A few minutes later...

An audible sigh escaped the first princess as she found herself wandering the starlit streets of Zlato, her relief being further empowered by the beauty of her surroundings. Most of the city's residents have retreated back into their homes at this dark hour, though it wasn't exactly nighttime yet. The great magical shield surrounding the city, combined with its northern, glacial location afforded anyone still present outside with a breathtaking view as the skies were lit with a multitude of colours, enchanted by the presence of tall, mountainous peaks reaching for the stars. It was something straight out of an artists vivid imagination and radiated a magical kind of beauty that made Anne certain it was all created artificially.

Perhaps her grandaunt Phexris could shed some light on it all, provided that she herself isn't the artist in question. Anne's expression softened with a contented smile as she thought on their first meeting; an event whose greatness caused Anne to temporarily forget the innate cruelties of her otherwise tormented youth, as visiting her grandaunt meant to wander the endless halls of her magnificent castle, a monument of magic and beauty carved into a realm of perfect, untouched natural splendour. Everything within that place was astonishing, the air was fresh and always crisp, the water delicious and aromatic, with every field boasting a plethora of multicoloured hues, a kind of floral and faunal beauty that nothing could possibly compare to.

Being in that realm made Anne lose all of her natural fury and almost begin to love life, a fact that goes against her very nature, so whenever she manages to find herself within Phexris' domain, she knows that she must also leave as soon as possible. The realm itself has many names, ranging from things like the 'kingdom of nature' to the 'cradle of life', though its most textbook and popular title is Neam Divina. It is the birthplace and the home of all monsters, mythical creatures and animals of the world, acting as the resident 'haven' for all things born of nature. All animal, monster and creatures go there upon death, though some of them are even born in that fantastical land, created from the very essence of Phexris herself.

These include grand beings, such as dragons and phoenix's, as well as thunder-hawks and the very elements themselves. Whenever a mage summons forth a creature of pure, living flame, they are encroaching upon the realm of Phexris and kidnapping one of her own. These primal forces lie undisturbed for most of their eternal lives, until such an event happens, the result of which is the implausible hatred of Neam Divina's residents directed at all sapients. This is perhaps what Anne finds the most alluring about the realm, as its denizens are more than capable of sympathizing with her rage, her own perpetual hatred of humanity.

The goddess herself, despite or perhaps because she was once human, despises the species with a particular form of zeal. In the goddess own words, her time on Earth allowed her to see the truth about her own kind, about their unwillingness to work in tandem with the natural world, continuing to exploit it until the problems such actions created became impossible to ignore. And even then, the underlying issues were not fixed, as the world was merely dominated to suit mankind's interests, with compromise being out of the question for most. This is why the varied ecosystems of Neam Divina are artificially designed by Phexris to work in perfect tandem with one another and all civilization is to be obliterated on sight, with the exception of the goddess' own castle, though even that is only ever populated when she has guests to entertain.

Many ancient tales speak of how the reason why the dragons and monsters run amok on the mortal plane instead of within their mothers realm is simply due to the fact that they continued to create civilizations in contrast to her wishes, causing the angered goddess to expel her own children. Nowadays, only the most primal of beings, as well as simple animals, are allowed to enter the realm unimpeded as souls. The rest have to earn their place within its ephemeral beauty.

Though Phexris' forms vary in accordance to her mood, appearing as a humanoid figure on rare occassions, otherwise spending her time in the form of a member of her many children species or as the spirit of an ancient tree whose roots reach into every realm, seeding them with unfettered life, as well as magic. Whatever forms she takes however, Phexris' ephemeral beauty is only rivalled by her own realm, but her most used form, in the presence of family that is, is that of an Inerti woman clad in a royal, white-gold, hooded dress. Her outfit consists of white gloves that end in a golden circlet on her elbows, a pair of high-heeled stockings that also end with gold as well as a symbolic pair of golden, angelic wings above each ankle, which face inwards. Her upper body is covered by a robe extending below her waist in a rounded V-shape, completely white in colour right up to her waist, where an extensive, silken-brownish fabric, clad in equivalent runes covers the rest. Her chest is covered by a silvery plate, as well as her left shoulders, connected together by straps of pure, glowing gold. Last but not least, her pure-white hood is connected together with three small, golden chains, forming a makeshift necklace for the magical goddess. Upon the goddess' back lies the core of a pair of wings, not connected to the goddess as a body part, but rather a form of clothing, as they stretch all the way down her arms.

Whereas Atlyon radiates death, his sister radiates magic, each of which completely dazzles the beings that come too close. The only reason why Anne did not faint in the presence of her grandaunt is simply due to the fact that she herself is of divine heritage, as well as having become used to being subconsciously oppressed by her own mother's aura, though Domina's soul cannot even be compared to the magnificence of either Phexris or Atlyon.

