Episode 59 - The Switcheroo

Part 4 - The Trial of Body

Piper's voice screamed as it came out of Aerrow's body, causing the others to blink and the boy to wince uncomfortably in her body.

"What... What happened?!" - she frantically studied her now Caucasian and male body.

"You two crossed the bridge completely and exchanged bodies." - Xhun explained like that was obvious.

"But we thought you were telling us to walk across!" - Aerrow said.

"No. I did say you'd be able to pretty much walk across, but I never said you should do that." - the elder told them.

"Well, we couldn't hear a thing with that thick barrier around us." - he defended.

"I guess I'm a little at fault as well." - the old man admitted.

"That doesn't matter right now. How can we reverse this?" - the navigator asked.

"We'll need some time to figure this out." - Xhun put a hand on his chin in thought - "But there's one problem: you cannot remain like that for too long, or you'll be stuck with your exchanged bodies forever."

"Ah... Figures..." - the sky knight rolled Piper's eyes.

"You've got to be kidding. If we don't hurry we'll have to stay like this?!" - the girl said to the elder as she gestured to herself in Aerrow's body - "I... I can't be a... A guy!"

"Hey! My body's not that bad! I mean... I don't think it is." - the boy retorted for a brief second, but then he quickly retreated and sighed - "To be honest, I'm actually starting to feel a little better with your body, even creeped out as much as you are... And soon you'll know why."

The girl looked at him with a questioning expression for a moment, then she blinked.

"Okay... I guess I'm already starting to get it." - she winced a little bit since she found out something she never knew about him before, which kind of made her feel sorry for him.

Suddenly, Sinjin began laughing a lot, finding that situation hilarious. Piper frowned and held her, or rather, Aerrow's arms with his hands.

"That's not funny." - she said.

"Of course it is. I've never heard of such a disaster in this test before." - the deceased monk commented - "You two are the first ones to totally mess this up. Congratulations."

Then he proceeded to laugh some more. The crystal mage was feeling very embarrassed and the leader was just annoyed.

"You know, I'm impressed you're able to laugh at all, considering perking a little smile seemed to be too much for you." - he remarked, causing the spirit to quiet down.

"And you know, after all I've been through, I believe I have the right to laugh at something at least once." - the ghost crossed his arms.

"We've been having it rough too, but we didn't use it as an excuse to laugh at your tragedy." - Aerrow got up and pointed a finger at Sinjin, which made Piper stand up too and walk towards him in order to attempt to soothe him if he got any angrier.

"Well, then laugh." - the monk said calmly, which caused the boy in the girl's body to blink - "Laugh until your heart is content. I won't mind, it's been way too long ago to mourn anything now. I'm already dead and all I can do is watch my dreadful past over and over. Adding some humor to it is a good thing."

The leader didn't know how to respond to that. That guy managed to bring the tone of the conversation to such depressing levels that it felt almost like guilt tripping. The navigator walked beside the sky knight, looking at the ghost in sympathy.

"It doesn't have to be like this. Being dead doesn't prevent you from making a difference, after all, you're still here, aren't you?" - she said.

The spirit stared at her speechless, and the boy and the elder were quite surprised. It was the first time someone had made Sinjin go completely silent and not know how to answer. Well, the first time in ages, at least, since Xhun knew more about his past than the others, but still, that was quite the achievement. The girl was certainly good with words.

Then she turned to her partner standing near her.

"C'mon, Aerrow. Let's find out how to go back to normal and master this bridge." - she told him - "The others are waiting for us."

"Right." - he nodded determined, and both walked towards the temple along with Xhun to go search for clues.

The two couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable, though, having a girl walking like a guy and a boy walking effeminate was definitely creepy. There was a point when they actually started to move completely stiff so they'd walk more normally, but that just made it all more awkward. Yeah, that was going to be an embarrassing day.

The deceased warrior stayed behind in the open area. He looked at the sky, several thoughts rushing by his mind. Maybe... There was still time to do something...


