Standing underneath the azure sky, feet against the cool waves on the beach, stood a young girl bathing in the sunlight. Her rich golden hair was tied to the side in a ponytail, reflecting the glow of the rays. She had piercing eyes of sapphire, which stared up at the broken moon and the rings surrounding the planet. Huge masses of puffy, towering clouds loomed in the distant horizon.

To her opposite, another girl stood two dozen meters away. She had purple hair pulled into pigtails, accented by rose-red eyes. In between the girls stood their tall imposing instructor, who handed over ribbons to tie behind their waists. They wore tight-fitting aerobic suits fit for aerodynamic training. The royal yellow and orange embellishments stood out plainly against the bright sky.

"Ready yourselves," the instructor commanded crisply.

The blonde girl gently shut her eyes, slowing her perception with her breathing. She cleared her mind of all internal clutter and anxiety, and exhaled. Her body relaxed, and her sense of surroundings dissolved, with only her heartbeat being the loudest sound she could hear.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Feel the tranquility in your mind and heart.

The surrounding air began to heat up. The light behind her shimmered outwards. Magnificent tendrils sprouted from her back and took form all around her, glowing brighter and brighter with every second. Inhale, exhale. Then, she opened her eyes...

Now rise.

A spirituous gust of wind and light flared from her, blowing away sand and rippling the water. Her irises were aglow with an added hue. Her aura of light resembled a pristine nebula in broad daylight. Inside, she was at fragile peace, fighting to maintain a clear head while wrestling her sudden surge of energy. Her hair fluttered about in august, windswept fashion.

On the other side, her rival was also enveloped in ethereal brilliance. They eyed each other like dangerous creatures. Their instructor adjusted their helmet patiently. Pulling out an hourglass, he gestured sharply to the blonde girl, and flipped it upside-down.

"Ai Hayasaka."

Her face contorted furiously. The tendrils lashed out even more, energy pulsing through like lightning. They unfolded into a pair of majestic wings, which stretched slightly higher than her, displaying her sense of will. She returned a curt nod.

In a powerful bellow, the instructor yelled, "Ascend!"

Both girls shot into the air. Rapidly, they accelerated up, limbs bound to their bodies to mimic arrows from a bow. Their massive appendages stormed, leaving behind a trail of vapor in their wake.

In this exercise, Her role was to hunt down Reyna, her opponent. She needed to snatch the ribbon attached to her belt, while she fled to prevent it. A vertical climb was her way to go, a contest of pure power. Whoever climbed faster and higher would maintain an overwhelming advantage. Reyna was pridefully among the top sprint-climbers of her class, which would make it a great tactic.

Yet so was Hayasaka.

While their flight has only been thirty seconds, it already felt like eternity. Her chest throbbed with effort, her lungs burning as her wings blazed. But eventually, she found herself slowly yet steadily gaining upon her rival. Reyna pushed to keep her from closing the gap, but Hayasaka was gaining on her.

Unable to outclimb, Reyna turned and dove away to gain speed, Hayasaka following in pursuit. The great blue reflection of the ocean far below shimmered dazzlingly. She jinked and rolled back and forth, attempting to throw her off. She decided not to follow through, instead matching her movements to conserve energy while Reyna bled through hers. She just has to wait for the right moment to strike, as once they reach the surface, there'll be nowhere left to run.

Hayasaka shadowed her through another sharp turn. Reyna's tendrils flickered, disrupting her momentarily and she fell out of the curve. Hayasaka's lips barred into a fierce grin. She pushed herself to the limits, expending her all into one decisive action that could triumph the entire match. Reyna tilted back to check on Hayasaka.

Hayasaka zeroed in on her, her hand outstretched and ready to snatch away that ribbon. But then, to her astonishment, Reyna cut an aggressive turn, her wings erupting into an inferno. Caught by surprise too late, she blew right past. Cursing, she turned her head and saw Reyna diving away.

