When I finish my story, Ash immediately asks, "Can you sing me that song, please? I didn't get to hear you sing it, and I haven't heard you sing." I say, "Normally, I'm too shy to sing in front of others. But we're friends, so it's different with you." Sitting on the bed, I begin to sing as I watch Ash and gently stroke his soft gray fur. Despite my efforts to stay composed, tears slip down my cheeks as I sing, my hand moving through his fur. Memories of her lips on mine resurface—the feeling of our first kiss, that spark, like fate. With my eyes closed, I continue singing, tears flowing, until applause jolts my eyes open in a panic. Startled, Ash darts away to hide.
When I look up, I see the princess in my room. How much did she see? Did she see Ash? Will she try to take him away from me? I start panicking in my mind. I am terrified of losing my only family in this world, even if he is adopted. Terror over losing Ash overshadows any embarrassment about singing in front of a stranger—again. I do not know if she sensed my feelings, but she says, "Your voice soothes my soul. I heard you sing in passing and had to come listen again. It seems like you have an audience more than me, though, and quite a cute and adorable one. Would it be ok if you introduced me to your friend?"
I am really suspicious right now, but we have to play along since we just got caught, and rather immediately, too. This sucks. "Are you sure it is ok? I am a prisoner here, and just terrified you will take him away." She looks like I just stabbed her for a brief moment, like she didn't like something I said. She pauses and sighs. "Is that how you feel?"
I chuckle nervously. "I mean, I am stuck in a room, unable to leave. I'm in a strange land, unfamiliar with anything, and my captors are powerful. With that said, this is the nicest cell I've been in, so I appreciate the consideration." She looks deflated. "I didn't consider your feelings—sorry. But this isn't up to me; it's up to my parents. Enough sad talk! Where's that cute little guy from earlier?" She perks up at the mention.
I look to the princess. "I accept your apology, your highness, and I understand. I did pop in on you guys out of nowhere, so being cautious is to be expected… I guess it should be ok to introduce you to my friend." I turn to his hiding place. "Hey, Ash, you can come on out. She knows you're here." He comes out and runs straight to me. I resume petting him and turn to the princess. "This little one's name is Ash. We bonded over similar circumstances and became good friends. I haven't known him for long at all, but I would sacrifice my own life for him because his life is so precious to me."
Ash bolts up, looks at me, and starts yelling at me. "You just became my friend, and now you are trying to talk about leaving me! That is so mean! You need to promise to never leave me!" I can't help but laugh a little at his reaction, putting my hands up in the 'I surrender' pose. Then, I turn to the princess, noticing her confusion as she witnesses our exchange. "He didn't like what I said, apparently. He said he didn't want me to leave him behind in death because he wants to spend the rest of our lives together as friends." I say this as I pick Ash up, feeling the warmth of his small body, and give him a kiss on top of his head. "I promise I will try my best not to die. How about that?" Ash nuzzles his head into my face for a hug and nods his head, reassuring me of our bond.
OH, MY GODDESS HE IS SO FUCKING CUTE I COULD DIE FROM JUST CUTENESS!
The princess looks on with visible jealousy. "Awwwww, can I pet him too? He is really cute." Ash stops hugging my face. I look at him and ask, "Ash, you have every right to say no if you want to, and I will defend your decision no matter what it is." Ash considers for a second, glancing between us. "It should be fine. You said she just wants to pet me, right?" I nod. Turning to the princess, I wave her over and say, "He says you can pet him." She approaches, and I prepare to closely supervise as she reaches for Ash, unwilling to let him go easily.
She seems to have a mischievous side. I do not know her well enough to judge if that comes from good or bad intentions. I would trust her before her brother, but she is still royalty. With power often comes ignorance, especially among the sheltered. The powerful can be cruel, reigning with terror over their subjects. I know nothing of this kingdom. All my interactions so far have been inside the castle. Of course, this population would be biased, so I can't trust this place. I need to see the town whenever I can. I doubt they'll let me out any time soon.
