Christian woke up with a massive headache, laying on a cold metal floor. He groaned, and sat up, looking around him. When his vision returned to normal, he was horrified to see that he was no longer on Earth. As he looked out of the window, there was no planet in sight. It was just pitch-black space.
The door was locked, but his bag was nestled in the corner. He immediately fished for his pistol so he could shoot the lock open, but to his dismay, his gun was nowhere to be found.
Christian cursed under his breath and went over to the window to observe their journey. Luna was not joking when she said these things existed, and he wished he had taken her seriously before all this happened to them. Maybe then they could have gotten away in time. Just thinking about her made him realize that Luna was not in the room with him, and this made him panic. He started calling out her name, in hopes that she could hear, but he gave up after a while, assuming she was still unconscious.
So, he sat against the wall and waited.
Meanwhile, in the next room over, Luna lay asleep on the floor; her burns have only gotten worse and if she was awake, she would probably be in immense pain. Still, even though she was injured, she looked peaceful and at ease. And Alejandra noticed this as he finally found her by looking through the window outside.
"That's her," he said to Alias and Abiatii. "We have to help her, but I'm not sure what we'll be able to do until we land on Lunestica," He began to phase through the wall. "You two go to the other side of the ship and see what you can find. I'll stay with Luna," The two nodded and went elsewhere as he went into the room.
Alejandra sat next to Luna and stroked her hair. He was almost in tears.
"Luna, this is why I said not to do it," he said to her sleeping body. "I knew this would happen... and so did you I guess," He trailed his fingers down her arm and examined her burns. "Those are pretty bad. I'll heal them for you once you wake up," He continued to stroke her hair after he bent down to kiss her.
After twenty minutes of Alejandra stroking her and cuddling her, she opened her eyes and groaned. He immediately came to her aid, making sure she did not put too much pressure on her arm.
"Al? How did you get here?" She asked groggily. He smiled at her.
"I flew up here, silly." He spoke. "My friends Alias and Abiatii are looking around for a way out, but I'm pretty sure we won't be able to do much of anything until we land,"
"Land?" She asked. "Where?"
"Lunestica, I'm afraid, I'm not entirely sure what Albrecht has planned for you and Christian, but I have a feeling it'll be something horrible," Luna's heart sank, and she stood and looked out of the window. They were in the Lunestic star system now, almost ready to land. She gulped.
"Oh, stars... I promised Chris we wouldn't get taken off Earth, and now look at us," She murmured. Alejandra came behind her and held her hand gently.
"Quickly, before we land, I'm going to heal your arm," She nodded as he cast the spell and engulfed both of their arms in a pink glow. He smiled at her as she relaxed.
"That feels better," she said. "Thank you," He nodded.
"You're welcome." He kissed the top of her head and held her close. "Please don't scare me like that again," She sighed quietly.
"Okay. I promise,"
The ship finally landed, and not long after that, two guards escorted Luna out of her cell. She saw Christian walking in front of her, also with his hands tied up.
"Chris! Are you okay?" She called. He turned his head quickly, grinning because she was okay. However, his escort whacked him in the head and told him to keep moving.
"I'm okay, Luna," He called back. "Please stay calm,"
"I'm calm, don't worry," She replied. "You should tell yourself to stay calm-- you're shaking,"
"No, I'm not," He retorted.
"Yeah, you are," She argued. There was a pause between the two as they continued walking off the ship.
"Okay, maybe I'm a little nervous, but how am I supposed to react after being kidnapped by aliens?" Christian said.
"Don't call them that, that's very rude," Luna instructed.
"You know what else is rude?" Christian growled. "Tying up my hands like I'm some prisoner!"
"Christian, it's because you are a prisoner right now. We both are! Now hush before your guard hits you upside the head again," Luna explained, slightly annoyed.
The guard raised his staff and Christian flinched. The two guards cackled and spoke with each other in Afrödic before laughing again. Luna, who could understand and speak fluent Afrödic, translated for Christian.
