Chapter 21: Validation

Zyric then leaves to search for Elzilaura and finds her being comforted by Enna just outside of Merus' office. Not long after, Lem whose clothes have just been restored, joins them. The former Elitea leader hands out a card with an id code.

"Here are your id passes for entrance to Patara Headquarters. Wear them at all times while you're within the compound for safety and security." Lem instructs.

"Thank you, Lem. But before we leave, is there a way I can visit Kanunia first?" Elzilaura asks. "Enna was just about to take me to my sister."

"Sure". Lem extends his hand pointing to the direction of the corridor. He leads the way and the rest follow him.

They went to the clinic and were reunited with Alednos and Ranued. The physician says Kanunia is fine but is now resting. It would be best not to wake her up.

Alednos promises to watch over Kanunia and report any incident that might occur in their absence.

Soon, Elzilaura together with Lem and Zyric travel to Patara headquarters. Upon arrival at the main gate, they were told to proceed to the Calian Wing. From this time, Lem excuses himself and says he must leave to do some errands before returning to Enna. Zyric and Elzilaura thanks him.

The Fliskan Princess and her lord marshal proceed to their destination where they were received by Admiral Mirtaz.

"Zyric, my boy. It's so good to see you." Admiral Norchee Mirtaz greets the Fliskan while extending out her arm. It was the planet's tradition that all practice. It has become known as the Minthrian salutation and is the equivalent of Earth;s handshake which Zyric was accustomed to it.

He extends his other arm as well and holds onto the Admiral's forearm. Once his grip connects, both would slowly retract their arms until their palms touch. Once it does, they nod before they release their connected hands.

"Likewise, Ma'am. Its been so long but you haven't changed. You're still my smart and beautiful marine mentor." Zyric comments.

"Oh, you smooth talker!" The admiral laughs. "You're still the charming boy and smart student I once had but I am proud of the illustrious career you have."

"You're too kind, Ma'am." Zyric replies and then looks at Elzilaura. "This is our future queen, Princess Elzilaura of Fliska."

The admiral curtsies. "It is an honor to be in the presence of royalty." She extends her arm. Elzilaura follows what Zyric had just done. She extends her arm as well and touches the forearm of the admiral. They retract their arms until their palms touch. This time, the admiral bows instead of nods. Elzilaura was supposed to nod until she notices Zyric waving as if prohibiting her. She doesn't follow the admiral and briefly nods instead of a full bow.

After they released their hold on each other, Admiral Mirtaz introduces them to her close friend.

"This is my good friend, Defense Minister Joll Ascop-Par, head of the Patara Defense." The admiral points to her side towards the defense minister.

"I am pleased to meet your acquaintance." He extends his arm to Zyric who completes the Minthrian salutation with him. He also does this with Elzilaura who also performs the custom comfortably.

"I have secured a place for you on the first day of session tomorrow. The assembly is gathering and guest speakers from all over shall be invited to plead their cases. We do this during the opening session of the Pataran assembly so we can address the needs of our members. There, you can appeal for help from the governing body."

"Thank you, Sir. This means a lot to me. We need all the help we can to regain control of Fliska." Elzilaura says.

"Think nothing of it. I am a member of Patara and this is what we stand for. We aim to serve and promote peace. We will help those who are in need and advocate for lasting peace." The defense minister replies.

"You must be tired from the journey. Perhaps, you might like to retire and prepare for your speech tomorrow for the assembly." Admiral Mirtaz suggests.

"Yes, that would be nice." Elzilaura politely agrees. Suddenly, she felt butterflies in her stomach. She'll be facing a lot of people tomorrow. It makes her worry but she knows she must do it for Fliska and must act as calm as possible. She does not want to alarm her new allies.

The Admiral and the defense minister bring them to the guest quarters within the Patara compound. The admiral shows the princess' quarters first and when she found it suitable, they leave Elzilaura to rest while the Minthrian residents escort Zyric to his room.

Elzilaura looks out the window appreciating the view. It was indeed a futuristic city with spiraling tram trains and enormous buildings reaching the skies. Unlike the futuristic metal facade of Tergiel 6 and Techton, the city had a mix of greenery. Trees and plants grew at different levels of the buildings. Artificial waterfalls and spiral fountains cascaded from one level to another. They also served as irrigation systems for these botanical gardens.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as crowded as she thought it would be. Maybe it was because Pataran strict security within its headquarters keeps a limited population within its vicinity.

