In Flight

"Good Evening all passengers may now unbuckle their seat belts and are free to move around the cabin

we have reached a cruising altitude of forty thousand feet with ten hours of flight time remaining

you are also free to use phones laptops and other electrical devices at this time

in-flight meals and snacks will be served shortly please enjoy your flight with us thank you for choosing Celestial Air"

the voice of one of the flight attendants on board informed them through the cabins speakers

"Finally!" Yuqi cried unbuckling her seat belt and getting out of her seat "I want to explore this plane so badly"

"Same "Vanessa agreed "when have we ever gotten to fly on a private plane before?"

"I'm all about trying out the menu," Vivian said picking it up from her armrest and waving it around

"do you guys see the kind of exotic dishes they have on offer? it's unbelievable

I can't believe this even an airplane right now, its more like a luxury hotel five-star gourmet restaurant forty thousand feet in the air,

I can't wait until they start serving the meals, I'm going to order only the most delicious things, I've never had before"

Anna and Justin exchanged amused looks as her excited sisters scampered off

to explore the entertainment section of the plane

Anna and Justin joined them soon they were squabbling over what to watch on the big flat-screen TV

not able to decide on an episodic drama,

a movie or a popular idol variety show they all wanted to watch

Anna ended up having to play referee finally settling on a Historical romance drama

starring one of their favorite actors Lee Joon Gi and actress IU

"are you okay? your sisters are quite lively"

Justin asked smiling he had been amused the whole time the way Anna and her sisters interacted they were really adorable

he was sitting on the couch seat beside her while her siblings occupied the other seats lounging comfortably

She sighed and said softly "it looks like they are being childish right now but it's intentional they are just trying to not let me worry

about them by behaving like this and not showing how scared and worried they really are

but I raised these girls myself so I know them best"

turning on her phone so she could check her messages she gasped

seeing numerous missed messages from her parents

"We need to check the news" she said tersely "New York's been attacked"

"come on," he said and grabbed her wrist and pulling her out of her seat

"be right back guys," he said to her sisters and towing her into another section closer to the front of the plane

he pulled her unto his lap as he sat down his arms around her and turning on a touch screen

The news came on immediately as breaking news

the situation in New York was horrifying, the virus was airborne unlike in Europe it had been released as a gas bomb

in the overcrowded subway system during the busiest transit hours,

infecting hundreds of commuters on their way home from their jobs

hospitals and emergency services were overwhelmed and mass panic had broken out in the city

the footage on the TV looked like some kind of apocalyptic scenes straight out of a movie

Anna almost couldn't believe what she was seeing on the news was real

News From Europe They Weyland Doctors Anna's parents was due to arrive in Europe

but members of the research team already on the ground had reported that they were making progress discovering the virus

had been made in a lab modified from an already preexisting virus

very deadly if left untreated and extremely contagious but the original virus mercifully had a cure

after testing it on some infected patients

it was discovered some of the patients were showing positive results

but they weren't completely cured some of the symptoms of the virus were brought under control stabilizing their conditions

and buying more time until the full cure could be produced

however, because the virus was so contagious it made the process more difficult

As large numbers of people were becoming infected faster than they could be treated

the CDC was trying to come up with a way to Mass release the cure to everyone once it was completed

there was mention of putting New York into quarantine somehow

to try to slow down how fast it was spreading

airports and other means of public transport in and out of the city were all shut down

"it's a good thing I got you girls out in time," Justin said gravely

"what do we do at this point?" Anna asked

"Nothing," Justin said gravely "we just sit tight and pray and hope for the best we also have our own safety to worry about

"that's my priority right now, seeing you girls safely escorted to my clan and sanctuary

before the black witch makes her return trip east again

we have to be extremely careful right now not to get caught in her cross-hairs

especially after we land our route inbound will have to be kept secret in case our whereabouts gets leaked

presently no one knows I'm on my way back to Japan with you guys in tow"

"All passengers your in-flight snacks and meals will be served in ten minutes"

the voice of one of the flight attendants came over the intercom

"I need to give my parents a call and let them we are ok," Anna said

Justin nodded as anna quickly called her mothers number hearing the phone ring

she answered quickly

"Anna!" she cried in relief as soon as she answered

"hi mom," anna said soothingly "don't cry!" she said when she heard her mother sniffling

"I'm so sorry you couldn't reach me, I knew you would be like this, it's ok me and the girls are safe

we made it out of New York right before the attacks happened"

"I had to turn my phone off because we were going through the airport and stuff

but we are in the air now and I could finally call you"

"according to the news, the attacks happened an hour ago

and we have been in the air for two hours now

which means it happened an hour after we took off"

"Anna!" her father came on

"hi dad I got you guys messages, so I decided to call and let you guys know we made it out ok"

"It's good to hear that, don't worry about your mom you know how she gets with the waterworks," he said

"Justin, thank you for helping my daughter!"