"Chris, they called you tiny for a… an Afrödite man that came from apes…?" she told him, slightly puzzled by what they meant by this. Christian, on the other hand, was annoyed, He blew a strand of hair from his face and growled under his breath.
"If my hands weren't tied up, I'd beat you both to a pulp!" He declared.
"No, you wouldn't, Chris. They'd probably just shoot you," Luna informed. Christian's guard hit him in the back with his staff again and he yelped.
"Okay, okay, I'll quit! Just stop hitting me!" He cried. "Luna, how come they're only hitting me and not you?"
"Two reasons--" she began, "One because it's illegal to hit women here unless they start a fight, and two, I'm not threatening the Lunestic military like you, so I suggest you shut your face!"
Christian stopped talking after that.
The two were escorted into the palace through the back, where they followed behind Albrecht who strutted down the halls with pride. He called for Marilynn, who reluctantly came downstairs.
"What now, Albrecht?" She grumbled. He grinned wickedly.
"Look who I found!" He said in a sing-songy tone. He turned to Luna's guard. "Bring her forward," The guard pushed Luna forward with the end of his staff and she stumbled into view. She looked down at her hands, which were tied in front of her. Marilynn gasped.
"Why did you arrest these two Gaiatians, Albrecht?" She demanded.
"Look closely at the girl, my love. Come down the stairs," Marilynn came down the stairs and the closer she got, the more she realized that the woman he captured looked so familiar. Christian watched anxiously as Marilynn cupped Luna's chin gently and examined her face.
"Please don't hurt her," Christian pleaded to them both. His guard hit him with the staff again and he yelped.
"Don't hit the boy anymore, please," Marilynn ordered. He turned to Christian. "Don't worry, I won't hurt her. I promise," She went back to examining Luna, growing more curious.
"Hurry up, Marilynn, we need to lock them back up," Albrecht whined. Marilynn glared at him.
"You will do no such thing!" She started to untie Luna. "Look at her, she looks like she's about to faint! She needs a mattress, not the floor!" After Luna's hands were free, she rubbed them together to warm them up. She freed Christian next, who held his back in pain when he was free.
"Fine," Albrecht agreed sharply. "As long as you keep watch on them and make sure they don't cause trouble. I'll be collecting her shortly,"
"F-for what?" Luna stammered.
"Experiments on your soul. I need to know who you are," He started to walk away, motioning the guards to follow. Luna sighed.
"But I'm not her, I'm me..." she murmured.
After Albrecht was out of earshot, Marilynn got in between Luna and Christian and took them both by the hand.
"I'm so sorry about my husband... if I can even call him that anymore...He's been that way for quite some time now. I can assure you; I knew nothing about this...stunt... I just knew he wanted to take Gaia," She looked over at Luna. "I assume something interfered?" She nodded shyly.
"Someone was spying on us," Christian said.
"A warlock," Luna added.
"Yeah, a warlock. We brought him home, and Luna knocked him out,"
"By what means?" Marilynn asked.
"A sleeping spell," Christian told her. She looked back at Luna, who looked away sheepishly.
"A sleeping spell?" Marilynn asked. "That's why he arrested you," Luna nodded.
"I'm sorry..." she said quietly. Marilynn sighed quietly.
"That's quite all right. Let's get you two to your rooms, then," She led them by the hand upstairs in her wing to some spare bedrooms. Luna's and Christian's rooms were across the hall from each other, and they each went into their room. To her surprise, Luna's bag had already been brought to the room and was set on the bed. She ran to it and fished out her jacket. She climbed up on the bed and curled up with the jacket, trembling. She knew she had messed up, and she felt horrible that she had put Christian through all of this so far. And yet, she was happy she was even alive and in a bed she could lay in. The thought of this made her start to cry.
Meanwhile, Alejandra finally caught up to her and found her crying into her jacket. He floated onto the bed next to her and began to comfort her. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.
"Al..." she croaked. "What am I gonna do? Albrecht said he was gonna run experiments on my soul," Alejandra's brow furrowed.
"Just... be careful about what you say and do. I'm not sure how else I can help you," Luna sighed.
