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Today had been a very mild day, surprisingly calm for the Celestials and their caretakers. Air Island always had a pleasant vibe which extended to the park the group was visiting, but Loodvigg was still gripped by shyness, so they and Scaratar looked for bugs together while Hornacle - carefree as ever - dashed about on the playground with some other kids. The rest chilled on a bench, Galvana and Attmoz were invested in a colouring book and Asthma sat at the very edge of the left side, watching Sneakles rummage through their bag on the floor.
“Whuh-?? There’s another pebble in here!”
Sneakles exclaimed, holding the newly discovered specimen between their fingers.
“How many’s that make, five or something?”
They asked, passing it to Asthma, who had the others in her palm.
“Yup, five! Who do you think put them there?”
“I dunno… Man, it’s like a whole ecosystem in this bag. There’s pockets I didn’t even know existed!”
Out of the corner of their eye, Sneakles saw a Pango approaching, looking a bit disoriented and confused. They scrambled to shove everything back into the bag, starting with Galvana’s orb, of course.
“Hi, are you two the parents of those kids?”
The Pango questioned as she came into earshot.
Sneakles grimaced at Asthma, they knew what the easiest answer would be.
“Oh, uh, yeah.”
Asthma answered calmly while Sneakles nodded along with what she said. It technically wasn’t wrong, they both did look after the Celestials.
“Has there been a problem?”
The Pango didn’t have an instant reply, she first glanced at the bench dwelling children, then at the remaining Celestials further off. Attmoz peered at her from behind Asthma.
“Eh, no. I just wanted to ask a few questions.”
She informed, trying not to stare back at Attmoz.
“Sure, go on.”
“Do you happen to know anything about the situation with the Seasonals?”
“So, which situation are we talking about?”
Asthma asked, casually tipping the pebbles back into Sneakles’s hand.
“It’s about Celestial Island.”
“..Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of that.”
She moved in her seat to somewhat hide the kids next to her, hopefully the stranger hadn’t gotten a clear look yet.
“But do you know anything?”
The Pango inquired, stepping a few inches closer.
“Uhh, I’m not really involved, y’know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, yeah. Um, why would I be?”
Attmoz veered away in discomfort, shrinking behind their guardian. They had been warned about curious folks and the thought had hung over them ever since. The crew were bound to meet someone who recognised the Celestials eventually, but it had still caught everyone quite off guard, Galvana didn’t seem to notice what was going on though.
“You’re a Seasonal…”
The bird monster started.
“Mhmm?”
Asthma hesitantly prompted the other monster to speak, trying to keep her nerves calm.
“And your kids-“
She cut herself off.
“Those kids look a little unusual.”
She finished, correcting herself.
This was too much. Attmoz slunk down from their seat, silently getting Galvana’s attention and gesturing for them to come with. The youngest Celestial looked up at what was going on and decided to follow along, understanding that something was off. Attmoz took their hand and the two went to join Loodvigg and Scaratar, far away from where the adults were talking and out of that stranger’s line of sight.
“…They look like the Celestials.”
The Pango clarified after a moment of wondering if she should be so direct.
“Oh! Y’know, uh.. genetics, right? Crazy stuff.”
That was not a good excuse, but it was all Asthma managed to blurt out. This had gone exactly where she was hoping it wouldn’t…
Sneakles knew they were an even worse liar than their friend, contributing to this conversation would probably only make things more complicated. They snuck away, a plan already hatched in their mind, Asthma wouldn’t have to keep this up for much longer if they had anything to do with it.
“…Listen, there’s been a lot of rumours online lately about this Celestial situation and-“
“Y-Yeah, I heard it’s all fake or something, monsters lie a lot on there.”
She interjected, wanting to shut the conversation down.
The Pango bristled at her.
“Okay, I’m not gonna pretend I know you, but I’m just saying this is more than a bit suspicious.”
“What’s so suspicious?”
She asked with a nervous chuckle in her voice.
“A lot of things, actually. Like, what are you doing? Who are you? Who are those children?”
“Hey, that’s just personal info, I can’t give you that!”
“A simple name isn’t personal info.”
“Well, maybe not, but I-“
Asthma stopped, fortunately the opportunity to escape had just made itself available. Sneakles had gathered the children and the 6 of them were leaving.
“I- uh, have to leave, nice talking to you. Bye!”
She launched off from the bench and near sprinted after everyone else, not looking back at the baffled stranger.