Meanwhile back at the mothership, Mother stood explaining what was going to happen to the young royals as she strapped them into the core readers, leaving them to hover just above the floor. Mother hovered in front of the control panel which was just out of reach, her tail (tinged teal thanks to her Akiridion circuits) flickered this way & that as she talked, tickling at the king-in-waiting's nose. She was unused to the strange abilities of the halfa host whom she had possessed, but the hovering/flying plus ectoplasmic hands had come in handy, even if she didn't really know how to use them. "Memories are a window into the past, but when revisited, they can open a doorway to the future. We call it 'Totus Praeter' or 'The Totality' With these core readers, you will be inside the virtual projection of your parents' subconscious. Unfortunately, they will be unable to see you"
"If Morando is inside Mama and Papa's minds, then it won't take long for him to discover where on Earth they hid Gaylen's core" Krel worried, sneezing slightly at the ghostly tail that tickled him. "And once he finds it…"
"He'll have all the power he needs to conquer the galaxy" Aja ended, with eyes just as wide and gleaming with worry. "Mother, we need to get inside this Totality. Now"
"Do not interfere with the memories" Mother continued to warn. She hoped that by ramming these warnings down their throats, that they might at least listen for once. "Or you risk destroying the very information you seek"
"Ay, ay, ay" Krel nodded as he and his sister were raised to the point that their toes barely graced the floor.
"We're ready, Mother" Aja agreed, holding onto her brother's hand whilst Luug licked at their joint fingers in worry.
"Good fortune, my royals" Mother farewelled as the siblings' eyes slid shut and they were transported inside.
One minute they had been hanging from the ceiling with Dan-turned-Mother hovering over them and the next, they were opening their eyes to a sight that could not quite be contained within words. Orbs of a brilliant cyan danced about in a gentle tornado of glass and song in the endless void, whilst both of the Tarron siblings found themselves cast in an unfamiliar golden glow. It was the kind of glow that they had only ever seen dotted about in Mother's holographic screens. And yet neither of the siblings felt afraid; surrounded by their parents' memories, they only felt safe, comforted and at home.
"…No one gets to choose their station in life, Aja" Mama's voice echoed about the darkened endless cavern, from one of the many blue orbs that encircled them.
"Welcome to the Totality" Mother greeted, her voice echoed about them, bouncing off of walls that Krel could not see.
"…The Talon has betrayed us! We are forced to retreat…!" Papa's voice cried, another portion of a memory playing for the children to hear.
"This is the doorway to your parents' memories" Mother continued.
"…For hundreds of keltons…"
"Mama!" Aja gasped in glee. It was the first time in months since she had heard her mother's voice.
"…Akiridion-5 stood divided between two houses…"
"Each of these are memories!" Krel breathed in awe, his hands cupping one of the aforementioned memories.
"All indexed and searchable based on your desired parameters" Mother supplied helpfully.
"…You're mother & I will be gone, and you & Aja will be all the other has…"
"Mother, search for Gaylen's core!" Krel smiled up towards the heavens as he gently set aside the memory from their coronation day.
"…I count 7,547 of your parents' memories relating to Gaylen's core" Mother reported as she searched through the database of memories. In doing so, the orbs surrounding the children suddenly sprung to life, spinning about as the chosen memories were brought to the forefront. "The most recent from the day of Morando's coup"
"That is not a memory I want to revisit" Aja swallowed thickly as she cupped the offered memory between her hands. Krel gripped tight to his sister's other hand and spared a thin-lipped smile in agreement as they delved inside.
Inside the chosen memory, the Tarron siblings found themselves faced with images of their parents as they had last seen them, regal & strong, before the fall of their home. The only issue was that the memory of their parents was clearly tainted by the General who had undoubtedly arrived before them; as shown by the unnatural glitching which reminded the king-in-waiting of a buffering screen.
"Oh!" Aja gasped as the pair approached, "It looks like Morando's already been here"
"He must be destroying the memories to cover up his tracks" Krel summarised as he tried to memories his parents' features. It had been so long since they had seen them last, despite knowing where they were.
