Chapter Text
Most universe weren't memorable...
Some had purple skies. Some had floating cities. There was even one where sentient eggs had somehow formed a functioning government. Parrot still wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be impressed or concerned by that.
But... after a while everything starts to blend together.
Visit a universe.
Fill out paperwork.
Leave the universe.
And then repeat it a thousand times until you succeed to get a raise to another underpaid spot or you know.. die..
You might think that he is just being sarcastic or overdramatic. Like c'mon, travelling across the universes as a job? Sounds like a dream come true to me.
But this job wasn't glamorous at all, despite what the requirements poster and the people on tiktok had claimed.
There were no daring adventures, no heroic battles and certainly no treasure waiting at the end of the journey. But
Hell, Parrot still haven't found a universe where Laufey and him were the bestest of friends and travel the world together, enchanting everyone with their amazing voice.
But yet he managed to find a universe where rats had more lore than his entire life?
A load of bullshit if you ask him.
He sat slumped over his desk, staring at a half-finish report.
Universe #4367
•Local magical ecosystem stable
•No sign of dimensional collapse
•Universe status: Stable
...
"Good enough." He groaned while closing the file and shove it in his now full drawer with unfinished and half-assed reports. Slightly stretching his now numb wings from all the hours he spent hunching over his desk.
Before he could even let himself think and just rest for a moment, fate decided to be a pain in the ass like always.
The sound of his office door can be heard creaking open. Revealing Parrot's torturer in all his glory. A.k.a his supervisor that he don't know the name of and had no intention of knowing what it is.
"Got a minute?" The maniac ask with a friendly smile while holding the thickest file Parrot had ever seen.
"Depends.." Parrot muttered with a dry throat. "Is that file for me?"
The supervisor look down at the file before looking back at him "...Perchance"
"Yeah no."
His supervisor let out a loud sigh, having expecting this reaction before pulling out an empty chair. Putting the file on the desk with a dull thud.
"You know that's not how that works." The old man said with the know it all voice.
God, Parrot hated him.
He let out an even louder sigh and crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the almost-bald man sitting across from him.
"I literally just finished three reports."
"Three short reports."
"So?"
"Which means you have plenty of time to spare for another one."
Parrot opened his mouth. Then closed it.
The response he wanted to give would probably get him fired on the spot. So instead, he clicked his tongue and slumped further into his chair that only earned him a glare from the older man.
For a second none of them spoke.
They had done this enough times to understand the routine.
And to be honest, this part of the day is the only time Parrot talk to another human being. Sad isn't it.
...
Anyways, the supervisor then slid the file towards him with an expression that made Parrot instantly knew that.. whatever was in that file wasn't a light hearted task that he could half-assed like usual.
"Special assignments." The older man says with a serious voice.
Reluctantly, Parrot then proceeded to open the file.
Inside were several pages of notes, maps and observations reports. Boring stuff.
He skimmed through the pages and ignored some stuff. Only focusing on the highlighted ones.
Slowly his expression shifted from annoyed to more of a confused look.
"Huh."
The supervisor raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?" he repeated.
Parrot flipped back a page. Then another and another.
"No recorded dimensional visitors."
"Mhm." The supervisor humm in affirmation.
"No contact with outside organizations."
"Correct."
Parrot frowned.
"Then why are we even investigating it? It looks fairly normal from what I've seen."
The supervisor tapped a specific section of the report. Parrot followed his finger, his eyes landed at the bottom of the page was a single line written in red ink.
•Universe Status: Unstable
The room suddenly felt much quieter as Parrot stared at the words for a few more seconds. For a moment, he simply stared. The noise from the hallway seemed to vanish. The hum of the lights faded into the background.
Unstable.
This can not be real rn.
Parrot leaned back slowly and rubbed his face. He'd never personally dealt with an unstable universe before. Nobody with the right mind wanted to.
They were the sort of assignments people whispered about after work. The sort that generated incident reports thick enough to stop a bullet. Most inspectors spent their entire careers avoiding them.
In conclusion, it's basically a death trap.
And right now, Parrot is now being assigned to the said death trap.
He slowly inhale before exhaling and look up at the older man with a soft forced smile.
"Pleasee, tell me I'm not the one being assigned to go into this universe," Parrot said, his voice carrying far more desperation than dignity.
The older man noticed the panic slowly spreading across his face and let out a sigh, as though he wasn't the one responsible for assigning the mission in the first place.
