A/N Once again, I don't own Skyland! Thanks for the reviews people! I really appreciate it! Okay, back to the story...
"Marcus, let's go!" Mila yelled from her position on the small wooden quay. She glanced at the large red ship docked on her right; the metal hull gleamed with dew. She could almost feel the ship trembling with excitement for the coming departure after being immobilized for so long.
Early morning mist clouded the air, making it hard to see very far. The hazy tendrils crept along the wooden boards on the quay and droplets of condensed water clung to her skin and clothes. She could see Marcus's silhouette a distance away, standing in front of the house, perhaps giving it a last look before departure. They were leaving for good today, all the repairs were completed on the Hyperion.
Mila glanced around. A tree perched on the edge of the block rustled its wet leaves slowly, a lone bird cried out in the fog. It was surprisingly painful to leave this place; she knew after all that things wouldn't be the same between them afterwards. It was as if they came from entirely different dimensions. They were going back into the real world; away from the seclusion of their private little block in Babylonia.
Marcus was a pirate and she was… well, she didn't know yet. She would try to find out. She would go off on her own and try to start a new life on a nice, quiet block and Marcus would go back to his rebel base; wherever that was... Gone were the days of playful bickering, of laughing at his jokes while they repaired the ship, of stargazing at night. She would miss the sweet smell of wild flowers that drifted with the warm winds in the country side.
This was why she wanted to leave as quickly as possible and not glance back. This old house was the closest thing to a home that she had ever experienced. She would miss it.
But enough of that now, her future would be bright; she would make sure of it.
After a few minutes of impatiently tapping her foot, Marcus arrived with a rucksack slung over his shoulder. "Picked up a few things." He said as he threw the bag in the lower cabin of the ship and closed the hatch on the forwards hull. Mila hadn't brought anything along so she had no belongings to carry.
Mila joined him on the hull and they both motioned towards the pilot's seat.
They stopped.
For a moment, they were both motionless until Mila stepped back and contoured the cockpit to enter on the other side. She would let him fly. It didn't matter anymore if he had stolen the Hyperion; her loyalties had changed. Honestly, she didn't care much anymore.
"Did you forget anything?" Mila asked him as she settled in the front passenger seat. She glanced at the misty outline of the house.
"No..." Marcus looked back once more at his old home, a faraway look in his eyes. "All right, let's go." He said as he started pushing buttons and switching functions on the control panel to start up the ship.
The Hyperion gently lifted from its position on the quay and blasted off a little too fast for Mila's preference. Her heart jumped in her throat and Marcus gave a whoop of delight to the ship's sudden acceleration.
They soared away from Babylonia in dense morning grayness; a streak of crimson was just appearing over the horizon.
"How do you know we won't be spotted?" She asked.
"You worry too much." He said.
A few hours had flown by; now it was about ten thirty a.m. but still, the sky didn't clear of its morose grayness. It looked like it would be a misty day. They were many miles away from Babylonia now and they hadn't met any other ships on the way; plus, the fog was a blessing in disguise; it kept them hidden.
They talked and laughed. Mila knew it would probably be their last day together; what pirate, in his right mind, would come back to see her anyways?
Marcus detailed several neutral blocks for her to choose from; did she like country sides? Small towns? Cities were too risky in his opinion.
When the world had shattered, the blocks had grouped up because of magnetic effects to form a long, irregular strip; this was the Archipelago. The Americas therefore tended to group on one edge of the Archipelago whereas Europe, Africa, Asia and the rest of the shattered areas ensued. The occasional block would drift off; how could you explain the Australian block smack in the middle of splintered Asia? Strange it was. Hardly anything made sense in this upside down world anymore.
Cayo Guillermo, Brennan's Hill, St-Paul… the names swam around Mila's head.
How was she supposed to choose her new home? She told Marcus to stop with the names; she had to think about it. He kept flying, she didn't know where he was heading but she guessed he was making a few long detours to give her more time.
"Listen to this." He said after a long silence, taking out a memory chip labeled greatest hits from a compartment and inserting it in a slot below the radio. "It's a collection of old songs we found. They were on Ceedees or… or something like that so we converted them." By 'we', she suspected he meant his rebel pals.
The music started playing; it was filled with loud guitars and weird sounds.
