It felt weird to just go to a ball after all that had happened that day. I felt like I should tell the archangel that Beryl attacked me, but I couldn’t find him anywhere after Beryl also ran off when Swarovsky entered the room, saying he was concerned about “shouting and noises” he had heard.

“You really should still go,” Swarovsky said. “Prince Sapphire will feel like you stood him up if you decline his invitation with such short notice.”

“Yes, Swarovsky,” I curtsied.

He furrowed his eyebrows with a concerned expression. “Um, what happened between you and Beryl?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her!” I began. “She attacked me and I deflected the fire back to her.”

“Beryl attacked you with fire?” he replied. “Selena, she assaulted you. You had every right to defend yourself.”

I hesitated. I didn't except him to side with me so quickly. “Still, I think I she’s really hurt,” I said. “I singed her hair and there are probably burns on her scalp.”

“And if you hadn’t done that, you would be burnt to a crisp,” affirmed Swarovsky. “You and your brother aren’t the only ones who are telepathic. I know what happened.”

“I’m not telepathic,” I mused.

“You just haven’t learned how to use it yet. You will. Some angels with telepathy can’t read just any thought, per say, but they can read specific types of thoughts. I can read them all, and comb for memories, but I’m pretty sure you’re at least a partial telepath.”

“Oh,” I answered. I had never so much as noticed any signs of telepathic abilities in myself, but occasionally, knowledge about why someone chose to do something would just jump out at me. There were also times when I could tell exactly what someone wanted, which came in handy when giving gifts.

“Don’t read Beryl’s mind, by the way,” he quickly added. “She’s not telepathic, but she can track when intrusuions into her thoughts own, even accidental ones.”

Magic was always complicated. Every angel had their own set of abilities that were unique to themselves. Even spells were not compatible for everyone. It depended on what that angel could do and how that power was to be commanded. My brother and his wife could turn almost any latin word into a spell. As a native Solarian, I had access to some latin spells, since it was one of our official languages, but most of my power worked by either plain, direct Angel (an international language understood across the universe), or by more complicated tactics. Strangely enough, there were also occasions when things that I wished for happened spontaneously. I knew this had something to do with my powers, but I had no idea how to control it or why it didn’t always work. And then there were my elemental abilities, which were harnessed by emotions.

“Enough about magic, we need to get you to that ball,” Swarovsky smiled. “I will be escorting you as your chaperone, by the way.”

I had never been to the Blue Moon Palace. It was very far away from Solaria, all the way by the planet, Plue. The Blue Moon or Aotsuki, as it was called by it's people, was Plue’s heaven, where angels watched over the inhabitants of that planet.

Swarovsky took my hand in his own and I suddenly felt a wave of affection towards the fact that he was my biological parental. As angels, we were not allowed to call anyone but God, “Father,” but we were told that, in time, we would be permitted to refer to our angelic parents with warmer parental terms than we had now. We were not sure what those terms would be, but there were rumors of words like “Daddy” and “Mother," like what the people on the non-heavenly planets got to use.

We walked outside the golden palace. It suddenly hit me that I would get to see what Prince Sapphire's home looked like. I felt a knot forming in my stomach as nervousness and excitement seemed to compete in my heart. As I looked back at the tall gold spires of my current home, memories flashed by of the life I had known with the archangel, my brother, and my parental. Someday, I would move to the furthest end of the galaxy and leave it behind. Of course, I would probably get to visit my family, sometimes, but judging by the note about not bringing my brother and what happened between Lucifer and Prince Sapphire’s sister, Tanzanite, there wouldn’t be many visits from my family to the Blue Moon.

“Ready for lightyear speed?” Swarovsky smiled.

“What?” I answered. Swarovsky could actually travel at lightyear speed per hour, but as much as I loved flying fast, that velocity wasn’t something I was comfortable being dragged along in.

“Just kidding,” he said. “The archangel supplied a safe portal for us to get there.”

“Isn’t that teleporting?” I hesitated.

“Very good,” the archangel’s voice chimed as he materialized in front of me. “It’s not safe to teleport yourself since you won’t be able to resist the disintegration process integral to teleportation. But it’s perfectly alright to use an authorized safe portal made by God or myself to safely get you from one place in the universe to another. Because it's miraculous instead of magical, it can side step the disintegration process, which makes it safe. ”

I looked back at Swarovsky and then at Michael. “Are you coming too?” I asked.

Michael smiled. “You know, I think it would be best for you to enjoy the night and focus on your date. You only need one chaperone.” He signed and his glow changed from white to a slightly golden aura. "This is a big moment in your life. Have fun."

He waved his hand and a ring of blue light appeared in front of us. Within the ring was another place, which I could only assume was the entrance to the Blue Moon palace.

The gates were made of glowing blue sapphire carved in filigree shapes and swirls. There were also purple jewels encrusted in the gates that looked like amethyst, tanzanite, and beryl, along with blue topaz and shining alexandrite that shifted from teal green to deep indigo every few seconds.

I tested the portal by slowly inching my fingertips towards it.

“Trust me,” Michael smiled.

I flinched as my fingertips crossed into the portal. Squeezing my eyes tightly, I forced them in further and then pulled them back out to inspect them.

Sure enough, nothing happened. My hand was perfectly intact.

“Ready?” Swarovsky put his elbow in mine to escort me inside.

I nodded.