"You're our best available inspector." He said with a sad tone that made Parrot eye slightly twitch from the audacity.
They both know that was not the truth.
And they both know the actual reason on why Parrot was the one assigned to this task. He wasn't that stupid.
If an assignment had a high probability of ending in disaster, would you send your most valuable employee?
Of course not.
You'd send the guy whose reports were consistently late, whose performance reviews were average at best, and whose disappearance would result in little more than a brief moment of awkward silence during the next staff meeting.
The older man looked away for a moment, suddenly finding the papers on the desk far more interesting than maintaining eye contact.
"I'll leave the file with you," he said. His tone shifted back into something professional. Distant. Detached.
"Read through it. Briefing is tomorrow morning."
"Wait—you're leaving already?" Parrot protested, but it only fell on deaf ears as the supervisor had already turned toward the door.
"Try not to overthink it."
That was all he said before walking out. The door clicked shut behind him.
Parrot stared at it for a moment, expecting.. he wasn’t sure what. Maybe for the man to come back in. Maybe to add something. Maybe to admit this was some kind of mistake.
Nothing happened.
The hallway outside carried on like normal.
Parrot slowly leaned back in his chair. Rethinking his life choices and staring at his desk for a few more minutes.
A faint shift of fabric followed the movement of his wings as they adjusted behind him, brushing lightly against the backrest before settling again. Long feathers—blue, green, and yellow—rested loosely against him, a little ruffled from hours of sitting still.
He hadn’t bothered preening them properly in days. Maybe longer. He didn’t really keep track anymore since they were just a nuisance to him.
He dragged a hand down his face, pressing his fingers over his eyes for a moment.
Parrot let out a long, exhausted breath through his nose.
All that work.
All those reports.
All those years of showing up, logging in, writing things down, pretending it all led somewhere other than more paperwork.
It all just lead him to be thrown into an unstable universe as a sacrifice.
He lowered his hand slowly.
“…God damnit.”
——————————
The office was different at night. Without the usual conversations drifting through the hallways and the constant scratching of pens against paper, even the faint hum of the overhead lights seemed louder than usual.
Parrot sat alone at his desk, staring at the report one last time. The red stamp at the top of the page practically glared back at him.
Universe Status: Unstable
The words looked just as terrible as they had two days ago.
Or three days ago?
Ahh who cares. He's about to die anyway.
With a tired sigh, he closed the file and rubbed a hand over his face.
"Bro.." He groaned loudly.
His gaze drifted across the office, taking in the familiar mess surrounding him. Half-finished reports were stacked unevenly across one corner of the desk. Several drawers refused to close properly because they were stuffed with paperwork he kept promising himself he would organize someday.
A cold cup of black coffee sat forgotten near the edge of the table, having long since evolved into something that probably violated workplace safety regulations.
Everything looked exactly the same as it had yesterday.
Exactly the same as it had last week.
And assuming he survived, it would probably still look exactly the same when he came back.
The thought wasn't particularly comforting.
Pushing himself out of the chair, Parrot stretched his arms over his head before immediately regretting it as his wings shifted behind him. The movement sent several feathers brushing against the back of the chair, forcing him to awkwardly readjust before anything got caught.
Being an avian was significantly less graceful than most people imagined.
His attention then shifted toward the satchel resting beside the desk. Unlike the office, the bag was surprisingly organized. Years of traveling between universes had taught him exactly what was worth carrying and what wasn't.
A notebook.
Several pens. (some of them may not work anymore but it's the thoughts that count ok.)
His work id card.
A small first-aid kit.
And, the thing that cost more that he even worth as a person, the dimensional beacon.
Parrot reached into the bag and pulled the device out for a quick inspection. It was a small metal cylinder, barely larger than his hand, with several faint runes etched along its surface. A soft blue light pulsed near the center, indicating it was still functioning.
That's good... Hopes it stays that way though.
The beacon was the most important piece of equipment an inspector could carry. The Department could open a portal to send someone into a universe easily enough, but bringing them back was a different story. Once deployed, the beacon acted as an anchor point, allowing the extraction team to locate him when the return window arrived.
No beacon meant no portal and no portal means no ride home.
Parrot had never needed to test what happened after that. Nor did he intend to start now.
After confirming the device was still active, he slipped it back into the satchel beside the report.
Now for the fit check.
