As the initial shock of Discord's request finally worked its way through Commander Styx's mind, he changed his expression to that of a simple glare; he was quite annoyed at their captive's boldness to request anything from them. As if he head any room to bargain, having seriously injured many of the Changelings.
"And why, amongst any semblance of reason," he said, "would we allow such a dangerous, vile creature such as yourself to come anywhere near our queen? Do you wish harm upon her?"
Discord chuckled quietly, still lost in his apparent luck-- in that his old "friend" actually existed in this world.
"Would it surprise you at all, if I said no," he answered back. "I would wish any harm upon her highness. She may not understand until we meet again, but I know her far better than many of you would."
This time, it was the commander's turn to let out a laugh. "You would dare insist you know her more than her own children?"
Discord pursed his lips, thinking. "You know what, fair assessment of my statement. But, let me rebuild it; I say I know her far better than any other being from outside your apparent kingdom ever should."
Commander Styx still chuckled at the naivety of the human, but thought carefully; he wanted to enjoy this human's disappointment at the stone cold shoulder their queen would have.
"Very well, human," he said, grinning. "While I do not believe our mother will give you even a moment of her time after she finds out what you have done, we shall take you to her. You are only going for my amusement, but perhaps if you get lucky, she may give you a lesser punishment."
Discord nods to the commander. "Well, if we are going to go that far, tell her my name is Discord. She will no doubt be unable to place the name, as I never revealed it to her."
With a nod, and a snap of his fingers, the entourage of Changelings forced Discord to follow them; clearing the goo around his feet, and now just binding his hands. As they marched with him, the crowd generally remained silence, though the commander could still be heard chuckling to himself from time to time.
Discord decided to take this time to ask one question that had been bothering him. "Commander, would you mind if I asked a few questions, myself?"
Commander Styx simply gave him a nod, marching the group ahead.
"Thank you," Discord replied. "As I was first wandering into this area, I noticed than many portions of the black substance, or stone, had human carcasses buried into them. How are they made?"
Commander Styx did not answer the question, to Discord's disappointment. It seemed he was giving him permission, but not playing into the human's games. This time, instead of being ignored, Discord felt the urge to stare at the commander, more specifically his eyes. And so he stared, much to the commander's discomfort. While he was not unused to being looked at, Commander Styx did not appreciate how almost judgemental this human's eyes were. Discord finally turned away just as the commander felt he was going to snap at their captive.
"So, from what I gather," Discord said, "it is some sort of substance you guys secrete. Not you specifically, but a specific group of your hive; it comes out as a black gel-like liquid, and cements when exposed to some moisture. I assume either rain, or fogs can be a catalyst after letting it set for a few moments."
The commander stopped in his tracks, along with the other Changelings beside him, turning to give him a very stern stare.
"How did you do that, ape?" he said, growling loudly.
To his own surprise, Discord felt more confident at having cracked the stoic commander's demeanor. He wasn't afraid at all. But, he couldn't answer this question with any substance. He simply chose to stare at the Changeling, and got what he needed from some unknown source.
"Honestly, Commander," he answered, "I have not the slightest clue. When you decided not to answer, I felt some natural tug to just look at you. Then, I started hearing some strange whisperings as you started to get a bit more agitated."
"If you try to read my thoughts again," Commander Styx spoke sternly, with a deadly glare, "I will personally deliver your head to the queen on a pike made of our stone!"
Discord blinked, taken aback by the commander's defensive stance, but mostly his accusation of though reading.
"Well, I promise not to do that," Discord said, giving a two handed salute. "But, that means I need to do some research as to whether or not my potions are having some effects on me."
"Potions, human?" Commander Styx asked. "From what the queen has spoken of, humans long ago were very interested in natural magic; aside from us, however, they could not generally harvest it."
Discord nodded in response. "I use flora and some insects to produce them. So, I somewhat steal the natural magic from the surrounding area."
The commander seemed to relax, but motioned of his drones to go forth, as the band of Changelings with a human in tow approached the palace. Discord had not noticed the structure at first, but as they cleared the thick forest of the black, stone obelisks it became much more distinct from the surround delta. Discord began to refer to them as blackstone, being the most descriptive, albeit most uncreative name he could conjur for the time being.
Discord walked inside the large palace doors, which were adorned with different shades of this blackstone substance. While it was all the same, the many different hues of black, and shades of gray produced stunningly distinct artworks on the doors, walls, and columns. As the band approached the throne room, a much more vertically impressive Changeling stood in front of her throne. Discord's heart fluttered some; as, despite the current circumstances, he could see this was indeed the object of his early attention back when her majesty would use him to air her grievances and sorrows.
As they came within a decent distance, the collection stopped, and all knelt for the queen. Discord, aside from being smitten, still found the time to follow their suit, giving the queen her well earned respect.
