Ring! Ring!!
Gold took out his ringing phone from his pocket. He looked at the caller before answering.
"Where are you?" He spoke into the phone.
"The cluster Hub. I'm going to board a spaceship to the 21st." A male voice answered back
"Don't bother coming. I'll meet you at the Hub." Gold said quickly
"Why? I thought you said you found him."
"I said I found a clue to him."
"Gold-"
"I found Nicles." Gold interrupted.
"The book?"
"Yes"
"Where?"
"A shabby bookstore owned by a freaking goblin."
The voice went silent for a while.
"...You think he sold it?"
"He did. I can't open it. I'll meet you at the Hub, we'll figure out what to do."
"What about the compass, we can find him with tha-"
"It's gone... He removed it. Our only hope is opening the book."
The voice went silent once again. "... Fine, I'll wait for you here."
Gold turned off his phone and sighed. "I need a drink."
-----------------
In a small room that seemed to be an office. Lady Annabelle sat legs crossed on a couch in the corner of the room. Behind a table sat an old man. He emitted a powerful aura from his thin body. He had short white hair and black eyes. One look at him and you knew he and the lady Annabelle were related; the resemblance was uncanny. This was 'Allister Heart', one of the Heads of the 'Heart' family, a powerful and respectable family in the cosmos.
After the universe was connected and planets and different species began venturing into space, the 'Hearts' were one of the first immigrants to gain a footing and popularity in the cosmos. They were known as the pioneers and the masterminds behind dimensional and spatial travel. When war broke out in the cosmos as different species that had just escaped the confines of their own planet met for the first time. The Hearts dominated most of the war, which led to the fear of other intergalactic creatures, but all these were millennia ago; people hardly remembered. Even though they are referred to as a family, they were more like a different species with close resemblance to humans. There were some theories that they were a more advanced species of humans. The Hearts didn't seem to mind and did not show disgust at being compared to humans who were weaker than them. Interactions between them even showed that the Hearts liked the humans. The Hearts even accepted referring to themselves as humans and mixed with them when they first began appearing in the cosmos, causing most of their culture to be similar, even down to jokes, slang, and language. It was almost impossible to differentiate a Heart and a human based on appearance alone. Perhaps they were just one species after all; nobody knew. Due to their influence at the beginning of space exploration, many powerful clans and species around the world joined forces with them, making them an extremely large and powerful group within the cosmos with various branches, but over the years, they've refrained from engaging in the affairs of the universe and are not known by many.
Allister was a high-ranking member of the family, an elder. He is also the father of 'Annabelle Star-Heart', who is the Matriarch of the Star-Heart family, a branch of the 'Heart' family. This man was a legend and a powerful one at that. His right arm was placed on the table as he leaned on it, staring at Annabelle. In a corner of the room also stood Smith, the old butler.
"Congratulations on completing your seclusion, Father. Though you could have told us directly, and we would have come to escort you home instead of you calling the duke." Annabelle spoke.
Allister Heart stayed silent for a while before speaking.
"Where is Lukas?"
Annabelle flinched slightly. There was a hint of pressure in his voice. Annabelle bit her lower lip and remained silent. Seeing as Annabelle did not reply, he turned to the butler standing silently by the side.
"Smith?" He called his voice carrying enough weight to let the old butler know he wasn't going to take silence for an answer.
"Forgive me, sir, but I cannot speak before the Matriarc-"
Boom!
The threatening pressure in the room suddenly increased. Books began falling from the shelves around the room.
"Father, please do not threaten my subordinates," Annabelle said, her voice completely unrushed.
The pressure vanished from the room.
"Your subordinates?" Allister said slowly, his voice filled with mild ridicule.
"Did you let the fact that you're called Matriarch get into your head? The 'Star-Heart' is just a branch of our glorious 'Heart' family. And a branch that is declining at that."
Allister paused. "The other heads of the clan wanted to eradicate this branch when I was about to go into seclusion. I managed to change their minds because of you... I expected changes. Yet after a millennium in seclusion, what do I find? Stagnancy. The other families no longer remember the 'star-heart' branch. The heads of the clan are not even trying to cut you off anymore because they forgot about you." Allister sighed again. "I don't know why you're so fixated on this branch, you don't even belong to it."
