Flight from the Mystic Moon

The room was warm and didn't smell at all like grease, oil or dirt of any kind. I sat numbly in the chair Allen had set me in and had not moved once in over an hour. I wondered if something was wrong with me. The door stood before me, unlocked and here I was, staring at it, unable to move, run, anything.

"Excuse me? May I come in?" A voice, soft and sweet came from the other side of the door. Even so I'd almost tipped the chair back in surprise.

"Uh, yeah sure." The door opened and a young woman stepped in. She wore a rather stunning dress and I wondered having finally caught on to some minor things which set me of kilter. Her clothes were old fashioned and in the 20 years that I've been alive, mother has never so much has gone on vacation without me. When did she meet these people? How did she get here? My head hurt…

"I have brought you some clean clothes and have filled a bath for you as well. I have been asked to assist you with anything you need and to answer any question I might be able to answer. You will have to forgive me as my… memory has not been well for a while." Was everyone that was remotely pretty on this planet blonde? The girl was not as vibrant as Allen, but she too had flowing blonde hair, hers was wavy and curled at the ends though while Allen's was so straight that girls on earth would have clubbed him to death for it. She doubted Allen sat before a mirror for hours with a hot-iron to get the effect though.

"Where am I?" I didn't mean to ask it so straightforwardly, but it came out that way anyways. The woman smiled and sat down on a bed which would have been much more comfortable than the chair I was stuck to.

"You are about 3500 Costas above Gaea's surface. We are in a… fortress that was built on wandering rocks. When you bathe you will see what I mean. I was told your name was Keori and your mother was Hitomi. I know Allen said to say nothing to others, but if you see your mother again, please send my regards. I am thankfully to her though we did not know each other for very long." If earth had women this nice it would be a much better place. More boring more likely, but better.

"What's your name?" I ignored the terms 'Costa' and 'Gaea' and 'flying'. I shouldn't have passed out before else I'd know where I was right now. Or at least I'd have an idea.

"I'm sorry. My name is Celena. I'm Allen's sister." I nearly choked on my own tongue. This girl was nothing like her evil brother and so-called knight. What was she doing with all these men too! I was suddenly very aware of myself. I might not be that attractive of a girl, but hell… with what these guys looked like aside from Allen… I was a model…

"I'll take that shower or bath now. If you have time later perhaps I'd like to talk. I'm not feeling well right now." I wasn't sure about the whole 3500 thing, but it sounded rather high up.

"Please follow me and when you finish cleaning, please wear this. You will blend in much better than with the clothes you are wearing now." I looked down at my school clothes and was sure I looked nothing like the rest of the people here. I was a sore thumb compared to the rest of the men and woman before me.

"Sure." She stood still smiling and led me down the halls that if I struck out both my elbows they would hit the walls. She stopped and opened a door and I walked in after a moment's hesitation. I swore if she was cleaning me up to be sold as some slave I'd kill everyone here in their sleep. Wasn't that the way it worked in all those stories on earth. The girl gets whisked away and falls in love or brutally murdered… A shiver ran down my spine thateverything to do with the heavy breeze. Atleast that is what I told myself.

"I will wait in this room. The next room has the bath and there you will find all you need. If you can't find something just ask and I'll get it for you." And just like that she sat down. I hadn't bathed with someone in the same room since I was 5 and it was weird, then again she wasn't in the same room per-say…

"Thank you." I left her sitting in a chair and walked into the next room and stopped. When they said bath I expected a real bath… this things was practically a pool. "Holy shit…" I caught my-self swearing and realized there was no mother here to scold me… it didn't make me feel better as I'd hope it would have.

Watching the door the whole time I slowly undressed and held my clothes in front of me. I backed into the pool which slowly descended into the deep end and even then I could stand above the water line. I lowered into the very warm water and soaked my hair quickly so to keep an eye on the door. The fact that the 'door' to the 'bath' was over eight feet wide I could almost not consider it a door at all. My eyes caught the small basket of assorted glass bottles all filled with pearly liquids of pinks, greens and whites. Each bottle had their own scent and I picked what one smelled the nicest. Not that any of them were smells I could associate from earth and that just made the distance between me and where I should be seem all the larger.

