Draconia Offline vol. 2

92.1. Arrival - Part 1

I have no idea what to do. Should I tell them that it's okay to stand up? What if there's some alien custom I'm unaware of and I end up offending them? Do the Divementis greet each other telepathically or verbally? Fortunately, I'm saved by my father showing up. He sends them some kind of telepathic signal and they slowly stand up again.

"My son, welcome to Aurora," he greets me. "The journey will take only thirty minutes so we didn't prepare a cabin for you. Instead, I'd like to show you around to pass the time."

"Thank you, I won't say no to that," I appreciate, super curious about the Divementis spaceship. "I won't be separated from my people, though. Can we all go?"

"I didn't think you would and the halls should be spacious enough for your entourage to follow," he permits.

His expression is unreadable and his mind is as impenetrable as ever. He raises his eyebrow because he can tell that I'm checking his defences, but he doesn't say anything. Chancellor Nyx is standing closely by his side which makes me wonder again whether they are a couple.

I try to read her emotions, but I encounter a barrier stronger than before. It seems she fortified herself since our last encounter. She also notices that I'm checking her defences but, unlike my cold father, she smiles at me. I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a strange familiarity. There's something about Nyx I can't quite describe that makes me feel comfortable in her presence.

I step forward and my entourage quickly makes a neat formation with Liana and Soren walking behind my back and touching my wings to get my telepathic protection. However, my entourage soon forgets about guarding their every move—they are overwhelmed by the Divementis ship which doesn't fail to impress.

"If you have ships like these, why didn't you evacuate your world?" I ask directly. "You could have relocated to a different planet instead of another dimension."

"Son, it seems to me you've read too much science fiction," my father sighs. "Do you have any idea how many resources and work it takes to build just one spaceship like this one? How huge distances in the galaxy are? Unfortunately, Aurora can't travel faster than light which means that it would take several generations to reach the nearest hospitable planet."

"Do you mean to tell me that travelling through dimensions is easier than surpassing the speed of light?" I frown.

"We didn't invent the travel through dimensions, the Enemy did," my father reveals. "We just slipped through when we had the last chance to save the remains of our civilisation."

"Your Celestial Majesty, can we leave this complicated and painful topic for tomorrow?" Nyx implores me. "We want to explain everything properly."

"Okay then," I agree and only now do I notice that one of the Divementis in the front is opening a door that looks like a damn elevator. If there's something I wasn't missing in the Osaka mansion, it was the complete absence of those wretched things.

Bear with it, Your Majesty, don't show any weakness, Liana begs me in her thoughts.

"I know that Celestials hate confined spaces, but our elevators are spacious," my father says, noticing my distress. "If your protectors feel nervous about dividing the group, I can ride with you without any entourage of my own."

"They would let you do that?" I don't believe it.

"Only when they are convinced it's safe," she shrugs. "I don't see how riding an elevator with my son could be dangerous."

I frown. Is he that confident about his abilities or does he mean to demonstrate that he trusts me? We still barely know each other; this is only our second meeting in the real world. He steps inside confidently so I do the same even though I feel uneasy. His black eyes are studying me intently, but before I manage to ask another question, the elevator stops.

"Come, I'd like to show you the bridge," he invites me. "This is our main command centre when we are on the move. Normally, it's not so crowded, but our people are eager to see their Prince in person."

I slowly step outside and cautiously look around, trying not to look so blown away. If this isn't straight out of Star Trek, I don't know what is! How come the Divementis weren't able to stop the Enemy with this level of technology? And what about other Draconian races? Were they also this advanced?

"Son, could you sit over here?" my father asks me. He phrases it as a polite question, but the urgency in his voice tells me that he wants me to obey.

"Isn't the journey going to take only half an hour? I'm not tired," I frown and inspect the chair he's pointing at. This is obviously no ordinary chair for guests to rest. Being right in the middle of the bridge with control panels all around, it must be the commander's chair.

"Your Majesty, just for a little while, please?" Nyx pleads.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of test?" Liana steps bravely in front of me. "Isn't this your chair, Your Divementis Majesty?"

"It indeed is," my father doesn't hide it. "My people would like to see how it fits their Crown Prince. We might need to make some adjustments for his wings later on."

I frown again. Adjustments my ass, this IS some sort of test!

"Son, please," my father looks straight into my eyes. I assure you that it's safe, we just need to confirm something, he adds telepathically.

A test it is, then. On the other hand, what's the worst-case scenario if I fail? I don't care about disappointing the Divementis, I care only about Celestials. Maybe they won't put any responsibility on me if I don't meet their expectations.

"Okay," I hiss indifferently and let go of Erik and Gotrid's hands and I tell them to keep touching my wings instead.

The chair looks comfortable enough, but it wasn't made for Celestials. I have to stretch my wings to the sides to somehow fit around all these control panels.

"Satisfied? Should I take a selfie or something?" I say mockingly on purpose.

Suddenly, the control panels come to life and the seat starts to warm up which is actually quite nice. I gasp for breath when my mind gets overwhelmed by the ship's interface magically popping into my brain.

"Welcome Your Imperial Majesty, all systems online, awaiting your orders," the computer announces solemnly for everybody to hear.

I get up quickly because my head spins from the information overload. The chair deactivates as soon I leave it.

"Thank you, that's all we needed to hear," my father smirks, content, and he's not the only one. All the Divementis on the bridge are smiling and look relieved.

"What was that supposed to mean? I mean really?" I purse my lips. "I thought that you've already confirmed that I have the Royal bloodline."

"When it comes to the strength of your telepathy, we did," my father nods. "The only thing we still needed to check was that your Divementis genes are dominant enough to operate our tech. Other races can't activate our technology, Aefener. Moreover, this chair responds only to the Royal genes."

I ostentatiously move back to my Celestial entourage. I feel that my people are growing anxious, afraid that the Divementis might start usurping me. I project my love to them to assure them that I won't let it happen. I might be half-Divementis, but Celestials will always be my absolute priority.

"Your ability to project emotions and make others feel them is unprecedented," my father comments, visibly impressed. "It goes beyond mere empathy."

"Did you feel it?" I tilt my head.

"We felt... something," he answers uncertainly. "You didn't target us, but we could tell that you're using your emphatic abilities on others."

I open my mouth to ask about that, but I'm interrupted by Nyx.

"Your Majesties, we're here," she announces. "We're going to land in a minute."

"We will have more time to show you the ship later," my father concludes. "Now, let's go accommodate you."