So here we go again with a chapter. I'm satisfied so far with how this story is turning out. It's a lot of fun to write and it gives me more freedom since it's an alternate universe story. I haven't had very many chapters focusing on Astral and Shark yet, so here's another. This time we get to see what they're doing at the time. It's kind of cliché, but I need to bring the two story lines together. I'm not sure if I want to make Astral and Shark a couple. It seems a little odd, and it would fit a little better in the story. So I probably won't make them a couple.
Thanks to CrusoeTheWhiteDragon, Sakura Tsukumo, and thor94 for your reviews! You have no idea how much it helps me to see that people like my work. Thanks to YuGiOhRox and CatLoverx33! Also thanks to everyone who has dropped a favorite or followed. This story has 6 followers and 5 people who favorited. So thanks for your support!
Anyway, let's get right on to the chapter.
Chapter Seven: Intuition
Astral wasn't how, but he knew that something was wrong. He felt it deep within his heart, as if he knew that something had happened. It made him nervous, more nervous than he had felt in such a long time. And he knew that it had to do with Black Mist. Was he causing trouble again? No that wasn't it. More than that he felt that his brother was in danger.
The thought terrified him. The last time he had felt such a deep and horrible foreboding was when Black Mist had gone missing for two years. He'd never understood it then. He was rather young. They were both around six human years or so he imagined. Now they were around fifteen. They had aged while sealed in those keys.
Astral opened his eyes, taking in the same scene. Inside the key it appeared to be a deserted portion of Astral world. No one came here. But a giant space ship like puzzle floated in the middle, only solved and unlocked farther by the Numbers he collected. Even now he could hear them whispering, greeting each other. There were only five of them here now counting himself. It wasn't nearly enough. But it was a start at least. Shark was a very good battler. Though his real name was Nasch he still asked the Astrian that he call him Shark. That way his identity could remain hidden for a while longer.
There were dark blue sands, and a dark sky where every now and then red lightning flashed. The structure within the key hummed lightly as it clicked and moved in whatever purpose it had been designed for. Blue particles floated slightly in the air, which he moved through with ease. He turned his eyes through the whole structure. But the unease remained.
What was going on that could make him fear for his brother so much? Last time he had just disappeared and they had been attacked again and again by a single man until anytime they drew close to one area in particular. He wasn't sure why though. He'd never figured it out. But he knew what the man looked like, Astrian in form with long blonde hair, red tips and bangs, and red eyes. His black skin and red markings reminded Astral uncomfortably of Black Mist. Then suddenly when Black Mist had appeared and Astral had tried to greet his brother he had snapped and attacked.
Yes but out of fear. He was sure of that. People didn't want to believe it. They just said that he was evil like they had been conditioned to since they were children. He was evil and that was that. Astral had refused to accept it. But he had been unable to do anything. To think that his brother had made it here to the human world...
But it still didn't explain why he was so nervous. It felt like he was losing a part of himself. If he let it slip away, then where would it go? Would he be the same without it? Somehow he knew in his very heart that Black Mist was in trouble. He needed his help. But his brother hated everything didn't he? What would he need to be saved from at all? Disturbed and feeling lonely he decided to appear and speak to Shark.
The world outside of the key was dark, and the moon shone brightly. Shark was sleeping now, curled up instinctively in a ball against a tree as if to fend off some attack. He was Barian, and usually like Astral he would enter a dream like sleep that would sustain him but not make him fall completely asleep. But his human form was beyond exhausted because of their last battle. He wasn't going to be able to keep up this pace much longer if they weren't careful. Slowly and a little regretfully, Astral reached forward and shook Shark's shoulder gently.
"Shark," he called softly. "Shark wake up. I need to speak with you."
The Barian groaned, obviously not wanting to wake up. His very body was protesting against it. His touch had been gentle, but enough to rouse him from sleep. He stirred a little and began to awaken, but that didn't stop the groan and yawn that appeared from his lips as his body blatantly protested being awoken. Shark opened his eyes and blinked sleep from them, but it didn't stop the irritated scowl from appearing on his face as he looked at the Astrian.
