A/N: I guess I can't put off posting this any longer, so here it is.


"Look, Mira, look at the waterfall!" Cerise lifted her four-year-old daughter above the balcony's railing to give her a better view. In front of them was a steep, rocky cliff face, with a torrent of sparkling water cascading over it, eventually forming a cloud of mist as it poured into the river below.

Mira stretched out her hand, as if trying to touch the distant falls. "Can we go there, Mommy?"

"I don't know, darling." Cerise placed Mira back on the ground. "Perhaps Daddy will let us go some day." She had her doubts, though; no matter how often she begged, her husband refused to let her take Mira to the surface. He said it was too dangerous for a young girl, to which Cerise promptly replied that she'd grown up on the surface, and nothing ever happened to her. Nova still refused, however, and she knew there was no changing his mind once it was made up. Mira's got that same stubborn streak, she thought, gazing at her daughter. The little girl was trying to climb the railing, even though she'd been told many times not to, and her mother had to pull her away. "Come on, Mira, we'd better go."

"But I want to look at the water!" Mira pouted.

"It's time for your lessons now, darling." Though why a girl her age should have to do lessons, I don't know. Her husband had insisted on it - apparently all children in the palace started attending school at three - but Cerise had strongly disapproved. A child shouldn't be forced to grow up so quickly, she believed. They needed time to play, and to enjoy themselves.

"Please, Mommy! Let's stay!" Mira struggled against her mother's grip. "I hate school."

Cerise shook her head. "I'm sorry, darling, but you have to go."

Her lower lip trembling, Mira promptly sat on the ground and refused to move. "I'm not going."

So, so stubborn. With a sigh, Cerise knelt beside her. "Don't make this difficult, Mira. I really haven't got time for another tantrum."

"I'm not going!"

"Why not? It can't be all that bad, dear." Cerise stroked her daughter's hair. "Why do you always make such a fuss about going?"

Mira's lips quivered again. "They don't like me there."

"Who doesn't like you?"

"Everyone. Especially Cygni." A small tear threatened to trickle down her face. "She hates me."

Cerise brushed the tear away. "I'm sure that's not true."

"It is," insisted Mira, sniffing. "She's mean to me. I hate her."

"Oh, darling, don't say things like that," Cerise chided gently. "I doubt Cygni hates you. If... If she's anything like her mother, then she's probably just jealous of you."

"Why?"

"Because you're a princess. She isn't."

"But why's she j-je-jealous?" Mira struggled with the long word.

Cerise shrugged sadly. "She wishes she was a princess. She thinks your life is better than hers." She thought of Lady Deneb, Cygni's mother. The older woman often treated Cerise coldly, ignoring her whenever possible, and spreading gossip about her behind her back. In the palace, status was everything, and this resulted in much jealousy among the different classes in the royal court. Even after five years as queen, Cerise still had trouble getting used to it. Where she came from, most people were of an equally low status, and they cared little for advancing their social standing. Staying alive and making ends meet were far more important. "I'm afraid you'll just have to deal with it, Mira. There are always going to be people who envy you because of your position."

"But what do I do when they're mean to me?" the girl whimpered, still hoping to get out of attending school.

Cerise bit her lip. She'd asked her husband a similar question when she first moved to the palace and started experiencing scorn from others. He'd simply told her to ignore the people who were looking down on her. To please him, she'd complied, but it hardly seemed an appropriate answer to give to her daughter. Her instincts had always taught her to tackle problems head on. "If they're mean to you, tell them to stop," she replied at last. "Stand up to them. Make sure they understand they can't treat you that way."

Mira nodded. "Okay." She looked at her mother hopefully. "But can I still stay here? Please?"

"No, darling." Cerise pulled her up firmly. "You're going to school."

"Aw, craters," complained the little girl, kicking a plant pot in frustration.

"Mira! Where did you learn language like that?"

"From you," she answered innocently.

"Well... Don't let your father catch you using it."


"All right, what's next on my schedule?" King Nova had just signed several stacks of paper in less than a minute, and was now looking questioningly at his secretary. "Anything else?"