"Rise, my children," she spoke aloud, though softly enough to her young. "And stranger, remain kneeling until I say otherwise."
Discord gave a nod. "As you command, my queen."
She chuckled softly at his formal nature. "A drone came ahead of your escort, ape. They spoke in detail about how you were able to take many of my children down during your initial arrival. While I would say it was otherwise impressive, these are my children, and a mother would do a great disservice if she didn't express her anger at her children's aggressor."
Before Discord could question her statement, he found himself back on the ground following a firm brush of what felt like wind. Neither the queen or her soldiers had moved, and he was left very confused.
"What was that?" he said, almost immediately, looking around.
"That is called magic, human," she said, still scolding him. "And it is only a fraction of what I can use. While I would revel in destroying you for even daring to harm a single one of my dear Changelings, the messenger also alerted me to something you had said. You mentioned a statue."
Discord worked his way back onto his knees, giving a nod. "Yes, your highness. It may have been long ago, and I do not blame you if you had forgotten of it; but, I remember it quite strongly, and your name is still fresh in my mind, Queen Chrysalis."
The queen was silent, her eyes growing in surprise for a moment, before returning to their scolding appearance. "Human, if you do not clarify how you came across my name, and held onto it for all this time, I will destroy you. You have one chance, do NOT test me."
Discord smiled, giving a nod as he stood, despite her having not given him permission. He thought back to the days after the band of thieves and merchants had been destroyed. Hoping to gain great wealth, they lost everything during one storm. While they lost it all, Discord found himself discovering something new, in the queen herself. He tried thinking back to the days she would come; either escorted by her guards, or without. Those days were long, but they were filled with eye opening tails; Discord learned about natural magic. He learned as much about the Changeling queen as he could, though not much about their nature itself. He had still referred to them as revenants for so long, that he had disregarded the one that had broken that very mold. And there, he came upon one particular evening; she had often came to him with tails recounting her failures, and how she had felt her soldiers would see her.
Then came her true thoughts. How would her mother feel about her, now? Discord focused him mind one one of her most vocal periods, where she almost seemed to pray to her mother, the first queen.
He looked into Chrysalis's eyes, and began to recite what he could recall.
"Mother, as the years have past, I feel I have only failed you more. Your patience and strength held our nation of children together through the eons, even when our hive became the last to stand the test of time. Even now, I fail to understand our intentions; as though I fail repeatedly, our children remain faithful. I still follow your rules, your guidance, and insistence on keeping to the shadows. My failure in taking over the old empire taught me to never take one the humans, in their own heartlands--"
"--but even now, I question whether it was what you would demand," Chrysalis finished, staring intently.
Discord smiled. "Queen Chrysalis, my name is Discord. I was the stranger locked inside that hellish stone prison; I could still hear, and see all that was happening around me. I could not help anyone; I couldn't respond, yet you came to me time and time again. What was your motivation?"
She sighed, shooing away her children, so the two could speak in private; despite insistence from Commander Styx, who left after receiving a very serious stare from his queen.
"For once, in my many decades as queen, I had found something that resembled those of the past. The main difference being that this statue resembled both species enough for me to pretend it was one of my children. You would likely question why I didn't just speak to my own about my troubles; but, as you could likely see upon your arrival, not many of my Changelings are very articulate."
"So you resided in the one you hoped could understand above even your own Changelings," Discord added.
The queen nodded, smiling. "While I am quite miffed by the fact that you did harm some of my Changelings, I understand they were likely the aggressors. It is just in their nature."
Discord gave a shrug. "I tried not to kill any of them, if that comforts you any. Just to put the fear of Mother Nature into them."
She seemed to question his statement, but moved on to a more pressing question. "As for that, Discord, what did bring you into our home? As far as I know, even for long-lived beings like ourselves, we should not have a ton to offer you."
Discord nods, straightening, getting a bit more serious. "Well, Queen Chrysalis--"
"For you, Discord, drop the title," Chrysalis interrupted. "You have no clue how dull it gets to hear nothing but 'Queen' every day for the last few decades."
He nodded. "As you wish, Chrysalis. Now, as to my intrusion, I was actually following the trail of one of my dear friends. He is a large white dear named "King Aspen", and his trail died off at the edge of your kingdom."
The Changeling nodded her head. "Indeed, we do have the White Tail. We were unaware that he was anything other than a straggler; we did sense a large amount of pride and love, so we went for him. I assume it is not you, whom he shares this love with."
"Your assumption is right," Discord replied. "I am here on behalf of his mate, Queen Fyr, and their newborn son Prince Bramble. And I have come willing to bargain, or even simply trade to see his safe return; though, from what I have learned over the last few weeks, I might not have much of what you would desire."
"I see potions, and can sense some lingering on you," Chrysalis said. "And from how Commander Styx behaved behind you, I take it you have some natural magic of your own."