Back where the guys were training with Kaya, the carrier pilot walked inside the hangar bay and motioned for the others to follow him, while Radarr went straight to the bridge. Stork had Mr. Softy hide near some crates by Piper's lab. The merb and the other two flew out, heading for the Cyclonian fleet.

"So, what's your plan?" - Junko asked.

"You two will distract them while I'll flank the commander." - Stork told them - "Radarr will guard the treasure and snipe some of them from a distance. And after capturing the commander we'll use him as our way in on their cargo ship."

"Yeah... Sounds like something." - Finn mumbled.

"Hey, you guys, since you're on your skyrides now, why don't you try some of the aerial moves I've been telling you to learn?" - Kaya shouted to them from the balcony where she was evaluating their performance.

"Are you sure? That's more like Aerrow's thing." - the wallop said.

"C'mon, of course, you can pull that off, it's not so hard." - she supported them - "Why don't you try that crazy spiral move Aerrow did with Radarr? You can use the auto-pilot too."

The sharpshooter and the flight engineer were already approaching the talons as Stork stayed behind and went the other way in order to flank them. Junko looked at the squadron of enemies, then at Kaya, then back at the Cyclonians. He sighed unsurely.

"Here goes nothing." - he said as he pushed the button to turn the auto-pilot on.

He activated his knuckle busters and sprinted to the tip of the top left wing of his skimmer. He did it exactly as Aerrow had done, but it didn't play out the same way at all. Since he was a lot heavier than the sky knight, the skimmer spun a lot faster than the original move, not only that, but the auto-pilot wasn't the same thing as having a co-pilot follow your lead, since instead of moving towards the Cyclonians, the skimmer remained in its position, hovering in the air while it rotated so fast Junko became a brown blur with his green knuckle buster's light on the outside.

Finn saw that and got an idea. He shot a few times towards the Cyclonian dummies to draw their attention. When they flew after him, he dragged them to the spinning skyride of doom. At the moment he was about to collide with Junko, he quickly flew upwards and then downwards, narrowly avoiding him, but the talons didn't have that fast of a reaction, so they crashed into the wallop and their rides were ultimately destroyed.

"Good teamwork, you two!" - the Grandmaster complimented them - "Finn, your turn to show some moves! Go jumping on those switchblades!"

"What?! I'm a sharpshooter, not a ninja!" - the blonde responded.

No way was he going to do that! Aerrow was the crazy one who liked pulling stunts off, not him! But Kaya seemed to disagree with him.

"Stop making excuses, just jump already." - she said.

"I'm not making excuses!" - he retorted - "And as if I could do that anyways."

"Of course you can. If Aerrow can do that, so can you!" - she shouted, then she turned to Radarr inside the bridge - "This last part isn't really true, it's the other way around: Aerrow can do anything Finn can. But a white lie might spark his spirits." - she winked, to which the little animal rolled his eyes playfully in agreement, then she activated her staff - "C'mon, Finn, all you need is a little push!"

The Cyclonian cruiser suddenly aimed its cannons at the sharpshooter and shot several blasts at him. He was ultimately hit by one of them, which destroyed the front part of his skimmer. He gasped as he saw the damage.

"You've got to be kidding me! That thing's for real?!" - he shouted in disbelief.

Then, when gravity finally proceeded to pull him downwards he managed to throw himself at a switchblade. Barely able to hold himself on its wing, he pushed himself up as another blast from the enemy ship came his way. He screamed and quickly jumped to another Cyclonian skyride. He kept leaping while the shots destroyed the enemy rides in a careless rain of friendly fire.

"Hahaha! Look at you, Finn! You're looking almost like Aerrow!" - the girl said - "Well, actually he looks way cooler since he's not so clumsy like you. But that's a good start."


Back at the temple, Xhun took Aerrow and Piper to the huge library of the temple. The two stared quite mesmerized at all those books.

"Wow, that's quite a lot of books." - the sky knight commented.

The navigator walked by a shelf and noticed something peculiar.

"Hm... The books don't seem to have labels or covers to identify them." - she said.

"No, they don't. We'll have to search them all to figure out which one has the answers." - the elder told them.

