Minami, Ryudō-ShanGriLa; 4 August 9 hTc; R4

After a year and a half of sea travel, as well as another six months of traditional Minami etiquette, I was shaping up to be a prim and proper princess. Father and Mother both agreed that I would take up permanent residence in Minami. It wouldn’t seem right for the future Empress lived in a completely separate nation from her people.

I didn’t mind though, the culture here was deep and I found myself fitting in as if I’ve lived there for years. Everyone in the empire adored me and at first it was unsettling, but I soon realized that the dragon folk here hadn’t seen a princess, let alone an Empress in well over several thousand eons. So with that in mind, I had an easier time adjusting.

While I trained in the palace’s dojo, I would often see the Royal Guard observing me. The guard consisted of four members and their respective parties. There was Sir Robfynn and his band of Merry Men, Sir Hanzo and the Jade Shadows, Lady Neith and the Whistling arrows, and finally Lady Katsuyu and her band of Battle of Medics.

Each of these royal guard members were rumored to be able to shake mountains, and I had to be trained by them. I would have to spend the next two to three years learning all their secrets and tricks. I was most excited to learn from Sir Hanzo and Lady Neith, out of the four guards, their specialities, stealth and long range ambushing, were right up my alley.

The combat training was intense work; Sir Hanzo oversaw all my stealth training. Ayo also joined, it turned out that she was still being groomed to become commander of the Imperial Guard. Uncle Aether, rather, Prime Minster Aether, Ayo’s adoptive father, saw promise in her ability to inspire those around her. Because of this, he made it to where Ayo would be next in line to command Minami’s Imperial Army. However, she’s only a year older than me, and is nowhere near ready to lead an entire army yet, that much was made evident during our sea voyage.

While in Dartaania, the unified Elven continent, there was an altercation between our crew and the Darya, the Dartaani Marine Force. The situation was pretty mild, that was until one of the Daryani made a tasteless joke about a pirate crew made up of mostly little girls; the comment was enough to send Ayo into a blind rage. So much so that when she had a moment to calm down, that she‘d realized that she‘d sank one of the four idle ships that carried supplies and weapons.

One of our crew mates was Dartaani in origin and had told us about the Vaedaryal, a race of Dartaani Elves that adapted to live in the sea. “The Vaedaryal will prosper once they receive this grand gift from the Empress of Minami!” Ayo exclaimed as she ordered cannon fire and the sinking of the Darya vessel.

She had decided that the best option for her would be to be my shadow. It was very off putting at first, she would follow me everywhere I went. She had zero understanding of the word privacy, whether I was bathing, sleeping, studying, what have you, I knew Ayo was right next to me.

It was unbearable, until one day, it wasn’t. I wasn’t sure why but I was finding myself actually looking for her when she wasn’t around. She‘s like a big sister that I’ve always wanted. We were basically inseparable, and when it was time develop our skills and fighting prowess, we were unstoppable.

Something that was interesting in Minami was the unique signatures that the denizens had. I’m used to seeing more elemental based signatures, but here the concepts are a bit more abstract.

For example, I possess a Shadow Signature, not exactly an element, but not too out of the norm compared to someone with Hunger Signature. This ability allows for the user to be linked to their subordinates via their stomach, and all emotions and thoughts are heavily influenced by the leader. This signature seemed weird at first, but when I realized that this was how Ayo was able to command a ship of seventy-five young pirate lasses, I understood why Uncle Aether wanted her to be in charge of Minami’s army.

In theory, her skill gives her complete influence over her men and the exchange works both ways. Ayo’s subordinates each borrow a bit of her power when they are in battle. However, after the time I spent on the seas, visiting each nation, I quickly understood that there hadn’t been any large scale wars or battles in hTraé.

Uncle Aether brought me to the throne room, “Mini, there is something you must understand before you ascend this throne.”

I was confused, why‘d he bring me here?

“Yes?”

He sat down on one of the thrones and motioned me to join him to sit on the throne larger throne assumed to be mine. So I did, and he took a deep breath before dropping a major bomb.

“Minerva,“ he said, “Are you familiar with a place called Earth?”

