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deityoftherain · 7 months ago

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i'm just me - Xornoth&Pearl Empires Fanfic

Rating: Teen (for cursing lol)

Relationship: Gen

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Completed Oneshot

Word Count: 3,517

Summary: Pearl is stuck inside due to the weather and she's bored out of her mind. She misses her best friend and just wants something to do. Luckily, the thunderstorm that raged on outside brought more than just mild flooding and loud claps of thunder. (Spoilers, it brought Xornoth.)

Click here to read the whole au, but feel free to read standalone

Full fanfic underneath the cut! Please reblog, leave kudos on the AO3 fic slash notes/likes here on Tumblr, comment either place, and etc if you enjoy the story :D

It had only been two years since Pearl and Xornoth first met, but they’ve been nearly inseparable ever since. They had sent countless letters back and forth, and they had taken every possible opportunity they could to visit each other. The frequency of their meetings only increased when Xornoth’s wings could consistently support his weight and Pearl got her first elytra.

Pearl was currently lying on the floor in the children’s library, despite no longer being a child. She was thirteen years old so she was old enough to access the main library unchaperoned if she desired, but she still found herself in this room more often than not. It was a nice change of pace from her bedroom and it was free of pestering adults. Much of the toys no longer interested her, but she still engaged with some of the books and board games that resided in the library.

Being the sole Moon child, she was the only one who frequented the library. That fact made it a quiet space to reside when her parents weren’t hosting events (meaning ushering her and the other children who attended the events to the children’s library) and she wasn’t quite ready to give that up yet. Pearl wasn’t a child, no, but she was still young. She had a lot of self-exploration and learning to do before her eighteenth birthday.

It was Helianthian royal tradition that, if deemed suitable for the throne, the current emperor’s heir would become the next emperor on their eighteenth birthday. To ensure she would be suitable when the time came, Pearl had to attend way too many classes about far too many topics. Every day attempted to expand her knowledge in geography, anatomy, trade, history, etiquette, self-defense, agriculture, need she go on? Pearl couldn’t exactly complain, especially when many of the classes genuinely interested her, but she could only handle sitting at a desk for so long. She wanted to run, to play, to spar! She wanted to make the most of her childhood while she still had it.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t. At least, she couldn’t go outside and play at the moment. Why? Well, it was down pouring outside. The sound of the raindrops against the roof thumped loudly and thunder echoed throughout Gilded Helianthia. After sneaking out during a thunderstorm one too many times, Pearl had received an extensive list of what her punishment would be if she attempted to do so again.

Pearl couldn’t understand what the big deal was. They had lightning rods for a reason! It wasn’t like lightning would strike her down the second she stepped foot on the grass. Ignoring the lightning and the clapping of the thunder, it was only rain. What could a little rain do? Muddy her boots? Wash her hair for her?

It was all very silly to Pearl, but she obeyed anyway. Pearl loved her parents, even if they annoyed her sometimes. She was just insufferably bored.

It would be better if Xornoth was here. He and his twin brother, Scott, had their fourteenth birthday not too long ago. Xornoth had warned her that one’s fourteenth birthday was a big deal in Stagorism, the religion Rivendell was founded on, and that he might not be able to come to visit her for a bit because of it… not that he could even make it here in this weather.

Pearl groaned loudly as she pushed herself up from the library’s floor. The room wasn’t doing anything to entertain her so why was she still lying there? Maybe she could find something else more entertaining to do in the halls or one of the other rooms. She brushed the wrinkles out of her dress’ skirt so it wouldn’t be hiked up unflatteringly. If she ran into her Mom, Dad, or tutors in the hallway, they wouldn’t approve of her disheveled appearance. Pearl ran her fingers through her brunette- and blonde-streaked hair in an attempt to comb it down before exiting the library.

What would having siblings be like? She assumed it would be much like her going out into the surrounding towns to play with the other children but in the castle with her. They would be like live-in playmates! If she had siblings, maybe she wouldn’t be so bored.

A lot of the other empires had only produced one heir for whatever reason or another. The only other royal families she knew who had more than one child or heir to the throne (within the direct bloodline, anyway) were the Magentas and the Majors.

Magenta was the family name of Grimland’s royalty. Gilded Helianthia, Mythland, and Grimland were a part of the Wither Rose Alliance so their families have met up plenty of times so Pearl knew them all fairly well. Joey, Mythland’s heir, certainly acted like an only child, if stereotypes from books she’d read were anything to go off of, and he was an only child so reflecting on him would be no help.

Fwhip, on the other hand, had a twin sister, Gem. Gem was often away at Crystal Cliffs Academy the majority of times Pearl had interacted with the Magentas (that had changed about two years ago now) so she hadn’t conversed with her as much, but Fwhip always talked positively about her and they seemed to get along when she did witness them interact. Pearl hoped to get to know Gem better; she seemed really cool.

Xornoth was a Major, and (obviously) she’s talked to him plenty of times. He complained about Scott a good amount, sometimes going as far as to say she’s lucky that she’s an only child. Other times, he would claim that he loved Scott more than anything and would burn the world down if someone hurt him. Hm.

On second thought, having siblings seemed complicated. Maybe it was better that she didn’t have any.

It just sucked that Xornoth was gone because of his birthday for so long. Her family had already sent both him and Scott something, as was customary between royal families as a sign of goodwill, but that wasn’t from her. She had no say in those gifts! The gift that was currently tucked neatly in a box underneath her bed was actually from her. Pearl hoped that Xornoth would enjoy it.

