Chapter 25: To Boldly Go
Sora uneasily glanced around, sweeping his eyes over the hoard of Heartless around him. It felt like he was back in the Great Maw, fighting the Battle of a Thousand Heartless. With a fierce battle cry, he charged the throng.
He blinked once, and suddenly he was surrounded by an angry mob of pigs and chickens. Several animals pounced and Sora responded with a Firaga spell. The scent of cooking bacon and eggs reached his nose, making his mouth water.
A particularly large chicken knocked Ultima Weapon out of Sora's grasp, staring at him with hungry eyes. It opened its huge beak to swallow him whole, a menacing growl emanating from its gullet...
Sora's eyes snapped open.
He was still in Karai's guestroom, safely tucked in bed, but the comfortable warmth of Kairi's body against his chest was gone. The dream was over, but the wonderful aroma still filled his nostrils and his stomach growled again.
Breakfast!
He kicked the sheets off and grabbed his clothes, shoving them on as he hobbled for the kitchen. A leg was working its way into his pants as he hopped across the threshold, his entrance far from graceful. As usual, Sora was the last to arrive.
"Told you he'd come running," Kairi said smugly, making everyone laugh.
With a grin, Sora slid into a chair and picked up his utensils. "Food is good," he said, pronouncing 'food' so that it rhymed with 'good.'
"And there's plenty of it," Karai assured him, placing the last serving dish on the table, a big bowl of eggs right under Sora's nose. He eagerly reached for it, only to have his hand slapped away by his girlfriend. She caught his eye and nodded to the rest of the table, who were holding hands and bowing their heads. Chagrined, Sora quickly did likewise.
"Lord, thank you for bringing us together this day," Justin prayed, "thank you for strengthening us in these dark times, and bless Sora and Kairi for making all this possible." Sora felt his face grow hot and had to concentrate on keeping quiet. "In your Son's name we pray. Amen."
Everyone answered with an emphatic, "Amen."
For a while, Karai's family ate with the group of friends and chatted amiably about inconsequential things. But soon, the plates became empty. Tony and Malae left to start their days while Karai began clearing the table. The weight of the task at hand began settling on them as surely as breakfast was settling in their stomachs.
"What are you going to do now?" J'nel finally questioned.
"Find the source of this darkness and eliminate it," Sora answered decisively.
"You know what's causing this?" Irene gasped.
Sora deflated a little. "Not a clue." Sure, in the end it came down to Astan, but that didn't help them find the direct source.
Irene laughed. "Sometimes you sound so much like K'nsolear."
"But I'm not," Sora was quick to point out a little too emphatically. "I'm not a prophet," he babbled on in a crazed tone. "The prophecies are a part of this world. I'm not, so don't expect anything prophetic from me." He eyed them, daring them to contradict him. The last thing he wanted was for their expectations to rise higher than his capabilities.
"Okay, okay," Irene retracted. "Yeesh, no need for the third degree." She grinned mischievously. "Nice speech though. Have you been practicing?"
Sora bristled and scowled, folding his arms across his chest. Karai's attempt at hiding her chuckling didn't go unnoticed either.
"We know you're no prophet," Justin assured him. "But you are the key to stopping this darkness."
Sora resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Got that right," he muttered under his breath.
"Still," Max interjected, "K'nsolear always knew what to do, even if he didn't know why. Surely you must have an idea."
Sora frowned in thought. Max had a point. He closed his eyes and tried to snatch the snippets of his dream in an attempt to make sense of it, but only a sentence came to mind, the single L'Guan sentence: A vel che ye en G'yevena fan te s'tin k've d'nilet. He pushed it to the back of his mind, but it just kept floating back up as if it wanted to be said. With a sigh, he gave in.
"What does 'A vel che en G'ye–"
J'nel leapt out of his chair and tackled Sora in an attempt to cover his mouth. "Do not say those words," J'nel hissed worriedly. "Those are words spoken by a martyr marching to death."
"I don't plan on martyring myself," Sora said through J'nel's hand.
J'nel somehow understood. "Call me superstitious, but I believe it is better that you not say them." His forehead creased in concern. "Destiny does not heed the players on her stage." Very cautiously, J'nel released Sora. When the boy said nothing, he relaxed back into his seat, but he and Karai both kept looking at him as if he'd already died.
Unfortunately, the words were not satisfied. They kept teasing Sora's thoughts until he could not concentrate on anything else. Desperately, he gazed at his surroundings, hoping they would give an answer. His eyes fell upon a photograph hanging in the hallway. Without preempt, he strode over to it.
It was one of several photographs in the hallway, all of them depicting various buildings and structures. The one that had caught Sora's eye was of what looked to be a starfish-shaped building with four other buildings approximately at the corners of the area outlined by the starfish. Something that looked like a retractable dome was half up...or was it half down? The world itself seemed desolate and barren.
"Each of these pictures is of a place that played a significant part in our lives," Karai explained from behind him. Sora was so absorbed in thought that he hardly registered her. "I put them up as a reminder that even our worst trials also held joy."
"Mmm hmm," Sora hummed distractedly. There was something familiar about the buildings...
"This is Colony III-α," Karai continued, "where I met Tony and where I became unafraid of my genetics."
With a jolt, the image of a metallic ruin on a desolate world filled with darkness crashed to the forefront of his mind. The buildings had toppled, but the edges were still there: the curve of the dome, the branches of the starfish. This is where they needed to go.