"Indeed, so you must move swiftly" Mother intoned
"Ha!" Aja gasped in surprise when she reached out to touch her glitching father, only to lock eyes with the memory for a brief moment.
"That's okay. Morando has a head start, but we have the advantage" Krel grinned in retort as he trotted over to where Vex stood imposingly tall. A variety of emotions ran through him at the sight of the Commander on this day, and yet he still smiled as he turned to face his sister.
"Krel, do you know how a head start works?" Aja puzzled.
"We know Mama & Papa" Explained Krel. "Right now, Morando has to comb through all of their memories"
"…But we know them well enough to find the right ones!" Aja gasped in delight as she cottoned on to what her brother was thinking.
"Remember the stories they used to tell us?" It seemed he already had a memory in mind.
"Yeah…?"
"How about 'The Legend of Gaylen's Core'?"
Their grins were all teeth as they clasped hands and were yanked from that broken memory to the next.
"…So the great Gaylen crushed the errant star between his fingers and from its ashes arose Akiridion" Papa lectured as he twirled about the archives and regaled his children with the tales of their history.
"Papa…" Krel smiled as he and his sister (in real time) crept closer to their father. "He's exactly as I remember"
"No touching, or you'll break the memory" Aja reminded him when he reached out to touch, despite wanting to do the exact same thing herself.
"R-right"
"…But as Gaylen's power grew, so did his greed and only Lady Seklos had the courage to stop him. By sacrificing her own life core and since that day, many have sought to steal Gaylen's core, and—Are you even listening?"
"Ay, that's embarrassing" Krel sheepishly rubbed at his nape when the two turned to find echoes of their younger selves dozing against each other and curled up around Luug.
CLAP!
"Ah!" Both of the siblings jolted awake at the sudden noise, startling Luug & just barely managing to hold onto the device which had been clutched in his lap. "I'm awake! I'm awake!"
"One secton—just need to tighten this…" Krel bluffed as they both scrambled to their feet.
"Wow, we really could be brats" Aja mused from beyond her father's shoulder.
"Krel! For one delson, will you stop tinkering with your toys?" Papa scolded.
"It's not a toy, it's a—" Krel retorted only to be cut off by their irate father.
"—Mechanics is a fine hobby" Papa snatched the item from his hands without remorse. "But you are a prince and we are discussing your planet's origins!"
"That hobby saved your and Mama's lives—!" Krel retorted as he inserted himself into the memory, standing between his father & his younger self.
"Krel, don't!" Aja cried as she surged forward to prevent her brother from damaging another one of their parents' memories.
"—I built a Daxial Array from these toys!" Krel steamrolled on, ignoring Aja as he snatched the aforementioned toy from his father's grasp. Everything seemed to hold deadly still for a moment before everything came crumbling down, the toy melting into pixels as the memory glitched violently. It took him a moment to come to his senses and see what he had done, but by that time it was too late. "No!"
"Little brother, what did you do?" Scolded Aja, rushing over to him.
"I—I didn't mean to!"
"…M—Mechanics is a fine hobby…But you are a p-prince…"
"Papa—no! Papa!" Krel fell to his knees in despair as the golden siblings were swamped with the remnants of the memory, before it was washed away like leaves in a storm. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes as he bowed his head in remorse; it was like he had lost his father all over again.
"I—I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking…" Krel choked out, "He never listened to me! I just—"
"—I know" Aja placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as she came to crouch beside him "But we weren't listening to Papa either"
"Huh?
"He must've told us that story a thousand times"
"Something else happened" He hedged, not quite sure if what he had seen was true or not. "For a secton, I thought Papa saw me"
"But Mother said that is not possible" She reminded.
"It must've been a glitch in the memory projection" Mother agreed softly.
"At least now they've forgotten what brats we were" Aja offered with a small smile as she pulled him to his feet.
"Oh no, I'm sure they have plenty more of those memories" Krel replied, his own lips just barely twitching upwards in return. "We did learn something though. Papa said that many tried to steal the core"
"So…if we go to the last time someone tried taking it, we might discover where Mama & Papa hid it!" Aja beamed as she wrapped her brother up in a hug that lifted him off of his feet. "Oh! You're back to being brilliant, little brother!"
