Chapter Text
In the past several hundred years he's lived Scott has never regretted something as much as going on a two years long self-imposed exile leaving Rivendell to his recently no longer possessed by evil demon older brother. It just made sense, Xornoth was the older one and Scott ruled for so long and needed to practice his ice magic now that it got a lot stronger with gods blessings and all that... Apparently, Xornoth hated ruling enough to just run away leaving the place to the council. The council saw fit to not tell anyone about there being no king on the elven throne. They actively hid that little piece of information.
And they had the audacity to try and kill him when he arrived to check up on things and maybe offer some advice. Being tired of them even before he left he did the most logical thing and froze them and left the resulting statues in his front garden. A little warning if anyone annoyed him. His decision was shockingly popular among the elven populace. Or maybe they were just happy to have stability?
Eh. Not that anyone could complain seeing that the Lord Emperor's crown was currently fWhip's and he was known for hanging his councils. And creepy head displays his dragon brain apparently craved. Scott was not too shocked the damned crown moved from Katherine to fWhip. Just that there wasn't a big war about it, just a simple duel. At least according to what he heard from Katherine herself when making rounds to re-establish himself as a ruler. Leaving fWhip for the last visit just... because of preferences. And history.
What shocked him much more was finding the Cod Empire deserted. Logically he went to see if maybe Lizzie knew where he could find Jimmy. She had no idea. Jimmy just one day said he and his empire would be hiding for a bit in the deepest caves under the swamp, with passages too narrow and complicated for any of the Ocean Empire's merfolk. She grumbled something about cod gods being weird and Scott was on his way to visit the last person he ever wanted to see - Lord Emperor, Count of Grimlands, fWhip.
Grimlands has not changed at all in the past two years. Dark roofs and walls. Citizens were too busy with whatever it was they were doing to pay much attention to a winged elf dressed in blue white and gold. He luckily found a guard that somewhat reluctantly led him to fWhip's town office. And even more, reluctantly left him alone with the count when ordered to leave with a snappy command from behind the door. With a heavy sigh, Scott walked in.
fWhip didn't change much. The Lord's crown was awkwardly askew on his head due to his horns. His wings grew a bit since they spontaneously sprouted out after the ender dragon was defeated. His jacket was carelessly tossed over a couch in a corner. And the redhead himself was pouring over a thick stack of papers. Luckily for Scott, he seemed too busy to keep Scott for all that long. He looked quite tired when he looked up at Scott.
He could not miss fWhip's famous crossbow mounted over the fireplace and the thin layer of dust on it. Or a table of half-finished contraptions and weirdly orderly organised tools. He remembered from visiting fWhip's workshop it was not an organised space. More of an organised mess where no one but fWhip knew what was where. Why did he even have his tinkering stuff in the office if he had a workshop?
"Oh... You're back... Is your brother still in charge or are..." fWhip asked flipping through some of the piles of paper on his desk. Scott guessed he did his best to not show how glad he was to have a break from all the papers.
"I am, since Xor ran away to Joey's and left the council in charge, they kept that a secret, of course," Scott explained the situation. "I froze them since they tried to kill me."
fWhip nodded, briefly glancing at the pile of papers. "I'm going to assume it was longer than at most two days ago?" he asked and Scott nodded. "I... I apologise I was rather busy lately. Being Lord Emperor comes with..."
"I know, I wore that crown once," Scott stopped him. A bit colder than he intended but he did just find out his best ally - friend if he dares to say - was hiding in a cavern for some Cod-Cult reasons. And he did wear the thing some two hundred years ago. And never wanted to repeat that... "I hope you heard about the Cod Empire pretty much vanishing?"
"Yes. Jimmy sent me a letter. Something about tradition and religion," fWhip sighed. It was clear that Lizzie already bothered him about it, and a lot too. "I'm sure he'll be back eventually, maybe even soon, he has been gone almost as long as you were, after all," he added as if it wasn't big news. He probably assumed Scott already knew.
It took all of Scott's self-control to not ask more questions. Worry and almost fear washed over him all at once. Did Jimmy do something dumb because he left? Maybe it was just some cod tradition and had nothing to do with Scott? Maybe Jimmy didn't want to worry him? Could he have been hoping to be done before Scott was back? Could be...
"I'll be going home now, I took enough of your time, Lord Emperor," Scott would be the first to say it was a bit stiff but his relationship with fWhip was nothing if not stiff, cold and awkward.
fWhip did not even try to keep him and soon Scott was on his way back home. He skipped visiting Joey and Xornoth for now. He was tired and had a country to run. A country his brother all but abandoned for a second time and Scott needed to get back in order after nearly two years of advisors and council members backstabbing each other and everyone else.
