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Eek, school is eating up my writing time! I don't know if I'll have some sort of posting schedule. Probably won't.

Notes

- All the girls! (Almost)

- Stella Lumanlan

Stars II

"Yellow!" said Blue Takoizu. "Could you please heal Red?"

"Yes! Let me just position myself."

Upon arriving at the Essie's vacation home, Yellow began to help Red recover with her Viridian powers. But according to Moon, he still needed to rest. Even if he looked healthy on the outside. Blue thanked Yellow dearly and told her what happened. The blonde countess sighed.

"Well, at least everyone's alright," said Yellow, eyeing on Red. "Also, everyone else has been worried about you. You haven't been answering your phone.."

"Eh? People are calling me?"

"It's the real reason why Red came here to look for you. They pushed him to."

Blue was shaking her head. "He needs to rest safely in Kanto. I'm staying here. You go back with him. Got it?"

"Understood, duchess."

"Please, Blue."

"Okay, Blue."

The brunette grinned. She left Red and Yellow right after. The blonde countess frowned.

⇺⇻

Phoebe Novarro had called Marchioness Crystal, asking advice on approaching children. Moon got informed of that in a text at three in the morning in a group chat.

Nani?!

Oh, and she's trying to expose you.

Who?

The Takoizus.

Ooo! You can actually text, Sapphire!

And what?!

I don't actually know what she's exposing to be exact.

Yes, I CAN text, thank you.

Thanks, you guys. Woke up and it's six. Moon's probably still sleeping.

I'm not.

You guys woke up TWO people.

Terribly sorry.

It's urgent.

Or it at least sounds urgent.

I'm in Alola, too.

You woke up THREE people.

Y, Crystal's sorry.

Okay.

You're name is not Y.

Your*

Stupid autocorrect.

Platina, private message.

Keepin us out?

Keeping*

And alright, Moon.

Don't take it personal, Sapphire.

I bet it's urgent to them.

It is.

Thanks, Blue and Crys.

Blue, it would be great if you came to Johto and meet up with me.

You haven't been answering calls or texts until now.

This is serious.

Nah, I'm staying here.

Why?

I just am.

Everyone stopped messaging in the group chat after that. So, Moon and Platina started texting each other privately.

So, what do you need?

You in Alola. That's what I need.

What for? Your grandfather?

No, the zodiac sphere.

I see. I'm currently in Kalos.

Kalos?

Traveling reasons.

Okay.

Is tomorrow okay?

Yeah.

Alright, see you then.

By the way, were you woken up?

No.

I woke up close to five thirty.

Must be very early for you.

I have sleeping problems.

That's not good.

No need to worry about me.

The Novarro-Essie ordeal is interfering with your sleep?

I wouldn't call it an ordeal.

It's crazy.

The Novarros are targeting your family.

There has to be a reason.

I don't think our monarchy's that powerful.

Mythically, you guys are powerful.

Mythically.

Sorry, I have to go now.

Breakfast.

Have a good one.

Thank you.

Moon gazed at the wall that separated Sun's room from hers. She then hopped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Moon brushed her hair a bit and tied her hair into a ponytail. She changed into a navy blue romper with long sleeves and a denim jacket.

The marchioness put on her maroon canvas sneakers and left the house quietly, hoping Sun wouldn't wake up. Her grandfather was a Sagittarius and Moon was going to ask for him before anyone else could.

She stayed amongst the trees, hiding from plain sight. Moon relied on her memory of the forest and the position of the moon to guide herself to his shelter.

Moon remembered when her grandfather became really sick. He had pneumonia, and it was all good until Moon and Platina really looked at him, deciding he should go see a doctor. And that was when they realized that he was having lung cancer.

It's not as severe as it was two years ago, but she always had a feeling that she only felt with her grandfather. A feeling of loneliness. The king of the Alolan Monarchy was lonely.

It was when she was fourteen when she started visiting him daily, but he urged her to stop caring and study.

"Study?" Moon had asked him. "You mean I should abandon you and instead increase my knowledge?"

The elderly man had chosen to not look at her. "Yes."

And when she had asked her mother about visiting her father, Artemis had told her: "You know I visit him once a week. He's always like, 'Leave me alone!'."

Moon also wondered about Platinum. Unlike other people, she didn't ask if the zodiac sphere was even real.

She snapped out of her thoughts and accelerated her pace.

⇺⇻

Phoebe Novarro sucked her breath as she opened the door. The woman saw the two sisters relaxing on the couches and only one of them looked up.

"Greetings, Lady Novarro," Yuliana spoke. "What have you come here for?"

"I've heard you two ran away over to here in Akala Island. I want to know why."

"Reasons we cannot speak of," said Connie, sitting up. "Lady Novarro."

Phoebe trembled at the harsh tone used for her name. She managed to talk to them without a shaky voice. "Anyways, would you mind doing a favor?"

Connie was ready to refuse to and opened her mouth, but Yuliana shook her head and said. "We wouldn't mind. What is the favor?"

"I need money to pay for my daughter's bail."

"I'm not going to waste money on you! Where's our father? Where's everything you promised us? Nowhere!" hollered Connie.

Yuliana frowned. "Connie, stop."

"What do you mean stop?"

"Just do what I tell you to!"

"No!" Connie shot back.

The older sister glanced at Phoebe. "I will pay. In return, help me find my father."

"I'm afraid I cannot." said Phoebe.

Yuliana widened her eyes. "What?"

"You see," she told her. "Your father is dead."

"You.. don't believe.."

"It's a fact, sweetie."

"You don't believe!" Yuliana repeated.

The woman quickly left the room when Connie grabbed a tissue box and was ready to throw it at her. Yuliana cursed under her breath.

