The first people to enter the room came from the Saltus Atrium, the Forest Court, a fae man and woman. They simply took my breath away, both with beauty and intimidation. A woman entered first, her face pale and thinly structured, pale green swirling tattoos painted on her cheeks and forehead. Her golden honey hair was tucked behind pointed ears, and her bright green eyes took us all in curiously.

"Madame Celeste," Theodore welcomed, bowing. We all followed suit, and she bunched up her lavender gown to curtsey. The man behind her, whom I presume acted as a bodyguard, bowed as he approached. His light blonde hair was longer than mine, and he also had green tattoos adorning his pale skin. He wore no shirt, only a brown cloak and pants, with a sword at his waistband.

"This is my right hand, Hale." Celeste explained to us, indicating to the fae who eyed us all with light brown eyes, who said nothing.

"Welcome to our court," I said finally, prying myself from my nervous stance and crossing to her with Beckett. Ever the gentleman he extended a hand to Celeste, who took it and smiled as he kissed it lightly, their eye contact never breaking.

"You," she said, finally turning her stare to me, "are Star-girl." I gulped, my mouth suddenly very dry. Celeste had this way of staring in an astute way, that made me feel almost afraid to even speak to her. Tie that in with the alluring beauty of her appearance, it took a while before I nodded.

"Astra, and this is Beckett." Her eyes drifted over to him once more, looking him up and down. "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Her eyebrows raised for a slip moment, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly.

"I'm sure it is," she cooed, before brushing past us to go meet the others. I blinked, mulling over her statement. Hale bowed before he followed at her heel, I wonder if he ever speaks. Before I could turn to Beckett and make a comment, the doors opened once more for another guest.

From the Caelum Atrium, the Sky Court, walked in two warlocks in a gust of sparkling wind. "Hello, hello!" Trilled the first warlock, bringing a smile to our faces. A much different personality than the last one, I could see. His short black hair was buzzed on the sides, his brown eyes gleamed as they took in the room, and his red trench coat complemented his tawny beige skin.

"Fabian, you made it!" Lendon exclaimed, coming up and bowing to the man, a large grin on both of their faces.

"Warlocks are always punctual," the warlock, Fabian, responded. "Though it seems not the earliest," he sniffed, looking past us to Celeste and Hale. They spoke politely with Ember, who looked up at the tall woman with wide eyes.

"Welcome to our court," I said again, this time with a genuine smile on my lips. Fabian was certainly less intimidating, which destroyed the stereotype that the Shadow Courts were necessarily the malicious ones. Celeste and Hale are from the Somnium Realm, and their less than endearing entrance had me thrown off kilter.

"My dear, the Stars smile on you greatly." Fabian said, grinning, before leaning in and planting a kiss on both of my cheeks. I blinked from surprise, blushing from the sudden affection.

"You talk to the Stars?" I asked innocently, resulting in a laugh from the warlocks.

"But of course, where do you think we get our magick from?" I guess I had never questioned it, as though a person were born that way.

"Let us remember that Astra is new to this all," a quieter voice quipped from behind Fabian. This warlock had short blonde hair, pale skin, and light blue eyes. He wore all black, like Lendon, only lacking an eccentric jacket.

"It's true," I responded nodded graciously. I'm still learning new things everyday, and even after my year in the world this is my first time meeting the other Courts. I will certainly be a little short on information.

"Nox," the warlock said, extending a hand to both Beckett and I.

"I'm so glad you guys came," Beckett said honestly. "Beckett," Fabian interrupted him.

"No need to introduce yourself young man, you're the ruler of our Realm. And may I just say, we are pleased with what you've been doing for peace in the Courts." Beckett nodded, his eyes sparkling with pride.

"Us meeting tonight just takes it one step further," Beckett said, and the warlocks nodded.

"I suppose we shall go meet the others? We will speak more later I'm sure," then the warlocks parted with another bow. I squeezed Beckett's arm, looking up at him happily. He looked at me quickly, and planted a quick kiss on my temple.

"Are you doing ok? I know you've been struggling lately," he whispered to me. I nodded, taking a deep breath of air.

"Because of you, I'm ok." I assured him, just as the large doors opened once more. The next two people to walk through were both men, presumably from the Oceanum Court, the Ocean Court. I assume this because of their matching russet skin, covered in shining scales. They both had matching dark red hair, and entirely black eyes, one wore a deep blue tux while the other wore a sea foam green shirt and black pants.

"Welcome," Beckett said warmly, but I noticed his eyes widened slightly at the scaled skin. Not sure why, Phoebe has the same textured body, only hers is a light blue.

