Legend of the Lost Star

Chapter 6~ Soul

Luciana leaned in closer into the mirror as she put on her mascara. The queen was dressed in her finest daytime outfit, as usual, with various shades of purple with silver accents. A single silver diamond ring rested on her fourth finger, multiple images of herself reflected off of the facets. After applying her blood red lipstick, Luciana stepped back, admiring the stunning image before her on the full length mirror.

"Perfect. As always." she said to herself with a soft smile. A knock on the door caused her to frown in annoyance. She took in a deep breath before kindly replying. "Yes, come in." she said, masking her slight frustration at being interrupted. One of the servants entered the study. He appeared to be holding something behind his back, yet Luciana did not fully notice until she forcibly turned herself away from the mirror.

"Your Majesty." the man bowed. "Forgive the intrusion, but we found something you need to see." he pulled whatever it was form behind him, revealing it to be a book.

Luciana rose a brow, her lips pursing in thought. In the man's hand was a book, old and rather withered with a velvet-like surface with worn thin rope bindings holding it in place. Unlike all of the books in the city, this one looked completely horrendous in comparison. Its pages were tainted with light brown and yellow stains, and the paper itself appeared hardened, almost as if one single touch would be enough for it to crumble into dust. The covering, while of a lovely red velvet color, was smudged with dirt, brown spots and a few black stains, yet the golden corners remained in tact. There was no lettering on the cover to be seen, and the book wasn't as big as most of the books in any of the libraries in Somorrah.

Luciana approached the man and took the book from his hands. Her fingers traced over the old and somewhat dusty surface. "Strange. Did you use a rejuvenation spell on it?" she asked. Whenever a book was showing signs of old age, they would simply restore it with a rejuvenation spell. That way, it would remain preserved and last for all time.

"Yes we have." replied the man.

"And…?" Luciana awaited for an answer. When she did not get it she asked in full, "Why does it look like this?"

"That's just it, my Queen. Nothing we tried has worked."

Luciana's eyes partly widened before scoffing smugly. "That's impossible."

"I assure you, we have tried every spell at our disposal, but nothing has worked. It's as if it is immune to any spell."

Luciana rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand from her pocket, pointing the end at the surface of the book. Magical energy sparkled from the tip and whirled around, wrapping the book in a blanket of energy. A satisfied smile forged on Luciana's face, the light of the magical forces illuminating her features, giving her a heavenly glow. Her smile slowly morphed into a frown, her mouth in ajar as the magical energy began to loose its glow, transforming into dried up sand which broke apart like stone. Luciana dropped the book and took a horrified step back as the sand disintegrated once it reached the floor. Traces of the dust got on her boots, much to her disgust, but was far too horrified by what had happened to care as much as she should.

"I told you. This has been happening all day." the man said, standing right behind the queen, staring in horror at the still ancient looking book.

Luciana used her wand to levitate it, refusing to touch it again. "Where did you find this?" she sneered.

"One of the servants did. It was in that satchel the beast from last night was wearing around its neck."

A chill went up Luciana's spine. This book came with that creature? Why would an animal even have a book? Did it steal the book? Could it read? Was it intelligent? And if the creature was from the outside world, then… could it be there were more civilizations they were not aware of? Could there be more humans out there?

Luciana had accidentally allowed some essence of her composition to waver when her head jerked upwards in alarm. She detested showing any signs of confusion or weakness in front of her subjects. The man payed little mind to it, for he empathized with her majesty. He too was shocked by the book's unusual resilience towards their magic and feared it signified a bad omen.

The alarm on her phone went off in her bag. Luciana quickly pulled it out and shut it off, ignoring the words on the screen. She opened a drawer from her desk and levitated the book inside above a bunch of old paper work that was no longer required and locked it with a golden key, which she then levitated inside the pocket of her bag.

"I shall see to it after I return from my meeting regarding the new monorail system." Luciana said to the man, who nodded in agreement. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she whispered closely. "Nobody is to know of this until further notice."

"Yes, Your Grace. But, do you really think it would be unwise to keep this a secret?"