A large bundle of fabric hung over the back of his chair. His travel cloak wasn't particularly fashionable, but it did exactly what he needed it to do. The dull green material draped heavily over his shoulders as soon as he pulled it on, swallowing most of his frame beneath layers of fabric. Combined with the lighter tunic underneath and the worn leather straps crossing his waist, it gave him the appearance of someone far more competent and mysterious than he actually was.
The scarf came next.
A few practiced movements wrapped the fabric around his neck and lower face until only the upper portion of his features remained visible. Then came the hood, which cast enough shadow over his eyes to make him almost unrecognizable.
Almost because his wings required a little bit more effort.
Reaching for the bindings on his desk, Parrot carefully began wrapping them around the base of his wings. Years of practice made the process relatively quick. The broad feathers were gradually folded closer against his body before disappearing beneath layers of cloth and leather.
It wasn't comfortable, like at all, but it kept the wings from drawing attention and stopped them from getting caught on every doorway he walked through.
By the time he finished, there was very little left to suggest he was an avian at all.
Parrot glanced toward the dark window beside his desk. His reflection stared back at him through the glass.
The oversized cloak concealed most of his figure.
The scarf hid half his face.
The hood hid the rest.
He looked like the kind of person who carried ancient secrets and spoke exclusively in riddles.
The reality was far less impressive.
Instead he was some underpaid worker who carried the lore of the bite of 87 and spoke exclusively in brain rot.
Remember to stay unemployed kids.
With his satchel slung over one shoulder, Parrot finally stepped out of the office.
The door clicked shut behind him.
For a moment he stood there, staring at it.
Not because he was having second thoughts.
The Department simply had a habit of replacing perfectly functional doors with newer, more expensive versions every few years. As far as Parrot could tell, all the newer versions did exactly the same thing as the old ones.
The old ones had at least looked less annoying.
He shakes his head slightly before focusing back on his current task.
The corridor beyond was empty.
Not surprisingly empty. It was well past midnight and most of the Department had gone home hours ago..
His footsteps echoed quietly as he made his way toward the transport sector. The route took him through several security checkpoints, each one requiring some form of identification, authorization, or magical verification. Parrot had long stopped questioning why so many existed. The company just wants to show off their wealth I guess.
By the time he reached the transport level, the temperature had dropped enough for him to pull his cloak tighter around himself. Ahead stood a massive reinforced doorway covered in protective enchantments. Beyond it waited the portal chamber.
Parrot slowed his pace as he approached.
A small pedestal sat beside the door, fitted with a crystal interface. Without a word, he placed his hand above it.
The crystal flickered once, then twice, before projecting a thin line of light that scanned across his body. A brief pause followed, heavy enough to feel deliberate.
Then—
“Confirmed.”
The massive doors exhaled.
A deep, grinding hum filled the corridor as layers of enchanted metal and stone began to shift apart.
God, this is so dramatic for no reason.
The transport sector disappeared behind him, replaced by an immense circular chamber carved into black stone. Floating sigils rotated slowly in the air above, suspended like broken constellations held together by invisible threads. Every symbol pulsed in a different rhythm, as if the room itself was thinking.
At the center stood the portal.
A tall vertical distortion shimmered with shifting colors. The surface rippled like water. It is quite pretty until you see the bold text on the board on top of it stating warnings and how if you die, you can't sue.
He has done this over a million times but for some reason... this time he felt more under pressure. (Who would have thought.)
Parrot hesitated for only a moment. Before letting out a sigh and readjust the scarf on his face.
"Let's just get this over with bro.." he muttered under his breath.
He stepped toward the portal with a final stride.
One moment Parrot was stepping through the portal, surrounded by swirling bands of distorted light and the familiar feeling of reality stretching in directions it was never meant to stretch.
The next, everything vanished.
Reality snapped back into place like a jump scare.
Cold stone greeted his boots.
A wall greeted his face.
Parrot blinked once.
Then twice.
"..."
This was quite closer than what he usually preferred.
Far closer.
He was close enough that he could make out tiny cracks running through the stone and the faint discoloration left behind by years of weather and neglect.
If it had transported him any inches further, half of his body would be infused with a wall like that one guy who was stuck in a literal tree for weeks because of a malfunction.
Yeah no thanks :))
Taking a step backward, he finally managed to get a proper look at his surroundings.
An alleyway..?
Narrow enough that he could nearly touch both walls if he stretched out his arms.
For several seconds, he simply stood there.
The report had described an unstable universe.
