Announcement:
VERY IMPORTANT!
Well, I did post a review for Hikari Nova (July 6th of 2022 for the said post within the story comments) in my story here as I am grateful for them at least reading up to Chapter 28, and do check her works out as well, btw, as she does have decent stories too, like the others I mentioned in my previous chapters up to this point.
To her, I give her this message: Yes, it may seem like Morgana is being part of a "Harem Fic", but this isn't as mentioned in that review or in a way, it's a truly massive harem to where the Main Person gains all the girls in existence that's old enough, as pairings (as yes, there are few fics I read that has done so as despite being decent, it's too many pairings and I don't want that for Morgana, which is why I set a specific limit for specific reasons).
But this chapter here isn't about Morgana, but it's about one girl who has yet to have a true adventure: Ceraza.
So yes, Ceraza is about to go on an adventure and would be the reason why she couldn't go to her friend's and cousin's birthday (which she finds out in this chapter and how truly long she was gone for, as the chapter itself will explain as to why it was), and to what she can be capable of during it with surprises and more, on the way.
So expect this chapter to be a bit long, due to someone else from Morgana's True Realm, Avalon, being taken, And I might add Morgana in a specific point from her being teleported to where Ceraza was to get the girl home, from a specific date after a few things… Which I won't spoil.
So the movie I will leave in a mystery itself as I figured it would be interesting, and hope you guys like the long chapter itself… Though as a spoil, Morgana will be traveling with the person, Ceraza, and a few others to go on another adventure in another movie, and do expect the unexpected for this chapter though.
I also watched Hocus Pocus 2, and I may have an AU Idea for that as well if not one but two "Books" of maybe unexpected things for Morgana and others when she's in Hogwarts.
Anyways, here's the usual info:
Official Siblings to Morgana (in the future this will change when Morgana is old enough and back in her true world): Belle (Adoption)
Sibling Bonds for Morgana: Sorceress, Crystal, Ceraza, Trinaza, Kalcea, Leah (eventually after realizing from the title called out), ? (Within the upcoming chapters), ?, ?.
Pairings currently for Ceraza: ?/6 (Same as Morgana for suggestions; there is one in this chapter for 1/6), and would mostly take place soon for girls/guys.
Trinaza: 3/6; Serina, Onita, Crumbelina, ?, ?, ? (Same as Ceraza for suggestions, they will get some storytime in future chapters)
And if you think I forgot about the others, think again. As they will end up joining Morgana in her eventual adventures too unless she was specifically told to do a solo mission… Unless something occurred in the future chapters to force it, or specific chapters having specific characters go on their adventures (hint-hint). Who knows, maybe they will get their adventures at some point.
And if someone could remind me how many of Yidhian's wishes are left for Morgana out of how many are left, I would appreciate it.
And with that being said, enjoy this chapter.
A few days before Morgana's Birthday, July 26th of 1588 (1993)), in a location not known:
Ceraza sighed as she was hoping to get her training done in time for control over herself and her developing fae powers, as she missed Morgana and everyone back at Prince Adam's Castle.
Her Aunt Angeline saw whatever signs were developing within her, and told Ceraza that she may miss her friend's secretive party to try and control herself, and took them to somewhere else in the world to try and train her better, despite her Aunt knowing that Loki and even Discord did aid her only a slight amount.
As far as she knew, the place was closer to being within either China or Asia, from hearing the accent the locals gave off from her Aunt casting a translator spell for them both, as she recalled when she was a bit younger her mother went to either place for an unknown reason, to where she forgot about.
Ceraza sighed as she was sitting on a rock from them hiking up a mountain to get to the one place to train better, and winced from the slight spasm of her tail due to how harsh the training her Aunt Angeline was doing yesterday, and with her aunt apologizing for that part of the training.
It turned out that like Morgana, her tail will also paralyze her temporarily as long as it is clenched and yanked, and she was told that today was a recovery time while they head to a temple hidden within the mountains.
Ceraza sighed to herself as she felt tired all over, and looked relieved as her aunt told her gently by helping her the last few of the thousand man-made steps leading up the temple itself, and made the Child of Maleficent blink a few times in utter awe of the ancient yet well-preserved scenery, "We're here."
The area was vast as the temple itself was a village all on its own, with families and unusual warriors in robes of sorts, doing their thing and importance within the village-like temple itself, and the ones with the more battle-based robes, which she asked to learn they were Monks, practiced in synchronization with each other.
Her Aunt just kept moving like she wearily did up to the true aspect of the temple itself, and blinked as the followers within were there as if they were expecting them with an old man who wore fancier robes based on the sun and moon in a fashion of the yin-yang symbol, bowed as Angeline did… With her gently jabbing Ceraza and making her quickly bow down to amuse the old man himself.
In terms, imagine Yen Sid but with a trimmed basic goatee and mustache, and wore glasses yet with gentle yet sharper eyes.
"It is good to see that you have returned, my former student." The old man tells Ceraza's aunt to make Ceraza sharply turn to Angeline at being stunned at this and saw her raise her head a little while greeting the old man warmly, "It is nice to return, Sensei Valore."
The old master glanced at Ceraza intrigued before returning his gaze to his former student, "So it seems like only yesterday you left around her age to find yourself more, and it appears you have. So I take it that you are requesting our aid once again?"
"Truthfully, Sensei… It's for my niece, as she is starting to experience herself the way I did," Angeline informs him to see he looked serious and gave an understanding nod when he gazed back at her.
To everyone, the reason that Ceraza needed aid, is that she is currently experiencing magical overloads overnight while she sleeps and her body being improved in untamed ways of strength and power, as yes, both Angeline and Maleficent did come to this and many other parts of the world before they were up to this point, to better control of themselves.
That, and she is also going through puberty as well. Thankfully, unlike Morgana, she lays her eggs every three months under the third night of the new full moon, and she recently did it within this month not too long ago… But she was nearly attacked by darker forces they were running from that were possibly sent by that one man to use her, and let's say Ceraza passed out after going into her instincts and left it at that.
Valore only nodded before stating in both Chinese and Japanese something to which, later on, Ceraza was told to wait within the temple.
Her aunt went with the old man as she glanced around his large study and met the chamber as it held mysticism and more to the eyes of the beholder, but she did see something that caught her eyes in moments.
It was a medallion of sorts that held an unusual gemstone eye in the center as it looked similar to an eye in flames, then a gemstone, and the medallion was made of a silvery metal of sorts with ancient runes in each section of it except for the gemstone eye itself, and the band it has was made of some type of soft yet strong lacing in the color of a rainbow.
It was casually hanging over a small hook, and she tried to ignore the urge to take it but failed, as her dragon instincts made her grab it and blinked at how smooth the metal was and felt like it was a snake's skin only slightly, especially the strap itself.
"I see you can grab the Medallion of the Light Drake's Prism," Valore stated being intrigued and hiding his amused small smile like a mixed Angeline was, causing the child to jump in place before they saw the strap as if on purpose, wrapped around her neck when it was thrown into the air and made her blink at it in being bewildered as she tried to take it off… For only for them to see it wouldn't do so as if, it refused.
"There is no point if it won't come off, as once it chooses its bearer, it can only come off after their death," Valore told them to make both Ceraza blink at him and Angeline narrow her eyes at her old teacher, but said nothing as the next few hours later, the child was improving her style of using her body in combat, much to Angeline's shock as she didn't expect her to be this quick.
She was being trained by Valore's son: Damis, and making her blink as she didn't realize it, she tripped him and had her wings in a defense shield in front of her as he tried to kick her, but failed and was making the adult man yelp when she winced at her tail grabbing his left leg, swirling him, and tossing him into the small pond nearby.
