novelraw Chapter 302 - Interlude 10 - Lunar New Year (Part 1)
Chapter 302 - Interlude 10 - Lunar New Year (Part 1)
"Emmy! Emmy! Wake up!"
The Lunar princess came to, not in elegance, but exhaustion. Who would have thought an economy seat wasn't made to sleep in? Certainly not her. She rubbed the sleep from her bleary eyes as she failed to suppress the yawn that escaped.
"We there yet?" asked the Maestro.
"They just made the announcement that we're five minutes out," Ritika informed her.
Albarich pointed out the window. "You can see the elevator."
Sure enough, the Lutera Space Elevator in all its glory loomed in the distance.
Emily let her head fall back against the seat she had slept most of the flight away in. "Urgh…" groaned the princess. "Can't wait to be in my bed."
"We still got another four hours before we're even in space, Princess," Albarich commented.
"Uhg, don't remind meeee…" the girl complained dramatically.
Emily and her duo cut through town, making their way straight for Lutera. Albarich and Ritika dragged rolling bags behind them while Emily held a small handbag against her chest which contained Soot's crystal. Even if they were in a hurry, the trio couldn't help but let their curiosity run amok.
Naiza was the same as it ever was, full of lunar elements and the culture brought down from the moon itself. With that in mind, the space port was full of pre-New Years celebrations. Of note, many food stalls carried an abundance of one particular fruit.
"The heck is that?" Ritika asked, pointing to the small ovular fruit. From what the cat made out they were brown and had a slight fuzz to them.
"Kiwis, they're a lunar delicacy," Emily said with a smile as they walked.
"Never had one before," said the cat.
"They're kinda bitter to be honest--but most people like 'em cause you only have them around New Years," Albarich chimed in.
"Oh, can't wait to try one then," the earth element said with a tinge of hope.
"You'll love them," Emily giggled.
The trio kept up the pace and made their way into the lobby of the space elevator. Unlike a lot of tourists, Emily had connections. Before her year and a half on Riterra, she would have been shy to abuse her namesake.
Her fellow guildmaster taught her about practicality--more specifically, appreciating and abusing anything that made life more convenient.
For that, she led her Resonators straight to the administration office.
"Miss Seijo," greeted one of the desk clerks. "Wonderful to see you," they said with a bow.
Emily shifted her bag containing Soot to her shoulder and presented her trio of tuners to the clerk. The devices were taken and replaced with a set of three identical devices, all black.
The only difference was where the Riterran models wore the red override button with malicious pride, the space where that button existed on these tuners was totally empty.
After a quick check the devices were correctly attached to her trio, she placed them on her waist and expressed her gratitude with a quick "thanks!"
Next, the trio was led further into the administration wing where they were placed on a high speed elevator to the proper space port. Just a perk of being Lunar royalty.
"Ugh…" Ritika shuddered as she clung to her Maestro's side.
Emily hugged her rapidly deteriorating Resonator. "I know, Rika, it'll be over soon." She stroked the cat's hair.
"Gonna be sick, urgh…" The poor earth element held onto her Maestro for dear life.
"At least these new models are super quick. Heard back in the day the ascent took like five days to do," Albarich commented.
"Where'd you find that out?" wondered Emily.
"Took a page out of that guy's book and did some reading while we flew here," snarked the dragon.
"Fair enough," Emily smiled, continuing to be her sick cat's rock.
After the hour-long ascent, the travelers arrived at the true space port. Unlike the ground floor and Naiza proper, where many wandered around, the terminal was decidedly empty. Only a few travelers came and went to the planet below. Many were important-looking business-type people.
"You think if I wore my guild jacket we'd blend in better?" Emily asked her dragon, as they walked towards the launch vehicle.
"Naw. I mean, all you have to do is shout who you are and they'd part like the asteroid belt," Albarich scoffed.
"Fair enough," Emily laughed.
The trio boarded their final transport that would ferry them to the lunar surface. Unlike the Riterran planes, these seats were the peak of luxury and Emily melted into hers (after making sure her safety belt was properly affixed). The air was chilled as if trying to emulate the cold of space, and Ritika continued to cling to her Maestro's side, shivering in addition to her air sickness.
"Here, hold Soot, he's really warm--I think he's saying he wants to help," Emily said, handing over the giant crystal to her cat.
"Thanks buddy," the earth element whispered to the gem.
Satisfied her cat was tended to, she looked to her mighty dragon. He had picked up one of the magazines and had started flipping through it while he waited. Emily smiled warmly. "Just a little bit longer…" she yawned, her eyelids impossibly heavy at that moment.
"Hey. Wake up."
With that gruff grunt, Emily found herself once more in the throes of consciousness. Even after a good four hours of sleep, she was still exhausted.
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"Ugh…" groaned the princess.
"Me too…" Ritika joined in the complaints.
Albarich shook his head."Relax, they're just about to let us off."
