2298
Gertok Galaxy
Planet Celestine
The Celestine Kingdom
The Castle of Dragons 
______________________

"I'm glad you were honest with me, Malyla," Fletcher said after finishing wrapping up her knuckles once the antiseptic ointment was applied. "I didn't think you'd actually confess what conspired, but you're still in trouble."

Malyla swished her feet around in the air as she sat on one of the operating tables. "I figured," She sighed softly, tipping her head back and looking up at the bright white lights. "I just wanted to try being honest for once."

Fletcher nodded slowly, taken back by her sudden admission. "I'm glad to hear that. It would be nice if you would continue to be honest with me, rather than keeping things bottled up inside and letting it fester until you explode in a fit of rage."

Malyla scratched behind her heart with her other hand. "That's what my therapist said. But I don't know. I've never been one to get personal with my feelings . . . but, I could try starting a diary again." She admitted sheepishly while keeping her eyes on the floor.

"A diary is a good idea. You can get your feelings out and no one will be able to read what you've written. It'll be 100% private and might work better than talking it out with me. One way or another, getting your emotions and feelings into words will do a great deal for you." Fletcher suggested, simply wishing for a way she could control herself.

Malyla nodded, weighing his suggestions which were both good. "I can't make any promises though, but I'll try and see what works the best for me since I no longer have a therapist." She winced when Fletcher would pull the wrap tightly.

"I wouldn't make you promise something with the chance you wouldn't follow through. Just trying is good enough for me." Fletcher endearingly informed the teenage girl with a soft kind smile on his lips.

The corner of Malyla's lips raised ever so slightly. "Fletcher, while we're being touchy-feely, I just wanted to thank you for becoming Sammy and I's guardian. You didn't have to, but you did and I know I never show it or say it, but I am glad it was you. You've been nothing but understanding and compassionate to me and I've treated you awfully." She began to tell him, her eyes shifting to her lap.

"Malyla," Fletcher reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder. "I promised your parents I'd look out for you two, and I will continue to do so until I die." He began, giving a short pause before continuing. "No matter how much grief or trouble you get into, I'll never stop caring for you or Sammy because it's unconditional."

Malyla slowly moved her eyes from her lap and met Fletcher's. "You are the best guardian a person could ever ask for." She commented with a short laugh. "And the best doctor in all of New York!" She added enthusiastically. 

Fletcher chuckled, shaking his head, amused at her words. "I wouldn't say the best, but I do try and do my best to help everyone who walks through those doors no matter who they are. It's my doctor's oath to do no harm, only to heal and treat everyone equally."

Logan rounded the corner carrying a paint-splattered first aid kid and his eyes zoned in on the bloody bandages. His slouch churned and his cheeks puckered as a wave of nausea eloped him. "Oh no, not today!" He cried, going back around the corner and dry-heaving twice.

Malyla turned her attention to Logan and raised her eyebrows. "What is your deal with blood?" She bluntly asked, earning a glare from Fletcher, to which she simply shrugged. 

"It's something called vasovagal," Logan called from around the corner, leaning against the wall and taking a few deep breaths. 'Deep breaths Logan, deep, long breaths,'

"You know, some of us mere mortals don't know medical lingo, so, could you explain what that is for us regular folk?" Malyla sarcastically commented, earning a glare from Fletcher. 

Logan frowned and took a deep breath not allowing her comment to bother him. "It is a condition that occurs when the part of my nervous system that regulates heart rate and blood pressure malfunctions in response to a trigger, like blood." He explained, fingers tapping on the first aid kit in his hands.

Malyla flexed her fingers after Fletcher put the tape on the wrap around her knuckles.
"So, you're scared of blood? Wowzers, that's ironic considering your whole family are doctors." She bluntly added after whistling. 

Logan dryly laughed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It is ironic. I'm the only one in the family to have the condition. It didn't go over well with my grandparents, but my parents and sisters were more than accepting and understanding." He rambled on, his tone teetering on anxiousness. 

Malyla furrowed her brows at Logan's admission. "They were? Wow, that's a good thing, I guess. But, you said your grandparents didn't take it well?" She inquired, continuing to get more information out of him.

"My grandparents gave me this whole lecture of how I'm a disappointment and I'm disgracing the family for not continuing the legacy." Logan began to explain, pushing the lump rising in his throat down. "Dad was not happy with his parents and since then they haven't spoken. I feel a little guilty but Dad kept saying it's not my fault and I shouldn't feel pressured to follow in their footsteps. I'm my own person who can follow my dreams without the fear of doing what others want of me." 

Malyla's eyes grew wide at this new information she had learned about Logan, which was more or so from pure curiosity, not genuine want. "Not many parents are like that," She trailed off, allowing herself to get lost in her thoughts. 'Mom and Dad were like that before . . . '

Fletcher picked up the bandages and put them in a secured trash can. "You can come back now, Logan, the blood's gone." He informed the brown-haired teenage boy, gathering up the leftover gaze and wraps.

