Marco, Sarah, Gen and Cal all faced the four new comers in the temple. They stood opposite Ley and the celestial for the first time their eyes looked surprised. The celestial floated forward looking at the four of them. Shaking their head they pointed at them one by one.
“A Xanic,” they said looking at Ya’Cahin. “An Akilo,” they glanced at Rizier. “And a pair of humans.” They finally rested on Jenny and Alice. “All Celestial blessed. By my own power no less. None of your presences here make sense but neither does Legion. I’m very curious as to what the answers are here.”
“Same old Ley,” Ya’Cahin said and cracked the first smile that Sarah had seen from the alien. In the proper sunlight her skin shined like a morning sky. “Always curious about some new piece of information before realizing it could be super dangerous.”
Her skin was bald and she wore clothes that looked similar to a jump suit with a jacket that was very human. When Sarah looked closer she could see that there were protrusions along her arms and the top of her head like a triangle. They looked like bones that grew out of her skin.
“Ley has always valued understanding of their galaxy highly,” Rizier said. “And we are definitely the anomalies now.”
“I didn’t think we’d ever be here either,” Jenny added. “It’s taking everything in me to not rush home. Or the pier. Oh my God the ferris wheel is still standing isn’t it?”
“Focus,” Alice said softly squeezing her hand. “All of us. We have a job to do.”
“Right. Despite being pissed with my co-captain,” she glared at Jenny for a moment. “She’s right. We can’t handle this ourselves. And you definitely can’t handle it without our help.”
“What the hell are Astro Knights?” Gen asked and glared. “You know what Legion is. You know what it’s doing to Owen. And if you’re the reason this happened to him I swear to God.”
Alice’s eyes widened and there was a moment of hesitation on her face but then she narrowed her eyes and stepped forward hands closed in fists. She was definitely taller than Gen but the way they leaned forward was so similar.
“Stop,” Marco said looking over at Gen and then to Alice. “We don’t need fighting amongst ourselves. We need to figure out what we’re going to do next. So talk. What do you know about Legion or whatever it’s called.”
Jenny stared at Marco almost star struck and Alice gave her a small pinch followed by a smile. She looked away blushing and Ya’Cahin took the lead motioning toward the crystal. “Can I?”
Marco looked at Ley and watched them nod and he did the same, “Go ahead. Just don’t do anything funny.”
“Don’t worry. Like I said I’m on your side.” She walked over to the crystal and pressed her gloved hand against it her. Her hand flashed, a red crystal forming at the back of her palm and then she glowed red. The crystal glowed and reacted to her touch showing two bright swirling galaxies side by side.
“This is our galaxy,” she pointed at the one on the left. “And the other is yours. We come from a galaxy about twenty years in the future. In that future you all are heroes. Cemented in the history books as the Celestial Knights. But you get older and even with the powers you can’t keep this up forever. That’s where we came in. I was a Xanic looking for something more to be. A greater destiny. Ley and,” she paused. “A friend. Helped me become more than just some kid. I became a knight.
“There’s an endless number of dangerous criminals across the galaxy. More than local laws can enforce. That’s where I came in. Doing my best to help and protect people with a team. I chased a criminal for a very long time before it brought me to earth and that’s when I met these two. Turns out being the kids of the Celestial Knights helps a ton.”
Jenny and Alice smiled while the others look at them confused, except for Sarah who hid her smile. “That’s how we became the Astro Knights. Stopping criminals from causing trouble around the galaxy. Legion is one of those. We chased it across the galaxy and finally caught it. But rather than be arrested and face trial, it forced us into a black hole.”
“A black hole?!” Cal shouted his eyes going wide. “You should have been torn to shreds. Nothing escapes that.”
“That’s what we thought would happen,” Alice said. “But it acted as a worm hole instead. Specifically, one that sent us back in time. To here. But time travel’s not linear. Legion got here first. Has been here for a little while. And when we came out it was waiting for us.”
“That’s why you crashed into the lake here?” Sarah asked.
Jenny nodded, “Yes. We in a way got lucky because you found us. You and d- Jack.” Sarah met her eyes and she smiled winking.
Ya’Cahin started talking again, “But now we’re here to help you. But we also need your help. If we had to guess Legion has been in this galaxy for almost three years. They’ve been building their army. Not nearly as big as they will be in the future but way stronger than anything in this time period.”
All of their gloves pulsed suddenly and they blinked looking down at their hands. As if on cue the crystal pulsed as well. Marco looked at the crystal and saw a beacon appearing on the earth. It was coming in from the moon and it was coming in fast.
“An alien is entering the earth’s atmosphere. No. There’s three signals coming down. From the moon. Probably Legion,” Marco said shaking his head. “We need to handle it.”
“We’ll handle it,” Ya’Cahin said looking at him. “We’re used to dealing with this kind of stuff. You guys are exhausted and in no shape to really be doing anything like this.”
Marco looked at them but nodded slowly. He wasn’t mentally or physically ready to do anymore fighting right. Letting out a breath he fell slightly and sat on the ground. Sarah kept him up right but looked toward the Astro Knights. The four of them stood together and put one hand behind their backs and their gloved one to the sky.
“Alright Astro Knights! Astro Change!”
“Astro Knight, Red Fire!” Ya’Cahin shouted as fire covered her.
“Astro Knight, Yellow Lightning!” Jenny shouted lightning striking all around her.
“Astro Knight, Green Wind!” Rizier shouted a tornado surrounding them.
“Astro Knight, Black Earth!” Alice shouted earth encasing her.
Then they were engulfed in light and shot into the sky. Sarah shook her head, “When do we get to do that stuff?”
The Harlequin Library 