Castle beyond the Next hill

Day knew his first sunrise wouldn't last forever-- though staring into the distance he wished it could've. In just a bit, like in the books he had read and recordings he had seen on his miserable home planet, the sky would turn a brilliant blue. A blue he thought he'd never get to see, something he thought was just as dead as the ancients before him. 

"Heeeey.... earth to alien?" First said, tapping Day on the shoulder and breaking him out of his trance. 

He forgot he was under arrest for a moment.

"O-Oh, right," Day stammered, trying to quicken his pace as his two captors led him down the colorful gravel road towards the grand structure in the distance. He couldn't help but grin at every flower he passed by, every peculiar rock covered in sheets of green moss, every tree holding it's green bushels up by rich brown branches. So much life, so much... everything. It was almost overwhelming how clean the air was. X looked at Day a bit confused; though Day didn't notice and kept leisurely walking on the worn road, admiring every crack in the concrete filled with weeds and tree roots.

"You're taking this whole 'being arrested by people on another planet' thing pretty well!" X floated over to Day, his ghostly feet lifting off the floor as he glided around him, "A bit too well maybe... aren't you like, confused? Nervous?"

Day kept his eyes on the world around him, shrugging, "Well, of course I am but... well, I've never seen so much... color before," X floated into his line of vision, "Plus, I've never had anyone to arrest me before. I don't know how I'm supposed to react."

X felt a ping of pity, "You're that excited to see trees and flowers?"

Day realized that, put like that... it did sound kind of pathetic of him, "Well," he went on, "After the death of the ancients I thought all life and color was gone except... uh, me."

"...So you were all alone on that dead planet?" First asked as she glanced behind herself at the two. 

"Oh, no, my dad lives there too," Day put his hands in his pockets as he thought aloud, "There was him, and the husks, and the robots he built for his company... that was about it."

"... your what?" X giggled, "Is that some sort of pet? A 'Dad'?"

"Wait, you don't know what a dad is?" Day asked as the two shook their heads in unison. Day tried to think of a way to begin explaining the concept of a parent, but realized how different their lives must've been. They looked the same but in all honesty, he didn't know if they were even the same species. How could he explain the complexities of families and growth to two otherworldly creatures he had just met?

"Well, I guess should be asking you two... where even am I? Like, what planet is this?" 

As the trio walked up the next hill, closer and closer to what he realized was a large brick wall, First pondered where to even begin.

"Well... You're on Somnio, the planet that orbits Ancient Earth..." Day's eyes widened.

"W-wait-- the moon? I'm on the moon?" Day looked around, at the grass and life and significant lack of craters in the floor, "We're on the moon?" Day prodded, shocked at the revelation. First was confused by his reaction, not really expecting that to be the thing that shocked him.

"You could call it that I think? I believe it used to just be a moon," First tried recalling her ancient history lessons from her old school days, sort of regretting in that moment how much she hadn't payed attention in her classes, "But it became a planet once Destiny created new life."

"...Destiny?" Day cocked his head, as the two locals realized how different Day's life really had been before this moment. First struggled finding the words to explain the entirety of the known universe to her captive audience member, as she looked to X and he just shrugged.

"Maybe the Queen can help explain this..." 

---

As the two approached the walls to the kingdom, First saluted the two guardsmen protecting the gates. One saluted back while the other just rolled their eyes, seemingly annoyed by First's presence. Day didn't really understand why and looked to her and X for answers, but First didn't seem to act like anything was peculiar about his attitude.

The annoyed guard walked over to a lever and pulled, as the gears controlling the mechanical door whirred and whistled, slowly creaking open allowing Day to peer inside the walls. Day's ears and eyes perked up in excitement and awe, the smell of cake and various baked goods filling his senses as cheerful music drifted through the air. The kingdom's streets were painted beautifully, as even from a distance he could tell the amount of detail in every brick of every home. Bright party banners hung from each lamppost, and confetti dotted the floor and were carried by small breezes across the gravel. His heart skipped a beat as he pushed through X and First, just to soak in the sheer amount of joy lingering in the air. It felt like a big party was being thrown, and though he knew it wasn't for him he felt like the bash had always been expecting their newest guest.

In the distance he could see rows of shops on a busy street-- people lined up playing games and running shops and stands. Before First or X could catch up to Day he had already rushed into the shopping square, almost twirling in glee at the sight of so much life-- so many new people to meet and so many things to do. It was almost like a dream.

"Hey, you!" a voice called out to Day in the crowd, as his attention was shifted to two creatures running some sort of stand outside a large diner. He knew it was a diner-- it looked just like the run down one at home except brightly painted with reds and pinks. He looked around, seeing if the people were calling out to anyone besides him...

"Me?"

"Yeah you!" the smaller one chirped in a high pitched squeal. The small dog's long ears flapped in excitement as he bounced towards Day, his fluffy two-toned hair barely fitting under his little hat. The taller creature trotted over as well, as he carried a tray of small treats in his hooves. 

The small, yellow-furred bundle of joy and his taller, lighter yellow-furred friend both seemed to have food stuck to their coats, ears, and hair, as if they had been in some kitchen disaster. Day wondered how in the world the smaller one had gotten an egg stuck in his hair of all places...

"I've never seen you around Morn, you must be new!" The smaller one beamed, "I'm Puri, and this is my best friend Macaroon! We're giving out free DillyDallyDonuts from DillyDallyDiner for today's festivities!"

"Dilly Dolly what?" Day chuckled, as Macaroon handed Day a pastry wrapped in a colorful napkin.

