[Book 2] Chapter 04: A Request (Part 4)

[Clock - 22:22 | 10:22 PM]

[Calendar - 05/05/2010]

[Location - Beastialis Empire - Skypelago, Menagerie Island, Central Region]

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3rd Person POV

Taking a step forward, his sharp blade-like pointy "feet" stood completely still as he gazed down upon the crowd as the crowd gazed back at him, his dress felt a little bit tighter than before but he persisted. Thousands of people, all gathered here to hear his word- His people, people that swore to protect and care for, and people he has rescued from the world below. Behind him, easily towering above him by 2,2 feet, Waylon looked just as excited as he was the same time the first Day of Ascension Festival was happening— and there weren't even that many people that day! "People of Beastialis." His voice echoed out through the darkness that being illuminated only by the sparkling lights that were spread out in various directions being held by children and parents alike, who had their eyes practically glue to him. "Today we start to celebrate another wonderful year that the Beastialis Empire has been in the sky! The Day of Ascension is one of the most important days to our people, I'm sure you all know... I love you, my people, and once more we celebrate this day!" Like last year, and the year before, Atlas started to do a little speech that he did not practiced for, for he believes that spontaneous speeches are wonderful and amazing and not at all born out of anxiety.

"So, feast! Play! Laugh! Cry! Rejoice! Experess yourself, don't hide yourself, and live." With each word, a sparkle of magic would flow out of his hand and explode in a different lights. Cotton candy fell out of the sky in the hands of the crowd, sparkling glitter made people laugh and cry, and others simply exploded in gleeful cheers. "Because, and always remember this, the greatest magic in the world is living a life you're proud of."

"With that said-" Waylon chuckled as he lifted Atlas, much to the crowd's "Ooohs~" as they could almost see beneath the long cut from the white dress the Empress was wearing ("All clothes are unisex if you're not a little bitch about it" was the Empress' most famous phrase), but with a turnaround and a twist, he held his love in his big arms: "-we do have an announcement!" There was silence immediately across the crowd- you could practically see the tension in the air, because they always did this! They'd announce something, and the first time they did it it was a fake "we're pregnant" thing that made everyone have a good laugh, but ever since then there was a absolutely legendary bet. Every year, a group of people would bet that this year's announcement would be about the Empress being pregnant, a bet that was initiated by a certain family of Cloud Giants. "First off, we would like to announce that starting the next month a new project will begin! Those who wish to be part of Project Skyfall, register with the staff at World Pillar. There you'll receive more details, but basically we're expanding the Empire to the Boundless Blue!"

There was a rush of excitement through crowd- ever since they joined the Beastialis Empire, they receive a brief lesson of the world they were welcomed to. While the world beneath them wasn't exactly separate from their own, the amount of interactions they'd have with the world below was lowered. Internet and social media access wasn't exactly limited, but it was monitored. There were rules to follow, and of course nobody wanted to break them... the last person that did was thrown off of the island by the Emperor himself in a public execution, as that was the method of death chosen by the offendor. Their name? Well, his name was Gunther, and he tried to sexually assault a child. As his punishment, he was thrown off of the islands and hit the ocean beneath, becoming soup upon impact and having his juice turned to ash alongside a portion of the ocean that day as the Emperor got so angry he literally breathed fire. But that wasn't important enough to be remembered by many. A single pervert was dealt with before he could do anything, and the Empress went through the whole Empire to understand how he let someone like that guy become part of the Empire.

Let's just say Atlas still blames himself because of the traume the kid went through.

Regardless- nobody wanted to break the rules, and one of the rules was to not expose the secrets of the Beastialis Empire and the Skypelago to nobody in the world below, so social media and internet access was respected by the residents and enforced by Cyber-Neet.

"Also, the Royal Knight Academy is going on an expedition to Monster Island alongside the students of the Learning Palace of Thoth. Please ensure your children have all the supplies that they need, and you can request a Recall Stone to be made for your child if you so wish." Atlas added from Waylon's arms, a little flushed that the boisterous dragon was so happy to do such public display of possessive affection: "The annual Godly Week is coming up soon too! Those who wish to register for the competitions please remember you need the confirmation card- Also, please do not attempt, or perform any artistic ritual trying to invoke the muses of art and Dionysus... We do not want a repetition of The Greek Incident. This time, it might not end just with God Ptah adopting a bunch of daughters and getting a drinking buddy." A grimace appeared on his face and the face tod various individuals through the crowd- just remembering the way a group of teenagers all got drunk and somehow summoned Dionysus alongside the muses.

All of them, at the same time. Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Polyhymnia (hymn), Euterpe (flute), Terpsichore (light verse and dance), Erato (lyric choral poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy and a Charite), and Urania (astronomy)! And to boot, the fucking God of Wine, Vegetation, Pleasure, Festivity,  Theater, Madness and Wild Frenzy. That Dionysus- The guy was pretty chill, actually, and he absolutely enjoyed being summoned to a great party, and the Muses were throwing their divine inspiration towards any artist they could get their hands on, and like that they became Ptah's adopted daughters... Let's just say, you can get inspiration in the Halls of Ptah if you pay a fee, and every artist recommends buying it because its awesome, even Atlas has bought it before and its like getting high but with the power to create the most crazy shit you've ever made before.

