A Personal Battle Cruiser

Marissa was not pleased. Sure, she had been working with two of her brothers to try ad weed out some of the more unsavory research facilities and rescue their victims within the Empire. However, not once had any of them made a demand to live with her. Most of them had also been a big older than Altair too, but that meant little in the grand scheme of things other than them being slightly more upstanding than the rest.

She did have several homes she could send the girl to but she still didn't like the principle of giving in to it. She was still a young woman who was barely twenty years old. How could she let a girl Altair's age call her mom!? It didn't matter how cute or adorable or precious she was, Marissa had yet to actually date someone yet and was completely devoted her to hobbies.

She was even known within her family as a layabout!

Her expression turned unsightly just imagining how much her family would make fun of her for it.

'This girl,' she thought, 'she really needs to not bite the hand that feeds her!'

Altair's next words ended her thought process though.

"What are you talking about?" Altair sent a disdainful look at Serius as she continued, "She only looks more trustworthy than you, that's the only reason why."

Marissa grinned broadly at him. It was her turn to poke fun at him now and, in the wake of what she just went through, she didn't hesitate for even a second as she proclaimed, "Look's like we have a suspicious individual here then. I knew you couldn't be trusted. Even children can tell you're a foul person."

Serius didn't look bothered by it and his only reply was a flat look. He moved towards the floating bike and sat on it without a word before he asked, "Am I going alone or are some people joining me?"

Serius was used to a lot of Marissa's antics. Such a small attack on him had no effect at all anymore. He had been through a lot worse so far and he felt it was too beneath him to even respond to such a petty attempt at bothering him.

Marissa frowned slightly before she walked towards the bike while grabbing Altair along the way. She ignored Altair's attempts to struggle from her grasp as she sat back on the bike in the same position and said, "Let's hurry up and get back then. If we're late, it's your fault."

Just because Marissa was twenty years old and an adult didn't mean she wasn't subject to her father's rules. It actually made her more bound to them because she was the first princess. At any rate, her father had imposed a curfew on her after certain late night escapades that she got involved in with her little brother.

The Emperor was furious when he found out that she had tossed away certain values just because some people looked "too pleasant to ignore." As a result, he imposed a curfew on her and, when she ignored it the first time, she found herself locked in a dungeon for four weeks the moment she walked back into the house.

She was denied all forms of entertainment and only given the worst slop that even ancient, dried rations were superior to. It was easily the worst time of her life.

The most unbearable part was, of course, the lack of her being blocked from the Spacenet. She had all of her rights revoked and her account was blocked by the Empire itself like she was some kind of Spectral Reaper. She was mortified and didn't know how she survived even now.

The end result was very effective though. She hadn't missed the curfew even once since she suffered the consequences of it. She even encouraged her little brother to try and end some events early just to make absolutely sure that they wouldn't miss the curfew. She really didn't want to fall so far behind in her shows ever again…

But now they were going to cut it a bit close. She couldn't take Altair back to the Cosmic Palace. Her parents didn't care how much she interfered with research projects at all. However, they forbid her from bringing home any pets or people she picked up on the streets. This would naturally include Altair, her circumstances be damned and shoved to the side. None of it would matter to them and they wouldn't hear a word of it.

Besides, she couldn't return home wearing her outfit or too many rumors would be spread and her father would have to bribe too many people. Those who couldn't be bribed would disappear. It was a real hassle.

At any rate, by throwing the blame to her little brother she would manage to escape some of the punishment if they wound up being a little late.

Serius sighed before the vehicle listed into the air. He drove it out the same way they came in and, the second they were out of the dome, he piloted it straight up into the air.

The elevation of the passageway through the dome was already staggeringly high in the air. But now, as Serius continued to climb up, Altair couldn't help but feel her guts rising into her at far away the ground was. She dug her hands into the vehicle that was the only thing keeping her from plummeting towards the ground while the dome became smaller and smaller.