"How do we get there?" Sora asked, snapping out of his reverie and turning to Karai.
She blinked back owlishly, caught off guard by Sora's abrupt attention. "You can't go there, right now," she recovered. "The Trezena burned up the atmosphere with their weapons when they attacked the colony. There's no air left to breathe. And the colony itself is away from the sun right now. If the storms don't kill you, the cold will."
"Harfet made air for us on his ship with that fancy computer of his," Irene mused. "Heck, he made the ship with it." She placed a finger on her lip in thought. "And if I recall correctly, Dehtar did something similar, didn't he?"
With a small shake of her head, Karai managed to compose herself. "Yes, he did, but you'd need one of those computers to do so."
In response, Max reached into his shirt and pulled out what looked like a spinning, whirling ball of light. The way the light tumbled around inside whatever held it together was almost hypnotic.
"I thought you couldn't find it," Karai said wearily.
"We couldn't find the one K'nsolear had used," Justin explained. "This must be a new one." He glanced at Max with a small grin and shook his head in wonder.
Max just shrugged, "Seemed like a good idea."
"What's it do?" Sora mused, wandering back to the table. Without pausing to consider the stupidity of his actions, he reached a hand out toward the mesmerizing device. A beam of orange light shot from Sora's palm and splashed against the outer covering on the computer. With a yelp, Sora jumped back.
"It converts thoughts and emotions into energy, and energy into matter," Jocea chastised, cupping the whirling ball in her hands, "and you wear your emotions on your sleeves...strong ones."
"Uh...heh heh." Sora grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Oops."
"So," J'nel started, emphasizing with his hands, "we have the computer. Now we just need someone who can master it."
Just then, a rainbow of color spouted like a fountain from the computer in Jocea's hands and tumbled to the floor. She watched what she had wrought for a few seconds with calm interest. Then, her brow furrowed slightly in concentration. The next second, the light had turned into water, creating an actual fountain that gushed briefly before all the water vanished, leaving everything as dry as before.
Jocea glanced around the table at all the stares she was getting and shrugged. "Seems simple enough. It just requires a lot of concentration."
"If you say so," Irene said, rolling her eyes. A hint of a frown was tugging at the corners of Karai's mouth. "None of us ever really got the hang of it."
Jocea just shrugged nonchalantly again. "I guess it's in my blood." The corners came down further.
"Nai j'kecha!"" J'nel snorted.
"That's settled, then," Sora concluded enthusiastically. "Now we just need a way to get there." He wistfully thought of his days in the Highwind with Donald and Goofy, lamenting that his new method of travel, while faster, was not nearly so fun.
The friends shared a quick grin with one another. "A trip to Colony III-α to battle the darkness?" Justin mused jokingly. "Sounds like a job for the S'teronah."
"The S'teronah?" Sora gasped. "Really?" The peerless ship had been described to him in all its glories and now his hands itched to get ahold of the controls.
"Hmph," J'nel huffed. "I suppose that means we should all come along and make sure you can pilot it without breaking it." He made a big show of being reluctant, but Sora could tell he didn't mean it.
"So, you're going to come with us?" Kairi posed.
"Yes, yes," J'nel said impatiently. "Zasch Raphfredia t'reyon re danecha t'va te d'nel o ma," he muttered under his breath, throwing Sora and Kairi an affectionate smile. The others also nodded their confirmations...all except Karai.
"You're not coming?" Sora asked, surprised.
"No," Karai stated simply. "My time came long ago. This is your time now."
Sora nodded in understanding. Sometimes you just have to step back and trust someone else to get things done. "So what happened to the S'teronah?" Sora wondered, remembering his excitement.
"The new government decided that it should be returned to its rightful owner not long ago," Karai answered with a smile. "But, since its rightful owner was K'nsolear, they returned it to me, instead."
Sora grabbed the edge of the table to keep his hands from shaking too badly. "Where is it?" he burst, failing to keep the eagerness in his voice contained. Several people around the table giggled at his enthusiasm.
The smile on Karai's face grew larger and a few chuckles escaped. "In the backyard." She gestured towards the window. "You can actually see it from here –" Her smile turned sly. "– when the cloaking device isn't on." Sora's eyes bugged. All this time he'd been yards from the most magnificent ship he'd ever heard of without knowing it! "We really should find a better place for it," Karai finished off-handedly.
Irene had a hand over her mouth, trying to compose herself. "Maybe we should go take a look now," Irene suggested. "Sora looks like he's about to pop." Her statement wasn't so far from the truth.
A few minutes later found Sora standing in awe, gazing at the magnificent (now-visible) hull of the S'teronah, the Star of Tomorrow. It was not much bigger than a Gummi ship, but Gummi blocks tended to look, well...blocky, whereas the S'teronah had a grace and beauty to it that no Gummi could ever attain. He ran a hand over the iridescent hull, his palm gliding effortlessly across the surface.
"Some ship," Kairi breathed from beside him. Even she could tell that this ship was something to behold.
"How's she handle?" Sora asked reverently.
"Effortlessly," Justin replied. "Almost like she can read your thoughts."
"Maneuverability?"
"She could weave through all these trees without knocking off even a leaf."
"Thrusters?"
"Hover to top speed in less than a minute."
"Weapons?"
