Deathworlders Should Not Be Allowed To Date! 64

Luna VI query: Set the source to the translation logs of Princess Amara Auralyn.

As you wish!

Luna VI query: Tell me about Amara’s first impressions of Earth.

***

Having just arrived on Earth, Amara stood by the window on the highest floor of the TerraLux Resort, a place where the elected members of the Global Union would convene for a hearing—an event she suspected was just an excuse to publicly blame Nathan for abandoning the mission and compromising Earth's interests in favor of his alien girlfriend's agenda.

As she absentmindedly admired Earth's landscape, Amara managed, for an instant, to forget she was in an alien world. The air carried an unfamiliar scent, the gravity felt slightly off, and the days were a few hours longer. Yet, the young Irisian queen focused solely on the decisions she needed to make to save both her chosen and their son.

The prospect of burning bridges with Earth's government was something she couldn’t afford to consider. Such an action would not only jeopardize the salvation of her planet but also the rescue operation, now heavily backed by the Global Union. This left Amara with fewer buttons to press and levers to pull, but far from rendering her a powerless pawn in the GU's games. As a bona fide representative of her species—by both birthright and the will of her people—she was no typical ambassador. Amara was someone who could make and keep promises, someone worth allying with, even for an old, established power like Earth.

Besides, just as she arrived on Earth, Amara's keen senses—honed by Aldrinch and Irisian history—had already detected the peculiar human obsession surrounding her. Thanks to Nathan’s leak to the press, she was already a well-known figure on Earth. Not her true self, of course, but the image humans had constructed of her, the mysterious Irisian princess who had fallen in love with a human. This romanticized version of herself had sparked an almost obsessive fascination among the humans, who were so eager to learn about her relationship with Nathan that she was forbidden from leaving the resort. The humans feared this intense interest might lead to harm for Amara or her small entourage.

As her eyes absorbed the scenery of sparsely scattered buildings coexisting with strange green foliage, the sound of a door opening caught her attention. Turning, she found a dejected Mia entering the room.

With her blonde hair slightly disheveled and a tired expression, Mia lazily threw herself into a rotating chair and complained, “Those idiots from the press! Just because we came from Irisa together, they’re treating me like your PR manager. Can you believe it?”

Amara’s soft gaze fell on Mia, her natural instinct to seize an opportunity taking over. “I would hire you for the position.”

Her suggestion wasn’t entirely out of nowhere. Mia had mentioned she might not return to Irisa after the exploration mission ended and was considering staying on Earth for a while.

“Are you serious?” Mia asked, a spark of energy in her voice.

“I could pretend I know Earth just from all the movies I watched with Nathan.” Using her claws to move a few strands of her short hair from her eyes, Amara added, “But the truth is, Nathan’s planet feels stranger than I expected.”

“Earth? Strange?” Mia didn’t agree. “Says the girl from the radioactive planet with blue plants.”

Under normal circumstances, Amara might have argued the point, but her mood wasn’t suited for friendly banter. Steering the conversation toward a topic of strategic interest, she asked, “Beyond their superficial curiosity, how does your species regard my relationship with Nathan?”

Amara allowed her true emotions to surface, the purple color on her neck shifting to gray—a mirror of the anxious thoughts of a new mother forced to journey to an alien world to ensure the safety of both her chosen and their son.

Though not particularly skilled at reading Irisian emotional displays, Mia instantly adjusted her tone. “Right now, the majority supports the two of you, but that could change once you make a public statement. No matter what you say, there will be those who twist the narrative, claiming you seduced Nathan, took advantage of him, and brainwashed him into betraying humanity. But as long as you don’t give them ammunition, it shouldn’t affect public opinion too much.”

“But I did seduce him. Is it not that the acceptable way a human woman would secure a male she fancies?” Amara’s question was based on her knowledge from human movies she’d watched with Nathan, where such behaviors seemed common.

“We don’t do that. I mean, we do, but we don’t say we do—and definitely not in those words,” Mia sighed, crossing her legs. “You seriously need a girls’ night, Amara. Like, yesterday. When someone questions you about Nathan, you should say the two of you spent a lot of time together, and your relationship developed naturally. Mention how many days you spent fighting for your lives in the valleys, relying only on each other and slowly falling in love—just use that sweet voice you have whenever you talk about him.”