When the dome had become the size of an orange, clouds abruptly covered her view. She had never been this high up before and, as she was focused on the ground, she only now realized how precarious her situation was. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest while she found out she was afraid of going beyond a certain height.

As a cold breeze smashed into her like a bucket of ice cold water, Altair's view changed without any notice or warning. She suddenly found herself inside some kind of room. Her surroundings had a few small sized Mecha standing at attention along the walls. There was even a group of men wearing military garb that saluted sharply as they entered the room from the floor. There was even a man dressed like Donel, who bowed respectfully at them as the bike lowered to the floor.

Altair was completely confused. One second she was looking out at an endless sky. The next second she was inside a room with several Mechas and people she didn't know around her. There was no trace of the outside to be found. Even the breeze that was touching her the moment before had vanished without a trace.

Nobody around her seemed to want to tell her what just happened as the steward-looking man cast a glance at Altair before turning back to Marissa and asking, "Did you pick up another kitten?"

Marissa and Serius alighted on different sides of the vehicle. Marissa had even carried Altair off and set her on the ground before she replied, "You could say that. Send word to…" She paused as she thought of the different vacation homes she had. She had many of them but none of them immediately jumped to her mind for a place to have Altair stay at until more permanent accommodations could be made.

Serius frowned at her before he interjected, "Send word to Din to prepare a room and board for the girl. Don't forget to have clothes prepared as well."

The steward bowed in understanding while saying, "As you will."

Marissa shrugged off the concern as soon as she heard Serius' suggestion. As long as she didn't have to deal with it then everything was fine.

As she attempted to walk away to go and change her clothes, Altair had grabbed what little skirt she had to stop her from escaping without explaining anything. Marissa took it as her not wanting to be left alone though and gave her a caring smile while saying, "You want to come and change into something more comfortable?"

The steward quickly spoke up, "There are no clothes that would fit her on board this vessel."

Marissa grinned as an idea came to her head. She flatly stated, "I'm sure I could figure something out that would be fine."

The steward frowned slightly as he knew Marissa's tendencies. He cleared his throat and said, "My Lady, please refrain from anything in-"

Marissa waved her had dismissively as she tugged Altair along behind her. She had heard that speech dozens of times. "Yes, yes, blah blah. I'm going now."

Serius followed along behind her as he also wanted to get changed and cleaned up.

Marissa walked through a metal door that opened on its own when they approached. Altair stared at her surroundings for a moment before they became dull while she was pulled along. The walls were all blue and the floor was white. There was nothing to really see except for the doors that lined the hallway that followed.

As a result, since they were alone, Altair quickly asked, "Where did this building come from? Weren't we just in the sky?"

Marissa chuckled a few times before she said, "Yes, we were in the sky." She paused her steps and turned around flamboyantly while letting Altair go. She then stated, "Welcome aboard, Altair. You are now standing on the S.V. Swanson, my own personal Battle Cruiser. The reason you didn't see it was because of its optical camouflage, though its completely useless at hiding from most sensors."

Altair had no idea what a Battle Cruiser was. She assumed it was some ship capable of flight so that didn't impress her at all. She also figured it had some kind of invisibility technology with what was just told to her. She didn't find either of these things that interesting when she was more interested in learning about Mechas instead. Thus, she gave a half-hearted "Oh" as a reply.

Marissa looked disappointed at the response she got. Then she suddenly grinned as she said, "That's right, we haven't been properly introduced have we." She grabbed Serius, who had moved to walk past her, and pulled him to her side while saying, "Nice to meet you, Altair. My name is Marissa Lovane Shinthar, first princess of the Ordin Empire." She pointed at Serius as she continued, "This is my younger brother, Serius Londane Shinthar, third prince of the Ordin Empire."

Altair blinked at them as she processed this information. She then grimaced as she thought, 'More nobles? Even worse, royalty? …Perhaps I should have just returned to the Marnithok mansion.'