The Department had classified it as a lost cause from how unstable it is. And even his supervisor had looked like a man signing a death certificate.
And yet...
The world looked perfectly normal. At least to him.
This was far tamer than some of the universe he had visited.
With a quiet sigh, Parrot adjusted the strap of his satchel and headed toward the mouth of the alley. The further he walked, the louder the noise became. What had originally sounded like distant chatter slowly separated into hundreds of individual voices layered on top of one another.
The report hadn't provided many details. Just the usual warnings, an unstable classification, and several pages of increasingly vague observations.
Considering the Department's standards, he had been expecting something dramatic.
The moon expanding.
A giant crack in reality.
Maybe even a monster.
Instead, the moment he stepped out of the alley, the city practically exploded around him.
People filled every corner of the street. Merchants occupied rows of temporary stalls while children darted through the crowd carrying ribbons and small flags. Bright banners hung between buildings overhead, swaying gently in the afternoon breeze. Flowers decorated windows, rooftops, and even several lamp posts.
There were entirely too many things happening at once.
Yet Parrot couldn't help but to find it beautiful and.. suspicious.
Something wasn't adding up.
A sudden movement beside him nearly caused him to get shoved into the street. Someone brushed past his shoulder without slowing down, followed by several more people hurrying in the same direction.
There were entirely too many people.
The crowd seemed endless. Everywhere he looked there were more faces, more voices, more movement. The city streets overflowed with citizens gathering around the main road as if waiting for something to arrive.
Or someone.
The first trumpet blast cut through the city like lightning.
Now don't get him wrong, the crowd was loud earlier. But after the trumpet? He was sure that he's going to go deaf if he stays here any longer.
'Nope.' He turned around to get back inside the alley, but it was already crowded with people.
People surged toward the main road from every direction with no regards of personal space..
Yeah.. Parrot immediately regretted leaving the alley.
The crowd swallowed him before he could even consider retreating again.
"Excuse me—" Someone bumped into his shoulder.
"Sorry—" Another person nearly stepped on his foot. Oop, a person did just stepped on his foot.
"Bro!?" Parrot opened his mouth to complain before realizing nobody could hear him over the cheering as the crowd push him forward anyway.
He swallowed the pain in silence.
A second trumpet sounded far louder this time.
The reaction crowd somehow got worse as Parrot found himself being pushed deeper into the sea of people whether he wanted to or not. Every attempt to move sideways was met with another wall of bodies moving in the opposite direction.
A particularly enthusiastic citizen shoved past him hard enough to nearly knock him off balance.
Parrot stumbled forward, catching himself before he could fall into the person ahead of him.
As he straightened, something shifted.
His hood slid backward and dropped from his head. A few strands of messy brown hair fell into his eyes.
The cool air immediately felt better against his face than the heavy fabric ever had. Combined with the heat from the crowd and the scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face, breathing had become significantly more difficult than he appreciated.
After another minute of being shoved around by several hundred strangers, he finally pulled the fabric away from his mouth and let it rest around his neck.
Breathing instantly became easier.
The disguise was technically part of Department protocol.
The Department was also currently several universes away.
Besides, nobody ever paid attention to him before so why would this universe be any different?
As he adjusted the scarf, his gaze drifted upward. That was when he finally noticed the banners.
They hung from nearly every building, stretched between rooftops and swaying gently above the crowded streets. At first, he only noticed the colours. Red. Black. White. The same combination repeated over and over throughout the city until it became impossible to ignore.
Then he noticed the figure displayed on them or at least, what he could make out of the figure.
A man, probably. The details were difficult to see from where he stood. Long pale hair. A crown. Some clothes that looked expensive enough to fund a village for a year.
Parrot squinted at the nearest banner, attempting to make out more details. It did absolutely nothing. His eyesight had never been particularly impressive, and the distance certainly wasn't helping.
Still, he didn't need perfect vision to connect the dots. Between the banners, the decorations, the music, and the overwhelming amount of people crowding the streets, the answer became fairly obvious.
A royal celebration.
Maybe a coronation.
Maybe an anniversary.
Or maybe it's the end of the world and people were celebrating their last moments and that's why this was an unstable universe in the first place.
He just wants to get this over with ok?!
Well whatever the occasion was, the city had clearly decided it was important enough to turn half the kingdom into a festival.
Parrot found himself staring at the nearest banner for a moment longer than intended. Before a cheer erupted somewhere ahead breaking him in his short dazed state. It was louder than before. Louder than any of the previous cheers.
