He couldn't believe his eyes.

Central Hub was everything he imagined it to be and more. It was enormous. Even before the ship got anywhere near the surface, the glimmering white sphere seemed to swallow them whole, drown them in its rolling seas, gas clouds and floating metal islands. Celeste had told him all about the planet, how it was impossible to terraform despite having a breathable atmosphere and hospitable gravity. There were no solid surfaces. The settlers had simply constructed their own islands on the planet. Because it was so huge, so central and had a brilliant internet signal, it had grown into an intergalactic trading hub. Eventually, it became a central government of sorts. It was also the most well defended planet in the galaxy, the only place the XINE dared not attack. He would be safe here.

The ship docked smoothly in the port, a spotless white dome-shaped structure full of tall signal towers. There were ships of every kind here: huge passenger ships, merchant vessels loaded with goods, heavily armed warships defending the port from the XINE, customised ships that showed off the wealth of their owners - then there was Celeste's ship. Even the porters and service droids kept away from Celeste's ship. The security system would disintegrate anyone who came within twenty yards of it.

"Impressed?" Gabrie Celeste smiled. She spotted him gawping. "The space port alone is the size of the Flying Battery!"

"How in Tria's name are we going to find our way around such a huge planet?"

"Where we're going is a landmark. Everyone will know where it is." she assured him, "Just follow me and don't wander off."

Taking the lead, she walked along a raised platform. Her braided hair flowed down her back in an almost seductive manner. Motoi saw a few workers in the port looking at her, although they were too terrified to whistle at her. It hadn't really occurred to him, at ten years old, that he was travelling with a beautiful woman. He idly wondered if she had any younger sisters and whether he had the guts to ask her.

The minute he stepped outside the station, he was plunged into a warren of broad, long streets, buildings so tall that he couldn't see the roof, shops that took up ten buildings and advertised goods that would take him ten years to save up enough money to buy, hovercars speeding back and forth, drones cleaning the streets and sweeping up rubbish so that everything was the same shade of almost clinical white. A street vendor hawked the Nede Chronicle. A wall screen showed the time, temperature and latest news on fifty different planets. He looked up and saw, in the green sky, ships flying overhead. It was all so big and overwhelming... he suddenly felt scared...

"Are you okay?" Celeste asked, "If you start panicking, tell me. People sometimes get agoraphobic on the Hub. Watch out for pickpockets and don't buy anything."

Motoi thanked her. She really did look out for him. He had almost forgiven her for forcing him to leave his home. There was so much music here... so many people, so bright, so much light and life and information...

Gabrie Celeste pointed to a huge white building in front of them. It looked like a cathedral except for the holographic signs all over it. As the two approached it, it beeped and a door opened. A guard at the reception ushered them in, not hiding the laser sword and gauss pistol at his belt. Despite his heavily armed vigilance, he did not try and stop Gabrie Celeste from entering.

"Welcome to the Interplanetary Government Building." she whispered. He gasped. The silence had an almost religiously reverential quality to it. The white walls gleamed so bright they almost blinded him, the walls invisible, the corridors going on forever. He felt as though he could stop breathing altogether. Was there anything here at all, or was it all a mirage?

"Stand on that plate." she ordered.

He stood on a raised circle with a Tria symbol. A tingle ran through his body, making him feel uncomfortable. His vision swam and began to break up. He clawed at the air in slow motion but he only fell, fell through the air, the walls and floor dissolving...

He blacked out. When he came to, he was in a massive circular chamber, lying on the ground. He stood up and looked around. Every inch of the room was made of white marble, intricately engraved with freizes that told stories he didn't know, maybe of a race older than his own. The ceiling was higher than he could see. He walked forwards, entranced by music that sounded like 'Purge Thyself', but performed by a choir of angels. In front of him was a throne of white marble carved with the synbol of Tria. To the right of the throne was Gabrie Celeste, standing to attention with her spear drawn. On the left was a woman who looked a little like his protector but with dark purple hair, jet black armour, two wickedly curved blades and a cruel expression on her face. There were other women here too, all with the look of warriors, all with different armour and weapons, some floating casually in mid-air. And on the throne...

He bent to one knee and knelt at her feet.
-----------------------------------------

"No need for such things, Motoi the Bard." her voice was surprisingly serene for such a commanding presence. He felt total reassurance wash through him. He was protected here. All was well.

"Are you... Tria?" he gasped. She laughed gently and shook her head.

"Though I represent her in the mortal realm, I am not the Goddess. I am Lenneth the Third, Arbiter of Tria and High Valkyrie."

"Is this real?" he asked, gazing around him, "You're really... Valkyrie? Tria's messengers?"

"Indeed. We oversee all of Tria's galaxy."

"What do you guys want with me? I'm just a kid."

"No, child, you are the Bard."

