Apologies for any mistakes in this...I didn't want to wait another day to post it, so I only did one check-edit.
Cuore didn't need to use her telepathy to know that her friends were upset with her. She could understand why, but she had also hoped that perhaps they would come to realize it was the only choice.
And it was her choice. They shouldn't take it personally.
Ursula and Kieran had yet to return, and after being yelled at by the blonde princess, the Lunarians had retreated to the other side of the room. They were running scans and conversing in hushed tones, leaving her to eye Ceodore worriedly.
He hadn't said much since the initial reaction of her choice, but he hadn't left. He was merely sitting, slumped, on one of the benches closest to her containment unit.
"Ceodore," Cuore called softly, bracing her hands against the glass. "Are you mad?"
He flicked his eyes up to meet her gaze and frowned. His expression was clouded, shifting between emotions so quickly she was having trouble getting a read on him.
"I'm beyond mad, Cuore," he muttered, wringing his hands as his elbows rested on his knees.
She bit her lip, "It was-"
"Don't say it was the only way," he interrupted, looking down at the floor again. "That's not true. There's always another way."
She sighed, "Then what was the other way? Tell me."
"TinSouRe was working on a cure,"
"She failed for many years. Nothing has changed. She would have failed again." Cuore pointed out, hands falling to her sides.
Ceodore looked up again, and this time there was no disguising the anxiety and grief in his face. "Damn it, Cuore. Do you even hear yourself right now? You sound so…cold."
Cuore closed her eyes and turned, resting her back against the cover of her cell. She couldn't look at him without feeling bad for what she'd done. Not because she was worried for herself, but because she didn't like it that he thought poorly of her.
"I'm not cold, Ceodore. I did this because I'm not. I…" she bit her lip as tears prickled her eyelids. "I couldn't stand by and do nothing. Not when it was within my power to help. This is something I could do."
"I didn't ask you too!" he pleaded, sounding more upset then mad. "I didn't…want this. I knew you would try something like this, just like…before…at the tower, with Zeromus."
Cuore open her eyes, blinking at the realization of how similar the situations really were. She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning more weight back against the glass wall.
"And then, too, I had the chance to do something good. To save a lot of lives. Why do you insist on denying me that?"
"Denying you death?" the prince argued. "Because it's stupid, and not right."
She shook her head, "It is stupid, and maybe it isn't right, but it's still true. It's my choice, it's my life. I didn't want to live without you, Ceodore. You're practically family…"
She heard him shuffle over to her compartment and tilted her head enough so she could see him out of the corner of her eye.
"I know, so how do you think it makes me feel to know what you just did?" he asked quietly.
Cuore sighed and turned back around to face him, putting her hands on her hips. "We can spin around this logic all day, Ceodore. It won't change anything. It's done. You can't change my mind, and even if you could, I'm still infected with the Uo'Ru virus, so what does it matter?"
He hesitated and she dropped her arms, "I am sorry to have worried you so much…"
Ceodore echoed her sigh from a few minutes prior and rubbed a hand tiredly across his eyes. "You've done more than worry me, Cuore. You said you didn't want to live without me, but why can't you understand the same is true of me? You are like family, so why can't you understand how hard this is right now?"
Cuore chewed on her lip for a heartbeat and then shook her head. "I do understand," she replied. "But you have to learn to trust me." She smiled ruefully, "I'm not that confused little girl anymore."
He glanced up and she shrugged, "In that mental dreamscape the Uo'Ru put us in…you still see me that way, don't you?"
"What way?" the prince asked, looking puzzled.
"Like that little girl, the one who was so confused and curious yet cautious and who was strange…" Cuore chuckled. "You have to realize I'm not her anymore, I'm not…I don't need you to protect me anymore."
"Need?" Ceodore said, giving her a look. "You never needed that. Even when you were confused, or when Kieran used to harass you, you never needed my help. I did it because I wanted too." He averted his gaze with an amused, guilty twitch of his lips. "I…admit I'll always see you like that, though…you were always like my little sister or something, and that's not going to change. That want to protect you isn't going away. And I do know you aren't her anymore, that you are strong and capable. But…"
He trailed off and Cuore tipped her head to one side. "What?"
"But I failed to keep you safe, after all. I was never really that good at protecting you, was I?"
"It wasn't your job too, Ceodore." she answered, brow furrowing.
He sighed, "But still…I always tried but…whenever someone would call you a name, or with Zeromus, or…this…"
Cuore pressed her hands to the glass again, "Don't undermine what you did do for me, alright? You were the first person other than my parents to strike up a conversation with me. Not about me, with me. You talked to me like I was normal, even if you looked nervous and unsure and…"
She smiled slowly, "And…I knew you would be there if I ever did need you, that was never in question. You were my first friend, you know. You let me ask you all these weird questions and sat with me even though I'm sure, knowing what I was, you just wanted to run. That alone made me feel like this planet was alright. Like maybe, just maybe, if there were more people like you in it, it wasn't so bad."
She wanted to cheer him up, but by the looks of it her words at the opposite effect. Ceodore heaved a heavy, teary sigh and rested one hand against the cover, resting over hers on the other side. "Oh Cuore…why did you do this?" he whispered. "I can't…I…"
She shook her head and offered a smile. "I'll be fine. You'll see. Everything will work out."
