Chapter Text
His earliest memories were of the stars.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. He could remember his parents, could remember them smiling down at him. But, besides that, most of his memories concerned the stars. Staring, observing, learning, admiring…it was all about the stars for him.
He loved them.
He could only feel that love now as he stared up at the stars from the balcony of his room. They looked as beautiful as always, twinkling against the black of the night sky. He wished he could be one of them, shining so bright that people couldn’t help but give their whole attention to him.
That would be nice: someone giving him their whole attention. He would like that.
He sighed as he thought about it, leaning against the railings. He didn’t take his eyes off the stars, not even when he could feel eyes on him. He knew it was only his guards, watching to make sure he didn’t do anything reckless again. And he wasn’t going to. He hadn’t even meant to do something reckless. It was an accident when he fell off his balcony into the garden below. Really!
But his guards thought it was on purpose, so they had made sure to keep a close eye on him when he was in a possibly dangerous situation. It was a tad overprotective, especially considering the fact that that incident was over a year ago and he wasn’t a child. He was seventeen, far from a child.
He knew they just worried about him, though. They cared for him as he was the last living member of the great Grace family. They had all had great relationships with his parents, had cared for them like family. So, when they passed, they made a vow to keep the Grace’s only son alive and safe. He was sure that having a broken arm made them feel like they had broken their promise.
“It was only a broken arm,” he mumbled when he could hear movement from the garden. He didn’t have to look to know his guards were there, placing padding and mattresses and whatever else in case he fell again. He sighed. “I’m not fragile.”
Who Grace talking to, question?
Grace sighed at the question, spoken with musical sounds from another language. He tore his eyes away from the night sky, looking down at his best friend.
“Myself, Rocky,” he said, staring at the spider-like rock alien beside him, known as Eridians. He smiled at Rocky to reassure him that all was well.
Rocky didn’t ask any more questions, merely nodded. Then, he turned to look at the stars as well. Well, he didn’t have eyes, Eridians didn’t have faces, after all. But Grace could always tell what Rocky was looking at, they had been best friends for more than a decade now. It was the reason he could understand Eridian speech so well, being able to sort of speak it. It was hard for him, considering he couldn’t produce the same notes Rocky was able to, but it was coherent enough. He didn’t tend to use Eridian speech often, though; he wasn’t entirely keen on being made fun of by Rocky when he did.
Grace turned to look back up at the stars, observing them. This time, he didn’t ignore the spacecrafts that traveled across the night sky. Some were private, others public; all created so that everyone could travel between planets.
There were many planets in his galaxy, all at different distances from one another and full of different lifeforms. The most dominant species were human-like, some having abilities and others not, but there were other non-human-like species as well, like the Eridians from Erid. All species, however, were able to travel to any planet they wished if they had the currency for it. Most, if not all planets, had made it so that they were habitable for any species to visit or live. It had been that way since the galaxy formed an alliance centuries ago.
So, every planet had a mix of species. Every planet also housed noble families of varying statuses. Grace’s family was one of the highest noble families of his planet, Hail Mary, as they were rich. They were also pretty highly regarded in the galaxy due to his ancestors’ help in creating peace amongst the planets.
He knew he should consider himself lucky to be born into such a family. He didn’t, though…not when he was the only one in it. He was the last Grace left alive, his parents having passed away when he was two. Every day, he wished he wasn’t.
Not that he was lonely! No, he couldn’t be when he had Rocky at his side. Rocky, his loyal best friend, whom he happened to meet when he was four. He had somehow found his way into Grace’s garden, getting past his guards. Grace had been there, stargazing, when the rock alien - the size of a plate - stumbled into the garden. Grace took him in and they’ve never been apart since then.
His smile grew at the thought of his and Rocky’s friendship. He, truly, loved his best friend.
What Grace think about, question? Rocky asked, tapping Grace’s thigh. He tended to do that to either get Grace’s attention or just to feel close to him. It was his way of showing affection.
“Just us,” Grace answered truthfully. He looked down at Rocky, reaching out to pat his head. Rocky had gotten bigger, of course, but he couldn’t help but remember when he had been small. “We’ve been friends for almost thirteen years now.”
Best friends.
Grace huffed out a laugh. “Yeah…best friends.”
Why Grace think about that, question?
“I don’t know…I was just thinking about the past.” Grace stared forward, out over his palace grounds and the city that resided past the gates. The lights of it shone bright, almost as bright as the stars he loved. “You know, I feel like nothing’s really changed since we first met.”
Not true. Rocky and Grace bigger.
Grace laughed again, shaking his head in amusement. “I didn’t mean like that, Rocky.”
What Grace mean, question?
