"How long is going to take until that whole party thing?" Shane asked.
"According to what I've been told, the party will be in a couple of- arghh!" Hera choked on the last word as the harpy that was helping her get dressed pulled on the strings of the corset around her torso.
"Why the fuck am I wearing a corset?" The empress gasped.
"Because the queen asked you to. Now shush," the harpy replied in an annoyed voice. It wasn't out of the blue as she had been dealing with Hera's complaints for a few hours already.
"But I don't like wearing this shit. And it doesn't fit me. I'm a snake. Why would I be wearing a corset? I'm supposed to be limber and easy to move around," Hera protested.
"Easy to move around? What are you, a pair of jeans?" The harpy scoffed.
"People do make pants off of snake skin!" Hera protested.
"Can you really not just go to Deakoshara today?" Shane asked.
"No, she can't," the harpy replied before Hera could speak up.
"But why not?" Shane asked again," Just let her deal with the whole poison thing and that's it. She can come back and be here for the party in a few days."
"If we could trust that she wasn't about to run away the moment she has a chance, then sure, we could do that," a voice came from the door of the dressing room. Queen Typhera was there with her wings crossed and just staring inside the room at the Empress's situation. "But honestly, dear. I doubt Hera will come back here willingly if I let her go," the Queen continued.
"But why do I have to be here?" Hera protested again. She knew that there was no way out. She had asked that question several times over, but the answer was always the same. However, this time Typhera gave a different answer.
"Because you chose to be an Aspirant Hero, dear. Now, you have to play your part."
"I never chose that! What are you talking about? The alliance decided that I was supposed to be an aspirant hero to be a propaganda tool. Nothing more," Hera had an expression of disbelief.
"Well, then next time don't try to act all hero-like," the Queen smirked.
The Ophidianite knew Typhera was just trying to push her buttons, so she decided to ignore that. She never intentionally acted like a hero, she just helped people who needed it. And all members of the council knew that. The reason for picking Hera was political. But the empress had stepped up to the role and was now someone respected throughout the entire alliance. Even if there were aspects of her new position that she didn't particularly enjoy.
"But why aren't you able to explore a bit of the room without her?" Queen Typhera turned to Shane.
The enchantress let out a long sigh. "I've tried. I really did. But the set that we got only makes us immune to poison for a while. And it wasn't even long enough for me to reach the lake without getting into trouble. It would be fine if I could just go and find a place to be safe there, but since there is none, I only effectively have half of the time I should have since I need to double back."
"Well, I am sorry then. But I do believe you're going to have to wait a few days until we are done with this event," the queen said with a smile.
Shane grumbled and started walking away, stomping her feet. It was a bit childish of her, but at the same time, it was her life's work. They understood that she wasn't frustrated with them, but only with the situation that seemed to be stalling her opportunity to explore Deakoshara at every turn.
Typhera watched the enchanter leave and waited a moment before turning to the empress. "You know what? You're right. Having you wear a corset doesn't really make sense. You can take it off."
Hera snapped her head towards the Harpy Queen. Her eyes turned into slits as they boiled with rage. An anger that was only increased as she saw this smirk on the harpy Queen's face.
"You fucking-" Hera lunched at the Harpy Queen but Livy quickly stepped forward, stopping her from being able to reach Typhera by holding the Ophidianite by her waist.
"Please, my empress, there's no need to be violent," Filigree spoke up, trying to calm the Ophidianite.
Typhera, on the other hand, just started giggling and walked away, leaving the empress to continue being dressed by the harpy stylist that was in the room.
"Let me go. Livy let me go. I just need a minute. When I'm done with her, she's going to be known as the bald Eagle Queen," Hera said in a frenzy.
"Is that an order?" Livy asked with some intensity in her voice.
The empress stop struggling and just slumped in the arms of the Leviathan, letting out a low growl. "No."
Now that Typhera's prank was over, the harpy stylist actually pulled a different set of dresses for the Empress to try. Instead of the unnecessary gaudy and over the top options filled with frills and puffy skirts that would drive someone nuts especially if they had a tail, the harpy stylist brought on a much more sensible list of clothes that could fit the idea of an aspirant hero. And instead of the full dress ready to be worn, there were only drawings that could be done in the matter of hours by the skilled tailor.
"Now, I don't know if you are aware, but we generally tend to associate each hero with one or two colors. Cyrus was black and gold. Undine was red and blue. Khan was green and brown. Balcan yellow and orange. Eruwan light pink and sparkles. Which is not really a color, but it fits. Do you have an idea for your colors?"
