I JUST CHECKED TO SEE WHEN I LAST UPDATED THIS. DECEMBER. FUCKING DECEMBER. I HAVE JUST BEEN SAT HERE GOING NO NO NO AT THE SCREEN. I AM SO SORRY. I have gone through the worst creative block ever these past few months, I have hardly done anything productive, it's been honestly so hard to get out of, it's been horrible.

Stone cold, and everything else in my life has been on like a four month hiatus because my mind has been stuck in limbo. But I think I'm finally out of it. This fanfic isn't as popular as New War, so I doubt I've let as many people down, (kinda glad and sad about that tbh). But to the people who were eager to read New War's sequel, I am honestly so sorry because I know what it's like to wait for updates, it's a steaming heap of bullshit and I hate doing it to you guys.

But I'm back. So let's do this.

OoOo.

Aerrow lay restlessly in his bed, the sheets now tangled around his bare limbs, his pyjama bottoms and top discarded in a sweaty heap on the floor. After tossing and turning in a fit of troubles, he had finally laid to rest on his back, weary emerald gazing in a tiresome daze up at the ceiling. The teen was distraught with trying to juggle all the emotions that had thrown themselves at him after the new war. It always seemed harder to deal with on a night, when he was alone, with nothing but the darkness as a merciless accompaniment.

Dark Ace.

Dark Ace is dead.

Dark Ace is actually dead.

That was what all of these overwhelming emotions revolved around. And despite his strong feelings about something so universally common, the notion of death was a vague concept to him. He had never experienced death, of anyone, let alone an incredibly close friend. He was dead, and when you're dead, you're dead, that's it. But it felt impossible for his mind to accept that rule.

Like every other night for the past month, he would then begin to ask himself; Am I dealing with Dark Ace's passing properly? How do other people deal with death? Is it different when you lose someone in a war, like, am I supposed to be more passive about it?

After all this draining, inner conversing, and trying to finally grasp the concept that his friend was physically gone, never to be seen again, he resolved the issue for another night. Routinely, he rolled heavily onto his side, curled up into a tight ball, clutching the blanket for comfort, and released a sigh that was polluted with miserable burdens.

I wish... I wish... I wish you weren't dead Dark Ace...

The unanswered desire loomed over his mind, until exhaustion finally won and he drifted off into a bleak sleep.

Hours later, his nose and red eyebrows twitched from an irritable disturbance, until the teen finally arose from that drab slumber. Morning had not awoken him, for it was still dark, which was more than enough of a reason for his face to twist with discomfort, and groan. However his weak grimace quickly left his face, because what had awoken him seemed to be a rather urgent tapping on his bedroom window. He glanced over at Radar, who was undisturbed, curled up on a chair with a little blanket over him. Lucky sky monkey, blissfully stirring in his own little dreams.

Back to the tapping; it sounded pretty desperate, so Aerrow obeyed their wishes and hurried out of bed, fidgeting to put his pants back on before answering the mysterious call. While he was anxious to see who was outside flying at this hour, he cautiously stepped barefoot towards the noise, because when living the life of a Sky Knight, anything could be anyone, good or bad. The whole zombie apocalypse thing hadn't exactly mellowed suspicious precautions either.

An enemy was all that came to mind when he tried to decide who it could be, after all who in the Atmos would be knocking on a window at - he checked the clock- 1:38 in the morning? A night crawler on a dastardly mission was deemed the most likely. Which was why despite a throbbing curiousity, when he reached his noisy window, he slowly drew back his flimsy, blue curtain, clenching a fist at the ready to punch the possible unwanted trespasser.

Just before a face was revealed, the redhead double checked where his weapons were, just in case, and of course they were still hanging on the wall. Then, with a sharp intake of breath, pulled the curtain back completely and revealed the midnight trespasser.

The emotionally piercing shock forced a sharp gasp from his lungs, that actually hurt to exhale, and he stumbled back tensely with disbelief. Despite his apprehensive reaction, the moment he saw that face on the other side of the glass, he wanted nothing more than to run towards the intruder who was abseiling the side of the Condor.

