Kera had remained silent for the duration of the pair's journey down tunnel K, still uneasy from the encounter with the Collection, and the task he'd set for them. As soon as she crossed into Orion, however, she felt relief wash through her shoulders.

She'd hatched here. It was home to her.

"What's the point in having a king?" She asked Pride half-abruptly as she weaved through crumpled buildings, crossing the room towards the throne. "What does it do? What benefit's it got?"

"The three kings sure as fuck don't seem to do anything," she added pointedly, looking around. "They just bicker and argue and things. I hope that isn't what your king does."

Kera didn't quite see the appeal in it, of course. She began climbing up the platform towards the throne and plonked herself down before it, staring up. This, supposedly, was where kings are supposed to sit.

Seemed like shit to her, really. All you get for being a king is a chair and some arguments? And, maybe occasionally, some cool rocks and a revived architect?

Whatever, Kera decided. They had things to do here.

@Pride

Pride shook his head, and took a breath. He wasn't really sure how to answer that. He knew what he felt that a King should be, but Envy had hardly been a perfect king. But they'd certainly embodied some of those traits.

"A King is-... meant to be a leader. To organize, to ensure that everyone is cared for. A mouthpiece, a fair judge to arbitrate where needed. I do not think that the Three Kings were argumentative? They seemed quite knowledgeable. I pity them, in truth--they said they were trapped in this cave, long ago, and that once, they flew between worlds, teaching the sky how to sing and to dance."

The stag's gaze took on a distant expression, thoughtful and wistful. He wished to see what they had seen; he did not wish to remain locked away, in ignorance.

And do that end, he would do the Collector's bidding.

"KING ENVY?" he called out, tilting his head as he listened for a response.

@Envy

The healing process had been tedious and long, and, if Envy dared say it, humiliating. But at least the pain of a few broken ribs had taken their mind off of the self-pity they'd felt following the battle in Eridanus. They'd for a time tried to avoid being seen, even by their kingdom. But they had always remained near to their beloved throne. Always, they watched and listened even as they kept to the shadows in brooding melancholy.

They were sleeping when Pride called, his familiar voice sending a rush of nervousness and excitement through them, and for a second they considered not answering. But after a moment, they forced themselves to their feet, sucked in their breath and tried to soothe the sharp pain in their chest with a pulse of magic. Almost immediately they felt their pain melt away, as wounds began to inch just a little further on their way to healing and fractured bones began to harden once again. Encouraged, they lifted themselves shakily upright, straightened their crown and laid their spines flat to hide the shorter, recently broken quills. Finally, they smoothed their fur to try and hide the still-healing bite wounds.

Even so, the tiny creature that pattered out to greet their most loyal subject was a bedraggled sight, despite holding their head high and trying to look noble. They were thin, having had so little time to siphon nutrients from their surroundings, and fur stuck out around barely-covered bite marks across their torso. Their assailant had been scarcely larger than a cat, but they had been big enough to cause some serious damage to the weasel that was scarcely six inches long.

As Envy saw that Pride wasn't alone, the look that crossed their face was, for a fleeting instant, anxious. But they tried not to show it as they latched onto the vertical surface of the throne and pattered their way up and onto its seat to perch before them.

"Y-yes, Pride? Who's this?" they asked, casting their gaze over the wolf. "Have you come to join my kingdom?" they asked, with a hopeful note entering their voice.

Speech. Thought.

@Kera

Kera listened, rounded ears flicking absently. She was unsure of the three Kings were-- well, any of those things. They didn't seem that organized and they didn't seem to care much for the well-being of the gembounds. But they were, in fact, knowledgable.

But Kera had other questions.

"Who is The Sky?" She asked. "Do you think there's more? They mentioned a surface or something but I don't know if I can imagine what it looked like. I wonder if they were lying about it or something to trick us."

It's how birds were, of course. Liars and thieves and murderers. Even the Kings, surely, had a dark side. They all did.

Her gaze turned to the approaching weasel after Pride called out for them, still sat in front of the throne. Her first thought, of course, was that they looked like utter shit. She recalled the recent battle, however, and came to the conclusion that Pride's king must have been wrapped up in there as well.

She remembered pain. Being injured. It isn't nice.

"I'm Kera," she said. "The Lightbringer, I fixed the lights when the caves were in darkness. I'm going to kill Blackberry." Just not at this exact moment, apparently. For now, she had things to make glow.

She paused, however, at the request to join the Seven. She wasn't deaf to the hope that laced Envy's tone either, ears flicking. "It seems, uh, kinda exclusive," she said. "But if you need help with anything I'm a guardian and a protector, so I gotta help everyone who needs it and stuff."

The wolf dipped her head in a few nods and she looked back to the throne.

@Pride

"The Sky is a place high above, where there was no cave-... it was air, instead, shimmering violet and full of glittering lights." He'd seen it--they'd shown him; ribbons of colored aurora curling over the stars.

Then Envy emerged, and Pride nodded at once.

"King Envy. I hope all is well." Pride's pale eyes took in Envy's form. The weasel just couldn't catch a break, it seemed. They were lucky to have survived the attack not long ago, on the heels of recovering from the Bloodberries' assault, and still looking after a child. "I've been out seeking knowledge of the caves. I know how important it is that we understand our situation better," he went on, and then nodded to Kera--"and this wolf had mentioned a new Elder I'd not heard of. This Elder's offered us knowledge of the caves, but for a price."

He looked back to Envy. He hated to ask this, especially given their state, but the information could be very useful to them. "They want us to create a large gemstone on the Throne, of specific colors, and to make it glow--and not to tell anyone who requested it. I am not even meant to say who this Elder is. They assure us it will have no magical effects, or sinister outcome, but without your permission, I have no intention of doing it."