"It's DillyDally-Difficult to say, I know..." Macaroon laughed, "Just take one! They're chocolate."

Day hesitated a second-- he had heard of chocolate but hadn't had it before. He took a small bite and slowly chewed... then chewed a little faster, then took a bigger bite-- then he just shoved the whole thing in his mouth in delight and awe, barely not eating the napkin along with it. It was the best thing he had ever tasted, so much sweeter than his morning coffees and plain bagels.

"This is amazing!" Day said, and as he licked his chocolatey fingers Puri held back his laughter.

"Of course they are! You act like you don't know what chocolate tastes like!" Puri laughed. Day blushed a bit... was it weird that he hadn't?

Before he could respond First rushed out of the crowd. X followed close behind.

"Don't you try to escape-- you're under arrest, remember?" First said, as in response Day heard Puri and Macaroon giggle knowingly about something. First became flushed as she crossed her arms in frustration from the response. "What's so funny??"

"Weren't your handcuffs taken away because your last arrest? Thought they didn't let you do that anymore!" Puri held back his smile a bit, though Macaroon did not.

"Yeah! You arrested Mimsy because you thought he had an 'illegal potion'... when it was just a pot of tea!" Macaroon hollered. First turned dark red in embarrassment.

"Nono-- that wasn't the one! It was when she threw March in jail for having stolen the queen's tangerine-tart.... when she heard they had a tambourine-part in the newest parade!!" Puri couldn't hold back anymore, as the two began hooting and hollering, on the verge of tears from laughing. First stomped her feet in frustration, letting out an angry growl. Puri calmed himself a second, "C'mon First, it's funny! You've gotta have a sense of humor about these things!"

First balled her fists in anger, she wanted to say something but knew anything she could come up with would be either be out of line or would result in her loosing her job. So she just took a deep breath before grabbing Day by the wrist and dragging him away from the crowd, leaving the two diner workers to continue giggling amongst themselves.

Day felt... sort of nervous. He began to get the vibe that maybe his captor had not had the best reputation...

---

Day expected the castle must've been grand, but he didn't expect the sheer size and beauty of it's architecture just from it's appearance in the distance. The beautiful golden castle glistened in the sunlight, and once inside he marveled at the stunning stained glass windows.

As they walked down the halls to the castle, lined with guardsmen in glittering armor and pristine uniforms, he couldn't help but wonder the history of... well, everything. The deep past that the tall windows reflected must've been something to behold, history and tales of heroes he had never heard. He couldn't wait to hear those stories, to have all his questions about this new world answered...

The three approached the throne room, First waving off the guardsmen who stood before a glimmering scene. A tall staircase with three figures at the top on three golden thrones, standing above someone who had gotten there before them. 

"Great, there's a line..." X groaned, as First elbowed his watery body to get him to hush. Day looked past X and First, at the blue dog who stood before three figures-- what looked to be the queen and two jesters.

"This is the 456th unbirthday of yours we've had in a row and, I'm sorry your royal highness, but we can't keep celebrating like this," the blue dog seemed to be worried, as he paced slightly, the flowers in his pink frizzy hair nearly falling out as he fiddled with them nervously, "As your royal party planner, I can't keep up the festivities..."

"And why not?" Asked one of the jesters, as she crossed her arms the small, star shaped bells on her pink collar jingled, "The people of Morn have been the happiest they've ever been under our regime, we don't see a need to stop the party."

"Though we understand your concern," A glimmer of false hope sparked in the party planner's eyes, as the other jester with the pale yellow coat went on, "we'll try to come up with a new holiday soon to give everyone a break, how about that?"

The party planner slouched in defeat. Day noticed the queen sitting in the throne next to her jesters hadn't said a word at all, and though he could see a bit of her white skin under her blue coat, nearly her entire body was draped in a glimmering fabric. Even her hands weren't visible, and as she let out a clap with them to send the planner away the sound was muffled by her robe.

The planner was approached by guards, as they gestured along and escorted him out of the throne room. First and X nervously bounded ahead, First puffing up her chest in bravery to face the royal three.

"Oh goodness... First, what is it now?" The yellow jester sighed, as the pink one picked at her nails in boredom, "We don't have time for any more false arrests..."

"This one isn't false this time!!" First jumped in defensively, walking over to Day and grabbing him by the arm, dragging him closer to the three's line of sight, "Jester Star, Jester Sun..." she cleared her throat as her voice cracked a bit from the pressure, "Queen moon... I found an alien!"

First pushed Day ahead of her a bit, as he looked up at the three hesitatively. He smiled slightly and shrunk a bit into himself, trying to make himself not the center of attention. The jesters Star and Sun looked at each other, then back to Day, then to First.

"... today isn't April Fools, is it?" Star, the pink jester, asked Sun, the yellow one. 

First butted in, a bit of desperation becoming apparent in her tone, "No I'm serious! He's from Earth!"

Moon for the first time since the three had entered the castle perked up a bit, as Star and Sun immediately became less amused with the situation. 

Star was the first to break the silence, letting out a nervous chuckle, "What? That's impossible... Earth has been devoid of life for eons-"

"It's true!" Day took a step towards the three, up to the beginning of the steps leading to the throne, "Listen-- I mean... it's been a crazy morning, I've lived on Earth my entire life with my dad-- I found some sort of weird TV in a hospital room, I found this moon-rock-thing--"

Day reached into his coat pocket, digging out the rock he had found this morning and showing it to the three. Moon's ears went back as the rock glistened in the sunlight from the stained glass window above the throne.

The three looked to each other, then to the window above their throne of a brilliant star-like figure.

There was a lot of explaining to do.