"Are you doing alright in the bath?" Celena's voice drifted in from the next room and I dipped lower into the water.

"Yeah! I'm ok, thanks." I looked over the room and realized then what Celena had meant by the view from here. One wall was all glass and I could see out in the distance where the sun had begun to rise and painted the planet's surface with vibrant colors. You could tell just from looking that this place could never have been earth. Not major cities no matter where you looked… and even the air tasted cleaner having lacked hundreds of years of pollution. This place was pristine. "No it's not..." I corrected my-self quietly. This place was not home and was not better than home. Huge machines I'd never seen roamed the planet and were piloted by men with tempers to be reckoned with. The one village of sorts that I had seen since coming here had been bathed in blood, the only thing that looked the same was the sun from here.

Angrily I scrubbed my-self until my skin turned pink and I washed my hair to the point it was tangled. It would take me a good ten minutes to work them out once I got out and I sighed with my own lack of patients as I walked out of the 'bath'. I saw the towels which were also rather abnormal in size. They were practically bed-sheets, so I wrapped it around me and walked out to see Celena as the dress had more buttons and strings then I knew what to do with. That was when I blew a gasket.

"What the hell are you doing here? Get the hell out!" Allen stood conferring with his sister. If the perve had wanted to he could have been peeping and I wasn't saying his sister was all that trust-worthy seeing as they were siblings.

"I'm sorry, I should have spoken with him out-side." Celena took the blame which pissed me right off and I walked up to him despite being half dressed.

"No, Celena. He should know better and you are not his keeper. I'm sure he's been able to clean up after him-self for years now, get out Allen." I pointed to the door and tried to hide shaking legs. Surprisingly enough he seemed off-put and turned pink at the face. What was wrong with this guy?

"You are right. Excuse me." He closed the door and said nothing. I took Celena's chair as I doubted my legs would support me much longer. But seriously, he had to know I was in here and he just stood there. Do men have not sense of decency on this planet… Then again they don't have much on earth either…

"I have never been before a woman that spoke so forwardly. You speak like my brother, well, like men do. I'm sure if it had been any-one else he'd have left politely, but not because they demanded it of them. You embarrassed him... I've never seen that before." I looked at her like she was crazy. Allen had to be at least mid to late thirties and Celena must have been younger, but she'd never seen him embarrassed… Where they really siblings?

"He shouldn't have been here… he should use his brain more and his… never mind." For some reason talking about Allen with ill intent more than likely would go ill with the sister. Never the less Celena looked at me like I was some kind of movie star.

"It was refreshing to see him put in his place." Celena took on with an interesting expression that only made me smile. For being the innocent looking woman that she was, she had that 'evil' streak that came with being a young sister. Not that I'd witnessed it first hand having no brother or sister, but Akira had an older brother that I liked to pick on.

"Hey Celena… I got a question for you." I tightened the towel around me as my mind started to adapt to a way of thinking I wasn't comfortable with. "Why is it that I'm not allowed to mention my mother's name or where I'm from to anyone other than you and Allen?" Celena frowned and I was a little curious as to why she looked almost sick.

"I'm so sorry. I can't say more than that. About this matter you will have to speak with Allen and when the time comes, with Van of Fanelia. They will be able to explain what I cannot. Please forgive me." I knew it was hard for her. I could see it on her face, she was either a good liar or incapable of it at all.

"It's ok. If you can't tell me about that then I want to know everything you can tell me about Van of Fanelia." Celena held the dress she intended me to wear in her hands and for the first time since I'm met her, which wasn't long at all, I was her smile truthfully and it was that which made me realize.

Something was wrong with this girl.