AN: Trigger Steele is the Japanese name of Digger Steele. Since I think it was only mentioned in one episode, and not one I've rewatched many times, even I didn't realize he had a different name in both versions at first. Actually, it makes a lot more sense that way, since why would an Earthen have the same theme-naming as people in the Inner World? But anyway, thought I'd mention it to avoid confusion.

Ch 2- Her Journal

It was morning when Aqune woke up. A bright sunny day. She was surprised that she'd gotten as much sleep as she did, not being a stranger to the sleepless nights stress could bring. But at the same time, it was relieving. She needed the energy to continue her quest.

For that quest, however, she discovered a new lead quicker than expected. Aqune distinctly felt something hard under her arm. Curious, she threw aside the covers. She hadn't taken anything into bed with her. Even her manacle she'd taken off first and left on a stand by her bed. To Aqune's surprise, she'd been laying on a hardcover gold-colored book. She grabbed it up to study it closer. The book appeared rather old. Not dusty or damaged, but something about it made it seem quite vintage. On the cover was red text reading only the word 'Journal'.

'Who's journal is this?' she wondered. And probably the more pressing question; How did it get there? She probably would have known if someone came in her room at night and maneuvered the book so it was under her arm.

Aqune opened the journal's cover. Just as soon as she did, she squinted. A bright glow emitted from within the book. Rather than shutting it, however, Aqune attempted to stare into it anyway. She felt a presence, and not an ominous one at all. It was warm and inviting. Looking deeper into the light, a faint figure began to emerge.

"Spirit Oracle…"

Then, just as suddenly as the light appeared, it faded away. The only thing Aqune could see in front of her was the text of the book's first page.

"What was that?" She wondered out loud. Did Spirit Oracle leave this for her? That was the only thing that made sense. She'd asked for help the night before, and this journal appeared.

Aqune glanced down at the first page, to read what it said.

'I never knew what a journal was. For myself, there isn't a need for keeping notes. I simply remember all that occurred. He told me he didn't keep his for the purpose of remembering, though. Strong memories, whether good or bad, are the kind that always stay with you. You forget the little things, but they probably didn't matter all that much in the long run. Keeping a journal is more of a hobby. Or perhaps not? He wasn't even certain why he did it. It was just a habit. That's the sort of thing adventurers love to do. Record experiences. Maybe others can benefit from it one day. And if not, it's a cool piece of physical evidence that he'd actually been to these places, seen this, done that. That was how he put it, with a rush of excitement.'

'Whatever the reason may have been, he inspired me to start a journal of my own. I'm still not sure how it works. Perhaps I should start from today, but I feel I should start from the beginning. It would help, if someone does ever find this'.

'The man who inspired me is an Earthen. His name is Trigger Steele.'

'Trigger Steele?' Aqune closed the book. 'That was Hunter's grandfather!' Hunter had told her about him. That he had been to the Inner World in the past, and even fought alongside the Hero Brade. It was because of notes Trigger left behind that Hunter was able to find the Inner World in the first place.

If the writer of this journal was an acquaintance of Trigger, that certainly proved it was rather old. Aqune was definitely curious to learn more. But rather than keep reading it all, she decided she should show Buguese first. If the contents truly were something that could provide clues about his past, she thought it would be better if they read it together.

Aqune placed the journal back down on her bed. She changed into a pair of clean clothes and put her manacle back on.

"Buguese…" Aqune knocked on the door to his room. She was greeted with silence.

"I guess he isn't there." It was still early, but Buguese was never one who needed much sleep. At least it seemed that way to Aqune. He was always running around taking care of business at some hour, even in the days since the war ended. But, if he wasn't in his room, the question was, where?

'Could he have gone back down there?' The first thought that came to Aqune's mind also made her heart sink. It was likely he'd gone back to the lab to look for more evidence. He probably would have stayed there the whole night before if Aqune hadn't persuaded him to come out.

Aqune hoped she was wrong, but she had to look anyway. She took a deep breath, made her way to the door and turned the knob. Of course, it was locked.

