26. The Atman

Planet Yu Tah,

Rimor's pov

The ship was done. It was a new looking M-class spaceship. It was sleek and had extendable wings along with an extra boost of new propeller fans. They had redone the paint job and instead of the dull grey, now it had a white body and blue highlights. Iro helped him out a lot with his knowledge of where needed parts for the engine would be since he doesn't know much about this planet. It was also upgraded with new modifications. Some of which even Iro doesn't know about. At the side of the ship, with silver writing is its name that they had decided 'The Atman'. In another language, it means the soul.

Rimor had thought correct when he estimated that he would be here for long. It's been two months. He did however take the first chance he had in the first week and tell Skia that he would not be coming back for a while. He also sneaked away to a couple of other planets to get some enchanted items and instil them in the spaceship without Iro noticing. He had added a concealment charm so that none other than the ones who knew exactly where to find it and what to find would able to see it. There was also one charm that blocked any scrying magic including the creators from hearing, seeing, or flashing inside. Albeit the latter was very expensive, it was worth it.

The Atman was much bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. They also added a few turbo boosters to allow it to be able to travel at the speed of light and some shooters to have fun. Iro and his father had also taught him how to command the ship in his short time there. Though he had disliked Sared at first because of him trying to cheat him out of his money. The man had grown on him since he had apologized.

Rimor and Iro's friendship had also come a long way but they had to their separate ways for now but promised to see each other later. So here he saying goodbye to his new friend on the roof of the Whopping Taeler.

"I wish had more time left to go with for some time," Iro said sadly.

"Hey, when whatever training you're doing is done then you can contact me and we can go on an adventure together, " Rimor reassured him. He had given Iro his contact number for his V-pad so he can leave messages.

Iro looked wistfully at the Atman, sighed, and then turned to him, 'Take good care of it." Rimor knew he meant the spaceship. They had both bonded over sprucing the Atman up.

"I will," he promised and said goodbye one last time and got in his new ship. He went to the front control area and sat on the pilot's seat. He pressed a few different buttons and launched the Atman into space. It was exhilarating. The feeling of launching through the air at a very fast speed gives you an adrenaline rush or nauseousness, depending on if you have a weak stomach.

He slowly pulled down a lever and the spaceship slowed to a normal pace. Rimor looked wide-eyed at the scene before him.

It was mesmerizing.

Far away stars twinkled in the dark oblivion, asteroids, and meteors floated lost in space. He saw Yu Tah. It was a small planet with a pink and green surface. He could even spot a few other ships of all sizes leaving the planet or going towards.

He maneuvered the Atman towards Mori ad put in the coordinates. 'Oh, Skia will be so shocked to see this baby', he thought gleefully.

But where will he keep this spaceship? The thought hit him like a meteorite. There isn't any room in his house. Where could he keep it? He could just keep it suspended in space in a secluded area but where?

Then a possibly stupid but plausible idea struck him. The only place in the universe that people aren't traveling or too scared to go near is the border of the sector of the lost ones. The sector of the lost ones was the sector of End, the brother of Chaos and Order but he destroyed the people in his when he deemed that they had become too corrupt. Without helping them, he wiped out the hundreds of planets in his sector. To this day, no one goes into that sector. We don't know if there are any survivors on the other side and if they are good or not. Some say that some of End's influence remains there and it prevents both Chaos and Order from going into it. There are said to be strange creatures there that still loyal to End even though he is gone. They attack and eliminate any and all who come into that sector but Rimor had hopes that at least half of them are exaggerated rumours.

He devised a plan that might put him in danger or get him an awesome new hideout. He used the concealment upgrade and the surface of the shimmered and disappeared. He put some new coordinates in the GPS and started flying there at full speed. He observed the twinkling stars and the planets he crossed. He had to say there were a lot of planets.

Abruptly the feeling in the atmosphere became colder. He observed that the planets he could see have increasingly decreased and now only one or two planets were there. He came to the conclusion that this is the way the sector of the lost ones.

He slowed down the Ataman and looked for a secluded space.

A few minutes later, he found an area in space. It overlooked the planets and the stars. It was like a corner of the universe. Rimor thought that it was perfect. It wasn't too close to the border either. He stopped the engine and put it in suspension mode. It meant that the ship would not move anywhere else but be tethered there yet not use any of the fuel or energy.

He quickly set up an anchor in the ship and connected it to his watch. Now the watch would be able to track the location of the ship no matter where it goes and vice-versa.

Rimor then satisfied with this arrangement, used the compass teleporter to teleport back to Mori. He appeared in the forest near his house. He breathed in the moist air and relaxed. This planet may not have felt exactly like home but it did give him peace. It gave him a constant other than Skia to come back to.

He started making his way to the house, jumping over the logs and roots. As he walked in tranquillity, an earlier thought came back to him. He remembered the article two months ago about the planet on the border that was completely wiped out and the strange symbol that had brought him a sense of Deja vu.

He wondered where he had seen it before. When could he have seen that symbol? He could feel that the answer was slipping away like sand. He knew it too. Then it hit him.

His first massacre assassination. The first sight of Aleixo. The first time he had made the universal news.

Those dam cultists in Iraam. They had worn the same symbol on their armour. "They may not be as delusional and weak as he had thought," he mused.

They enough force to attack a planet under the rule of Order and completely wipe it out. There weren't any major breakthroughs in the investigation either. He had checked his V-pad daily for updates but none had come on that subject.

A sinister smile crept onto his face. 'What if I go investigate myself?' he wondered. He already had come across them once. The agents of Order must have left the planet by now and he could salvage a few things. Find out why they targeted and if they are the same cultists as before. He'll have to go in his new spaceship since his usual PP lie will not work for a decimated planet.

He soon reached the house entered without knocking. He saw that Skia was sleeping peacefully on the couch, so like the good person that he is, he snuck up behind her and yelled, "BOO."

Her dark head shot up and she pounced on him, her teeth and claws enlarging. As soon she saw the person under her, she relaxed a bit but did not get off of him. Pai, what were you thinking? she growled.

"To scare a sleeping tigress," he mumbled under his breath. "I'm sorry. Now can you please get off of me?" he asked instead.

The grumbling black tigress reluctantly got off of him. Rimor slowly got up and said, "Ski, we are going to go to Planet Ferora to investigate and scavenge whatever we can."

Skia looked at him curiously. What are we investigating there?

Rimor looked grim. "Apparently the cultists I told you about, a ship with that symbol attacked the Planet Ferora. The population was entirely wiped out. We have to find out who they work for and where we can find them."

I will help you, Pai. She came forward and touched his arm and a black tattoo that looked exactly like Skia appeared on his arm.

After the tattoo settles on his bicep, he pulled up his ship's coordinates from his watch and mist travelled there. Suddenly it was like he couldn't breathe and his body was floating. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he had appeared above the Atman instead of inside as he had planned. He knew he couldn't use mist travel here. There wasn't enough water in the air.

He found the secret hatchet on the roof of the ship that leads to the engine so he used what little water was in the air and propelled himself towards it. Just as he grabbed the wing of the Atman, the water ran out and his lower body was once again floating up. He pulled himself along the wing with a little bit of strength given from Skia. He finally managed to reach the hatchet and opened using his watch.

He let out a quiet sigh of relief as he felt the oxygen returning to his lungs and the artificial gravity pulling him down. He slipped into the pilot's seat and said to himself, "Next stop, Planet Ferora."