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“This year, the host of the World Leaders conference will be Stratoverse. I will attend on behalf of our country.”
Facing her mirror, Ylil passed a hand through her hair. Straight and neat, reaching her shoulders now. Unlike the populace’s short, black regulatory haircuts, hers was kept long and free of dye… unique. White locks would be a mark of shame on anyone else; on the Judge’s head they were a sign of power.
The Judge was Law. Therefore, in this nation, the Judge was a god. Her personhood could not be denied.
…at least within the borders of her home. She would be headed for hostile territory soon, the first in over fifty years to leave Inverse in an official capacity. They would call her a dictator, she knew. A murderer. They would glare at her delegation with scorn and may try to kill her. Her heart was not shaken by such trivial concerns.
(She assumed that she still had one, as she had not collapsed dead yet.)
As the foreign delegations could not fly, they were given rooms in towers anchored to the clouds. From a balcony, Ylil watched.
Stratoverse looked as different from Inverse as one could fathom.
The Judge’s home was surrounded by mountains that blocked out the sky. In Stratoverse, the kingdom built among clouds, there was nothing but sky; down below, there was the sea, and the island upon which they raised their children before their magic awakened, but it was beneath the cloud-dwellers to acknowledge such matters.
After all, Stratoverse saw magiclessness as a flaw. How fitting, then, that the Judge’s own culture perceived magic as a disease… but the Enlightened One of Inverse knew both sides were narrow-minded. The real world was not black and white.
Subconsciously, Ylil brushed her fingers against her cheekbone, right underneath her eye.
Yes. The real world was blue.
“The Sun has agreed to meet you at the Observatory.” The Stratoversian who delivered this news was displeased, yet unable to object to divine will. At last, Ylil’s diplomatic goals would advance; she would meet Yellow face-to-face, deity-to-deity.
The observatory, to Ylil’s silent surprise, was a garden.
“Blessed to meet you, Lady Judge.” The Sun of Stratoverse was unlike the tall, built, fair Stratoversians. She was short and dark-skinned; rather than clouds, her hair was flora, a characteristic of Ecoversian descent. Helianthus Annuus, Ylil recognized. Fascinating.
The ancient goddess offered up her hand, which the Judge shook.
“I never expected the leader of Inverse to be so young,” Yellow observed candidly. “Could it be why you harbor change within your nation?”
“If change is necessary, there will be change. I require solutions.”
“I understand completely.”
The original reason for her visit was quick work. They came to a pragmatic agreement of cooperation; yet, rather than returning to her room, she remained with Yellow in the garden to talk. She found them alike…
After all, of her people— Ylil was the only one who could watch the sun set.