This New World (Lakhrymosa and Hidden Lightning)

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"The Star Festival is a time when the clan comes together to celebrate peace. There's singing, dancing, food. The Mora-Mora trees are just starting to glow."

At her second point, Xam chuckles. "Yes, but you were saved. That sounds very lucky to me." They were at the castle now. The guard nodded to the prince and spared one curious look at Riley before entering the king's throne room, leaving them alone.

Xam's next words were quiet. "In a few moments, we will meet my father. Do not be afraid."

The door opened then, revealing a long hallway. At the end of it was a throne encrusted with red and black jewels, sat upon which was a man with entirely white skin, hair, and eyes. He beckoned for Xam and Riley to come closer.
 
Listening to everything that he was going on about with the festival, the more she was intrigued by it. Glowing trees? She'd never heard of such a thing but was curious about that. She continued to follow him silently, thinking about the stuff he'd told her and everything she was seeing so far. It was all quite something. And she grew more curious when he mentioned to not be afraid of his father. What would his father look like that she would be afraid of him?

Soon enough her question was answered as they entered a large room that held a throne and the king sitting on it. As she gazed at the man, she was surprised to see that he was completely white. It seemed very unnatrual but what got to her the most was that his eyes were completely white and she couldn't tell if he had pupils or not. Either way, she followed Xam closer to him since he motioned for them to come closer.
 
They drew closer. The silence was long and deafening.

Abruptly, the king spoke. "No human has entered this village in several hundred years." He addressed Xam alone when he said, "You should not have brought her here. This could cause a calamity." His voice was dry like sand. He didn't sound angry, but grave.

"Father, I believe that the human's presence could bring hope back to the Southern Monster Clan."

The king leaned forward, his white eyes seeming to glow with curiosity. "Oh? And how is that?"

Xam's hands curled into fists to control their shaking. "I intend to marry her."
 
Riley was wondering just how long they would be walking in silence. But that answered soon enough when the king spoke, though his words didn't sound like good ones. She was intrigued as to why no human had been here in so long but also felt rather defensive about him saying her presence could cause trouble.

She remained quiet though and glanced at Xam when he mentioned her being able to bring hope. However, when she heard what he wanted, her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Intend to marry? And just when did you decide on this?" she asked, shocked by his bold statement without even asking her what she thought on the matter. After all, this involved her too. However, they were royalty and she was just some lost human so she doubted she'd have much of a say in it.
 
Xam shot her a warning look. If only she knew that he was doing this to save her life. The king looked from Xam to Riley and back again. Before, he could chicken out, Xam continued.

"I believe that human blood entering the royal line will make us stronger as as a people. Father, I rescued her in the forest. By our own tradition, our lives are intertwined forever."

"There is nothing traditional about this," the king said grumpily. He rose to his feet, revealing his full height was at least seven feet. He stepped from the raised platform on which his throne was built. Xam stepped backwards in surprise.

The king stood before Riley, scrutinizing her with squinted eyes. "What is your name, human?"
 
Noticing the look Xam gave her, she let out a small huff but remained silent. She didn't get what he was trying to pull with a stunt like this.
She shifted a little as she watched the king stand up and was a little surprised with how tall he was, though didn't say a thing. She remained
standing where she was as the king approached her and looked at her. "My name is Riley," she replied.
 
"Riley..." The king stared long and hard at her. Then, as if he'd made up his mind about something, he turned away. "She has lucky blood. I can see it."
Sitting back on his throne, he addressed Xam once more. "I will approve of this, for now. However, you will be the one to instruct her in the ways of our people. Her mistakes will be on your hands, Xamander. Do not disappoint me."

"Thank you, Father," Xam said stiffly.

The king nodded, a signal that it was time for them to leave. Xam took Riley's wrist and lead her from the room wordlessly, and only when the door shut behind him did he let out a long breath and close his eyes. "Well that could have gone much worse."
 
She watched as the king stared at her, uncertain what he was thinking and also wanted to know what he even was. Though, she stayed quiet about that and was confused again when he mentioned her having lucky blood since Xam had been calling her lucky since she'd met him.
Riley was baffled by this whole experiance though. This guy that she'd just met, wanted to marry her, and now the king, was agreeing to it! Did her thoughts not matter on this subject? Getting married would affect her life too! Following Xam out of the room, she pulled her wrist out of his hand once the doors were shut behind them.

"Worse? How much worse could that have been? That was pretty bad for me," she stated, rather upset. "And what gives you the right to say you'll be marrying me when I don't even know you?! Just cause you saved my life doesn't mean that I'll do anything you want me to do."
 
