I added a gold bracelet to the picrew because at this point, he and his mother were owned by a traveling merchant. To keep from escaping, they wore enchanted gold bracelets to keep them within a certain distance of the caravan. If they wandered past that point, the bracelet would essentially cripple them.
-------
Tarian
Tarian was already an older teen when he assumed the appearance of an elf, but I imagine him looking similar in a blood mage's lab if she managed to transform him when he was a kitten.
[As soon as Tenna ran to do his little intro- Ves kept a hand on Cloud’s shoulder]
[..But you hand soon faltered as you..grew pale at seeing..the blue lightner]
[….You weren’t the only one in the room with the determination to know that something was off about them..You held your chest lightly..having found the yelling match to be something close to that of something you had blocked out of your memory..]
[For your own sake..and Clouds- you gave then a reassuring look]
Looks like we aren’t the only contestants!!! We really have a full cast..And looks like i’m not the only one in armor-!
[Long post below the cut]
Ramb furrowed his brows at Jack, but hurriedly followed along to ensure the individual was safe. When they reached the group, Ramb hopped along the wood to shuffle behind a wooden beam to view the situation with Tenna and the others.
"Con... Contestants?" The Darkner questioned with a dumbfounded look.
"YES! You four are some of the STARS of today's show!" Tenna exclaimed while pointing at the group. He snapped his fingers together and the world seemed to change around him. The air felt wavery, if only for a moment, before the darkness began to clear. In its place, a backdrop of blue littered with stars fell from the sky and clamped onto the wooden platform. Similarly, the wooden platform seemed to widen in size to form a stage. Were they even in the same area anymore? It seemed the ones Tenna brought to this world on his own also followed along, though there were still wooden beams to hide behind.
"Mr. Tenna's Marvelous Mystery Board..."
Tenna then pointed again.
"TV TIME!!"
The group was baffled. The blue human didn't seem too bothered by everything, but everyone else seemed like they were having trouble processing things.
The magenta human was especially having a difficult time processing things. They seemed to squint at Tenna, eyes focused on his lips, but Tenna moved too much and talked too fast for them. They looked around for anything important that they could find while the others were focused on the strange television man.
The reptile and goat were startled by the scene change, however, and even more startled by the crowd that suddenly began to cheer them on. The magenta human didn't even react to the crowd or the noise. Their back was facing them while they looked around.
"Wh... What??" Questioned the reptile Lightner. Her gaze focused on Tenna while he bowed at the crowd throwing flowers at his feet. "What the hell are you doing!?"
"What am I doing?" Tenna asked and pointed at them. "You should be wondering what YOU'RE doing! You're about to play the greatest game of YOUR life!"
Tenna grinned brightly. Any amount of anxiety that he had possessed behind closed doors seemed to have vanished, or he was incredibly good at masking. Maybe both.
"Answer CRAZY QUESTIONS!!" The reptile stepped closer to Tenna. "Pass PHYSICAL CHALLENGES... And you'll win some TV-Tastic PRIZES!"
Tenna then rambled on and on about some prizes that the group could win. The magenta human seemed overwhelmed with how fast Tenna was talking and how much he was moving around, so they decided to direct their attention to the flowers on the ground. They shuffled towards the roses and picked one off of the ground, then plucked some of the remaining thorns from the stem. They tucked the now-safe rose behind their ear, seeming content.
"Hey Doctor Tennaville! What's today's prescription?" Tenna snapped his fingers again, and the air and light around his body seemed to bend as though it was on the screen of a CRT. His outfit, if only for a brief moment, changed to a black suit with a blue and white top hat that one of his antennas poked through. "Why, it looks like a prescription for... ONE GRAND PRIZE!?"
His outfit, once again, changed-- this time, back to his default red coat and suit. When this happened, another screen flew down from the heavens to hover beside him, showcasing a Gacha Machine.
"That's right! Today's GRAND PRIZE is this season's MOST popular item..." The machine spat out one of the capsules, though it was silhouetted in black. "Encased in our patented MYSTERY BALL... This Dark World's ONE AND GREATEST TREASURE!" He giggled to himself, seeming to grow giddy. "Bet you wanna know what's INSIDE, don't'cha, folks?"
