1 Chapter One: End of a Love, Start of a Life

The stars shined in the coal black sky as a ship flew underneath them, the mast was mighty and secure as it carried the sail -that collected the light of the stars for a smooth sail across the cosmos. The polished metal deck held only two passengers, two lovers. Solar who sailed the ship, he had wild, red hair, fiery amber eyes, an amber cloak which was motionless behind him and pale silver skin. His face was stoic as he monitored the universe around him, keeping an eye out for any danger that may come to him or his beloved. Luna.

         Her moon-white wired hair flowing in unison with her dark blue cape as her dainty silver hand gripped the cables that held the mast up. She looked up and saw the scatter of stars above her, a known smile tugged at her lips as she continued to lean back. Her face gleamed in the light, the panes of her metal face illuminating like a beacon. She stepped back onto the ship with feline grace her dainty fingers grazing the polished metal of the ship's mast as she walked to her beloved.

        Solar smiled warmly at her, his fiery eyes shining in the stars of the Orion Nebula, thousands of light years away from their previous home. They were exiles, outcasts. The people of their home wants to know what creation and science would create, that's how they met, they signed their names up to help the idea of their kind, their people, becoming immortal beings. They met and fell in love with each other in an instant, true love at first sight. He vowed to protect her. He promised to make her smile and laugh.

        Luna smiled softly at him as she held his fiery gaze, her moon-white hair glowing behind her. Taking his hand as she leaned on his shoulder. "Soon, my love," he whispered into her hair with a promise, "we will soon find a home for us, for all outcasts who remain banished from their homes."

        She smiled warmly up at him, the stars illuminating the metal panes on her face. He grazed his fingers against the metal and took in her beauty, as he had done for years. Her beautiful, ocean blue eyes shined in his own as he stared into the inky pool of her iris. The circuits meant nothing to him, as long as he had her he was in a blissful bubble that no one could pop.

        "A beautiful queen," his voice was soft, "to rule with an actual iron fist," he mused, kissing her fingers.

        Luna widened her smile at him and laced their fingers together, "and a handsome king by my side," she wished. Solar chuckled softly at her words which confused Luna. She loved him and wanted him to stay by her side if she were to be queen she would want him as her king.

        "No, my love. I will be roaming the galaxies with an army," he told her as he went back to steering the ship. "An army so strong that no one would dare challenge your rule, my new mission in life is to find those who turned us into these unnatural, metallic beings and make sure they never hurt us or anyone else." He made a new promise to her that made every fibre of her body scream in warning. He spoke of a war, a war that may last millions of years, that may cause the loss of a thousand innocent lives. Luna opened her mouth to speak before the ship crashed and rocked on the surface of a new planet. Solar walked to the edge and jumped over the side he landed with a thud and brushed himself down.

        He scanned for any life forms that may already inhabit the metal planet beneath his feet. He looked around the sharp blades of emerald grass that swayed away from his steps as if they knew his plans or place on this planet. Luna jumped down after him and as her feet hit the floor with a sound softer than a symphony lost in the silence the blades of grass ushered away from her, creating a circle around her. She didn't dare glance a look at Solar as she turned to her right. The whirs of movement rung in her ears as she froze in her steps, through the green blades a snout followed by rows of pearly white teeth appeared. 

        A wolf with glowing red eyes stalked towards her the whirs of its joints getting louder as it stepped closer. It sniffed once, twice and when it realised that the metallic lady was no threat to her it showed its true colours. Her smooth black metal clinging up from her sides as if it were fur, claws as long as knives clanging on the ground, and a long pointed tail. Luna held out her hand to it, letting it sniff once, twice again. Before pushing her head into Luna's palm, Luna's smile grew as she gently held her head in her palms.

        A static jolt coursed through her circuits, it was enough for her to catch the dagger, between her index and middle finger, from her beloved. She stared at the dull edge that was so close to piercing the armour on the wolf. It slipped from her hold and slit the metal of her fingers, she looked up and saw Solar watching them with a face of stone.

        Luna stood up and ignored the blue drips of blood swarming down her fingertips, the wolf stood behind her legs and watched the two lovers. "Solar, what are you doing?" she questioned, "this animal was doing me no harm, why is violence and war and bloodshed an answer?" she continued to question, fear coating her tone, as his stone cold face transformed even colder.        