"And if it doesn't?" Ceodore pressed, eyes searching hers. "What am I supposed to do if it doesn't?"
"You're supposed to trust me that it will."
He closed his eyes, and she let him think for a moment, standing still and quiet. Finally he lifted his head, though he kept his eyes closed. He gave a single, jerky nod and let his hands fall to his sides.
Cuore smiled again and returned the nod once he had opened his eyes. She hesitated and then darted a glance at the doors. "Ursula and Kieran are still gone…"
"They need to deal with this in their own way," Ceodore commented, following her gaze.
As if drawn by their conversation, the doors zipped open and Ursula slipped inside. Her eyes were downcast and swollen, showing her emotional state plainly. She said nothing but slowly made her way over to them, leading Cuore to swallow uneasily, expecting another verbal lashing.
Instead, the blonde princess merely offered an apprehensive smile and looped her arm around Ceodore's. "Are you feeling alright?"
Cuore blinked. "Oh…yes. My vitals haven't changed at all."
Ceodore eyed Ursula and gave her arm a squeeze, whispering; "Are you alright?"
"No, but welcome to my life." she replied, shrugging. "Let's talk about something else, please."
He frowned, but did as she asked and pulled her back with him to sit on the bench he had previously been occupying. "Alright…"
Cuore leaned against the wall and tossed a look at the door, hesitating before working up the courage to speak up.
"Where's Kieran?"
Ursula was clearly trying to keep her expression passive, neutral, calm. She swallowed, "He'll probably be back in a few minutes."
Cuore wasn't sure she believed her, but she had to agree that discussing any of this further was a waste of time. "We should change the subject."
Ceodore glanced between them and frowned again, but sighed and relented. "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"
Cuore hated starting conversations, so she was glad when Ursula shrugged and spoke up. Despite how drained and wary she sounded, as if her words were walking on shattered glass, she still held the air of bold charisma she always did.
"I was thinking about rings…I know in your country there's that whole tradition with the rings, but this is me we're talking about. Can you really see me wearing some big, gaudy piece of hand jewelry?"
Ceodore gave her a weird look. "This was on your mind…with all this going on?"
"Look, we have to figure something out," the princess said, ignoring his question. "I'll ruin anything you do get me, and personally I don't get the big deal."
"You don't want a ring?"
"Does it matter?"
Cuore had to grin as she listened to them sort out their engagement even further. It was helpful to have the talk return to topics other than their escape or the virus. Hopefully this would become commonplace once again, and soon.
Ursula had taken Kieran's advice and mentioned to Ceodore about her bruised knuckles. He had obtained some sort of device from the Lunarians and was running the roller portion of it over her knuckles.
She could see the discoloration fade, as did the pain and discomfort, but her gaze was distracted to the other end of the room. Cuore had complained of a headache and that led TinSouRe to run some scans of her, through the glass containment unit.
Ursula was still upset by the situation, angry and helpless, and with every passing second, she lost the battle to hold it together.
"There," Ceodore said, holding up her left hand to his eye-level to look over the handiwork of the machine. "Looks better…how does it feel?"
Tearing her eyes away from their mutual friend, she flexed her fingers and nodded, "Better."
He took her other hand and started the process again, a grin pulling at his lips. She raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"Just…do you remember on the creator's moon? You had slipped down one of those embankments and you refused to let me look you over to make sure you were fine."
Ursula nodded, "I do remember…I was embarrassed, not hurt."
She watched him finish his work and darted another glance at Cuore, leading him to sigh. "I'm worried about her too, but we have to keep it together. For all our sakes."
Ursula nodded, and after Ceodore was satisfied with her hand, he released her and offered her a weak smile. "Whether or not Cuore realizes it, she's going to need us if this virus starts to take hold."
Ursula bit her lip, "It might be helpful if Kieran were here,"
"He has been gone a long time…" Ceodore agreed.
It had been several hours since their talk in the hallway, and while the princess hadn't expected him to come running back, she had expected him to show up by now.
"Maybe you should go find him?" Ursula suggested, frowning. "I'm sure it would make Cuore feel better if he were here."
Ceodore nodded, "I'll track him down. Are you…will you be alright here? Do you want to come with me?"
Ursula forced a small smile, "No, I'll stay. I'll keep Cuore company. I don't want to leave her alone."
Ceodore nodded once more and smiled at her, reaching out to give her arm a squeeze, obviously trying to be reassuring. Ursula appreciated the effort, but it would take a miracle to cheer her up at the moment. She watched Ceodore leave and sighed, steeling her nerves.
Staying here was troubling on many levels, and Ursula dealt so poorly with situations outside of her control that it only fueled her fear.
But still, Ceodore needed to find Kieran. Ursula felt a pang of regret for not spending more time with him, comforting him like he had so graciously done for her. He was clearly as upset as she was, but at the same time, Ursula knew that Cuore would feel better, virus or not, if he were here.
Ursula wandered over to sit closer to her friend, listening as TinSouRe and BarZenDao finished their conversation in Lunarian. The white haired woman didn't even spare her a glance, but the boy hesitated before trailing after his counterpart.
After they were out of earshot, Ursula spoke up. "Are you alright?"
Cuore blinked, "Yes."
"…Really," the princess prodded, not sure she believed her.
Cuore frowned, "I've entered the first stage of the virus, as far as they can tell." As if sensing the disapproval and worry, she hastened to add; "It's normal, expected. I'm still fine."