The sound rolled through the city like a wave, spreading from one end of the street to the other.
Parrot instinctively looked up.
Then somebody slammed into his shoulder.
The world lurched sideways.
"—Whoa!" He stumbled forward, barely managing to keep his footing before another person bumped into him from behind. The force pushed him several steps further into the crowd.
Then several more.
The cheering intensified.
People surged toward the main road with renewed enthusiasm, completely abandoning any concept of personal space in the process.
Every few seconds another wave of movement swept through the street, carrying him along whether he liked it or not. His satchel bounced awkwardly against his hip while strangers continuously brushed past him from every direction.
Someone stepped on his foot (again..)
A child nearly ran into his knees.
An elderly woman somehow overtook him despite being half his size. Wait, what the hell??
Parrot found himself being pushed deeper into the sea of people whether he wanted to or not. Every attempt to move sideways was met with another wall of bodies moving in the opposite direction.
After a few more moments of Parrot trying his best to survive, the crowd finally settled. Or at least, settled as much as several thousand excited people could.
At some point during his battle against the population of an entire kingdom, he'd lost any resemblance of looking presentable. His hair was probably a mess right now.
He lifted a hand and rubbed at one of his eyes before brushing several loose strands of brown hair out of his face. They immediately fell back into place.
Oh, ok nice.
With a quiet sigh, he rubbed at the side of his face and finally took a proper look around. Only then did he realize he wasn't standing in a street anymore.
At some point during his unwilling journey through the city, the crowd had carried him into a massive open plaza.
The space stretched far wider than any street he had seen so far, surrounded on all sides by tall stone buildings decorated with banners and flowers.
Red, black, and white fabric draped from balconies overhead, swaying gently in the afternoon breeze. Every railing seemed covered in ribbons. Every window appeared occupied by curious spectators leaning out for a better view.
The entire city looked as though it had spent weeks preparing for this.
At the very center of the plaza stood a raised stone platform.
Parrot's eyes were immediately drawn toward it.
Several broad staircases led up to the structure from different directions, while polished stone pillars framed its edges. Guards stood at attention around the base.
Unlike the rest of the cittheiry, the area around the platform remained completely clear.
Not a single citizen had crossed the barriers.
Not even the children.
"Damn.."
This wasn't simply a festival.
It was a gathering.
(no shit sherlock)
Parrot's gaze lingered on the platform for a few moments before his eyes shifted to the guards. The guards were close enough now that he could make out the silver detailing on their uniforms.
Woah is this what it feels like to get a front row seat in a concert?
The realization came and went without much thought.
Across the plaza, excitement continued to build. More people flooded into the square from the surrounding streets while others stood on benches, crates, and anything else capable of giving them a slightly better view. Every conversation seemed to revolve around the same topic, though Parrot only caught fragments as voices blended together around him.
"Can't believe it's already been—"
"—never missed one—"
"Do you think he'll—"
The rest was lost beneath another burst of cheering.
Parrot winced slightly. He rarely talk to people and now suddenly the universe had forced him to interact? With people?? So not cool bro.
Suddenly the sound of trumpets echoed through the square. Now that he's closer, it almost deafened his ears from how loud it was.
How many times are they going to keep blowing that damn trumpet?
Thousands of voices merged into one deafening roar as heads turned toward the main avenue leading into the plaza. Children climbed onto benches. Adults craned their necks for a better view. Even the guards standing around the platform seemed to straighten ever so slightly.
Parrot found himself looking in the same direction as everyone else when a sudden movement near one of the staircases caught his attention.
A gate.
Hidden between two sections of stonework near the base of the platform. He didn't noticed that before.
The gate slowly opened and the reaction from the crowd was immediate. A ripple passed through the plaza as conversations abruptly stopped. Heads turned. People shifted forward instinctively. Even Parrot found himself straightening slightly.
Four figures emerged from the entrance. The crowd immediately recognized them. Parrot, unfortunately and obviously, did not.
His gaze drifted over the group as they approached the platform.
One of them had bright yellow wings folded neatly behind his back with some sunglasses hiding his eyes. Another possessed broad grey wings and a gaze so intense that Parrot instinctively looked away after a few seconds.
A third had purple hair, black horns, and..
Parrot blinked.
Was that a crown? A small crown sat comfortably between the man's horns.
He wasn't in the poster so who is this poser?
Deciding it wasn't his problem, he moved on.
