"I’m having a weird sense of deja vu right now..." Astra mumbled, looking up to see bird-like creatures lining the trees, glaring down at the group.

"Hey, what the hell was that for, huh?!" Belk snapped, stomping forward with his hand on his katana.

"You’re currently trespassing on Poulian soil, do you not know that?!" the voice bellowed, the creature landing with a loud thud in front of them. Its feathers were white with neon green tips. Its beak was huge and curved like a toucan’s, but its wings hid claws underneath them.

’What’s going on...’ Astra muttered, her eyes staring at the creature. ’I can’t understand them at all!!’

She watched as Belk and the creature argued in a completely different tongue, the two seemingly getting even more heated.

’Oh right! Translation was also a part of the skills Celi gave me! Without it...’

"You don’t understand a word, do you?" Godrick muttered, recognizing the girl’s frustrated glance.

"..." She couldn’t bear to admit it, just looking ahead at the two bickering aliens. "Do you?"

"Of course we do!" The warrior scrubbed the back of his head in slight frustration. "They’re another one of the intelligent lifeforms humans left behind."

’Celi told me there was only one...’ Astra thought.

"So... how many are there?"

"Only three, but we’ve never even encountered the third."

’That’s not too far off...’

"Why am I only now hearing of this?! You could’ve warned me!" she snapped. Godrick flinched at her sudden outburst, coughing into his palm in hopes of hiding the action.

"We had no idea either, alright!? This is news to us as well..."

"For now, you’ll be taken in. Our queen will decide what’s to be done with you."

"What?! Like hell we are—"

"Belk!" Godrick interrupted, glaring down at the boy’s back.

"What?! Are we really gonna let them take us in like this?!" the boy snapped, his palm outward toward the creature, his spear pointing to the sky.

"What’s going on?" Astra murmured so only Godrick could hear. The man let out a slight grumble before responding.

"They plan to take us in, and Belk doesn’t want to let them," he explained matter-of-factly. "Both of our parties are still recovering from war. We can’t bear another."

"Besides, need I remind you this is an alliance? If one of your own starts this fight, you’ll be on your own. Veira and the Kingdom of Science will have no part in this."

"I suppose you’re right..." Astra sighed, standing up right beside Godrick and dusting off her palms. "Stand down, Belk."

"You can’t be..." He looked Astra dead in the eyes, an unwavering glance that he couldn’t dare stand up against. "Whatever... fine."

More Poulians fell from the trees surrounding them.

"Take them, we’re heading back!" the Poulian called out to them as he led the way. One of them shoved the end of their staff into Belk’s spine, causing him to stumble forward.

"Hey! Watch it—" he grumbled as he stepped in line.

"What’s this?!" a boisterous cry echoed in a grand hall made from nothing but polished limestone. The throne room was rather primitive though, with red carpets made from dyed animal skin, and even the weapons the guards held were primitive.

"We’ve captured two of the soldiers you sent for us," Veira announced, standing behind the two captured warriors, their heads low and their bodies constrained by vines.

"So? What do you want? I doubt you came here for a verbal apology." The creature on the throne leaned forward at her statement. He was noticeably bigger than the others, his skin adorned with light grey stripes that ran along his body.

"An apology would be nice, but~" Veira paused to think, Zelr and Lilla glancing at the guards just in case.

"We’d actually like a trade."

"And what gives you the grounds?" the creature spat.

"One must not tamper with the land,

One must not take more than what one needs from the land,

One must not seek power beyond the land’s gift,

Sigils are for royal blood alone,

One must not steal from their brothers and sisters,

The celestial’s children shan’t fight amongst themselves," Veira recited, staring directly into the king’s eyes.

"You’ve attacked us, and now you’re vulnerable to total damnation—"

"Please, spare me the lecture of the Celestial’s Script! You had no business here to begin with," the king snapped.

"Yet we haven’t stolen from you. We didn’t take any resources. Our dinner was our own, and so was our transport," she argued.

"The celestials care not about what we do. If we repent and change our ways before the descent, then all is well with the world. Guards!" At the king’s command, the lizard-like creatures surrounded Veira, Lilla, and Zelr, their weapons pointed straight at them, daring them to move.

"That’s where you’re mistaken," Veira announced, causing everyone to raise their heads at her words. "Today is that day. One of the celestial’s children has made their way down to Lunara."

"And is currently on her way to make this planet worth something more than just the rock it is."

"Do you expect me to believe that blatant lie?" he hissed, his gaze narrowing at the girl who dared test his intelligence.

"Do you really want to take that gamble?" she pressed. The guards were unsure, their weapons lowering despite themselves. The king looked around for a moment before leaning back in his chair. His hand reached up to cup his brow.

"Take them away! We’ll figure out what to do with them at a later date." Without wasting a second, they forced the trio along at his command. Veira and her group didn’t put up a fight, simply allowing themselves to be guided out of the throne room with nothing but her words lingering over everyone’s heads.

"What do we do, sire? Should we call it off..." one of the remaining guards whispered once they were out of earshot.

"No, we keep going. To tarnish our names as Erpeopians because of a rumor..." The king took a moment, leaning forward as he began to think. "In fact," 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"We’ll just use that to our advantage."