"I'm sure whatever this is I can get to the bottom of it. Besides, the last thing we need are the people going into either a panic or worse, having those conspiracy theorists buffoons popping out again." Luciana sneered between her teeth at the thought of those crazed rapscallions once again attempting to taint the good name of the royal family and the city.

"Not. A single. Word." she turned her head towards the man, her eyes like knives piercing at his soul. "Was that clear enough for you, or did I stutter?"

"N-No, my queen." the man stuttered and bowed and Luciana made her leave. "Clear as crystal."

It would have probably been wise to try and make sense of this strange phenomena at the moment it was addressed, but Luciana could not cancel this meeting. It took her a long time to squeeze it into her busy schedule, she owned them that much. One thing was certain, the minute she returned home, this would be her top priority.

No matter what.

*(~)*

Stripes hid behind Estelle the entire time the creature kept on stomping and neighing like crazy. "Settle down, please! If anyone sees you going berserk my mother will have a cow!"

This odd expression was, surprisingly, enough to get the creature to stop and stare at Estelle with a look of confusion, which even the princess would admit was pretty adorable. Estelle gave a light giggle, which also doubled as one of relief.

"Okay. Are we calm now?" Estelle asked, still holding her hands up close to her waist, hoping the animal wouldn't go crazy again. The creature herself dropped her ears but snorted in reply, nodding her head. "Good. So, maybe you can tell me more about this… this book?" she asked, still rather baffled she was actually having this kind of conversation with an animal.

The creature walked around Estelle, her eyes to the ground, pondering until she jerked upwards while she grinned. She started stomping the ground once more, attempting to draw what she hoped Estelle would understand. The princess, and Stripes, payed close attention. The further she went into giving the image more detail Estelle and Stripes cringed. It became abundantly clear that while the creature could draw, that didn't automatically make her an artist.

The creature stuck out her tongue, focusing on the image she was making, which was a rather disorderly body of a creature, resembling herself, but with feathered wings, a straighter horn on her forehead, and a long slender tail like herself. The legs came out like sticks, the neck was a tad too long and the wing's feathers looked way too sharp to even be considered feathers. She stepped back, jumping happily while flipping her mane in satisfaction at her work. Estelle looked at the odd image, tilting her head in confusion.

"Uh…. okay." she said, very unsure about what to make of this.

Yet, the closer she studied the image something itched at the back of her memory. The princess crunched down, tracing a finger over the sharp looking wings, the single horn and long slender tail. It did resemble her new companion in a way, but not entirely. There was something unique about the image, and yet, at the back of Estelle's mind, she saw something else. Before the image could fully manifest, Estelle shut her eyes and shook her head, feeling rather lightheaded before standing back up and she turned her attention back to her friend.

"Okay, I have no idea what it is you're trying to tell me. But if that book is so important then I'll just get it back for you. I'm sure one of the staff members still has it. Come on, Stripes." The furry nyx leaped onto Estelle's shoulder and she petted her new companion's muzzle. "You wait here, I'll be back with your book, okay?" she said before allowing her hand to slip away and make her way back to where she came from.

The creature looked at Estelle, then back at the fields behind her and then back to Estelle again. She sprung forward and stopped right in the human girl's path. "Relax, I won't be gone long." Estelle tried to move past the creature, but she blocked her path once more, trotting around anxiously. "Hey! Look, if I'm going to get your book I need to get inside. Do you really want it back or not?"

The creature snorted before walking away, whipping its tail at Estelle, a gesture mirroring a human waving his or her hand in a 'whatever' manner. Estelle and Stripes shared a confused look and watched as the creature stopped midway and motioned her head forward, inviting Estelle to continue onwards.

Estelle, though a bit suspicious, complied and did make her way towards the floral arc from which she had walked in through and reached the wooden door. The creature was right behind her, her big green eyes zooming in on Estelle as she cautiously turned the handle on the door. Estelle's dark gray eyes shifted back to the creature. It wasn't that she wanted Estelle to stay in the meadow… she wanted to stay with Estelle.

As fast as lightning, Estelle whipped around to face the creature, who stumbled back in alarm. "No! You can't come in with me." Estelle said, her hand still on the knob and her back pressed to the door itself. "You stay out here." Estelle emphasized, pointing her free finger towards the meadow. "I go in there." she pointed her thumb towards the door and the entire building attached to it. "No following. Understand?"

