Ok I realize that this is a little confusing so I'll try to explain as best I can without giving too much away. The reason that in this chapter and in the previous chapter it seemed to jump around from one point in time to another is that the flash back kind of things are well like the chapter title says Memories. Also I realize that there's a little confusion on who it is exactly that Sparx has been having a bit of a war with, the person will become more clear in this chapter (and a note, unless you can keep up with the psychotic roller coaster that is my mind it is defiantly not who, or what you're thinking of!)

NOTE! The person who is having a war with Sparx is not in any way romantically involved with Nova, even though I am a rabid fan of that pairing!!

Your welcome to flame me all you want, but reviews would be preferred and advice would be most welcomed.

I own nothing…if I had the men in white would be taking it away from me right now and returning me to the rubber room…meh, damn shrinks and their straight jackets…

Catalyst

.II Memories: Continued

They finally landed the ship they had been traveling in for the past few months and stepped out into the blinding light of the desert sun. She had told him that they would have to walk the path out of respect to the masters of the temple that was built ahead.

"So how long is this 'path'?" He looked at the tiny barely visible worn down path that weaved off into the distant hills.

"What? Can't handle a little walk?" He gave her a look in return and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

"Ha Ha. What I meant was will it be too long for you…both of you…" Her face softened at this. He only had her best interest at heart, she knew that, but still he could go a little far with it.

"Sparx, I'll be fine, if I you think I need to rest, when I really need to rest then I will. So come on we got a while to go." She started to walk, right now it was nearly dark and if they wanted to get to the temple by dawn they would need to go none stop.

"You said this was some sort of training place right?" She nodded as they continued to walk not quite understanding where he was going with it. "What kind of training exactly? Like stuff that could get you hurt?" 'So that's where he's going with this…' She stopped and turned to face him. Throughout their journey she had never told him exactly what training she was going to be doing.

She sighed and looked down to the ground, there was really no time like the present she supposed. She needed to tell someone and who better then him? Looking around she spotted a large rock and motioned him to follow her over to it.

There was a moment of silence as they settled down, something was wrong. The senses he seemed to have acquired in the past months were on high alert. He had always been one to rely on his instincts, and right at that moment they were screaming at him that what she was about to tell him was, unlike the news given to him on their ship, not going to be welcomed.

888

"Are they my uncles too?" He blinked as he watched from high above the ceremony, Isabelle's small voice was unexpected on the quiet dais that he had perched himself on. Turning he saw that she had thankfully stayed in the shadows and away from prying eyes.

"Hmm?" He cocked his head ever so slightly to the side attempting to read the thoughts going through her young head. A useless try really, not even his father was able to read what went on in that barricaded mind of hers. He had to wonder if that was his doing, her father leaving at such an early age soon followed by her mother's death left him to raise her and allowing for some of his less amiable… traits to rub off on her.

"She was your sister that makes you my uncle. She was their sister as well; does that mean that I should call them my uncles? You know Uncle Gibson, Uncle Otto, Uncle Chiro… or is Chiro more of a cousin than an Uncle? What about Antauri? I've heard Antar down there call him grandpa, which really makes no sense since Antauri's younger then you are and I call you uncle. And… what about my father, are you ever going to tell me about him? At least give me his name!" He suppressed, if barely a; frustrated grown at her questions, why did she have to ask these questions now? Not that he ever wanted any such questions asked but still.

"Isa mus-" Her eyes flared and he realized his slip up just too late. She was defiantly her mother's daughter, from looks too fighting skills down to the short temper. Hopefully she wouldn't started shouting, if she raised an octave as it was the people below would be alerted to the alien voice during the annual speech. She opened her mouth to argue with him about only her mother was to call her Isa and that to all others she was Izzie. Why she insisted on such a ridiculous nickname was beyond him but he really had no say in the matter.

"Fine. Isabelle, must we discuss this now of all times? It is not appropriate for you to be asking these things today." He hoped against all hopes that she would take his scrambled answer as good enough until later, but unfortunately the raised eyebrow was not giving him any indication of so. It seemed that his years of putting off her questions were finally catching up with him.

