Searching For Answers
Carmine got to work contacting his old entourage who worked for the Enchantra High Commission (EHC), and asked them to search their database for any Enchanted criminals with power to enslave people with butterflies.
Meanwhile, Gabby and Qui-Gon travelled to the planet Aurelia with Carousella, Peppermint, and Master Plo, who was a great pilot who didn't crash ships. According to Boba, the woman he saw enslaving his family in the vision enslaved them all at the same time, so their best bet for the moment was to remain apart until they learned how to defeat her.
Gabby looked at a book about the kingdom of Solaris, which held a picture of the royal family's old castle. It was built with white bricks and had a dome and towers of gold and diamond crystals.
"Wow, Solaris used to be so beautiful." Gabby said.
"And it can be once again," said Qui-Gon. "But first we must uncover the secrets of our ancestral kingdom's enemies."
Carousella went to check on the navigation and confirmed they would be arriving very soon.
"You are certain the coordinates were correct, Carousella?" Plo asked Carousella once more.
"Absolutely." Carousella nodded. "Princess Abigail's parents know navigation of ancient and new kingdoms better than anyone on Aurelia. Solaris was a neighboring kingdom to theirs, and thus they held the best source of information."
"Remember," said Peppermint. "We equines are born with a natural sense of direction. And together we'll find the answers we need."
"Hopefully by now, Carmine will have found out something about this butterfly woman that will be helpful." Obi-Wan said.
"I wouldn't have guessed butterflies could be used for something so scary." Gabby said.
"Most would not believe adorable little girls could create serious damage on their own." Qui-Gon tapped his granddaughter's nose. "Do you recall the time you turned the Temple into an ice rink?"
Gabby laughed as she recalled. "Touche, Grandfather."
"We are landing at our destination." Plo announced. "Everyone be prepared to land."
The ship soon came in for a landing on what appeared to be a field of grass.
The horses were first to exit. Qui-Gon carried Gabby out of the ship with the other adults following.
Everyone looked around and saw that plants were starting to grow in what looked like it used to be just plain dirt and dead land. And when Gabby stepped on the ground, more grasses began to grow.
"Whoa. Look at all this." the child gasped. She touched a dead tree, and it sprouted to life with beautiful blossoms.
"It appears now that members of the royal family have returned here, it has strengthened the restoration magic of the kingdom." Obi-Wan hypothesized. "And it may depend on the type of magic one holds."
"But it does not look like we have any effect on the structural foundations of this kingdom." Qui-Gon said, noticing what looked like a damaged playground.
The playground looked like a tornado had hit it, and so did the village the group passed through. There were no people around, but a few critters did pass through occasionally. Namely a couple birds and squirrels. And a cute little chipmunk.
Gabby looked in her Solaris culture and history book.
"According to this, Solaris's most sacred animals were blue jays, which represent loyalty and empathy, butterflies for hope, and the alicorn for freedom and spirit." Gabby said. "And back in the days of Queen Serafina and King Reginald, they had a loyal steed named Majesty, who was sent for Reginald when he was a young prince from Equinaro's Ride of Love Ceremony."
"Huh. I guess the Ride of Love really has helped a lot of people for centuries." Carousella said. "I wonder if any of my ancestors knew yours. Or were royal guards."
"We'll do a genealogical search on your family once we complete our search for our family's history." Qui-Gon promised. "For now, we would do best to search for answers first in the castle."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Peppermint asked.
"I'm not sure yet." said Gabby. "But we have to find anything that could be a clue of my family history. A diary, royal documents, historical artifacts."
"We should split up." Qui-Gon said.
The royals thought it best that everyone have at least one Enchanted with them just in case. So, Obi-Wan went with Peppermint to check through the village, Plo went with Carousella to search for remains in the woods, and Gabby went with her grandfather to the castle.
Carousella took to the air while Master Plo stuck to the ground to search for anything that would serve as evidence of what happened to the ancestral Solarans.
The Jedi and equine looked around for anything. An artifact, remains of people who were left behind, anything.
"Do you see anything from up there, Carousella?" Plo shouted.
"Nothing but trees, dirt, and... hey!" Carousella dove to the ground as she spotted something beautiful.
Master Plo followed the musicorn down a path, where she stopped at a spot where the sun shined on some beautiful flowers. They were golden with colors of orange and pink with light hints of purple, like a beautiful sunset. Carousella recognized these flowers. They were poinsunnas, a native plant to Solaris. Poinsunnas only grew in temperate environments with lots of sunshine but not excessive heat. That was why it was hard to find them in most other Enchantra kingdoms, but they grew all over Solaris when it was fully alive.