The man's crimson eyes were shadowed by the night, and appeared rather sinister, but only to a small minded bigot. However, Aerrow knew behind that fierce glare was a friend. The raven haired man's stare was locked with Aerrow's bewildered gaze. He was here, there, outside, but alive, looking at him...again...after so long. Too long.

Before the Storm Hawk could do more than desperately appreciate the fact that his brother was alive, Dark Ace spoke. He sounded a little hoarse, like dehydration had crippled his voice, "About time you woke up, it's fucking freezing out here!"

Aerrow's thankful expression broke and guilt was written all over his face. The boy sprung into action, the Talon's words being the reassurance he needed, and hurried to open the window, pulling him into his bedroom. Grabbing the older man's arms, and feeling him physically there was like a trigger, and he couldn't stop himself from babbling a string of questions with a note of urgency. "Dark Ace?! It's you? I mean it's really you! How did you? Why didn't you - God you're back! But how? I thought you were..."

With his feet planted safely on Aerrow's floor, Dark Ace stood before the chattering redhead, but not in his old soldier stance, he looked laid back with slouched shoulders and a friendly, crooked grin. He raised his dark brows, his crimson eyes glinted with innocent amusement, watching the youngster make such a big fuss over him, all the while rubbing his hands together as if they were numb with cold.

"Aerrow, pipe the fuck down, it's alright now."

He didn't mean to, but his fiery heart rate was rapidly influencing his temperament, and all of a sudden he was yelling at the raven haired man "NO IT'S NOT! IT'S NOT OK BECAUSE YOU WERE DEAD! I SAW YOU!"

The Talon's face was soft and understanding, just as it had been near the end of their time together, whenever the boy had needed it to be. It was just as Aerrow remembered it.

Dark Ace's voice melted into a soothing, fatherly tone, "I know you're confused," he grabbed Aerrow's arms and rubbed them gently with his thumbs, "but take it easy, I survived." And then he his mouth rose into a consoling grin, "and it's all thanks to you, Storm Hawk."

Aerrow took a step towards the older man, silently requesting a hug, "I missed you so much...why didn't you find me sooner?"

"I should have, but I'm here now...little brother." They exchanged a heart warming glance, one that Aerrow would only ever be able to share with this man. Smiles of reconciliation were exchanged, and then the Dark Ace finally pulled the emotional wreck into a long overdue embrace. The more Aerrow sank into it, the tighter the Talon held him.

Aerrow buried his face into Dark Ace's chest, breaths heavy and juddery as tears began to pour out of his emerald eyes. The older man gently cradled his head in his hand, "Shh," he began quietly, "it's alright. Everything is going to be fine. I promise." The boy sniffled as a grateful grin curled, brightening his face, as he believed every single word.

And then, the teen went to look up at his big brother, but as his neck craned up, he only saw the murky ceiling above his bed. His mouth gaped as a distressed breath passed his lips, and his heart chilled over. He fisted the sheets to confirm. Yes he was still in bed, and he was alone in his room.

Another nightmare.

While seeing Dark Ace again, looking happy and safe would normally be considered a dream to be thankful for, Aerrow labelled it as a nightmare. Because waking up to the dreadful truth was the worst possible thing.

Over a month had passed now, and his bloody mind was still torturing his naivety with that perfect reunion. And just like all other times, he refused to let it go easily, by getting out of bed and hurrying to the window to check. The only sound of disturbance outside was the a gust of wind rattling the glass. But telling himself to stop was hopeless, he had learnt that many nights ago. So his hands stiffly reached out to the curtain, he tentatively drew it back, mind numb with doubts.

Dark Ace wasn't there and annoyed at being left out in the cold for so long.

Of course.

He turned his back on the window, disappointment distracting him from closing the curtain again. Radar was now awake, and sat concerned, waiting for the teen on his bed. The redhead barely managed to give the sky monkey a quick scratch on the head, then joined him on the firm mattress.

