2298
Milky Way Galaxy
Planet Earth 
Brooklyn, New York
Stone Brooke Apartment Complex, Apartment #1501
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Malyla leaned back against the couch, popping a cheese ball into her mouth. "Finally! I'm done!" She victoriously cheered, a smile graced her lips and a small content sigh followed. "I think I may be ready for the big test."

Pedro looked up, zipping up his pencil case and tossing it into his backpack. "Wow, you sound pretty confident," He noted, gathering up his homework into a neat little pile.

Malyla reached for another cheese ball. "I suppose I'm just ready for school to be over with. Senior year is probably the hardest year, especially with everyone worrying about grades and which colleges will accept them. One thing I don't have to worry about."

Zaheer anxiously looked between Pedro and Malyla, twirling his pencil between his fingers. "College is a big deal, especially if you're going into a field like aviation and aeronautics." He hinted, emphasizing the two words.

Pedro turned to Malyla. "Still don't know what you're gonna do? It's fine if you don't. I'm bouncing between ideas since I am not set on a career or college." He asked, grabbing a piece of butter cracker and laying a layer of cheese and turkey then popping it in his mouth.

"No, I don't." Malyla replied, shaking her hand and rolling a cheese ball between her thumb and index finger.. I'll figure it out come graduation. I don't think my grades will get me into anything but community college."

Fletcher, who had been silently brushing up on his medical textbook, pulled his eyes away and looked at Malyla. "Community college isn't all that bad. It's more affordable and closer to home, besides, you haven't made up your mind on what you wish to do." He pointed out, closing the book and setting it beside him.

Sammy, with his tongue sticking out slightly, stood at the dining room table trying to wedge a meat cleaver between the front cover and pages of the book, trying to pry it open. "Come on," He mumbled under his breath.

Malyla turned towards her brother and got up off the floor. "Sammy, you're going to hurt yourself." She said, walking over to him and holding out her hand so he could place the knife in it. "Hand it over."

Sammy frowned, grudgingly he set the knife in her hand and sighed. "It won't come open. It's like someone glued the pages together." He whined, plopping down in one of the chairs at the table. 

Malyla glanced at the book and then toward her brother. "Maybe it's just a prop. It doesn't look like anything, maybe even elven, something from a movie or TV series. It's probably not meant to be opened so stop." She bluntly said, recoiling when she realized her words may have been too harsh.

Sammy didn't find them harsh. It was something that never crossed his mind before. "You're probably -" Before he could finish the book suddenly opened, pages flipping at a rapid speed and stopping at a blank. "Ah~" He yelped, jumping out of his chair.

Malyla jumped back in reflex to Sammy, dropping the knife onto the tile floor with a clang. "Oh my goodness, did that just -" She cut herself off, pulling her brother away from the book and against the counter. "It just opened by itself!"

Fletcher jumped off the couch, followed by Pedro and Zaheer hastily. "What happened?" He asked, looking at the now open book on the table and then over to Sammy and Malyla's white faces. "Are you guys okay?"

Sammy weakly nodded, holding onto Malyla for dear life. "Uh huh," He hummed, still reeling from being scared half to death by the book's sudden opening and page flipping. "Th-the book just opened by itself! The pages flipped by themselves!" He exclaimed, pointing to it. "It's haunted!"

Fletcher glanced at the book then at Malyla and Sammy. He knelt in front of them and took their hands in his. "I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for what happened. It's certainly not haunted. Ghosts are real." He reassured them in a kind soft voice.

Zaheer walked over to the book. "That is weird. A book just doesn't open by itself, let alone pages flipping - whoa!" He cut himself off as a map of New York City appeared. "Now that's freaky."

Malyla wasn't too sure she'd trust a book that Sammy couldn't get open and then it just suddenly opened by itself. "Freaky. Yes, more reason to toss the book into the trash, or better yet, burn it. Having a book like that won't bring anything good."

Sammy frowned looking over at his sister. "No way! No one is touching the book, it's mine!" He exclaimed, grabbing the book and holding it protectively against his chest. 

