Chapter Text
The day the world had waited for finally arrived. It was the day right before the border between the two islands officially dropped. With its anticipation also followed a looming fear.
Now, it really wouldn't bother Saparata much- other than the fact that neither islands was aware of what the other was planning- but rather because he would have to once again, mediate. This time however, for both islands with all of the most powerful, influenceable people in the world.
One wrong move and his head might just be cut clean from his head.
Maybe it was just an irrational fear. The leaders of Pandora did care for him after all, but it would also be foolish to believe that they would be able to cover him from the wrath of the other island leaders if he were to offend them.
All he could do is sigh in defeat in the comfort of his own vacation home- if he can even call it that. More often than not it was used to host meetings. So really, it didn't feel like a vacation home anymore with all the stress that replaced his sanctuary.
He hadn't even wanted to become the mediator in the first place. All he wanted was to stay far away from politics and people and live the rest of his days happily alone. Resting and occasionally visiting his friends.
It really couldn't be helped, one word from the Queen of Tricolour and he had readily agreed. No one could say no from a personal request from her, plus, Jophiel was one of his closest friends. Apparently him not being a part of any nation made him the perfect choice to oversee the meetings for them. Having an 'uninfluenced' opinion apparently.
Now, they were making him also mediate the most important meeting of everyone's lives. This would affect the way both island leaders would treat each other. Either making or breaking possible relations.
With all his worrying, the time had flown past. The sun had long since fallen, the moon taking its place. Everyone would be asleep by now. Everyone should be asleep by now- Saps included, but he just couldn't. The constant uneasiness made him unable to do so.
Soon the sun reclaimed its rightful spot high up in the sky. Not even a wink of sleep. He didn't even get a wink of sleep. Saps was actually so screwed. He was supposed to at his best today but he was going to have to fight his own drowsiness while he was going to oversee the most important meeting of his unwanted career.
A knock broke Saparata's train of thoughts. "Saps, you in there?", spoke a soft voice. It was Jophiel no doubt. "Yeah I'm in here" He responded. "Don't forget today is the day.", how could he forget something like that? That was the very reason why he couldn't lay down and rest without worry.
She gently reminded Saps to head towards Luminara when he was finished getting prepared.
Saparata slowly got up from bed, yawning as he changed his clothes sluggishly. He was really dreading it. Just the thought made him sweat nervously.
As he finally made his way to Luminara, the view of the bridge became larger and larger. Saps had to admit, the bridge was definitely well built in design and structure.
He couldn't help but silently stare in awe. It had taken such a long time for it to finally come into fruition.
A tap on his shoulder shocked him out of his thoughts. "Saps are you ready?" Cass asked. Saparata turned to face her, "I think I could've done without you scaring me", he answered with mild annoyance. After a beat, he looked back towards the bridge. "I'm scared honestly." Saparata answered, sighing as he said so.
Cass hummed in acknowledgement, patting Saps back comfortingly. "Try not to sweat it.", she paused as if considering what to say next. "This is just another meeting- just think of it like that." With one final pat, she left to board the boat with the rest of her advisors.
Saparata continued to stand there taking everything in, just a little longer. With one final breath, he finally moved to where everyone else was preparing to leave.
He chose to boat with Jophiel and the rest of Tricolour.
No one made any small talk with him- all of them far too focused on discussing in hushed whispers. Even Jophiel was in a serious mood. Saps wasn't too sure if he preferred this or if he would be at least liked someone talking to him.
Before long all the boats safely arrived. Saparata was startled from his absent minded hair stroking when the boat rocked harshly as it met land. It felt like it was an extremely long ride but at the same time too short of a time to get himself mentally prepared for what was to come.
Saparata watched as everyone got off the boats one by one before getting off himself. He nearly fell on his face as he did so, but its ok because he caught himself. As he stabilised himself, he saw the Luminaran president 3BelowZero talking to someone he assumed was a resident of Yggdrasil.
They pointed towards somewhere before walking in the same direction they pointed at. 3Below looked at the others, making a gesture to follow.
Saps assumed that there would have been people to greet them instead of asking directions from someone that just happened to be passing by.