"She is a fast learner, I do admit my former pupil… But she will need to be trained in continuance as to better prepare herself, and to what she will have to go through to be in Inner Peace, and share with those she cherishes." Valore tells Angeline to which she sighed with them watching the teaching spar still, "I know, but knowing she is my sister's child and possibly guessing her father, she will probably have harder times to deal with that, as that was the only reason I left was to find my Inner Peace, as it couldn't be provided here."
"Indeed…" Valore stated before clapping his hands once to make his son pause and make Ceraza purposely fall onto her back by his orders, rubbing her wings as her body was fully sore, "Enough. I deem her worthy of training until she needs it no more."
Ceraza was soon helped up by Valore's son and after they ate and told her she was to study and relax her muscles, to make the child groan as her aunt saw hints of her father within the child, and went to the temple's sanctioned library.
In a building, while going on meeting someone, a particular man sneezed as he resumed his business of fetching some books within a particular street to personally give them to a friend that recently forgave him and one is a book for further potions for another and didn't see he was being stalked by a cloaked individual.
Ceraza blinked tiredly as she tried to read the book of which, thankfully, her aunt taught her the spell to do this as it was written in Ancient Chinese Language, and sighed as she closed the book and saw the large stack beside her as she mumbled out to herself, as Morgana's influences showed from her alongside she knew and her friends she made from Morgana introducing them, "Well, this sucks. I thought this was mainly a holiday trip, not more homeschooling."
The child blinked as she glanced down at the medallion she thought she saw the gemstone glint as if it agreed with her before Ceraza rubbed her eyes and stretched with a wince of her sore muscles that were used during that training session, before getting up.
She was recently left alone in the trusted place and knew at some point her aunt will quiz her as to what she learned, as she always does to her and her friends and Morgana, whenever she does teach them.
Ceraza, after stretching a few minutes to feel a bit better, was going to sit down until something caught her eyes and she began to try and pursue it, as it was a small orb of light.
She eventually blinked at seeing she was led to a door of sorts, and before she could question herself, she began to try and run with struggling attempts as the door swung inward from the center as it led to a vortex that beholds a mix of many things as it was trying to suck her into it.
The child soon tripped as she yelled with it immediately not only shutting, but vanished as if it wasn't there at all.
As a small announcement here for this chapter (or other chapters onwards), unless I do describe the characters, everyone, then they will be based on the movie itself or other.
Let's resume, shall we?
Within the vast Montressor Canyon Mining Gasms, at this point, same date but around July of 3022:
A young man was riding a device that was solar-powered within the restricted part of the canyon itself while enjoying himself and ignored the blaring alarms as he kept "Surfing" with the use of his machine: A Solar Surfer.
To mention him, he was a fifteen-year-old male, and went by the name of James "Jim" Pleiades Hawkins, and lived most of his life here on the mining planet of Montressor, alongside having this Solar Surfer being his latest model made ever.
He simply wanted to see how he perfected it by having fun, despite knowing he was in trouble at times, and knew that he would get in trouble- Jim blinked as he glanced from hearing sirens behind him to seeing the robotic officers on their police-based surfers to make him sigh before hanging onto dear life, like they were doing, from an unexpected storm that soon came upon them with being flabbergasted at seeing the unexpected and unusual storm that looked like the night itself, spat out a person as it began to dissolve and go away.
Out of wanting to try and get out of it as it seems the person was passed out, Jim avoided being taken by the robotic police and evaded them as he maneuvered himself in just the right time as the person would have pierced themselves into the sectional jagged and sharp rocks below them, and was soon baffled after from seeing it was an unusual little girl with her having the appearance of a dragon of sorts.
Meanwhile, at a building, to which was called The Benbow Inn, there was a woman similar to Jim, working within the home itself as an unusual alien woman called her by her title, "Mrs. Hawkins!"
"I know, refill on the purp juice. Coming right up," She stated a bit loud enough for her female customer to hear her as she was carrying a tray filled with ordered food to a family of toad-based aliens their food.
"There we go. That's four powered spheroids, two lunar eclipses, and it's a big bowl of Zorellian Jelly Worms for the big boy!" The male boy was excited about this as indeed, it was living unusual worms and not fried.
Nearby the tinted diamond-pattern large windows was a long-time customer dog-like alien with some books and with him reading one, before glancing at the owner of the Inn as she exclaimed to him, "Sorry, Delbert. It's been a madhouse here all morning."
"No problem Sarah," he told her as he eyed his food while placing the book down onto the closest one and stated to himself in growing anticipation, "Ah! My Alponian Chowder with the extra Solara Seed, and mineral water. Mmm… Yum!" He did a hand wave to get a better smell a few times to his nose before a little girl of the one family reached over with owlish eyes, and looked at him.
"Hello. What brings you here?" Seeing she was silent he stated to himself, "Curious little one?" He was soon trying to eat his food with the spoon provided before stating to the persistent child with a gesture, "Go away. Are your parents around?" He did look at the area before looking back at the child, "What's the matter? Cat got your-" without warning, the child's tongue snatched whatever was on his spoon and ate it, scaring him a bit as she slipped away in a pleasing look with her easily gulping her stolen food down.
Disturbed by that, he glanced at Sarah as she had an empty serving platter on her left hip and tells him in honesty, "Oh, they're so adorable at that age."
"Oh, yes… Deplorable." Dr. Delbert Doppler states more to himself until he saw Sarah's state and corrected himself after he placed his spoon down while hiding a shiver, "Uh… Adorable! Hmm. Speaking of which, how's Jim doing?" He tied his napkin around his neck to prepare to eat without a spoon and made Sarah sigh out to him then, "Much better. I know he had some rough spots earlier this year, but I think that he's starting to turn a corner."
It was odd timing that the entrance door slammed open to reveal not only the two police robots, but Jim, and to quickly perplex those in the building with Sarah holding it for later, was a passed-out girl.
"Jim!" Sarah exclaimed while holding back a wince as she dropped some dishes she gathered with Delbert lettering out a brief quiet whistle and stating to himself, "Ohh, wrong turn."
"OK. Thanks for the lift, guys." Jim tried to dissuade things but was firmly gripped by the one that didn't hold the child, and started to make the teen sigh to himself, "Not so fast. We apprehended your son operating a solar vehicle in a restricted area. Moving violation 9-0-4, section fifteen, paragraph… Um…" the robot began to speak to Sarah Hawkins before Jim aided him shortly in a word, "Six?" The robot thanked him and stated, don't mention it back.
"Jim!" Sarah stated to make him wince before the robot holding the child resumed from where his partner left off, "As you are aware, ma'am, this constitutes a violation of his probation."
"Yes, yes. No, I understand. Um, but could we just-" Sarah began with her rubbing her hair in exasperation before Delbert came over and began to state to the officers to try and relieve Sarah a bit, "Um, ahem, pardon me. Officers, if I might, uh, interject here. I am the noted astrophysicist Dr. Delbert Doppler. Perhaps you've heard of me." The two robotic officers were just staring at him, "No? Uh, I have a clipping." He began to reveal that.
"Are you the boy's father?" The one who has Jim still in a gripping hold questions him, as Sarah wordlessly gestures to the spare couch close by for placing the child down by the gesture the other wordlessly indicated, as Delbert stated in an appalled tone to him, "Oh! Good heavens, no!"
"No! Eww! He's just an old friend of the family." Sarah tells the two officers when she came back as Jim did glance at the child and hid the urge to blink as he thought he saw that one necklace she wore, oddly blinked at him as if it was a real eyeball and then saw it was still a gemstone.
"Back off, sir!" The first robotic officer tells the dog alien man as Sarah said sincerely to him, "Thank you, Delbert. l will take it from here."
