Suisei no Gargantia: Nagaroboshi Umi No
Clattering of the Soul

The headphones clattering to the floor was followed by a silence through the entire communication room. Everyone else in the room watched as Ledo's body went limp, dropping to his knees hard as one hand tried to grab the back of the chair. The person sitting in the chair attempted to help him up, and Ridget stepped over, her entire countenance remaining calm, but her eyes flashing briefly a glint of worry.

"Ledo..."

The sixteen-year-old turned to look her in the eye, his violet eyes dulled over, his mouth opening as he attempted to process the shock. For a few minutes Ledo rocked on his feet, but then pushed forward. "Can I listen to that again? Do you have it recorded?"

"That's how you heard it, Ledo. The communication was recorded, and played back." Ridget watched the shock fade away, a smile flickering briefly across his face. The young man asked for the recording to be played back a few times, before looking her in the eye.

"Yes. That was the language of the Galactic Alliance."

Ridgett felt her entire body tense up and watched the looks on the other members of the Gargantia communications team. Worry was only one facet of what they felt; there seemed to be a consternation at Ledo's excitement at hearing his native tongue. The crew had come to appreciate the young man's presence, and yet there seemed to still be the chance he wanted to go back. "I think we need to talk."

Ledo nodded his head and followed Ridgett to the commander's office, sending a message for some of the other officers to join her. The fleets sage also joined them, smiling softly at Ledo before Ridgett asked Ledo for what the message said.

The silver-haired youth leaned forward, the excitement still on his face. "I think the message was sent by what would be called a rebel, or a fringe group. They were pursued by a group put together by the Galactic Alliance specifically for bringing such groups into the Alliance."

The young man didn't notice the older crew members races wrinkle up in frustration. Ridgett cleared her throat, her eyes widening, not quite sure what to say to Ledo, particularly since he'd switched to speaking his native tongue. "Losal..."

Ledo's excitement grew. "He's my brother. I thought he was dead, but the string group must have picked him up. He's out there, alive." Everyone stared at him, their confusion growing, and Ledo finally stopped, realizing something was off. "I..."

The sage placed his hand on Ledo's shoulder. "Hold on Ledo. You've not been speaking our language, but your native tongue."

"Oh." Ledo's facial features twisted up. "It's..." His tongue froze, his mind drawing a blank on what words to use.

"You don't want to leave us, and go back to the Alliance do you?" One of the older crew members cut to the point."

"No, no." The silver-haired youth blinked a couple of times. "Why?"

"You seem quite excited."

The confusion faded from his face, the smile and excitement coming back. "Losal..."

"What is Losal?" Ridgett let out a sigh, the corners of her mouth unintentionally turning up. "Could you explain that to us?"

"Losal is..." Ledo's mouth twisted in frustration but then realized as he took a deep breath. "My Bevel."

A laugh burst out of the sage's mouth, and his large hand patted Ledo's shoulder, almost knocking him over. "Oh, so that's why you became excited. Still, that doesn't exactly explain to us what the message is about because it can't just be about Losal, can it?"

"No." The young man's facial features fell. "Um..."

"Perhaps we should let your excitement calm down? That way we'll be able to understand what you're saying? I don't understand this Losal thing like the doctor does." Ridgett let one of her eyebrows go up, hoping it would have a positive effect.

Ledo's violet eyes widened a look of panic settling into his facial features. "No. I..."

The silver-haired young man's body suddenly trembled, and Ledo staggered over to the trashcan in the room, vomiting into the trash can, nearly toppling over as he did so. Many of the older crew members gave the sixteen-year-old looks of irritation. The sage tugged at Ledo's arm, pulling him over to sit down at one of the tables seats. "Put your head between your legs until you calm down."

"Doctor..."

The sage let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. That message, whatever the contents contained, they're a lot for Ledo to take in. He'll tell us eventually. Perhaps if Bevel were here, he might calm down faster."

"Bevel..." Ridgett let her nose wrinkle up. "He said Losal was his Bevel. What..."

Ledo's head darted up, only to be pushed gently back down to the doctor, another chuckle coming. "No. Your mind and body are in shock Ledo. You should be calmed down by the time Bevel gets here."

…

Outside of the window was blackness dotted with white pricks. Two aquamarine eyes took in the stars, tracing out the constellations and creating new ones, but also stories to go along with the familiar marks. A knock at the door came, making Bevel's lips twist up. "Amy!"

The door opened, and the person appearing in front of him wasn't his older sister. His facial features melted into a frown. "Oh..."

The young man saluted him, another in the shadows. "Fleet Commander Ridgett's sent for you Bevel."

"This late at night?" The aquamarine eyes of the three-year-old blinked a couple of times before a smile spread across his face. "Oh, so I am to go off an adventure? I don't know what this is about, but I'm sure it will be interesting. I need to leave a letter for my sister, though."