"Why? I may have been young at the time but I know that she didn't die today, just like you do…other wise why would we have our own 'memoriam' three week from this day every year if we didn't?... Please…just-" She took in a ragged breath her previous anger faded the fire in her eyes dimming down to low embers full of sorrow. "Just tell me his name…" His dark eyes bore into hers. He had hoped all those years ago that with his new body his demented red eyes would have changed to white like his brothers…but they hadn't, his dearest sister had only been able to revert him back to his original form in her last moments before exhaustion.

Isabelle's lost wanting look burned his heart, but he couldn't tell her, could he? He knew that it was a question that would only lead to hundreds more. If he answered who her father was, she would only want to know more, why he left, why didn't he come back, why didn't the others know, and he finally realized the truth. For the past nine years he had helped raise her, care for her as if she was his own, had hidden her away in order to protected her from that evil that he knew still existed out in the universe waiting for the faintest sign of disorder to attack, and it finally came to him that he didn't want her to know who her father was, he didn't want her to ask about him, or where he was, when his sister had died she had entrusted him to take care of her. Not Isabelle's father, not the hyper force, him. And he wondered for the first time in all the years of caring for her if he could truly lie to Isabelle as he had been told to do until she reached the age her mother had asked him to tell her.

He looked at her once more taking in her pleading expression. He closed his eyes and let a breath out before answering…

888

There was a neutral silence between them as they walked. Not awkward, not comfortable just neutral. He watched her carefully searching for any signs of weariness, as he rolled the new information he had gained around in his mind. He hadn't realized what she had locked away in order to protect them. He looked into every memory he had of her, every smile, every laugh, every emotion she had ever shown, had been a, now that he really thought about it, shallow impression of what real emotions she had wanted to feel at a given time.

His anger was almost uncontrollable, not directed at her of course, never at her, but at those who had forced her into such a position. When he had regained his memories of the Alchemist he had admired him, but now…now was different. Nova had always been their creator's favorite, his little girl, but at the same time the Alchemist had made her subject to immense and seemingly uncalled for pain. She had been forbidden from feeling any emotion what so ever since practical birth, then taught how to show fake emotions in hopes of filling in the gapping hole they had ripped open in her soul. And still she believed that her being allowed emotions was dangerous idea because of that.

His daze was part way broken by her slipping a hand into his and giving it a reassuring squeeze seeming to sense his thoughts. His anger towards those who had condemned her in such a way faltered some and mixed with his own guilt for not realizing what was going on. In the very back of his mind where logical thinking took place he partially knew that no one could have known but as it was he was not one that even realized that he had a logical part of his mind and therefore allowed himself to be swallowed by the overwhelming guilt that his instincts caused. When they reached the temple he would have one or two questions, ones which were going to be answered.

888

His mother held him close to her as his father and uncles spoke to the crowd. He was much smarter then other children, already learning and understanding things that most adult weren't even taught until collage, but he had never been told the tale of the 'Darkest Hour' like so many other children. He had tried to pay attention during the annual speech of what had happened all those years ago, but his young age made staying awake during the tale with out getting distracted difficult. To many others his age the tale was the greatest story of heroism and bravery in the face of evil ever told. Every night millions of children all over the universe begged and pleaded to be told the sad but noble tale before bed, and yet he knew not even the real name of the 'One Lost'.

His eyes felt heavy and the world around him suddenly became very dark without his realization. Had he not been use to suddenly falling asleep without even knowing he was tired he might have been alarmed, but as it was he always fell asleep during the telling of the story…just before he learned something new too!

A second later he found himself standing in front of the podium, not where he had been a moment ago. Looking up he saw his father speaking, but…he didn't hear him, in fact he didn't hear anything. He looked over to where he had been a moment ago with his mother and saw…himself? Sure enough there 'he' was, sleep standing still while his mother kept him- or his body upright.

