2298
Gertok Galaxy
Planet Celestine
The Celestine Kingdom
The Castle of Dragons
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Solana entered the dining hall. She was pleased to see that the New Yorkers and the Desert Sands Prep Academy students were all in attendance alongside Luna. 

"Perfect. You are all here. I have some information regarding returning you to Planet Earth. I am pleased to have caught you all," She paused for a moment looking with disgust at their Earth breakfast which consists of applesauce and granola. "Having breakfast, I assume."

She stopped at the head of the table and placed her hands on the headrest. "It has come to my attention, much to my dismay, that we, unfortunately, have no means capable of transporting you back to Earth. We would have to have transportation much like the Celestial Dragons which can travel great distances in a matter of minutes. Citrine and Obsidian are out of the equation since they are unable to be powered up without the other eight dragons. We have nothing at our disposal capable of returning you to Earth, which is highly unfortunate." She explained, holding her head up high.

Malyla's hands slammed onto the table. Her chair legs squealed across the floor as she abruptly stood up. "Are you serious?" She yelled, nostrils flaring and eyes widening. "Are we going to be stuck on this planet for the rest of our lives?" 

Solana narrowed her eyes at Malyla, she noticed everyone else had fallen silent at her outburst. "Do you think I enjoy the thought of having you here? No. You do not belong here and yet I will have to deal with each one of you." She sharply explained to Malyla. 

Malyla crossed her arms over her chest, gave a groan, and slouched in her chair. "Ugh, so not fair." She complained, tapping her foot rapidly on the floor. "I just want to go home and get back to my uneventful and pathetic life."

Pedro's heart sank in his chest as he realized that they wouldn't return home. Tears began to pool in his eyes. "But we have families back home . . . they will think the worst when they realize we are missing . . ."

Everyone fell silent at Pedro's words. 

They hadn't thought about things clearly and in the heat of the moment, curiosity had gotten the better of them and changed their lives. 

It pained them to have all hope shattered that they could return to Earth. 

How would they survive in this world? 

Solana was right, they didn't belong here. Yet, here they were. Stuck in this environment that didn't suit them, especially with a princess who found them useless.

Hara spoke up after a few moments of pure and utter silence. "Is there a way we can send a message to Earth? We can't just let them believe we just disappeared, they have to know we are alright." She inquired, all eyes turning towards her.

"I am not sure," Solana sighed, massaging her temples with her fingers. This was giving her a headache. "There is a slight possibility that the Cerkoik may have developed or acquired such technology. However, that seems unlikely, we'd ever get a chance to acquire it at our current state."

Logan pushed up his glasses as his eyes swept over the table. "So, that means we are staying here, whether we like it or not? What will we do? Where will we go? You said yourself, "This isn't our fight."." He asked, addressing the Solari Princess with a skeptical voice.

Solana pressed her fingers into the bridge of her nose. "I have not thought that far. I did not figure you would be staying here, getting in my way, and putting your nose in places it should not be." She chided in reply to Logan's words. "In due time I will figure out what to do with you."

Hara turned her attention to everyone at the table. "We must take this opportunity and put it to good use. There was a reason Chenoa and Sammy had found the books that lead us here."

Logan hated to be a downer, but he had to be realistic. "Yeah, but we didn't tell anyone where we were going. We just left with Varian without permission, which let's just admit, wasn't a smart thing to do." He explained, pushing up his glasses again.

"That is true." Hara agreed, adding in a nod. "We didn't tell anyone. If we do ever return home we can accept the punishment our parents deem worthy, no matter how severe it is. But for right now we need to focus on the here and now, not on mistakes we made in the past that we can't change."

"I couldn't agree more." Fletcher agreed impressed with Hara's level-headedness. "Instead of looking at this from a negative way, let's look for the silver lining, hmm?" He asked, noticing how everyone was beginning to ponder what he and Hara had said.

Sammy's eyes brightened up as he bounced up and down in his seat. "Can we use the amenities of the castle-ship while we are here?" He asked, his heart filling up with hopefulness.

