Way off in the far reaches of our solar system, on the edge of the Kuiper Belt, there was a little town with a tiny cafe. Being at the edge of the Kuiper Belt as it was, this cafe, despite its size, got a lot of business. The owner of the cafe, Miel Chochi Laarven, was a normal, third-generation human settler, but he made the best Double Ovantro Lattes in the whole Milky Way, so all sorts of people - miners, travelers, farmers just trying to get by in the depths of space - flocked in from light-years around just to get a taste.

The crowded little cafe was a family business. Miel's wife, Janel Zira Laarven managed the finances. His son, Kole Jerome Laarven worked wherever he was needed between his classes at the local university. And his daughter, Velara Angelica Laarven, took orders at the counter on busy days and waited tables on slower ones. But Vee (for that's what they called Velara) didn't just take orders from the customers at the cafe. She also took stories. The poor girl had never been off the space rock she was born on, and she dreamed of adventure out there in the black abyss. The customers at the cafe had that adventure, more than enough of it, and they were willing to share. Velara drank up their stories faster than a caffeine-deprived Jodian Militia member would drink up her father's Double Ovantro Lattes.

During one slow day (or what passed for a day out in space), a man came into the store. He was dressed in layers of vibrant purple and gray clothes, and his green-gray hair was slicked up. Vee was instantly curious to hear his story. As she took his order (A Double Ovantro Latte and a plate of Nogglen Eggs) she casually asked where he was from.

"Deep, deep space, darlin'." He said with an unplaceable accent. "I've been out catching galaxies." Out from one of the many pockets of his overcoat, he pulled out a tiny jar. "Look at this beauty. Caught this over in the Zequinn Region." Inside the jar, hundreds of tiny stars swirled around.

"Is that a real galaxy?" Vee asked.

"As real as they get." The stranger said with a lopsided smile, setting the jar on the table and sticking out his hand. "Niccolo Jryan: Galaxy Catcher. At your service, darlin'." Vee shook his hand. It was sticky, and she made a mental note to wash her own before going back into the kitchen.

"Well, I'm not actually at your service," Niccolo said, "you should know that. I don't really do service. I just kinda sell galaxies... Well, that might be a service if you consider it one, but I dunno if you do..."

"Sir," Vee hated to interrupt (it was considered rude, and her father told her she shouldn't be rude to customers), but she had to, "is there anything else you would like to order?"

"No thanks." Vee nodded and went to tell her father the order, washing her hands at the sink.

As Vee went around, taking orders and delivering steaming cups of coffee, tea, and breakfast, she wondered what the galaxy catcher's story was. He seemed odd, and from a hint in his voice, she predicted that his tale might not be too savory. Still, she made no excuses to her parents when it came time to deliver his plate.

"Here you are, sir." She placed his order on the table. "One Double Ovantro Latte and a plate of Nogglen Eggs, scrambled."

"That's right, darlin'." He said, staring at her with an unreadable expression. "Now, you seem like an inquisitive person." Vee nodded, mildly suspicious. "Let me tell you a story. Won't take too long, but someone's got to listen."

"Alright." Vee said, excited to hear the man's tale. "I'll listen, mister..."

"Jyran." He provided. "But please, call me Niccolo."

Vee nodded nervously. "Alright, I'll listen, Mr. Niccolo."

The galaxy catcher sighed. "I was younger than you are now when I caught my first galaxy. My older brother Cyprian taught me and my best friend Daryll the art. You go into deep space, far away from all of society, and open a jar of pure mass in the void. The nearest galaxy feels the mass and it feeds on it, and you've got to trap it before it finishes eating. I wasn't very good at it to start and neither was Cyprian, but through practice we became proficient. But Daryll, he was good from the start. He had a gift for galaxy catching. He could pull galaxies into any jar, even jars that weren't filled with mass. Daryll was so good that he quickly surpassed my entire family - even my Father, and he'd been catching galaxies for decades.

"Everything was wonderful." Niccolo smiled, and Vee could see how much he longed to be back in that time.

"Everything was perfect." Niccolo's smile turned into a hard line and his eyebrows scrunched together. "But then... Daryll wasn't happy with what he had. He wanted more. He went past the boundaries of galaxy catching. He... he... he..." The man looked away, clutching the galaxy jar in his hand. "He bottled a nebula."