He felt a slight tug at his heart coming from the stage, turning back he saw his father and uncles again, only this time it was different. They were green, or at least bathed in green light. His uncles Gibson and Otto not nearly as much, but his father and his grandpa Antauri were almost blinding to look at.

Then he heard it, a soft lull of a voice. It was nothing more then a whisper in the wind, but he could still hear the promise of truth within it. The words were low and almost impossible for him to hear, but somehow he still knew what it was they were saying. It was the story, the story of the 'Darkest Hour', but it was different. He had never heard the tale but somehow he just knew that this was the truth of it, and all other versions would be unknown lies. The voice died down and seemed to seep away into the shadows with in a second of him hearing it in the first place.

The green light around the members of his family on the temporary stage seemed to die down some, or at least in comparison to the blinding gold and pink light that shone from the grave. He closed his eyes in attempts to block it out but to no avail. Instead he felt his stomach lurch as if he was suddenly in a free fall. He opened his eyes in shock at the sudden feeling only to find that the temple and people had melted away to reveal nothing but black, black and more black. In the darkness that surrounded him he vaguely heard a maniacal laughter, soon followed by walking bones seeming to appear out of no where looking to be held together with nothing more then the blackness that surrounded them. He closed his eyes again in attempts to block out the sight of grotesque creatures.

"Antar. Antar, you have to wake up. Skeleton King only has control over you if you sleep in this place now you must WAKE! UP!" The pure determination and urgency of the female voice within his mind seemed to take control of his young body. He felt something within him quiver and jump to life, some power push out from deep within his soul. He opened his eyes only to find green all around him glowing brighter and brighter until it seemed to blind him. Slowly the green light changed to reveal the hot sun high above him only blocked out by the worried faces of his family.

888

They were nearly there now, the sun just smudging the dark sky above them. She knew he only meant well but his constant asking if she was alright was getting on her last nerve. They only had another ten, twenty minutes of walking left and she was about ready to beat him to a small puddle of mushy paste in near oh…0.5 seconds. And really could anyone blame her? Unending hours upon unending hours of him attempting to coddle her would drive anyone to murder.

She stopped herself suddenly, moments away from her fist connecting to his jaw. A few steps ahead he noticed her lack of movement and too stopped. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when she signaled for him to be quiet; obviously confused by what was happening he closed his mouth. Quietly she pulled him over against one of the stone boulders pulling out her fists in preparation for the battle she knew was bound to come. In the darkness the shadows provided for them in the pre-morning hours she felt him pull out his magnets beside her, his tail subconsciously entwining with hers in an instinctual claim. They waited in silence, the pressure of who in the unseen standoff would break first all around them. A moment, two, she suddenly heard movement in front of them and leaped to the side with him in tow barley avoiding the rather familiar energy attack. He shifted them somehow so that he was the one to take on the full force of their fall, but she still had managed to get hit on the head by one of the rocks that had gone flying in the explosion. Vaguely she could see that their opponent was in the light now, allowing them to see his mutated form. She felt the grip on her tighten at the sight of who they fought.

She caught their opponent shout: "You!" at the sight of them but that was the last thing she could make out as the dim light of morning seemed to fade to complete blackness and pain.

888

It wasn't right .It was right for them to be standing there telling her tale, it wasn't right that she was forced to lie in the cold ground below them, and it wasn't right that the team was no longer a team. None of it, absolutely none of it was right!

He had lost one parental figure once be it temporary or not. He wasn't sure even now after so many years that he could handle the pain of her being lost gave him. She had been like the mother he had never known, always there always strong. She always had a smile on her face or a kind word to gently push him to be more confidant in his own capabilities. He could recall the times that she had cared for him when he was sick or injured, and all the times he had shared laughing with her and the rest of the team. But those were happier times, times that seemed so dim now.

