Chapter 10: How Far I'll Go

A few hours prior...

For the fifth day in a row Kairi has sat down in her living room face-to-face across from her mother. She has been regaled the stories of her sister's trip with Alex from beginning to end, and every detail Auris knew about was told, not a single bit left out.

It has all been very tiring. Kairi's had to deal with a few headaches and expected bouts of dizziness from some of the things she heard. For how grave a threat Alex Whiter had been to her city and people, Auris hadn't slandered the boy with her words until near the end of the story.

And as the story neared its conclusion Kairi's gut was wrenched and she silently stared down at the floor. Auris held nothing back describing the tragedy of the two lovers last encounter, and their difficult departure. It was a bloody, sordid affair, one that left Kairi trembling with a mix of anger and sadness.

Auris quietly shut her eyes and pulled back against the couch. With a breaking voice she whispered, "And that...is everything I know."

Kairi gripped her kneecaps tight and the shaking stopped. She raised her watery eyes to look at her mother and shook her head. Heightened emotions threatened to make her scream...But not yet.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Auris intercepted.

And it was true, there were so many that it didn't seem feasible to ask all but the more pressing ones. Such as: "...You didn't tell me what happened to Shina, mom."

"She did make it to where the Cosmos Drive is, I'm sure of that but..."

"B-But what?" Kairi hesitantly pressed on, swallowing a wad of saliva.

"The energy surrounding its location...Is able to block off my clairvoyance."

"And is that the same reason you don't know what happened between Alex and that witch?"

Auris fell into silence and Kairi narrowed her eyes, pushing a few tears out as she gasped, "Why should I even believe you now when you kept this from me for so long?"

"There's nothing to gain from lying to you dear..."

"Oh!" Kairi gasped in a bluntly offended tone, "So...so it was ok to lie to me before? Me? Your own daughter!"

Auris grunted and struggled to open her heavy eyes that couldn't even look directly at Kairi. Kairi bit her lower lip and with a forced grunt in place of swears she pulled herself right off the couch and threw her arm down by her side.

"Why couldn't you have just told me where she was?"

Auris swerved her head away and murmured, "You would have gone after her."

"Of course I would have! She's my-"

"And died." Auris said with an eerie calm in her voice. Kairi pulled back with an exasperated look in her eyes as her mother continued.

"If not from a lack of experience then Gravitus would have hunted you down and made your life a living hell. YOU were the one he wanted, not your sister. He was perfectly willing to use Shina to lure you towards him, and set up the conditions for the Neo Drive."

Kairi trembled and fought little against her hand's urge to become a fist. She beat back on the couch and grunted at the same time. Tensely shutting her eyes she proclaimed, "And because of that Shina had to suffer?! And its not just her! Alex Whiter became a monster from joining her quest! A quest YOU sent her on!"

Kairi swung her head towards Auris and gasped in pain and bewilderment, "Do you feel nothing from that?"

Auris shook and hugged her arms closer to her body. She turned her head towards Kairi, her eyes mildly wet, and began to slowly shake her head, "I'm...I'm sorry."

Kairi shuddered but soon was biting her teeth down to growl back, "I'm not the one you need to apologize to mom."

Kairi curled her fists tight and stampeded around the couch towards the stairs, clamping one hand down on the railing as she climbed up.

"But don't worry," She said in a sarcastic tone, "I'll get her back myself!"

Halfway up the stairs her mother remarked, "I can't and won't stop you but...You should at least bring Mew along."

"Why, because your clairvoyance told you that?" Kairi turned her head to glare at Auris from the corner of her eye.

Auris turned away. Kairi went "Uh huh" dismissively and then bluntly pointed out, "I'm not dragging anyone else into this. This is my problem to fix. I defeated Gravitus and helped stop Justek. If some other malevolent force got to Shina and is keeping her from coming back then I'll beat their ass into the dirt!"

Kairi threw her head back forward and continued climbing in a huff. She ran straight to her room and shut the door, putting her back to it and laying her hands out beside them. She let out all her pent up exhaustion and anger in one massive breath and slid to the floor.

She then hit the door with the back of her head and growled increasingly louder.

"Why...?!" There was so much to process when it came to her big sister's journey but the one thing she'd probably never, EVER be able to get over...Is that she loved Alex Whiter.