The sight was so exciting that it momentarily made her forget the pressure of her upcoming guest appearance at the assembly. Soon, the princess starts to create her speech and practices it. However, the stress and tension seep in again. She struggles to complete her practice when she started hearing different voices.

"Oh my, there is the poor pampered princess who doesn't know anything about the ruling."

"It's the little lamb of her lioness mother."

"She's old enough to marry and yet she's still clinging to her mother's skirts. It's so childish."

"I wonder what will happen when she takes the throne."

"Well, if she can take it before someone else beats her to it."

"She doesn't know how to be decisive."

Partly, she heard some of these voices before at the royal court. What was worse is that she could identify some of them as her mother's friends. She tries to walk around and breathe deeply to calm down. It doesn't work. Her thoughts and emotions swirled. She ends up breaking down as a result of these fears springing from her insecurities. She then calls Zyric to come to her room immediately.

Zyric rushes to her room. Upon entering the room, he was astonished to see Elzilaura lying on the floor in a fetal position repeatedly murmuring how stupid she was.

He once heard of the gossip and rumors at the Fliskan court about the heir to the throne having anxiety attacks. Now, he saw for himself the rumors to be true.

He knew her to be a bit soft and subtle. She is often intimidated by her tasks but he didn't know it was this bad. Usually, he would run away from women seeing them this wasted but this was Ella, a friend he cared for dearly.

Zyric kneels down. "You're not stupid. You're one of the smartest girls I've ever met."

"No, that's not true." She tries to hold back her sobbing. He comes closer to the princess then and continues his inquiry.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asks. She turns her head away and deflects his query.

"Please, I need Kanunia. Please call her. Please." She fails to conceal her sobbing.

Zyric then rises up to unfold his communicator. He manages to contact the team and Ranued was the one to answer.

Unfortunately, Ranued says Kanunia is still indisposed due to medications given earlier. Ranued and Alednos tries their best to have Kanunia talk to Elzilaura but the patient was so groggy her words made no sense. Elzilaura ends up panicking even more. Upon seeing the princess' distress, Alednos steps in.

"You seem weary your highness. How may I help you?" The royal adviser asks.

"Alednos." She cries hysterically. "I need Kanunia. But she can't hear me."

"It's all right. I'm here, princess." The adviser comforts her. "Tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm afraid. I can't breathe. I need help. I can't talk to the assembly tomorrow, what if I freeze or have a mental block or something?"

"You'll be fine, your highness." The adviser assures. "It's just a speech. Do remember that you are not there to be impressive just to gain popularity. You are there on behalf of your people who are in dire need of help. You are there to show the courage and strength of a girl who has faced a lot of ordeals in order to appeal for support.

You are not showing off your wealth but rather letting them know who you are. You deeply care not only for your people but for the rest of this universe. Go and tell them that. I'm sure they will love you the way we do." Alednos smiles.

"I fear I might not convince them to help us. What words should I say to persuade them?" Elzilaura slightly calms down but her tone was still weary.

"You are our princess. No matter what you do, you will always be great in our eyes. Whether you gain their support or not, we will be proud of how well you vouched for us and humbled yourself before the assembly to help your people.

Remember you are there to convey a message. You only have to speak the truth and the right people will believe you. I tell you now, princess, you will win them over with a sincere intention and ardent dedication you have." The royal adviser's zealousness emanated with his response.

"Thank you, Alednos. I am so pleased to have you here with me. I really appreciate this." Elzilaura's panic wanes down."

"Think nothing of it, I am your royal adviser. It is my duty to advise and help you." Alednos affirms. Soon, they end their communication.

After the talk with Alednos, Zyric turns back to Elzilaura.

"Are you okay now?" He asks.

The princess nods and smiles back.

"Almost." She tries to catch her breath. "Thank you for helping me reach Kanunia and Alednos."

"You're welcome." Zyric answers back. "I think you are just burned out. You've been stressed by our travels and working on that speech is wearing you out. You need a break." Zyric jolts up from his position.

"I'll leave you for a moment to change into something comfortable. We'll go out into the city just for a while to get some air. I'll make the arrangements and be back soon, all right." He explains his plan.