"Well, Sarah, if you insist. Ahem. Don't ever let me do that again." He reminded her as the second robotic officer informed her then, "Due to repeated violations of statute 1-5-C, we have impounded his vehicle. Any more slip-ups will result in a one-way ticket to Juvenile Hall." "Kiddie hoosegow." "The slammo." They both said separately to her as she quickly agreed, and grabbed her son, "Thank you, officers. It won't happen again."
"We see his type all the time, ma'am." "Wrong choices." "Dead-enders." "Losers." They both said separately again and didn't see Jim hide the urge to wince at each jibe they hinted at with also ignoring his mother's brief gaze, "You take care now, Mam, and due to Protocol A-113, the child is under you and your son's care due to your son doing something for once… Let's motor." The two left with the second robotic officer closing the door behind him.
The entire Inn is silent as they all stare, then conversations resume once they saw both Jim and Sarah gazing at them, and she said to her son in stress and more as he gazed away from her, "Jim, I have had it. Do you want to go to Juvenile Hall? Is that it?" He was using a metal tub to grab some used dishes and stuff to wash as Sarah came over to him and resumed speaking, "Jim? Jim, look at me. It's been hard enough keeping this place afloat by myself without you going-" Jim stopped her there as he told her nonchalantly, Mom, it's no big deal. There was nobody around. Those cops just won't get off my-" Sarah looks at him sternly to make him sigh out in frustration, "Forget it."
"Mrs. Hawkins! My juice!" Mrs. Dubwiddle states loudly while showing her empty glass on purpose, as Sarah told her quickly, "Yes, I'll be right there, Mrs. Dunwiddie!" She turned to her son and tells him in a way he huffed to himself, "Jim, I just don't want to see you throw away your entire future."
"Yeah, what future?" Jim tells her off as he moves away to not see his mother sigh as he went into the kitchen, and four hours later, he is sitting on the roof as a storm is approaching.
He looks into the Inn through a window to see his mom and Delbert talking, and the girl eating cooked fish she asked for in gusto, to know she might have been hungry as they only learned her name was Ceraza, and she was a dragon-based Half-Fae girl, which they thought was extinct, like various other races both mythical and alien.
Jim though felt like there was more to her than meets the eye, especially that trinket she wore around her neck seemed familiar somehow, but shook his head and continued looking at the sky.
Inside though, Delbert began to state to Sarah in a way, he was mixed of being impressed and other for with Ceraza feeling awkward about hearing the conversation about the teen male, as she was still hiding her shock she was in a different time and possible dimension from the way it felt, and aliens and whatnot existing. "I don't know how you manage it. Sarah. Trying to run a business while raising a felon like.. Felon… Fellow… Fellow like Jim." Sarah was taking care of his dirty dishes though as he was still a paying customer, and ignored his slip-up of words.
"Managing it? I'm at the end of my rope. Ever since his father left… Well, Jim's just never recovered. And you know how smart he is. He built his first solar surfer when he was eight! And yet, he's failing at school, he is constantly in trouble, and when I talk to him, he's like a stranger to me. I don't know, Delbert. I've tried everything-" Sarah spoke to their family friend with a confession and honesty that brought more of Jim's mood, and only made Ceraza perplexed as to what a Solar Surfer was, until without warning as Ceraza heard this but resumed eating than investigating, this time, there's the sound of engines sputtering as a ship crash lands near the Inn.
Jim goes to investigate and taps on the glass of the ship's door and questions worriedly, "Hey, Mister? Mister, you're OK in there, right?" A hand unexpectedly is shown in response to hearing the man inside growling and coughing, as he came out alongside a green chest of sorts and grabbed it shakily, as it was nonetheless Billy Bones, some sort of turtle alien not known to Jim.
"Aah! (Coughing) He's a-comin'. Can you hear him? Those gears and gyros clickin' and whirrin' like the devil himself!" Billy Bones tells him as Jim states unsurely, "Uh, hit your head there pretty hard, didn't ya?"
"He's after me chest… That fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats." Billy Bones strains himself before resuming, "But they'll have to pry it from old Billy Bones' cold, dead fingers afore I- Argh (Coughing)!"
"Oh, my- Uh, come on, give me your arm. That's it." Jim states quickly while aiding Billy in haste to try and get him inside the Inn with the turtle alien telling him softly, "Good lad." And with Jim thinking to himself as he fixed his carrying support for the old turtle man and walked up the path as rain soon began to pour, Mom's gonna love this.
Sarah and Delbert are still talking in the Inn as it starts to rain outside. Sarah clicks the settings on the window so it looks like a garden is outside. "Thanks for listening, Delbert." Here, she sighs to herself, "It helps."
Delbert was gathering his things as Sarah headed over seeing the girl was full she said a quiet thanks, to her as he told Sarah then, once she came back after depositing the dirty dishes into her kitchen sink in the back, "It's going to be OK. You'll see."
"l keep dreaming one day I'll open that door, and there he'll be just the way he was. A smiling, happy little boy, holding a new pet, and begging me to let him keep it." She told the doctor as she opened her locket that held a Holo Clip of her son while younger, and doing as she said since it was some weird squid creature in his arms and various of these to when he was little to know she secretly recorded him from it.
The duo did blink at seeing Ceraza was being perplexed to guess the child herself didn't know what was what or what was in Sarah's hands as she poked the image to see it was not real, but shook her head before pouting as Delbert lightly rubbed her head.
Suddenly, Jim enters the room from the front door with Billy Bones and the teen was carrying the chest too, struggling to carry the turtle alien, at the same time with the alien using his shoulders for support. Sarah gasps before telling her son quickly, "James Pleiades Hawkins!"
"Mom, he's hurt… Bad!" Jim tells her as Billy Bones gasped out and reached it with a decision being quickly made, "Me chest, lad." Jim sharply turned to the chest and relieved the old turtle as he began to activate the combination as he told them, gasping and groaning to know he has little time left, "He'll be comin' soon. Can't let them find this." He has something that was wrapped to pique Ceraza's curiosity over with her not understanding what was going on.
"Who's coming?" Jim questioned him before he was yanked with the last ounce of the strength of Billy Bones as he whispered into the teen's ear, "The cyborg! Beware the cyborg!" The turtle alien gasps as just before he passes, Billy Bones gives Jim something wrapped in cloth.
"Ohh!" Sarah gasped out while she grabbed the child by using her tail to poke Billy Bones' head to see if he would awaken, and without warning as they heard a whirring sound, a ship full of pirates landed outside with the lights easily being seen from the windows.
"Quick! We gotta go!" Jim tells his mom as she was grabbed by him and Ceraza was pulled along for the ride as the pirates start firing into the Inn. "Aah! I believe I'm with Jim on this one!" Delbert tells them in panic as he followed them as the pirates are shouting as they storm the Inn.
"Delilah! Hallelujah!" Delilah yelped excitedly from her owner's voice and perplexed Ceraza to be dumbfounded by a weird horse-like slug down below, "Stay! Don't move!" Delbert ordered as he positioned Sarah once Ceraza backed out of the way to jump, and Jim alongside the child, seeing the crew were coming, "Don't worry, Sarah. I'm an expert in the laws of physical science. On the count of three. One-" "Three!" Jim shouted as he grabbed the Halfa, and they were all yelling as they fell into the carriage that Delilah was pulling.
Later on, the four are all in Delbert's home, and the three of the four were wary a bit of Ceraza as she sneezed small puffs of flames from her mouth as she was given some medicine for reptiles the doctor by a colleague of his three days ago, said would come in handy for when he babysits his neighbor's kids, again, as Jim was messing around with a bronze orb of sorts.
Though Ceraza was curious over it as well but kept pouting with her arms crossed when she was told to sit down until the few hours of recovery were up, by Sarah.
