I only owe my character, Lea Thompson. The rest of the characters belong to their respected owners. Also, 'Follow The Stars' by SWINGROWERS as Electro Swing music is mentioned here plus used throughout the story. Also, major thanks credit to my collaborated partner, Alvaxerox for helping me out.
Enjoy.
My name is Lea Thompson, and for those who don't know, I'm a Blue Lantern under the name Midnight Hope. As a newbie hero, I have learned to never judge the appearance of others without getting the facts first. In this case, for me, I almost accused an innocent alien moth guy of committing a crime he did not do.
However, that's not the main reason for this story. Well, it connects to that one, but besides the point. Before we get to that, let's go back a little to when I discovered something cool with my Blue Lantern powers at Odym. It will make sense later. Trust me.
At the beautiful starry skies of space, Lea Thompson aka Midnight Hope was making her trip to Odym for some private Blue Lantern lessons.
'I'm so glad Hal is letting me travel by myself this time,' Lea thought to herself, letting her ring take her to the home base of her Lantern sector. 'I can finally concentrate my full potential in having a little more independence. It's a start. Can't wait to see Ganthet, Saint Walker, and Brother Warth again.'
Lea travels to the planet Odym, and flying at that speed was easy for any Lantern.
"I wonder what new lessons I will learn today," Midnight Hope asked herself, seeing the planet of her destination. "Looks like I'm about to find out."
Lea flies down to the planet, and even though she's been here before, she enjoys its nature and beauty.
"Feels so good to be back here," Lea muttered, taking a deep breath from the clean air. "I nearly forgot about how peaceful this place is."
Lea then sees Ganthet flying towards her and he had someone with him. "Greetings Sister Lea, welcome back to Odym." he said.
"Thanks. Great to see you again, Ganthet," Lea said, smiling back while noticing the individual next to him. "Also, who is this? Another new member of the Blue Lantern Corps?"
This alien looked like Ganthet, but with a hair bun style and blue lipstick. Which might indicate a female. She also had on a white robe with the Blue Lantern sigil at the center, like Ganthet.
"This is my companion Sayd, after learning about my Blue Lantern corps, she rebelled against the Guardians of Oa and joined me to help expand the Blue Lantern corps's numbers. Thanks to her, more Blue Lanterns have been chosen." Ganthet said.
"Greetings, Sister Lea, Ganthet has told me about your journey into becoming a full Blue Lantern yourself." Sayd greeted and complimented.
The compliment made Lea blush. "The honor is mine to finally meet you, Sayd. Hal's told me about how cool you and Ganthet are, compared to the other Guardians of Oa. Wait, there's already more new Lanterns here?"
"Indeed," Sayd replied. "Would you like to see them?"
"Sure! I might as well see the new Blue Lanterns here," Lea said.
As they flew over to where the new recruits are, Ganthet explains how they came to be. "Since Sayd came to Odym, she helped me see more members across the universe. A certain number of creatures have little hope and lack of hope, but there are others in the galaxy that do indeed find hope." He said.
"That's great news, Ganthet. I'm glad that Saint Walker, Warth, and I aren't the only members of this Corps anymore," Lea said.
"And Brother Razer," Ganthet reminded.
"Oh, yeah! Razer is both a Red and Blue Lantern," Lea said, recalling that. "Is he here, as well?"
"I'm afraid not. He's still on Volkreg with Aya." Ganthet said. "He's enjoying the peace he finally earned with her."
"That's okay. I can still meet the rookie Lanterns and call Razer about the good news after I'm done with training," Lea said, smiling warmly. "So, where's Saint Walker? Is he training the new recruits?"
"Indeed, he is," Sayd said, "They're at the Blue Lantern Central Battery."
"Great. Thanks, Sayd. I'll see you and Ganthet later," Lea said, already flying to make her way to the Central Battery.
Lea sees the Central Battery, and she also sees Saint Walker and Warth with the new recruits. "Ah, Sister Lea, nice to see you again." Saint Walker said, flying towards the young Blue Lantern.
"Hey, Saint Walker," Lea said, giving a friendly wave with her hand. "Ganthet and Sayd already gave me the heads up about the Blue Lanterns already getting bigger with new recruits. This isn't a bad time to continue training, is it?"
