U-Mos and I had traveled for about five minutes, with Raein still out cold on my back. I worried for her unceasingly.

"How is she?" the Luminoth asked. I looked at the youth's closed eyes. Raein was still numb. Nothing had been amiss with her before. What had happened so suddenly? What was wrong with her little body?

"Same as she was." I replied, continuing to walk. I focused on my feet: Left, right, left right, instead of fretting about the safety of Samus, Gandrayda, Ghor, Admiral Dane and my only sibling. "You okay, U-Mos?"

"I have been better," he responded after a quiet pause.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel... uneasy about this situation... Like something is wrong..." His voice was troubled.

"What makes you say that?"

I turned my head back and looked into his red eyes. They were clouded with nervousness, and an unsettling air was about him. "I am unsure." He finally said.

I sighed. "It'll turn out. Everything always does."

"I'd like to believe that, Rundas. Thank you for being hopeful."

We strolled in silence for a few minutes before the Phrygisian on my back stirred and moaned. I froze, and glanced back to Raein as she opened her eyes blearily. "What happened?" She said in an exhausted voice.

"You passed out. Do you want to lay down?" I didn't give her a chance to accept, already gently taking her off my back and propping her against the wall. I made sure she didn't bump her arms or legs on anything. "How do you feel?"

"A little queasy..." Raein muttered, holding her head and closing her lids slowly.

I looked around. "Is there something that can treat nauseousness?"

"I suppose anti-motion sickness injections would do. There is a medical pack over there," U-Mos said, pointing to a white box with a red cross on it attached to the wall. I stood, walking over and placing my hands on it.

I tore the container off its snaps, turning around and taking it back to my sister. She opened her eyes once I kneeled, and smiled feebly. But once I held up the syringe filled with head clearing formula, she went rigid. "No! Don't poke me with that!"

I chuckled. "Aw come on, Raein. You're not scared of a tiny needle, are you? It's going to make you feel better."

"I'll get better by myself!" She argued, standing as non-shakily as she could. She walked a few paces, a bit off balance, but managed to go in a semi-straight path. "See? I'm perfectly fine!" Raein stumbled, tipping to the side dangerously. "Whoa!!" Then the girl toppled over, smacking the side of her head with a thump against the floor.

U-Mos and I got up, coming to her aid. I gave her a humorous, I-told-you-so look, and she replied with sticking her purple tongue out. I scooped her up and held her tight, making sure the youth wouldn't squirm free. "All right, U-Mos. Jab her."

Raein ran her skull repeatedly into my shoulder as hard as she could. "No! No! No!" She complained as the Luminoth came to us, holding the booster in between his fingers. "I don't want a hypo!"

"Too bad, you're gonna have one." I commanded, U-Mos puncturing a few layers of her soft skin. She whimpered shrilly, her small body tensing. I snuggled her. "You're all right, Raein, you're all right." I felt her fingers close around one of my tentacles, and she squeezed it lightly.

The injector then pressed the plunger of it down, the medication gushing into Raein's arm and through her blood stream. She was biting her lip, face pinched into pain and fear. U-Mos removed the needle shaft from her skin, which leaked blue. Afterward, he grabbed a tissue and wiped the wound clean, placing a bandage over the microscopic hole.

Raein seemed expectant. "That's it?" She wondered, giving U-Mos and I looks that were unsatisfied. "I flipped out over that?" We nodded, and I laughed inside. I could now tell my sister was a bit of a drama queen. "Gosh, that wasn't so bad. Why didn't you tell me?"

I smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Much! But, can you still carry me, Rundas?" Her faced had regained its glow.

"Of course."

"We shall commence going back to the docks, yes?" U-Mos asked. I nodded and he began walking. "I will lead."

Raein cuddled against me as we followed the Luminoth, her heart beats steady and her breathing calm. She was rubbing one of her six fingers on my chest, tracing random curls and patterns that had no meaning. "Why are you so into Samus?"

U-Mos's feathered appendages perked up slightly. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You always look at her like... there's something else you want... You have a huge crush on her and I see that gleam in your eye like you want to hold her. Any reason for your obsession?"

I felt a bit hot. "Well Samus is an example to me, I guess. I look up to her for several reasons. Like, how she didn't hesitate to fight me on Bryyo-"

"Bryyo? Why did she fight you?"

I sighed. "I wasn't... myself, Raein..." I didn't want to remember that. Did she have to ask now?

"What do you mean?" Her voice changed from mildly curious to intensely interested. Her gaze was demanding. I sensed U-Mos was intrigued as well.

"Someone basically overcame me. I couldn't think for my own sake." I finally replied, my heart sinking as I pictured Samus's face once she found out I had been corrupted.

"Who was it?" Raein wondered, stopping the trailing of her fingers on me.

"..."

"Aren't you gonna tell me, Rundas?"

"You may not know her," I said after a deep, mindful breath. "the being's name was Dark Samus." In a flash, the black huntress tainted my thoughts, and I listened to her malicious laughter. I almost heard it... Or was I just imagining things?

Raein went stiff, and U-Mos's shoulders slumped. "She sounds scary," her tone was fearful, with a slight quiver.

"Believe me, Raein," my voice was low, frightened as well. "she scares me."

"She does?" I glanced down at her, cradled in my arms like a baby. Only she wasn't a baby, just an eight year old Phrygisian with large, questioning eyes. "How can you be scared, Rundas? I thought older brothers never got scared."

"Everybody gets scared once in a while. It's natural. You can't avoid being afraid of something." I tried to lighten my voice so I didn't sound too intimidated by the huntress. She was supposed to be dead, right? "What are you afraid of?"

She thought for a moment. "I'm not really sure. My schoolteacher is freaky. I don't like the dark. And now that I think about Dark Samus... I'm scared of her too."

I patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Raein," I assured the two of us. "she's dead, and will never return. She and the planet she was on blew up. No more evil. Gone. Deceased." I gave my sister a smile, and she returned it. "You don't have to worry."

"Are you sure?"


"Positive."