"Mimi?" I called out to her as I watched people running around under the window. "W-what is everyone d-doing?"

"They are getting ready the Night of spirits, Dear." Mimi's magic fixes up the bed as it sent out trays from breakfast with a small burst of light. "It's a night that we celebrate the past and prepare for the future."

Mimi continued explaining as she saw the confused look on my face. 

"In the Demon Kingdom, we make decorations and use magic to show homage to our ancestors to show that we are alive and well while celebrating their accomplishments through costumes, plays, art, and the most important- parties."

She pauses to make sure that I was following. 

"It also prepares us to persevere through the coming months when there won't be much to bring the kingdom together during the cold months. The snow here can pile up to that window."

Mimi stands next to me and points across the courtyard to the second story of the building.

"Wow!" I couldn't even imagine it.

"That is why there is a kitchen on each floor; for warmth and easier accessibility... What would you like to be for the night of spirits?" 

"W-what?"

"Everyone dresses up as someone else for the celebration."

"L-like ha-lloween?"

"Hollow-een?" It was Mimi's turn to be confused. 

"N-nothing." It sounded a little like Halloween, but I wasn't sure since I never got to participate in school or at home. "C-can I be a-anything?"

"Of course!" Mimi says excitedly. "There are many important people that have made contributions to our kingdom! Like-"

Mimi started on an hour long lecture that ended only because a flying letter floated in and unfolded it's self before her. 

"Ah, it looks like they need my assistance, Dear." Mimi apologizes as she pats my head. "Nadia and Aidan will be taking care of you until dinner."

"O-okay! Bye M-mimi!" 

Mimi disappears into sparkles as the door opens as the two people enter.

"Hello Princess!" Aidan's voice came from the unfamiliar person who look like one of the strange creatures with multiple arms. "What? Don't recognize us?"

"Aidan." Nadia quickly cuts in, crossing her shimmering tattooed arms. "She might not know about Night of spirits." 

"Mimi t-told me." I walked up to Nadia. "So c-cool!"

"Of course!" Aidan knelt down besides me. "We are the greatest generals ever known to the demon kingdom!" 

"Have you decided what you want to be?" Nadia asks as Aidan started listing off the achievements of his hero. 

"N-no..."

"You have time." She reassures me. "Thought not as much as you may like; tonight we are having a ball which all the citizens attend." 

Nadia pauses.

"What if we give you some ideas for costumes?" 

"Our knowledge may not be as wide as Mimi's-" Aidan jumps in with a grin. "But we might be able to narrow it down for you! How does that sound?"

"G-great!" I started to feel hopeful.

~~~~~~~

"I'm sorry Princess." Both Aidan and Nadia received floating letters  as we sat down in the garden, watching the gardeners place lanterns in the trees. "It looks like we must leave..."

We had decided to take a break from the costume ideas since it was hard to find the right fit; I tried on many different outfits with help from Nadia's magic, but there wasn't anything I felt comfortable in. 

It was getting closer to ball and I still had no costume. 

"I-its okay." I tried to smile a little- though from their expressions: I still need to practice. "I'll go b-back to m-my room. I-i don't n-need to go." 

"But Princess!" Aidan's and Nadia's voices fade as I walked as quickly as I could, still not allowed to run yet. 

I reached my room and as the door closed, I flopped down on the bed. I felt bad that I had used up so much of the twin Beastkin's time with no luck on the costume. 

It was probably better that I didn't go anyway. I didn't want to ruin the fun.

"Soraya?" A familiar knock echoed for a moment before the door opens, revealing Papa standing, looking extremely handsome and cool in his long dark cape flowing behind him. "Are you ready?" 

"H-hi Papa..." I hugged a pillow as I faced him, not meeting his eyes.

"Where is your costume?" He sits down next to me and pats my head. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I-i couldn't find a c-costume..." 

"I see." His hand continued to smooth down my hair. 

"E-everyone tried to h-help but..." I buried my face into the pillow to hide my face.

"It is alright. You do not have to dress up if you do not wish to. Our costumes are to show how much we respect the people who we admire by wearing costumes in their likeness. You have been here only for a short while, so you have yet to learn our history."

"Papa?"  I lifted my head as I thought about his words. "C-could I be..."

He looks down at me as his eyebrow raised.

"B-be you?..." I trailed off, now not as confident with the idea.

"You want to dress up as me?"

"Y-yes." I quickly blurted out, unable to control the next few words. "I-i want to be y-you!"

I scrunched up my eyes and waited for his reply; not really knowing if he liked the idea of someone like me dressing up as him.

"I see." Papa's fingers snap as I suddenly got lifted into the air as his magic shined around me. "Since my daughter has requested to be me, the I must rise to the occasion."

My feet are carefully placed back on the ground as Papa made a mirror appear before my eyes. 

"Perfect." He stands behind me as his smiling reflection looked at mine. "What do you think Soraya?"

I touched the eyes that now were the same color as Papa's and the black hair that was tied back with a purple ribbon and felt myself truly smile for the first time in my life. 

"I-i love it Papa!" I turned to hug him, squeezing as hard as I could. 

"I am glad to hear that." Papa hugged me back as he chuckled. "Let us go out and join the festivities."