It was weird to be in Rivendell Castle and not have the council and advisors nagging him. It also meant he had to do some more work on his own. He slightly regretted sending maids to gather all the paperwork from his advisors and councilmen while he was out. It meant, once he had his afternoon tea and dainty cakes, Katherine was nice enough to invite him in for lunch, and he had no excuse to not start working. At least a lot of it was just looking over paperwork and deciding what he needed to keep and what could be used to warm his castle.
Big chunk was just back-and-forth letters between the now garden statues. Some would need him to talk to other rulers and people in town. Yet others were nonsense ideas he could just toss away and burn. There was still a big chunk that needed his seal and signature to be ratified or cancelled and brought to how it used to be. Some just put away n proper spots in the archive. In short, he was faced with several piles of documents, letters and other paperwork he needed to look through. He was never this glad to fully control the new levels of ice magic Aeor blessed/ cursed him with than when the maids kept warm tea and snacks coming and tended the fire.
It was several hours into the night and only two out of five paper stacks later that he decided it was not worth losing sleep over and requested for a bath and his bed to be readied. He'd at least get the bed himself but he was tired from the trip back, and all the visits he had to make. It was just not an option today. And he still had to preen his wings even if he could hide them with magic, only perk of being a god's chosen champion and having boosted magic. He really wished Jimmy wasn't in some damp cave at the moment. Scott would not mind getting Jimmy's help with preening... Maybe fWhip... No. He was damn busy with even more stuff than Scott ever was as Lord Emperor.
The next morning gave Scott a lot more energy to work. Having couple of years of a break in being a ruler, for the first time in the five hundred years he's lived. Even a pile of fresh mail did not deter him from looking forward to having a productive day. At least until he started opening it while waiting for breakfast. The maids forbade him from cooking.
His enthusiasm dropped as he looked through the letters. He had a week, only one week, not even a full week, just five days until the rulers meeting at Grimlands. Then there was a whole bunch inquiries about trade routes he already looked through or was about to today. And... The mage's tower said that through the past two years since Demon Xornoth was defeated and by extension Exor, elves started showing signs of magic. Apparently, the advisors and council ignored that fact. Scott wondered if it was because of the Cliffs. Gem would not like him having a magic school. Even if elven magic was very different from other races.
It used to be all elves had magic. Until about a hundred years before Scott was born that is. No one knew why but Scott, and the few remaining elven mages in the tower, theorised it was because of Exor. Not all elves were talented mages of great powers but still could use simple spells. Gem would hate it so much but Scott needed his citizens to be safe with this new power and would not send them to Gem. She had no idea, with all due respect, how elven magic works.
"Maybe I can get to fWhip before she finds out?" he wondered as breakfast was served for him. "I could explain it..."
"Sir? Your brother and Emperor Joey came for a visit?" a guard broke him from his thoughts over a jam-filled puff pastry. Scott was the Elven King and could have dessert for breakfast if he so desired.
Scott sighed. Of course, they already found out he was back. "Let them in," he shrugged. He might have been a bit cross with his brother but he'd not just send him away. He was still his brother no matter how upset Scott was. And he gave him a proper pretext to freeze his council and advisors.
"Just got back and already redecorating?"
Scott barely looked up from his letters and food as he heard his brother's voice. "That's the council and advisors, they tried killing me," he said as if he was talking about the weather. Which, speaking of it was nice and pleasant day, perfect for another flight to the Grimlands. "Sorry I didn't visit yesterday, they left a big mess behind," he sighed just realising something. "Mia?" he called one of the maids.
"Oh... Sorry about that..." Xornoth muttered hiding behind Joey. "They kind of freaked me out and... I'm not a good ruler..."
"Obviously," Scott nodded as a maid came in with a polite 'yes sir?' "I'll be visiting lord emperor to talk about one thing, I'd like the last two years brought from the archives for review. And if there is a time I'd appreciate if all of those and the other remaining paperwork could be segregated by type and date, I think it might make dealing with it easier. And maybe any old laws about magic and anything that was added after it vanished? But that's low priority," he listed out all the things he could think of to make his life easier. "Get as many hands as you can, we need all the papers in order before the meeting," he waved the letter with fWhip's seal.
"We'll get to it as soon as we can," the maid bowed and left to inform fWhip he'd be having a guest.
