"Well, maybe I would have preferred not kidnapping us," Edward stated. "That was our only chance to bring you here." "Well, we would have helped you guys even if you didn't trick us to come here."
The other three stared at him. Celestina's eyebrows were raised as if asking 'You would have decided to help him, huh?'
"Look, we all know that you guys would have been either scared or wouldn't have believed in me if I said the same and this was our last resort." he clarified, "And I am really sorry; even if you don't want to help us...well, there is no way backing down right now because we are already on our way to Mabur."
"What!?!" There was a chorus response from either side of Celestina including her; they stood up anger overpowering them.
"Nuh-uh mister, get this ship back on the ground there is no way on heaven and earth we are going to help you." Jayden protested.
"No, Lume. There is no way to go back." He turned towards Celestina "So, the only thing you can do is help us. Now, come on I will show your rooms, you will be staying there for quite a few...days if you guys would prefer. Oh, and there will be no problems with your guardians worrying about you. They will not even notice your gone"
"Wait a minute. You're getting us back down and stop this rubbish and what do you mean they will not even notice we are gone?" Emily asked.
"Ok this is the last time I will be saying this: No, we are not going back," he said, emphasizing each word, "and they will not notice this because the time difference isn't the same as you have between each country on your planet. A year on the mabur planet is equal to just a minute on your Earth, So, come on I will show you your room" he said walking away not even noticing the stunned teens.
"Ok, I don't understand" Emilly breathed out. "Neither do I like it"
"Well, it seems that we are dubbed as the heroes to save a planet, which was not taught to us in class and that is pretty much it," Celestina explained.
"You suck at explaining, you know that don't you?" Edward asked and she was personally offended by his question.
"You feel so, Pasten. Fine then, why can't you explain to us what happened right now, can you?" she retaliated.
"Oh yes, I can. That was a stupid alien who captured us to help save his planet."
"That was way worse than mine,"
"No, it wasn't"
"Yes, it was"
"No, it wasn-"
"Stop it both of you," Emily exclaimed, stopping the fight before it could escalate, "We need to think of something to do. We need to escape from here"
"I am not very sure about it, Emily. He says there is no way back and we are probably a thousand miles away from home and I think maybe we could listen to what they have. Maybe he is telling the truth and a planet really needs our help." Celestina opposed.
"It's all a big question, Les! We can't possib-"''No, Emily. I don't know why but I feel like we should believe him. So, sit tight, it's gonna be a long year."
With that, she walked away from the trio not before hearing Edward ask 'Is that girl mental?'. She knew one thing sure about this "trip": She and Edward are not at all going to have a good, healthy conversation once without them bickering.
No.666 stood there waiting patiently for their arrival. Once all of them were there he took them to the same aisle as before and showed them their rooms.
Celestina's room was in the far end with her initials carved on the door with Jayden's room on the left side of her and Emily's diagonal from hers.
Unfortunately, Edward's room was directly in front of her, which means looking at his face very often. One advantage was that the medroom - yep, you read that correct - that she recently learned was the room where the whole chaos started and it was a mini-hospital, was right next to her room.
These people really built the ship dedicatedly. They even had a room where all the foods are stacked and you can eat whatever, whenever you want. This ship even had gravity (much to her confusion).
As she entered the room she will be staying for quite a long time. She was met with a beautiful and calming fragrance which she couldn't put her finger on. She was stunned as she saw the interior of the room.
This was a perfect example of the quote "Do not judge a book by its cover". As she saw the room it was much more vast than what she expected it to be.
The room looked like the chamber of a queen in the olden days. It looked so royal. A bed laid on the left side of the room with baby blue net curtains around it with a violet sheet and similar color pillows. She walked towards it and sat down just to come in contact with an extremely fluffy mattress where she could sleep the whole day. She had a question on whether they were bribing them with fluffy mattresses; if so, the plan is clearly working.
To the right side of her, a small chest resided with a flower pot and a piece of paper beneath a key. Curiosity got the best of her, she took the paper in her hands and started reading it aloud since she was technically alone unless they have a camera here, which they don't (she hoped so, she wouldn't help them if they did things like that).
"To dear Celestina, We know that you are coming so far from your home so we have a little welcoming surprise for you. Please open the chest with this key. And thank you very much for helping us." she smiled at the messy handwriting and the scribbling, in the end, the person most probably intended to write their name - or more like a number - first then scribbled it and left the letter anonymous.
She decided she would come later to the surprise; another habit of hers, she didn't even know why but she liked the suspense in some surprises which would build the excitement in her. But again in some surprises only she liked the suspense and this was one of them.
