Fool's Gold

Two guards pushed Aureate away, making sure they could not get back  to the throne room. Aureate, of course, tried their best to escape and  make a run for the throne room anyway. These guards probably knew them  by now, this wasn’t their first time in the palace after all. One of the  guards, the taller one with the spike-covered skin, grabbed Aureate’s  arms and held them in a strong grip.
“Hey!” Aureate yelled, trying to gather as much attention from other  people as they could, “Let me go! I did nothing wrong, why are you doing  this to me?!”
The guard that wasn’t holding them gave them a tired glare through the goopy bangs of their blood-like hair.
“Are you sure you wanna pull this again?” They said in a much softer and much more tired tone than Aureate’s.
“Pull what? You’re throwing me out of the palace for no reason.”
Aureate knew exactly what they had done and why they were being kicked  out of the Matter Lord’s palace. Despite this, they still tried to  deceive the people who did not know that. The reason they were being  kicked out was because they shattered one of the Lord’s decorative urns.  It had been a beautiful urn with intricate engravings and patterns. If  time had any meaning here, it would have been antique. Aureate wasn’t  even sorry about this. They would give good ol’ Maddy a new vase as a  gift and everything would be good again.
Still, they kept up their act of innocence. They struggled more against  the grip of the guard. They even tried kicking the guard with the hind  legs of their cat-centaur-like body. The guard responded by only  tightening their grip more and giving Aureate an angry glare.
Eventually the three reached the stairs outside of the palace’s  entrance. The two guards shot each other a glance and released Aureate’s  arms. Of course, the feline primordial tried to run back inside, but  the guards had prepared for this. As soon as they got past the two  guards that had brought them here they saw several more guards blocking  the way in. Their "plan B" had failed.
“Fine.” Aureate grumbled, “I’ll go.”
Begrudgingly, Aureate walked down the stairs. They were not looking back  at the Matter Lord’s royal guardsmen even though they could hear them  talking behind their back. Their tail swooped from side to side, leaving  small trails of pale smoke from their tail tip.
“Why can’t that damn Lord be nice for once,” They muttered as they descended the steps outside of the Lord's Palace.
“If I were the Matter Lord I would be much more friendly to those who would want to be my ally or friend.”
As they finally hit the soft, spongy ground at the bottom of the stairs,  they let out a sigh of frustration. The stairs weren’t that long, but  Aureate had to walk in a weird way to descend them in a comfortable  manner due to the fact that the bottom half of their body was that of a  sphynx cat.

Their paws sunk into the soft ground of the  jungle-city as they made their way home. Aureate was happy to live in  the capital of Matter, it was always quite lively here. Of course the  best part was that Lord Madda-Rakt’s palace was close by. Though it was  also very entertaining to see the outsiders who would come here,  especially if it was their first time.
Most of them would be completely freaked out by the fact that everything  was flesh, bones, and blood. This entire jungle was like a living  being, a very fleshy living being.
As their home came into sight, they slowed down and looked back at the  palace that towered above the city. They had always liked the idea of  becoming the Elemental Lord of Matter. It was impossible for that to  actually happen, though. Madda-Rakt had been the Lord for as long as  anyone could remember, and they didn’t show any signs of wanting to  retire. The only way to become the Elemental Lord of Matter would be to  kill Madda-Rakt. Something many have tried and no-one has ever succeeded  at. Though the vast majority of those who have tried were not  primordials. That, and they'd be destroyed so fast that they wouldn’t  even have a chance to become a primordial.
Aureate unlocked the door to their house and entered their home. While  walking to the living room and sitting down on a pillow, they kept  thinking about the whole Elemental Lord thing. If they were the Matter  Lord they would not refuse random visitors or kick them out for breaking  some ugly vase. The idea of killing Lord Madda-Rakt, however, scared  them. Despite all the times they had been kicked out by the Lord, they  still liked their Lord. Lord Madda-Rakt acted like they didn’t like  Aureate, but Aureate still hoped that would be a façade.
“Lord Aureate,” they said as they stretched their hairless, wrinkly front paws. “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I like it.”
The pillow they were sitting on was big, soft, and comfortable. Aureate  liked to imagine it as the throne of their Matter Palace. Their home was  quite small and the imagination didn’t quite do the magic, sadly.
