Hera

I stared at the ceiling above my desk, this stubborn spalling concrete. How many times have I had it repaired?

I rolled over in bed. I didn't want to look at that failure of a ceiling.

Wrong move. My eyes immediately darted to the black spots. The fungus was at it again. Oh my god!

Ugh. I wanted to ignore it, but I couldn't. Mum's long lectures echoed in my head.

"One of these strains is going to kill humanity one day." All sorts of stressful ideas ran amok in my head.

I stayed still for a few minutes.

I finally sat up. The moment my legs dangled from the bed, I felt how numb they had become. I waited for my nerves to wake up. 

I needed to report that a fungus infestation was spreading over my ceiling. After all, let's not go down in history as someone who caused another pandemic because of late reporting.

I walked over to my desk to grab my family photo. I didn't want any casualties involving my belongings. I looked at the photo. It was taken a few years ago. My brother, Carlos, my mother, father, and I. It looked like a normal photo.

But our family was anything but normal. My father and mother conceived two healthy children without any problems.

After the plague, most couples were childless. Some had one sickly child. Fewer had one healthy child.

I was getting lost in thought when mum started yelling from downstairs.

"Hera, Carlos, dinner is ready," she yelled again. I am not even that hungry, but ignoring mother's call for dinner might guarantee us a World War III.

Now that would be really catastrophic. Humanity would really end up being fossils along with the dinosaurs.

I put the family photo safely in my wardrobe, away from the ceiling and fungus. Better safe than sorry. I really loved that photo.

I hurried to the stairs before mother really started a full-scale meltdown over me arriving late to dinner.

I looked at the stairs first; after all, you never know if there is a fungal infestation inside the wood and when it might collapse. I shook my head.

I looked around. The ceiling was a perfect white; the staircase's robust architecture promised stability and safety. I still took one step at a time.

Mum appeared at the bottom.

"Hera, why are you checking each stair while going down?" she asked.

"I am worried it might be infested or something," I simply replied.

"Why would it be?" she was surprised. "Your father did renovations a few months ago."

Yes, my room was the cursed one.

"Well, my ceiling is full of black dots again," I said. "I need to report it."

"Come to dinner now; I will have your father report after dinner."
I nodded.

After all, I ended up making trouble every time I called the infestation center.

Mom headed to the bathroom.

I felt a sudden rush of air as I walked towards the dining room. In a house with tightly closed windows, only one reckless person would be running around. I looked ahead, and there he was, Carlos, taking the chair out and sitting down.

He looked at me, then stuck out his tongue. For a 25-year-old, he was quite childish. I was already used to it. I would have flipped the bird, but father was already sitting opposite him reading the newspaper. Father, however, side-eyed him for a moment, and he was back to his reading.

"Seriously, Hera, could you be any slower?" Mum came from behind me and was at it again.

"I am just savoring the moment, Mum." Carlos snorted.

"I would rather you savor the food before it is cold."

I finally reached the dining table and took my seat.

Pasta and fried chicken. Great. No losing weight this week then. 

I started eating. I didn't refuse free food. 

"Hera, are you going to the arranged meetings tomorrow?"

I choked on the fried coating and started coughing vigorously.

Carlos started patting, more like hammering my back.

Father gave me water.

I tried to drink, but Carlos hammering my back just made me spill half the cup. I finally took my breath and caught Carlos's hand and pushed it away. Was he trying to save my life or ruin my back?

Mum quickly brought a towel, and I cleaned the spilled water.

We sat back again; after all, we hadn't finished dinner yet.

I hadn't even held my fork yet when she started again.

"Hera, are you going to the arranged meetings tomorrow?"

"No, mother, we have talked about this, and I am not interested." I pierced the chicken with my fork.

"How do you know you are not interested when you have never even tried?"

Obviously, she didn't plan on letting it go today.

"Seriously mum, how many times do we have to go through this?" I stabbed my chicken breast with a bit more force than necessary. "I won't end up in some arranged marriage fiasco with some alien race just because the government encourages the behavior."

"We are not telling you to get married; we are just saying make connections."

"Nope, not interested," I finished cutting the chicken into small pieces.

I was just about to eat the chicken when she took my plate, my fork, and stormed out.
There went my dinner to Felice, the neighborhood cat.

"You should have just eaten the chicken with your hand, sis," Carlos said smugly.

Father then stood up and put his share on my plate.

"Hera, she is just worried you would end up alone; that is all." He said, then left.

I lost my appetite and went to the front yard. Felice was sitting near the fence, eating my perfectly cut chicken pieces. I could swear to god he looked at me and smirked.

The breeze was cool and lovely today. I stood for a long time, looking at the stars. They were very beautiful. They also had stunning stars on their bodies. God, what am I even thinking? 

I slapped my cheeks quickly. Mother's talk was getting to me. My phone started ringing. I took it from my pocket and looked at the screen. I answered. I didn't get to talk when the enthusiastic sound from the other side started.

"Hera, I found a downtown gem."

"You say that every time; Fleur and I end up regretting my life choices."

"It is a bar where the Yin-Ra people hang around."

"Why would I go there?"

"C'mon, you always wanted a closer look without the whole arranged partners thing; this is perfect."

I should have a look to prove my point; I was not interested in them or the arranged partners thing.

