Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Five

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Starr shrugged and looked out the window again. "I don't know. I just want things to be normal."

Starr frowned and sat up straighter "Uh,oh. Something has happened" She said then relayed what she had been told, including what Kaliyani had said.

Matt paled a little.

Kay chewed his lip, something major must have happened.

"looks like we gotta do this the hard way then" Esk muttered.

"No," Ellie said. "That's not fair."

Asher looked worried, about Web and the sister races, but also disappointed. "Maybe the emergency isn't as bad as it sounds?" He said softly. He knew that wasn't likely, but he wanted to believe.

Matt frowned deeply. "He wouldn't rush away unless he thought it was something essential." He looked worried, his twin was potentially walking straight into some massive calamity.

[Fate will protect him surely?] Kay too looked concerned.

"Or maybe it's all part of her twisted plan, not like she ever protected her previous prophet now is it?" Esk pointed out scornfully.

Matt flinched. "Don't."

"Don't what? Point out how unrealistic it is to believe whatever the hell Fate is gives a single shit about individuals." Esk challenged.

"You aren't helping." Matt snapped back.

"Please friends, arguing will not solve anything." Armin tried to be a voice of reason.

Esk shrugged.

"We will get to the children, one way or another we will get to them." Armin continued.

"Yeah, plan A didn't work out, on to plan B." Esk waved a hand dismissively.

Matt glowered at him.

Kay bowed his head.

"We should continue then, we have a way to contact the people in the Imperium now, we should continue with our other plans in the meantime." Luka reasoned, she sounded sad though. "I'm so sorry..." She added, she was. Everyone had been so eager to see the kids back and Matt so keen to see his fiance.

"Thanks..." Matt mumbled.

Starr looked over to Matt "Thalia sends her love and says they will find a way back." She said gently.

Asher nodded at Luka's words. "Yes, we just have to stick to the plan we had. We'll reach the Imperium as soon as we can, and get everyone back. Until then, we complete our tasks in Terran space, and hope that Web and the sister races are all right." He looked to Starr, "At least we have a way to keep in contact with them. We can be grateful for that."

James sighed. "Stinks they can't just teleport here, but I guess we were heading toward the imperium for the minotaurs anyway, so this isn't a huge inconvenience or anything."

Ellie looked glum.

Matt nodded gratefully to Starr but he looked slightly annoyed at James' words. He felt guilty because he knew deep down that had he not lost his cool and gotten himself incapacitated then HE could have gone to get the kids himself.
He hated how useless this made him feel.

"Let's just.. organise this slaver thing then." Matt sighed.

Kay put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
Matt shrugged it off.

Starr sighed softly and sat back in her seat, waiting to see what was next.

Asher nodded. "All right. The group going to Defiant will need a ship, and possibly we'll want to decide on a rendezvous point for them to return to Vestia." He felt kinda weird being the organizer and leader of this meeting, but hey, this was happening.

"The Tiger will be faster, but it is of great smallness. It is possible that the Silver Devil would be a better choice for this mission," Tala mused.

Rigel nodded and gave a small smile "Yeah, we can use the Devil."

"The Devil's also better equipped in case of attack." Esk pointed out. He glanced to Rigel. "That mean you're coming along too captain?"
He wasn't very good at even pretending to be respectful, oops.

[If we keep in contact we should be able to arrange a meeting point en route.] Kay reasoned. Could they get as far as Mars before the Devil finished? It wouldn't take that long to reach Defiant, talk to Hytar and arrange something but there was always the chance they'd decide to tag along to make sure the man didn't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. Hmm.

Tala nodded. "The Silver Devil is better equipped for combat, it is logical to bring her in that regard. We shall use her, and leave the Tiger here." She looked at Kay's writing, yeah, she couldn't read it.

"He says we can arrange a meeting point later if we can stay in contact," James said helpfully.

"Yes, that is sensible. We know not what will occur during this excursion," Tala agreed. "We had best begin packing shortly. Is there aught to discuss?"

Rigel shrugged then nodded "Yeah, I guess so."

"let's get this over with then." Esk muttered, he wasn't overly enthusiastic.

Luka nodded.

Tala nodded. "All who are accompanying us, pack your things and take them to the Silver Devil. James, you have been recording the Silver Devil's supplies?"

James nodded.

"You and Vestia will ensure that we have all we need for this voyage," Tala told him. "Stock us with all the victuals and fuels we require!"

James saluted and headed off to do that.

Tala nodded to the others. "Go now, and pack your items." She was still in captain mode, and seemed to have temporarily forgotten that the Devil was Rigel's ship. "We shall hasten forth as soon as is possible."

Rigel chuckled softly and stood up "I will see you all on my ship." He said before leaving the room.

Dawn got up to go to pack some things before going to the ship.

Esk nodded. "Sure." And went to go pack.

Luka rose from her seat. "Aye captain." She saluted Rigel and smiled to Tala, this could be interesting seeing how the two of them dealt with the chain of command being reinstated.
She headed off.

Matt sighed and shook his head. He looked grim. "I need a drink, or seven..." He muttered.

[Please don't.] Kay cautioned. [You're still on painkillers. ]

"yeah yeah, i'll try not to overdose or something." Matt released the brakes on his chair and wheeled toward the exit.

Kay chewed his lip anxiously.

Armin looked to Starr. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Starr bowed her head, sending her love to the babies then looking to Armin and nodding. "I am, but I'm sad too. I was really hoping that we could get the babies back today"

Armin nodded. "it is disappointing, but at least we know that they are still safe." he glanced to Matt, bowing his head as he passed before looking back to Starr.

Tala headed off to pack as well. She snorted softly at Rigel's words, recalling that the Silver Devil WAS his ship. Hmm.

Asher looked to Kay. "We'll get her back as soon as we can," he said softly.

Ellie went to hug Starr. Poor Starr, how could the world keep being so mean to her? This wasn't fair!

Ethan sneaked off because the meeting looked to be over. He didn't need to stay here and listen to the consolations, and being near Kay always creeped him out a bit.

Starr loked to Ellie and returned her hug "Yes, we know they are alright and safe and I can keep talking to them now" She said, trying to cheer up so the others didn't feel so bad for her.

Kay nodded grimly. [We will. ] Still, he looked sad.

Armin bowed his head to Ellie, resting a hand on Starr's shoulder reassuringly. "We shall get to them and return everyone safely to the ship." He sounded very certain. "and all will be well again."

Asher smiled sadly at Kay. This was painful. They had been so close to their loved ones, and now they were almost back on square one again. They could get there eventually, but still, it was hard. "Come on," he said quietly, "The meeting's over, so we can go back to the med bay now or something."

Ellie stayed near Starr, although she did release her after a bit. "On the bright side, we get more time to prepare the ship for the babies. I'm totally gonna get someone magicky to help me set up a playground for the kids."

Starr looked to Armin and smiled a little then looked back to Ellie "That's a good ides, especially now that they have different forms. Maybe Helen and I can help you with that?" She volunteered the other female even though she wasn't there for the meeting. "We can go ask her and figure out what we want on it." Yay, something distracting to do.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah! We can all work together. Armin can make swings or something, and I can grow a tree fort, and you guys can make slides and swimming water pools and stuff." She liked this plan.

Starr chuckled and called to Helen as she stood up "We can make rooms in there for naps and different levels of playing so that Thalia and Matt's child can have age-appropriate play equipment too. Where shall we go? Vestia, do you have another large, unused room we can take over for this project?"

Armin nodded. "This is a fine idea."

---

Kay nodded to Asher and quietly headed for the exit. Yes, back to work and pretending everything was okay.