They kept daydreaming about being the Elemental Lord of Matter. It had  been quiet in their home, until the sound of the small gong near their  front door echoed through the building.
Aureate’s ears perked up in surprise. They hopped off the pillow and  walked to the front door. The only sight they were greeted with  was a  rolled up piece of parchment on the doormat.
“Huh, that wasn’t there before.” Aureate mumbled.
Before picking up the parchment, they opened the door to check if there  was anyone outside. There wasn’t anyone waiting outside their door, even  the city streets seemed to be less lively than usual.
Aureate closed the door again, and this time they made sure they locked  it as well. Afterwards they looked at the parchment. It was a pale,  flesh-like pink color and kept in its rolled up position by a much  brighter, hot pink ribbon. They let out a short chuckle as they realized  who had contacted them. After all, they only knew one Primordial who  would use this ugly pink color for ribbons like these.
When they got back to their pillow, they untied the ribbon and unrolled  the parchment. The handwriting on it was very familiar. If their memory  served them right it did indeed belong to their old friend.
“Heeeeeeey Aureate," They began to read the contents of this letter out  loud to themself, mimicking their friend’s speech as they did so, “I  know it’s been a while but y’know, I wanted to ask you something. Like, I  know you wanted to become famous and stuff, and I might finally be able  to, like, help you with that? If you wanna, like, come over to my  place, we can talk about the details and stuff, and of course I’ll grant  you a favor in return. My home’s still in the same place as last time,  it’s just a bit bigger now. See you soon! xoxo Dala”
Aureate looked at Dala’s letter and reread its words a few times. How  was Dala out of all people gonna help them become famous? Last time the  two of them spoke was a long time ago. How long has it been? Aureate  guessed that at least a few hundred years must have passed since then.  Though time means very little to beings like them.
Would Dala have a new job? Aureate guessed that this would be the case.  Some part of them hoped it would get them closer to Lord Madda-Rakt.  Especially without the risk of getting kicked out by the royal guard  again. Either way, they hadn’t seen Dala in a long time and paying her a  visit would be a good idea.
“Well then, let’s go visit an old friend, shall we?” Aureate smirked to  themself as they once again left their comfort of their pillow-throne.

The  road to Dala’s home led out of the city and through the jungle. The  path itself seemed more used than last time Aureate had traversed it, a  pleasant surprise. They wondered why this would be. Maybe it became a  more common route for traders who traveled through the jungle? Traveling  to Dala by foot still took them a while, but Aureate had all the time  in the world. There was no haste behind any of their actions, and  luckily Dala wasn’t the impatient type.
At one point, there was a smaller path that split off from the road  they’d been walking on. If they remembered it right this should be the  path that led to Dala’s home. After being off the main road for a bit  their path began to get a little steeper, going uphill.
“Yep, definitely the right path,” they grumbled to themself.
Aureate had never liked this part of the route to Dala’s house, the  climb wasn’t exactly steep but it sure was annoying. At least it meant  that they were close.
Dala lived in a small home, not much different from Aureate’s. Except  for that this house was located on top of a hill instead of being in the  middle of the capital city of Matter. But when Aureate reached the  point where Dala’s home should come into sight it wasn't there. At least  not in the way they expected.
What once had been the hut they remembered as their friend’s house had  now been replaced, or built upon. The cozy little house was no longer  there, and instead there was a massive mansion. It was still in an  architectural style that was common in Matter. It almost looked like an  ancient temple of sorts.
“What in the f-” Aureate felt their jaw drop as they took in the sight.
It was quite strange to know that their old friend had decided to move  on from the simple, cozy life. Who would even want to live in a home  like this without any companions? Which raised a question in Aureate’s  mind: Was Dala still living here alone? Well, they were gonna find out  about that soon enough.
Somewhat intimidated by the size of this villa, Aureate slowly got  closer and knocked on the door. They had often felt small with their  three feet and six inches of height, but this was a different kind of  small.
The changes their friend had made raised many questions in the cat-like  Matter’s mind. Like what was Dala doing with their afterlife here? Was  she still the same person as she were all those ages ago?
