{Across The Cosmos: The Solar System}

{Chapter 8: Her First Threat}

Despite the arrow being so far away, Andromeda held her breath. She knew that arrow was bound to hit her, causing an agonizing amount of pain along with it. 

All of a sudden, Andromeda had managed to do something Nori didn't tell her about; bringing a small blackhole in front of her, enough to suck in items that are small enough to fit.

The group had turned and also noticed the arrow, watching in horror. But, when they realized what Andromeda was doing, they looked shocked.

Hyperion spoke up through his shock. "Andromeda, how did you..? Why did you-"

The arrow had gotten pulled into the blackhole, being exactly inches away from Andromeda's face. Everyone had grown tense as she closed the blackhole, finally releasing a breath that had been held for what felt like an eternity.

Diana and Avani looked at each other, trying to process what happened. On the other hand, Nori looked at Andromeda with a pleased, yet concerned expression.

"Outstanding..I had theorized whether or not doing that was truly safe, let alone possible." Nori said, inspecting Andromeda's hands. "Are you alright?"

"Yes.." Andromeda said, her voice still trembling from the anxiety of the situation.

Hyperion then looked where the arrow had come from, only seeing an asteroid big enough to hide behind. For the first time in Andromeda's eyes, she saw Hyperion upset. And especially angry.

"Sombra's playing with fire right now.." Hyperion said, his face growing more and more bitter by the minute.

Nori put her hand on Hyperion's shoulder, nodding in agreement. Her gesture of comfort calmed him down pretty easily as Hyperion took a deep breath.

Nori sighed. "At least that was the only thing she has done. You remember what she did to Onyx when they first met?"

Nori and Hyperion both looked equally bothered as they shared the memory of that day; Onyx had gone away with Sombra to talk one-on-one, only to return in bruises and scars after that.

"Ugh..Andromeda, you-" Hyperion paused as he realized Andromeda was gone. Nori had also noticed, and looked at him.

"Where did she go?!" They said in unison as they both went around the Solar System to find her.

In the blackhole, Andromeda was pacing back and forth, trying not to lose her sense of what's right.

"I could have retaliated so much worse, but yet I didn't..I didn't have the heart to hurt another guardian." Andromeda muttered to herself.

Unexpectedly, she heard someone call out to her from outside her blackhole.

"Andromeda! Are you in there? I could use your help with something.." An unfamiliar voice came from the outside, making Andromeda feel nervous. She wasn't sure if she could trust it.

Andromeda considered it twice before leaving the blackhole to see who was calling her.

"Hello? I'm here now, if you are still here-"

Swiftly, a hand underneath a cloak had grabbed hers, teleporting her over to the planet Uranus.

Andromeda took a minute to catch her breath, still a bit queasy from the unexpected teleportation. She sighed and looked up.

The cloaked guardian removed his hood, revealing themselves to Andromeda. All four of his completely white eyes focused on Andromeda, who had looked at them with astonishment.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Hyperion spoke about you quite a lot recently." The guardian paused to adjust his cloak. "I don't believe he has told you about me, however. My name is Skylette."

Andromeda quickly realized that Skylette was the guardian of Uranus, as his body had a blue-greenish color, similarly to the planet.

Andromeda smiled, dusting off her sweater. "It's really nice to meet you too, Skylette! But I gotta ask..were you one of those guardians that glanced at me when I was passing by with the others earlier?"

"Yes, I was indeed," Skylette said. "And I was watching over you with one of my closest friends, as well." This made Andromeda smile brighter, knowing that they weren't looking to make fun of her. But she still had unanswered questions about Skylette and the other guardian.

"Were you watching over me with the guardian of Jupiter?" Andromeda asked, considering how they were the only guardian she had not met yet.

Skylette nodded his head as he laid down mid-air, relaxing. "Yeah, we usually stay to ourselves. The other guardians don't worry about us since we handle our own business. But I'm assuming they worried so little that they didn't even introduce us to you?"

Andromeda nodded, thinking to herself. It was a bit unusual for the guardians to not mention them at all, considering how friendly almost all of them were to her.

"Don't get me wrong, little one. Honestly, Iris and I agree that it's best this way. Especially after.." Skylette paused, seemingly aware that Andromeda was already told about her father.

"Yeah..but why did you bring me over here? You said you needed help with something, right?" Andromeda said, trying not to get too distracted with other conversation.

Skylette pointed in the direction of Venus, causing Andromeda to look awkwardly.

"No, you don't have to interact with Sombra." Skylette could tell from her expression alone that she didn't want to.

Andromeda sighed in relief. "Okay. Do I need to retrieve something near her planet or something like that?"

Skylette then clasped their hands together, a soft yellow light emerging from them. As Andromeda got closer to see what it was, Skylette opened his hands, revealing there were a few shattered fragments for a crystal.

"Over a hundred light years ago, Sombra had stolen one of Callisto's crystals, and broke it so he wouldn't figure out she had it, scattering the pieces throughout the Solar System. I was able to gather a few, but I know the last ones are on her planet. Do you think you could try retrieving them for me?" Skylette asked.

Andromeda considered this decision. She wanted to retrieve the fragments and help out a new friend, but she was unsure after what Sombra's arrow nearly harmed her. She thought about it, but generally came to a conclusion.

"Alright, I'll get the rest of the fragments. But only on one condition."

Skylette slightly smiled and chuckled. "And what would that be, Andromeda?"

"You introduce me to Iris sometime, please?"

Skylette nodded, putting the fragments into a small satchel. He put the satchel over Andromeda's head and stuck it onto her waist.

"Of course I will. Make sure you don't get caught..and hey, one last thing."

Andromeda looked up at Skylette, smiling. He patted her on the shoulder.

"Good luck, kid. You got this."