Cecilia gazed around in the hallway she now stood in. Discharged from the hospital, she had been taken to the Kasuru Palace of Dragon Star. The guards had led her down hallway after hallway, before leaving her in front of the door in front of her.
But she had hardly taken anything in since she had been on the hospital rooftop as her mind had been a swirl of thoughts. How had she been brought to Dragon Star, and how was it possible that Space Dragons still lived?
Interrupting her thoughts was a guard who stepped out of the door in front of her.
"Miss Cecilia
Crimsondragon, Kasuru Sagittarius is ready to see you now."
"Ok" Cecilia said weakly as she stepped forward.
"You be polite, and always refer to him as Kasuru," he strictly told Cecilia as she walked past into the room beyond.
The room was modestly decorated, more like an executive or mayors office, not like the leader of a planet like Cecilia expected. Another surprise was that Kasuru Sagittarius was middle aged; Cecilia expected him to be much older.
"Ah!" he exclaimed when he saw Cecilia. "Welcome, welcome. Make yourself at home," he said with a smile as he shook Cecilia's hand.
"How do you do, Sir Kasuru?" Cecilia greeted politely. The man couldn't help but to chuckle.
"Kasuru is our word for leader, young Cecilia. My first name is, Sabin, not Kasuru."
"Oh! I'm sorry, I thought...,"
"Don't fret, now," Sagittarius told her. "This must be quite a mindful for you as is, a dragon not from Dragon Star!" Cecilia nodded.
"I'm so confused... I...I remember an explosion, and then suddenly I woke up in a hospital here. I don't get it.
"An explosion? Ah...that might explain it," Sagittarius said thoughtfully.
"You know how I got here? Because I sure don't!" Cecilia responded. Sagittarius nodded.
"Hm, yes I think it must have been the Emergency Teleporter." Cecilia blinked.
"Emergency...Teleporter?"
"Indeed. Even after so long, Dragon numbers are dwindling. Only a couple pure Dragons remain, so the Emergency Teleporter was built to lock onto a Dragon in a situation where they would die surely before their time, and bring them to a safe place instead. A fire, or a speeder wreck. In your case, there was an explosion. What is unexpected though was the long distance it worked, far beyond Dragon Star.
"In fact...how is it possible that you are a Dragon and not lived on Dragon Star previously?" Sagittarius asked Cecilia, frowning.
Cecilia shifted uneasily; she was afraid it would come to this question, and she didn't know what Dragon Stars relation to Andro Cantorin was. The last thing she wanted was any sort of trouble with an ally of Cantorins without any way of escape. But luckily she had come up with a new answer to hopefully keep her out of that sort of trouble.
"Well... I suppose there was Dragon blood in my family line from way back when. Must've been survivors, I suppose. I guess the Dragon in us lay dormant until I was born, and came out half human half Dragon. My parents took care of me for a few years. They said they thought that perhaps they could love me, but when I was about three they decided they just couldn't and abandoned me. So I lived alone on the streets." Sagittarius nodded and looked kindly and sympathetic, to Cecilia's relief.
"Yes, I suppose the galaxy is still very much prejudiced against the Dragons. I can't blame them though..."
"That's something I don't understand," Cecilia said. "How can Dragon Star still be here...or Space Dragons for that matter!" To her surprise, Sagittarius laughed.
"They are extinct, young Cecilia."
"But, I just saw them outside-"
"Ah, they are the closest living relation to Space Dragons. They are Terra Dragons."
"Terra Dragons?" Cecilia blinked. "I...I don't understand, Kasuru." Sagittarius smiled and stood up. "Perhaps I can explain and show you. Please, come this way," he told her as he led her out of his office and down yet another hall. At the end of this hall were big, ornate double doors. They opened and Cecilia gasped.
The room was round and massive. There were large decorative pillars and decorations, some very old, other not so old. Three golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling. But what caught Cecilia's eyes were the walls.
All around the room were ancient drawings depicting humans and Dragons together. She remembered seeing some of them long ago when she was still all human, back when she was still a Fett.
"What...what is this place?! It's incredible!!" Sagittarius smiled and led her in.
"This is the History of Dragon Star room, and is the oldest surviving room from what we call the Great Dragon War."