        All of a sudden a coy smile spread across his lips as he slowly sauntered towards her. She tried to step back but she couldn't as if two hands had grasped her shoulders and kept her still. He leaned down to her and started to drawl into her ear. "Why do you fear me, my love?" he purred as she struggled to move away from the man she once loved. "Everything I do I do for you, my queen. You are the reason why I am to raise an army, destroying the one place we called 'home'," he continued as he reached into the folds of his amber cloak and palmed a jewelled dagger into his palms. The blade cutting into his skin but the edge remained silent. "I shall seize my revenge with you or without you." He snarled through gritted teeth, angling the blade in his bloody hand for the kill.

        The black wolf behind her legs started to growl as her ruby red eyes locked onto his right hand which trickled with blue blood, she lunged and sunk her fangs home. Solar bellowed in rage and pain as the wolf shredded the metal from his arm and licked her chops as her metallic coat remained dirtied with his blood. Luna took the chance and ran, she could hear, the vicious howls fade into the night as her dress caught on sharp edges. Her breathing hitched as she came to a clearing and saw nothing, the rustling through the grass told her that the metallic animals had gone into hiding. From her? Or Solar?  

        Stretched out in front of her was a pool of inky blackness, malformed limbs sticking out of the surface was a blow to the gut for the cold hard truth. No one, who had come to this planet, had survived its menacing obstacles. The wolf ran over and pulled on her torn dress as in warning to run, but Luna stayed will as she turned to see Solar in front of her. The dagger was raised high above him as he plunged it home, Luna held up her right arm and bit back her cry of pain as the blade pierced the armour on her forearm.

        The warmth of her blood trickled down her arm as Solar looked in pure horror at the wound then at her, just as her foot connected with his jaw. He let go of the dagger and stumbled backwards, gripping his jaw. Luna ripped the blade from her arm and watched him spit his blood on the ground. "What are you..." he gasped through ragged breaths, trying to find his footing, "gonna do... to stop me?" he shouted into the silence.

        Her ocean blue eyes flashed as she shot him a glare before turning to the lake and striking the dagger home, into her chest. The wolf started to whine at her ragged breathing and the thud as she fell onto her knees. Luna didn't fall into the lake she dragged her rusting body into the darkness and laid down, her blood spider-webbing throughout the inky black surface. Ripples began to form from the limbs as the rust cracked. Solar slowly moved away and was prepared to run, but it was his turn to have two hands grasp his shoulders. Two familiar hands, and a familiar voice. "I will make a home for outcasts without you," Luna murmured in his ear as her spirit formed behind him and made him watch nine malformed figures emerge from the blackness.

        Their limbs were crooked as they slowly stepped onto the ground and opened their eyes, snow-white orbs shined at him as he started to run. Luna's husk lay there motionlessly as the inky water of the lake slowly swallowed her into the darkness. The wold down on the cold ground, her ears pinned to the side of her head softly whirring. She was lonely once again. When her tired eyes shuttered close a warm, glowing blue light rippled from the centre of the lake. The robot lifted her head and started to hide in the blades of grass, watching the glowing figure form. Luna floated over the sombre lake with battle armour protecting her, her silver face shone in the light of the purple moon, her moon-white hair flowing like waves.

        The wolf stepped from her hiding space and tried to nuzzle her legs, yet the glowing warrior was now a spirit. Luna smiled down at her metal companion, determination swimming in her ocean eyes. "Come... Raven."

~

Solar ran from the monsters that chased him, his steps thundering in his ears, circuits rushing with electricity to make him move faster. The husk of his fallen love flashed in his eyes, but none of that mattered to him right now his only mission was to destroy these monsters to send them back to the depths of Hell. Then he was going to build his army from the scraps of this planet and conquer the Orion Nebula. Then he would make the mudball -he called home for so many years- a trophy.