Pearl continued to wander mindlessly down the hall, still bored out of her mind. She didn’t stay bored long for the sound of quick knocks against glass pulled her out of her thoughts. Pearl turned her head toward the window only to blink at it in surprise. “Xornoth?” “Pearl! Open the window!” Xornoth’s voice was muffled, but she could hear him clearly enough despite that. Even if she couldn’t, he was aggressively pointing to the lock that kept the window securely shut.

Xornoth was being pelted with rain, completely soaked to the bone. His long, purple hair stuck to his face and his clothes were visibly dripping. Had he flown all the way here? In this weather? Pearl didn’t waste time unlatching the lock and pulling open the window. She quickly jumped back to allow Xornoth inside while also avoiding the rain that entered in with him. Once he was inside, she moved to close the window so the elements would stay outside where they belonged. “Not that I’m not excited to see you, but what the hell are you doing here?” “I finally managed to slip away.” Xornoth ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes and shook out his wings. “Just my luck that it was raining, but I didn’t want to stick around the castle any longer. Mother has been on my ass all week!” Pearl squealed, holding up her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the water previously on Xornoth’s feathers. “Xornoth! You’re getting me all wet!” “Sorry.” Xornoth flashed Pearl a sheepish smile, though she detected a hint of amusement in his eyes that betrayed his true feelings. “Do you have towels I can borrow?” “My bathroom should have some clean ones. The maids were cleaning it last night after my bath.” Pearl jutted her head down the hall toward her bedroom before turning on her heel. Xornoth was well aware of where her bedroom was at this point, but she led him there anyway.

As they walked, they engaged in light banter and playful teasing, a familiar dynamic between them. Upon reaching Pearl's bedroom and entering the en suite, Xornoth was provided with the promised towels to dry off his hair and body.

“If you sit down on the floor, I’ll preen your wings,” Pearl offered, having done it many times before. He would often get some of his feathers twisted or grime stuck in his wings when they roughhoused outside so she learned how to do so properly early on in their friendship. “I would let you on the bed, but you’re still wet.”

Xornoth didn’t voice any complaints about sitting on the floor, though he did make a subtle remark about how he could barely be classified as wet now that he’d used the towels. As he settled down, he spread out his wings to make it easier for Pearl to access them.

Meanwhile, Pearl plopped down on her bed, allowing it to bounce her twice before she crawled over to sit behind Xornoth. With a gentle touch, she began carefully sifting through his damp wings, removing any dirt and straightening out any bent feathers. Some of the feathers were too bent to be salvaged so she removed them as swiftly and painlessly as she could.

“You have no idea how annoying fourteenth birthdays in Rivendell are!” Xornoth filled the silence that came with Pearl’s concentration with complaining. “And it’s so annoyingly gendered too! Like, Aeor forbid I want to do some of the girl customs over the boy customs. Some of them sound like so much more fun! Why am I restricted like this just because I wasn’t born a girl? I’d be the same fucking person no matter what parts I have. It’s so stupid.”

“Would you rather be a girl?” Pearl asked as the possibility entered her mind. She was taught about the concept of being a different gender than what people assumed one would be at birth when she was very young. The topic of transgender people had also come up in her classes and she knew some transgender people herself! It wasn’t a foreign concept to her and it certainly wasn’t taboo in Helianthian society. Gilded Helianthia prided itself on being diverse, after all. “Being a specific gender doesn’t mean you have to like certain things, but you seem to complain about being a boy a lot.”

Xornoth pursed his lips in thought, considering the concept. After several heartbeats, he shook his head to reject the idea. “I don’t think I’m a girl. Like, if someone called me one, I would be fine with it, I suppose, but I don’t think I am one.”

“Do you think you’re a boy then?” Pearl furrowed her eyebrows, trying to recall the spectrum of nonbinary genders she had studied. Xornoth gave a discontent hum, giving the impression that he was not really residing with “boy” either. Pearl continued when he didn’t elaborate, “It’s okay if not; there are other genders! Katherine’s renny, Noble Blair, is nonbinary, for example.” “Elwyn is nonbinary too!” Xornoth recalled one of the servants who actively participated in a lot of his and Scott’s upbringing. “I asked them about it before because they wear a lot of dresses and call themself a lesbian, which I thought was just for girls when I was little. It isn’t, by the way! They said that they had a connection to femininity, but not in a gendered way, and that ‘nonbinary’ and ‘lesbian’ were simply the labels that best fit their experience.” “I think I feel like that,” Pearl paused cleaning Xornoth’s wings in favor of tilting her head and squinting her eyes before continuing to speak, “but mine’s sort of in a ‘gender’ way. Sometimes I feel like a girl and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the two. Do you feel like that?”

“I don’t think so? I just feel like me. None of the genders I know of fully fit. I’m just Xornoth, you know?” Xornoth leaned forward, pinning his knees down with his elbows as he rested his chin on his hands. “Is it possible to not have a gender?”

Pearl didn’t answer for several moments as she returned to preening Xornoth’s wings. She searched through her memory bank, wishing she had the book she was required to read for her anatomy lessons. There were several chapters dedicated to genders and biological sex, and how it differed among the various races. Her blue eyes lit up once she mentally located the correct term. “Agender! A person who lacks an internal sense of gender.”