"That's okay I guess," She mumbled. "At least I have Christian to help me out," Alejandra took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling terrible that he could not do more. Then, he got an idea based on some intel he got from Abiatii and Alias shortly before.
"I do want to help, Lunita. I really do. I've got an idea, though," She sat up and looked up at him, inches from his face.
"What's your idea?" She asked.
"Well, Marilynn is a medium, just like you and Aevaan. I can talk to her and arrange something,"
"A-arrange what?" She stammered. Alejandra ran his wispy fingers through her hair.
"Alias informed me that the scientists have been working on this machine in the labs downstairs that can supposedly give the dead their body back as long as their soul is intact," Luna's eyes lit up. "It's normally used for interrogating dead criminals, however... I'm sure I can arrange my resurrection," Luna grinned.
"Really?!" She squeaked. "You mean... if you do... you'll really be here?" He nodded.
"Yes. But like I said, it's not a guarantee," She nodded.
"I know," He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Okay, well, I'm going to go try talking to her. I don't know how long I'll be," Luna grabbed his hand before he left, and he was surprised she could even touch him. He turned back to her, and she kissed his cheek. He blushed.
"Good luck, Al," she said softly. "Please come back soon," He nodded, smiling crookedly.
"Yes, my love," He got up and floated through the door.
Alejandra went down the hall until he came across Marilynn's chamber. He phased through the door, and he found her reading a book. He smiled.
"Knock, knock," He announced his presence to her. She shot her head up and the two locked eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand. "Your highness, I know it's been half a millennium since our death, but I need you to do me a favor,"
"If you're here, that means that Lunabelle is here too!" She said in a loud whisper.
"Yes, exactly. Which is why I need you," He explained.
"I'll do anything," He smiled wider.
"Perfect," He floated closer to her. "I need the resurrection machine," She gasped softly, placing her hands beside her, then brushing off her lap.
"But we haven't even used it outside of a criminal investigation. Besides, it's not perfect and certainly not safe," Alejandra shook his head.
"I don't care, I need to be there for Luna. Albrecht needs to be stopped before he kills her again; she's still too fragile to defend herself in the state she's in right now," Marilynn sighed.
"I dunno..."
"Marilynn, please!" He pleaded. "I need to be there for her truly. I love her!" Marilynn looked over at him and smiled faintly.
"Okay, in the name of love, we can try it. Follow me." Alejandra gladly followed Marilynn down into the basement, where some of the royal scientists were working on the machine. "Hello, gentlemen. I've got another specimen for you lot to try in the machine to make tweaks if you're interested," They happily obliged and Marilynn pointed Alejandra to the machine. He swallowed thickly.
"Will it... will it hurt?" He asked.
"As your nerves are connecting and your skin is growing, I believe so," He sighed. "Are you sure you want to--"
"Absolutely," He cut her off. He climbed in. "Close me in!" Marilynn gave the signal and the scientists closed him in the machine.
"Alejandra, do you want me to go get Luna so she can watch?" She called.
"Sure, if she's up to it," he said before the machine started whirring. She nodded and went back upstairs to knock on Luna's door.
"Lunabelle, dear, would you come here for a second?" She called. Luna opened the door and wiped her eyes with her sleeve-- her jacket now on her body.
"Yes, ma'am?" She asked nervously.
"Alejandra has requested that you come down to the lab to watch his body get remade," Luna grinned. "Would you like to watch?"
"Would I?!" She exclaimed. "Of course, I would!" She zoomed out of the room, and Christian peered out of his open door.
"What's going on?" He called.
"Come with us, we're gonna go see Al!" She cried, running down the stairs and almost slipping. Christian walked out of his room and pulled his hair back in a ponytail.
"I have no idea what's going on, but I'm curious." He said to the empress. She nodded.
"You'll find out in a minute."
Marilynn and Christian went down to the lab, where Luna was already pressed against the glass viewing the machine. She was awestruck.
"How long will it take?" She asked.
"About an hour," A scientist told her. She hummed.