Not feeling up to talking about the virus for fear she wouldn't keep it together, Ursula stretched her legs out on the bench and sighed. "Cuore, can I ask you something?"
The teal haired young woman nodded, settling herself down on the floor of her cell, cross legged.
"It's sort of personal, and I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it, but…" Ursula shrugged. "I always wanted to know what it was like to…well, to be so smart. You know so much…like about this technology…"
Cuore blinked a few times in rapid succession. "Hmm…" she finally muttered. "I'm not sure how to explain it…I have no reference for not being this way, but…"
She tipped her head to one side, "I would imagine the answer to your question is an easy answer. It's just like knowing many things. I don't store data any differently than you do."
"You sure store a lot of it, though. I swear your brain must be twice the size of mine." Ursula commented.
"You make it sound like you're not smart, Ursula. There are plenty of things you know about that I don't."
The blonde shrugged again, leaning back on her hands. "It's not like I'm dumb, but no one is as smart as you, Cuore. Brilliant, in fact. And talented." She chuckled and picked at a loose thread on her skirt. "I have to confess that I've always wondered what it would be like to be you, even for a day. I guess I'm a little jealous, sometimes, of everything you can do."
Cuore looked shocked and sat up straight. "Why?"
"Why what?" Ursula asked, confused.
Her friend's blue eyes searched the floor as she answered. "Why…would you want to be me? I'm…a Maenad. If anyone should aspire to be like someone, they should aspire to be like you." She glanced up, "I admit that I've always wanted to be more like you."
Ursula felt an uncomfortable feeling at her words, not sure she knew how to reply. It was flattering to be sure, to hear that someone admired you, but she could see so many of her flaws that no one should ever have…
"Me?" Ursula snorted. "That's ridiculous. Why would you want to be me?"
Cuore smiled slowly, shyly, "Because…you're bold and outgoing and friendly…you're likeable and energetic and charming…strong, beautiful…who wouldn't want to be you?"
"Cuore," she said, firm yet unsure of herself and what she was about to say. "I'm selfish, bossy, moody…I have a temper and take things for granted. Trust me, my flaws outweigh my shinning moments. You don't want to be me."
Her friend shook her head, "No, that's not true. I don't think you're bossy. And lots of people have a temper. You are a wonderful friend, Ursula, and you're more selfless then you give yourself credit for."
"I don't feel like a good friend…" she muttered under her breath.
Cuore continued, apparently not hearing her comment. "When I was younger I was jealous of you. Maybe jealous isn't the right word…I was…I revered you. I tried to copy you, to no avail, and I watched you constantly, trying to figure out how you could be the way you were. I still admire you."
After the emotional seesaw Ursula had already felt, this tipped her over the edge again and try as she might, she couldn't stop the few tears from falling that blurred her vision. Instead, she averted her gaze, hoping to hide them. She struggled to keep her voice even.
"That…is a very nice thing to say, Cuore. Sometimes I don't…think about it, or say it, or…but…you are my best friend. I hope you know that."
Cuore smiled, and Ursula closed her eyes and continued. "Look, that was nice, what you said about me. But you have to know you're a better person then I will ever be. I wish I could be more like you."
"Why?" her friend asked, looking disturbed.
Ursula chuckled again, "Because, you're talented and brilliant, your kind and giving and far more self-sacrificing then I could ever be. Noble, pure, and just. You are the best of what humanity could be, if we all should be so lucky…You're just…"
She struggled to put into words what she wanted to say, what she wished Cuore already knew. The poor girl often demeaned herself without even realizing it. She was much too hard on herself.
"You're strange, but in a good way if that makes any sense…" the princess continued. "You're just a really good person, Cuore."
Her friend smiled slightly, "Thank you."
"You don't believe me, do you?" Ursula asked, frowning. "I see that look on your face."
Cuore gave a small, nervous laugh. "I, just like you, know my flaws are as vast as my talents. But it is nice of you to say such good things about me. I told you; you are a good friend."
Ursula chuckled, discretely flicking a tear off her cheek. "See? You managed to swing that around and turned it into a compliment for me. Not everyone can, or would, do that."
"I just don't like to be the center of attention," Cuore remarked, shifting to sit on her knees. "I never have." She smiled suddenly, "Do you remember when I was nine and I asked you if I could play with your hair?"
Ursula nodded, smiling as well at the memory. "I do! It was rather adorable, how shy you were to ask. I remember I taught you how to braid."
"You were very nice to let me do that," Cuore said, "I had wanted to ask for ages, but I could never work up the courage to do so."
The princess tugged on her pigtails for emphasis; "When all this is over, we'll spend some time together. Just the two of us, alright? Our last girl date…well…I admit I was preoccupied. I'm sorry for that."
Cuore merely smiled, as if the apology wasn't needed. Like always.
"I look forward to it, though I suspect you'll want to spend a good deal of time with Ceodore, considering."
"And once we sort you two out, you'll probably want to do the same with Kieran," the princess thought, though she restrained herself from saying it out loud.
Now wasn't the time.
Instead, she just snorted, "I have to spend the rest of my life with him. You, on the other hand, are bound to end up somewhere far away doing amazing things that I'll never be able to understand."
"More likely I'll stay home," Cuore said, averting her gaze. "I…have been away too much lately."