"This time, I will disagree," he answered, smiling. "While I do believe I was able to read Styx's mind briefly, it had been the first time I would have ever attempted it. Though, I am not otherwise magically inclined, outside of my concoctions. I am beginning to sense that these potions may have some lingering affects, but i will have to do some research on that front."
Chrysalis nodded, thinking for a moment. "Then, my dear, what would you have to trade? We do not need potions, and we have our own magic."
Discord nodded, thinking to himself. Magic would be useless, as they could cast it themselves; they did not need the potions, as she noted they have magic for themselves. He did not see any reason to try and trade food with them, as they did not consume the same sort of things that he would. But he did have one thing he could trade.
"My Queen," he said firmly. "I am willing to trade places with King Aspen; I wish his to be returned safely to the shelter I have made for his herd. And while I would be giving myself in return, I do wish for one more thing on top of it."
"Would this extra be to your advantage, or mine?" she said, smiling slyly.
"It would be for the White Tail," Discord answered. "I have a shelter for them in a cave, only being warmed by a spring, and a fireplace at the entrance. My only request is that I be allowed to return to replenish their supplies once per week."
Chrysalis nodded slowly, thinking. "Did Queen Fyr come with you, to find her mate?"
Discord nodded. "I left her beneath an overgrown root, at the edge of the empire."
"Go on, and bring her here," she said sweetly. "We will inform them on what you have decided to do. And what will be coming for the time being."
Discord nodded, giving her a bow, smiling. He then turned his attention as he left, joined by Commander Styx for guidance. The two stayed relatively silent, and Discord knew it would take time to get into any good sort of friendship with Commander Styx. However, he questioned how they were going to keep him alive long enough to fulfill his weekly promise.
"Commander Styx," he said, "might I ask a question you would actually answer?"
The Changeling nodded. "For once, I will answer your inquiry, human."
"I offered myself to the queen, in place of your current captive," he said, "on the condition that I be allowed to return once a week to help them replenish their supplies. Seeing as how you have dealt with past humans, how would the Changelings live up to that end of the deal?"
The commander smirked. "Well, I just lied to you. I will not answer that, Discord. Instead, I will leave it up to my queen to. Anyone whom she would allow to drop the formalities, as I could hear from beyond the door, clearly has her best side."
Discord nodded, arriving at the large tree, crouching below. "Your highness?"
The doe, who had long fallen asleep, opened her eyes to see her dear friend, tailed by the large Changeling guard. Sensing her fear, the guard held up one hand.
"While under any other circumstances," he said calmly, "this would be cause for alarm; I am simply here to guide you towards your mate, and allow him to return home."
It took some more convincing from Discord, featuring a warm embrace, and a promise of her safety, to get her to finally emerge, and follow the two. For once, Commander Styx opened himself to some conversation, though only to the doe. Discord figured he was getting some feeding from her strong emotions for her mate, so he resigned to listen to them. When they arrived back in the palace, Chrysalis stood with King Aspen by her side. Though weak, having been imprisoned in a sleep-inducing state, she explained, he would be back to full health within an hour. After he was strong enough, they would be allowed to leave.
King Aspen was worried, however, as he could sense something with Discord that was different. Any other being would have fare more difficulties negotiating the release of a Changeling's food source, if they didn't become part of it, themselves. Then Discord told them what they dreaded to hear.
"I offered myself to Chrysalis, in exchange for your release, King Aspen," he said, not allowing an interjection as he raised his hand, to which Chrysalis offered a continuation.
"While I will warn you Discord, to never read my mind without my permission in the future," she said, poking his shoulder, "this is not going to be the same as it was with you, your highness. As Discord was curious, this will be a different way for him to feed. While with you, I was feeding off more carnal love, the idea I have for Discord will leave him free in movement; in a sense, he will be my might, until time comes that I no longer need his assistance. His love, is quite pure; I will not likely be able to describe it more than how the Changeling's nature treats it. He will still be allowed to return once per week, as he has informed he that he has been sheltering you for the winter. That should give you the idea."
Queen Fyr seemed to relax a bit more, nodding slowly. "I believe I understand. What about Errant, Discord?
"She will need to remain with you," he said. "She is a strong protector, and I believe as with me, she would give her own life above those of the herd's. Just, try not to overreact when she brings in her own fauna to eat."
Queen Fyr nodded, and King Aspen dejectedly decided to drop his argument.
Discord smiled. "Though, next time I visit, I will be stealing back some of my potion ingredients. I do still want to practice, and to see if I experience anymore changes due to them."
And as they came to say goodbye, Discord watched his friends be escorted off into the distance, hopefully back to their home. He stood by Queen Chrysalis, likely to be here for a good portion of not just winter, but a majority of his year two trials, should Mother permit it. While he definitely was going to miss his friends, even with the frequent visits, he hoped he could create a good alliance with his new Changeling "family" just long enough to go free at the end of their cycle.