The Archangel often told me that I had an older brother who was the crown prince of the Sun Kingdom. For the first two years of my life, I never got to see him and whenever I asked either Archangel Michael or Prince Swarovsky where my brother was, they would just change the subject. Eventually, I gave up asking, assuming he must have been on some important missions or doing whatever a crown prince has to do for his kingdom. Although, it did seem strange that, according to Prince Swarovsky, Prince Lulu, as I called him, was seven thousand eight hundred and two years old. I would have thought that he would be old enough and wise enough to become a king by now, but I guess that wasn’t any of my business.

The Solarian palace was beautiful with high ceilings that reflected images of light and glory. From afar, the ceilings looked like mirrors, but when you stood directly under them, you could see any of the seven things you love the most, the seven things you thought were the most beautiful, or the seven things that pertained to your destiny. From an early age, I saw images of rainbows and beautiful hearts that looked like pure sunlight itself. I also saw images of the Archangel smiling down on me with eyes full of joy and radiance. I would spend up to two hours after school twirling around on the crystal blue floors as I looked up at the images of love and light.

Once, I gazed up at the domed ceiling of the vast throne room and saw something I never saw before. Among numerous shades and colors, there was a vivid blue crescent that almost eclipsed a golden sun. Together, they gave off rays of silver. Wondering what it meant, I lost myself in thought. As I gazed into the shifting kaleidoscopic images,, a harsh voice jarred me back into my surroundings.

“Who the hell are you and why are you in my palace?” the voice exclaimed in needle-sharp overlapping tones. He was a radiant angel who towered over me with a height that felt like it scraped the skies. His ears were pointed and elven like Prince Swarovsky’s ears, but he didn’t have a unicorn horn like Prince Swarovsky did. His ice blue hair fell in thick layers and thinned out as it reached his shoulder blades and bare muscular torso. He wore white trousers held by a plain gold belt. Below his white halo, he wore a tall crown with thirty-six gold stars. He leered at me with eyes of violet mixed with lavender. “Did you even hear what I said?!” I flinched as his voice boomed and echoed throughout the throne room and across the halls. “And why do you have a tiara on your head? Don’t you know that I’m the crown prince? It’s rude to just go barging into royal homes and wearing tiaras in the presence of a prince.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed as I realized who I was talking to. “You must be my elder brother, Prince Lulu. We have not formally met. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Princess Crystal Selena Soleil.” I spread the skirt of my gown as I curtsied for our first meeting. “I am sorry to have startled you.”

“What?” he said as if in disbelief.

“I am Princess Crystal Selena Soleil. It’s nice to finally meet you, Prince Diamond.” I smiled because introductions are supposed to be pleasant.

His eyes narrowed darkly. “You are two years old. Why do you have the manners of a…never mind. And why are you wearing that?” he pointed to my head as his eyes lit up with reddish firelight.

“Michael the Archangel gave me lots of pretty crowns and tiaras,” I twirled and then pivoted from side to side. “This one is my favorite though, because it’s silver with a pink heart in the middle and it has pretty wings.”

“No, not the tiara! That! That horn thing!” He reached over and pulled at the unicorn steeple on top of my head.

“Ow! Ow! OW!!” I cried out. “Stop!”

He pulled his hand away and glared at me with a look that made me feel like I was some kind of strange creature. “It’s attached! Why do you have a horn attached to your head!”

“It’s not a horn! It’s a unicorn steeple!” I balled my hands into fists.

Footsteps rushed across the seamless floor. “I see you’ve met your younger sister,” Archangel Michael’s voice echoed as he entered the room. “Please make an effort to get along with each other.”

“Why is my sister a unicorn?!” Prince Lulu exclaimed. “I’m not a unicorn! No one I have ever heard of is a unicorn! They don’t exist.”

“That’s not true, Lulu!” I argued. “Archangel Michael and Commanding Prince Swarovsky have unicorn steeples too!”

“That shows what you know,” Lulu scoffed. “Single horned angels who are male are called alicorns. Only female angels with one horn are called unicorns and that has never happened in the history of the universe. You shouldn’t exist!”

“You’re MEAN!!!” I yelled at the top of my voice. “You’re a mean mean mean LULU!!!”