"Some lasers, but mostly energy weapons. There's enough to blow apart an asteroid the size of the ship, though."
"Shields?"
"Powerful enough to survive a head-on collision with said asteroid."
Sora whistled in appreciation. "And a cloaking device, to boot!"
"Well don't just stand there gawking," J'nel teased from the boarding platform. "Come check out the bridge."
The bridge was surprisingly humble, considering how marvelous the ship was; seven stations placed around a captain's chair with a large viewing screen in the front. But, wait! Sora began counting on his fingers: Sora, Kairi, Justin, J'nel, Max, Irene, Jocea.
Justin chuckled at him, easily guessing what Sora was thinking. "Don't worry," he assured. "I doubt we'll ever use all seven stations simultaneously."
"Besides," Irene threw in, "Justin's the only one of us who really knows how to work this thing."
"Ahem," Max coughed discreetly. "Who figured out how to create a rip? Or run the environment scans? Or –"
"Yeah," Irene interrupted, "but you haven't been taught this stuff."
Sora walked by the stations, casually examining them. All the screens and panels and buttons were much more complex than anything he'd encountered in a Gummi, but they were similar enough. He managed to pick out controls for the weapons, thrusters, wings, and steering. He ran his hand wistfully along the steering column, eager to take off.
"Hold your horses," J'nel chastised. "One: Justin pilots. Two: We're not provisioned yet. It'll take a few days to get to Colony III-α."
"Aw," Sora pouted. He scuffed his foot on the ground in disappointment, his hopes of piloting this phenomenal ship gone.
With a chuckle, J'nel ruffled Sora's hair. "Maybe if you ask nicely, Justin will give you a turn."
Having finished with the tour, the others began exiting the ship, Sora reluctantly following. Karai stood waiting at the bottom of the boarding platform.
"Everything is in working order?" she queried.
"As far as I can tell," Justin answered. "All we need to do now is stock up on supplies."
"Feel free to take whatever we have," Karai offered. She smiled sheepishly. "I've been anticipating this for a while and am well prepared."
"Thank you," Justin responded gratefully with a polite bow of his head.
Irene took a step forward. "Alright, then," she enthused, "let's get packing!"
A short while later, all the provisions were safely stowed in the S'teronah. All that was left was to say goodbyes. One by one, they received words of encouragement from Tony and Karai, plus silent encouragement from Malae. Karai also insisted on getting hugs from all of them.
"It was nice meeting all of you," Kairi said as her turn came up.
"Yeah," Sora added his agreement. "And thanks for letting us stay with you."
Tony smiled gently at them. "Believe me, the pleasure is all ours," he said sincerely. He shook both of their hands gratefully.
"It's the least we could do to repay you," Karai professed. "You have already helped us more than you can imagine."
"And stop back if you're ever in the area," Tony said, giving Sora a clap on the shoulder.
"Yes," Karai added, "our house is always open to you."
And last in line to say goodbye was Jocea. Karai and Tony both embraced their daughter tightly for several long moments. Then Malae and Jocea clasped hands briefly, sharing a silent farewell.
"I'll see you soon," Jocea said with firm reassurance. She turned without a word and walked toward the S'teronah.
As the boarding platform began rising, Tony gave them a last wave. "Good luck!" he called out.
"Be safe!" Karai added. She watched the S'teronah rise gracefully through the trees and disappear from view with a bit of motherly trepidation. Not for Jocea; she knew they would all keep her safe. Not for their task, either; she fully Believed in these two extraordinary children.
It was Sora she worried for. He'd known the sacred words. While he hadn't said them all out loud, Karai knew information wasn't handed out on a whim by Fate. Only the information needed to fulfill Destiny was given. Sora had been given the words, just like K'nsolear's mother.
And K'nsolear's mother had been Fated to die.
Sora was still staring in amazement at the bridge and out its viewing screen half an hour after take off. The ship was even more magnificent in action. It turned on a dime and accelerated to speeds Sora hadn't ever imagined, but on the bridge, you could barely tell it was moving at all. The colors of hyperspace swirled past them as the S'teronah headed for Colony III-α.
"Think fast!" J'nel shouted at him.
"Huh?" Sora shook himself out of his trance in time to catch the plunger J'nel had thrown at him. The N'Darie had a broom in his hands.
"Nice reflexes," J'nel approved with a satisfied nod. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he lunged at Sora with the broom, wielding it like it was a double-ended weapon.
"Woah!" Sora uttered, hastily blocking with the plunger. J'nel was fast!
J'nel swung at Sora's head and, when Sora blocked again, brought the other end around and caught Sora's thigh. Sora responded with a whack on J'nel's shoulder.
They continued exchanging blows like this for several minutes, both landing a respectable number of hits, but the upper hand was clearly with J'nel. Sora would have to be creative to beat the N'Darie. After a blow that jarred the rubber end of his plunger, an idea formed in Sora's mind.
The next time J'nel moved for a downward strike, Sora swung up to meet it, causing the broom handle to bounce wildly off the rubber. While J'nel was briefly distracted with getting his weapon under control, Sora removed the rubber and chucked it at J'nel's face. J'nel caught it with ease, but this gave Sora the opening he was looking for. As soon as the first hand left the broom handle, Sora knocked the broom out of the second hand.
