A Path to a Different Happy Ending (Flower Husbands Empires Fic)

Chapter Seven: A Meeting and a Plan

"Pearl!" Rarran entered her room. "We have a message from Scott. He's hosting a meeting and he says it's urgent."

"Well, then we need to get going, don't we?" Pearl turned to grab her recently fixed elytra.

~*~

An hour, several stacks of rockets, and two elytras later, Pearl and Rarran arrived in Rivendell to find everyone else waiting.

"What's going on? What happened?" Rarran stepped forward.

"We don't know. Scott hasn't told us." Lizzie replied, and turned to Scott. "So. What's going on that's so urgent?"

"Someone's taken the Xornoth crystal." Scott said.

The other emperors broke into chaos.

"What do you mean?!?"

"Who?!?"

"How?!?"

"Why?!?"

"Calm down! Let me explain!" Scott called over the din.

Everyone shut up.

"So. I was heading to the Church of Aeor today, and when I went in, I was immediately told to check on the crystal. I did, and it was gone. Aeor told me that it had been there today. Also, there was a spell on the cave so that only an emperor could take it."

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Shubble asked what most of them were thinking. "If Aeor can tell when it was taken, can't he tell who took it?"

"No. He can only sense its presence, nothing more." Scott explained.

"I don't know why you're all so worried over something that's literally just a shard of red glass. You're all crazy." Joel said, then flew away.

"Oh my-" Lizzie groaned. "I've been trying to convince him that Xornoth was real, and not a mass hallucination, since we beat him. He still doesn't believe me! I'm gonna go see if I can actually convince him." She flew off after her husband.

"Oh, this is bad." Shubble said. "He could be out again! Who knows what he could do? The chaos he brought last time... Oh no..."

"This is going to ruin so much... Do you know how much time it took to clear all the corruption out of my empire last time?" Sausage said.

"That's assuming we can get rid of Xornoth! What if we can't this time?" fWhip asked.

The emperors broke into chaos, worried over the demon.

"Guys, guys!" Gem called. "Let's think about this calmly. Then we can fix it. So. Who can we clear of suspicion?"

"You and me. Scott said it was taken today, and we've been in the Nether most of the day." Shubble said.

"Rarran and myself have been in Pixandria for the last few days." Pearl added.

"I also doubt Scott would do it, then come tell us." Gem said, and Scott nodded.

"Can anyone else prove they couldn't - or wouldn't - have done it?" Rarran asked.

"I mean... Joel still doesn't believe Xornoth existed, and so wouldn't've taken it, but I don't think he'd be any help, for the same reason." Shubble pointed out.

"Yeah... And I'm guessing that no one else can confirm they couldn't've done it, since no one said anything?" Gem said.

"No. I didn't, but I can't prove it beyond a doubt, and I don't think anyone else can." Joey said.

"Alright, then. The five of us will figure out how to deal with this, since we don't want whoever took it to know." Gem decided. "Everyone else should go home and keep an eye on their empire for corruption. Come to one of us if something happens."

The others nodded and flew off, presumably to do what Gem had said.

After they were gone, Gem turned to Scott. "Do you have any other information for us about what happened?" 

"Well, I do know for sure that Sausage was there today - he killed me - and so was Joey. He had come for a wool trade. No one else was there officially. They may have come without me knowing."

"You know, talking about Joey, his eyes... It may have just been the lighting, or paranoia, but they seemed reddish." Pearl said.

"And, uh, little thing Gem and I didn't mention, Evil Sausage is in the world." Shubble said.

"Oooo-kay... That's bad. So, Sausage is probably possessed, and there's a slight chance Joey's possessed, what are we gonna do about it?" Scott asked.

"So. We need to find out if Joey is possessed. He told me where he put Xornoth's crown, just as a precaution, so we can check if it's still there. If it is, he's probably not possessed. If it isn't, he probably is." Gem said. "However, I don't think I can sneak in very well."

"I can! I also have dogs that can help me. Just tell me where the crown is, and I'll go." Shubble offered.

"M'kay. It's in his Earth Temple, behind one of the paintings of a guy on a bicycle. There should be stairs that will lead down into a room with the crown in it."

"I can get there. I'll check, and when I find out, I'll send a dog with a message, just in case something happens and I can't get out." Shubble said.

"If the crown is there, Joey would have no reason to take the crystal, so Sausage would have to be the one who took it." Scott said.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I'll go check tonight." Shubble said.