~~~~~~~

"Presenting, his Royal Majesty Terzin de Rirgonath Gecaea and Princess Soraya de Rirgonath Gecaea." 

I blinked from the strong light as the grand doors opened for Papa and I to see the room full of people bowing before us. A path was opened as I sat in Papa's arms while he walked up to the fancy chair at the other side of the room. 

Papa stands before the chair, raising his free hand up while the people stood. "Let the Night of spirits... Begin!"

Music started at his words as people began to dance. 

"Would you like to dance Soraya?" Papa looks down at me with a smile as I heard quiet gasps from a few people who quickly looked away as I met their eyes.

"Y-yes Papa." I nodded, earning more gasps as he walks down to the stairs to the floor as the dancers made space for us to join. 

Papa places me on the ground, my feet on top of his before moving to the music while holding my hands.

We danced like that for two songs until I was dizzy to the point that I could see three Papa's standing before me.

"Would you like something to drink?" Papa didn't try to hide the chuckles as he gestures to someone as he picked me up once more.

"Y-yes Papa." I leaned my head into his chest, feeling a little better.

"It looks like you were having fun." Grandpa's voice has me peeking over Papa's shoulder.

"H-hi Grandpa!" I waved at him, noticing once more that people were staring in shock; one person dropping a glass that splattered the red liquid everywhere on the shiny floor before they quickly waved their hand which rewind the broken glass to its former appearance.

"I brought you some treats." Grandpa's beard moved upwards like he was smiling as he handed me the plate full of strange sweets. "These are things that even humans can enjoy."

I carefully lift one up and took a small bite, the sweet flavors exploded on my tongue as my eyes went wide.

"Y-yummy!" I took a bigger bite as Papa and Grandpa looked on with smiles on their faces.  I noticed Papa's eyes on me. "D-do you want s-some?"

I held out a new sweet towards him. Papa leans down and takes a bite, winking at me as he did.

"It is delicious." Papa lightly wipes the corner of my mouth, removing crumbs. "Finish enjoying them." 

He sits down in the fancy chair and arranges me on his lap, smoothing out the small cape that looked like his, over the arm as I leaned back against the cushion. Grandpa stands next to us as Papa starts to feed me the sweets.

I watched people dance and laugh while enjoying the treats; this was really fun.

"Princess!" Nadia and Aidan came up smiling, holding something behind their backs as they bowed to Papa.

Once he nods, they carefully approached; still hiding the object behind them as they talked to me.

"I love your costume!" Aidan had some tears in his eyes. "You decided to be his Majesty?"

"Y-yes." I blushed as I glanced over at Papa and met his eyes. "I-i wanted to l-ook like Papa." 

"You look so cute." Nadia adds, her words causing me to frown a little.

"I-i wanted to b-be cool..." I mumbled. "L-like Papa."

"Ha! Hahaha!!!" Grandpa laughed, his wings fluttering as Nadia and Aidan covered their mouths to try silencing their laughter.

"You will have to keep growing if you want to be like me." Papa pats my back with a chuckle.

"C-could I get a-as tall?"

"If you eat well and sleep a lot."

"O-okay!"

The twin Beastkin looked away as they continued to cover their laughter while Grandpa calmed down and smiled once more.

"Ah!" Nadia recovers first. "We have a gift for you Princess. Everyone worked really hard on it."

They pulled out a box that had a giant bow on top and offered it to me. I reached over and pulled on one of the ribbons causing it to suddenly pop open as magic sprang up covering the present as the sides of the box fell. 

Once the magic cleared, there was a copy of the castle with all the small details down to the grass and mini magic creatures flying around.

"W-wow!" I couldn't help but to be amazed.

"We-" Nadia gestured to herself and Aidan. "As well as Mimi and a few others created a doll house for you."

"Mimi had the idea of using the castle as the design for it." Aidan jumps in as he pushes on the top of a fountain with real water. "It was really hard making sure it was exact."