He paused, glancing again to Kera, and went on. "They claim to be able to tell us some of the cave's origins and history, the differences between Greater and Lesser Gembound, and more. That said, I do not know how much of it is truth."

@Envy

"...Mmm-hm," Envy grunted, and looked the wolf up and down as she introduced herself by title and name. They were uncertain of what else to say that would top it. "Well... I'm King Envy, glorious leader of the Seven. But I'm sure Pride's already told you that."

They held back a laugh-- an ironic laugh more than anything-- as she said she was going to kill Blackberry. Aren't we all? they thought, with a trace of spite. But they didn't want to come across as rude- so instead they simply sighed and wearily said, "That makes three of us."

For an instant they remembered what had happened; the attack that was aimed for her, but had crushed her son instead in a way that was more terrible than anything Blackberry had ever done. She should already be dead. But Envy had failed, the agonizing reality that she had somehow escaped. Wounded, but escaped.

They shivered, once again, at the memory.

As she appeared to misunderstand the purpose of their kingdom, Envy tilted their head slightly. "It's not that exclusive," they said. Even so, they nodded in acknowledgement of her offer. Finally they turned to Pride, listening to his explanation.

Their first thought was that this sounded awfully shady.

They hadn't been there. They didn't know the full story, it was true. But still they couldn't help feeling like it was a bad idea. "But... Why?" the weasel asked nervously. "There's got to be a reason. The elders always have reasons for things, don't they? And if not sinister, then what?"

Perhaps envy was simply being jealous over their throne, but... even the reward seemed... lackluster. "And if things do go wrong, I'll be the one affected, won't I? Who's to say that as soon as you're gone they come to the throne and use it to... I don't know..." They shook their head, quills rattling, raising slightly along their head and back. "It's my throne, after all. I live here."

Speech. Thought.

@Kera

Kera turned her gaze upwards, to the ceiling. She couldn't quite imagine it-- the closest thing to the sky she'd seen was the high roof in Cetus, but it certainly wasn't violet or filled with lights. It was dank and foggy.

Something about it skeeved Kera out. Not having a roof over her head seemed... insecure. Unsafe. She couldn't imagine why anyone would want a blue void looming above your head at all times, even if it danced and shit.

The wolf ruffled herself out and looked back towards Envy, listening to Pride and the weasel speak. "He's mentioned you," she said a little absent-mindedly, then turned her head back towards the throne.

"I mean, you're called the Seven. Not the Eight or the Nine," Kera pointed out as she pushed up and started sniffing out the throne, stepping over the shards of chrysalises. It didn't seem like it could form whatever the Collector wanted from it, but she supposed it didn't matter too much.

"'For fun,' they said," she replied. "But I'm unsure if I trust that. He says it won't be sinister but I dunno if there's some kind of loophole or something he hasn't told us." Kera shrugged.

She didn't answer Envy further, allowing Pride to do so instead. For now, she was concerned with sniffing the throne and trying not to think about how the weasel was beginning to whine a bit about a structure that was probably older than they were.

@Pride

Pride answered honestly. He wasn't out to convince Envy of anything; if they didn't want the stone here, then so be it.

"I've no idea. I think a show of faith, perhaps, but in honesty I have very little faith in this being. I was warned not to trust these Elders, after all; I've no idea what this action might provoke. We can try it, and you could live elsewhere for a few days with Charity to be safe, and we can see? It would both give us information and perhaps tell us something of this one being's motives. And if it was lying, then it has broken its side of the deal, and I will tell you who it was, so that we know not to trust them."

Pride shrugged, a little. "But if you do not wish to risk it, I understand."

The stag then turned, pacing up the stone to press his nose to it smooth, cold surface. For a few moments he was lost, reaching out his magic and letting his eyes slip shut, willing the ancient rock to surrender its secrets, to share its history with him.

@Envy

Envy huffed, softly. Although they hated to admit it, they didn't think they even had that many any more. Pride was still theirs, but one by one the kingdom of the Seven seemed to have been crumbling. First Greed, then Lust, then Gluttony, then Wrath; the seven sins seemed to be, one by one, dropping off the face of the earth. And soon, Amazon would be going too. The weasel's heart grew heavier, though the only sign was a quiet rattle of their quills. "It might as well be," they answered her.

"For fun?" they asked after that, in apparent disbelief. They didn't see what sort of fun merely putting a rock next to a chair would amount to if not some kind of trouble. The weasel shifted uncomfortably, before looking to Pride for guidance. "Perhaps," they muttered, after some time. "What if the Kingdom tries to find me, and they get caught up in whatever happens instead?"

Truth be told, there were a whole host of reasons Envy didn't want this, the most prominent being that they felt the Throne was their territory, and their possession. It also displeased them greatly that this 'elder' refused to be named. They were a king! They had the right to know what was going on with their throne. "...why else would they say not to tell anyone who did it?"

Speech. Thought.

@Kera

For a moment Kera turned her broad head around to watch the tiny green weasel, loosely sweeping her tongue along her jowls. She wasn't exactly deaf to the quiet rattling, ears flicking backwards. Then, she shrugged. "I'll join if you need me," she replied simply, before turning back to resume sniffing out the throne.

She let Pride speak, waves of dread rising up her gut and into her throat again as she recalled her prior concerns. Concerns that, when Pride stopped talking, she decided to try and voice. "It could be nothing," she suggested hesitantly."This could be a test to see how far we're willing to go for information. Uh. Seeing what we'll do and how trustworthy we are to do it, so that they can skimp out on telling us things for more favours."

"And, when we see that this doesn't do anything," she added, "we think to ourselves 'well, it's only for fun.' So we do progressively more dangerous and harmful things. Y'know, uh, so they can get what they want without us realising it or some shit." There was a long pause before the wolf followed this up with another haggard shrug. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

@Pride