My heart dropped, how did he know I was from Earth? What is this? Is this some sort of simulation? I just don’t want to lose what I have here! I didn’t know what to say, I was frozen and without words.

“You‘re silent,” my uncle stated “Which means you have. No worries, Little One, you’re not in trouble. However, since you intend to become Empress of this nation, you should be made privy to this information”. With a circular motion with his hand he created shadow-like people and animals.

“This world, hTraé, and Earth are linked, bounded by the seams of the True Void, that thin line that connects the sky with the land or sea,” he continued. “Since you’ve heard of Earth, I’m assuming you are familiar with the concept of ‘As above, So below,’ is that a fair assumption?”

I nodded my head.

He went on to explain that hTraé operates on a similar principle, with a few exceptions. For one, hTraé has its own day and night cycle, we have a sun and moon and we can even view other planets. Where it gets interesting is the sky and sea, “We reside inside the celestial body known as Earth,“ he explained, “If we live in the Earth, then why aren’t we boiling alive? The simple answer is magic, but a more technical explanation would be the laws of duality.”

Duality? Like there are always two sides of every coin? Things were starting to make a bit more sense to me now that he had explained this to me. “Mini, during your voyage, did you notice how there were no wars? No battles amongst the people of this world?”

I nodded my head, “I did, but I didn’t really think much about it.”

“Earth is and will always be in a state of perpetual chaos, whereas hTraé will forever remain in a state of perpetual peace,” it clicked. I had been conditioned to believe that my life on Earth was the only one that I’d ever have. I then abandoned that conditioning after I met Astaroth and my new family. And if what my uncle was telling me was true, then that means that I will need to be the version of me that can lead and protect those I care about. I understood that my being here was the direct antithesis of my life on Earth.

“A perpetual state of peace,” I repeated. It made a lot of things make sense. It was likely the reason why Earth was so screwed up and this place flourished.

“The world powers of hTraé, us six Demon Lords, and our predecessors have upheld a time honored mutual non-aggression pact,” he stated with a blissful expression. “And because of this, peace will always remain”.

He paused stared at me with his royal purple colored eyes. The eyes of a person who just seen a long lost relative, “it is unparalleled, the resemblance,” he remarked.

“To whom?” I asked, the comment was so abrupt that it threw me off guard.

Uncle Aether straightened his posture and took a deep breath, “Tell me, Mini, did you know that the Ryudō, the land we dragons call home, used to be a one massive kingdom called Ryudō, The Holy Dragon Empire.”

He went on to explain that the nation was founded by the Demon Lords of Time and Space that went by the names Astaroth and Beelzebub, “And you bear a STRIKING resemblance to The Queen of Space, Lady Beelzebub,” Uncle Aether cleared up.

Is that what Astaroth was talking about when he said he was going to make me his Queen. I had a feeling something like that was the case, especially since Myrlin looks so much like him, Astaroth.

“After the kingdom was established, and the second generation of Demon Lords were ready to ascend, the nation was split in half,” he proclaimed. “Separated by the LeFey Forest, the Ryudō birthed two new countries, Garudora in the West and Minami in the East,” my uncle chimed. “Oh and one other thing, your parents wanted me to let you know something”.

This just keeps getting better.

“You’re not a twin, rather, you are, just not to Monspeed,” he continued. “Your mother, when she was in her early stages of her pregnancy, was attacked by a venomous Slime Viper, and because of this she had an irregular pregnancy. So irregular in fact that she had been in labor an entire year before she had you and Monspeed”. From my understanding, Myrlin, Monspeed and I are triplets, with Myrlin being the eldest of us and Monspeed being the runt.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that you and Myrlin have a lot more in common than you and Monspeed, am I right?” His voice reverberated throughout the throne room. Alas, he was right, Myrlin and I were always close, and truth be told, the past few years I suspected there was a deeper connection between the two of us.

“I won’t get too into the topic, but you and your older brother, Myrlin, are what we in hTraé call an Asura,” he informed. He further elaborated that Asuras are a Mythical race, and it’s rumored that the patron goddess, Lady Tiamat, was in fact an Asura herself.