When she looked up from the chest she saw the restroom and entered, it was calming for some unknown reason. A hot bath in here could clear anything in your mind.
After she exited the bathroom, she moved back to the middle of the room and she couldn't help but let her jaw drop because of the sight before her.
It was a rather huge window with curtains parted on either side and showing a beautiful sight of the galaxy and the sight was so breathtaking. She walked towards it and looked to either side of the window and she couldn't see Earth or any other planet as far as her sight reached; all she could see was debris of rocks and asteroids falling free in the anti-gravity space and she also saw an asteroid flying through the window with fire on its tail and it looked as if it was split open in the middle. She could spend hours watching this and could never get tired of it.
But, alas, wanting to see more of her room she turned towards her right and walked towards a huge closet filled with outfits of different kinds. There were pajamas, ball gowns, sweats, hoodies, fancy attire, and many other types and she was standing there looking at it in awe.
What was even more ridiculous was that they had a human size mirror with a small drawer filled with makeup. Celestina was not much of a fan of cosmetics; she preferred more natural because she believed it is your heart and brain that's going to bring changes, not your face or your looks.
She decided that was pretty much it for what was important and minor things will be discovered eventually.
She walked back to the chest and unlocked it. The objects in there quite stunned her.
There was a large book, a locket, and a purse. That's a weird combination. Knowing this was going to be a long time, she comfortably leaned against the bed.
She started with the book, as she opened it, she realized it was not a book but an album. She slid her hand in the hardcover of the book. The same symbol she saw in her room's door: a circle inside a star and a square engulfing both of them. There was one more note in it.
'We are extremely sorry for causing this inconvenience to you and bringing you so far away from your home, from your parents and siblings. As an apology, we found a few of your memories and made this album for you. You can cherish your memories no matter where you are. We also have a locket for you, and you can open it by simply pressing on the circle in the middle of it. And there is also a purse for you, you can have any of your possessions in them without needing to worry about the space and carry them wherever you want.'
As she finished the letter she was quite sure if she read it aloud in front of Chase or Jayden they would have teased her for reading it as if she is promoting one of her products.
Celestina, as directed, opened the locket to find two pictures; her parents, smiling with their arms around each other, and another picture of her and her brother with their tongues out and having peace symbols on top of each other's head. She remembered this memory so vividly as if it happened yesterday.
It was one of the days when her parents would take them to a photo booth to get pictures to remember how we were each year. This picture was taken last year when she was 12 - this year's picture was yet to be taken. She looked so innocent and carefree in the picture but now she has to possibly lead an army in a battle.
And that's when the thought dawned her; she remembered the alien dude telling them that "A girl and her two companions" which adds up to 3 but there are four of them in here…
She gasped and closed the locket and clasped it around her neck. And as an experiment, she kept the album in the purse, to her astonishment it did fit in there. Celestina breathed a 'wow' and scrambled towards the door and went to find No.666.
As she entered his room she found him staring at the galaxy through the window just like the one in her room.
"I knew you would come, Celestina," he said before she even registered her presence by speaking, "What is the reason you have come to find me?"
"Uh, actually," she cleared her throat and started to walk towards the window to lean against the railing near the window "Um, you mentioned something about a girl and her two companions didn't you?" she asked, jerking her head to a side, glancing at him.
"You are quite brilliant, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. Celestina's cheeks tinted light rose and she just shrugged.
"Well, I thought it would take quite a time for you to decipher it but you found out pretty quickly," Mr.Marmalade said "Anyhow, it was supposed to be a girl and her two companions, but now there is one more person extra"
"Exactly so, one of us is brought here without any apparent reasons."
"Everything happens for a reason, Celestina, You should understand that. We don't exactly know why or who is the extra person but I have a hunch that it might either be you or your friend Emily"
"Why me or Emily? Why not the boys?"
"It is just my guess, Celestina we don't yet know who it is"
"Then when will we know?"
"When it is the time to end all the madness"
She was utterly confused. Could those "End all the madness" mean the battle she had seen in her nightmares? Her question was left unanswered.
"Do you have any idea how or who is going to cause all the um...bloodshed to your country" she wondered aloud.
She saw a grim expression take over No.666's face. "I must let my king explain that to you. For now, I request you to have a good night's sleep."
She smiled and nodded, definitely not liking the answer he gave her, and started to walk back to her room not before looking over her shoulder and saying, "The gift was really amazing, by the way." and bidding him bye.