Stolen Stars

Palutena sighed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. The Goddess of Light was in a very bad mood. Things had been great a few days ago. With Medusa and Hades defeated and Viridi still considered an ally, or at least, not an enemy, She could finally relax. Or at least, until she'd discovered the strange beings who were currently the bane of her existence.

She opened her eyes to find that one of the beings in question was currently blowing a raspberry at her, which was impressive, considering it didn't have a mouth she could see. Thankfully, making faces at her was all it could do right now, since she had the creature and four others sealed in a cage powered by her divine magic. Still, that didn't stop them from being annoying. The Luma. When they'd first showed up, Palutena had found the round, star shaped yellow things cute, until they'd started causing mischief.

While they hadn't hurt anyone, they had wreaked havoc all throughout Skyland. It had taken her army hours to eventually capture them, and even now, days later, they were still undergoing repairs! Palutena sighed again. She should probably count herself lucky that the bizarre creatures had ended up landing in her realm, rather than in the human world. They were a lot more fragile than the Icarus.

Still, despite containing them, she had no next to no information about them. Normally, as a Goddess, she could scan almost anyone and gain all the intel she needed, but for some reason, aside from their names, and the fact that they came from a very far away galaxy, she had nothing on the Luma. And the little critters weren't talking either, still upset about having their fun cut short and being locked away.

And that was why Palutena was here, cooped up in one of her temple's chambers, trying to talk to a floating plushie, instead of taking a nice long, relaxing soak in her private hot spring, like she really really wished she was.

Palutena felt her patience grow thin as they began wiggling their stubby limbs at her in what she assumed was a rude gesture.

“Look you little hooligans,” she said through gritted teeth, “I want you out of here more than you probably do, but I can’t help you unless you talk to me! Can’t you at least tell me where you’re from?”

The only response she got were the Lumas bouncing around making faces at her.

“That’s it, I need a break,” Palutena muttered to herself.

She strode out of the chamber in irritation, pausing only to call back over her shoulder, “I don’t know who this ‘mother’ of yours is, but clearly she didn’t discipline you enough!”

The giggles they produced only served to make her more annoyed.

___

Meanwhile, millions of light years away:

In the deep, dark, recesses of space, a light shone. Something that many would have mistaken for a comet blazed through the dark, traveling at an impossible speed. Up close, the shining shape was actually a series of connected structures, known as the Comet Observatory, home of The Cosmic Traveler, Rosalina, and her Luma.

The woman herself sat at her ship's terrace. She was tall and serene, her long, light blue dress added to her graceful appearance. Her blonde hair was brushed meticulously in place, with one eye covered. She drummed her slim fingers against her handrest impatiently. A few days ago some of her Lumas had gone missing, disappearing into a wormhole. She'd finally determined their location, the wormhole they'd gotten sucked into had somehow transported them halfway across the universe to a far-away galaxy. Once she'd found that out, the spacefaring woman had immediately taken off to that planet.

Of course, now that she'd had time to calm down and think during the long journey, she'd realized she had been rather reckless. It probably would have been best to enlist the help of Mario and Luigi to help, but when it came to her children, Rosalina tended to lose her cool. Even knowing that, she still felt a substantial amount of anxiety not knowing what situation the missing Lumas were in.

Rosalina bit her lip and tried willing the Observatory to fly faster, but she was already at the station's top speed. She took a deep breath and did her best to calm down. She was literally doing everything she could. She'd arrive at the planet her Lumas were on by the end of the day, she'd just grab them, and head back to their home galaxy right away. The Cosmic being narrowed her eyes. And if anyone stood in her way, they'd learn just how dangerous an angry mother could be.