Yakelan, a tradition of physical

  Sothlee De Byzance: "So nice of you to join us here, Xiang Xhi."   Xiang Xhi: "So kind of you to invite me, l hadn't caught up with Dan in a while."   "How is he?"   "The same as when he left your bed two nights ago, I suppose. I missed him alot."   "So now he can't walk..."   "Perhaps not quite the same then... He was, however, snoring."   "High marks, tiring or exhausting that man is not easily done."   "We both know The Physical Element helps."   "True."   "Yakelan!"   "Who are you, to summon Yakelan in the presence of two of the high circle of Kautanissian?"   "I am Yamvir, I am a baker."   "I will provisionally accept your request, in exchange for fresh bread from your shop at my breakfast tomorrow, I will send your shop my hotel contact information."   "I am highest here, Xiang..."   "If there are others, you can accept or decline them, this baker intrigues me, and the disdain in your voice certainly made me think you weren't about to accept."   "It's not disdain, I'm just so tired. Seems so few in here know what Aumhivina Kautanissian looks like."   "Which is the point of the tradition. You need to patronize better, more popular artists, to spread your fame."   "Yes, yes, of course, since your being Hunarch had nothing to do with your face being known in all of Moniq?"   "It did not hurt, but I chose those who carved my image into coins, onto the paper currency, on statues."   "You patronized them all for Yakelan?"   "I constrained any such endeavours within the rules of Yakelan, I did not want to offend the Elements."   "Wise, perhaps I should do something similar, at least, consider those interviews for the Jade Broadcast as such..."   "I urge you to do so. If those who interview you have no artistic or journalistic merit, why should they benefit from your image?" She shouted, loudly: "Is there any others who'd call Yakelan?"   "I would." Amarat Veneer Jr. spoke, and the crowd went silent.   "What artistic merit do you have?"   "I will share my latest work." The crowd ooh-ed and aaaah-ed, it wasn't widely known how much of a photography fanatic he was, and it was unusual for a Bameimeito to have known hobbies, at all. At the touch of a button on his Jade Communicator, two-dimensional, semi-transparent images surrounded him, Robyn Frobanasynnia Kagomei, the royal housecat, Responsible Disclosure, his Mansion, Sietch Amber and Mountain Home, Mikhala Veneer, Ami Dandelion, Avalline d'Ankeryn, Flora Rolli in various poses, all captured, as required by the ritual, by him own hands, using his own equipment.   "You show more merit than I expected, Step-son."   "I will allow Yamvir and Amarat to capture me, are there others?"   "Denied! Yamvir will capture you, and Amarat will capture me, are there others for this Yakelan?"   "I will capture, for Graph-pure. I am Stellein Mirvold."   "A professional?"   "An amateur, a gifted amateur, and a longtime admirer. But since you already are both spoken for, shall I ask that you include Keia Sharon, and make it the three most powerful scions of Physical in Kautanissian?"   "That is irregular, very irregular."   "But within the bounds of Yakelan, let us proceed to the next step of the ritual. I have contacted my second."   "The Venue, I have granted Yamvir the privilege of Yakelan, would this place not suit?"   "Megamisama Drydock Complex, right in front of Kannie's at #2 is hardly a good location."   "Hey, you guys called? What's this about?"   "Keia, Yamvir, Amarat and Stellein here called for Yakelan."   "Stellein I know from reputation, and I have been captured for Graph-pure before..."   Stellein's eyes bulged in surprise. His negotiating position was now much weaker, despite the next step of the ritual,, which Sothlee De Byzance spoke.   "I am Aumhava of this Yakelan, Stellein Mirvold, what Venue would you suggest, as the last to join Yakelan?"   "Megamisama Drydock Complex Plaza, Number 3 has a studio within."   "Denied, I would be captured by the light of the sun."   "Shall I suggest Number 14, then?" Amarat had spoken, as Stellein had been denied.   "Why suggest I go to my own palace?"   "The balcony gardens are well lit with the sun, and carry the bracing breeze of the sea."   "Since we go to your place, Aumhavar, can I name my own price?"   "Name your price, and I will double it."   "You've not heard my price yet, it cannot be doubled..."   "I will allow you to continue, I wish to know what this price entails..."   "Stellein Mirvold, you are to capture my image and share it in Graph-Pure no less than twenty-times, and make that into an expose at the center of my own issue."   "Oh, well done. I doubt Amarat can do the same..."   "Err, no. But stepmother, I already had planned my own image book. I shall make this a part of it."   "The crowning piece?"   "Err, I cannot, err, I shall make you your own book, I cannot displace Flora my love from the centerpiece of the art I had in mind..."   "Ah, love made into art? Let me not stand in the way of that... So Xiang, you had named your price first, which is not how we do things in Kagomei, but since you set both law an custom in Moniq, I will let it slide. Ah, here comes our ride. Gentlebeings, please grab your equipment, and step into the Skycutter."   "Skycutter?"   "Yes, you're not afraid of heights, not enough to renounce your art, are you?" Sothlee, who had been dodging Graph-Pure's more mechanical photographs for some time, said with venom.   "Gulp."   Keia was talking with Stellein, keeping his mind off the heights, not unkindly, but also reminding him that if he could not get all the pictures to complete the expose she had in mind, he could only call her to one later photo session for reshoots, or be forfeit of Yakelan, which might end his privilege of Yakelan entirely, if what she knew of his reputation was accurate.   "Hmm, thank you for so reminding me, I am sure It will not be needed." He was one of the few at Graph-Pure who even knew of her existance, as the third most powerful scion of physical in the Kautanissian Conclave, and a part of the first circle. The normal order of things would have her in second circle, here, in Megamisama, City, not in first circle over in Mountain Home, but the hierarchy had been... bent, when Duty had needed to replace not one, but two retiring priestesses, and Sothlee and her off-the-charts power levels, had been the clear leading candidate, in her third most powerful element. Keia's own power levels were weaker than Mikhala and a few others in first circle, just not clearly out of place among them. Truth be told, he had a kind of infatuation with her, he only knew of the ritual as a way to get pictures for his magazine however, not as a believer would...  