"No, not at all. These recruits are fast learners." Saint Walker said. "Come join us. You're still new to being a Blue Lantern, after all."
"All right. Hope I don't blow it on my introductions in meeting new people...again," Lea muttered sheepishly, rubbing her neck.
The two Blue Lanterns landed near the other recruits. "Everyone, this is Lea Thompson, our Blue Lantern from Earth." Saint Walker said. "Sister Lea, these are our two new recruits. Brother Hymn and Sister Sercy."
Brother Hymn appeared all orange like a humanoid clay alien with a blue robe and Lantern sigil on his forehead. Along with having blue eyes and no hair. Sister Sercy had on a purple mask with her body covered in blue, white, and black hooded garbs. She didn't have legs but floated similarly to a ghost with her tail(s) at the end.
"Nice to meet you all," Lea said, waving her hand while smiling gently.
"Hello, Sister Lea," Hymn said. "Saint Walker told us about you."
"H-He has?" Lea asked, sounding a little flustered. "Um...Like what?"
"Just how you helped defeated a rouge Green Lantern," Sercy said. "And how you earned an official Blue Lantern ring."
"Good to know," Lea said, calming down.
"Care to join us in our training, Sister Lea?" Hymn asked.
"Yes, please," Lea said, already flying down to join the new recruits.
Lea, Hymn, and Sercy listen and learn what Saint Walker and Warth were teaching them. Mostly to project weapons used for peace.
After the training, I originally planned to chat with the new recruits. Of course…I didn't feel like doing it immediately.
When it was finally time for a break, Lea decided to get to know Sercy and Hymn a little better. However, being the shy girl she is, it felt hard for her to think of what to say.
'I don't want to bother them or accidentally offend them,' she thought to herself, carefully backing away shyly. 'Maybe I'll talk to them later and try clearing my thoughts on my usual favorite spot.'
Making her decision, Lea tried discreetly flying off...unaware that the rookies saw her leave.
"Hmmm, should we tell Saint Walker?" Hymn asked.
"No, that would be rude. She probably wants some privacy." Sercy said. "I heard that's how brother Razer was doing, during his time here."
Soon, Lea made it to a nearby cave that wasn't far from the falls and flew inside before landing.
"Still looks the same since I last saw it," Lea told herself, walking down further until stopping by a few rocks that had only clear see-through crystals. "I'm really glad I found this place. Has the best acoustics to privately perform some songs to clear my head."
She then brought out her phone and constructed a small speaker to connect it while picking the right song.
"Now, what song should I do today? Let's see..." Lea scrolled the different songs in her playlist until finding one that seemed perfect. "Oh! Yeah, this one!"
Once choosing the song, Lea began playing plus singing the lyrics to 'Follow The Stars' by Swingrowers. While Lea continued singing and floating/dancing around to the beat of the song, her ring glowed where the crystals around joined the same tempo of glowing, too.
The glow grew brighter that it can be seen from far away. The Blue Lanterns soon took notice of the glow.
"That's new," Hymn said.
"It has to be Sister Lea," Saint Walker said.
"Let's go see what kind of self-training she's doing," Sercy said, following the source. "She seems to be at that cave."
"That sounds like Sister Lea." Saint Walker said, as he listened carefully until seeing Warth enjoying the singing. "Brother Warth, you enjoy it?"
Warth nodded in response, staying quiet.
"So do I, Brother Walker," Hymn said.
"Let's go see her sing," Sercy said.
It didn't take long for all the Blue Lanterns to carefully peek into the corner of the cave to see Lea in her melody action where she glided with her ring power while dancing. Even some of the crystals kept on point to the chosen song being played.
"She sounds beautiful," Sercy said.
"Yeah, she is," Hymn said.
"Is this what Earth calls music on their planets?" Saint Walker asked. "Interesting."
Lea finished her song by harmonizing the final notes played on her phone to fly down and pause the playlist...until turning around to see the other Blue Lanterns there and nearly screamed in surprise.
"AHHH! Saint Walker?! How, um...How long have you and everyone else been standing there?" Lea questioned, trying to lower her heartbeat down from the sudden scare with a hand on her chest.