"Ha!" Sora cried triumphantly, tapping J'nel across the neck with the naked handle, ending the impromptu duel. J'nel stared at the rubber piece in his hand blankly, then up at Sora in surprise.
"J'nelefe!" Irene hollered, storming onto the bridge to glare pointedly at her fiancé. "I suppose you think it's funny to put my luggage on the shelf I can't reach." Justin, who'd been sitting inconspicuously at the cockpit the whole time, just sniggered. "And you'd better hope Karai's toilet doesn't clog while you have her plunger," she snapped.
The duelists glanced at their respective plunger parts, then at each other, then at Irene. The disapproval in her expression sent them both into a round of laughter.
When Irene continued to bore holes into J'nel's skull, he placated, "Alright, alright. I'll move it." He grabbed the handle from Sora and strode over to give his love a quick kiss. "Midget humans," he snorted amicably as he started down the hall. "I guess I'll have to find something else to do now."
Irene frowned in confusion. "What happened to training Sora and Kairi?" she shouted after him.
"Don't need it," he shouted back before turning a corner out of earshot. If Sora didn't know any better, he'd say J'nel sounded a little disappointed. Justin just sniggered again.
"Very creative," he remarked.
Sora snorted. "You would be too if you always fought guys who were stronger and faster than you."
"You still held your own, though," Justin pointed out, sounding impressed. "He hardly landed any hits on you."
"Seven," Sora grumped. That was a large number to him.
Justin chuckled. "That's low for J'nel. They were all minor areas, too. And he wasn't going easy on you, either."
Irene whistled in appreciation. "That is good." She paused, curiosity spreading across her face. "So...what happened to the plunger?"
Sora recounted the sparring match for Irene, who listened to it with excited wonder. When he was finished, she demanded more battle stories. Sora proceeded through some of the more light-hearted ones. He had just finished telling her about the time he accidentally tripped over his shoelaces and ended up disarming Riku in the resulting fall by sheer luck when J'nel walked back in.
"Finished!" he announced, then sighed. "Now I have nothing to do."
Justin grinned mischievously. "I'm sure you and Irene can find something to do," he teased suggestively.
"Jay!" they both protested, which only made Justin laugh. Pretty soon, Irene couldn't help but laugh with him, despite her embarrassment. J'nel, however, had a blue tinge to his face. As the two continued laughing, he just stood poker straight with the blue tinge growing alarmingly.
"Guys," Sora said worriedly, "guys, I think J'nel's choking."
J'nel closed his eyes as Justin and Irene laughed harder, his face growing bluer still. "I'm not choking, I'm blushing," he forced out quickly.
"Oh," Sora peeped, heat rising in his own cheeks. Blue blood... Right...
Justin and Irene laughed harder still and soon the other two joined them, the laughter echoing around the bridge.
Having finished settling in, Kairi wandered down the residence wing, peering through open doors as she went. She glimpsed Max through one of them, his nose in something very technical looking. He had a focused frown on his face, so Kairi just moved on.
Kairi found Jocea in the next open room. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her hands clasped in her lap. She also had her eyes closed, an intense frown on her face, but every once in a while, she would shiver violently and the frown would turn into a fierce snarl.
Worried for the girl, Kairi stepped through the threshold into a wall of frigid air. "Goodness!" she yelped, rubbing her arms vigorously. She took a few more steps into the room. "Why's it so cold in here?" When she reached the bed, though, the temperature instantly became more comfortable.
"Hmm..." Kairi hummed, impressed. "Good heater." Suddenly, the temperature dropped again and Jocea's scowl returned.
She scowled for a few seconds more before sighing, "Computer, twenty-five degrees." The whole room began warming quickly. Groaning, Jocea lifted a hand to her temple and began rubbing it, letting Kairi glimpse the whirling ball in her other hand.
"Practicing?" Kairi asked politely as understanding rushed her. The girl nodded shyly and swung her legs over the bed so Kairi could sit next to her. Beads of sweat stood out on her brow, still half-frozen. Jocea quietly regarded the computer in her hands, then placed it on the bedside table.
"Enough for now," she mumbled tiredly.
"Why did you have the door open?" Kairi wondered. If she were Jocea, she'd want to practice in peace.
Jocea smiled slightly. "To practice ignoring distractions."
The more experienced girl sighed at her, memories of her own lessons with Sora and Riku coming back. "You shouldn't try to master everything at once," Kairi instructed, echoing what her friends had told her over and over. It wasn't until her brief lesson with Elizabeth that she'd really gotten the hang of how to practice. "Take it one thing at a time. Figure out what you need to do and make sure you can do it well first, then worry about doing it with distractions.
"But," the part-N'Darie girl protested, "what if I don't have enough time for that?" She grimaced with a gaunt expression. "Everyone is depending on me."
Sighing again, Kairi tucked some of Jocea's hair behind her ear, marveling at that one green strip. "Just like everyone is depending on Jay to fly the ship and everyone is depending on Max to do the smart stuff and everyone is depending on Sora to figure out just what the heck we're supposed to be doing." She smiled kindly. "We all have to play our parts, no matter how large or small. You don't have to carry everything alone."
Jocea looked at her with gratitude shining deep in her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered hoarsely, as if she were fighting tears. They sat together a few minutes more in silence before Kairi realized that the girl was still trying to compose herself.
"Is something else wrong?" Kairi coaxed, rubbing comforting circles on Jocea's back.