“Agender,” Xornoth echoed as if he were trying the word out on his tongue. He glanced over his shoulder and gave Pearl a grin. “I think that’s me! Oh, I can’t wait to tell Scott.” “Are you going to tell other people? Other than Scott, I mean.” Pearl inquired, wondering if she should keep it to herself or not. She also learned that not every transgender person wanted everyone to know until they were ready. “Do you want to use different pronouns? Or another name! Oh, we could look at baby name books and pick out a new one for you!” Xornoth snorted at the suggestion of changing his name, quickly shaking his head. “No, I like my name. It’s a strong, powerful name! In elven, it means… ah, how do I translate it to common again? The heart’s fiery passion? I don’t think it has a direct translation, actually…” He narrowed his eyes as he tried to think before flicking his hand in dismissal, giving up. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. As for pronouns, I don’t really care? People can use whatever they feel like for me. I’m just going to live how I want, you know? Their perception of my gender doesn’t really matter to me, as long as they don’t prevent me from doing what I want to because of it like Mother and Father did.”

“That makes sense,” Pearl hummed softly, committing the information he gave her to memory. Xornoth was her best friend, after all! She wanted to do what she could to make him comfortable.

Before she could think of something else to say, Xornoth spoke again, “Do you think you’re a girl? Or nonbinary? You said you feel like both at different times.” “I think I’m both,” Pearl settled, both feeling the most correct to describe her experiences with gender. “A nonbinary girl. By the way, I finished preening your wings.” Xornoth thanked her, shaking out his wings a few times before turning around to face her properly. “Can you do that? Be a nonbinary girl? Is that a thing?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be allowed.” Pearl shrugged, unbothered by the questioning. They were working things out and that meant lots of questions. It was to be expected. “Mom says that gender is a spectrum anyway. Dad told me that he had a friend growing up that was genderfluid. If they can change genders, I don’t see why I can’t be two or move between them.” “That makes sense,” Xornoth mirrored Pearl’s response to him before letting out an annoyed huff as his mind moved away from their gender conversation and back to his birthday. “Now if only I could have told Mother I was agender! Maybe she would have let me do the traditions I wanted that way. Aeor would have been okay with me doing both or being able to pick which I wanted to do since I’m not a boy or a girl.”

The mention of Xornoth’s birthday sparked a recall within her about the present sitting underneath her bed. A smile grew wide on her face as she slid off the bed to her knees, bending down to reach the box. “I can’t change the past, but I do have a gift for you!” “Your family already sent gifts,” Xornoth pointed out, mildly confused. “Mother and Father sat Scott and me down and made us write ‘thank you’ notes ‘til our wrists cramped.” “That was from my family,” Pearl dismissed, pulling the box from under the bed and holding it out for Xornoth. “This is from me!” Xornoth raised an eyebrow at her as the ends of his lips twitched up. He took the box from her and set it down on his lap. “You didn’t have to-”

“I wanted to,” Pearl interrupted before he could say much more. She was too eager to see how he would react! “Now open it!”

She didn’t have to ask him twice because he didn’t waste any more time to remove the box's lid. He looked inside and hesitated before pulling out the fabric. “What is it?” “A dress!” Pearl gave him a nervous smile, hoping he liked what she picked out. “You always comment on my dresses, thinking they’re super pretty, and you mentioned that you would like to wear one at some point. None of my dresses can really fit you so I had to go to the shops to find one that would work with your wings. I didn’t find many options in your size that also fit what I was looking for. I know you like black, so I wanted to get you a black dress, which isn’t a super common color in Helianthian clothing, but I also wanted to include Gilded Helianthia’s official flower. It also happens to be my favorite flower because sunflowers are great and, uh.”

Something Pearl didn’t quite catch flashed in Xornoth’s eyes, but she assumed it was positive because he returned her smile. “Can I try it on now?” “Yeah, of course!” Pearl nodded, using her bed to help her up to her feet. She held out her hand to help Xornoth to his feet as well. “You can change in the bathroom. I probably should have given it to you earlier so you wouldn't be forced to sit in damp clothes. I hadn’t expected you to show up so I forgot about it in my surprise. Hopefully you won’t get sick.”

“I’ll be fine,” Xornoth promised, not worried about it. He gathered the garment in his arms before making long strides to the en suite. Not wanting to waste any more time, Xornoth closed the door behind him and started to change.

Pearl busied herself as she waited, throwing away the preened feathers and moving the box the dress had been on to her nightstand. He still wasn’t out when she finished that, so she (impatiently) called through the door, “Xornoth? Are you almost done?” “Yeah, I am! Just give me a second!” Xornoth responded, accompanied with lots of movement Pearl couldn’t quite make out. The sounds were muffled by the wooden door. “I’m brushing my hair now that it’s dry; I don’t want it to tangle. I’m almost done.” “Okay,” Pearl accepted that answer. Before she found another task to do as she waited, the door to the en suite bathroom swung open. She turned toward the Xornoth and gasped in delight. “Xornoth, you’re beautiful!”

And beautiful he was! The dress had an asymmetrical neckline, sweeping down across his chest diagonally from his left shoulder to under the other arm. A black strap was seamlessly integrated into the dress, ensuring that the right side stayed perfectly positioned. The back of the dress was intentionally mostly open, leaving plenty of space for his wings to move comfortably. While the top of the dress remained purely black, except for the neckline which mirrored the skirt, the skirt section was adorned with multiple sunflowers and featured a high-low hemline. Xornoth’s purple hair, previously clumped with rainwater, had now dried and lay neatly on his shoulders.

“Of course I am,” Xornoth claimed confidently, but Pearl noticed the light blush that graced his cheeks at her compliment. “I’m always beautiful.”