The creature cocked her head, her eyes to the sky in thought. One ear was lowered while the other stayed upwards, her lips pursed for effect. She gave Estelle a happy nod, but the human rose a brow. Like the full pledge huntress she would soon become, Estelle kept her guard up as her hand turned the knob, her eyes still on the creature. Slowly, the door creaked open and…

The creature flashed a sly toothy grin and, using her head, though careful with her horn, shoved Estelle inside. The princess landed on her back inside while the creature leaped over her with ease, landing on the other side before standing on her hind legs and using her front legs to close the door shut. Estelle panted in surprise, the creature was now hovering above her, smiling slyly with her hooves pressed against the door. Estelle got on her feet and dusted herself off, the creature remained in that very position until Estelle got back up and lowered herself down, but still kept her body pressed to the door, with one of her front legs crossed over the other.

Like a boss.

Stripes had flown off of Estelle's shoulder and landed back first against the wall before sliding down. The nyx was a tad disoriented once he landed. He rapidly shook his head in order to regain his sight and knocked on his own head to get his rolling irises back into their rightful spot. Estelle traced her fingers through her hair, her eyes widened in astonishment.

"Okay. So, you did understand me, you just didn't care. Well played." The creature whinnied, the form of a laugh no doubt, which only made Estelle roll her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." she sighed. "Alright. We can make this work." Estelle pulled her wand out from her pocket and aimed its tip at the creature. "I'll just do a quick cloaking spell, which should last about thirty minutes, so we have to act--"

The moment magical energy began to form from the tip of the wand, the creature's eyes widened, its irises shrinking and she rose up on her hind legs, whinnying loudly, merging with that of a roar and frantically backed away from the object. She spun around, slapping it right out of Estelle's hand with her still injured wing. The wand landed on the floor, with Stripes leaping away in fear.

"What is wrong with you?!" Estelle exclaimed in anger as she reached down to grab her wand. "This was my father's!"

The creature whinnied sadly, yet kept her distance from the wand. Estelle stared down curiously at it, then back at the creature. Was she… afraid of her wand?

Estelle dared to try and aim the wand at the creature once more. Her skin trembled when she noticed the creature's eyes became slits and bared her sharp teeth. Her gaze was not aimed at Estelle, but solemnly on the wand she held. Once Estelle placed it back into her pocket, the creature calmed down a bit.

"Okay, then. No cloaking spell." Estelle said, which seemed to sooth the creature all the more. Stripes ruffled his fur and sat right beside the creature, looking up at her. She lowered her neck down and sniffed him before sneezing due to the fur. Stripes only squeaked happily, almost laughing and pressed his front paws onto the side of her leg. At least they were finally becoming friends.

Estelle started pacing back and forth, tucking from strands of hair behind her ears. "I suppose it wouldn't be too much to ask if you stayed down here while I retrieved your book?" Estelle asked hopefully. The creature shook her head, decisively. Estelle dragged her arms in frustration as she panted, hunching over a bit for dramatic emphasis. "Thought so." she groaned and then straightened herself, gripping the back of her neck with her hands.

The creature then began stomping her hoof again and lowered her head close to the ground. Estelle studied her movements to try and figure out what she was trying to convey. The beast rose her head again, sniffing the air around her and then sniffing Estelle's long hair. At first, she thought she was trying to play, until she noticed the creature using the ends of her long wings to point at her nose, which she flared.

"You can track its scent?" Estelle asked, "Is that what you're trying to say?" The beast nodded in reply, happily whinnying and stomping in place, only for Estelle to try and silence her by grabbing her muzzle.

"Okay, okay, okay, you made your point, now quiet!" Estelle gripped the creature's face and tracing her hand across her pale pink mane. The human princess inhaled deeply before exhaling. "This is turning out to be a very weird day."