They immediately grimaced at that.

"You can't be serious... There must be thousands of books in here!" - Aerrow said.

"There's no way we'll be able to read them all until it's too late." - Piper reinforced his point.

"I really doubt the book we need will be the last one we'll come across." - the old man said calmly - "The chances of that are the same as of it being the very first one."

The two blinked. He had a valid point. Though everyone knows it's almost never the very first book... And it was then that Piper picked up one book and read it.

"Okay, now this was pure luck." - she said as she showed them what she had found: the exact book they were looking for - a complete "manual" about the training they were doing.

"See? I told you we'd not need to read them all." - Xhun said.

The other two exchanged knowing glances.

"Well, let's see what this book tells us about how to fix this body switch." - the leader approached the girl in his body and poked his head from behind her to take a look at the book.

They spent quite a while reading that really long book. It definitely had at least one thousand pages. It'd speak about the history of the perfect attunement and all its links, how many people were known to have achieved it, who used to be the first masters and many other facts. While it did have lots of information they needed, it wasn't in any way an objective book, so it took some time to find what they were looking for.

"I think I found something." - the crystal mage told them as she proceeded to read - "There's some kind of ritual meant to make the essences go to their respective bodies, but it's very complicated." - she explained - "It requires a lot of materials that seem to be hard to find and we also must acquire full knowledge of our bodies."

"Let me 'see'." - Xhun took the book from her so he could check the list of materials, he ran his hand by the paper - "I believe I might be able to gather all the items needed for the ritual here in the temple, but it'll take a little while. Why don't you two work on the part about knowing each other better in the meantime?"

"Wait a second, you don't mean it like that, right?" - Aerrow cringed for a moment as he hesitantly eyed his female body down.

"Oh, don't you dare..." - Piper suddenly gave him a warning as she quickly caught on his line of thinking.

"What?! Of course, I won't!" - he immediately responded feeling almost ridiculous - "One'd think it's more than clear now I'm not that kind of guy after all we've been through." - he crossed her arms and looked away a little irritated.

He couldn't believe she thought he'd do such a thing! That was just plain absurd!

"I know... It's just... This day is being so crazy, I can't help but feel really creeped out right now." - she rubbed both his arms uneasily.

His expression softened at that. She had a point, who could blame her? That whole ordeal was more embarrassing than anything they've ever done. They were lucky not many people were watching that.

"Yeah, you're right. But don't worry, I won't try anything. You can trust me with your body." - he attempted to reassure her, but then he blinked at how awfully phrased was the last part of what he had said - "Wait... That came out wrong."

Piper simply giggled at that. He definitely proved he was trustworthy, especially after his poorly phrased remark and the fact he acknowledged that.

"It's alright, I trust you." - she told him.

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head with her hand out of his own habit when he blinked in a brand new realization.

"Wow... Your hair is... Really soft, as in, really, really soft." - he said as he stared at her hand quite impressed, then looked at her almost as if he were kind of curious on how she kept it that way, it felt so silky!

"Oh, ah, thanks. I actually use a shampoo recipe I made myself..." - she told him, then she lowered his head - "By the way, about what you said earlier... I had no idea you still felt your bones like they were broken. I thought the nil crystal had fixed you up completely, but apparently, it left a scar."

"It's okay. It doesn't really hurt. It still feels weird, but I eventually got used to it." - he shrugged - "Though I kinda miss not having that sensation, especially now that I'm temporarily in your body."

"Temporarily. You speak like you're so sure we'll get back to normal." - she said.

"Of course we will. We've always overcome any challenge and Xhun is here to help us too, right?" - he said optimistically.

"Definitely. And you're already progressing to have this fixed. You're acquiring the knowledge you'll need." - the elder said.

"You mean this little chat is gonna help?" - Piper questioned him.

"Of course. You're gaining closure and you're learning something new, aren't you?" - the old man asked a rhetorical question.

"I guess that makes sense." - Aerrow said.

"Then I'll leave you two at that while I fetch the materials for the ritual." - Xhun proceeded to walk away - "I'm certain you'll have plenty of knowledge when I get back, but good luck, nonetheless."