"Aja…ribs…!"
Stumbling slightly upon landing in the new memory, Aja & Krel found themselves back on Akiridion-5. Aja easily recognised the empty stalls of the bazaar which she had visited on more than one occasion (the last time being when she had chased Luug through the alleyways on her coronation day). There were slight differences of course, with this memory showing it in the past, but before she could dwell on the fondness she felt for a particular corner where skelteg battles were held or the stall that sold delsons-old drinks for cheap, they were suddenly ducking out of the way of gunfire. "Klebtastic! Even in virtual memories people shoot at us!" Krel complained as Aja dragged him behind one of the pillars.
"Security breached. Lock down all sectors" Intoned the intercom as bounty hunters raced through the rapid gunfire with something clutched tight in the paws of the leader.
"Those soolians!" Krel cursed, peering around the pillar alongside his sister as they recognised the three bounty hunters who beat a hasty retreat.
"The Zeron Brotherhood tried to steal Gaylen's core?" Aja cried in frustration.
"Agh! I was hoping we'd seen the last of them!" Krel groaned, tossing his head back with slumped shoulders as he turned to follow them only for Aja to yank him back and out of the way.
"Halt! By the order of the Akiridion throne!" Papa decreed as he and Vex raced after the three, easily engaging them in combat.
"There's quite a bounty on this case of yours" Alpha purred as he tossed Papa aside and pressed a foot down upon his chest. "Whatever it is, I hope it was worth dying for"
"NO!" Aja surged forward, only this time to be stopped by her brother who returned the exact same gesture from earlier.
"No, Aja! You can't mess with the memory!" Krel latched onto his sister, practically tackling her to the floor where they landed in a heap on the ground.
"I'm sorry" Aja flopped bonelessly against the ground. "I wanted to help Papa"
"I think they have it covered" Krel pointed in awe towards Zadra & Mama who appeared on the scene with a flourish as he disentangled himself from his sister.
"Zadra! Get the case!" Mama ordered as she flipped through the air and landed not too far from where her husband lay prone, stuck beneath Alpha's foot & a twirling drill that threatened to de-core him.
"Yessir!" Zadra chirped as she rushed in to pluck the case from the ground where it had landed after Alpha had dropped it in his attempt to protect himself from the gunfire aimed at him. Mama & Alpha soon began a deadly dance of ionic blades and firearms that had neither no give or take on either side.
"Seklos and Gaylen!" Aja breathed in awe as she watched her mother fight off the blasted bounty hunter. "Mama was a vaunted warrior!"
"Just like you" Krel smiled.
"She never told me! Why didn't she tell me…?"
"…We need to get this case to safety" Said Papa as Zadra skidded to a stop. "It is of the utmost importance"
"We'll handle the Zerons, Your Highness" Zadra replied, offering the case out to the king.
"HAH!" Mama grunted as she was pushed away from Alpha and the other Zerons. She barely even blinked before both upper arms shot up with a serator in each hand as she prepared her final attack. Fear swam in the Zerons' eyes at the cannon on the weapon.
"Wha—I've never seen a serator do this before!" Aja gasped in delight as she danced over to the side to get a better view of the construct. "Mama, how did you do that?!"
Mama fired relentlessly even as a shield sprung to life between herself and the Zerons and yet she did not stop her assault. The queen spared a quick glance towards the side, but it was no more than a breath's distraction before she returned to her pursuit.
"Mama?!" Aja gasped when she locked eyes with the memory. Hope swam in her core, daring her to believe that it could hear her—could see her—no matter what Mother had told them. Perhaps Krel was right, perhaps it was more than just a glitch in the programme. "Krel! Mama just saw me! I know she did!"
"But that's impossible!" Krel replied as he came to join his sister at her side.
"Mama! I'm here!" Aja knelt in front of her mother as she tried to retrieve the same reaction as before. It didn't work.
"…Akiridion-5 is no longer secure" Mama remarked as she rose from where she had fallen following the final blast which landed with an almighty explosion. "We must proceed—"
"—And cross the galaxy" Papa replied as he brought Zadra's cycle to a stop in front of his wife and helped her aboard. "I have just the ship in mind"
A flash of light engulfed the pair of siblings and then they found themselves inside a new memory, one that they had not chosen for themselves, although it was a sight that they had grown intimately familiar with. At this point, they were more than happy to let their parents' memories play out however, as they finally seemed to be getting somewhere.
