Aella POV

I was lead through the long echoey corridors by the help of a young maid. Her face was pale with little splotches of a rose colour dotting her cheeks. She had beautiful brown eyes that sparkled in the light of the glowstone, and her dirty blonde hair was bunched up into a pile at the top of her head. Small strands of hair poked out and flopped over her eyes every couple seconds, but she swiped them out of the way as soon as they fell.

We walked up a long spiralling staircase to a medium sized pair of double doors. The edges were lined with a glistening silver metal substance with emerald and blue jewels studding the corners. It wasn't as nice and complex as the ones down by the throne room, but to me they were still beautiful.

The maid pushed open the doors and I was flooded by the brightest white shade ever! I yelped in surprise and squeezed my eyes shut. My vision eventually adjusted and I slowly walked into the room scanning every nook and cranny that crossed over my vision. Smooth countertops lining the edges with bottles of glowing bubbling liquid, shelves of perfectly folded up towels, large sleek white tubs in smaller closet-like rooms, and those transparent glass showers in more of those closet rooms. I assumed it was something like the royal bathroom or something.
Maids scurried around the place with handfuls of towels, towers of bottled shampoo and conditioner, and brushes and combs. They ran into some of the rooms which had the door closed, and I could hear two female voices on the other sides.
The rosy cheeked maid in front of me led me over it the farthest room which had a shiny polished baby blue tub inside. She motioned for me to come in and she twisted the nozzle for the water. The tub immediately start filling up with the sparkling blue liquid that glistened in the light of the tiny brightly shining glowstone chandler above us. Just as it got about halfway, the maid reached up to a white shelf and pulled out a bottle of soap. She twisted the cap off and tipped the bottle so a pretty pink liquid cascaded out of it. It hit the water and suddenly evaporated into miniature bubbles that rippled across all the water.

In a few short minutes the water got to a desired height and with a swift twist of her hand against the handle, the maid shut off the water.

"I'll come get your towels in a few minutes miss." The maid explained hurriedly. I turned to her and nodded my head before she scurried out the door and closed it quickly. Her footsteps echoed through the room along with all the others.

I quickly peeled off my torn dirty clothes, but still kept on my necklace, and slipped into the warm bubbly water calmly. I slid in all the way up to my collarbone before I tipped my head back. My long brown hair dipped into the water and I felt the warm substance come in contact with my scalp. I closed my eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief. This was the strangest day I had ever experienced, but at least I finally got to relax. Hours upon hours had been me traveling, trying to survive, and being in pain, but before I knew it, I was laying in a tub like none of that had ever happened. I felt relaxed, relieved, happy, content, and everything else that had a positive term.

Time Skip

I wrapped myself in a soft lime green bathrobe as quickly as I had jumped out of the tub. Finally my hair was clean, even though I never really cared for it, and for once I wasn't in pain. I hadn't even stubbed my toe like all the other times I had gotten out of a tub. I felt relieved about it all.

As I just tied the knot on the robe, a swift knock on the door erupted me out of my thoughts.

"Are you ready miss?" A young voice of a maid asked on the other side of the door. Her voice was blurred and slightly hard to hear from the other side, but it was still recognizable.

"Y-yes. Um... Thank you." I replied. I mentally face palmed at myself for sounding so scared and un-trustworthy. I really had to work on how to reply to people without sounding like I was still learning how to talk. It sounded quite childish out of all the other things I actually could do.

The maid opened the door slowly and peeked in. She opened it further as she noticed me out of the tub already. I kneeled down attempting to pick up my clothes I had been wearing from up off the floor.

"Don't worry miss. Another maid will gather those for you." She explained quickly as she noticed what I was trying to do. I mentally facepalmed again for my realization.

In a swift motion of her hand, I followed after her out of the room and through the long echoey hallways once again. We walked down a long flight of stairs and turned a sharp right until we reached a dead ended hallway. Three pairs of different shaded green doors were placed on either sides with a painting of scenery at the end. I didn't quite take notice of it since I wasn't one to stare at paintings.

