A forest that was not there yesterday

[unprophesied_of_ages]

The Lord Ruler is in his palace, when he sees a sight he hasn't seen in centuries. Trees, sunlight...is he hallucinating? The fact that there's a forest in his living room isn't the surprising part. The fact that there's a forest on his planet is. As soon as he walks through the door to where his living room isn't, it's definitely not a hallucination.

His stores of Allomantic metals abruptly disappear. They're still physically there, but the power is completely gone. He immediately turns to go back, only to see more forest.

At least his Feruchemy still works—he can tell because he's still alive—but that won't last him forever. He only has so much stored youth, and without both sets of abilities he can't replenish it. He hasn't been in so much danger since the beheading that one time. Returning to Scadrial is the highest and currently only priority. If spontaneous forests are a thing, he needs to find someone who can explain them and more importantly how to get back.

The next few hours are spent walking in an essentially randomly chosen direction, with the sun to his right. He's quite certain that suns are supposed to be moving across the sky, but that's not a pressing emergency. He already knew he wasn't on his own planet when he saw proper trees and plants instead of ash-covered monstrosities. Whenever he calls out, nobody responds. If it's an empty spontaneous forest, he's probably doomed.

After some time, he hears his stomach growl. He hasn't seen much that looks edible, but possibly that's just because he's not used to real plants. Berries. Berries used to exist. Those berries look tasty, and if they're poisonous it's not like he needs to worry about it. As always, he has a truly ridiculous amount of stored health in his gold jewelry. Tapping gold just in case, he eats a handful.

Comments

[nemoconsequentiae]

I would end up not hearing you.

[imeanforever]

"Do not suggest extraneous steps that do not help me when I am asking you how you might go about doing things," says Promise.

[nemoconsequentiae]

It doesn't answer.

[imeanforever]

"If you are very obliging I may find something I want to let you destroy," Promise says.

[nemoconsequentiae]

I'd rather destroy things you don't want me to destroy, Ruin doesn't say. I'll stop listening without doing anything else, it does.

[imeanforever]

"When I snap my fingers, for one word, do that," says Promise. "Yellow, tell the truth - are you under any orders that would inconvenience me?"

"No."

Promise snaps her fingers.

And then she puts her mouth to Yellow's ear and cups her hands around it and murmurs, "Alisyrrabel."

And then she stands back. "Rescind all my orders," she tells Yellow.

"I rescind all your orders," Yellow says.

"Ruin, what condition is the other fairy in right now?"

[nemoconsequentiae]

Ruin checks.
It lives. Currently flying in no particular direction, trying to find somewhere colder.

[imeanforever]

"Tell that fairy, 'Promise has things locally under control', and then, in the same way you transported me, gently, bring her here."

[nemoconsequentiae]

Ruin does this. In the process, it annihilates a few hundred thousand cubic feet of air.

[imeanforever]

How nice for it.

Spellwhip is less confused than Yellow, but not by much. Promise explains the situation to her.

And then Promise asks Ruin, "What will happen if I bring you with me to Fairyland?"

[nemoconsequentiae]

I will be in Fairyland. I will become unable to affect this world. Hemalurgic spikes will become possible to create there instead of here. Anyone with half a brain will try to steal me from you.

[imeanforever]

"If you know your original name, don't say it, but tell me whether you do."

[nemoconsequentiae]

I do.

[imeanforever]

"Don't say it. Ever. Don't communicate it in any way." But someone else could still figure it out the same way she did. "Can you refill metalminds?"

[nemoconsequentiae]

Yes. It will cost me nothing like it does for you mortals.

[imeanforever]

"We're not mortals. By default, anyway."

Promise is very, very paranoid about her god of destruction. But when she's got some of her metalminds filled up (and her tinminds carefully plenty empty enough to deafen her for days and sharpen her sorcery if she needs that), it occurs to her to ask if it can just... give her Feruchemy. Entire. No extra spikes. It tries to convince her to take Alendi's spike instead, but she wants it before she gets there; so.

Now she's a Feruchemist.

She acquires a coppermind, a little one, which she wears as a discreet navel ring hidden under her dress; and with Yellow serving as a test master-de-jure, and Promise deafening herself with tin, they test the ability for Ruin to transcribe conversations into the coppermind while she taps it, receiving the words in real time but without any possibility that she will be ordered. It works; Yellow cannot make her flap her wings that way.

She also acquires a few toerings, hiding under her shoes, piercing the skin, filled up with free cheatery luck and speed and luck and health and luck luck luck.

This is important because she wants to have a conversation with Alendi. Before she kills him. She's probably going to have to make (let) Ruin kill him.

She doesn't want to have to call Ruin to do something suddenly, not with its penchant for improvisation; so she works out its initial orders and likely contingencies in advance.

She gives Yellow a set of instructions, and deafens him with sorcery she can reverse later; she only needs his voice, not his presence.

Spellwhip stands a safe several miles back, and waits, allowed to do sorcery again and cooling the air.

And Promise makes a gate where she expects Alendi to be.

She's seen his office before.

It settles. She motions to Yellow.

"Hold," Yellow commands.

And Promise peeks through, invisible and deaf and sped way up and very lucky indeed.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Alendi wishes he had detected this as soon as the gate opened, with his shiny new Allomancy, but no. Noticing a couple of people spontaneously appearing would be like paying attention to specific insects in a swarm. He's an emperor, not a god.


He makes that one surprised face and goes, "wuh?" At least to the extent permitted by the order.

[imeanforever]

Promise steps through.

"Obey Promise as if she were your master," continues Yellow.

And Ruin has a job to do now, too.

[nemoconsequentiae]

It depowers Alendi. Whee, destruction!
It rips out all those (and only those, for which Promise is to blame) pieces of Alendi's soul that give him Allomancy and Feruchemy. It even removes his Hemalurgic spikes, and offers those to Promise.

[imeanforever]

Although Ruin could just make more of the thing the spikes are for, Promise is deeply unsure that she wants to keep it in Fairyland with her as a general heuristic, and may as well hang on to the mindless version of giving-people-metal-powers. She lines them up neatly piercing her bare arm just enough to hold their magic.

"With the caveat that you may enforce no orders, trigger no prearranged contingencies, tell no lies of commission or omission, and achieve no volume that could conceivably attract attention from anyone who is currently unable or unwilling to act in my interests over yours," says Promise, "you may speak."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"...How?"

[imeanforever]

"You told me," she says, "to enjoy being stuck on the world with the god of destruction, didn't you?"

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"And 'enjoy' translates to 'do at least three impossible things on your way to recapturing me'?"

He's visibly aging again.

[imeanforever]

Promise de-ages him a skosh with sorcery. Doesn't want him to fall apart while she might still need him for something.

"Clearly." She stalks forward. "So. What did you do, and why did you do it, starting from whatever you think will be most interesting to me?"

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"I turned Arcane into a frog and left him underground somewhere, because he seemed to have figured something out and be acting against me. I thought I should take care of him while I was still omnipotent.
I brought some materials over that I thought would be useful. Nothing more important than atium, though.
I created some lerasium.
I replaced every plant I could see—which was quite a lot—with an identical one. I'll have virtually everyone as a vassal soon.
I remade things from old Scadrial. Especially the fluffy animals."

Damn this completeness order.