Fletcher narrowed his eyes at Malyla, a frown deepening on his lips. "What has gotten into you? No one is doing anything to the book. Yes, it's weird it opened by itself and now there is a map. But, there are many explanations. Technology is advancing, we have more advanced holograms that can interact with the crowd, not just on stage."

Sammy nodded wholeheartedly at what Fletcher said. "Yeah! Whatever is going on there's a good explanation for it! I can't help but feel drawn to it and yeah that might be silly but it is true!" He exclaimed, setting the book back down on the table. 

"This is so cool! I don't care how it opened or flipped the pages, this book is awesome!" Pedro then noticed a light flickering on the map and pointed it out with his finger. "Look! There's a flashing light on the map!" 

Malyla crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "That sounds crazy. A book wants us to go to heaven knows where? Don't be ridiculous. This is probably a joke or prank or something." 

Fletcher stood up and walked over to the book. "Oh, I know where that is. That's one of the old abandoned subway stations. If I remember correctly, after an earthquake some odd years ago, it partly collapsed and then just closed it off, making a new one."

Sammy pulled away from Malyla and picked up the book. "We should go check it out. It could be nothing but I have a feeling it's something important." He looked at the others, feeling an invisible force pulling him.

Pedro spoke up before anyone else could speak. "If Sammy thinks it's important, I believe him. He's got good intuition." He excitedly explained. "It could be nothing, but it's better to check it out and there is strength in numbers."

Fletcher remained quiet for a while as he weighed his options. "I don't see the harm. The abandoned subway station is safe, for the most part. If Sammy thinks it's something we should check out, I believe him." He reached our and ruffled Sammy's hair.

Sammy smiled, so happy everyone was on board. "Then we need to get ready! We don't know what this map will show us! So, let's be prepared!" He exclaimed as everyone went to pack up their backpacks with anything they'd need. 

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The group stood at the glass building before them holding the abandoned subway station.

Malyla looked around at the desolate space around them. "Isn't breaking and entering a crime?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Pedro scoffed, grabbing onto one of the boards and lifting it off the ground. "How is breaking and entering a crime when we aren't breaking and entering. We are just lifting the boards enough to walk down." He explained, Zaheer helped him.

Fletcher took the board from the others and held it as they all went down the stairs. "Be careful." He said, following after them after slowly setting it back down from the inside. "Flashlights on, it's dark down here."

Flashlights flicked on as Sammy walked down the steps before Fletcher and Pedro checked with the map that this was the place. 

As soon as he stepped off the stairs onto the floor the map adjusted itself to pictures of the layout of the inside of the subway station. 

"Okay, it's showing us heading down the tracks, and about a mile there, there should be a service door and whatever is in there is what we're looking for." Sammy explained, pointing towards the direction they needed to go.

Fletcher walked down through the gates and down the stairs, the others following him. "Be careful, it's a little dark and hard to see." He told them, using his flashlight on the floor where he stepped. "Stay behind me, okay?" He asked, rhetorically of course.

Pedro walked beside Sammy, his flashlight scanning the floor. "It's kinda creepy at night when it's abandoned." He mused, holding onto Sammy's arm and guiding him down the stairs. "It's eerily quiet except for our voices echoing."

Malyla rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose at the musty smell. "Am I the only one seeing red flags?" She inquired, crossing her arms.

"Malyla, if you keep being pessimistic, maybe we will." Fletcher chided, jumping down on the tracks and helping the others down. "Try being a little optimistic."

As soon as the group gathered on the tracks and faced the opening of the tunnel, beautiful golden yellow swirl markings lit up on the walls and down the tunnel, illuminating the dark. The colors stopped about ten feet away, encircling an old door on the side of the tunnel in a square design.

"Wow, okay, that's freaky!" Sammy exclaimed and looked at the book. "It wants us to go through the door," He said, pointing from the door in his book to down the eliminated tunnel.

Fletcher stepped in front of everyone, looking back at the kids. "Stay behind me once again and keep close." He instructed, walking beside Sammy who was looking at the book. "You too, kiddo, behind me." 

Sammy looked up from the book and smiled, nodding his head as he stepped back behind Fletcher. As they inched closer the writings on the book started to fade and at a certain point snapped closed. "Well, I guess we're on our own from here on out."