They were just memories now, just faded pictures in his mind and faint whispers of the laughter he once knew. He had often found himself lying awake at night staring at the ceiling, Antar curled in a ball between him and Jinmay claiming to have strange dreams he could not describe to them, thinking of how if he had stopped them from going to the planet she might still be there with them. Watching as Antar grew, as he learned, teaching him how to fight and defend himself, spoiling him rotten as only she would. He found it amazing at times how different they were without her there. She had been, without them even realizing it; the heart of their strange little family. Always there when they needed her, always ready to fight to death for them, they had been so use to her being there to comfort and sooth them that they had forgotten exactly what hell their lives would be without her. Was it so much for him to ask for her to come back? To bring back the joy and life that had gone when she died?

888

He waited by her side as the people around him ran about in absolute chaos, some shouting things to others, some just running, there were even one or two of them just standing there staring. He had stopped asking what was wrong long ago and was currently just hoping that someone would tell him what was going on. He knew that she would be fine, that she would pull through with barely a scratch on her and a prideful smirk on her face. But this knowledge did nothing to soothe him at the moment, when she was laying unresponsive to the world. He had been told at one point by the one who had attacked them that it hadn't been realized that they weren't part of the enemy that had been attacking the temple so viciously until it was too late. He hadn't responded he couldn't. Not to him. Not after what he did to her, purposely or not.

He remained silent as they took her to a back room to be healed by their magic. Watching mutely as an elderly woman that held a striking resemblance to the Alchemist gently pulled a blanket up to her chin and whispered to him that she would be all right. That they would heal her and she would be able to speak with him in a matter of hours. But he still couldn't find any comfort in what was being said to him, not until she was there by his side threatening to hit upside the head for whatever reason. So in silence he sat outside her chamber and waited, def to the world around him, for at that moment only she mattered.

888

She waited patiently for his reply. A feat within itself as she had never been a patient one. But for this she was, she would wait an eternity (which to her this slight pause as her uncle took in a breath felt like) just to hear the name of her father. Her mother had never mentioned his name in her living years, though she had spoken highly of him, and her uncle had avoided the question like the plague. She had begged her grandfather for the information when he had been summoned from the other side, though he seemed just as afraid of answering as her uncle was. And she had no one else that knew other then the other Keepers, and unfortunately for her they had passed away long ago in the 'Darkest Hour'. Her uncle opened his mouth and her hopes soared. "I will tell you," She practically screeched in anticipation of what was going to say, "On your tenth birthday. Now I must be going Isabelle, there is much in the temple that I have to attend to." And with that final over pronunciation of her name he was gone, leaving her just slightly miffed at him…just slightly (coughcoughshewantstokillhimcoughcough). Resisting the thought of screaming at the top of her lungs with strength she didn't know she had, she settled for an angry huff and plopping down on the ground with her arms crossed in front of her.

"Coward…"

888

She could only watch from afar as the mass of people gathered. It was so much easier for people to come now that transporters were available making the long trip last only a few seconds. But this fact was wasted on her; she had no care for the 'memoriam' that they held. True she took great joy in seeing all the familiar faces but the fact that those faces were disfigured in sorrow and mourning sickened her.

Antar had been nearly over run by him, and he was at a previously safe distance. Thankfully the boy was as strong, if not stronger; then his father and was able to reject his influence on his young soul, but there would be damage she knew.

For years she had kept him asleep during the telling of the tale, if only to allow him to be open to the truth for when she told him. She had made a desperate move, with him growing stronger in the darkness, she had hurried her plan along a few years in hopes that it would help keep him at bay for a time. But such a hasty decision had left an opening for him to escape and attempt to overcome the boy's young mind with darkness and evil.

He knew the way now, how she couldn't understand, but somehow he had found out what great secret she had hidden from him. And now they were in danger, not just young Antar and the rest of the hyper force, but her little Isa as well. The whole universe was in danger of the greatest evil in the universe being released. She was thankful that her daughter was kept away from her tomb, she knew her strength but it still wouldn't be enough to block him out if she ever became too close. Thank Shoogazoom for her brother's constant over protectiveness of his niece. But it wouldn't matter how far away the two were from the tomb if the dark being she was imprisoned with grew any more powerful, there was only a little time left now, and if the plan wasn't put into action soon they would all feel the price of his rage.