Ursula paused, detecting the change in her tone but unsure what it meant. Something else was bothering Cuore, but whatever it was, Ursula wasn't sure she could handle more gloomy topics. She was being selfish once more, but at the moment, she needed to keep the conversation shallow and safe.
"So, speaking of Ceodore and I…how long do you think it will take to plan this wedding?" Ursula asked, trying to keep the talk rooted in the future.
Cuore grinned, massaging her wrist. "I suspect longer then you would think, considering. I have a feeling Rosa has an idea of exactly how it should go."
Ursula frowned and crossed her arms. "Hmm…true…I may begin to regret this…"
"I will help however I can, if you'd like." Her friend offered, still rubbing her wrist. "Though I have to admit my knowledge of this whole marriage affair is…limited. I remember my parent's wedding, and that was a disaster onto itself."
"I heard their wedding was lovely,"
"Once all the chaos had ended, yes."
Ursula chuckled, without having to force it this time. It felt nice, normal, to be having this conversation. She hadn't spent time like this with Cuore in a long time.
However, she couldn't forget the situation they had found themselves in. She frowned once more, watching as Cuore continued to rub at her wrist, even as her eyes were busy studying the floor.
"Cuore?"
"Hmm?" her friend said without looking up.
Ursula eyed her, "Are you okay? Is your hand bothering you?"
Cuore shrugged, "My joints are marginally rigid. The discomfort is minimal."
"Should…I get TinSouRe?" she asked cautiously.
Cuore shook her head, "No need. I'm adequate."
"Whatever you say…" she mumbled, unbelieving.
Ceodore hadn't really been worried about Kieran, despite him going missing. He was probably having one of his tantrums somewhere or brooding in a corner.
But the longer he looked and failed to find his friend, the more he started to think that maybe something bad had happened.
So far, he had looked in all the rooms they had previously visited in the safe zone but Kieran wasn't anywhere in them.
That left unexplored sections and he started poking into every door that would open for him. Some beeped complaints or were damaged, and so he mostly found empty rooms, storage rooms, more rooms with equipment similar to TinSouRe's and one that was even empty from the looks of it.
Finally he found his friend inside one of the storage rooms and breathed a sigh of relief.
"There you are!" he exclaimed, stepping inside and nearly tripping over some debris from the ceiling.
Kieran was busy tinkering with something on the table in front of him and didn't even look up as he jammed a piece into place. "Did you need me?"
Ceodore blinked and then frowned, stepping over the cracks in the floor. "Well…you'd been gone a long time, so…"
He trailed off, hoping to hear some sort of explanation, but he got none. The dark haired young man just began using a wrench on the heap of scrap in front of him, pulling out tiny screws and leaving them in a pile.
Ceodore watched him for a few minutes, growing increasingly irritated at the lack of interaction.
"What are you doing?" he finally asked, stepping around a table to stand at his side and get a better look.
The device was a series of cubes all interconnected, with wires spilling out the sides. It didn't look like anything Ceodore had ever seen before, and he was having a hard time believing his friend knew any more than he did about it.
"I'm recalibrating this fusion chamber." Kieran answer, still not stopping his work.
Ceodore watched him remove the last screw and carefully lift the cover of one cube off. Inside were crystal structures and masses. Ceodore couldn't say he was all that surprised.
"Okay…why?" he asked next.
Kieran took one of the tri-pronged crystals out and held it up to the light overhead. "Well, I got to thinking…if we actually build a TrAce'De-Mar, we'll need a power source. I know Cuore said she could re-route the ship's power of whatever into it, but we'll need to convert that raw power into the type of Ves'Per that the matter transportation device uses. If we don't, it'll blow all the lattices to dust before we can use it."
Ceodore stared blankly at him. "Uh huh."
"So," Kieran said, gesturing to the device. "Fusion chamber modified to turn negative energy from black magic into positive, less volatile, white magic. Ves'Per…energy…light and dark…whatever, you get it."
"Not so much." Ceodore said, making a face. "Honestly I got none of that. But that's beside the point. Is this really something you should be doing now? Or at all? Maybe you better leave this to Cuore,"
Kieran continued to inspect pieces of crystal he pulled out of the chamber. "Well, Cuore's not really around at the moment."
Ceodore scowled at him, growing irritated once more. His friend didn't notice the look, however, so he reached out and plucked the translucent discs from his hands and held them up to his face.
"Hey," he said sharply, narrowing his eyes. "I know Cuore isn't your favorite person in the world, but you could at least pretend right now that your worried about her."
Kieran stiffened, but didn't look at him so he pressed onward, still annoyed at his friend's attitude. "Maybe you aren't worried, or maybe you are and are just burying yourself in work like you always do, but it doesn't matter. Right now, the four of us have to stick together. We're in this together, only us, so stop being so…Kieran."
The other man flicked a look at him finally, frowning, and reached out to take back the shard. "Congratulations on being bold, Ceodore."
The prince frowned, still bothered, and watched as Kieran just went back to removing crystals.
After a few seconds of silence, he grabbed the entire device from the table and held it at arm's length, away from them.
"Hey!" Kieran snapped, glaring at him.
Ceodore made a face. "At least you're paying attention now,"
"I was listening," he grumbled, "You want me to mope around with you and Ursula and watch Cuore be self-destructive and stupid and continue to lie to us."