If the terminal they left the elevator at was sparsely populated, the one they arrived at was a ghost town. Very few meandered about, and of those present, the majority were made up of the security officers that stood proud at the gate to the terminal--the entrance to Luna proper.
"Tuners," one of the pair demanded of Emily.
Even if she was a princess, she didn't argue with protocol and handed the trio of devices over.
The two guards compared the number of devices to the number of Resonators before them. "Three?" one asked, looking for the missing party member.
"Oh! He's here!" Ritika fished the rock that currently contained their golem friend out of the handbag she had possession of.
As they scrutinized the massive red gemstone, the two guards once more exchanged a perplexed expression. "Terrans are weird," they decided.
Finally, after so much idle time, grief, and otherwise exhausting travel, they were admitted onto Luna.
On Riterra, Emily was just another Maestro--a guildmaster yes, but still something achievable by any Maestro with enough conviction. On Luna, she was something unattainable by the rest of the populous; Emelia Seijo was the daughter of the King and Queen of Luna. While a ceremonial title only, the Lunar people still held her in high regard, whether reverent or malevolent.
Being related to the most important people on the moon meant she got only the best. As soon as the princess stepped out of the terminal, she was flagged down by one of the castle's attendants. A rabbit girl in a blue qipao dress waved the trio down, being careful not to shout her name in public. They already attracted plenty of attention being in the garb of the royal castle in public, but the security detail surrounding the limousine dissuaded any curious looky-loos from getting any sinister ideas.
Even so, the princess frowned. "I keep telling mom and dad they need to send you guys plainclothes," she commented as she slid into the vehicle.
"Sorry ma'am, orders of the queen," replied the rabbit.
"I'll talk to mother about that," huffed the princess.
The drive to the palace was long, but not nearly as long as the plane trip and elevator ride it took to arrive on the orbiting body in the first place.
But finally, after the many hours spent, the trio was allowed to stop--their journey complete.
February 12th, 2019 8:39PM
"You didn't fix the time?" Albarich asked.
"Oh, did I wake you?" Emily whispered back.
"Nah, woke up like an hour ago," said the dragon.
Emily, Albarich, and Ritika were cuddled up in Emily's hilariously large plush bed. Soot wasn't present, the golem wandered the halls of the castle like a specter. Her fire element seemed to liven up whenever they came back to Luna, something about being able to experience a new world was exciting for him.
She was glad he didn't get as sick as Ritika got. Then again, he didn't have traditional organs which to get ill. The fire element probably helped, since it wasn't tied to the crust beneath their feet like Ritika's senses were.
Either way, he'd turn up on his own accord. It had become common knowledge across the palace who exactly the princess' Resonators were. Luna natives tend to skew shorter than Riterrans as a whole, so the tall golem was that much more intimidating to the castle staff.
Probably didn't help that he couldn't speak either. He knew better than to try using Terran Sign Language with them, either. As such, he carried a white board and marker around in case he needed to communicate with one of the members of the staff in a pinch.
"Why didn't you change the time?" Ritika yawned, having been awoken by the other two's conversation.
"Ah, just a little reminder of home," the girl smiled.
"Oh."
Albarich and Ritika didn't have anything else to say about that, though they could feel their Maestro's warmth in those words.
It was nice to have a home, even if it wasn't as luxurious as the royal palace they currently slept in.
A couple hours passed, with the trio lazing around in bed. That was until--
KNOCK KNOCK
"Oh Lady Emeliaaaa~" A strained voice called from the other side.
"Soot got himself into trouble," Ritika sighed.
"Bets on what?" Albarich snarked.
"Twenty notes on he dug up the flower beds."
"Forty if he managed to piss off one of the Fourteen's Court."
"Deal!"
Cat and dragon shook hands over Emily while she shook her head.
"We're decent!" Emily called.
"Don't say it like that!" Ritika hissed.
"What?"
The bedroom door swung open with Emily's personal attendant, Ayame stood with Soot by her side. "Go on, tell her what you did," Ayame gestured for the fire element to enter the room.
He trudged in, curled up on himself as he slowly began to sign out what he had been scolded over.
Emily's expression darkened, then strained as she read his hands. "You dug up the personal flower garden of Seat Daswaan?" she asked for confirmation.
"Oh damn, didn't think we'd both be right," Ritika gasped.
"I'll take twenty and we're even," Albarich grinned.
"Fuck you," the cat grumbled.
"AHEM!"
The four flinched at the attendant's throat clear. "All of you are going to go fix the mess he made, then go apologize to Ressone Ten. Or should we get the pen and paper out?"
Emily paled at that ultimatum. "NO! WE'RE GETTING UP!"
Her two bed-mates didn't know the significance of the threat, but they followed along with their Maestro, lest they get her (and themselves) in more trouble than their inorganic companion already caused.
What a homecoming it was.