Pearl giggled in response to that, jumping forward to grab his hand and bounce on her heels. “We’re both wearing dresses now! We match! Do you like it?” Xornoth twisted his torso back and forth to get the skirt to swoosh without letting go of Pearl’s hands. He watched it move with an expression displaying his glee. He glanced up to meet her eyes, purple eyes bright. “I love it. I love you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Pearl let go of his hands in favor of giving him a hug, warmth blossoming in her chest at his joy. Xornoth returned it, wrapping both his arms and wings around her. The contact was nice and she was proud that she made a good selection because she enjoyed seeing him smile. Xornoth’s unexpected presence had improved her day, and he was her best friend, so she had no problem replying, “I love you too.”

#deity writes #tales of the empires au #fighting buddies #fight buds #pearlnoth #fanfic #fanfiction #empires fanfic #empires smp #empires xornoth #empires pearl #xornoth #empiresblr #empires s1 #empires smp au #empires au #empires smp fanfic #empiresfic

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deityoftherain · 10 months ago

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strangers to fighting buddies - Xornoth&Pearl Empires Fanfic

Rating: General Audiences

Relationship: Gen

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Status: Completed Oneshot

Word Count: 5,657

Summary: Xornoth's POV as he visits Gilded Helianthia for the first time at age twelve. Scott, Pearl, Lizzie, Joel, and Jimmy are also there with their parents. While the emperors are conversing, the royal children sneak out a window to have fun.

Click here to read the whole au, but feel free to read standalone

Full fanfic underneath the cut! Please reblog, leave kudos on the AO3 fic slash notes/likes here on Tumblr, comment either place, and etc if you enjoy the story :D

Twelve is a weird age to be. You’re too old to be expected to act foolishly and immature but too young to actually have any say in your life. It’s always “Xornoth, stop pranking the help!” and “Xornoth, don’t you have assignments to work on?” So dreadfully boring. What was he supposed to do? Did they really expect him to eat, sleep, and do his lessons? Xornoth knew he was meant to be the “future King of Rivendell” but he had a while until that happened. He wanted to explore and do what he wanted! He would be able to do what he wanted if he were in charge (which he will be!) so why shouldn’t he be able to now?

It wasn’t all that bad though. His parents were kind enough to him and his brother. They let them indulge in whatever hobbies they pleased (as long as it was a respectable hobby, anyway) and tried to make time for him and Scott. They were often busy so the Rivendell princes were often left to be managed by nannies and tutors but Xornoth did greatly enjoy the moments he had with his parents. It always felt nice to get praise from them so he did his lessons and kept himself in check during formal events. He did everything he was supposed to! Except for when he didn’t, but what kind of twelve-year-old would he be if he was perfect all the time?

“Xornoth, are you even listening?” He got poked in his side by his brother.

“Yes.” Xornoth nodded, but it was a lie. He had absolutely no idea what was said.

“Mhm, sure you were.” Scott rolled his eyes at him. “I was just telling you that we’re almost to Gilded Helianthia.”

“We are?” Xornoth straightened up and looked outside the carriage windows. Being able to visit the other empires was always exciting and they hadn’t been to Gilded Helianthia before despite it being so close. All you had to do was head west down the mountains and across the plains and then you were there! It wasn’t as complicated or far to travel compared to visiting Mezalea. It took forever to get there last time.

“Yeah, don’t you see all the fields?” Scott shifted in his seat to be able to see out the window better. “That’s what I was trying to point out but then you ignored me.”

“You’ll get over it.” Xornoth dismissed him, keeping his attention on the scenery the window allowed them to see. The sky was bright blue with some clouds every so often, which was different from Rivendell. It was a lot more cloudy back home than most other places so it was always fun to see someplace so sunny. He’s also never seen this much plantage in one place. The land was covered with fields upon fields of various crops. There were a good amount of windmills scattered around that he could pick out as well. They looked so tall!

Both brothers were thoroughly entertained as they watched the birds fly around and observed the wind spinning the blades of the windmills. That fun came to an end when the fields turned into houses and shops. The buildings were different from Rivendell’s usual architecture. The Helianthians used a lot of wood, calcite, copper, and various stones such as deepslate and dripstone. Rivendell also used a good amount of wood but the colors used were a lot different. Rivendell had lots of blue, gold, and white coloring in addition to the wood for the prominent buildings. There were other colors used within the various towns but it was still rather accented with color. Gilded Helianthia, however, was a lot more dull in terms of color palette. The architecture itself was actually well-built and looked good even though it wasn’t particularly bright and colorful. Xornoth guessed they kept the buildings that way so the various flowers and shrubbery could stand out better. If that was their intention, it did a rather lovely job doing so.

“They’re kind of short,” Xornoth muttered to himself as he watched the Helianthians they passed.

“They’re just human,” Scott responded before pausing, “a lot of them are anyway. And we’re not very tall yet either.”

Xornoth’s face flushed as he quickly averted his gaze. “Well, uh, yeah. It was just an observation.” He hadn’t meant to say that out loud and now he felt rather silly.

Scott rolled his eyes again but he had a small smile on his face this time. He bumped his shoulder into Xornoth. “Yeah, they are kind of short. Do you think we’ll be super tall?”

Xornoth’s eyes lit up as he nodded. “We have to be! Most elves are taller than the humans and fae. And especially the gnomes.”

