All rights belong to Marissa Meyer. Only the new characters and plot are mine.

CHAPTER 3

"Hey, kid."

Nina looked up from where she had been playing card games on the floor with Josiah. Out of five rounds, she had yet to win once. "What?"

Key lifted up his squashed green hat that Nina thought was absolutely hideous and scratched his head. "Welcome to The Second Star."

Nina rocketed to her feet. The Second Star was the trading post Key had been telling her all about for the past two days. Nina grinned. It wasn't just any trading post. It was their last one before they could turn back to Earth. She hadn't even been gone a week and already missed any and all food that wasn't packed in a can. She dared to hope that maybe they would have something good on the asteroid.

"Really?" She peered out the window. Her face fell. There was nothing but space dust, space dust, and more space dust. Hardly the thriving mini-city she was promised. "Where?" Key grinned at her wickedly, like this was all great fun. She scowled. "Let me guess. We won't be there for another two hours."

Key laughed. "Nope. It's behind us."

Nina's jaw dropped, the ache in her head starting up again. "Behind us? You mean we're not stopping? You promised I would get home after we went here!" She threw her handful of cards at him. What the heck was he playing at?

"No, no. This is how we get there." He placed his hand on a green lit screen, dragged the image into the air, and spun it around so she could see exactly where they were. "They gravity's a bit weird here, so there's only one entrance we can use safely, and I'm all about safety."

Nina rolled her eyes, her red face cooling down. He was all about safety only if his 'trade' was involved.

"The shipment here's small, so I was hoping you wouldn't mind we stayed a couple hours longer. I do-" he started before she could protest- "have to get my crew, after all. They've been waiting here for a couple of weeks. I gave them a little vacation time as a present for the holidays. And a friend of mine is here."

Nina sighed and dropped her shoulders. It wasn't like she could stop him. "Sure. Whatever." Besides, a couple hours wasn't much longer to wait.

"Great. Josiah, you and Nina pick up those cards, alright?"

"Yes, sir," Josiah said with a mock salute.

The landing was one of Key's smoothest, despite the supposed danger of landing anywhere else, and, for that, Nina was grateful. It was the first time her meals didn't threaten a reappearance.

The post was much bigger than Nina had thought it would be. It could easily fit the other three posts they had visited by… well, she didn't know exactly, but it was a lot. At least twice.

"Just you wait," Key said as the ship settled onto solid ground. "This place is nothing like you've ever seen. They've got a whole bunch of domes, like Luna. Spas, beaches, even forests for camping. The Second Star is pretty much a resort for long distance workers and travelers." He smiled wildly. "It's my favorite place in the whole universe."

Nina was absolutely beside herself with excitement. From Key description, she fully expected a relaxing two hours. Maybe even clothes that weren't the scratchy uniforms that came with the ship.

What she didn't expect was a blond woman to start cursing at them as soon as the ramp lowered.

"Stars above, Key. What were you thinking? Three weeks you were gone and now you've brought two kids! Don't go telling me we have to take them with us!"

"Well…"

She roared. "Of all the… We don't have the room! What is with you and your strays? We're already so far behind. We spent far too much time here."

"You're complaining about an extended vacation?" Nina's eyes widened. She may not have known the blond lady, but she knew that that was the wrong thing to say.

"There are so many repairs that have to be done! I can't believe you flew it around like that. The navigation system is all messed up, no wonder it took you so long to get here. Did you even think about upset customers? Of course not! And your comms. I couldn't get anything through to you!"

Her hair bobbed around her ears with every angry word. Nina kept her eyes on the wrench in the woman's hand. It threatened flight when she jabbed it in each of their directions. Nina was half surprised that the hamburger clutched in her other hand hadn't fallen to pieces by the time she stopped for a breath. She took a furious bite out of it, using her sleeve to wipe sauce from the corner of her mouth.

Key sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Nina, Josiah, this is Maya Linkon, the love of my life."

"Not so sure about that. Left me behind with the loons." Maya settled down enough to examine the two, scrutiny cranked to full blast in her winter eyes.

Key licked his lips. "Uh, Maya?" Nina looked down at her feet. She almost felt bad that she was forcing them to waste more time by taking her back. Almost.

"What?"

"Nina's not exactly a stowaway."

Nina piped up before Maya could start cursing at him again. "He kidnapped me and has to return me." She winced. She hadn't meant to make it sound so bad.

Maya looked at Nina like she had just told her to sunbathe on the nearest star. She threw her hands up in the air and turned on her heel. "Come talk to me when you've realized how dumb you're being. We don't have time for pit stops."

Key's face fell. "Right. Okay."

Nina scrunched her nose. "Sorry."

Key sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kid. I did kind of kidnap you, after all."

