"Perhaps you can make the flowers bloom from your fingertips," Deziara guessed while sitting on Haku's front paw. The dragon was lying on the ground at the back of the Demon Castle, observing Morrigan trying to create flowers from her fingertips. She furrowed her brows in concentration, but after several minutes it became clear that nothing would happen.

"No, it's not flowers," Morrigan groaned. It had been three weeks since she absorbed the Burmese Ruby into her body, and yet she still had no idea what ability she had. "Why isn't there a way to just find out what abilities you have? Like a list of sorts? Or like a system in a video game? That would make things way easier."

"System in a video game? What's that? Is that one of those human things?" Deziara asked curiously.

"I've never heard of the term video game," Galandir added. Since the elven boy was assigned to take care of Haku, the dragon stables were the place where he hung out most often. And since Morrigan and Deziara always came to visit Haku, they slowly formed a friend group of sorts.

"I doubt humans have them in this world. It is a rather complicated thing to make. You'd need to have plastic and microchips and all sorts of other complicated stuff I do not think this world has," Morrigan said.

"Aww, bummer! The stuff from your old world sounds so interesting, Morri. I wish I could have seen it too. Just like Azrael and Father," Deziara pouted.

"Azrael could open a portal to Earth, but if you were to spend just one day on Earth more than a hundred days would pass on Doppelta," she said.

"Yeah, we can't leave for that long, especially not now when all of our sisters are eager to take your place as Crown Princess," Deziara grumbled. "I swear, they're some hyenas, not people. Their sister gets attacked and they turn the matter on its head and call her incompetent. Greedy leeches only want power. Even Viana has more tact than them."

"Let's not talk about that. I honestly don't even want to think about all the things I'll have to do to keep the title."

"Why do you even want to keep it?" Galandir asked, poking at the ground beneath him with a stick.

"Isn't it obvious it's because…" Morrigan paused as she thought about the answer.

But why do I want to keep the title of Crown Princess? Wouldn't it all be much easier if I just gave it up to Viana and lived as a simple princess? I know Father really wants me to inherit the throne, but is it what I want?

"It's because Morri has the biggest magical potential since Father was born. No other demon can even compare to what she can do," Deziara announced proudly, standing up to her feet. Haku growled in agreement and produced a tiny flaming crown above Morrigan's head.

"Oh, he's exaggerating. You and Viana can do magic too," she retorted and waved the flaming crown away from her head.

"No, I'm really not. You could shadow step when you were just a baby and you learned how to shape-shift at age four. Age four! That is insane. Even Azrael, who is supposed to be a magical prodigy, could only do it when he was twenty and nowhere near the same level as you. Mom told me so," the girl objected.

"Maybe demons just aren't that great at magic. I mean, I could light step when I was a baby too," Galandir said, clearly unimpressed.

"Light step?" both girls asked curiously.

"Yeah, it works the same as shadow step except in the light. Not very useful here in the Underworld," the elven boy scoffed.

"No, I refuse to believe that elves are better at magic than demons. It is well known that Underworld races have stronger magic because Underworld is where the magic is born. We breathe it in with each breath. Everything you have in Overworld is just magical residue," Deziara scoffed.

"I wonder if that's how it really is. I wish I could go to the Overworld and compare," Morrigan said thinking about the green forests, blue sky, and the warm glow of the sun. How would she love to paint just a simple nature scenery with a meadow full of flowers!

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen. I'm pretty sure Daddy won't let you out of his sight now," Galandir scoffed, and Morrigan's shoulders sagged.

"Don't worry, Morri. You'll be able to go wherever you want once you're an adult," Deziara cheered, but Morrigan's shoulder's sagged. She'd have to wait until she was forty years old for that to happen, and even when she reached adulthood there was no guarantee that Alphegor would just let her go in and out the Demon Castle whenever she wanted.

"For a princess you sure lack any sense of tact," Galandir scoffed.

"What?" Deziara grumbled. "What did I say wrong?"

"Nevermind that. Let's just try to figure out what is this ability that I got from that accursed ruby," Morrigan mumbled, the unpleasant heaviness once again settling over her heart.

"Oh, perhaps you can create light now. That would certainly be ironic for a demon princess," the elven boy suggested.

"It's worth a shot," Morrigan sighed. She imagined creating a ball of light above her palm. However, all she got was a gentle, flickering fireball. It shone rather brightly and illuminated a large portion of the surrounding area. But it was without a doubt her fire magic and not some new light magic ability.

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Haku seemed mesmerized by the fireball and touched it with his claw. It disappeared just like a soap bubble. The dragon growled and lowered his head, begging to play.

"It's no new magic, but it seems that Haku likes it," Morrigan giggled and created a yard full of magic fire lights. The dragon chased after them and popped them one after the other. Soon Galandir joined in the game, popping the fire with his stick; it was so gentle that it merely charred the end of it a little bit. Deziara also joined and after her followed Morrigan.

Soon the yard was swirling with little gentle fireballs while the four of them ran around and played.

***

Morrigan returned back to her room rather late, having spent the whole day together with Deziara, Haku and Galandir. She had a lot of fun with them, but unfortunately, they still couldn't figure out exactly what ability she had acquired from the Burmese Ruby.

