Darkest Days

-End of Ages

[AN: Skies of Arcadia and all it's related characters are not owned by Ages. Rather, by Overworks and Sega.]

Chapter One

Errands to Run

Arcadia, world where the skies replaced the ocean, where solid ground was unheard of--dismissed as a mere myth, 'twas the world in revered reconstruction. Five lunar cycles had elapsed since it had happened. It, a war, not of poverty or land, or from tyranny or even freedom, but a war of life, had centered on just a single day. For four young warriors, the fate of Arcadia rested upon their small shoulders.

Despite their youth, no other man alive, of any age, would've led the great war in a better fashion. Hell, no one else would've led the great war victoriously. No, the fate of Arcadia, of many worlds among, rested upon those four.

This is the aftermath of the great war. Five lunar cycles, as previously stated, have elapsed. Working together, the people of Arcadia embraced their heroes and helped rebuild the world as it stood prior to the events. Tragic deaths of many of those who sacrificed were not in vain.

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Mid-morning. The heat from the Red Moon blazed lightly on the small moon-shaped island of Crescent Isle. Less active than usual, due to the many crewmembers departing to continue with their own lives, however, the once secret base of a division of the Blue Rogues was still far from inactive. The captain, alas, was nowhere to be found.

"Hans," Aika shouted to the young engineer, "how goes the repairs on the Delphinus?"

Hans, still anxious since Brabham had left him in charge of the duties, let a cheerful response, "We're working on the last engine right now. Give me a few more hours and she'll be ready to fly!"

"Try to get her done before the captain gets back!," she yelled, "I want to surprise him."

"Sure thing, Miss Aika!"

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Captain Vyse was busy on his routine flight for supplies. The Delphinus absorbed the energy from the moonstones like a drunken pirate did with loqua. He remained at the helm, tired. His two former helmsmen, Lawrence and Don, were continuing their lives elsewhere--Lawrence looking for another job in Valua, Don working as Admiral for Espranza. He and his two accomplises, Fina--the shy, innocent Silvite, and Marco--who would depart for Valua once he returned from this routine flight, rode along the newly built Argonaut, a wooden ship, much smaller in size than the Delphinus. Argonaut was used for things like this, various errands that wouldn't take nearly as long as it took to prepare the giant metal warship. On a bad day, the Argonaut would take no more than a half hour's time to ready. Whereas, the Delphinus would take up to three hours. The sacrifice for conveniance was fighting ability, for the Argonaut lacked the firing capabilities the Delphinus has. Clearly, Argonaut was not meant for battling. It could take smaller ships easily, but an entire fleet, that would require the captain to have a little too much loqua.

"You look tired, Vy-er, Captain." Fina said softly.

"I'll be fine, Fina," Vyse reassured.

"She's right, Cap'n," Marco replied, "you didn't get any sleep last night."

Despite Vyse's relentless complaints towards it, he knew that Marco was right. He hadn't managed to get any sleep at all during the previous night. Something had haunted him, much to his dismay.

"If you insist," said the captain to his crew, "then once we reach Nasr, then I'll allow myself rest."

"Good to hear," Fina commented, "I'm sure that Marco and I'll be able to retrieve enough moonstones for a good while."

"I know you will, I can trust you." His reply.

Vyse continued his concentration on the skies. They had been travelling for a half hour, they would be approaching Nasr very shortly. Nasr didn't worry him too much, however, once the mission was over, he'd have to swing by the kingdom under the Yellow Moon, Valua, to say goodbye to yet another crew member, Marco. He had known the kid for at least an entire cycle, it would not be an easy trip without the third member. Deep thought had engulfed him as his mind wandered into various places regarding the trip back. He wasn't exactly thrilled about being on the same ship alone with Fina, for she gave him hurt for reasons he never truely understood. Even still, if they were to be attacked on their return ... he didn't even want to think about that. Instead, his mind drifted to one last thing that had caused his lack of rest--as his home was attacked by Ramirez, he quoted something troubling, Where there is light, there is darkness. Vyse hadn't quite understood what it had meant. The quote begain to ring in his head, causing it to ache.

"Captain!"