Annabelle glanced at Allister.
"They are not trying to cut us off anymore because they're afraid." She said slowly.
Allister's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And we both know why they're afraid of cutting this family off," Annabelle said, looking away from her father. Silence descended on the room.
"Relinquish your position as Matriarch of the Star-heart family and return to the main branch," Allister said.
"What?!" For the first time, Annabelle's calm demeanor was shattered as she shouted, her face a look of stunned surprise.
"I said re-"
"I heard what you said, Father! I'm not doing it."
"I wasn't asking Annabelle," Allister said with a stern voice.
"No! I won't leave, this is my family!"
Baam!!!
Allister slammed his hand on the table.
"This is not your family! It was your sister's. The Star-heart branch was formed when your sister got married. You only took over when she left. She was Star-Heart! You are a Heart! Your name is Annabelle Heart!"
"Did you forget? Have you been so engrossed in playing your sister's role that you actually forgot who you are?"
Annabelle opened her mouth to say something, but eventually closed it.
"Did you think I didn't notice? Your volunteering to take over the family after she left. Your excessive love for Lukas, your sister's son. A Love so strong you got an Appellation over it. An Appellation Annabelle!
'The Lost Star's moon'
The others may not have understood it, but I did. I understood it. I know that the star in that appellation is Lukas. And I also know the moon is referring to you. The Lost Star's Moon? Do you understand what that means?! You loved him so much the universe made you his mother!" Allister shouted.
"This obsession you have, Annabelle.. You can not... You cannot be your sister." Allister stopped talking as he gazed at Annabelle.
Silence fell on the room. The only noise was the clock ticking slowly.
Knock knock!
The silence was interrupted by a soft knock. The door swings open slowly, revealing Luther's figure with the usual amused smile on his face.
"Eh? Why is it so tense in here? Hm? Gramps!!"
Luther placed his right hand on his chest and bowed slowly. "Luther greets the family head."
Allister nods at Luther. "Nice to see you, too, Luther. How have you been? I heard you've gained a bit of popularity around the cosmos. Though it's not a very good one."
Luther flinched at the statement. Indeed, he was quite famous in the cosmos. Mostly because he was related to the fearsome clan, the 'hearts', but due to his personality, he had quite a strange identity in the cosmos.
"Hehe, it's nothing much. When did you get out of seclusion?" Luther asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Not long. I decided to visit. Though I heard my grandson is not around." Allister said while briefly looking at Annabelle.
"Oh, Lukas? He's doing great."
Suddenly, every eye in the room turned to Luther, even Smith, the old butler.
Luther suddenly felt everyone's gaze on him. He could feel the pressure on his skin.
"Doing great? You've met him?" Allister asked, slowly standing up.
"Ye-" Luther's eyes widened as he realised what he had just said.
Boom!!
Luther dashed towards a wall as his body suddenly vanished, disappearing completely from the room.
Luther was powerful. Even in the Heart family, he was considered a genius, but who was Allister Heart? He was a man who had lived millions of years; he was a man who was present during the early years of galactic travel. He witnessed and fought in the war and lived to tell the tale. A man strong enough to be one of the heads of the 'Heart' family. He was who earthlings would refer to as a 'god'.
"Get back here!" Allister's voice thundered through the entire mansion.
He raised his hand and swiped at the air as if grabbing something, and Luther suddenly appeared in his grip. He had pulled Luther out of thin air.
Luther turned his head to face the angry old man who was holding him by the back of his collar. He let out a sheepish chuckle.
"I really wasn't trying to run gramps, I wanted to use the restroom."
"Did you see him?" Allister asked sternly, ignoring Luther's words.
Luther glanced at Annabelle, who was also looking at him with eagerness in her eyes.
"Tsk. I really wanted to make it a surprise." He grumbled.
"I met him. He's doing ok. I was going to bring him home, but he said he wanted three days first."