Sitting cross legged, face vacant, as his mind was elsewhere. Radar chirped, approaching his human companion with big, round, worrisome eyes, and placed a little hand on his knee. Emerald carried over to the animal's face, and it seemed to read "I'm here for you, you know?" Aerrow's face creased with sadness, but before his co-pilot could witness his face deterring into a more miserable state, he hid himself behind his hands, his body heaving as he took deep breaths. Once again Radar snuggled close to the boy, whimpering for him, ears drooped as he tried to decipher his human's ailment.

"I don't want to do this anymore," he whimpered.

OoO

His disheartened state lingered all the way to breakfast the next morning. He arrived at the table and was greeted by his friends who were all looking troubled over him, like they were expecting him to be in this state. Shit, had it really fallen to this level? How could he have let this happen?

None of the Storm Hawks asked what was causing him such apparent grief, and he was oblivious to the fact that it was because they were used to being shot down by a shrug. In a routine Aerrow had yet to notice, Junko prepared him a hearty breakfast in the hopes, as always, that it would give him the strength he needed to rise above the bad morning.

The redhead could see that his bacon, eggs and sausages were cooked beautifully, just the way he liked it actually, but his mind was clouded with Dark Ace's fake happiness, so he hardly touched it. No thank you was offered, and when the food reached his mouth it was riddled with blandness. He rubbed his temples and gritted his teeth, For god sake. Stop thinking about it!

His friends all exchanged edgy glances as he lowered his head to the scratched up table and growled with frustration, muttering something to himself. But when he sat back up, he was straight faced, infact he looked like the melancholy had been slapped out of him, it has was hard to tell that he had been upset at all in the last ten seconds.

"Great bacon," he forced himself to say as convincingly as possible, trying to tug a grin in the corner of his mouth.

"Aerrow?" Piper inquired sternly, because she was done with approaching this from a soft angle. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Did you get much sleep?"

He couldn't even decide on whether lying was a good tactic, so he merely shrugged, eyes fixed on the food that he was steering around on his plate.

Finn spoke up gingerly, running his hands through his blonde hair, "I didn't hear you screaming, no nightmare huh?"

"No, I did," he mumbled, forcing another mouth full.

The sharp shooter frowned, it crushed him to see Aerrow looking defeated like this, "Why don't you tell us about it? I don't think it's very healthy, you know, bottling stuff up."

"Hm?" Aerrow forced his eyes to widen, masking the dreary state, "there's nothing to bottle up. Besides I can't really remember it. Don't worry guys, I'm just tired."

Silence dawned over the once tight squadron, emerald flickered to each of his friends, all unconvinced and unwavered by his flimsy reassurance. He sparked up a smile, which he would hold there until he actually did feel better, "I'll be fine once I get on a skimmer. Speaking of which lets have a status report."

Aerrow stood, trying to ignore their silent, but effective protests and eagerly leaned away from their questions. "Breakfast was great by the way Junko, thanks."

Junko mirrored his leader's previous dismissive expression, and simply nodded for a response, sighing as he tried to cope with another failed morning.

The leader coughed nervously, then continued with his hands behind his back like a nonchalant officer. "Finn, any news on Talon activity?" He had tried to sound like the usual daring, teenage hero that anyone could easily look up to, but instead sounded more like a figure of superiority, trying to deal with a venomous hangover.

Finn, thankfully, reciprocated the cringing effort to carry on with duties, so he leaned back, the lines of concern fading from his face, "Nope nothing, it's been really quiet."

His thoughts on death were finally recoiling back into their dark little corner, with his regular Sky Knight demeanor beginning to soar again, the last time it had taken him till dinner for his valiant side to resume control of his mind, so this was great. And with that, he couldn't help but blurt out, "Except that it hasn't really, has it?"

Starling's heinous Cyclonian revelation had thankfully overruled those morbid thoughts, his mind would be occupied for the rest of the day and he was going to relish every minute of it. "Piper and I have reason to believe that the Cyclonians are in fact; up to something."

Stork's shoulders hunched up like a vulture, as anxiety began to engulf his already nerve wrecked mind, "That's never something you want to hear first thing in the morning." A deep exhale passed his lips, which sounded entirely melodramatic, but it was a sincere response and everyone knew it. "Exactly what kind of scarring doom are they planning to inflict then?"