Still, they followed them together. Saps chose to walk along with Jophiel, making small talk that helped him ease his nerves that seemed to continue to grow by the second.
Time felt like it was going to fast because it didn't take too long until the person that was leading them stopped all of a sudden. Saps saw them mentioning something to 3BelowZero again before leaving entirely.
He then turned around to face everyone else, "Yggdrasil's leaders should be in this building." With that, 3BelowZero headed inside- but not before looking back one more time.
Following his lead, everyone- including Saparata entered the building.
After a little while walking, Saps could hear the faint sounds of people arguing. The muffled voices becoming clearer and louder as they approached what he assumed was the meeting place.
Saps was the last person to actually reach the meeting room. Technically they weren't even in the room actually- just standing by the doorway like a child waiting for their parents to stop arguing with each other. Immediately all voices paused the moment they realised there was a group of unknown people.
There was definitely tension in the room. He felt they were for sure unwanted or just unexpected- which in the end really didn't change much.
"We're sorry for interrupting. We come from Pandora- if you are free, we were hoping for a formal meeting between our two islands" 3BelowZero spoke with slight uncertainty.
It seemed the other leaders were just staring blankly at them as if they had grown a second head or something.
Although a meeting between the two islands weren't explicitly mentioned, they were lucky that all of Yggdrasil's leaders were gathered together- minus the Covenant leader.
Honestly, now that Saparata really thought about it. They literally had zero communication about their plans. Pretty much essentially just rushed in without a second thought. This is something Saps would have expected of 3BelowZero or even Jophiel- but not the others. They weren't the type of people to rush into things like these.
His thoughts were proven correct as he saw Cass and some others from the Commonwealth complaining quietly to themselves, while some others like Alkaline made a look of annoyance. It seemed they were all under the impression that they had mentioned this to the other leaders.
A loud clap of hands interrupted the silence swallowing the room. "Well! This is rather unexpected", started a voice "I guess this means we don't have to reach out...and actually plan this..." Their voice gradually fading. They eventually introduced themselves as Benji Button- the ruler or Archon of Elysium.
After Benji's introduction, the others followed suit. One by one introducing themselves to the other islands leaders.
Looking around the strange room with new faces focused solely on them- Saparata's nerves came back full force. He could barely even remember their names even though it had only been a few minutes since they introduced themselves.
Ish, he really wasn't sure if he could do this.
Before the anyone could move Jophiel spoke up, "We forgot to mention but we actually brought along our own mediator if that's alright." Saps merely fiddled with his hands as she spoke.
The others looked around each other, seemingly unsure of how to respond.
Some looked as if they wanted to say something but chose to stay silent instead. Maybe waiting for someone else to say something first.
As everyone finally took their places, Saparata began his own little spiel.
"We will now begin the meeting between-", a deliberate cough caught everyone's attention. Heads turning to the direction of the sound. "I'm sorry but there is something I don't quite understand. I assumed someone would had mentioned it beforehand, but since no one has- I have to." It was the Queen of Infernus, her steady voice and sharp eyes commanding the room.
She took a quick sweep around the room. "Why is it that there is basically an unknown person running this meeting full of all of the important figures of both islands?" She questioned while keeping her gaze locked onto Saparata.
Though everyone had stayed quiet for the sake of keeping peace, he could tell the leaders of Yggdrasil agreed with Queen Cynikka's sentiment.
Saparata couldn't stop sweating. The meeting barely even began and things were already going south.
"Well," Jophiel began, calmly directing the meeting back on track. "This is Pandora's most trusted mediator- Saparata. He has smoothly ran every single meeting for our island." Still, even with Jophiel's explanation, Cynikka didn't look impressed.
Cynikka spoke up again, "We have our own systems here in Yggdrasil, I just don't understand why we have to change our ways even though you all- the people of Pandora are the ones treading on our land- without any prior notice either." Saparata himself couldn't help but mentally nod along. Surely Yggdrasil would have their own mediators or something that could've ran the meeting instead and avoided this situation entirely.
Jophiel gave a thoughtful hum. "While that may be true, we would not feel entirely comfortable attending this meeting without him. He too is an important figure of Pandora though he may not be in writing."