The secretary, Sir Gemini Castor, searched through his notes. "You have a meeting with Lord Deneb to discuss the construction costs of the new city," he answered.

"Ah, yes," Nova nodded. "I'll go see him right away." He sprang from his chair and practically bounded out the room.

Castor sighed. It was an open secret among the court that the king was engaging in power ghosting. Even without the constant glow surrounding him, it still would have been obvious. He had far more energy than he did in the past, and he'd acquired an amazing zest for work.

The ghosting had been going on for a couple of years, and it was all the court could do to keep the media from finding out. At first, they'd considered confronting the king and advising him to stop - several stories existed of Tangeans who'd power ghosted and either ended up dead or as burnt-out vegetables. However, when they saw how much the king was accomplishing through his powers - new cities were commissioned, upgrades were made to the existing cities, projects that previous kings had been working on for decades were finished, and for once everything at the palace was running smoothly - they decided against it. Well over two years had passed, and he was still suffering no ill effects, so the court continued to keep quiet about the issue. After King Algol's miserable reign, they weren't about to question a king who was actually getting things done.


"Very good, boys. You're clearly putting a lot of concentration into it. Let's see if you can do it again, all right?" Ignoring the teacher's voice in the background, Mira peered out the school window, gazing at the beautiful surface stretched out below. She'd already had to sit through a boring history lesson, then an etiquette lesson, and now she was waiting her turn as the children were being taught to enhance their ghosting powers. She'd spent most of the lesson by the window, her eyes sweeping over the lush jungles that covered the ground and the distant cliffs lining the horizon. Her mother often told stories about the surface, describing the plants and animals which lived there, and the strange beings called Grounders who spent their entire lives on the surface. The more Mira heard, the more she wanted to leave the palace and visit the ground. She wanted to explore all the places her mother talked about and see all the things her mother described. To her four-year-old mind, it sounded like the most wonderful place imaginable.

"Princess Mira! Princess, please pay attention!" She realised suddenly that the teacher had been calling her name. "Princess, it's your turn now."

"Yes, sir," she nodded meekly. "Sorry." Rising from her seat, she glanced out the window wistfully, then made her way to the front of the class. A girl with flowing blonde hair and a frilly red dress covered in intricate pink lace was standing next to the teacher, scowling at Mira as she approached.

"Miss Cygni is going to be your partner for this lesson," informed the teacher. "The objective is to ghost her and yourself through this table, using only your own powers - she will not make any effort to ghost through herself. It requires a great deal of concentration to ghost two people, so you need to focus all your energy. Don't let anything distract you."

"Bet you won't be able to do it." Cygni was silent, but the smug look on her face told Mira it was she who had projected that thought. The blonde girl's mental powers were exceptional for her age - far above anyone else in the class - and she had no qualms about rubbing it in, especially when Mira was feeling unsure of her own powers.

"Bet I will," the princess tried to answer back, but she couldn't summon enough strength to send to the thought out. What was worse, Cygni seemed to sense this, and became even more smug.

"All right, come along, girls. Let's begin." Their teacher led them to a narrow metal table, positioning them side by side at one end. "Mira, you must take Cygni's hand and concentrate very hard on phasing her while you walk through the table. Block all other thoughts from your mind."

Cringing, Mira entwined her fingers with Cygni's, and shut her eyes tightly. Her small, upturned nose wrinkled as she focused her powers, and she began to tremble with the effort. Finally believing herself ready, she stepped forward and passed through the table, unable to feel anything but the faintest impression of its form. I can do this! she thought proudly.

"Ow!" The sharp cry of pain caused Mira to lose concentration, and she stumbled through the rest of the table, releasing Cygni's hand and collapsing onto the floor.

"What happened?" she asked weakly, pushing herself up.

"I'm afraid you were unable to complete the lesson successfully." The teacher helped her to her feet. "You only ghosted yourself and not Miss Cygni."

"You made me hit the table!" The other girl rubbed her head where it had struck the table when Mira pulled her forward. "I bet you did it on purpose!"

"I didn't!" protested Mira, though she giggled when she saw the lump on Cygni's head.

"See! You did do it on purpose!" Cygni pointed a finger at her. "You think it's funny!" She folded her arms. "Stupid princess!"

