The Underwater Kingdom

As she was now, there was not much left of her mentality for the moment in order to explain to Sachiel exactly what she was bothered about. It was something that had haunted her mind for 6 years now, and it wasn't going to go away any time soon. No doubt that feeling would come back, and she would have to experience the pain of it again. But tonight, with everything so hectic, with Naili upset with her, and with her stress limit at its peak, there was no way she could explain it all to him. To pour her heart out on this stair way tonight, would be the breaking point. So, with a simple head shake, her eyes lifted momentarily to his own. "I'll tell you some other time..." She would, most likely; maybe. But for tonight, it was best if they both just get some sleep. Micah could only assume he needed the relaxation from the stress of the day as much as she. It took her a moment to stabilize her frame enough to stand; wavering only slightly. She turned then, looking up at him. She could only hope he would treat her sister well... With a quiet sigh, she stepped up to give him a loose hug. In comparison, she was like a child hugging a full blown adult; the tippy-top of her head coming to just shy of his collar bone. Her only comment on the embrace was just a quiet whisper. "Goodnight..." And then she broke away as quickly as she had come to hug him, feet carrying her at a quickened, yet flowing pace up the cool steps, headed toward her room. Today had been a long, stressful day, and Micah was ready for a nice long night's rest.

Of course, she was temporarily distracted as she came to pass Naili's door. Her steps faltered some, eventually bringing her to a stop. She turned slowly toward Naili's door, contemplating. Naili was upset with her, no question of that was in her mind; perhaps even mad. Could Micah settle it tonight? She had to... She couldn't go to sleep, knowing that the closest person in the world to her, was angry with her. Slowly she approached the doorway, senses extending to touch upon the sounds within the room. Slight rustling, maybe? Naili seemed to be asleep, though... Should Micah wake her? She didn't hesitate in action as she did in thought, however; small hand clasping the knob, turning, and letting herself into the dimly lit room. She let the door close silently, crossing the room to rest herself at the end of Naili's bed. Silent, however was she. Not worried about waking her up, now, but worried more as to what she would say to her sister. What could she say? She wasn't interested in Sachiel the way she assumed Naili thought she was. Would Naili believe her? She could only guess at this; for all Micah knew, Naili was unpleased with her job, and with Micah herself. Who would want to watch after a girl like Micah? She didn't assume Naili did, but there had been no hints she could decipher well enough to prove otherwise. For the second time today, she was only left to guess... "Naili?" Her voice questioned, very softly, quizzically, worriedly? "Naili..." She repeated, a statement. And her hand raised to gently touch upon her sister's leg, a gentle waking. This conversation couldn't wait 'till tomorrow, it would have to be held tonight.

Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to wake Naili up this late... Micah could only imagine the stress she carried on her shoulders day by day; sleep was probably the only time she got a break, and Micah was interrupting it. For a moment, she questioned whether she should forget it, and go to her room instead. But it was only so soon that Naili was already sitting up, looking upon Micah's little, childlike figure at the foot of her bed. Like a cat, she crouched, holding in to herself, with her arms wrapped tightly around her little frame. Would Naili be mad? Even more so now that she had woken her up from what seemed to be a peaceful sleep? A guilty smiled tugged at the edges of her lips, only one side of her face visible to the eye now, as the other half was shadowed by the darkness of the room. Her gaze fell then, tilted downward toward the bed, and the other half of her face was then shadowed by her long, vibrantly silver hair. In the light it took on a gentle gray hue, the darkness of her small figure matching that of the room. And when she spoke, the guilt of waking her up, the worry of Naili being upset with her, and the fright that Naili would disappear before her eyes, all mixed together into the blend of a lost child in the frightening eye of a storm. "Naili... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to ruin your moment, or make you upset with me... It seems I have a terrible habit of doing that, huh?" Her voice was shaky with the false laughter, tears welling up in her eyes. This had been the second time she ruined a moment between the two, today; once just a little while ago, and once early this morning. No doubt she had also ruined important moments for her in the past, as well. What if Naili didn't want her anymore? "I promise to stay out of your business from now on, I'll leave you alone, so you can be with Sachiel. I know he'll treat you right... I was scared this morning, when I saw you two together, that he would hurt you... But I don't think he will... I think you'll be happy with him... so, don't be upset with him, you can blame me for ruining your moment..." She was shaking now, just slightly. She drew in closer. Would Naili leave her? Had she finally crossed the line? "I won't bother you anymore, I want you to be happy, so... be happy... okay?" And her voice lightened then, breaking even so slightly into the petrified oblivion. "I'm sorry, Naili... I didn't mean to upset you..."

