"There goes another one," said Lunessa. She gently lay down the head of the deceased woman, another victim to the plague that recently spread across Galaxiana.
"There was nothing that you could have done, Lunessa." The man gently laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes there was," she said softly as she was finishing the Lunarian death prayer. "She shouldn't have died, Juplen. After that plague from Nepthaire spread, she was willing to travel to Earth with us. If only you let us go three moons ago, she and another 300,000 Galaxinians would still be alive."
She was looking straight at the Astral now, staring into his eyes of ever-changing browns and orange. "Please, let's not bring up the whole Earth business again," he started. "You know that it is forbidden to go with the Solaroids and that-"
"As the royal princess of the People of the Moon, it is not safe for me to go out of our lands, etc., etc. I already know that! But think. What is more important, some ancient laws of the Lunarians, or the lives of fellow Galaxinians? Please, just give it a chance," she pleaded. "I am perfectly capable of following of following the traditions." At that point, Lunessa had stared him down.
"That is beside the point. It does not matter about your capability," Juplen responded.
"What if I keep in contact with you?" asked Lunessa. "Plus, you don't need to hover at me every second."
Juplen looked at her thoughtfully, considering the situation. "Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this? You must consider the consequences, how your parents will react to this, how much danger you will be in-"
"Juplen I will be fine! You are one of the most respected Astrals throughout Galaxiana. You are my guardian, and I have learned everything from you. I can do this."
"Fine then, have it your way," said Juplen. "But as long as you report back to us how things are going on Earth. You may go with a group of 1,000 Galaxinians. Afterwards, we will send more."
"Thank you Juplen. Please remind my parents that I will be fine. Hopefully, enough will retreat to Earth that they could continue the Galaxinian legacy and will be able to come back after the plague has died out."
Directly after their conversation, Juplen sent out the command for five space barges. On the day of their departure from Celestial City, Lunessa said goodbye to Juplen one last time. "I wish you luck on your journey, princess," said Juplen.
"Thank you so much for this. It may help so many in the future. Stay safe, dear Astral." She gave him a hug before she disappeared into the ship.
As soon as she was on the main deck, Lunessa surveyed the area. Where to start… Where to start… She thought to herself as she scanned the plain and unfinished barge. Juplen had ordered the barges on such short notice that they had not been able to finish everything in time. There were large containers of objects like paints, dressers, mirrors, beds, etc. Then she saw a young Lunarian with her children, trying to carry all of their belongings to their cabins. I guess I'll start with helping them, she thought to herself. "Excuse me. Do you need help with that?"
The woman looked up and smiled when she saw Lunessa. Together with the help of the woman and her children, they were able to put together some of the furniture in her cabin and store their things away. "You know, you could go now. I could finish things from here," said Lunessa.
"Are you sure?" the woman asked.
"Positive. I think you should go to the food hall. Your children look pretty hungry now."
"Thank you so much princess!" the woman replied.
"Please, call me Lunessa."
"Thank you Lunessa," the woman said before she walked out.
All Lunessa had to do now was finish up the walls. "Need help with that?" asked a voice from behind. Lunessa turned around and found, standing at the doorway, a tall, tanned man. His eyes were like the sun and his hair was a pure golden color. His body was outlined with muscles, and he carried a sword on his back. There was a slight smirk on his face. The looks of a Solaroid.
"Get away from me Solaroid,"said Lunessa.
"What? I was just asking. Plus, I thought you might need some help here."
"I don't need your help here," Lunessa said flatly.
"Sure you do. I'm a Solaroid, born to hard labor. You're a Lunarian, born to all easy things in life. Especially since you're the princess." At that comment, Lunessa accidentally knocked over her paints.
"Great. Look what you made me do." Lunessa picked up a nearby cloth and started to wipe the paints off the floor.
"Here, let me help," said the man.
"No! Like I said, I don't need your help. I can do this by myself." He just ignored her and started cleaning the floor too. Lunessa gave a long sigh, then said "You know, not all Lunarians get the easy things in life. I have to listen to my guardian's constant reminders. I don't even get that much freedom to go wherever I want. So anyways, what's your name?"
"I'm Darius," he replied simply.
"Hmmm… Darius. So, Darius, what do you do in the Land of the Sun?"
"I'm the king's general."
"Wow. General, huh? So then what are you doing here on the ship?"
Darius stopped cleaning now and was just staring at the floor. "I guess I just wanted to help the people, you know? Lots of Galaxinians have died so far, and I want to find a way to save Galaxiana. I had to do a lot of convincing to make the king finally let me come."
"Same here," she replied with a smile.
Over the arduous ten-month journey, Lunessa and Darius got to know a lot more about each other and learned to respect each other. It actually turns out that they have a lot in common. Although forbidden by the laws of the land, they eventually fell in love and bore a child. The day before they arrived, they were naming the Eclipsiod daughter. "How about Selene?" suggested Lunessa, caressing the baby's face.
"Come on Lunessa, where is the Sol part in that? You have got to think about things other than the moon." Lunessa smiled at her husband's remark.
"Fine," she said. "What did you have in mind then?"
"Mmmm… How about Craestalis?"
She nodded in agreement, then whispered, "Crystal."
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