Instantly, the voice retrieved him from the monotony of Ramirez's voice swimming though his mind. Gazing around to see who had called him, he saw the shy golden-haired Silvite at his side.

"Yes, Fina?" he asked.

"We're in Nasr airspace, we should be approaching the docks in just a few short moments." Fina replied.

"Thank you, Fina."

A few short moments were quite the overstatement. Even without the aid of Vyse's skyseer patch, he could see the railings on the docks. If he were to continue in his daze, the Argonaut would've rammed head on into them.

"Marco, drop anchor," he commanded, "we're docking."

"Aye, Cap'n!"

Argonaut slowly came to a hault between the two docks, dropping it's anchor. The three walked to the deck of the ship, prepared for the blazing heat of the Red Moon.

"We'll be back soon, Cap'n!" Marco said cheerfully.

"Good to hear it, Marco."

"I want you to get some sleep while we're gone, got it?" the once shy Silvite encouraged.

"Yes, ma'am!" Vyse shouted. For he dared not to defy the Silvite, especially since her mere pressence had brought him great pain for reasons unknown.

Marco snickered quietly to himself, Who'da thought that the shyest of people would bring the Cap'n to his knees?!, he thought.

As soon as the two walked out of Vyse's sight, he walked back to his quarters where he allowed himself a good rest.

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Meanwhile, back on Crescent Isle, the repairs on the final engine of the Delphinus were complete. Hans and his crew had slaved on the engines for a solid three rotations, trying to perfect them. All that was left to do was load it back into the Delphinus's hull. Until the second crane was installed in the hideaway, this would've been a rather difficult task. However, now Hans just had to operate the crane properly and it'd be reinstalled within the hour.

"Good work, team!," Hans congratulated, "we've managed to repair Delphinus to working order. And the Captain isn't even back yet!"

"He'll be surely pleased." Phrade, a newcomer to Crescent Isle, chirped up.

Phrade arrived at Crescent Isle not long ago, about a lunar cycle. He was fairly knowledgeable about the engineering systems of warships, but he was starved for more information. Hans did as his father did to he, and took Phrade in as an apprentice.

"Vyse'll be so proud'a me!" Aika cheered, reentering the hideaway.

"You've done a good job leading us in his absence, Miss Aika," Hans reassured.

"Hopefully he'll let me do this more often!"

"I wouldn't doubt it, Miss Aika."

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Argonaut drifted slowly into the port of Valua. The large, wooden vessel creaking as it slowed, showing signs of age, which was quite premature.

Though it had only been half a cycle since the rains had nearly destroyed it, Valua had erupted in activity since then. Reconstruction of the once two cities of Lower and Upper Valua, now merged, was quite apparent. Large buildings replaced the rubble that was six lunar cycles ago. People were getting along with one another, no longer were people afraid of what the other world above or below them was like.

"Enrique did a good job rebuilding Valua." Vyse stated, as if he was trying to get the thought of losing his first crewmember out of his head.

"It's almost as if Valua was ..." Fina started.

"...reborn?" Vyse interrupted.

"Indeed."

Marco stood speechless. Over a cycle ago, the place he called home was a dump. Selfish people of the upper city triumphed over the scared people of the lower. Now, every trace of the old Valua was gone, replaced with a new, well-established Valua. Marco looked proud.

"Well, Marco," Vyse said, "looks like this is goodbye."

"It was a pleasure to sail with you, Cap'n!"

"No, no, Marco," Vyse reiterated, "the pleasure was all mine."

"Goodbye, Marco." Fina stated, giving her mate a nice hug of appreciation. Marco simply blushed.

"Goodbye, Miss Fina. Goodbye, Cap'n!"

And with that, Marco drifted away from the wooden vessel. He couldn't fight the tears that would eventually pour over his now clean face. Vyse stood with Fina to his right. She could sense that he wasn't too thrilled to lose another crewmember, let alone his first. She placed her hand upon his shoulder, in hopes to reassure her captain. Unknown to her, the silent pain had struck Vyse once again.

"We should go," he said quietly.

Fina said nothing. She let a nod of approval escape her mind, as they wandered back to the Argonaut.