He laughed, "Funny way of putting it."

"Motoi, what happens when you play your music?"

"I'm not telling you about it!" he yelled, clutching his MP3 player. It wasn't something he liked to remember...

"Do you want to show me, then?"

"You'll regret it!"

"Why?"

"It kills people!"

"I know what that power is, Motoi. It can be used for all sorts of things. We're going to put it to good use now. You must trust me and do exactly as I tell you."

"What are you going to do?"

"We're going to find the girl that Gabrie Celeste was looking for." she said, glaring at his protector, "And so incompetently managed to lose."

"I told you, that girl had to have been using a Magnitude 10!" complained Gabrie Celeste, pouting. The black-haired one smirked at her.

"The little girl on Roak?" asked the boy.

"Please, she's very important to me." she said, "She's my daughter."

"A Valkyrie's daughter? Is she a Valkyrie too?" Motoi gasped.

"You're not born a Valkyrie, child, you need to train in battle for hundreds of years."

"I d... don't think I should use my powers on a girl. Especially a Valkyrie's daughter." he said, "What if it goes out of control? What if..."

"I shall help you keep it under control." she assured him, "Trust me, I am powerful enough. I have seen thousands of years of battle."

Motoi stared at his feet. The music in the background sang to him in his blood. It felt wrong to suppress it... it felt even wronger to disobey these powerful, commanding women. It was wrong not to help a mother find her daughter. But it was also wrong to use his powers...

"Think about it." she said, "For now, I'll find you somewhere to rest. You look exhausted. Follow me."

Lenneth held out her hand. He grabbed it and she led him to what he thought was a wall, but he now saw the faint shimmering outline of a door. The portal rippled as she stepped through it and he followed her. The other Valkyries watched him like cats staring at a stray.

"So, the Flying Battery is down." said a Valkyrie in green, the Minister of Defence.

Gabrie Celeste nodded. "But the Bard survived. The Flying Battery can be rebuilt. We can control the ambient music from some other satellite."

"How many XINE did you say attacked?"

"Around one hundred and fifty."

"A war band." said the Valkyrie. Gabrie Celeste nodded somberly, "The total figures for XINE attacks this week alone are heading into the thousands. No satellite we can build will be safe, dear sister. Even the Central Hub will no longer be safe soon."

"Then what can we do?"

"The music attracts the XINE." said a Valkyrie in blue, the Communications Minister, "Without the correct ambient music, humanoids, even Valkyries, quickly go insane. We can't switch it off."

"Then we use the music as a weapon."

Everyone looked over at the Iselia Queen, Gabrie Celeste's dark twin sister. She was casually playing with her blades. It was the Iselia who found out the effects of background silence by experimenting on political prisoners.

"Put the boy in a space station in the middle of nowhere, round the XINE up and play the Game Over tune."

"That would kill our Bard!" snapped Gabrie Celeste.

"Better that than condemn millions to death at the hands of the XINE!"

"I do know a place where the child might be safe." said the Valkyrie in blue, opening up a holo-window with a flick of her hand. The screen showed a map of the galaxy with a pointer to a small wheel-shaped satellite in the middle of what used to be Nedian territory before the civilisation destroyed itself.

"You can't be serious." said the Valkyrie in green, "They're anti-government dissidents!"

"They're news reporters, Tir."

"They hacked into and stole a military cargo ship."

"You know the story isn't as simple as that, sister." she replied, sighing, "More importantly, the Battle Fortress Chronicle staved off a three hundred strong XINE attack. I believe we could come to an arrangement just this once. After all, we're only asking that they protect an innocent child..."

"A dangerous weapon!" snapped the Iselia Queen, "We can't let it get into their hands!"

"Sister... Motoi is not a weapon." said Gabrie Celeste, "I'm not going to hand a child over to you, especially not one of ours. I was given the task of protecting all our children. It's my fault that Gwesty is lost, and..."

"DEAR SISTER, Motoi is MY CHILD!" hissed the Iselia, "Are you forbidding me from deciding the fate of my own child?"

"The child must not be put in danger. By anyone." said Gabrie Celeste, turning to the Valkyrie in blue, "Gunnhild, I beg your permission to escort the child to the Battle Fortress Chronicle."

"Sister..."

"I'm the weakest of the Valkyrie. I'll be no use in the coming war." said Gabrie Celeste, "I don't think the Chronicle have any reason to attack me, but if they do, and I die... I'm the least important Valkyrie."

"Don't do anything reckless, sister." ordered Gunnhild, "For the child's sake, if you value your own life so little."

"You all care too much about the boy-child." sneered Iselia.

"I thought you said you were his mother." said Gabrie Celeste. Her twin gave her a sideways look and teleported out of the room. The others visibly relaxed, but not much. They were, after all, preparing for war.
----------------------------------------