Naili was a terrible liar, she always had been. If anyone could see past her facade, it was definitely Micah; no change in circumstance now. Naili was lying through her teeth, it was obvious in the blush she noticed out of the corner of her tear filled eyes. The stutters she wouldn't normally let loose, those were dead giveaways as well. However, the true proof that Naili had been lying, was the picture she could still see in her mind; Naili and Sachiel dancing, the look of pure and utter bliss in Naili's eyes. However, the fact that Naili was trying to deny how she was feeling, only made Micah feel worse. Was she trying to deny herself for Micah's sake? The tears spilled then, dripping quietly onto the sheets of Naili's bed, like the pitter-patter of rain drops of a leaf. "It doesn't matter if he is 'just a commoner', and I can tell you know that... its okay, Naili, to want to be with someone other than me... I take up so much of your time, and I'm sorry for that... I really want you to be happy, and if its with him, then all the better..." And with that, she slowly drew herself from the edge of Naili's bed, making her way toward the door. She hesitated before leaving, turning her attention back to Naili for a moment. The moonlight casted through the deep ocean blue reflected a gentle glimmer to her tear-tainted cheeks, the hint of a faint smile on her lips. "Again, I'm sorry for disrupting you... I really don't have an interest in him like that, if anything, he's more like an older brother. Maybe not even that, so much as a.. well, a guardian. I just wanted you to know..." Her hand twisted on the knob, pulling the door open and letting herself slip through the space between. A whispered word left her lips as she took her departure, making her way slowly to her own room. "Goodnight..."

What was Micah trying to do, exactly? She wanted Naili to be happy. She wanted Sachiel to be happy. She wanted to be happy with them both. And if they were together, things would all fall into place, wouldn't it? But that was selfish on her part, if it came to be that they didn't want to be with each other. Micah found this hard to believe, though; that wasn't just any normal dance, and that morning wasn't just any morning. Naili had gotten as close as to lay her head on he man's shoulder, for Christ sake! That wasn't something Naili would just let happen with any random person, especially if she had only known him for maybe a few hours, at that time. There must have been something special about him from the very start that drew Naili in, and it wasn't nothing. Micah could tell. She was young, yes, but not completely oblivious. Micah had grown up, learning to pay attention to the specific details of life. Whether it be the odd tone to her usually olive skin, the stutter to her voice, the flustered expression on her face. The different tones and pitches of her voice, the different speed and direction her movements flowed with. And once more, despite her obvious taint of emotion at this point, Micah returned to that quiet, calculating, and masked person she was normally around other people. Naili was lying to Micah, wasn't she? What was worth, Naili was lying to herself; Micah couldn't help but to feel hurt that Naili couldn't even come out and speak her mind to her little 'sister' now. What was keeping Naili from being truthful, like she normally was? She was led back to believe that Naili was getting sick of having to be around Micah all the time; what else could explain the reasoning for her false words right now? So, returned once more to the quite, watchful stance she held normally with everyone besides Naili, a small hand raised simply to wipe the tears from her face. And thus the quiet, listless expression ensued.

However, she was taken off of her guard as Naili stepped up to hug her. For a moment, only a small millisecond of a moment, she allowed her small frame to relax into the comforting embrace Naili had provided her with many a time. And then, she was back to her normal, stiff, yet oddly fluent structure, giving only a small nod to Naili's words, before turning to leave. Perhaps it was unfair to Naili, to keep such a guarded stance just now; perhaps it was unfair of Naili to speak such obviously false words to Micah. Without another word, nor thought about the situation, she led herself silently to her own soon-to-be-not room, opening and closing the door stiffly behind her. She traveled the small distance from her door to the small sea-glass window, eyes wandering the depths of the deep ocean blue in search of a familiar little birdie that liked to frequent her bedroom window. Searching, but finding little to nothing, she parted from the window frame and sifted through the drawer of her grand dresser, fishing out a small, coral-constructed ocarina. She once more resumed her stance at the window, raising the ocarina to her lips for the first time in days, and letting her gentle breath flow from her lips in short, smooth waves; fingertips scaling the multiple holes in a gentle, yet deeply mystifying and magical melody. The tune, of course, would carry right through the sea glass and vibrate like sonar through the water, calling out to none other than Ptitsa. Her sibling, her guardian, her counterpart, her equal; Micah assumed Ptitsa would be making a trip to Necropolis tonight anyhow, and wouldn't mind taking along the small ball invitation to Incendia. The melody her small, colorful ocarina deposited would surely be enough to attract Ptitsa's attention, Micah hoped...