“The oceanfolk are pretty tall too, though. I've been reading this book on the various races, and it was so cool. One of the things they talked about was the average height range of every race. Oceanfolk and elves are pretty on par with each other, so it depends on whether we'll be taller or not. Humans and fae are fairly similar as well, and we'll easily be taller than them. Gnomes are really short, though!" Scott continued to ramble on with no intention of stopping. "Then you also have halflings and their height variations. They can vary so much depending on what genes were passed down from their-”

Scott was just indulging him (or being a total nerd which he so was) but it still got Xornoth somewhat excited to discuss or hear about these sorts of things. The world they lived in was so diverse and Xornoth wanted nothing but to know what it was like away from the mountains he calls his home.

His brother was still rambling as they neared the castle. Xornoth just listened as he stared out the window. Scott wasn’t going to let him get a word in when he was talking this fast so there was no point in trying. Scott only stopped once the carriage stopped moving. Xornoth straightened his posture and ran his hand through his purple hair a few times to smooth it out quickly to ensure he was presentable.

The door swung open to reveal their carriage’s coachman, who greeted the princes before helping them out so they could meet up with their parents.

“Remember, be on your best behavior.” Father kept his voice low once his sons were in earshot.

“You have never interacted with them before and so it is essential you don’t offend them.” Mother added to her husband’s reminder. She had previously been looking between both of the princes before turning her gaze specifically at Xornoth. “Especially you, Xornoth, seeing as you’re the future king.”

Xornoth could feel Scott shift on his feet beside him as he ruffled the feathers of his still-developing wings. He wasn’t exactly sure what Scott thought about the whole “not being the future king” thing. It was Xornoth’s birthright, as the eldest child, but his twin had been born only an hour later. It was possible that there might be some resentment seeing that the difference between their positions was dictated by a single hour. Scott never seemed to despise Xornoth for it and Xornoth never held the fact that he was being groomed to be Rivendell’s king over Scott so maybe it was all okay?

“Xornoth, did you hear your mother?” Father’s words snapped Xornoth out of his thoughts and back into reality.

“Yes,” Xornoth nodded in response. Luckily, that was a good enough response for them. It had to be, anyway, since the servants had opened the door to let the Rivendellians into the castle.

“Greetings.” Queen Margo Moon greeted them as they entered. “We’re just talking in the dining room while we wait on the Mezalians.” She gestured for them to come sit down around the long table in a room not too far from the entrance of the castle.

The royal family from the Ocean Empire had already arrived and were sitting at the table. Xornoth had met them before but he still checked his memory anyway as he listed the Dweller Royal Family in his head: Queen Alice, Princess Elizabeth, and Prince James. They always looked sort of strange to him because their characteristics didn’t follow the same sort of genetics that most other races do. Obviously, he didn’t think less of them for it but he thought it was rather peculiar. According to what he’s read and heard about, oceanfolk are blessed by various sea creatures before they are born and that dictates what they look like and what sea creatures they have a connection with. Despite the three in front of him looking very different seeing as they were part squid, axolotl, or cod depending, you could see some sort of family heritage come through in their facial structures.

The monarchs and their children were distinctly sitting on opposite sides of the table from each other. Scott and Xornoth went to the side with other royal children while their parents went to sit on the other side by the monarchs, preserving the separation established before they got there.

As he walked over, Xornoth noticed someone staring at him. It was easy to conclude that the person in question was Princess Pearlescent Moon, especially when he compared her appearance to that of her parents. Her hair featured a blend of brown and blonde, mirroring her parents' hair colors, and her facial and body structures were strikingly similar to theirs. In contrast to the Dwellers, the family resemblance was much more obvious. Even without considering her distinctive hair and his prior knowledge of their appearances, it was clear that she was the only human child present at the moment.

Xornoth decided to sit in the empty seat next to the Helianthian princess since she clearly found him interesting by the way she was looking at him. Perhaps she wanted his attention? He didn’t mind giving it to her, especially since she was the princess of the empire they were visiting. “Hello, Princess Pearlescent.” He greeted with a brief bow of his head in greeting.

“Just Pearl is good.” Prin- Pearl corrected with a smile. “I don’t need all the formalities.”

Xornoth blinked at her, somewhat confused. Didn’t people love formalities? The royal title is one that grants them certain powers and privileges, as well as giving notice of their status in life. Why wouldn’t you want to be addressed as such? This conversation reminded him of a previous conversation he had with the oceanfolk sitting not too far down. They had been insistent on being called their nicknames (Lizzie and Jimmy) as well. Would all the royal children prefer being called by their nicknames over their birth names and without their titles? His mind briefly wandered away with the hypothetical of if he would insist on a nickname if his name had a decent one (and no, Xor Xor doesn’t count!)

“Princess Pearl is okay if you need to be all proper with your parents or other people,” she seemed to have read his mind with his silence, “but I just like Pearl. It’s what my friends call me anyway.”

The elf stared for a few seconds longer before letting himself smile. It was a small smile and definitely put together (he really was on his best behavior) but a smile nonetheless. Did she consider him a friend already? “Nice to meet you, Pearl. I’m Xornoth.”

Pearl’s blue eyes brightened (did he really excite her that much?) and she looked as if she really wanted to move her arms but was restraining herself. She opened her mouth to respond when their attention got dragged to the arriving Mezalians.

The queens, Venus and Summer Beans, walked in with their son, Prince Joel, not too far behind them. Queen Summer was fully fae and the only one of them with natural wings. The yellow wings shimmered in the light and looked rather delicate. He knew, however, that they likely weren’t fragile due to the nature of a full fae’s wings. It was clear why she was named Summer with her tanned skin, her sun-colored wings, and her brown hair with very blonde highlights. Her wife and son were both demifaes so they didn’t have the wings (the majority of demifaes don’t but it isn’t that uncommon statistically) but they all shared the pointed ears, much like the elves do. Queen Venus wasn’t as tan and her hair was a much darker brown with the exception of the white steaks of her curtain bangs. Joel’s hair was very similar except his hair had a streak of green. Xornoth was fairly positive Joel dyed it though because this shade of green was a lot less faded than the green he had last time he saw him.

