The Newcomers

The next day, Timoteo set off to wander alone through Green City, and no one seemed to mind. His parents and brother were too preoccupied with present events, as was the entire palace staff. So Timoteo took advantage of the situation, and wandered down the streets of the city he would never rule, and which he didn’t much care to rule over to begin with.

Considering it was a Day of Rest, more people were wandering the streets than usual, no doubt due to the presence of the extraterrestrials. After last night, a long conversation with the extraterrestrial leader, and a heated discussion between the King, Queen and the Smeraldian Governing Council, it had been agreed upon that the aliens would be granted sanctuary in Smeralda. Timoteo didn’t know the details. Of course there was something in it for Smeralda—he just hadn’t figured it all out. He’d been kicked out of the Skylight Office by his mother as soon as things started getting interesting. So much for learning how to “handle unexpected situations.”

At any rate, Timoteo didn’t doubt he’d get the full scoop from his brother soon enough. In the meantime, he’d settle for wandering the streets of Green City. A strictly organized and symmetrical city, the capital of Smeralda was both quaint and metropolitan, traditional and modern. It was, for the most part, walkable, almost like a town, dominated by one and two-story houses made mostly of smooth, polished limestone bricks, most with regal wrought-iron gates and ivy-laden balconies. Trees, plants, bushes, shrubs, flowers and fountains—they were everywhere, as a matter of principle, which made the city very shaded, cool and delightfully breezy. The streets were made of granite setts, in homage to the streets of the first Green City, destroyed centuries ago, and the traditional yet anachronistic style of the entire city was dutifully preserved by the Municipal Council. All houses were to be made of limestone. The architectural style of all new buildings was to be “harmonious” with the current city and “respectful” of the city’s past, and so on. Timoteo had initially considered these regulations stifling and silly. He had admired the architectural styles of Coralende’s more advanced countries. Then he learned that Green City’s outdated style was one of the things that made it unique in the world. The King also made significant advances in teaching Timoteo the value of one’s past and history.

As for the city’s downtown, it was considerably more modern, though not entirely so. It held taller buildings, slightly less greenery, and overall felt more “stony” as Timoteo put it. Ivy creeped over the walls of some of Green City’s tallest buildings, none of which exceeded fifty stories, and elaborate fountains called “waterways,” unique to Green City, were designed to curve, swirl and wind their way around streets, buildings and elevated walkways in such a way that inhabitants of Green City could always hear the trickling, gurgling or gushing of water wherever they were.

The City, Timoteo had to admit, had succeeded at becoming larger and busier yet never more stressful. When he wasn’t wandering the woods, Timoteo liked to visit it—at least on Days of Rest. Today, however, there was a sense of excitement in the air—like there was going to be some sort of parade. The extraterrestrials had settled their spaceships where Hermenegildo, Smeralda’s Head Military Strategist, had predicted: in the vast expanse of meadow, between the palace and the woods. Now, some extraterrestrials were making themselves at home; others had taken the King’s offer of hospitality very much to heart and started exploring the city on foot, receiving their fare share of curious glances and occasional questions from Smeraldian city folk.

Change was in the air, and Timoteo liked it.

“It’s you,” came a familiar voice, from behind.

Timoteo turned and found himself facing Lila. “Lila. What’re you—” Then he noticed the curious creature on Lila’s shoulder. A little finch of sorts. Faded yellow, like a female goldfinch—but definitely not a goldfinch. “That bird has a dog tail,” Timoteo said.

“Yes, yes it does,” said Lila, petting the bird’s head lightly with her finger. The bird nuzzled sweetly against her cheek, and Lila giggled. The bird had a tail like that of a golden retriever, and bunny ears. “It’s my pet. We all have one. My dad calls it my ‘little conscience.’ She speaks—but only to me.”

Timoteo shook his head, confused. “What? You all who have one?”

Lila fidgeted with the red band around her wrist. Timoteo noticed that today, once again, she was wearing red. “I think you’re calling us ‘the extraterrestrials’ or something.”

Timoteo’s eyebrows rose. “You’re—You’re one of them?” Lila nodded. “But I saw you before they even—”

“If you look closely, you’ll notice we all have a little conscience. Of one sort or another. Look.” Lila indicated with a nod a group of five extraterrestrials walking the streets, three adults and two children. They were taking everything in with wide-eyed wonder. Timoteo could only conclude they’d been in spaceships for most, if not all, of their lives. “The children each have one.” The two kids did have creatures of their own. One looked like a toad with butterfly wings. The other a hummingbird with what appeared to be kangaroo legs. “They’re chimeras. They’re magical byproducts of our birth—each is unique to its child.”