And surely, it did. In moments she could see the small, graceful figure of a bright white bird, dancing gracefully through the water, dodging fish and turtles, and meeting her at the window's edge. With a small smile, her hand lifted to press a button, which would open up a small hatch on the other side of the wall. From here, Ptitsa would step into the opening, and the hatch would then close. The water would be drained through the grate-like platform in which Ptitsa would be stepping on, and then a hatch on the inside of the wall would open up, and allow Ptitsa inside without any water breaking the airtight seal. Once the hatch opened, Ptitsa's small body fluttered into the room gracefully and landed on Micah's shoulder; inspiring a spirited giggle to part Micah's plump pink lips. "Ptitsa! My darling, I've missed you!" she talked to Ptitsa as if he were a twin, or best friend; human, in all of his bird-like glory. She fished a small envelope from the innards of her kimono, holding it up to him. Ptitsa cocked its head to the side, as if curious to the package she had for him. Then, a small tear parted from Ptitsa's eyes, landing onto the paper of the envelope and soaking through rather easily. On instant, it morphed into a feather, in which Ptitsa picked up and tucked securely into the underneath of his left wing. With a small smile, Micah looked up to Ptitsa, murmuring quietly. "Take this to Incendia, it is their ball invitation..." And she lifted her hand to stroke the soft down of the bird's feathered head. It was then, however, that Ptitsa showed a change. His wings fluttered oddly, eyes drawing Micah in. She obeyed his silent command, allowing him to pull her temporarily into his mind frame. What she saw there, shocked her into utter silence.

As if she were looking at the world from Ptitsa's eyes, she traveled through the sky freely, like a leaf in the wind. Careless, peaceful, content. Until, of course, that familiar pang of death filed itself through her little, birdlike chest. Instantly, her course changed its direction; traveling to unfamiliar lands. The wild lands, to be exact. There, she could see three mangled bodies lying lifeless on the ground; bitten into, torn apart, and painting the rouged earth scarlet. Drawing closer, until she landed on the chest of one of the mangled bodies, her sharp, bird eyes locked onto the slowly glazing, lifeless orbs of the body she had landed on. Familiar, this man was familiar. And she realized, with a painful stab to her chest, that the dead body she was perched atop was none other than Lux. And she couldn't help the actions Ptitsa would take, as to draw his soul, as well as the other two, into itself as feathers. She wanted to stop Ptitsa, heal Lux, but she wasn't in control, and this was not happening now. It was merely a flashback of recent events, and she couldn't stop it. She was then carried through the harshly heated winds of Incendia, weaving through the scenery to the hidden depths of the caves below. Necropolis, the land of souls; that was her target. But it was not her target, it was Ptitsa's, as again, this was only a memory. And as the three souls were deposited, she was slowly allowed travel back into her own mind; only to find that her eyes were now once more pregnant with tears. Lux... was... was.... She couldn't help but to think the word, eyes wide with horror as she looked to Ptitsa for further explanation. He provided none, however, as there was no more explanation to give.

She shrunk back against the wall, then, as Ptitsa lifted carefully from her shoulder to hover just in front of her now tear-washed face. As a mirror image on a much smaller scale, a single tear parted from the corner of Ptitsa's eye, dribbling down the feathers of his face and onto the floor; mixed then with the great collection of tears now gathering. The bird carried forward, almost like a human, nuzzling Micah's cheek comfortingly. And then, it parted from her and headed toward the window, where it would then press a button opposite to the first, and allowing itself out the same way it had come in. And once more, it fluttered over to the window to look in on Micah one last time, before cutting through the water swiftly and making its trip to Incendia. Micah was left to stare, teary-eyed at the window for several long moments, before allowing herself to crumple uselessly to the ground. "Lux.. is..." But she still couldn't think of the word, let alone speak it. She half crawled to her bedside, making her way out of the kimono stiffly, and crawling under the covers of her overly large bed. And for once in her life, the empty space all around her was frightening; a threat of eternal loneliness. She cried herself to sleep that night, the pain and heartache of a lost friend, even a possible love in the future, singing her sorrowfully into the frightening and dreamless sleep that was to come.