The psychopath with a hate boner and ego the size of the sun didn't exactly scream "caring lover" but clearly, Shina was the exception.

Kairi couldn't forget his hateful words and destructive behavior. The scarred, twisted soul threatened her and her home with no remorse...Yet he died not to avenge himself, but to avenge Shina.

She didn't understand. She didn't WANT to understand. Alex Whiter deserved her hatred until the day she died. So why? Why HIM. Out of the trillions of people in the universe, why did she choose him?!

With a face full of red and her eyes on the verge of tears, Kairi threw her arm over her face and grunted some more in confusion, "WHY?!"

After sorting out her feelings for a few minutes Kairi dragged herself up and wobbled over to her bed. Resting atop her flannel sheets was a headband split in half down the middle. A casualty in the battle against Gravitus, but...they also wouldn't have won without it.

Kairi glided her hand along the top then grabbed it at the edge, and as she picked it up the left half flipped around and revealed some text behind it. Kairi slowly brought the text up near her face and read it off.

"You have always been my light shining brightly in the darkest sea. I may not be the mother you've always wanted, but you have always been the daughter I needed."

"..." Kairi couldn't finish the rest without her face contorting into a scowl, and her hand clamping the halves of the headband together.

"He was perfectly willing to use Shina..." Auris' words echoed in her head.

"Yeah," Kairi gave a wet scoff and then tucked the headband neatly into her pocket, "Like you were any different mom...'You have always been the daughter I needed', how could you..."

She left the room with a sour frown and rushed down the stairs without a second thought. She rested a hand on the door and glanced back at the couches. Her mom was no longer there. She bit her teeth, shook her head, and then focused onward past her house.

She took in a deep breath. The air was fresh in the city again. It was a needed relaxant. After a couple steps away from home Kairi strut confidently through the city, her eyes locked straight ahead but her mind wandering elsewhere.

"First I got to find a ride into space..." She looked around and saw a few heavy machinery. There had been a lot more a few days ago, but now the reconstruction of Sancturia was nearing its end. The Aurians would, hopefully, be able to readjust to their daily routines.

But right now, more importantly, the machines gave her an idea.

"...Maybe I could ask Saturn." The heroine would be a handful without Mew around to redirect some of that energy towards but...Not like Kairi knew any other spacefarers.

"Haaaa..." Kairi hung her shoulders and sighed, "It'll have to do."

She made her way through Sancturia at a decent pace and stopped only to say "Hi" to her fellow Aurians. She was nervous reciprocating their greetings, especially seeing how excited some of them were. She'd gone from black sheep to recognized hero in the span of a week and even she couldn't believe it was real.

Not wanting to get too overwhelmed, Kairi started kicking up the pace to get to the Pyramid after the twentieth greeting.

The Pyramid was roughly the last place that needed to be put back together and it looked perfectly fine from the outside. The inside had taken the most damage though.

If Saturn was still working on it then this would be quick. Though when Kairi entered the first floor she wasn't expecting to run into Gabriel as he came down the staircase.

"Kairi?" And judging by his turn of the head, neither did he.

"G-Gabriel!" Kairi proclaimed and attempted to stay calm. If she gave an inch he'd sniff it out in an instant and start asking questions.

"Ah, you came to see how the repairs are going?" He said with an intrigued smile.

"Y-Yeah," Kairi quickly deduced a way to turn her stuttering into an advantage, "You surprised me though."

"Hahaha, just because you have the Neo Drive doesn't mean your training's over it seems..." Gabriel had a nice jest at it all and it made Kairi blush and pout.

"N-No! You were just really quiet coming down the steps!"

"Haaa," Gabriel smiled and continued towards Kairi, "The repairs are almost finished. Catherine just has to put the finishing touches on the holes in the floor."

He thumbed up and Kairi saw that there were perfectly round holes from the second floor to the top floor. Having been pretty close when they appeared she didn't recall them looking so...smooth.

Gabriel glanced up then down at Kairi, saying to her, "Yes I understand your confusion but...Catherine insisted she do it her way."

"HEY GABRIEL! I SEE YOU!" The hyperenergetic girl hollered, leaning halfway over the top-most hole. Kairi craned her head back until seeing Gabriel backing away a few inches.

"You might want to step away." He whispered.