"What is this?" She asked impatiently, wondering what in the world a Ceedee could be.
Marcus shrugged. "Never really listened to it actually…" He handed her a scrunched up piece of a cardboard paper. "It came along with it." He added. The worn out print on the paper spelled out; The King. 1960.
1960! That was more than two hundred years ago!
"Wow, and you found this music?" She asked, amazed that the songs had survived this long.
"Yep." He said, amused by her astonishment.
They listened to the short playlist which Mila didn't like at first but it was starting to grow on her. It was kind of catchy. "Oh look, they even printed out the lyrics." She smirked. She'd never heard something that sounded so silly.
She laughed at Marcus's unsuccessful attempt to sing one of the songs. He was getting the lyrics all wrong. It was dumb to be amused by such trivial things but, she had to admit, it was fun.
"Your turn." Marcus insisted, catching his breath after laughing.
"No way, I'm not singing." She replied between laughs. The truth was, she never sung so she didn't know how her voice would sound if she tried. "What if I sound like you?" She snickered.
Be-Be-Be-Beeeeeepppp…
A loud bleeping sound overpowered the music and Mila switched the radio off. Marcus eyebrows lifted as he inspected the radar screen before him.
"We're being followed." He grunted, accelerating the ship.
Mila's heart fell and a terrible, freezing sensation spread through her body. Logically, the only ones who would attempt to give chase to the Hyperion were members of the Sphere. She was as good as dead now... Of course, she still had a chance at survival; the Hyperion was capable of immeasurable speeds. Mila couldn't see any ships out the window because of the dense grey clouds. She sat on her knees and placed her palms on the cold window as she looked around outside.
There was nothing. Wait, what was that? Oh, it was just a bird. No, there was something…
Suddenly, there they were. Out of the misty air, soared three S-15's.
"I should've paid attention." Marcus mumbled angrily as he saw Mila's eyes widen with fear. He sent the Hyperion into a sudden nose dive, making Mila yelp and fall back into her seat as he swerved the ship between small blocks and pierced through dense cloud formations.
Mila resettled in her seat and peered over her shoulder again to see the ships close on their tail. "They're gaining on us…" She warned.
How had they been detected? They had taken every possible precaution to remain hidden and still the Sphere had managed to find them. It had to be a coincidence, perhaps they had run into a patroller unit by accident; otherwise the Sphere would have caught them while they were still in Babylonia. A sudden feeling flashed inside her, making her throat clench with anxiety. Oslo was in one of the ships. What was he doing there? Had he been demoted since their failed mission?
Just then, Marcus veered sideways and changed direction. It did no good however, the S-15's were still following.
"All right," He said with a smile, his thumb hovering over the trigger on the joystick. "Let's blast the-"
"No!" Mila shouted. "My friend is in there!"
Marcus glared at her. The ship continued making a wide semi-circle arc and charged to the sides of the S-15's, shooting wildly.
"What are you doing?" She screamed as she lunged for the joystick; they both wrestled for it.
"Let go!" He yelled, trying to push her off. Mila jerked it her way, making the ship go upwards and shoot into the sky instead of at the S-15's. "Who's side are you on!" He shouted harshly, his eyes were dark with fury that Mila had never seen before; she recoiled with surprise. He finally wrenched the control from her grasp and redirected the ship horizontally before accelerating towards a giant cloud formation.
It was a bulbous, white cumulonimbus cloud that extended vertically at least seven miles in length. A feathered snow-colored anvil stretched out menacingly on top of the cloud. As soon as the Hyperion entered the colossal cloud, it darkened. Water droplets clung to the windows and thunder boomed loudly, shaking the ship to its very core.
"We're in a storm." Mila muttered grimly, jumping slightly as a few hissing sparks of electricity skittered across the pointed ends of the ship.
Marcus was silent, he frowned with concentration. The radar bleeped at less frequent intervals and went silent; the S-15's were camouflaged from sight by the thick, churning mass of cloud and block fragments.
"Marcus look!" A sudden blinding light appeared in the distance; a crack of intense energy ripping the sky apart.
A lightning bolt.
It lasted just a second; Marcus managed to avoid it by jerking the joystick to the left. The Hyperion swerved onto its side and for a moment Mila felt like she was sitting on a vertical wall. Just as the laws of gravity threatened to tip her against Marcus; they were horizontal again and the thunder rumbled with cataclysmic crackle.