Piper smiled, some hope flashing in her.

"We better get to it then." - she turned to Aerrow.

"Alright, let's see..." - the sky knight put the navigator's hand on her chin - "You seem to have some burn marks on your waist and belly. At least I can feel there's something wrong here. What happened?"

"It's from my first fight with Cyclonis... She attacked me with her crystals. But it wasn't anything serious." - she told him.

"Hm... And you said she hadn't hurt you, huh?" - he crossed her arms - "Even if it wasn't serious, being burned is pretty painful."

"More like electrocuted, but that's in the past now. And you've got some marks on your head yourself." - she put his fists on his hips - "I also noticed you seem to see better with your right eye than with your left one." - she placed a hand in front of one eye and then in front of the other.

"You can have the Dark Ace to thank for that one. He blasted me in the face once. And there was also Jake, who did that too, and worsened the condition..." - he admitted.

"I think we should get you healed again." - she suggested.

"It wouldn't work, scars don't heal. Though I might recover my vision..." - he pondered.

"Of course. It's worth a shot, regardless." - she told him.

He smiled in agreement. It'd definitely be great finally having his vision working fully again.


Kaya turned her attention to Junko who was still whirling like a spinning top. She couldn't believe he had stayed like that all that time.

"I'm... Getting... Dizzy... And... I think... I feel... A little... Sick..." - the wallop said through the many spins.

She giggled.

"Just throw your weight backward. It'll slow the skimmer down until it stops." - she told him.

He listened and pushed himself back as much as he could, considering he was so dizzy he could barely hold onto the skimmer anymore. The skyride finally started slowing down and came to a stop. The wallop remained down, almost passed out from all that spinning. The little girl quickly flew to him to check on him.

"You okay, Junko?" - she put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not feeling so well..." - he said as he lowered his head.

"Don't worry, just remain still for a while and it'll pass." - she told him - "I'll stay here with you for now."

Meanwhile, Finn was still jumping from one switchblade to another like a frog in a frenzy, and the Cyclonian cruiser wouldn't stop following him around.

"You know, I'd really like to have some help from the Condor right now!" - he shouted.

Radarr shook his head and brought the ship closer. He came from behind the Cyclonian ship and proceeded to shoot at it, in order to draw their attention. The enemy cruiser quickly focused on the bigger threat, but not before sending one last shot at Finn, which made him jump from the last switchblade in the area. He screamed as he fell... And landed on Stork's customized skyride. The merb screamed from the fright for a moment, then glared at the blonde.

"Couldn't you find a better place to land?" - he asked rhetorically.

"Like I could choose where to fall!" - the sharpshooter responded angrily.

"Forget it, let's just get this over with." - the pilot said as he quickly flew them over to the cargo hold of the Cyclonian ship.

Near the hangar bay, the Cyclonian commander was guarding the entrance to the cargo hold. The dummy was alone, but the skyride was not like the others: it had some missile launchers under the wings, so they'd have to be extra careful.

"Great... How do we get past him without being blown up to pieces?" - Finn asked as he held onto the Storkmobile.

"I've got a plan." - the merb told him, then he pushed a button that activated a force field around the buggy.

Suddenly he crazily charged forward with the skyride, the blonde screaming in fright, and they crashed against the commander. Fortunately, they didn't suffer any kind of damage because of the shield around them, but still, that wasn't any less scary.

"Are you insane?! You could've crushed me!" - the sharpshooter shouted.

"Yes. But I didn't." - the pilot said simply and flew them to the landing strip.

Finally, they landed there and Finn quickly headed for the crate and lifted it above his head to signal that they had done it. It was then that all the holograms disappeared and they found themselves standing on just a platform.

"Very good, all of you!" - Kaya told them - "And you're a much better strategist than you let on, Stork. Now let's meet up in the bridge so I'll give you your final scores."


Back in the temple, Aerrow and Piper were gathering the knowledge they'd need, though for them that felt more like a normal conversation than an actual task since they were having quite the fun despite all the confusion that had happened. They had learned a lot of new things about each other, and they still had more to tell.