The remaining member of the group were equally difficult to ignore. A broad-shouldered man with long dreadlocks and a dark blindfold covering his eyes. Also accompanied with a set of red horns himself.
Together, the four climbed the platform without a single wasted movement and eventually spread out across the platform, taking positions near its edges as though they had done this countless times before. None of them spoke. None of them acknowledged the cheering crowd.
They simply waited.
Parrot shifted slightly where he stood.
For a brief moment, the city grew surprisingly quiet.
Then the trumpets sounded for the hundredth time today. Guess they really like the trumpet huh.
The sharp notes cut through the plaza three times, echoing against the surrounding buildings before fading into the distance.
Cheers rolled across the city like thunder, loud enough that Parrot could feel the vibrations beneath his boots. People raised banners overhead. Some waved flowers. Others simply shouted themselves hoarse.
His gaze followed everyone else's toward the avenue.
And finally,
He understood what all the excitement was about.
A figure emerged from the street beyond the plaza.
Long white hair caught the afternoon sunlight, almost seeming to glow against the sea of colours surrounding him. Rich black robes draped elegantly over his frame, embroidered with crimson patterns that shimmered faintly whenever the light struck them. A dark cape flowed behind him with each measured step, trailing just enough to be dramatic without becoming impractical.
Even the crown on his head was nothing to be ignored.
Dark metal curved upward into intricate shapes that resembled twisting branches or thorns, while deep red gemstones sat embedded between them like drops of captured sunlight.
The king continued forward at an unhurried pace, acknowledging the crowd with the occasional nod as cheers followed him from every direction. He looked perfectly composed despite the thousands of people calling his name.
The closer he came, the easier it became to make out his features. And unfortunately, that only made things worse.
Because the man was—
Well.
Annoyingly beautiful. Ethereal even.
There was no other way to describe it. Parrot had traveled through hundreds of universes. He had seen nobles, heroes, villains, gods, and at least three people who claimed to be the physical embodiment of destiny. None of them had looked like this.
Everything about him seemed carefully crafted. The pale hair. The striking white eyes. The effortless confidence. Even the way he carried himself made it seem as though he belonged exactly where he was.
The king continued forward at an unhurried pace, acknowledging the crowd with the occasional nod as cheers followed him from every direction. He looked perfectly composed despite the thousands of people calling his name.
"Saparata!"
"Saparata!"
"Saparata!"
The chant rolled through the city like thunder.
Thousands of voices merged together, echoing against rooftops and stone walls alike. The very air seemed to vibrate with it.
For a few seconds, Saparata simply stood there.
The afternoon sunlight caught in his pale hair, turning it almost silver against the darker colours of his robes.
Then he raised a hand.
The gesture was so small and effortless yet the effect was immediate.
The chanting began to fade like a tide slowly retreating from shore, the voices gradually fell away until only scattered cheers remained.
Then those disappeared too. Until an impossible silence settled across the plaza.
Parrot almost let out a squawk at how uncanny that was.
The king gaze swept slowly over the sea of people gathered before him. Over the decorated streets. Over the rooftops crowded with spectators. Over the countless faces turned toward him in anticipation.
Then, at last, a small smile touched his lips.
"My people."
His voice wasn't particularly loud.
Yet somehow it carried. Clear and steady, reaching every corner of the plaza without effort.
(Bro is him)
The speech began exactly how Parrot expected it to. Boringgg.
There were the usual greetings.
And there were promises.
There were several statements about prosperity, unity, and the future that sounded important enough to make the crowd nod approvingly.
Parrot listened for approximately thirty seconds. Then he stopped. His brain simply wandered away on its own.
The king's voice continued drifting across the plaza as Parrot's attention shifted elsewhere. He watched a bird land on a nearby rooftop. It was far more interesting than listening to the king yapping.
"...and the continued prosperity of our kingdom..."
Parrot nodded absently. That sounded like something kings usually said.
"...the future we will build together..."
Another classic.
At this point he was fairly certain all royal speeches were written by the same person.
After a few more minutes of tuning out the kings loud political speech. Saparata suddenly paused mid speech that made Parrot’s eyes flicked back to the platform without him fully deciding to.
"..."
"One year and six months ago," Saparata continued with a noticeable change of tone, rolling the words out with a faint sigh. Even his once cold and professional demeanour had slightly been altered to a more dismissive one.