"I just spoke with the constabulary. Those blaggard pirates have fled without a trace." Delbert told Sarah in apology as her son got her a blanket to cover her with as he saw she was a bit cold, "I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm afraid the old Benbow Inn has burned to the ground." He then coughed into his hand as he gazed at Jim once again picking the orb up off that small table, and Ceraza watching the teen intensely, "Ahem, well, certainly a lot of trouble over that odd little sphere. Those markings baffle me. Unlike anything I've ever encountered-'' The sphere starts to beep and whir as Jim messes with it. "Even with my vast experience and superior intellect, it would take me years to unlock it- Hey!" Jim manages to unlock the sphere, encasing the room in green light as it shows a map of a multitude of galaxies and worlds.
Ceraza was in awe of things as not known to any of them, the gemstone eye recorded it all within moments from it showing utter intelligence before regaining its look as Delbert gasps and was the first to state to them, and pointing at specific things, "Why, it's a map! Wait. Wait, wait, wait! This is us, the planet Montressor. That's the Magellanic Cloud! Whoo! The Coral Galaxy! Oh! That's the Cygnus Cross and that's the Kerian Abyss. Wait. What's this? What's this? Why it- It's…" the final image was that of a planet, which resembles the planet Saturn because of its rings which glow a bright green color. The surface of the planet from what the map showed is very jungle-like at first glance, though not known to them Ceraza was able to somehow see it, by closer inspection it reveals that much, if not all of its surface, is mechanical.
"Treasure Planet." Jim states in awed disbelief as Delbert responded to the word no, with equal disbelief, and Jim pointed right at the Hologram Mapped Planet itself, "That's Treasure Planet!"
"Flint's trove? The loot of a thousand worlds? You know what this means?" Delbert exclaimed to Jim as Sarah looked doubtful yet was stunned by this revealing map with Ceraza blinking as she rubbed her eyes at seeing an unknown warning of sorts before that went away Jim tells the doctor in controlled excitement, "It means that all that treasure is only a boat ride away."
"Whoever brings it back would hold an eternal place atop the pantheon of explorers! He'd be able to experience-" Delbert began to rant with excitement before they heard a click as the sphere closed and the map disappeared, "Whoo! What just happened?"
Jim ignored the perplexed man as he tossed the orb to him with the doctor blinking as Ceraza was all better to astound him as she took the orb from the alien male dog, and with that, Delbert began to chase around the room whiles Jim told his mother and with seeing she crossed her arms, and had a pointed look, "Mom, this is it. This is the answer to all our problems."
"Jim, there is absolutely no way-" Sarah began with doubt showing on her face, and they both winced as they saw Ceraza climbing easily up to the ceiling and with Delbert telling her to get down, as Jim tried and reasoned with his mother then, "Don't you remember, all those stories?"
"That's all they were, stories!" Sarah told him forwardly to make him shake his head and tried to make her see through his point of view, "With that treasure, we could rebuild the Benbow a hundred times over!" Sarah was a bit overwhelmed as she stated back, "Well, this is- It's just, oh, my." She turned to look at Delbert as he managed to successfully grab the orb from Ceraza pouting by using a grappling hook from his spare collection of antiques and kept the orb out of her reach as Jim caught it, "Delbert, would you please explain how ridiculous this is?"
"It's totally preposterous, traversing the entire galaxy alone." Delbert began before they saw Sarah had her face looking on in relief as she stated mainly to herself, "Now at last we hear some sense!" Both Jim and Sarah did sweat drop a bit by the doctor's further words then, and also gathered things within moments, "That's why I'm going with you!"
Sarah exclaimed the dog man's name with him being wary yet wordlessly thankful as Ceraza decided to perplex them all by using wandless magic to further his packing as he told Jim's mother mainly, and Jim hiding his now growing excitement about the prospect of going to this world based on the tales he grew up a bit from, "I'll use my savings to finance the expedition. I'll commission a ship, hire a captain and a crew."
"You're not serious!" Sarah exclaimed to their family friend as he nodded before telling them, and doing a dance near the end of his words that was old styled to this time, "All my life I've been waiting for an opportunity like this and here it is screaming, 'Go, Delbert! Go, Delbert'!"
Sarah sighs out to them both to make Ceraza chuckle to herself as she was discreetly eating Delbert's secret stash of tri-meat jerky (which is a mix of pork, beef, and chicken combined within a jerky machine, in a bacon strip shape), "OK. OK! You're both grounded!" Sarah then got softened eyes at her son as he reasoned with her and even touched her heart slightly, "Mom, look. I know that I keep messing everything up… And I know that I let you down. But this is my chance to make it up to you. I'm gonna set things right."
"Sarah? If I may?" Delbert beckoned her over to him, "You said yourself, you've tried everything. There are much worse remedies than a few character-building months in space." Delbert tells her as Jim shrugged when Ceraza gave the teen male some jerky while they ate some together like siblings would, as Sarah gave the dog alien a doubtful look with knowing, and crossed her arms as she pointed out to him, "Are you saying this because it's the right thing or because you want to go?"
"l really, really, really, really want to go… And it's the right thing." Delbert admits to Sarah as she hesitated from a sigh she let out and gave a small amused look to Ceraza when Delbert gulped when she hissed in a snake-like way at him in warning of trying to nab his treats back from her to store in his bag, at looking at her teenage son, "Jim, l don't want to lose you."
"Mom… You won't. I'll make you proud." Jim told her in conviction and saying he meant it to impress her after seeing he was acting a bit like his true self in front of her eyes, before they glanced as Delbert coughed into his hands after taking a few steps from the little girl, "Well. uh. ahem, there we are then." He gazed at Jim, "We'll begin preparations at once. Jim, my boy, soon we'll be off to the spaceport."
After some time, they managed to question Ceraza and blinked at her saying she didn't know what planet she was on, as she thought she was on a long-forgotten planet to intrigue the alien dog by: Earth.
The child found out she was possibly in another timed dimension as she found out there were manuscripts from Earth as folk tales of many fictional stories, especially a male version of her friend named "Harry Potter", to which she refused to read as she proclaimed those were lying books, much to the amusement of both the duo Hawkins Family as they ate supper, and saw her take many particular manuscripts and some based for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, for personal keeping, and proclaimed whatever her share of the treasure was she would give to her friends when she goes back… If she goes back that is, as they have no clue as to who or as to why she got here in the first place.
But when they looked further into the new trinket she wore, they were wary as it was a device that did hold an entity within it, a few others then in truth, but the manuscripts for them were fading away and could barely be read closer to the end of or if to what would occur if they were freed.
Plus, she was stubborn to amuse Sarah by both the doctor and Jim saying she couldn't go at all due to her age but managed to use an electro-based spell to trap the alien dog in a non-harming yet paralyzing spring-based designed rope of sorts from telling them that is one of the magical spells her aunt taught her.
They did ask who her mother was but didn't see the doctor tense at the name but felt sorry for her as she didn't know who her father was.
Meanwhile, in a large and unusual transport ship of sorts, filled with demons and whatnot, a man sneezed before trying to go back to wary sleep as he was shackled up and locked in a cell.
The next day (July 27th), in the late afternoon heading to the crescent moon Planet Montressor has:
Ceraza was indeed excited as she remember some adventures Morgana went through as it seems she was going through her very own, as she sat next to an amused Jim as the doctor was checking his bag for what seemed like the thirtieth time while in the small transport ship.
Jim didn't mind the child at all as in truth, with him feeling mixed still on it, he did want another sibling to dote on that was either a brother or sister, but he figured that since Ceraza was all alone to where she was placed to, he could offer her a big brother role as it felt natural.