"This feels almost awkward to admit, but... You can lick your elbow right now." - Aerrow rubbed her hand against her head.

"You're kidding..." - she then looked at his arm and noticed it was true - "Wow, you really can! How do you do that? It's usually impossible."

"I don't really know. I found out because of Finn, we used to challenge each other in the silliest things." - he shrugged, to which she giggled.

"Well, I too can do something of the sort, try bending your tongue." - she told him.

He tried and, yes, the girl was able to bend her tongue, not only that but twist it as well.

"Yeah, looks like I'm not the only one with these weird side skills." - he smiled - "You actually have one more, you can move your ears." - he then moved her ears.

"So can you!" - she said as she also moved his ears.

They laughed at how ridiculous they looked doing that. They were acting almost like two little kids trying to show who could do the weirdest things with their bodies. Sinjin observed them from a distance. They were so natural and so lively, even though they had a lot of responsibility on their shoulders, they were taking all that so well. They'd lighten up the burden for each other, they'd help one another to stand up and keep moving forward, until they'd finally get to their objective, together... Like the two halves of one whole they were: they had the very same essences indeed.

All that made him feel like meeting his other half too, who he knew was waiting for him in the Zenith. And his only way to get there had come to his doorstep offering him a lift... Maybe... Maybe he should get rid of his pride and stubbornness and just get that done with at once. Yet... The thought of him becoming a burden himself crossed his mind after he humbled himself down. And at that moment he no longer knew what to do.

Xhun then appeared with a basket full of different things they were going to use for the ritual.

"I found everything we'll need and we still have plenty of time left to perform the ritual." - the elder told them.

"That's great! We'll be able to do it right now that we don't have to worry about how much time we have left." - the sky knight commented.

"Some good news for a change. I think we're finally getting there." - the navigator smiled.

"Then, please, follow me to the garden outside so I can explain the ritual in detail to avoid mistakes this time." - the old man said.


The two teenagers sat on the ground like they were positioned last time while Xhun was placing some objects in a circle around them.

"The first thing you'll do is build a solid and permanent link to your own bodies to prevent any more switches from happening." - the monk explained - "After that, you'll share your senses using the knowledge you acquired today. Only then you'll have mastered the bridge and will be able to get back to your bodies."

"Let's do this!" - Aerrow turned to Piper, and she nodded just as determined.

They closed their eyes to meditate once again. While that, the elder lit up some incense burners and let out some kind of greenish smoke from a few golden pots. The smoke filled the environment like a cloud and everything turned very foggy, impairing the vision. As their essences flew out of their bodies, the two looked around and noticed it was no longer possible to locate their own bodies.

"As the mist flows and fills the world around you, you'll find your way in the dark." - the old man chanted as he lit up a torch with blue fire.

They saw a faint light illuminating the fog. It didn't really make it any easier to see, though. It was most likely something metaphorical, but they were more than aware they shouldn't be relying on their vision for this challenge. However, there was one tiny problem.

'Just how are we gonna find our bodies when we can't feel anything anymore?' - Piper asked - 'For some reason I don't really think it'll be just switching places again to go back.'

'You're right.' - Aerrow said - 'We're supposed to find the connection another way... Maybe... That's also what our chat was about. Try focusing on something you know only you can feel.'

She nodded and did as he suggested, and he followed suit. Suddenly, they started glowing and a line coming from their essences shot out to their respective bodies, highlighting them: Aerrow's soul and body were enveloped in green light, while Piper's were in orange light.

'It's working!' - she smiled - 'I'm already starting to feel my own hands and the rest of my body.'

'Me too. Let's keep this up until we're connected back to our bodies.' - he told her.

And as they progressed, the line between their essences and their bodies became more visible and solid. To be sure they were done with that part, they attempted to move their own bodies from there. The navigator was able to move her arms, and so was the leader.

'Well, we can get that out of our "must do" list.' - she said satisfied for knowing she was back in sync with her body.

