Being a Rank-20 planet, Megran was not well-developed; however, it was not so undeveloped to be a Rank-50 planet. Rank-50 planets virtually had no established civilizations and were visited only by anthropologists, historians, and scientists. Travelers, traders, and hunters were restricted to Rank-30 planets and above. In contrast to Rank-50 planets, those of Rank-1 were extremely developed with highly advanced technology and held the potential to host a transport tower. Transport towers gave those on the planet direct access to the heavens; thus Rank-1 planets with transport towers were centers for civilization, trade, and cultural relations.

Since Earth was a Rank-1 planet with a transport tower, it was one of the few planets that was esteemed as a Center Planet. Kilo could care less about a planet's rank; however, since Earth was the closest planet that housed a transport tower, Kilo set the blue, green, and white planet as his and Castyr's destination. Now that he knew people had heard of his star's disappearance, Kilo was pressed to get Castyr back to safety. And that meant he needed to get to the transport tower as quickly as he could.

If Kilo had his wings, he would have been able to fly Castyr up to the heavens since angels' wings held the ability to teleport to the heavens once the angel had flown into a planet's atmosphere. But, since Kilo had yet to reach the age where his wings would deploy, he was forced to use the transport tower as his means to reach the heavens.

"What's going on?" Castyr asked as he was dragged out of the inn. "Kilo, is everything okay?"

"Word has spread that you are missing," Kilo explained shortly as he led the star down the town's main street. The duo milled through the sea of people until Kilo spotted a sign hanging above the crowd. The angel quickly guided Castyr to the side of the street and led him inside the town's general store where Kilo immediately bought himself and Castyr a fresh pair of clothes.

"Put this on," Kilo said as he handed Castyr a light grey cape. The star promptly put the cape over the angel's too-big jacket — that he refused to take off — and threw the hood over his silver head as Kilo slipped on a long, hooded coat.

"What do we do now?" Castyr asked as he followed the angel out of the store. Kilo turned his head left and right and scanned the street for more way-finding signs as he answered, "We find the space station. Stay close to me."

The star stepped closer to Kilo as the angel began leading the way down the street, and he joined Kilo is keeping a lookout for signs directing to the space station. "Ah! Over there. Kilo!" Castyr tugged on the angel's sleeve as he spotted a sign depicting a shuttle stop.

Kilo stopped in his tracks and followed Castyr's pointing finger. Upon determining the shuttle stop was the means of reaching the planet's space station, Kilo led the star to the shuttle stop where several people were already gathered. In reaction to the planet's influx of travelers, hunters, and traders, several farmers and street vendors had set up stands along the shuttle stop where they sold street food, fresh produce, and dried meats to the hungry travelers.

As they stepped up onto the shuttle stop's platform, Kilo's heightened senses picked up the quiet rumble of the star's stomach as Castyr stood next to him. Realizing that they had yet to eat anything since falling from the heavens, Kilo gestured to the star to follow him as he made his way through the small crowd and up to one of the street vendors. Castyr watched with wide eyes as Kilo bought several sticks with grilled cubes of seasoned meat, his stomach rumbling even louder as the angel handed him two of the three sticks.

Once food had been acquired, Kilo was quick to purchase two tickets for the next available shuttle. Finding a small opening against the wall of the stop, the angel and his star leaned against the wall and enjoyed their seasoned meat. The rumble of engines drew near as Castyr finished his food. Standing up straight, Kilo and Castyr watched the shuttle near until it arrived at the stop. When the shuttle came to a stop, Kilo moved Castyr to stand in front of him as the crowd closed in.

The seats on the shuttle filled quickly, so when the angel and his star boarded, all that was left was standing room in the central aisle. Reaching up, Kilo and Castyr held onto the overhead rails as they were pushed closer as more people squeezed into the shuttle. The angel and star were quick to gain their balance as the shuttle began moving. As it left town, the shuttle sped up suddenly, throwing off Castyr's untrained balance and causing the star to fall backward into Kilo.

Castyr gasped quietly as an arm wrapped around his waist. The star's heart raced as he felt Kilo's warm breath. The angel was quick to catch his star and help him regain his balance.

"Careful," Kilo said softly as he held the star close. Castyr's cheeks heated when he heard the angel's deep voice against his ear. "...Thank you," Castyr returned quietly as he blushed when Kilo helped him stand up straight. Tingles ran down Castyr's back as Kilo removed his hand from the star's waist.

Castyr swallowed when he felt the lingering touch of the angel. What is this? Why is my heart racing? Castyr tightened his grip on the over-head rail as he struggled to control his speeding heart. Why is my face hot? The star pulled his hood lower to hide his red cheeks and hoped Kilo had not noticed his flushed reaction.