"I haven't seen a poinsunna flower since I was a filly." Carousella said.
"What properties do this flower hold?" Plo asked.
"The nectar of a poinsunna is great for healing illnesses and injuries. And tea made from their roots makes a very soothing sleep inducer. Some believe when you inhale the pollen, it wakes you up like a beautiful sunrise within your heart and soul."
The two of them decided they should take one of these poinsunnas and plant the seeds somehwere. Carousella dug around the flower carefully with her hoof and guided Master Plo on how to carefully harvest it, as the poinsunna's roots were very fragile.
Meanwhile, Peppermint and Obi-Wan searched all around the villages, mostly finding homes that were completely abandoned.
"I can't hardly imagine how terrifying it must have been for the people of this village." Obi-Wan said. "I still cannot believe my Padawans' and Master's ancestors came from here."
"Well, it is a classic type of story." said Peppermint. "Someone grows up believing they are just an ordinary guy or girl, only to one day find out they are royalty. It would leave anyone shocked."
"True."
Obi-Wan froze when he came across a house that had a crib inside of it. Whoever lived there last obviously must have had a baby, or at least been expecting one. He started to think of his relationship with Satine. They still hadn't set the date for their wedding. The Enchanted might have saved her from Maul, but there were still Death Watchers roaming around her home planet. Thus, until it was safe for her to return, he and some friends were keeping her and her nephew Korkie safe while Satine's sister Bo-Katan led her squad and the Enchanteds to find and arrest the remains of Death Watch.
Before, when the old Jedi Code was still around, Obi-Wan found himself in a quandary when the mission on Mandalore ended. And sadly, Obi-Wan made the decision of ignoring his heart and returning to the Jedi. He sometimes wondered how his life might've turned out differently. But now, he was granted the miracle of being able to soon call her his wife, and he hoped that they would have a baby of their own as well. Even before he knew Anakin was a father, he'd seen how wonderful of an experience it was, and got to join Anakin as well as many other Jedi who grew close to Gabby on the journey of getting to watch her grow. From her first words, her first steps, seeing that baby smile for the first time, and leading all the way up to now. She was now a crown princess, six years old, and becoming a very smart young lady. It wouldn't be long before she became a teenager like her brother was about to be, and become queen of Naboo. Or queen of Solaris. Or both. It was uncertain who the next ruler of Solaris would be after Qui-Gon. As the current king's eldest child, it seemed natural that Anakin would be next in line for the throne. But, he wasn't yet sure if the family had talked about that, or familiar with the succession laws of Solaris.
"Thinking of having a family of your own?" Peppermint said, breaking Obi-Wan's train of thought.
"Perhaps." Obi-Wan said. "Raising Anakin was the closest experience I had in being a father. But, I don't know if I would be any good as one."
"Why would you think that? Anakin turned out pretty good, didn't he? And Gabby always comes running when she sees you, no matter how big she's gotten."
"Perhaps, but I was never good at having Anakin open up to me as his wife or his daughter." Obi-Wan sighed. "His teenage years were some of the hardest."
"What about when he went through puberty?" said Peppermint. "Isn't Boba already starting to go through that?"
"Yes, that is a hard time in any child's life. Growing up is never easy for anyone." Obi-Wan said. "Jedi, civilian, royal... it's a difficult journey. One moment, you're a small youngling innocently living and not knowing the harsh parts of life, and then you are grown up and have to figure things out on your own."
"True. We're all growing up."
Peppermint was already nineteen, Carousella was twelve now, Remix just turned sixteen, and Crescent had officially turned eighteen just a week ago, making two equines of age already. The kids, on the other hand, were facing different things. If it wasn't because he felt left out, Boba avoided talking sometimes lately because he was going through the voice changing part of growing up. Gabby was now facing the pressure of learning to be a queen more than ever, and Lamenta had to get used to being swarmed by cameras now that she was officially a princess to the public. Her father might as well tell everyone he was Count Crescendo too. But, Carmine said that before he did that, he had something more important to take care of... and everyone had a feeling it had to do with his and Caroline's upcoming wedding anniversary.
Seeing as there didn't seem to be anything in the village, Peppermint and Obi-Wan looked around more and found a museum. There was bound to be something in there. Peppermint's mother was a historian in Equinaro, and had taken Peppermint and her sisters to work at the museum. In the basement, they had artifacts that had yet to be added to the exhibits, as archeologists were still studying them.
"I know exactly where to look." Peppermint said. "My mom used to show me all kinds of things in the basement."
"You search there, I'll see what I can find in the upper level." Obi-Wan said.
Peppermint and Obi-Wan hoof-fist bumped each other and went their separate ways.