"Astral it's in the middle of the night," Shark complained quietly. "What do you want?"
"I'm not sure," the Astrian replied truthfully. "But something is wrong. I can sense it."
"Wrong how?" Shark asked, sitting up and looking at Astral with more interest in his eyes now.
"It's Black Mist," Astral replied. "I'm not sure how, but he's in danger. I've felt like this only once before. When he just disappeared for so long."
Now Shark really did seem concerned. He knew that Astral didn't just bring something up for no reason. Also for him to be really worried about something enough to wake him in the middle of the night it had to be pretty bad. Also, the fact that he was sure that Black Mist was in some sort of trouble was odd too. Black Mist was supposed to be insane right? He wouldn't be a normal target then, not for anyone. It didn't make sense any way he looked at it. As much as he tried to make sense of it, he couldn't quite do it. Why in the world would Black Mist be in trouble?
"I'm not sure what to think," Shark admitted. "It's odd to say the least. But why do you think he'd be in trouble?"
"I'm not sure," Astral replied worriedly. "I just know that something is very wrong. I fear for him, and for Yuma. But why would I feel this way?"
They were both quiet for a long time. Shark just sat there, trying to think of all of the ideas that he could possible come up with why on Earth Astral would be so worried about his brother. He couldn't really think of anything, try as he might. He wasn't sure what he going to do. But he knew that he had to figure out what was going on. He looked up.
"Well, has this happened before?" he asked.
"Once," Astral replied. "When he disappeared before. There was always a single man there, and he kept fighting us and turning us back. We couldn't defeat him."
"A man?" Shark asked. "Who?"
"I don't know," Astral replied. "He looked Astrian, but he was definitely Barian. His skin was black with red marks, and his hair was long and blonde with red in it."
Shark's jaw dropped, and he stared at Astral with horror. Astral froze upon seeing that look on the boy's face, confused and a little frightened now. Shark knew exactly who this was even though he had been reborn as a human and his memories as a Barian Emperor were foggy now. It was an image that had always haunted him. He had hurt his sister and he had taken control of his friends. He knew he had a duty to stop him, though he wasn't entirely sure how.
"Astral," Shark said. "Do you have any idea who you've just described to me? That's Don Thousand! Your brother was kidnapped by Don Thousand!"
Astral's jaw dropped and he froze. Even though Astral had never met Don Thousand he knew who he was. He knew his evil and the plans he was rumored to be taking. His father hadn't wanted to believe that Don Thousand had been resurrected from that seal. But it now made far too much sense why his brother had become the way he had. He felt fear in his heart suddenly, pure terror. If this feeling was the same as before, then could there be a chance that it had happened again?
"Shark," Astral cried. "I think it's happened again! Black Mist is in trouble somewhere, and Don Thousand is involved!"
"This is bad," Shark growled. "Who knows what Don Thousand's planning. Even if Black Mist is insane, Don Thousand is more so. And if he has Black Mist then he has Yuma! They'll both be in terrible danger!"
Both paused, looking at the other. There was fear and understanding in their eyes now. Astral knew that his brother was not evil. He'd heard how cruel Don Thousand was and how he could make people do what he wanted and how he wanted it by his voice and gaze alone. Astral was more afraid for his brother than he had been when he hadn't known the truth, because now he knew the terrible reason for his change and that his brother was in that same trouble again. Astral opened his mouth to say something, but Shark quickly cut him off and glanced to his left.
They dashed out of sight as quickly as they could, hunkering down into the shadows of the night and waiting. They both paused, noticing that there were two Barians in front of them. They were quite obviously Barians, considering one had orange skin and the other had a very dark purple skin color, and neither had mouths. They paused, looking around. One of them sighed.
"I told you there was nothing here," he said. "Why are we out here anyway?"
