Elena has had her head out the window since she got into the strange-looking limo. She's never been in a limo before; being in one in another world just makes it even more exciting.
She takes in the atmosphere, the air here feels different from the one back on earth, it's fresh, you can breathe well.
Luminastra is the home to light fairies, and it's divided into three cities, sun city (where royals and the rich live), Star City, where celebrities live and Moon City, which was created as a diverse city for all fairies to live. This is why Hollow Prep Academy is located in that region.
There's so much to see in Sun City, she doesn't know where to look first; she wishes she had up to four eyes to be able to see all that's there to see.
There's so much to set one's eyes on. Two sets of eyes aren't enough.
She looks up at the sky, and it's blue, but the clouds are pink; they look like cotton candy, and there are several rainbows in the sky, more than five.
"Beautiful," she says with wide eyes.
The sun up there is brighter than ever, and it gives her more power; she can feel it flowing through her, but she wants to calm down so she doesn't make the vehicle explode.
She looks down, and she takes in all of Sun City. The vehicles are strange but beautiful. They're carriages mixed with cars. And these vehicles don't operate on fuel but pixie dust. Which won't pollute the earth.
It's amazing. The leaves on the trees are painted with different colours to signify that the fall season is upon them. She spots tiny magical creatures flying about the trees. Pixies, and they do live in trees or flowers.
So pretty.
So gnarly.
There are lots of fancy buildings built beautifully, but the ones she can't stop looking at are the tall abandoned buildings. They look like towers.
"Uh, what about those buildings there, do giants exist too?" she asks Perri.
"Yeah, giants do exist, but it wasn't built for them; it was built for fairies back before witches cursed fairies to lose their wings at the grave war."
Elena knew it; she knew fairies were supposed to have wings. Those bloody witches are evil. Why do they hate fairies so much? That's a question for another day. She goes back to looking out the window.
Some people look just like her. They're black with blond hair done in different African hairstyles, and they look rich as hell. It's nice to see black people are respected and thriving in this world.
So many of them are dressed in expensive, fairy-like outfits, going about their day, saying hi to each other.
While some of them stand and stare at the limo that's taking Elena to her destination.
They know a royal is in there, or they know she's in there. Some even spot her and wave, Elena waves back.
As long as they don't have purple hair, they're fine. But Elena can't help but wonder, are fairies as capable of evil as witches are?
She's not sure, she wants to ask, but she chooses not to, but at the same time, she doesn't want to find out for herself.
But she has been wondering. In a palace filled with guards how did witches get in to try to kill her as a baby? Someone on the inside must have given the witches an easy way in.
Those witches were annoying losers, but they were scary, and she hopes to never encounter one ever again.
But she knows that if she does, then she'll be ready for them; she's going to learn how to use her powers so she can get ready for any witch or vampire or any creature that threatens her.
They go round a roundabout and in the middle is a gold statue of a female fairy with wings, a sword anda shield.
"That's Princess Zephyra. She led in the grave war between witches and fairies." Perri says that he caught her staring at the statue.
So she's her ancestor. She looks badass. Glad to know that feminism is in full effect in this world. She hopes.
"But why do fairies and witches hate each other, though?" Elena asks because in the human world, being a witch was equivalent to being a badass woman, a feminist, so it's sad to think that the witches aren't badass they're just evil.
"In the human world, fairies and witches lived in harmony, that's until witches turned on fairies, they'd help the humans catch fairies to experiment on them and do all crazy things to them. Also, they were pledging their allegiance to the God that created them, Maltheris, the God of the underworld, who was banned from Fairdale, the home of the Gods, because he wanted power. A lot of witches are evil because they didn't think it was fair that their creator got banned, so they turned on fairies."
"Whoa, Maltheris doesn't sound fun," Elena says. "Uh, are there fairies who pledge their allegiance to this Maltheris guy?"
"Not that I know, but there is a rumour or myth that if a fairy worships the God of the underworld, they turn into fairies of darkness."
Elena gets chills from hearing the words, "Fairies of darkness."
"But you need not worry about them, they're a myth anyway," Perri says, smiling at her. Elena nods her head.
"Okay," she says. She sure hopes they are.
They're driving away from the citizens and are headed straight for the Illuminance Palace, the first Palace created for the royals.
The buildings are replaced by lots of colourful trees, and they're on empty roads now. Elena sits back, her eyes still looking outside, while Perri has been looking at her since, taking in her innocence and her beauty.