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  Stellein, to Keia: "To the left, please turn around, as if I was a lover that said something that displeased you."   Amarat, to Sothlee: "A dimpled smile, your arms under your breasts, but not sternly..."   Yamvir, to Xiang: "Look up from the book, as if the reading has sparked a thought, please, and smile..." Xiang gave a middling-level beguiling smile, anything else was wasted on cameras, she had found.   Stellein, to all three: "Perhaps we could have all three of you in one shot?"   Xiang: "Doing what?"   Stellein, to her: "Is there some sport you three all enjoy?"   Keia: "Me and Xiang are swimmers, runners, volleyball, but Sothlee never joins us."   Sothlee: "No, my back won't let me."   Amarat: "Perhaps she could be in a lawn chair, and you're grabbing her arms, trying to get her to join you?"   Xiang: "I like the way you think, young man!"   Keia: "Oh, I've done that so many times."   Sothlee: "And I hate it thrice, it's murder on my back unless they lift me just right."   Amarat: "Well, we can't have them doing it any other way than just right then, the idea being not to hurt you, but to look playful..."   Sothlee: "I don't look playful, I look like the curmudgeon."   Yamvir: "Perhaps we can break for some refreshments, and we shall find a scene that will fit?" He had had pastries, Tcha and Keffiyeh brought from his shop.   Xiang: "You didn't have to do that..."   Yamvir: "I only expected one picture, not so many, and you are so generous and beautiful..." As he piled the flattery on, the ritual's mystical energies activated... Xiang started to read his thoughts, Sothlee read Amarat's, who was quite in awe of his step-mom, and Keia read Stellein's, and was concerned of just how far his obsession with her went...   Stellein tried a different tack: "You are their leader, and they are powerful priestesses, do you ever share Theological insights?"   Sothlee: "Of course."   Xiang: "Not from all your elements, you almost never mention Frivolity."   Sothlee: "You don't want me to bore you with talks about the catalog..."   Keia: "Perhaps not, but I've been practicing my role #713 in the catalog."   Sothlee: "I don't know all of them... But 713 has to be relate to archetype 13..."   Keia: "It is, it's a combination of 13 and 7, by coincidence."   Amarat: "Would you all three be able to model 713 for us?"   Sothlee: "Archetype seven is performing any type of sports activity, usually in a uniform, while thirteen is glasses. Not terribly realistic, I mean, I'd try to get eyelenses for this..."   Keia: "That's why it's in the catalog, it's a subversion of what's normally accepted. I have a Casho outfit in Dunkekl Element colours, I add glasses to it."   Xiang: "No fair, you two can wear Elements, I have to wear Sentinels or cause an uproar."   Sothlee: "Hmm, if we have a casho ball, we could just be doing something terribly unsafe, like the both of us try to head a ball away from you Xiang, maybe even knock heads."   Xiang: "Let's avoid head contact, but otherwise, I like it. Gentlebeings, get your cameras ready."   As the cameras caught all three, the telepathic net expanded, letting Stellein's, Amarat's and Yamvir's thoughts open to all three priestesses. And Yamvir's duplicity became obvious. He wasn't a baker form Megamisama, he was an Invader, replacing the baker, an tyring to get a leader of the aliens's enemies down. Xiang's mine, always cluttered by the thousand concerns of a head of state hadn't been able to penetrate deeply enough. But Keia, already looking for holes in Stellein's story, sliced through his masque immediately. The three priestesses gave no outward sign, but Yamvir's own nervousness at the Lifeguards on duty left it clear to Sothlee what she should do, and she shared her plan with the other two.  

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Twenty more pictures later...   "Xongguo? What brings you here?" Her hulking aide was looking peckish, and spoke almost no Kagomine, his conversation in Moniqan was abbreviate.   Xiang: "Oh, you want a pastry? Well, Master Yamvir?"   Yamvir: "But of course." Trying not to squirm, as the Blue River martial arts champion looked on him suspiciously.   Firrson Moray: "Master Yamvir, I'd like to check your identity papers please, we're finding a discrepancy with your picture on the official record."   Xiang: "Is there a problem, Felyx Moray?"   Firrson: "Just a follow-up question." And as he had been taught, at the Palace, he slid a knife across the man's clothes... The cloth not cutting, he knew this was the alien's mysterious shape-altering technology, and therefore, he slammed the capture-cuffs on him.   Yamvir: "..." He didn't even attempt to dissemble, so shocked he was with how smooth the takedown had gone.   As was tradition, the pictures were handed to the man he had replaced, who made a personal album to share with his friends, once he had been untied from the broom closet he had been stuffed in. And forever, from that point on, he reminded all he met of how lucky he had been that the alien had tried to abuse the ritual, and how kind and generous Graph-Pure Magazine