He didn't understand why that was though, but he did answer some of her questions as they did see the moon, to astound the child, was really an artificial space station resembling a waning moon and from telling her it serves as a mercantile trading port, alongside the West of it holding the Clarke's Nebula and the Royal Navy academy, and Port Ivy as well.
Once they touched down with Sarah at least going to see her son and the other two off, Ceraza paused and made them as well when she felt like she was being watched, as Delbert asked with Sarah snapping Ceraza out of her wary state, "You ok, Kiddo?" She only nodded as unseen by them, a glowing green flaming eyeball eyed the child before vanishing unseemly back into the crowd.
Though they did wonder why the doctor brought a lot of things to burden himself over and refused help as well, and once the doctor placed his luggage to those he knew would be taking it to the ship, alongside supplies, went and gathered things for them and with seeing Ceraza eyeing some books of sorts that looked well preserved from passing by a bookstore… Though Delbert did complain about his space suit he was tricked into getting it, of course.
"Can we go in there for a moment? I want to get something for my friend when I go back?" Ceraza asked kindly to them as the trio glanced at each other and shrugged, and they heard a small bell chime that alerted the woman of the store who hid her surprise from seeing the child, by placing a gentle smile on her face with knowing eyes.
Despite being known as to whom she was, she can alter her looks between her two preferred looks as her mains, but randomness and appearance as other.
The woman mostly resembles Melina Kanakaredes, but with her having blonde highlights in her hair and was in truth, the very same woman who met with both Sunset and Adagio long ago.
"How may I help you four today?" She asked kindly as her grey eyes kept glancing at times to Ceraza as the child herself was soon looking for books as Delbert informed the owner, "We're just browsing before we head off to our ship."
The owner nodded as she glanced at seeing the teen male who she was shocked at being alive, but held herself back, he looked over a few books here and there before the female turned to Sarah as she asked her with seeing some older books and more in her store, "It seems you have a lot of wares here, Miss?"
"Call me Sofia Athena Minerva, but you may also call me Sam if you desire. I do tend to sell many knowledgeable things here within Crescentia's shopping district after all to get to the docks." Sam told her to which Sarah nodded before seeing Ceraza had a few books picked out already with the owner seeing she also had one of the several copies of books on mystical creatures she owned and told them to astonish them all at a low price, "I won't take no for answer as you see, the district will be closing soon for a few days due to a holiday coming from the customary fireworks being finally shipped and making entertaining moments for a late Fourth of July for our home. So we all agreed to further our wares to travelers for a cheaper price until we close up at that point."
The two adults amongst the group of four could understand that, as it took longer as of late to ship products from everywhere to this station, due to recent attacks of not only pirates but unusual groups as well.
"Well, you have a safe trip to whatever you are heading!" Sam called out while watching the four leave as she gave as a gift to the child, a weaved handbag that was more than it seems, similar to the Mary Poppins Bag to place her books into.
Once out of earshot and away from her store, Sam sighed as she made sure to place the "Break Option" on her entry door for twenty or so minutes before heading to the back, and soon entered a door labeled "Owner Only", and saw it was a dimensional doorway to her temple, mainly to her main living room of it as she gently shut it behind her.
Everyone, the female before you go ahead and resumed reading this, is none other than a goddess that was trying to be inconspicuous and hidden well to try and make her hobbies enjoyable while making minor profit she gives in to her children's accounts for Demigod's like she knew the others did at times whenever they felt like doing so.
This was, truthfully, the Greek Goddess known as Athena.
Sam or otherwise Athena sighed as she used her goddess powers to make herself some Greek salad and a decent glass of cherry Coca-Cola before she stilled, and sighed out to see as she turned, it was Kalcea, "I had a feeling at some point you will be showing up."
"We both know why Ceraza is placed there for the benefit of one child, besides her own, sister. She is also being tested as we speak knowing that things of my hunts lately have faced using The Mist to keep things discreet, and that and I want to know if you could aid me." Kalcea tells her to make Athena blink back in surprise as to what she just heard from the one fellow goddess as she rarely asked for help at all, and wordlessly motions for her to follow while using her power to keep her food and drink always fresh, to her study to where it was more to a massive library with having a carved Greek desk designed to that of several owls.
Once they sat down and gave her a question to make Kalcea raise an eyebrow, "Enlighten me, sister, as to what worries you."
Athena didn't expect her to reveal that for the last few months, she and her Hunt have been, well, hunting possessed monsters with some unusual creatures that proclaim to be serving a higher entity of sorts than their primordial grandfather, and even darker creatures that were possessing the man-made structures of seeing people being devoured from their hearts by them, too, and without blood or traces of their victims at all.
"I will look into what these things are, but my advice is for you to make sure you bless your weapons with light and holy elements to do further damage as by the way it sounds, times are changing back to Avalon itself, and the few other places of earth we know we have access too." Athena advised her after seeing Kalcea nod once sharply before making Athena now raise her brows at the Hunter Goddess, "I need you to also perhaps… Find out if Artemis is reincarnated as I can feel her faintly, at times. Knowing she was only granted one chance of renewed life by her deal she told me she made, but I have a feeling someone made another for her and some of those involved with Morgana…" Athena stopped her as she gave her a wordless look of understanding while keeping this knowledge to herself, to look into later, "I will try my best."
"That's all I can ask," Kalcea admits in gratitude as she stood up and watched as Athena brought her lunch into her study to try and look into things and with the Goddess of Wisdom glancing at her departing sister from her temple with placing a secretive book into her pouch she carried with her and a note, and began to look into things, and also… Seeking answers as to whom James Hawkins's Mortal-Punished Father was, and contact him or her after learning.
Back with Ceraza and the others, they were at the docks at this point as Sarah said goodbye to both Jim and the child, and Ceraza adjusted her hood into her new bag as she did see many races of aliens and whatnot here.
Ceraza and Delbert bump into Jim a few minutes later after seeing he was gazing at a ship, to which she was also awed by Delbert stating to the duo, "Jim, Ceraza, Ooh! Oh, Jim! This is our ship! The R.L.S. Legacy!"
It was a beautiful ship of course that Ceraza thought of, before catching up with both Jim and the doctor as the trio boarded the solar galleon, as they find the crew loading it with supplies.
"Stow those casks forward! Heave together now!" A stone alien states to the crew as Jim was distracted more when Ceraza noticed and was about to stop the teen as he states to himself, "How cool is this-" he bumps into an unusual alien who began to rudely talk in farting noises, to make Ceraza gaze at the male alien in not believing even farting noises could be languages.
"Allow me to handle this. Pfft, pffft pffft. Eek eek eek eek. Poit." Delbert tells the teen before making fart sounds back at the alien to which when he was done, got a response that was amusement before the unusual alien left them, and explained further to the two, "I'm fluent in Flatula, Jim. Took two years of it in high school."
"Flatula? Cool." Jim tells himself being impressed with seeing Ceraza looking lost before making her cutely yelp as he gently dragged her with him to where Delbert started talking to the stone alien, "Good morning, Captain. Everything ship shaped?"
The male stone alien glanced at the doctor before raising a stony eyebrow at the teen and child and was soon shaking his head and informing them, mainly Delbert, "Shipshape it is, Sir, but I'm not the Captain. The Captain's aloft." He made an open-fisted gesture to where the captain was to make them see it was a female of sorts, jumping amongst the mast and sails before landing gracefully on the deck.
She was a race, which Ceraza was told by later on from the stone alien for learning, is a Felinid, and they are a race of humanoids with cat-like features, and somewhat similar to few other cousin-based races as well to their worlds.
"Mr. Arrow, I've checked this miserable ship from stem to stern, and, as usual, it's… Spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?" The female tells her officer in a pleased tone, Mr. Arrow the Cragorian, to which mentions everyone is an honorable race of rock people who possess excellent combat and leadership skills, and they're large humanoids, standing between seven and eight feet tall, and are made out of stone instead of flesh.