"Understood."

Bevel's hands reached for the pad of paper by his bed, scribbling out a quick, but legible note. One of the men came in, lifting the ten-year-old gently onto the back of his companion before grabbing Bevel's wheelchair. The steps of the two men echoed out into the dark night, the wind blowing on Bevel's cheeks making them flush up slightly. The sound of someone coming up on the other side of the stairs was heard, which led to the three soon seeing Amy coming into view.

"Hi, Amy! I'm off on an adventure, as Ridgett's asked for me."

The sister's tan skin glowed, flushed as well by the wind, her lips twisting down into a frown. "It's near your bedtime Bevel, if not already past it, so don't be too long."

Amy stepped aside, the worried look in her aquamarine eyes not going away despite the fact she didn't say Bevel couldn't go. Her brother could though hear a sigh, and looked back, catching the look rather clearly. He opened his small mouth to say something, but quickly thought it was better to say nothing.

The first thing Bevel saw upon arriving at the commander's conference room was the doctor, a worried look on the man's face. The ten-year-old knew for once the worry wasn't aimed at him, and let his eyes drift around the room, catching the worried look on Ridgett's face. His small hands pushed the wheels on his chair forward, allowing him to finally catch a glimpse of a familiar head of silver hair.

The brown-haired child tilted his head to the side, his aquamarine noting how Ledo leaned over, his head between his knees. Bevel let his mouth form a circle, ideas clicking in his head remembering how the older boy thought. He pushed himself over, so his chair was next to Ledo's, reaching out to touch the shoulder of the sixteen-year-old lightly, making Ledo flinch. The silver-haired youth tilted his head, one violet eye showing through, making it clear Ledo wasn't alright.

"Hey."

"Bevel." Ledo let his head hang there for a few minutes, before lifting his head up so he could look Bevel in the eye, his arms hanging limply over his knees.

"So, I don't exactly know what's going on, but they sent for me." Bevel moved his chair over so he was sitting at the table, waiting for Ledo to respond, while the older officers waited. The ten-year-old saw them when he came in, but didn't register in his mind their presence until now. "Something serious must be going on."

"I don't see how Bevel can be of help in this matter, doctor." One of the older officers spoke up, pulling at his mustache.

"Just wait. Ledo. do you think you can talk to Bevel?"

The silver-haired sixteen-year-old lifted his head up, before reaching into his pocket, a few tears escaping from his eyes as his lips pushed together. The item clinked against the table, the instrument that Ledo enjoyed playing. Bevel reached out, thinking carefully before taking the item into his hands. "Didn't you say your brother made this, your younger brother?"

Ledo held out his hand so Bevel could hand the instrument back. "Losal..."

Ridgett's body tensed up, her eyes widening. "You've got to be kidding me. What are the chances of something like this happening?"

The doctor smiled, placing a hand onto Bevel's shoulder. "The chances are very unlikely."

One of the other older officers froze. "Yes, but doesn't this mean the galactic alliance is on our doorsteps? I'm not sure we want to deal with them, considering the last one. I mean, they thought killing the weak was for the better good."

"Yes." Ledo straightened up.

The ten-year-old frowned, one hand reaching out to touch the silver-haired teens which now rested on the table with the instrument in his hand. "Wait. Ledo, isn't your brother supposed to be dead? I mean, that's what I got from you whenever he came up."

The pleased look on the doctors face swiftly left, his body moving over to Ledo, placing a hand onto teens shoulder, listening for his answer."Yes."

"Ledo, how can you be sure it's your brother."

"I can't. However..." The teen's mouth twisted as if he were looking for the right words to say. "What is the word for when someone is in trouble, and another pulls them out?"

"Rescue?" Ridgett's eyebrows shot up. "I don't understand."

"Oh. They got your distress signal, and are attempting to rescue you."

"You do realize that the Galactic Alliance coming to rescue you is trouble for us." The pessimistic older officer rolled his eyes.

"No." Ledo shook his head, some of his words finally coming back. "It's not the Galactic Alliance. Sort of."

The silver-haired teen held up his hands, making a movement as if he were snapping something, his lips pushed together as he concentrated on explaining what he meant.

"Oh, it's a group that's broken off from the Galactic Alliance."

"Yes, and no." Ledo took a deep breath, the words coming back to him, his body relaxing. "The message I heard. I think it was sent by a group from outside of the Galactic Alliance that either broke away somehow a long time ago or was never part of the Alliance. They are though being pursued by members of the Alliance, and I think both groups crashed here on Earth."

Ridgett leaned over onto the table. "Why do you think both groups came crashing down."

"The meteor shower."

Bevel slapped a fist into the palm of his small hand, a smile spreading across his face. "Our ancestors used math to predict when the meteor showers occurred, but there wasn't supposed to be one tonight, otherwise the fleet would have been told so everyone could have watched tonight."