"this kingdom was, technically speaking, falling apart. Food shortages, collapsing infrastructure, internal disputes, people making decisions they thought were smart at the time."
His eyes flicked toward the horizon for a moment, as if recalling something vaguely irritating rather than tragic.
"Most of you remember that period," he added. "Or at least you should. I would be impressed if anyone forgot."
A few scattered chuckles moved through the crowd before dying quickly under the weight of silence. Then, just slightly, the king's expression shifted to a more.. annoyed look?
Then, almost casually, Saparata added, “And of course, there was the former king.”
Parrot paused for a second. His brows frowning slightly from pure confusion and curiosity.
"Let's just say... he had a talent for turning simple problems into very complicated disasters." The king slightly waves his hand around.
“It was honestly very impressive.” A small chuckle left him, light and almost amused.
"Anyways—" The king's tone shifted again, the brief trace of amusement disappearing as he slipped back into something more king-like.
Parrot barely heard the next sentence. His attention remained stuck on what had just been said.
The former king.
Apparently an entire kingdom nearly collapsing because of him. To Parrot that sounded far more interesting. Way more interesting than whatever is happening right now.
For a brief moment, Parrot found himself wishing he had arrived here earlier. Just enough to see whatever disaster had apparently unfolded.
He shifted slightly where he stood, adjusting the satchel hanging from his shoulder as his gaze drifted away from the platform again.
Because now that he was thinking about it...
Nothing about this place was making any sense. Not a single thing.
This universe had been labelled as unstable.
UNSTABLE, I repeat.
The kind of label that usually came attached to reality fractures, dimensional anomalies, hostile entities, or at the very least a giant glowing problem visible from several miles away.
Instead, he'd arrived to find a functioning city with a hot ruler. No homo though.
Honestly, he'd been to stable universes that looked significantly worse.
His frown deepened further. He had been here for what? An hour? Maybe a little more. So it was (I guess) understandable if he didn't have a solid reasonings yet.
But for goodness sake— he just wants this to be over with already.
The speech continued in the background, Saparata's voice carrying across the plaza while the crowd listened attentively. Parrot caught maybe every fifth sentence at this point.
His eyes drifted across the city once more, searching the crowds, the buildings, the decorations—anything that might explain the feeling gnawing at the back of his mind.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Nothing stood out.
With a quiet sigh, Parrot lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, pushing several loose strands away from his face. The movement only succeeded in making it messier than before.
His gaze wandered across the plaza again, drifting lazily over the crowd before eventually finding its way back toward the platform again.
And stopped.
Hazel eyes met white ones.
Suddenly it felt as if the rest of the plaza seemed to vanish. The cheering crowd. The banners. The speech. It was all tuned out from Parrot's brain.
The king was looking directly at him.
White eyes remained fixed on him from atop the platform.
Unblinking.
At first, Parrot didn’t react.
It didn’t feel important. People looked around all the time. It was a crowded square, and the king was facing forward. Eye contact could happen by accident.
It was normal.
So why—
The thought collapsed before it could even finish forming.
Something cold crawled down his spine. A strange pressure settled in Parrot’s chest, tightening with each passing second, like invisible fingers curling around his ribs. His heartbeat didn’t speed up so much as it stuttered, uneven and wrong, as though it too wasn’t sure whether it was allowed to continue normally.
Parrot’s breath hitched—
He knows this feeling. He knows it really well.
It was his instincts acting up. Making him frozen in fear because of..
a mere eyecontact?
Yet still, every survival instinct in his body suddenly screamed at him to leave.
Run.
Hide.
Now.
His hand tightened on the strap of his satchel without him thinking about it. His fingers felt stiff, almost numb at the joints. He felt like a deer in a headlight.
The crowd around him remained oblivious.
Taking a deep breath, he push away his stupid instinct. This was just a man on a platform. It'll be fine.
Slowly he finally broke under his frozen state.
Parrot reached up quickly, fingers catching the edge of his hood. The fabric slid back into place, shadowing the upper half of his face once more.
Not wanting to spend more time standing there, he turned around to walk away from this freaky place...
And promptly walked into somebody's shoulder.
"Oi."
Parrot stumbled backward.
Before he could recover, someone else bumped into him from the opposite side.
The crowd had shifted again.
Parrot tried stepping sideways.
A family occupied the space.
Tried the other direction.
Blocked.
Forward?
People.
Backward?
More people.
The realization hit him all at once.
He was trapped.
