As the craft fully descended onto the forest opening, the "Observers" departed from it to greet Elyndra.
[Welcome, Kerotian diplomat; we have been expecting you. Please come inside. Let us continue diplomatic meetings once we have arrived at our destination; for now we will answer your questions to our best ability.]
Elyndra, slightly confused by the unexpectedly warm welcome from the so-called "Mysterious Observers," quickly gathers herself for much-needed explanations of their actions.
She entered the craft and sat on a chair; Elyndra observed her surroundings. The walls are sleek white with a metallic sheen, the same banner on the wall hangs as a national symbol, and the air is sterile despite just being in the forest moments ago.
The "Observers" sat on the chair opposite to Elyndra, three of them all so different from one another. Describing them as having "eyes" would be inaccurate; instead, there is a strip of metal where their eyes would typically be, which emits a red hue. One has a long strip of light, while the other two have varying numbers of cylindrical lenses.
"I assume you are ready to answer my questions."
[Affirmative]
"So for my first question, who are you and where did you come from?"
[We are from the Hespetoroan Empire, and currently, there are no resource problems, so you or the denizens of Keros need not worry about war in the near future or at all.]
"Alright, that sounds reassuring. Second, where are we headed?"
[To the imperial capital, Ætheron, in which you will meet his sovereign, Wulric Ethos, for a diplomatic meeting between the Riaa' continent and the Keros continent.]
"My third and last question for now is the moon ring. Are you the ones that built it? If so, for what purpose?"
[Yes, we built it, though the rest is confidential; just know it is for defensive purposes and not offensive.]
"That is somewhat reassuring, but I'll just have to take your word for it."
After a few minutes of chit-chat and small questions, they have arrived at their destination. Elyndra thought the destination was far; she had been told it was distant and that they were flying faster than she could fathom, but the aircraft mitigated most of the distractions from the outside, providing comfort to the passengers inside.
What Elyndra saw outside the craft was nothing that could be compared to back home: spires that touch the skies, the same "comet" that was seen back home—leaving the earth and soaring into the cosmos; and a palace that dwarfs the ones in the Zytherian Dual Crown Empire's to shame.
Elyndra senses no mana coming from her environment and deduces that their society is magic-less. She enters the palace levitating, using magic to keep at eye level with the diplomats. As they reach the throne room, she sees that it was decorated to accommodate her, with traditional elven architecture.
[Welcome, Elyndra of Sylvaria. Take a seat.]
The man in front of her was Wulric Ethos; he was much larger than the other diplomats she had met before. He had a single band across his face emitting a red glow.
She was foretold that his sovereign has not yet installed the diplomat module and may lack proper diplomatic communication skills and most likely talk with efficiency, as they were unnecessary in the past.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Bows respectfully
Raises palm [There is no need for formalities, Elyndra of Sylvaria. You were not brought here to kneel.]
Elyndra straightened, her eye narrowing slightly at the phrasing. It was not warmth, but it was not dismissive either. Wulric Ethos lowered his hand, then gestured toward the seat prepared across from him.
[You were selected because your responses remained measured while the rest of Keros reacted through fear, faith, and rumor.]
Elyndra took her seat, still levitating just enough to remain level with him.
"Then you did not invite a diplomat," she said. "You invited a filter."
Wulric was silent for a moment.
[Correct.]
The room settled after that word.
[Before negotiation begins, one condition must be understood. We did not arrive on Aveen to conquer it.]
The red band across his face dimmed slightly, then returned to its steady glow.
[We are not native to this universe; we have no other explanations other than magic.]
"Magic? Is magic a foreign variable unknown to the nation?"
[Correct, during the few months we've been here, we have been putting all our resources into researching magic.]
"Can you explain the moon since I wasn't given a proper explanation except for defensive purposes?"
[Yes, I can. Other than a research outpost, it is used to defend against the Lithoids that live in the system.]
Elyndra did not answer at once.
The word had no place in any language she knew, but Wulric Ethos spoke it as if it belonged in a military record rather than a myth.
"Lithoids," she repeated. "Living stone?"
[Incomplete description. Acceptable for current understanding.]