"Buguese! Are you there?!" she called. She wasn't even sure if he could hear her if he was. But it was worth a try.

Aqune didn't receive an answer. However, she felt a hand grab the back of her shoulder. Startled, she flinched away and quickly turned around.

"Buguese…" She sighed with relief upon seeing him before her, but felt embarrassed at the same time. If Buguese wasn't down there, she probably shouldn't have been trying to enter a restricted area.

"I'm sorry for scaring you," he said. "But where were you going?"

"To the lab," she answered. "I mean… it's not that I intended to go down there. I thought you might have been there."

"Well, you weren't entirely wrong, Aqune," he replied. "I was just going there now."

"Oh," Aqune said. She sounded a bit disappointed. "Then, may I come with you?"

"If you would like," he replied. He glanced at her curiously, and finally took note of the book in her arms. "I didn't know you were keeping a journal," he commented.

"Oh. Umm… it isn't mine," Aqune replied. "Actually, I'm not certain who it belongs to. But I wanted to show you. Spirit Oracle left it for me last night, so I think it may be a clue."

Buguese was almost going to question that, as it sounded outright preposterous to him. But given Aqune's ties to Spirit Oracle, the miracles he'd seen firsthand, he felt he had to believe.

"Have you read it?" he asked instead.

"Only the very beginning," Aqune replied. "I'll let you take a look when we get downstairs… if you'd still like to go down."

"Yes, I would," Buguese said.

Aqune nodded.

Once the two had passed through the door, Buguese locked it again, so that no one else could follow. Then, they climbed down the stairs to the lab.

"So…" Aqune began. Her voice trailed off as Buguese moved closer to the tank he'd gotten a vision from the day before. "The journal was talking about Trigger Steele. That is, Hunter's grandfather."

"What?!" That was enough to shift his thoughts elsewhere. He turned to face her. "Why would a relative of Hunter Steele be mentioned in this diary? Did it come from the Outer World?"

"Actually, Trigger Steele was a Spider Rider," Aqune replied. "He's also been to this world. Besides, the journal is written in our language. I don't think an Earthen could have written it."

"I see," Buguese replied. "I suppose Spirit Oracle has always chosen the worst sort of people to be Spider Riders. Not that it matters. I'd like to see the book anyway."

"Sure," Aqune said. She decided to ignore Buguese's initial comment. She didn't expect him to ever like the Spider Riders much, even if he could tolerate them now.

Aqune opened the book slowly, in case anything else bizarre happened this time. It didn't, so she held it to Buguese so that he could also see the words, starting with the first page she'd read already.

'The events that occurred years before I met Trigger are the foundation of everything within this record.' The second page continued. 'Trigger Steele was the second human to be brought to the Inner World from earth. The first was called Mantid. I believed, back then, that the world on the surface and the Inner World didn't need to be separated. The two worlds couldn't truly be all that different. Perhaps I was wrong about that much. The surface world is one in which humans rule. Many other creatures share their world, but none have the same kind of power and intelligence of the humans. And so, they see themselves as superior. It may not be a conscious feeling, but a powerful subconscious one. On this world, there has always been division between the humans and the Insectors. Not a war on the scale we have today, but enough distrust for the two to live apart. But the two races, while different on the surface, are very much the same. They both have the power to rule this world. Neither one nor the other can be superior. That must be hard for most people from the surface to comprehend.'

'Mantid, when he came to this world, was quick to become a champion. That is, a champion to his fellow humans. He was a great one, at the time. He fought bravely against all who threatened peace. He soon fell in love with a human girl from the Inner World. And what mattered most to me was how happy he seemed. Despite being from a world outside, he fit in with this world.'