"How does it work?" She sat on the floor and crossed her legs.
"We confirm the identity of the person's soul body and find their medical records in our system. Then, we reconstruct their body based on the information," He showed her the monitor. "See here, 1.93 meters in height, 68.5 kilos in weight, then we have his bone density and muscle mass here from when he was last checked out alive. It helps that he was in the military, so he has some extra medical information here that we wouldn't see in normal specimens," Luna tilted her head.
"That's interesting," Christian said, walking up to the window. "How old was he when he died?"
"25," Luna said. "Alejandra was 25 when Albrecht executed him," She sounded almost sad about it. He patted her head and sighed.
"You never told me... how he died," he said quietly. Luna looked up at him.
"Albrecht arrested him along with Lunabelle and when it was his turn to be killed, he stabbed him through the heart with the sword he used when he was still a general. Then his remains were buried in the ashes of Lunabelle's burnt corpse." Christian swallowed thickly.
"Oh..." Before anything else could be said, there was screaming coming from the machine. Luna stood quickly.
"Don't worry, that's supposed to happen," The scientist said. The screams continued for a few more minutes until they turned into whimpering.
Alejandra, meanwhile, never thought he’d experience this much pain in his life. First, his skeleton formed, and then his organs around and under it. Once his nerves grew in, the cold air of the lab hit them, and made him scream. Tears of agony immediately started flowing down his cheeks when his muscles came in; starting at his toes and fingertips, and slowly crawling their way toward the center of his chest. The skin finally wrapping around him was the quickest but most painful part, rendering a gut-curdling scream from him. Then, finally, relief as he took his first deep breath in centuries.
Finally, the machine stopped. The scientist got some sweatpants and sandals out of the cupboard and went inside the chamber. He opened the machine and helped Alejandra out of it.
Alejandra squinted his eyes as the light from the outside room hit him. He groaned, blocking his eyes with his hand; the light still filtering through his slender fingers. He was disoriented, and still in shock from the terrible amount of pain he just went through to be resurrected. He was helped out of the machine by what he assumed was a scientist and was handed a pair of black sweatpants.
"Put those on, please," he said to him. Alejandra furrowed his brow but complied.
"O-okay." He stammered. He swallowed immediately after he spoke, not used to having a real voice yet. He put on his pants and attempted to stand. He staggered, and the scientist caught him.
"Easy, now. It may take you a minute to gain balance," Alejandra nodded, blinked a few times, and turned his head towards the window where he saw a teary-eyed Luna covering her mouth with both of her hands. He gave her that crooked grin that she loves.
"I told you I was gonna do it!" Alejandra cheered in a slur. "Now I can protect you,"
"I could have done that," Christian said defensively, feeling jealous.
"Yes, Chris, but you can't do magic," Alejandra said, straightening his posture, and effectively towering above him, "You know like I can," He snapped his fingers, and a little pink flame came between them, and he glanced over at Luna with a big grin. "Now, can I get a big hug from you, dearest?" She nodded and ran into his arms, laughing. He held her tight and spun her around, grinning the whole time.
Christian, on the other hand, was a bit skeptical about the situation.
"Luna, do you even know this guy?" He asked with a slight tone of annoyance, crossing his arms.
"Of course, I do, it's Alejandra!" She said emphatically.
Christian narrowed his eyes at the man. So, this is Alejandra? He thought to himself, But what is she doing acting so attached to a total stranger?
"I still don't fully trust this, but I can see that Luna's happy, so I guess I'm okay with it. For now," He started back up the stairs. "I'll see y'all later," Luna sighed quietly when Christian was out of earshot. Marilynn, who had been watching from the opposite side of the room, was overjoyed.
"This is fantastic! Two of my favorite people are finally alive again!" Luna did not even bother arguing about her identity anymore. Instead, her focus was to now hide Alejandra from the guards until they could haul ass out of there.
"How are we gonna sneak him upstairs?" Luna asked. "Albrecht already wants to get rid of me, what are we gonna do if he finds Alejandra?"