"When?" I asked

"Now, I am fifteen minutes away from your house."

"What? But I have work tomorrow."

"Hera, you can see the stars over their bodies c'mon you have always been interested."

Seriously, my lifelong regret was telling her that.

"You know we do sound like perverts." I mentally noted how depraved we can be sometimes while looking back at the stars above.

"One night, Hera."

"Fine, Fleur."

I took another glance at the stars before entering the house, not knowing that after tonight they would never look the same again, at least for me.
********************************

Zale

"The drinks here are funny," Draco said excitedly.

He put a cup in front of me. I didn't touch it. These little drinks that humans enjoy are equivalent to water for a Yin-Ra elder. I looked at Draco, who kept sipping on his drinks, the youngest elder.

The first time I saw him was at the Goddess statue when the last prophecy was pronounced. Twenty years ago. I didn't give him much thought.

After all, as the head of the elder council, I finished the paperwork. Nothing grave happened in the last century that needed my direct interference.

Somehow, this Draco dragged me from my floating island back at Yin-Ra and brought me to Earth. It all started when our race caused trouble.

"If we don't fix this, the human government will revoke our agreements," Draco, who was in charge of the public relations between the elder council and the human government, kept pestering me.

He even wailed, saying that the other elders all closed their doors on him and that I was his last hope. I did understand that the other elders wanted him to learn to solve problems.

Whenever the Goddess' voice descended with a prophecy, the Yin-Ra had to reach out to the Goddess' chosen race to find their star bonds.

However, humans, from what I gathered from the weekly reports, are quite the race. They are nothing like anything we have dealt with before. One second they are emotional, making terrible decisions. Then the other second they are cold, making brutal decisions. They swing between the extremes so quickly, and Draco, who wasn't that experienced, of course, let the problems get worse.

Yin-Ra race was simpler. We pause before every decision. Emotion rarely led us around. He dragged me here to meet the human government representatives, but the moment we crossed the portal, he said it was already too late, and he dragged me to a bar.

I refused at first, but then he started making a scene again. If he didn't have all those stars covering his body, I would have thought he was a human in disguise. Was he always like that? Or did he start acting like humans after mingling with them for a long time?

The bar was not very crowded. A few Yin-Ra people here and there. Fewer humans hanging around.

At a nearby table, a Yin-Ra woman and a human man were sitting together with a cake on their table. Suddenly the human started singing. Even though he was singing in a quiet voice. For our gifted race, he was loud, too loud. But they looked happy. I could see the star bond completed between them.

"They completed the star bond a few months ago," Draco suddenly interrupted my thoughts. I didn't realize I had been staring at them for a long while. "They chose to be best friends."

It had always been interesting how many forms a star bond could take.

"I never understood why the human government back then advertised the pairing between our races under the fated love notion," Draco wondered.

Well, it seemed weird for our race. However, for humans who are usually high on emotions, their government thought this was the best way to get their attention and acceptance. It worked in a sense but ultimately backfired.

Humans valued freedom and love beyond even breathing. They would die for either unapologetically.

Lately, reports were filled with our kind being brutally rejected by them. They are very complicated beings even for an elder like me. I should investigate this problem while I was here.

I suddenly heard a crashing sound outside. Draco also looked towards the window, but even with our enhanced vision, this opaque glass obstructed the view. The humans around us didn't even look, so I assumed that it wasn't as loud as I thought.

Five minutes later, the door was slammed open. The most attractive creature I have laid my eyes on walked inside.

Black hair gathered in a messy bun. She had a slender figure. She walked quickly yet gracefully in slippers. She wore jeans and a plain white shirt with the phrase "COUNT THE STARS"

I couldn't lift my eyes off her. What was this irrationality?

She hurried to the bartender and talked in a hushed voice. Poor little creature, all the Yin-Ra here could hear her.

"Hey, bring me a paper and beer," she was panting.

"Beer, sure, paper why?" The bartender was amused.

"You see, my friend's car just crashed into a car nearby. We will leave a note for the owner. Something to contact us."

"Are you all well?" the bartender asked.

"I am well. Fleur, my friend, is having a mental breakdown over her car," she paused, "I think all is well."

The bartender was relieved. He went to the storage for a second. He came back and handed her a paper and a pen.

"You know I don't think everything is well. I think we crashed in a green Aston Martin." She started fanning herself. "How are we going to pay for that?"

I was so sucked up in her world I didn't realize that Draco's extremely pale skin had turned a very dark shade of red. He was angry. Wait, we came here in some green car.

"Sit," I commanded Draco before he could stand up. He looked at me, puzzled.

I returned to the conversation between that woman and the bartender.

"Do you think I should leave my number or Fleur's?"

What was she rambling about?

"But then again, Fleur might block the number that will ask for compensation, and I can't let my friend commit such a sin. I will add mine just in case."

I didn't know when, but I was smiling. Even Draco looked at me, dumbfounded. Well, I don't think I will refuse this invitation from such an interesting woman. She drank the beer in one gulp and immediately went outside with the note.

Why is my heart losing its calm?

Author's Note:

​Well... hitting a green Aston Martin belonging to a powerful alien Elder is definitely one way to make a first impression! 😂
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​If you're loving the vibe of the story, please hit that vote button to help support my writing. See you in Chapter 2! 🚗💥✨