'Unfortunately, that couldn't last. Mantid grew jaded by the battles. By the hardships. Tragedy struck, and his love lost her life in battle. Any loss of that nature pains me, but to him, the pain was worse. Mantid came to resent ever being brought to this world. What was once a great opportunity for him turned into a great agony. All Mantid wanted was revenge. And to get that revenge, his plan was to use the Insectors. His aim was to amplify the distrust they had for the humans to true hatred. He took their sunlight away, and started a full fledged war against the humans, with them as his conditioned pawns. To him, they were an easier target to exploit than the humans. Because as a human, he believed they were inferior.'

'I wondered after that, was there something different I could have done? Did Mantid have to turn out that way? I couldn't undo what was already done. But I decided, some years later, that maybe it was time to bring another Earthen to this world. To see if all of them were like Mantid. That Earthen was Trigger Steele.'

"Buguese!" Aqune exclaimed. "I… I understand now."

"You mean… the person who wrote this journal?" he questioned, having a good guess himself, baffling as it was.

"Yes," Aqune said. "The only person who could possibly know all this… who would have the power to bring an Earthen into the Inner World, is Spirit Oracle herself!"

"I wouldn't think Spirit Oracle would keep a journal," Buguese replied. "What sort of influence did Trigger Steele have on her?"

"It is a little unexpected," Aqune said. "But I'm kind of excited now. To get to read her take on all of this."

"I suppose we should go on then," Buguese said. He wasn't sure yet what this had to do with his past, but it did at least tie into Mantid already. It would have been convenient if he'd found this years ago, he thought. It already explained what happened to the sunlight. Not that he likely would have believed it back then, he realized. And even if he did, it probably wouldn't have changed his plans. But there was no sense dwelling on the what-ifs.

Spirit Oracle watched him from above. She was surprised to truly feel admiration already. But there he stood, this red-headed young man of about 17, who looked as if he wasn't sure whether to faint or shout for joy. The boy who had just been exploring pyramids, hoping he might find something exciting to show the world, had now found himself in an entirely mystical place.

"It's like an enormous ball of fire!" he exclaimed, gaping at what was actually the Oracle sun. Trigger pulled out his journal without a second thought and began jotting things down. Before he realized it, he'd filled three whole pages with notes. From the color of the sky to the types of plants, everything was incredible to him.

"That ball of fire is the sun I created for this world."

Hearing a woman's voice, Trigger turned around in surprise. Of all the things around him, people weren't one of them, but suddenly, there stood a green-haired woman in a long dress. She didn't precisely appear like Spirit Oracle was usually seen. Her appearance was more youthful, and her hair much shorter. But yet, the woman was none other than her.

"I-it's a sun?" Trigger stuttered. "But, that can't be possible. Getting this close to something as hot as the sun would kill a person."

"That might be the case with the sun on earth," she said, smiling at the man. "But here, in the Inner World, you're perfectly safe. Rather, if one didn't have the sun, they would be in much graver danger."

"The Inner World?" he asked. Finally, something larger dawned on him. "Hey, wait a minute! Who are you?"

"I'm…" Spirit Oracle paused. She had decided on whim, just as soon as she saw him, to take on a human form. To get to know him. In turn, to make sure things turned out differently this time. She was almost unwilling to tell him who she really was. Wouldn't that spoil the whole point of becoming human? But she'd told him already she created the sun, a feat no human would be capable of. On the other hand, a positive relationship based on lies couldn't possibly be beneficial. And it wasn't as if her name would mean anything too significant to an outsider.

"I'm called Spirit Oracle," she answered.

"Spirit Oracle?" he immediately answered with a question. "That's a little awkward for a name, don't you think?"

"Awkward?" she questioned. Though, she realized, it wasn't exactly a name. It was a title the humans called her. But it had become her name.

"Yeah," he said, scratching his head nervously. "Well, if I had to say, Trigger is a pretty weird name too. But I got used to it. That's my name, so you know."

"I knew that already," Spirit Oracle replied. "I chose you to come here, after all."

"Chose me?" he asked. His eyes looked like they were to bug out of his head. "Now, hang on a minute." He reached for his journal, which he'd placed down on the ground, and quickly started writing more down in it. "This is so cool!" he cheered out loud, seemingly to himself and not to Spirit Oracle.