Before Cynikka or anyone else could even think of saying anything, the leader of Westhelm- Emperor Schpood quickly cut in. "We understand that this...mediator of Pandora is special to you, so for both our sake, I think we should accept him to also mediate this meeting."
Saparata hadn't expected out of everyone for Schpood to be the one to defend him given the stories he had heard of the emperor. Though that thought was abruptly cut off, "but, Queen Cynikka isn't wrong either. There should have been some form of understanding on both sides that this was going to happen."
"I don't see how that is our fault? There was no possible way of communing with one-another?" Someone from the Commonwealth had argued. Cass shook her head in disagreement, "We apologise for the lack of information and for springing all of this up so suddenly." She quickly shot a look at the Commonwealth.
They really couldn't risk this meeting going any worse than it already had.
Thankfully Queen Cynikka seemed to finally find the situation acceptable, nodding along. "It is alright. If this mediator is truly so important I don't see why we shouldn't allow for him to continue running this meeting." Saparata couldn't help but silently think that it was her fault in the first place that all this happened. Had she not mentioned it, the meeting would have began far sooner. Skipping all the arguments.
Cynikka's sharp stare was solely focused on Saparata. Frankly, he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. Yes everyone else in the room was also staring at him but it felt different from her. It was like she was trying to dissect his very being. The longer she stared, the more anxious Saps felt.
"Ahem", Saparata coughed into his fist, "Restarting, we will now begin the first official meeting between the two islands."
The rest of the meeting ran smoothly. Honestly, they didn't even need Saparata there- sure there was a few mishaps here and there, but they would always quickly resolve it. Saps spaced out as they continued to drone on about trades between the two islands. He tried to pay attention, really he did. But he just couldn't find it in himself to listen in on the conversation any longer.
Instead, he looked around the room- staring at the leaders that were all in deep conversation with each other. His gaze eventually landed on Cynikka. She sat perfectly still, looking just as refined when Saparata had first seen her.
As if sensing his gaze, she turned her head towards him mid-conversation. Ever so slightly tilting it to the side in confusion or perhaps amusement with her dark eyes even as she continued to talk to the others.
Saparata's ears was flushed pink in an instant. Ish that was so embarrassing. He wasn't planning on getting caught staring, nor was he planning on staring at the Queen of Infernus so intensely that she had picked up on it either.
For his own sanity, Saparata was glad there were no more opportunities for him to further embarrass himself- specifically to Queen Cynikka. He has already made an absolute fool of himself already as it is, any more and he might just have to build a tall tower just to jump from.
Everything ended without a hitch. Routes for trades have been made and further meeting arranged to fully finalise both islands support.
Saparata moved along with the rest Pandora's leaders and representatives back onto the boats to head back. As they slowly filed on, from the corner of his eyes Saps could see someone approaching. Instead of saying anything, they just stood there. Watching. Observing. For what reason, he himself wasn't sure.
Before Saps himself could board along with Jophiel again, he sensed a presence behind him. "Will you be here again? To mediate of course." That voice was one Saparata could easily identify. It was none other than Queen Cynikka.
Why would she even ask something like that? Quite frankly, he couldn't understand why she would care. Especially after the entire thing at the meeting.
Saparata couldn't help but feel a surge of annoyance. Really, he shouldn't because she did have all the rights to question his presence back there. But that didn't mean he could forget the feeling of awkwardness from that interaction. "Uh I mean I suppose if I'm asked to.", he answered shrugging his shoulders.
Now that they were this close, Saps could really see her properly. Face to face, he couldn't deny that she really was gorgeous. That kind of made him a little bit more annoyed. She was pretty to look at and also immensely irritating.
Surprisingly enough, he noticed that her eyes were rather peculiar. It was different from anything else he had seen previously. Containing a slight purple hue that was beautiful when the sun hit it just right.
Cynikka made a faint sound, humming slightly. "I see." She unhurriedly turned away from Saparata's blatant staring, walking away gracefully after saying her farewells.
Saparata stood still as a statue- still trying to fully process that interaction. He tried to understand why she would come up to him specifically, and bother asking such a question. Saps had assumed she had disliked him or something.
