I couldn't believe we'd pulled it off.

  The glades shimmered with lanternlight and glittering streamers. Somehow—thanks to Ume's threads and Whirlkool's suspiciously good carpentry skills—the entire central field had been transformed into a sprawling entertainment center. The structure didn't clash with nature—it collaborated with it, as if the UvoSath trees had conspired with Saptal's leafy hands and Gilbud's gruff architecture to raise a place that didn't just house monsters—

  —it welcomed them!

  I walked beside Diantha across the petal-strewn trail leading up to the entrance, Denji swaddled in her arms, his tiny hand poking out to grab passing light motes. Liozel trailed just ahead, bouncing as he fought the primal urge to pounce every hanging lantern.

  "I told him if he breaks one," Diantha said in a sly voice, "he owes me fifty light-blues."

  "He doesn't even have a pouch to carry them," I chuckled.

  "He will," she said, raising one brow. "Someday."

  The wide double-doors of the celebration hall opened at our approach. Not by magic—but by two Kobolbos: Gulli and Alk. Their tunics had been freshly patched, but the hems were stained from honest work. They smiled as we drew near… though the smiles were aimed squarely at me first.

  "Welcome, KiAera!" they chimed in near-unison. "And welcome to…" They hesitated, their gaze slid past Diantha, before resuming with almost too much cheer. "…our royal babies!"

  They stepped aside, holding the doors open. One of them bowed—not low, and definitely not to Diantha. Their respect belonged to someone else now. I gave a small nod of thanks, watching the way they subtly positioned themselves between her and the entryway, as if buffering something invisible.

  Diantha didn't comment. Whether she noticed or chose not to notice, I couldn't say. She simply adjusted Denji's blanket and stepped forward. Still, she smiled graciously and nodded to them, but said nothing.

  The moment we passed through the threshold, the mood changed like someone had pulled a string.

  Inside, the world bloomed.

  Warmth. Laughter. The scent of sizzling root-pie, stickyfruit tarts, and clove-honey glaze. The party center glowed with life. Paper lanterns shaped like tiny monsters bobbed overhead, each one painted by a different hand.

  A food station, complete with roasted mushrooms, honey-drenched roots, and sizzling meats, filled the air with savory smells. Whirlkool had set up a drink table—mostly fruity, bubbly stuff (non-lethal, hopefully)—and Ume had inexplicably arranged a lecturn where she now recited poems to a rapt, mildly terrified audience of Sapkins.

  A kobold band in bone-and-bamboo armor thudded on drums near the far end, creating a rhythm that made the floor hum. Osseods mingled with Plelepun, Sapkins, even the rare aloof Skyrawsoar lounging near the rafters. Oath had claimed a corner, little Mezmeics bouncing on her back like popcorn kernels mid-pop. GamaGen was there on the stage, posed like a scholar and chattering cheerfully with Pzion and Loa. The trio sipping something suspiciously effervescent.

  It was chaos. Vibrant, celebratory, organized chaos.

  I spotted Mina leaned against the buffet table like a bouncer in charge of baked goods. There was Scarbol and the Dorvus nearby, eyeing the pies like they were sizing up enemies. Dime and Sapshorla had outdone themselves with plant-grown seats and wooden platters that glowed like bioluminescent buffets.

  Diantha slowed beside me, her eyes wide. "There's so many…"

  "Yeah," I said, breath catching as I took it all in. "And all of them came here."

  I paused, watching Liozel zip by on Amber's back with a paper crown crooked on his fluffy head. His laughter bounced off the walls like a celebration spell. Denji, in Diantha's arms, stirred slightly at the sound, blinking with wide, moon-bright eyes.

  Tailza sprinted past in her maid outfit—bedazzled with more sequins than taste should allow—and threw her arms around my waist. "We did it!" she squealed. "Everything is perfect!"

  "Don't jinx it," I said, smoothing her hair. "We're only one baby disaster away from party doom."

  "But it'd be themed!" she declared, and bolted to refill the punch bowl with something violently blue.

  "Was that… Tailza…?" Diantha said, her voice barely audible, as though speaking her name might snap some fragile illusion.