"Back not even a day and already working so hard?" Joey cringed with a sigh.
"As I said, the advisors made a big mess, the faster I have it under control the better," Scott shrugged.
Joey and Xornoth didn't stay long, they stopped on their way to discuss something with Sausage and Scott was glad for that. It gave him some time to get presentable to visit fWhip and gather all the thoughts on the matter he needed to talk about. He just hoped fWhip would listen to him. And that no one else was visiting him this early into the day. Like his sister for example...
Once he has eaten and was presentable enough Scott flew off towards Grimlands taking in the freedom of not having to have to tell any councils or advisors where he was going, why, and for how long. It felt nice. Maybe he wouldn't need a break as badly as he did if it was always like that. fWhip had a good idea of getting rid of his council.
All the relaxation from the flight was gone as soon as he landed. He wasn't here for fun but to talk about important things. And this time guards were a lot less hostile, almost instantly leading him to fWhip's office. The power of sending a warning letter? Or... Gem already knew and bothered fWhip about it? That could be bad...
All his worries got pushed back a bit when he saw fWhip. The count looked very tired, with even messier hair and clothes more crinkled than the last day. Yawning widely as he drank something Scott doubted was tea. "Hello Scott, you got here fast..."
"I... I think I might have missed your message," Scott chuckled awkwardly as he took a seat. Gem certainly already noticed something. "I was coming over anyway to talk about an important thing happening at Rivendell."
"How about you go first? In case it's the same thing?" fWhip offered leaning back. Scott caught a slight glance towards a clock above the door. The tinkering table was, as far as Scott could tell, just as dusty as it was yesterday. If he was honest... it seemed like fWhip himself didn't really leave his chair.
"Well... In the past six hundred years no elf was born with magic and now all the elves in Rivendell are slowly getting magic. Both I and the few mages we still have, think it had to do with Exor being defeated and all that," Scott had no reason to hide anything. "The thing about elves and magic is," he continued as fWhip remained silent. "It's different than with humans. Most elves have very little magic, just enough for some lights and sparkles, not all elves have a lot of talent... I'm worried how Gem might react."
"Elves won't be too eager to train at the Cliffs, not that they can fit every elf ever..." fWhip muttered.
"And elven magic is different from human magic as we saw with Gem trying to train me," Scott quickly added. It would seem that fWhip was leaning toward his side. "We have few mages still alive, elves live a long time, they can teach the populace how to control it and pick out anyone with a talent and help them further...."
"But Gem won't like you basically having a magic school..." fWhip sighed. "I must say, your idea is much better... Especially since... When do even young elves develop magic?"
"Some as young as barely two are already showing signs and my mages are secretly teaching their parents how to cope. The council was sweeping it all under a rug... Why I had to go to Gem with my magic problems, they would not allow me to meet the mages. Law stuff to keep them safe," Scott said, pulling out a copy of the mages report. "All we know is here. And I'm willing to modify any laws to do with magic..."
"That's good. And if we mention children, as much as I hate doing that, we might have Katherine and maybe even Pearl on our side, this will need a discussion at the meeting, Gem will not have it any other way," fWhip nodded, noting something furiously. "Honestly, this is great, Lizzie and Gem have been fighting about mages for ages..." he sighed. "You just might have given me a solution," he gave Scott a tired grin.
"Sure, it's important for me too so..." Scott fumbled a bit. He was used to fWhip's mischievous smirks, not tired smiles. "I... I should probably go back to cleaning up the mess I came to... let you rest a bit."
fWhip chuckled a bit sadly. "Yeah, rest, sure, will do that," he nodded but instantly came back to work.
Scott hated to just leave while fWhip was overworking himself but he himself was guilty of doing exactly the same, for like three hundred years too. So he'd be a hypocrite if he did. He wasn't Jimmy, he was no good at helping others or even caring for himself, not without maids... Or Jimmy... He missed him a lot more than he thought...
The flight back and cool, mountain air helped him calm down before he dove back into the even bigger now mountain of papers. There were so many he had to move to what used to be the council meeting room to have it all there and available. While working on all that he also started quiet preparations for 'magic school'. Nothing Gem would notice but enough to not waste time and fWhip was apparently taking his side.
It took him pretty much all the time he still had to finish with all the paperwork, and there was nothing new from fWhip, but he managed to have an early evening the night before the rulers meet. He was slightly sad there was still no news on Cod Empire or Jimmy. Well... at least Scott was immortal meaning he had all the time in the world to wait...