"Hey!" Mira remembered her mother's words of advice. "Shut up!"

The teacher's jaw dropped. "Now, girls, don't speak to each other like this! It's most unbecoming of young ladies such as yourselves. You need to -"

"I hate you!" Cygni stuck her tongue out at Mira.

I told Mommy she did! Taking a step forward, Mira raised her hand a slapped it across the other girl's stunned face. "I hate you too!"


Pouring over the plans for the new city, King Nova nodded in acknowledgement as Lord Deneb explained the various costs involved. "That all sounds reasonable," he said at last, looking up.

"I do think we could cut down on the labour costs, though, if we stuck to employing surface-dwellers for most of the work," answered Deneb, carefully smoothing his grey moustache. "We wouldn't have to pay them as much."

Nova frowned. "Why not?"

"Well... You know," Deneb coughed. "They naturally never get paid as much as civilised people."

"Watch it," Nova warned, casting a look of displeasure at his finance minister. "My wife was a surface-dweller before she became queen."

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty." Deneb nodded quickly "I meant no disrespect, I assure you. Queen Cerise is one of the rare gems among those otherwise uncivilised ruffians." Although he tried to look as sincere as possible, there was a faint twitch to his face. The court's opinion of the queen was considerably lower than Nova's. However, they certainly wouldn't admit that to the king - especially now that the power ghosting had made his moods so unpredictable. One minute he could be perfectly happy, and the next he'd be in a rage.

"Excuse me, your Highness." Nova and Deneb both turned around in surprise as a school instructor entered suddenly. "I beg your forgiveness for interrupting, but I thought you should be informed of your daughter's behaviour right away."

"My daughter's behaviour?" The king rubbed his forehead irritably. Mira could be such a handful at times, even for him. "What did she do?"

The teacher grimaced. "She got into an argument with Miss Cygni Deneb..." He glanced at the finance minister, who had begun to look concerned, "...and then she slapped her!"

Startled, Lord Deneb grabbed the teacher's shoulder. "Is my daughter all right?"

"She has a split lip, I'm afraid." The teacher collapsed into a chair, suddenly overcome. "Oh, it was most dreadful! I've never seen anything like it! Children in my class fighting - how will I ever live this down?"

King Nova rolled his eyes. "Never mind about that. Where are they now?"

"I had the princess taken back to your chambers, and Miss Cygni is with her mother."

Nova nodded. "Excuse me, Deneb, but I must speak to my daughter now. We can meet again later." Leaving Deneb's office, he marched through the palace halls with a scowl on his face, gruffly ordering one of the guards to find his wife. When he reached his room, he took a deep breath and stepped inside. Mira was sitting glumly on the bed, her face cast down as she awaited punishment.

"Daddy," she whimpered, seeing him enter, "I'm sorry."

Stopping in front of the bed, Nova bent down and rubbed her shoulder. "I'm sure you are. Tell me what happened."

Mira sniffed. "Cygni was mean to me! She said she hates me. So I hit her."

"But why?" The king stared into his daughter's eyes. "That's not the way a princess acts. You should have ignored her."

"But Mommy said..."

Nova's eyes narrowed. "What did your mother say?"

"She said I mustn't let anyone be mean to me. She said I should stop them."

Cosmos, what has she been teaching Mira? Sighing, Nova shook his head. "I don't know what your mother told you, but I'm sure she didn't mean for you to hit anyone. You're not some filthy Grounder who uses violence to solve everything. You're a Royal, and it's time you started acting like one."

Mira nodded meekly. "Yes, Daddy."

The sound of footsteps caused Nova to look up, and a moment later his wife entered the room. "What happened?" she questioned.

The king looked down at Mira. "Go to your room. We will talk about this again later." As soon as she left, Nova turned around and glared at Cerise. "Mira hit Lord Deneb's daughter during school," he told her. "She said you advised her to take action against the girl."

Cerise's eyebrows shot up. "I only meant for her to tell the other girl off. I wouldn't have advised her to do anything violent."

"Then perhaps you should have explained things more clearly to Mira," growled Nova. "You know what a temper she has."