"Only kind of."

Key hummed. "Well, guess it's time to introduce you to my mighty crew." He grinned and stuck his thumb over his shoulder to a squat building with a neon sign: Nettle Inn. "I think you'll like them."

Nina and Josiah exchanged a glance before following him to the front doors where a ground of people flooded out the doors.

"Captain Younge!" one of them called. Key waved back, his smile only half fake.

The mighty crew of Key Younge was… well, it was… interesting, Nina finally settled on. All of them were older than her, but not by much, and none of them had real names.

"This is Fox," Key introduced a lanky, freckled, twenty year old.

"Bear," for a round, squat boy. He was clearly one of the youngest, his voice still squeaking a little.

"Rabbit," for a girl with hair as curly as Nina's, though it was much shorter and pulled back to show her near black eyes.

"Nice to meet you," she'd said.

"Skunk, and he knows it," Key said, ignoring the protests of the boy with overly long ears and a foul smell drifting off of him.

"Racoon One and Racoon Two," a pair of twins that hid behind Maya despite being much larger than her. "And that's all of 'em. All stowaways." He said proudly, grabbin one of the twins and ruffling their hair. "I think I'll call Josiah Turtle. That way, his nickname can be Turd."

"Hey!"

Nina laughed. She wouldn't mind the shared two day ride back to Earth with them at all.

She and Josiah helped the crew unload crates that were surprisingly light for their size. She lifted one on top of her head, much to the delight of Josiah and Bear, who copied her.

Nina climbed back up the ramp to grab the last crate. It was one of the smallest, but also plenty heavy. She pinched her lips together. What had Key packed in there? Gravity stabilizers on full blast? She bent down the pick it up.

"I can't believe you." Nina froze at the sound of Maya's voice.

"She just snuck on. I thought maybe she was running away, but I was wrong. I messed up, okay," Key said. Nina stood, eyes locked on the wall they were talking behind, unaware they were being listened in on.

"Messed up? Taking a kid from her home isn't 'messing up', Keyne! It's illegal!"

"I know that. I promised to take her back when we were done."

"You should have taken her back immediately. That way an entire week wouldn't be wasted just to take her on a little trip."

"You know I couldn't just drop her off. I have to make sure she gets back safely. You know that."

Nina scampered down the ramp as fast as she could, but not quick enough that she didn't hear Maya's next few words and Key's reply.

"I'm sick of this, Keyne. I'm staying here. Don't bother coming to get me again."

"Maybe I won't."

Nina could feel herself turn red. She wanted to run back in to fix it, but had no idea as to how she would, so she stayed away. Maya left and, true to her words, didn't return after fixing the navigation.

Key's eyes were rimmed with red when he finally came out. Nina's stomach clenched. She had been the one that caused that. Key smiled at her and the rest of them like nothing had happened.

"I heard the royal crew's in town. You guys want to go?"

His own crew exchanged glances. "We gotta deliver these, Cap," Skunk said, twisting his hands together. "We saw 'em yesterday, anyways."

"Well then, take Turtle. I doubt he's ever met royalty. Nina, too. You ever meet Princess Peony, kid? She's a handful."

Nina's heart stalled. It couldn't be. She had gone halfway across the solar system, so she knew she couldn't have heard right. Or, at least, she hoped. "Princess Peony. Like Eastern-Commonwealth-Princess Peony?"

"The one and only. She's been traveling with Captain Thorne and his wife and kid. Learning all about the solar system. Want to meet her?"

"No." The word escaped her mouth before she could fully think about it. Then, more forcefully, she said: "No. I'm going with you." She grabbed one of the hovering platforms that the crates were stacked on. "You can't do it all on your own."

Key stared at her, but, thankfully, didn't ask questions. Nina breathed a little easier with every step she took away from the direction of the royal ship. She would never need and never wanted to meet a crazed half-lunar. Much less the daughter of the ruthless empress. Not for the first time, Nina rubbed at the back of her neck, wishing her mother had gotten her a bioelectric lock when she'd been little.

They dropped off a few crates to little souvenir shops as they went along, but, Key told her, the majority would go to the Lagoon.

It was at the Lagoon that Nina missed the sun for the first time. It was there, of course, but just far enough away that its heat couldn't reach her. As soon as she stepped through the doors, a blast of air warmed her to her bones, reminding her of the heat in Lynn's booth and Nina found she didn't mind much. It was a very welcome difference from a flying metal box with navigation problems.

They made their way down the back staff halls, coming to a wide door that Key had to swipe his wrist over the lock to get through. Nina guided her platform into the room, pausing at the sight of lapping waves on a black sand beach.

Key chuckled and shoved a platform through the door with his foot. "Go swim."

"I- I'm not dressed for it."