"Just run up there quickly. He can stay in your room until I get you lot out of here. If I hear him coming while you are sneaking, I'll distract him," Luna and Alejandra nodded and quickly headed back upstairs.
When they reached Luna's room, he closed the door quietly. Then, he turned around and looked into her sparkling sapphire eyes. He fell in love instantly and barely maintained his composure.
"So, what now?" He asked her. She shrugged.
"I don't know, I guess just sit here and wait until Albrecht comes to get me to lock me in the lab," She flopped down on her bed and pulled out her star map. She sighed as Alejandra sat next to her. "We're so far from home, Al. It's hard to believe this is all real," He rested his hand on top of hers that was holding the star map. She hummed. "Your skin is really soft!" She exclaimed, running her hands up and down his arms and hands. She ran her fingers through his blonde waves. "Oh! And your hair, too!'
"I'm basically a grown-up newborn. No wear and tear here. Everything is brand new," Alejandra explained. "It's strange, being back in my body... being alive again. Emotions are a whole new thing for me in this form. They almost seem more exaggerated than what I've been used to," She held his hand.
"Well, you have been dead for 500 years," She smiled at him, and his face became dusted a light blue. "Like... what do you feel right now?" He smiled.
"I'm... really happy!" He spoke. "And... nervous... and, uh..."
"And what?" She asked, curious.
"And... I just want to hold you right now," he said shyly, looking down. He was slightly embarrassed, but Luna just simply scooted over and climbed into his lap. His blush grew.
"So, hold me," she told him. He nodded, tears swelling in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her curvy figure. He buried his face in her hair, taking deep whiffs of the scent. He sighed.
"You smell so good," he told her. "Kind of like fruit,"
"I hope so," she said with a chuckle, "That's the scent of my shampoo,"
"Well, do me a favor and never stop using it, whatever shampoo is," he told her. She chuckled and looked up at him, their faces so close their noses were touching. His lips slightly quivered because he had the strong urge to kiss her at that moment, as they locked eyes. She hummed sweetly.
"Your eyes are even prettier in person," She noted, nuzzling his neck. "I think they're my new favorite color," That is when he realized what her motive was.
"Okay, now you're flirting with me, Luna," He whined. "It's so obvious," She chuckled.
"If you say I'm flirting with you, that will only imply that you feel a certain way about me," she said, starting to stroke his hair again. "So, what do you wanna do?" He swallowed so thickly it was audible.
"I think you already know, Lunabelle," he said in her ear. She shuddered. "And I know you want to do this too. It's painfully obvious, and I'm tired of holding myself back," The two locked eyes again, this time their noses side by side and their lips brushing together.
"Yeah, you're right," She confessed. "Now c'mere..." When she kissed him, a jolt of energy went down his spine, and he melted into the kiss. He could not even kiss back right away because of how great it felt.
"Wow..." he murmured after she pulled her lips away. "That was amazing," She nodded. "Can-can we do that again?" The two chuckled and began to kiss each other again, each kiss for him feeling so much better than the last. He wished time would just stop so they could keep their lips together forever.
Minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Luna pulled her lips back. "Who is it?" She called.
"A guard. I've come to escort you to the labs for your examination," The voice said.
"Okay, be there in a second. I'm... I'm not decent!" She hopped out of Alejandra's lap and gave him a quick peck on the lips before she quickly brushed her hair.
"What do I do?" He whispered to her. She shrugged.
"Hide? I guess?" He nodded and slunk away into her bathroom. Luna opened the door and followed the guard downstairs to the lab.
After a couple of minutes went by, Alejandra snuck across the hall and knocked on Christian's door.
"Yeah?" He called.
"Chris, it's Alejandra. Luna was just escorted downstairs. We need to keep an eye and an ear out in case any trouble happens," Christian opened his door and looked up at the blonde-haired Lunestic. He sighed.
"Alright, come in. I'll get you a change of clothes, too," Christian let him in, and he looked around.
"What's wrong with what I have? You're short, how will your clothes fit me anyway?" Alejandra asked.