The prince rolled his eyes, "That isn't-"
"That's exactly what's going on!" Kieran snapped. "She lied to me, to my face, and I don't appreciate you assuming I'm down here hiding because I'm mad, or because I don't care, because that isn't why."
He forcibly took back the fusion chamber and carefully set it back down on the table, next to the disassembled parts he'd already worked on. He didn't move to work on them again and instead braced his hands on the rim of the table. Kieran heaved a sigh and closed his eyes.
There was a moment of silence and Ceodore felt slightly badly he was assuming the worst of his friend. But he wasn't sure what to think, and they did need to stick together. They were stronger that way, and they had a better chance of getting out of this alive with physical and moral support.
Kieran sighed again, "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."
Ceodore raised an eyebrow, surprised by the apology. "Maybe I should be telling you that,"
"No," his friend said with a quick shake of his head. "You are right, I am hiding, in a manner of speaking. Burying myself in work…that sounds about right."
Kieran opened his eyes and stared at the device intently. "Not that I'm sure how I know what this is…one more mystery…"
"I didn't mean to imply you weren't worried about Cuore," Ceodore mentioned, scratching his neck and wincing. "I just…it's still weird that you two…get along now. That your friends."
Kieran snorted.
"Thanks for talking to Ursula, by the way."
His friend shrugged, "Yeah, sure…"
Ceodore frowned, "How about you? Do you want to talk?"
"What do you think?" Kieran asked him, diverting his gaze to stare at the prince with a dubious look.
Ceodore grinned sheepishly. "I thought I'd ask…"
The conversation trailed off and Ceodore watched as he slowly went back to work on the device, replacing parts, removing others, checking wires and tubes and connectors.
How he knew what he was doing was beyond comprehension, apparently even for him. They would have to figure that out, too, before all this was over. Hopefully the knowledge wouldn't lead to more darkness.
The moments stretched on and Ceodore hesitated, knowing full well the dark haired young man was ignoring the situation rather than dealing with it. He didn't handle certain situations well, and apparently this was one of them.
"Any particular reason you're still hanging around?" Kieran asked after a few more minutes. He didn't look up, but his tone wasn't annoyed, more amused.
Ceodore shrugged, "I was sort of hoping you'd change your mind and open up."
"I have never done that," he retorted, "why start now?"
"You have, bit by bit…I'm a little worried about you. I have been for a while." Ceodore admitted. "I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't try to help."
Kieran sighed and gestured to a wall shelf covered in metal plates. "If you want to help, bring me one of those."
The prince rolled his eyes but did as he asked. He was surprised by the weight of the small scrap metal, and looked it over in curiosity as he brought it over. "What's this for?"
Kieran took it and proceeded to smash it against the edge of the table. Ceodore recoiled at the loud noise and was surprised when the metal piece broke in half.
"Al-Ter'R,*" Kieran explained, holding up the two halves. "A fragile metal the Lunarians had on their planet. I can break and mold this to fit anyway in this device. It's non-conductive…I…think anyway. Should be useful."
"And you're not the least bit concerned that you know this," Ceodore commented, pinning him with a look.
"I'm trying not to think about it." Kieran said tersely. "I have enough to worry about."
He slammed the metal again and it broke into smaller pieces.
"Not that this conversation isn't riveting," Ceodore remarked sarcastically, crossing his arms. "But I should probably go check on the others…unlike you, I chose to surround myself with friends when I'm feeling down. Have fun, though."
Kieran sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut tight. "Ceodore, I am so close to hitting you right now you have no idea…"
"Well at least that would be a reaction of some sort," he complained. "I'm serious, Kieran. I'm worried about you. You've been acting…weird, and now your just shutting yourself away from us, pretending that nothing is going on, using this…stuff to distract you…"
"What should I be doing, then?" Kieran snapped, glaring at him. "Please, enlighten me."
Ceodore hesitated. "I…don't know…but not this."
His friend suddenly barked a bitter sounding laugh and glared off to the other side of the room, looking away. "If the situation weren't so damn awful, it would be funny in a morbid sense of the word…"
"Why's that?" he asked, afraid for the answer.
"Because, I swear I'm destined to lose everything and everyone I care about time after time…nothing I've done has made a difference. All that training and I'm still powerless to save anyone. It's funny, really."
Ceodore sighed and walked back over to stand at his side. "Kieran,"
"No, don't," he said, holding up a hand. "Don't tell me you're sorry, because it's not your fault. You can't apologize and make it right." Kieran glared at the chamber on the table. "I'm so good at fixing stuff, but I can't fix my life, or anyone else's…"
Ceodore grabbed his arm, "We're not dead yet, would you stop acting like the future is set in stone?"
"You can't honestly be telling me you're condoning Cuore's actions,"
"No," he insisted. "No, I'm mad as hell at her, but now's not the time to feel that way. Now we need to be there for her and try to hope that everything is going to turn out alright."
Kieran rolled his eyes, "Hope, life's greatest lie."
"Ugh," Ceodore groaned, growing frustrated. "Stop being so cynical and let me finish; I get that this is all too similar to what has happened before to you, but you can't let that affect you. You have to deal with this, no matter how hard, just like then."
Kieran smacked his hand off his arm and turned his glare on him. "I can't do that because I never dealt with it!"
Ceodore winced, realizing he was really in over his head.
