The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet
Chapter 27: Next Stop Earth

Chapter 27: Next Stop Earth

Three weeks after Mella was released from the hospital, it was time for my family to leave on our trip to Earth. Three weeks was a short amount of time to plan an off planet holiday, but quickly after I presented the idea, everyone shared the thought of leaving this place for a period of time–which sped up the process. 

I asked, “Are you okay Melly?”

“Yes sis, I’m fine.” 

Mella was wearing a red skirt and a green shirt with a wind pattern on it, two lockets–one silver and one gold–hung around her neck. I tried to ask about the gold one, but she wouldn’t show me. Mum was wearing her casual clothes, a simple light bluish green top, and dark blue jeans. Tyell–who was looking a lot better–was being an edgy boy, and wore a matching long black pants and shirt.

We were on our way to board the spaceship Lerna, a large transport vessel for people and cargo between core planets.

Mella was being moved in a wheelchair that she could control with her mana. It also had its own mana battery so it didn’t drain Mella to control and move herself. And after some practice, she could perfectly manoeuvre it. For safety reasons, the only one who could move the chair with mana was the one sitting in the seat.

We also had a basic prosthetic for Mella to use, specifically a leg. It wasn’t fancy because it was extremely cheap, pretty much just two sticks and a foot. Mella didn’t like to use it but understood some places were easier to navigate on foot rather than wheels, even if her wheelchair could jump and climb up stairs.

Both support items could be compacted down to a small cube for easy transportation.

Tella said, “First time in space you two!” Looking over at Mella and Tyell, “You guys excited?”

“Absolutely.”

“Not really.”

I replied, “Let’s see if your opinions change after this trip is over.”

We moved through the security and checked in with our IDs. You did need a reason or a special licence to travel in space. In this situation my family bought a three month pass for Earth. I, being a hunter, did have some more freedom, but I was only allowed to go to places if I had a job there. But if I got more achievements and paid a decent chunk of money, I would be able to upgrade my card to include all access transport–this of course meant I still had to pay for the flights of course. 

After going through a second lift, we stood on the moving floor which took us to the ship’s open gate.

“This just feels like hopping on a plane.” Mella pointed out.

“Wait until you're onboard.” Mother chuckled. “Then it's a whole different world.”

Mella retorted, “Hmph, I believe you for now.”

We were catching one of the many passenger transporting vessels that were available today. It was a little packed as these ships usually were–thanks to the tunnels only being active for two hours every two days–but we were catching it mid-week so there were less than the normal amount of people.

The tunnels–basically space’s superhighways–had always been interesting to me as while they did make travelling much easier, they were extremely expensive to run.

Our ship was massive. Lerna had eight hundred rooms which each could comfortably fit four people each, plenty of food and drink, and entertainment for longer flights.

We arrived onboard and Tyell and Mella’s eyes widened, we moved through the massive ship. Walking past a couple stores, multiple food courts, and some entertainment areas.

“Are these the same ships they use for space cruises?” Tyell asked.

I answered. “Sometimes, but space cruise ships are usually smaller and have more entertainment options on board.” 

After we walked around for a bit, mostly staying near the large clear heavy duty mana reinforced glass to watch everything happening outside.

Tyell said, “I’m just going to go to our cabin.”

Mother replied. “That’s fine, just follow the proper instructions.” 

Tyell wandered off and Tella turned to us and said. “I’ll be back in a moment, just want to ask about our current eating arrangements.” Mum had purchased some additional addons when it came to our meals, and she wanted to confirm everything was still good.

So, Me and Mella stood near the window as the ship got ready to take off. In a single smooth motion the spaceship floated vertically into the air, soaring higher past the atmosphere. 

“Time to go to Earth!” Mella declared.

I replied, “Slow down, we got three stops first.”

“Huh?”

“Did you really forget the travel arrangements Mella?” Mother came out from behind a crowd after finishing her talk with a robotic assistant.

Mella blushed in embarrassment, “...So where are we stopping first?”  

I answered, “The Metous Q3 space dock, then Station Nermoon which will be the midpoint of our journey, and finally one of Earth’s space docks.”

“Do the two space stations right outside the planet’s atmosphere really count as different stops?”

“Well that ship stops at each for a good period of time, so yes.”

Mella sighed, “Yay more waiting…” It had been just over an hour since we arrived and it would take three more after landing at the Q3 space dock before moving into the depths of space. But while the station did check our cargo, the wait was more about waiting for the tunnels to open.

“It won’t be too long.” Mother comforted Mella.

Time did pass quickly and finally the ship was released from the station.

“Wow.” Mella was in awe as the ship started flying into the colourful beyonds of space, as we moved ever closer to the tunnel entrance–a large blue metal ring with a massive hollow inside.

“Was your...” Mella immediately paused her question that she was about to ask. Concerned if she was stepping into dangerous territory.

I said, “It’s alright. I do have many good memories on the job.” 

Mella continued, “...was working on the NextEdge ship similar to this place?”

“Heh, not really. It was a lot smaller.” I gestured with my hands–making a small box, “Kind of cosy though, but we did explore bigger places like this when docked on space stations.” 

Over the system radio, a message was announced.

“[In Thirty Minutes, We Will Arrive At The Sector X42 Space Transport Tunnel, Please Move To Your Designate Seats To Not Experience Any Negative Effects Of Travel]”

“Negative effects?” Mella asked worriedly.

“It’s not much, but if you're not properly seated. The hyper fast speeds of the transport tunnels can put a strain on the body. So I recommend sitting down in the special seats in our cabin.”