Aerrow rubbed the back of his neck, wishing he had knowledge of all the angles of this discovery. "We don't really know, but I think we'd better do some recon, don't you Piper?"

The crystal mage nodded back to her leader, a concerned look on her face, with compassion glazed over her eyes. Not for Aerrow, for the Atmos, because Starling's notes were like something out of a horror movie that she would never concern herself with. And to experience this misfortune first hand, even with vague information, was enough to make her want to hide away in her room.

"Recon," Junko added, "Of Cyclonia itself?"

"Certain doom."

"We can handle it. If Piper makes some cloud cover, and we silence the engines. We'd be crazy to wait and see what Cyclonis does. We have to act now."

Finn, who had just finished chugging down the rest of his orange juice, wiped the dribbles off his chin and asked indifferently, "This isn't like this is the first time Cyclonis has hatched up some mad scheme, I mean, the first time we ever met her she was trying to wipe out the whole world with a really bad storm. I'm sure we can take it, so maybe we should just chill? Because you two look way too riled up."

"Yeah," Junko added after a burp that tasted like sausages, "why don't you at least fill us in?"

"We would," Piper said with a small voice, the descriptions of those operations flooding back to her, "but Starling asked us not to. She doesn't want to spread panic or alarm."

"That's why we're going to check it out, to get more information on the situation, once we check out the Terra itself I'm sure we could include the council."

Piper wrapped her arms around herself, "The sooner the better I say."

So each Storm Hawk marched to the hangar bay with their trusty weapons, to the skimmers which lay lifeless and waiting, ready for the fuel of crystal energy to mobilize them.

As the crew geared up with newly polished armour (courtesy of Finn's recent punishment), Aerrow was still in his room, without radar, and was stationed at a drawer in his desk. Inside, muddled with a few spare gears, a book, and a blue crystal, there was something else, something homemade.

Enveloped in flimsy brown leather, was a knife, the kind that did not need a crystal. After their last shipment on the Wayside, Aerrow had saved a spare piece of wood from one of the crates. He had carefully carved it, and many splinters later it was a neat little handle. With a burner crystal borrowed from his friend's lab, he had melded it to a sharp piece of flint.

He would smile fondly at it, because it was sharper than the kitchen utensils, then frown because it was hardly Oppinsaur quality. It was kind of embarrassing really, not nearly as beautiful as what those crafty scientists had cooked up, but he took it on every mission with a little pride anyway. Zombies couldn't come back, he had obviously made sure of that, but the apocalypse had also taught him that there were other dangers out there, and Arygon the Skeeler had once taught them that rocks may not always be around for protection.

So he stuffed it down one of his boots, which nestled rather comfortably, then returned to the squadron who were all waiting for him on their rides.

He reached them with that daredevil look painted in his eyes, and how could he not? One had to be pretty daring to venture out to Atmos' most dangerous. The Cyclonians weren't all bad, but his friends didn't know that, and maybe, just maybe he could get to race around and engage in some sword fights. The hot blood adrenaline was a wonderful cure for, well anything.

"Are you OK Aerrow?" Junko asked, and after the Wallop had spoken, Aerrow pursed his lips and mounted his skimmer. Radar was in his little seat, sniffing him with concern as soon as he was close enough. He patted his blue friend on the head and smiled with reassurance.

Then he wrinkled his nose irritably, "I'm fine guys, I just forgot something, so please stop asking." They all looked taken back again, seriously, people change sometimes, why couldn't they just adjust to it? It's not like he had turned into an asshole like Carver, or arrogant like Harrier.

The fresh air soon cleared his head, and helped him see that the nightmare shouldn't matter as much as he felt it did. He had everything he wished for, it was time to continue with his life, just like he had fought and survived for. Dark Ace would surely want him to do that. Hell, he did want that, that's why he had told Aerrow to run...