        He skidded to a halt in front of the ship he and Luna travelled galaxies in, everything was still intact, but there was nothing he could use as a weapon. His dagger now plunged in Luna's chest after she killed herself, that was a mystery that tormented him. However, as he scanned the area around him he felt a blow to his spinal cord, the air knocked from him as he turned around to have a fist connect with his jaw. Again. He stumbled back as the nine abnormal figures surrounded him, and corner him like an animal.

        He growled at them all as the fire from his core burned in his eyes, and he shot them all a look that could kill, he clenched his fists and waited for the first movement. They were slow moving, so he had an advantage, but when he went to strike the first one moved quicker than a jackrabbit, it grabbed his fist and slowly twisted it. Solar yelled out in pain and panted through gritted teeth as he listened the to metal cracking inside him. He looked at the figure as they threw him to the floor, clenching his teeth as they slowly stalked towards him and got ready for a fight. He growled louder in warning than he ever had before and pushed himself back to his feet, ripping his amber cloak from his neck and standing in a stance.

        With no weapons but his hands, he ducked from a punch to the face and retallied it with a kick to the gut. The figures may have been quick, but he was much sharper. One tried to strike him from behind, but their crashing steps gave it away, Solar twirled and raised his leg. The impact of his leg on the rocky, metal face had his body screaming at him to stop. He wasn't going to stop though. He was going to keep punching and tearing his way through the monsters until they bent to his will.

        It was as if everything slowed as the kick stunned the monster and sent him crashing through the hull of the ship, this allowed Solar to make his move to get away. The abnormality stumbled back onto the circuits that powered the ship and set his body alight like a firework. A hideous roar of pain erupted from him as it slowly faded. Solar barked a blood-chilling laugh as he slowly turned to show the monstrosities what he intended and what he was. A killer, a warrior with no heart. However, familiar ocean eyes locked with his, and his beloved's glare pierced into his soul. Then Raven's fangs in his neck. Luna couldn't bear to watch the black wolf rip at the cables, yet as the sparks danced in her teary eyes the sadness from her heart was distant.

        Solar's blue blood dirtied the ground beneath his cold body, as well as Raven's jaws. Luna listened to the remaining figures that started to walk away back to their dark grave. Then she looked at the one who fell back into Death's cold clutches once again. She looked down at Raven who looked back up at her with a pleading in her red eyes was begging the spirit, not to leave her, Luna smiled warmly at her. With a click of her ghostly fingers, a wave erupted from her core and all nine figures -dead and alive- filled the silence with screams of agony.

        Raven watched in pure horror as their bodies cracked from the bottom of their feet to the top of their heads, a blinding light filling in the darkness. The light enveloped their bodies, and they emerged as warriors, armour shining brighter than the suns of distant lands, visors in the shape of animals spread across their brows. Raven strangely found comfort in the warrior with dark red and black armour, a dire cloak draped over his shoulder, and the jaws of a wolf resting upon his forehead, and a metal tail dragging behind him. He was Fallen Star, meaning in the name. He looked down at her, and only his frown was visible on his chiselled chin.

        All nine warriors looked up at Luna as she looked down at them before disappearing. Their purpose on this planet rang through their ears as they twitched on their heads, they looked at each other with quizzical looks -though it was not obvious they understood. Brothers by blood, warriors by heart, and kings by choice. "Where shall we start?" One with snowy white armour streaked with icy blue, a white cloak flowing behind him and a lion visor upon his head. He was Valiant, with a name meaning brave. With those words, the nine kings built their kingdom from the ground up with the resources they found from the ship and the planet. Though in the centre of that planet, where it led to the core of their home, was a statue of Luna with an inscription at the bottom. For that was a cure a future ruler would face.

~

As the cycles slowly past the kings had built a kingdom to rule, they were the kings with no emotions. They only showed their thin line lips through the shadows of their visors as they sat on their thrones. There was a lion, a wolf, a fox, a falcon, a bear, a tiger, a shark, a scorpion, and an owl. They showed no emotions when their people presented them with gifts for letting them live on their home, but the kings did not want riches, they wanted to know why they left their homes and became more curious about the work from them.

        Whoever stepped onto the metal soil was given the features to feel equal, no matter what they were or who they were. Depending on their age they were either giving pure metal skin, but if they were young, they would have skin and develop metal throughout the years.        

