10 A New World

The sun was already shining at its peak when Kai and Sola arrived, changed clothes, and unpacked and repacked their stuff. They came together dressed like noble ladies, in which Selene had to scold and force them back to her chambers to redress and reassess their belonging. Mikael's patience has always been thin, and it seems like the gods are there to test it as well.

"Is everyone done?" He asked in a loud voice. "We're already late, don't you know that? There's already a line on the border, and we still have to find an inn to stay in Solaria." He said in an irritated voice.

"Calm down dude, we're here. We're ready" Sola said, her dark eyes staring at him pointedly.

"You've already said that, 10 times!" Mikael shouted.

"Shh… inside voices please." Sola teased the prince. Kai and Selene had to stifle their laughter when they saw how annoyed Mikael already is.

Forcing himself to calm down, he gave the three girls a hard look and gestured toward the exit of the gate. "Can we go now?" he asked.

"Yes, we can," the girls said enthusiastically.

With a tired sigh, Mikael leads the way toward the carriage that will bring them to the edge of the border of the two kingdoms, while listening to their girls' incessant chattering nonsense. 'This is going to be a long day' he sighed to himself.

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The border of the two kingdoms is a giant wall of crystal and magma rocks combined. As the place of trade between Solaria and Lunaria, merchants litter the place with their stands and wares, peddling to adventurers and citizens alike. It took about an hour before the group reached the realm guards at the border to check their stuff before being admitted to Solaria.

"Look Kai! Look at this beautiful silk" cried Sola as she caresses one of the fabrics a merchant is selling at their stall. "It suits my coloring, does it not?" she says while placing the fabric against her body and looking at her reflection in a tall mirror.

Sola, with her wild dark hair, and voluptuous body was the envy of most ladies in Lunaria. Her seductive eyes and full lips can make even the coldest man melt. Mikael even had a crush on her before, until her fiery personality almost burned him, literally.

"It does Sola, it does look beautiful on you" Kai replied as she smiled at her friend, "But you can't buy it yet, we still have to go to Solaria and we have limited space in our bags"

While Sola was of fire, Kai was of water. Her inky hair, big ocean blue eyes that look like it's about to cry anytime and lithe and petite body, make her look like a water fairy. Most of the time, though, she is mistaken for a teenager and is treated as a child due to her looks. It did not help that she usually just goes and follows the flow of Zola and Selene. But despite all that, she is actually the most mature out of the three.

Sola begrudgingly returned the fabric and followed Kai towards Selene, who was busy looking at the books in another merchant's table.

"Selene, darling" Sola said as she touched Selene by the shoulder, "Found anything you liked?"

"A few" Selene replied, not taking her eyes away from the books. "I just can't pick which one I would like to buy"

"Your brother is throwing daggers at you, Selene," Kai said, "I think he's getting impatient again"

Selene stole a glance at her brother, who was leaning on a wall, clearly getting angry as the minutes pass by.

"Fine, " she sighed, "Let's go, " she said as she grabbed the other girl's wrist and walk towards Mikael.

"But you didn't buy anything" pouted Kai.

"It's fine, if we let my brother wait any minute more he might drag us back to the palace," Selene said.

"Are you done?" Mikael asked when the girls reached him.

"No," Sola said "But we figured we can just come back next time. Wouldn't want that mouth to become a permanent scowl" she replied cheekily.

"Fuck you," Mikael said clearly getting irritated.

"Oh, I'll definitely fuck me when I have the chance" Sola said with a wink, "This body was made for that"

Kai and Selene had to stop themselves from laughing as they watched Mikael's face get redder in embarrassment and anger.

"Why are you friends with her?" He asked Kai and Selene.

"Because she's cool, " said Kai

"Because she irritates you, " replied Selene.

Clearly fed up with being their verbal punching bag, Mikael gave them a hard stare and turned around. "Let's go now, if we don't, we might not be able to enter Solaria by today," he said stiffly.

He heard the girls laugh as he walked away. He may be stronger than them, but he was no match at their barbing wordplay.

The entrance to the Solarian border was filled with people trying to get to the other kingdom. Lines, upon lines of citizens from both kingdoms, flock to the area. Selene watched as the Lunar and Solar guard realms, systematically check, travelers' bags and packages, and allow them in. Seeing her getting bothered about the lack of security, Mikael pulled her close.

"The security is usually not this lax" Mikael whispered to his sister, "But as your wedding approaches, the kings decided to lighten it to show solidarity and good faith"

"I hope father was in the right mind when he agreed to this" Selene replied. "Placing the entire kingdom's life in someone's hand is not a good sign"

"Don't worry. I'm sure father has placed measures if ever the Sun King decides to do something drastic, which I doubt" Mikael answered.

After a short while, they were allowed to proceed to the Celestial Gate, a towering golden barrier that forms the entrance to another world.

"Are you ready?" Mikael asked his sister, giving her a reassuring smile.

She looked at her brother and her friends, and then looked at the gate and the lands beyond it. She felt empowered. She felt safe. She felt confident.

"Yes, I am"

And the gates opened and allowed them to pass, into Solaria.