Little Nefuna slept curled up on the seat of a carriage. She didn’t mean to sleep, but it was the middle of the night, and the gentle rocking made her drowsy.
This was the carriage her father’s people had arranged for her. She was expecting something exciting to happen in three hours, but even still she fell asleep. It was so bad that she didn’t wake up until the door to her cart was opened and the cool night air rushed in.
“Princess,” an unfamiliar voice said softly, “come with us, quickly.”
The little princess sat up and rubbed her eyes, then looked at the “friends” her mother had sent. Alarmingly, they were small, black-scaled goblins.
“Come, princess,” the one reaching out to her said again. Princess Nefuna blinked in confusion, but reached out for the small, scaly hand.
The goblins whisked her away into the woods. They were amazingly quiet and agile, suited perfectly to navigating dense foliage. After walking for a while, they led Nefuna down a dark hole in the ground. There was a small, surprisingly clean, cave down there. Waiting were a few more black goblins, and her mother, Nym Airi, with her unmistakable snow-white hair.
Nym resisted trotting and walked over to her mother, bowing her head like a proper princess. Nym’s mother smiled, reached out, and pulled her daughter into a tight embrace.
“M-mother?”
“There is no royal court here, sweetheart,” said the queen of the beast people. “Only devout followers of our mother goddess who would be happy to see the love between a mother and daughter.”
Little Nefuna was still a bit confused, but she returned her mother’s hug, secretly, deep in her heart, enjoying the moment more than a proper princess could ever show.
Eventually, they separated, and Nefuna finally asked what had been on her mind this whole while.
“Mother, I didn’t know you had so many goblins as friends. Where are they going to take us?”
Nym Airi smiled and gestured to the seven or so black goblins gathered around them. “They may look like goblins, Nefuna, but this is your mother’s extended family.”
“Our family?” Nefuna looked around at the goblins.
“Well, they did lose their last spark of divine power,” one goblin chuckled. “It makes sense if she can’t tell any difference between us and ordinary goblins.”
“I guess, but something like black goblins doesn’t even exist, right?”
“Hey, little princess, you don’t recognize your great grandpa?”
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“How would she?” one goblin slapped the previous one upside the head.
“I was just teasing her! Why’d you hit me?”
“Because you were teasing our cute little great granddaughter!”
Nym Nefuna watched this lighthearted exchange, her eyes starting to glitter despite her best attempts to remain regal. “Um, excuse me…” Instantly, all of the black goblins were silent and focused on her. “Could it be, you all are Noct?”
“Bingo!” a goblin cheered.
Another one stepped up and gave the little girl a hug. “I’ve always wanted to meet my cute niece!”
“Nefuna,” the queen patted the ground beside her, and the little princess broke off her hug with the goblin to go over and sit. “There were always people around us in the palace listening in. Now, I will finally tell you about my family’s past.”
The little princess nodded eagerly and showed an attentive listening face. Her mother smiled.
“A long time ago, the gods created races of people to walk on this world, but as their numbers grew, the divine energy inside of them split into smaller and smaller pieces until it was almost gone. People changed from the original races to their descendants. This is what you were taught. However, there’s clearly more to the story than that.
“Ashtante made her children to multiply easily, and so their numbers grew the fastest. She was the first god to notice her powers spreading thin. But our mother goddess is more clever than people give her credit for. She thought of a way to keep some of her children as she made them: by teaching them to transform into monsters. Do you know why, Nefuna?”
The princess shook her head.
“Because monsters have a magic core in their body. Using that core, the Noct could protect their divine energy. So, some of them have been living secretly among monsters ever since.” The queen lowered her head, “But the black mountain forest is a dangerous place. Many of the Noct still died, and the other monsters and descendants who killed them didn’t even know what they had done.”
She lifted her head. “My family was one of those that hid as monsters. However, my parents panicked when my sister was killed. They decided to return to our homeland and act as beast people. Our divine energy dissipated after that, but it took a few years. Before it was gone, my parents used their power to establish a strong position in the church, and that’s how I ended up married to your father.”
“I didn’t know,” the princess said, trace amounts of awe in her young eyes as she looked at her mother and the goblins. Nym Airi just nodded.
“These relatives of mine who stayed behind received a dream vision from our mother goddess, as did I. She has entrusted us with an important mission in this time of crisis.”
“What mission, mother?”
“There are a few devout children she wants to bring to our new home, in order to bless them again and welcome them as family. Not all of them were Noct in this life; not all of them had the divine power to receive her vision. First, we will go to our new home and greet our mother goddess. Then, we will go out into the world and rescue our brothers and sisters, showing them the way home.”
“Where is our new home?”
“She settled down where her favorite children were,” one of the black goblins chuckled. “A monster city in the black mountain forest. I was posing as an Orc, so I already saw it when my tribe migrated there.”
“Will it be safe for beast people in that place?” the princess worried.
Her mother patted her on the shoulder. “We are also monsters now, Nefuna. And one of our mother goddess’s children is ruling that city, so we will be welcomed.”
The girl’s eyes sparkled again, and Airi couldn’t help but stroke her soft black hair. “Get some rest, Airi. We won’t move again until tomorrow night, but after that we won’t stop again.”