Solana pressed her lips into a thin line, furrowing her brows as she pondered on his question. "I suppose so, as long as you do not destroy anything or get in my way. But do not think for a second that I will need your help if you happen to find yourself useful." She indifferently commented with a scoff.

Luna's fingers ran along the edges of the codex on her lap. "Solana, have you been able to contact the Galactic Alliance?" She asked, wondering how far her sister had gotten considering Solana was dead set on contacting them.

Solana frowned as the words left Luna's lips. "Their channel is down. I can only surmise that the Cerkoik had gotten to them and forced them to take down everything. I suppose General Nox and I will have to go to the closest outpost and download some data."

Chenoa's eyes lit up as soon as those words left the Solari Princess' mouth. "Really? Take me with you. If anyone has got to hack in and leave no trace behind, it's me, I'm your girl." She excitedly exclaimed, standing up and placing her hands on the table.

'The audacity of the little earthling.' Solana thought and took a deep breath, trying to calm her annoyance. "I do not need your help. General Nox and I will be just fine gathering the information we need. The last thing I need to be concerned with is you messing everything up."

Chenoa crossed her arms, settling into a challenging stance. "Okay, then. If you're bringing General Nox then who is going to protect you?" She inquired, haughtiness laced her voice as she raised her eyebrows.

Solana couldn't believe she was going to reply. "General Nox. He is a decorated General and my father's right hand. He is more than capable of protecting me during our excursion."

Chenoa nodded slowly, resting her hand against her cheek. "Then who is going to stay behind and keep the aircraft running while you're inside?" She inquired, bringing up another flaw in her plan.

Solana opened her mouth to speak but realized she, unfortunately, had a point. "Do not think for a minute you have a right to gloat." She snapped, jabbing her finger at the dark-haired pre-teen. "Then, what do you propose I do?"

Chenoa smugly let her arms fall to her side then moved them on the table. "Well, I can help you download the information, and General Nox can stay in the aircraft. We can have Varian and Summer Dawn protect us since they're overqualified for the job." She suggested a little smirk growing on her lips. 

Varian's head snapped towards Chenoa the moment his name left her lips. "Who said you could nominate me?" He snapped defensively, standing up as the legs of his chair squealed against the floor.

Chenoa rolled her eyes and turned her body towards the Texan. "I just thought you'd like to show off your skills for once and maybe get a chance for some combat. If you don't want to that's fine, Summer Dawn is more than -" 

"No, I didn't say I wouldn't do it." Varian quickly cut her off. "I will do it." He said, sitting back down in his chair. "I am more than capable of protecting everyone here all by myself, not that I would."

Summer Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind helping but what about space suits? We obviously can't breathe in outer space. We'd die without oxygen." She inquired, wondering why no one had brought that up before.

Solana dug her nails into the top of the chair. "You are not the only one who cannot breathe without oxygen. I will acquire some space suits to aid us." She turned to Luna. "You can find something to keep the others out of my way, can you do that, little sister?"

Luna nodded with a bright smile and just as bright eyes. "I can! I would be more than happy too." She exclaimed, feeling happy that Solana was finally beginning to give her something to do.

Solana rolled her eyes at how perky her sister was. "I suppose that settles things. We will leave when I deem fit, which will not be any time soon. I will alert you when that time is at hand, meanwhile, I must make the necessary preparations." She pointed at her heels and walked out of the room.

Varian looked over at Luna who seemed anxious, bouncing on her heels and fidgeting with her fingers. "You can do it." He reached over and grabbed her hand while giving her an encouraging smile to boost her confidence. 

Luna placed the codex on the table and opened it. "I want you to become the next Celestial Guardians!" She declared with a smile, her eyes sweeping the table as she held her breath awaiting a reaction.

The room fell deathly silent. A mix of confusion and bewilderment at Luna's declaration painted across their expressions.

Malyla burst out in laughter, startling everyone in the room. "Oh, Luna, you're hilarious! Celestial Guardians? Us?" She waved her hand in the air and tipped her head back. "I get you to want to make us feel better about our predicament but come on Luna, Celestial Guardians? You don't have to make us feel better with such a ridiculous thing."

