The Planets Are Aligned (Original)

Chapter Five: Royal Getup

     Jupiter was excitedly scurrying throughout the castle as he tried to get all of his items together again. Mars had to stop him from packing everything, since they would only need the necessities, not a history textbook. Jupiter argued that someone might come across them and quiz them on history. Lucky for Jupiter, Mars understood sarcasm. While Jupiter was packing up his clothes in a bag that he would carry around, Mars stopped in the middle of his packing to check on Jupiter. He had finally realized what Jupiter was wearing: it looked like typical city wear. Mars stood in the doorway and analyzed Jupiter until he suddenly came up with an idea.
     "Hey, Jupiter," Mars walked up to Jupiter and patted him on the back. "I just thought of something. Your outfit doesn't look... too great. It's all rugged and dirty. I think you should try something else."
     "Really?" Jupiter looked down at himself. "I guess you're right, but I don't really have any other clothes that aren't similar to this. What would I wear, then?"
     Mars grew a smile on his face. "You can try on some of mine. I'm sure you'll fit in them. Come here." Mars was walking out into the hall, and Jupiter followed him. Mars entered a room, not too far down the hallway. The room was slightly bigger than the room Jupiter was in. It looked like it, too, only it had more shades of red and orange around the room. It was obviously Mars' room. Mars opened up a door in his room and went into it. Inside, there was a whole variety of clothes, all with warm colors. Jupiter poked around at the jackets curiously as Mars went around the closet in the search for some clothes for Jupiter. He grabbed an orange jacket from one hanger and a shirt with many colors from another. He tossed them at Jupiter, and the clothes landed on his face. Jupiter took the clothes off of his face and observed them. As Jupiter looked at the clothes, Mars got some black pants with golden design on the sides and small, red, orange, and black boots.
     "Alright, this should look fine on you," Mars threw the clothes at Jupiter again, and this time, the clothes landed directly on top of his head. Jupiter was trapped in a daze of amazement. Jupiter shook himself to consciousness and took the clothes off of his head. "I'll leave the closet so you can get changed." Mars left the closet, and Jupiter immediately started changing. While Mars waited, he polished the medallion on his cloak and looked in the mirror to see how he looked. "I look fine. Good. No one will judge me negatively, then. A king must look good in front of his subjects or-" Mars cut himself off as he saw Jupiter exit the closet. Mars thought he looked better than he thought. The sleeves of the jacket were short on Jupiter, but it somehow made him look better. Mars was satisfied with both himself and Jupiter. Jupiter looked at himself in Mars' mirror from where he was.
     "Wow," Jupiter lifted up his arms and turned around a little. "I look great, Mars. Thanks!" Mars was flattered by Jupiter's compliment. He just gave a sheepish smile in return to the comment. Jupiter could not help but to laugh. He did not expect Mars to react so quietly. "Sorry, Mars. Are you ready?"
     "Um, yes," Mars went over to his bed to pick up the bag from off of the bed. "Are you?" Jupiter replied with a simple nod. "Alright. So it's just going to be us. There will be no guards with us, they're going to stay here."
     "Cool! So we'll both get to go on an adventure! Sounds exciting!" Jupiter's grin beamed brightly. "I can't wait! Let's go now!"
     "Alright, but please," Mars strapped the bag around his shoulder. "Don't forget why we're doing this. It's a very serious matter. We could easily end up in danger."
     "But you got your ability, right?" Jupiter shrugged lightly as he headed to the doorway. "I got mine, but it doesn't really work sometimes. I didn't get enough time to work on it because I've been studying for so long."
     Mars smiled warmly at him. "It's alright, Jupiter. I have my ability." Mars walked alongside Jupiter and little Jupiter began to ponder about Mars' ability. He did study the Bloodstone family, which was the family that Mars belonged in. Since the Bloodstones were the long-reigning royal family of Solsylle, which was the country that Mars ruled over and where Jupiter lived. The Bloodstones were the reason why the towns and cities in Solsylle were named after gemstones. However, Jupiter vaguely learned about the special ability that the family had.
     "Hey, Mars?" Jupiter asked shyly. "Could you maybe tell me what your family's ability is?" Mars looked at him confusedly, almost astounded.
     "You never learned about it? Aren't you studying history?" Mars countered his question with another. Jupiter nodded shamefully.
     "Sorry. None of the textbooks I had ever discussed the ability of the Bloodstones," Jupiter scratched the back of his head nervously. Mars looked at him sympathetically.
     "Well, I can tell you." Mars and Jupiter were exiting the castle through the garden. "You see, the Bloodstones have always had the ability to summon specific weapons depending on their characters. My mother, for example, was quite protective, so her weapon was a spiky shield. My father was cautious and tried to keep distance between others, so his weapon was a bow that could shoot arrows, sometimes flaming arrows. As for me, though," Mars put his hand out in front of him and took a deep breath. Something began to appear in his hand and was shaped by a red mist or glow. It took the form of a sword and then suddenly appeared to be an iron sword with a golden handle and red on the sides of the blade. "I'm full of hatred. I like to lash out at my enemies. Therefore, I have a sword."
Jupiter's mouth hung wide open, but he closed it after he heard what Mars had said. "Hatred?" Jupiter repeated. Mars sighed and made the sword disappear in thin air.
      "It's something I really don't like to talk about, particularly in public," Mars looked at the ground as he passed by one of the fountains in the garden. "It's a little hard to talk about." Jupiter looked at him worryingly, but he decided not to push it any further, since he did not want to upset the king.
     "Sorry, Mars." Jupiter followed him out of the garden and towards a bloodstone-rimmed path.
     "For what? You haven't done anything wrong," Mars guided Jupiter up the path. The buildings of Bloodstone seemed to disappear from behind them, and soon, they were heading towards a wooded area. "You're all right, Jupiter." Jupiter smiled warmly at Mars and picked up the pace so that he could walk alongside Mars.
     "Thanks, Mars." Jupiter became comfortable with walking with Mars. As he walked, Jupiter began to think about the king. What exactly was he uncomfortable with? Why was he angry? Jupiter decided not to linger on the thought and made himself content with Mars. He was going to be his travel buddy, anyways.