“Stop calling me Lulu!!!” he barked back in fury as his eyes went from violet to glowing red. “I am destined to the crown, Prince Diamond Lucifer Edward, Star of the Morning, Son of the Dawn…”

“That’s ENOUGH!” The archangel’s voice thundered above Lulu’s shouting. I felt my surroundings shiver as if the palace itself dreaded the threat of lightning. He pointed to the corridor that led to the top floor. “Lucifer, go to your room.”

“Whatever,” Lucifer exhaled. He stomped with loud exaggerated steps as he made his way out.

“Princess Selena,” the archangel addressed me. “I know-”

My eyes grew teary and my knees wouldn’t stop shaking. “I’m sorry.” I fell to the ground as my legs shook so much that I couldn’t stand any more. I spoke quickly as words seemed to spill out from my soul. “I didn’t mean to fight. Lulu was being mean and now he hates me and I made everyone mad and I ruined everything and now…”

“No, Selena,” Michael was suddenly standing in front of me. He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s not your fault. He’s angry about a lot of other stuff, not you.”

“But he-” I tried to speak between sobs. “And I…and then we fought…and he doesn’t want me to exist.”

“Yes, I know.” The archangel’s voice was soothing. “It seems he doesn’t want you to exist, but he would be upset if you disappeared too.”

I paused as I stared at the doorway where Michael had been standing. “Did you teleport closer to come and hug me?”

“Yes,” Michael tousled my hair. “I love you and I can do lots of things to help you when you need it.”

“Cool!” I exclaimed. “Do I teleport? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can..”

“No,” he replied. “Teleportation is extremely dangerous. Only God or the archangel are permitted to use that power. If you teleport, you will die.”

The world around me seemed to reverberate oddly as he said the word, “die,” and my spirit trembled with a mysterious feeling. For some reason, I knew it was bad even though I didn’t understand it. “What does ‘die’ mean, Archangel?”

He bent down on one knee to look at me from eye level. “It’s a very bad thing that can happen to someone when the breath of life, which is their soul, departs from them. I really don’t want that to happen, though, Selena. I love you and that would hurt my feelings very much.” He rose back to his feet.

“Okay! I love you too, Archangel.” I floated up to his face and hugged him around his neck.

“Seriously, Selena.” His eyebrows knit and his voice shook with worry. “If anything were to happen to you, my heart would ache as if I had died a thousand deaths. God the Father’s heart and His Spirit would ache too as if he had died a thousand deaths.”

I wondered why he was afraid of something that seemed so unlikely. “I would feel sad if you died too, Archangel. I would be sad forever and ever and I would want to cease to exist-”

“No,” Michael said in a firm tone. “You are not permitted to say such things. You are a daughter of the Most High and you must never wish you didn’t exist.”

“But, I only meant it in case of…” I began.

“No, don’t say it!” he interrupted.

“But-” I tried to explain.

“No!” he yelled over me.

I paused for a moment. “I thought I was yours and Prince Swarovsky’s daughter.”

Michael’s face flushed bright red with embarrassment. He burst out laughing, though he didn’t appear to think anything was funny. “Prince Swarovsky is your birth parental, yes. Aside from that, angels are only permitted to call one part of the Trinity, ‘Father.’ No one is currently allowed to be a child of two or more parts of the Trinity or the Archangel. God the Father created the first generation of angels directly from his breath and some of them consented to help with miraculously birthing the second generation of angels, of which you are the lastborn.”

“What does God look like, Archangel?” I tilted my head as I took his hand.

His eyes widened in shock. “You don’t know…?” He composed himself. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out someday, Princess.”

“But you said he is my father. Shouldn’t my father raise me?” I blinked back tears as I wondered if he wanted me.

Michael exhaled. “Selena, God loves you very much. But sometimes people are quite intimidated by Father’s appearance. He has a lot of light in him and around him. Right now, it’s too overwhelming to see God like that. So, he sends the part of himself who looks more like an angel to be with his angels so they can know him in that form until they are ready.”

“When will I get to meet him?” I pressed.

Michael smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Someday you will realize he has always been here for you and he knows you very well.”

“Archangel?” I wondered if I was going too far into personal matters, but I still continued. “Has anyone ever seen God in his original form in all of his glory?”

The archangel’s eyes became tearful and I realized my question might have reminded him of something painful. “Someday, all the angels will be able to see their father as he is and has always been, from the beginning. But so far, only your elder brother has beheld the Father.”

I embraced the archangel’s arm to comfort him. “So, you haven’t seen Father either, Archangel?”

Michael chuckled softly. “Only in a looking glass, Princess.”