Luna's expression fell, and her eyes darted toward the codex before her. 'Do the others think that too? Should I have listened to Solana? Maybe I was wrong . . .' She asked herself, tears brimming in her eyes at Malyla's harsh words and laughter.

Varian placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a firm grip. He turned towards the table, specifically Malyla. "She's serious." He said, all eyes on him now. "I mean it, she's serious about us becoming the Celestial Guardians."

Fletcher, deciding to go about it the kind way, spoke up. "Luna, why do you want us to be Celestial Guardians? We're just regular humans, some are still in school and don't have much experience with life-or-death situations. It's a lot to ask." He softly inquired, his expression softening.

Luna looked up and took a deep, shaky breath as she plopped down in her chair. "I believe you were all brought here for a reason. Your fates intertwined together from the beginning for this very moment, by the choices you made. You were chosen to find my sister and I, to release us and aid us in this task. You wouldn't have been chosen if you weren't capable of handling the task. Mother believed in this: in the Celestial Guardians and the Chosen Ones."

"We must all become the next Celestial Guardians and take back the galaxy. Emperor Oucxian and the Cerkoik have been taking over the universe for 10,000 uinarians. Someone must put a stop to it, and that must be us! We have the codex, I have figured out the locations, we just need to start retrieving the artifacts and once together will show us where the other dragons are." She explained, holding her breath with anticipation. 

Malyla looked around the room, it was a mix of emotions. "Yeah, that's great and all but we're kids, we're not heroes, and isn't this super dangerous? We could die, you guys know that, right? Luna shouldn't be even suggesting such an impossible task." She declared condescendingly while crossing her arms over her chest.

Adel knew she was right. It was life or death and they were just kids. "Malyla has a point, Luna. You can't just ask us to risk our lives for a fight that isn't ours. It has nothing to do with us. If our parents found out we were doing this they'd kill us, like no kidding."

"They would," Pedro nodded, shivering at the thought of his Brazilian mom and her wrath. "Oh no! I didn't bring my jacket and she'll die if I don't get to talk to her every day, and-and I'm going to miss her soup when I'm sick because I get sick a lot! And, and I can't die, I can't do anything that could potentially lead to getting hurt or even dying!" He cried, slapping his hands on his cheeks with a mortified look.

Adel patted Pedro's shoulder and then moved to rub his back to calm him down. "Breathe, Pedro, take a few deep breaths, calm down." He coaxed, trying to calm down his hyperventilating friend.

Malyla motioned to Pedro who was still hyperventilating. "See? If Pedro's freaking out then you know this whole situation is whack, not gonna lie. This isn't our fight. Sorry Luna but I'm not going to do it. I will patiently wait until we can go home, nothing more, and nothing less." She said, standing up and walking out of the room.

Luna frowned as she placed her hand on her cheek after resting her elbow on the table. "I understand." She softly said, feeling a bit downcasted now that Malyla had left. "I understand if anyone else would want to leave too, I would not blame you."

Adel stood up and gave Luna an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Luna. I'd love nothing more than to live out my dream like I'd if I got into SERA, but Malyla is right. It's too dangerous. It's not something we can do in good conscious." He said, escorting Pedro towards the door.

Luna could feel her heart break even more when Adel and Pedro were leaving. "You may pick whichever of the bedrooms in the living quarters suits your preference." She softly told them, watching them walk out of the room. She turned towards Fletcher, her heart inching it's way up her throat. 

Fletcher was torn, understanding why the others left. However, being a doctor, he wanted to use this opportunity to learn more. "I'm not sure about being a Celestial Guardian, but I do know I can learn more about medicine and improve my skills while I'm here."

Sammy nodded, jumping up out of his seat with sparkling eyes. "I wanna help too! I figured I'm not going to be a Celestial Guardian because I'm too young, but I will gladly be the designated chef. My culinary skills will wow you to infinity and beyond." He grinned a toothy smile.

