I follow Amancia through the dirt lined streets, towards one of the large trees. It appears to be indistinguishable from every other tree in the forest. Or maybe the correct term is jungle. Vines thicker than my entire body, grow with ever reaching fingers, around the tree. Multi-colored flowers seem to spring up, haphazardly, throughout the vine. I can see small birds flit from flower to flower, drinking some sort of nectar and pollinizing each flower.

          "Amancia?" I call, looking around.

          "Yes?" she asks, not even bothering to stop or turn around.

           "Where are we? Where are all the Copaie? I thought you said we were on Saltu?"

          "They are all inside." She says, stopping in front of a large tree.

          "What do you mean inside? Where inside? I don't even see any buildings." I ask, stopping beside her.

         "Inside the trees." She says cryptically. She places her hand on the tree and I hear a faint beep, and then a door appears in the tree. It slides open and she disappears inside.

           I take one last look around and then follow her in. Wow! She wasn't kidding about it being inside! I knew the trees were huge, but I never imagined this. We are standing in a large room with a grey stone floor. I can see a large double staircase leading down and a smaller staircase leading up. Two tough looking Copaie stand guard at each staircase, and two more guard the door we just came through. Giant chandeliers, made from glass and some kind of shiny metal, hang from the ceiling. I look up, to check out the lights, and notice the beautifully painted ceiling. It appears to depict a market. Stalls line a street with a variety of products and everywhere are Copaie.

           "Come on. I'll show you to the palace." Amancia says, gently tugging on my arm.

           I allow her to pull me towards the downwards double staircase, where she let's go of me. The guards nod to us, and step aside as we approach. I follow her lead, down the steps. We reach the bottom of the stairs, and I see two more guards, standing outside of another door. We walk towards the door, and Amancia once again, places her hand on a scanner. Once it beeps, the door opens up to an elevator. She pushes a button and we descend further down. We must be really deep because my ears pop.

           The elevator jumps, I hear a ding, and then the doors slide open. It has to be a dream, but I know it isn't. I hear the sounds of dozens of people talking all at once. What I saw above was just a small portion of the city, just an entryway. I step out of the elevator and just stare. My jaw drops in amazement. The entire city lays underground, stretching for miles. I see the bustle of Copaie, rushing from destination to destination. Store fronts line a shiny marbled street, strange small animals roam around, flying creatures flit back and forth, children race back and forth chasing after a small blue ball.

          Grass! I can see lush yellow grass growing everywhere, small trees grow sporadically, and flowers of many colors as well. I look up and see some sort of artificial sun lighting the entire place. I have always heard that Copaie were not as intelligent nor as technologically advanced as the Talfarians. Whoever started that rumor was an idiot. Not only are the Copaie technologically advanced, but they are also artistic as well. You would have to be, to make an entire underground city seem as though you were on the surface.

            "You've never been here before, have you?" Amancia asks, turning and seeing the look of amazement on my face.

             I manage to close my mouth and look at her. "No, I haven't. I was raised on Talfar."

            "Well, then. Let me be the first to welcome you to Minerva, capital city of Saltu. This is your home, your birthplace. The place of your people." she says, spinning in a circle, with her arms spread wide, over her head.

            "It's beautiful." I say, unable to stop looking around. "Is the entire city, underground? How far underground are we?"

            "We are deep underground. Several miles. As for the entire city being underground, most of it is. Do you remember the staircase leading up? That's the military barracks. There are dozens of them scattered throughout the jungle. The soldiers eat, sleep, and train both above ground and out in the jungle. Every single Copaie, from the age of ten, is required to do ten years of service. After that, they are free to live their life as they choose." She explains.

           "Ten-year-olds in the military? Wow. The Talfarian children are still receiving a formal education at that point. I was still receiving an education at that point."

            "Copaie receive their basic education at home. That's where they are taught the basic laws and how to interact with other Copaie. Once in the military, they learn how to fight and how to interact with other alien species. Come with me, I want you to meet a friend of mine."

           We walk past a variety of different shops, selling everything from food to gadgets. I don't recognize most of what's being sold. I suddenly find myself full of longing, for the life I never got to have. These Copaie, my own people, they aren't backwards or simple minded, they are as normal as the Talfarians. I could just stay here, forever. We stop outside a shop with a sign that says, Trossen. I think back to my study of the Copaie language, it means Comfort Food. I peer inside the glass storefront, trying to get an idea of what they sell. Instead, I find tables lined with fancy clothes and odd-looking chairs. The tables are full of Copaie wearing equally fancy clothes. This must be some kind of fine dining restaurant.

          "Come on, let's go in." Amancia says. "Maybe we can get you a cloth to clean your drool off the window." She's laughing when she says the last part so I'm sure she was kidding.

           I pull myself off the window, and use my shirt sleeve to wipe it off, just in case. Amancia opens the door, and I hear a chime go off somewhere inside. She steps through the door, and I follow her inside. My nose is greeted by a hundred different delectable scents, causing my mouth to instantly fill with saliva. A chair from a nearby empty table, draws my attention. I walk over to it and run my hand over it. What I initially thought was an odd-looking chair, turns out to be a wooden chair with carved flowers and creatures. The carvings are on the back of the chair, and when I bend over, I realize they also run down the chair legs.

            "My friend, he hand carved every chair in this place. Check the legs of the table, he carved those as well." Amancia says, from right beside me.

          I bend over and move the corner of the tablecloth for a better view. I run my hand down the leg of the table, realizing that it has been carved to match the chairs. Someone spent a lot of time doing this. Just wait until I tell everyone back home how amazing the Copaie planet really is!

            "Amancia, my darling! I have missed you! Where have you been? And how long are you staying?" A male Copaie says, walking over to us. He doesn't wait for an answer but instead wraps her in his arms and kisses her passionately.

           I straighten up and wait for them to stop. They continue to kiss as if the rest of the world doesn't exist. I start to get embarrassed, as they seem to be drawing attention from a few nearby tables. I clear my throat, loudly and they pull apart.

           "Yes. I forgot. I have someone I want you to meet. Viri, I want you to meet, Astra." Amancia says, holding out her hand.

            Viri scowls for a moment then grabs both Amancia and I by the arm and marches us through the restaurant to a back room, before letting us go. He shuts the door and then turns to face us. "Have you lost your mind? Time travel is still illegal. You will get yourselves killed!" He mumbles a few words that I don't know the meaning of. "If she is truly, Astra...."

            "She is. I did a blood test a few days ago." Amancia interrupts.

             "Why is she here? She must have come back for a reason. You can't detract from her mission. It must be important if she put her own life at risk." He says.

            "It is important. She's here to kill Malum." Amancia says.

            Viri grunts in response. "Good. He is a plague to our people and to that of his own."

             "I hate to interrupt, but can I ask who this is? I'm assuming he is your lover?"

            Amancia laughs and then says, "Yes, I guess you could call him that. Our passion often gets the best of us, and that's how I found myself pregnant, much to my father's dismay. Astra, I like you to meet the owner of this restaurant, and your father."