"You flatter me, Captain." Mr. Arrow tells her gently in admiration with a hat-off gesture to her as the female captain noticed the doctor and his suit he was wearing and did glimpse at both the teen male and the child she was more curious about, but states to the Canid male alien, "Ah, Dr. Doppler, I presume?"
"Uh, um, yes. I-" he began before seeing her stop him as she amused both Jim and Ceraza, as she knocked on Delbert's helm, "Hello! Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can! Stop that banging!" He tells her while waving his arms to not see she was still humored before suggesting and doing so, "If I may, Doctor, this works so much better when it's right-way-up, and plugged in." She plugs Delbert's suit in as they heard him say something, "Lovely. There you go."
"If you don't mind, l can manage my plugging!" He unplugs the suit with a crossed look at her yet she was not bothered by it as she began to introduce herself by shaking his gloved hand, "I'm Captain Amelia Smollet, late of a few run-ins with the Protean Armada. Nasty business, but I won't bore you with my scars. You've met my first officer: Mr. Sterling Arrow… Tough, dependable, honest, brave, and true." Here she gestured to her officer who if he could, would have blushed as he stated, "Please, Captain."
"Oh, shut up, Arrow. You know I don't mean a word of it." She tells him in a hidden way she was joking and held amusement before they turned to Delbert as he coughed into his gloved hands, despite seeing his glass dome was still on, "Ahem, excuse me. I hate to interrupt this lovely banter, but may I introduce to you, Jim Hawkins? Jim, you see, is the boy who found the treasure-" she stopped him as he raised his glass dome to only find her grabbing his face to silence him as they all saw the crew turn to their direction at the mentioned word, treasure, "Doctor, please! I'd like a word with you in my stateroom."
Moments after that, Amelia, Delbert, Jim, Ceraza, and Mr. Arrow who was explaining the races that were on the ship to the curious child and learning what she was, the captain decided to address things with not minding the Draconian Fae Girl eating some of her squid jerky from her home world as she told the doctor off as well, "Doctor, to muse and blabber about a treasure map in front of this particular crew demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic… And I mean that in a very caring way." She added at the end of her words in a small half-apologizing tone.
"Imbecilic, did you say? Foolishness, I've-" Delbert began to growl out in a way he was offended but Amelia quickly changed the subject as she asked Jim, which he was hesitant to do, "May I see the map, please?"
Delbert gave Jim a look as the teen grabbed it from his clothing and she easily caught it, and her eye a bit wide for only a moment before they regained the slit appearance as she gazed at it, "Hmm. Fascinating." She looked back at him as she began to walk to her officer and then to her cabinet while placing the bronze orb into an open chest and locking it, "Mr. Hawkins, in the future you will address me as Captain or Ma'am. Is that clear?"
Jim groaned at this yet Amelia glanced at him and sternly said then, "Mr. Hawkins?" He sighed before telling her then stubbornly, "Yes, Ma'am."
"That'll do." She told the teen before addressing them, "Gentlemen and young lady, this must be kept under lock and key when not in use. And, Doctor, again, with the greatest possible respect, zip your howling screamer." She pointedly told Delbert who once again looked offended as Mr. Arrow saw the child had a notebook she got as a few things of her supplies from her bag and had oddly their names written down and on a new page said 'Amelia Vs Delbert', and marked two lines for Amelia, to amuse the male Cragorian.
"Captain, I assure you I-" Delbert began but with Amelia only stopping him once again as she still had the key in her hands and pockets it as she sat at her desk, and did take one of her jerky pieces by the child offering one and was rather surprised the bag was nearly empty, to see Ceraza's sheepish look at that, before narrowing her eyes at the Canid Male, "Let me make this as monosyllabic as possible. l don't much care for this crew you hired. They're… How did I describe them, Arrow? I said something rather good this morning before coffee." She then directed her words to her officer, and Ceraza was only confused by the fancy words they were using as she was grateful they were speaking her language, at least.
"'A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots', Ma'am." Mr. Arrow told her in response as she agreed, "There you go, poetry."
"Now, see here-" Delbert once again tried to state as he did see as they did, Ceraza marking Amelia another line on her side of her notebook to humor the captain and Jim, secretly, as she stopped him once again, "Doctor, I'd love to chat, tea, cake, the whole shebang… But I have a ship to launch and you've got your outfit to buff up." Here she purposely flicked his nose before ordering her officer, "Mr. Arrow, please escort these two neophytes down to the galley straightaway. Young Hawkins will be working for our cook, Mr. Silver… I think I need to discuss more things with the child."
Jim was stunned as he stated mostly to himself as the two males were escorted out by Mr. Arrow after, "W-What? The Cook?"
Once out of earshot, Ceraza was nervous as Amelia eyed her not in sternness, but curiosity at most, "So you are from another realm then?"
"Y-Yes Ma'am," Ceraza quickly responded nervously to not see Amelia hid a small frown from witnessing her behavior in small fear and ignored it for now as the Felinid made the child blink at her with confused eyes, and sat down in a spare chair Amelia had for meetings in this room of the ship, "I know you feel out of place, lost, and confused as I would be too if I was your age. But I do believe that even though your desires to come to the ship, might be dangerous due to the crew's appearance and attitude."
"I can handle it," Ceraza soon spoke bravely to her to amuse the female Felinid as she placed her arms on her desk clasping her clawed hands together as she made Ceraza blink twice to her, "Oh? I'm sure you can handle yourself alright, but I don't think you can prove otherwise as it does look like you have some training, but not a lot to defend yourself."
Amelia easily moved as she was impressed by the child's desire to now prove herself at feeling offended by that as she and the child began to lightly spar within the room itself and avoiding the furniture, and was perplexing the child in times of correcting her before nine or so minutes later, Amelia wasn't bothered yet Ceraza was for once panting at actually getting a workout and blinked back to her stunned surprise at the female captain, as she admitted to her with a gentle smirk on her face, "You are indeed good, but not fully prepared for a fight as anything could go wrong. I admit you do have flaws in your stances, but that can easily be corrected with training, and with some educational issues."
"What do you mean by that, Ma'am?" Ceraza questioned Amelia as she went over to the lower part of the same cabinet and hesitated but placed a few books down that were titled Navigation and History, and more, as there were several from what the child didn't know where books that are still to this time's date of being accurate, "I mean, Little One, is that you may have bodily training for a limited time, but a sharp mind is far more dangerous to one's foes themselves."
Ceraza awkwardly placed the books into her bag without realizing it was able to still store things, but quickly turned to Amelia as she gently was beside her from her feline reflexes and gave her a gentle look, knowing by terms how old she was… Despite smelling she already has her first personal issue a while back, by also being amused if the child's jaw dropped expression, "I will see if you can be more educated by Mr. Arrow instructing you and whatever lessons as well, and also to me when I do have time."
Here, Amelia led the child to her door as Ceraza hesitated but gave her a nod as she used her nose to find Jim and Delbert after, "Why don't you try and locate your companions? I bet they are lost without you and you can start tomorrow."
Amelia sighed and rubbed her head as she headed over to her desk, and hesitated but opened a drawer, and yes she did arrive at the ship earlier to set up her office as she nabbed a similar locket with seeing it was her on another world and hanging out with a Draenei woman and few others as the small group of seven looked to be in their mid-college days, around twenty-three or twenty-four before she closed it sharply without breaking it, and placed it secretly around her neck and hid it as she began to look into the papers.
Meanwhile, on the one ship, a female sneezed while looking hopeless as she was chained to a cell closeby to one particular other that was recent as it has been years since she was free, and from seeing her other friends when her kind was sent to this realm from a fleeting cargo ship ages ago from their original world being destroyed by an entity and overtaking it, and saw signs of her being changed and more, but was hard to tell by the dim lighting the demonic ship has for cells and she is in fully torn rags.
