The Death of An Ancient:
The Infirmary:
Kla'icha walked into the Infirmary with Zen in her arms. TJ looked up from what she was doing and moved to where the old woman was laying. Zen jumped from Kla'icha's arms and went to the corner. He was never really good with death and all things that came with it. Kla'icha had a bag with her that contained everything that was needed for the last rights of the dying. Grandmother had once told her that if they were able to get onto the Destiny, then once she was ready to Ascend, then she would just do so through the chair on the ship.
But it was what Grandmother had wanted to wear in her last hours alive that always made Kla'icha wonder if Grandmother and the rest of the Ancients back on Dragontopia had settled somewhere else before finding Dragontopia and settling. With the help of TJ, who had put up a screen to shield anyone from accidently walking in on them, she was able to change her Grandmother into her Death clothes. Zen stayed in the corner where he had hidden at first, but curiosity had him leaving the Infirmary and heading about the ship. The smells told him that Eli was somewhere close by and he went for that familiar smell. Kla'icha had noticed that Zen had left but said nothing to bring him back.
Preparing For The Last Journey:
When Grandmother was done being dressed in her Death clothes, TJ helped me move Grandmother towards the Chair room, something that had been closed off to any and all that wanted to study it. Dr. Rush and Col. Young were in the room when the trio finally reached it. There was a Kino drifting just above the chair but other than that, nobody else would be in the room. Grandmother was watching the others as they made ready to leave the room and make sure everything was alright inside the room. The Kino would record what was going on inside the room. And I knew that somewhere on the other end of the Kino, Eli was watching what was going on.
I put a necklace on Grandmother before the chair was able to activate. Her eyes opened and she looked at me, holding onto my hand so I wasn't able to leave the room with the others. Her eyes told me all I needed to know. In order for her to vacate her body and join with the ship, she had to relinquish her Ancient Powers onto someone within her bloodline. I was the last of her bloodline, so her Powers automatically fell to me. I looked at the others and told them that I would be okay. They left the room and the chair activated. I held my Grandmother's hand as she closed her eyes and her Ascension and the Power transfer from her to me began.
Ascension Aboard Destiny:
Grandmother proved to easily Ascend into Destiny. It was the Power Transfer that was the hardest of all. Power fluctuated throughout the ship as Grandmother Ascended into Destiny and gave me all of her powers including the ability to heal. I saw the Kino floating somewhere near the door but was unable to do anything. I could hear the sound of feet coming to a halt outside the door and the attempt to open the door but to no avail.
When Grandmother was gone and her Powers now in me, I collapsed onto the ground, my hand still on the chair where Grandmother had disappeared. The door finally opened and it was TJ who I saw in my line of vision. I gave her a weak smile as Dr. Rush & Col. Young helped me up from the ground. I should have known that my legs wouldn't take the weight of my body nor would my body take the Transfer so easily because the second I was standing, I collapsed, unconscious this time. Col. Young picked me up as TJ grabbed my bag and anything else that was left from the Ascension and followed Col. Young to the Infirmary.
The Infirmary:
Eli had Zen in his arms when Col. Young walked into the Infirmary with Kla'icha. Zen tried to jump from Eli's arms to get to her, but Eli held firm until TJ could assess what might have gone wrong. He'd seed what was going on through the Kino and had taken off for the Chair room almost immediately. They had tried to get the door open but because the Ascension was still in progress, they were unable to open it. When the door had finally opened, Lt. James and Lt. Scott were also at the door. Dr. Rush and Col. Young were the ones that had entered with TJ. They had initially thought that if she was still conscious, then she was okay. But that had turned out to be the wrong assumption. Kla'icha had collapsed upon standing on her own two feet and had lapsed into unconsciousness.
As TJ worked to see what was wrong with Kla'icha, Zen was finally able to get out of Eli's arms and up to where Kla'icha was laying. Zen sniffed me and moved his face over mine. His face was covering mine which meant that TJ was unable to see that I had opened my eyes. The small purr that came from Zen told the others that I was awake. Zen moved aside and I sat up the best I could without getting dizzy. Lt. James and Lt. Scott had shown up after making sure everyone was safe on the Observation Deck. Obviously the power fluctuations had freaked a lot of people out.
"How do you feel?" TJ asked.
"Um, a little weird actually."
"What happened? I mean, we know your Grandmother ascended, but why did she want you in the room with her?" Dr. Rush asked.
"And what was with those power fluctuations?" Col. Young asked.
"The ships power should be back to normal now, right?"
"Well yeah it is, but why did it happen in the first place?" Eli asked.
"Grandmother was Transferring. Back home, it's what an Ancient does when they ascend. They Transfer all their Ancient Powers to the next in their bloodline. In this case, I am the last of our bloodline so I got all of her powers, which would cause the power to fluctuate. I'm sorry, I didn't know she was going to Transfer until she grabbed my hand."
"So this Transfer, how come the Ancients we've read about never did this?" Col. Young asked.
"Maybe because our Ancients had longer to practice and perfect the Transfer. I don't really know. All I know is that I now have all of her powers, including being able to Heal. Grandmother was unable to Heal Dr. Park, but at least I now can."
"Dr. Park can wait a little longer. You still need to rest. I want to keep you here for at least a few days, just to see that there was no permanent damage. We can have your things brought here so that you can figure out what you are going to do next, but other than that, you're stuck here for a few days." TJ said.
"Hey, even Zen will be here with you. And I can check in on you every now and then. I'll even bring you some of our delicious food we have onboard already." Eli said.
"If it looks like mush it probably tastes like mush. I Grandmother & I brought food with us. We figured since Zen had to eat a special diet because of his wings, we might as well get used to not eating all that much either. I thought Grandmother would be around a lot longer than only a day and a half, but I guess not. My friends will want to know that she has ascended."
"Speaking of which, did she really ascend? Or did she just become a part of Destiny?" Lt. James asked.
"A little of both I think; none of the other Ancients have ever tried to Ascend inside of a space ship before so I don't know if it has ever been done before."
"Hm, seems to me like you're going to be getting a visitor whether you like it or not at certain times while you're on board the ship." Lt. Scott said.
"What does that mean?"
"He means that everyone else that has ever become a part of the ship has been able to talk to us at some time or another. So far that has only been three people." Eli said.
"Oh, I see, well it will be nice to see Grandmother every now and then. I really wasn't ready to lose her just yet, though she was over three thousand years old."
"That old huh?" Dr. Rush asked.
"She was the oldest Ancient on Dragontopia. The others were younger than her."
"Well, that's enough talk. I'll send Eli and Lt. James to your quarters and bring all of your belongings here and you can figure out what you want to tell your home-world when TJ says you can contact them. In the meantime, why don't we get some food cooking for the rest of the people onboard?" Col. Young finished as Eli & Lt. James headed to my quarters to get my belongings and Lt. Scott headed off to find anyone that wanted to help make some food. "TJ, keep me updated on her condition. I want to know if there are any side effects to this Transfer she talked about."
"Will do sir, but I think we're just going to have to play this by ear. We've never had anyone like her or her Grandmother on board before let alone in this era."
"Just keep me updated. I'll get Eli to bring you something to eat once the Galley is open."
"Got it sir."