"I never really thought about that. I mean, the only thing I know is that my scales are this soft purple shade. So I think it might be good to have a secondary color to complement them?" Hera said with a frown, not entirely sure if she was giving a good idea.
"That is a good instinct. So let's start with the basics. What other color do you like? And please don't say gold. Even though all the nine heroes have their colors. It's best if we try not to make you overlap with anyone's primary color. In this case, Cyrus is gold for well obvious reasons," the harpy replied.
Hera nodded and thought for a moment. "I mean, I really like orange."
But the harpy dismissed that instantly. "Nope, we're not doing orange. Orange is not even a color. It's a fruit and if you're going to actually look at orange, it's just light brown."
"What?" Hera gasped.
"Yes. Take a look at any orange in a computer. If you decrease the brightness, you end up with brown. So no, we're not doing orange. What else?"
The empress returned to her thinking while flipping over the pages of dresses. After a few moments, she found something that she really liked. She showed it to the harpy stylist and said the colors that she wanted to use.
The harpy opened a big smile and nodded. "Oh, that would work just fine."
Hera proceeded to request a couple of modifications to make sure it would fit her new body a bit better. The stylist was not sure if she could manage, but Filigree offered to help, as she was someone who worked with metal threads.
Two days, and several modifications later, the stylist returned to show both Hera and Typhera the end product. The Harpy Queen couldn't help but chuckle while seeing it.
"I thought you didn't like attracting too much attention," she turned to the Ophidianite.
"I don't. But since I'm already being forced to do that, might as well do my best. You know?" Hera replied.
"You look like someone who's getting used to all of this," the queen snickered.
"But still, you haven't told me, where are we actually going?" Hera asked.
"We're actually going to Brinefront. The guild's giving us control of that entrance since it is so close to you, in a sense. The formal gala will be the official passing of the torch and signing off the deal. There are a good number of humans who will also be there. All people who were against what the guild was doing. Aside from them, some of the people you saved will also be there. As a way to show support and to thank you properly. I don't think you ever had a chance to talk to them. There are even a handful of people who are only going because you're going to be there."
"Really? Like who?" Hera asked.
"I don't know the exact names. All I know is that there are a few people who questioned about your presence and made clear that they were only going in order to talk to you. They've been vetted by the alliance so we know they're not just stalkers or something like that. But I wasn't made aware of who they actually were."
"Can I invite people? Maybe I could call Blue. I haven't seen her for a while. We've been talking, but it's different, you know."
Typhera nodded. "Of course. I know that technically Blue was on the guild side of things, but I also understand her situation was unique. I think that having her there would be a net benefit for the event. A way to show that we are willing to look past people's mistakes. And that not everybody who joined the war joined willingly. Even though people already know that."
Hera and Typhera ironed out the remaining details about that party. At least the things that they would have to worry about. And by the end of the day, they were leaving.
The way to get to Brinefront from here was going to take them 3 days of travel. Mostly because they were able to use a specific path that would lead them to the underground Babel and from there to the kobold roads. And Hera wasn't going alone. Rutigan, Ogryn, Naka, and a few dwarfs from Boothudurn, together with Bonnie, Alex, Helena, Shane, even her dad, Eridan, were all moving together with the Harpy Queen in order to reach Brinefront.
But the journey went by in a flash.
It had been a while since Hera came to this room, but the purple trees and the cloud on top of the cave seemed very familiar to her, nonetheless. In a way, it was like coming back to her childhood home instead of the place where her life as an explorer started. And their destination was the very same city that was the first place she came to once she arrived in the MAZE. But this time, she would be going to a place she never went to before. One of the largest structures in the entire city.
Previously, it was supposed to be an outpost for the guild. A place where they were gathering various explorers and people in general to work on various jobs. But now, it had been converted into a large venue to be used by whoever needed a place such as that. The alliance had considered turning this into something different, but all the plans were currently on hold until the room entered their control. Until then, it was just a very large and open area with a few places large enough for a party.
And just as they were arriving, it became clear that it was a star-studded event. Several famous explorers were around. Insomniac, Blade of Dawn, Bright Night, Dark Star, Becca Swan and that was only on the human side. The alliance made their presence know in numbers. Famous actors, explorers, crafters, mages, singers, everything.
Still, not all leaders of the alliance were present, since that could be too dangerous. If there was someone who still harbored some resentment towards them, having all of them in one place would be too much of an opportunity to let that happen. Even though the war had ended. People were not naïve enough to believe that no one harbored any hatred due to what happened.
Still, Nereus would be there. And Hera would have a chance to gossip about Typhera and Rutigan with the triton sovereign. Not to mention all of her friends. With a group like that, the Empress was sure that the party would be at least somewhat fun.