They made it to Cyclonia, completely unnoticed, something they would boast about only...it had been pretty easy. Too easy. As in, there was no one around, not a single sentry or guard on patrol in the skies, infact the skies didn't seem as hellish as they usually did, like they were giving it a rest with the firebolt crystals. The atmosphere was not polluted with hatred, it felt dead, and isolated from the rest of the Atmos. It gave off the same kind of feeling a graveyard did.

Aerrow would have thought it was just him, had it not been for Junko saying "This is a little spooky..."

Piper said with narrowed amber eyes, "It could be a trap. Aerrow what do you want to do?"

"We do what we came here to do; investigate. Finn, Junko, spread out and keep a look out, only speak into the radio, and even then on the lowest frequency. And keep your weapons in hand, if there is a surprise coming, we don't want to look too vulnerable. Piper and I will get a closer look of the Terra. Come on."

They flew closer, engines already dowsed into a hushed purring, their eyes darting around constantly for a Talon... or just a sign of life right now would be a start.

"How far are we going?" She asked with a whisper and furrowed brows, as if the Master herself could be listening.

It was time to test the limits of the Terra's current hide-and-seek stunt. "I say we land on their hangar bay, it looks just as empty. A quick, easy recon then we're out of here before anyone knows different, maybe come back with Starling if it's ridiculously clear, hell if we're lucky we should think about finding the snitch."

Piper nodded lightly, her furrowed blue brows accompanied with a determined smirk now, the doubt she raised for him before seemingly gone, as he was performing like a trustworthy leader again. So they drew closer towards the black Terra, and as they did so, that deserted feeling just seemed to increase. Where were all the Cyclonians?

But the next thing they knew, the thick veil of confusion was shattered, and yet hundreds more questions were conjured in their young minds.

The two heroes were about to breach the Terra, but as the noses of their skimmers were about to align with the walls of Cyclonia, a flash of light attacked them, and a mysterious blow sent Piper and Aerrow flying back with a violent spin, that left the two teens winded.

Through a hefty cough that had his windpipe stinging, Aerrow sputtered, blindly reaching out, "Piper? Piper are you OK?"

"I think so," she whined through a wrenched chest, rubbing her eyes to try and vanquish the dark specs that the flash had left behind. "Are you?"

"Argh. Yeah, I think." The injury wasn't crucial, the world had offered him heavier pains than that, some by his own fault.

But shit they had just been attacked!

He shook his head frantically to empty the shock, although the spots in his vision only seemed to multiply from that. He rubbed them vigorously, and tried to in take deeper breaths to clear his chest, but quickly realised their skimmers were spewing out some pretty thick exhaust fumes, and upon further inspection their engines were wheezing.

Moments later sapphire coloured daggers, and the trusty, crystal staff were out and pointing in all possible directions, despite being unable to see or even hear enemy skimmers.

"Shit! Where are they!" Aerrow bellowed with his breath still finding it hard to pass through normally.

Piper however, held steady and calmly, with her staff pointed directly at Cyclonia, exactly where they had tried to enter. "Aerrow hold on," she said sternly, with an authoritative tone he recognised and was thankful to hear. It meant his pretty teammate had figured something out.

"What? Do you seem something?"

"I have a hunch. Watch this," with that she activated the blue crystal which was on the end of her weapon, then fired a blast of energy. She grinned triumphantly, for her suspicions were correct, the shot was deflected by a thick, ugly, purple forcefield.

While Piper's eyes sharpened at the wretched empress making this typical dick move, Aerrow was gawking at this development, with a mixture of surprise and awe.

"It's a whole new ball game," she mumbled, her finger subconsciously pressed defensively on the trigger of her staff.

"What...the hell are they up to in there?" Aerrow asked, his heart thudding in his chest so hard it hurt. Many blood thirsty scenarios of the kind of terror they were plotting, unravelled in his head like an endless ball of string. "Are they just blocking off the landing strip?"

She barely managed to answer "Let's find out," as her mind was also beginning to haunt her.

So they flew around the entire Terra, vertically, horizontally, and diagonally across Cyclonia, firing minor shots in order to spot the shield, and hopelessly try to locate a weak spot or hole. At the end of it, they found that the Terra was entirely sealed off from the rest of the Atmos, in a seemingly unbreakable dome according to Piper, who could never dream of conjuring such a mastered spell (and it had really pained her to admit that to Aerrow).