As they went over all those questions in their mind, they heard the  sound of the front door unlocking and opening. The primordial that  greeted them was not Dala, though. This one wasn’t even a Matter at all,  it was an Earth primordial whose skin was covered in lots of thorns.
“I’m looking for Dala.” Aureate said, trying to be confident, “They’re fairly tall and like the color pink but-”
“Oh I know who Dala is,” the cactus-like Earth primordial spoke, their  voice much deeper than Aureate anticipated, “did they invite you?”
“Yes, they did,” Aureate pulled the letter they had gotten from Dala out  of one of the pockets in their dress and held it in front of the Earth.
“That’s great!” They clapped their hands once with a happy expression on  their face, “You’re Aureate, right? I’ll go get Dala right now!”
And with that, Aureate was left staring at the blood-red wood of the  door as the Earth closed it to go look for Dala. The demeanor of the  spiky Earth had changed to a much more enthusiastic one after seeing the  letter, and Aureate wondered why.
It took the Earth a little bit to come back, but when they did there was  another primordial with them. This one was a Matter who was much taller  than Aureate themself, as well was the Earth they’d spoken before. They  had four arms, and long wispy smoke-hair that covered the part of their  face where the eyes would be. They also wore an outfit colored in  several shades of pink.
“Aureate!” they greeted in a cheerful, feminine voice, “It’s been, like, three-hundred years since I’ve seen you, how are you?”
“Dala?” Aureate blinked a few times while looking at this Matter  primordial. It was definitely Dala, there was no mistaking on that part.  They looked very different from what Aureate remembered of their  friend. The small Matter guessed something must’ve happened to Dala, but  wasn't gonna ask what.
“What d’you think? New home, new looks, new career, everything’s going great!”
“New career?” Aureate raised one of the golden studs that acted like their eyebrows.
“Come in, I’ll tell you everything you wanna know!” Dala smiled as they pushed the door a bit further open to let Aureate in.
Fear had made place for curiosity as Aureate followed their old friend  into their home. Inside, they entered a big hall with several doors and  smaller hallways leading to the sides. Though the more impressive part  of this entrance hall was the bone sculpture in the center of the room.  It resembled a dragon. As they looked at the statue, Aureate could’ve  sworn it blinked one of its five blood-red eyes at them as they walked  by.

Dala led them to a different, much smaller room that looked  like a luxurious living room. The Earth primordial was still with them,  Aureate wondered why.
“So, what’s your plan?” Aureate asked, still looking around in awe.
“Well, you see, my buddies from The Crown need, like, a backing vocalist.” Dala explained as they took a seat.
“A what now?”
“I’m part of a band now, like, we make music ‘n stuff,” they continued  to explain, “And now we, like, need an extra singer for some background  voices and don’t have anyone who can, like, sing them. ‘cuz we can’t  really record things for our shows yet.”
“So you’re asking me to sing with you guys?” Aureate’s long ears drooped  as they asked another question, “What kind of music do you even play?”
“Some kind of folk rock, maybe even folk metal.” The cactus-like Earth  primordial finally spoke up. “Our band already consists of six  Primordials of various elements, you see? But we may need one more  person to do some backing vocals. And- well- let’s say most of us don’t  have that ability.”
Aureate’s ears slowly rose to their usual shape again as they started  thinking about what they were being offered. They could indeed sing,  that was something Dala must’ve remembered about them. Their singing  voice may not be like that of local pop sensation Ru’hi, but it was  probably good enough for this. That's what they assumed. There was  another good thing about this, though. They’d get to ask Dala for a  favor if they did this, which could be pretty useful.
“Sure, I’ll help you guys out. I don’t think I can do those  screamy-style vocals so don’t expect me to sound like that.” Aureate  answered matter-of-factly before turning to Dala, “Could I speak to you  alone for a bit though? I also have some questions for you.”
The Earth primordial nodded and got up to leave the room.
“Mias?” Dala turned her head to look at the leaving person.
“Yes?” the Earth stopped in their tracks and looked at Dala.
“Can you, like, tell the others we found a backing vocalist?”
“Of course, I was already planning on telling them!”
As soon as Mias had left the room, Dala turned their attention back to Aureate.
“So? What did you wanna talk about?” they asked the much smaller Matter primordial.
