The Emerald Princess

"Come here, my daughter." Yaxun raised his hand in a welcoming manner.

The woman walked towards the table where they were gathered. Her skin was brown; her hair, that was dark and gleaming like obsidian, had a wild look and was tied in a side ponytail. Her irises were more like two emeralds, green and bright, and she wore several jewels of the same color to enhance her own beauty, although they were not as beautiful as her eyes.

She walked with an erect posture, and there was a majestic air about her.

"This is Quetzal, my only daughter," the king explained. "Quetzal, these are: Aegreon of the Council; Shiina, the Reaper Fox; Raymond of Fordurn; Sariel of Eribur and Luna, the princess of Fordurn."

Quetzal took a few seconds to look at everyone present and observed the princess for a long time. Her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows furrowed, which made Luna feel uncomfortable and already preparing to hear the same insults that the king blatantly fired at her.

"Seriously!? Are you really the Silver Princess!? It's a great honor!" However, her serious posture broke completely, giving way to an animated expression and eyes that seemed to shine like stars. "Wow! You are so beautiful!"

She approached the princess of Fordurn, took both her hands and shook them repeatedly.

Luna remained silent and with a completely surprised expression.

"...Eh?"

"Quetzal!" Yaxun scolded. "It's because of her race that your mother is dead!"

"Don't give me that, old man! She is not to blame for the acts of her ancestors!"

"How can you!? And I've already told you not to use this damned brooch! You are disrespecting your people by wearing something made by the hands of that damned race!"

Luna finally realized that Quetzal had a brooch pinned to her clothes just below her neck, and it was very similar to hers. The dragon eating its own tail was identical and made of the same material, but the central stone was green and in the shape of a leaf.

"To you it may be a memory of the massacre of the Angels, but to me it is a memory of my mother! Not wearing it would be disrespectful to her!"

"Tsk, whatever," the king snorted. "You will have to watch her wherever she goes, and you will need to be accompanied by Sariel when in public to change her appearance with magic. Also, make sure you return their belongings."

"With pleasure!" Quetzal replied excitedly. "If you like, I can show you the best places in our kingdom!"

"Ahh... Yes, I would be grateful." Luna was still stunned by such kindness.

"So, everything is settled, now I will deal with the matter you asked me to. I will return with an answer in two days at the most." Yaxun stood up. "My daughter, take them to the guest rooms in the palace, and remember to keep this a secret." Then, he left the room.

"Don't mind him, my father is a bit narrow minded." Quetzal then turned to the rest of the group. "Now, I'll take you to your rooms, please come with me."

She then left the room while pulling Luna by her hands. She was so excited that she didn't even wait for the other guests to follow.

"I will leave you our best room! There is a bed big enough for two people, we can spend all night talking!"

"Ah, thank you." Luna looked curiously at Quetzal's brooch.

She wanted to avoid talking about it, as it was a delicate subject for her and Yaxun, but curiosity got the better of her.

"Was this brooch your mother's?"

"Exactly!"

"And why would a human have something made by Angels?"

"Don't you know?"

Luna shook her head negatively.

"Well..." Quetzal began, "in the past marriages between Angels and humans was quite common, and they used to give these brooches as a symbol of the union between our races. I believe that every Angel owned one, but only married humans or their descendants could receive one of these."

"Exactly." Sariel's voice, which had reached them, echoed from behind. "However, they are now seen by many as a symbol of their tyranny."

The rest of the group also followed them while listening attentively.

"In that case, you are a descendant of angels, but you are a human?"

"You really know very little for an Angel, huh? In a marriage between an Angel and a human, the child could be either one race or the other, and no one knows why."

Luna looked at her own brooch and wondered about her biological parents. Were they both Angels? Or could it be that one of them was a human? Did her adoptive father know something?

The questions repeated themselves countless times, without any of them having an answer.

"So, your mother was a human as well?" Sariel asked.

"That's right, my mother had a very distant angelic ancestry and kept this brooch even during the war, so I will keep her legacy."

"I understand, it's admirable that you wear this brooch regardless of your origins, I can see how much you love your mother." A sad expression appeared on Luna's face. "And what about you, Sa..."

"Ah, we're here."

Luna looked away from Quetzal and focused on the corridor in front of her. The passage was wide and with several doors on both sides.

"These are your rooms, I will let everyone use one on the right side, which are the ones with windows to observe our beautiful kingdom! Mr. Aegreon, the first door will be yours."

Aegreon entered his room without saying anything.

They both walked down the corridor as Quetzal presented each of their rooms. Shiina occupied the room next to the Pillar, and Raymond would reside next to her.

"I prefer that they give me a room next to Your Hi... Luna."

"Don't worry about it, she'll be staying in my room!" Quetzal gave Luna a big hug.

"What!?" Raymond and Luna exclaimed together.

"What's the surprise? I'd love to spend the night talking to you." Quetzal flashed a big smile.

"Ah, well, if it's not any inconvenience..."

Luna was still surprised by her personality. Her appearance and behavior were totally different.

"It won't be, now let's go!" Quetzal grabbed Luna's hand again and guided her towards her room, without giving the bodyguard time to protest. - "You too." She looked at Sariel.

"Me? Why?"

"Well, you are a descendant of Angels as well, right?"

"What about my room?"

