A Molotov cocktail exploded just twenty meters away, setting a car ablaze. Gunfire, screams, heavy running on the streets, and cries of the children played the chaotic symphony of a conflict on the bloodied streets.
Among this chaos, a pair sat by a table in a street cafe, a chess table between them and cups of lukewarm coffee in their hands. One was an unassuming man in a three-piece grey suit taking a careful sip as he moved the black figure on the board, his brown hair moving with the wind. Opposite him sat a man whose skin seemed impossibly dark, his face elongated and menacing with no hair on his head, moving a white piece in response.
"I wonder…" Nyarlathotep started, "Why did your queen decide to get involved in our game, and start with such a backward dump at that? It's not her style. I expected her to implode a galaxy or two to make a more… bombastic entrance."
"She is not getting involved in our game. She just happened to choose some of the pawns for her dealings. You know she has no regard for our game and does what she wants," Regoz replied.
"Indeed. She is an interesting opponent. A lot harder to predict than you." Nyarlahotep took a sip and changed a passing bullet's trajectory, making it hit a mother and a child trying to run away from the chaos instead of them.
"Hitting where it hurts. How predictable," Regoz chuckled.
"You could never say no to her. An exploitable weakness, I might add."
"You don't want half of the travelers sent after you either," Regoz retorted.
"A fair point." Nyarlathotep nodded. "We wouldn't want the good queen to flip our table on us. That raises the question. What to do with the child?"
"The child will not get involved in our dealings directly and we can take her and her parents somewhere outside the board, should something not go according to our plans. But we both know what we plan to do with our sides.." Regoz was well aware that Nyarlathotep would gladly sacrifice an unimportant world to gain a lot more somewhere else as long as there was sufficient chaos as a result of their actions, and so would he.
"Indeed. We can leave the child and make our moves around her. I will make sure my pawns know it as well." Nyarlahotep agreed, moving his queen piece to check Regoz's king.
Efficiency was the one thing Regoz truly enjoyed, but he could occasionally sacrifice efficiency for three-dimensional experiences, for the sheer joy of it. Speech was one of such guilty pleasures, even if there was little to no practical need to use it when interacting with travelers.
Artemel's guilty pleasure, on the other hand, was food, immensely so. Once again they sat in a busy tavern as his apprentice stuffed her face with half of the menu, the desserts being her favorite. "So any estimate when the queen plans to return?" She asked as she shoved a spoonful of chocolate pudding into her mouth.
"You can just go and interact with her before or after her trip," Regoz replied.
"You know I prefer to live on a normal time flow," Artemel retorted.
"And that's why you'll have to wait. You know how plans with her usually go. I'm sure you can wait for a few millennia until she is fully back." Regoz stopped a flung pudding particle before it hit his suit, removing it from reality.
"The long one huh? Well, it will be interesting to see how you and Auroel babysit the rest of us. And no, I'm not expanding my awareness to see possible outcomes. It's a lot more interesting to not know." Artemel turned down his suggestion.
"There is a possibility she won't return for a while. You know how these projects usually go."
"Yeah yeah. Speaking of projects, I plan to copy a few more of your toys for my project. Scatter them around the universe and make them deal with the big troublemaker." Artemel finished the last of the pudding and pulled a plate of pancakes closer.
"Feel free to do so. Do you have any plan on how they will deal with the main problem?" Regoz asked.
"Nope, and I don't intend on making a plan. Just let them figure out things on their own."
"You should give them a helping hand on the timeline issue," Regoz suggested.
"I suppose, but I can just let Tabula and Ulbert figure things out and do it for me. They are smart enough to do so."
"Indeed. Have fun." Regoz stood up, leaving a tip for the waitress, "Ohh, and Artemel, don't try to copy the child."
"I know what happens when someone messes with the queen's projects." Artemel shook her head as Regoz faded away.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by Omnax, mfkz_rocker, and aidan_lo.
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