Celine, my niece, is growing so quickly. The more time passes the more I see the resemblance to my brother Milo. I think she likes me, every I go visit my brother she wants to tell me all the things she did in kindergarten and what their cats do.
She is probably our best indicator of how time is flying, between our jobs and the preparations for the wedding both me and Hermes are busier than ever.
Yet, apparently, someone thinks that we don't have enough things to worry about. It happened in the midst of an evening like many others, I was returning back home from the hospital as usual when I saw an old spaceship approaching at high speed towards me.
I didn't have the time for doing anything before those idiots abducted me.
For all brainwaves, what the heck are they doing? Haven't they noticed I'm an alien too and that I have a black hole generator in the basement, and so that they don't need to throw me in their old teleporting machine to get me to Sixam?
???: (hesitant) Hi Luna, it's been a long time! I heard of you and Hermes, congr...
Luna: Are you one of those insane pirates? By bringing a spaceship in my neighbourhood you only risk getting noticed by humans, there were a thousand other ways to contact me!
???: ...
Luna: And was it you the one who abducted my brother some years ago? Why?
???: ... That was a funny story, in short we took the wrong person, you know. But c'mon Luna, I know you're mad, but you really don't recognize me? C'mon, once you considered me as one of your best friends!
It took me a while to recognize her, starting from her voice and only then her appearance. So much time passed since those compulsory training there on Sixam we were forced to follow as teens, and afterwards I've only seen her wearing a completely different disguise.
Luna: (astonished) Ivy, what are you doing up here? Are you really one of those Sixam pirates, that's why you disappeared?
Ivy: Well, it's a long story, but if we brought you here it's just to tell you, so ...
And so, one detail at a time, she told me her whole story. Everything suddenly made a lot more sense... Did the Elders' Council really reach that point?
A few hours later, Ivy brought me back home, where Hermes was waiting for me with a very concerned expression on his face. I felt so sad instead, I had to tell him what I found out, but it was so, so horrible...
Luna: ... it was Ivy, she is one of those pirates on Sixam. And also the others, they are aliens born on the Earth just like us.
Hermes: (incredulous) What? What reason would they have to protest against us moving on the Earth, then?
Luna: It's complicated, but they are not against it for the reasons we thought, their message was interrupted before we could understand what they really meant. In reality, they just want to give everyone a place to stay.
Hermes: But that's exactly what we're already doing now, isn't it?
I shook my head, everything I had discovered had put so much anger and sadness on me. But I was absolutely sure it was the truth, Ivy had let me read her mind.
Luna: Have you ever heard of couples between humans and aliens, and their children?
Hermes: They say they can't have children, if I'm not mistaken.
Luna: Well, that's a lie. The Elders' Council is hiding it from us just to maintain our secret coexistence with humans possible. It's so, so horrible...
Hermes appeared visibly confused and didn't know what to answer anymore. All I could do was to keep explaining to him what I had found out, but it was so, so difficult...
Luna: Do you still remember that me, you and Ivy used to go out together a lot, when we were younger?
Hermes: Of course, I do.
Luna: ... And do you remember the crush she had for that human she met at the bar, once?
Hermes: Vaguely, yes.
Luna: Well, apparently the story has gotten more serious than we expected. And, unexpectantly, he and Ivy had a baby. He is with her on Sixam, she's hiding him. I've never seen anyone like this before...
To explain to him what I meant, I used telepathy to show him what I saw on Sixam, something so unbelievable that I couldn't describe it with words only.
Hermes: ... he looks like a human being. But he has completely purple skin.
Luna: Above all, he is unable to disguise himself. At all.
Hermes: ...
Luna: (distressed) The Elders' Council considers children like him a threat to our life here on Earth, because if any of them was let free humans would immediately discover us. This is why they decided to make up that lie, to say that hybrids like him could not be born. In reality, they just want to hide their existence from everyone, many were taken under custody and no one knows what happened to them. The pirates went to Sixam to avoid the government and the army, and to hide those children.
Hermes: ...
Hermes: It's horrible... But why did they tell you all these things?
Luna: They are organizing a coup d'etat , they want to get all the people they can to their side before this happens. So that Ivy knows us, she wanted to explain it to one of us in person.
Hermes: ... what do they plan to do, in the hypothesis they manage to overthrow the Elders' Council? Do they have a plan, at least?
Luna: It's a bit extreme, but... They want to stop hiding from humans and fooling them with these disguises. And they want the Earth to become a place where everyone can live showing themselves for who they really are, be they aliens, humans or hybrids.
Hermes: (thoughtful) I see...
Hermes had not doubted my words for a moment, he had confirmed it by reading my thoughts with telepathy. He seemed to be completely horrified by those revelations but, as usual, he was already thinking about the implications, and what to do.
Hermes: ... I can't publish anything like that in our newspaper, we are controlled directly by the Elders' Council. But we have other ways to circulate information, as many aliens as possible need to be made aware, ASAP.
Needless to say, both me and Hermes had every intention to stop this terrifying discrimination against hybrid children and their families, and we were ready to take very drastic choices for helping them.
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The coup took place about two weeks later. The fall of the Elders' Council had sent into chaos the internal organization of the alien society and even more that of earthlings, who had just realized that a few million of the people who lived on Earth were actually aliens from a distant planet, who up to that point were hiding among them wearing a disguise concealing their characteristic colour ranging from green to violet.
The governing bodies couldn't do much about it, there are no laws forbidding to be aliens, and as long as we respected the same rules as the others they can't punish us. However, this did not lessen the fear that most humans showed toward us. We expected it, and that was exactly the reason why at first we preferred to disguise ourselves.
After the coup, many of our people decided to abandon their disguise and show their true appearance, for many it had been like an official stance of their opinions on the matter. Hermes and I also discussed a lot about what to do and how we wanted to face the situation. We talked about it for weeks, and made the decision just before a very important day for us.
We dressed up the cats, put on our ceremonial clothes and went to the city park, the wedding day had arrived.
Continuing to wear a disguise would undoubtedly have been easier, but it would also have been a great lie. Maybe now our relationships with humans will get more complicated, but to us this also seemed like the right thing to do.
???: Congratulations!
? ?: This is likely to be the first wedding between aliens since the coup, you could end the TV!
Noemi: I would very much like to say that I had already understood everything and that it was clear that there was something strange, but you seemed so normal!
Luna: Oh, well ...
Noemi: So you were really glowing, that time!
Noemi took it incredibly well, sometimes she seems a little surprised to see me with such a different appearance or to hear me speak in a slightly different voice, but in practice she treats me just like she did before. The more time passes, the more I like her.
Luna: So Celine, do you still recognize me? I'm Aunt Luna?
Celine stared at both Hermes and me with bewildered eyes for quite a while, she doesn't seem to understand that we can be the same Luna and Hermes with whom she usually talks. All in all, she seems amused by the novelty, though.
Hermes: You're glowing in green today.
Luna: You too.
And, for once, we didn't have to worry about it. We had never really noticed the weight of having to pretend to be human and maintain a believable disguise until now, it's such a relief to don't have to worry about it all the time and just be able to be ourselves.
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§HermioneSims§ corner:
I'm afraid to have disappointed all the people who were expecting elaborated hairstyles for the wedding day :P
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