Afterward: Of Sword & Shield (Emperor x Tav)

3

During the many passing yet idle days, you find that your day-to-day routine consists of paperwork and relaying tasks to specific Knights of the Shield agents in the morning. Not only did their tasks and your tasks involve moving items and the occasional people around from within the bustling city, but it also involved the manipulation of the flow of commerce and much, much more. Normally, after you have finished your work, during the late afternoon hours or early evening hours, you often find yourself venturing down into the Underdark to hunt prey for alchemical purposes or to collect exotic plant-based ingredients. Sometimes, you will even mingle with Omeluum and Blurg from the Society of Brilliance and discuss theories or exchange acquired alchemical knowledge with each other.

You also held an interest in how the Myconid Circle colony has been faring with Sovereign Spaw and how the vampire spawns are thriving in the Underdark with the help of the people of Gur—a truly bizarre but inspiring combination set into motion because of Astarion’s actions after the defeat of Cazador.

Eventually, the blurred days turned into a month’s worth of time flown by, and you find it baffling how Withers reunion party and the Emperor’s last letter occurred that many days ago. Naturally, you could only conclude that things were going swell for the Emperor since he has not written word of his progress to you.

-

One day on a particularly clear night, as you exit the deep bowels of the serene Underdark and make your journey back to the Knights of the Shield’s hideout, you find yourself wandering toward a flat and jagged grass-filled hilltop towering over the unending sparkling sea. A sudden heaviness begins to eat at your chest as your beady black-like eyes listen to the lulling of sea water thrashing rhythmically. It was almost as if the heavy lump from within your chest were not your own.

How long? You ponder, entranced by the temperamental waves. You were missing him again, the Emperor, and his absence apart from Baldur’s Gate felt longer than usual this time around.

“…” You look beyond the shimmering black waters and up at the guiding moon of Selûne, and then you set your feet down onto the grass beneath you. It was a tad unusual for your half-exposed feet to touch grass or a solid surface, since Mind Flayers preferred to levitate rather than physically walk, and levitating at all times has become a motion of habit to you.

It tickles. You note the simple sensation while soaking in the feeling of every blade of green being compacted down and scrunched under your unusual pale-mauve prong toes. But it feels…nice.

 While taking in the scent of the sloshing frigid ocean water along with the barely perceptible smell of green leaf volatiles, you close your eyes and then inhale in another breath of sea breeze. When I was still my lesser version, I enjoyed small, mundane things such as this. I wonder why.

From behind you, a silent shadow approach.

“The sea is an unforgiving beauty,” their husky voice comments. “She will permit voyage across her skin, but she will not hesitate to consume you.”

The Emperor’s grand presence awes you, catching you off-guard as your mind had aimlessly wandered.

“So, you have returned. Welcome back,” you acknowledge him while concealing your state of surprise.

“Indeed,” he confirms.

You look to the Emperor as his feet land onto the soft bed of grass next to you. His stature is tall and magnificent compared to yours. His unmissable, glowing, and vibrant magenta eyes are beautiful and hypnotizing, and his four pink-tinged and mauve-purple tentacles are longer and stronger than yours.