"I know all about the war," Cecilia said nodding. "The Dragons got pushy and tried to take over the galaxy, but the Dragon Hunters came and kill all the Dragons and then blew up Dragon Star." Sagittarius smiled sadly.
"That's the version that is told throughout the galaxy, huh? I suppose time has a way of making people forgetting things. Or perhaps they only forgot what they wanted to forget. But Dragon Star knows the truth. We remember because when you forget is when you tell the lie.
"Many, many years ago Dragon Star was one of many systems in a great galactic alliance, the forerunner of what would eventually become the Republic. Dragon Star traded with other planets and life for everyone was good.
"On Dragon Star there were five dominant species; the ocean-dwelling Aqua Dragon, the cold dwelling Ice Dragon, the large, powerful, and interplanetary Space Dragon, the smaller cousin that could not survive in space, the Terra Dragon, and people. Everyone got along and worked together to make Dragon Star great.
"But the Space Dragons were not content. They believed themselves to be the most powerful species in the galaxy, and thus, should rule the galaxy. Many humans agreed with the Space Dragons, who were much larger and more violent then the other Dragons. The Terra, Aqua, and Ice Dragons disagreed, saying it would only bring trouble, when they only desired peace. Many humans agreed with them also.
"The Space Dragons declared their own independence and together with the other humans and many half Dragons set out and waged war with the galaxy. Many systems suffered destruction while other systems stopped trade with Dragon Star. Even though it was only the Space Dragons who were killing and not the other Dragons, everyone now feared us.
"A group arose in the turmoil and set out against the Space Dragons, calling themselves the Dragon Hunters. As impossible as it seemed, they managed to kill every single Space Dragon, and their followers. Only a handful of human followers survived.
"But this wasn't good enough. As punishment for the treason, they came here to Dragon Star. It had been decided by all the other systems that Dragon Star must be punished, even though the other Dragons and humans had nothing to do with what the Space Dragons did, and did all they could to stop them. There was a mass slaughtering of Dragons. Only a couple thousand Terra Dragons lived. Even fewer Ice and Aqua Dragons survived. Our cities were destroyed. We were stripped of our technology and banned from galactic society. The survivors were only allowed to live on the condition they give up all our interplanetary technology and could never leave Dragon Star ever again.
"Not all was lost, though. The ancient Kasuru survived, and the Kasuru Palace remained relatively undamaged. As the Kasuru Palace is the center of Dragon Star society, and the Kasuru is, of course, their ruler, the surviving inhabitants had the will to live. Working together everyone rebuilt. We developed our own technology again, but abide by the condition of which we were allowed to live, and have never left Dragon Star. We did, however, develop ships that can leave Dragon Star...but we only use them on those we ourselves banish from Dragon Star."
"Banish?" Cecilia asked. Sagittarius nodded.
"Yes...unfortunately, sometimes old ideas don't die. There have been quite a few ancestors of the ones who desired control and dominance who still desire them. Like the Cantorins." Sagittarius spit the name with hatred. Cecilia pretended not to notice.
"I think it's terrible what the Dragon Hunters did. It's not fair to hurt the innocent to punish the guilty!"
"It is terrible," Sagittarius agreed with her as they left the History of Dragon Star room. "But, that's how life has worked since it began. That's how life will work until it ends."
"I know, but...I wish that's not how it had to work. I want to change it!"
Sagittarius smiled as they walked back into his office that overlooked the city. "You're very optimistic, Cecilia. I admire that." Cecilia smiled a little.
"I don't really consider myself optimistic. I'm more pessimistic then optimistic; I always have something negative to think about."
"Pessimistic or not, you certainly sounded optimistic a moment ago," he said as they looked down at the city around them.
"So, what is this city called anyways?" Cecilia asked after a few minutes.
"This is Tracia, the capital of Dragon Star, as you might have already guessed. We're located very near the equator. The sea you see in the distance is the Sapphire Sea, named not for the colour, but rather for the sapphire gems the Aqua Dragons used to mine on the seabed."
"Isn't population a problem?" Cecilia asked. "I know cities are crowded, but this seems more crowded then I've ever seen," she said, excluding her account of Couruscant.