Xhun observed the scene and got their signal to proceed with the ritual. He moved his hand by some metallic pipes that played a soft melody. The sound echoed in the area as if the fog was an actual wall isolating them from the rest of the world, and yet, the wind could still be felt coming from beyond it.

"And as you find your path, you follow it clearly while you keep your bridge open for new guidance." - the elder recited.

The two knew that was the part they'd have to learn to share each other's perceptions. Now they just had to figure out how.

'I was gonna suggest doing pretty much the same thing we just did, but a little differently.' - the boy told her.

'Got it. I'll channel my knowledge into you, and you do the same then.' - she caught his idea.

Instead of directly focusing on each other's sensations, they decided to openly share their own perception to one another, and then accept each other's channel. And it worked: their essences glowed in opposite colors, Piper's became green and Aerrow's became orange; and as for their bodies, it was like they had suffered a color swap: Piper had red hair, green eyes, and Caucasian skin, while Aerrow had midnight blue hair, orange eyes, and dark skin.

They remained like that for a brief moment and it felt completely different from anything they've ever done. They could feel their own sensations and each other's at the same time. It was like their essences were in two different bodies simultaneously. Not only that, but they also noticed that even after they stopped focusing on channeling, it was like their bodies were constantly sharing their perception, so when they needed to use it, they'd no longer need to meditate.

'Do you think it's really supposed to happen?' - he questioned.

'I guess so. It explains what we learned about the link not requiring us to be fully conscious to be performed.' - she concluded.

'Yeah, that's true.' - he agreed - 'I think we're done then. Let's go back.'

She nodded, then both their projected images faded into a brilliant mist and quickly traveled back to their bodies. They opened their eyes and checked themselves out. Their silence made Xhun a little anxious for a moment.

"How do you feel?" - he asked them concerned.

"Like a hand inside a glove." - the girl replied, her voice coming from her actual body, at last.

"Yep. It's good to be back to normal." - the boy smiled.

"Ah, that's great to hear. You've succeeded." - the elder sighed in relief - "Even with the setbacks, you still managed to overcome everything and learn more than anyone who's ever done this test before you."

The two exchanged confident glances. They did it! And what a comeback was that! They stood up and actually bowed to the old monk.

"Thanks for all your help, Xhun." - the sky knight said.

"Yes, we couldn't have done it without your instructions." - the crystal mage agreed.

"It was an honor to be of assistance. I wish you good luck with your destiny." - Xhun told them.

They quickly got changed back into their uniforms and were about to leave when Sinjin appeared.

"Congratulations on your new mastery." - he said sincerely - "Your perseverance's admirable, you really deserve the talents you have. You both are something else."

The two smiled widely at his compliment. They knew he truly meant it, and if someone like him said that to them, their efforts were definitely something special.

"You sure you don't wanna come with us?" - Aerrow invited him once again.

"I... Don't know. I don't wanna get in your way." - the ghost was hesitant.

"Master Sinjin... Please go with them. We all know it'd be the best for you and for them as well." - the elder came walking from the temple.

"I'm sure your knowledge will come in handy." - Piper added - "And you'll get to the place you need to go. Everyone wins."

"Well, if that won't be a problem." - the spirit finally accepted and all three smiled, but before the duo could leave away, he approached Aerrow - "Hm... I hope you won't mind that I'll have to stick kind of close to you, otherwise I'll just disappear and end back in the other realm."

"Uh... Okay, as long as I get to keep my personal space, that is." - the red-haired boy said.

"Of course. I didn't mean I'll have to stay that close. Just that I'll have to accompany you in all your missions." - the deceased monk explained - "And you cannot take out the amulet until we arrive in the Zenith."

"Sure, no problem." - the leader agreed as he kept walking until he saw the huge cliff they had come from - "So... How do we get down now?"

"We have an elevator." - the elder said as he pulled a lever that brought up a platform - "I wonder why you didn't use it the way here, though."

The two Storm Hawks looked disappointed. Oh... An elevator... That would've been convenient to know...


On the Condor, Kaya was finally giving everyone their final scores.