Fletcher stepped over some broken rail ties. "What are these markings? How come no one else has seen them before?" He wondered, reaching his hand out and touching it, only to be met by the texture of the tunnel wall.

He walked up the steps to an old service room, the others following behind him. He put his hands on the door and pulled, the rusted door slowly creaked open, just enough to allow them to slip on through. 

He put his hand out to stop Pedro from going in first. "I'll go first. Stay here." He said, slipping through the door. He flashed his flashlight around to see rubble all around him. "There was certainly an earthquake here." He mumbled, venturing in. "It's safe, just be careful."

Pedro followed after Fletcher, then Sammy, Zaheer, and lastly Malyla. His eyes widened as he looked around for anything out of the ordinary. "Uh, I'm not seeing anything." He mumbled disappointedly. He walked over to some rubble and started to move some of the concrete blocks out of the way.

Malyla rushed over and grabbed his hands. "Pedro stop!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You shouldn't be touching this stuff. You could get tendinitis!" She pointed her flashlight at the rusted barbed wire.

Pedro frowned, narrowing his eyes at Malyla. "I know what I'm doing! Will you just stop it!" He snapped, pushing another piece of rubble out of his way. "I see something glowing, it kinda looks golden but I can't see all this rubble."

Fletcher walked over and bent down at Pedro's level, looking where he was. "I see it too." He looked back at Zaheer and Malyla. "Can you guys help clear some of this?" He asked as they came over and then turned to Sammy. "Sammy, stay back."

After clearing out the majority of the rubble, they saw a hole in the floor that led to what seemed to be another tunnel. 

Malyla leaned over and looked down, seeing the golden light coming from the hole. "I guess we are going to go down, huh?" She asked, wanting to add a sarcastic comment but refrained.

Fletcher nodded, jumping down into the hole. "Be careful," He said, looking back up at them and keeping his back towards the glowing light. "One at a time." He informed, helping Sammy down first, Pedro next, Zaheer, and lastly Malyla. 

Sammy's eyes lit up at the citrine floating gem at the end of the tunnel in what seemed to be a cavern about one foot from them. "Wow!" He was at a loss for words, never had he ever seen something like that before.

Fletcher jumped down into the cavern to get a better look at the gem. "This is what the book was leading us to?" He asked, walking around it and looking at it from different angles. "I think someone is inside."

Malyla, for once, had wide eyes and slack-jawed. "Is - it that an yellow gem floating in the air . . ." She trailed off, jumping down and standing beside Fletcher. "You're right! How is that even possible!" She exclaimed, her eyes never leaving the gem.

Pedro could only make some inhumane noises of utter bewilderment mixed with shock. 'H-how? W-who? W-what?' He thought, stuttering in his thoughts. 

Zaheer on the other hand was more curious than anything. He paced around the gem with a thoughtful look on his face. "This is like something out of a sci-fi novel," He mused, speaking for everyone. "How do we get it to -" He pondered just as the gem suddenly started to descend.

The gem touched the ground and then dematerialized right before their eyes. Inside was Princess Solana who was unconscious, or at least appeared to be. 

Pedro could hardly believe his eyes, surprised noises escaped from his lips. "Is this real or am I dreaming?" He questioned his sanity, having a hard time fathoming what just happened.

As soon as her feet touched the ground her eyes snapped open, then she slipped a dagger out from her belt and into her hand which she put against Fletcher's throat. "Who are you? How did you find me? Did the Cerkoik send you to find me? Was Emperor Oucxian behind this!?" She snapped, her eyes narrowed.

Fletcher tensed up at the dagger to his throat. "Whoa. I think there is a misunderstanding. I'm Fletcher, that is Pedro, Zaheer, Malyla, and her younger brother Sammy -" 

Sammy butted in rather quickly before Fletcher could say another word. "This book led us to you," He offered the book to show her, not moving from his place. "We don't know who the Cerkoik are or this Emperor Oucxian."

Solana looked at the book. It seemed familiar somehow but she couldn't place her finger on it. These strange people were similar to her kind, however, their hair seemed to follow along the natural line, rounded ears and pale to brown skin tones, and earthy eye colors. 

She could let her guard down just a little since she had deemed them not a threat. "So you weren't sent here by the Cerkoik?" She asked, searching their faces while she waited for them to answer. 

