Shootdown Over The Silver

The young pilot performed a spinning maneuver, sending the craft behind the two enemy drones, and opened fire. They exploded as the rounds impacted them, violently ripping their hulls apart. The bright yellow and chrome starfighter now converged onto the exposed core of the heavily damaged Doomfire cruiser. The boy grinned, and pressed the button.
"I got you!"

"And cut!" Director Johan Lewis shouted. Alex could only imagine how glorious the scene would look in the theaters, but as of now, he satisfied himself with his imagination as the cameras rolled. It helped with the acting. The boy jumped out of the cockpit of the fake starfighter and ran up to his mother and father.
"Mom! Dad! Did you see me? Did you see me? Did you see me? I was super cool!"
"Of course we did, our little star!" Alex's mother wrapped her arms around her son, lifting him into the air.
"A little more of that and you'll be taking on the Darkblade himself." Alex's father said as Alex stepped back onto the ground. "Good work Mr. Famous!"
"Dad, I am Darkblade! Samuel, who is me, grows up, turns evil, and becomes Darkblade!" Alex shook his head. "Come on dad!"
"Yes, come on dear." Alex's mom said. "You should know the lore of the movie Alex is starring in."
"Pfft, as if you know any better." Alex's dad said.

***

"Alex! There you are!" Alex stared up at the blinding chandelier lights, which had just begun to light up. They were fascinating. His mother angrily marched up to the boy and grabbed him by his arm. "Why aren't you at your station already? The awards are about to start. Your father and I have been looking all over for you."
"But mom, I want to be able to look at the ceiling gold droppy thingies-"
"No time for that. Get over here now. There's a Novemian prince attending as a guest of honor today, and I will NOT have you make a fool of us in front of royalty." Alex looked around at the audience to see a blur of uniforms and peaked caps as he reluctantly followed his mother over to the stage entrance. "You might win an award for your acting, okay? You want the medal, don't you? Win the award for me. Okay?" Alex's mother gave him a smile.
"Okay mom!" Alex was glad his mother shared his own enthusiasm for awards. Though every inch of his being begged to get off the stage and run around, the prospect of a big shiny golden object to hang up to show off to his friends was too daunting.

Three months, three months since the release of the movie. Six months more since the end of filming. Everyone at the ceremony looked at Alex with eyes of admiration as the presenter droned on about virtues, values, and commemoration of the late king or something. Alex had vaguely heard that the king had been involved in an accident lately, and that this meant...something for the country. He looked out at the audience again. He couldn't tell which ones were Elodian and which were Novemian.

"Mom, dad, I need to pee." Alex looked up at his parents, who now looked at him with a facial expression he couldn't quite make out.
"You kidding me? Not now." His dad said. "Hold it!" Alex's mom put her hand on his shoulder.
"Just go quickly. Can't have you peeing onstage."
Alex looked around at the audience, who were all looking at the onstage presenter and not at him. Taking the chance, he quietly slipped off the stage and ran out of the room. Alex was lying, he didn't have to pee. But as much as he loved the hustle and bustle of the audience, it started to grate on his mind as the speeches droned on and on. And if there was one thing he was proud of, it was the fact that he could fool his parents with an easy look.

"Hehe." Alex wiped the 'I need to pee' expression off of his face as he was sure that no one was looking, and started to happily skip down the empty hallways. It was nice not being stuck in there, and if he was correct, it would be...uh, some time until he was ready to go back up. Alex could probably just eyeball it.

Weeping. Alex turned around. That wasn't him. The sniffles grew a bit louder, and Alex felt like maybe, just maybe, it was time to go back, but something drew him forwards, towards the sound. A beautiful girl with long blonde hair sat curled up into a ball, hugging her knees as she sat by the mahogany paneled walls.

