Semacoar brought his fist to his mouth and laughed out loud.
"And when you started leaking sand like water, everyone was screaming and panicking!" He smacked his knee. "Everyone but me, of course. Ahem. Even Safatore thought you were dying."
He took out a bag of nuts and started eating them, watching the girl.
April had been listening to him narrating about the event that had transpired after she lost consciousness. She was lying on the soft bed, the sheets tucked under her arms, and it was a day later.
"You really have a knack for this whole losing consciousness thing, don't you?" Semacoar asked through a mouthful.
April sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"Semacoar, you're a funny person but I have to ask you why you're here." She looked back at him.
The young man smirked and scoffed, stuffing more nuts in his mouth before swallowing.
"Well, now, little monkey. I know how you feel right now–"
"You do?" April grinned.
"But not all of us are bad or have layers." Semacoar proceeded smoothly despite the interruption.
He took a moment to chew and swallow.
"It's all situational. Mm! I, for one, am different from my brothers. Heck, I might be the most normal Kraufford Son." He grinned.
April chuckled. "You throw tornadoes out of your sword."
He glanced aside and shrugged. "Well, I mean, that's just part of the finesse and pizazz, you know?" April giggled. "And anyway, why are you interrogating me–I'm here to check on my favorite monkey."
He saw how April rolled her eyes. He chewed a few cashews, staring at the bag full of them.
"I already went through a lot of trouble getting frisked by your two bodyguards at your door. They took my sword. What do they think I'll do to you, anyway?"
"You're a Kraufford." April casually stated.
Semacoar narrowed his brown eyes. "Touché," he huffed.
April giggled and watched him eat his nuts.
"So, no amygdala." He said it quietly, his mood a little damp. "But a second heart instead!" He cheered up and nudged April with the cashews bag. "That must be amazing."
A bunch of cashews spilled out of the bag and onto her chest. He tried to take them but the girl smacked his hand back. He retracted his mischievous hands and April started picking off the fallen nuts and eating them.
"I don't know why all of this is happening. Before meeting you guys, I was an ordinary girl, living a plain life. Now I got orbs in my chest."
Semacoar shrugged. "That's the thing about First Deaths. They're your maturing stage, elven puberty, if you will. You suddenly die, to wake up some whatchamacallits and you get an aura to boot. Don't let the downside of your neck vulnerability get you down, you're practically immortal unless you die."
April narrowed her eyes. "How many times have you died already?"
"I've lost count!" Semacoar scoffed.
"By whose hands?"
"Saka's."
"Why?"
"He has issues."
"Issues?"
Semacoar stopped chewing and looked at the very inquisitive girl. "You have the bond–why not rummage around his memories and see?"
"We made a deal not to do exactly that." April begrudgingly admitted.
Semacoar chewed on some cashews for a moment, thinking.
"Well, in any case, Saka was a lot like you. Don't tell him I said this but…"
He glanced around furtively and then sighed, wearing a small smile.
"He had an aura right after he was born. He misused it and lost it during a battle with some older elves. Nobody knows how he lost it. The only way he was ever able to regenerate was to die and come back again. That time he didn't die. And his arm didn't grow back."
April's brows pulled together.
"That's… terrible…"
Semacoar shrugged. "Eh, what's terrible is that nobody likes him, especially the High Council of Elders. He was the first to be born with an aura. The first hybrid. I mean, he was only ten years old; a confused child." He said with a hint of sympathy, stuffing his mouth with cashews.
April raised an eyebrow, leaning back. "So none of you have any power to put this council in its place? It's seven girls and a guy."
Semacoar looked like he had heard the joke of the century.
"Okay, first; power is overrated, and second; those girls and a guy are over seventeen thousand years old. One thing about these so-called First Deaths, Little Monkey, is that they freeze you at the beginning of your youthfulness and you live forever young… unless you get killed, of course. The maximum number of years you get is an eon. I believe that's… two hundred and fifty thousand years?"
April forced her wide eyes to blink. "You're joking. Right?"
Semacoar snickered.
"I'm seventy-three years old." He rubbed his chin with a smirk.
"No way!"
"And older brother Safatore is a hundred and ninety-six, I believe. Yes." He nodded, frowning slightly. "Precious Eon refuses to tell me but I believe it's because she might be five decades old. Whereas the lovely Akka is two hundred and…"
He scratched his forehead and began counting his fingers.
"...Two hundred and twelve."
April's jaws fell open.
"H-how… how old is Saka?"
"Oh, him?" Semacoar resumed eating his cashews. "A freshie."
"Freshie?" April blinked.
"He's really young. Nineteen, to be exact."
April lay still for a moment.
"He's just a kid, no older than I am…"
"So everyone here is immortal?" April asked, frowning.
"Unless they die." Semacoar emphasized.
"Okay, got it! Unless they die." April nodded and suddenly paused. "Wait! Are you telling me that I'm now stuck with this face and this height and body forever?"