"Alright guys, here are my final notes from your tests. Best tactician: Junko. You had the smartest and simplest plan at the same time, plus you thought of it within 10 seconds, which's awesome!" - the Grandmaster said, to which the wallop smiled - "Best coordinator: Stork. You chose the most useful task, even though it took you a few pushes to feel up for the job." - and the merb had to agree with that - "Best combat leadership: Radarr. You had one of the harder missions, defending the ship from an attack, and you excelled at it." - the little guy jumped from joy after hearing that - "Best listener: Finn. I'll have to give it to you, even though you chose a task, you let the guys go with their ideas and have some fun." - the blonde sulked a little but felt recognized, since it still was something - "Overall best leader: no one. You all did a really good job and I couldn't choose only one of you. So it was a draw."

"Haha, today was fun." - the flight engineer said as he petted Mr. Softy who was lying on his shoulder - "I liked leading too."

"We... Actually managed to make a day of waiting into something useful." - the carrier pilot commented.

"Yeah... I think Aerrow and Piper will be proud of us." - the sharpshooter smiled, and the co-pilot nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of them, look who's just got back?" - Kaya drew their attention to the window as they all observed their two friends heading for the landing strip.

Aerrow and Piper had parked their skyrides and walked towards the hangar.

"Haha, yeah, that was awesome." - Aerrow commented about the events they had gone through that day - "And your aural vision is pretty cool."

"Nah, that's nothing. You should see your sky knight moves. They're incredible, I can tell you that now." - Piper responded.

They laughed a bit, then went quiet for a brief moment.

"So, uh, about what happened..." - he rubbed his hand behind his head, and the girl knew what he was getting into.

"Yeah... Well... Let's not tell anyone else about this." - she said and he immediately agreed.

Man, would that be embarrassing, better keep that detail to themselves... And Sinjin. But they knew their secret would be safe with him.

"Glad to see you're back!" - the little girl greeted them as the others came from the inside to receive them - "How did it go?"

"We've got one more bridge mastered alright." - the leader told her the news - "We're ready to move on to the next."

"Yep. We also brought someone here you should meet." - the navigator gestured to her side - "He'll be taking a lift with us to the Zenith."

Upon laying her eyes on him, the Grandmaster smiled widely.

"Wow! Sinjin! Is that you?! Long time no see! How have you been?" - she was surprised and quite happy about seeing an old friend again.

"Kaya. Great to see you're doing well." - the spirit replied as he bowed respectfully - "I've been as good as I could be... But these two gave me an opportunity to finally change things."

All the others, except for Radarr who could feel the aural smell of the stranger, exchanged confused glances.

"Uh... I don't see anyone." - Finn said.

"Yeah, that's because... Sinjin is actually dead." - Aerrow explained - "He was summoned in the temple and we're helping him out."

"So you brought a ghost on board?!" - Stork asked, then he completely freaked out. That simply couldn't be happening!

"Calm down, Stork. Sinjin is on our side and he'll be of great help to us." - Piper said.

"How can you three see him?" - Junko questioned them.

"Aerrow can because of that amulet he's wearing. Sinjin is bound to it. I'm a Guardian, we're able to see spirits. But I think Piper can't really see him right now." - Kaya clarified.

"You're right. I can no longer see or hear him. But I can see his aura. And I'm sure Radarr can smell it too." - the crystal mage told them, and the little animal nodded.

"Why's that now? You could see and talk to him before." - the sky knight didn't understand.

"Spirits can manifest in certain places, allowing themselves to be seen and heard by anyone. The temple you went to was one of those places, but the Condor isn't, so that's why only you and I can see him here." - the Grandmaster said.

"That's correct, which means right now I'm in that really awkward position that I can't greet your friends..." - Sinjin smiled embarrassed at Aerrow - "Please tell them I said 'Hi', so they won't feel uneasy around me."

The boy grinned back at him, understanding his position, then introduced him to the others. As everyone spoke about the events of that day, they walked inside the Condor, so they could get ready for their next adventure.


NEXT EPISODE:

Episode 60 (parts 1, 2, 3 and 4)