*(~)*

The three friends poked their heads out from the corner of the hallway, observing as one of the castle maids adjusted the old tapestries. Using her wings to lift her upwards, while one down bellow with golden bands on her wrists straightened the lower half. The creature's ears perked in curiosity, a single brown rising. She had never seen such objects before. Long, thin objects, made out of some kind of soft material with an image of a human, wearing elegant clothing, golden jewels, a large crown and a scepter in one hand. The sunlight coming in from a nearby glass window was caught in the golden surface of one of the maid's bands. The creature snorted in alarm and attempted to go forward and see for herself.

Estelle quickly pushed her back right before the maids turned their heads to the source of the noise. They quickly shrugged it off once they saw that nothing was there. The sound was too faint and quick for them to even comprehend what it was. Probably the princess's pet running around again, playing catch or hide and seek.

Estelle breathed a sigh of relief hearing the sound of footsteps grow farer and farer away, all the whole covering the creature's mouth with both her hands. Stripes had long since climbed onto the beast's head, also attempting to cover her mouth with his little paws. The creature shook her head, swatting their hands and paws away, narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

"Sorry." Estelle said. "But remember what we agreed on. Nice and easy, slow and steady. Okay?" The creature rolled her eyes, but still nodded her head. Estelle let out a soft chuckle as she scratched the back of her ears. "I know, it sounds boring. Just bare with me here, will ya?"

The creature nodded her head in agreement, putting Estelle more at ease. She pressed down her cloths, made sure no strand of hair was out of place, took in a deep breath and nodded her head towards the currently empty hallway at the beast while Stripes rode on its back. Estelle and the creature remained in perfect sink, the sound of her hooves resembled that of her mother's heels whenever she roamed the long, cold hallways. The only taste of warmth came from the windows themselves.

Estelle kept her eyes peeled for any of the castle staff members popping up unexpectedly. The creature started sniffing the air before pressing her nose close to the ground and then upwards again. She nodded her head towards down the hallway and Estelle quickly followed. She stopped in front of the creature, her arm blocking her path when she heard the sound of someone approaching. Thankfully, a secondary hallway was to her right and nodded her head in the said direction. The creature followed suit, walking down the small set of stairs down to another hallway, lit up by a skylight, filled with various portraits and pedestals with priceless treasures.

The three friends stopped in front of a large wooden door with a golden knob, styled to look like a lion's head. More sounds were coming from the other direction. Estelle let out a low groan. "Oh, come on, really?" thinking fast, she opened the door and the creature hurried inside, with Stripes clinging on for his life. The noise grew louder and just as Estelle was about to rush inside, a voice called out to her.

"Princess Estelle?"

The voice belonged to a maid with long raven hair styled slickly in a shinny up hairdo. Five other maids stood behind her, all wearing their hair in the same manner. Some held wands in their hands, others wore golden bracelets on tier wrists, and several had straps with feathered wings.

"Is everything alright?" the maid asked.

Estelle pressed one hand to the door, while the other landed on her hip. She shrugged, trying to act casual. "Yeah, sure, everything's fine." she replied casually. "Why do you ask?"

"We were just about to clean your mother's collection room." a blond maid said.

Estelle wanted to face palm herself. Of course one of the first rooms they would attend to would be her mother's priceless collection of priceless artifacts and trinkets. "Right, of course. Um…" Estelle bit her bottom lip before an idea crossed her mind as quick as lightning. "Actually, ladies, today that responsibility falls upon my shoulders."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't my mother tell you?"

"Tell us what?"

"The Queen and I had a little… dispute last night, and… I allowed my mouth to run wild."

"But, she hasn't told you to clean this room in years." said a red haired maid.

"Yes, well, I was very… boiled up, sort of speak, so this was the best punishment my mother assigned to me. I apologize if you guys weren't informed about this."

"No need for apologies, your highness." the raven haired maid said with a bow. "If it is the queen's wish, then so be it."

"Thank you for understanding." Estelle said with a polite smile, only for her to flinch when a loud sound from the other side of the door.

"What was that?" a blond maid asked in alarm.

"Stripes!" Estelle replied rather quickly. "I better take care of that before he breaks somethings, okay great talk, bye!" Estelle gave them a thumbs up before rushing into the door and slamming it shut. The sound of a click sounded off from the inside and the two maids left the premise, both eying the door skeptically.

