Chapter Text
25 years ago
Rivendell was peaceful at night.
Scott stood at the foot of Aeor’s statue and looked over the river that split his kingdom in two. The moon illuminated the cyan roofs of Rivendell, glistened in the river. Below him, one or two villagers still sauntered around with bags thrown over their shoulders. Everyone else was at home. Everyone else enjoyed the calm and silence.
Something about the silence unsettled Scott. He glanced around, expecting evil to reach him. Expecting this new, fragile peace to be broken. Expecting the world to fall back into Exor’s darkness in an instant. The weight of his sword on his side calmed him; he had his trust blade on hand, ready to jump into action if the situation required it. Until then, he scanned through the area, looking for the evil that had made him so paranoid in the first place.
Had it been three weeks already?
He glanced at the pristine tower and the energy crystal it held. Rivendell had been largely spared, her people safe – Scott was grateful for Aeor’s protection. His protection didn’t run far, though, and other empires hadn’t been as lucky. Wiped off of the map, in ruins, struck by illness and corruption. They had to rebuild while Rivendell could fall back into their old lives with ease, their country still as beautiful and graceful as it had ever been, her people still as great and humble.
Scott just wished the empty seat beside his in the throne room stopped taunting him. He wished the memory of her smile didn’t remind him of what should have been; instead, her final scream still rang through his mind.
Something moved on the bridge. Scott’s hand reached for the hilt, letting it rest there. His wary eyes traced the unknown figure who followed the road toward the stag statue, his heart racing. On her way, one of the lamp posts illuminated her face.
Scott relaxed and he let his hand fall to his side. He released his breath; the Ocean Queen was not an enemy of Rivendell.
He supposed she was beautiful for a tall blue axolotl-human hybrid. Her beautiful pink hair cascaded on her back, a sharp contrast with her blue skin and scales and her light purple dress. She’d given up on hiding her gills a long time ago and her tail was calm, almost unmoving. Though most curiously, she had opted to shrink to human size from her usual ten-foot-tall figure, and she carried a large basket. She approached the new Lord of Rivendell with the respect and dignity of a Queen.
What brought her so far from her empire at this late hour, with only a basket no less?
“Queen Lizzie. Ocean’s blessings.”
“Ocean’s blessings to you too,” she said in a clear voice. She kept her distance, holding the basket in both arms. Scott couldn’t see what she carried, but it had to be important. She must’ve shrunk for it.
“What brings you so far from your ocean?” Scott wondered, his eyes drifting to the basket. “I thought you’d stay at home. Help your people and the Cod.”
The Cod Empire was struck by the corruption, destroyed under the weight of the corruption tendrils. Many lives were lost; their Codmother died protecting her people, her boyfriend fled before any signs of trouble had even presented themselves, and her people found asylum with their cousins of the Ocean Empire, which had been largely untouched by the corruption.
“I am helping,” she said, “but this isn’t about them. I’ve… heard of your plans.” Her voice became less welcoming, her gaze a little less friendly.
Scott knew what prompted this shift in behavior. He wasn’t in the mood to argue about this conflict of ideas at this ungodly hour. Besides, she couldn’t have come here to just tell him it ‘wasn’t right’.
“You know I can impossibly take care of all orphans from all across the world,” Scott said. “Rivendell isn’t as big as we’d like it to be.”
“Only accepting high-borns and children of ‘important people’ isn’t as admirable as you think it is, Scott.”
Scott shook his head. He could not take care of every orphan. He’d hoped other empires, those who were capable, like Lizzie’s, would follow his example and open orphanages. Disappointingly so, they hadn’t. They couldn’t see his reasoning – after the corruption, the world could use some stability. The world could use leaders who knew each other well and who wouldn’t start a war without breaking life-long friendships. Peace, in the long run, cultivated in Rivendell, in an international house with limited capacity.