Vee's gasped. "That explosion... the one ten years ago... was that him?" She almost didn't want to know. The fiery blue and purple explosion of mass was her first memory. She was four, and on a picnic with her family when suddenly all they could see in the sky a was a brilliant blue firework. They ran for shelter, but the chunks of rock fell down and crushed her mother's leg. Now Vee's mom was confined to a wheelchair because her family was too poor to afford biomechatronic implants. The cause of that horrible explosion was said to be the result of a nebula.

Niccolo nodded. "Daryll bottled a nebula way back in the Iopo Region, and he brought it back to show us. Daryll may have been talented, but he was a fool. We all went to meet him, to see what he'd done. My father... my brother... my mother...." The galaxy catcher lifted his head to meet Vee's eyes. "Out of all of us, I was the only one who survived..."

Vee lowered her head. "I'm so sorry. That truly is a tragedy."

"...or so I thought." Niccolo continued.

"Pardon?" Vee said.

"Three days ago, when I was on my way to the Zequinn region, I passed through a small planet in the Eilan system. In a crowded marketplace, I bought a bowl of tarip stew from a vendor with light hair sticking up in the most familiar way." Niccolo choked. "It was him, darlin'. It was Daryll, looking just like he did before the explosion, as alive as you and me. And it wasn't a fluke, because he turned to me and he said one word "Coli." He called me Coli... He was the only person to ever call me that. He called me Coli and I called him Ryllo." Niccolo could hardly keep himself together. He shuddered before sitting up straighter.

"I ran, as fast as I could. I lost him in the crowd. I ran, but I didn't run from my best friend. I ran from my worst nightmare. If Daryll survived that nebula explosion, then he is not the Daryll I knew. He's some zombie, some monster."

"Well, don't worry." Vee said. "He's not here."
"Oh, but he will be." Niccolo shook his head, a glare in his eye. "Because if I know Daryll... if I know Ryllo, then he's not going to stop until he finds me."

Vee shook her head. Surely this man was crazy. "Alright. Would you like anything else?"

"No... but I'm warning you, darling. I'm not insane. Daryll will come for me." Niccolo's face was frantic, but Vee ignored him.

"Alright. I'll be back in a bit with your bill." She walked back into the kitchen to get some lattes for Sal and Pam, regular members of the local Jodian Militia.

The rest of Vee's shift went normally. Niccolo paid and left after a final warning, the old foam machine broke down three times, and Sal and Pam tipped her graciously. After her shift had finished, she washed up, grabbed her jacket and bid her parents goodbye. Then, Vee walked down to the General Store to spend her some of her hard-earned tips.

The General Store sold everything, from pressure suits to chocolates to pens to blasters. It always had the air conditioning on full blast, and Vee hugged her worn silver jacket to her body. Oh! That's what I'll get. She thought. A new jacket! Vee strode through the aisles to the clothes section, picked out a jacket (in a sparkling silver shade) and went over to pay for it.

There, in front of the only checkout lane, was Niccolo. Vee found the man interesting, but was a bit dubious of his story and motives. She really didn't want to talk to him, but she had to get back for the lunch shift, so she pressed onwards.

"So, is there anywhere in town where I might be able to spend the night?" Vee heard Niccolo ask the cashier.

"My place right down the street." The cashier replied.

"Thanks, darlin. You sure are helpful." Niccolo said with a wink.

The cashier blushed. "No problem."

"Hey, do you want to go out for drinks after this?" Niccolo leaned forward on the counter.

Vee cleared her throat quite loudly. "Excuse me, but I'd like to purchase this jacket." Both the cashier and Niccolo turned to face her.

"Oh, it's the inquisitive little waitress from the cafe. You haven't forgotten my warning, have you?" Niccolo raised one eyebrow and lowered the other, making his face look strange and contorted.

"No sir." Vee honestly replied. She hadn't forgotten his warning, she'd just dismissed it.

"You've ignored it, haven't you. Honestly tell me you didn't ignore it." Niccolo said aggressively.

Vee shook her head. "I don't have the time for this. Lunch shift starts in fifteen minutes, and I really have to be there."