  "Yeah," I said, watching Tailza practically dance her way toward the drink table. "That's Tailza."

  Then I added, carefully: "She works how she wants now. Not how anyone else tells her to."

  Diantha's lips parted slightly. She tucked Denji closer and turned her gaze toward the overhead lanterns, letting the moment slide.

  "I'm glad she's happy," Diantha said after a moment, nodding after Tailza. "I wouldn't have recognized her… before."

  We crossed deeper into the hall, but I didn’t miss how some of the Kobolbos stiffened at Diantha’s approach—not overtly. Nothing anyone could accuse them of. And further inside, I caught how Scarbol subtly shifted his position once we passed, placing himself between Diantha and the Dorvus.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Of course she noticed. Diantha's silences were rarely empty. But she said nothing, not even when Scarbol nodded politely to me and pointedly didn't to her before stepping away.

  "Do they resent me?" Diantha asked, softly. She didn't look at me when she said it. She was watching Liozel share a cupcake with Nex, who looked personally offended by frosting.

  "No," I said. "But they remember."

  Diantha nodded once, like she'd been bracing for that answer. "Good. They should."

  The music shifted. A livelier beat picked up, courtesy of Zolrak's clacking bone-sticks. Several Kobolbos and Kolkobalts had joined the center floor, stomping out a rhythm they probably hadn't performed since the DreaGoth plateaus. I saw Tilz tap his foot, eyes glittering, before he joined them—his shoulder rolls and tail sweeps oddly graceful for someone built like a bodybuilder in motion.

  A laugh broke out to our left. Tailza again, twirling enthusiastically in exaggerated spins as she passed out baby-sized gifts shaped like fruit beasts. One Kobolbo caught a plushy she threw and promptly cried. The others swarmed her with cheers.

  Diantha watched all this, her shoulders softening with something akin to surrender.

  "I don't expect forgiveness," she said finally. "But I hope he sees this. My son. That he grows up knowing joy doesn't come from bloodlines."

  I looked over at Denji in her arms, his hand now curled around a ribbon someone had tied to his swaddle. He was cooing at the lights above, utterly unaware of the weight and the history in the room.

  "He will," I said. "Because we'll show him… Let's give them a first birthday they'll never forget."

  We made our way to the dais together. Two soft thrones waited there: one carved from driftwood, the other from translucent green crystal.

  Denji was laid in the crystal throne's hollow, swaddled in a quilted sash dyed in soft golds and silvers. Liozel scrambled into his seat beside him, slightly crooked in his paper crown and dramatically upright, as if about to give a speech.

  "My paws are clean!" he declared.

  "Good," I said, brushing a feather from his ear. "Let's try to keep them that way."

  ?????

  It didn't take long before we were pulled in every direction. Loa had somehow rigged a "pin-the-tail-on-the-Perlachirp" game, except the tail kept moving and taunting the players. Whirlkool ran a drink bar out of a hollow log fountain, issuing cups of seafoam cider and bubbling crystalberry sap. A turf-slide had been erected across one side of the room, currently occupied by a shrieking Viz tumbling after Rox and Skadi with a delighted wail.

  Mina was leaning against a wall near the entrance, arms crossed, watching everything with that same face she wore before sparring. Fond, but tense.

  "Any incidents yet?" I asked, sidling up beside her.

  "Biscuit tried to arm-wrestle Tilz over the last fried slugfruit," she said. "Whirlkool doused her with a kelp cocktail. Tilz won."

  "Festival tradition, then."

  She grunted a laugh. "You really made this happen, huh?"

  I only purred as we crossed toward the dais at the rear of the room, where the twin cushioned thrones had been arranged for Denji and Liozel. Both were now adorned with flower crowns that someone (probably Ume) had crafted to ceremonial perfection.

  Mina stood off to the side, her arms still crossed, but there was a faint smile tugging at her lips. Tailza was dragging her toward the dance circle whether she liked it or not.

  Meanwhile a procession began with gifts from every monster.

