loping along through the cosmos

23: JENEVIEVE LEARNS ABOUT EMPYREA

"Where's the Prince?"

"Here!" the Prince came rushing to them wearing his armor. "The guns are in the Tree House." His gaze went to the stairs, finally noticing a new addition to the group. "Jenevieve Carmichael from the Land of Terrenes, I assume," he said, facial expression blank as he offered a handshake.

Jenevieve shook his hand with wide eyes, finding him intimidating. A Prince. Prince of Faes, if I remember correctly. Her eyes shifted from her ex-boyfriend to the said prince. How the hell....?

"Is she training with us?"

The Empyrean Jenevieve stepped up. "No. She will just be watching with Lilith."

"This might take a while, though," the Prince said, then looked at the newcomer. "Would you be alright waiting for your friends for 3 hours at the minimum?"

"Wait- 3 hours?!" JP asked, surprised. "I have phys ed class tomorrow. I'll only train for an hour max," he said in full determination.

The Prince stared at him, and for a second, all of them held their breaths except for Lilith, who was still busy with her book.

Sighing, the Prince nodded. "I have no authority over you so you can do whatever it is that you want to do after an hour of training." JP pumped his fist up in celebration. "However, Nazaire and Jenevieve will train you."

JP's celebratory fist slowly lowered. "The two of them?" He looked at the other Empyreans, both staring at him in all seriousness, ready to torture him for a whole hour. He gulped. "O...kay."

From afar, Jenevieve finally had the guts to open a conversation. "What exactly is this place? It looks like our place yet... different."

Lilith closed her book and turned to her. "It is another universe. Our continent is called Empyrea. Empyrea is divided into four Kingdoms, ours is called Ciel Kingdom. That man over there," she pointed at the armored Prince, "was our kingdom's Prince before we defeated his stepmother, the Queen. Then, he stepped down, and claimed the Prince of Faes title after knowing that his real mother is currently the Queen of Faes."

"Faes? As in fairies?" Lilith nodded. "If he stepped down, then who's leading your Kingdom now?"

Lilith tilted her head, amused that the the Terrene obviously does not know about what happened to their world recently. "King Theodore's true bethroted, Leila Sinclair, and her husband, Philip Valentine."

"Oh," Jenevieve said. "Then that would make Leila Sinclair from our world our next Vice President then?"

"I do not know about that," Lilith said. "The outcome that we have may not happen in your world as humans tend to change their decisions and choose other actions than what our own versions did. Your friends think the outcome may be the same as ours but that is only if your versions choose the same decisions as ours. If not, then the outcome will be delayed."

"Still, Sinclair is bound to be the Vice President, hell, maybe even President of our country."

"Yes, although it could take another election. No one knows until you arrive in that situation."

"Right, right," Jenevieve nodded in agreement. "What are you reading, anyway?" She peered over her. "I can't understand the drawings and the letters. It looks like noodles with occassional dots, and long tails to me."

"It's Cielian alphabet. Only those from Empyrea can understand them."

"Oh," she backed away. "Then, what are those about?"

"White Arts. Magic," Lilith said. "It is my specialty."

Jenevieve gasped, lips forming a smile. "That's awesome! What can you do?"