Luna's expression softened as she smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I can respect your choices." She was feeling a little better. "What about you?" She turned to the Desert Sands Prep students, excluding Varian.

"Count me in, Luna." Hara replied with a smile, while placing her hands on the table. "I'm sure I can handle becoming a Celestial Guardian, after all, it's no different than working for SERA after college, although I am to be an engineer, but how hard could it be saying the universe?" She proudly declared, crossing her arms. 

Logan thought about it for a moment, weighing his pros and cons. "I think it will be fun. I've always wanted to be a fighter pilot and I will finally get my chance. It's good practice for when we go back home for college, then I can show everyone how good I've become with some real life experience."

"Why not?" Summer Dawn nodded, a smile gracing her lips. "It most certainly dangerous, but not as dangerous as some of the things I've done: like taking on a full-fledged gang, a small one!" She smiled brightly with a giddy giggle. "I won, by the way. But I've always wanted to do something big to help people, and being a Celestial Guardian does just that. No matter how risky or dangerous it is, I will be more than willing to put my life on the line to the greater good."

Luna's eyes widened, stunned that they had agreed. "Honestly? You don't think I'm being presumptuous for asking such a huge task to be entrusted to children who could potentially die?" She asked, fidgeting with her fingers.

Summer Dawn pursed her lips while sucking in a deep breath which she held for a few moments before releasing. "It might be a little presumptuous to ask that of someone, especially to kids like Malyla, Adel, and Pedro who were thrown into this world unprepared and with no experience."

Hara exchanges looks with the others before turning to Luna. "We know the risks. We'd have similar risks working for SERA after we graduate. What's the difference between now or three years? Our parents knew the risks or else they wouldn't have allowed us to attend the academy with the promise to go straight into college after graduation." She commented with a shrug of her shoulders.

Chenoa perked up when she realized something. "Does that mean I get to be a Celestial Guardian too since there are a few spots open now?" She asked, scooting to the edge of her seat and gripping the armrest on the chair.

Luna smiled softly, and giggled at how Chenoa seemed to suggest she could be a Celestial Guardian too. "Unfortunately you are too young and you are a Chosen One, it is not your battle to fight. You will be monumental in helping with your technical skills since that is what Solana and I lack." She politely explained to the youngest girl, hoping she wouldn't be mad.

"Bummer but I can accept that." Chenoa nodded, turning to Varian who had remained rather quiet apart from speaking up after Solana left. "What about you, Mr. Hot Shot?"

Varian rolled her eyes, hesitating about giving them a response. "I was already on board with being a Celestial Guardian since I planned on staying here while you return home." He reminded them, crossing his arms. 

Hara glanced around the table and looked back at Luna. "How will we do it without your sister noticing? She's not very keen on the idea of all of the Celestial Guardians' stuff. I doubt you can convince her." 

Luna didn't take long to think about Hara's question. "We disguise it as a trip to gather resources. If you must stay here we have to have food to eat and herbs to use as medicine. Fletcher and Sammy would be on these tasks because it would not raise suspicion." She replied with a sweet smile on her lips. 

Sammy rubbed his chin as he listened attentively. "That's right. Fletcher is a doctor and I'm a wannabe chef, so it's reasonable to go scavenging for means of survival. Princess Solana wouldn't think anything of it, would she?" He inquired, tilting his head to the side.

Fletcher could picture it now, which wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing. "No, she wouldn't. But is it a good idea to hide something like this from your sister? If she were to find out before you admitted it to her, she wouldn't be too pleased and it could end up doing extensive damage."

Luna sighed softly, knowing fully well he was right. "No, it is not a particularly good thing to keep from her, however, we do not have a choice. We will tell her when the time is right - when we have the artifacts then she can realize we are serious about the Celestial Guardians and the others will come around too perhaps."

Hara had gotten all the information she needed. "So, where do you find the artifacts?" She asked, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hand after resting her elbow on the table.

Luna's eyes sparkled as soon as that question left Hara's lips. "I am glad you asked. We already have Citrine and Obsidian, so we do not have to go look for them or their artifacts. However, the other planets, not much is known about them since they are not in our galaxy as I had thought, but what little knowledge I do know I will save for our trip. It will be good to pass the time when traveling."