"No," Jocea murmured, "it's just...you remind me of my sister." Jocea looked up and Kairi saw that there were indeed the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "She always knew how to make me feel better." The girl gave a watery chuckle. "She knew how to make everyone feel better." She sighed and stared blankly at the wall.
"It's funny," Jocea remarked. "You and Sora are so different from Vindeflei and K'nsolear, but you're the same where it truly matters. K'nsolear could always make you feel confident in yourself like Sora can." Her face screwed up in a last effort to stem the flow of tears. "Then Vindeflei, she...she..."
Now the tears began to fall freely and Kairi gathered Jocea in a protective hug. It really was strange how much like a big sister Kairi felt at the moment; they were the same age, comparatively, and Jocea was older in reality. But, whatever hardships Jocea had endured so far in her life – for she was sure to have endured much, considering her family – she was still the youngest of three and used to having someone older and more mature to depend on. More mature, at least, fit Kairi's description.
Eventually, Jocea lifted her head from Kairi's shoulder. "Sorry about your shirt," she whispered apologetically. It was quite wet at this point.
"At least you don't cry blood like your mom," Kairi teased, producing a brief smile from the grieving girl. "Don't worry about it," Kairi said more seriously. "That's what friends are for."
"Friends..." Jocea repeated, mulling the concept over, like it was foreign to her. Which, Kairi reminded herself, it probably was. As if reading her thoughts, Jocea explained, "I don't have many friends. None of us ever really did. We've all been homeschooled. Vindeflei and K'nsolear had each other, but that was it. Truthfully, I was always a bit jealous of that." She bit her lip out of guilt. "It wasn't until after they left home that K'nsolear and Vindeflei made any close friends." Jocea sighed, gazing out the door with longing. "Those guys are nice, but they're K'nsolear and Vindeflei's friends, not mine."
Kairi understood that; it reminded her of Wakka's little brother, Chappu. Chappu was nice enough, but he was still Wakka's little brother and none of Wakka's close friends tried to get close to Chappu.
Kairi's heart ached for the poor soul who now sat next to her and she found herself sympathizing with Jocea. Not only that, Kairi genuinely liked Jocea and found herself wanting to know more about this sweet, quiet person who trusted her enough to open up to her.
"Well," Kairi started, "if I'm not mistaken, you're on your way to making a close friend right now." She gave Jocea the warmest smile she could muster.
Jocea gazed at her in shock. "Really?" she questioned hopefully, searching Kairi's face desperately.
"Really, really."
A look of joyous disbelief blossomed on Jocea's face, then she grinned sheepishly. "You are really easy to talk to," Jocea admitted ruefully, as if she should have come to Kairi's conclusion herself. "And no one's ever tried to get me to dance before."
Kairi just beamed at her new (potentially best) friend.
Dinner that night was rather lively. Boredom hadn't set in just yet, so everyone still had energy to joke. Sora was amused to see that Jocea sat next to Kairi without prompting and the two girls began friendly conversation. Leave it to his princess to make a new gal pal in a few hours.
J'nel, however, had been rather quiet. He participated minimally in conversations and seemed distracted the whole time. Finally, during a lull in the noise, he placed his elbows on the table and steepled his hands in front of his face, staring pointedly at Sora. The rest of the table focused on them, the serious mood spreading.
"What should we be expecting when we get to the colony?" he asked without preamble.
"Huh?" Sora grunted. Karai had made it clear to everyone that there were violent storms on Colony III-α, freezing temperatures, and no breathable atmosphere. Sora had also made it clear that he only knew that the source of the darkness was on Colony III-α, not what it was. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that you move like you've had to put your skills to good use, not like someone who's only sparred his whole life," J'nel replied seriously. Gazing hard at Sora, he stated more simply, "You are accustomed to battle."
"Yes..." Sora confirmed slowly. If it came down to a fight to take care of the darkness, Sora would take care of it like always. Anything they met on the way would be nothing. "Oh!" Sora exclaimed in realization. It would be nothing for Sora, but something for everyone else. "We might run into some small enemies. Everyone should at least be able to protect themselves."
J'nel nodded. Apparently this was the answer he was looking for. A mischievous grin formed on his face. "Guess I'm spending the rest of this trip teaching everyone else how to take care of themselves." He focused on Sora. "So what kind of small enemies are we talking about?"
Sora looked down with a frown, folding his arms. He debated quickly about what he should tell them. Well, if they could stomach the Shoac, they could probably handle what Sora had to tell. Briefly, he described the Heartless, Nobodies, and Halfhearted, as well as ways to defend against and/or attack them.
J'nel was deep in thought, no doubt trying to develop a suitable training regime. "Is that all?" he queried.
Sora bit his lip. He'd refrained from mentioning Astan and the Restless. Sora's silence prodded J'nel to look up. Feeling that he had to answer now, Sora said, "That's for me to worry about." Protests erupted around the table at this.
"We're in this together," Jocea's serene voice broke over top of everyone else. She fixed Sora with a calm stare. "You may be the one to battle this darkness, but we're here to support you."
Kairi smiled at her new friend and turned to her boyfriend. "Come on, Sora," she wheedled, taking Jocea's side. "You don't have to get into the details." She smirked, reading his doubts easily. "And, unless you plan on fighting weaponless, they'll find out about that anyway."