Amara absorbed Mia’s advice, making a mental note that she might need to spend more time with human women. With Mia still seated across from her, she asked another question, the purple on her skin intensifying. “What about Nathan? Will they allow me to see him before the hearing?”

“Of course, they will.” Mia crossed her arms and shifted in her chair. “Nathan hasn’t even been formally accused of anything yet. The GU leaders are just waiting, listening to what both of you say, ready to twist your words to fit their narratives.”

“Not unlike the Elders, it seems.” While confident in her ability to handle a battle of wits or words, Amara worried about Nathan’s performance under such intense scrutiny. Though not entirely inept, his skills lay elsewhere. “Can you take me to see him now? I am certain he is desperate to hear about the rescue mission’s progress.”

What Amara didn’t say was how much she longed to embrace him, to release the emotions she’d bottled up even from herself. She wasn’t sure what color her skin would turn, but the truth was she craved a semblance of normalcy. Even the scent of Nathan’s clothes might soothe the consuming void inside her.

“I can take you to the lobby. He said he’d meet us there.” Mia smiled and stood. “I bet he’s not prepared to see you so soon. No one expected you to come in person instead of sending a representative.”

A faint trace of yellow, barely visible, appeared on Amara’s neck as she followed Mia through the hotel hallway. They approached a transparent door that Amara took a moment to recognize as an elevator.

“Where are the buttons?” she asked, curious about human design.

Mia reminded her of the obvious. “Oh, right. The hotel’s AI takes care of everything. We just need to wait.”

As Mia finished speaking, Amara saw the elevator ascending. Once inside, she noticed the absence of physical controls. Yet the thought of needing an interface summoned a floating display showing a countdown. The numbers rapidly ticked down, demonstrating the lengths humans would go to avoid the trouble of pressing a single button.

When the number on the virtual window dropped to one, the elevator door opened, inviting them into the lobby. Mia rushed out first, breaking the silence as she exited. “See the staff? They’re all robots. You won’t find a single human working in this building.”

Amara followed more cautiously, surveying the lobby. She quickly noticed a single reception area near the right wall, while the rest of the space was filled with groups of bean bag chairs. The robots Mia had mentioned seemed to be everywhere—carrying drinks and chatting with the few humans lounging lazily in the chairs.

“I would imagine humans could create more realistic robots,” Amara commented, her eyes lingering on the robots. Each had a pair of glowing white eyes that gave them a gentle, harmless appearance, while their movements were clumsy and slightly comedic as they delivered drinks.

“It’s not that we can’t,” Mia replied, sighing. “It’s just that people prefer these types over super-realistic designs. Those bring all kinds of ethical concerns. But in virtual worlds, many consider that ultra-realistic NPCs are fine—though that has its own set of issues.”

Losing interest in the robots after Mia’s explanation, Amara scanned the room for Nathan. After a thorough search of the lobby, a hint of gray appeared on her neck. “He is not here yet.”

Mia clasped her hands in front of her chest, her eyes darting side to side—a gesture Amara recognized as accessing an integrated system interface. Likely, Mia was messaging Nathan to preserve the surprise of her arrival.

“Strange,” Mia muttered, meeting Amara’s gaze. “He said something came up, but he’ll be here in ten minutes. I can’t imagine anything more important than his hearing today.”

Amara saw nothing unusual about such a minor delay. She ensured her body color stayed blue and decided to use the opportunity to test how the humans in the lobby would react to her. “We can wait for him in one of those strange chairs.”

Mia nodded, taking hold of the tip of Amara’s tail as they walked toward a cluster of empty bean bag chairs arranged in a circle. More than noticing her growing closeness with Mia, Amara couldn’t ignore the curious gazes they received. Every human they passed paused to steal a glance—not at her claws, as she had feared, but at her long tail.

Worse still were the comments she overheard. Her sharp ears picked up fragments of conversations from various groups.

“Is that the alien princess from the news?” a woman whispered to her friends, unaware of how sensitive Amara’s hearing was.

“Hope this isn’t some dumb ad for a crappy VR game. That blue color would ruin it if they were going for a succubus vibe,” a man said, forcing Amara to suppress the red flush she felt creeping up her neck.

“Check out her tail. That realistic fursuit must’ve cost a fortune,” another man commented, oblivious to the fact that she wasn’t human.