"Long enough to hear that beautiful melody you sung," Saint Walker said. He and the other Blue Lantern corps clapped their hands, applauding Lea.
The white-haired heroine blushed a lot from all of that...Along with forwarding her hood in slight embarrassment and shyness to hide her face.
"T-Thank you...It wasn't much," Lea muttered, shyly.
"It was amazing," Hymn said. "We could see and hear from far away. It is like your power was rising up by singing."
"It wasn't THAT amazing," Lea muttered, looking down at her boots. "I don't know why it happens. All I did was play some music and these crystals just glow at the same beat as the song. No matter what melody I play."
"The crystals were in sync with your blue energy." Saint Walker said. "You doubt yourself a lot, don't you?"
"You've seen me in action before, Walker. I prefer not being too cocky like Hal yet would rather be confident enough not to be a total Shutterbug," Lea stated, deadpanning the last part of her horrible nickname in High School.
"It's true, you are capable in combat, but when others admire your normal talents, that's when you feel like you know what to think." Saint Walker said.
"I know I can sing, but I'm just...not ready to perform in front of a large group with everyone judging me and trashing me for hitting the wrong note," Lea explained.
"You didn't hit any wrong notes sister," Sercy said. "It sounds perfect."
"Well, that's only because there was nobody around. If I knew there were people around while singing, I'd freeze up and freak out," Lea explained.
"Well, there wasn't," Hymn said. "Only us. We heard you and came to see for ourselves."
"Yeah. I'm okay with singing in front of people I know. Just...not in front of others," Lea said.
"I believe Hal Jordan prefers to that concept called... stage fright?" Saint Walker asked.
"Yep. That's correct," Lea nodded.
"What's stage fright?" Hymn asked.
"It's what earth people call being scared to perform in front of others. Like the pressure is too much." Saint Walker said.
"Which happens a lot to me from where I live," Lea said.
"You sing so well when you are alone. And didn't see us while you were singing." Sercy said. "You were into it a lot. Are earth melodies like that?"
"Not all of them, no. There are different types of music genres on Earth," Lea explained. "The one I was playing is Electric Swing music."
"Sister Lea, is it okay if we hear the song?" Sercy asked.
"You made us piqued our interest on some of Earth's accustoms," Hymn said.
"Oh. Well..." Lea said, still a little unsure but soon agreed. "Okay."
She turned on her music from her phone, and the Blue Lanterns listen to the sounds of her earth music. "It really is interesting," Sercy said.
"No wonder some creatures find Earth interesting," Hymn said. "For a primitive planet, it seems to be adaptable."
"Earth has its ups and downs," Lea admitted. "I usually pick the ones that sound good and appropriate. I'm very careful in choosing songs to listen to."
"Yeah, I know Earth is not a paradise, but you're right. You focus on the good stuff they have." Saint Walker said.
"That is how I still remain hopeful," Lea stated, smiling proudly. "Always hoping for the best and things working out in the end."
"You truly live up to the ring's power, Sister Lea," Sercy said.
"Thank you, Sercy. While I have my bummer moments, I have the people that matter who help remind me of the hope within," Lea said.
"Indeed." Saint Walker said placing his hand on Lea's shoulder. "Maybe one day, you won't let the fear of stage fright take hold of you to sing in front of people."
"Appreciate it, Saint Walker," Lea replied, giving a small smile.
"How's about we continue our training here?" Saint Walker suggested.
"In the caves?" Lea questioned, a little confused.
"If you like," Saint Walker said.
"Well, all right," Lea shrugged. "What kind of lesson did you have in mind?"
"How to express our hope," Saint Walker said.
"Okay," Lea said with a shrug.
"All right, everyone, deep meditation," Saint Walker said, as he gets into position.
Nodding in understanding, Lea got into position, too, like the others. All gently floating.
"Now, feel the hope inside yourself, let it be your power." Saint Walker said as he starts glowing blue.
Lea focused deeply, letting her hope shine from the inside out.
Saint Walker knows he can feel Lea shining hope like last time, but he's not gonna open his eyes this time. "I can feel your hope. They're all stronger," he said. "Say the oath with me to finalize it."