Kairi followed through with that but still had a good view of Saturn falling back first off the ledge. She reached down to her waist and clicked a belt buckle, firing a small metal rope straight up through a series of perfectly cut rocks outside the Pyramid.

"Alright! Here we droppin' boys!" She proclaimed as the rocks descended with her down the holes, none of them being even a millimeter off.

If this was ANYONE ELSE Kairi would whip out the aura to cushion their fall. But this crazy vixen had this all planned out...somehow.

Saturn left two drones from her belt onto each floor and then tapped her belt buckle once again. A small anti-gravity pulse pushed the back of her lab coat down and touched the floor, where many more pulses continued to suspended and swerve her in place.

"Oh! Hey you!" She said to Kairi without pause, "Gimme oooone moment!"

With one last tap of Saturn's belt Kairi looked up and saw red heat radiating from the cracks, quickly filling the circle whole. And after a couple seconds of cooling the floors had been sealed back up.

"PERFECT! The work of a professional, hahaha!" Saturn gloated with her arms crossed. Suddenly her rope snapped back into her belt with so much force it shoved her onto the ground.

"Ooof!" She said, the wind kicked outta her sails momentarily. She sprung right up, adjusted her glasses with a coarse "Ahem!" and then spun towards Kairi with a big smile on her face.

"If it isn't the Neo Drive wielder herself! To what do I owe the pleasure?!"

Kairi was blown aback and her mind shut off for a couple moments, processing this information with the literal sound of an emergency alert message playing in her head.

"I...I...expected her to be angry at me not...t-this..."

Saturn nudged closer and snapped her fingers directly in Kairi's face, sparking life back into her eyes, "Hey hey hey can you hear me?!"

"L-Loud and clear." Kairi meekly shut her eyes and slumped her shoulders.

Saturn swerved to the right and chuckled to Gabriel, "She's got a real Vitamin A deficiency aye?"

Gabriel stayed still as a statue and closed his eyes. The dizzied Kairi shook her head and muttered "V-Vitamin A?"

"The A stands for AWESOME, of which I am comprised of a 100% pure concentrated amount of it!" Saturn didn't have enough room on her face for that big a grin, "But you're the Neo Drive wielder so you should have three, nay, five times that amount! Yet you look as glum as a rotten plum, chum!"

"..." Gabriel cracked his eyes open slowly and Kairi could feel them judging her already.

"Its been a long week and it ain't exactly making me feel like sunshine and lollipops."

"Hahaha! I feel ya!" Saturn roared. She then spun sideways and proclaimed to Gabriel, "Leave this one to me Gabe! I got just the thing to put some pep in her step!"

"Catherine," Gabriel narrowed his gaze at her, "This better not be an excuse to experiment on the Neo Drive..."

"What naaaaaaah!" Saturn swung her hands down and lurched her head back, throwing herself upright with a cheeky grin, "You ain't got anything to worry about!"

"...That's when I worry the most," Gabriel sighed but despite his overall cautious body language he turned away and remarked, "I will see you later Kairi."

He headed out the Pyramid and the very moment he was out of sight Saturn spun around and draped her upper body forward, letting her loose coat hang at the ground while one hand propped up her glasses.

"Alright lets get some tests going I wanna see all that baby can do! You can think of it as a good way to relieve stress too!" With a perhaps all-too sultry smile Saturn's glasses fogged up and her lips quivered, "Though if you ask me the best way to do that is-"

"I need a spaceship!" Without Gabriel breathing down her neck Kairi could freely be open and just LET IT ALL OUT.

Saturn threw herself upright and her eyes filled in her lens briefly, "W-Whoa ok easy there tiger! Mrrrow!"

After playfully clawing the air with one hand Saturn crossed her arms and reared her head back with a big smile, "So what's the occasion?"

"I..." Kairi pulled her head away and sucked her lips in, "I got to tell her the truth."

Kairi looked back and waved her hand out with a heavy look in her eyes, "I need to find my sister."

"Your sister?" Saturn perked up with shock, "Shina Aurora yeah? I know where she is! She's on Planet Plit!"

"H-Huh?" Kairi's hand drooped to the waist and her jaw slacked.

"Yeah! Gravitus had me build a transporter to give for her as a birthday present! Said she always wanted to go visit a guy named Mario!"

Kairi cringed and bit her lower lip.

"What a good, loving father!"