Malyla shook her head, speaking for everyone as she replied to Solana's question. "No, we have no clue who that is." She shrugged her shoulders as the others nodded their heads along.

Solana withdrew the dagger from Fletcher's neck and put it back in her belt in its sheath. "Forgive me. Before I was sent away, here, my planet was under attack so I might be a little on offense." She forcefully admitted through gritted teeth.

Pedro tilted his head to the side, trying to comprehend what she just said. "Okay, back up. Let's start at the beginning, who are you?" He asked, speaking for everyone who was wondering the same thing.

Solana sighed softly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm Princess Solana Veianiseiané, the first princess of Planet Celestine of the Gortok Galaxy." Her haughty voice spoke, seemingly proud of it. "And pray tell, what planet am I on?"

"Oh, uh, Planet Earth, well, you're actually in New York City, a place within the earth." Pedro began to ramble off, answering her questions.  

Solana raised her eyebrows. "I'm on Planet Earth? Did you say New York City? I'm not familiar with that place. Is that within the Gertok Galaxy? By chance the Palentia Galaxy?" She asked, trying to get a better feel of where she was.

Sammy shook his head. "Uh, no, we're in the milky way galaxy." He replied, seeing a thoughtful look on Solana's face, he held out the book. "Do you know how this book led us to you?"

Solana looked down at the book and took it in front of his hands. "Hmm, not entirely, no. It is somewhat familiar." She replied, then realized why it looked so familiar. "Oh, this is the book Mother used to send Luna and I away -" She paused and gasped. "Luna!"

Zaheer was no longer surprised by anything that was said anymore, nor were the others. "Luna? Whose Luna? Is that your sister?" He asked, but quickly added onto his words when he noticed the gem on her bracelet made the gem on the book begin to glow. "Uh, why is that thing glowing?"

Solana hummed and looked down at her bracelet. "Huh," She moved the book into the hand with the hand chain bracelet as she touched the glowing gem. 

Suddenly, a low grumble shook the cavern they were in, and brushing up through the floor was a citrine mechanical dragon.

"Whoa," Were the words that escaped everyone's mouths as they stood wide-eyed at the mechanical dragon before them. 

"I-I don't believe it," Solana muttered after some time. She shook her head, wondering if she wasn't still dreaming.

Sammy couldn't believe his eyes. It was something out of his favorite science fiction show but with a dragon instead of a lion. "What is it?" He asked, stepping closer, only to be pulled back by Malyla.

Solana sighed softly, flatly replying. "It's a Celestial Dragon . . . the Citrine Dragon. I thought they were myths told to children to give them hope. I never would have thought the hand chain bracelet my mother gave me was the artifact that can summon the celestial dragon. So that means Father's circlet must also be an artifact so that means Luna must have the other dragon, the Obsidian Dragon. And if I am what Mother said, Luna should be awoken by now so we should meet back on our planet at the palace." She rambled on, mostly speaking to herself.

Pedro shuffled over to the dragon and inspected it. He looked at it from different angles, ran his hands over it, and tapped on it, so far, it was as real as he was. "This is so cool! I wonder what it looks like inside!" He exclaimed happily.

Sammy skipped over to Pedro and followed everything he had done. "I wanna go inside!" He enthusiastically exclaimed, walking up to Solana and putting on puppy eyes. "Can we go inside and see, please?" He asked with an added pouty lip.

Malyla walked over and grabbed her brother's hand. "Sammy, this doesn't concern us. Now we have released Princess Solana, she can take the dragon back to her planet and we can go home and go to bed." She said, looking back at the others. 

Sammy jerked his arm away from her and frowned. "I just wanna see what it looks like inside! Please? Once I do we can go. Don't you wanna see what the inside looks like?" He asked as sweetly as he could, knowing he could use his cuteness to his advantage. 

Fletcher stood beside Malyla and rested his hand on her shoulder. "What's the harm? As long as it is fine with Princess Solana we can take a quick look and see our goodbyes, okay?" He inquired, hoping that was to her liking. 