The screen quickly flew back up into the sky, disappearing from view. Tenna moved closer to the group and grinned. Even his smile was loud. "Well, great news, CADOOS and CADETTES! EVERYTHING can be YOURS! All you have to do is..."
Tenna paused as he threw his hand into the air.
"WIN!"
The reptile Lightner leaned over to her goat companion while eyeing Tenna. The television kept spewing out a bunch of words that she didn't care to listen to.
"I don't know about this, Ralsei," she growled quietly. Before the goat, now known to be named 'Ralsei', could respond she stepped forward right as Tenna was speaking.
"Now don't touch that DIAL, because TONIGHT, WE are going to have one HECK of a..."
"Who the hell is 'we'?" She growled, interrupting the television's speech.
"Susie, I don't think-"
Susie wasn't listening to Ralsei. She stepped forward, hands clenched into fists.
Tenna, now a bit nervous, adjusted his tie and straightened his posture. "Well, uh... this is a GAME SHOW and you guys are the CONTESTANTS... right?"
Susie's fists began to clench tightly at her sides. "Let me be a little clearer..."
When this happened, strangely, the blue human stepped forward. They lifted their arm with their hand stretched towards Susie, if only a little, but soon enough their arm fell.
"Kris?" Ralsei questioned, but when Kris didn't respond, he returned his gaze to Susie.
"We aren't being on your STUPID SHOW!!" Susie exclaimed, her entire body rigid. Her claws were visible, as were her yellow teeth. A deep, guttural growl left her throat.
Tenna seemed taken aback from the shout. "You... you aren't?" He asked, though when he did, his antennae drooped pathetically. "Oh. Well, uh... that's just... That's just hunky-doody, y'know! You do YOU!" His voice cracked and seemed layered with static.
Magic: [before any of them can react, warps to place themself between the source of Order's voice and the sentinels... with their fae-ears shrunken into human form and mask affixed to their face]
Order: [suddenly concentrates where she'd spoken from, forming a portal that the woman herself steps through with a smirk]
Magic: [snarls, but has to struggle to breathe evenly as they focus on their sentinels]
Tarian and Gwydion: [quickly move to step forward, but—]
Magic: [freezes them in place behind him]
Sentinels:
Order: [at the same time, barely sparing a glance over Magic's shoulder, closes the distance between herself and Magic—]
Magic: [before she can speak, voice hard) "I thought you weren't 'supposed' to appear in front of others. Isn't that part of the new 'rules' you all love so much?"
Order: [stopped in front of Magic, smirking to herself, and finally goes to place her hand on his shoulder—]
Order: (at the same time, voice sickly sweet) "didn't you—"
Magic: [warps a whole new arm over the same shoulder to grab her wrist, gripping it tightly and keeping her from touching him]
Order: [face twitches, twisting for a moment before quickly turning empty]
Order: [but yanks her wrist from his grip]
Magic: [lets her; at the same time, his voice low and cold) "I didn't give you 'permission' to touch me, {Order}. Mind your manners."
Order: [slowly quirks her eyebrow in a 'really, now?', glancing past his shoulder at his sentinels—]
Magic: [eyes widen and breath catches, but quickly steps between her and their friends again]
Order: [lip twitches in the faintest of smirks as her eyes return to their mask... at the exact place theirs are]
Magic: (voice low, but can't keep it from wavering) "this is between you and me. What do you want, Order?"
Order: [smirking all the more, crosses her arms as she meets their eyes through their mask... even as Magic moves where they are]
Order: (slyly) "what did you ask me again? 'Why am I here when I'm not supposed to interact with people outside of regions I control'?"
Magic: [hesitates, realizing that was a trick question and that she was going somewhere with that, but... doesn't know how else to respond]
Magic: (voice tragically uneven) "something like that."
Order: [still smirking, leans forward slightly... though the effect is lessened by how Magic has three whole feet over her]
Order: (pointedly) "well, that's simple."
Order: [delicately quirks an eyebrow, her smirk turning into a sly smile as she finishes with a sickly-sweet voice) "it's because faeries aren't 'people'."
