Unaki was special. Unaki was unique. These were the words that Unaki's family had used to describe her state as the first Sluagh awakened Below, one of two that had spurred the Tempest Court to come visit and bring over some other Sluagh, too, to be around and learn from the Academy. Unaki had always liked those words, and how their family had said them.Of course, Unaki's three triplet sisters were far less keen than she was on this label... and soon, their squabbling had levelled a few nasty potshots at it. "How can you be so special if you don't even know what you're about?" Kestrel had asked, some time her odd sister had tried to use her position to justify a chance at the last pilfered cookie. "If anything, you're less-than-special! 'Cause, 'cause you're a Sluagh that doesn't even know about Sluagh, or what it means to be Sluagh." That had stuck right in the Daydream's craw. She'd adamantly argued against it, though eventually, papa had come to the rescue with four new treats, and traded them for the stale cookie... but what had been said in a moment of sweet-seeking defensiveness had put the littlest Sluagh on the warpath.
While it was true that Unaki didn't know too much about the Sluagh yet, the little girl was adamant that she would fix this. As the littlest Sluagh Below grew up, she had begun asking questions of her siblings and her father, forever questioning where she'd come from, why her hands were already as big as those of adults. Why her ears were different from those of litches and elves! Question after question after question had poured out of the little girl, prompting her family to find people to ask, and then later, to seek out articles written by and about the mysterious race from Above.
What Unaki knew was that they came from one city– an elf city, where they'd been forgotten since forever ago! And that one day, the elves had given that city to the cherubs, who had learned about the Sluagh and decided to keep the secret! They had become city guests, and then part of the city, as the rest of Above forgot about the cherubs, too.
She knew that the Sluagh didn't worship the nine all of the time, and that when they did, they were private about it. And that her people were hard-working, and honest. She also knew that they were mostly infertile, and that their parents chose people for them to have babies with, sometimes.
But this... wasn't enough for the young girl. She knew that, one day, she'd want to be a representative of Below for the city that her stone had been imbued in. Some day, maybe they'd have someone for her to marry! But no matter what, as long as she could, she wanted to go back to visit, and to get to know the people who had decided to come Below for her and the other Sluagh!
