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had to go and watch Christmas special doctor who episode with my husband so couldn't read the full thing beforehand sad




Message: The Ally

Just north of Durem, away from the Christmas lights and holiday festivities, a different set of lights and sounds filled the air. The scene was bustling with life despite the late hour, and Lucky found herself having to weave her way around groups of vampires, werewolves, dark elves, and other supernatural beings haunting the casino. She had heard about the Dragon's Den from some of the luck stars, but this was her first time being there herself. She took in the structure appreciatively. Beneath the lights, music and games was vague Medieval feel to the architecture. Strangely though, she was beginning to notice there were no stairs, no elevators, no way to get to the second floor which she had certainly seen from outside the building, which only piqued her curiosity of what this building was before. But that would have to wait. She had heard before that the owner of this establishment was someone she knew. He had offered assistance when she had first come across the strange dark liquid, but she had turned him down. She just hoped that the offer was still on the table.

The trick was finding the man. He was notorious for appearing, then vanishing just as quickly as he came. While she appreciated his tricks once upon a time, and might have just learned a thing or two from the elusive being, now it was a bit of a hindrance. Even in what was rumored to be his own business, he was nowhere in sight. Huffing, Lucky looked about for a staff member. Within moments her eyes fell on a rather large centaur towering over slot machines, poker tables, and customers alike. He was observing the area with scrutiny, and she couldn't help but notice the suspicious glance cast her way. The badge on his chest revealed him to be part of security. Perfect.

"Excuse me," she called over the noise, walking over. "I am looking for the owner. Do you know where I can find him?"

His eyes narrowed, looking over the young redhead with a gaze that made her wonder if she should grab her ID to prove she was over 18.

"Why should I tell you where the boss is?" he asked gruffly.

She blinked in surprise at the sharp retaliation. But then she smiled sweetly. "Well, I could keep looking for him on my own, but I don't think Nefiriam would appreciate you letting someone with lucky stars gallivant around his casino."

The centaur looked ready to respond, but then paused. Thanks to her earlier visitors, she still had traces of the notorious stardust that always seemed to powder the highest winning slot machines and cause Gold Mountain's card bot to fail. He turned slowly. "...Right this way, ma'am."

Lucky thanked him, making a point to not mention that it came from a wishing star breed.

The centaur led her away from the crowds and to a wall near the front door. A moment later he moved a panel, revealing a hidden stairwell leading straight up to the second floor. How she had missed it was beyond her. He gestured for her to go up, watching her make the ascent for a moment before leaving her to her own devices so that he could continue watching over the casino. She found it funny that he would leave a total stranger to go visit the boss alone. But then, anyone looking for trouble would not stand a chance against a dragon anyway.

Upstairs, it was quiet despite all the happenings on the first floor. Lucky found herself in an apartment of some kind, filled with empty space and dusty rooms. The sparse furniture was covered for the most part, making her wonder if anyone actually lived there until she found what appeared to be a used kitchen, bedroom, and finally a private library. Within, surrounded by books which floated as if held by an invisible hand, was a tall man with black hair that faded into purple as it trailed down his back. Strands of gold peeked out of the mane and matched the hue of his eyes, which were currently staring intently at the content of one of the floating books. It wasn't often that Lucky saw Nefiriam, the fabled Dragon from the caves surrounding Durem, so focused, especially not in his human form.

She cleared her throat. "So are you on the naughty or nice list?"

"That depends on what you consider naughty." He continued scanning the pages of the book in front of him for another minute before it finally clicked that someone was in fact talking to him. He whipped around to face his unexpected guest, "Lucky? What are you do-" With the sudden shift in his attention all the floating books went tumbling to the floor. The dragon frowned down at them for a moment as if they had betrayed him before crouching to quickly pick them up.

"Ah! Sorry about that," she apologized, kneeling to help him with the task.

"What brings you here? I don't believe you've ever paid my casino a visit before now," he asked as he shelved the books.

She smiled lightly at the comment. "Well, considering my entourage, I am not normally the most greeted guest in casinos. Though I do like the design." Then she got down to business. "I...may need your help."

The dragon slowed his work on the bookshelf when she spit out why she was there. He frowned, idly rubbing his thumb over the worn leather cover of a book. "You must be desperate if you're coming to me for help." He slowly spun the book between his hands. He carefully slid it back into its place on the shelf, the faded gold on the spine mentioning something about souls, before he turned to face Lucky once again, body blocking it from sight. She decided not to ask as she was caught in his intense ember gaze. "I would think your brother would be your first choice. Wouldn't a star prince be a better fit than me?" he asked.

"He would, if he wasn't the one being targeted," she frowned, holding his gaze. "I think I'm being used as bait." She went on to explain what had happened earlier that evening, with the prince's visit and the power outage caused by the black star shortly after. It was looking for a feast, yet even Sirius the Dog Star did not seem to register on its radar. The only one close by that would have been brighter would be the Starlight Prince himself.

The dragon raised an eyebrow, listening, and also observing. She could already tell he was noticing some things different from their last encounter on Halloween, particularly the lack of her normal royal flourish and celestial companions.

"And the reason you have no other stars helping or even hanging around you?"

There it was. Lucky did not answer right away, breaking eye contact with the dragon in front of her. She had known this question was going to come up, but she still was not quite prepared to answer it. How much should she say? What should she hold back? How would he take it? She closed her eyes slowly, taking a deep breath. "Silver hair, grey eyes. Red hair, red eyes... it's not that far of a stretch to guess that the prince and I are not blood related, right?"

He snorted, "If you two are blood related then I'm a kitten star." He folded his arms and continued to watch her, fully willing to stand there all night if he had to. "Now spill, girly."

