(Y/N)
We land a couple minutes later and step out of the vehicle.
The castle is breathtaking. From here, I can see at least twelve separate towers and each tower has at least fifteen levels. The towers are arranged around a huge red mansion. The towers are different shades of red and pink.
My expression darkens when I realize that the Lollets also love the colour red. Those aliens really need to go.
I turn around to see Amit and Zuri's expressions switch from awe to disappointment just like mine. I turn my gaze to Caspian beside me, whose eyes have not returned to that green shade they had had when we first met. I decided not to ask him about it as we've just met, but perhaps someday.
For now, finding the missing ship will be my sole priority, second only to the safety of my crew.
I realize he's looking at me with a bit of.... apprehension? Nervousness, maybe?
"What is it?" I ask him.
He suddenly schools his expression as though he only just realized he was making such an expression. He clears his throat.
"Welcome to our humble abode. I'm sure you're not used to such a small territory but-"
"Small?" I ask in confusion, "It's anything but small. What're you talking about-"
"You looked at it like you were disappointed by it. I just thought-"
"I''m not disappointed, I'm amazed, Caspian! It's just so very beautiful." I exclaim politely.
His eyes suddenly grow a brighter red and he lets out a pleased hum. He walks ahead and leads us to the castle's front door. He mutters something into the wood of the door and, almost immediately, a butler opens the door. He's a young man, with white hair styled back neatly and purple eyes that seem giddy with excitement but disciplined from years of training.
"Young Master." He greets, his eyes to the floor.
"Why, hello there, Raj," He clasps the butler's shoulder. "Be a lad and take them to the waiting room, won't you? I'll go call my brothers and sister."
The butler nods and gazes up Caspian. Upon seeing his eyes, Raj's own widen.
He opens his mouth to speak but suddenly decides against it and walks away abruptly.
Well, that was awkward.
Caspian turns to us with a bright smile. "Raj will lead you to the waiting room. Enjoy the food and drink there while you're at it."
We nod and fall in step behind the butler, Raj.
Third Person POV
(Y/N) walks away as Caspian bites his lip in excitement. His face is flushed and his hands tremble by his sides.
"She called by my first name..." He mutters and wipes a hand over his face.
It took all the willpower in him to force himself not to do more than glare at his oldest friend and butler, Raj. They had been friends since they were learning to walk and talk. Yet when Raj was about to point out the red look in Caspian's eyes, Caspian couldn't risk it.
His dear (Y/N) couldn't yet know her destiny. She could not yet know what he had planned for her until she felt the same way he did, just as it was written in the stars.
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(Y/N)
Amit and Zuri sit down next to me and exhale.
We're in a huge waiting room. At the centre, There are two massive couches facing each other with a table standing between them. The rest of the room has wooden flooring and a small bar at the corner of the room. The walls are adorned with paintings and windows.
"Don't eat anything." Amit tells us.
We nod. We still could not gauge the extent of their hospitality towards us. Caspian is....queer, and his siblings and parents we have not met yet.
"Agreed. Here, down these nutrition pills. They'll keep you full and your thirst quenched." Zuri hands us pills out of her suit pocket.
All of us down the pills. Soon after, Raj walks in with a tray of sweets. He had a left the moment we settled down so we had thought him gone.
He straightens after serving each of us a pastry and turns to leave.
"Wait." I say.
He pauses and turns back around, his eyes to the floor. "Yes, Miss?" he queries.
"Sit with us. We're curious about Earth." Amit says.
Shocked, Raj gazes up at us before quickly looking to the floor again. "I-I can't, Miss. You may not know this, but if a mere servant like me were to sit with a guest like you..." He trails off.
Zuri, Amit and I exchange glances.
"What would happen?" All of us ask inquisitively.
"I-I'd be punished. I may be the highest among the servants but I am a servant nonetheless." He finishes.
Right. You can't change the mindset of these people like you can change their technology.
"I see." I nod apologetically. "I do hope we can stay acquainted in the future?"