⇺⇻

Stella Lumanlan poured tea into Evan Novarro's cup. He bowed and thanked her. Stella didn't respond, which kind of irritated Evan a bit.

The princess and the grand duke sat across from each other and sipped their tea. Stella noticed his facial expression.

"You hate tea?"

"I don't. I just have never tasted this kind of tea before." he told her. Stella narrowed her eyebrows. "Does your family actually trust you to make deals with other leaders?"

Evan shrugged. "I never asked."

"You should."

"You're right."

"So what is it that you want of me?"

"My sister's release."

"Pay," she told him. "A million dollars."

Evan widened his eyes. He then began to laugh a bit, to erase the shock on his face. "Now that is a maximum bail you gave her."

Stella sat there emotionless. "Indeed I did." She remembered her mother automatically saying to lock Astrid up after Artemis had told her what had happened. She remembered seeing Moon from a distance, talking to a boy she had never seen before. Stella remembered how Artemis and Henry strayed away from her right after they became grand duke and duchess. They disliked her.

Stella was one of Moon's monthly visitors. She was incredibly smart and respectful to her. The princess wanted to believe that her niece didn't dislike her like her sister did. Seeing her rare smile with a boy, it meant she was very happy.

Kalos's grand duke finally sighed. "Fine, I'll see if I can pay you."

"You came here just for your sister's release?" asked Stella.

"I also just wanted to see you in person."

"Why?"

"So you wouldn't hang up on me."

Stella let out a laugh. Evan turned to go, "By the way, you don't look forty."

"I feel like forty."

Evan then left as Stella gazed at the empty teacup from across the table. But before the doors could completely close, someone pushed them back open. Moon.

And the king.

"Father! Moon!"

"Morning, Stella."

"Y-You haven't walked in forever."

Moon snorted. "I helped him. I saw Evan Novarro. What's he doing here?"

"He wants to bail out his sister."

"Astrid," said Moon. "I see."

"Moon?" asked her grandfather.

"Her brother has always been her right hand."

"Eh?" Stella sounded. "I thought Astrid was left-handed."

"No. She's right-handed." deadpanned the marchioness.

"Oh. Evan's left-handed."

"How do you know that?"

"He picked up his cup with his left hand."

"Anyone can do that."

"It's evidence."

"Poor evidence." muttered Moon.

"Anyways," Stella said, eyeing on her. "How's that boy of yours?"

"Boy.. of mines?"

Moon's grandfather looked down on her. "A boy of Moon's? Don't tell me you're already dating."

"I'm not," the marchioness told him. Moon glanced at her aunt. "Who are you talking about?"

"Taiyono."

"Oh, Sun."

"Sun?"

"Yeah, Sun Taiyono."

Stella's eyes widened. She then realized who he was. Polarri's teenage spy.

But she chose to say nothing. Stella quickly left the room, leaving Moon and her grandfather confused.

⇺⇻

Sun's parents gave him hugs and kisses every single day he was alive with them. He never gave a thought of them dying, and when they did, Sun thought he couldn't do anything but cry.

That was until a man named Polarri came and put his hand on Sun's shoulder and said, "You want revenge, little boy?"

He did ended up getting revenge on the drunk driver that had crashed his car into his parents'. Sun used the money Polarri rewarded him on education and lifestyle.

As Sun kept on going on missions for Polarri, he realized he was a tool to him. And when he was given the last mission, Sun finally went against Polarri. But after all, Polarri did help get revenge.

Money was what Sun needed. And if he didn't follow accordingly, he wouldn't get as much as he wanted.

The idea of Polarri using him bothered Sun. But it wasn't like he could say no.

It was six-thirty when he woke up. He turned and saw Noir eating a bowl of birdseeds on the window sill. "Morning, Noir."

The bird looked up at him, but then immediately looked back down at the birdseeds. "Morning, Sun." a feminine voice greeted.

Sun turned his head to the doorway. "G'morning, Moon. Your eye bags.."

"Yeah, I've been awake since three.."

Sun squinted at her. "You've only had six hours of sleep.."

"Eh, that's enough."

"I thought you were smarter than that."

Moon froze. And so did Sun. Then she said to him, "I know I'm stupid."

"I didn't say you're stupid."

"People have been telling me how smart I am," she began, looking away from Sun. "It's always a thing that people say to me to flatter me and make me like them. It's always a thing used to try and become friends with me. When I first attended Lunar Academy, I smiled at everyone I came across and all of the sudden people wanted to have some sort of connection to me. I later realized nobody wanted to be my true friend."

Sun frowned in response. Moon sighed and said, "I've always wanted to tell you that. But I never really found the right time."

Her hair was down. She was wearing a black fleece jacket and olive green shorts. Sun's hair was messed up from sleeping. He wore a white shirt and navy blue polyester shorts.

Sun slipped under the sheets. "Am I a friend?"

"Why are you hiding?"

"Answer me first."

"Yeah, you're a friend to me."

Sun came out of the covers. "I didn't want you to see my face."

Moon widened her eyes. "What.. do you mean?"

"I don't want to see you another way."

"Another way? You mean.. you don't want to see us other than friends?"

Sun didn't confirm or deny it. He found himself becoming pretty blunt about it.

"Don't tell me you want to be more than friends."

The boy laughed wholeheartedly. "Hah! No. Not really. I've only known you for like three days. I'm glad to be your friend."

"I just don't know if you're a true friend."

"How can I qualify to be a true friend, Moon?"

The girl half-smiled, replying, "Worthiness."

"Worthiness?"

A ding was heard from the kitchen. Moon giggled and announced that breakfast was ready for the both of them. She left the room and Sun turned to the window for a last glance. Noir was gone, and so were all the birdseeds in the tiny bowl.