Gabby and Qui-Gon finally arrived at the castle. It did not look as glamourous as the picture in Gabby's book.
"This castle used to be so beautiful."
The walls were so filthy, the golden towers were severely damaged, and the diamond crystal dome had a big hole in it. The rest of the palace was also pretty messy too. There were broken artifacts, skeletons in what must have been royal guard armor, and old paintings of past royal families.
Qui-Gon and Gabby roamed the halls of what used to be their ancestors' home.
"This was where my mother was born." Qui-Gon said sadly. "She never got to experience the life she was born to live."
"Maybe not." Gabby said. "But from what Uncle Carmine has said about her, she was happy with the life she had. Sure, their apartment was no luxury palace, but they had each other, and that was all they needed. A roof over your head doesn't need towers, royal guards, or even a dome of diamonds to be a castle. It's like you say, Grandpa, home is where the heart is. And where you feel at home, no matter where it is, that home is your castle."
Qui-Gon smiled at his granddaughter and kissed her head.
"You've certainly inherited your mother's wisdom, as well as your grandmother Shmi's kind heart." He said. "Naboo will be very fortunate to one day call you its queen."
"Well, we're lucky to have you as the king of our family. So, I guess you could say I learned from the best. Now, where would we find Grandfather Reginald's quarters? There's bound to be something in there."
"His quarters isn't the only possible place. Most castles tend to have a library. And if my knowledge of past kings and queen's is correct, many did their writings in studies."
"Yeah... and lots of castle in some of my movies had secret passages. Maybe this one has some too."
So, Gabby started feeling the walls and pulling anything that could be a lever, but found no secret passages, so she and her grandfather kept searching through different rooms of the castle... or what was left of them.
Gabby sneezed like crazy when Qui-Gon picked up the dusty bed sheets from what used to be King Reginald and Queen Serafina's room.
"Clearly the laundry has not been done for a hundred years!" Gabby sneezed again, which made a bunch of daisies pop out of the floor.
Qui-Gon was sneezing too from all the dust. But he managed to check under the pillows, as that had been where he hid things when he was young, but found nothing except more dust.
"Nothing-achoo!-here either. Achoo!"
"ACHOO! Maybe we should-achoo- get out of here before we-achoo!" Gabby said between sneezes. "Before we sneeze magic all over."
Gabby sneezed again, but then tripped on something, and accidentally popped open a wardrobe closet, which dumped a bunch of coats and accessories on her.
"Gabriella!" Qui-Gon exclaimed.
He reached into the pile and found his granddaughter wearing a pink jacket that was obviously way too big for her, and a matching floppy hat.
"I wanna grow into this thing." Gabby said, liking the jacket she somehow ended up in.
Qui-Gon chuckled as his granddaughter pretended to be a model in the big jacket when he suddenly noticed a box of some kind in the wardrobe. It was a beautiful lavender box with gold lines on it and little blue jays painted on it.
"What could possibly be in here?" Qui-Gon wondered out loud.
"Maybe it's jewelry that belonged to Queen Serafina." Gabby guessed, her new hat falling over her eyes.
However, there was a lock on it.
"You wouldn't happen to be wearing any bobby pins in your hair, would you?"
"I wear my hair down all the time, remember? I've only worn scrunchies those few times I wore pigtails or a ponytail." Gabby said. "But..."
Gabby looked into her backpack and found... a paperclip.
"You don't have bobby pins, but you have a paperclip?"
"I found it earlier." Gabby shrugged, then she used the paperclip to pick the lock and open the box.
But... there was no jewelry inside. Instead, there was a journal... a diary. And it belonged to Queen Alani Starling, mother of King Reginald Starling and preceding ruler of Solaris.
Gabby picked the diary out from the box and opened it up. It dated back to almost a hundred and forty years ago.
Dear Future Descendants...
Today marks a wonderful day. A day where I have just learned I am expecting my first child. A child I know will grow up to be a wonderful king or queen someday. Should I have a daughter, she will be named Isabelle after my mother. But if I have a son, I will call him Reginald. The name of my grandfather, the wonderful man who raised me after my parents' tragic passing in the fire.
In this journal, I plan to write down everything I learn in my time as queen, and hopefully teach my future child these lessons as well. Already, I have saved a special journal for my baby, which I plan to gift to him on his or her sixteenth birthday. With any hope, they will grow to make Solaris a home for future generations, and I hope my descendants will eventually carry on this tradition as well.
Gabby skipped a few pages to the back of the journal and found something else... and it dated to the time Solaris was lost.
Dear Future Descendants...
Today is a tragic day for Solaris.