“All creatures that draw breath owe it solely to Lady Tiamat, for the four primal races in this world are Dragons, Demons, Fairies, and Slime Monsters,” Uncle Aether mentioned. “These are the four races that make an Asura, one-third Dragon, one-third Demon, one-third Fairy, and point zero one percent slime.”

With all the information my uncle was giving me, I found myself being overwhelmed and I began to hyperventilate. Ever the gentleman, however, my picked me up and sat me on his lap. It’s been so long since I sat on his or father’s laps.

He stroked my hair to help calm me down, “Mini, I understand this is a lot of information,” he calmly explained. “But you see, this throne is more than just a throne, it’s a responsibility that must have unwavering resolve.” I had understood the task that had presented itself to me, and although it seemed scary, I knew that I wouldn’t be alone.

“And because you are inheriting the Minami throne, you have an obligation to uphold,” the room was already fairly quiet, however, once Uncle Aether said that, the silence was almost deafening. “I’m doing this a bit ahead of schedule, but I’d rather now than later. Minerva, as you know, I hold the Epitaphs of Demon Lord of Space and Prime Minister of Minami. But sadly, these are not permanent titles”.

He took a long and calculated deep breath and closed his eyes, “Lady Eos and I both agreed that we would need prepare you two for this now”. My uncle placed his hand on top my head and began to speak, “With absolute dominion over Space, I, Houdini Aether Wyllt-Minami, bestow the Epitaph of First Crown Princess of Minami to the individual known as Minerva Cosmina Wyllt”.

The area where his hand was began to grow warm, not hot or burning, but a soft warmth that felt soothing. So soothing in fact that I hadn’t noticed that I had passed out.

I then found my dream self in the dark chasm that has plagued me since I arrived here; the air was heavier and thicker than it usually was. And there was this piercing ringing in my ear accompanied by the that incessant whispering, murmuring “mine, mine, all mine”. I felt a presence, a presence that was overwhelmingly greedy.

What is this? What’s going on? This is much different than before.

Once the ringing had stopped my vision had grown incredibly blurry, and I rubbed my eyes, some sort of interface and statuses were suddenly in my field of vision. In the top left corner of the interface, I saw my name, Minerva Cosmima Wyllt, and underneath that, there was a tab labeled Epitaphs.

I wonder what this is. I didn’t know how to select the tab, but somehow it seemed to know that I was a bit curious about it because it open itself up; it appeared to be a list of what I could only describe as titles. The first few slots were already filled, it looks like I’ve been acquiring these Epitaphs thingies since I’ve been in hTraé. There were a total of five, First Crown Princess of Minami, Daughter of Chronos, The One to Consume All, Shadow Princess, and lastly The Beast.

The Beast? The One to Consume All? This makes me sound like a walking disaster!! Oh what’s this?

There was an option labeled “Signature” and of course, the interface opened the tab and it revealed something rather interesting. My signature, it had a name of its own, ‘The Beast’; there was an information box underneath the name of the signature, and from the gist of what description said was that the skill doesn’t need to be scribed like traditional spell casting. Instead, the signature uses a Trigger Phrase to activate, this allows for faster casting and more opportunities to attack.

The Trigger Phrase for The Beast is Devour, and upon speaking the word, the skill will begin to consume the desired target.

The whispering began again, I’d almost forgotten where I was and that I wasn’t here alone. The whispering grew ever louder as tried to scope my surroundings. With the new interface, I was able to illuminate my vision just slightly in order to at least make out what was in front of me. But even with that, I still couldn’t see anything, however, there was something that I did noticed, a smell.

There had been this really sweet smell in the chasm that filled space once the interface had activated. I let my nose guide me to the source of the scent. It was a lot closer than I expected, but the aroma was so overwhelmingly delicious and pleasant that I didn’t even stop to think about it what I was doing.

“Devour,” it didn’t even sound like me, but I knew it was me who spoke the trigger. And as soon as I did, my shadows, that I didn’t think was available, manifested into a pair of giant jaws and began to chomp on whatever that was that smelled so delectable.