“Well, where do I begin? You’ve changed so much!” Aureate said with a  smile, observing their friend’s new looks, “Still no eyes, I see?”
“Well, it’s not like I need them or anything.” Dala answered with a shrug.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” the feline Matter let out a chuckle before  continuing in a more serious tone, “Oh yeah, right, I had another  question for you. What is your opinion on Lord Madda-Rakt?”
“Lord Madda-Rakt?” Dala repeated, surprised by the question, “Well, I  think they’re, like, really intimidating. But like, in a way that really  makes me want to perform for them with The Crown, you see?”
Aureate bit their lower lip for a moment before asking another question.
“Do you think I’d be a good Matter Lord?”
They didn’t get an answer immediately, Dala took their time thinking  about something for once. The silence between the two seemed to last for  a minute or so, but it felt like it might as well have been an  eternity.
“I don’t know,” was the answer they got in the end, “It really, like, depends on the situation, I guess?”
“Well, I’m-” Aureate paused, hesitating to actually say these words out loud.
Dala gave them a curious-sounding humm in response, but didn’t say anything else.
“I might have some plans to become the next Matter Lord,” They actually  felt much better saying this than they’d expected, “and I might need  some help. Your help, specifically”
“Oh?” The taller primordial sounded surprised, “Why me?”
“Looking at what you’ve accomplished since we’ve last met each other.  I’m sure you have some interesting connections.” They grinned.
“I do know a lot of people, yeah.”
“Great!” Aureate clasped their hands together, “Could you make a list of  people you think I should meet? Not a must at all, but it might be  useful.”
“I mean, sure!” Dala nodded, “There’s Beau, Autumn, Taimi, Torio, Aric, and maybe also Keiram and Wish?”
“Could you write that down for me? That way I definitely won’t forget any of their names.”
And so Dala did.

After being handed the full list, Aureate would read it. This list included all the names Dala mentioned before.
“Hey Dala, mind if I take a look around your home?” They asked the primordial in pink.
“Do whatever you want, as long as you, like, don’t break anything.” Dala answered cheerfully.
Aureate followed them out of the living room and into the big entrance  hall they had seen before. While Dala went off into a different room,  Aureate looked at the bone-statue that was at the very center of this  foyer.
Something about the statue seemed off. Not in the sense that it was  imperfect, but in the sense that it looked almost too perfect. Too real.  Another thing that caught their eye was that the pose of the statue  seemed slightly different from before. Magical statues probably weren’t  uncommon in the Planes, but this one must’ve been quite a big favor to  get.
Aureate leaned closer to the statue. It looked like it was carved from  bone, with five eyes that almost looked like thick drops of blood. To  Aureate’s surprise, and fear, the statue began to move. Slowly, it  turned its head towards them and looked down at them with a menacing  gaze.
“Wh- What’s your deal?” Aureate took a few steps back, a shiver running down their spine.
The statue didn’t say anything, it only looked down at them and tilted  its head to the side. The small Matter looked up at the bone dragon,  their own yellow and white ringed gaze glaring into its blood red one.
“Botta, leave Aureate alone.” Dala’s voice revealed her presence before Aureate could even see them.
The dragon immediately turned its head towards the Matter dressed in pink. It then proceeded to cower like a puppy.
“You okay?” Dala approached Aureate with a small skip in their step, cheerful as always, “Botta hasn’t, like, hurt you, right?”
“No, it hasn’t hurt me,” Aureate shook their head, “but it did surprise  me that it is not actually a statue. It stood perfectly still until I  was alone in this room. You must’ve trained this dragon well, good job!”
They looked up at the dragon. It had stopped cowering and had taken on  the same pose as the one it had been in when Aureate entered the room.
“Botta is a very good girl,” Dala sounded proud, “like, I’ve raised her ever since she hatched from her egg, y’know?”
Aureate nodded. It sounded like quite an impressive feat. Especially since they had known Dala as a bit of a scatterbrain.
“I think I will be heading off again,” Aureate said, still not quite sure what to think of their meeting with Botta.
“Alright! Safe travels and, like, until next time.”
As they went on their way home, something about all this bothered them.  Why had Dala become a person like this? With the whole valley girl  shtick and all. Surely they were smarter than this. They definitely had  been smarter than this in the past.