Lea and the other Lanterns said the Blue Lantern oath together.
"In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite! When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright!"
The blue glow burst into energy. While a lot came out of the lanterns, Lea's blue energy was more massive than ever. And it fueled her ring. She can feel the power making her stronger than ever. she truly is the most hopeful of the group.
"And now the lesson is complete." Saint Walker said.
Lea opened her eyes when hearing that. "Wow. Already? That was fast."
"That was the first part of the lesson." Saint Walker said. "I wanted you to feel the hope burning inside you and control it into your rings. You all passed that test."
"That's good," Lea said.
Later on, the Blue Lanterns were making constructs but they were more curious about Lea's music.
"Looking good on the constructs," Lea complimented, focusing to create a giant snowflake construct.
"Yeah." Sercy said, focusing on a construct of a worm dancing to some music she's humming.
Lea took notice of the small humming. Smiling gently, the human Blue Lantern constructed an acoustic guitar and started strumming gently to match the same melody Sercy was humming.
Hymn and Warth also took notice and created constructs of a lyre, and bongos and followed the rhythm of the girls.
Lea held back an amused chuckle, still strumming her guitar and soon joining Sercy by harmonizing with vocals.
Saint Walker also took notice and smiles how the Blue Lanterns were in sync. He joins in, constructing a lute and join in. And they create perfect music inspired by Lea's music.
Around playing perfect harmony, something unbelievable happened. Several flowers started growing and blooming from the ground that seemed to be similar to the morning star dahlia flowers but in blue and white.
Saint Walker, Warth, and Hymn took noticed, and they may have created something beautiful. They kept playing, but this time with passion.
It didn't take long for Lea to feel something growing next to her foot and looked down...almost stopping her guitar playing.
"Whoa..." Lea muttered, noticing the plants around everyone.
The rest of the Blue Lanterns stopped and noticed the plants. "Whoa, what just happened?" Sercy asked. "Where did these plants come from?"
"I think...these new plants sprouted the moment we started playing music together," Lea said, lowering down to study the flower better. "Reminds me of the dahlia morning stars back home."
"It is very impressive," A voice said, the lanterns turn their heads back and see Ganthet and Sayd. "Your music of hope gave life to these plants," Ganthet said.
"Guess our music together somehow creates these flowers," Lea stated, placing her gentle fingers on her own flower from the side of her head. "Strange...they look like mine. But that can't be right."
"How come?" Ganthet asked.
"These plants, despite real back on Earth, were sketched ideas only my uncle and I would do together. I'd ask for a blue one because it's my favorite color and he'd draw it out for me. Even make papered origami with light blue and white details," Lea explained.
"I suppose your powers are evolving," Sayd said. "Especially in giving more to this planet."
"Guess there's a lot more to this Blue Lantern energy than we realize. And here I thought all of Saint Walker's lute playing to tame the Odym worm was beyond cool," Lea stated, bringing out two flowers to give to each Guardian of Odym. "This seems different from when I played inside here. Usually, the crystals here just glow to the beat of my music."
"I agree. It seems you have given your fellow brother and sister lanterns a lesson in Earth music of your choosing." Sayd said.
"Wow...I don't even know what to say," Lea said, feeling honored to help share the Lanterns something she appreciates from Earth. "I never thought my love of music would make this much of an impact."
"And I never expected you had some much hope burning inside you so much, it overloaded your ring," Sayd said. "You are truly unique. And your hope has given our corps new inspiration."
Lea smiled gently, rubbing her neck sheepishly from all the compliments. "Thank you, Sayd."
"Maybe someday, you can take the corps with you to check out Earth's different ways of music," Ganthet said. "You have sparked their curiosity after all."
"I'll be sure to think about that," Lea said.
"Come, let's go to the battery," Ganthet said. "Sayd and I would like to hear your music ourselves."
Although a little unsure, Lea nodded and followed her mentors.
Ganthet, Sayd, and the Blue Lantern Corps then went to the Central Battery. "Now take your time to get ready. You can use that earth device to help you out, Sister Lea." Sayd said.
"Earth device? You mean my phone?" Lea asked, getting out the said device from her pocket.
Sayd and Ganthet nodded. "Yes. Your phone." Sayd said.
