Spirit to the Guardians: More Then The Stars

Prolouge - The New Mission

(Sheri's POV)

Master Asoka flew into base, seemingly out of breath and worn out, many luxlums took notice of him quickly and I was quickly informed of the situation. I was in my tent when Johanna bursted into the tent, telling me that Master Asoka was on base, wanting to see me. I panicked for a brief moment, why was one of my father's disciples on base? Was I in trouble? Something clearly wasn't right. I sprang up, ran out of the tent, and found many luxlums gathered around him, asking him questions upon questions about topics I'm not sure about.

"Master Asoka," I greeted him, bowing to him. He bowed in return. "It is a great pleasure to have you here at our base. How may I help you?"

Master Asoka quickly approached me, leaning in as if wanting to hide something from everyone else. "Princess Sherindi, I have something to inform you about coming from the Imperium. Your father and Novusa asked me to bring this message to you. May we discuss this in a more private area? Is the Lieutenant here?" He panted. Seems like the poor Master was pretty worn out after all these years, travelling like that was probably a hardship for him.

"At the moment, the Lieutenant is not here, but we can go discuss this matter in my tent. I'll also get you some water," I used my wing to pat him gently, "please don't push yourself."

***

"Princess Sherindi, you know Leonard Allen, correct?" Master Asoka asked me. I turned towards him and nodded my head. What could it be this time?

"Yes, I do. May I ask why?"

"Well, to put it simply, Leonard is a guardian. It took the Imperium a long while to track him down, but they eventually." Master Asoka announced. I shifted my head down in thought. Leo is a guardian. Leonard Allen is a guardian. Leonard Allen, the same boy that runs away at the sight of a bug, is a guardian? This must be a mistake.

"Has anyone claimed him yet? How do we know he's actually a guardian?" I asked, keeping my composure the best I could, but looking at Master Asoka is very stressful when it's on base.

"As far as I know, he is unclaimed." Master Asoka responded. I blew a small sigh of relief.

"So he's unclaimed, which means there is a possibility that this was a mistake." I told myself.

"Well, I don't believe that this could be a mistake. You see, the Creator, the Lord, and Lady Novusa sent me to send you on a mission. There have been a lot of sharns in your area, and it's unsafe for an untrained guardian to be there. They have tasked you with the responsibility of getting him to Loco Lucis to-"

"I can't, Master, I apologize. I really can't do it." I quickly cut him off. He gave me a concerning look.

"Why is that? You are more than qualified to do this."

"With all due respect, I don't want to upset him. You may be unaware of this, but Leonard is a close friend of mine. I believe that he will be upset if I perform this. I believe we should send someone else."

Master Asoka's concerning look slowly faded into something else -- but I'm not sure what. He started walking to the end of the tent, and peered out the tent.

"So those are your luxlums?"

"Yes Master."

"What are they doing?"

"They are training."

"How?" He asked. I stood up to check outside. I saw a lot of people training in their archery, knife throwing, and staff exercises, but I don't understand what he was getting at.

"They are training in many different ways, Master."

"Sure, but how are they training?" He asked again.

I got back inside and thought about it for a second. I know he's trying to convince me, but I just can't wrap my head around his method.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't understand the question."

"Look at them," He turned towards me. "You're not looking at them the same way I am. You're looking at how they are training rather than how they fight. They fight for you, General. They depend on your leadership, your given power to guide them to success. And for that, they train and fight."

I lifted my head and tucked in my wings. I shouldn't give the Master a hard time about this. I should just own up to this, even though it'll be a rocky experience. I nodded my head in agreement to what he was saying.

"Anyway, your father wanted you to know he wishes you luck, and you will be doing fine." He said, walking towards the exit.

"And before I go, I just wanted to tell you that you will be fine. Stop worrying about how the future will prevail when you haven't even been through what will happen in that present." He advised. I gave him a slight bow before he left, and he disappeared.

I looked out towards the luxlums and walked to them, then flew to the soapbox where the central fire was. I touched my cabochon to signal my need for extra volume.

"Hello everyone, I will be leaving now, but please take care of yourselves and let me know later if any malums appear," I announced. Some of them nodded their heads while others ignored me or didn't respond. I sighed and turned away. I'm exhausted.

I went to one of the doors that go out of the realm, and simply tapped my cabochon

My cabochon glowed, and I was back in my world. You know, waking up for school. Being a luxlum is like having a double-life, but its funny, because my luxlum life seems so interconnected with my world. I'm happy it's like that. But I guess the fact that Leo is connected into this is concerning.

Leo is a simple guy, and a good one too. The first impression of Loco Lucis is extremely important. If it goes well, you have potentially a new luxlum, but if it goes bad...it'll only leave frustration in the end. I'm scared about how impressionable he'll be, I don't want him to go in the wrong direction. I don't want our friendship to be ruined because we're guardians. I don't want to lose anymore.

God, I'm so whiny. Is this how a Princess or a General behaves? Get yourself together, Sheri. You still have some time. Just wake up and start the day first, you don't have to do this today.

Alright, here we go.

Per aspera ad astra.

***