Kairi bit her lip harder. Saturn turned her head slightly and said, "You're going to break the skin if you bite any harder!"

Kairi shook her head and sighed. Then, tip-toeing around the whole "Gravitus is evil" thing, she quickly explained to Saturn how her information was a liiiiittle outdated.

"Huh? Cosmos Drive? Alex Whiter? Center of the universe?" Saturn shook her head like a maraca and Kairi nodded back.

"You have to believe me, its all true."

"Weeeeeeeell," Saturn tapped her foot on the ground for a scant few seconds while rationalizing this information, "From what I remember anything that goes in that big glowy orb can't come out. Seems like that'd make it a good of place as any to hide a big secret!"

Saturn crossed her arms and slanted her eyes with determination, "So if you say your sister's gone there then I'll put 110% belief in it and help you rescue her!"

"Whew," Kairi breathed a huge sigh of relief and laid a hand flat on her chest as she smiled, "Thank you Saturn. B-But you don't have to come with, I-"

"I wasn't planning on it! I'm a busy girl with a LOOOOT on 'er plate now that this construction side-job's over with!" Saturn turned sideways and pointed a pair of fingers at Kairi to imitate a pistol, "But you can bet yer bottom dollar I can get you a good ride!"

"Follow me!" Saturn 'fired' the gun and thrust her arm over her head, then swung it back down to lead the charge up the stairs. Kairi had to pick up the pace to keep up with her run. After reaching her floor Saturn swiped her bracelet, flinging something into the portal to cause something else to happen.

"Science was never my strong suit..." Kairi was now lamenting.

"TO MY LAAAAAIR!" Saturn bellowed with a mischievous tone as she vaulted right into the portal. Kairi dragged her feet through but got a bit more pep in her step upon seeing what Saturn's home base looked like.

It was about as big and technological as she expected. It wasn't subtle, but that was her flair. Stopping right on the spot Saturn flipped around without raising a foot and stamped her arms against her chest.

"Welcome to the garage of my great station...the Orbotronical!" Her voice echoed through the chambers and threw Kairi off-guard.

"This is just the garage?!" Kairi gasped, "I take that back, she's over-the-top!"

After her guest settled down Saturn proudly rubbed the front of her nose and smirked, "Uh huh! But I bet you already heard all this from that bad influence you hang around with."

"Mew was here...?" Kairi whispered.

"Oh you don't see him anymore? Good on you!" Saturn brightly smiled.

"N-N-No that's not...!" Kairi realized she was about to make the mistake of speaking on Saturn's terms. She laid a hand upon her exhausted bright red face and murmured, "WHY was he here?"

"Him and a couple buddies needed a ship for something important. Hesitant though I was to give it, my heart cannot ignore the cry of justice!"

"Then he's not going to be around. That's...g-good..." Kairi clutched her fist up near the center of her chest and her face remained red.

"Now, lets get you a ship!" Saturn was non-stop "go go go!" and left Kairi no time for her feelings. The two rounded the garage towards the smaller holding units and as they neared it Saturn whipped out her wristband and pulled one of the centermost ones out.

"This ship here's perfect for one or two people! Its not very comfy but boy howdy is it one of my fastest!" The glass window slid down and inside the cube was...another cube, made of a mix of metal and diamond alloys.

"Say hello to the Prism Cube!"

"...How surprisingly mundane." Kairi whispered to herself.

"Now!" Saturn exploded in volume, "Do you, Kairi Aurora, have experience riding space ships?!"

"W-What no...O-Of course not!" Kairi was in disbelief that she'd even ask.

Saturn's lips slumped and she contained a terribly long grunting fit inside of her petite lungs. Then her nostrils flared open and she tapped her fingers onto her elbows, "Golly gee when I was young I couldn't WAIT to go fly in space! You youngin's and your...GROUND and your...SKY. Ugh!"

She then playfully shook her head and remarked, "Guess you're just gonna have to wait for a pilot to show-"

"Beep beep! Beep beep!" Went her wristband. She looked down and her eyes perked up, "Oh...Never mind! Looks like Lady Luck's on your side!"

She waved a hand to the right to hail a ship coming back into its holding unit, then used her wristband to pull it out from the wall. The glass window slid down and a small stairway unfolded onto the floor. But the person riding it just jumped straight down onto the floor and slid a few feet out.

