She walked through the halls, aware of the impending change that would be coming to her planet.  The Earthens had finally found them.  And anyone in her generation knew the dangers of people from Earth.  Her uncle, King Garrik had told her and her brother what the government had done to his great-grandfather.  Chris Eflac had his whole life taken away.  Until he found what would be known as Eflaicury. 

Anyone in the royal family had been told about that and how horrid Earth could be.  And then, of course, there were counters.  Anyone who spent sufficient amounts of time with their counter on Eflaicury - but not Earth - the Eflaicians would start to get sick and it would lead to death.  At least, that's what all the textbooks say. 

She continued on, thinking of what had happened in the throne room, during the conference call.  She hadn't looked up, in fear of meeting a threatening gaze from an Earthen.  The royal family was taught to fear the Earthens.  By none other than her Uncle Garrik. 

"Calista!  Wait up!"  She turned her head just in time to see her older brother, Orist, running toward her.  Treading backward, Calista offered him a smile, laughing silently at him. 

"Faster!" she called out.  Orist only shook his head at her. 

"Never, little sister."

"You know what they say, brother," Calista raised one shoulder.  "Never say never."

"I'd like to point out that you just said the 'n word' twice." Her brother gave a lopsided grin, and Calista relished the sight. It wasn't everyday you had fun in the Royal Palace. As if hearing her thoughts, her uncle, King Garrik emerged from the conference room. "Orist," he nodded to her brother, and Orist reciprocated. "Calista," he nodded, resulting in her curtsy. She hated doing the stupid action. No other twenty-year-old girl had to bow down to their uncle. Then again, no other twenty-year-old girl was part of the royal family. "I'd like to thank you for the performance in the conference room. Earth finds us incredible and would like to send some people over. At least you didn't do anything stupid to sway their decision." At that, the king's eyes slid to his niece, who had, on more than one occasion, unintentionally embarrassed the Eflaician monarchy.

"Why, thank you for the complement, Uncle," Orist said to him. He always knew how to divert the man's attentions from Calista.

King Garrik's lips pursed infinitesimally. "Why don't the two of you freshen up?" That was his kindest way of saying that they looked terrible.

"Of course, Uncle," the two of them said in unison. He walked away, looking satisfied, while the two Pierrevs made their way to the staircase.

Once he was out of earshot, Orist muttered in his sister's ear, "If I had a dollar for every time he said that to us..." He let his sentence trail off, looking for Calista to laugh.

She complied, allowing him to brighten her mood for a few minutes.

•••••

The boy ran through the park, past startled people. He nearly hit their metal trees about fifty times, but he had to get home to tell his family the news.

About a block away from his house, a familiar girl with copper colored hair, walked the opposite side of the park. The boy, panting, called out her name, shaking his hands in the air. "Kerym?" she said, upon reaching him. A little laugh flew out of her. "Why do you look like you've just run a marathon?"

The boy called Kerym was moving again, this time walking instead. "You'll never believe it." He was taller than her by about a head, so she had to strain her neck to look him in the eyes, shielding hers from the sun. Looking at his irises was like looking in a mirror. They were the exact same shade of gray, almost like slate.  "Kali came up to me today-"

"Kali?" His sister interrupted, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Shut up, Ecaeris." As much as Kerym didn't want to, his cheeks flushed, making Ecaeris laugh. "As I was saying... Kali was talking to Allaray, and you know she's friends with the princess. Princess Dealareè said that the Earthens were talking about coming to Eflaicury!"

Ecaeris's mouth dropped open. Never in her eighteen years had the government mentioned contact with Earth. No one ever talked of it.  It was like death.  We knew that it might come, but we didn't want to accept that.  "You're joking."  Kerym met her eyes, and his were determined.  She knew at once he wasn't lying about this.  "Oh my moon..."

Her brother started walking again, and it wasn't until he was a few paces away that he realized Ecaeris wasn't with him. His brows furrowed. "What?"

"It's just... strange." At his confused look, she continued, blowing a stray lock of hair from her eye.  "All of our lives, the monarchy has told us that Earth is bad.  Earth is not to be trusted.  And on Earth, there are our counters, who could kill us just by being in their presence."  She drew in a breath.  "If it wasn't for that last one, I'd be gone already."

Kerym threw a hand on top of her mouth, eyes panicked.  "Ec, you can't say that stuff in public.  People will hear you and report you!"  Concern etched his features.  "They'll banish you."  Ecaeris felt her features soften, and he removed his hand as soon as he knew she wasn't going to scream her opinions out loud. 

"I know, Kerym.  Trust me, I know."  They kept walking, her with her arms crossed tightly across her chest and her hands balled into fists.  When they were nearing their home, her brother took his hands out of his pockets, saving, "You know, you probably could've gotten away.  On one of those missions to turn the satellites," he pointed out, "since no one here would notice you were missing."

The girl laughed, her bad mood vanishing in an instant.  "Oh, shut up."  The two of them stopped a few feet away from their house, just staring at it.  It was the same as all the others in that sector: sleek, white roof, with pale yellow walls, and a silver porch made entirely out of metal. 

Kerym looked at the walls and sighed.  "One day, I'm going to paint those."

The girl snorted.  "Good luck with that."

•••••

The girl bounced along the path, hands clasped around each other behind her back.  Her chin was up, a small smile on her face.  If someone didn't know better, they could have thought she was part of the royal family.  With her forest green eyes and brown hair, she easily could've passed off as an Elpetor.  But everyone did know better. 

She was Faryian Tonnki. 

That wouldn't have been a problem if she didn't hang out with, what others called a "delinquent."  A lot of people liked Faryian.  Kids especially.  But her best friend in the whole of Eflaicury was Crux Wolens: famous for being the first Eflaician to drop out of secondary school. 

Yeah, an Elpetor would never associate with him. 

Good thing Faryian wasn't royalty.  "Crux!" she called.  "If you walk any slower, I'll die!"

"What was that?" came his voice.  She could hear his laugh in it, something that made her smile widen.  "Walk slower?"

"Oh my moon.  I can't take this anymore!"  The girl squealed, running back to him.  She threw an arm around his broad shoulders, putting her other hand into his butterscotch hair and tugging.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, pulling away, letting her arms fall to her sides.  He looked at her, faux pain in his eyes.  "What was that for?" 

With a smile, she crossed her eyes and made circles around her head with her hands.  "Cause you're crazy!"  She dropped to her knees, laughing, and then onto her back.  Faryian toyed with the fallen leaves, eyes closed. 

"Fay, what are you doing?"  Crux asked, genuinely intrigued. 

"Sh.  I'm working."

"Working?"

She opened her one eye to barely a squint.  "Yes, working.  It's what people with jobs do."

He placed his hands on his hips.  "Haha.  Very funny."  She continued on for a few moments, Crux becoming more and more confused.  Finally, he lay down beside her. 

"Seriously, what are you doing?"  Faryian sighed, as if answering was a pain, in some way. 

"I do this every time I come for a walk," she responded, eyes clamped shut.  "But it's weird."

"Of course it's weird.  You're laying in the grass in the middle of a forest playing with leaves."  She raised a hand and hit him.  For someone with their eyes closed, her friend thought, she had pretty good aim. 

"That's not what I meant."  She frowned.  "It feels different.  Eflaicury feels..." she searched her mind for a word capable of displaying how she felt, "...foreign.  It feels foreign."

Crux grabbed her hand.  "Welcome to my world, Fay."