"So like...are we cooked if we don't bow?"
"Just don't...do anything unless Yrix says otherwise. Got it?"
"Ah...sass...takes me back to the good old days."
"You mean when I hated you. Maybe I do miss those days."
"Just like that..."
Lila and Ivy looked forward with unnerving stillness, jabbering amongst each other's minds as they awaited the royal arrival. As per Yrix's request, the remaining students of the Aerie were lined up in a row, dressed up nicely with a bit of makeup to hide their weariness. The profession was as artificial as it was exhausting. But according to the master herself, it was necessary.
"She's a fickle thing. Like her father." Lila could remember Yrix's exact words. "Did you ever have anyone bow for you?" She whispered into the heiress's mind.
Ivy rolled her eyes, catching a glimpse of Sonera and Lunae, who stood in an equally pensive stance. "In a way."
"Dang. Fancy. Wait...am I dating a princess technically?"
"Not that special, Lila. Lunae isn't exactly low class for her race."
"Yeah, but like...I'm so lucky."
"My wealth is not why you're lucky."
"I know I know..."
"Though, if we ever make it out of this. I could sell an earring for enough to buy a house."
"Heck yeah!"
Ivy smiled. She liked impressing Lila. It made her feel warm.
Alive, even.
Sonera, on the other hand, was practically simmering with angst. It didn't take someone with Lunae's skill to notice. Something was on her mind, and the new prosthetics were not dissuading her.
"She expects a trial." Lunae pried her way into the conversation, watchful as ever.
Lila raised her eyebrow, staring straight ahead as she began to mouth out her words. "Do you usually just...stalk our brain dates?"
"I can't see everything. Your bond is tight." Lunae smiled.
"You know what else is-."
"Ugh." Ivy groaned. "How long do we have to wait here exactly?"
The girls had been standing outside the main entrance for quite some time, waiting patiently alongside an entire procession. Yet there was no princess to be seen. Yrix seemed unbothered, however, staring up at the sky with her usual contempt. Lila felt strangely safe around her. At times like that, the Arch-Flayer would at least vouch for them.
Or so she thought.
"You're the one with a spine made out of space metal." Lila quipped. "Chill, your royal highness."
"I also have a fist made out of 'space metal', you dingus."
Sonera audibly grunted, squinting her eyes at the clouds as a dwarfing mass came into view. It was exactly as she expected. The princess came down in what appeared to be a humongous floating cube of sorts, no doubt detached from an even larger vessel as it descended onto the open field.
"Whoa." Lila gasped. "Fancy."
The angular ship was colored like pale marble, featuring a variety of chiseled shapes and figures, almost like it were a mobile art exhibit. A plethora of history and culture, something Lila could only try to comprehend. But then again, the Consortium was rather blunt. There were only so many different ways to interpret images of thrashing beasts and shattered stars.
Especially on a ship so dauntingly shaped.
"Do they just not believe in aerodynamics?" Ivy cocked her head to the side.
"I think it's a flex."
Yrix called it the Pearl in passing.
Despite its size, the vessel landed as gracefully as a feather, unfolding a set of smooth stairs at its point of contact. A legion of Daragen had already poured out from an unseen opening in the ship, forming two columns for the princess to pass through. However, she had yet to emerge.
"Um." Lila clasped her hands together at her waist.
"Just like my mother." Lunae thought to herself.
Yrix tapped her holster. Something was holding the princess up. Yet when she finally emerged beyond the opening in the ramp, the cause was clear. Instead of some confident and mighty alien, as the girls had expected, there was nothing more than a small girl fiddling with what appeared to be an umbrella.
"Anya," Yrix muttered to herself silently.
She wasn't exactly human, given her tail and bright features. But there was something unmistakably familiar about her. Suddenly, the notion of joining the Consortium wasn't so ridiculous to the girls.
"She's...kinda cute," Lila bit her lip. "Dang."
Ivy held back a low growl. She was offended by the notion of having to compare herself. However, the reasons behind that feeling weren't what Lila would expect.
Anya took a few steps forward, looking down at her regal umbrella with an innocent expression. She wasn't sure how to unfold its ocean-colored fabric. Though in fairness, it was her first time encountering a sun that hadn't been washed away by an artificial atmosphere.
"Anya..." Yrix sounded audibly annoyed.
With a flick of her wrist, she ripped a large shield from one of the Daragen guards, using its massive disk-shaped figure to blot out the sun from where Anya stood. The princess looked up and smiled before abandoning her efforts. And at every step of the way, Yrix made sure to adjust the shade.
"Idiots should have just brought her a caravan."
"Do their royalty usually look like this?" Lila bravely nudged the Arch-Flayer with a Psionic message.
"The concept of royalty as you see it now is new to the Consortium. I'll explain later. But suffice it to say, we don't have the same experience with extravagancy as your kind."
The Earthling scratched her head. "Oh."
Ivy only seemed more skeptical as the princess drew closer. Her face was youthful and beaming with energy. And despite her strange features, that being the serpentine eyes and purple hair, she was undoubtedly beautiful.
Anya walked forward without a care in the world, quickening her step the closer she got to Yrix. Her smile conveyed everything the girls needed to know.
"Yrix." She chirped.
"Hmm, princess," the Arch-Flayer stepped forward.
Yrix greeted her with unusual warmth. If she had a mouth, she might have even smiled. Such genuine intimacy, from her of all people, left the girls with a sour taste in their mouths.
"It's...just an act...right?" Lunae whispered to her family.
Sonera spoke up, "No. She's perfectly capable of good when she wants."