The Emperor

The two maids got back in our good graces by returning all of our stuff to us. And apparently, they had a plan for us to meet Luna's father here on this station.

Mond and a few other of her sympathizers, not long before we started journeying to the moon, decided to take things into their own hands, slowly taking control of the station and locking away many people loyal to the empire.

One of the people they managed to imprison was Luna’s father, the Emperor.

"How'd he get locked up?" I asked. “Wouldn’t someone have fought against this?”

"Mond’s mutiny overwhelmed the Emperor…” Rita started.

“...forcing him into a prison cell.”

They both described an epic battle between loyalists and Mond’s forces here on this station. Because they had the Portal Master though, they were easily able to overwhelm the emperor and capture him.

I hadn’t realized how crazy this was getting, but Mond probably didn’t want to spare any expense when trying to gain the throne.

A lot of guards were being arrested for working with Mond. We just simply walked past them into the detention level of the station.

This area was very cold. Huge energy shields put barriers between many prisoners and their freedom. All of which were loyal to the empire.

“Lady Luna!” A man shouted, racing to the viewport of his cell. “Thank goodness! Your father is just down at the end of this cell block!”

“Thank you, Sgt. Nitol.” She nodded, inputting a code into some keypad and releasing him.

She did the same for a few more imprisoned men, calling them each out by name. It impressed me that she memorized so many people.

As our own people were coming out of the cells, Mond’s forces were going into them. Serves them right for their betrayal.

“Why did so many people side with that self absorbed, witless woman?” Charlie asked.

“It pains me to say, but many in the empire do not like humans,” Luna said. “But that is not the majority, and I will see to it that such thoughts do not prevail among my people.”

Anyone loyal to her raised a fist and let out a cheer.

I always had a tiny little doubt that Luna was actually politically powerful, but seeing this, I understand that she commanded a lot of respect.

I hate to admit it, but I found it really attractive. I’m not going to read into that fantasy much.

We got to the part of the cell block rumored to have her father in it. His cell was one of the most tiny and confined spaces of them all. There wasn’t even a door or window to his room, it was a wall.

“This is a morphing door.” Zumi commented. “They’re only able to be opened by way of magic.”

Luna unfortunately didn’t have the power to open it with her own magic, but the two maids did. The anticipation of watching them activate this magical entrance, seeing it morph into all kinds of colours had me on edge.

At last, the most royal figurehead in all the imperium, a man with hair and beard as silver as Luna’s, eyes naturally glowing with lunar energy, and his body the size of a tank. Not to mention his stern and proud looking facial features. No doubt he was a leader, and a very strong one at that.

When he looked at me, I felt a shiver.

“Luna, this boy, he is the one you’ve chosen?” He asked.

“Yes,” she nodded. “He is the one, father.”

They both shared a very long and uncomfortable stare, then the Emperor nodded.

“Boy, what is your name?” He asked.

When her father stood from the bench, his imposing presence weighed heavy on me. My voice was too weak to utter a word in the wake of this man's imperial form.

But he'd asked a question, and I needed to answer. I man'd up and cleared my throat.

"You're Majesty," I started, "I am Walden, the man who will take your daughter's hand in marriage." I lowered my head, putting my fist to my heart.

“Walden…” he said under his breath. “Such a simple name. Not a name I’d expect from one holding great privilege…”

He took a few steps forward to exit the cell, we all cleared him a path and bowed as he passed us by.

I had a feeling I wasn’t up to his standards. He was very hard to read, and it made me very nervous.

“Walden…eh?” He let out a very light chortle. “That will do.”

Luna released her breath, suddenly taking in a few gasps and gathering her strength.

“You approve of him, father?”

He nodded. “Your judgment is, and always has been, as sound as your mothers.” The Emperor smirked.

That was such a relief…

The maids proceeded to explain to the Emperor about all that had happened while he was locked up. In that time, we’d all worked our way back out into the garden with the statue.

He was not happy to learn that Mond was heading back to our planet.

“She is likely attempting to destroy the connection between our worlds that allows magic to pass to humans,” he deduced. “Curse that child…”

The connection between our world and theirs was a crystal temple. There were most likely a few of those temples in our world, but destroying one of them would be catastrophic.

“There is no way to get there in time!” The Emperor said with anger booming in his voice. “My foolish daughter will arrive there long before any of my honour guards can, and she will destroy the temple connecting our worlds.”

There had to be some way to get there to stop them! I wasn’t going to give up just because they got there before us.

“Luna, how did you get to our world in the first place?” I asked.

“I took a transport pod.” She said, explaining that those were little round ships that can fly through space. “But they wouldn’t be fast enough to get there before Mond.”

Maybe the Emperor had some sort of method to get there?

“Your majesty, do you perhaps have something that could fly us there?” I asked.

“I’ve already called for a ship to sail to your world, but at the safest speeds, it would still not be enough time.”

“Cursed be the day…” I turned my head in disappointment. “Forgive me, your majesty.”

He raised a hand, then put it on my shoulder.

“Your determination has brought you and my daughter this far, do not be full of sorrow. This is all my fault, wishing to test humanity in my anger over not having a son.” He turned his gaze to the stars above our heads. “All we lunar people have ever known is magic, never knowing what it’s like to serve the soil with our own bare hands, and the sweat of our brow. I wanted more for humanity, I needed to see a human like you.”

His words were tragic at their core, but his voice filled my heart with strength. He was a humble man in his own right, one who’d definitely known he wasn’t perfect. I respected that greatly, and calling him my father would be a privilege I didn’t deserve.

“The only course of action going forward is to let them win this battle, but rebuild the connections between our worlds immediately,” He said. “You two did as I demanded, and I will keep to my word to allow magic to flow into your world.” He took a breath, then looked at his daughter. “Luna, from henceforth, you and this fine young man will take my place as the head of the empire, for there is something I must do to fix all this.”

“Father!” Luna ran up and embraced her parent, tearing up all the while. “You can’t! You can’t do this!”

What was he going to do? I had a bad feeling…

“You’re majesty, what are you planning?” I asked.

“If they destroy a bond between our worlds, I will need to make a new one,” he claimed. “Doing so would cost me my life.”

Zumi let out a gasp, Charlie grit his teeth.

I didn’t want him sacrificing himself for someone else's mistake, even if he was taking charge of the situation.

BOOM!

CRASH!

Lighting struck just a few dozen meters away!

“Is this another attack?!” The emperor shouted, guards running in front of him and Luna.

I noticed he took Luna and hid her under his cape for protection.

“CRAW!”

“RAAA!”

“SQUUEE!”

I couldn’t forget those noises…calls of exotic birds we’d recently left behind. The Golden Favrons had returned! Fully fledged, too.

“Larry, Curly, Moe!” Luna shouted, jostling out of the coverage of her father's cape and running for the birds.

“The Three Wise sages?” The Emperor raised a brow to me. “What the devil is this?”

Zumi snapped her fingers, then ran to me.

“Brother! This may be our chance to get there in time!”

I really hope she wasn’t about to say what I think she was going to say…