Xam winced, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yes... I apologize, Miss Riley." His pale cheeks turned pink with embarrassment, and his orange eyes darkened to a deep brown. He seemed to be hiding behind his own hair. "Please allow me to explain."
But Xam does not get a chance to explain. Before he can finish speaking, the door at the far end of the hallway slams open. He jerks around to face the newcomer, a man with jet black hair chopped messily to his shoulders. He was dressed similarly to Xam, in slim-fitting black silk.
The man reaches them, his face a scowl. He has the same orange eyes as Xam.
"Brother, I can explain." Xam says quietly.
"You seem to have a lot of explaining to do, don't you?" The man who is Xam's brother turns away from him, looking down at Riley. "I came to talk to the princess," he said with a smirk.
 
Riley noticed how Xam's eyes changed and the blush creep onto his face. Normally she would've smirked at having made someone like him blush but for now, she simply wanted answers. She would the explination out of him one way or another. However, one thing she didn't expect was the other door opening and another guy coming in. He looked different, yet the same as Xam. The clothing was definitely a match but appearance wise they had some similarites as well. Soon enough she knew why when Xam called him brother.
She glanced between the two for a moment before focusing on the new comer when he spoke. She wasn't really sure what to think or make of it when he called her a princess. But then, this was all still feeling rather surreal. "Well then, I'm afraid you're out of luck cause I don't know of any princess around here," she replied.
 
The newcomer raised an eyebrow. "I like this one. She's funny."
"Brother, please..." Xam looked uncomfortable. He was afraid of what this man would say.
"Quiet, Xamander." The man was much shorter than Xam, but still taller than Riley. He looked down at her scrutinizingly. "I'd like to speak to you in private, princess."
"Siva!" Xam barked. "You will stay away from her."
Siva rolled his eyes, turning on Xam. "It's not like I'm going to hurt her."
 
Riley wasn't sure what to make of the new comer as he spoke. She hadn't meant to be funny or anything. Rather annoyed and wanting this whole marriage business between her and Xam to be over.
She listened as the two brothers spoke, wondering why they didn't seem to get along. And now she was in the middle of it all as well. Great.
Then a thought occured to her. Perhaps while the two brothers were arguing, she could sneak out. Their attention was on each other so she slowly started to shift in the direction of the door where they'd come through when they'd come into the palace. She did this in a slow process so that it would more unnoticed.
 
She notices an open door leading outside.
The brothers are too busy arguing to notice her. Something about them is comical, although Siva is beginning to look a bit... scary.
 
Noticing how the brothers were arguing, Riley continued to make her way out of the room.
When she finally made it to the door, she glanced back to the brothers, and noticed the way Siva seemed to grow more...well scary really.
Remembering how Xam said they were monsters, she decided she ought to get out before she saw anything that would really scare her and stepped out the door, letting out a breath of relief to be out of that room.
 
The door swung shut behind her and she found herself in a garden, surrounded by tall, slender trees and flowers that swayed in the cool breeze. Indeed, if she cared to look close enough she'd see the base of the flower petals beginning to glow a soft blue. It seemed that there was much to this world that she had not yet learned.

A there was a path leading through the garden to the outside. It seemed that anyone could enter and leave the castle as they pleased. This must be a trusting community. The path was winding, and the stones themselves were also glowing.

There were a few children playing among the bushes, but they stopped when they saw her. Two young girls and a boy looked up at her in awe. A real human. The boy hid behind his sisters shyly, while one of the girls, wearing a muddy dress and hair cropped to her pointed ears, stepped forward toughly. Given that she was about six years old, she wasn't much of a threat.
 
Taking a deep breath, she smiled at being away from the boys and glanced around where she was. The garden seemed quite beautiful and she was amazed at how things seemed to glow here.
Walking along the path, she stopped at one point to kneel down and get a closer view of the flowers which were of a kind she'd never seen before.
It was when she looked up again that she saw the kids and smiled when she saw them, finding them rather cute. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," she promised and rose to her feet again to continue walking. She was rather curious as to what else was out here. Were monster towns the same or different then human ones?
 
Well, there was only way to find out. As she approached the gate, it swung open quietly. The path turned into a paved road that led straight for as far as the eye could see, with buildings crowded around on either side.
The buildings were all beautifully designed and arranged like a puzzle, but the city was empty. All the inhabitants were away, preparing for tomorrow's festival.
 
As she reached the gate, she peered out into town, fascinated by it all. She began to walk around, taking in the sight of all this. She wondered why it all seemed so empty but didn't dwell on that long as she was fascinated by everything. She wondered how big this place was and explored farther into town.
 
It was then that she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey, human."
This definitely wasn't the voice of a child. Behind her stood two tall men dressed all in red. Their skin was a pale bluish green, and they appeared to have no eyes. There was a woman behind them. Her skin was a darker green, and she had a single eye in the middle of her forehead. They towered over Riley menacingly.
 
Hearing a voice behind her, Riley turned and was surprised by what she saw. Never before had she heard of creatures looking like this.
However, she didn't dwell on that for long since they didn't seem too friendly.
"Uh, hi," she replied, turning again to continue walking, hoping to get away from them.
 
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