One may assume that the duo are rather incompatible as siblings, with their apparent views being extremes of pure, jaded hatred for life itself, but the siblings retain a good relationship, with the sleeping god of death making sure that his 'misguided, but talented' little sister retains some measure of sanity over the aeons. Phexris herself admitted openly that if her extended family didn't keep in touch with her on a regular basis, she may very well decide to rebel against the Creator and usher the entirety of Aestra into an elemental cataclysm. For the time being however, the goddess of magic will continue to perform her designated task, funnelling an ever-growing font of mana directly into the world. Anne has no clue where the goddess gets all that energy from, as it isn't created from souls but something remarkably similar, though very, very different. Her grandaunt had allowed little Anne to 'take a sip' of the strange, blackish energies which were being channelled through strange machinery once when she was young, the resulting blackout having taught Anne that curiosity is not always rewarded with good things.

The First Princess shivered and shuddered as the memories of that horrible energy tearing her soul apart from the inside played out in her mind, having been saved only because Phexris made sure to carefully curate its passage through her tiny body. Anne often wondered why Phexris would even do this to her, or why her mother, who was very much present at the time, would allow it to happen, with her only plausible explanation being that it was meant to be taken as a lesson, but as a lesson in what exactly, she still couldn't figure out.

Perhaps, it could be part of her family making sure to train her for her eventual ascension as a goddess, but that would make the whole event the equivalent of an oil baron forcing his heir to drink the oil they're selling just to get intimate with it. Anne then shrugged and chuckled lightly, shaking her head out of her own stupor, suddenly realizing that this isn't something she'd put beyond her family's methods of teaching.

"Annya~!" A familiar voice broke through Anne's mesmerized day-dream as she turned her head around to face a rather joyous-looking Felir by the name of Mimi. The librarian's formerly utterly scornful expressions have been replaced nearly entirely with happiness due to Anne's visit and perhaps because the lioness herself was in a decent mood, she beamed back an equivalent smile in greeting. "Ah, good evening, Mimi. Fancy meeting you here at this hour."

Mimi blinked in confusion as she approached the lioness, quirking an eyebrow at the woman in question. "The hell do you mean? The moon's not even fully out yet."

Anne let out a chuckle and nodded. "I suppose that's true enough."

The Felir shrugged and looked around, turning her head in the direction of her library and home before looking back at Anne. "Were you going to visit me? Good thing I caught you before you arrived to an empty home then!" She chirped happily within the confines of her own mind as Anne rubbed the back of her head, pointing instead towards the massive cathedral which just happened to be in the same direction as Mimi's home.

"As much as I'd love to say yes, I'm actually headed towards the Katedra." Mimi rolled her eyes in a dramatic manner, walking alongside the lioness who slowed down somewhat to allow the cat to catch up. "The NAO only know why you'd ever wanna go to that ridiculous place, but I suppose that being a paladin does that to people."

Anne blinked in surprise, then smirked and nodded. "My, news sure travels fast around here. Ah, on that note, do you need any help with those?" Pointing towards the large bags that the Felir was somehow managing to drag around, despite each being nearly as large as she was, Anne chuckled as she saw her friend's eyes practically twist into a pleading gaze. "Yes, please!"

With that adorable chirp made, Mimi quickly handed all of her bags to Anne, who wordlessly complied, lazily slinging all four of them over her back, holding them with one hand. "Ooh, how manly of you, Anne~."

Coughing into her fist, Anne turned towards the now-freed Felir and quipped with clear discomfort. "Uhm, thanks."

Quickly changing the subject as she realized she'd stepped on a landmine, Mimi merely smiled and racked her head for a subject before putting a finger to her own chin. "Hey, Anne? Can I ask you some questions?"

Anne blinked again, this time in confusion, before shrugging and nodded. "Sure, I guess? Though, it depends on about what."

"Fair, fair~." Mimi nodded back and chuckled lightly in response. "I was wondering if you could explain some things about the Inerti to me. You guys don't exactly have a lot of confirmed information written about you and what little is documented, its usually authored by either escaped slaves or traumatized adventurers... neither of which are exactly valid, objective sources of information."

The lioness' expression twisted into a momentary grimace, though she decided to acquiesce the cat's request nonetheless. "I mean, I guess I could? Though, my kind keep their secrets with good reasons, Mimi. So please, don't be mad if I refuse to answer some stuff, alright?"