  Sapkins offered a glowing pod that smelled like sleep and sweetness. Osseods brought a woven rattle of soft-amber stones. Kyrawl had dropped a feather the size of a banner beside the thrones, growling affectionately before curling near the rafters again. Mellow, cradled in Ume's arms, had been hoisted high enough to adorn Denji and then Liozel with one of her hand-stitched capelets.

  Liozel jumped into his spot and wiggled in place. Denji just blinked, gurgled, and tried to chew his own capelet.

  "You ever think it'd come to this?" I asked Diantha, helping adjust her seat beside the boys. I sat with Liozel on my lap, watching him wave a flag Scarbol made out of woven reeds and mineral fibers. "Happy Unity Day!" it said in crooked letters. Not bad, considering we invented the holiday about five minutes ago.

  Diantha smoothed Denji's blanket, her expression unreadable for a moment. Then she exhaled softly and leaned back. "No. But I dreamed of something like it. And that's close enough to believing."

  "Then what now?" I asked. "Continue to celebrate?"

  She looked at me, eyes shining. "No, KiAera. We already began."

  Suddenly, Whirlkool banged on a conch-shell like it was a dinner bell. "Let the dual celebrations commence!" she called, to raucous cheering.

  Skadi leapt onto the main table, spun dramatically, and she threw a fistful of sparkling confetti into the air. "FOR THE BIRTH OF DENJI! AND FOR THE ROARING HEART OF LIOZEL!"

  Mina let out a low whistle. "And here I thought I hated parties."

  "You still do," Nex muttered, munching on a lopsided cupcake.

  "And yet," she said, lifting a drink. "I'd fight to protect this."

  I leaned forward, lifting my hand—ear, rather—high.

  "To Denji. And to Liozel. May their world be better than the one we were given."

  Everyone raised whatever they had. Cups, claws, roots, tails. Even Gamuikaze outside gave a wind-chiming screech.

  The party continued. Ume had started braiding flowers into Skadi's hair. Whirlkool was teaching Tailza how to skate on an interior pond. Mina cracked a smile as she battled Biscuit in a whack-a-totem game—and lost, dramatically.

  And Diantha watched it all with a light in her eyes like it was the world she'd never dared dream of.

  I stood near the heart of it all, Liozel beside me, happily nursing a sticky fruit pop. For a moment, just a moment, I let myself believe it was real. That monsters and things in between could come together without bloodshed. That we could build something better.

  A soft thud was heard, with me believing it occurred from inside. Then it happened again. Much louder.

  I heard the crash. It was catastrophic—a thunderous rupture that made the ground buck beneath us and sent glasses tumbling from tables. Heads turned as silence fell.

  Then came the howl. A twisted, echoing wind that didn't belong in any throat.

  We ran. Everyone—me, Mina, Diantha clutching Denji, GamaGen materializing from shadow with a hiss of flame. We burst into the clearing outside.

  And saw him.

  Jalkra.

  Flying through the air like a ragdoll, arcing over the treetops like he'd been hurled by something impossibly strong. His body spun before he slammed into the ground with a force that left a small crater, cracking the earth beneath.

  He didn't move.

  The breath in my chest stalled. But then his head rolled slightly. His arms twitched, stiff and shaking. Blood dripped from one of his horns, and venomous purple foam flecked his mouth.

  Yet somehow… he was still smiling.

  "What the hell…?" Mina said beside me.

  A hiss—a sound low and musical—swept through the clearing, accompanied by a slithering rumble so deep it vibrated in my ribs.

  The trees parted. No, they wilted, bent away from the immense presence that followed. A monstrous basilisk, larger than any creature I had ever seen, slithered into the glade. Her scales gleamed a deep, venomous violet—each segment like polished glass. Her cobra hood unfurled like a curtain, revealing rings of deadly markings. But what struck me most was her face—not feral, not blank.

  Smirking. Along with her golden eyes that were slit and intelligent. Dangerously beautiful and aware.

  And carved into her forehead was a radiant sigil glowing faintly—the shape of a 'U Diamond', almost identical in aura to my Chimera's Mark.

  "Well, well…" she said, voice rich and almost playful as silk. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."