        One day, an old man with scaly blue skin and gills on his neck walked into the throne room as a little girl directed him. His clothes were torn and burnt, he had a hunch in his step, and his eyes were nothing. His daughter gripped his hand tightly as she held a box in the other, her large green eyes darted around them as she quivered with fear, King Valiant, who appointed himself the leader of the of the nine kings, sat forward. "Speak," he commanded with a wave of his clawed hand, his white armour glinting in the lights of the castle.       

        The throne room was large enough to hold a grand dance at any time. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, pure golden light spider-webbed across the white metal ceiling, windows streamed on the right side of the hall to let in the pale purple moonlight, the flor was the deepest blue as were the walls. They helped to reveal the mysteries of the universe.

        "Majesties, me and my daughter, have fleed our home for a terrible outbreak of disease. I was a humble jeweller, and I can make anything with the finest of crystals," the old man spoke quietly, he kept looking at the ground in fear of being rejected for his blindness. He let go of his daughter's hand and made a gesture for her to walk over to them. Her topaz green eyes widened slightly as she slowly stepped toward the thrones. Her tiny shaking hands reached out to open the box, but a hand gently grasped her wrists and held them up.

        "She has blood on her hands," the king spoke but didn't look at the old man. The little girl teared up slightly as she stared at the king with the dark yellow visor in the shape of an owl, his yellow armour clinking against his metal skin. He was King Asvin, a name meaning medicine. She shook as she opened her mouth.

        "It's my mother's..." she squeaked out, his head shifted slightly, and she could tell he was looking at her dead in the eye. The story flashed through her eyes, and his mouth opened slightly, and she knew he saw her pain. His hands slowly let go of her wrists and set his arms back down on the armrest, but she knew he was still watching her. "My father is blind, and I had to fight with my mother for us to escape the disease... but she didn't follow us." Her eyes teared up, as the kings watched her quietly.

        King Valiant sat forward again, "if your father is blind then how does make such fine jewellery?" he questioned as he reached into the box and held up a golden crown with white diamonds, and a lion's head in the centre.

        "I help him, I collect the resources, and I prepare for him," she explained quietly. Asvin motioned someone to walk forward, he leaned down to the little girl and wiped her bloodied hands with his cloak. A servant bowed as she held a golden goblet to him, he pulled out a tiny vial and poured one drop in, then motioned for them to walk to the old man. The little girl watched as her father slowly sipped it.

        "Welcome to Celestia," Valiant waved his hand again and watched the little girl's blue scales turn to peach coloured skin, with the slightest touch of metal forming on her nose. Her green eyes widened in a smile at them as she turned to her father, and saw him smile at her with her green eyes. She ran as quickly as she could and hugged him tightly.

        "Thank you, thank you so much," he smiled at the kings and bowed as best he could before carrying his daughter out. She smiled softly at them, and that was thanks enough for the kings.

        A young man with metal skin and golden armour strode up to them and bowed on one knee. "My kings, I come from a far of a kingdom in the Andromeda system," he said as the kings looked at the messenger. He stood up as his dark blue eyes flashed, "my queen has requested an audience with you." He held out a data plaque in his hands and let Valiant take it from him. It was a simple pad of circuits that explained a peace treaty between the two kingdoms.

        "Tell your queen we'll be there."

~

A ship carried enough resources to last the kings on their journey to the kingdom they knew little about, they knew little about the queen that ruled it. Only that they were different. As the kings slept Fallen leaned over the railing and watched the sea of stars pass over him. Raven sat by his side as her tail wagged happily, scraping against the polished metal. Fallen sighed softly and unhooked the visor from his brow and let his ruby red eyes adjust to the light.        

        He was relatively handsome, but no one would tell him because he never took off his mask. "My king?" Fallen stiffened slightly as his ears twitched towards the sound of the captain, he didn't have enough time to put on his visor without him seeing his face. "I have the information on the queen," he said, setting a data plaque on the railing.        

        The king nodded his thanks to the captain, Fallen kept his face hidden as he listened to the captain's footsteps fade away. He picked up the plaque and turned it on, but the first thing he saw was an image of the queen herself, and something struck him. What was the strange feeling that overtook him? Worry? Fear? Love?