As Cynikka's figure began to disappear into the distance, Saparata finally remembered he had to head back with the others. Jophiel and her advisors couldn't wait for him forever.
He was the last to board on, and as soon as he did, Jophiel immediately rushed to his side with a questioning look. "So, what was that?", she asked, raising her eyebrows. Saparata looked away, focusing his attention on the waves crashing onto the boat instead.
He tried to ignore her to the best of his abilities but even he knew he couldn't outlast her constant prodding. Saps eventually relented, "She was just asking me if I would be mediating again." Saps answered, sighing as he said so. "But why would she even ask that?" Saps could only shake his head. How could he respond when he himself didn't even know the answer either.
Jophiel's face twisted into something Saparata liked to call her 'evil grin'. With intrigue written all over her face, Jophiel's voice went an octave higher. She only ever talked like this when she was planning something or to bully him.
"I think she has a crush on you", she drawled. Saps face turned red without his permission. He swore it was only because it was so unexpected and not for any other reason.
Saparata immediately whipped his head towards Jophiel at lighting speed. "That's not- Cynikka was just-", "Oh? its just Cynikka now? I didn't know you and the literal Queen of Infernus were already at first name basis." Saps stuttered while Jophiel just giggled at his reaction.
His face was growing hotter and hotter. Saps shoved her away from him while Jophiel couldn't stop laughing at Saps clear misfortune that she created. If only Saps turned down Jophiel's offer ages ago, he wouldn't have to be here dealing with this right now.
Essentially, this was all her fault. It was her fault he had even become a mediator, her fault he felt like pissing his pants because he was being glared daggers at throughout the entire duration of that meeting and her fault that now he wasn't sure what to think about Queen Cynikka.
He was trying his hardest not to think about her, but now all he could do is think about her- no thanks to Jophiel of course.
Saps honestly just wanted to see her amethyst coloured eyes again. There isn't anything weird about that! In fact, Saps would say that its a perfectly normal reaction. If someone had an unusual eyes colour- who wouldn't want to see it again and if he happened to also think they were pretty then it was just a win for him. Still talking about her eyes that is. Her pretty eyes.
Yeah...that's normal.
Saparata could see from the corner of his eyes that Jophiel was still having the time of her life laughing at his still very much red face. She was supposed to be his friend- what an absolute traitor she turned out to be. Had he known she was just planning on making fun of him the entire trip back, he would've chosen to go with Cass instead.
Though truthfully he would have still picked Jophiel over Cass. Not that there was anything wrong with Cass of course! It was only because her seriousness could sometimes really throw Saparata off and he really wanted to spend time with someone more easy-going after such a stressful time. Plus, she too would have likely provoked him as well.
...or he could've missed the chance completely to talk with Cynikka.
He huffed. What was he even thinking? He barely even knew her- one short private conversation and he's already acting like he's completely whipped.
The rest of the trip was spent talking about other meaningless topics. Just whatever was in their minds at the time. Thankfully Jophiel didn't mention anything about Cynikka after that either and his thoughts of her gradually vanished too.
Their shared mindless chatter allowed for time to pass easily. Soon it took barely any time in his mind at least to reach the shore of their home. Saps was glad he could just go home and rest.
He was pretty sure no one would bother asking him to stay or to talk as everyone else was as equally drained as him.
He did see Alkaline talking with 3BelowZero with an exasperated expression- but that was to be expected.
Exhaustion hit Saparata's body all at once and he to quite literally drag himself all the way back to his vacation home. He didn't actually have to drag himself all the way there- but it sure did feel like it.
When he finally got to the doorsteps of his home, he burst inside and collapsed onto the floor. It didn't matter at this point where he would sleep. He just needed some rest and if that meant sleeping on his hard floor- then so be it.
During his time spent talking with Jophiel, Saparata had just assumed he had completely forgotten about Queen Cynikka. Well not completely, but mostly. Her striking eyes was not something he could easily forget.
Alone with his thoughts while waiting for that sweet sleep to finally take him- his thoughts drifted back to Cynikka.
He would never ever admit this out loud- or even in his mind, but he half hoped that he would be asked to mediate again, to see her.