She's just so beautiful. And she does look like the sun because his eyes will get destroyed the more he looks at her. He shouldn't do this. She's not available; he should know this. He's a werewolf, and she's a fairy, a princess for that matter; he should give up.
The limo stops in front of a large gold gate.
And a guard with pointy ears and silver hair wearing a vigilante outfit walks up to the driver; when he sees who it is, he orders the gate to be opened. And so the gate opens up on its own and the limo drives in.
Elena can see loads of trees in the shape of animals and how almost green the grasses her, all because of the fall season. Elena cannot wait to get into the palace; she cannot wait to see her family.
She never thought she had a family; she thought she was all on her own. All she had was the locket, which had her name inside and nothing else. But she does have a family; her parents didn't abandon her. If anything, they were heroes, and the rest of her family members are here waiting for her.
The limo stops, and someone opens up the door for her.
"Welcome, princess."
"Thanks. You're cool," she tells the man who stands tall in a dazzling robe, his hair blond and his eyes blue and skin dark.
"Why, thank you, your highness," he says, feeling good about himself because of the compliment.
She says hi to the servants, the maids, the cooks and the gardeners. They all say hi to her in a shy manner. She even hears one of them say she's pretty.
She looks up at the large palace before her.
"Wow," she mutters. Never has she stood in front of a place before.
It looks so modern, but it's old; they've done a few renovations to it. It gives royalty and greatness.
Ornate carvings, tall arched windows, decorative columns, and a roof lined with sculpted statues. The facade features soft pink and cream tones with elaborate gold accents that glow beautifully in the sunlight. The roof appears slate blue with gilded trim, adding to the regal feel.
In the foreground, there's a meticulously landscaped formal garden. Neatly trimmed hedges form geometric patterns, with red and white flowers blooming in symmetrical beds. A classical stone statue - possibly of a cherub - sits prominently on a pedestal near the pathway, enhancing the aristocratic atmosphere.
This is the place her parents grew up in; this is the place she was supposed to be raised in, as a princess. She still cannot believe she's a princess. All this while she has been an orphan, Elena. Not knowing that her parents were royalty and she had blue blood running through her veins.
But in her case, the blood is golden.
"Welcome, Princess." A petite dark-skinned woman, with a button nose and her blonde hair in a pixie cut, wearing a purple suit, walks toward her.
She takes a bow. "I am Devarux Lightstorm. I manage the affairs of the palace."
"Nice to meet you, Devarux."
"Likewise. Come, your family members have been dying to see you."
"Oh not dying," Elena says.
"What?"
She waves her off. "Oh, nothing."
"Perrilion." She greets Perri.
"Devarux."
As soon as Elena steps into the palace, she feels like she has gotten into a whole new world. Of course, she's in a whole new world, no doubt, but being in here makes her feel at home.
Which is weird because all her life, she never needed to live in a large house to feel at home; she always wanted a home, didn't care how small it was. But being in here makes it feel like she's hugging the place or the place is hugging her, welcoming her back.
There are loads of golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. And the portraits of pixies, unicorns, kings and queens on the walls.
She doesn't stay to admire everything; she follows Devarux while looking around her like she's in a museum. But this isn't a museum; this is her home.
They head out back, and this is not some mansion; this is a palace, a place where kings and queens sleep, a building with hundreds of rooms and servants. Where events like balls are being held.
This all feels surreal.
Elena follows Devarux toward what looks to be a garden. Devarux stops, and she looks at a portrait. A portrait of a beautiful black woman in a ball gown and long braids.
"This is Princess Crystal. The Crystal Garden was named after her. This place didn't have a garden before, not until Princess Crystal pleaded with her father to make a garden out back. And he did. There's a beautiful garden thanks to her."
"Wow, go, Crystal," Elena says
They move outside, and damn, it is pretty as hell.
There are loads of flowers arranged most perfectly, flowers Elena has never seen before. Some gold, some glass, some rainbow colored.
There are a lot of normal trees, and different fruit trees out here, and Elena cannot wait to try these fruits.
There are also benches under the trees where one can just sit and read a book or relax.
"Your family's over there." Devarux points at the large dining table under the sun. "Ever since Princess Crystal introduced the idea for the garden. Your family have been eating outside for breakfast since then, King Thalor the second said it was good to eat breakfast outside to enjoy the morning sun."
Elena's eyes are still on the family having breakfast outside. This is it, she's going to meet her family.