"Just checking," Lea said, looking over her playlist. "Should I use the same song I did today in the caves or could it be something different?"
"Play the same one from the cave. We like to hear it in person." Ganthet said.
"All right, then. 'Follow The Stars' by Swingrowers it is," Lea said, starting the same music and setting aside safely before constructing a guitar. "Here it goes."
The Blue Lantern corps started playing the music with their own construct-instruments they used in the cave. Ganthet and Sayd listen well as their eyes close.
Although her voice was a little shaky at the beginning of song when singing, Lea's confidence grew every second where it became strong again.
Saint Walker, Hymn, Sercy, and Warth played their instruments as Sercy and Hymn started humming.
Around singing, Lea's energy started shining brightly.
Saint Walker then started humming, too. Sercy couldn't help but sing along, too. Lea looked over to Sercy and smiled, still singing until they sang together with passion.
As the two female Lanterns continued singing in harmony, the Central Battery was beginning to grow bright with energy.
"You see that, too, Ganthet?" Sayd asked.
"Yes. The Central Battery is being fueled with their melody of hope," Ganthet said.
Soon, the group finished their song.
Saint Walker then took notice of that at the Central Battery. "Brothers, sisters, look." He points at the battery.
Looking up, Lea gasped in surprise. "Whoa! Did we do that?"
"You have," Ganthet said. "The Central Battery has been moved by your melody, it sees the hope in your cooperation, that it has been inspired and being fueled by new hope energy."
"So much so, it's going to seek out more candidates to become Blue Lanterns like you, for hope can also come from friendship," Sayd said. The Central Battery then busted massive blue energy like fireworks and more rings are being spread across the galaxy.
The Central Battery then spread blue energy across everyone, filling the ground with the same plants the Blue Lanterns made in the cave. "Whoa, these look like the illustrations of the plants we made in the cave." Hymn said.
"Wow...I can't wait to see who else we'll meet as part of the Blue Lantern Corps," Lea said, smiling warmly. "Hal, Kilowog, Aya, and Razer are never gonna believe this when I tell them about music bring a big help here today."
"And it's our duty to understand it for the future." Saint Walker said. Warth nods in agreement.
Lea smiled at that.
"Hey, kid. Did I miss anything?" called a voice.
Everyone looked up to see it was Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. And he was super charged thanks to that Blue Lantern energy.
"Because it looks like something big happened around here," Hal said.
"Ah, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, welcome back." Ganthet said.
"It is good to see you again, Hal Jordan." Sayd said.
"Same. I see the Blue Lantern Corps is slowly growing here," Hal noted, seeing a few familiar faces.
"I'll say. We also just created these little plants with our own kind of harmony," Lea explained, bringing out one of the flowers to show it.
Hal looks around and sees the plants. "Wow, this is very impressive, I didn't know you could do this."
"Neither did we." Saint Walker said. "It happened when we were all in sync while being curious about sister Lea's earth music."
Lea chuckled sheepishly. "It's not exactly MY music, per se. Just playing what makes me feel good."
"And it sparked our interest." Hymn said.
"Huh, never thought you'd be curious about earth music," Hal said.
"Same here," Lea answered, her cheeks blushing. "Normally, I do my singing in private. But it seemed to have created a strong hope energy where everyone heard me."
"Not bad," Hal said, seeing the plants. "I got to say, I'm real proud of you, Lea."
"Thanks, Hal," Lea said, feeling great full. "So, we done for today and ready to head back home to Earth?"
"Yep. Come on," Hal said. "I'll take you back home."
"Fine by me," Lea said, facing her Blue Lantern colleagues. "I'll see you all next time."
"Goodbye, Sister Lea. Take care." Ganthet said.
"Safe journey," Sayd said, as they all waved goodbye.
And so, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Blue Lantern Lea/Midnight Hope flew from Odym back to Earth.
Pretty cool, right? My passion for music became a game-changer that day. This also marked my first time singing in front of a small group and being part of one while performing. Anyway, you're all probably still wondering about how any of this connects to the Necrofriggian thing I mentioned earlier, right? Or you just forgot until now. I'm getting to that. Just be patient.
To Be Continued…