He sighed in defeat. The girls were right, of course. So he also briefly mentioned the Restless and Astan.
Max eyed Sora worriedly. "Can anyone be turned into a Restless?" he asked fearfully. A shock went through the table as the others guessed what he was really asking.
In answer, Sora rose from the table and backed away to give himself some room. "Did K'nsolear have anything like this?" He summoned his Keyblade for all of them to see.
"I think we'd remember something like that," Irene snorted in an effort to ease the tension.
Sora grinned at her, letting his Keyblade vanish. Turning back to Max, he decided to answer the question asked. "Only people who had something like that can be turned into a Restless."
"Damn," J'nel breathed. "Wish I had a weapon like that. What do you call it?"
"A Keyblade."
"How boringly appropriate," Max inserted with a straight face.
Irene giggled at him. "It's exciting enough on its own. It doesn't need an exciting name."
Sora and Kairi looked away from each other, trying not to laugh. Exciting? Talk about the understatement of the century.
The new pair of friends had locked themselves in one of the cargo bays this time. It wasn't that they didn't want anyone to disturb them; it's just that they thought everyone would appreciate not being able to walk into an oxygenless room accidentally. Jocea and Kairi themselves were wearing breathers, just in case. Presently, the "younger" girl was concentrating on keeping a candle flame lit. Kairi was there mostly for encouragement...and also to relight the candle with magic.
After a while, Jocea's shoulders slumped and the candle instantly guttered out. Kairi rubbed her back supportively, urging her to try again, but the girl just shook her head, indicating that she'd had enough for now. Their computer "wielder" had been improving, but she still had issues with her stamina giving out after a few hours.
Seeing Jocea's fatigue, Kairi guided her friend out of the cargo bay and to the mess hall. She forced Jocea to eat and drink to still her tremors and give some color back to her face. The poor girl always left her practice sessions looking completely drained.
Clasping her water cup and staring dully at it, Jocea murmured, "I don't have the heart for this."
"What?" Kairi said automatically, startled. "Don't be silly! Of course, you do."
"No, I don't," Jocea insisted miserably. "I'm trying to be strong, like Vindeflei and K'nsolear, but I just can't do it."
"Jocea," Kairi said sternly. "Why did you decide to come with us?"
She turned her face away in shame. "Because my heart told me to." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"Right!" Kairi exclaimed in triumph. "Your heart was called to us." She forced Jocea to look at her. "That means you are meant to do this."
"Maybe your method is flawed."
Both girls jumped at the sound of Max's voice. He smiled slightly at them in apology. "Sorry," he said a bit ruefully. "I overheard you talking." After a brief moment of thought, he decided to sit down across from them. "I must agree with Kairi. It is not coincidence that you are here." He paused. "Perhaps you should try approaching the problem from a different angle," he suggested.
"What do you mean?" Jocea demanded wearily.
Instead of answering, Max asked, "How do you fuel it? What do you put into it to get it to do what you want?"
Jocea blinked owlishly at him. "I will it and it happens."
A knowing smirk twitched at the corner of Max's mouth. "So, you are trying to fuel it with a continuous stream of emotion. No wonder you're having trouble."
"Well, what would you do?" she snapped at him.
He gazed at her kindly, ignoring the rudeness born of frustration. "You are turning emotions into energy into matter. I would just start from the energy and go straight to the matter." He grinned wryly at them. "There will be plenty of energy to use on Colony III-α."
"I thought it was in ruins," Kairi frowned.
Max chuckled, "Remember the storms?" They both nodded. "Well, I've been looking at the data and there's a point during the day when the storm peaks for an hour or so. It constantly hails with winds easily over 100mph. That's a lot of mechanical energy, right there. Not to mention the frequent lightning strikes." The wry grin curled further in amusement. "All you have to do is convert it. The storm will be protecting us from itself."
"Max, you're a genius!" Kairi beamed excitedly. Max just shrugged nonchalantly.
Jocea was sitting, stunned, her eyes wide and unseeing. Abruptly, she pushed away from the table and strode to a more open space. Almost reverently, she took out the computer and cradled it in her hands. Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. After a moment, the lights dimmed and the air cooled a bit as a shimmering bubble appeared around Jocea, easily several yards across.
Kairi held her breath, watching as Jocea slowly opened her eyes to examine her handiwork. Her friend was magnitudes calmer than earlier. "Kairi," she rushed in nervous excitement. "The candle?"
"Sure thing," Kairi responded in an equal tone. She dashed over and placed the object beyond Jocea's wall, lighting it with a Fire spell.
"Now throw something at me," Jocea commanded.
Quickly, Kairi snatched up Jocea's discarded cup and tossed it. She aimed to the side of the girl instead of at her, just in case, while still aiming through the shield. The cup sailed straight for the shimmering wall, met it, and even passed through it. As soon as it was through, though, it dropped to the floor like a rock. At the same moment, the candle flame burst into bright glory, vaporizing the wick and leaving the wax in a black puddle.
They all stared at it in astonishment. Then Jocea lifted her eyes to her companions, the high of her success blazing in them. Kairi just grinned at her in answer. Whatever awaited them on Colony III-α would be no match for this group of heroes.
Sora wandered through the residence halls with nothing particular to do. He'd helped out with J'nel's lesson, so he was fairly tired and contemplating a quick nap. A soft gasp from Justin's room caused Sora to backpedal and peek his head in.