“I meant…it’s still just us, you know? Just us in this big palace, all by ourselves.” Grace sighed, placing his elbow on the railing. He leaned over until he could rest his chin on his hand. “I mean, there are guards that care about us, yes, I know that, it’s just…I don’t know how to explain it.”
What about Eva and Adrian, question?
Grace smiled at the mention of his and Rocky’s only real friends. “Well, yeah, of course, we have Eva and Adrian…but they live in their own palace on the other side of the city. And they’ve been busy since Eva turned eighteen last month. She’s taking over her family duties now that she’s an adult…we don’t get to see her that much anymore. We didn’t really see her even before that.”
…does that make Grace sad, question?
“...a bit.” Grace moved his gaze to Rocky. “Don’t get me wrong, bud, I love you to death…but you’ll leave soon, whenever you finally gather the courage to ask Adrian to be mates.” He laughed when Rocky smacked his thigh in protest. It still hurt, even after all these years. “When that happens…it’ll just be me with all my family’s duties.” He turned his attention back to the stars, the words making him feel empty. He knew they were true but tried to ignore his impending fate. It was getting harder to ignore the closer he got to eighteen. “I’ll be…alone.”
Rocky remained silent.
Grace didn’t mind, he wouldn’t be sure how to respond to such words either. They were…sad, he was well aware of that. He couldn’t help it, though, not when he knew how true his words were. He would be alone soon, Rocky wouldn’t be around forever. He didn’t want him to be, he wanted Rocky to be happy and Adrian made him happy. He knew the duo could live with either him or Eva…but he also knew they wanted to go back to Erid someday. It made sense to do that when they were mates.
So, yes, someday soon…Grace will be all alone.
He shook his head to try to get rid of such thoughts. He knew they would happen but that didn’t mean he had to worry about it now. He should be enjoying his youth before he turned eighteen and got stuck with familial duties…whatever that entailed. He wasn’t entirely sure, Carl - the head bodyguard - was handling those duties now. He refused to allow Grace to learn until he was an adult, wanting Grace to “live his childhood without worry.”
Grace sighed, knowing he should be happy over that. He should be happy he didn’t have a worry in the world, right now. He should be happy he could just…relax and have fun. He should be doing that, not worrying about his future. He had to be in his present and, presently, he was feeling hungry.
“Those are just dumb thoughts, though,” he announced, standing straight. He stepped away from the railing with a grin. He spun around, walking toward his balcony doors. He heard Rocky follow him. “Anyways, are you hungry? I’m starving and you know what sounds good, right now? Ramen from-”
Grace paused when he heard a distant explosion, one that caused even Rocky to pause. He looked over his shoulder toward the noise. His eyes widened when he saw a fire in the distance, the flames so bright in the night. And, vaguely, he could see shadows moving around it.
“What is that?” He mumbled to himself as he rushed over to his telescope. Naturally, being obsessed with stars as he was, he made sure to keep one on his balcony. He aimed it at the flames, recognizing the area as off-limits.
He searched around until he found the shadows he had seen. With a telescope, he was able to see that they were spacecrafts. But they weren’t emergency ones, they didn’t have any lights. These spacecrafts looked self-made…that was illegal. No one would risk doing so, not any planet that was part of the alliance anyway. That meant they weren’t part of the alliance…which meant-
“There's spacecrafts from Iron Lung here,” he announced, frowning. He watched as the spacecrafts landed and figures stepped out from them. They looked like soldiers. “What are they doing here? They’ve been banned from this galaxy for decades and they’ve never breached that ban before.”
Danger, Rocky said, walking toward the railings. He stared off into the distance. Grace and Rocky go inside, question?
“In a second, bud.” Grace kept observing the scene, looking around. He moved his attention from the soldiers to the fire. “Looks like one of their spacecrafts crashed, that’s what’s on fire. They must have been trying to go somewhere and something failed.”
Grace and Rocky go inside, statement.
“Yeah, in a second.” Grace’s eyebrows furrowed when he saw another figure stumble out of the fire. They looked hurt. That and young. “There’s…a boy.”
Grace.
“He doesn’t really look like a soldier, though…and he’s injured. He must have been in the spacecraft that crashed.” He watched as the boy stumbled away from the group instead of towards. “But why…why isn’t he going toward the soldiers?”
Grace!
“It almost looks like he’s running away from them-”
Grace flinched away from the telescope when he heard his bedroom doors slam open. He looked toward the noise, confused. His guards never came in without permission, not unless something was wrong. He only became more confused and worried when he saw Carl leading the group onto the balcony. Carl was usually too busy running the family for Grace to partake in any bodyguard duties nowadays. He only did so when something was seriously wrong.
“Carl?” Grace called, beginning to get worried at the sight of the head bodyguard. “What…what’s going on?”