Estelle let out a deep sigh of relief, her back still pressed against the door. The sound had come from the creature having tapped the side of an antique piano with her hoof, having caused it to partly tumble forward. Thankfully, the creature managed to keep it steady with her body and push it back in place. Some of the dust rose from its surface and made its way into the creature's nostrils, which then began to twitch. She let out a small, adorable, but also somewhat leather sneeze. A small stream of fire came spewing out, nearly singing off the tips of Stripe's tail, which had already caught smoke. He immediately stomped it with his back paw. There was very minimal damage, but the smell of burning fur was still unpleasing for his sensitive nostrils.

The creature snorted and rubbed its nose with its knee in a similar manner to that of a human. With every moment that passed, Estelle realized the creature's mannerisms were a close parallel to those of a normal human being. She was hardly an animal at all. She was intelligent, self aware, and could comprehend normal human speech despite her inability to converse herself.

The princess giggled lightly as she watched her friend wiggle her nose, as if expecting another sneeze to appear. Stripe's large ears pressed back in annoyance. He nearly had his tail burned off and Estelle was just giggling as if nothing serious had happened.

"Sorry, Stripes." Estelle apologized, still trying to stiffer more of her laughter. The creature also apologized to the nyx in her own language. Stripes accepted the apology, but only if she would promise never to do so again. The creature nodded.

"Okay, let's go and look for that book again." Estelle said, reaching out her hand towards the currently locked doors. She stopped when she noticed the creature did no attempts to follow her, but rather was struck by curiosity at the marvelous objects around her.

Queen Luciana was a woman of exquisitely impeccable taste. She was a lover of history, and kept many, if not the majority of the city's most priceless mementoes in her collection room, such as the classic piano painted with gold, along with various other priceless antiques placed securely within enchanted glass cases that were nearly unbreakable. The room was lit with a diamond chandelier, illuminating the shinny redwood floors, covered by long and perfectly ironed rugs with images of beautiful winged humans blowing on trumpets, sitting on vines that emitted a golden glow, and other wielding swords while piercing through the stomach of an unusual monster that appeared to be some kind of winged, reptilian with a strange, almost human-like head with giant tusks, a massive snout and talons on its hands and back feet. One wing was feathered, the other similar to that of a bat.

The creature studied the image, tilting her head curiously at the image of the monster before drawing her attention to the rest of the room. She saw a faded reflection of herself as she gazed at the vases within the glass, mesmerized by their shimmering texture, but also careful not to allow her tail to hit anything in her way. A rectangle shaped container carried old antique silver weapons, long like a snake, with gold encrusted handles. By the walls were closed glass cabinets with antique silverware, decorative plates and clay sculptures of beautiful men and woman and another one filled with flowers in crystal containments, keeping them alive and fresh as if they had never been plucked.

The creature spotted some stairs at the corner of her eye and her eyes widened to see that there was two more rows of treasures yet to be seen. Scrolls, jewels, tapestries, radios, weapons, paintings, leather books opened up with strange writing on them. While the creature studied all of these objects, Estelle was studying the creature's movements and reaction to everything she saw.

She carried the same sense of wonder and whimsy, akin to that of a child seeing a real museum for the first time in her life. Gently, she rose her cloven hoof to try and reach for the objects, but was stopped every time by the glass, yet she still marveled at whatever it was she was looking at. She started galloping from side to side, even spinning around, her mouth wide open as she smiled broadly, her wings partly opening due to her unrestrained excitement. Even inside an extravagant room there was no containing her spirit.

Estelle leaned against a pillar, admiring the way her new friend just took in everything she was looking at. She knew they still had to search for the book, but no reason why they couldn't take a small detour, right?

The creature trotted towards Estelle, still jumping with joy. If she would do an ariel flip right now, she would. Estelle laughed and petted her muzzle. "You are so incredible. Are there more like you?"

The creature nodded, only for her expression to waver, turning into a frown as she slowly shook her head. "Oh. So, you're all alone?" Estelle asked hesitantly. The creature managed to nod completely this time around. Stripes's ears lowered in sadness and he nuzzled against the creature's front leg, while Estelle hugged her neck.