While she was duked into a severe drawback, she could still make up for it using the remaining stamina she had. Reyna seemed to be tiring, and could weaken at any moment. This would be her last chance to truly catch her, and despite becoming quite drained herself, she was determined to come out the winner.

Pride could be the death of you, chided her unflappable instructor once.

Decision made, Hayasaka inhaled a deep gust of breath, and her wings flared. Prepared for the final sprint, she pursued her foe into the turn, her bright aura intensifying. Realizing she followed, Reyna strained to make the tightest radius turns possible. They dove down together in a helical spiral, staring across from each other in the maneuver as the surface rapidly approached. Sustaining extraordinary force, trying to stay coordinated became increasingly crucial. Reyna's ribbon was just a few paces away.

A few agonizing moments later, Reyna's wings dimmed. Reaching out for the ribbon, Hayasaka aimed for the clasp…

The recovery ward echoed with the footsteps of its attendants, heeding the authority of a young, yet eminent young lady, whose quiet voice exuded more jurisdiction than anyone could imagine. She commands absolute obedience, evidenced in her gentle, yet stern manner of addressing the occupants.

Hayasaka inclined on her bed, resigned. Her mistress had been chastising her for her arrogant flying. She lay before Kaguya Shinomiya, heiress of the Lumien Imperata. She was her direct personal servant and bodyguard. Despite their equivalent age, Lady Kaguya was cold, calculative, and resolute, and combining both her wits and her sharpness, it made her a truly fearsome leader.

"Ability and pure will are traits to take pride in only if exercised properly," she was saying. "but it seemed to only fill you with recklessness. How easily could you have perished for nothing?

"We are the pride of Lumenkind, not mere mindless birds. Such shameful behavior will not be tolerated, especially from you. Disciplinary training will correct it as such upon your release from the ward." When she finished berating, Kaguya sighed. "I'm disappointed, Hayasaka; I expected better from the person chosen to become my hand servant. Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

She was already too familiar with this treatment, though it didn't help the pounding headache beneath her ice pack. But there's nothing much to say except to be polite.

"No, I do not, milady Kaguya."

During the exercise, she and Reyna pushed themselves too far. In their intensity as well as their hubris, they failed to notice their instructor's warning signal to abort the test. The instructor managed to call upon the backup to rescue them before the crash into the ocean at a lethal speed. Of course this wouldn't be overlooked easily.

Kaguya gazed at her deeply. She was a very beautiful girl, wearing a noble dark and white silk dress masterfully embroidered with exquisite patterned flowers. She had smooth, flawless skin, a perfectly pale complexion, and gorgeous black hair to match.

But most captivating of all were her eyes; rich, enchanting, and pure like the finest of rubies, mildly adorned with the lushness of the rose. Yet these eyes can command authoritarian respect and project fear into absolutely anyone, lacing her irises with an unspoken ice that was venomous to even contemplate.

Divine beauty that could entrance and terrify; she was the embodiment of that. Befitting the governor of a province, and a potential heir of an empire. A chill ran down Hayasaka's spine.

Kaguya spoke again. "For now, you are to compose a letter of apology to your instructor. Report back to me immediately after you've recovered." With nothing more to say, she turned to leave, her hair flowing about as she sauntered. A pair of guards escorted her out.

Reyna also sat in bed across the room, with her head bowed quietly. She raised one cautious eyebrow to her colleague. With a straight face, Hayasaka opened her hands, revealing the ribbon she had caught and had placed in her clothes. Reyna smirked, and she winked back at her.

Hayasaka collapsed backwards into her bed. She pulled the blanket closer as she thought again of what her instructor said long before. Pride could be the death of you. Slowly, she closed her eyes and drifted into an uneventful sleep.

The rollicking of the sea drew Kaguya's gaze as she made her way back from her meeting with Hayasaka.

