The Royal Treatment

Archard worked hard to perfect everything for this meeting. Their ego was on the line if anything was even slightly below their standards. It was so important that they declined to mention most of the details to their family, in case they (specifically Béa) tried to "help." Henghai was the only one in the family trusted enough to know anything about this, which was why he was here to shadow Archard. Just in case Fweiu said anything that could be considered a command, and Archard needs to be held back by Henghai to avoid following it without a second thought.

Archard was in their cervitaur form, completely covered in the finest of jewels and cloth. They had facial piercings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, rings, and other assortments of jewelry that looked like an absolute pain to move in. The most apparent feature was the extravagant golden mask they had on. It was traditional for royalty and council members on Ilada to wear a mask when doing business. Oricenta had no standards when it came to mingling with lower and higher classes, but there had been enough instances of civilians interrupting business without realizing it. This was the easiest way to silently tell someone to go away. Archard's mask was shaped over their eyes and had a simple enchantment to allow the wearer to see through just fine. For clothing, Archard had on a golden top that was heavily embroidered. Overall it was flashy, but some others would call it excessive.

Just like Archard, Henghai was also in his cervitaur form, though his outfit was significantly less stunning. After all, how could he try to match someone as magnificent as Archard? He had forgone his usual black turtleneck sweater and gloves to wear simple facial piercings and a long-sleeved brown top that covered his neck and stopped right below his stomach. Henghai was somewhat annoyed that he had to wear his own mask. His was has bland as he could convince the crafter to make it. His were two large green circles that cupped over his eyes. Then there were two more identical ones on the top of his head. Outlining of all four of these circles were yellow.

With everything set, they waited in front of Archard's house for Fweiu to arrive. When she came, the two oricenta stood straight and crossed their arms so their hands to form a diamond, but Henghai was the only one to bow while doing so.

Once she acknowledged them, they uncrossed their arms, and Archard asked, "Shall I start making the portal? We are both ready. It'll only take around ten minutes."

Archard gave an amused expression at how Fweiu interacted with their people. They watched as some oricenta hesitantly approached the ice flowers to marvel at before picking them up. A few Fire oricenta—made clear by the apparent fire in their horns—were hesitant and watched from a distance. Two oricenta flew off excitedly, presumably to spread gossip.

"It's used for a few things. What you mentioned is only one of them. We also have it for situations like this where a clear area for people coming from the human realm to here is convenient. Recently, this place has mainly been used for Guardians coming here with their Companions to visit family, or people needing a place to land their mounts when coming to Lehora"

Archard continued to walk towards the more general part of Lehora before stopping again to let Fweiu take in the scene. People would stroll through, stop to look at Fweiu and her escorts, mutter some words ("Who's that?" "They don't smell human," "Are they a Guardian?"), then continue on. There were barely any young oricenta around, and there wouldn't be a lot more elsewhere on Ilada. Some people were riding particular animals. A popular mount was a large owlgriffon that looked fitting for a Pokémon design. Some looked like they had leaves growing off of them, and others looked like parts of them were made from ice. Each one looked to match their owner's main element.