“Admiring the view?” Joel smirked at him as he separated from his moms to this side of the room. He must have seen him staring but everyone had looked in that direction so it annoyed him that Joel was specifically calling him out.

Xornoth’s wings bristled behind him as Joel passed him. Xornoth turned in his seat as Joel walked behind his chair so he could get his eyes back on him. Joel blew him a kiss when noticing Xornoth’s gaze was still on him before taking a seat on the other side of the table. Scott greeted Joel when he sat down, seeming to not have noticed Joel’s ribbing toward Xornoth, which got the two of them started on a conversation. Jimmy joined in with them which split the conversations down the middle.

“Ocean’s blessings, Xornoth.” Lizzie greeted with a light-hearted smirk. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around. Surprised you didn’t miss me enough to come visit.”

“You could have always come to see me,” Xornoth huffed lightly at her words but he didn’t take offense or feel embarrassed, “It’s not like I can breathe underwater and swim, which is needed if I wanted to visit a majority of your empire.”

“We have the lilypads!” Lizzie gasped in fake offense. “It would be a much warmer place too than the mountains. I don’t know how you elves last up there.”

“It’s not that bad,” he insisted, “especially when you wear proper clothing and not what you tend to wear.”

“I don’t exactly need a lot of layers when I’m swimming. That would just drag you down.” Lizzie glanced at Pearl to give her an into the conversation. “Have you ever been to Rivendell?”

“No,” Pearl shook her head, “we haven’t visited each other’s empires until now. I’ve heard about it though.”

“It is much colder than here. The sun is usually hidden behind the clouds, half the time it’s snowing, and the winds are fairly harsh-” Lizzie listed off all the reasons why Rivendell wasn’t a fun place to visit.

Xornoth straightened up in his seat, feeling insulted now. “Just because it’s not like your empire doesn’t make it awful. If you actually take a look around, you will find beauty everywhere. You’ll probably like it more if you wear the clothing required for the mountains too. That was poor planning on your part.”

“Hey, hey,” Pearl attempted to put a stop to what was developing into a fight, “both of your empires sound lovely even with them being different. The differences just show the beauty each empire has and the variety makes it interesting to explore and visit.”

Her words were wise and it made him feel silly for engaging in a squabble with the monarchs of four different empires sitting on the other side of the room. Xornoth fell silent, fuming on the inside but trying to keep his outward appearance neutral.

All discussion between the children stopped when King Saturn walked up to them with a kind smile. “Hello everyone. How about you go to the library? We’re going to be awhile and it won’t be very fun just sitting here. There are some fun activities there for you to do so you won’t be bored. Pearl knows the way.” His eyes had met each of theirs before looking specifically at his daughter. “Can you show them?”

“Yes, Dad.” Pearl nodded, pushing herself up from the table. “Come on. Let’s go.”

King Saturn had made his way back to the other emperors as Pearl led the five of them to the library. The library was rather small compared to the ones Xornoth had seen before and seemed a lot more informal with the shelves holding toys, writing supplies, and other various items that weren’t simply books.

“This is the kid’s library,” Pearl explained when she turned and saw everyone’s expressions. “The main library is a lot more formal but it’s not the one many guests are allowed to enter so…”

“It looks nice.” Scott had wandered to the shelves with the books, looking over them all and reading the book titles that were printed on the spines.

“Are we expected to just read and play with toys?” Joel wrinkled his nose as he looked around. “None of us are that young.” The youngest two were Jimmy and Pearl with both being eleven years old. Lizzie and Joel were a few years older with Lizzie being thirteen and Joel recently turning fourteen.

Jimmy’s face turned a little red at Joel’s words. He quickly placed the wooden doll down that he had picked up just moments before. Wooden items weren’t a common place where he lived due to most of the empire being underwater so Xornoth assumed that is why he took interest in it.

“There are board games and books to read.” Scott pointed out to the rest of them. “We could try to play one of the board games if you don’t feel like reading.”

“I don’t recognize any of them.” Lizzie's eyes wandered over the shelf full of board games. “I wouldn’t know how to play.”

“We could learn.” Jimmy went to join his sister by the board games to read the various titles printed on the sides of the boxes.

Joel hummed, thinking to himself. Xornoth could almost see the wheels turning in his head. “We could go exploring. I haven’t wandered the town yet. Lizzie, would you join me?”

Scott turned away from the books and back toward everyone else, looking hesitant. “Would that be a good idea?”

Pearl appeared at the doorway with several different things hugged to her chest. She was also wearing a different outfit than before. Her pale yellow sundress had been swapped out with blue shorts and a gray shirt. Xornoth hadn’t even noticed she had left. Based on everyone else’s expressions, they also didn’t notice Pearl's departure.

“If we’re going to sneak out, you should wear some sort of disguise.” Pearl set all she was carrying on the table. She must have guessed their plans before they even thought them up, seeing as she had time to change in addition to gathering whatever the disguises were. With that the only real possibility with Pearl not having magic, Xornoth couldn’t help but be impressed with her foresight. “You don’t have to pretend to be human- we have a pretty mixed population- but your clothes scream that you come from money if not spelling out to everyone that you’re royalty. If you’re wanting to go incognito, you’re going to want to cover up a bit.”