It was Jupiter, the amazonian powerhouse of the Planetary Aurians. Hard to forget someone like her. Kairi wasn't unused to tall people, even of her gender, but there wasn't anyone in Sancturia with such pronounced...muscles. Biceps that could break bricks with a flex, toned abs to cut meat on, chiseled back muscles, and thighs that necessitated men's shorts to fit them properly.

She was a whole lot of woman. But it wasn't the muscles that got Kairi feeling weak in the knees. It was what they could DO. Never did she think she'd pity a moon...

The red-haired titan turned around and started strutting confidently towards the two of them waving her hand up and smiling nice and wide.

"Hey Cat!" She hollered.

"Hey Jupes!" Saturn screamed back and ran on over. Jupiter hung her right arm out and stiffened it with a flex. Saturn hopped forward and rammed her own flexed bicep into it. Saturn bounced off a couple feet back and the two planted their fists on their hips to start laughing like a couple of hyenas.

Kairi's shoulders drooped and the inescapable feeling of being a third wheel suddenly crept up on her.

"So? How'd it go?" Saturn asked.

"The Climatiles settled down after I punched that active volcano back into the ground. Sis said she'll drop in and handle the rest later."

"Excellent! That's the tenth world's order restored! Who's awesome?" Saturn clicked a pair of pistol fingers at Jupiter, who mirrored them with a firm wink of the eye.

"We're awesome!" The two slapped hands and Saturn went sliding another few feet back.

"YEAH!" They then pumped their fists up beside their chests.

"...Uhhh." Kairi tried to be the whisper to break through this overwhelming display of loud noise.

Jupiter turned her head aside and then waved her hand out with a bright smile and yelled, "Hey! There's a surprising face!"

She rushed on over, stopping a foot before Kairi and carrying a breeze that blew the bits of sweat off Kairi's face. Kairi craned her head back and her pupils shrank. She was feeling like Jupiter was twice as tall as she was right now.

"Haven't seen you since that big brawl on the rocks! I heard from Cat you became the Neo Drive's wielder?"

Kairi slowly nodded her head and Jupiter punched a fist into an open palm, "Cool! We're going to spar later to test your mettle!"

"Somewhere out there, a moon sweats and doesn't know why..." Kairi squeezed her eyes shut and a gentle sigh fluttered out.

Saturn hopped on over with her hands in her droopy coat pockets and leaned up beside Jupiter, "Hey Jupes since you're free now can you help me out with a little something?"

"Anything for you Cat, what's up?" Jupiter turned to look her diminutive friend in the eyes.

"Kairi here wants to hitch a ride to the center of the universe to rescue her sister but doesn't have a pilot."

"Family rescue op eh? Think there's gonna a fight on our hands?" Jupiter grit her teeth and twisted her hand around her fist, cracking her knuckles to the sound of breaking stones.

"I dunno, what do you think Kairi?" Saturn tilted her head back.

"M-Maybe?" Kairi was only halfway sure.

"Eh no matter!" Jupiter turned to Kairi, propped her hands on her hips and grit a fiery but gleeful grin, "You got my help, free of charge!"

Kairi shook her head and insisted on saying, "I only need a ride there. I can handle the rest on my own."

"Haaaaa..." Jupiter hung her hand out and shook her head. She then clapped her hand against her thigh and thumbed the Prism Cube with the other, "C'mon, lets go!"

Jupiter ran on up to the ship and used a hand sensor to open the door, where she slid right on in and started it up in seconds.

Kairi widened her eyes and ran and hopped into the door when the ship was getting ready to take off without her. Before the door sealed shut Saturn waved her hands up and proclaimed, "Have fun you two, be back by supper!"

The unit returned to the wall and a door on the opposite side swung open. After a few seconds of start up the outside of the Prism Cube radiated rainbow energy and then fired off into the stars, leaving a bright and shiny trail behind it.

After a few minutes of winding down on a cushioned seat extending from the wall Kairi leaned back into it and let out a long sigh.

"Cosmic Cage coordinates set. Auto-pilot mode engaged." Right after the robotic voice announced that Jupiter spun around in her floating chair and lightly kicked off the control panel to float on over in front of Kairi.

"Alright you, think its time we had a chat." She settled her bare heels on the ground and did one more push to put herself up against the wall.