"I'm so sorry." Estelle said. The creature looked away sadly, but still allowed Estelle to affectionally pet her head, while caressing her hair in a maternally loving manner. The creature's eyes then caught sight of something right above from the left corner of her eye. Her head jerked upwards, with Estelle looking up in her direction.

It was one of the glass cases with an antique model of an old styled car from many years ago. Back from when Luciana's grandmother was only Estelle's age. The creature's tail swaged like that of a happy dog and she smiled, using the tip of her wing to point at it.

"That's a one of the earliest models of the Somorran automobiles." Estelle explained. "We call it a car for short."

The creature suddenly sprung upwards in excitement, unlike before. Her tail whipped around and she began whinnying happily. "Whoa, whoa, lower the volume!" Estelle warned, shushing her by placing her finger over her lips. She couldn't' allow anyone to hear her.

The creature complied but still pointed at the vehicle model with her wing before gesturing to herself. Estelle rose a brow. "What?" she asked. Her new friend kept stomping one hoof in place and rose it upwards as if striking a pose, while still using her wing's tip to point at the mobile car then back at herself, whinnying once more.

Estelle cocked her head, her eyes darting down towards Stripes, who simply shrugged in confusion. "You.. want to be a car?"

The creature snorted and shook her head. She stomped her hooves twice in a rhythmic pattern, her wing still pointing at the model. She stomped a few more times in the same rhythm, still pointing at the car. Estelle's eyes widened.

"A… car… a car… acar?" she asked, placing the two words together. The creature nodded her head, the gestured to herself. Estelle gasped. "Wait! Are you… are you trying to tell me your name?" Estelle asked in awe. The creature nodded her head, the tip of her wing now pointing at her nose.

"On the nose." Estelle translated. "You are! Okay, so, your name is Acar?"

The creature shook her head and then stomped her other hoof twice, using her wing to point at them. "Oh, okay, two words." Estelle said. "Firs word, "Acar"."

The creature gent gestured back to herself and then at Estelle. She repeated the process several times and Estelle tried placing two and two together. "You and Me?" the creature shook her head. "No. We?" the creature nodded. "We? Yes! Okay, second word of "We". Acar…we…" Estelle repeated to herself, with the creature nodding. The creature then pressed the tips of her wings together before separating them, rising only her left one.

"E… Acar…E…re." a smile forced across Estelle's face. "Akari?" she asked, feeling a sense of victory when the creature galloped happily in place and spun around as if after its own tail.

"Your name is Akari." Estelle concluded. "That's so pretty." the creature blushed at the compliment. "I don't believe it. You actually have a name. Wait, did I ever tell you mine?" The creature shook her head. "Oh, well, it's Estelle."

Akari whinnied happily once more, offering her hoof for Estelle to shake like that of a person. Estelle was still dumbfounded, but overwhelmingly astonished at this discovery, yet she shook her hoof. This creature--Akari-- could draw, understand her language, was smart enough to make her own choices, and she was genuinely curious about human-world objects.

"Wait, your book! We still have to find it!"

Akari's ears perched forward in alarm. She had nearly forgotten about her book. Estelle was right, they had to find it. She sniffed the air and gently tapped on the door. Estelle unlocked it and Akari sniffed the air. She caught its scent and prompted Estelle to follow her.

*(~)*

Akari sniffed the air, walking at a fast paste, faster than before, with Estelle managing to keep up. Stripes still rode on her back. They somehow managed not to stumble upon any of the castle staff, with Estelle following Akari up the stairs and down the left side of the hallway. Akari stopped abruptly when she stopped in front of a door, taping it gently with her cloven hoof.

"Are you sure?" Estelle asked. Akari nodded in reply. "That's my mother's study. Why would she have your book?" she asked, already beginning to feel unsure about this. If her mother discovered she was in her study without permission no doubt the woman would punish Estelle by having Akari locked up. She knew her mother still did not trust the creature, so this one small act could very much seal her very fate.

Nevertheless, Akari refused to leave without that book. Estelle sighed. "Alright. Just be careful. If my mother sees anything out of place, we're both done for."

