The walk home was as normal as it could be considering I was walking with a cabbage alien and had a bag full of alien seeds. It didn't take long to get home. I was really curious as to what Kyabe was going to tell me, but I also kind of dreaded it too.
"I'm home!" I shouted as I walked into the house.
"Dinner's almost ready so don't go anywhere," Mom called back to me from the kitchen.
"OK."
I looked down at Kyabe. She was grinning excitedly and kept looking around, her eyes full of wonder.
"I've never been in a human house before! Are all homes this spectacular?"
"Sure. Aren't you supposed to be invisible? What if someone comes by and sees you?"
"Don't worry. I am invisible. Just not to you though. That would be dangerous for both of us."
I had to admit. She had a point. It would be tough explaining why I was tripping over air.
"Why don't I take you to my room. That way, you'll be out of the way. Besides, I have to go there anyway to put up my stuff," I said, indicating the garden supplies in my hands.
"Wow! I'm going to get to see a human bedroom too! I'm so excited! Let's go already!" Kyabe exclaimed, bouncing with excitement.
I sighed and led the way. This was going to be a long day. I got to my room and opened the door. As we walked in, Kyabe gasped in awe.
"Wow! It's better than I anticipated! There's so much room!"
"If you say so. Just try and not make a mess. If you need something, come get me. Only if it's an emergency. I don't want to risk my mom seeing me talking to air."
"Aww! What are these? They're so cute!" Kyabe asked, indicating some stuffed animals on my bed.
"Were you listening? This is important!" I snapped, frustrated that Kyabe was so distracted.
"Yeah. Yeah. Only emergencies and whatever."
I sighed again.
"Ok. I'm going now. Remember: don't bother me unless it's an emergency."
"Wow! This is so cool!"
I left, sighing. I couldn't handle it anymore. I walked to the kitchen to see that dinner was ready. Mom was starting to scoop out rice and curry onto some plates.
"There you are. Could you be a dear and take the plates to the table?"
"Yeah."
I grabbed a couple of plates and headed to the table. After I set them down, I went back to Mom and grabbed more plates full of food and took them to the table. Once that was done, we sat down and ate.
"How was your day today? You seem a little upset. Did something happen?" Mom asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Oh. It's nothing. You know how it is. There's always something that needs to be done," I tried to reply casually.
"Ok. I won't press. I'm here if you need me."
Whew! That was close!
"Psst! Hey, Hana! Are you done yet? I'm bored."
I looked down and saw Kyabe standing there, looking up at me. I glared at her, willing her to go back to my room.
"Is something wrong?" Mom asked, once again concerned.
"Oh! No, it's nothing. I just dropped something," I laughed nervously, making a show of picking something up with my napkin.
While I was "picking something up,'' I whispered to Kyabe, "Go back to my room. Now."
I guess she got the hint because she walked away, looking disappointed. The rest of dinner went smoothly, but Mom kept looking at me strangely. Finally, I was able to go to my room and hear what Kyabe had to say.
When I got there, she was jumping up and down to some anime opening.
"We need to talk," I said as I turned off the TV.
"What?! Why'd you turn it off? It was fun!" Kyabe whined.
"What did I tell you before I left?"
"That I could come get you if I needed something. I did that, but you got angry for no reason!"
"That's not what I said!" I sighed before continuing. "What's done is done. Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"
"Oh! I almost forgot. How silly of me! So, it's time to tell you why I need your help. This might take a while so why don't I set up some precautions so your mom doesn't hear us talking."
Kyabe started chanting in an alien tongue. It was so strange that I don't even know how to describe it.
"Done!" she said happily.
"What did you just do?" I demanded, once again afraid of the answer.
"I just set up a magic barrier. It will block out any sound from this room until I'm done. After that, it will disappear without a trace."
"Next time, tell me what you're doing before you do it," I said, exasperated.
"Let's get started! So, as you know, I'm from the planet Shizin. The seeds from the Seed Pocket are too. Unfortunately, so are the guys from the ship you saw earlier."
"Ok… So why did they attack us? If you're from the same planet, how come that blob thing destroyed the plants around it? I thought you and these seeds love nature and all that?"
"That's the thing. We do love nature. However, those other guys don't and want to destroy our planet. Let me start from the beginning. That might make things easier to understand."
I nodded, slightly interested in hearing about another planet. One full of animalistic plants.
"Shizin had an extremely caring king. He loved nature as much as he loved his subjects. However, they came. They corrupted our king by introducing him to a new "fertilizer". However, this was no fertilizer. In fact, it was the opposite of a fertilizer. As soon as our king touched the vial, he became a monster. His guardians, the girls in those seeds, tried to save him, but he used his newfound power and turned them into those seeds. Then, he threw them with such might that they were sent into space. Fortunately, I saw the seeds flying through the air and went after them. I managed to grab them all and put them in a bag. This bag became the Seed Pocket," Kyabe explained solemnly.
"So why are you here? What does Earth have to do with all this?"
"Before I went after the seeds, I did a little reconnaissance at the castle. I heard some scientist say that only a human could awaken the girls from the seeds. I thought I made a clean getaway, but someone must have heard me because some scary guards started chasing me."
Kyabe shivered before continuing.
"They must've figured out that I was heading to gather the seeds and go to Earth to find a human that will help me. When I got here, I saw this big city and almost gave up hope until I saw the park. When I got there, I saw you, planting seeds. I knew you were the one. However, they must have been spying on me, waiting until I found a human before attacking."
"Wait. So what you're telling me is that I'm the last hope for your planet and some crazy alien guys want me dead because of that? That's swell. Like I don't have enough to worry about. Did you ever think that I have to go to school five days a week for about eight hours or so?" I said, somewhat angrily.
"What's school? Is it some sort of human ritual?" Kyabe asked while tilting her head/body.
"Arrgh!" I screamed. "You're so impossible! I know! This is all a dream! I'm dreaming, aren't I? I'll wake up and none of this will have happened!"
"This is no dream, Hana! If you don't help me, my planet will die! Who knows if they'll stop there! They could come here after they're done with my planet!" Kyabe shouted with tears in her eyes.
That made me realize the truth. I don't know if it was Kyabe shouting at me or seeing her cry that shocked me back into reality. I may not like it, but I was going to have to step up and stop those aliens from destroying life as we know it. How did I get myself into this situation?
"Ok. I'm in. I believe you. I will try and save your planet," I said, sounding braver than I felt.
"Really?" Kyabe asked, not believing that I wanted to help.
"Why not? I'm not going to let you or your planet die. I love nature as much as you do. I can't believe some people would intentionally try and kill it all off."
"Yay! I knew I chose the right human!" Kyabe cheered, dancing around.
"It's late. I need to get to bed. I have school tomorrow."
"Ok. Where do I sleep? Oh! This looks comfortable!" Kyabe said as she jumped into a big flower pot.
I ignored her and got ready for bed. Man, was I beat. I guess learning that you're the only one that can save a planet from destruction does that to someone.
"Night," I said after I got in bed.
There was no response. I looked at the flower pot to see Kyabe was already asleep.