“Is this always a problem?”

“Depends on the person, because higher level vocation individuals don’t feel anything but as with most things relating to how transport infrastructure are built, they are designed to work with those who are level 10 and under first, for safety reasons.”

“Speaking of which!” I tapped her wheelchair, “Let’s get you to your seat.”

“Fine…” She complained, “I wanted to explore more though.”

“You can do that later, we will only be in the tunnel for an hour.”

Mella smiled and replied, “Okay!”

We looked out through the small window in our cabin, Mella, Tyell and mum were firmly locked into their tunnel seats–I just sat on the bed–as hundreds of ships grouped up orderly for the tunnel to open. 

Zeomoom

Blue mana engulfed the area, and one by one ships accelerated and launched through the tunnel like a railgun. 

Space blurred past us as we were the next to be catapulted through the tunnel.

After we exited the tunnel, we now had completed nearly half of the journey–based on distance. But there was still a week of travel to go.

The hundreds of other ships blasted off at varyingly different speeds towards their destination. While ours moved quite a bit slower than most. It was meant for general transport of goods and passengers so it focused more on comfort than speed. 

“That was crazy!” Mella cried.

“I think I’m going to be sick…” Tyell sighed.

“Come on, you two calm down.” Mother was the first to get out of her seat. 

“It's time to explore the ship!” Mother raised her fist into the air. After her own excitement calmed down she turned to me, “You okay Ceella?”

I raised a thumb’s up, “Yep.” I was reading a book on the bed the entire time.

Now that the ship had left the tunnel it began moving through open space. It would be like this for four days before we reached Station Nermoon, and then wait one more day before getting into another space tunnel to Earth.

We left the cabin and all split up. Well when I said 'all split up’, I stayed with Mella. Mother made it clear she wanted someone near Mella’s side at nearly all times, which Mella disagreed with, but me and Tyell weren’t going to fight mum on this–we were too worried ourselves.

“Wow…” Mella exclaimed, “They are so close.”

“Yeah, yeah, they are.”

The ship was passing by a couple moons. I enjoyed the sight of the blue and pink stars in the distance but this was the first time Mella had ever been so close to moons in space before. Her reactions were a treat to watch.

“You used to see this view all the time right?”

“I did, when I wasn’t working.”

Mella questioned, “How much longer… Did you plan to work before–that happened?”

“Hmmm…” I stayed quiet and thought about it, “Maybe another five? I would’ve returned home immediately when dad died though. But I would’ve come back, maybe. No. Probably doing a different job.”

Mella asked, “Do you wish that could’ve happened?”

I simply said, “It’s all past that never happened.”

I stayed still, staring out the window contemplating our discussion, everything was normal until–

…?!

A large monstrous creature appeared in the nearby space hoving near the moons. In flash, space had bent, twisted and it appeared.

It looked like a whale? A fish? Its body faded into colours of space. Floating, it moved closer towards a nearby moon, which it was equal in size to. 

It swam like a snake and its body partly passed through the moon.

“What is that…?”

“Huh, Elly, what are you looking at?” Mella rolled her head over, confused.

“I…” I was hesitant to answer, if Mella couldn’t clearly see the monster that was in nearby space then... “It’s nothing, just my mistake.” I played it calm but internally I was freaking out.

I had seen big, gigantic creatures even, but this was on another scale. It was also difficult to see, nearly completely transparent. I felt it was going to fade from my vision in a matter of  seconds.

Dark blues, purples, and greens types of scales shined and darkened. And its seven golden eyes stared in different directions.

“I’ll be at the diner in a second.” I gestured to Mella, “I want to check if there are any stargazing platforms.”

“Fine? You do you. Just… be quick. I want to eat together.”

“Understood Boss.” 

I activated [Star Mapping] to get a better view of the area. When I did, the creature became mostly visible to my sight, but my brain started to heat up.

(“ You truly find yourself in some interesting situations ”)

Espr! What is that!

But it said nothing else and left me there. 

The creature overlapped one of the moons and then.

Pusoof!

Only I watched as three quarters of the inside of the moon vanished–the part of the area that overlapped the creature was consumed. The moon looked normal from the outside and it somehow kept its structure, but I knew what just happened.

(“ Oh look it has noticed you ”)

…!

I didn’t know what to do.

What could I do? Was it hostile? Was it about to attack, I was prepared for something to happen, but I felt like nothing I could do could help me fight this creature. 

It felt out of this world.

Then its eyes locked onto me.

The creature stretched, its body lengthened in size by over five times its initial length. Bending and twitching, it moved closer to the ship, and when it neared it opened its month.

Hundreds of tongues floated out, different shapes and sizes, and its myriad of teeth shook in hunger.

Kah Kah

A nonphysical voice echoed throughout the sounding area and I moved back terrified.

Then it just stopped. 

In less than a millisecond, it returned to normal size and zoomed away. Quickly disappearing from my view and my skill [Star Mapping], with only the remaining ‘Kah Kah’ echoing in the void.

“W–hat was that…” 

(“ It was pranking you, as people on your planet say ”)

…w…WHAT?

(“ It was a spiritual creature. All spiritual creatures have at least adult human sentience and intelligence ”)

It.. played a prank on me…?

(“ Yes, it was most likely plenty surprised that an awakened creature could see it. So it decided to have a little bit fun ”)

I’m… going to get a bite to eat. 

I left and slowly walked away, my brain overloaded. Truly overloaded, I didn’t even notice that [Star Mapping] cancelled itself cause my Starlight supply had rapidly drained to zero from 70%.

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