Timoteo’s head was spinning. Chimeras? Magic? “Magical byproducts?”

Lila nodded, beginning to walk in no particular direction. Timoteo followed. “Father says we are going to share our knowledge with your people, in exchange for protection and a home. I can answer your questions, if you like.”

“You said magic?” Timoteo couldn’t quite get over that.

“We call it magic. But really, magic is just science we don’t understand yet, right? We understand it now—it just works in such unexpected and unpredictable ways, we’ve never stopped calling it magic.” She smiled. “We’re supposed to share it with your people at some point.” Being an avid fantasy reader, Timoteo’s interest was piqued. “If you like, I can—” The bird chimera pecked Lila’s cheek. Startled, Lila put her ear to the creature’s beak. Was it speaking to her? “Oh Tim, I’m sorry. I must go.”

“Why—What’s the matter?”

“It was good seeing you again,” she said, running off. How did she even know where she was going? “I’ll see you again! Bye!” And just like that, Lila turned a corner and vanished.

Curious, confused, eager, weirded out—Timoteo wasn’t sure what he felt. This Lila girl came and went like a fairy, appearing and disappearing. Was this just a social quirk of her race? She was also incredibly adept at evading questions. One moment Timoteo was finding out she was an extraterrestrial, the next he thought she’d answer all his questions and they’d get to have a good long chat—and then she was gone, before a proper conversation had even started.

Timoteo glanced at the extraterrestrial children with their chimera pets. Chimeras. What else had these people brought from space that was fantastic… magical… new? Of all the countries in Coralende, why had they chosen Smeralda? And the biggest question yet: why all the secrecy? 

Timoteo hadn’t learned much from last night’s exchange with the extraterrestrial leader, but he did learn that the bald-headed, elegant man had requested zero media coverage, and implored that the presence of his people be kept entirely under wraps. They had studied Coralende on their way here, and had deemed Smeralda the most suitable environment. In exchange for privacy and shelter, they offered—

That was when Timoteo had been kicked out from the Skylight Office. He could only assume that this “knowledge” the extraterrestrials were going to share included magic. But how had his parents guaranteed secrecy? Nowadays it was almost impossible to keep anything hidden for long, what with the speed and ease with which news and information spread. Mustn’t there be some Smeraldian out there who had already spilled the beans and sold the story to some foreign news station? Not even the local news station made any mention of the arrival.

Timoteo reached the city’s Community Park and sat at a bench, to people watch. A few yards away were a trio of extraterrestrials, two men and a woman, sitting upon the grass and marveling at its feel and texture. The newcomers had a few curiosities, but seemed mostly human. Exotic humans, at their worst. Their skin was uniformly olive, yet pale, like Lila’s, no doubt due to lack of sunlight, of course. As for their features, they all shared that jagged angularity and sharply pronounced bone structure TImoteo had found so peculiar in their leader. They were taller than most people, and for the most part sported long, straight black hair, though there were a few dark redheads. And they all, without exception, wore something red.

Timoteo observed the trio for some time without being noticed, though he wasn’t exactly discreet. Perhaps they were more lax when it came to staring. Then he noticed something odd. The extraterrestrials began to rub their hands quickly over the grass, as if giving the earth a quick belly rub. TImoteo narrowed his eyes, intrigued. The trio were muttering excitedly in their unintelligible tongue. They had discovered something. One rubbed the grass. Then another. They laughed, delighted. Whatever they were doing, they had done it before, and it brought them joy.

What the hell are you so excited about, Timoteo wondered. The man, apparently the oldest, passed his hand over the grass one more time, with particularly strength this time. Instantly, a jet of blue sparks shot up from the grass like static and whirred around the man’s hand, hovering there a few seconds before dissolving into nothingness. The trio burst into joyful laughter, hopped to their feet and ran off, presumably to inform their fellow people of the good news.

As soon as they were gone, Timoteo dashed over to the patch of grass where they’d been seated and examined the ground. Nothing seemed different there. He rubbed his hand across the grass, like he’d seen the man do. Nothing. He rubbed more vigorously this time.

Nothing.

Confused, Timoteo looked off into the distance, after the vanishing silhouettes of the three newcomers. He didn’t know it yet, but that was the first time Timoteo witnessed magic in Smeralda.