"Anywho, upon further investigation I have found that they are located across the galaxy."

"First, we have the Garnet Celestial Artifact located on Planet Isse. The Sapphire Celestial Artifact is located on Planet Trurzu. The Goshenite Artifact is located on Planet Sneobia. The Rhodonite Artifact is located on Planet Qwarjaioke. The Spessartine Artifact is located on Planet Nienn. The Prehnite Artifact is located on Planet Thul'at. The Apatite Artifact is located on Planet Dhai. And lastly, the Amethyst Artifact is located on Planet Phalphid." She listed off without looking at the codex.

Logan felt dizzy. He removed his glasses and set them down on the table and rubbed his temples trying to comprehend what was just given to him. "Do you happen to know their colors?" He inquired, putting his glasses back on.

Varian rolled his eyes. Of course, it was Logan who had to ask. "Citrine is yellow, clearly common knowledge as well as Garnet is red and Sapphire is dark blue. Obsidian is blackish purple. Amethyst is purple. Goshenite is white. Prehnite is green. Rhodonite is pinkish gray. Spessartine is orange. Apatite is light blue. Does that answer your question?"

Logan nodded, flashing a sheepish smile. "Yes, that certainly does. Forgive me I'm not into gems and crystals, but my sister Daisy is." He explained, feeling a bit nostalgic at the memory. 

Chenoa shook her head, leaning back in her chair and popping a few pieces of trail mix into her mouth. "So, the Celestial Dragons and Artifacts are all a different color in the rainbow . . . that's kinda cool. Imagine how colorful a Celestial Guardian is."

Luna softly clapped her hands together after allowing Chenoa to finish. "So, after Solana has her trip to gather intel, I will bring this to her for our recourse gathering of course. In the meantime, you can train on our training grounds. We have a plethora of weapons at your disposal, perhaps some you have not heard of before."

Summer Dawn's eyes lit up brightly at the mention of a plethora of weapons. "Really?" She exclaimed, her voice full of excitement. "Well, if we are done here I need to do some training, especially if I'm going to prove to Princess Solana I'm able to protect her." She scooted out of her chair and dashed off.

Chenoa pushed back her chair and stood up, slapping her hands on her thighs. "I'm going to go practice hacking on Celestine technology. I need to practice and up my game in case anything were to happen I wasn't prepared for." She gave a two-finger salute to the group before following Summer Dawn.

Hara shoved the rest of her trail mix in her mouth. "I'm going to go start fixing up the castle-ship since a lot of this place wasn't completed." She waved as she left the room. "Bye Luna!"

Luna watched as everyone but Varian left for their reserved places. "Oh, Fletcher, Sammy, I have gathered items from the royal vault along with books for you each. One in the infirmary and one in the kitchen." She politely added, holding the codex close to her chest.

Fletcher exchanged looks with Sammy, then back to Luna and smiled. "Thank you, Luna. We will enjoy them and use them." He said to the both of them as they departed from the dining hall.

Varian turned to Luna now that they were the only two there. "Are you sure you will be able to handle whatever is thrown your way now that you've told them your plans?" He inquired softly, which was not a tone he was used to.

Luna sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out. "I am. Mother and Father sent my sister and I away for this very purpose. If Solana won't take on the task, I, as a Princess of Celestine, must take it on come whatever may." She vowed, placing her hand over her chest.

🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑

A/N:
So sorry this took a while. I had to do a lot of rewriting and taking stuff out. This chapter wasn't exactly the easiest to write, especially with keeping the reactions realistic and who would be doing it all. I will eventually polish it and make it better but that's once I get more feedback on what to improve.

Chapter Talk:
You'll slowly learn more about the alien races I said. I have yet to create them. lol I just now came up with the names, so it may be a while before we actually get to finding the artifacts. I wanna try to expand on the characters and them adjusting to this new life they are going to have to live. Plus, I want to show more of Planet Celestine too.

Thanks for reading!