Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 361
Chapter 361
It didn’t take long for him to get there.
Prince Narzkal Rantali stood five feet away from Riven, frozen solid in his gold-trimmed robes that matched his blonde hair - and gawked at Riven in disbelief; slack jawed. “... H-How…?”
Riven’s flat look trailed down to the other man’s stomach, and he shoved his hands into his pockets as the two princes had their standoff amidst a bunch of staring and whispering nobility and other prominent figures of the land standing all around them. The line had basically come to a standstill as no one wanted to move from the front gate, wanting to see if Riven’s claims were true, as regardless of whether or not Riven was impersonating his claimed position - it’d doubtless be the talk of the night. Should Riven be lying, he’d be executed - or so said the old vampire acting as gate custodian. If Riven was NOT lying, well Riven was sure that the act of an S-grade faction’s prince attending this party was probably a big deal for them.
Probably a very big deal, if the excited whispers and skeptical expressions were anything to go by.
Riven pointed to Narzkal’s gut. “You’ve gotten fat.”
There was an audible gasp from the crowd.
“Almost as fat as that troll you tried to make me sleep with.”
Another gasp.
Prince Narzkal Rantali blinked, flushed a bright red in embarrassment as Riven grinned, and began to laugh. “You’re such a bastard! How in the hells did you manage to get here!? AND FOR THOSE LISTENING, I DID NO SUCH THING CONCERNING THE TROLL!”
Stepping forward, the two men gave a friendly hug while cackling to one another. The gate attendant blanched, and the guards shot each other nervous glances - as if they were asking themselves whether or not they’d get in trouble for making Riven get back in line after Prince Narzkal Rantali’s reaction.
“And I have not gotten FAT!” Narzkal said with as much of a stern frown as he could muster, looking down at the very small potbelly that was forming there - and then sucking in to puff out his chest. He put on a chivalrous, brilliant white smile - fangs on full display; then he crossed his arms in a pose. “I’ve just eaten a lot today, is all!”
“Just eaten? More like eaten every day since you left the Abyssal Descent you fucking glutton. Look, it probably jiggles.” Riven lightly punched Narzkal in the chest with a motion so fast that most people only saw a blur, knocking the air out of Narzkal and making his gut reform - then he slapped Narzkal’s gut and was correct in his assumption. “See, it jiggles. That’s not healthy my dude. What are you eating, vampire donuts every day?”
“YOU are FAT shaming me! And don’t violate my personal space like that!” Narzkal brushed off the front of his pristine golden robes with red trimming, smoothing them out, and flushed an even brighter red in embarrassment. “And you’re one to talk, calling me Gluttonous. That’s the pinnacle of hypocrisy, and if you weren’t Gluttony’s…”
His voice trailed off when Riven gave him a hard look.
Prince Rantali cleared his throat, skipping that part before continuing. “If you weren’t THAT, then you’d probably be far fatter than I am with all the people you ate in the Descent.”
“I didn’t eat that many people.”
“You’re a gods damned liar.”
“I didn’t!”
“Well I can’t say for certain on the other levels, but while we were together it was a common practice. You even unlocked a bloodline trait on the blood ocean floor because you decided to go eat a bunch of orcs and the corpses of their azag opponents!”
“That was just a bad day.”
“Bad day!? What does Glut-glut have to say about that!?”
“He’d probably say it was a good day. But regardless, I’m not the one getting married soon - YOU are! So it’s probably in your best interest to stop eating so your fiance won’t be mad on your honeymoon!”
“Not getting married soon!? Don’t let Fay and Athela hear you say that, they’ll rip off your arms and beat you to death with them!”
“AHEM!”
Both of the bickering princes turned their heads towards the castle, where the figures of King and Queen Rantali stood with beaming smiles on their faces in flowing golden robes; alongside another set of vampires in darker black and red colors more typical of what Riven would consider vampiric. Narzkal’s parents had already met Riven once before through the equivalent of a videochat on the blood ocean floor, where they’d thanked Riven by gifting him the boon of a spirit guide to help in his delve as Narzkal left the descent. His parents both looked on the younger side of forty or older side of thirty in person, and held themselves with perfect posture; ornate golden crowns that weren’t too large over their long blonde hair. The other less youthful pair looked a lot more uncertain as they cast cautiously curious glances Riven’s way, wearing crowns of bone with rubies studding the perimeter were a slight contrast; both showing early signs of wrinkles in their features with the man being bald with a firm jawline - and the woman being a freckled redheaded with a braid falling to her mid back.
