Work Text:
The tavern at the end of the world is never silent, dust never touches the chalices, the faint smell of alcohol and brews ever present.
Except during the preparations.
You see, arranging an incredibly complex operation always requires three things:
-resources
-organization
-workforce
And the tavern doesn’t lack any of these… except maybe a bit of organization, but what is difficult to organize can be solved by throwing money at it, that’s kind of a universal truth ever since the followers of the space rock sold their souls. Anyway, I'm clearly digressing.
The preparations, the only day where the lights of every tavern across the cosmos are off, truly a special day, and of course it’s not even the main event.
On the outside it looks concerning, and people across the starry ocean ask themselves, “is this it? Did the tavern go bankrupt? Is the universe ending and we’re even out of alcohol?” and many such worries. But it’s actually much more grand than that, because it’s the only day where the fools are scared to their bones, scared that something like /that/ might happen again… and as always the origin story of how they grew to be so scared starts like a tale.
One day, a long time ago, a cosmic space prince disappeared into the void of space, the legacy they left behind big enough to cover all the stars and all the people wept bitterly, until they didn’t.
People tend to forget pretty easily unfortunately.
not everyone did though, the jolly, the jester, the bringer of laughter did not forget. Which entertainer would forget their lovely and only audience? Yes, the whole castle knew about how their jokes could make the greatest kings topple in laughter or in shame, and even the merchants and citizens of the kingdoms nearby would come to watch the jester’s schemes and plays.
But every joke was meant for the prince, the only treasure the joker had was the young royal’s smile, their grinning eyes and wide mouth, full of shock and even boiling rage when they were the butt of the joke.
After the prince’s departure for other places, for new adventures and a new horizon, the joker didn’t understand. They were stumped. Why leave when they could laugh and laugh and be immersed in joy and glory and fame for all they achieved? Wasn’t it enough? To have connected all the kingdoms and saved whoever could be from hunger, pain or worse?
It didn’t matter though, the jokester still had much to do, yes their prince was gone for good but the rest of the audience was still there, listening with wide ears and peeping eyes. What would the greatest schemer do now? Who could be the victim of the cruelest joke or the funniest event?
their work went on and on and on for much more time. Like a machine. They never stopped delivering, by trying to make the dumbest of the kingdom be recognized as the royal astronomer, or by plotting a devious plan to make two kingdoms fuse in one bigger and better…
Until one day. When the jokester saw something they shouldn’t have seen, when they finally got why the prince did what they did…
One day the joyseeker felt so bored and despaired about the state of current affairs, not enough entertainment to go on, not enough people spreading chaos, not enough schemers worming their way through the court, not enough aeons playing chess.
So what did THEY do?
THEY threw a tantrum.
And a big one at that.
The masked fools were totally clueless like headless chickens, they knew their aeon of “choice” could be fickle, but they never saw THEM acting that way…
All of the pathstriders of the elation felt the ripples of aha’s boredom and crying, every glass started spewing curses, every card from any deck displayed sad masks or random numbers, even the dices where useless too, someone tried playing a round of pig dice and needed three weeks of rest after reading the number that came out, it was a non euclidean integer infested with cognitive hazards, poor guy almost went mad, even mythus would have difficulties to pull up such a mind-splattering device.
The poor followers almost even heard aha’s moaning and bitching in their dreams and sleep, it was clearly enough. Usually they were the one spreading joy and chaos at aha’s decree, but this time it was the total opposite? They were the ones that had to babysit an aeon? A grown one at that?? Truly unbelievable.
So what did they do?
They asked for help. To the droidhead. I'm not even lying, they went over and traveled the cosmos on their stupid spaceships, gondolas and whatnot, a weird guy even used a cuckoo-clock as a spaceship but if i’m recalling correctly that was one of terminus’ followers that got lost in the river of fools crossing the stars.
They finally located that overrated space toasted and asked their question, groveling on the ground about to go mad from lack of sleep.
“HOW CAN WE MAKE THEM STOP CRYING? WE WANT TO SLEEP AND PLAY!”
And as everyone that has ever talked to a frustrated genius will know, the metal-head stayed silent. Comically silent. Aha even almost stopped for a micro second.
anyway.
After searching left and right, up and down, dimension to dimension. they finally found the perfect place to entertain aha for at least a whole amber era.
No one recalls the original name of it, but the first ones to arrive called it “Red Plaza”. Not even with a clear meaning in mind, more as a joke to mock all the other pathstriders that still couldn’t sleep, with red eyes, almost infused with fury and desperation at their own miserable fate.
But after people managed to get that sleep, the “red” in the name came from the strange red clouds that surrounded the whole planet. Like a red crown. red sky. And everything else really, even the water looks like wine, but it isn’t of course, otherwise the IPC would have already sucked the ocean dry.
After finding that charming little place, the fools organized an event, pretty dumb and simple if we look at it with our modern eyes, but to them it was the final solution to their endless qualms.
That, or making their aeon fall.
plan B was there waiting.
So they started cracking jokes, some started singing, others drinking till they collapsed, more started gambling their ships and properties like children betting candies and pebbles. A certain fool even broke his mask bestowed by aha, everything to get THEIR attention on that forsaken piece of sandy land.
Somehow it worked. Aha was so bored of being bored that the first thing that even remotely looked fun got THEIR full fledged attention for more than 32 minutes. And that is the longest anyone really got out of THEM. except for a certain someone’s full year, but the circumstances were clearly different, and even there aha was plotting other things in the background of THEIR mind.
pure path power erupted from aha’s attention and flooded the place, almost literally, who’s old enough to remember still reports of feeling drunk just by breathing, others fell and almost got “swept away” by the powers into the chalice of elation…
The place was permanently altered and rendered uninhabitable forever.
except for one night.
The conditions are just right and the terrain evens out, almost making a stage out of earth and rock, wine and alcohol start spewing from every crevice, creating rivers of languid dreams. Memoria leaks out of nowhere and corrupts the minds of the observers just enough for it to not be dangerous, trees erupt in laughter and all the birds start growing eyes and petals, almost reporting all the information to someone else.
Chairs and all sorts of furniture pop from nowhere, some even fall from the sky, as if aha THEMSELVES are organizing the party for someone.
The night is short and many want to attend, so all the day before the actual red plaza is available, all the fools reunite to go there together, to their sacred land, the place that made aha stop fussing, and the place that will make their lives legendary for a night.