Less than 24 hours left... And so many things left to do... Sachiel still hadn't gotten his outfit completed! Sachiel had been quite busy all day, but he finally had a little free time. His first mission would be to visit Naili. Hopefully she wouldn't be upset with him over the night before. The majestic mid-afternoon glow of the palace surrounded him as he made his way to her room. As he walked there, he tried to figure out exactly what he would say to her. He was far from sure. Honestly, he had no idea. He had business to take care of it, but when it came to A'Nailiah, he couldn't help but give in to emotion first, and worry about everything else later. He made it to her door, and knocked a few times, hoping she was present. He knew she stayed busy, as did he, but he had little time to run around looking for her. "Naili?" He asked from the outside, letting her know by his voice, who her company would be.

Knock knock… “Naili?” No answer… Knock knock… Perhaps she was truly absent. Or perhaps she really was angry with Sachiel. But how to know for sure? Splash! Water sprinkled on the mans face as she turned the corner, taken by surprise by his presence at her door, obviously embarrassed and amused at once by this occurance taking place two days in a row. “Oh no.” He told her. “It’s these meetings that make my job worth it.” He said with a laugh. He once more cleaned her water from the hallways, this time, cleaning it off himself as well. It wasn’t until this moment that he got a good look at her, and her attire. Clearing his throat, as the site caused him to forget exactly what he had come to request of the woman, he took a half step backward, as to allow her access to her door. He wouldn’t enter behind her without her permission, however, he spoke to her through her open doorway. “Well, I’m doing my last minute preparations for the Ball…” he started, still slightly thrown off by A’Nailiahs appearance. “And I wanted to ask you, if I could see your dress.” He had gotten himself fitted and such for his outfit, but there was one thing missing. Not only that, but he was curious as to what Naili would be wearing, and didn’t want to clash, since he would be walking her into the Ball.

Sachiel ignored Nailis teasing as he cleaned the hallway. After a quite heated situation with Ashling, he had no choice. Paying the comment any sort of attention would simply anger him. Her internal struggle was obvious, even to Sachiel. But the motivation behind it, he couldn’t be completely sure of. Did she like him? Was she trying not to like him? Maybe she liked someone else within the Kingdom, and was simply trying to spare his feelings. He didn’t understand women well enough to pinpoint it, but he could tell there was something there…”Not the scaring you part. Just the randomly seeing you in the halls. It makes the glow of the hallways even more brilliant.” He explained. As she walked into the room, leaving the door cracked, he turned his back to the door, feeling it the best course of action, since she had failed to close the door completely. He listened to her as she spoke to him, both playfully and harshly at once. It was hard to tell which was prevalent, so he simply assumed the best. “Priceless face now, Priceless face tomorrow. You’ll be able to tease me either way, right?” When he heard the door open, he turned back around, and his shock literally knocked him back a couple steps. “Wow…” was all he could muster in the moment that he lay eyes on her. This giving her time for her little comments. What did she mean ‘keeping her word?’ Her word to be his date? Was that the only reason she was going? Or was there some other meaning? He gave up trying to decipher it, as the image before him distracted him once more. After he had fully taken in the image of beauty, he regained his voice. “Even more beautiful than I had imagined…” But he hadn’t come here simply to gawk at Naili in her dress. He had to see it, in order to complete his own preparations for the day. “Thank you.” He told her, bowing lightly out of habit. “I have a surprise for you.” He told her. “You’ll get it when I pick you up tomorrow, for OUR entrance.” He smiled, and turned away from her door, pivoting on his heel, before walking off to take care of the rest of his business.

It was finally time… Sachiel had been busy since his visit to Nailis room the day before, and his work had finally paid off. He was fully dressed in the custom suit that was designed for him. Much like a military dress uniform in style, it consisted of a blue jacket with a studded collar, and gold buttons. Gold shoulder markings, which would indicate his status within the clan, and a collaboration of awards. Beneath the jacket, was a simple white shirt, with gold cufflinks. He wore White pants, with a single gold stripe down the outside of each leg, and a fancy new pair of shoes. But his outfit wasn’t the only thing he had been working on. He had told Naili that he had a surprise for her, and he had put hours into working on it. He knocked on her door, and awaited her appearance.