"Not unlike someone else in the family," Cerise chuckled.

Her husband looked unamused. "Don't change the subject, Cerise. We need to discuss this." He began pacing about the room. "I know you grew up in a completely different environment, and you naturally have different views on childcare, so I've tried to be accommodating. But this is getting out of hand! Mira is a princess, not some dirt-wallowing surface dweller. She has to be raised as a princess." Stopping by the window, he gestured to the world outside. "One day she'll be queen of Tangea. The way we bring her up now will determine the kind of queen she becomes. We must be very careful how we raise her."

While her husband paused for breath, Cerise launched into her own defense. "You don't think I haven't considered that? I spend hours thinking about her future, wondering how I can instill the kind of qualities in her she needs as leader." She put her hands on her hips. "I don't take any of this lightly. I truly want what's best for Mira, and I'm working hard to give her the kind of upbringing she needs."

"Then why do you fill her mind with nonsense?" Nova demanded. "You tell her stories about the surface, advise her to strike back at her classmates, prattle on about that dratted Galactic Alliance, and send the cosmos only knows what other conflicting messages to her!"

"I feel she should know about the universe around her," retorted Cerise. "So many of the people here have never even left the palace. They know nothing about the outside world. I want Mira to have a broader knowledge than that. She'll need it as queen."

King Nova continued to stare out the window, his back turned to Cerise. "It's one thing to teach her about the outside world. It's another thing entirely to make her want to go there." He glanced back at his wife. "I've heard the way Mira talks about the surface. I can tell she wants to visit it."

"And what's wrong with that?" countered Cerise. "I want her to visit it. She's spent her entire life in your world; I'd like to share a little bit of mine with her."

Nova shook his head. "We've been through this before. It's much too dangerous down there for her."

"That's not true." Taking a step forward, Cerise joined her husband by the window. "This is one of the very reasons I want her to learn about the surface - so she won't fear it like everyone else." She sighed. "I don't want her to be as close-minded as the people here."

"Are you saying I'm close-minded?" King Nova tilted his head to look at her, the glow he emitted shining onto her face.

"Not as much as some of the others, but yes, you are." She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "It's not your fault - it's simply the way you were brought up. But I don't want Mira to be that way. I want her to look at the universe with wonder and curiosity, not suspicion and fear."

"And I want her to be safe." His anger abating, Nova leaned forward and brushed his hand over Cerise's face. "Mira and you are the only things I have which really matter. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to either of you."

Cerise rested her head on his shoulder. "Nothing's going to happen to us. If I took Mira to the surface, I'd bring a couple of guards along to look after us. We'd be fine."

Nova sighed softly. "No, my love. I'm afraid I simply can't let you take her there. Perhaps one day, when she's much older, but not now."

He could see she wanted to protest, probably yell that he was much too stubborn, but she didn't. "As you wish," was all she said.

"And as for the incident at the school, you must speak to Mira about that and tell her she was wrong." Nova laced his fingers and leaned out the window. "And in future, please think more carefully about the advice you are giving her."

"Yes, Reg." Cerise lingered a moment longer, then left to find Mira.

Feeling a gust of wind ripple through his hair, the king pulled his coat closer and continued to lean over the windowsill. A flock of birds were flying in the distance, calling to each other as they swooped down to the trees. Looking up, Nova could see puffy white clouds crossing the sky, some of them touching the higher towers of the palace. He could understand why his wife loved the outside world and wanted to expose Mira to it, but at the same time he worried too much to let her go. Wild beasts lurked in the jungles, the elements could be harsh and unforgiving, and Grounders roamed the land. Mira was far too young to visit a place like that.

Turning away, he suddenly found his hands were shaky and his glow was diminishing. Blast it, why does my energy run out so quickly these days? Even a simple argument left him drained and in need of another power up. I suppose I'll have to visit the fusion core on my way to Lord Deneb's office. I won't be able to get any work done otherwise. After three years, he'd come to depend on the energy so much that he couldn't function without it.

This should have worried him, but it didn't.


A/N: I'm not very happy with this chapter, but oh well. Reviews are always appreciated~.