“You need to get inside, Grace,” Carl responded, eyes intently on Grace. There was a hint of worry in his eyes, which was very unusual for the stoic bodyguard.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Carl glanced at the telescope (that was still pointed at the fire), frowning. “Get inside, your grace.”
Grace bit his lip, not being able to enjoy the pun Carl used. It, typically, made him laugh and feel at ease, which is why Carl used it. It didn’t make him feel at ease today, however.
Something was wrong.
Still, he complied with Carl’s demand. He, typically, always did. He didn’t see a reason not to, Carl only always looked out for his safety.
He nodded, stepping away from the telescope. He gave one last glance to the fire in the distance, seeing the lights of emergency spacecrafts fly toward it, before he headed inside. He felt Rocky follow after him but ignored the way Rocky said I told you so.
“Why won’t you tell me?” Grace asked as he walked toward his bed. He sat down at the edge, facing Carl. He watched as Carl entered his room too, the other two guards staying outside so they could guard the balcony.
“There’s no need to concern yourself with anything,” Carl responded, closing the balcony doors. He made sure to lock it before he headed toward the bedroom door. “It’s nothing.”
Grace rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so much so that you have guards stationed at my balcony and probably outside my room.”
Carl paused, looking over at Grace. There was a faint frown on his face. “They’re supposed to always be there.”
“You and I both know that they’re only stationed there when there’s something to worry about. Why else would you be here, Carl?” Grace sighed, falling back onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling of his room, all of it painted to match the stars outside so that he could always see them. The sight made him feel a bit better. “I’m not that dumb.”
“...no one said you were dumb, Grace.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“...it, truly, is nothing.”
“Yeah, sure.” Grace huffed, fingers bunching up his sheets. “I’m not a child anymore, Carl, I can handle being told when important events are happening.”
“It’s nothing.”
“...fine, don’t tell me.”
“Grac-”
“Just go and do what you need to.”
There was no reply for a few seconds. Then, Grace heard the sound of his bedroom door opening and closing, alerting him that Carl had left.
He sighed, not bothering to move. He would be stuck in his room for a while, the guards would make sure he didn’t go anywhere for “his safety,” especially not during something that was, clearly, a cause for concern. Most likely, Carl was worried about the intrusion of people from Iron Lung. From what Grace had heard, there was a reason they had been ostracized from the alliance. So, seeing them for the first time in decades probably wasn’t a good sign.
Grace ran a hand through his hair, wondering why people from Iron Lung were even here. Why had they made their own spacecrafts? Where were they trying to go? Who were those soldiers? What did they want? Who was that boy? Did he need help?
His train of thought stopped, however, when he felt the bed dip and something climb on top of him. He sighed again as he felt a heavy weight press down on his chest.
“You know, you’re heavy, right?” He asked as he looked down, not the least bit surprised to find Rocky there.
Rocky watch Grace sleep, Rocky responded, giving Grace a thumbs down.
Grace huffed out a laugh at the sight. He never could get Rocky to do it the proper way. “I’m not going to sleep yet.”
No, question?
“No…I don’t think I can.”
Why, question?
“I…something just feels wrong. People from Iron Lung coming here after not having been seen for decades since they’ve been banned? What looked like soldiers too… And that boy… Do you think we should be worried about him? What if they're after him? What if he’s in danger?”
Carl fix.
Grace huffed, rolling his eyes. “I can fix things too, you know, Carl’s not the only one. Soon, I’ll be the one having to fix everything, anyway.”
Grace stuck in room.
“Well…yeah, but-”
Nothing Grace can do.
“...I know.” He frowned, staring back up at the ceiling. “I know, I just…I just wish there was something I could do. I’m supposed to take over my family duties soon but no one trusts me with anything. How am I supposed to do anything when everyone does everything for me?”
Grace strong. Grace brave. Grace figure out.
“...thanks, Rocky.” He softly smiled, patting Rocky on the head. “I appreciate that…but I’m not strong. Or brave. Something’s happening, someone might be in danger and here I am…lying down on my star-themed bed.”
It nice bed. Comfortable.
Grace huffed out a laugh. “I know, it is. That wasn’t really the point, pal.”
What is point, question?
“I’m…useless.”
Grace not useless, statement.
“It feels like it. My parents would have done something if they saw what I did. You’ve heard the stories Carl’s told us, they always tried to help everyone. They always did something. They didn’t just lie down and wait for it to be over…they would have done something.”
…if Grace want to do something, Grace go do something.
Grace raised an eyebrow, looking back down at Rocky. He wasn’t sure what to think when he saw Rocky stand up. “What are you talking about?”
Grace and Rocky go help.
“...what?”