He stood on the other side of her door, hands behind his back as she spoke to him. “Yes, we are.” Sachiel said, in reference to the both of them looking well. The look in his eyes upon seeing her wasn’t the same look of shock from the day before. It was more a calm smile, symbolizing pure happiness and admiration. “This is for you.” He said, bringing his hands around to expose his surprise for her. After leaving her room the day before, he had taken a trip to Quintar. Only he had fully explored the Island, and he knew where to go to find certain things that couldn’t be found anywhere else. After hours of exploring the Island, he found it. Brilliant golden flowers known as Minned Lillies, which couldn’t be matched in beauty, as well as many other assortments. Using them, along with blue water lilies to accent them, he made a brilliant corsage for her, to accent her dress. He stepped toward her, and took her hand, in order to place the corsage on her wrist. He then took a step back, and bent down next to the door to lift something else. One final Minned Lilly, which he placed in her ear to hold back her hair. “Perfect.” He said, amazed at her beauty once more. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, offering her his arm.

The night had been restless for Micah, despite the obvious extravagance of the amenity in which she lay on; the constant audio of trickling water, the dim and gentle glow of lights, the sweetly mystifying scents of a flower garden radiating through her room not close enough to being a comfort on this night. Any other night she would have slept soundly, so why, would one ask, was this night different? Before she had gone to bed, she'd learned something that had reduced her to a crumpled, sobbing doll on the floor. Lux, a fellow clan leader, someone she may have seen as a brother, maybe even a lover, was dead; she hadn't even been around to help him, no one had. Another piece of her family, marked off the list. How long would it be until the others were gone? Sotay, Kazu, Ichi, Aure, Naili? Even Sachiel? Micah was convinced now; someone was out to destroy her life, personally. Abjit, maybe? This was a melodramatic notion, of course; selfish, even, self centered. But thats the direction her mind seemed to flow, while she slept. And to make it more painful, she could just imagine her mother's mangled body before her, speaking to her, "You think its about you? Do you always have to make everything about you? You are a pathetic waste of life, why would death of all things be for you?" Of course, if Micah were awake and rational, she would know that every false word her mother spoke was true; this was dreamland, though, and in dream land, she was ANYTHING but rational. Hell. She was anything but Micah, herself.

Her dreams were not much different than the norm, for the most part; The splitting image of her mangled mother's face, reaching out to Micah, and crying, "Save me" was now, however, accompanied by Lux as well. This, of course, would cause more problems for her later. But, as she was waking up, she refused to let the memory of that dream infiltrate her conscious mind for as long as she could hold it off. She ran through her morning routine rather dispiritedly: taking a trip down to the bathe hall, going back to her room, dressing in temporary clothing, and bunking herself up inside of her room to prepare the dress she would wear for that night. The dress in and of itself would take hours, this much she knew; she needed the time away from people in order to properly control the wave of emotions assaulting her mind, anyway, before even thinking about attending the ball. As she sewed, a gentle, yet steady rain of tears dribbled from her eyes and landed on the silky fabrics she was working with. Occasionally the fabric got too damp to work with properly, and so she would have to remove the moisture from the fabric to continue. It got to the point, eventually, where she decided it'd be easier to use her abilities to divert the tears from spilling onto the fabric, creating a trail through the air to deposit the salty waters onto the floor on either side of her bed. She continued to work, however, letting the pain of the new loss leak out slowly, and painlessly. She worked with the array of silks and other fabrics in front of her for hours, using only a single needle; denying the pain each time she would prick herself. As a result, however, the blood would occasionally drip onto the fabric before she could notice it; there it would be stuck, a minute reflection of the ache she was feeling, staining the gently woven threads of her dress.

When the dress was finally done, she set the needle aside, cleared the tears from her eyes, and let them travel outward to take in the beauty of the creation she's produced. It seemed that a few drops of blood had collected near the rim of the corset, staining the otherwise clean fabric. A disappointed frown creased her childlike face, mind jumping quickly to possible solutions. She took stock of the other colors on her dress; blues, purples, and light pinks decorated in the form of cherry blossoms, wave like currents, and violet undertones over the eloquently bright white cloth. What to do? The scarlet stains seemed to congregate mostly around the cherry blossoms, it seemed. Plucking a small paintbrush from her dresser table top, and picking the needle up once more, she pricked the tip of her finger and dipped the brush into the small drop of blood that welled up there, working the instant stain into evenly distributed patterns around the very edges of some of the cherry blossoms; relying on it as an undertone to the brilliant flowers. Once acceptably peppered over the fabric, she touched up the original stains very lightly, enough to make the the mask of her mistake acceptable to others. Once finished, she set both the brush and the needle atop her dresser once more, allowing her fingertip to heal as she pulled herself out of bed with the dress. She carried it carefully into the closet, where she would pick out the accessories she would accommodate the beautiful dress with, and change in, before the ball.