The plaza was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with citizens watching the ceremony. Everyone's attention remained fixed on the platform like mindless bots they are.
Parrot swallowed and slowly, very carefully, he looked back toward the platform.
White eyes met hazel once more.
The king hadn't looked away.
Not once.
The feeling from earlier didn't leave.
Parrot stood frozen amongst the crowd, every instinct in his body screaming at him to move while every logical thought insisted he was overreacting.
Nothing had happened.
The king was simply looking at him.
That was all.
And yet the longer the eye contact continued, the more it felt like standing too close to the edge of a cliff. As if he's being inspected like a rare animal in a cage.
Even with the hood and scarf covering his face, it still felt like the king could practically sees pass it.
Then, without warning, Saparata barked out a laugh. The sound was so sudden and misplaced that it felt like something straight out of a poorly timed comedic relief scene.
Thousands of people stood staring toward the platform, confusion spreading through the crowd faster than any speech ever could. Even from where he stood, Parrot could see several guards exchanging uncertain glances. One of the heavily armed figures near the edge of the platform visibly turned toward the king, looking just as confused as everyone else.
Parrot really couldn't blame them. Because he's also confused to.
Now if he wasn't still being stared down by the king right now, yes the king is still looking directly at him, maybe he would've put on his thinking hat and find out the reasoning behind the king's sudden laughter.
Parrot is not panicking. But he is mildly and terribly concerned on why the king is laughing at his face. He doesn't look that out of place does he?
For a brief moment Saparata raised a hand toward his face, as though trying to compose himself. The effort lasted all of three seconds before another laugh slipped through.
Oh hell naw.
He had enough of the king tweaking and decided to flee out of there. Immediately.
Anddd he found himself facing the unfortunate reality that several thousand people had chosen to occupy the exact same stretch of ground.
His path was blocked.
The crowd packed tightly around the plaza, shoulder to shoulder, all attention still focused on the platform behind him.
For a brief moment, parrot tried to past through the crowd politely, things like "excuse me—" and "Can I just—" left his mouth yet unheard by the crowd.
Behind him, another laugh rang out.
Nope.
Parrot full on just shoved forward. Pushing anyone in his way with no more regards. They were the one that caused him to be here in the first place.
People stumbled aside with startled protests. Someone dropped a basket. A child nearly lost hold of a small flag before catching it at the last second. Within moments, a ripple of confusion spread outward from Parrot's position as more and more people turned to see what was happening.
Unfortunately, that only made him easier to spot.
Parrot risked a glance over his shoulder. A big mistake on his part.
Saparata was still standing at the front of the platform. Smiling like a mad man while his eyes still burning holes in Parrot's retreating figure.
Then the king lifted one hand and pointed.
Directly at him.
The gesture was so casual it almost looked lazy.
"Get him."
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then one of the men groaned.
"D'alright."
He rested his mace over one shoulder and took a step forward, looking far more pleased about the situation than any reasonable person should have been.
Honestly, it looked like he had been waiting for something interesting to happen all afternoon.
Beside him, another man let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I thought today would be a rest day."
"Maybe the guy's just leaving," someone suggested.
A pause.
Then he looked toward the hooded stranger currently bulldozing his way through the crowd.
"...ahh, scratch that."
The crowd parted briefly as Parrot shoved his way between two very confused citizens. Another fruit basket hit the ground. A child's crying can also be heard from the distance.
Parrot may or may have not kicked a child in the process of leaving but it's totally out of self defense.
"Think he's dangerous?"
One of them glanced toward the crowd.
The hooded figure was currently elbowing his way through a group of confused citizens while repeatedly looking over his shoulder.
A snort escaped somebody.
The blindfolded man remained silent throughout the discussion.
For a brief moment, all four looked toward the king. Perhaps hoping for some sort of clarification.
Yet the king's finger remained pointed squarely at the fleeing figure.
Waiting.
Patiently.
Expectantly.
The message was clear. Questions could come later. The arrest came first.
Saparata tilted his head slightly, tearing his gaze from the figure to look at the group.
"Well?"
That settled it.
The man with the mace rolled his shoulders.
Another adjusted the weapon at his side.
Someone muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a complaint.
Then, without another word, all four turned toward the edge of the platform.
Far below, Parrot made the unfortunate mistake of looking back.
Four pairs of eyes were looking directly at him.
The realization hit him instantly.
"Oh."
A beat.
"...Oh you've got to be kidding me."
And then the wild chase began.