These words didn’t just irritate Amara—they prompted a contextual window to appear in her mind, explaining the terms fursuit and succubus. The brief exposure to this side of human culture unsettled her in ways Nathan and mission control never had.

“Do you think most humans see me as a demoness corrupting their men?” she asked when they finally reached the bean bag chairs. Her long ears twitched, still picking up bits of conversation from the lobby.

Mia took a moment to process Amara’s question. “Oh, I forgot how sharp your hearing is.” Once she understood the source of Amara’s concern, she fumbled for words. “I… I don’t know what you heard those jerks saying, but don’t let it get to you. Some of them don’t follow the news. They have no idea what’s happening on Earth, let alone on a distant star system like Irisa.”

Not entirely convinced but unwilling to argue, Amara nodded and took a seat in the bean bag chair, which quickly became her favorite despite its lack of accommodation for her tail. She pushed the rude and bizarre comments to the back of her mind and accessed the communication logs for Argor’s rescue mission from the Irisian fleet. Humanity’s opinions about her species would eventually need to be addressed—especially if she was to defend Nathan from accusations—but right now, Argor was her priority. What she longed for most was sharing the progress of the joint rescue operation with Nathan, and share the joy of the news regarding the confirming that Argor was found inside the asteroid they were investigating. But also share the apprehension of knowing their were about to invade the place to rescue him.

Over the next few minutes, Mia tried to console Amara about the comments, but the Irisian queen had already moved on, her focus firmly on matters of more importance. Then, her sharp ears caught the sound of heavy human footsteps entering the lobby. She turned—and everything else faded into the background. Nathan was dressed in a black suit and tie, his hair more pristine and polished than she’d ever seen it.

After ten awful days apart, Amara couldn’t hold herself back. Using her tail to propel herself up, she took advantage of the fact that Nathan hadn’t seen her yet. With the stealth of an Irisian, she approached him silently before leaping into his arms, coiling her tail around his torso.

His jaw dropped, then transformed into a wide smile. “Amara! When did you—”

She silenced him with a passionate kiss, her claws likely leaving marks on the back of his suit as she clung to him. She was surprised when he stopped kissing her back sooner than usual, gently pushing her head away.

“We have so much to discuss,” she began, trying to explain herself. “I know this is not the time for affection—”

“It’s not that,” Nathan interrupted, still holding her. He turned slightly, revealing two humans standing behind him. “These are Emily and Noah Everett.” He smiled sheepishly, clearing his throat in a way that Amara knew signaled embarrassment. “They’re my parents, Amara.”

Too shocked to react, Amara’s eyes darted between the pair. The woman, whom Amara struggled to reconcile as Nathan’s mother, was taller than Amara herself. She miraculously seemed only slightly older than Mia and carried a small purse slung over crossed arms. Her expression radiated amusement at the scene she’d just witnessed.

The man, Nathan’s father, appeared significantly older than his wife and taller than Nathan. While his face didn’t show disapproval, his gaze was fixed on the ground as if trying to distance himself from the moment.

Amara’s tail slowly uncoiled from Nathan’s body, signaling her desire to be set down. Once on the ground, panic surged within her, silencing her voice. How should she introduce herself? As the Irisian queen? As Nathan’s girlfriend? His wife? The mother of his son?

Mia saved her from the awkward silence, approaching quickly and stepping forward. “I swear she’s not like this all the time. She’s probably the most outspoken Irisian you’ll ever meet.” Linking arms with Amara in a very human gesture, Mia continued, “She’s my friend, and she’s not used to how things work on Earth yet. Please, cut her some slack.”

Nathan chuckled, placing a hand on Amara’s head and ruffling her hair. “Just tell them you’re happy to meet them.”

With hints of purple on her neck and Nathan and Mia standing firmly on either side of her, Amara found the confidence to speak. She addressed the two humans as she would have addressed Irisians, treating them with the same respect and gravity she would have shown to the parents of a clan heir.

“I have taken your son as my chosen, and the Elders approved us.” She hid her claws behind her back in respect but didn’t bow. “I am happy to meet you.”

***

This was an account based on Amara’s first impressions of Earth. The previous narrative is based on the events of the eleventh month of Irisa's exploratory mission. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.