While Castyr did his best to hide his blush-filled face, Kilo calmly scanned the passengers, checking for any signs of possible threats. When a few moments had passed, Castyr's heart slowly returned to its normal pace, and the redness left his cheeks. The star relaxed his hold on the rail as his body returned to its usual baseline.

The shuttle swiftly traveled through numerous towns and cities until a massive shape appeared on the horizon. Contrasting to the primitive towns that were sprinkled all over Megran, the space station was technologically advanced. Space crafts came and went from all directions, peppering the light blue sky surrounding the station. The shuttle zoomed into the station and stopped beside a raised walkway that lined the long building. An automated voice sounded throughout the shuttle announcing that the shuttle had arrived at its final destination and that all passengers must de-board.

After exiting the shuttle, Kilo led Castyr down the walkway and toward the station's entry and exit point. The two blended into the crowd and entered the building before heading to the automated agents who would aid them in buying tickets for a flight to Earth. However, as the two ventured further into the station, Kilo stopped in his tracks. He had spied a rough sketch of his face being advertised on the large holographic screens that lined the station's walls.

The words "Guardian Angel of Missing Star. 5 Billion Gold Lorne Reward for Angel Captured Alive!" decorated the holograph beneath the sketch. The bounty was not from the heavens, so how had Kilo's identity gotten leaked?

Kilo clenched his jaw as he stared at the sketch of his face. This could only mean one thing. Someone in the heavens had revealed his identity and sold it to a broker. The pain of betrayal pierced Kilo's heart, but he did not have time to figure out who had illegally sold his identity. Now, he needed to figure out a way to get to Earth without being discovered by the numerous hunters who roamed the galaxy.

"What's wrong?" Castyr asked when Kilo suddenly grabbed his wrist and began guiding him out of the station.

"The hunters know my face," Kilo informed the star as they exited through the wide opening that served as the station's exit and entry point. They could no longer afford to go through the security checkpoint. Kilo could not afford to trust that their identity would not be compromised when they cleared the checkpoint.

"What? How?" Castyr lowered his voice, but he could not hide his disbelief. How could Kilo's identity have been leaked? What do we do now?

As much as he hated to admit it, Kilo told Castyr the only possibility. "Someone in Heaven leaked it."

Unless an angel was an ambassador — whose specialty was strengthening Heaven's cultural relations and escorting esteemed guests to and from the heavenly realm — their identity would be nearly impossible to know unless they had left Heaven on numerous occasions or achieved great deeds. Kilo had done none of these. He was not an ambassador, he had yet to leave the heavenly realm as he had spent his life watching over Castyr, and he had yet to achieve such a great deed. Therefore, the fact that his identity had been leaked was proof that someone in Heaven had sold it.

"What do we do, now?" Castyr inquired as Kilo continued to lead him out of the space station.

"We can't use public travel as Heaven doesn't govern this planet. We'll have to find an underground goods smuggler who doesn't know my face." Kilo hoped there was such a smuggler who would accept lorne in exchange for an undocumented flight.

Castyr nodded silently in agreement as he followed Kilo to the lower level of the station. Kilo was keen to keep a lookout for any suspicious persons as he and the star tried to find their way around the station. Everything seemed okay until Kilo picked up the sound of footfalls following the duo as the angel and star reached the lower level.

What was that? Pulling Castyr in front of him, Kilo turned to look behind as he and Castyr rounded a corner. To his horror, it was not long until a man followed them around the corner. The man lingered at the corner for a moment before eventually continuing toward the angel and star.

Sh*t. Kilo clenched his jaw when he realized they had been discovered. The angel's eyes widened as he watched two other men round the corner and join the first man. Three humans. I can take them. Kilo lifted his arm in anticipation of drawing his sword, but sounds from in front of Castyr, who was now behind him, drew Kilo's attention. The angel sighed inwardly when he saw four more men advancing from behind.

The seven men were all armed, and their shaved heads and multiple body tattoos indicated they were dendrum, notorious traffickers who would do anything to get quick cash.

Kilo drew his sword from his back as the attackers approached the surrounded duo. Castyr's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Kilo's sword, and he gawked at the angel's steely gaze as Kilo readied to fight the seven men. Seeing the angel wielding a sword, several of the dendrum drew knives they had strapped to their waists. The dendrum did not want the fight to end too quickly; they relished in blood and pain. The more despair they could cause, the better.

While most of the dendrum drew their blades, another drew his gun and aimed it at the small star. Noticing the dendrum's gun aiming for Castyr, Kilo cast aside his safety and covered the star with his body just as the dendrum pulled the trigger.