We walked to the far left door, which was a dark forest green, and the maid turned the silver knob swiftly. Without a single creek of the hinges it opened and I walked in.
A large king sized bed was on one end of the room with a black and green flaked canopy overtop. Beautiful pearl white pillows were placed on the end with a green multicoloured duvet cover under most of the pillows. A vibrant lime green carpet encased the floor which matched perfectly with the almost white walls. A chandelier hung above us that cast off a beautiful soft glow to the room as its miniature torches on top of it flickered and spiralled in various directions elegantly. Many more majestic objects lined the room in the most perfect position, and I felt quite at home in this wonderful room. I had never seen so much work put into a little place to stay the night.

I walked into the room slowly letting the feeling of home descend into it carefully. The smells were beginning to feel calming and the bright greens of the room were starting to get bearable.

"I'll let you settle in miss. Someone will come soon to lead you to the dining hall." The rosy cheeked made explained quickly but calmly.

I nodded my head and thanked her, but before she could even react, she scurried out the door and down the halls.

Time Skip

I sat the the side of my bed as I stared at the blank wall in front of me. Small narrow thoughts squeezed into my mind but briskly slipped away before I could get a firm grip onto them. How soon did the maid mean by? Was it half an hour? One hour? I was quite hungry after all this and really needed something to do.

I twisted the pendant of my necklace around in between my fingertips and felt the cold metal slowly warming up to my skin. It was the only belonging I had now, and I wasn't ever going to take it off under any circumstances!

I eventually stood up from my place on the bed and walked over to the smooth, clean, white dresser. I opened one of the drawers and found a black hoodie, pair of dark green shorts, and a white tank top. I shrugged and pulled the clothes out as they began to unfold and tumble around in my hands.

I quickly slipped everything on and look in the mirror on top of the dresser. It was sparkling clean with no recognizable smudges in any areas. No miscellaneous cracks lining the edges. Not even the slightest dirt mark encasing a corner. I found it quite shocking how clean the mirror was, but I shook it off as I saw a familiar figure leaning against the wall behind me.
My eyes widened suddenly and my heart beat briefly accelerates. I whirled around to come face to face with Queen Halla. She was leaning up against the wall by my bed with her slim pale arms crossed over her chest. She wore a normal clean light green tank top with slightly stained navy blue shorts. Small black thin high top sneakers rested neatly tied on her feet just stopping in the middle of her shins. Her once neatly and complicatedly braided chocolate brown hair was now undone messily and resting on her shoulders. Her right leg was pulled over her left in a slang-type of position like she was no Queen or leader of any kind. Her expression remained blank as I stared into her inhuman green eyes as she stared into my sapphire blue coloured irises.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Halla's expressions curled into a positive grin as she speaks.

I gulp and reply. "N-no. I'm fine........ Thanks." I mentally facepalm to myself once again for stuttering so much. Luckily Halla didn't seem to notice at the slightest.

"So........." Halla began. Her eyes met mine for a brief second but began countlessly switching different directions. She fiddled with her hands trying to find what to say. "I heard..... You're an Aether begin. Is...... Is that true?" Her eyes met mine once again. She looked hopeful of something.

"Yeah. Why?" I shifted my bare feet on the floor as I waited in anticipation for an answer.

"I-I...." The Queen paused again. I began to grow in impatience and wished she would just get to the point.
"I'll tell you later. How's your wing?"

I shrugged. I unfolded them from their normal hidden position and held out my dislocated one.

Halla gasped in shock. She cupped her hands around her mouth and scurried over to me. She carefully held the injured bone in her hands and inspected the damage.

"Why didn't you tell anyone the main bone was snapped to the worst area in the skeleton of the wing? This is one of the worst injuries you can achieve in this area." Nervousness and fright licked at the edge of Halla's voice as she spoke quickly. I could hear her tone and hands tremble terrible in the process.

"I-I didn't know." I replied quickly. I never knew how terrible one single snap could do. And I thought it was just dislocated. Let alone completely broken!