He nods and leaves.
"Guess the Lollets can't do shit about their mindsets." Amit grits out.
"Maybe they don't want to. They want an army but they don't want one which could rebel. What better way to do that than to continue the traditional customs of Earth? That way they'd have only the Supreme to manipulate rather than the society as a whole." Zuri says.
True.
Amit chuckles and ruffles her hair and Zuri swats his hand away. I smile at their antics.
Ever since we got sorted into our departments, all of us have been a little lost. Having your life drastically change does make you feel that way. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd be the Captain of a ship sent to Earth, I'd have smacked the back of their heads. I suppose we found each other in an attempt to navigate our way through this change.
Though, now I believe I can't do without them.
Oliver, Eunwoo, Amit and Zuri.
My family. The ones I'll always protect.
The gentle creaking of a door snaps me out of my thoughts. I turn toward the entrance to see a green-eyed Caspian, along with a young girl.
His sister.
She looks the same as Caspian, but with slightly more tanned skin. She looks to be a Grade 1 student, which would be equivalent to 6 Earth Years.
"Captain, meet my sister, Miasha. Miasha, say hi." He says.
Miasha looks up at me shyly with her bright green eyes and stutters out a small 'hi'.
I crouch down to her level. "Hey there. How old are you, Miasha?"
"I-I'm six." She says while glancing at the tray nearby.
I smile fondly and hand her a small pastry from the tray she glanced at.
"You like chocolate?" I ask her.
She nods and takes the pastry from me with her small little hands. I gently lead her to the couch and sit her down. She's wearing a fluffy pink dress and a small bow in her hair.
Amit and Zuri look at her fondly. We don't often see children, only their birth in the artificial lab centres back in Columbis during our Science and Philosophy classes. The last time we saw such a process was in Grade 7.
A little while later, Miasha is suddenly very open with us and begins to chatter away. Amit and Zuri listen attentively as I make my way to Caspian. His fond eyes have once again turned a bright red.
I've concluded it must be a medical mutation of some sort caused by the nuclear bombings that happened on the planet generations ago. It must've embedded itself in their genetic code quite deeply to have made it all the way over to Caspian.
"Where are your brothers? Are they as young as her?" I ask him.
He shifts his fond gaze from Miasha to me. "Older than me, actually. The Supreme called for them, so they'll be back in a while."
I nod and turn my attention back to Miasha.
It is only after I see the smiles on Amit's and Zuri's faces that I feel my own.
That only makes me smile brighter.
Third Person POV
Caspian looks at his sister fondly.
Ever since their mother's death, Miasha had had issues with communicating her feelings. In a world where young girls were considered broken if they hadn't proper etiquette, Miasha was considered an outcast.
Caspian had always loved his baby sister. He hated when the servants looked at her like she was a broken little thing. The thing is, their mother had always been vocal about women's rights. Miasha would always wait for the days her mother had enough time to take her horseback riding or sword fighting. The same would go for Caspian. After their mother's death, however, Caspian had been whisked away for an important mission aboard the Mothership. When he returned a month later, Miasha had changed.
She no longer had that bright look in her eyes, no longer had the interest in horses and swords. She began talking and speaking like a robot, monotonous. The servants seemed far too pleased by it.
He hadn't any solid proof yet, but he was sure one of them had done something terrible to his little sister when he hadn't been there for her. All of his brothers lived away from home. Miasha and Caspian were scorned by their siblings for being the adopted children of the Supreme and the offspring of a woman who 'was too disobedient and ill-mannered'.
But now, seeing how she laughs and talks with (Y/N) makes him smile. What baffled him even more is how expressive Mia was with her despite having only met an hour ago. Did she see their mother in (Y/N)? She was wearing similar attire to their mother, and he could only hope she would help Mia grow up to be like their mother. To maybe take her away from this patriarchal world and into the arms of another society.
Maybe this was why Caspian's destiny was (Y/N). His eyes glowed brighter at the thought and that sweet, bright smile of hers.
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