“You are speaking my language.” Joel began to lay out the various coverings so they could tell what their options were more clearly.

“You could just take off your top layer,” Scott suggested to Joel, “and maybe get a hat to cover the streak in your hair.”

Joel paused before looking down at his outfit. “Good idea,” the demifae approved Scott’s suggestion as he stripped himself of the green jacket he was wearing. With the jacket removed, you could see the brown shirt he had been wearing underneath more clearly. It didn’t look as good paired with his black pants as his green jacket had but it definitely made him look less like a prince.

Pearl held up a muted orange bucket hat and a rather floppy sun hat. “Which would you rather?”

Joel eyes the two hats before holding his hand out with a gesture that indicates exactly what he said. “Hand over the bucket hat.”

“Bucket hat it is.” Pearl tossed the hat over to Joel for him to catch and set the sun hat back down with the rest of the stuff that had been brought over as disguises.

Jimmy and Lizzie were both wearing flowy silk outfits made up of purples and blues with seashells connected by rope. Lizzie’s was layered over her romper like a loose, short top. Jimmy’s looked more like it started as a sash then continued down to look more like it was completing a full shirt. Their outfits were fairly stunning but they certainly stood out as unusual in places such as Gilded Helianthia. Every Helianthian, even the oceanfolk Helianthians, wore more solid clothing that wasn't intended for swimming, unlike the outfits worn by Jimmy and Lizzie. It was very obvious that they would have to cover up so they were handed cloaks fairly quickly.

Scott and himself were wearing fairly typical Rivendellian outfits but adjusted to not be as warm in preparation for the warmer weather. Xornoth was wearing a black button-up with blue lining whereas Scott was wearing a similar top but his top was purple with white embroidery. Their pants were pretty basic so they were given cloaks that only covered their top half over the longer cloaks Jimmy and Lizzie were handed.

Pearl set her flower crown down next to Joel’s discarded jacket. “I would take off your crowns too. There’s no point in covering your clothes if you are wearing a crown.”

When all the crowns were removed from the top of their heads and set on the table by Pearl’s floral crown, it looked rather funny. They didn’t have much of a rhyme or reason other than the fact they were all headpieces. Xornoth and Scott had almost identical stag crowns, which were the most similar out of all the headpieces the six of them had. Joel had a fairly simple silver crown but it had a sort of enchanted glow to it. Jimmy had a cod headpiece. Lizzie had a tiara that was adorned with coral, seashells, and amethyst.

“We should split up so we aren’t following Pearl around like we’re her bodyguards.” Scott adjusted the cloak he was wearing so it didn’t sit as awkwardly on his shoulders. “Jimmy, do you want to go with me?”

Jimmy perked up at Scott’s invite, looking as if he didn’t expect Scott to want to sneak out with him. Xornoth thought that was rather silly seeing as they talked back in the dining room and have conversed with each other before now. “Yes! I mean, yeah. I would love to.”

“Is that offer still on the table?” The axolotl hybrid swished her tail as she addressed Joel to inquire about his earlier proposal.

"Princess, the table is set, the invitation is open, and it's not going anywhere until you say yes." Joel offered his hand to her and, when she took it, he kissed it. Lizzie laughed at Joel’s flirting but Xornoth couldn’t tell if they were simply joking or if either one of them were seriously into each other.

Either way, that paring didn’t surprise Xornoth either. They were the closest in age to one another and they have likely seen each other several times with their empires so close. Mezalea was on the ocean’s border and they were one of the only empires that had a trade agreement that involved the use of part of the northern ocean.

Pearl opened one of the windows in the library for the pairs to sneak out of. Joel and Lizzie went out first, followed by Scott and Jimmy. With them all gone, it left Xornoth with Pearl.

“It’s just you and me now.” Pearl grinned widely, rocking on her heels. “Come on, I want to show you one of my favorite spots.”

Pearl’s initiative was well appreciated because Xornoth had no idea what to do here. He didn’t know the surrounding area whatsoever so he didn’t have any resemblance of a plan if he were to lead. He would be very lost without a guide and Pearl likely knew that. He followed behind her and waited as she closed the window behind them. With it closed, Pearl gave him a sly smile that Xornoth barely had time to question what it was for before she raced off.

“Come on!” She called over her shoulder as she ran with no intention of waiting for him.

Running wasn’t what he had in mind when she said she wanted to take him someplace but he didn’t stay there very long before he started to follow after her. He wasn’t just going to stand there like an idiot as she grew farther away. Pearl had them enter the forests behind the castle. Pearl had slowed to a jog partway into the forest. Once weaving through some more trees, the land in front of them opened up into a clearing. With a quick look around, it was set up to be some sort of training ground with various cheap-looking practice equipment.

Pearl stopped moving once they reached the clearing. She was breathing heavier than normal but that didn’t make Xornoth feel any better about how hard he was struggling to breathe. Pearl clearly runs a lot more frequently than Xornoth does.

“Don’t worry, there’s a stream nearby. We can get water.” Pearl assured him after they took a moment to catch their breaths. She stretched her limbs briefly before going to open a chest that was sitting nearby. She pulled out two cups and handed one to Xornoth before leading him to the flowing water. She crouched down by the steam and gathered some water in her cup before sitting down on a large rock nearby.

Xornoth followed her example before joining her on the rock. They didn’t say anything as they sipped their water. It was rather cool in temperature which made it that much more refreshing. After several moments, Xornoth spoke up as he took in just how green and alive everything was. “It’s stunning.”