"Say it." Niccolo growled.

"No," Vee quickly replied, "now please, would you stop showing off for the cashier? I need to buy this jacket and go." Niccolo flushed and looked at the floor, but he moved aside to let Vee pass. The cashier, clearly flustered as well, rung up her jacket, and Vee paid him the twenty credits it cost.

"Thank you. And have a nice day, both of you." Vee said with an annoyed smile as she walked out of the store.

Ten seconds later, she walked back in, fear on her face.

"Um... Mr. Niccolo, you should see this." Vee said.

"Not now, I'm busy." He said, motioning to the cashier, who just stood there.

"No, really. Stop flirting with the cashier and go outside."

"Go away, kid."

"But... there's a man outside."

"Yeah, and there's two men inside." Niccolo rolled his eyes.

"I don't think you understand. There's a man outside... and he's glowing blue."

Niccolo's eyes widened. "Daryll." He said, racing out the door.

The cashier turned and looked to Vee. "Who's that?" He asked. "His ex?"

Vee just shook her head and raced out to see what was going on.

Outside, people in the street were running about in terror as Daryll blasted bolts of blue energy around randomly. A woman shrieked as a bolt flew above her head, crashing into a building. A father and his daughter huddled together behind a garbage depository, hoping that it would protect them from the carnage.

"DARYLL," Niccolo yelled. "Stop this! You're hurting people!"

"I CAN'T" Daryll screamed back with much difficulty. "I HAVE ALL OF THIS ENERGY -- THIS NEBULAR ENERGY -- INSIDE OF ME! IT HAS TO COME OUT..."

"Stop it! You have to be able to stop it somehow!"

"NICCOLO! I'M LOSING CONTROL -- THE ENERGY IS FIGHTING ME -- I'M A MONSTER--HELP ME" The blue bolts, which were mostly focused on the ground,

"Daryll," Niccolo's voice grew softer as he walked towards the glowing ball that was his old friend. "What happened, that day, when the nebula bottle exploded? How did you live? How did I live?"

The energy poured out of Daryll and through the street, making the black material glow blue. Some of the lines on Daryll's forehead disappeared as people on the street ran to their hovercars and to buildings "I absorbed some of the nebular energy. It wasn't enough to protect all of you, but I could save one other person. I chose you."

"You shouldn't have." Niccolo said, getting closer and closer to the ball of light. "You should have let me die. I wanted to, after everyone was gone. After my Mom and Dad and Cyprian died..." Tears welled in Niccolo's eyes. "I should have died. You should have saved one of them. Not me. I'm not worthy of living."

Daryll was silent, and he looked at Niccolo with sorrow and hope in his eyes. But his lips stayed closed, and the galaxy catcher continued.

"Daryll... Why did you save me? Why am I alive? Why are you?" Niccolo looked up at his old friend with so much pain in his eyes that the nebula bottler had to look away.

"Because you're my best friend." Daryll said in a soft voice. The blue light around him dimmed. "I couldn't live without you, and I figured you were the same. I'm only alive for you, Niccolo. But once I knew you were okay, I hid far away because I didn't want the Militia to accuse me of killing everyone-"

"Even though you did."

"I didn't mean to!" The light flared, and Niccolo jumped back. Daryll looked frightened of himself, staring at his hands in horror. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, Daryll." Niccolo said. "Everyone does things they regret, even if it's an accident. I forgive you, and I know that if Mom and Dad and Cyprian were here, they would forgive you too. It's okay."

Niccolo looked back at his old friend. "I've missed you, Ryllo." He held out a hand.

"I've missed you too, Coli." As Daryll's hand met Niccolo's, all of the blue light disappeared, save a ring around his feet. And as they pulled in for a hug and slapped each other's backs, the ring disappeared completely.

Vee stood there, staring. Wow, she thought in awe, I can't believe Niccolo forgave Daryll after everything he did. That's the nicest thing I've ever seen.

Her dad walked out of the shop, oblivious to what had just occurred and angry that she was late. "Velara! Lunch shift is going to start in five minutes! Come in!"

As Velara Angelica Laarven walked back into the cafe, she couldn't help but notice something. "I think I just experienced a real-life story." Vee muttered to herself.

She had.