"You can stay in the one next to Raymond's. Ah, you!" She called a servant passing by the corridor. "Make sure to return the belongings of our visitors."

"Understood, Your High..."

"Thanks!"

Once again, she left without waiting for an answer.

He watched Quetzal walk away dragging Luna along and with Sariel following close behind.

"As lively as ever..." He sighed with a small smile and continued on his way, walking a little faster after this encounter as if he had been infected by the princess's energy.

*****

"Wow... It's even bigger than my room..." Luna sighed.

Before her was a large room. Countless closets with various luxurious clothes filled a mere portion of the entire space of the room, and an enormous bed, large enough for four people to sleep comfortably, was located on the left side of the door. In addition, countless pieces of furniture with multiple gold objects decorated the room.

"I'm glad you like it!"

"It's a room worthy of the famous Emerald Princess," commented Sariel.

"Oh, I didn't expect someone from a kingdom as distant as yours to know this title."

"Well, knowing the names of the kings and princes of the main kingdoms is basic."

While they both chatted casually, Luna walked towards an object in the middle of the room. It was a large table with a big sphere in the middle, surrounded by other smaller spheres connected by rings.

"What is this?" She carefully and curiously touched the object.

"Ah, it's a model of our solar system."

"Impressive, it's quite rare to find someone interested in astronomy," Sariel commented.

"Astronomy?" Luna questioned.

"It is a science that aims to study objects and phenomena that occur outside our world. The Angels were the pioneers of this science, and it was they who taught us the basics of it."

"They taught us? Why would they do that after starting a war?"

Hearing this, Sariel and Quetzal looked at Luna with astonishment on their faces.

"What?" she asked with a confused expression.

"Luna..." the traveler began slowly, "what do you know about the Angels and the war?"

"Only that they came from another world and almost exterminated humanity, and I only know about it from listening to conversations between guards, since my father forbade any educational material about the Angels in the palace."

The traveler and Quetzal looked at each other with an expression that almost said "makes sense."

"That explains a lot. It looks like I'll have to teach you about what happened in the past."

"We can do that at night while we study the stars!" Quetzal pointed to his window, where there was a strange cylindrical object pointing towards the sky.

"And how do you study something like that?"

"With the same thing that forms the foundation of our world, magic!" Quetzal approached the window and called Luna.

Luna approached and looked at the object with curiosity.

"What is this?"

"The Angels call it a telescope. It is used to observe space, however, since it is daytime, we will not be able to see much... That is why we can use it at night! I will show you the most interesting things!"

"Alright..." Luna kept her eyes on the telescope before turning to Quetzal. "I can't wait!"

She tried to hide her excitement, but the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her emotions.

Both princesses looked at each other with a beautiful smile. Luna had a pure and innocent smile, like a child's, while Quetzal's was affectionate and relaxing, like an older sister's.

CAW CAW!

"Ah!" A sudden and loud squawk startled Luna and almost made her jump.

Looking again at the telescope, it was possible to see a bird, more specifically a raptor, standing on the tip of the object. Its beak was orange, its body was dark, and its neck was white. It had a rebellious and ruffled crest, like Quetzal's hair.

"Pagui!" Quetzal raised her right arm, and the bird flew towards her. "Where have you been? Why didn't you show up for lunch?"

The bird replied with an almost inaudible noise and lowered its head.

"Oh, you were scared of the loud noise and the dust... Poor thing..."

Quetzal stroked Pagui on the belly, which in response emitted a strange caw. The bird smiled with its eyes and leaned against the princess's face.

"Oops... I apologize for that..." Sariel scratched his head showing guilt.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Well, it was Sariel who destroyed that barrier."

Quetzal looked at the traveler with astonishment for a moment.

 "Huh!? I thought it was Aegreon who did that!" She said in a voice close to shouting. "Well, that makes things easier. You should apologize for scaring him!"

"Well..." Sariel raised his arm and the bird flew towards him. "Sorry friend, I'll get you something delicious to eat later!" he promised as he stroked the bird.

His hand made Pagui feel extremely comfortable and happy, with an expression that seemed he was about to fall asleep.

Quetzal watched the scene surprised, as Pagui rarely even landed on people close to her.

"You can talk to them too?" she asked, and the traveler just confirmed the answer with a nod. "I see... Well, since Pagui is here then we can start our tour. Let's go outside first!"

"Wait, let me take care of the matter of her appearance."

Sariel approached Luna and brought his hand close to the princess's face. A pink glow touched her face and gradually disappeared.

"There, now you can take off this hood and show your beautiful face." He smiled kindly at her.

"Are you sure?" Quetzal looked at Luna closely. "She looks the same to me."

"When it comes to Illusion, I can choose who is or is not affected by magic, so don't worry, no one will find out anything."

"Ah, so it's like Protection magic, where someone can let an ally pass through a barrier, but block an enemy, like a wall."

"Exactly."

"Well, if you say so..." Luna lowered her hood slowly.

She kept her gaze lowered, avoiding eye contact with the traveler and Quetzal.

"There, now let's go!" Quetzal took her hand once again and led her through the corridors of the palace.

"W-wait!"

"You don't have to be embarrassed, you're even prettier than me!"

"Ah... Thank you."

Luna felt even more shy. The lack of something to hide her face made her uncomfortable, as if she was exposed.

The trio walked through the corridors and soon arrived at the entrance of the pyramid.