"That's fine. I don't necessarily want to be hunted down by Asadi assassins for knowing too much either." The cat gave out a sigh of her own, turning her head up to look at the moon and stars, taking the beatific scenery in as much as Anne had mere minutes prior. Anne's eyes went wide at the mention of the enigmatic race, another form of the NAO's children, a secret species that exists solely to gather, conserve and protect the knowledge of the world.

They are, in fact, so shrouded in shadow, that the entire race is believed to be a myth and even knowing for certain that they exist meant many things for the person in question. Anne took an uncharacteristic step back, staring daggers into her friends back. "Just who are you really, Mimi?"

To her credit, the librarian offered Anne a rather sly smirk before hushing her with a finger placed on her own lips. "Well, you could say that I too, am a 'runaway noble heiress', nya~." Anne's eye twitched, both due to the way her question was answered, as well as the fact that an actual 'nya' was present within the Felir's thoughts.

Mimi seemed to be paying a heavy price for her enigmatic response though, as the cat visibly cringed right after. "Right, lets never, ever, do that again."

"Agreed... so, what do you want to know?" The first princess shook her head and let out a massive sigh as she watched her friend recover slightly from her shameless display. "Well, for starters, lets go with confirming what's myth and what isn't! For instance, your empress, is she really a 'False Goddess'? Or maybe a herald? Or is she just a really old, immortal and all-powerful Inerti?"

Anne's expression turned back into a smile as her mother became the conversational topic, ineffable pride instantly beginning to radiate from her as she replied. "She's kind of all of those at once, really. If you want to believe everything the books say, she is the first Inerti ever to exist, created by Atlyon himself in some long-forgotten age. Everyone else is either a direct descendant or has been transformed into an Inerti by her."

"I see... so not even you guys know for sure?" Mimi asked with a quirked eyebrow, causing Anne to shrug. "I guess you could put it that way too. Regardless of how you look at things, the empress has been alive for uncountable aeons, so practically any story told or written about her may as well be seen as a 'myth'."

Mimi hummed a tune within her mind, pondering what she'd just heard for a brief moment before continuing. "On the topic of 'aeons', can you explain to me what an Inerti 'Aeonate' is? They're mentioned a lot in the books detailing past wars against your kind but its never really explained what or who they are?"

Anne closed her eyes in thought, subconsciously turning her head upwards to gaze at the stars as she reopened them seconds later. "I suppose I can give you a poor but honest explanation. An 'aeonate' is an immortal Inerti of immense merit, chosen by the empress to be put into an eternal sleep so that they may be reawakened in times of need."

Mimi nodded. "So they're chosen to be put to sleep for eternity? Why? Aren't they more valuable awake? And hasn't anyone ever rejected being put to sleep?"

The lioness tilted her head, unsure of how to properly explain. "I don't really understand 'why' myself, so I couldn't explain it even if I wanted to. If I remember the reasoning as it was explained to me, its because the Inerti believe that immortal, all-powerful elders force all younger generations into a state of jaded hopelessness. As in, it creates a situation where young Inerti are born into a world where all positions of power are already filled, with no hope for personal growth or sense of accomplishment. People often choose their paths in life in accordance to the needs of their society, but when those needs are already filled by immortal beings whose merit overshadows anything and everything you could possibly become in your non-immortal lifetime... well, it tends to cause the younger generations to lose all sense of ambition, since there's no real reason to pursue a lofty career when you can't even delude yourself into thinking its possible to achieve."

"Holy shit... that's deep, Anne." Mimi snorted, in contrast to her widening eyes, as she hummed to herself. "Though, seeing how things are for the elves, it does make sense."

A nod was given in response as Anne let out a sigh. "I guess it does, though I still think that it would be fine if those immortals were proactive enough, despite their age and power. As for people who reject being put to sleep, well... as far as I know, they're just put down instead."

"How brutal." The cat offered her friend a dark snicker, which Anne returned in kind. "Still, if this is how your kind see things, then why do you guys tolerate the empress? You said it yourself; she's been alive for 'uncountable aeons', so why isn't she an aeonate herself? Is it just because she's too strong to 'put down'?"

Anne visibly cringed at the question, causing Mimi to quickly speak up again. "Ah, sorry about that, I was being disrespectful. The Empress is an amazing and powerful woman. I assure you, I have nothing but respect for her!"

With another sigh, Anne seemed to deflate, her body falling into a defeated frame. "No, no need to apologize. You're correct in asking that." The lioness let out a breath as an aura of pure despair formed around her, causing Mimi to wince as she'd quite clearly struck a sore subject. "To make things simple, its just because we had nobody to replace her. Even if other aeonate's served important roles in society, they'd be replaced by individuals equally as capable as they are in time, but the same just couldn't be said for the empress."