It took quite a long while to dress, but the end result was better than Micah could have imagined. She stepped carefully in front of the full length mirror of her room, eyes wandering the image before her. The dress itself was in a style some might find odd for this event; short length sleeves extending from the tops of her shoulders, downward about three inches, leaving the chest area exposed up until the bridge of a v-cut corset that masked most of her breast area. The corset flowing rather tightly fit down her upper body, where it would then sweep into a flowing, yet still body-fitting skirt. The front of the skirt was cut up to a little higher than mid thigh, unlike the sides and back of the skirt of the dress, which flowed down to end mid-calf around her body, like a cascading waterfall almost. Her shoes were both the same, and different; blue-lace strung frosty white boots, one coming up to end at her knee, and the other extending up to about two inches before the shorter skirt length of her front. The part of her leg that was not covered by the knee-length boot was laced like a corset up to match the length of the other boot, creating a repeating X pattern up her thigh, and tied with a loose bow that cascading back down an inch or two. Tucked carefully into upper strip of the lace was a single cherry blossom; the contrast of the bright pink and gentle blue mimicking the rest of her dress. Around the waist was a pink sash that swept at a slightly tilted angle over her hips. Around her neck, a deep violet lace collar was fastened, the front of the collar adorned with a charm of her kingdom's symbol, constructed from the tooth of Aspidochelone, the great turtle in which Sivus was built upon. This was one of the only two charms exactly like this in existence, the other one belonging to Naili. A small smile curved her lips as her eyes traveled to this particular charm, neck tilting slightly to get a better look at the magnificent piece. Briefly, her fingerless-gloved hand lifted to touch upon the surface of the charm, before dropping back down to her side.

She looked upon her features then, bright blue eyes glimmering in the light as she beheld her own beauty. The silver strands of light-like hair where spun brilliantly down her body, straight for the most part, but with subtle curls in various places hanging in the mix. Almost like a crown, two small braids were spun in a circular pattern atop her head, coming down the back to join in one single braid. A brilliant cherry blossom, full bloom, was tucked securely into the left side of this 'crown', stark contrast to her almost snow-white hair. And though a great deal of her hair cascaded down her back, thick strands also fell down her front; falling almost perfectly over her corsetted upper half and just breaching the upper brim of the sash around her hips. Her smooth, creamy, porcelain skin glimmered beautifully in the lights, a perfect fit for the light tones of her dress. Her lips were plump rose petals on the surface of cream, eyes rimmed lightly with a natural, gray-ish toned liner. The eyes, themselves, glimmered like light sapphires with diamond streaks running through them in root-like fractures. These eyes cascaded the image of beauty before her, admiring it greatly herself. For a moment, though, she was disappointed; Naili had Sachiel to admire her beauty, but who did Micah have? She realized then, she didn't even have a date, and she was the one hosting this ball. Abjit! The curse slipped through her lips, wry sigh following suit. Oh well, no time to worry about it now, she was running late.

***

Abjit: Pronounced Oh-Pee-Ate, or Opiate. Basically a curse word in Siram's terms. The meaning of Abjit, as well as its relevance to Siram (Which is a rather big relevance) can be located in my character sheet, in particular, Siram's Background Story

What a night it had been! The kind of night people dream of. The kind of night Sachiel had dreamed of his entire life… A Royal ball, full of fancy people, and royals from all over the world, and he was one of them! He had prepared a Royal ball for people all over the world, and it had been a success! But more important than that, he had gotten his princess… His eyes opened slowly to see a ceiling that wasn’t his own. He was laying on his back, and on his skin, he could feel the warming, gentle breath of another. A’Nailiah… She lay with her head on his shoulder, her arm draped across his chest. He lay there for a moment, thinking of the events of the night before. He and Naili had appeared at the Ball, turning heads as expected. They wowed the crowds with their dance, as they had when they visited the Ballroom several days earlier. They sat, and talked over a light frozen drink before deciding to ditch the party, and just hang out. They walked the Islands, they went for a swim, and it all ended back here. A’Nailiahs room. He had never imagined he would have a night like that one. But he would never forget it. Unfortunately, he had a training session that he had to instruct, so he couldn’t sit around and wait for her to awaken. Gently moving her arm from across his body, and carefully moving her head onto her pillow, he climbed out of the bed, and located his clothes. After dressing himself, he trailed a bit of water from the air, and formed it into a rose made of ice, which he lay on the pillow on his side of the bed. He kissed her forehead, before lightly walking out of the room, and preparing for the job he had come to the Kingdom to do, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all.