When Morrigan entered her room, she saw Alphegor sitting at his work desk and diligently writing something on a piece of paper. He stopped the moment he saw her enter the room.

"Welcome back, little one," he smiled and got up from his seat. He opened his arms, inviting her for a hug and she obliged, burying herself in his embrace. "Have a nice day?"

"Yeah, it was fun. Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out what ability I got," she sighed into his chest and he gently patted her head.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out soon," he said and released her.

"Is there really no way of finding it out? Some magic artifact or something?" she groaned and sat down on the sofa, sinking into its soft and comfortable cushion. Some of her tiredness seemed to melt away.

"There are rituals that could tell us. However, they require you to spill your blood, so those would be the absolute last resort. Actually, I would rather not find out what ability you got at all, rather than do one of those rituals," Alphegor said sternly, and Morrigan sank deeper into the cushion.

"But it is supposed to be an ability suited for me. Shouldn't I just know what it is?" she grumbled.

"I'm afraid magic is not that simple. Some abilities can be sensed. I imagine you can sense to an extent where you can slip into shadows and where you cannot," he said, sitting down next to her.

"Now when you mention it, then yes. I don't really want to become a shadow in a place that is well-lighted, but in dark places, it feels as natural as breathing," she said thoughtfully. "I am supposed to concentrate on something to feel this new ability?"

"It is possible that could help you discover it. However, the majority of abilities are undetectable until put into use," he said and then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll discover it in time. There's no need to rush."

"I suppose you're right," Morrigan said and then her eyes landed on her father's portrait. It hung in their living room, having become the grand centerpiece. Alphegor was very proud of it and often looked at it with a big satisfied smile on his face. "It's been a while since I've painted anything. I think I'll do that to distract myself."

"Sure. I still have some work I need to finish," he hummed and then returned to his desk. Morrigan went to change her clothes first. She put on a simple black dress with short sleeves and then put an apron over it. It was already covered in various colorful splotches, proof of her previous work.

Gunna had wanted to replace it with a new one since the color didn't exactly wash out from the cloth. But Morrigan insisted on keeping it. She felt like it had a nice character. A clean apron felt like it was inexperienced. Unready for the task ahead.

Once she was dressed, Morrigan prepared her private painting corner. She propped up a canvas and set out her colors, looking over them thoughtfully and pondering what to draw.

"Father, is there something you'd like me to paint?" she asked as she measured the small canvas in front of her, wondering what she could fit in there.

"You've already given me the best portrait I've seen in nearly ten thousand years," he said proudly, looking at the portrait.

"You haven't even lived for so long," she chuckled.

"But I am sure that I will not see a better one. Unless it is painted by you, of course."

She shook her head with a smile and then turned her attention to the colors before her. Her eyes fell upon the vibrant green color. She thought of the green grass and lush trees.

It's been such a long time since I've actually experienced any real greenery. And who knows if I'll ever even touch the grass again. No, don't think about it. Those gloomy thoughts won't do you any good. Just focus on the happy feelings.

So Morrigan picked up the green paint and the paintbrush and began painting. She did her best to remember the scenery from Earth. A calm meadow far away from the city. A warm breeze blowing and rustling the long soft grass. She imagined the small flowers growing through the grass, gentle white and pink buds reaching out towards the sun. And she imagined a forest somewhere far away in the distance, a small line compared to the vast blue sky above.

With a satisfied hum, Morrigan began putting down colors on the canvas before her. Just like the image in her head, the scenery slowly came to life. With each of her brush strokes, it felt like the picture became more real, more complete. But there was something odd as well. She was feeling tired. And not just a little bit tired, but really, really tired.

It must be because of all the running I did before.

So she dismissed her tiredness and continued painting. She could almost feel the soft grass beneath her feet. She could smell its freshness.

Oh, the smell of grass. How I have missed it. There's nothing like it in the Underworld.

"Morrigan!" Alphegor suddenly called out to her. Her eyes snapped away from the painting.

"What is it, Father?" she turned her head to look at him, and then gasped in shock, dropping her paintbrush to the floor. Or to be precise, dropping it into the grass. The soft green grass that was growing on the living room floor.

"Look at what you've done!" The King exclaimed, his voice filled with wonder, a giant grin growing on his face.

"I-I did this?" she asked dumbfoundedly and then bent down to touch the grass. It felt exactly like she expected it to feel like. She plucked one strand of it and brought it to her nose. It smelt wonderfully fresh. It was without a doubt real grass.

"This is amazing, Morrigan! I've never seen such an ability before in my life. Your painting just turned into reality. Do you realize how powerful that is?" he gushed, his eyes sparkling with excitement she had never seen before. Morrigan staggered, exhaustion taking over her body. Her father quickly ran up to her and caught her.

"It seems to take a lot of energy from me…" she muttered. She felt so exhausted, but at the same time so elated at this discovery.

"It's alright. I'm sure that in time, you'll learn how to manage the energy consumption better," Alphegor said and lifted her up in his arms. She leaned into his embrace, allowing her eyes to close. The last thing she heard him say was, "With this, you'll become a ruler far more powerful than I could ever hope to be."