Episode I: Missing Twins

Gene and Jim were in their garage, working on a practically totaled green cruiser. It was late at night on Sentinel III.

"This thing's life is over, but the client's paying us too much to not try," Jim said, sighing.

"I'm tired of the cup-of-Ramen diet. I need some meat!" Gene said loudly. "Like a Japanese porkchop or something!"

"Wow! You sound like a child!"

"Me?! What are you talking about?! Just because I wanna eat something good doesn't make me a child! You're the child! You accepted a practically impossible job!" Gene yelled back.

"Sure, blame me. If it wasn't for me, you couldn't even dream of a Japanese porkchop!"

"Ehhh, shut up, Jim!" Gene said, smirking. Both of them kind of lost the argument, but they didn't care. Suzuka then emerged from the kitchen, holding a tray with three cups on it and two folded washcloths.

"I have made you white tea. I hope you enjoy it, Mr. Starwind and Mr. Hawking," she said, sitting down on her knees on a small mat.

"Aw, Suzuka, you didn't have to do that…" Gene said, coming over.

"Don't try to sound so humble, Gene," Jim snickered. Gene grabbed one of the warm washcloths and cleaned his hands, Jim doing the same. They sat on the floor and Suzuka set the tray down. They both took a sip of the tea, relaxing instantly.

"Thanks, Suzuka," Jim said, smiling.

"So, where is Aisha?" Gene asked.

"She working late at MacRonald's tonight. She didn't seem like she wanted to, but I suppose she has her reasons."

"It's because she's broke," Gene said bluntly. "Has to pay for that new gold bracelet of hers—you know, the one with the real Ctarl-Ctarl green emeralds?" he said, chuckling now.

"Hey! She's a girl, you know! Give her a break!" Jim shouted.

"Hey don't get on my case now! I was just saying the truth," Gene said defensively.

"Lady Aisha got me a gift too. I did not expect it at all." She reached into her robes by her neck and showed them an amethyst crystal dangling on a thin, silver chain.

"Oh, wow…" Gene said, sounding a little guilty now.

"She is so kind to me…" Suzuka said softly, sipping her tea. The other two joined her and for a brief moment, there was silence.

Suddenly, Aisha busted into the garage, panting. She was still wearing her work outfit, which was a short red dress with a yellow logo across the chest.

"Ugh! I KNEW I shouldn't have done overtime! The most aggravating people come out at night! I don't care if your fries aren't salted! Get over it so I can go home!" Aisha yelled.

"Sounds like someone had a bad day!" Gene teased.

"Damn well I did! And I'm hungry! Did anyone cook anything?!" She yelled. No one answered. "What the hell?! You think I eat the food we serve?! Come on!"

"Lady Melfina said she had a horrid headache, so she went to bed. I made tea though. Would you like to have some, Lady Aisha?" Suzuka asked. Suzuka seemed to always calm her down. Aisha, feeling a little guilty, walked over to the group and sat down on her knees. Suzuka gracefully got back onto her feet, swiping her hand under her knees, and headed back into the kitchen.

"I will bring biscuits too," Suzuka said before she left the room.

"Well, it isn't a porkchop, but it's something…" Aisha muttered.

"See, Jim?! Wanting a porkchop isn't such an unreasonable demand!"

"Whatever, Gene," Jim said aloofly…

Gene was heading to bed. He opened the door to see that Melfina wasn't in their bed. He made a face of concern.

"Melfina?" Gene said, turning on the lights. He looked around. The window was open. He approached the window, seeing that a thin piece of paper was pinned to the sill. He plucked it and brought it up to his face, reading the red letters on it:

The fruit has been plucked.

-Apple

A stamp of a red cross was below. Instantly, Gene got dressed. He figured out that Melfina had been kidnapped. But how come he didn't hear her before?...

Harry and Lark were in bed together, sleeping. Ron, Harry, and Lark were staying at Ron's barn on Sentinel III as the Aurum was going through repairs. The ship was finished tonight, so they planned to leave the planet again tomorrow.

Lark woke up, like he had been for the past couple of nights. He would go outside, by himself, and look up at the stars…

Lark was outside, silent. He gasped when he saw a shooting star. He closed his eyes, making a wish, when suddenly, he was grabbed. His eyes snapped open and saw that he was on the shoulder of some long limbed man. Lark cried out as loud as he could, snapping Harry and Ron awake. The two of them raced down the stairs to open the door and see that Lark was just a distant face in the dark.

"Lark!" Harry cried. Harry pursued them while Ron ran back in to get his gun real quick.

The two of them raced through the wheat field, Ron trying to shoot at the stranger's legs, but he was just out of his range. Just when Harry thought he was catching up, the stranger leapt forward like a great cat, beyond his reach. They saw that they were heading towards a launching site.

The stranger, still with Lark over his shoulder, ran up a set of silver stairs to a large, red ship. Another stranger had an unconscious Melfina over his shoulder. The main door opened and shut behind them. A couple of minutes passed and Harry ran up the same stairs. He then ripped open the slot where a keypad was and shot his uplink cable into it. Immediately, he received a powerful shock. Harry withdrew his cable, shaking. Just then, Ron noticed that the engines of the red ship were charging.

"Harry! We gotta get out of here! They're takin' off!" Ron cried. Harry gritted his teeth and ran down the stairs.

Ron and Harry ran as fast as they could away from the launch site, bumping into Gene, Suzuka, and Aisha.

"What the hell are you doing here, Starwind?!" Ron growled. Before Gene could answer, the red ship launched, heading towards the stars. Harry was shaking with fury.

"Some goon grabbed Melfina and went into that ship!" Gene cried.

"Same happened to Lark," Ron answered.

"This isn't good. You think it has to do with the Leyline?" Gene asked.

"What else?" Ron said, looking over to Harry. Harry was watching the ship disappear out of sight. He felt cold all over.

"L-Lark…" Harry said to himself, quietly…

The next day, all of them were sitting in the garage with cups of tea in front of them. Ron and Gene were glaring at each other.

"I think it's best if we all work together…" Suzuka said.

"Do we have to? I mean, this guy practically killed us!" Gene said, referring to Ron.

"You let my brother die. Did you really think I would forget something like that?!" Ron shouted at him. Harry's eyes had fallen to the floor. Melfina would defend him.

"Hey, hey, hey! Come on! I mean, I know there's some serious bad blood between us, but we have to work together! Some creeps just kidnapped Melfina and Lark! Don't you think that's more important?!" Jim cried. Gene and Ron grunted.

"I'm ready to kick their asses for what they've done! My sweet Melfina and darling Lark! They're stepping on my toes and I'm mad!" Aisha shouted.

"So, is it possible that, Mr. Gene and MacDougall brothers, we can all work together?"

"Fine," Ron answered. Gene said the same.

"Very good. So we must find out who this 'Apple' is," Suzuka said.

"I'll hop to it!" Jim said, getting onto his feet.