The wall beside the throne changed. Its pale surface darkened into a field of stars. For a brief moment, a shape appeared within it, crystalline, distant and vast enough that scale became difficult to trust. It moved without wings, flame or sail.
Then the image vanished.
Elyndra kept her eye on the blank wall.
"That is all you will show me."
[For now.]
"Are they the reason you built the ring?"
[Yes.]
"Are they coming here?"
[They are present in this system.]
That answer was careful enough to be worse than comfort. Elyndra lowered herself slightly in the air until her levitation no longer seemed like an answer to his height.
"And Keros was not told because we would react."
[Because Keros would react before understanding. Reaction alters outcomes.]
"You built a shield over our world and let us think it was an omen."
[We built a shield over our position after arrival. Aveen became included by circumstance.]
The wording was precise. Too precise to be accidental.
Elyndra understood the shape of it then. Hespetoroa had not come as a conqueror, but neither had it come as a guest. It had arrived with a danger already measured, and Aveen had become part of that measurement.
"What do you need from Keros?"
[Stability.]
"That is not a diplomatic answer."
[It is the necessary answer.]
Wulric Ethos raised one hand. The display changed again, showing Keros, the ocean, the far continent and the ringed moon above them all.
[Uncontrolled fear creates signals. Signals create false readings. False readings reduce defensive efficiency. Keros must remain functional while assessment continues.]
Elyndra's eye narrowed.
"You brought me here to keep my continent quiet."
[Partially.]
"And the other part."
[To establish representation.]
The doors at the far end of the chamber opened without sound. Beyond them was a corridor of white stone and metal, lit with steady lines along the floor. The same tricolor hung at intervals: black, yellow and white. Beside each banner was the ringed diamond.
[You will not remain in the palace. A separate diplomatic residence has been prepared.]
"For Sylvaria."
[For Keros.]
That made her turn fully toward him.
"Keros has not agreed to one voice."
[Correct.]
"And yet you have made a place for it."
[Preparation does not require permission. Use does.]
For the first time since she arrived, Elyndra had no immediate reply.
Wulric Ethos stepped down from the raised platform. He did not approach too closely. The distance between them remained measured, deliberate and public.
[The embassy will be under your authority unless Keros provides a superior representative by agreed process.]
"You assume I will accept."
[No. I calculate that you will understand the cost of refusing before Keros understands the cost of acting without structure.]
It was not flattery. It was not a threat. That made it harder to dismiss.
Elyndra looked once more at the image of the ringed moon.
"I will require records," she said. "Translations. Maps. Limits of disclosure. A way to send messages home."
[Granted within security boundaries.]
"I will not lie for you."
[Not required.]
"I will not calm Keros by hiding danger."
[Unnecessary. You will calm Keros by preventing invention.]
That answer was close enough to her own protocol that she disliked it.
Wulric Ethos turned slightly toward the open doors.
[Your embassy is ready.]
The walk there was quiet. No crowd waited to stare at her. No court gathered to measure her size or shape. The few Hespetoroans they passed paused only long enough to acknowledge the sovereign, then returned to their tasks.
The embassy stood apart from the palace, connected by a suspended passage that overlooked Ætheron. From its windows, Elyndra saw the capital spread below in impossible tiers of glass, white metal, gardens under domes and towers that cut into the clouds. Far above, bright points moved with purpose through the sky.
Inside, the residence had been arranged with unsettling care.
The ceilings were lower than the palace's but still high enough for Hespetoroans. One chamber had living wood shaped in the style of Sylvaria, though no Sylvarian hand had grown it. Another held blank walls prepared for maps. A central room contained a long table with one seat raised to Elyndra's height, and many empty places around it.
For nations that had not yet arrived.
On the outer wall hung no imperial flag. Instead, there was a plain cloth, unmarked, waiting.
Elyndra understood the message.
Keros had no symbol here yet.
A Hespetoroan attendant stopped at the threshold.
[Embassy authority transferred. External contact pending your instruction.]
The door closed behind her.
For the first time since leaving Sylvaria, Elyndra was alone.
She floated before the empty cloth for a long while, listening to the silence of a building made for a continent that did not know it had been invited.
Then she looked out toward the city, toward the sky beyond it, and toward the ringed moon that no longer looked like an omen or a threat, just a reminder to stay vigilant.