The image of Nefiriam as a kitten star would have caused a giggle slip from her on any other occasion. But right now, it did nothing for her. If anything, it made reality sink in. The reality that, unless they decided to break some rules, she wasn't to have any contact with those kitten stars, or any star for that matter, again.

"Due to the...incident a few months ago, I am forbidden from returning to the star kingdom." She shook her head and hastily continued, "Listen, I know my bro-the prince will be back. If that thing sensed his arrival from somewhere off Gaia and made an entrance, which I'm guessing is the case because there hadn't been any more incidents, then it might catch up to him next time. It's my fault I can't return, and Astraeus has been nothing but good to me. I can't just sit around while someone uses me against him." She realized she was speaking far too quickly and composed herself. "I have some 'tools' which can apprehend the star, but I don't trust myself to face this thing alone, not after last time. I was hoping that, well..."

The dragon was silent, face unreadable as he digested this new information. Then, he suddenly closed the distance between them and scooped her up, swiftly walking towards the door.

"Hey!!" she cried out, suddenly not standing on her own two feet anymore. "Excuse you!"

"Excuse me? Excuse you, Miss Barges-into-Someone's-Home." Did that have anything to do with picking her up? Not really. But, she was being carried around whether she liked it or not. He was making for a beeline down the stairs and out the front door, ignoring the stares of costumers and employees alike. "Do you know how to track these stars?"

"Technically, your security let me in," she defended. "Also, no I don't. I was hoping you might be able to help me out with that, considering you have seen the substance covering these guys at least before."

The dragon paused, looking around before setting Lucky back on her feet. He stretched his back with a series of pops and a grimace. He had been bending over books for far too long. "When I saw and directed you towards the guy during Halloween I thought I sensed something like luck, but I wasn't paying much attention at the time. If I had a sample of it I might be able to track it myself."

"Luck?" It might have been due to the power the star had taken from another. She frowned thoughtfully before fishing in her pocket for a handkerchief she had used to wipe the dark substance off her hands. It was smudged black and Lucky had every intention of throwing it away later, deeming the delicate white fabric beyond saving. "Will this work?"

Nefiriam took the handkerchief carefully and examined it, a low growl rumbling from his chest after a few moments. He started scanning the area as if searching for a scent, ember eyes glowing in the night as he finally focused on one direction. "This way." Lucky found herself scooped up once again, this time being slung onto his back as he started to run towards Durem. He bound through the streets, easily dodging around anyone in the way, simply leaping over a startled group of carolers at one point. All the while, the red head was shouting in surprise, holding on for dear life as she apologized to pedestrians and promised some less than pleasant things to her sudden ride. She had expected to move quickly, but this was ridiculous.

Finally, he slowed to a stop on the other side of Durem, eyeing a closed toy factory suspiciously.

She caught her breath. "Could have warned me!" she huffed. Then she looked at factory. She remembered some Gaians applying to this place for the holiday season. Lucky raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked quietly.

He nodded, which only confused her more. Why would a star be here? A toy factory in the middle of the night was the last place Lucky expected to find a star. Yet, as the pair moved closer, tell-tale signs of the dark, star devouring liquid began to appear on fences, walls, and eventually a partially melted door which was ajar. She paused. This star was not being subtle. Barging in would just be playing into its hand.

"See any place where we can see what's inside?" she asked, half wondering aloud and half directing the question at her companion.

Nefiriam looked around before spying an upper row of glass windows. It was high enough to let light in during the day while keeping what was happening inside out of the sight of pedestrians passing by. There also happened to be a ledge and a pipe running up the wall a few feet away. He grinned, a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he gestured to it, "Ladies first."

It took a moment for her to realize exactly why that gleam was there. When she did, she rolled her eyes and turned to get a foothold on one of the bolts connecting the pipe to the wall before making her ascent. Once she got to the window, she hoisted herself up and scooted across the ledge. She looked over at the dragon as he got up, "Get a good show?"

"Best show ever." The dragon shot her a smirk before peering through the window, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like an uncomfortable, "I didn't actually look." He squinted into the darkness, his night vision good though not quite good enough in human form to see any more than she could. Some machinery, boxes, crates, some random glowing from time to ti- Wait. "Is that dark oily crap meant to be glowy?"

"Glow-what?" Sure enough, as her eyes adjusted, she too began to notice the dark substance that belonged to the black star. It was spotty, but it definitely was reacting to something. Higher and brighter than these glowing spots was the eye of the black star. It appeared to be just standing there, supervising the substance. Occasionally a faint pulse would come from the star, black itself and nearly invisible in the minimal light.

Nefiriam leaned closer to the window as he tried to get a better read of what was going on. "It's releasing some sort of negative energy when it glows... Bad luck maybe?"

"The substance?" She thought about it for a moment. "I really don't know. From what I can tell, it's leeching power out of something, then our friend there absorbs it. But maybe that means it's absorbing star power in the toys?" She slowly began piecing together what she knew and trying to make sense of what she was seeing. It wouldn't surprise her if the stars listened in on what wishes children had for Christmas. She always just figured that power was used on the child, but what if some luck was placed on the item to ensure it reached the child? What about the leftovers? Typically star luck just clung to whatever happened to be nearby. Some being left on the toys that did not ship out was highly possible. But why would a star need that? They naturally produced their own luck if they were the type, and wishing stars were so powerful they shouldn't even bother with the other.

She didn't have long to ponder it. A small click caught her ear, and she turned to the window. Her eyes widened as she saw the latch keeping the awning shut give way. "Watch out-"

Too late. Lucky tried to grab the now falling dragon, only to get pulled through the awning with him and tumble straight into the factory.



The other parts could be found here: https://talesofthestarlightroyals.tumblr.com/