Chapter Twelve: Laser Swords

Disclaimer: I don't own Count Chocula cereal. General Mills does.

Jonathan: When I woke up in the morning, I still felt guilty about pestering Alina the day before. I went to her room, opening the door slightly. She was still asleep, curled up under her blanket, with her fake Ewok under her arm. I still didn't know why she still slept with that thing, but if she liked it, fine with me. I took the opportunity to look around her room. Horse posters covered her walls, little statues of dragons, horses and other animals sitting on window ledges and bookshelves.

I saw Dodger, who was asleep on the foot of Alina's bed, raise his head and look at me. I put a finger to my lips and backed out of the room, closing the door gently behind me. I went down to get breakfast and brush my teeth before more of those annoying fighting lessons were scheduled.

After eating a bowl of Count Chocula cereal, I went into the bathroom to clean my teeth. I did a double take when I saw myself in the mirror, still not used to the weird blocks of color on my face, but then opened the medicine cabinet and brushed my teeth without the mirror.

I went outside and called Trahern. My dragon, who had been asleep, grumbled but came. I strapped on his saddle, swung myself onto his neck, and we took off to practice some of the maneuvers from the day before. Trahern wheeled and dove, not flaming but doing the proper technique. He cork-screwed, avoiding imaginary rocks, arrows and spears, then landed again. "That was excellent!" I praised him.

Trahern blushed with pride. Thanks, Jonathan, he said in a shy tone. I'd never heard him shy before, so that was a surprise. You're a good rider, Trahern added. He nudged my chest with his nose. You'll make a fine king someday.

I scratched the spot just in front of his wing, making him close his eyes and sigh with pleasure. "You are a fine dragon already."

Javis jogged up from the bottom of our hill, shaking dew off her scales. Good morning, she told us in a bright tone. You're up early today. Practicing, are we? She asked in a knowing tone. At our nods, she added, It's a great idea. Alina should be out here practicing, too. Why isn't she?

"She's still asleep, Javis. Why don't you go wake her up?" Javis half walked, half flew up to Alina's room, raising her head and sticking her nose in the window. A few minutes later, Alina climbed out the window with her riding saddle and secured herself on Javis' neck. They took off, practicing the same maneuvers Trahern and I had just been executing. I swung myself onto Trahern's neck again and he took off, joining Javis in the sky.

The two dragons soared high, so high, in fact, that beads of moisture began to form on their scales. It was a little hard to breathe, so I told Trahern to fly a little lower. Javis followed his example. Sorry, I forgot that your lungs are different from ours, Trahern apologized to me. We're used to flying up that high.

I patted his neck. "It's okay," I assured him. "I forget things all the time." I looked up as Javis dove past us, cork-screwing as she went. She snapped open her wings at the last minute, landing gracefully, and Alina slipped off.

Trahern landed as well, just as gracefully as Javis, and I slipped off his neck and stood by his shoulder as our siblings trooped out of the house. Quillan lined us up for inspection, nodding with approval at them one at a time. Haley joined the end of the line, breathing hard from running. Kerina smiled at her. Welcome, Haley, Larita, she said in her warm tones.

Today we will not be flying. Your father and mother will be teaching you how to fight with a sword and shield, Quillan said. You will be wearing armor, but not the armor like in Earth's past. This armor is different. It's made of a substance lighter than aluminum but harder than diamonds, which will protect you better than the armor of old. It's from Neptune, he added when Amanda asked how that was possible when no substance was harder than diamonds.

Kenneth and Kendra ran up then, earning a look of reproach from Quillan. Kenneth leaned over, his hands on his knees, and gasped out, "Sorry we're late. My alarm clock didn't go off and then I couldn't get Conan to get up, then Kendra was telling me that we were late and I couldn't find my shoes and-"

Quillan cut him off. It's all right. Just don't let it happen again. Kenneth nodded. My parents came out, my Dad holding a pile of something shiny. My Mom, dressed in something odd-looking and grayish, gave us each what looked like a lightsaber but wasn't. I was first in line. The moment she put mine in my hand, a gray and amber light came from the handle.

"A laser sword," mom told me at my astonished noise. "Don't worry, your armor is coming soon." She continued down the line, handing out laser swords as she went.