Lizzie didn’t see it that way. She didn’t look past the heritage of these children and how they could shape the future. She didn’t argue any further about this topic, though. Instead, she placed the basket on the ground, carefully picking up a bundle of blankets that it carried.
Scott didn’t like where this was going.
“I have someone here for you,” Lizzie said, her volume lower. She held out the bundle to Scott. “Be careful, he’s sleeping.”
The Lord of Rivendell shook his head. The baby’s head poked out between the blankets, its eyes closed. Asleep. Tiny. Fragile. Unknown.
Scott sighed deeply. “Lizzie…”
“No,” Lizzie said, pulling the child closer to her again. “No, Scott. You’re not going to sigh and tell me no without hearing me out first.”
Scott didn’t respond. He glanced at the baby and tried not to sigh again. Lizzie took it as a sign that she could continue.
“When the corruption first struck, I went around the world to see the destruction first-hand. I went to Gilded Helianthia, the Undergrove, Pixandria, the Cod Empire.” She paused and glared – more than you ever did. “I found this boy in the rubble. He was the only one alive in there. Everything around him was destroyed and this little guy survived in there for one week. One week, Scott, and he lived. He survived.”
One week. An eternity for that child – an eternity alone, and he survived. This was not a coincidence. Scott’s interest in the child grew.
Scott glanced up, at the underside of the statue’s neck. Are you testing me?
“I do not care about your policies,” Lizzie continued. “I don’t care about your twisted morals and who you think is deserving of a place in your ‘prestigious’ orphanage. The least you can do is give this child a home because the gods know he deserves one.”
Scott had secured the future of four children so far. He wasn’t sure if many more would come. In other words, he had enough space to take care of another baby, no matter his heritage. They could still find out who he was later. If not, they would find him a home.
Lizzie offered him the child again. This time, with some hesitation, Scott took him and held him awkwardly. He was never sure how to handle human babies. He’d only held a baby once before and it had been awkward and somehow wonderful.
“What’s his name?”
“I don’t know,” Lizzie admitted. “Please don’t name him something stupid.”
Scott looked incredulously at the Ocean Queen. “You didn’t name him?”
“My empire is flooded with Cod refugees,” she said in a stern voice. “There are more than we can feasibly look after and I cannot find anyone who’s willing to adopt another child when so many others also desperately need a home. His new family must name him - that’s the way of the Ocean. It has been hard to give him the care and attention he deserves.” She paused and looked at the child in Scott’s arms. “I guess I didn’t want to get too attached.”
Scott nodded. Attachment was dangerous. He understood that she wanted to distance herself from the child, but not how much it hurt her that she could not take care of him.
“You can always come back,” Scott said. “You are always welcome to visit him.”
Lizzie nodded. She worried about the boy, her gaze on the quiet bundle of blankets in Scott’s arms. Did she already regret her decision?
“I think I will.” To keep an eye on the boy; to keep an eye on Scott. “Take good care of him, Scott.”
“It is done,” Scott said, and he bowed his head. He’d keep that promise. The boy would be raised alongside the other children. He would have a good life and a bright future ahead of him. “Would you like to stay the night? It is rather late.”
“I will not stay in Rivendell any longer than necessary,” Lizzie said curtly. She bowed her head lightly and glanced one more time at the baby in Scott’s arms. “Thanks for the offer. Goodbye, Scott.”
“Goodbye, Lizzie.” He watched her leave, back down the slope, to the bridge, to the Ocean Empire. He watched her until she disappeared from his line of sight and he was alone with the baby in his arms, under Aeor’s statue.
This was supposed to be a peaceful night. Now he held a human baby in his arms while the Rivendell International House was still being constructed. What was he going to do with this kid in the meantime?
The boy stirred; he yawned, wriggled a little, and settled down again. Back to sleep. Back to dreams. What did he dream about? Hopefully something nice. Hopefully something good. Hopefully something peaceful. This boy had already gone through so much in his short life. He deserved to have many peaceful nights.
“Welcome home, kid.”
Scott smiled as looked over his empire.