Mimi quirked an eyebrow at that answer, with the tone of her next thought sounding rather unsure. "There's a lot of past tense in that reply, Anne..." The cat trailed off, perhaps hoping that the lioness would be urged to continue her explanation, but all she was met with was a dreary silence as she pair continued to walk forward.

Meanwhile, Anne's mind was racing and her heart was wracked with guilt. It was a terrible thing to realize, so much so that she'd hoped that Yvonne would never figure it out, but deep down, Anne knew full well the reason for her, as well as her sisters, birth. For all her motherly love, affection and care, Domina's true reasoning behind the creation of her children was simple; a way out.

Though she is a goddess in her own right, Domina was built for the mortal world and thus, possesses a mortal mind. A mortal mind that has been awake for a number of years that Anne could scarcely wrap her head around, much less imagine. As such, she couldn't ever hold it against her mother, couldn't really be angered at the fact that the only reason why she and Yvonne even exist was so their mother could eventually 'retire' and fall asleep, potentially forever.

They were made to be her replacement. An improvement of Domina's own design, with Yvonne's tendency for being friendly and having a much easier time forming relationships with other people being a trait that Domina had lovingly and carefully carved into her future daughters soul. Her joy at Anne's appearance, at the fact that she would have twins instead of a single child, only further fuelled Domina's hope that her children would never experience the same eternity of loneliness that she had.

Anne could read it from her mothers soul the second her eyes properly developed. Underneath all that love, beyond all that adoration and happiness, lied a deep, black contentment, a kind of inner peace that can only be seen in suicidal people who had finally found a way to properly die. That was the sole gift, the only thing Domina would ever ask of her daughters; to just let her sleep away the aeons, to just 'let her die' in peace.

It was for this reason why Anne knew that the second she and Yvonne were considered 'worthy' and 'ready', she would stop being the First Princess and become the Second Empress. The knowledge tore away at her heart and soul, even though she knew there was nothing she could do but selfishly prolong her mothers suffering just so she could feel better about it all.

But no.

That was simply not the Inerti way.

And she would not deny her mother's long-deserved rest, no matter how much it broke her own heart. Still, even if she and her twin were the result of their own mothers desire for what was basically suicide, Domina's love for the twins, as well as her joy of being a mother, is not a lie. Yvonne is her joy and Anne was her pride, that much they knew for certain.

With a hand on her chest, Anne took in a breath and steeled herself, wiping away a stray tear and refocusing herself. She had to be strong for her mother, as well as her twin sister. Yvonne would certainly not take the news well, when she finally realizes it. Who knows, perhaps her sister already has realized the truth, merely ignoring it and pretending such a thing does not exist.

Perhaps, with her sister being as much of a sweetheart as she is, Yvonne plans to try and make Domina's life bright enough to wash away the eternity of loneliness, even if such a thing may very well be impossible. "Are you allnya, Annya?" A forced tone caused the princess to erupt out of her own stupor for the second time today as she shook her head and blinked several times.

"I- uhm- I-..." Anne trailed off, seemingly lost in space and time as she looked around frantically, realizing that she and Mimi had somehow managed to reach the library in the time she'd spent reminiscing about hopeless truths, having fallen into such a trance that the worried Felir forced herself to actually speak in an effort to get her attention.

With a final blink and several coughs into her fist. "A-ah, sorry about t-that. I just got a bit... sad, thinking about the empress, is all."

Mimi nodded and let out a sigh. "Its not your faultnya. I'll remember that its a bad subnya for next time... nya..." A smacking sound rebounded through the dark alleyway in front of Mimi's house, as the cat promptly punched herself in the cheek with what Anne though was more than enough force to dislodge one of the cats own teeth, though thankfully, no such damage seemed to be done.

"Uhm... right. Soo... where do you want me to leave these?" Anne rose her right hand, which was still holding all four of Mimi's grocery bags. Wordlessly, the cat opened up the front door of her establishment and pointed at a nearby table. "Just dump them, gently please, on that."

Doing as she was told, Anne offered Mimi a final, awkward smile and walked out, her hand raised in a wave. "Right. Uhm- It was nice talking to you, Mimi. Sorry for falling into a depression and all on you but I really gotta go now!" With that said, the lioness broke off into a sprint towards the Katedra, unwilling to look back as the sound of Mimi's 'goodbnya' echoed in the background.

The reason for Anne's sudden hurry was more than simply the sheer awkwardness of the situation. Rather, the divine calling she'd felt from the cathedral had increased in intensity to the point of being almost deafening, even if it was toneless. Anne hoped that this was simply due to the fact that her grandaunt was worried about her and not because she was mad at Anne for not coming sooner, though the latter option was more than justified at this point.