"Thank you for the invitation, I am Varys and this is my right hand Caz," said the one in the blue tux. The one with the green shirt, Caz, smiled at us graciously. I couldn't take my eyes well, from their eyes. Entirely black, I couldn't tell where they were looking or whom they were looking at.

"We are thankful you could make it, not an easy trip to make I'm sure." Beckett responded, and I wondered what he meant by that. They laughed though, it sounded more high pitched than I'd expected, and I was thrown off guard.

"While we're here, we wanted to extend our gracious thanks to you, Star-girl." Caz said, looking presumably at me, but I couldn't tell. I blinked, looking at Beckett from the corner of my eye.

"I'm sorry, for?" I certainly hadn't been the one to extend the invitation, though now I regret it. Everyone so far seemed nice enough, and hadn't felt threatening in any severe manner.

"For saving us all, so young." Varys explained, smiling. "It's true we did not approve of Erran and his decisions, and that includes his hand in your creation. Erran wanting more and more power led to you being born, and in turn Parallax creating those awful creatures. However, it was impressive how you defeated him, even at such a young age. It's an honor to meet you tonight," I smiled graciously.

"Thank you," I replied, giving a courtesy to the two merfolk.

"If you ever need anything from us, Beckett knows how to find us." Caz said, before the two of them pushed past to an excited Phoebe. I looked at Beckett with curious eyes, my eyebrows raised high.

"How do you get there?" I asked quickly before the last guest arrived.

Beckett laughed, his eyes shining. "They live at the bottom of the ocean, love." He said, and my mouth dropped open at the very idea. Then, excitedly, "oh, here she is!"

She? I turned to the door to see her walk in, and for a moment I forgot to close my mouth. Beckett's right hand walked through the door, a painfully beautiful woman. She smiled when she saw us, her eyes sparkling when she saw Beckett, they danced under black liner and thick lashes. Her hair, short and a bold shade of purple, framed her ivory sculpted face. As she walked towards us I think I was most shocked by her attire, she wore a purple lace corset under a black tuxedo. The jacket casually unbuttoned to expose her full chest.

"Blair, hello!" Beckett said happily, and I felt the fire spark in my chest. I'd known Beckett had a right hand man, woman, rather. I just hadn't known she was so-

"That's right, I made it." Blair replied, Stars even her voice was harmonic. "You must be Astra, nice to finally meet you. Beckett here never shuts up about you," they laughed as though it were an inside joke. One that I have no window into.

I forced a smile, one that I hoped looked genuine. "Yes, hi. Beckett mentioned he worked with you. You're the one who's been helping him run the Mortis Atrium."

"Well we should probably all go mingle, it's nice meeting you Astra. You, we have much to discuss, lots happened while you were visiting your lady-friend." My jaw clenched, but Beckett nodded before kissing the top of my hand and leaving to walk with his right hand.

"Who's that?" Ember whispered to me, coming to my side immediately.

"Beckett's right hand," I muttered back through clenched teeth. "She called me his 'lady-friend'." Jealousy is ugly on everyone, it's true. But I can't help but glare at her hand as she rested it on her chest as she laughed, before moving it to his arm.

"Wow, I'm sorry babe but she's-woah." I turned to stare at Ember who looked sheepishly back. "I said I'm sorry." I sighed, turning and grabbing a flute of champagne. I guess I would be drinking after all. My eyes followed her as she left him, she passed us on her way out.

"Be right back, ladies room," she explained quickly. Like I cared.

Theodore called the attention of the room then, pulling me from my thoughts. He tapped on a glass at the head of the room, we all turned to him expectantly. "I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who made it here tonight. After we have dinner, we will adjourn to the dancing hall where we will meet with the families who lost soldiers in the war. Tonight is a huge milestone for our Realms, a step towards entire peace for all!"

Goldenboy could really control a room with his words, his proud voice filling the dining room easily. We all cheered quickly raising a glass, with a 'here, here!'.

"Tonight, we mourn everyone we lost. As well as that, tonight we raise a toast to those who saved us all. To Astra, and Beckett!" Everyone raised their glass once more, cheered a loud 'here, here!', before sipping the champagne.

I smiled at the room, all of those who toasted in my honor, people from all Courts. Tonight was honorable, one to always remember. It wasn't so long ago where they were all repulsed by the idea of meeting us, especially Beckett, the boy who was going to kill us all. Yet here we all were under one roof. I'm not sure what changed their mind, but if it means my parents and everyone else I loved didn't die in vain? Then I will toast to that.

I opened my mouth to speak, to thank everyone for their kindness, then something made me stop. There was only just enough time for me to shield my face with my arms as the cloud of debris swept through the room, small shards of stone slicing my skin before I even heard the explosion.