"Gee, thanks," He tossed him a t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Alejandra held up the boxers.
"What's with these?" He asked.
"Underwear. I noticed that they didn't give you any to wear under your sweatpants. You need something to hold your dick in place," Alejandra blushed and sighed.
"You're right. Give me a moment, and I'll change," Alejandra went into the bathroom and changed quickly in there. He was pulling up his sweatpants when he came out of the bathroom. "I'll have to admit, Christian, this does feel a lot better. I'm surprised your waist fits mine," Christian shrugged.
"What can I say— we're both skinny dudes,"
"What's a 'dude'?"
"Never mind,"
So, the two listened and waited until they sensed something was wrong. After an hour, Alejandra got a sick feeling in his gut. He groaned.
"I think this may be it," he said, walking over to the door. He peeked out and there was nothing there. He looked over at Christian and motioned him out of the room. "Bring your bag. I'll grab Luna's. This may be where we can make a run for it," So, Alejandra sped across the hall, gathered Luna's things, and led Christian down into the grand hall. He kneeled and pressed his ear to the floor, where he heard faint cries. He growled.
"What do you hear? I don't hear anything," Christian asked.
"She's crying and screaming," He stood and made his way toward the door by the stairs. "I swear, if he did anything to my Lunita, I'm gonna have some ass to beat tonight!"
The two sneaked downstairs. The farthest they went, the louder and more agonizing the screams sounded. They peeked around the doorway, and Alejandra instructed Christian to stop moving.
"Don't make a sound," He whispered to him. "I've got a plan. Hang tight," Christian nodded, and silently peeked farther. What he saw horrified him.
Luna was tied to a wall with her limbs spread apart. They were running a series of tests on her, the one being performed now was where Albrecht would inflict a series of injuries on her, and she would have to heal herself in time for the next round. Her face was pale and sweaty, and blood dripped out of her mouth from a previous injury that she had already healed. The evidence of the magic was there; golden and pink dust coated the floor and her hands, and her eyes were bloodshot from them glowing too much. The sight of this made him angry, and he tapped on Alejandra's shoulder.
"Yeah?" He whispered, continuing to dig through their bags for tools to use.
"Look at what he's doing to her, Al, it's horrible!" He whispered back. Alejandra peeked around the corner himself and his already ghostly complexion became paler.
"Okay, new plan," Alejandra said. "Time to kick some ass," It was obvious to Christian that Alejandra was beyond angry. He also had no idea of what he was capable of, aside from what Luna had told him from her dreams.
There were two people in the room besides Luna— Albrecht, and Enry, who had been rescued from Luna's house after their arrest. Alejandra's eyes glinted pink, and both of their guns flew into his hands unnoticed. He tossed Christian one of them as he turned the corner. He cocked the gun and pointed it at Albrecht. The sound of it echoed through the room as Albrecht turned around. His eyes widened.
"Unhand Lunabelle this instant," Alejandra demanded. "Or this bullet is going through your skull," Christian came around the corner and cocked his gun as well, but he kept it low in case there were knees he needed to shoot.
"How are you alive?!" Albrecht boomed.
"Thanks to Marilynn and the resurrection machine," He replied with a short smirk. "I had a feeling you would pull some bullshit like this, but this was worse than I could have ever imagined," Albrecht's lips tightened with a wicked grin.
"Those aren't bullets, they're tranquilizers in case Lunabelle here escaped," Albrecht explained arrogantly. "So, I'd advise you to put them down. They wouldn't do you any good," Alejandra sighed and threw the gun behind him, almost hitting Christian, who dodged.
"The gun may not help me, but I'm still a warlock. I'm able to throw your ass through that wall any time I want to. You're lucky that I have a little bit of mercy left that's preventing me from killing you right now," Albrecht stuck his hands in his pockets.
"And where's the Alejandra that I killed half a millennia ago? That Alejandra would have killed me without hesitation," Albrecht chided, walking back over to Luna, who was sweating and panting. He pulled out his knife.
"No...no, please no..." Luna pleaded. "I can't take it anymore..."