"Can the Cyclonians get out though? Are they even in there?"

"I have no idea, but if they can't get out, it would explain why one of them was asking a Sky Knight for help."

This was bad, really really bad, and they had to inform Starling immediately, maybe she had more pieces to connect to the puzzle.

After anxiously telling Junko and Finn about this dreadful discovery, the flight back to the ship was a silent, and stomach churning one. Why would Cyclonis do this now? And what did this have to do with the scientists and their ghastly experiments? The one factor about all of this that really sent shivers down everyone's spines, was the fact that an actual Talon had contacted and fed them information. It had to be terrible if they were going against their own Queen through fear, when fear was what generally made them salute to her in the first place.

Back on the Condor and out of the black Terras way, the entire squadron were having a discussion of the highest maturity, as they conversed about Starling and her snitch, the experiments, and the shield.

It was the dead of night and the six of them were huddled up together on the couch. Discussing the horrors that Cyclonis was plotting had the same vibe as brooding a scary story around a weak campfire, and as they dipped deeper into the dark possibilities, what little optimism they had, was dimming.

"They could be doing anything in there, how are we going to stop them?" Piper asked, and glanced at the whiteboard she had been scribbling on earlier. It was covered with ideas and tactics, and the fear she held inside had unfortunately came out in her shaky handwriting, although no one mentioned it, for relatable reasons.

"Maybe they're just upping their defenses because the Sky Knights are stronger?" Junko suggested weakly.

"I highly doubt that," Stork quickly shot down.

Finn, who was hunched up in his seat cuddling a tattered old cushion, added after gulping, "Maybe that would have been an option... if it weren't for all that mad scientist stuff they're doing, man, just thinking about this is freaking me out, I want to go to bed."

Aerrow was sat on the edge of the couch, listening, but eyes fixed on the floor, twiddling his thumbs rapidly. He had never felt so perplexed in his entire life, he couldn't think of the Queen's reasonings and he so certainly couldn't come up with a solution. They had contacted Starling the second they had gotten back on board, but apparently her Talon had disappeared, presumed captured, which did not inspire confidence. They couldn't even fill some of the holes, which was reason enough for the sweat to really drop.

"Is there any way to destroy the shield with force? Just to get in and do something..."

"I've gone through the few books that I have, there is nothing I can find that is strong enough to take down a wall like that, especially one that size. The only one who can break it off is the one who put it there, which would be Cyclonis." Piper buried her face in her hands.

"Any chance microscopic things could get through? Like germs?" Stork asked, his pointed ears perking up.

She looked at the Merb through the gaps in her fingers, "Why do you ask?"

He flashed a toothy, scheming grin, that would once be considered creepy, now offered comfort to the teens. "Well I was thinking, rather than wait to fall victim to the impending doom they unleash upon us, why not transfer a deadly infection? I know of some we could get a hold of-"

"As morbidly creative as that is," Piper started with a twisted expression, "I'm afraid not. Nothing can get in, and nothing can get out, it's completely sealed off, it's like a highly secured quarantine." Her tone sounded impressed, but her expression screamed worried.

Time ticked on for the young squadron, but the bleakness of the situation had passed it by like the snap of a finger. While the discussion had begun at around 4pm, by the time the Storm Hawks finally realised they were exhausted it was 2am, and their blundering headaches were protest enough to agree on bedtime.

They were still no closer to thwarting the latest evil scheme, but they had to surrender to the night and fall on their beds, because at this point they were writing down ideas like 'Cyclonia - like giant armadillo - use giant wrecking ball to knock it into wasteland.'

As they grudgingly dismembered with yawns and stress endorsed stretches, Piper said heading for the door, "I know Starling doesn't want to, but at this point I say we take it to the Sky Knight council. We have to figure this out together."

"Urgh whatever, I agree dude, but right now the only meeting I wanna have is with my pillow. Night." The dreary blonde was the first one out, his feet dragging and yet somehow still jetting out with mighty speed to reach his bed. Piper and Stork followed, the crystal expert insisting that skin eating bacteria really wasn't the answer, Stork's persistence was faint in the distance as they trudged down the corridor.

