My eyes opened slowly. Specs of white and yellow dances above my eyelids. My head was throbbing. There were black figures looming over me.

It's probably the crew, I rationally deducted. God, what happened?

I heaved forward on my elbows, coughing, finally breathing air into my lungs.

Did they take my spacesuit off? The station floor feels really dirty.

A roar of gasps and murmurs surrounded me, but I couldn't understand what my crew was saying. It was foreign, almost like another language, but it was probably just my imagination.

As I sat there, my vision started to restore itself. I looked up to the detail-lacking figures, expecting to see my crew fussing over me, and regretted it instantly.

What the hell are these things!

There were hundreds of things...aliens surrounding me. They had two arms and two legs. Some had tails. Some had horns.

They had two eyes, a mouth, and a nose. Thin mouths. Narrow noses. Their ears were small and pointed. Almost all had two small horns on their collar bones. There were different skin colors; blue, black, and purple, ranging in shade and intensity.

They were dressed in what looked like leather.

They surrounded me. They were whispering.

I stared in fear. My breath caught in my throat. My heart was beating faster than a bird's wings, but the bird was trapped in a cage, and my heart wasn't strong enough to break the confines. I lifted myself up, staring wildly at the creatures before me.

I'm having a heart attack.

"Please," I choked out, stuttering on everything I said in desperation. "P-plea-se don't ki-ill me."

They stopped speaking. Everything stopped: noise, time, and my rationale.

To my left, the crowd began to split, creating a long path.

Maybe they understood. Maybe they're letting me leave.

My guess was shot down immediately as what appeared to be guards trudged down that open path carrying staffs. They looked just like the others, except their armor. Their armor had a rounded helm with a pointed, t-shaped opening, leaving the eyes and mouth exposed and a pointed nose guard to protect the nose. Attached to the top is a long, curved metal blade which curved forward and ends in a sharp point. The shoulders are pointy, very wide and huge. They're decorated with metal chains, hanging from the edges of their shoulders. Their upper arms are protected by chainmail rerebraces that sit under the shoulderplates. The lower arms are covered by vambraces which have layers of rounded leather on the outer sides. The breastplate is of layers of leather, mimicking the scales of a dragon. It covers everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, if these things even have groins.

The upper legs are covered by a skirt of diagonal layers of leather and fur reaching down to the assumed knee area. The lower legs are protected by leather boots which have layers of rounded leather and fur on the outer sides.

The guards circled around me, blocking the crowd and making yet another open circle, only to reveal, what I assumed to be, their queen or ruler, or whatever. She was tall, from what I can tell, and her skin was a shade of purple; not as dark as violet, but not as light as lilac. Her hair, or fur, was blacker than oil.

She wore a silver dress that only covered a small portion of her shoulders, showing off the horns on her collar bone. It looked like a tight fit, accentuating her breasts.

An alien has a better rack than me, I thought bitterly.

Her arms were left uncovered. The dress' waist was broad, but still a slim fit. Below the waist, the dress was snug around her. It reached past her feet, dragging on the ground behind her.

She was approaching me; her chin high and her bright gold eyes locked on me. I cowered, holding my breath, and praying to whatever higher power there was that I would spontaneously die, or that I'd wake up and this would all just be a dream.

Neither happened.

The female creature approached me. The guards slammed the ends of their staffs on the ground, then the queen spoke.

"Si ea'i fina?"

What was she saying? I don't speak alien. I'm gonna be killed. Goodbye crew, goodbye family, goodbye pizza and sushi.

The staffs slammed again and then she repeated herself.

I shook my head, wide-eyed, still obviously cowering. Tears built in my eyes and spilled instantaneously.

"Please," I begged through my sobbing, literally getting on my knees, "let me g-go."

She turned her head away from me, looking at the guard nearest her. They exchanged a conversation, but I didn't understand, so I didn't bother listening.

The queen turned back to me, her lips in a line. "Who are you?"

Her voice was hard, strained, like a foreign exchange student trying to speak another language.

I started crying harder. There was no way an alien was speaking English: what kind of sick joke was this?

"Speak."

Humoring myself, I wiped away the tears on my chin, ignoring the fresh ones. "Com-mander Anastas-sia Ellis," I laughed bitterly.

"El-lis," she repeated, pronouncing each syllable. "I am good, do not fear."

The queen looked back at the crowd and bellowed in a loud, booming voice. Aliens scattered away, returning to their business. The guards began to disperse as well, following the same pattern they had when they circled around me. I watched them leave, heading towards a large building, almost like a castle, but I couldn't see it very well from my view on the ground.

When everyone, minus the queen, had left, I slowly stood, watching her with wide eyes to make sure I wasn't offending or disrespecting her by standing. The last thing I wanted was to die.

The queen looked at me once again. "El-lis," she spoke. "I am Queen Eris."

"Where am I?"

"Rasmieque."

"What planet?"

"Utania."

What the hell? Where was this planet even at? What galaxy was I in?

"You are welcome to stay. There is much room."

I looked back at the purple creature before me, surprised at such warmth and hospitality, and despite the language barrier (and every other barrier), I felt the genuine nature of her words.

"Thank you, your highness," I replied gratefully, bowing my head to her.

She smiled at me, the first display of emotion I had seen on her face yet, flashing pale, white teeth. "Come, follow me."

She lead me towards the castle-like building, but upon closer look, I realized it was a castle. Fifteen thick, round towers decorated and defended the elegant looking castle. They were connected by reinforced, vast walls made of a bronze-looking stone. Ornate windows were scattered thinly around the walls in seemingly perfect symmetry, along with symmetric crenelations that I assumed were for archers and artillery. A huge gate with massive wooden doors were guarded by a handful of guards. Small buildings, houses, and other structures populated the grounds outside the castle ground. It was lavish, and beautiful, and outright astonishing. I was awestruck. Just the details had to have taken months to perfect.

The inside of the castle was no different. Beautiful portraits of, what I assumed, past royal families were mounted on the stone walls, none looking the same. Tapestries and drapes fell down the walls and decorated the floors. They ranged in colors: golds, violets, reds, all colors that resembled royalty and wealth.

Inside the bedrooms were lavished as well; or at least the room that Eris lead me to. A four-poster bed was the center of the room, adorned with the same colors as the tapestries from earlier. Fluffy pillows filled the bed. There was a side table across from the bed, a platter upon it with chalice-looking cups and a silver bowl that had some sort of liquid in it. Scattered around the rest of the platter were, again what I assumed, were foods, vines, and plants of sorts. They looked delicious, but I felt like I was going to faint from exhaustion.

Eris snapped me away from my thoughts. "I hope you like this, El-lis. Is it good?"

I nodded my head. "Yes, it's good, thank you," I smiled, "And if it's easier, call me Ana."

"Ana." She repeated.

It sounded vaguely like Ava, but it was close enough.

Eris dipped her head at me, then left the room, but not before glancing back at me at least twice. I grinned each time, grateful and intrigued, but I was ready to go home, or at least back to the space station.

New story, so tell me what you think! And the rest will be in third person limited in regards to Ana.
xoxo -Harper