EXT. HUMAN DISTRICT - DAY

Three days later, Captain Flamewing attended the Summer Festival organized by the cooperativa of the Human District, but besides bringing his daughter, he also brought…

Morkana: “Sparrow, remind me again why am I doing this?”

The empress was wearing a traditional Raygan dress that could be considered “Latin American” to people of the 21st century. She had her hair done as a long braid, wore crimson lipstick and eyeshadow, and there was a crown of flowers over her head. She hadn’t worn something of this style since the parade of the Dia de Muertos years ago.

Sparrow (as a voice coming from a communicator): “Because you still have the hots for that idiot.”

Morkana: “I do not! And I mean, why did I agree to this plan?”

Raven (as a voice coming from a communicator): “Because the sexy human convinced you that appearing in charity events will improve the public opinion of you, and 70% of the revenue of this festival will be used to help the people of Faeheim.”

The cooperativa originally did the festival to donate money for basic goods for the victims of the recent events in Faeheim, but Flamewing used his fame as a hero and leaked information of the conflict, courtesy of Raven, to convince entrepreneurs from the Coalition to donate to this humanitarian cause. Not only was the money going to be destined to basic goods now, but it was going to be used for rebuilding. Of course, when Flamewing’s charisma couldn’t help persuade some people there were agents of Morkana ready to help.

Sparrow: “Surprisingly, his idea is working. Also, your photos are trending in interstellar media, and the revenue of the event increased with the marketing campaign made by Blue Jay.”

Raven: “Sweet Jesus, a bastean company donated a millionaire sum to this event!”

Sparrow: “Okay, I must admit Captain Flamewing does know how to convince people to be charitable. If he weren’t so insufferable he would be a good agent.”

Morkana: “Speaking of the devil, where is he?”

While Morkana was posing for photos and pretending to smile, somewhere else in the Human District Flamewing, Helen, Prince and Robin were having fun at the attractions. Karsh, on the other hand, took his day off to visit “his love”.

Morkana: “I hope Prince is okay.”

The young heir and his sister were riding a ferris wheel for the first time in their lives.

Helen and Prince: “Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!”

Robin: “Are you sure your kid can be in this attraction? ¡Madre mía, está muy alto!”

Flamewing: “I thought you would be used to heights since you were a Bird.”

Robin: “That was a long time ago. Now I am a full time bodyguard of Her Highness and the prince and-¡OH SANTA MARÍA!”

As these four were having fun, Morkana felt worried about leaving Prince with Flamewing, but she also felt guilty.

Flamewing: “Mork-Morkana, she is just a child, just like Prince. They need to have fun and get in trouble. Does he even get out to do something else besides school? Helen is the only kid I have seen him socialize with.”

There was a time when she secretly took Prince out of the imperial palace and the two went to play at a small park. She would take her Innocence form and disguise herself, making the two look just like a young mom and her toddler son, though sometimes she was confused for a teenage mom, or as Prince's older sister. Those visits diminished as Morkana’s responsibilities increased and she became more paranoid about his safety. Prince has always been at danger of assassination since he was in her womb and she still keeps her belly armor as a reminder of what she works for.

Morkana (whispering): “He should have protected his son instead of that woman.”

Back with the Flamewings, the two kids and the bodyguard were waiting at a table for Flamewing to return with their food. Prince was feeling a bit anxious about being in a place with too many people he didn’t know and Robin noticed it.

Robin: “It’s okay, kiddo. You are safe.”

She said while holding Prince’s hands to calm him down. She was also right since Morkana had taken appropriate measures to protect her son: she disguised him with civilian clothes, put three trackers on said clothes and a protective spell, and besides Robin there were two Imperial Birds following the group in secret.

Flamewing: “I am back!”

Flamewing had brought boxes of empanadas and burritos, food Helen was familiar with, but not Prince.

Helen: “Yay! Comida!”

Prince: “Has this been tested if it’s poisoned?”

Flamewing suddenly got worried about what Prince said. How overprotective has Morkana gotten?

Flamewing: “Well, I will test to show they are safe to eat.”

As expected of Flamewing, he immediately ate one of the empanadas and he was overjoyed of tasting the familiar flavors of home. Of course, this wasn’t as good as what his mother cooks, but the food was good.

Flamewing (still chewing): “Shee? Ish Shafe.”

Robin: “That may not be poisoned, but this is still festival food. Prince may have a strong immunological system, but I am worried about Helen.”

Said little girl was already eating a burrito of fajitas, cheese and beans.

Helen (still chewing): “Twy it!”

Prince nervously took an empanada and slowly bit it. Just 5 seconds later he devoured it and went for more food. It wasn’t the food prepared by the chef of the palace, nor the lunches prepared by Robin, but the little heir didn’t care and was happy.

Flamewing: “You are making the same face your mother did when eating a taco for the first time.”

Robin poked Flamewing’s thigh with an inactive taser and he knew he had spoken too much. As much as Robin thought this was wrong, she followed Morkana’s orders of not allowing Flamewing to talk about his past romantic relationship with the empress.

Flamewing (whispering): “Paranoid much?”

Robin (whispering): “I am just following orders.”

Prince: “C-Captain Flamewing… How is it out there? A-at the Frontier Worlds I mean.”

Helen: “Daddy, tell him of the snowy city!”

Robin removed the taser and Flamewing sighed with relief. It was safe to tell Prince one of his old adventures.

Flamewing: “There’s the world very far away, like many portals away from even the worlds of pirates and evil wizards. In this world there’s an ancient city covered in snow and ice and it was built by a civilization so old that humans were still inventing writing…”

The day went by and Prince began to wonder why this man was considered evil by his mom. He was so friendly and funny and taught him cool stuff, like how to notice when a game for winning prizes is rigged, or how to combine a slice of pizza with a taco.

Flamewing: “We still have time to look at some merchandise before I have to appear on stage.”

When walking through the marketplace Prince had his eyes focused on Helen’s hand holding Flamewing’s hand. He wanted to hold the other free hand, but didn’t and continued holding Robin’s hand tightly. Robin noticed the tight grip obviously.

Robin: “Go. I wouldn’t tell your mom.”

Prince: “No, she will get angry.”

Robin: “She loves you more than she dislikes him. This will be our secret.”

When the small hand of Prince held Flamewing’s free hand that was a big surprise for the hero, but one he was happy about. Flamewing wanted to cry at that moment.

EXT. NEW IMPERIAL HUMAN DISTRICT - AFTERNOON TURNING TO NIGHT

Morkana: “Did you plan this?!”

Flamewing: “I swear I didn’t!”

Sparrow (as an annoyed voice coming from a communicator): “He really didn’t. I would know if he tried something funny.”

Flamewing: “This was Director Fredrickson’s idea. He had a poster of me and I felt kind of weird.”

Unnamed human: “Ladies, gentlemen and nonbinary people, it is an honor to receive two special guests in our 3rd Summer festival: the Empress of the Fafnirian Empire, Morkana Alfrau, and the legendary hero of Rayga and the Coalition, Captain Arther Flamewing.”

The crowd cheered to the empress and the hero like in an idol concert and there were billions of people reacting to all the livestreams on the interstellar network. Flamewing and Morkana were nervous.

Flamewing: “I shouldn’t have agreed to the Q&A segment.”

Morkana: “You did what?!”

Unnamed human: “As part of the festival, there will be a Q&A segment where we will answer questions randomly taken from the public online.

Both Flamewing and Morkana thought at the same time “oh shit”.

Unnamed human: “This is a question from Josie Ling: ‘dear Empress Morkana, how are you always so fashionable?’.”

Morkana: “Oh Josie, I simply work hard to be the best at everything I put my mind into. All the dresses I have worn in public since my time as Queen of Blitz were designed by myself and commissioned to a very talented tailor whose works weren’t appreciated by the snobs at Blitz. Now she has her own company here in the capital of the empire and doesn’t discriminate against her clients, unlike the tailor that worked for my father.”

Unnamed human: “This one's for Captain Flamewing. CatGirl42 asks: ‘are you single?’.”