Malyla knew she didn't have a choice but to agree. "Fine, as long as it's okay with Princess Solana." She grumbled, looking up at the Sunari princess to see what she would say about Sammy's question and Fletcher's proposition 

Solana turned around from watching the mouth open. "Oh, that's fine. As long as you make it quick. I've got to get back to Planet Celestine and meet up with Luna to figure out my next move." With those words indifferently spoken she walked up the ramp and inside the dragon.

Sammy dashed behind Solana, Zaheer, and Pedro hurrying after, Fletcher had to give Malyla a little push before she'd go into the dragon. "Malyla," He sternly said her name, knowing she'd understand what his tone meant.

Malyla sighed and grudgingly walked up the ramp and into the dragon. "We are going to regret this. I have such a bad feeling but no one wants to listen to me.' She thought to herself with a huff.

Sammy stepped forward to the consul and leaned against the dashboard. Suddenly the dragon whirled to life and let out an airy roar as the cockpit lit up in golden yellow lights. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.

Solana rolled her eyes as she sat down in the captain's chair. "Don't touch anything and once you feel you have seen enough, you can kindly show yourselves out." She tapped at the screen and typed some unrecognized letters onto the screen. "Wait, that can't be right -"

Fletcher moved beside Solana, bending over to get a better look at the screen. "What is it?" He asked, seeing the format resembles the basic format all computers had when one was looking up information on a consul.

Solana shook her head, double-checking to make sure she was reading it right. "It says I've been asleep for 10,000 uinarians! If I've been asleep for 10,000 uinarian that means . . . what the heck did Mother do when she sent Luna and I off? She made it seem like it would be a few uinarians, not ten millennia!"

She furiously tapped away at the keyboard and groaned. "I have no clue where Luna is, I can't find anything on this stupid thing! It's stuck in its pre-programmed mode which I have no clue what that -" She cut herself off as the dragon jerked and took off into the sky. "Whoa, hold on!" She exclaimed as everyone clamored to hold onto each other and her chair as gravity pulled on their bodies like going down a rollercoaster.

Malyla held onto the seat for dear life, letting her backpack fall to the floor. "I knew this was a bad idea! Princess Solana makes it stop! We want to get off!" She cried out, for once feeling completely terrified after what could happen once they left earth.

Solana looked back at Malyla, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do. Whatever happens from here on out is beyond my control. I can promise I can find a way to get you back once we arrive on my planet, but from the moment you stepped in the dragon knew what to do. There is no stopping it."

Zaheer's eyes softened, and it finally set in that things were going sideways rather quickly. "Wait, wait, wait, so you mean to say we are going to your planet? How - we can't! We've got a big test to finish! I've got a college to get into and-and I have a family! I just can't leave them!"

Fletcher was not going to have everyone panic as they zipped off into space to go who knows where. "Everyone calm down!" He yelled as everyone fell silent. "We will figure this out, for now just take a deep breath."

Pedro pursed his lips, watching the night sky blur past them, and then grinned. "This is so cool! It's my favorite series! We will become the new paladins of the other dragons and save the universe from evil!" He declared, bouncing a little on his feet.

Solana glared daggers back at him and frowned deeply. "No, you will be sent home. This isn't your responsibility, it is mine. It is Luna's. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and caught up in this fiasco." She sharply said, not wanting these humans to get in her way.

Malyla was glad that Solana could see that as she had. "See, I'm not the only one who agrees this doesn't concern us. Once we get to, uh, Planet Celestine we can go home and forget anything happened." She wholeheartedly believed that would be the case.

Everyone fell silent. Malyla's words help some truth. Technically it didn't concern them, it wasn't affecting the earth and they were a bunch of kids, they weren't meant to be heroes, but fate had different ideas.

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A/N:
I finally got around to finishing this chapter. By the time you read this it will have regular updates but from the time the previous chapter was finished and this one was a little over a month I think? I had a bit of writer's block on how everything ought to have played out.

Chapter Talk:
I felt like this group meeting Solana would go much differently than being Luna and her group. I wanted to convey that Solana doesn't feel she needs their help, in contrast to Luna who truly would love their help. I will be enjoying writing the contrast between the two sisters and the next chapter you'll get to see what their planet looks like now that it's been in ruins for over 10,000 years.

Thanks for reading!