Sachiel sat against the wall as he watched the Guardians leave the training facility. Surely they had noticed that he wasn’t all there that day. His mind had been on something else the whole session. And that something else had gorgeous blue hair, and the voice of a Goddess. First love? It had to be. There was no other explanation for it. But after a night like the night before, how else could he feel? Of course, he knew he liked her from the moment he lay eyes on her, but on this day, even training was something he couldn’t concentrate on. Something he based his entire life around. He walked out of the training facility, and took the Pods up to the Islands. He decided that maybe a surf would help take his mind off of Naili until he could see her later. However, once he got out onto the ocean, he wiped out, time, after time, after time. “Man, I’m out of it today…” Maybe he should just go see her? He couldn’t. He didn’t want to push it. He sat on the beach, watching the clouds go by with a gentle smile on his face. Regardless of what happened at this point, no one could take that smile away…

Finally she had been this close to the Pods to go to the Underwater Kingdom. She was still hesitating badly though, wether she should go down or not. She was just a citizen from the Island Civus. She remembered her father telling her not to go to the Underwater Kingdom because it was not a place for her to see. She sighed lightly, her footsteps quiet in the warm sand. She looked over at the ocean while she was still walking, not even knowing how it was like in the Underwater Kingdom. She started to believe more and more to just stay up on the Islands and enjoy living there. Yet, the curiosity she held to go to the Underwater Kingdom was pretty high. That was the main reason why she was out so far, near the Pods. When she was still looking over at the ocean, she noticed a young man sitting on the beach and just tilted her head a little. She wasn't sure if she had seen him before, but most likely not. She was an indoors person, just because of her voice. She stayed as silent as possible and just kept walking. She looked over to the Pods, her long sea green hair hiding her eyes from looking at the young man. She just stopped walking, looking at the Pods with insecurity and just sighed lightly again. Even her sigh already gave a faint melodic sound, but it was quiet enough not to be heard.

Lost in the world of his own mind, Sachiel hadn’t noticed that the beach where he lay had become quite populated. He hadn’t noticed… Until he heard a loud exclamation. He recognized the voice, and for the first time since he awoke that morning, he came out of his daze, which was replaced with a feeling of excitement. He rose to his feet, and began walking along the shore, toward a figure whom he didn’t need to see to identify. When he arrived at her side, it was no surprise to him that A’Nailiah was the one standing on the beach, however, he had to wonder who she had been talking to. He hadn’t been able to make out the words she said, but she had surely been talking to someone. “Hello there, beautiful.” He said, a gentle smile playing on his face. There was a sense of peace in him that he generally didn’t display, however, his curiosity was also visible, as he looked around for whatever person she had been speaking to. “I didn’t expect you’d come out this late today.” He said, knowing that she preferred to run early in the morning. He didn’t speak of the night before, not because he was embarrassed, but because he didn’t feel it needed to be said. The way his heart was pounding at his chest, it was sure to be showing on his face.

Sachiel was surprised at the unusually kind greeting that Naili offered him. He didn’t know why he was surprised. After last night, it made perfect sense. However, he simply wasn’t accustomed to it. But it didn’t matter, his mind was made up. However, there was something odd about her demeanor. Obviously he knew she had slept in, he left her room later than he would normally wake up, and she tended to wake before him. Not only that, but she seemed to have neglected the majority of the night. After all, they spent less than an hour at the Ball. “That makes sense, I suppose.” He responded, only to find that she had turned and began walking away before he could completely get the words out. Now THAT was more like Naili. He walked alongside her, a grin on his face. “In a rush now?” He teased, having learned how to deal with her and the way she treated him. He simply played on her level. A lot was going to happen between them soon, though he didn’t know it yet. All he knew, was that he was without doubt… In Love.