"Thank you," Logan walked back into the room and held out the first aid kid to Fletcher. "Chenoa's 600-piece survival and first aid kit. She had a little trouble parting with it, but she knew it'd go for a good cause and be in capable hands."

Fletcher took the first aid kid from Logan and set it on a shiny, clean tray. "Thank you," He flashes a grin as he unzips it and opens it up. "Is it normal for you guys to carry a first aid kit around?" He inquired, grabbing a sharpie from his coat pocket and a pen.

Logan nodded, walking around the table and leaning against it facing Fletcher and Malyla's back. "It's required for every student to carry a first aid kit at all times in case of any emergencies." He replied, pride growing in his voice.

Fletcher nodded slowly as he unzipped the kit and opened it. "They didn't do that when I attended, but it is good that they implemented that, especially if some catastrophe happened." He smiled softly as he took a quick note of all that it had.

Malyla waved her feet around the air as she listened to Logan. "Do they still have like over 300 officers?" She inquired, recalling it was mentioned on a tour she got when she was younger when her parents worked up SERA.

"Yes, we still have over 300 authorized security officers licensed by SERA's Defence Force with various weapons on campus at all times. That doesn't include the security officers stationed in the dorms or in the main academy building itself, or even the college which is twice that practically." Logan replied, pride beaming in his voice.

Malyla sighed. For some reason, she felt relieved that they hadn't changed so much, or maybe it was because there was a small yearning to attend despite all that transpired. "Desert Sands Prep Academy and College is safer than Fort Knox." She mused, placing her hands behind her and leaning back.

Logan tapped the pen on the paper in front of him. "Well, Fort Knox is part of SERA itself, since SERA funds the Defense Force and is sorta also the Defense Force since that's at Fort Knox and since SERA is like a silent partner that funds the government so they get a lot of say in things, but uh, so, yeah, the academy and university is like its own fortress but separated by a gate." He rambled on, getting sidetracked and having to get himself back on track. 

"You know I've been there, right?" Malyla commented, crossing her arms over her chest and being extra careful with her injured hand. "I pretty much know both places by heart and most of the personnel remember me, some for not good reasons."

Logan pushed up his glasses after fidgeting with his arms. "Oh, yeah, that's right, because your, uh, parents used to work for them, right, heh, slipped my mind." He awkwardly said, scratching the back of his neck. "Awkward,"

Fletcher could tell things may take a bad turn so he quickly spoke up. "Logan, can you put the supplies away after I mark and catalog them, please?" He asked, holding out a notebook with a pen in the metal spiral spine.

"Oh yes," Logan declared with a dedicated nod after he snapped his head over to Fletcher from Malyla and hurried over to the table, standing beside him. "Do you think we will ever need to use these?"

Fletcher furrowed his brows as he pulled out a wad of betadine swabs. "Who knows? Since you agreed to be Celestial Guardians the chances of getting hurt are pretty high, whether from the seat of the dragons or hand-to-hand combat." He replied, counting each individually wrapped swab.

Malyla jumped off the table and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's my cue to leave." She mused, giving a short wave to Logan and Fletcher before departing from the room.

She walked down to the elevator and pressed the button. She stepped in and pressed the bottom one floor above her current location: the medical floor. She leaned back against the wall as the door closed and in a matter-of-factly seconds reopened on the next floor.

Malyla stepped out to be greeted with the sweet aroma of bread, the type she couldn't place her finger on but it was subtly nutty and a tart fruity. 

She made her way down the hall towards the kitchen. She peeked in and looked around, the fresh bread cooling on the counter covered by a towel. She snuck over to and carefully lifted the towel to take a quick peek at the breath.

"Malyla," Sammy's stern voice startled his sister as he crossed his arms over his chest. His face smudged with tan dirt, gloved on his hands and a shovel stuffed into a bright yellow apron. "Don't you dare touch that bread!"

Malyla dropped the towel and slowly turned around, a sheepish smile displayed on her face. "How did you know?" She inquired, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I was coming back for more seeds," Sammy replied matter-of-factly as he walked past Malyla and to a basket on the table filled with little brown packages. "What are you doing here?"

Malyla uncrossed her arms and let them drop to her side. "I was looking for you." She replied without hesitation. "I was wondering what you were doing." She added nonchalantly with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

Sammy furrowed his brows as he walked out from around the counter basket in hand. "Oh," He hummed, walking towards the door. "I've been doing a lot of baking. Had Chenoa help a bit but she had to get back to practicing working with Celestine's technology. So, I've been planting the seeds that Luna gave me in the greenhouse room on this floor." He explained, walking through the threshold of the greenhouse.

Malyla's eyebrows raised as she followed her brother out of the kitchen and into the greenhouse. "I did not realize the castle-ship had all these commodities. A greenhouse for growing plants near the kitchen is quite innovative." 