Aerrow and Junko were the last ones in the room, weak smiles of comfort exchanged between each other. The redhead stood, working hard not to disturb Radar who was sound asleep in a fluffy blue ball next to him, "You going to bed?"

The wallop yawned, as he placed all the empty mugs in the sink, "Yeah, I'm coming now. But can I ask you something?"

Aerrow stopped on his way to the door, despite the urge to keep going. Nervously he said "Sure?"

Junko's big fingers fidgeted with his frayed top as he continued, "Well, I know you said you don't want to talk about it. But it's been playing on my mind and I'd just like to ask you something. Whatever is troubling you, is your business, but uh... does it have anything to do with what you asked Piper about a month ago?"

Playing dumb the redhead said, "What I asked Piper?"

"Yeah it was about some weird crystal or something. I can't remember what you called it, but is it maybe linked to that or?"

Hastily he answered, already reaching the exit as he spoke, so his friend could not pursue the conversation further, "Yes. But don't look further into it, it would be a waste of time. It was a lost cause."

OoO.

It was the morning after Aerrow had returned home from the wish granting on Xoam. He had risen brighter and earlier than anyone else on the Condor. But he rudely, as Stork put it, woke the Merb and Piper up, not even giving them time to fix their bed heads.

After telling the crystal mage to bring a certain book, he did not know the title, could only describe it, he brought them into the empty bridge, the atmosphere chilled and drafty.

"Here Aerrow," she yawned, too tired to object or question his strange request. As soon as it was set on the table he had it open and was flicking through the pages, pupils darting eagerly to keep up. "What's going on with you?"

Stork creeped towards him, fingers stretching out towards his leader's head, "Does your brain itch? Because you could have a parasite in there."

As he was about to massage it, Aerrow swotted the green hands away, "There's no parasite Stork, but this is a serious matter and I need undivided attention from both of you." Having never really heard their Sky Knight behave in such an adult manner, without Cyclonians concerned, they eradicated any signs of exhaustion and focused souly on the tattered pages of Piper's book. The hasty flicking through had ceased, and he was now carefully scanning to find the page in question.

And then he saw it. His heart leapt at the sight of it, even though it was a mere artist replica, and not a very good one, it got him excited, nervous, and fearful all at once, and his rigid breath was a show of that.

"Piper, you've heard of Tempus Crystallus right?"

With a weary voice she answered "...Yes, but um, what does this have to do with... anything Aerrow?"

Junko with his eyes half closed, interrupted, for he had heard the ruckus from his room and was too curious to go back to sleep. "Sorry, what does this thingy even do?"

Finn was following shortly after for the same reasons. "Yeah dude, this," he yawned so wide you could see down his throat, "better be worth getting up at ... six in the morning man are you serious?"

Aerrow's eyes lit up, he wanted his answer to reflect the importance of the situation. As if Tempus Crystallus was a kind of rare sanctuary, a saviour, a hope. After all, that is exactly what it was to him, and he wanted his family to refer to it with the same attitude.

But Piper got there first, and she sounded scared, clearly wondering why he looked obsessively needy for something of such unconditional power. Her voice was stiff and disapprovingly concerned, "It does what ever you say. It has the power to change time, alter history, even kill..."

Finn looked at Aerrow and with a drowsy smirk said "Sweet."

"Finn! Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Well sure it sounds bad and all, but we could stop the Cyclonians with it! Right Aerrow?"

The leader froze, the proposal caught him off guard, because it was actually a responsible idea (the fact that it came from Finn was what had thrown him off)... Tempus Crystallus really could stop the war, bring peace and the Atmos could live in harmony. He wanted to make that wish, he wanted everyone to be happy in the end.

But then, he wanted Dark Ace back too, because that man should be allowed to have a happy ending just as much as everyone else did. The Cyclonian he had grown close to had gotten him out of so much danger, and his decisions had helped them survive.