Her servant was a descendant of a prominent line of Lumien warriors who were the former rulers of this province. The region in the archipelago was contested by multiple Lumien clans, who engaged in skirmishes both with the local leaders and amongst themselves, in a greedy effort to annex the territory for expansion.

Nao Hayasaka, Ai's mother, was the province's ruler and remained unconquered for a long time. That is, until a decade ago when the Shinomiya clan, recognizing itself as the Lumien Imperata, rose en masse and managed to capitulate the region.

During the peace talks, Nao agreed to personally serve the Imperial family for the sake of preserving their bloodline. The Shinomiya clan held a begrudging respect for the warrior, being the toughest and hardest one to defeat, let alone kill. Seeing how she held against at least a dozen of the Imperata's elite forces, Kaguya's mother, who was Empress at the time, acknowledged the usefulness of her and her daughter, and arranged them to serve as their bodyguards while also providing some minor autonomy to their former state.

Thus Ai underwent rigorous training very early in her childhood. While the Empress kept Nao close, she was assigned to Lady Kaguya who was similarly bred since childbirth to rule. When Kaguya's mother passed away untimely, her father became Emperor-regent, who later sent her to govern the province in his place.

It may seem foolish to the blind eye to have one's defeated enemy become not only your bodyguard and servant, but to co-lead their puppeted homeland, lest they could betray you and ignite an insurgency. But the Empress knew that the Hayasakas' primary goal is the preservation of their bloodline. And by assigning their ex-leader to the Emperor's side and the heiress to another, they've created a rift that would be difficult to lead proper rebellion, or even at least perform influential decisions.

As they say, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

And most importantly, the Imperial family is usually the safest place to be, if just as deadly to be next to beings of extraordinary power. Their obligatory protection is sustained by their service. If they fail to fulfill their duties, they may be executed. Their duty to fight was not only for the Imperata, but for themselves too.

As natural with any conquest, partisan movements are likely to follow, with the end goal of kicking out the ruling power and redeclaring sovereignty. By assigning Ai as vice-governor, the populace may be slightly appeased by the idea of being governed by her, and it later attributed to the return of stability in the region. Yet there are still nationalists with a grudge against the Imperata, and there are rumors of plots against Kaguya's life. She would have to be vigilant.

There was also a risk of invasion by a foreign nations willing to usurp the Imperata's territories. That's why Kaguya disdained the sea, since that's how they would most likely invade. Especially the humans; sailing in with their iron-spitting vessels and their gunpowder weaponry. As powerful as Lumenkind is compared to mankind, it's not enough to control their skies, as humanity certainly outnumbers the Lumiens.

Records included Lumien usage of fire to set their invading fleets ablaze, stranding or sinking them before they could ever reach the shores. It was laughable to see them come up with ways of countering their air superiority. But the Imperata has only recently been considering a naval fleet, due to the growing expansionist sentiments from those at Court. The possibility of war is ever greater with the far human nations of the Occident, who favored innovation the most over their warmongering neighbors.

The Imperata has tried to invade one of those countries before, but it was a very costly war in financial terms. And despite winning, the number of unnecessary casualties only resulted in a pyrrhic victory. It's been nearly a century without a war, yet it wouldn't be surprising if that nation managed to form an alliance of like-minded allies to launch a campaign against the Imperata.

Kaguya paused at the sudden thought of gunpowder displays. While she disliked most loud noises, she made an exception for the beautiful cacophony of fireworks, a human invention imported from a peaceful nation. It had been proven spectacular in times of festivities for the populace, who rejoiced in all the colorful lights and explosions.

She always wanted to attend one herself, but she was never meant to, due to her social status. Instead, she resigned herself to admiring from afar, one of the only few things she thanks humanity for.

Taken out of her reverie by her attending guards, she resumed her stroll back to the Palace, remembering the earlier reports of unknown ship sightings within the Imperata's sovereign sphere. She hastened, an unpleasant feeling stirring inside.