So, why was it bad? Well, Zeus didn't like that his son was suddenly summoned alongside all his muses, and the fact that the muses refused to go back! So, Beastialis Empire and its Skypelago that was in his domain kinda triggered the big man child of a god, who threw a thunderous tantrum that lasted for 7 days and nights, where it was a complete thunderstorm. Atlas easily blocked the attacks with [Bubble], but he had to focus his mind and magic on keeping all 9 [Bubble] spells completely repaired and strong enough to resist the divine lightning of the stupid fuck who can only think with his dick! Nobody died, thankfully, but they were stuck in place for 7 days and nights, which annoyed Atlas because they had to pass by a Node in the Blood Vessels of Gaea later and missed a pretty important magical event that Atlas wanted to watch and for the following days Atlas had to artificially increase the speed of the Skypelago to move 7 times its normal speed so it would adjust to the route it should have gone to.

And you might be thinking: Wait, if Atlas can control the speed of the Skypelago, why not go vroom? Well, the Skypelago in which the Beastialis Empire resides travels at a steady speed of about 10 kilometers per hour constantly, following an invisible road of energy like a magnet that is also a boat at the same time and that the thing it is attached to is the flow of the "river", and just follows it. Anyway, the flow of the Skypelago is important for Atlas because he has been able to make it so they can always visit the same location at the same time of the year! Of course there will be changes in the future, but this keeps a little bit of much needed constancy to the Empire.

"So, kids, please do not drink yourself into a frenzy and start to dance like crazy." Waylon chuckled- he got along well with Dionysus, both of them liked a good booze and Waylon drunk was weirdly adorable. He was an emotional drunk, but not the "oh gods" kind, but more of a physical cuddling drunk that went around the place holding Atlas by the waist proudly saying "This ish ma wufe... Look at he, he beautif..." while drunkenly trying to form sentences. "Or do, having Dionysus back for another round would be fun?" He turned to look at Atlas, who just glared at him for a few seconds: "...we'll discuss that privately." Which got him a few chuckles from the crowd and Atlas a bit exasperated. "...do we have any other announcements?"

"Well..." Placing both hands on his stomach, Atlas looked earnestly to the crowd and with a smile... he sighed and said: "Nah." He would tell Waylon later, when they were completely and utterly alone in thr most literal sense of the word as possible.  "But we won't leave you guys hanging anymore— Enjoy your evening with music, dance, and fun!" Like last year and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that- You get it! Like last year, a concert was starting, and this concert would be a 24/7 concert for 7 fucking days, free food, drinks, and no responsibility for the entire week. Of course some people wouldn't want to party for an entire week, so many would just go back to their homes after 1 day of partying or so, but that did not stop the party at all. "Let's greet to the stage— Angra!" In a burst of smoke, both Atlas and Waylon vanished from their spot at the stage, simply disappearing.

Blasts of flames being followed by a guitar was what greeted the crowd that started a beautiful riff being followed by blasting lyrics–

"Nations battle on the field across the lands–

Ruthless, stealing territories from our hands–

Anger throwing down the victims to the ground–

Cold blood younger soldiers weeping with no sound!"

—the crowd went happily wild. Parent who had taken their small children simply left with them to make sure they weren't scared of the huge crowd or had their hearing damaged, or stayed past their bed time. Putting children to sleep was very easy when you have pillows enchanted to cast a spell to put them to sleep. After making sure their children were completely safe and soundlessly asleep, they went back to the concert to unwind a bit.

Far away, within the walls of a eight sided floating pyramid, Atlas simply stood still as he watched the lights and flashes from afar. His eyes soft and his smile light, knowing that his people felt happy and safe here... Have you wondered how the Beastialis Empire has managed to get people to join after the Day of Ascension? Well, Atlas had an idea. The rejected, the hated, the ones who needed Beastialis the most would become part of it... A simple attraction spell that would pull those along, but he left the definition of "need" and "rejected", "hated" a little bit... broader than expected.

Don't worry, he has fixed it!

Now, however, he was thinking of the future... Anxiety was always his Achilles' Heel. But tonight he refused to let his anxiety win. "Waylon." Turning around and laying by the bed of solidified clouds, Atlas clicked his heels together and with a soft melting notion, the silver legs he had simply crawled their way up his neck and face before he had two new beautiful earrings. "I... I think I'm ready."

"...ready?" A little confused, Waylon asked- Should he be ready for something?

"..." Embarrassed to say it, Atlas looked away as he muttered: "...Impregnate me?"

Faster than The Flash, Waylon was looking down at him: "I'm sorry, what did you say? Speak louder, my love. I wanna hear you clearly."