She comes over, her eyes lighting up as she gently pets Ash, giggling at his cuteness. She glances at me, curiosity in her voice. "You were talking to him like you could actually speak to him. Can you?" Since she already found him, I realize there's not much point in hiding it. "I wanted to try and keep that a secret from you guys, but yes, your highness. I can talk to animals." Her face lights with surprise and delight. "Why would you want to keep it secret? That seems like a great and adorable ability." Her words seem genuine, but I still wonder if it's safe to trust her.
I sigh, "You guys are in very powerful positions. I didn't know I could trust that you wouldn't want to keep me close and never let me go. I will need to leave this place eventually to continue my mission. Talking to animals is a great ability, and I am not entirely sure you won't try to force me to use my ability to enslave or harm others. This seems like a culture that hunts wildlife for sport, and I can see people wanting me to use my ability to lure specific animals to the hunting grounds. I would sooner kill myself than let that happen."
The longer I'm in this world, the more I realize: the goddess has given me a ridiculously overpowered ability—to talk to all things. But that means I have to hide its full extent. If anyone here discovers the truth, I could be trapped forever—not by her, but by the crown, desperate to use me for their kingdom's gain.
The princess looks surprised at my words, "I guess I really have been living in a bubble in this castle, as my mother suggests. After talking to you, I feel like I am the most spoiled princess in the world who never thought that my status could be feared. I obviouslyknow people fear my mother and father." I continue to listen silently and respectfully.
She sighs, rubs her forehead with the hand not petting Ash, and closes her eyes. "Though I am not saying this in a bad way. It just feels like talking with you slowly raises the blinds shielding my vision. Now, it feels like I'm almost completely blind. I have only focused on learning magic and how to behave like a princess. I never thought of the plights of my people or the fate of the animals we hunt each year before talking with you—and you are not even my people… Yet, at least." She opens her eyes and sits on the bed next to us, continuing to pet Ash. He is getting all the pets and loving life, trying not to get too distracted by his cuteness.
I look up to the princess, "So what if you were spoiled, your highness? No offense, but being spoiled means you were loved. There is nothing wrong with that. To live is to learn. Take what you learn every day to become an even better person. You may feel this way now, but you don't have to. In the end, that is up to you." She sheds a single tear and wipes it away quickly, probably hoping I didn't see it, "You really think I can be anything but a spoiled princess?"
I continue to look her in the eye and tell her what I thought of her when I first saw her. "When I saw you for the first time, spoiled princess was not the first thing to come to mind. Actually, it never even crossed my mind. You seemed so strong-willed and graceful. I was terrified in that throne room when I took that blindfold off. Your spunky side made me feel more at ease." She clutches her chest and asks, "Do you really mean that? About my personality?" I tell her, "Yes, I do. You were quite captivating. Your mother says I need to teach you how to speak, but in my opinion, if you didn't speak as you do, I would have been terrified of that whole talk in the throne room." She starts crying for real now. "Nobody has ever said anything that nice to me before." She takes her hand from Ash and tries to dry her never-ending stream of tears.
Ash takes immediate action and climbs up the princess's body to hug her face, as he had done to me earlier. She laughs, and her tears slow to a stop. "Thank you, Ash." She gently hugs him back with her other hand. After basking in the healing power of cuteness, she wipes off the rest of her tears. "I might have a way to get you both out of this room, but I need to ask my father first. I will keep your little friend a secret for now since you were so scared earlier, Zoe." I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and respond, "Thank you, your highness." She giggles and asks, "Why don't you ever call me by name? You are always so formal with 'your highness,' and when we are alone like this, I would prefer you call me by my name."
I actually laugh, "Nobody told me your names, and you all didn't introduce yourselves in the throne room. I figured it was a part of royal etiquette not to share names with strangers, or maybe I wasn't worthy of knowing your names, or maybe because I just surprised you by showing up out of thin air, so I didn't really question it at the time." She lightly smacks her head with her hand, "I can't believe not one of us introduced ourselves to you. How about, instead of introducing myself now, I get dinner ready and have my family there too, so we can have proper introductions. Sound good to you?" I smile, "Sounds good to me. You had me at 'food'. I am really hungry, actually." I am actually really excited about the kinds of food this world has to offer, yet maybe a tad apprehensive, since I do not know what to expect.