Halla's grip on the wing loosened slightly, and her hands quit trembling. "It's alright. I'll do something to help slip the bone back in place. And hopefully melt some of the bone back together."

I raised an eyebrow curiously. "How exactly? Look, I know you're a Queen and all, but how do you put the bone back in place without cutting the flesh away? 'Cause I don't see you holding a pair of scissors or anything."

Halla didn't answer. She slowly shut her eyes and cupped her hands around the wing. My heart began to beat briefly once again. Small staticky green flakes of something began to flow out of her fingertips. They began to fuse themselves slenderly and grow into a large flaky, transparent ball. The toxic green shade was glowing extremely brightly and I had to blink several times before my eyes got used to it. The ball slowly moved towards the wing and slipped inside it.

What the Nether?! My mind screamed. This was the strangest thing I had ever experienced. I knew Halla was an Aether being and all, but what was this?!

The large spark-shaped ball began to shrink and melt into the wing. There was eventually nothing left but that one corner of my broken bone glowed ominously. Then the glow faltered. The entire end of the wing that had been hanging at a sick angle slowly moved upwards, and set itself into the right position completely. No pain came with it either. And none came after. Not even a sting!
In a few short seconds, the glow faded away leaving behind my perfectly set wing. It looked like nothing had happened!

My head slowly moved up to Halla. She pulled her hands away from around my wing and slipped them by her sides. She looked back up at me and brought a finger to her lips.

"Please don't tell anyone about this. And if Alleski asks tell him I gave you a potion. Understand?"

I slowly nodded my head and gulped. Second day of being twelve and I'm already keeping a secret. Great!

Halla's expression morphed happily once again. She smiled and her eyes lit up for the millionth time today. When does this girl get upset? Like seriously!

"Now! How about some dinner?" The young Queen clapped her hands together ecstatically.

After not doing so for who knows how long, I grinned from ear to ear. "Yes please! I haven't eaten since yesterday!"

Halla giggled excitedly. "Then follow me!" And she happily skipped out the door of my room. I followed close behind her and folded my wings before I walked out of my room. No one had to know there was another Aether being in the castle just yet.

Time Skip: Next Morning

I awoke to sun filtering in through the slits on the edges of the window that hadn't been fully covered by the curtain. They shone and cascaded onto the bed making warm spots arrive on my face and knees.
I fluttered open my eyes and looked around the room.

Wait! Where the pale blue walls? Where's my desk? Then it hit me. Every single memory of the last few days came back to me in a large wave that felt like a slap in the face. Nashira kicking me, the throbbing pain of my lungs about the burst in the bone chilling water, the explosion of the black and green creature in the night, but also the beauties of the Jeweled Verdant Kingdom at night. Everything was new to me now. I had never seen such rich green grass. I had never felt such warm wind and sun beating down and licking at my skin. But even though it felt wonderful, a sudden ache for home hit me in the chest. My mom's sing songy voice in the morning as she made breakfast in the kitchen. The sounds of my female siblings giggling and laughing as they picked flowers and chased each other. The exhausted look on my older brothers' faces as they came home from this world. Now that was all familiar to me. But every single time Halla came to mind. She seemed... Well, almost recognizable from somewhere else. From somewhere that wasn't this kingdom. Somewhere like the Aether! I could almost see her thrilling grin and sparkling eyes on one of the floating islands there. Though she must've been there sometime. But if she had, where did she spawn? What family did she spawn in? Had she even spawned in a family?
Thoughts swirled through my head as I began to regain my senses. I eventually shook off all the ideas and questions and sat up in bed. I stretched my arms and yawned loudly. Maybe a little too loudly. I sure hoped I hadn't woken anyone in one of the rooms next to me. Would that be considered a bad guest? Ehehe I'd better not think about it!