The princess agrees so Zyric leaves for a moment to make his promised arrangements. Elzilaura wanted to try her speech one more time but when she feels anxious once more, she decided to quit and prepared for a possible sightseeing instead. She goes to the closet and checks out the clothes that she could possibly wear. This wasn't only relaxing. She enjoyed browsing through the closet closely looking at the details of Minthrian apparel.

Meanwhile, back at the hangar in Techton, Harrion supervises the space vessel upgrades and sees Dazifae sitting at a corner being approached by Merus.

Merus then begins to talk. "I hope you're feeling better." He pats the girl's shoulder.

Dazifae just looks at him. She still looks troubled. Merus began to tell his tale. "You know, I too have been troublesome." He sighs.

"It's because I feel unappreciated too. I even tried to be an inventor just for my parents to appreciate me. Still, I feel they love Enna more until I realized that love comes from within. You know."

He then sits down beside Dazifae, who also moves to the side of the bench so he can have extra space. "If I can't learn to love and appreciate myself and accept my flaws, I don't think anyone would come to love and respect me. If I accept my strengths and weaknesses, I would not seek validation elsewhere. I may not be the greatest or the best in my field but at least I will have peace of mind."

Dazifae utters. "My friends think I'm weak. Everyone thinks I'm weak. People think you are weak if you are flawed and it's also unfair. People tend to turn a blind eye when you're successful, strong, and powerful. They don't mind your shortcomings because you are larger than life but when you're perceived as frail, they notice everything wrong about you. They don't respect you."

"Not everyone thinks that. I don't think you are that sociable to know everybody in the universe." Merus laughs but quickly continues.

"You have a point. It's really unfair. The universe can be harsh and judgmental at times but other people don't know you yet. They do not know your capabilities and one day, they will see that you are so much more than what they perceive you to be. Do not let them hinder you from being you. Do not let them be roadblocks to your success.

If your so-called friends think you are weak and that they don't respect you, then why are you with them? People who love you respect you too and having weaknesses doesn't make you a bad person. Not owning up to them does."

"It's hard to be reprimanded all the time." The lady answers softly.

"Well, we all need to be corrected so we can improve and get better. After all, success doesn't come easy." Merus says. "I'm still not perfect as you've seen earlier. Yes, I constantly get scolded here and there but I know I'm improving. I'll get there too. I'll be successful like my elder sister and her husband.

Besides, you are lucky to be born with a roof over your head and a family that provides for you. Here in this part of the universe, you will meet people who are victims of violence or refugees from invaded planets and other stories that will make you thankful you have privileges."

Merus points to a guy and a girl sitting at the far side of the room." See those two? That's Graenem, an aspiring engineer and beside him is Calala from who wants to be an architect. They are full scholars of Minthrian schools but they work during school breaks. They grew up in an orphanage on Planet Chaone and looked up to Pataran social workers. That is why they chose this path. They grew up with no families or emotional support but they are always happy and thankful for the blessings they receive day by day. They are so inspiring that we love having them around."

Suddenly, a booming alarm sounded. Everyone stood still. Merus then checks his gadget. "Oh, it's my new invention. I call it the cooking machine. It's a giant oven that can prepare a whole feast all at once but I got to improve the alarm. It's too loud. I must go now, my lady."

"All right, thank you Merus." Dazifae smiles at him. The inventor grins before leaving.

Dazifae then stands up to approach the space vessel. She sees Enna at the base of the hull giving instructions to one of the technicians working at the windows of the vessel. Her colleagues were beside her holding gadgets that had cables connected to the power supply at the bottom of the vehicle.

Harrion steps out of the vessel and sees Dazifae observing them at a distance. He approaches her and stops right in front of the lady. They stare into each other until Harrion realizes he had to do something to lose the awkwardness.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier," Harrion utters.

"Likewise," Dazifae replies. "I am sorry too for my behavior. You are right. I should be more careful and responsible."

"I am also inconsiderate of other people's feelings." Harrion slowly replies back. "Especially to women so I too will try to be cautious." Suddenly, the tension between them eases.

A drilling sound disrupts and Dazifae looks over his shoulder. "I guess they are doing progress on the repairs."

"Oh yes, it's in better condition now," Harrion says. "Come let me show you." He grabs her hand and leads her to the vessel.

Harrion explains the improvements and shows her as they enter the ship.