The man that had cleared his throat so loudly was the last character in their group, a very grumpy looking young man who was definitely younger than Riven or Narzkal, with red hair matching the woman’s in color and prominent freckles. The vampire was wearing a slight sneer and glanced between Narzkal and Riven with obvious distaste.
“And… Who is this?” The unknown man curtly asked with folded arms - but his gaze lingered on Riven’s far brighter eyes for what was longer than normal. An uneasy downturn at the corners of his lips commenced before addressing Narzkal again. “You are making my sister wait on you, Narzkal. This is quite rude.”
“Adelphus! Know your place.” Scolded the redheaded woman with a deep set frown, eyes shifting to Narzkal’s parents on their right. “I apologize for my son, he has been troubled as of late.”
The man named Adelphus scoffed and didn’t respond, shooting his mother a scathing look in the process.
Neither Narzkal nor his parents, King and Queen Rantali, seemed surprised - nor did they seem to care about this ‘Adephus’ and his attitude. Rather they brushed it off entirely and greeted Riven with joyous enthusiasm.
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“As soon as I heard the runner speak of a troll, I just couldn’t believe my own ears.” Queen Rantali giggled, bowing very slightly in respect in a way that one would do between equals as Riven returned it - which outwardly surprised the other three people Riven didn’t know. “It is truly a blessing to see you visit our humble planet, Riven.”
“Indeed!” King Rantali said with a chuckling shake of his shoulders. “I still find it amusing even to this day, you really had us there about our son losing his mind!”
“It wasn’t that funny!” Narzkal snapped lightheartedly, then he harumphed. “I can’t believe you’d believe a then-stranger over your own son!”
“Your own personal guards verified it! That was a well played joke!” His mother retorted with a snort. She then locked eyes with Riven. “So I assume your Abyssal Descent run is over with then?”
Riven smiled widely. “It is.”
“Did you make it to the end?”
“I did! All the way past Floor 50. First place score for this round so far. The rewards were pretty good and I'm in the E-grade now. Got my soul lattice nicely done.”
She smiled warmly with a tilt of her head. “Considering it’s you, I can’t say I’m that surprised. And congratulations on E-grade, I remember when I made that jump. Getting to D-grade was a bit harder, but not by much.”
“First place? In the Abyssal Descent?” Muttered the bald man wearing a bone crown, suspicion and doubt creasing the lines of his forehead. “Did I hear that right? Or am I misunderstanding? Surely you jest.”
There was a pause.
“Yeah, I’m just joking.” Riven winked. “I only got a few floors past Narzkal here.”
King Rantali took the cue and cleared his throat as he too gave Riven a very slight bow, then he addressed the other man who Riven was now - by context clues - assuming to be Narzkal’s Fiance’s father. Likely a king of his own nation, as Narzkal had once said he was engaged to the princess of a lesser vampire nation here in universe 70.
“King Amox, this is Riven Thane. The pureblood and friend who helped my son acquire your daughter’s black phoenix pendant. The man who helped save your daughter’s life, curing her of the blood rot afflicting her.” King Rantali said, a little bit too polite for what Riven would consider to be friendly. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
The bald ‘King Amox’ lifted both eyebrows in surprise, his jaw dropping slightly, and his wife let out a gasp.
“Truly!?” Queen Amox asked.
Queen Rantali confirmed with a nod. “Yes. Without him, we wouldn’t be having this joyous celebration today. Or tomorrow, might I add. Riven, are you staying for the wedding too?”
Thankfully, Narzkal’s parents seemed to be glossing over the fact that Riven was Gluttony’s reincarnation. They were being rather polite not to mention it, he thought, and that covering that fact would be helpful in keeping the assassin here. Should his identity become known, and it was known that he was friends with Narzkal, it may very well scare the assassin off entirely to try another time when Riven wasn’t around.
“Wedding?” Riven asked, furrowing his brows.
“It’ll be within the day!” Narzkal’s mother said excitedly. “You should certainly attend! We would be honored to host someone with a bloodline from the heartlands such as yourself!”
“Tremendously honored!” Narzkal’s father chimed in, equally excited. “How did you arrive here, if I may ask!? And how did you find out about our event? Was it a coincidence?”
“Oh yes, do tell!” His mother said with a rapid nod.
They were cut off as King Amox stepped ahead of them, a very serious expression glaring down at Riven from a few inches above Riven’s full standing height. He was rather tall up close, probably 6’5, and his fists clenched at his sides. Riven thought he may even look angry enough to strike Riven for whatever reason, but to his surprise - the proud, straight-backed man made a very formal bow at the waist - going down to waist-height. As did his wife, Queen Amox.