Semacoar chuckled. "Silly monkey. Not forever, just for the next two hundred and fifty thousand years."
April remained frozen, looking up at the young-looking man. That wasn't any better!
"That is, unless you die forever." He sniggered and stood up, ruffling April's hair. "You have a lot to learn, my little monkey hybrid."
He walked out the room, the wing doors spreading open for him before he turned to the guards on standby. The one with amber-colored eyes extended a longsword in a green scabbard to Semacoar. Semacoar held onto it with a smirk, prying it out of the man's grip with a soft chuckle.
"Thank you for holding onto that, Irstte." He turned to the ruby-eyed elf. "Eref."
He walked away from their disdainful looks, strapping his sword belt around his waist, a mischievous chuckle fading with him.
* * * *
She was suddenly 'summoned' to the courtroom where all the members of the High Council, precisely the seven she-elves and the one man, sat up on their highchairs.
"April Commerce of Acugamathura," Councilwoman Shariah said. "You stand before the High Council of Elders a day after your Aura Assessment."
April stood in a blue dress, silently looking up at the eight young women and man sitting and staring her down. She had as of late learnt their names–the night before–and they were Zera, Corvallis, Sefina, Shariah, Moreau, Felina, Mohesu, and the only male, Rodias.
They looked displeased.
"We remember giving consent to the Crown Prince's request to have your Aura assessed and that was a failure." Councilman Rodias stated.
"And here is our feedback on your assessment," said Zera, leaning forward. "You are a foreign species. You and your tails are not welcome in this castle. Peace and prosperity are threatened by your very presence, and the fact that you do not have an amygdala goes to show how we cannot reap anything from keeping you here."
Sefina commented:
"Part of you may be an elf but part of you is unknown. For several hundred years, the introduction of a different species has proven unintelligible and risky to the existence of our species, therefore we emphasize; you do not belong here."
April blinked and lowered her face.
"Man, this is one strong case of xenophobic speciesism."
"However, it is required by law that all the non-elf species somehow contribute to the welfare of Xander to ensure its continuation into the future," Zera was speaking when the doors opened and in walked the samurai sisters Kuri and Kakuro, clad in their crimson armor.
They immediately arrived and stood beside April, taking a bow at the waist and presenting themselves to the council.
The High Council members continued addressing April:
"There are three ways for non-elven species to contribute to the welfare of Xander productively," Rodias stated, a dangerous glint in his eye. "One; the death penalty."
April gasped, her whole body reacting. Meanwhile, Kuri and Kakuro stood like statues beside her.
"Death?"
"If you are an unproductive and a hindering individual in Xander, it would be best to cease living." Councilwoman Mohesu, a woman with greenish hair, leaned forward.
Rodias continued:
"Two; you could be wed to a Xanderian male and bear his children. The population of Xander is, as of late, lacking in young ones."
"Eh?!" April almost blurted the thought out, fighting with her urge to vomit. She pressed her legs together under her dress.
"But since we are not ready for any more hybridization, there's option number three. Kuri Shinonome."
The samurai leaned forward in response.
"You have a new task at hand. You and your sister are to take April Commerce under your wings and train her to become a guardian of Mount Jagged."
April frowned. A guardian? Her heart skipped a beat. As in, fight prowling monsters?!
She heard Kakuro scoff under her breath. Kuri stepped forward and fell on a knee, bowing her head.
"I can't do that."
The elf council hummed to themselves and raised inquisitive eyebrows.
"And why is that?" Moreau asked.
Kuri huffed and bowed her head so low it touched the golden floors.
"Honorary High Council members of Xander, this warrior is afraid she can't accept this offer. The one standing before you fears that Precious… April Commerce of Acugamathura is not capable of being a guardian. Not of Mount Jagged."
April saw the look the woman gave her, a protective, sisterly look and she felt like she could hug her! She was not about to patrol around a mountain every day!
"Kuri Shinonome, this is not a request
. It's an order. You can neither refuse nor disobey it." Councilwoman Zera declared. "You will take this hybrid under your wing and train her the best way possible so as to make her a productive and contributing member of Xander."
April saw how Kuri's shoulders fell. The woman bowed again and stood up from the floor, returning to her place beside her sister, her sister who wore a hard expression on her face. The look was directed to the people up the jury table.
"You may do with her as you please."
And the eight stout-looking figures turned to each other and started murmuring among themselves.
April felt a deep sense of indignation rise up her chest.
"What a bunch of as–"
"Precious Thing!" April gasped to her senses to see Kuri's bioluminescent blue eyes focused on her, her hand grabbing April's arm. "You're with us now."
April glanced back at the elders. The blonde one with crimson eyes turned and fixed eyes with April. The girl immediately looked away and back to the samurai.
"Yeah, okay." She walked closely to the woman.
That Zera woman was something!
And they were all so harsh…