She just hoped that whatever forces of light and more were out there, she and the other prisoners can be freed, as she was at least glad her "Offering" was sent long ago by one of the few cultists on board she made alliances with, sent it off the modified and massive demonic transport barge and to an Orphanage on a random world, from being raped with not knowing the child could be closer to Ceraza's age in time, by a hybrid demon who was later killed in a lab explosion the ship has, two days later.
Once the light did hit her with looking to be in her thirties, she had pale-blue skin as her hands had clawed succubi digits, her left part of her face in a crescent-shaped aspect and even some parts of her tail and legs held red splotches with a demonic tone and some smaller splotches of deathly gray tones as well. Her left eye was also demonic-looking, while her right was an equal cyan color yet with dark-gray sclerae.
In terms, her skin was similar to the anime girl as mentioned, and for the figure too, of Sofiya Pavlovena from Black Lagoon Anime, but as the female's race. She had black ivory hooves for feet, however, and tendrils in her glowing tips dark ebony hair filled with void energy and a mix of light and fel, and her face was decent for her race: The Draenei, to mention, resembled closer to Mokoto from Ghost in the Shell from her face.
This was one of Amelia's friends that were taken from the one mission that was told, to be kept under lock and key by the leaders at the time, of Galina Rushstar, and was one of the few top cadets alongside Amelia, back in the day.
She stiffened before she wearily gazed up to see that her cell door opens and as her main capturer and lieutenant of the boss in this ship, were now in the room, as she never did see their face or any parts of their body but knew they were dangerous as they gazed at her wordlessly for a few moments before stating in a deep-based voice filter, "You have persisted with things for years now, Galina… I hope your lasting stay this time has to be well?"
Seeing Galina's glare at that only made the person chuckle and told her then to stiffen her, and held fearful and shocked eyes now, "I believe we have found the Offering and yet, my comrade discovered another that has higher potential and in unfortunately placed luck, is with it on a ship we are to only observe, for now."
Galina sharply looked away with tears about to spring into her eyes yet flinched by the forced hands gazing right to the person's demonic amberish eyes as they told her then, and thinking about the man she heard in random bursts of consoling and joking to his tormentors on this cursed vessel, "We did pick up a man whose origins of an interesting world we have yet to report to our Master, about, and hope that you may have some company soon… From having our scouts gather those in past times. So I will possibly extend your life more by telling my minions to feed you normally this time, and without lacing anything as I want you aware of when we do obtain the Offering, and what we plan to do to them."
The person then left with Galina soon soundlessly crying as she lost her voice a few years back from the constant and pain-filled screaming she did from her harsher treatments, and curled into herself or at least tried to.
Meanwhile, a few minutes later with Ceraza finally finding her two friends, she walked with them after seeing Delbert was still ranting to mainly Jim as he only shook his head at his family friend as they came down to where they know the food and whatnot for cooking or known as the galley beneath the deck into the kitchen, alongside Mr. Arrow saved Ceraza from tripping over her tail and hurting herself, "That woman! That… Feline! Who does she think is working for whom?"
"It's my map, and she's got me bussin' tables?" Jim agreed before Mr. Arrow stopped them and firmly told the duo as Ceraza went on ahead and found some fruit she was curious over, "I'll not tolerate a cross word about our Captain! There's no finer officer in this or any galaxy."
Once they were down the final steps, the male Cragorian had his arms crossed as they heard whistling from the kitchen itself, as the cook noticed the child but didn't mind her at all as she ate some fruit on finding it was delicious, as Mr. Arrow addressed the cook, "Mr. Silver?"
The cook paused and rubbed his hands on his apron as he states to the rock alien male, "Why, Mr. Arrow, sir. Bringin' in such fine and distinguished gents and a lil' lady to grace my humble galley. Had I known, I'd have tucked in me shirt. Heh heh heh heh!" He revealed himself to be a cyborg of his race.
As mentioned, he's a Cyborg Ursid or bear-based alien. He's large yet more muscular than fat. He has a gap in the middle of his upper teeth. He's wearing a cream-colored shirt, red shorts, a black belt, a heavy black jacket, and a tri-cornered hat. He has cybernetics on his right arm and leg, along with a cybernetic ear and right eye (with it having a yellow glow).
"A cyborg!" Jim exclaimed to himself quietly as Mr. Arrow began to introduce the Canid male, "May I introduce Dr. Doppler? The financier of our voyage."
"Love the outfit, Doc." The cook told them as he used his eye on purpose to have a laser that made it awkward at the doctor as he coughed and greeted him in hesitation, "Well, thank you. Um, love the eye. Uh, this young lad is Jim Hawkins." Delbert grabbed Jim to make him the center of attention as the teen was gently shoved into the cook's area.
"Jimbo!" The cook had a hand out and just realized he had his cutting rolls and tools out and quickly switched them over to his robotic hand, and seeing the teen's distrust in moments, "Uh… Aw, now, don't be too put off by this hunk of hardware." He starts humming as he uses his mechanical arm to prepare a stew, which he was showing off as he impressed Ceraza with this, and even faked his regular hand at getting chopped off, "Whoa! These gears have been tough getting used to, but they do come in mighty handy from time to time." Humming. He gathered bowls for the trio with her easily downing her food as he finished, "Mmm!" He did a taste test first, "Here, now, have a taste of me famous bonzabeast stew."
Delbert sniffed it and it smelt good, and told the cook, "Mmm! Delightfully tangy, yet robust." The male cook agreed as he told him, and the Canid male noticed the eyeball that came up within the bowl and recoiled as the cook admits while making a joke, and eating the eyeball, "Old family recipe. In fact, that was part of the old family! Ha ha ha! Oh, ho! I'm just kiddin', Doc!"
"Uh, yeah, well… I'm nothin' if I ain't a kidder. Go on, Jimbo. Have a swig, as old Ol' Long John Silver does have great eats." Silver suggested as Jim looks down at his spoonful of stew when suddenly the spoon seems to come to life and takes a gulp of the stew. It turns into a pink blob and proceeds to drink the rest of the stew, and Ceraza gapped at seeing the cute little alien doing that.
"Morph! You jiggle-headed blob of mischief! So that's where you was hiding!" Silver tells him, being appalled by its actions as Morph chatters and burps as he finishes the stew.
"Wha-? Ha! What is that thing?" Jim asked before they all saw Morph change into a smaller version of Jim and repeated back, "What is that thing?" Morph did turn back to himself and licked him in the face as he went over to Silver and explained to them, mainly Jim, "He's a Morpholono. I rescued the little shape-shifter on Proteus One." Morph was soon cooing at being petted by his owner, "Aw, he took a shine to me. We been together ever since. Right? Yeah. Nice boy."
"We're about to get underway. Would you like to observe the launch, Doctor?" Mr. Arrow tells Delbert as he heard the whistle of launch, easily, and Delbert quickly nods, "Would l? Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets?" Seeing the blank stare from the Cragorian male, he meekly told him then, "I'll follow you."
Ceraza followed the doctor before Mr. Arrow could stop her, but he managed to stop Jim as he told the cook from his orders, "Mr. Hawkins will stay here in your charge, Mr. Silver."
Silver coughed up some of his soup he spat out, from another taste test, and began to rant to the officer, "Beggin' your pardon, sir, but-" the Cragorian male stopped him right there, as Jim and Silver stood next to each other at that point, "Captain's orders! See to it the new Cabin Boy's kept busy."