"Well, this can't be a good thing. The person's name is Losal? Are you sure that's your brother's name? Are you sure it's your brother? Did you even remember his name?"

"No, but Amy reminded me. She told me to make a wish on a shooting star. Losal, it means in the language of the Galactic Alliance, shooting star. Also, I can't imagine any other reason why a splinter group, I think that is the right word for it, would come out for me unless Losal had anything to do with it. I could though be wrong. Still..."

Ledo stopped speaking, his eyes widening as a tear fell down. A hand reached up, wiping it away. "I'm not understanding this."

"Sometimes people cry because they're happy Ledo."

The doctor patted Ledo on the shoulder. "Or it could also be that you're worried that you're getting your hopes up over nothing. Why don't you take Bevel back to his sister, Ledo?"

"Ah, yes." The teen stood up, wobbling on his feet. Bevel smiled, pushing himself ahead of Ledo while the teen followed after, shoving the instrument back into his pouch before pushing Bevel's wheelchair to the stairs, making the movement faster. They arrived at the bottom, and Ledo leaned over. "Please don't say anything to Amy?"

Bevel's eyes lit up, his head turning to smile up at Ledo. "Why not?"

"I don't know how to explain..." The teen's facial features twisted. "I've only really ever talked to you about this. I'm not sure how to explain it when all of you cherish life so much? It's hard for me to understand. I think that's why I choose to forget like I did."

"I see. Well, if your brother's real, Amy's going to find out." Bevel pushed himself up from the chair. "I think I can make it up the stairs, so will you carry the chair for me."

"Sure. I believe the phrase is, 'I'll think of something', but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. I'm still taking this in myself."

"Well, I hope he is alive Ledo. That would be super amazing." Bevel slowly climbed up the stairs, Ledo following behind slowly, the cold night beating down on the two figures. The finally arrived up at the top, and the door opened.

Amy's figure was shadowed by the light. "I see Ledo was with you, Bevel." The fifteen-year-old held out her hand, pulling her brother inside gently. She turned to tell Bevel to get ready for bed, taking the wheelchair from Ledo before folding her arms behind her. "What exactly happened?"

Ledo's face went blank. "I..." The silver-haired teen swallowed. "Could we talk about this later?"

The female teen's mouth twisted into a frown. "I guess. Goodnight Ledo. See you in the morning."

…

The sensation of falling soon became replaced by the sensation of slowing. Lenena glared at the boy now sitting next to her, not at all sure where her gun had gotten to. The lights in the pod flickered, and a splashing sound was heard outside. Her eyes glanced outside, taking in the starlit sky.

The child sat in the seat, his eyes closed, his fingers clutching the seat for dear life, his jaw tight. His eyes fluttered open before his thin fingers unclasped the buckle. Before Lenea could say anything, he was up, opening the hatch at the top, and climbing out. "Hey!"

The child disappeared from view, escaping to the outside. Lenea hurried after, scooping up her gun as she did so, preparing to shot the child if he were to try and run away. Instead, she found the boy sitting on the roof, looking up at the sky, his mouth open. "It's amazing."

Lenea glanced around, her mind trying to contemplate what was so amazing about looking up at the stars. "We see the stars all the time."

"But never from the outside."

"Why didn't you run?"

The child turned to her, his mouth twisted into a smirk. A finger pointed to the side of the ship. "Even if I was stupid enough to run from a soldier of the Galactic Alliance, this isn't exactly a place I can run."

Lenea glanced over the edge, attempting to not fall over, or become an easy target for being pushed. Her eyes narrowed, noticing how the pod bobbed up and down on the ground. "What is this?"

"This? It's an ocean. I thought they taught that back in school. I learned it when I was still under the Galactic Alliance's thumb.

"It's water then?" The young female realized what Losal said. "Wait, you say that like it is a good thing. Galactic Alliance grants us freedom."

"No, it doesn't."

"I am not going to listen to fringe group propaganda."

"It's not propaganda. Anyways, we're stuck together."

Lenea's forehead wrinkled up, her mouth twisting into a scowl. Her gun went to the boy's head. "Why shouldn't I kill you here and now?"

"There is no reason?" Losal quickly stammered out the second answer. "You could use me as a prisoner?"

"Good reason. Get back in the pod." She watched the boy slide in, following close behind. She watched the child go for the emergency supplies, carefully spreading them out and counting. "I didn't say you could."

"What? Are you going to put your gun down to count?" The boy looked up at her, his violet eyes creating a rather eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I'm going to go to sleep after this. I guess though you can't sleep. You've got to keep guard to make sure I don't do anything."

"Just get it done with, and get to sleep on the bench there. I will not hesitate to shoot, particularly since there are medical supplies for me to patch you up, and still make you a convenient hostage."