My Alien Lovers

“Your highness,” the first in commander spoke as he walked up to the future king. His voice betraying him as you heard a sliver of hope in it, cracking his mask of seriousness just slightly, “we have arrived at the planet Laomia.” The crown prince nodded sternly at him, his hands clasped behind his back as he let out a breath of relief, making the muscle in his shoulders relax. After all these years of searching for what felt like a needle in a haystack, they finally found a planet habitable for them. “Are there any habitants?” he asked him, his voice sounding serious, mixed with a little glee. If there were any habitants, he would at least know that they could inhabit the planet, but it might be problematic if the Laomians were hostile to them. The crown prince did not want to start a war as they were only with little. Every life they had was precious. “Yes, but there might also be a minor problem,” the commander hesitantly said as he shifted on the spot, his eyes darting everywhere but the first prince's ones. The crown prince c****d an eyebrow at him, urging him to continue. “You see, the Laomians are currently warring with each other to where their planet is suffering. It might not be habitable for long.” The Crown prince let out a lengthy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Great, he thought, the first planet that might be suitable for them is on the brink of destruction. “We will come back here after a couple decennia; the war will have stopped by then for sure. We just won’t know if it is habitable,” he ordered as he looked at the blue planet with spots of green and brown here and there. Such a shame. “In the meantime, we will search for other planets.” This seemed like the best course of action to him. A war didn’t mean that the entire planet would get destroyed and even if it did, the planet would have a couple of decades to heal to get inhabited again. The commander bowed to him and went on his way, leaving the prince alone to study the planet. Unlike theirs, this planet was small with a lot of oceans and little land to live on. A stark contrast of what their planet looked like which was more land than water as their water sources were mostly underground, allowing plants to grow anywhere, even in the hottest climates. This planet, however, had some patches of light brown, indicating it was unlivable as nothing could grow there. Although it did make him wonder how they fared on their planet. They had to be with many or they shouldn’t be able to cause this kind of destruction. Did this mean they were more advanced than they look and managed to grow some life on dead land? “Torzuzu,” he called out, still staring through the window that shielded him from being sucked into the dark abyss. “Yes, your highness,” her robotic voice echoing through the room. “Could you give me the specifications on the technology the Laomians use?” It took a couple of minutes for her to analyse everything, going through millions of data from their databank as she searched for that specific piece of information that would help him. “They are not very advanced, although they show some promise,” she answered as she searched further, filling the room with serene silence once again. “Their weapons mostly exist of machines that fires a projectile and bombs that can cause tremendous damage to their surroundings.” “That’s enough, Torzuzu.” He already knew what kind of damage their weapons could cause. He had met a similar case decennia ago. Their weapons were so destructive that the surrounding nature got completely wiped out, meaning this planet will most likely end in the same way. It also meant the Laomians were nowhere near advanced as them. The Inzieans had technology that was created not to harm the planet. It took them ages, but they finally managed to do it. The prince looked away from the planet as he felt the small flicker of hope dim again, and made his way back to his room, hoping that he would not stumble into his brother. The crown prince loved him, but somehow his brother always got into his hair and right now that was something he didn’t need. “I finally found you, my lovely brother,” the one voice he really hoped not to hear said as the brown-haired prince walked over to him, flashing one of his signature smiles that made the girls swoon, “I heard we finally found a planet.” “Yes and no,” the first prince answered curtly, hoping he would get the hint and leave him alone, but of course he didn’t. "What do you mean?" The smile disappeared from his face at his older brother's answer, a frown replacing it. "They are at war and the planet might become inhabitable," the crown prince explained with a sigh. His shoulders slumping as resumed his walk towards his room. "Just our luck," the second prince grumbled as he pulled his hand through his hair in an annoyed matter, "we finally find a planet where we could live, and it is at war." The crown prince didn't say anything else, knowing nothing would make his brother feel better, and told him he wanted to take a rest. Although it was more because he wanted to prepare himself mentally before he would crush the little hope his people had gotten again. To his luck, the prince said nothing else and went on his way again, probably getting drunk somewhere and hooking up with girls who hoped they might be his future partner, but always got kicked out of his room in the next morning. Something he always did when something angered him. It was his way to relief himself, even if it meant breaking the hearts of those girls. The crown prince didn’t think much of his behaviour, being so used to it. They might be brothers, but they were like day and night. The crown prince was the quiet one, the one who lead and always had a clear head. His brother, on the other hand, was loud, had a bit of a temper and didn’t like to talk about feelings. But he and the crown prince had one similarity. They were both serious and passionate about their people. Thus, one of the reasons the second prince would drink to his heart’s content tonight. He felt like he had failed his people. The crown prince felt like this too, but he had other problems to deal with. As the future leader of their people he had a reputation to uphold and right now their people were getting impatient. They wanted to feel the air on their skin, breathe in the fresh air as they were looking at the blue sky. It has been so long since they set a foot on a planet that they have an entire generation of people who never even lived on a planet. The crown prince knew he had to do something, but he did not know what. Should he intervene in the war, risking his people to get hurt or should he patiently wait and hope that in a couple decades that the planet would still be habitable. He shook his head, knowing that a solution wouldn’t come overnight, especially when he had no hope, and decided that the best course of action was to take a good night rest sleep, in order to have a sharp mind the next day. In the meantime, the other prince was already on his fourth liafe. He knew he would regret drinking this many liafe in the next morning, as he was bound to have an aching headache the next day. Something his brother really didn’t need, but he didn’t care. What was the use, he thought. Why would they want to continue living like this, not being able to feel the sun heat up their skin, to feel the rain splashing against their skin, or the smell of petrichor. They were such insignificant things, something so average, and yet they were the things you would miss first. It was a dream that was out of their grasp. It was no secret that the second prince didn't have a speck of hope anymore. Many had predicted it. But that even the crown prince was losing hope was a surprise to everyone.