"sir do not mention it, I am just glad I was in the right place at the right time" he replied

"I can't imagine how I would have felt being back in japan

and watching this on the news and not knowing if my friends in the US are safe or not"

"I know you are a capable young man, Justin we are relying on you," he said

"I understand sir, I'll take good care of anna and the girls

I have everything arranged including pick up from the airport to the hotel I will make sure they are safe" Justin assured him

"anna call us when you guys land we will probably land before you do but just let us know you arrived well," her dad said

"I will dad" she replied "love you dad and love you, mom, take care of yourselves"

"we will honey bye for now" her mother replied

they ended the call

"I wonder how house mother is doing and if she and the kids made it to the sanctuary ok?" she breathed

"you can if you use the celestial network" Justin suggested

"Here let me help you" he took her phone and after a moment he handed it back to her

"Oh!" she breathed in surprise "it's like a social media app and youtube all in one but it's for celestials only?" she said

"exactly," he said "you can make an account and post pictures or videos

and everyone online will see it and if your house mother does she can dm you"

"oh ok great," she said "girls!" she cried getting up from the seat

"what!" yuqi answered

"come here and take a picture real quick," anna said she gathered with her sisters and snapped the photo

"ok thanks, guys" she went back to the seat with Justin and sat down and made the account

profile name "kitsunequeens" she posted the photo

"Hello everyone this is the first post by the fox clan,

we just wanted to express our feelings during this difficult time, we hope that everyone has safely made it to their respective sanctuaries and are safe and sound

especially those who were from the New York and those from the Connecticut celestial children's home, housemother if you see this please dm us, and let us know if you guys made it out safely we love you all and wish for the safety of all our home mates

we four sisters are safe and being well cared for so do not worry we hope everyone can keep their spirits up we will all pull through this

our prayers are with the infected celestials in New York we hope that they are getting all the help they need and are able to make a recovery

we will keep hope in our hearts alive that we do not lose any more friends and loved ones

if you are traveling then I hope you get to sanctuary soon please be careful out there"

she posted moments later her post was getting likes and so many follows and likes

"big sisters, we are all in sanctuary house mother is here too,

we are all safe thank you for sending the post housemother was worrying about you guys"

someone commented

"thank you for letting us know we were worried about you guys too so happy to hear that everyone is safe" she typed back

anna followed back everyone discovering many of them were their home mates

"anna this is house mother follow me back so I can dm you" she commented

anna did and a moment later a dm came through

"good to see you guys are safe you're still traveling?" house mother typed

"yes but we are very safe we have taken measures" anna replied

"very good message me let me know you've arrived okay" she typed back

"will do I promise" anna replied

she released a breath of relief

Justin put an arm around her "let's go eat so you can take your mind off things for a bit"

Justin suggested

"sure ok!" she replied a short time later two flight attendants

brought out a late evening meal for the girls and also pillows and blankets were made

available for them

they could rest in the bunk beds in another section of the plane

it wasn't long after the meal that the girls were worn out

and decided to rest they still had several more hours of flight time left

"try to get some sleep" Justin said softly lying in a top bunk with anna she was still restless

even as her mate held her trying to comfort her he stroked her hair while she was lying on his chest listening to his heartbeat

scrolling through post and photos on the celestial network

many young celestials were safely in sanctuaries but many of them stuck in insolated rooms

with only their phones or laptops for company

at least they had Wi-Fi and could still go online some were with their surviving siblings since they had lost their parents during the last great curse attack by the black witch

this was a stark reminder of that time and many were worried and scared that more adult celestials would become infected

with this new curse wiping out even more adult clan members news reports and updates coming out of Europe

and most especially in New York, it looked like the apocalypse was happening right before their eyes

the virus was rapidly spreading among humans to prevent infection of celestials

all non-infected celestials must retreat from the human world

there was speculation that this retreat might be permanent if no cure was found for this new strain of the curse

many young celestials would lose their everyday lives like being able to go to school and other ordinary things they were used to would come to an end

it was a frightening and uncertain time for all but

eventually, her eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep the phone falling from her hand Justin pocketed her phone with his so she wouldn't forget and misplace it

and slipped out of bed covering anna with a blanket he went to the front of the plane knocking on the door a flight attendant let him into the cockpit with the pilot and co-pilot

"hi guys how are we doing?" he asked looking out the window at the thick clouds that surrounded the plane

"hi prince Justin looks like your cloud cover is holding up well, we should arrive in japan without incident" the co-pilot informed him

"allow me to apologize for the last minute flight changes" Justin began

"prince Justin, it's quite all right actually" the pilot replied

"We are very honored to be charged with the task of escorting the Fox Clan to safety,

these four girls are the last and only members of the fox clan left on earth, we cannot afford to lose them at any cost in the current situation,

this was an unexpected rescue operation for us, it was a first, but that does not make us any less proud of being able to help"

"thank you truly," Justin said "inform me immediately if anything unusual occurs and I mean anything"

"we will rest assured sir," the pilot said

Justin went back to anna spooning behind her he held her while she slept

he himself dozing only lightly waking every two hours or so during the flight

to check to make sure their cloud cover around the plane, he was providing with his elemental abilities, was still in place and not dissipated because he slept, but it was holding fine

all stayed quiet during the long flight