I slowly emerged out from underneath all the soft thick blankets and shivered as the cold air hanging around the room collected around me. I quickly caught sight of a thick fluffy housecoat hanging on the post at the end of the bed, and snatched it in a brief motion. I slid my pale bare arm into the fabric and immediately felt the warmth coming back to me like I was still in the bed. I quickly tied the knot, a little too tightly, and walked over to the curtains. As I latched my fingers into the complex designed fabric to pull out, a quick knock on the door popped me out of my hazy tired thoughts.

"Ms. Aella? Are you nearly ready to come down to the dining hall for breakfast? We are about to begin soon." Came a deep and sophisticated sounding voice on the other side of the door.

My heart immediately shot into many brief beats that spun around continuously. What time was it? How long had I slept? I know I'm a deep sleeper, but this was going to ruin my reputation (even though my stuttering probably did already). I can't show up at breakfast late!

"Oh! Uh... Yes I am. Just..... Um let me get a couple more things done." I could feel my face slowly heating up with embarrassment. I can be such an imbecile at the worst possible times.

"As you wish miss. But please make sure you are down there at 9 o'clock sharp." The deep voice on the other end of the door carried out sharp like a needle piercing through my skin in a quick painful motion. I didn't want to find out what my consequences would be if I ended up late.

"Uh.... Okay. I'll get down there as quickly as I can." I replied hastily as I immediately darted over to my dresser. I felt my foot latch onto the back of my heel of my other foot and I fell face first on the ground. I yelped pathetically and hit the floor with a thump.

"Miss? Are you alright? Do you need assistance?" The voices sounded quite confused and dripped with worry.

I got my face out of the carpet and groaned. "No. I'm fine. Just....... Um... Dropped something."

I got up off the floor and walked over to the dresser. I opened one of the drawers and found a brown and black leather vest with a pair of thin, but soft, black leggings. In the drawer directly beside it I pulled out a white short sleeved tank top and black fingerless gloves.

"Definitely not appropriate for breakfast." I muttered under my breath. "Meh! YOSO (You Only Spawn Once). Why the Nether not."

I quickly took my pyjamas off and slipped on the leggings and shirt. I looked around in the closet that was on the other side of my bed and found a pair of just above ankle level brown leather boots with gold chains and buckles on the sides. The gold was cold against my fingertips, but almost immediately began it warm up to my touch as I slid on the boots.

I walked out of the room as I twisted and twirled the pendant around my neck once again. Nervousness washed over me like a hurricane and I took a deep breath in trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.

I was greeted by an exquisitely dressed butler at my door with thick eyebrows and raven black hair pulled back with hair gel. He made me shudder as his dark eyes looked over my outfit. His face scrunched up for a moment, but settled back down as he lifted his hand up. With a brief motion of his hand I followed right behind him, and tried not to step on his heels, through the long echoey halls to the dining room. He walked a brief pace with his small feet and I had trouble keeping up with him without breaking into a swift jog. Dear Notch I am so relieved I don't have to do this every day back in the Aether.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

We stopped at two large double doors where a couple people stood patiently. One of them I recognized as the red head who I think was Syl. As soon as she turned her head, her eyes latched onto me and her dark brown eyes lit up. Her frown curled into a grin from ear to ear and she ran over to me. Before I had time to react she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed happily.

"It's so nice to see you Aella! You look so much better!" Syl explained ecstatically.

We pulled away from our hug and her eyes looked up and down at my clothes. Her mouth moulded into a frown once she stopped at my hair. Uh oh! I didn't do anything with it. I hadn't even brushed it (even though I never did at home)!

Syl walked up to me and pulled a small rubber band from off her wrist. She walked behind me and my heart accelerated again. I could feel her fingers latch onto my long hair and pull it down behind my back. I felt it tumble down and slowly swing from side to side. Syl grabbed a small amount of it in three categories and began weaving it in different directions continuously.

"It's been a while since I've been able to do this y'know. Mirage keeps her's too short it's like she wants to be a boy. I find it annoying. And besides, you gotta have your hair up in the dining room anyway. Queen Halla's orders." Syl explained. Her voice still sounded cheerful but it was dripping with seriousness quite recognizably.