Sammy walked down the middle aisle, the greenhouse looking similar to a grocery store layout. "Space is far more advanced than we are. It'd be nice to replicate this technology back home, but we unfortunately don't have the crystals to generate power." He heavily sighed, lifting open a door to a section of soil.

Malyla furrowed her brows as she leaned her back against one of the cases. "Crystals? So, the Celestial Dragons aren't the only technology powered by crystals?" She inquired, cocking her head to the side as she pursed her lips.

"More or so. The Celestial Dragons are more of an ancient technology that has been lost. We truly do not know what powers - if anything powers then at all. What we do know is most of the galaxy, at least around my time, used crystals from the Cryosine galaxy where they naturally grow on space rocks there and, at the time, were harvested ethically." General Nox explained, butting into their conversation as he approached the two siblings.

Sammy snapped his head up towards the doorway through the glass case. "General Nox!" He exclaimed, his tone bright as the shining sun. "How do the crystals generate their own power?" He asked excitedly, causing Malyla to roll her eyes and mumble something under her breath.

The corners of General Nox's mouth lifted up into a smile at Sammy's excited voice and bright eyes. "Cryosine creates its own energy by drawing in the very essence the universe is made from. They take the essence in and give it back as energy. Then the Cryoworms consume the energy and turn it back into the purified essence the universe needs to thrive keeping everything in balance. As long as the universe exists, their power source is unlimited. With or without the Cryoworms, energy is produced and in turn, used to power technology." He explained, crossing his arms over his chest.

Malyla massaged her temples as his words just bounced around inside her head causing her head to ache. "I'm not going to begin to try and understand anything you just said." She mumbled, closing her eyes with a groan.

A gasp left Sammy's lips as a huge grin grew on his lips. "That's so cool! I wish we had that back home. The closest thing we have is renewable energy sources which depend on the climate, like hydro, solar, tidal, wind, thermal, biomass, things like that."

"Sammy, I don't think you should bore him with what we use to power things back on Earth." Malyla lightly pushed his head while ruffling his hair, slightly annoyed with her brother, per usual.

General Nox chuckled, shaking his head with a beaming smile on his face. "I do not mind learning about your planet. I have never left Celestine before, so I would be more than willing to hear about Earth."

Sammy eagerly nodded, clapping his hands and letting out a little squeal before collecting himself. "Perhaps another time," He said, bending down and picking up the basket of seeds. "I should get back to planting these." He held it up and shook it gently, the seeds rambling within the packages.

General Nox bowed his head, a smile on his face. "Very well," He lifted his head and watched how happy Sammy was and how careful he was tending to the bags of seeds. "If you need anything, just come and find me. I would be more than happy to retrieve anything you might need."

"Thanks, General Nox! You're the best!" Sammy exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he opened one of the glass doors and gently dug out a few holes to plant more seeds in.

Malyla turned towards her brother and twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. "So, um," She began awkwardly, not exactly sure where to go since she didn't exactly have any talents or hobbies that would be considered useful. 

"I'm going to go back to my room until dinner," She hesitantly explained. "Bye Sammy, bye General Nox," With those goodbyes said, she awkwardly walked out of the greenhouse, through the kitchen, and into the hall.

She slowed her pace down as she walked towards the elevator. 'Everyone has something to do. Sammy is in charge of food. Fletcher and Logan are dealing with the infirmary. Pedro and Hara are fixing up the castle-ship. Adel is studying and memorizing the galaxies. Summer Dawn and Varian, well, I'm not entirely sure what they're doing but they're probably being useful since they're gonna be the guns for sneaking into the outpost. Solana is dealing with the castle-ship and Chenoa is practicing hacking on the Celestine tech. And as for Luna, she's just being super helpful to everyone.' She thought, her expression turning gloomy.

'I'm dead weight, per usual,' She thought as stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the bedroom floor. She watched the doors close and she leaned against the wall and sighed while she crossed her arms.

She looked up at the bright neon light in the elevator ceiling while letting out a sigh. 'Maybe I'll find my place . . . no, no, we are going to find a way back home to Earth one way or another, mark my words. I will not grow fond of this world, it's not our fight or our place to meddle.' She corrected herself with a vow.

🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑☀️🌑

A/N: 
Whoo, another chapter done. I will say, I had a tiny bit of writer's block, but it was simply due to my exhaustion. I'm still having to take turns with my sister watching Zoey, but she's making great progress. 

I've also been watching a bunch of analysis videos on YouTube about what went wrong with voltron and all that and I've been learning a great deal. It's truly helped improve my writing, and I do enjoy listening to others perspectives and thoughts about writing in general. 

Chapter Talk:
I gotta say, I added some more lore into the chapter. Since everything is crystal themed, I had to add that in because it's monumental for the future. 

Thanks for reading!