Our kindgom has been overrun by many forces of dark magic. My son Reginald and his Queen Serafina have been forced to send their daughter Miranda away to secure any hope for our kingdom. I do not have much time, so I will be brief as I write this.
For months, our kindgom has been in war with a team of villains who have sought to rid Enchantra and the Galaxy of Solaran magic. Solaris has been one of the most powerful sources of magic for centuries, and many dark forces have come to the conclusion that if they can get rid of us, they can take over the galaxy. Among these villains are these people who call themselves the Sith, who are apparently the opposite of the peacekeepers called Jedi, with whom my daughter-in-law was once acquainted before she married my son.
But the worst villain we have here is the villainous Red Morpho, a Doresho Gypsy who has managed to enslave our own people into fighting against us against their will. I do not know how we can defeat them. But we will continue to fight until our last breaths to save our home. If someday my future descendants should find this journal, I wish them the best of fortune and pray they shall be the miracle our kingdom needs to survive.
"A Doresho Gypsy?" Gabby said, confused. "I've never heard of those before."
"Neither have I." said Qui-Gon.
Just then, Gabby's E-Phone and Qui-Gon's communicator rang. Carmine and Lamenta were calling.
Gabby answered her phone.
"Cuz, my daddy just got the results!" Lamenta said.
"We'll gather everyone so we can hear the results together, son." Qui-Gon told his son before hanging up.
Gabby picked up the box and packed up the journal and whatever jackets she liked from the wardrobe that she could fit into her bag.
"Do you really need to go thrift shopping now?" Qui-Gon said.
"Hey, there's nothing here that says we can't take a few souvenirs. It's not like their old owners are gonna miss them. And they're not all for me. I know a few friends and family who would like some of this stuff."
Meanwhile, Peppermint found something interesting in the museum basement. Something she did not expect.
She had found a book titled The Art of Inter-Dimensional Travels. Peppermint had heard stories about traveling between universes before, but that was all she and many thought they were. And Obi-Wan, while searching the artifacts upstairs, discovered an ancient scepter... or a replica of it anyway. A dark scepter that was said to be used to drain an Enchanted of their magic powers.
"What if this scepter is the one Boba saw in the vision?" Peppermint suggested fearfully.
"Then we must find out how to stop this."
That was when Obi-Wan's comm beeped as his old master was contacting him and the others to get back to the ship.
The crew arrived back at the ship and did a holo-transmission with Carmine and Lamenta.
"We've confirmed the identity of the woman who took Rosella." Carmine explained, pulling up a picture of Lady Morpha. "She's a dangerous Doresho Gypsy named Lady Grayolanda Morphira, who calls herself Gray Morpha."
"I've never even heard of Doresho Gyspsies." said Carousella.
"That's because they're incredibly rare. Only once every two hundred years has one ever been seen. But despite their rarity, they are known to be extremely dangerous."
According to Carmine's research, Doresho Gypsies were known to have the power of enslaving people with magical moths called moth bites. No creature was immune to their spell. And so far, Carmine had no idea how to defeat them. For people under the trance, it was near impossible for them to break themselves out.
"Because Doresho Gypsy attacks are so rare, there's no reliable information available on how precisely to defeat them." Carmine said. "But most dark spells have very simple weaknesses."
"Like what?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Among the most common ways to release a victim from a dark spell are... clapping in front of their face, a blast of light magic, or spraying water in the face. But we can't know for certain until we face Lady Morpha or find another reliable source of info."
Gabby took note of that in her notebook.
"Well, Grandpa and I just found a diary. It belonged to Queen Alani, King Reginald's mother." Gabby said. "Uncle Carmine, remember that box you said your grandma Miranda gave you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Did she leave anything in there like a journal or anything that might've been connected to her parents?"
Carmine thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, I might've seen a journal or two in there that I didn't open. I'll take a look."
"Meanwhile, we should ask Boba about the scepter he saw in Bruno's vision." Obi-Wan said. "He did say he saw her holding one in the vision."
"Can I see that picture of the scepter?" Carmine asked.
Peppermint showed the picture.
"I've seen that one. It's been kept in the EHC's vault for decades. No one can get in there." Carmine said. "It's magical shields and motion-detector-based system is virtually impenetrable."
"We should probably see again in his vision." Gabby said. "But until then, our family should probably try to avoid being in one place at the same time unless Mommy and Aunt Caroline are with us, since that bad thing happened when they weren't there."
"We'll talk to Bruno later," said Lamenta.
"We're headed back to the Temple now. Any news on Rosella?"
"No, but Rex called and said Echo found out something odd happening with him. Something about being able to talk to machines?"
Everyone was confused. Carmine shrugged.
"I didn't get it at first either. Rex said it would be better if Echo could tell you himself."
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