Allister's brow furrowed as he let go of Luther. Annabelle let out a sigh of relief; it was as though all her burdens had been taken away as soon as she heard Lukas was ok. "How was he? Has he been injured? Does he have a scar? Is he lean? Has he been eating well?" She started bombarding Luther with questions, her face filled with worry.
"He's fine, he's fine. I said he's fin-eh? " Luther replied, waving his hand.
"He said he doesn't want to come home? Tch. That rascal." Allister said, clicking his tongue.
"Well, at least we can be thankful that the young master is doing ok." Old Smith said, smiling.
"You can at least be happy that he's ok, Father."
"Yah yah, and it's not like he said he wasn't coming home. He just said he needed three more days." Luther added.
"Three more days? Why can't he come back instantly? All those centuries of pointless wandering weren't enough?" Allister said, sitting back in his chair.
Annabelle turned to Luther, ignoring her father. "So he'll come back in three days?"
"Possibly," Luther replied.
"Hm? Possibly?" Allister asked, looking at Luther.
"Well... I think he'll try to run away." Luther answered, scratching the back of his head. The smile on Annabelle's face disappeared immediately.
"Insolence!" Allister shouted slamming his hand on the table, breaking it in the process. "Wait?! Why do you say that, young master?" Old Smith asked.
"When I met him, he was different. I think he lost his memories again." Luther said, causing a look of horror to flash across Annabelle's face.
"Tch," Allister clicked his tongue. "This is all the more reason he should come back home. "But whenever that happens, he still regains core memories, which means he should still remember his conversation with you."
"Yah, he should. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying he's not going to make it here because he doesn't want to... The tower is after him, and I'm not sure he's going to escape them this time. Not with incomplete memories."
"The tower?" Allister stood up. "Follow me, Luther," He said, walking towards the door. "Annabelle... we're not done with our conversation," Allister said.
"Argh!! I knew you would do this. Can we just wait three days first?" Luther said, rubbing his head in frustration. "Fine, but one thing before we go, Gramps. It's been centuries... Lukas, he has changed..." Luther's next words caused a series of extreme expressions of shock to appear on everyone's faces. "Lukas fixed his legs... he can walk now."
---------------
A dark space. The floor was shiny and reflective, like it was made of glass. The large space was littered with glass-like crystal objects of different shapes and sizes. Each of them reflects off the other. In the middle of this space, or what looked like the middle. It was hard to know because it seemed to stretch infinitely. In the middle was a glass dome with light shining on it. The source of the light was unknown; it came from what looked to be the ceiling of this place, and it fell on the dome, illuminating the inside of it. Inside the dome was a glass throne filled with cracks. Around the throne were broken shards of glass, and on the throne sat a man dressed in a loose white shirt and trousers. The man had fair skin and long white hair cascading down his body and the throne. He leaned into the throne with his eyes closed in deep slumber. He looked divine. It was Lukas, but different. Lukas without the dark circles or red bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep. It was Lukas in perfection. In different spots and positions around the dome were many other Lukas. Some were sitting, others standing; some were even laid face down on the crystal floor, but unlike the one on the throne, the others were... imperfect. They were all in white loose shirts and trousers like the first one; they looked like hospital clothes. They all had cracked skin; some had half of their faces made of glass, while others had patches of their skin made of glass.
Their eyes were closed in slumber. It was like someone tried repeatedly to create the perfect Lukas and, after succeeding, placed the best on the throne and just left the broken, unfinished ones around.
Boom! Boom!!
The dome vibrated. Outside the dome, pounding on it with full force, was another Lukas. This one was awake; he was the most mangled among all of them. Half of his face was broken stained glass. Tiny shards fell out of the holes in his face. The other half of his face was the only reason he still looked like Lukas. He was also in white clothing. On his face was extreme hatred and frustration as he stared at the Lukas sitting on the throne. The mangled Lukas looked to the side, and right out the dome, not too far from him, was a wheelchair with wooden armrests. Scratched around the wood with markers and sharp objects were children's drawings with a couple of names on them. The most obvious one being... "Lukas".