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The trip back to Crescent Isle was long and tiring. The rest that Vyse received whilst Fina and Marco retrieved moonstones wasn't very long. Rings surrounded his eyes. He knew that once he returned to Crescent Isle, Fina would insist that he get more rest before nightfall.

Fina tried to calm the uneasy silence, "What should we do when we get back, Captain?"

Looking behind him only to see Fina's pale face, Vyse responded sarcastically, "Count how many crewmembers we have left!"

They both let out a small laugh, but alas, the uneasy silence continued among them. She knew something was up with her beloved Captain, but she, being still new to this world, knew not how to confront him about it. She let out a sigh, thinking of all the times that he had been helpful to her. He always seemed to know the right words which would make her feel much better, but alas, she didn't know how to return the favor. Another sigh let out, she glanced towards the window to her left. In an odd turn of events, she gasped, and ran to her Captain.

"Vyse," she gasped, "what does that look like to you?"

Vyse turned to Fina's direction, seeing a very dark, very gray funnel cloud form. He readjusted his skyseer lens to get a closer look. The winds were spinning at rapid speeds. Sure enough, the funnel would engulf the ship in an instant.

"We have to get back to Crescent Isle," he stated, "to warn the others!"

"Right!"

Vyse took the wheel in anticipation, continuing on route to his home. This is where the Argonaut's strength lied. In the lack of power, the wooden vessel was among the fastest ships that took the skies. The funnel was quickly approaching, but once Argonaut got to speed, there was no chance in getting taken in by it.

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Tikatika, still in his usual spot next to the meeting room, trembled at what he saw. The winds were strong, and heading directly for the Argonaut. He had to warn Aika.

The elevator will take too long, he thought to himself, guess I'll just take a risk and leap!

Without thinking, Tikatika leapt from his spot, landing on the pavement below moments later, sustaining minor damage. Picking himself back up, he ran to Aika.

"Aika!," he shouted, out of breathe, "urgent news!"

"What is it, Tikatika?" Aika questioned.

"Winds ... strong ... straight for ... Argonaut ..."

"What?"

Tikatika caught his breathe once more, "I've spotted a massive storm heading straight for the Argonaut."

Aika was speechless.

"If we don't act fast, it'll come for us too!"

Aika nodded, "Argonaut is too fast for that storm. Eventually, Vyse and Fina'll be back here without a scratch."

"But what about the storm, it'll hit us soon."

"True," she replied, "tell Hans to ready the Delphinus. I want it up and running as soon as the Cap'n gets back!"

"No problem!"

Instantly, Tikatika ran into the cavern that was deemed the highest point of Crescent Isle.

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Meanwhile, the wooden vessel Argonaut was struggling to maintain its speed. It was rather difficult to maintain do to only having two crew members to man it. However, she continued on strong. Fortunately, the winds saw that it was inevitable to keep up with the target, and eventually died out.

"Captain!" Fina chirped up.

"What's up?"

"The winds," she replied, "they're ... gone!"

Vyse relieved his position at the wheel to glance at the window. Sure enough, there was nothing of any threat around them at all.

"I don't know what happened ..."

"We shouldn't worry about it for now," he assured, "we need to regroup with the others."

Vyse returned to the wheel, and Argonaut's speed dropped greatly.

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"Aika," yelled Tikatika from afar.

"What is it, Tikatika?"

"The winds are gone ... I don't know how to explain it ..."

"That's odd." Aika mused.

"Should I tell Hans to cancel the preperations?" he asked.

"No, Tikatika," she replied, "that could've just been the eye of the storm. It could come back."

"I see."

"I want the Delphinus to be fully prepared to launch if that storm comes back, got it?"

"No problem!"

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The Argonaut vastly approaching its home ventured onward. Without Vyse's lens, he could see the port directly ahead of them. They had been travelling for a good hour. It would be nice to get on solid land once more.

"We're approaching Crescent Isle, Captain." Fina chirped.

"I'm aware, Fina," his reply, "we should be docked within ten minutes."

A smile broke onto Fina's pale face. The Argonaut loomed forward towards the island.

[End of Chapter One]