He turns to look at the few people in uniforms who stood off to the side and waved them over.

"But with their dedication-" Nadia continued once they bowed and stood behind her. "We were able to make as close to the castle as possible: the seasons even change as well!"

The line of people coughed as I looked at them as a few blushed.

"We also made a few dolls of each of us for you to play with." The green-skin man with horns on his head knelt and opened another box with dolls of myself, Papa, Grandpa, Mimi, the beastkin twins and each person who helped create this laid in the smooth fabric. "We all wanted to welcome you to the Demon Kingdom."

I looked at the dolls and the castle as the still not completely familiar bubbly feeling filled up in my chest.

"T-thank you." I felt myself smile once more. "I-i treasure i-it."

"You do not need to thank us Princess!" Everyone knelt on the ground as their eyes sparkled. "Seeing you happy with our gift is more than enough!"

Papa waves them away as I covered my cheeks and felt how warm they were. 

"I have a gift for my granddaughter as well." Grandpa says as his red magic caused a pile of books to appear. "There are some fairy tales that you might enjoy."

"T-thank you Grandpa." 

Papa hands me one of the books and I couldn't help but stare at how pretty the pictures was on the front.

"Open the cover." Grandpa encourages.

I did as he asked; seeing the beautiful handwriting but I didn't understand what it said.

"It says." Papa seemed to realize faster that I couldn't read. "To my beloved granddaughter. May she have only good dreams filled with fantasy."

"My gift is more than books." Grandpa winks at me. "These books allow you to experience the world inside them in your dreams: no matter if you read it or someone reads it to you."

He then leans in so that Papa and I could only hear. "Of course, I am more than happy to teach you how to read Princess."

"Would you like to learn?" Papa asks who smiles when I nod. "Looks like we will need to make a schedule for you soon."

~~~~~~~

"Ahhh-haaa." I couldn't hold back a yawn anymore as Papa carried me back to my room.

"Did you enjoy the ball?"

"Y-yes Papa." I rubbed my eyes, trying to stay awake a bit longer.

"Good."

Balls of magic flew up into the air and popped into animals, figures, and random sparkles which I could see as we passed windows.

"You must be tired." Papa chuckled when I snuggled into him.

"I-m not tired..." I protested sleepily, wanting stay with him more.

"I am afraid that is hard for me to believe when your eyes are mostly closed."

'Creak' 

The familiar sound of my doors opening meant that we were back in my room. 

"Soraya?" Papa's voice made me wake up a little more as he laid me down on my bed. "I actually have a gift for you as well."

"Hmm?" I curled up around his hand as the light from the magic outside danced across the walls.

"Here." Something soft was placed into my hands.

I fought against the sleepiness and won for another moment; and looked down at the small fluffy creature that looked like a cat with purple fire on the tip of it's tail.

"Do you like it?" 

"I-i love it!" I gently patted the creature and reached for his hand. "I r-really do!"

Papa smiles as he pats my head. "You can give it a name."

"Hmm." I thought hard, suddenly remembering a moment when I was in class learning about space. "H-how about P-pluto?"

I had liked like learning about the planets and thought that pluto was like me; not a lot of people knew what to do it with but it wasn't like the other planets.

"It seems to like the name." Papa watched as Pluto licked me, it's tongue rough and dry against my skin. "Pluto will be a good friend to you."

"Thank y-you Papa." 

The sleepiness returned as Papa tucked me in.

"D-do you have to l-leave?"

"No." He sits down next to me and plays with my hair. "I can stay as long as you like."

"Stay." was the last word I remember saying as the warmth from Pluto and Papa took over.

Hey! I meant what I said about making it (the length) up for the Halloween special (I mean 2489 words *not including my little paragraphs down where* was a lot!😮‍💨)

So everyone should be happy with this! I was originally going to post this earlier today; but I suddenly decided that I didn't want to end it were I had before. 

Five hours later...😅

And now I'm finally finished writing!

I hope everyone is having a safe Halloween, eating yummy sweets and having fun (But always make sure to go around with a buddy and letting your friends and family know were you are going is always important!) It is better to be safe then sorry!🥰

I'll be handing out sweets to the kids in my neighborhood so definitely looking forward to it! 

Once again- I'll be posting the Q&A and chapter 16 NLT November 16th so please make sure to post your questions/statements before that so that I may answer them! 

You can always write them on the chapters themselves (both past and present) or on my conversation board. Any similar questions will be combined if many people ask the same thing!

Love all of you and can't wait for November!

And most of all: