I AM SHAWN (Y'Linha Ep. 1)

MURVIO PRIME:?Andromeda’s Earth

(100 Light Years From the Edge of the Milky Way)

Hi!

Emm…Over the last three weeks, I’ve been staring into the galactic projector, watching and listening to your person as you narrated the events that have plagued your existence. I have found them to be not just touching but also eye-popping…sorry…eye-opening.

Don’t mind my manners.

I am called?Y’Linha. Prime Princess of the?Royal House of Y’ha. Even though my family is the Royal Family of?Murvio…my grandfather and father have been able to create a kingdom that extends to the ends of our?Andromeda Galaxy. Murvio coincidentally being in the geographic center of Andromeda, gave us the ease of reach to conquer the known planets and create a kingdom that isn’t just system-specific but galaxy-wide.

So, you would ask how a princess like me can receive your projected letters from the faraway Milky Way. Hmmm…first, I must say…I admire the extent of your technology. My family has always gazed into your system to see if your technology rival ours and we’ve seen no need because you’re literally still light years away from what we’ve accomplished,?no offense. I even had to exponentially boost?your?signals to be able to receive your letters. Your first letter was that of extreme pain, and loss, but with an ember of hope. Something I was able to identify with.

Before I go on…allow me to introduce you to my home-Murvio.

Murvio, as I mentioned earlier is in the center of the galaxy you call Andromeda. Andromeda is larger than Milky Way, but we’ve perfected our intra-galactic travel light years ago. Giving us the ability to discover and colonize more than 60% of the stars and planets in Andromeda.?My grandfather-Y’loha?began the conquest that led our kingdom into great prosperity and technological advancement. He made discoveries that people from other galaxies could only imagine. And after 10 generations, he stepped down for?my father-Y’Tola, who consolidated his power not just across the galaxy but across all three realms. Yes,?realms.

My people always believed that there are realms beyond which our eyes can see. And my father spent his entire life creating the bridge between these realms. He succeeded. However, he did so at a terrible price. He found out that other realms have beings, creatures, monsters, and people with powers no mere minds can fathom. It was all in chaos. They needed tending to like a giant pen of?Antash?(Antash-small creatures with wings and claws. They breathe fire and only drink water). Because of how big the task of catering to these realms was, my father spent most of his time away from his family, his home, and his kingdom. Leaving my?brother Y’Kota?and his trusted?Vizier-Ha’lah?to steer the affairs of the kingdom. No one truly knew the extent of the work really doing. No one…but me.?

The price of having to care for these creatures from other realms had to be passed down to an heir, such daunting responsibilities: from generation to generation. He needs to do this or all the realms will merge and the catastrophe that will befall us will be unlike anything anyone has ever experienced.

Last year, however, something terrible happened and my father couldn’t return to us. It’s been two years since he left and the kingdom was almost in a state of disrepair. My brother could do nothing to stave the unrest that ensued. Everything was fuelled by?Ha’kah, the Vizier’s firstborn son. He killed and stirred continuous rebellion against the throne, insomuch that even his father could not handle it. And on the eve of the?Yalah Festival, Ha’kah killis own father - the Vizier.

The Yalah Festival?was the biggest and most beautiful outing of the entire galaxy. People from ll races, planets, and systems gather in?Murvio Prime?to showcase their culture, military might, and love for the?Y’ha Family. It was heralded by a brief tournament of wits and strength. The tournament had fierce warriors and hunters from the far reaches of our galaxy. They were to hunt and bring to the?Champions’ Court?three heads-The head of Ghast?(A fierce creature of ice with tentacles that can break through the strongest ore);?the head of Rhast?(A beast that lurked in the shadows of Andromeda’s Outback. No one knows what it looks like and no one has been able to kill any); and finally,?the head of one of Andromeda’s Notorious Criminals.

Ha’kah was one of the contestants, and he emerged with the head of his father. His declaration was met with explosions and destruction of military ships and simultaneous assassinations of 12 Planet Leaders-all those who were loyal to my father. My brother and I escaped…barely. Hence, my brother and I have been hiding out in a military outpost not far from the edge of the galaxy, thinking about how to take back the throne.

This is the reason why I identified with your pain.

My father is missing. My kingdom, my home…in disarray. Nothing is ever as it was…nor will it ever be. I know the information is all muddled up. But at least you have found out that: as it is on Earth…so it is in Murvio. And with all sincerity can I also say…we need help here tw, I don’t really understand your culture, but since you haven’t written any letters back in a while, I thought you probably need me to write you the same number of you wrote letters before you can also respond in kind. In any case, however, I would love to hear from you as soon as you can. Call it attraction, but I like the way you?speak. The intelligence in your words…it almost feels like looking into your soul. Perhaps it’s because most of the males in my world are often biologically void of these traits.?

Apologies, I had to get that?outta?my chest that’s why I digressed a little bit. I would have used a smiley to convey my emotions but there’s nothing like that in any of our databases here. Have to tell my subjects to copy them from yours or better still create some. Nevertheless, I can’t wait till then because I have so much I want to tell, so much to show.

First of all, I want you to meet someone. I’m gonna tell you about him and he’ll probably write to you too.

In my previous letter, I told you my brother's name was?Y’Kota, the sole heir to the throne of?Y’ha. I spent the last three?Montash?(our 3 Moons’ rotation) creating an intergalactic translator. I first tried to streamline it only to my language and yours but ended up creating a translator that can decipher more than 3000 Earth Languages including Sanskrit, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and the First Generation Cuneiform. I care less about these additions save for the fact that they’ll help convey my thoughts to you even to their infinitesimal details.

I ran my name through this translator and the meaning of my name in your tongue is Aurora,?Aurora Borealis. My father always told me coincidence is the ignorant man’s way of explaining the supernatural, so you’ll understand my glee when I found out my name literally translates to a phenomenon that happened on my planet on the same day I was born. It is thus written that during my?Punctisha?(Birth), a wall of beautiful translucent light surrounded my birth house. We called it?Aotmash?(The Wall of Dancing Lights). It took our brightest minds days to come to an explanation of how the atmosphere of our North Pole could support such a phenomenon. But my father was of a different opinion. To him…it was a testament to the fact that I must take over from him as the Keeper of the Three Realms. Since no one else understands this, no one else took him seriously.

But enough of the tales of my birth; the real reason why I am writing to you is because of my brother. It will interest you to know that the literal translation of my brother’s name-Y’kota is Shawn!?Yes…I didn’t believe my eyes either. My brother’s name means Shawn! I do not know the story surrounding your birth if it relates to your name, but I will tell you my brother’s story-his the past and his future.

It is forbidden in my culture for a prince to talk about his present, for no one should write the events of now but the prince himself. It sounds strange to me too because if the future is already written as they say, then the present is nothing more than a future waiting to happen.?Scratch that…let me not bore you with my philosophical introspect.

My brother came to my parents at a time when my grandfather was still on the throne. After spending years conquering the known worlds of Andromeda, my grandfather was left with one system to conquer. A lowly yet powerful system we call?Honna’La?(The Dark Fairies). These were very, very little with long legs they use in leaping around. Some of them have wings, but wings are available to those who are wealthy enough to have them. My grandfather already commanded the grandest fleet ever to be controlled by one king in the history of the Andromeda Galaxy. There was no need to conquer these lands. Only pressing dialogue would have had these people submit to the might of the House of Y’ah. My grandfather however saw no need to talk it out…victory is victory, no matter how small…no matter who’s at the receiving end of the blade.

It is written that my grandfather prepared to wage war against these people but the unexpected happened. After discussing battle tactics amid a very grand feast, he retired to his quarters, where he was last seen staring into the Northern Moon. He died that night, the eve of the battle. Those who were with him described the experience to be like that of the hands of?Fatash?(Fate). He slept and turned to dust on the morrow?(my people turn to dust when they die). His remains were all that went back to Murvio Prime with his grand armada and the spoils of the thousand worlds he conquered. My brother was born the same night my grandfather died.

There’s something about my kind and a time of intense emotions. Due to our biological makeup, we have soft, hollow horns coming down to our neck regions from the back of our heads. These horns often emit tiny gaseous liquids called?(Fvash)?pheromones. These pheromones change color depending on which emotion is predominant. On that day, everyone dwelling in the royal house of Y’ah emitted pheromones with color never before seen in our world or beyond. The color was?Mhanah, translated in your language as?Purple. This was what made them give him the name?Y’kota-Strenght gone, but returned, a gift from Y'loha.

As I stared at the projection showing your name side-by-side with my brother’s, I couldn’t help but smile at what the future held. Perhaps there is indeed a reason our worlds have connected through these series of letters.

I told my brother and he was fascinated, first with the fact that someone from Earth was able to reach out to us, even with the vastness of space between us. Then he marveled at the level of the technology that supported that feat…that was all. He didn’t care about the name but if you possess tactics that can deliver Murvio Prime from the hands of Ha’kah, anyways’ll speak with you.

Anyways…I feel like going on and on with this, but myrunssage limit has already run out. I want to hear from you every time, if possible. And as much as I would love our conversations to be without battle tactics and military formations, I agree with my brother…we’ll need all the help we can get.

I AM Y’LINHA