Akari nodded in reply. Slowly, Estelle opened the room to her mother's study. The lights were shut off so Estelle flipped the switch. A soft, lunar light filled the room, giving it a serene yet mesmerizing presence. Akari sniffed the room, searching for the book before she abruptly stopped in from of something that smelled very off to her. She looked up and nearly tripped as she backed away in alarm at a white statue of a stunning woman with wings. Akari regained her composure quickly and studied the object.

"That's my mother's Arion." Estelle said. Akari looked at her in confusion, letting out a soft snorting sound, indicating she wanted her human friend to continue explaining. "You don't know about the Arions, do you?"

Akari shook her head, which took Estelle by complete surprise. "Really? Oh, wait, you've probably never heard of them because you were living out there." Estelle pointed with her thumb somewhere to her side. Akari turned in that direction but found nothing other than the door. Estelle chuckled lightly. "I meant the world outside the gate." she corrected.

Akari pursed her lip in thought then cocked her head again. She tilted her head to the statue, no doubt asking for more information. She shrugged, physically saying she still didn't know exactly what Estelle was talking about. The princes decided to explain their history to her new friend.

"Long ago, our world was mainly made up of forests and jungles. Humans struggled to survive and were powerless against the many monsters that roamed the land." Akari nodded her head, her eyes darting back and fort while snorting. Her body language suggested she was trying to say "Yeah, that sounds about right." Estelle knew that body language anywhere. Dahlia was a mater at it.

"That is, until the Arions gave us our wands, wings and bracelets, allowing us to control magic. Together, we fought against the creatures and created this city. We owe our very existence to them." Estelle gestured to the statue. "Each human is born with a personal Arion who guides them all throughout their lives, but we generally worship all of them and not just our own. We humans are all one, then so are the Arions."

Akari looked at Estelle and them back at the statue, looking visibly fascinated by this tale. Her vision shifted to something else right above the statue. It was the image of a man with medium olive colored skin and black hair. He wielded a wand, resembling a sword, whole holding a decapitated monster's head. It had pointed ears and a large snout with sickly grayish and wrinkly looking skin. Its jaw was disfigured and its eyes were fogy, which made Akari cringe at the sight.

Estelle patted the back of her neck. "That's my father." she said and Akari calmed down a bit. "He was one of the very few royal hunters. My mother keeps his portrait here in her study rather than in the grand hall." Akari whinnied, giving Estelle a questionable expression. "That's where we keep all the portraits and mementoes from all of the great hunters that came before." Estelle explained. Akari whinnied once more, again, asking a question. "What are hunters?" Estelle questioned. Akari nodded her head, indicating that's what she was asking. "They're highly trained assassins, trained to kill any and every monster beyond those gates." Estelle explained, completely unfazed.

Akari, on the other hand, looked anything but unfazed. She was very fazed. Very, very fazed. Her eyes were wide, her ears dropped and her mouth opened in ajar. Estelle cringed before attempting to explain herself better. "Oh, no, no, no, not you! Evil monsters, like the ones in the painting." she pointed her finger to the image. "I know it sounds a bit brutal… okay, a very brutal, but it's part of our greater mission. The whole purpose of the hunters is to rid the world of all evil, the same evil that killed us humans all those years ago. The same evil the Arions rescued us from when they gave us their magic."

Even with this explanation, Akari still didn't feel all that secure. "But you don't have anything to be afraid about. Nobody is going to harm you." Estelle said. The wild creature snorted and opened her wing, revealing the gapping hole in her membrane. Estelle cringed again and rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "Right. But that was only a misunderstanding. Stripes came from the outside world too and he's been living with me ever since."

Stripes nodded his head and spoke to Akari in his own language. The reptilian creature whinnied again, her face a mixture of uncertainty and hopefulness. To ease her worries, Estelle caressed her cheek and rubbed her nose affectionately. "When I was seven-years-old, I kind of broke out of Somorrah and went outside the walls." Estelle said, reliving the memory as she told it to her new friend. "A lot of my people normally can't even stand the thought of what is outside. Not with so many evil creatures roaming about. But, when I went out there…" Estelle paused for a brief moment, a soft smile forged across her lips as she relived the moment. "It was like stepping into a dream. A dream I never wanted to wake up from." the princess's voice became soft with a sense of longing as Akari listened attentively.