"About what?" Kairi said with diminishing interest.

"That 'I can handle the rest on my own' comment," Jupiter gave a pretty good impression of Kairi's voice there, then leaned in and shook her head a few times, "Nuh-uh, that ain't gonna fly on this ship."

"...I appreciate you wanting to help, but this isn't your problem-"

Jupiter wagged a finger around and shook her head some more, this time having her eyes closed, "Gonna stop you right there."

She opened one eye and asked, "You know why the Planetary Aurians have been so effective as a group after all these years?"

"Cause you're really strong?" Kairi half-assed a guess and it made Jupiter's smile extra bright after.

"Hehehe, I mean yeah!" She then shook her head some more and said, "But that's only part of it. Its like Cat always tells us 'Teamwork, works teams!'"

Jupiter crossed her arms over her chest and confidently explained herself, "We don't all get along but its never benefited us to start fights over it. I may be an ace detective but I'm crap when it comes to machines. I hate stuck-up snobs but sometimes a little dark magic went a long ways."

Jupiter reared her head back with a tight close-eyed smile and chuckled, "And I am TERRIBLE at dressing myself but my sister's got my back."

She then tapped at the scarf around her neck, "See this snug old thing? Belle made it for me back when we were vagabonds. Been keeping it safe on me ever since!"

Kairi tilted her head a little and Jupiter perked her eyes in interest, "Oh yeah. You know Belle as Neptune. Heheh, sorry, she gets embarrassed by her real name."

"Point is...!" Jupiter sat upright and crossed her arms firmly against her chest, "Being a solo act doesn't work! If you're lacking something, then work together with someone who has it! Two halves make a whole and all that!"

"..." Kairi slowly blinked her eyes and waved her hand around in a circle, "I...wasn't expecting to hear all that from you."

"Heh! The body's two strongest muscles are the heart," Jupiter pumped a fist on her chest twice, then poked the side of her head, "And the brain."

Kairi snickered and poked her own head, "No its not."

Jupiter widened her eyes and remarked, "T-That's why its important to train it constantly, s-so you don't forget stuff like that!"

"Hehehe!" Kairi giggled a little more and pressed her fingers up to hide her smile.

"There's that smile I knew you had!" Jupiter winked at her and even the force of that was great enough for Kairi to feel it.

Kairi perked up and laid her hands on top of her legs. Her fingers curled inward and the fingernails scratched the pant fabric.

Jupiter unfurled her arms and laid her hands down on her knees to lean in and ask, "Hey, tell me a bit about your sister."

"My...sister?" Kairi had to settle down from the brief bout of excitement before mustering up the courage to talk about this.

She turned her head aside and closed her eyes partway, "Shina is...a very kind-hearted and selfless person. She can also be kind of airheaded at times and is easily distracted..."

"She loves me very much. I probably am...was, the most important person in the world to her," Kairi struggled to shake the image of Alex Whiter in her head, "And...I relied on her maybe a bit too much."

"So why'd she go off to the center of the universe?" Jupiter asked.

"She wanted to save me from Gravitus and thought finding the Cosmos Drive would do the job. Some...some terrible things happened to her along the way, but she never stopped pushing forward and eventually made it to where it was."

"But now she's in a pickle and its up to her younger sister to bail her out," Jupiter nodded her head and chuckled, "Heh, classic role reversal. Reminds me a lot of when I reunited with my sister."

"Huh?"

"She didn't tell you about that? I'll have to sit you down and talk about it some other time." Jupiter said fondly. Then she closed her eyes and had a warm, contemplative smile.

"Being a big sister myself I feel a sort of kinship with yours," Jupiter raised her bare fist out and softly vowed, "So you have my word I'll put my all to help bring her back home! You got me beat in strength with the Neo Drive, so feel free to use my other talents to your advantage."

She pointed at her head and her smile widened a little more. Kairi felt an urge to smile herself, and slowly extended her fist to bump Jupiter's.

"I'm...glad you're the one who came along Jupiter."

Jupiter unfurled her fist, grabbed Kairi's hand and started shaking it hard, "Until you get your big sis back I'll be her replacement!"

"O-Ok...?" Kairi fluttered her eyes and somehow, managed to slip her hand free.

"If you don't mind me asking then..." Kairi gave Jupiter a straight look in the eyes, "What's the deal with you and Mars?"