And if nothing else, there was something that was stirring Aerrow's determination to do this. It was something Dark Ace had said to him, something the boy deemed wrong and always would.

Dark Ace did deserve to be saved.

And that's why the redhead was going to shoot his sharp shooter's plan down mercilessly. One way or another he would gather all the crystals and save that raven haired bastard.

But then Stork spoke in his doomsday preacher voice as he observed the book, "Um, I'd really advise against doing that, because if I'm reading this right the crystal takes things literally. If you said something the wrong way, you could end up with a life you didn't want or," he drew closer and broke the distance between him and Aerrow for dramatic effect, "something much worse."

"So?" Junko said, "just collect all the crystals again and make another request - wish - thingy."

Piper spoke up next with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, "Except that's impossible."

"What? Why?" Aerrow snapped.

"I'm not really sure what happens when you put all the crystals together, but the Tempus Crystallus somehow knows the last time a "wish" was made, and there's a rule that states you can only activate another one after a fifty year gap." She chuckled, and Aerrow actually took offense to it, "That's why I've never given the silly thing much thought before to be honest."

Aerrow froze, clenching his fists as he tried to squeeze this overbearing feeling away. It was like everything he had ever believed in since childhood; never give up hope, good will always triumph, things will work out right in the end, had just been revealed as a complete lie. He felt heart broken, but not upset, pissed off, and he had never felt this before, but he wanted to hit something, for hours, and ring the sudden rage he felt out of him. Why did the world keep doing this!? He wanted to scream and kick until the universe realised how unfair it was being and straightened itself out.

"Aerrow? Aerrow? Hello? Aerrow!"

The teen snapped out of his angered daze, and looked at Piper who was waving and calling for his attention.

"What?" He breathed through a sharp inhale.

"What exactly did you have in mind anyway?"

"Forget it." With that he began to storm out of the room, no expression on his face, like a mask covering the stabbing misfortune he was experiencing.

"What?"

"I said forget it alright!" He barked at them, louder than he should have, immediately feeling regret the second he glanced back at their faces, but too distraught to apologise.

He marched all the way to his room, each heavy step fueling the burning urge to let it all out. And he would.

As soon as he was cealed in his room he began to vent his anger out on the stuff on his desk, howling as he did so, the fiery rush enough to make him want to do it again and again.

And if his friends came and found him... well thinking about it he would just scream at them to go away. They wouldn't help, they would just make him madder. The best they had to offer right now was a cuddle, and telling him it would all be fine in the end with a sweet voice.

Which he had apparently just learned is absolute bull shit.

If dark ace had been there he would have told Aerrow to throw punches at him, then probably call him a pussy for not hitting hard enough. Fuck he really needed that. He couldn't comprehend why, but it just felt like something he wanted right now.

The outburst only lasted through the stuff on a shelf and a kick at some clothes left lying on the floor. Then he dropped to his bed, the flames of his anger reddened his young face.

One arm was thrown over his face, concealing it, the other hand found it's way to his chest, rummaging under his shirt until he held the Storm Hawk pendant. He gripped it so tight he feared he might crush it.

Why couldn't he save him? Why wasn't he allowed to do that? It pained him, wishes and dreams should happen. Is this what being an adult really meant? Is this why the council had an age restriction? Because sometimes when you try your hardest, there are some rules that can't be bent? His whole world had just changed, and he didn't know where to turn.

Wishes are like dreams. And dreams are pretend. Now he knew and understood why so many adults wore such miserable faces. Or sneered at them for behaving the way they do, it was naive ignorance to the loss of a war. Because reality was harsh and cruel, and unforgiving, and now he was too old to believe otherwise.

Reality said that Dark Ace was dead and gone forever, and to try and believe in another outlook was utter nonsense.

"Dark Ace... I'm so sorry," he whimpered, "You believed in me, and I let you down, and now you're gone forever and you can't even hear me saying all of this. No. No. No. I don't like this, please come back to me, please, I want another miracle, even if you don't remember me, even if you hate me."

oOo.

Whether this was worth the wait or not is irrelevant because I am just so glad to be back and uploading stuff. A review would be greatly appreciated x