Magic: [after a good bit of taunting and Order leaves, warps everyone safely into the depths of the Faewildes—]
Faewildes: [vibrating, violently storming all over from Magic's fury—]
Magic: [slams their fist into a tree with a shriek, struggling to control themself or... prevent their magic from going absolutely haywire. Manages to keep a majority of the flood concentrated around their body, in an aura of lightning, fire, and gales of wind]
Magic: [as they punched the tree; at the top of their lungs, their words echoing throughout the Faewildes) "I'M GOING TO KILL HER! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THAT BITCH!"
Saoirse and Tarian: [quickly step forward—glancing at the other—and each use their magics to protect themselves from Magic's aura as they set hands on their shoulders]
Magic: [tenses—heart skipping a beat and their breath catching in their throat—as she struggles to quell her storm and hesitantly looks back at the two]
Saoirse: [offers a weak smile, though her ears are low and her anxiety is plain across her face]
Saoirse: (voice somewhat gentle, though the effect is lessened by the fact that she has to raise it to speak over Magic's storm) "listen, {Magic}—it's okay. She was bluffing. Trying to get into your head, to mess with you. Don't let her, okay?"
Magic: [grateful for her mask and human ears as she hesitantly looks at Tarian with wide eyes—] :'D
Tarian: (voice even, but deadly serious) "yeah. There's no other reason she would've approached us. Not if they're anything like you've told us. She acted no different from an archfaerie—we mean nothing to her."
Magic: [her storm falling apart around her and voice breaking) "but don't you see!? That's exactly why she'd—"
Tarian: [releases Magic's shoulder to step away, letting Gwydion take his place]
Gwydion: [does so, though he leaves his arms crossed as he eyes Magic's mask]
Gwydion: [voice even and words careful] "to her, we're little different from your avatars. She wouldn't dare—because you could raise issues with the other Existentials, and cause problems for her avatars. And fae like her? All that matters is what effects them. She wouldn't do anything that puts her toys in jeopardy."
Magic:
Magic: [slowly lets his face crumple—]
Magic: [and lets his mask disappear as he turns to quickly hug Saoirse, burying his face in her shoulder]
Saoirse: [hugs him tight in return, speaking softly) "it's okay. We aren't leaving you any time soon."
Tarian: [smirking slightly to himself; pipes up, voice lightly joking) "we'd be some pretty shitty sentinels if we did, ey?"
Magic:
Magic: [bursts out sob-laughing, just clinging to Saoirse even more tightly]
This whole thing started as a shitpost where Tarian told Magic "down, girl", but quickly turned into a canon scene... 😅😭
The time almost seemed to speed by. The askers and anons had continued to talk to Hani and Tarian until Hani had mentioned that they were fully disappearing.
Tarian seemed mildly disappointed that they were leaving, but they smiled anyway. They rocked back and forth while waving towards everyone, signing their goodbyes to each individual person they have grown to adore. Every single gift that they had received, they held close to their heart, truly happy over them.
As for Hani, he had bowed respectfully towards each asker and anon. It wasn't much, but for a guardian spirit like him, it certainly was. He had appreciated each gift he was given as well, and kept the crown firmly planted on his head and the bandana around his neck. He seemed to be purring quite a bit.
And, just like that, the askers and anons wisped away. To where? No one knew at first.
.
.
.
The air in the room warped and warbled as the asker and anons morphed into existence. It was deadly silent, and the room itself was unfamiliar. Dimly lit torches lined the walls, casting an eerie orange glow over the room and the desk at the back of the room. Papers were strewn unceremoniously across the desk; they seemed to be important documents and letters.
Multiple of them addressed Hubert by full name.
A looming, daunting figure stood in front of the window in the back of the room. Their back was facing the askers and anons, though even with that, the air seemed to crackle with forbidden life. There was a certain ominous, dangerous presence about the person.
"I told you to have sent a search party hours a-"
The person turned around and paused in place, eyes sharpening like two, mahogany daggers. He had a large beard to him with graying black hair, and a crown was settled on his head. The crown spoke of high status and commanded respect, especially with the king's straightened posture.
Damien Petrov.
He squared his shoulders and slowly reached for his sword upon noticing the askers and anons. However, despite himself, he didn't unsheathe the dangerously crackling blade. Instead, he stared, brows furrowed to match his seething glare.
"What are you lot doing here?" King Petrov hissed bitterly, practically bristling with cautiousness.