"Stop it, Albrecht! Leave her be!" Alejandra screamed with tears forming in his eyes. "You've taken so much away from me, just let her live!" Albrecht cackled, which sent a chill down Christian's spine.
"What's with the tears?" Albrecht asked, walking closer to Alejandra. "What's the matter? You love her so much, why don't you just free her? Nothing is stopping you," Alejandra's eyes were starting to glint back and forth from his magic, and this entertained Albrecht more.
"Al, what do I do?" Christian asked. Alejandra looked over at him, his eyes fully engulfed. Christian yelped.
"You better go shield Luna because it's about to get hot in here," he said coldly. Christian gulped and ran over to Luna. Enry was backed into a corner because he was afraid.
"What are you going to do, Alejandra? Your move," Albrecht continued to tease. Alejandra popped his knuckles, and pink sparks flew from his fingers.
"You just made the wrong choice, your majesty," Alejandra sneered, glancing back over to Luna before the emperor could react. There was a pink flash and blur, and the two were gone and up in the grand hall. Alejandra had thrown him up the staircase. Christian used his knife to cut Luna loose, and he carried her upstairs where Alejandra had already thrown Albrecht to the ground.
"Fucking try me, Albrecht!" Alejandra shouted, his eyes still glowing. "I'm not playing your damn games anymore!" Albrecht staggered back up, chuckling, and wiping his blue blood from his busted lip.
"There he is!" Albrecht exclaimed. "The Alejandra Y'Mauai I killed all those centuries ago!" Alejandra quickly drew a symbol with his gaze, shouted a spell, and opened up his hand. A blade made of pure energy built up from his palm, and he grasped it tightly. As Alejandra went to swing, Luna shouted for him.
"Alejandra, stop!" She cried. Before Alejandra could stop, he swung his blade wide with full intent to kill Albrecht on the spot. As Albrecht rolled out of the way and drew his sword, Alejandra rushed forwards, bringing his weapon down towards Albrecht's head, forcing the latter to dodge again; looking up in time to watch as Alejandra's blade pierced the floor, leaving sparks and broken ground in the wake. Albrecht looked up at Alejandra, who stared daggers into his soul, and stood to his feet, sword drawn and guarding his chest. As his opponent lifted his arm, blade in hand and eyes fiery with rage, the two kept their eyes locked. He knew one wrong move will lead to an early grave and his efforts will have been for naught. With inhuman speed, Alejandra dashed forward, his blade in hand swinging behind him, leaving a pink glowing trail as he moved. Albrecht moved his sword, ready to block the incoming strike. CRUNCH! Albrecht stumbled to the side as his face began to swell from the force of Alejandra's punch.
"You little--" Albrecht barely finished his insult as a kick to his right sent him sprawling to the ground, blood dripping from his mouth and teeth. Jumping to his feet and recovering from the attack, Albrecht growled and rushed at Alejandra, swinging his blade. Bright yellow and pink sparks flew as their weapons clashed. As rage burned in their eyes, they began to throw strike after strike at one another, the light glinting off of their blades as they swung, and the beads of sweat building up on their foreheads with every impact. As the duel persisted, it became abundantly clear to Albrecht that he was out-skilled and out-matched; even with a brand new body and years out of practice, Alejandra was a force to be reckoned with. Every swing, slash, thrust, or parry that Albrecht threw, his opponent continued, even now, to live up to his threatening mantle, having a counter to nearly everything and dishing out the same. He had no choice but to remain on the defensive, avoiding Alejandra's razor-sharp blade at every turn. He knew he couldn't keep this up. Eventually one of their bodies would give out due to the strain. He hoped it would be Alejandra...but he hoped wrong. As Albrecht slowly wore down, he dropped his sword on the tile, sounding off with a loud clatter.
"Alejandra, please..." Luna sobbed, frightened. Alejandra wiped the sweat from his brow and reluctantly put his sword back in the void, the weapon vanishing and leaving behind golden dust.