"Jay?" Sora inquired quietly, using the nickname he'd picked up from Irene. Justin glanced up at him with glistening eyes and a sad smile. Sora had to fight back a gasp of his own. "Are you alright?" He entered the room and crossed to the bed, sitting down next to Justin.
"I'm just...remembering," he sighed wearily. "It hurts a lot now, and I'm sure it will always hurt some, but the memories are too precious to forget."
"Jay..." Sora breathed, not knowing anything else to say. Losing Kairi was such a painful thought that Sora's brain would not allow him to even try to imagine it.
Justin smiled kindly at Sora, trying to ease the young man's worries. "I'll be fine. Really," he stressed. "Here," he started, "look at this."
He handed Sora a picture with a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Irene and Justin were hanging precariously on each other, with J'nel behind them rolling his eyes. Max was standing off to one side shyly, like he felt he didn't belong.
The "unfamiliar" faces were all clustered together on the other side of the picture. Chris, who turned out to have brown hair with blond highlights and brown eyes, was giving a surprise noogie to a man with green hair, muted N'Darie facial features, and intelligent eyes. A woman with slightly pointed ears and long black hair with faint green highlights was laughing openly at them. Sora smiled at the happiness the camera had managed to capture.
"In case you couldn't guess," Justin teased, his eyes twinkling humorously, "that's Chris, Vindeflei, and K'nsolear."
Sora studied the picture for a moment longer. Now he had actual faces, not ghosts, to go with the names, which only strengthened his desire to finish what they'd started. He handed it back and took out a picture of his own to show Justin. It was one of him, Kairi, and Riku smiling at the camera, their faces squished together to fit in the frame. Seeing it made Justin chuckle.
"That's Riku, my best friend," Sora told him. "He's visiting somewhere else right now." At least Sora had found an update to the Commspheres waiting for him the last time he'd been to his room. It had put his worries for his friends in Twilight Town at ease, for a time.
The blond man hummed happily as he took his turn to study the picture. Finally, he turned back to Sora. "Don't let go of them," he warned, handing the photo back.
Sora had to suppress a shudder. He thought of all the times he'd almost lost Riku and Kairi. He wouldn't let it happen again. Not if he could help it. "I won't," he vowed.
They continued to swap more memories, taking comfort in them, until Irene came to get them for dinner.
Yuna was hidden away in Kairi's room currently. She was always hidden. Oh, how she hated hiding! Her heels drummed angrily on the bedside table as she reclined back on her hands, her legs swung over the side.
She was bored, too. Not that she wasn't always bored, what with all the dreadful hiding. She was just especially bored being stuck in the same room on the same ship with the same people she couldn't let see her.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Jiminy's friendly face was looking up at her from the bed. He hopped the rest of the distance to the table and sat next to her. She didn't really want to talk to Jiminy, but she was so eager to stave off the dullness that she would talk to anyone.
"I hate being small like this!" she burst in frustration. "I can't do anything useful."
"Now, now. Don't say that," Jiminy protested gently. "We're doing lots of useful stuff. Keeping a journal is a very important task."
"Well, you might be content with that, but I'm not!" she bit, crossing her arms across her chest. Jiminy just smiled patiently at her, knowing that he should just wait. Soon, Yuna sighed and continued sadly, "I was one of the world-saving heroes in Spira. Now I'm stuck watching Sora and Kairi save people from the sidelines, too small to help them fight and too meddlesome to be seen. It's maddening!"
"Well," Jiminy began reassuringly, "I hope you know none of us think you're useless."
"Not a bit," Kairi's voice interrupted. She was leaning against the doorframe as if she'd been there a while, but took a seat on the bed now. "At the very least, you're fun to be around. And there's times I'm sure I would've been a goner if you hadn't thrown me a Potion or two." The princess blushed a bit. "I forget to pay attention to that sometimes." She shook her head to clear away the embarrassment. "Not to mention you help us keep track of how our friends are doing. That's very important to me and Sora."
Yuna had seemed heartened by Kairi's words, but the last ones caused her face to fall a bit. "I wish I knew where my friends are," she whispered lowly. "Where he is."
Kairi gazed at Yuna in painful understanding. "Yuna," she started, waiting for the sprite to look at her. "When this is over, if you still haven't found them, I will personally take you around to every single world until we have."
Yuna's head shot up in shock. "You will?"
Kairi nodded resolutely. "I promise."
"Thundaga!"
Sora's spell splashed against Jocea's wall and was readily gobbled up. A large ice block inside her circle began melting and the small fire flared.
"Blizzaga!"
Kairi's shards of ice hit the wall and dropped dead, melting on their way down.
Grinning cheekily, Jocea covered her mouth in a fake yawn. Her eyes clearly dared them to try their worst.
Of course, Sora obliged. Instead of sending another spell her way, he charged instead, Keyblade in hand. He swung at the barrier while still moving. The instant he touched it, his limbs felt like lead was being gradually poured into them. He very nearly dropped his Keyblade. Then Jocea cried in surprise, the shimmering shield vanishing. The lead also stopped pouring, but his limbs did not get emptied of what had already been unloaded. They both collapsed in exhaustion.
"Bad idea," Sora panted. "Don't charge the shield." He noted with amusement that Kairi had rushed to Jocea first without acknowledging him at all. Probably figured he was a big boy and could take care of himself.