"So? You'll dry off."

Nina ignored him. Her eyes traveled up to the domed ceiling modeled to look like the Earthen sky, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She snapped her attention back to Key, swallowing back her overwhelming desire to see Lynn again. Just a few more days. "Where do these go?"

A girl with long honey hair held back with a seashell pin met them at the slightly cooler storage rooms, one hand on her hip, a port clutched to her chest.

"You mean you're actually delivering while we're not busy?" She said it as a joke, but both Key and Nina heard the bite in it.

"Haha, you're so funny. My sides are ready to burst," Key said, monotone. "You closed today?"

The girl hummed, checking off the order on her port. "Cleaning day only happens once a month."

"You have 'em, though, right?"

"Had since last week when all of this should have been here. We've been running low for a while, dummy."

Key scratched the back of his head. Nina was surprised he didn't pull out some of his hair given how often he did that. "Sorry about that."

"You say sorry too often. Who's she?"

"Sor- er, Nina. She's Nina. My unofficial delivery girl." Nina gave him a look at the new title. "So, the wraps?"

The honey girl leg them into the back where a short stack of small boxes sat. Nina peered inside one of them as she lifted the lid. Little orbs of jelly with green centers lined the padding. Nina wanted to poke one, but wasn't sure Key would be too happy if she did. She couldn't risk doing anything else to upset him after she already ruined his day.

"Green?" Key asked as the girl replaced the lid.

"They've been sitting out for a while, waiting for you. Any more time and they might've turned yellow." Turning on the platform, she kicked it towards them. "Your pay. Consider the lack of freshness as a my discount."

"Aces, Gail. Never said anything about a discount," he muttered, pushing the handle into Nina's hands.

She glared. "You also never said anything about being late."

The squeak of metal against a wet floor cut of Key's retort. "I thought you were closed. Is it your employees?"

"It shouldn't be; they all left a while ago." Gail stormed past them and into the hallway. "Probably someone who just wanted the pool to themselves." She began to tap away furiously on her port. Key nudged Nina for them to follow her. Nina obliged.

She led them directly to the door she claimed was the only one that ever made that noise. Nina wrapped her arms around herself as Gail gave her a suspicious glance.

"Don't you dare touch anything."

She nearly rolled her eyes. Like she ever would. Stealing is what got her in this mess in the first place. "I won't. Promise," she added before Gail opened the door. A dull roar Nina hadn't noticed before met her ears. The blast of overly hot air was enough to dry out her eyes. She squoze them shut, wrinkling her nose at the feeling.

Gail sighed. "The steam room doors are open." She paused before stepping into the hallway and swore. Nina stared, confused at the small puddle of water that fell subject to Gail's curses. "The geyser room was opened." She slammed her foot down into it, not caring a warm water splashed onto them. "Do they have any idea how dangerous that is? Who's there?" she shouted. "I won't hesitate to contact the authorities!" Nina followed her down the hallway without a second thought, not noticing at first that Key seemed reluctant.

The thundering of the geysers increased with every step. She had been in a steam room before, but never behind one and it was not an experience she ever wanted to repeat.

The hall was kept clean and bright, but the thick air was starting to make her choke and her clothes were clinging to her skin. They followed a thin stream until Gail started cursing enough that Key covered Nina's ears.

"She's only a child. Don't expose her to such things!" Nina rolled her eyes.

"They broke my lock! I paid a lot for that. Stupid -" Key pressed harder on Nina's ears. When he finally let go, Nina could make out murmuring voices that were probably a lot louder up close.

Gail surged forward. "I'm not waiting for the police. They could be doing anything in there." Neither Key nor Nina tried to stop her. They didn't have to. Gail only made it a few steps before she backed up into Key.

"Stars above! What the… Are you seeing the same thing I am?" Nina leaned forward, searching for the intruders.

This time it was Key that swore. "What's Sharpe doing here?" He sucked in a breath. "Is that… It can't be."

Nina's eyes widened, her lungs releasing what heavy air she had managed to get. She could feel her pulse quicken, her heart bruising her chest.

Next to a gaping hole in the ground was a tall man with braided black hair and a hooked nose. Even from where she was, Nina could see the glistening metal of a cyborg arm revealed by the rolled up sleeves of his red coat and a girl with a full head of long, black hair and tanned skin sitting on the floor, her arms bound to her sides. Nina had seen her enough on news feeds and social forums to recognize her face anywhere.

"Princess Peony."

Chap 3 done! We're just getting warmed up! TLC has a lot of fairy tales mixed in it and it's the same here (though I'm not sure it's really a fairy tale, but it's definitely a story most people know). Anyone want to take a stab at what story this is based off of ;). Thanks for reading. Chap 4 coming soon.