Needledrop

10

Unexpected

Wynnona

All of us stare at the book as the green light glows brightly. The book flips open to a random page. Athena's beautiful and perfect writing comes onto the page.

Welcome one, welcome all

Warriors of mine you shall be

Travel here

Travel far

Two more must be found

To complete the stone

"That's weird." Rochet says.

"And it doesn't make sense." Zelanna comments next.

"Awesome." Oriana says simply, and I can't help but smile at her.

"We found out that Athena, the book, can only speak to us in puzzles and riddles." I explain to the three. The twins nod and Oriana smiles, her golden eyes sparkling.

"So cool." She says, eyes studying the book. The stone stops glowing, and I put the book into my pocket. Brett has left into the ship with Keya, probably to get her something to eat then put her to bed. The twins tell me that they are finished, and the ship should work. My eyes stay fixed on the metal that is obviously different from the original ship. Right before my eyes the metal shifts and it looks as though no patch job was done. The twins go to get their stuff from their now scrapped ship as I show Oriana to her room. I'll place her right beside me so I can keep an eye on her. Star snuggles into my shoulders, his weight reassuring to me. I smile, scratching his head as he nuzzles into my cheek.

"Hi Star." I greet the fox as he stands on my shoulder, making himself comfortable around my neck. Once I show the twins their room, I head to the control panel at the front of my ship and sit down. I sit in the seat crisscross, allowing Star to curl up in my lap. After a couple minutes everyone joins me in the control room.

"Are we ready to go Wyatt?" Brett asks, studying Star with a loving smile for the fox.

"Yeah, everyone hold on." I tell them all as I take off, pulling the hair around my right eye away so I can see the creature out there. I fly us out of the planet's atmosphere and dodge the many flailing limbs of the creature. We get away from the creature successfully without breaking anything. I enter what I am now calling light speed because Star Wars is awesome and sit back, playing with Star's toe beans. Everyone disperses and goes off to do their own thing on the ship. I stay and watch the universe zip by.

"Arrival to the coordinates provided by Giovanni is five hours." Dayna's voice says.

"Thanks Dayna." I mutter as I settle into my seat, the universe zipping by lulling me to sleep.

I look around, finding myself standing on water. Before me is Athena. She is facing me this time, but her face has been blurred out. She wears a short white dress. The fabric ends just above her knees, a deep dip between her breasts with noodle thin straps holding the dress on. Her feet are bare as she stands before me.

Athena

She is beautiful. Wynnona Allen, my champion, my gladiator. I knew she would be the one to stop Needledrop the moment Stardust laid eyes on her. She now stands before me on my plane, the place where I am trapped. I watch as her mismatched eyes study my form. She stands in a worn leather jacket that doesn't look fully black anymore. It's also a size too big for her, likely belonging to someone else before she got it.

Under her jacket is a loose fit, dark blue shirt that hides her figure masterfully. Her hands have a pair of black, fingerless gloves. The many rings I remember her wearing are now gone. She wears a pair of dark grey skinny jeans that have rips up and down the front and a pair of ankle high boots that are covered in mud and look rather worn.