last I heard, he was going to the Sword Dance Symposium. Some of the cousins have been talking about it.” We all turned to stare at him and he shrugged. “I’ve been tentatively reaching out to a few old contacts. To help Shane. Most people are terrified of me, but terror makes everyone really excited to have you on their side.”

I couldn’t really disagree with that. But the thought of some big sword demonstration reminded me of someone else. “Should we stop in and see if Roland wants to go?” I asked Callie. “I mean, it really seems like the kind of thing he would love, right? And if FADE is geeking out this hard over Moonlight I bet Roland is just as big a fan.”

“I think we should leave him be,” she said gently. “He just got over a pretty rough ordeal. He can always go if he wants, but pushing him seems a bit intrusive. Why don’t we just call and mention it to Delia. She can decide if she wants to tell him, and he can decide if he wants to go.”

“That sounds fair,” I said with a sigh. “He WAS in rough shape.” I shuddered. “That poison was horrible. I thought MY poison was bad. Whoever came up with that was a monster.”

I was kind of lost in the thoughts of what had been done to Roland, but I was interrupted by Fade reappearing with Alanna. I guessed she hadn’t been eavesdropping, but he’d gone to get her anyway. She didn’t seem as excited, probably because she’d come to power trapped in an isolated dungeon where the Moonlight Pope hadn’t been talked about, but she did seem kind of enthused, so I assumed he’d filled her in.

I glanced at my mother, who chuckled. “Well might as well go get everyone. Make an evening of it. Even those of you who aren’t blademasters might learn a few things. You can gain inspiration from almost anything if you’re open to it.”

Thinking back on how Alanna had helped me prepare for Fade’s combat trial, I realized she was right. I could probably use the Sword Dance Symposium to help refine some of my stances. I had a bunch of them to work on, and I was always trying to keep my physical combat skills balanced with my Skills and techniques. It was all too easy to get reliant on my tricks and not bother to polish the basics. Combat was comprehensive, and I needed to shore up my foundations. Plus I got to see cool sword moves. Sounded like a good time all around.