The dark haired young man shook his head. "I'm not even sure what I feel…I'm angry, and upset and confused and everything is so…so chaotic that I can't even figure out what I'm supposed to feel, or do, and what does it matter? It's out of my control, just like always."
He slammed a fist onto the metal table, making the pieces of machinery rattle. "I hate myself right now for not knowing what to do, for not being stronger. I hate that I let myself get so attached to people again, I hate that I never had the courage to deal with this before, and now…now…"
Ceodore winced as he slammed the table again, this time with less force, thought it somehow looked more crippling. He reached out and used both hands to turn Kieran around, to make him look at him and mustered as stern a look as he could.
"Stop it." he snapped. "Don't ever say that you hate yourself, because you shouldn't. There's always things that are outside our control. I'm going to tell you what you told me once; do the right thing, no matter how small, to make things right, all the time."
"That situation and this aren't the same thing," Kieran muttered, averting his gaze.
"It's close enough." Ceodore insisted. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I understand, that I can really help you right now, that anything I say is going to mean anything. I've lost someone, too, but it's not the same and I know that. But right now, even if you think there's nothing you can do, there is."
"I'm scared of losing someone, or myself," Kieran muttered quietly. "Again, I guess I should say…"
"Yeah," Ceodore agreed with a single nod. "Me too. But we're not out yet."
He gave an uneasy smile. "I'm about one talk about how bad things are and feelings from crying like a little girl,"
Kieran gave a short laugh at that and he shrugged. "But, that won't really help, and I know that. And maybe I've been spending too much time with Ursula, but…she's right. A virus? Not how I thought I'd go. I'd like it to be epic then that, but…"
"I believe she said a dragon or something,"
"Yeah, that would be good. Makes for a good story,"
"Or song." Kieran added.
Ceodore hesitated and then sighed, "I'm not sure if you get what I'm trying to say, here. I'm not even sure anymore myself…just that I know that I can't decide to stop hoping we'll get out of this, all of us, alive."
"I'm not you." Kieran muttered, looking away again.
Ceodore grinned, "Good, because I don't think anyone would be happy with that." He gave his friend's arm one last squeeze. "Look, I won't make you come back with me, but when you are ready, come join us. We're in this together, alright?"
"You are right, I should, but…I'm not sure if I'll be any help since-" Kieran was cut off by an alarm going off.
They both looked around.
"What is that?" Ceodore asked at the same time as Kieran groaned; "Crystals, what now?"
They both hurried from the room, wordlessly heading to TinSouRe's laboratory. Ceodore hoped whatever was waiting for them wouldn't negate everything he had just tried to convince Kieran of.
They entered the room into a flurry of activity as BarZenDao snapped something across the room in Lunarian. TinSouRe didn't reply but began inputting commands rapidly.
Ursula glanced at the door and offered a shrug with wide eyes as if to show she had no idea what was going on.
Cuore was on her tiptoes, pressed against the glass cover of her containment unit and peering into the distance as if she was having trouble seeing.
"No, you have to overcharge the relays to shut them down, which in turn will force the system to reboot!"
The panel beeped and then flashed a series of runes. TinSouRe sighed. "I am locked out of the system,"
"The hell?" Kieran said, shoving her out of the way.
BarZenDao looked up, startled. "What do you think you're doing?"
Kieran didn't bother looking up, "Apparently hacking your computer, I'm as lost as you are."
It was Ceodore's turn to offer Ursula a confused shrug.
He certainly had no idea what was going on, but after a few moments the alarm shut off and the computer chimed a much more pleasant sounding melody before display a new series of swirls and spirals on the screens.
TinSouRe sighed, "Well, that was interruptive."
BarZenDao was staring with narrowed eyes at Kieran. "How did you do that?"
"I second the question," Ursula asked, eyeing him worriedly. "Since when can you-"
Kieran cut her off. "I have no idea. I'm not even sure what just happened. But what I do know, is that right now I know for a fact that the code on the screen is KanESenna's code."
Ceodore frowned, "Wait, what?"
Cuore shook her head, "That doesn't make any sense."
"I have his pass key," BarZenDao added, holding up the crystalline key.
TinSouRe frowned, "The Uo'Ru,"
"They have his codes?" Ursula asked, eyes widening. "How? Since when?"
"They likely extracted the information from him." TinSouRe answered. "They are telepathic, remember?"
Kieran frowned, not looking entirely convinced. "Alright, so what were they trying to do?"
"They were trying to transfer power from life-support and from the lattice frames themselves into…well, into another section." Cuore answered. "For those of you who don't know, the lattice frames are the very structure of the ship, formed from crystals, that-"
"-contain trace amounts of Ves'Per in them, like all Lunarian constructs." Kieran finished. "Usually the power is only residue from other systems, but apparently they needed the extra power burst for whatever they were trying too do."
He held up his hands, "And no, I don't know how I know that."
Cuore frowned, "Something else we will need to worry about, but for now, we should manually cut the connection to our systems so they can't access it."
TinSouRe nodded, "A wise precaution. What do we need to do?"
Cuore pointed off to one of the consoles. "Open that up and remove the tenth, twentieth and twenty-ninth junction crystals."
BarZenDao scrambled to heed her request and she glanced across the room, "We should use a laser cutter to seal the gaps, then, just to make sure they can't access them at all."
TinSouRe opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when a tool flew from the other side of the room and crashed into the glass covering.