Flamewing: “Oh, I-I am currently single. ”

Many people in the crowd became excited and some people online wrote stuff like “I want to have his babies!”, or “he is a hot DILF!”.

Morkana (whispering) “I am gonna kill you, Raven!”

Raven (at her own lab): “Nye hehe.”

Unnamed human: “That is good news to many people out there. Okay, next question. This one is from Karsh, and they ask: ‘I AM AT THE GROCERY STORE, DO YOU GUYS WANT CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM?’.”

Flamewing and Morkana: “Yes!”

To the people in the crowd this looked like a comedy sketch joke, but to Flamewing and Morkana this was important.

Unnamed human: “This one is from FaustEnthusiast25: ‘Dear Empres and Hero, After years of war between Rayga and Blitz, you two were at odds with each other, but then the two began to work together in common goals. How did that change happen?”

Flamewing looked at Morkana with nervousness and fear. She just sighed and gave him a devilish smile.

Morkana: “The truth is that Captain Flamewing and I became enemies after we first met. I despised him for always getting involved in stuff not related to him.”

Flamewing: “That is because you were so secretive and I thought you were planning something bad.”

Morkana: “Of course, it was just a communication problem.”

Flamewing: “Many communication problems.”

Morkana: “Yes, but after we stopped headbutting each other we began to actually talk and realized what we have in common.”

Flamewing blushed.

Morkana: “Like how we cared for the people in our respective nations and wanted to stop war from continuing. I kind of began to admire him for always fighting for what he believed.”

The crowd made a big “awww!”.

Flamewing: “You did? Well, I also saw that you weren’t only working to improve the life of your people, but also of everyone else. Life in Rayga improved with all the new medicines and cleaner water. Even my mom praised you at times, and she is a patriot.”

The crowd laughed at that last line.

Unnamed human: “And for the final question, TheOwlWitch asks: ‘Can you be my maid of honor, your highness?’.”

Sparrow (as a happy scream coming from a communicator): “Oh my gods! Yes!”

Morkana: “Agh! My ear! I-I mean, yes, I will be your Maid of Honor, Owl.”

The crowd made the biggest “aaaaaaaawwwww!!!!!!!!”.

Sparrow: “She brought me flowers, your majesty! I am getting married!”

There were noises of two women kissing in the communicator in Morkana’s right ear. She was happy that her right hand woman and the leader of the witches of the Birds were going to be married, but the circumstances of the situation she was currently in were uncomfortable.

EXT. NEW IMPERIAL HUMAN DISTRICT - NIGHT

After that event, Flamewing and Morkana left the stage.

Morkana: “I can’t believe we did that!”

Flamewing: “That last part was the best. Sadly, I know Sparrow wouldn’t invite me to the wedding.”

Morkana: “Just to clarify, I still hate you for being a cheating scoundrel.”

Flamewing: “Mork, can I at least explain-”

Morkana: “Not now, idiot. I am really tired from all this and want to return to my room and finish the work I postponed. But before that I really need a shower!”

Helen: “Mommy!”

Helen ran towards Morkana, catching the attention of some people on the back of the stage. Morkana felt the staring eyes and she got angry at Flamewing’s chuckling.

Morkana: “Shhh… I am not your mommy.”

Helen: “But…”

Prince: “Helen, are you okay?”

The little girl looked sick.

Flamewing: “Helen?”

Helen: “My tummy feels bad…”

Morkana: “Let me see.”

Morkana lifted Helen to check any symptoms.

Flamewing: “Mork, don’t-”

Helen threw up towards Morkana, covering her dress with disgusting orange.

Robin: “Señora, I told that man that Helen shouldn’t ride the attractions after eating, but he didn’t listen!”

Prince: “Mom, are you okay.”

Morkana: “I am… fine. Let’s return home and get a shower the two of us.”

Helen smiled while still looking like a mess with her tired eyes and her mouth leaking vomit.

One would think Helen would stop calling Morkana her “mommy” after a few reprimands, but two weeks later things got more complicated.