Chapter 9: Ominous Signs

Later that night, everyone was sound asleep in the castle when a large explosion sounded, waking them all up and Rachel went to the window, gazing out to see something was on fire. "There's a fire!" She called out as she heard running footsteps and the door to hers and Sasha's bedroom opened to reveal Phantasmo and Whampire.

"Quick! Come with us," the Ectonurite said.

Putting on shawls over their nightclothes, the girls followed the two to the main throne room, where they found Vampiro speaking to one of the guards, who quickly headed out before the king turned to them. "It seems a ship has crashed outside," he said.

"Is anyone hurt?" Sasha asked worriedly.

"We'll know soon enough," the king said softly.

They gathered at the window, watching as the guards bravely put out the fire and were about to board the ship when the hatch opened and out stumbled someone in dark armor, his face visible as he carried someone in his arms, someone that looked badly hurt. "Who's that?" Rachel asked.

"A Petrosapien," Whampire said in surprise. "He has a Revonnahgander with him."

They saw the Petrosapien fall to one knee while clutching the injured alien protectively. "They're both hurt," Phantasmo said worriedly.

The guards gently took the Revonnahgander from the Petrosapien, who looked to be pleading with them before he collapsed and they helped him up, bringing both inside the castle where Vampiro met them in the hall. "Take them to the medical bay," he said.

"Yes, Sire," one of the guards said respectfully as they got the injured aliens to the medical ward, the doctors waking up at hearing they had two patients and they quickly got to helping them.

Vampiro turned to the others. "They'll take good care of them," he said. "We should get some more sleep for the time being."

"I wonder what happened that they got injured," Rachel said.

"Encounter with an enemy?" Sasha asked.

"Most likely," the king said. "I do know the Petrosapien. He is a bounty hunter with honor. I'm afraid I don't know who the Revonnahgander is though. However, he is a long way from home."

As calm settled in the castle once again and the two patients were stabilized, everyone went back to bed, though the sisters had a hard time going back to sleep, but eventually did. When dawn arrived, they got dressed and went to find the king. He was in the hallway outside the medical bay and he turned when he heard them coming, smiling at them. "Good morning, girls," he said.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," Rachel said with a curtsey and Sasha echoed her.

Vampiro waved his hand dismissively. "You two don't have to do that," he said with a smile. "Just call me Vampiro. You two are family after all."

They hugged him. "How are they?" Sasha asked, referring to the two aliens that had arrived in the middle of the night.

A groan reached them from the medical bay and the doors opened. "Your Majesty, the Petrosapien is awake," the doctor said.

The king went in with the girls behind him, going up to the Petrosapien and gently touching his arm. The alien turned to him and looked relieved. "Vampiro," he said, his voice weak.

"Tetrax, old friend," the Vladat said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," the bounty hunter said before seeing the girls and his eyes widened. "Wait...aren't those two...Holly's daughters?"

"The same," Vampiro said before turning to the sisters. "Girls, this is Tetrax. He too knew your mother."

The girls approached and Tetrax smiled. "You both look just like her," he said. "Your father hasn't found you yet, has he?"

"Not yet," Sasha said.

Tetrax looked relieved before looking worried. "You girls need to be careful," he said. "Your father is trying to find a bounty hunter to hunt for you two. He approached me about it, but I was already busy having accepted another job."

Rachel's face hardened. "He's never going to get to us," she said. "I won't let him."

"Neither will we," Vampiro said firmly.

Another groan reached them and they turned to find the Revonnahgander starting to awaken. Curious about him, Rachel moved over to him, noticing how he looked similar to a tiger, his orange eyes mesmerizing as she gazed at them. He looked up at her and blinked. "Who are you?" He asked, looking around warily. "Where am I?"

"In the medical ward," she said. "You were in a really bad crash. The doctors helped you last night."

The Revonnahgander gasped. "Tetrax," he said. "The ship." He looked at Rachel. "Where is Tetrax?"

"He's right there," she said, gesturing to the side. "He's also recovering."

Tetrax managed to sit up a bit. "Rook, it's okay," he said. "We're on Anur Vladis in King Vampiro's castle."

The orange-eyed alien relaxed upon hearing that. "Oh, good," he said before looking at Rachel again. "But...you have not yet told me your name, miss."

She blushed. "My name is Rachel," she said. "And...Rook, correct?"

He nodded. "Yes," he said. "Rook Blonko, at your service."

Rachel smiled at him before seeing he looked tired. "You should rest some more," she said gently. "Do you need anything?"

"Some water, please."

Vampiro watched as the teenager helped the Revonnahgander and he noticed how she seemed concerned for him. He smiled, sensing that there was a bit more to it then what met the eye.

Rook gazed at Rachel, feeling his heart pound. He didn't tell her, but he knew of her. The Plumbers, which Holly had been part of, informed all their men about Holly's two daughters and how their birth father was a wanted man. The Revonnahgander himself, a junior Plumber, had asked to help with taking down the dangerous man, which was what he had been trying to do when he had been injured and Tetrax had come to the rescue. He then fell back asleep and Rachel gazed at him.

He's really handsome, she thought to herself. His eyes are like the sunset. His fur seems really soft too.

She didn't hear Vampiro come up behind her until she felt a touch on her shoulder and she jumped a little, her face turning red as she turned to him, seeing him smile at her gently. "How is he doing?" He asked.

"He just fell back asleep," she said. "I...I hope I wasn't being rude to him. I was just really curious."

"He seemed alright with you helping him," the king said gently. "Maybe he's a bit smitten with you."

The teenager blushed again, but shook her head. "Nah, no guy finds me interesting enough," she said before walking away.

Vampiro smiled as he watched her head out. "Who knows, my dear? This Revonnahgander just might surprise you," he said to himself before chuckling as he headed out, getting an alert from one of the guards and he met with him.

"Your Majesty, I fear we may be running out of time," the guard said. "My men just found this."

He handed the king a tablet that showed a map and on the map showed planets that had a few X's marking spots on them and quite a few of them were in red. "Calling card?" He asked.

"The same one at every crime scene," the guard said. "The poison apple with a black rose around it."

"He's trying to find his daughters and is taking care of our informants," Vampiro said. "Ominous indeed."

"Do you think he knows they are here?"

"No, not yet, but he must know that Holly asked them to be taken off planet Earth, which explains why he's going to these other planets. He knows Holly left the girls with someone she trusted."

Tetrax's injuries and Rook's injuries came to his mind. "The ship that crashed last night," he said.

The guard held up a card that had the poison apple with the black rose around it and the king nodded. "I figured their injuries were from him," he said. "Prepare the troops. That dangerous man needs to be stopped."

"My King, should we ask Zeus to inform the courts?" The guard asked.

"Only if that man gets too close to here," he said. "Let's see if we can either hold him off or have him arrested, but if that fails, then we ask Zeus."

The guard nodded and bowed. "I shall ready the troops at once, my King," he said.

Vampiro nodded and as the guard walked away, the king felt worry. If the girls' birth father was going to different planets, then he somehow knew the girls had been taken away from Earth. But how had he known?

He was determined to find out.

After all, a king never went back on his word, especially to a lady.

Looks like a bit of trouble coming.

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GoldGuardian2418