My DEO

I'll be back

Elvira

The Krone swooped closer to the massive gold gates, and a powerful gust of wind rushed past us as the gates shook and splintered. It swung wide open with a force, letting us in.

My heart raced as I stared in amazement, unable to catch my breath.

Sitting on a mountain with raging waterfalls on both sides was an imposing, tall building. Its body was built with limestone columns that reached towards the sky. Covering the top of those soft cream-colored columns, were iridescent glass domes with gold veining crawling up them. It somehow gave the illusion of multiple translucent dragon scales. Each one of those had flapping blue flags with the Caelestis emblem. The size of Elysia's palace couldn't even begin to compare to the grandiosity of this palace.

The Krone flew over a small marble bridge that ran across a little pond, then landed right in between two gold fountains. In between the fountains, were two dragons interchangeably shooting out a stream of water to each other's fountain.

Adelio hopped down from the Krone, then lifted me by the waist and gently placed me down.

"Feeling okay?" He asked, lightly tilting my face to inspect it.

"Not too bad," I replied, even though I was currently wracked with nerves. My senses were exhausted from the mirages of experiences I had just gone through. I wasn't even focused on Adelio's touches, as my attention was too busy fluttering around the overwhelming space of this palace.

It was darting to the large beds of intricate flowers, to the huge lake underneath the waterfall, to the lotus-shaped lanterns lined on several bridges that crossed over the huge pond.

"Don't fret, I'm here," Adelio ran his hands through my hair. "And like I said, no one would probe you to take on any responsibilities until you're ready."

"She's here!!!" a singsong voice echoed from the distance. "I can't believe she's finally here?!"

"Huh?" I glanced around me but couldn't see anyone. Am I hearing things again?

"I can't believe you're finally here?!" the voice called out again.

Wait... It's coming from above! True to my guess, a blue dragon was diving towards us from the sky at full speed. Just when I thought the dragon was going to fly straight into us, it suddenly flapped its wing and a dense white mist enveloped the air out of nowhere.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty," the same singsong voice spoke again, except this time it held a bit of tautness to it.

Standing where the dragon had now landed, was a blurry silhouette that resembled that of a lady. The mist was dissipating, and as it vanished, the silhouette became a lean; but slightly curvy figure, dressed in an armless blue silk dress.

It was a young woman, slightly taller than me. Shoulder-length wavy blue hair, sparkly blue doe eyes, plump lips, and tinges of pink that dotted her warm-toned skin. She was the epitome of beauty. If her luxurious blue dress was also anything to go by, then she was probably royalty.

"What's all the fuss about Astraea?" Adelio asked with an aloof tone.

"Haha... sorry Your Majesty, I was just so excited to see the empress," the girl laughed while nervously twirling her wavy blue hair. "Milo had told us that you found your empress, and you were bringing her, so I was eagerly awaiting."

She called him Milo without formality or title, so my guess was right. She is royalty.

Her attention waned from Adelio to me, as the initial sparkle in her eyes grew. "Greetings Empress! My name is Astraea of the Vesra household, a previous duchess and now the consort of the Argyros household."