“It really is.” Pearl agreed, continuing to look out at the forest on the other side of the stream. The breeze picked up her hair as it blew against their faces. The wind felt good on their skin, especially since they had just been sweating. “We should fight.”

Pearl’s suggestion felt like it came out of nowhere and the only response Xornoth managed to give was “What?”

“You know, spar?” Pearl got to her feet, now standing on the rock. She positioned herself as if she was about to actually spar someone. “I have wooden swords and it’s a lot of fun. Plus, it’s always a good idea to know how to defend yourself.”

When thinking about it a moment longer, her intentions seemed pretty straightforward. She had taken him to a clearing that was very clearly put together for some basic fight training. “Sure, why not?” It should be fairly easy. Pearl was shorter than him so he even had the advantage. Should he hold back some or should he give it his all?

The look in Pearl’s eyes was almost terrifying with how excited and determined she looked. She jumped off the rock, landing steadily. “You can take off your cloak too so it’s more fair. No one should come this way so I doubt we’ll be seen.”

“Let’s say if you take a hit on your torso, then you lose and we start over.” Pearl offered up rules to their sparring session now that they each had a wooden sword in their hands. “You can hit the other person's legs or arms as many times as you can land if desired but no headshots. Sound fair?”

“Fair.” Xornoth agreed to her terms. It wasn’t realistic to if one was actually in a fight but this wasn’t a life-threatening fight so they could do whatever rules they chose to.

“Wonderful!” Pearl bounced on her heels a few times before turning to skip to her side of the clearing.

Xornoth made his way to his side of the clearing and adjusted his grip on the sword. Now with both of them prepared, Pearl counted down from three. On “Go!”, the two rushed forward to each other. Their swords clacked against each other as they defended themselves and tried to get blows on the other.

Xornoth very quickly realized his expectations of how this would go were very wrong. Pearl was giving him the hardest fights of his life and he was certain he was bruised in multiple areas. Don’t get him wrong, he held his ground fairly well but Pearl was clearly more experienced in the art of sword fighting.

They sparred each other for about fourteen rounds with Xornoth only winning three. On the fourteenth, Pearl managed to knock his sword from his hands and get him on the ground with her sword pointed at his chest. “Do you yield?”

Xornoth didn’t like being looked down on like this. He was rather embarrassed at how badly he did but Pearl was rather impressive. He never expected this of her but felt like he should have now that he noticed how toned her arms were. She would make a pretty terrifying enemy, especially as she grew older and got even better, but that was part of what Xornoth liked about her. Her strength and amiable spirit were admirable.

“I yield. You win.” Xornoth conceded, shoving his disappointment in himself down so he wouldn’t lash out in his frustration. He knew he had some anger issues but he was working really hard on that. Besides, Pearl was good at this and she deserved the victory. It just meant he had to practice more for next time to give Pearl more of a challenge. Assuming there was a next time. He hoped there was a next time.

Pearl beamed in triumph. She moved the sword so it wasn’t pointed at his chest anymore and offered Xornoth a hand to help him up. Xornoth accepted her hand and got to his feet. Now standing, he went to collect the sword that had been flung out of his hand so it could be put back in the chest.

Xornoth looked up at the sun and it was in a noticeably different position than before. “Uh, do you know how long it’s been?”

Pearl cursed under her breath and grabbed the cloak Xornoth had taken off earlier. “Hopefully they are still talking and haven’t come to get you all.”

Aeor, he could imagine the kind of trouble he would be in if his parents knew he snuck away like this. The two of them were pretty worn out from their sparring session so they didn’t run as fast as before. It was more of a fast walk or maybe a jog than a run but it still had a sense of urgency to it.

They soon reached the window they had climbed out of. They were first spotted by Lizzie through the window, who promptly opened it back up. “There you two are! What took you so long?”

“We lost track of time.” Xornoth didn’t give further explanation as he climbed in through the window with Pearl just behind him.

Lizzie closed the window once they were inside. Everyone else had already come back to the library and were all sitting around one of the tables with a board game out. They had all gone back to what they were wearing before. They even had their crowns back on their heads, which only left Xornoth and Pearl’s on the table. They were able to see them when Jimmy had removed the board game’s top off from over them to hand them their crowns. He assumed this was to hide them in case someone came in to check if they were there.

“You two should be grateful.” Scott looked like he had been stressed but was forcing himself to relax. “We were checked in shortly after we came back and we had to make up the excuse that you two went to use the bathroom.”

“You two would have gotten in so much trouble if they actually went to check.” Joel was completely relaxed compared to the stress everyone else seemed to have biting at them.

“What did you two do?” Lizzie eyed them curiously. “You’re dripping in sweat.”

“You probably should actually go to the bathroom to clean up some,” Jimmy scrunched his nose at them before directing the next part at Pearl, “and you should probably get your dress back on.”

“Good idea.” Pearl laughed lightly as she tried to hide the mix of feelings Xornoth could sense radiating off of her. “Come on, Xornoth. I doubt we have much time left. We’re lucky for getting out scotfree so far.”

Xornoth didn’t waste time on leaving the room after her. He did want to give himself a quick sponge bath and use the body spray he hoped they had in the bathroom to cover the smell of sweat. Besides, he didn’t really want to share the details of where he was. If he stayed there longer for them to ask questions, they would be forced to elaborate.

He had enjoyed his time with Pearl, even if he failed miserably. He didn’t get many moments of fun with people his age where he wasn’t being watched and monitored. It was really… nice. He greatly cherished this memory that they now shared together and hoped to experience many more in the future.

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