"Why's that?" I questioned curiously.

"Dunno. Guess it's just her opinion that you should have your hair up when you're eating." She chuckled slightly.

We were stuck in silence for a couple seconds before Syl shattered it once again. "The last time I got to braid someone's hair was about three months ago. My little sister let me do it when I visited her, but I haven't gone to see her since." Her voice cracked a bit at the last part.

"It's alright. My older sister had always been busy mining and all that, as my two younger sisters didn't like me." I lowered the volume of my voice and spoke under my breath. "Didn't really know how to braid anyway."

Syl giggled happily. "Well it sure is nice to have you around Aella! You seem to brighten my day."

"Yeah Syl? Well you're like a thousand burning suns cutting through my cold emotions. You don't even come close to me!"

We both burst out laughing and I heard a couple small twang and stretches from the rubber band. Syl eventually let go of my hair and I felt it ripple down my back in a thick brown braid.

"There you go! Enjoy your day miss!" Syl walked back over to face me and playfully bowed dramatically.

I laughed and tried to do the same, but my foot latched onto the heel of my other foot again. I yelped and fell on top of Syl briefly. She yelled loudly as we both tumbled to the ground and into a pile of arms and legs. We laughed our heads off and everyone else stared at us, but we didn't care.
I saw Mirage walk up to us with her cold eyes fixed on me. She tapped Syl on the shoulder and began to make extremely complex motions, flips, twists, and claps with her hands like she was infuriated. Syl's face hardened and her smile curled into a blank face. She nodded and stood up. Mirage walked away and stood at her previous post.

I got up and leaned into Syl. "What was all that about? And why doesn't she talk?" I muttered in her ear.

Syl leaned in closer and whispered as quietly as she could possibly attempt. "She got angry at us for playing around and being too loud so she kinda lost it. At the age of nine Mirage had met a strange man in the woods just outside the borders of a village. She talked with him and kinda said something impolite and rude so got infuriated and had brought out a dagger. Before Mirage had even known what had happened, he cut out her tongue and she's never spoken since."

I gasped in shock and covered my mouth trying to cover my open mouth. "You're kidding. Right?"

Syl didn't reply. She just stood there with a hard expression. That showed it was true. But who would do such a thing to a child? Just because they said something rude doesn't mean you stop them from speaking forever! That's just being heartless!

As my mind whirled and spun like a storm two guards dressed in glistening green armour approached the two double doors. They grabbed the silver rimmed handles and pulled them open like they were just flimsy oak doors. No creak was heard, no scraping or screeching again the smooth polished floor, not even the slightest of an irritating sound. They must take great care of these since most of the doors back at home squeal.

Inside the large room were humongous windows that opened up light to explode all over the room. The green and black swirled tapestry curtains were pulled back and tied neatly to a pole beside them in a very swift manner it seemed. A large almost black dark green carpet encased the floor with no wrinkles, folds or anything of any kind! They sure have kept this place perfect over the years.
In the middle of the large room was a marble long table. Dozens of chairs were seated on the sides with the same symbol on it that I couldn't make out. It assumed to be a leaf, but had the corners and 3-D sides of a jewel. It probably standed for the Jeweled verdant kingdom or something like that.

At the far let of the table on the very end seated Queen Halla looking bright and ecstatic as ever, but still quite serious looking in the process. Her hair was piled to the very top of her head with jewels and flowers woven in to boost elegance.

"You may have a seat." She instructed happily.

I walked over to one of the that was right beside Syl and sat down. The seats were cushiony and soft yet still like normal chairs. I was definitely looking forward to seeing what they had for breakfast.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I hope this chapter made sense to y'all. I apologize if it's not a crazy exciting chapter like you all probably wished, but I'll hopefully be introducing more OCs that were entered at the beginning of this book. The two that have so far been seen are from honeypeanutyay and SirCutieKiyu. I'd like to thank all of you that have decided to read this book and take some time out of your own schedules just for me! I never thought this book would ever be read!!
See ya'll later!

Baaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!