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

Chapter Three: Eastvale Gates, Ten A.M.

It was the day of the meeting, and Rarran, the representative of Pixandria in Pix's... absence, was the only one not there yet.

A nagging worry had been bothering Scott since Jimmy had come to speak with him, and now, with nothing to distract him, he had to face it.

Upon seeing Jimmy, the day before and now, Scott had felt something he had immediately recognized as romantic attraction. To Jimmy. And it was strong. So.

Scott had a crush on Jimmy.

In far away kingdoms, people marry for alliances and power. Not around here. You marry for love, and love alone. Like with Joel and Lizzie. It wasn't the power coming from combining their great kingdoms - they didn't actually do that - that got them to get married.

Now, Scott wasn't thinking about marrying Jimmy. He was thinking about how annoying love was. Jimmy was... Well, Jimmy. This was the first crush Scott had had in quite some time. He did want to get married someday, but to someone he loved, and-

Ah, finally. Rarran was here and they could start. Thank goodness he could be distracted and not need to think about Jimmy.

"Okay! Um, I don't have a meeting room, so you're going to have to sit on the floor, provide your own chair, or stand. And we're doing it here. In the Grimlands Forge. Nothing will go wrong with that! So, uh... Yeah!" fWhip sat on the floor.

Scott pulled out a warped wood stair for his seat. Some others had chairs, but some, including Jimmy, just sat on the floor. Rarran was the only one standing.

"Right, are we good? Everyone's comfortable and we can start?" fWhip glanced around. "Yep, yep, good. First things first! The reason I chose to be the one to call this meeting: the Crown has been destroyed. I'm not remaking it."

"You what?!?" Joey stood up, furious.

"I did nothing. It was an accident. Then Jimmy pointed out the destruction it caused, and I decided against remaking it. That's... Yep." fWhip nodded.

"You're just... Not remaking it? You could! And it wouldn't be hard!" Joey scoffed incredulously, upset. He must have really enjoyed that power.

"Joey, several people were killed over it. And some rules," fWhip coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like Scott's and Lizzie's, "were rather annoying to deal with. I think I was the only one who used it for the good of the world."

"Excuse me? Cod sanctuaries are very much for the good of the world!" Jimmy protested.

"You also were gonna have people be forced to kill all the salmon, Jimmy. The power was gonna be used for bad or something, so I will not remake the Crown. That's final. Now, does anyone else have any updates or problems to bring up?"

Joey scoffed and sat down again.

"Well, I feel the need to update you all on the progress of my tapestry." Joel said, from the throne he had built himself. It had one of his heads on the top of it. "I have decided that it will actually be a rug, in the grand hall of my Matral Palace."

"And why, exactly, do you need a rug of yourself, Joel?" Gem asked.

"Because I am amazing, and being able to see me when I'm not there is the best gift I could give to the world."

Next to him, Lizzie facepalmed.

"Okay, then. Does anyone have anything important to say?" fWhip asked.

"Excuse me! My rug is plenty-"

"Yep." Sausage interrupted. "I have a rather large problem. Um. The, uh, the blood sheep did not like having the evil version of me in their dimension, so they kicked him out. He may be able to find his way here and control me. Again."

"What? Are you kidding me? Do they know where he is?" Gem sounded beyond annoyed.

"No. They don't care."

"Wh- why?!? Don't they know how difficult it was to deal with him last time? You literally got sent to, like, four different dimensions to not stay dead!" Gem was incredulous.

"Uh, that's not their problem. When I asked, though, I was able to get a series of numbers that is, apparently, their location in the Nether, so we can track him, but... I checked. When I opened a portal at the coordinates, I showed up in the middle of the desert. And not Pix's desert! Farther!" Sausage explained.

"You went to the wrong Nether." Shubble stated, shrugging.

"Wrong- what do you mean, wrong Nether? There's only one Nether!" Pearl's brow was furrowed.

"Actually, there's two. Well, really, there's one, and a false copy of that one." Shubble explained. "The one we know is just a copy. In the actual - or Greater - Nether, Piglins are far more intelligent. They speak English, and they will barter with you for gold. The Greater Nether is also sort of a passage between dimensions. I came through it to get here. I could probably track the evil Sausage through there, but I wouldn't want to go alone."

"I'd go with you, since this really should be my problem, but if I get too near Evil Me, he'll possess me, and then Gem would have to kill me again." Sausage said apologetically.

"I'll go! I'm not very busy." Gem smiled. There was an underlying bit of tension to it. No one wants to deal with Evil Sausage again.

"Oh, that would be great!" Shubble said. "You'll need to get lots - and I mean lots of gold. Piglins are the only intelligent life in the Greater Nether, usually, and they use gold as currency. Come to the Undergrove when you have it. I have a portal that will work to get us through."

"All right. fWhip, can you watch over my empire, make sure nothing goes horribly wrong- Wait, no, why am I asking you? If you're leading, something will blow up. Uh, Saus-" Gem interrupted herself. "No, same situation. Lizzie. You're responsible! Would you watch over my empire?"

"Sure, I don't think I have anything else to do. I can watch over yours, too, if you want, Shubble." Lizzie offered.

"No, Mother Wolf will be doing that. But thanks for the offer!" Shubble smiled.

"Okay, so that's dealt with. Anyone else have pressing problems?" fWhip glanced around. "No? Okay, Rarran, update on the Pix situation?"

The Pixandrian official stepped forward. "Not good. No new news, and the trail we thought we had last month went cold. Those tracks were actually just a pillager scout. We did find his lair, but no Pix."

"Oh, no. How long has it been?" Jimmy asked.

"Months. No word. Other than that cryptic note I mentioned, but that means absolutely nothing to anyone." Rarran looked down.

"So he's just... Gone? Maybe never coming back?" The sadness in Joel's voice was unmistakable. Pix was their friend. If he didn't come back, they would all miss him.

"Maybe. But, I just- I can't help but think that maybe a new set of eyes would help. You guys knew Pix very well. Maybe something about how everything was when he left will jump out to you, and you'll know where he went. I think it's at least worth a try, if someone can spare the journey?" Rarran looked around hopefully.

"I can. My empire isn't that big, and it's doing well. I want to help find Pix." Pearl offered.

"Yeah! Come to Pixandria as soon as you can, I'll show you everything we have in the investigation so far."

There were other small problems discussed - an outbreak of some sickness in the Ocean Empire due to pollution, plans for collaborative building projects, the like - but Scott's mind wandered. Back to Jimmy, and his crush.

He was really cute, so Scott could tell why he liked him. But of course he would! He did, after all, like him. Jimmy glanced at him, and Scott looked away, realising he was staring.

Out of the corner of his eye, Scott saw Pearl look at him, then at Jimmy, then back to him. She paused, then smiled knowingly.

"So, if that's everything, meeting adjourned!" fWhip said.

"Meeting adjourned!"

Scott headed home, to Rivendell, and distractions from that infuriating crush of his.