"Hey, are you ok?" Alex approached the girl who looked up at him, her eyes wide and filled with tears. For a moment, the two stared at one another as Alex sat down next to her. "Are...you okay?"
"Who...who are you?" The tresses of her hair dragged along the ground as she sat.
"The name's Alex. But you might know me better as the one who played Samuel!" Alex crossed his arms and nodded to himself proudly.
"You're Samuel?" The girl reached out her hand. Alex took it as he sat down. "Nice to meet you, Alex."
"Nice to meet you too." Alex smiled as he shook her hand. He knew girls were nasty and had girl-germs that made boys lame, but for some reason, he felt like in this moment, it was ok. And for some reason, he felt like looking cool in front of her. Getting up, Alex flipped his hair and smiled. "Are...you an angel?" A line from the movie.
"Huh?" The girl looked up at him in abject confusion.
"I hear that beautiful angels come down from the moon. I think you're one of them." That line was different, but whatever. "And I uh, don't like it when angels cry." Alex knelt back down to her level.
"I'm an angel?" The girl looked up at Alex, her eyes wide, and then started to laugh.
"Did I say something funny?" She continued to laugh.
"Yes! You said I was an angel!"
"Only because I think you are one." Alex smiled and crossed his arms, trying to look smart. "I would know."
"Would you?" The girl smiled at Alex, and for a moment, Alex's worries seemed to melt away. The girl looked down at her dress, which was stained with tears.
"So...what's wrong?"
"I can't say. It has to be a secret."
"That's fine, I'm good with secrets." Alex crossed an X over his heart and gave her a grin. "I'm pretty good with secrets. I don't tell a friend's secret to anybody! Well, usually."
"I don't know." The girl buried her head into her knees once more. "Everything's happening so fast. There's too many people wanting things from me. I'm scared." She started to quiver.
"That's...that's okay. I...I can help you." Alex's softened his expression. "I can listen to whatever you want to say." He paused. The girl was silent.

"Perhaps you need a knight." He paused again, feeling there was something more than he could understand. "Because that's what the knights of the seven stars do, they help people who are sad." Alex paused, and removed his Starknight cloak, the one he had been wearing as part of his Samuel costume. "Here." The girl looked up at him, surprised.
"Are you sure? This looks-"
"That's okay, I have a dozen more in my trailer. It's a knight's cloak! It keeps you safe from warlocks. And uh, it also keeps you warm." The girl looked down the hallway once more.
"You know, it feels like you're the first friend I've had in a long time." She hugged her knees tighter.  "I don't know when the last time I talked to someone my age." She buried her head into her arms. "Thank you for talking to me."
"No need to thanks me." Alex shifted up close to her and put his hand on hers. "It's uh, my pleasure. That's what a star knight does, we stop people from crying." Alex smiled. "And we swing giant laser swords!" The girl giggled.
"You're funny. And fun." She smiled, and for some reason, Alex's heart felt like it was on fire. "So, Sir Alex, do..." She trailed off. "Do...do you want to do anything fun? Everything here is just so scary. I want to go outside and play." Truth is, Alex agreed, but he swallowed his pride.
"But, I'm getting my awards at the ceremony soon. I'm getting something awesome." Alex grinned. "You'll come see, right?"
"Oh." The girl looked dejected. "I...I don't want to go where everyone else is." She crumpled back down onto the ground. "I just want to play with someone." She looked up at him. "We can do that, can't we?" Alex paused.
"Are they making you do something you don't want to do?" The girl nodded. "Then that's fine. I don't care about them. Let's go and have fun. Let's just run away from everything, and it'll be you and me! How does that sound?"
"Really?" The girl looked up at him, shocked and wide eyed. "We can really do that?"
"That was what I played before I played Samuel! I have the instructions, so as long as we do the same thing, it will be fine." Alex reached out his hand to the girl. "Will you come with m-"

"Alex!" An angry female voice came down the hallway as a woman, followed by a few guards, ran over to them. 
"Uh-oh..." Alex looked at the girl, who quickly took off, but the guards were faster. They ran up and caught her as Alex's mother grabbed him by his arm.
"No! No! I'm not going!" The girl screamed, but it was futile.
"Don't worry. We'll meet again!" Alex yelled out as they were dragged in opposite directions.
"Will we?" The girl started to cry as some of the guards started leading her out of the hallway. "Let me go! Let me go!"
"Of course! Because I'm your knight, and I'll keep you safe. Always."
"Alex, the hall is waiting!" His mother grabbed his arm. "Don't waste your time here-"
"Thank you Alex!" The girl broke free from the guards and ran up to Alex before planting a kiss on his cheek. "Let's meet again someday, Sir Alex."

As the girl started to leave again with the guards, Alex felt a strange feeling of elation that he couldn't quite put into words.

Suddenly, he realized that he hadn't caught her name.