"Yes and no for different reasons. The pure Dragon population is rather depressing even after so long. Even though its quite a comeback from near extinction, it doesn't come near the population there once was. Terra Dragon population is around 50 million. Aqua and Ice Dragons, which are much rarer as they prefer seaside and artic climates respectively, are close to 10 million each."
"But that seems like so much."
"Perhaps, but when you take into account a global population of around 12 billion, the numbers are rather out of proportion," Sagittarius said.
"The human population seems much more out of wack compared to the Dragon population. How does that work?"
"Well, the Dragon Hunters were more...lenient with our human ancestors. But the Dragon population doesn't include the totals of beings with mixed lineage."
"So, there are more half Dragons then full Dragons. I see now," Cecilia said with a nod. "That's a pretty healthy population size though. No wonder Tracia is so crowded!"
"All cities are immensely crowded," Sagittarius told her. "It is difficult to expand and still save room for Dragon Stars wilderness. It's important after all, since we can't import or export goods. So it gets more and more difficult to place people and to save land for food and whatnot. Luckily, we've found a solution," he said with a smile.
"Go on," Cecilia said. Sagittarius showed her a globe.
"As you can see, most of the land area is more cities now then country. We need a place to build new cities and locate people to them to ease the stress on the current cities without imposing on country. Study the globe and you'll find our solution." Cecilia studied the map for a minute.
"There are a lot of oceans. You're...you're not going to drain the oceans and ruin the Aqua Dragons habitat to expand the cities...are you?" Sagittarius couldn't help but to laugh.
"Of course we wouldn't do that! And that's not a viable solution anyways. There are very steep cliffs only a few miles off shore in most, of not all, of the costal areas. What we've done instead have built massive domes. The frozen areas of the north and south use these domes to control temperature and weather in those cities as only the Ice Dragons can stand the cold well. Much like we've done there, we've put these domes on the sea beds and are now building cities within them."
Cecilia could only gasp in wonder. Cities on the ocean floor! Never in all her life had she heard of such an incredible thing.
"That's amazing Kasuru! I wish I could live in a city on the ocean floor!" Sagittarius smiled.
"Not for a while, Cecilia. The domes are finished, but the cities within them are not. We hope to have them partially finished in a year. People will work in the buildings by then, but it will still take a bit of time to finish the homes in the city.
"In fact... That brings me to an important point," Sagittarius said, growing serious. "I mentioned before about our limited interplanetary technology. We don't use it to leave Dragon Star, but to banish our traitors.
"Now, I'm not calling you a traitor," he said catching the worried look in Cecilia's face. "But it is time for you to make an important decision. I'm not sure what sort of life you have in the galaxy...but I can't imagine it to be very welcoming to Dragons."
"Its not," Cecilia said sadly. "People think I'm a murderer and a cold hearted killer just because of what I look like. They never try to see what kind of a person I am, they just assume and reject me..."
"I guessed as much. Which is why I am offering you this; you can return to your life in the galaxy. We will give you a ship and you can leave Dragon Star and go back to your friends and life there.
"Or, I can help you start a new life here on Dragon Star. We'll give you accommodations and money to begin with, but you'll have to find work on your own. Don't rush; I know this is an important decision to make."
Life among her fellow Dragons! Cecilia could only wish of such a thing, to be fully accepted for what she was and to leave peacefully and normally. But, what about her life in the galaxy? What about her friends, what would they think? She did disappear into thin air, after all. They had to have been worried sick.
...Where they? Silver's voice rang out in her mind; "you're not brave, just incredibly stupid!" She thought about the past few months with them. Did they really still call her a friend, or were they celebrating her absence as she stood there?
"Are you Ok Cecilia?" Sagittarius' voice brought her back to reality. To her surprise, several tears were running down her face. "It's all right, don't cry now," he said as he handed her a tissue. "I won't force you to stay if there's someone important to you out there."
Cecilia sniffed and looked out the window, to the late afternoon sky. She thought of her apparent friends, her father, people calling her names on the street, and what a life on Dragon Star might be like...
She turned back to Kasuru Sabin Sagittarius, a wide grin on her face.
"I want to live here! I want to stay on Dragon Star and get a normal job and live a normal life and be happy!"