"You should just stick to the storms," Kairi insisted, helping the mostly human girl up. "Don't worry about trying to stop attackers. The rest of us can take care of that. We don't want you getting overwhelmed."
Jocea just pouted ever so slightly, blowing that one green lock of hair out of her face. The rest of her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, leaving the green to hang free on its own. The style also emphasized the slight point to her ears. Kairi said something about it being Jocea's way of embracing who she is and honoring her family. Sora didn't really understand; it was just a hair style to him. It did look good, though.
"How's it going in here?" J'nel asked, popping his head in.
"We're all set to go," Kairi responded proudly. Jocea nodded in agreement.
"Good," J'nel said. "We're almost there so you'll want to –"
Without warning, the ship lurched violently, the whole hull shaking. The four of them were thrown to the ground as alarms blared to life. Sensing trouble, Sora sprinted for the bridge, the others hot on his tail.
"What's going on?" Sora shouted urgently to the room. Irene just pointed to the front screen. Many colorful shapes flew around in the void that stretched in front of them. Sora sucked in a breath. "Heartless ships!"
Justin was making a valiant effort to maneuver past them, but he wasn't reacting quite quickly enough for the nimble enemies. One of them rammed the S'teronah, sending everyone, even Justin, hurtling again. Jumping to his feet, Sora scrambled for the controls that their pilot had unwillingly abandoned. He began his unique style of evasive maneuvering, quickly becoming accustomed to the new ship's handling. It was everything Justin had described.
Justin, seeing that Sora had taken his place, seated himself at the weapons systems instead. He started firing as accurately as he could with Sora steering the ship all over the place.
"Everyone hold on!" Sora shouted, in case they hadn't done so already. He banked the ship hard into a barrel roll to avoid a mass of lasers. Some landed, causing the ship to shudder again.
"Shields at 70%," Max called out. Only 70%? Sora expected something closer to 50%. Wow, what a phenomenal ship! "Twenty light-years until we exit hyperspace."
The Heartless ships were starting to cluster. Soon, the bigger S'teronah wouldn't be outrunning them; she'd be running over them, instead. The ship was good, but not quite that good. They needed to get out now!
Doing some quick estimations, Sora ordered, "Shields to 30%. Reroute to thrusters. Jay, just try to keep them off us."
The learned pilot gawked at him in disbelief, but Max had already complied. The S'teronah rocketed forward, blasting past the Heartless ships before they could start closing in.
"Fifteen light-years."
Sora stared ahead, concentrating on flying straight. He didn't even move aside to avoid collisions, trusting that between the shields and Justin, the ship would hold.
"Ten light-years."
The enemy ships were starting to cluster more thickly in the distance, creating a blockade ahead. The faster ships were beginning to flank them on either side.
"Five light-years."
Each and every ship opened fire on them.
"Opening rip."
They hurtled headlong towards the wall of red lasers. Right before they hit, a dark patch in space opened in their path. The red vanished abruptly as the blackness of normal space replaced the nebulous swirls of hyperspace. Sora let the breath he'd been holding leak slowly out of his lungs.
"Nice job, girl," he whispered fondly, rubbing his hand down the steering column proudly. "Thanks." He brought the ship to a stop to give it a chance to recharge, the invisibility cloak activating.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked, turning from the controls. Those not lucky enough to be at a station were still clinging on for dear life to whatever they could find.
"Fine," Kairi replied shakily, struggling to stand. The others were just staring at him in awe, looking unharmed for the most part.
"You barrel rolled us without a single thing flying out of place," J'nel sputtered.
Sora shrugged nonchalantly. "The ship was doing most of the work," he muttered, trying to shake off their incredulity. "I bet any of you could do it too."
"No, they couldn't," Justin deadpanned. "That wasn't her, that was all you. Where did you learn to fly like that?"
"I just kinda picked it up," Sora answered, scratching his head. That was true, at least. Thankfully, no one decided to press him further.
He turned to the screen to hide the ferocious blush that was threatening to surface. Ahead of them, a dark world loomed. They'd exited hyperspace on the day side, the side opposite the actual colony, but the storm clouds were roiling on the edges of the light, giving a menacing look to the barren surface.
A sense of foreboding descended on Sora. "This is definitely the place," he grimaced. If the Heartless ships weren't convincing enough, the sense of despair and hopelessness that radiated from the world was.
"What's the damage, Max?" Justin inquired softly. It seemed the mood had affected all of them.
The humble genius turned to his computer, his eyes becoming wider with each screen of the report. "Minimal," he finally stated. "Nothing the ship can't repair itself."
Sora scowled as they all ogled some more. "Shouldn't we be landing?" he bit.
Their pilot closed his mouth with visible effort. "Of course," he said soothingly, resuming his rightful seat at the cockpit. "Now, where's this tunnel?"
Max, who'd been studying everything about Colony III-α he could get his hands on – a great deal since the S'teronah was developed there – began directing Justin. They'd all agreed that using the escape tunnel connecting the two sides of the world was least likely to attract attention quickly.
The S'teronah glided gracefully to the world's surface and easily maneuvered into the passage. As the outside light slid away and the tunnel walls closed over them, Sora could not shake the illusion that the darkness was swallowing them whole.
A/N: Sora's 'picture' can be found on deviantArt: gallery/11743957#/d12x7no