"I found Stripes and, he became my first real friend." Stripe scurried from Akari's back and onto Estelle's shoulder, nuzzling Estelle's cheeks. Her smile slowly morphed into a frown. "Then the guards found me and took me back inside the city. At first, my mother was furious. Then, I showed her Stripes wasn't a threat so… she allowed him to stay." Estelle slowly stepped away from Akari, moving closer towards the portrait of her father, right beside the Arion statue, who bared a stronger resemblance to her mother, except for longer hair and more angular features and such flawless body proportions that were nearly impossible for any human to posses, yet it made her appear all the more breathtakingly gorgeous. She was an Arion in which Luciana took great pride in calling her own.

"She took me into the hall of hunters, and revealed to me what I was meant to do with my life." Estelle said, still gazing at the painting. Akari whinnied, asking what exactly was it that Estelle was meant to do. Estelle slowly turned around to face Akari and pointed to the star on her forehead. "See this? It's the symbol of the Arions." Estelle pointed to the shield the statue held, which was identical to the symbol Estelle had. "My mother says it means I am blessed. Kind of vague, I know, but she concluded that I wasn't only meant to become queen of this city, but also a huntress."

Akari's ears perched upwards in alarm. Estelle nodded. "Yep. I'm a huntress too. Well, until my coronation/graduation ceremony next month." it was then, Akari showed sighs of uncertainty again. "You don't have to be afraid, Akari. I would never hurt you, or any innocent creature. We don't kill every animal we see anymore. We spare those who are of no threat to us, like Stripes and many of our animal friends that live here in the city." Estelle walked back towards Akari, gently lifting her chin. "I promise, so long as I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you. Nothing."

Akari's large green eyes softened and she nuzzled against Estelle, who hugged her head. She let out a sad whinny, looking at the image of Estelle's father. The princess sighed. "Yeah… He's gone." she answered. "He died when I was just a baby. He died defending his home… his family."

Using the ends of her wings, Akari wiped away the tears that managed to escape and roll down Estelle's cheeks. She then proceeded to whip them off herself, sniffing a bit while regaining her composure. "Okay, so about that book?"

Akari reacted in alarm, realizing they still needed to find that book. Thankfully, she caught the scent coming from the cabinet drawer of the queen's desk. Estelle quickly pulled out her wand, which once again caused Akari to reel back in alarm. Estelle looked at her wand then back at Akari in confusion.

"What's us with you? Why are you so afraid of my wand?" Akari kept stomping her hoof and nodding her head towards said wand, but Estelle simply shrugged in confusion. "Look, nothing is going to happen, okay? It's perfectly safe."

But Akari did not listen, and instead began to whinny again, very, very loudly. Estelle hurried to her side and covered the creature's mouth. "Be quiet!" Estelle hissed, silencing the creature by force. "Okay, fine, no wands, happy?" Akari nodded her head once and Estelle released her. She placed her wand back into place and proceeded to try and open the cabinet the old fashioned way.

"This is going to be a lot harder without the key." Estelle said to herself.

"Princess? Is that you?"

Estelle gasped, but quickly covered up her mouth on impulse. Akari hurried to the door, using her large body to keep it closed while the servant struggled to turn the knob and open from the other side.

"Princess, why are you in your mother's study?"

"I, uh, I was just, looking for an old beret my mother borrowed." Estelle lied, surprisingly managing not to stutter. Akari gave her a reassuring smile while keeping her body perfectly still, leaning hard against the door to give the impression it was locked.

"Oh, very well then. I just wish to inform you that your friends from the academy are here and they wish to speak with you."

"Oh, no." Estelle whispered to herself, nervously tracing her hand through her hair. "Um, just…" she looked at Akari, who shrugged her shoulders in an uncertain manner. "Could you please let them know I can't see them today? I'm very busy with… these tasks my mother assigned to me."

"Very well, Your Highness." the servant bowed from the other side of the door. Akari pressed her ear to the door, listening in on the footsteps which became more and more faint the farther he walked. After a few more steps, both Akari and Estelle breathed a sigh of relief.

Now to find that key.

*(~)*