Dad came to stand in front of me, pointed to the ground and said one word that crackled with energy. A box appeared in front of me. I nearly fell over in surprise. "Dad, you can do magic?"

Dad looked offended. "Of course not. That's just a transportation word. Your armor was back on Neptune, so I had to send for it. It's not magic, just sort of a...universal postal service, if you will. You say what you want and it appears. Simple."

It didn't seem simple to me. I shrugged and knelt in front of the box, opening the flaps. Inside there lay a gray chest-plate. I picked it up. It didn't feel like metal and it bent easily, like leather. I raised my eyebrows at my dad.

"Allatin. Very durable. It'll last nearly forever and won't puncture easily."

I nodded and put it on. Dad had to help with the side straps, but when it was on, it felt more like a shirt than a piece of armor. I strapped on the gauntlets and ankle shields, and a faint amber-gold glow appeared over the exposed parts of my body. There was no helmet. I looked at my dad again.

"You don't need one. Try cutting your arm." I pulled out my knife and opened it, but looked at my dad. "Trust me." I slashed at my arm, but the knife wouldn't touch it. "It's kind of like a forcefield, but it hugs your body. If you take off the chest-plate it'll go away, so I don't recommend doing that with your knife unless you have it on. But you'll get a helmet, eventually, when we get to Neptune. It'll have our standard on it." Dad made Alina's box appear in front of her and instructed me to help her put it on.

I looked at Alina, who was beside me. She had opened her box and was holding up a blue chest-plate. It was more feminine than mine, obviously, and she had figured out by watching me how to put it on. She had to have me do the straps under her arms, but other than that put it on herself. A burnt orange glow immediately sprung up when she put on her gauntlets. When she patted Javis, I noticed that her armor was the same color as her dragon. I smiled.

Dad and mom were nearing the end of the line. Mom was assisting Kendra with her armor, Dad helping Jacob. "Dad?" Jacob said as dad finished up the straps. "Do our dragons get armor, too? I mean, on their heads and chests and stuff?"

Dad smiled. "Once we get to Neptune, yes. They'll have to have some training before they fly in battle, but yes, they'll be well protected." Dad patted Jacob's shoulder and went to mom, who was showing Kendra how to put on the gauntlets.

Mom and dad had their own armor on, and each held up a well-used laser sword. "Now, the important thing to remember is that you never, ever want to attack. Use these to defend only. If you must kill, do it quickly and humanely," Mom said. "We'll attack you. You'll be learning to defend only today. Out of necessity, you will learn how to attack as well, but we're just covering the basics today. Don't worry, this stuff is in your blood. You'll pick it up quickly."

I turned on my laser sword as mom demonstrated how to block. When she turned to me and whipped her sword down, I blocked it effectively. However, in the same motion, she lightly tapped my side with the blade of her sword. "You must keep your sides protected at all times," she added in a loud voice. "The mistake most novice's make is leaving their sides unprotected. We have lost many soldiers that way."

Adair, who was standing on the other side of Amanda and Kendra, raised her hand. "Will we get shields, too?"

Dad answered that one. "Not while you fly, no. It's to bulky and hard to fly with. If you ever march ahead of soldiers, though, you will have a shield, don't you worry." Adair nodded, satisfied, and parried mom's blow easily. She was one of the naturals.

Amara, being only nine, was not included in this exercise. She would be in the castle, acting as a sort of messenger, passing on news to other battalions of soldiers. Most of this would be information on where the enemy soldiers were, but some of it would be requests from Generals in need of assistance. Amara was proud to do this, since she realized that she was to young to fight.

The day passed quickly, and before I knew it, the sun was starting to set. Dad lowered his weapon and relaxed from his fighting stance. The rest of us followed suit. "You are welcome to stay for dinner tonight," mom said, smiling. "But if you want to go home, that's fine with me." Haley politely refused the invitation, saying that her father's birthday was today and that he'd be home from work soon, and that she wanted to be with him on his special day. Mom nodded. "Ask your parents where to keep your armor when you leave. They'll know and have somewhere safe to store it until tomorrow."