The princess wipes her face off and pets Ash some more before gently placing him back in my lap and says, "Make sure to keep him hidden better, especially from my brothers. I do not know how they will react to him. I will keep Ash our cute little secret. Can't have one of them torturing him for sport, not when I have been smitten by his charms." I turn to Ash and say, "Ash, I do not know if you heard her, but she just said that we have to be more careful in the future." He nods apprehensively, understanding the situation. I pet him on the head and give him a gentle scratch, and he is in squirrel heaven. The princess then says, "I must be off to talk with the king and queen about arranging a dinner for us. Thanks again for trusting me with your friend." She smiled gently, her eyes still a little puffy from crying, and left my room.
I sigh and look at Ash, "That could have gone a lot worse for us, buddy. I think we need to have a plan. Whenever we talk, you have to be hidden at all times, so I think the bed under the covers or inside the pillowcase on the underside will be good hiding spots for you. We never know when someone might pop in on me." He nods in understanding, "I understand, Zoe. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." I giggle, "You silly goose, we are doing this for your safety, not mine. I don't want a bad person to find you and do bad things to hurt you while we are here."
He looks so confused, "Why call me a silly goose? Shouldn't it be a silly squirrel?" I laugh, "I suppose you are right. That phrase does not exist in this world, so why can't it be changed to silly squirrel? We would say that to anyone being silly, whether they were in fact a goose or not. From now on, the phrase will be 'Silly Squirrel'." I say with a huge smile while booping Ash on the nose, then going back to petting him again. Holy fucking shit, this squirrel is just too fucking cute.
I do a little happy wiggle and smile, and insert some gentle scratches in with the pets, too. I tell him, "Here, let's go ahead and relocate under the covers in case someone else pops in." We get under the covers and keep cuddling. I ask him, "So I have been meaning to ask you. Would you be able to help teach me magic?" He answers as he nuzzles into me, "I do not know how much help I can be. Do you also have wind magic?" I shake my head, "No, friend, I have light magic."
He gasps, "Light magic is rare in this world, Zoe. I do not know how much help I can be, since I know nothing about light magic. I can try to teach you what I felt when I tapped into my magic potential, though." I answer, "I had no idea light magic was so rare, but maybe I should have gathered that when I talked with the goddess." She said that not many people felt what I felt. I wonder what people who have an affinity for the other elements feel in the goddess's presence? Now I am actually really curious.
Since Dark is the opposite of light, I assume it would be the opposite of what I felt. Discontentment with their soul closed off to the goddess, a soul untouched by the goddess, and I can see this being what I feel for Goddess Aella. Even though I don't harbor any negative feelings towards the goddess's sister. Someone needed to take the authority of chaos and darkness because they are necessary for balance. Peace and light can't exist without chaos and darkness. They probably have the same connection to Goddess Aella that I do with Goddess Aruna. The others are a complete mystery to me. I then ask, "Ash, how did you learn how to use magic?"
He immediately recalls, "I was in a tree next to a magical lake near here, and I fell out of the tree, falling towards the water. At first, I was scared because I was falling, then I remembered there was water down there, and then I felt truly free. When I felt that I could also feel all of the magic inside me awaken. Ever since I could harness the wind." Hmmmm, "So you felt truly free, huh? Ha! Well, if my magic requires the same conditions, I fear I won't be able to harness it here, locked up in this place." He replies, "Well, I hear it is different for every different type. Yours is so rare, I am not sure if anyone would even know how to guide you to use it."
I think for a moment and then have an AHA moment, "The goddess can. While we were talking, she told me that light magic users have a direct link to the goddess. She should be able to help me." Ash then rebuts, "Have you heard her voice since being here? No one has ever heard the goddess's voice in this world, so I am not sure that it is possible. I do not want to rain on you, Zoe, but I was just speaking my truth. For all I know, this connection you speak of might allow you to speak with the goddess."
I reply, "Very insightful, Ash. I didn't know all of that, and I think that confirms I probably need to sleep to talk with the goddess again." He then says, "Well, what are you waiting for?" I reply, "Well, I was originally going to stay awake because they said they were going to prepare dinner, but I guess I could try to take a nap to talk with the goddess. Goddess, if you can hear me, I would like to talk to you when I fall asleep if that is possible." I say this as I lie down and Ash under the covers with me as I close my eyes to rest a bit.