Whereas terror was a big factor; being so close to the lightning bolt had effect on their bodies as well. Mila felt a brief, fizzing pain jarring her bones. Her hair floated upwards and she felt awkwardly numb. Marcus's hair also stood on end and singed lightly; he clenched his teeth and attempted to keep hold on the controls with his unfeeling hands which proved to be difficult.
"Get us out!" Mila shouted with terror. Her ears were ringing with the force of the thunder and she could barely hear herself speak.
The radar screen depicted a spiraling mass of cloud stretching in every direction, the way out was unclear. Marcus cursed loudly.
A glinting surface outside the window caught Mila's attention and she gasped. It was an S-15, flying a few feet away from them.
She saw another emerge on the left side of the ship.
Whereas S-15's were slower than the Hyperion, their advanced controls were designed to persist through the toughest elements the sky manifested; they had managed to locate the pirate ship in all the confusion. "They're surrounding us." Mila whispered.
"I'll shoot them out of the sky." He warned, eyes glinting as he glanced outside the window. "Don't!" Mila urged. The S-15's approached from every direction; Mila could see the pilot flanking on her side.
She did a double take. The pale face was unmistakable; it was Oslo. For a moment, their eyes met and a look of confusion went between them. Oslo just stared in disbelief.
Is that you Mila? Mila... What are you doing with this pirate! He communicated telepathically, lifting his arms to indicate his confusion.
Oslo, don't shoot us down!
You saved him? He understood as she showed him some of her memories. Why?
They would have killed him. I couldn't let that happen, I'm sorry…
The rebel deserves to die. He replied.
It's complicated! The Sphere lied to us-
Enough! If you want to join the pirates, go ahead. He thought back, jabbing her mind painfully before shutting her out.
Oslo!
But his mind was out of reach now and on cue the shots starting hammering the Hyperion, hitting the hull and deflecting off the cockpit window. "Marcus!" She yelled in alarm.
He peered around wildly, looking for an escape route. An enemy ship soared above them and a blast rattled them slightly. They were surrounded. On the left, right and top of the Hyperion were flanking S-15's.
But there's no one under us… Mila heard, as ideas flitted out into the air, powered by Marcus's feverish concentration. She was going to ask him what was happening when lightning struck again.
The luminous lightning flash manifested farther in front of them and Marcus flipped a switch on the control panel. Mila waited for something to happen but they were still soaring forwards; on a collision course with the lightning bolt. The purplish air soared outside the window and… suddenly they were still for a moment and the S-15's sped past, unable to stop their momentum. Mila glanced at Marcus in confusion.
The rear thrusters faded; the Hyperion drifted slightly and then started free falling. The S-15's minimized in size at a surprising speed as the Hyperion dropped away. Mila looked up and caught glimpse of the ships scattering from the lightning. One was too late; it caught fire, spun out of control and exploded. And then, she couldn't see them anymore for the cloud was too thick. Mila clung to her chair for dear life, waiting for Marcus to retake the controls.
Down and down they fell through the dense dark clouds, the wind billowing hail across the ship. Now Marcus's hands flew across the controls as he attempted to take control of the ship once more.
Mila's heart jumped in her throat and her fingernails dug into the arms rests, her eyes wide with terror. "Get us out! Get us out!" She exclaimed.
"The winds are too strong!" He shouted as he piloted the ship into a dive, trying to stabilize it despite the raging winds. Mila's saw an expression of fear on his face for the first time. Now she was terrified too. The ship was at the mercy of the storm; it spun once on itself but thankfully stayed upright as it dived downwards.
Mila didn't remember screaming but she must have because her throat felt dry and scratchy now. The ship was spinning in the darkness, narrowly missing a miniature block that lightning destroyed to fragments a second later with a deafening blast. The lightning bolt divided, like roots of a tree, and spread out in every direction.
Mila felt the familiar numbness coming on again as the discharge hit the ship. Her ears popped with the roar of the thunder and she couldn't hear anything. Everything was just a blur of confusion. Fiery white lightning tendrils crawled across the Hyperion's hull. They slithered over the windows and seeped through the glass. They began darting over the passengers; Mila's heart beat wildly. She gasped at the painful jolt of electricity and quickly protected herself with a seijin glow that warded the sparks away from her.