"We're looking for the other pair," the second replied. "We can't have another Key Master running around and ruining what we're working for. Besides, the more Numbers we can keep them from gathering the better?"
"So what?" the other asked. "Are we supposed to capture them too?" Both Shark and Astral froze, realizing that they had been right. Yuma and Black Mist had been captured by Don Thousand!
"No," the second sighed. "We're supposed to kill them."
"I don't get it though," the first grumbled. "Why do we have to kill them? If he wants them dead so much then why don't we kill the other two?"
"Fool," the other hissed. "Because Don Thousand needs them. All three races must be present at the end."
"They've already refused to work with Don Thousand or hand over the Numbers they've collected," the first complained, to the surprise of Astral and Shark. "It turns out that boy's still far too Astrian. I heard that he isn't insane anymore either. As if something like that could happen. Wounds like that don't just heal over night."
"It was probably the boy," the second guessed. "That Astrian is ferocious, but he's more so if anyone approaches that boy. I wouldn't find yourself standing between them if I were you, not unless you want your guts spread all over the wall. Even if he's not insane, he's mean because he had to grow to be. He doesn't trust easily and he attacks those he sees as a threat. I'd stay away from them." The two hiding boys were just dumbfounded at stared at the two Barians. The first shuddered.
"Well," he said nervously. "We haven't found them. We should go back."
"I suppose," the second relented. "There isn't much more we can do here."
The two Barians opened a portal and stepped through. The portal closed and there was silence suddenly as they waited in the bushes. Slowly they turned to look at each other, and horror was evident on both of their faces. They had been right. Yuma and Black Mist had been captured by Don Thousand. Not only that, but Yuma had somehow brought Black Mist back to his right mind and they had refused to help Don Thousand. But then an even more frightening though came to Astral.
"Shark," Astral cried. "What if Black Mist decides to send his Numbers to me? If he sent the Number that is him to me then he would die!"
The thought obviously had distressed Astral a lot, and it made Shark snarl a little too. If it was true and Black Mist wasn't insane anymore, then he might just rather take that way out than let Don Thousand control him. Besides the fact that they would be losing a potential ally, Shark couldn't shake the thought that Black Mist was the only thing that was keeping Don Thousand and the Barians serving him from hurting Yuma to force him to do as they wanted. And that wasn't something that he could just take so easily.
"I have an idea," Shark said. "It's risky. The transmission could get interrupted or someone could find it other than who I am trying to send it to, but we have to try. If I can create a contact with someone from my planet enough, I might be able to get them to find a way to break Black Mist and Yuma out. It's their only hope of escape."
"We have to take the chance," Astral cried. "I can't let him hurt my brother again! And I won't just let him hurt Yuma either! I can't just let him continue to hurt anyone, not now that I know what's going on!"
"I know," Shark said gently, laying his hand on Astral's shoulder. Tears were sliding down Astral's both terrified and infuriated face. "I understand. I truly do. I'll give it a try. I can't just sit by and let this happened either. It's our fault that Don Thousand is here to cause trouble in the first place. We thought he was gone for good. Vector tried to warn us, and we didn't heed him. He was the first to go, and he went insane soon after. I don't think he'll ever be the same. But I was a fool to ignore him, and he was hurt because of me. I have to try my best to put a stop to this."
Astral watched, still trembling with both rage and fear and waiting not at all patiently. He really was upset, Shark decided. Astral had always been so patient and calm about everything. To see him so worked up was odd to say the least. He closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully reaching out to his world with his mind, looking through the people he found there until he found one in particular.
Lias, he called softly.
Sorry for the wait on this one guys! It took a while for me to figure out what exactly I wanted to happen in this chapter. Lias is an OC and is female. She is also going to have some significant importance in the next chapter (and there are several characters named Lias and I'll explain why that is next chapter when I get to that point). She won't be seen much at this point in the story, though she might come back later. Might. I guess we'll see when we get there. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll get right to work on the next chapter.