Everyone jumped, startled, at the sound and Cuore blinked at where the tool laid at her feet, on the opposite side of the cell door.
"What…" Ceodore started, trailing off.
She shook her head, "I…don't know what happened. I just looked at the laser cutter and it just…came to me…"
TinSouRe hurried to one of the consoles near the containment cell and began inputting codes. Ursula chewed on her lip, "Anything else odd happening?"
Cuore frowned, "I…do feel a little odd. And…not to worry anyone, but I swear I'm hearing voices."
"Oh, wonderful." Ursula said in a falsely even tone.
Ceodore hesitated, "Dare I ask what they sound like?"
"Like…someone complaining because the computer is taking too long to cycle into its useable phase."
Kieran froze, fingers lifted above the symbols he had been typing.
Ceodore glanced between the two of them. "Um…"
"And now what do you hear?" Kieran asked without turning around.
Cuore's brow furrowed, "That…this place is a death trap, that…the Lunarians are liars, untrustworthy, that…I am very beautiful and…oh…"
Ursula snickered before covering it with a cough. Ceodore made a face, totally confused.
Kieran sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "I…can't even, right now. I'm so done with this trip."
Cuore looked remorseful and opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance. TinSouRe made a sound of excitement, which was odd coming from her. "Incredible!"
"What is?" BarZenDao asked, hurrying to her side and peering at the data.
She didn't reply right away, too engrossed in her data and scans and Ceodore took a deep breath before holding up his hands.
"Alright. Let's just take a moment." he said, drawing attention to himself. "First off; are we in danger with the…power…and all that."
"No." everyone but Ursula chorused. Cuore shook her head, "I believe we terminated they're attempt, and BarZenDao removed the crystals I requested."
The boy held up the flat objects as proof. Kieran leaned back against the console he had been working on, "And I cleared the code off the drive. They will have to start over if they want in."
"Great." Ceodore said, nodding. "And…we're sure it was Uo'Ru?"
TinSouRe frowned thoughtfully. "I cannot think of any other reason for the disturbance."
"And they have KanESenna's codes?"
"Yes."
The prince breathed out a sigh. "Alright. One more thing to worry about…"
He glanced around, glad to see he still held everyone's attention. "Next…" He flicked a look at Kieran, who scowled at him.
"I don't know." the other man grumbled. "Ask Cuore."
All eyes turned to the woman in question and she flinched, looking unsure. But she was, however, trapped, behind glass. "I…" she started, halting, and beginning again. "I appear to be sharing thoughts with Kieran…not all the time, only sometimes."
"It would explain how you suddenly know all this stuff," Ceodore pointed out. He could see Kieran was not happy with the situation, yet he said nothing.
Cuore noticed too, because she hesitated and then averted her gaze, mentioning; "This…isn't the first time. In fact, I think…I think it's been on-going. Off and on."
"Since we got to the ship?" Ursula asked, tipping her head to one side.
Cuore swallowed, hands clasping each other in front of her in a nervous gesture. She darted a look at Kieran, who just stared back impassively. With a defeated sigh, the teal haired young woman spoke.
"No…before that, too."
Kieran's eyes widened, "Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry!" Cuore exclaimed, shaking her head. "I-I never meant too, it just…happened…sometimes. Once in a while. Lately."
He glared at her, "Didn't feel like telling me that?"
"Why," she accused sharply, all pleading gone from her voice. "So you could toss it back in my face? So you could tell me I was a soulless imitation?"
Ceodore winced, not looking forward to this conversation in the least. He wasn't sure how to counteract the can of worms that had just been opened. Glancing at Ursula for help only earned him an equally distress expression.
"Wow." Kieran muttered, arms crossed and gaze hard. "You would go that far back and bring that up? I guess you lied to me then, too, when you told me we had moved on."
Cuore visibly bristled. "I didn't lie to you,"
"Oh?" he said, feigning confusion. "You didn't? You didn't lie to me when you told me that you wouldn't go and do something stupid?"
She opened her mouth to retort but Ceodore cut her off. "Both of you, stop. Not now."
They did as he said, though neither of them looked happy. Kieran looked angry, bitter. Cuore was trying to mirror that look but mostly she looked upset, hurt and confused. The way she was rubbing her arm at the elbow proved that.
After a pause to the conversation, he took a deep breath and continued. "Okay, so…there's…that. Now, TinSouRe, you had found something?"
Despite the obvious tension in the room, the woman nodded brightly, apparently unbothered. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "A most wondrous thing indeed."
She tapped a few symbols before her and a series of braided images appeared on the display nearest them.
Ursula wrinkled her nose. "Are we…supposed to know what that is?"
"No. I didn't expect you too." the Lunarian replied.
The princess rolled her eyes.
"This is Cuore's DNA. The image on the left is from scans taken by the pods while you slept. The image on the right, however, is from a few minutes ago."
Ceodore looked between them. "I…do see differences, but…I don't know what they mean,"
"It's repaired." Cuore murmured.
They all turned to look at her.
She was staring at the images, eyes wide. "My DNA…it's not completely…correct. There were errors in the base code from my pod malfunctioning while I was still…asleep. As a result, I had degradation in key elements."
"And now you don't." TinSouRe said, smiling. "The virus is actually doing what it's supposed to in you. It's acting as a mutation, not an illness."
"What does that mean?" Ursula asked, voice uneasy.