“If I may be so forward as to ask you to sit and dine with us tonight,” King Amox said, still bowed. “I would like to hear your story for myself, from your lips, so that I may more appreciate the extraordinary things you did in your time with Prince Rantali here. You have my sincerest gratitude, Riven Thane, and if it is within my power - I will give back to you a gift for the gift of life you gave my daughter.”
He straightened, and tears were beginning to form at the corners of his eyes as he became suddenly emotional. Wiping them away, he took his wife’s hand in his own, glanced at her, and then cleared his throat to steady his voice. “Not much is known about you Riven, but I’d like to change that. Will you accept my offer?”
Riven raised an eyebrow in Adephus’s direction when he saw him glaring stone-cold daggers at Narzkal for whatever reason, suspicion rising, and then took a step forward towards King Amox. “Of course I accept your invitation. I’d love to dine with all of you, assuming that my buddy Narzkal here is eating with us!”
***
It wasn’t long before he was seated inside the castle, perched on the edge of a lavishly adorned balcony that jutted from the ballroom wall like a royal witness stand. Gilded railings framed the space, and a pair of black-clothed thrall attendants had already laid a spread of crystal dishes and silver carafes atop the long, narrow dining table set for nobility. Though a plate of freshly sliced human meat covered in sauce had been placed in front of him, Riven hadn’t touched the food. His eyes were elsewhere.
Below, the crowd had grown. The ballroom floor—etched with swirling obsidian and white marble patterns that resembled a storm captured in stone—was alive with motion. Vampires danced with predatory grace to the swell of string instruments, the music weaving a tapestry of elegance and danger. The violins sobbed, the cello growled low, and somewhere in the distance, a glass harp sang like a ghost whispering secrets.
There were also a few gruesome sights around the perimeter of naked, shaved cattle having had their throats slit - being hung upside down from hooks in their feet to dangle and drip blood into large basins below. This blood was often then used to drink from by vampires who wanted a ‘fresh’ drink.
Riven sat in an ornate leather chair with one leg crossed over the other, elbows resting on a marble table, a half-full goblet in hand. Blood-wine, or something much more ancient, glinted darkly in the candlelight. The balcony was one of many layered across the ballroom walls like honeycombs for the powerful and those with positions of authority, and this one connected to a rectangular hallway behind him, alive with murmurs and flirting between different men and women courting one another.
The entire place teemed with vampires. Men and women nearby lounged against silk-draped alcoves and leaned into one another with veiled interest. They were all absurdly beautiful—slender and pale, with jeweled eyes and sharpened charm. Elegant gowns in shadowy shades rustled like whispers, and tailored suits shimmered subtly when they caught the light. Words flowed like wine between them—soft, seductive, threaded with playful threats and coy promises.
None of it seemed particularly innocent.
He could feel their eyes drift toward him on occasion. Curious glances. Half-hidden whispers. Most of them didn’t recognize him, but they knew he didn’t belong to their courts. Not by attire, not by mannerism, and certainly not by the way his presence seemed to bend the mood around him as people caught the bright glow of his eyes.
Let them look, he thought, swirling the wine lazily in his goblet.
His thoughts drifted to the upcoming assassination attempt as the other royals talked, gaze sweeping the ballroom again. His job would be to stay near Narzkal Rantali for protection much of the day while his minions - disguised as ladies of the court through illusion - did recon to try and find clues from the servants, guards, or rumor mill. The assassin was already here, doubtless, but Riven had a couple ideas on how to flush that person out if he or she didn’t show their hand early.
As for the wedding… that seemed to coincide with Elysium’s quest on when the assassination attempt would occur.
His eyes shifted to the very grouchy and quite arrogant Prince Adephus Amox of the Ivory Fang Monarchy. He internally sighed as Riven realized he’d probably have to deal with people like this for the rest of his life, as unfortunate as that was. Spoiled rich brats were the worst. He hadn’t made it a point to tell the other royals at the table just who he was yet, and Narzkal’s parents seemed completely alright with letting Riven take that lead instead of spilling the beans themselves. So he’d let that little twirp across the table from him keep the arrogant attitude for now, he’d simply squash it later after Narzkal came back from fetching his fiance on the dance floor below. He also had no doubt that the rumors of his arrival from those who had heard his claim to the Blood Moon Requiem outside near the gate were starting to flow, so this Adephus fellow may very well hear of it before Riven even had time to tell him.
It’d be nice to see that sneer wiped off his face simply because he thought he was better than Riven by birthright, even despite Riven’s obvious purity when compared to his.