"…The mothership, fresh off the assembly line" Papa explained as he led the way to the control room with his queen at his side. "She's the fastest in the Akiridion fleet"
"Remind me to thank General Morando for the upgrade" Mama hummed as they both stepped up to watch the galaxy fly passed.
"There is a class-D planet in the Hypo-Quadrant" Mother intoned as they finally came out of warp right above Earth's atmosphere.
"Not just any class-D planet" Papa amended. "Earth"
The memory jolted & snapped into focus again, and the Tarron siblings soon found themselves down on Earth, hidden amongst familiar trees in an equally familiar forest. Even if it was hundreds of years in the passed.
"…The ancient texts did presage that Gaylen's core would one day return to the world from whence it came" Mama mused as they stood beneath one of the many oak trees that lined the firefly-lit forest.
"Where are we?" Krel wondered as he clung to the tree branch, not wanting to repeat his last experience with the Mother Nature.
"RB and CH?" Aja read out, her hands tracing the letter engraved into the bark of the tree inside the crudely shaped heart. "Ooh! This is the kissing tree! Do you know what that means?"
"Mama & Papa visited the kissing tree, too?" Krel asked, head tilted in question and nose scrunched up in disgust.
"No! They hid Gaylen's core in Arcadia hundreds of years ago, before the city even existed Why didn't Mother tell us?"
"She probably didn't know. Our parents would have wiped her memory to keep the location of Gaylen's core a secret"
"That seems most likely" Mother agreed. "And I suspect that in the event of an emergency, I was programmed to bring you back to this planet"
"I always thought it was strange there was only one mud ball you could find for us" Admitted Krel.
"…No Akiridion has made contact with such life forms in a millennium" Papa worried as he paced, the core clutched tight to his chest.
"Then we will be the first" Mama reassured him, hand on his shoulder in comfort. A rumbling from the forest soon caught their attention, followed by the stomping of heavy footsteps and fluttering of fireflies. "Do you think that's who we're supposed to meet?" Mama wondered as the pair jolted apart & stood straight.
"Whatever it is, it sounds…big" Papa replied.
"For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!" The incantation that echoed from the forest was followed by a light so bright that it blinded all within the vicinity and the royals had to shield their eyes least they go blind.
"That…sounds familiar…" Aja puzzled, brows furrowed in thought.
"Greetings, Your Majesties" The old troll nodded to the two but did not bow like his armoured counterpart. "Welcome to Earth"
"You've arrived just as the ancient prophecies foretold" The trollhunter continued as he rose from his crouch and sheathed his hefty blade.
"Wait…I thought that was Jim Lake's metal suit?" Krel puzzled.
"This is years in the past" Aja reminded him. "Perhaps this was the trollhunter before Jim?"
"You'll have to forgive us, we've only read about your kind in the ancient texts and, well" Papa nodded in kind before he trotted forward with the encased core, feeling rather small in comparison to these giant creatures. "They failed to mention the horns"
"You have nothing to fear from us" The elder chuckled. "I am Vendel, elder of Heartstone Trollmarket. And this is Kanjigar the Courageous, our Trollhunter"
"Just so I'm clear, you're a trollhunter, but you're also a troll, so does that mean…you hunt yourself?"
"I am guardian of creatures both magical and mortal alike" Kanjigar replied, nonplussed by the question. "Which makes me well-suited to protect that, just as the prophecies of your kind and ours have foreseen"
"Gaylen's core holds the power to destroy a universe, so how can I pass the responsibility onto another?"
"I can assure you, as long as our trollhunter is standing guard, your relic will be safe in Trollmarket" Vendel murmured as Mama pulled the case from her husband and ferried it over to the trolls.
"Trollmarket! That's it!" Krel decreed as he followed his sister down from the tree, far less gracefully than she had done, however.
"Now, all we need to do is find it!" Aja replied as she landed with hands on hips as she blew a strand of hair out of her face.