Jupiter twitched and retreated into an upright pose, her confidence wavering as she hastily replied, "T-That's a talk for adults!"

"Hehehe!" Kairi grinned and enjoyed seeing the amazon get a little flustered.

The rest of the high-speed ride through space went by smoothly, ending off with the ship saying "Exiting hyperspace now"

Jupiter walked on up to the control panel and pushed her hands down to take a peek outside. All the stars normalized but the black depths of space were replaced with something beyond explanation. Bright green mixed with blue quickly drowned out the lights of the stars while a multitude of planetoids dotted their surroundings. And in the center of it all was a gigantic, bright blue light similar in appearance to the sun. There was no warmth coming from it, but instead something familiar.

"This is...aura?" Kairi stood up and couldn't attempt sensing anything without feeling like her brain would explode.

"And look at all the little planets!" Jupiter said in a giddy tone and tapped her fingers along the rim of the control panel, "There looks like juuuuust enough distance between them to go skipping around..."

Jupiter nudged Kairi with her elbow and whispered, "Hey, bet I can beat this ship to the blue light."

"Jupiter..." Kairi groaned.

"Nah just kidding! About going out, not the beating the ship part..." Jupiter glanced aside, tucked her hands behind her head and whispered, "I could do that with my eyes closed."

Kairi had long since planted her hands on the windows and drowned Jupiter out. Her eyes were alight with the glow from that lonely sphere of energy, entrancing her to move forward.

"...Shina's in there, I know she is."

"And, whatever is keeping her from getting out." Jupiter suspicions seemed right on the money.

It was a tense last few minutes waiting for the ship to reach the sphere's outer wall. It passed through inside with practically no trouble at all, save for the huge blinding light that filled the inside of the ship.

Kairi's heart was racing like a stallion in the wind, ripe with anticipation. The light settled down and allowed the two a full glimpse into what lied inside.

"No..."

"Way." Kairi's eyes widened the most when she saw not some mystical land or ancient ruins...But her home, Sancturia, in its entirety, floating in the the middle of this ether, azure void.

"That's...that's your home ain't it?" Jupiter remarked. Kairi didn't respond. There wasn't a word capable of describing this, or an answer that made sense.

The ship descended upon the edge of the city with Jupiter's help and landed safely on the ground. Jupiter took one quick looker at her scanners and started tapping her foot on the ground.

"I'm not getting any abnormal readings but...There's a lot of life signatures out there. Like, a whole city's worth of 'em."

Kairi's hands hung by her sides and her eyes wobbled. Jupiter patted her shoulder and got her to look her in the eyes.

"I'm gonna head out. You should come with and get a closer look."

She nonchalantly headed out the back door pointing towards the city itself and whether it felt right or not, Kairi couldn't turn back now. She took a deep breath, put her fist on her chest, and strolled out the door.

The immediate moment she stepped foot on "Sancturia", a blue blur speeds by, stopping roughly ten feet to the right of them.

It was a certain blue bipedal hedgehog with an attitude and free spirit. He turned around, clapped his hands against his knees and then roughed the air with some boxing.

"Come on Spyro kick it up a notch, I'm barely sweating!" The blue blur turned around and bolted away, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Soon after a yellow-horned purple dragon charged in and took a break, panting and heaving as a happy yellow dragonfly buzzed around his head.

"Whew...Sonic's giving us a run for our money Sparx," The dragon said to his flying friend, who buzzed back in an untranslatable language, "You're right buddy. We aren't out of this yet!"

The dragon continued charged forward after Sonic while Kairi stood there with her mouth dropped. Her gaze slowly panned towards the city, and her pupils shrunk to their smallest as she saw many others roaming the streets.

The red and green plumber duo. Various versions of the green tunic swordsman hanging out together. A brown-haired dual wielding swordsman dueling a red short-haired guy with a slight midriff. A white-haired guy angry looking guy with heterochromia arm wrestling a grumpy old man with brown-hair. And the sight of these strange but familiar figures stretched out all over Sancturia, blending in perfectly with exact copies of the Aurians Kairi knew from home.

Kairi stared and stared until her vision started blurring, and her head shook.

"Uhnnn..." With a sudden loss of breath, Kairi tilted to the right, and was quickly dragged to the ground unconscious...

Next Time: Mystery of the Cosmos