"It means it's altering her very being," TinSouRe explained. "As it was intended it's accelerating evolution, and from the looks of it, perfecting your DNA despite the fact that your genetic code was already the most perfectly constructed thing I'd ever seen."
"But is she alright?" Kieran asked.
TinSouRe seemed somewhat confused by the question. "She isn't in danger at the moment. Only time will tell how the Uo'Ru compound will continue to affect her. But, for now, it is working the best I have ever seen."
Cuore looked even more upset then she had a few minutes before, but she didn't say anything. Ceodore was beginning to hate the containment unit she had put herself into. He felt so detached from her, and likely, she from them.
It wasn't right. None of this was.
"So…the laser cutter?" Ursula questioned. "That was you?"
Cuore nodded slowly. "The Maenads processed telekinetic abilities. I never manifested them. I always figured I was…damaged."
"That's…actually not true." Kieran said, glancing at her. "You probably don't remember. In Baron. You broke the windows in a room when you were…out of it."
Ceodore nodded slowly, "I remember that, too."
Cuore bit her lip, "Your right, I don't recall that. I didn't think…"
"It's likely an ability you didn't know you had," TinSouRe said, still smiling. "The Uo'Ru compound will change your brain chemistry, too."
Cuore flinched, but remained quiet.
Ceodore wanted to get off the subject before she withdrew into herself further. "So, do we need to worry about the Uo'Ru right now? I know we shut them out of the systems, but…what did they need the power for in the first place?"
BarZenDao frowned, "Whatever it is, it cannot be anything good."
Ursula snorted, "No kidding. I'm sure we'll find out, unfortunately."
Ceodore sighed and rubbed his hands across his face. "Alright, we need to rest. We haven't in a long time, and all of…this, is making me go crazy. I have a headache and I'm losing my mind, I swear."
Kieran pushed off the console he was still leaning against and moved for the door. "You don't have to tell me twice…" he muttered.
Ursula frowned as she watched him leave. Ceodore suppressed another sigh.
"I'm sorry, TinSouRe," he apologized. "That…got out of hand."
The Lunarian woman shrugged her thin shoulders. "Worry not. It was…disruptive, but not harmful."
"Yes, it was." Ursula muttered under her breath, nodding towards Cuore.
Ceodore had to agree, but he refrained from doing so out loud. "Well…in any case, we should rest, all of us."
BarZenDao glanced at Cuore before ducking his head. "I…will remain here. Someone should keep watch on the systems for changes."
Cuore smiled ever so slightly, "Very logical."
Ursula and Ceodore exchanged a glance.
TinSouRe nodded and swept for the doorway. "I shall return later to run another scan, Cuore. Awaken me, BarZenDao, if there is any change."
Despite not wanting to leave Cuore alone, Ceodore felt like he was about to fall over while standing up, as if sleep was literally clawing at his eyes. He was also trying to ignore the nagging thought that his sudden fatigue was due to the virus at work.
Ursula wrapped an arm through his, "Come on. You look exhausted."
He nodded and allowed her to lead him onward. She continued after a moment; "I…don't want to sleep in the pod things. Is that weird? Can we find somewhere else?"
"I feel the same way," he admitted, giving her a quick smile. "What about the dome thingy that uses memories? We could remember up a bed or something."
"A bed?" she teased.
"Shut up. I'm tired."
Ursula giggled and tugged on his arm again. "Come on, I'm sure things will look brighter in the morning. At least, I hope so…"
Author's Note: Holy character-development, Batman! Everyone. All the characters. And you get a scene, and you get a scene, and you get a scene!
Everyone is near their breaking point, and it's becoming very clear. I had both a fun time, and a hard time, trying to write this chapter. On the one hand, it has great moments in it. On another, it's hard to get the thoughts and emotions across in mere writing.
I always felt like Ceodore and Cuore would have a sibling type relationship; Despite how obnoxious he was too me in TAY videos, he was one of the nicer characters to Cuore (if he's in the playable party when you meet her,) and he probably is a "nice" person. Cuore, in turn, would be looking for anyone different and interesting to try and learn from, and I imagine she probably globed onto him for one reason or another.
Quick recap:
Ursula is grasping at happy thoughts.
Kieran is trying to distract himself with work.
Cuore is feeling justified, but deep down is terrified.
As for Ceodore being drained at the end...he's spent chapters trying to be the sane, normal one and hold everyone else together. You ever get that feeling of just being so done you just want to curl up and die? Yeah. That's him right now. He's "over it".
Can't blame him, actually...
The Uo'Ru...hmm...what are they trying to do, now?
And Kieran and Cuore have devolved from being at odds in confusion to all out fighting, now. They need another make-out scene to work out all this tension, geez...(kidding...maybe...lol)
As for the Maenads having telekinesis...it depends on what version of TAY you play, I think. The videos of the WIIWare version, they do; the Maenads often push people or objects with just a flick of their arms. (I'm not sure if this was just because of the limitations of graphics or what...) but in the IoS version, they don't. At least, not the vids I watched. Instead they blast things with lightning in the same scenes.
Regardless, if creatures have telepathic abilities, I feel it would be a natural course that, if they were to continue growing, they would develop more mental abilities. Thus, in my canon, the Maenads had telekinesis.
Now the question is...what happens next?
Lunarian lesson:
Al-Ter'R – A certain kind of fragile metal by-product unique to Lun'Na