"He hurt you," Alejandra croaked, turning back to where Luna was. "You could have died in there,"
"But I'm okay now, so just drop it! Let's just drop it for now," Luna wriggled out of Christian's grasp, and she stumbled over to Alejandra and fell into his arms.
"Your body wasn't meant for this kind of magic at once, Luna. He deserves every ounce of pain that he inflicted on you to be put on him," She shook her head.
"If this were me, I wouldn't kill him," she said as Albrecht drew closer with his sword, dragging the blade across the floor, ready to make a fatal blow through Alejandra's chest. She looked over at him, and quietly murmured a spell. A wall made of light blocked Albrecht's path as she stood up all the way. Alejandra sighed and glanced behind him at the emperor.
"Alright... I'll drop it." He leered at Albrecht. "For now." Luna nodded and made the wall disappear. Alejandra turned to Christian. "Go get Marilynn. Luna needs her care. Even I can't heal this much damage right now." Christian nodded and sprinted upstairs. Albrecht scoffed and went back up to his room and slammed the door. Enry came up nervously and slipped his uniform coat off.
"Do you...need any help?" He asked nervously. Alejandra raised an eyebrow.
"Whose side are you on?" He sneered. Enry gulped.
"Well...after seeing all that...yours I guess," He spoke. "I met Luna back on Gaia. She knocked me out with a sleeping spell. Who knew that would lead to this? She was just defending herself." Alejandra nodded.
"You're right, it is a little ridiculous," He held Luna tight to his chest, stroking her hair. "She could have died,"
"I'm sorry I didn't stop it. I was too afraid," Enry confessed, kneeling next to Luna and examining her unhealed wounds.
"That's understandable," Alejandra agreed. "Back during the rebellion, I was, too, afraid to stand up against Albrecht. I was a warlock soldier just like you. But then Lunabelle helped me stand up for what I believe in. Even though we were killed, we stuck by each other until the very end," Marilynn rushed downstairs and gasped when she saw Luna.
"Stars! Christian told me what happened, but I didn't think it was this bad!" She took a good look at Luna and hissed under her breath. "Alejandra, take her to her bed this instant! She's too injured for me to even help her now. Her energy is drained beyond what I've ever seen!" Alejandra's stomach dropped, and he nodded. He quickly carried her upstairs and set her in her bed. She groaned, still sweating. Marilynn silently examined her, mumbling things under her breath. Then, her eyes lit up.
"What is it, your highness?" Alejandra asked. Marilynn smiled.
"I know who can cure this, the only person who can,"
"Who?" Everyone asked.
"Aevaan. He's one of the best doctors in the empire," Marilynn looked over at Alejandra. "Al, you'll get to meet your son," Christian jerked his head his way.
"You have a kid!?" He nodded.
"Yes... and he's the heir to the throne. Luna told me, she dreamt it," Alejandra climbed into the bed next to Luna and comforted her. Marilynn pulled out her communication device and dialed up Aevaan. It immediately disconnected, meaning Aevaan was either busy or out of range. She looked over at Christian and Enry.
"Christian, Enry, I'd like you two to go to D'Chaalö and fetch Aevaan. I'll keep trying to call him while you two are there, but knowing him, he's probably at work," Christian and Enry looked at each other, unsure. "Normally, I would get someone like Alejandra to do it, but his skin is still brand new, and the suns will burn him easily. Enry, you've got your jacket to avoid burns. And Christian, you've got pretty tan skin anyway, so I'm sure you're used to sunny conditions," The two nodded.
"How will we know where he is?" Christian asked. Luna sat up and reached for her notebook.
"Here— I'll give you directions," She weakly scribbled out a map and wrote directions in both English and scribes so they could both read it. She handed it to Enry, who tucked it away in his pants pocket. "Good luck you two. And watch out for the lizards," Enry pulled out his warper and linked his elbow with Christian's.
"Na'Mouta, right?"
"Correct," Marilynn confirmed. "Please be careful. And hurry!" Enry saluted and typed out the coordinates. Before Christian could say bye, Enry activated the warper, and the two disappeared in bright green light.
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