"Excuse me…" she spoke, glancing down at him in confusion. "But, what are you doing?"

"I've got to get this down in my journal!" he exclaimed. "When I get back home from this Inner World place, it's going to be incredible. Even if I don't get back, well… it's still incredible! I already lost some notes outside in the temple, but… oh well. It was mostly mapping." He barely stopped to breathe. "Hey, Aura, can you tell me more? Why is the sky green? Are there any more people here? Oh man, I have a ton of questions! Sorry if you're busy."

"Aura?" That was what struck her the most out of all he said. "You mean me?"

"Yeah," Trigger said. "I told you, Spirit Oracle isn't really a name. If you don't like it, though, I can come up with something different."

"No." Spirit Oracle shook her head. "It's fine."

"Good," said Trigger. "I don't want to offend you, if you're a goddess or something."

She wasn't offended at all. Simply perplexed. Trigger had already started asking her questions, naturally, but in turn, she suddenly wanted to start asking him questions. It surprised her. But there was something about him that filled her with curiosity about the world she'd never known much about. A world she hadn't been sure she wanted to know anymore.

Trigger started to run ahead, towards a large tree which was growing nearby. He was glancing up and down at it, studying the particulars. Spirit Oracle… Aura walked to catch up to him.

"I wonder how old this is," he said, hearing her approach. "Actually, forget that." He laughed nervously. "How old is this world? Was it always here?"

"The Inner World is about as old as the surface world itself," Aura answered. "That's because we're inside the earth."

"Inside?!" Trigger exclaimed. "No way! It should be nothing but molten core. This has got to be some kind of pocket dimension, then!"

"A pocket dimension?" Aura questioned. Whatever that was supposed to be, it seemed to excite her visitor, at least.

"Wouldn't you know these things?" asked Trigger.

"The term is foreign to me," she admitted. "Perhaps that's what you Earthens call it. But to the people here, there's nothing unusual about this world at all."

"So there are other people!" Trigger exclaimed. "How come I haven't seen any?"

"Well, this is a forest," Aura replied, smiling. It was sort of a funny question to her. "People don't tend to wander out this deep. But you may encounter a wild spider here."

"Umm…" Trigger scratched his head. "Yeah, that's no surprise. Forests are full of bugs."

"You may find that the bugs in this world are a bit different from the ones in yours," she replied.

"I bet!" he said. "Everything here is different."

Aura reached out her hand and took hold of his arm. She tilted it upward, to his surprise. Her eyes were fixated on the golden bracelet he wore.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked once about this," she said, then released her grip. His hand dropped back to his side.

"Oh, that? Yeah, I kinda forgot about it. Everything's been so cool, I just can't keep track of it all," he answered. He seemed relieved that she let him go, being rather flustered to be grabbed so suddenly. "It kinda latched onto my arm in the pyramids. I guess it's some kind of relic, but I'm not even sure where it came from. Some Egyptian pharaoh? But… it wasn't in Egypt."

"It's called a manacle," Aura said. "And it comes from the Inner World, of course. Wearing it means that you can become a Spider Rider. You are welcome to all this world has to offer, but the only price is that you must become one of my champions. You-"

"A Spider Rider?!" Trigger interrupted. It was clearly something peculiar to him. "Umm… what's that?"

Aura tilted her head.

"Exactly what it sounds like," she replied. "As I told you, the bugs in this world are different from yours. Spiders are intelligent and capable beings, most fit to be partners with humans. For years now, the two have fought by each other's side."

"That's… really pretty weird," Trigger replied. Skepticism showed on his face for a moment. But it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Hey, it's alright. I'll become a Spider Rider if it means getting to see more of this pocket dimension!"

Once again, he opened up his journal, and began writing things down vigorously.

"Oh?" Aura watched him with curiosity. She still didn't quite understand. "Trigger… you called that a journal before, didn't you?"

"Mhm." He barely looked up at her, as he was determined to get everything down.

"Would you please tell me more about it?"