Kenneth and Kendra had accepted the invitation to dinner, and we all trooped inside. Alina immediately took off her armor, asking mom where to put it. Mom showed her a manequin type thing and had Alina put her armor on the fake person. The laser sword went in a belt slung around the dummy's hips. After this, Alina went to take a shower before dinner. Kendra was immediately nabbed by Adair and Amanda, wanting to show her their rooms, and she smiled at her brother before being led off by my excited younger sisters.

"Wow," Kenneth said after a moment. "Are they always that...hyper?" I nodded. "I think I'm glad I have no younger siblings."

I disagreed. "They might be hyper at times, but they're usually pretty good. I wouldn't wish they were gone in a million years. They make life interesting."

Kenneth smiled and sank onto the sofa, closing his eyes and sighing. "You have a nice family, Jonathan." He ducked as a football sailed over his head and Justin ran past, chasing after it. "A little hectic, but nice all the same."

Alina came out of the bathroom, toweling off her hair. "Mom, when's dinner?" She asked, poking her head into the kitchen. All you could see of her was her leg, extending out like a dancers. At mom's reply, she added, "All right," and came out into the living room. She pulled the towel away from her hair and shook her head, making little droplets of water spatter across my shirt and across the carpet.

"Do you have to shake like that out here?" I asked. I shook my shirt, which was looking a little soggy, and mock-glared at her. "Isn't there enough room in the bathroom?"

"Nope," Alina said, ignoring my play-anger. "You know how big that bathroom is. Barely enough room to move around, let alone dry off properly." She dropped the towel on the floor and twisted her hair, wringing it out. "Sometimes having long hair is a pain," she remarked to no one in particular.

Kenneth was watching her with interest. "I wouldn't know," he answered. "My hair isn't quite that long." Alina grinned at him, then went back to getting the excess water out of her hair. I rolled my eyes. It was so obvious that he liked her, I didn't see how Alina could miss it. But she clearly had no clue.

When all the water that would come out of my twin's hair was out, she sat on the couch beside me, perching on the armrest. She looked over my head, being taller by sitting up higher. "Kenneth, when's your birthday?" She asked.

Kenneth smiled at her curiousity. "January," he answered. "I'll be seventeen." He looked shocked at this. "Gosh, I'm old."

Dad, who had just walked out of the kitchen, looked offended. "If turning seventeen makes you old, then I'm ancient at seventy-one."

My jaw dropped. "Dad, you're seventy-one?" Why had I never known this before? "Is that why we never celebrate your birthday?" I asked, beginning to understand why birthday's for parents were taboo in this household.

Dad nodded. "Yep. Of course, being seventy-one is the earth equivalent of being between forty-three and forty-five. So technically I'm not all that old." He went back into the kitchen as mom called him. "Coming, dear," he said and winked at us before disappearing into the next room.

Kenneth looked at Alina. "When's your birthday?"

Alina looked away. "October," she said. "I'll, well, we'll, be sixteen," she answered. "And when October comes, I'll be shipped off to my 'match' like a cow or pig or something."

At this, dad stuck his head out of the kitchen again. "Nonsense. You were matched, of course, but that doesn't mean that you'll be shipped off immediately. And I don't like the choice of words. Besides, if you really detest whoever you're matched with, you can always decline. You don't have to marry him."

Kenneth looked up at that, then at Alina. Suspicion arose in my mind. Were they matched? Did he know something that my sister didn't? I'd have to ask him later. Or I could just ask my dad, I supposed. I stood, leaving Alina and Kenneth to talk uncomfortably about the weather and dragons, and followed my dad back into the kitchen.

"Dad, who's Alina matched with?" I asked point-blank. Mom looked up, but only smiled at dad. She was going to let him handle the question. "And who am I matched with? I have a right to know, don't I? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Dad sighed. "Yes, you do have the right to know." He bit his bottom lip then looked up. "All right. Alina's matched with someone she knows, Kenneth, in fact. It was all arranged long before we came to Earth. As soon as she was born, in fact. You, though, are matched to a girl you've never met, back on Neptune. Her father rules a small island off the coast of the continent we look after."

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A/N: There we are, chapter twelve. What do you think should happen next? I'm all ears for suggestions right now. I just used up the last of my inspiration writing that. And at what point should the families go back to their home planet, Neptune? Oh, and I need a name for Jonathan's match. If one or more of you could be so kind as to suggest one, I'd be very happy.