This gave her an idea. She had to stabilize the ship. Would this work? Probably not, but she had to try.
She lifted her arms and dissipated her protective seijin force field, inviting the lightning tendrils to come. The hissing serpents of light glided forwards; they scrunched up in her outstretched palms in mesmerizing knots of zigzagging light and dissolved through her skin. She was harnessing the energy from the storm, her arms were starting to glow bright blue.
Marcus slumped against the window with a sigh, his arms dropped to his sides as electric filaments coursed across his body.
Mila closed her eyes and screamed out in effort; now her entire body was pulsing with blue light. It felt strange to absorb lightning; such a primordial form of natural energy. It was never a good thing to tamper with Mother Nature and, even if the feeling of immense power was intoxicating, it was overwhelming. If she wasn't careful, it would burn her up from the inside.
Slowly, very slowly, the ship was enveloped in the heavenly blue glow of her seijin energy as she struggled to stop their death fall.
At first nothing happened. She was going to die...
But then she could feel it; the ship was decelerating, calming down; she could sense it in the pit of her stomach. The Hyperion steadied itself gradually, by which time the cloud was getting lighter and the thunder booms were distancing.
Unexpectedly, brilliant blue sky appeared as the ship descended out of the maelstrom and into nothingness below. The winds died down and stopped twirling the ship about. From the underside, the swirling storm stretched out for miles; bubbling and crackling with pure energy. The surviving S-15's were nowhere in sight.
The radar was clear now, no longer obscured by the electric storm. The ship righted. There was a humming sound as the ship picked up speed. The Hyperion accelerated to send them in a forty-five degree angle drop instead of a dizzying free fall.
Mila dropped her arms and the blue glow coating her body disappeared. It was sunny blue skies all around whereas the above giant was still raging. Her vision narrowed and she felt terribly weak all of a sudden; she forbade herself from closing her eyes. She reached for the controls to keep the ship a safe distance from the above clouds; the Hyperion gathered speed despite the singed, slightly smoking hull.
"Marcus?" She asked weakly.
He was still hunched sideways, his face squished against the window. He was awake, glaring at her; probably just temporarily paralyzed. When she had absorbed the energy from the lightning, he had been hit by the pulsing discharge of her seijin power.
Oops.
She gave him an I'm-sorry look, pushed him back against the seat and leaned forwards to pilot the Hyperion to safety.
She didn't hesitate to accelerate at full speed to get away. She couldn't believe what Oslo had said. And he'd tried to kill her! His only friend. Was he in the ship that exploded in a fiery mess? No, she decided. She would have felt something if he had died. She tried not to think about him right now.
Something wet was trickling down the side of her face. Mila reached up cautiously and touched her right ear. Her hand was smeared with blood. She cursed some of the pirate slang that she had picked up from Marcus. She hoped her hearing wouldn't be permanently damaged; everything sounded muffled, as if a box was covering her head.
Within a few minutes, she had distanced them away from the gargantuan storm and the radar was clear from any approaching S-15's. Had Oslo made it out of the storm yet? She didn't know. Thankfully, her hearing was less muted now which was a good sign.
Marcus groaned and flexed his hands experimentally; he rubbed his eyes and swatted Mila's dark hair from his face and mouth. He looked at the seijin who was now practically sitting on his lap.
"M-Mila…" He stuttered, his heart still beating madly in his chest. "I'll t-take it from here."
Mila dropped back in her seat, utterly exhausted.
"I s-saw what you did back there." He stammered. "Sa-aved us." He added. If the ship had just kept twirling around in the winds, it might have collided with the small blocks that littered this area.
Mila was too tired to answer; she could barely hear what he was saying anyways. It sounded like incomprehensible mumbling.
"Never… do that… again." She panted menacingly as she leaned back on her seat and crossed her arms. She closed her eyes and fell into well needed sleep.
A/N The king is Elvis by the way. Logically, his music could have had a good chance at survival since he was such an icon which is why I mentioned him. It's just for fun; a little reference to the past. See how I wrote CD (Ceedee), it's because they don't know how to pronounce it.
So, leave a review!/Laissez un commentaire!