"Aw, but, no, but-" "No, you can't-" both Silver and Jim started to complain as Mr. Arrow only left them hanging with both of them sighing and grabbing their noses, before Silver gazed at Jim as he stated more than questioned, "So, Captain's put you with me, eh?" Of course, Jim had his arms crossed as they circled each other briefly, "Whatever."
"Well, who be a humble cyborg to argue with a Captain?" Silver states as the cyborg began to clean up his mess to make more food, and Jim notices the insane amounts of purp fruit in a large dark oak barrel and states to make Silver pause for a few seconds over as he resumes his duty, "Yeah… You know, these purps… They're kind of like the ones back home… On Montressor. Have you ever been there?"
"l can't say as I have, Jimbo." Silver tells him as the cyborg was cutting more fruit and veggies for the stew, "Come to think of it, just before I left, l met this old guy, who was, um… He was kind of looking for a cyborg buddy of his."
This intrigued Silver as he kept cutting the raw food, "Is that so?" Jim nodded as he took a bite of the fruit he nabbed from the barrel and hopped up to the spare part of the counter and sat before he spoke again with hinted accusations the cyborg got, but dismissed it, "Yeah. What was that old turtle salamander's name? Oh, yeah. Bones. Billy Bones?"
The reason Jim knew of the name, was that he overheard Delbert talking over with the police as to the identity of the old alien, which was a pirate that was redeemed and had a small shop he gave to his few hybrid half-daughters from his few ex-wives and also out of repaying for missed birthdays, heard it was a swell business of them being the top cooks from a Cajun/Mexican Mixed Restaurant and their youngest of the three girls as a baker for sweets, and famed: Bakin' Spice Tacos.
"Bones? Bones?! Mm-mmm. T'ain't ringin' any bells. Must have been a different cyborg. There's a slew of cyborgs roamin' this port." Silver admits as he was carrying some fresh water to make more stew for the crew and those on the boat, before both heard once again that sharp whistle and this time, a bell dinging on deck, signaling they'll be launching soon along with hearing Mr. Arrow stating something.
"Eh, off with you, lad, and watch the launch. There'll be plenty work a-waitin' for you afterward." Silver states kindly as he makes a point of shoving Jim behind him and making the teen suspicious but leaves and Silver watches him climb the steps to the deck, and feed his pet a cracker, "We best be keepin' a sharp eye on this one, eh, Morph? We wouldn't want him strayin' into things he shouldn't… Especially that ravenous little girl, as she looked to be interesting."
He blinked as he forgot and gave Morph some stew that's still done and gently told him, and the critter nodded as he easily carried the bowl to the extra storage space as Silver snuck his secret charge on board, "Best be giving our lass her meal too, eh?"
Meanwhile on the deck itself, and in the outpost, a male alien named Onus, aka an Optocs as a race of green-skinned, six-eyed creatures, stated loud and clear to Amelia and using his special telescope, "We're all clear, Captain!"
"Well, my friend. Are we ready to raise this creaking tub?" Amelia raised an eyebrow to her officer as he gave her an understanding nod, "My pleasure, Captain. All hands to stations! Smartly now!" Mr. Arrow agreed softly before he started shouting out orders, and seeing Ceraza was next to them and watching how things worked with sharp eyes, to Amelia's brief glimpse at this hidden in intrigue. "Loosen all solar sails! Heave up the braces. Brace up."
As the officer spoke out, Ceraza and Jim on deck, were in awe as to what the crew was doing alongside the doctor before hearing Amelia turn to Mr. Snuff, aka, the farting alien as she made the Captain wince in understanding as Ceraza dug slightly deep into her shoulder from trying to hang on from the gravity going away, "Mr. Snuff, engage artificial gravity." She saw him comply and made Ceraza giggle without knowing what she did as Delbert landed head-first and ruins his suit a bit.
"South by Southwest, Mr. Turnbuckle, heading 2-1-0-0," Amelia orders the helmsman who is a Zirrelians and is a race resembling multi-tentacled sea slugs.
"Aye, Captain. 2-1-0-0." Turnbuckle tells her firmly as he adjusts the helm wheel Amelia soon tells her officer as he nods, "Full speed, Mr. Arrow if you please."
"Take her away!" He spoke to a communication horn that led to the boiler room as an alien looked excited and pulled a lever on deck, they heard the start of humming and engines whiting and revving, as Amelia warned the doctor as she gently yet firmly grabbed Ceraza as she was distracted by what was going on, "Brace yourself, Doctor."
Delbert stood up as he brushed himself off and stated snidely to her in mockery, "Brace yourself-" without warning to make Ceraza gap as she watched him do so, he was forcibly flying backward as the ship took off into a wall closeby, "Aah! Oof!"
"Whoa…" Jim tells himself as most of the crew stared as well as everyone else, Ceraza as they saw a pod of space whales fly by the ship, and this excited Delbert as he grabbed a futuristic camera by declaring to himself, "Upon my word, an Orcus Galacticus!"
To mention, The Orcus Galacticus is a species of Space Whale that migrates across the Etherium in large pods. They feed on small creatures they filter from the Etherium. They are gentle, friendly creatures. Sighting them is considered a sign of good luck, despite being called a whale, Orcus Galacticus has a pair of antennas near the mouth and a vertical tail membrane instead of a horizontal fluke.
Now let's resume.
As mentioned, Delbert is about to take a photograph from where he was by the camera being from his suit, and Amelia noticed right away as she tried to warn him, "Uh, Doctor, I'd stand clear… Ha." He got sprayed by snot and space residue from the whale before Amelia took note of Silver as he was on deck at this point and took off his hat in greeting and placed it back on his head, "Ah. 'tis a grand day for sailing, Captain. And look at you, you're as trim and as bonny as a sloop with new sails and a fresh coat of paint." Morph was on his left shoulder though.
"You can keep that kind of flimflammery for your spaceport floozies, Silver." Amelia firmly told him her hiding her distrust as Morph soon floated to Silver's right as he shifted to the Captain, and repeated, "Spaceport floozy, spaceport floozy-" Silver quickly scoops Morph up under his hat as he responded in being astonished, "You cut me to the quick, Captain. l speaks nothing but me heart at all times." Silver grabbed his floating hat as Morph repeated his last set of words to not impress Amelia, and took note of Jim, "And, by the way, isn't that your Cabin Boy aimlessly footing about in those shrouds?"
"Yep, it- Oh… A momentary aberration, Cap'n, soon to be addressed." Silver tried to excuse himself as he looked at Jim and called over, "Jimbo! l got two new friends I'd like you to meet." He looked all around Silver from his spot before he was tossed a mop and bucket, "Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket. Heh heh heh heh!"
"Yippie." Jim sarcastically tells himself as later on with being touched Ceraza was trying to help without the use of her power and magic with a smaller mop for her size, thirty minutes later, aided Jim by scrubbing the deck as he stated in frustration and more to himself, "Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop." Without warning as before he resumed mopping, they did roll call of themselves and the crew, a crew mate named Israel Hands shoved past Jim, and declared to him rudely, "Watch it, twerp."
To mention again, Hands himself is a tan behemoth-resembling Densadron with a reddish face, and two pairs of arms with a large hole in each arm as well, as having two gold wristbands on two of his upper arms, and wore a pair of dark brownish pants with a black belt, and to mention that his race is large, four-armed humanoids with reptilian features that hail from a high gravity planet that still has no name, due to politic issues as they made it their new home only ten years ago.
Ceraza lowly growled at that, and both took notice some of the crew members are murmuring off to the side until they notice Jim looking at them alongside the child.
"What are you looking at, weirdos?" One alien named Oxy stated to them both, as his partner named Moron, agreed, "Yeah, weirdos."
Mention once again, these two share inequality as Oxy is a grayish-pink head-like cephalopod with a face resembling that of humans, having tentacles as his arms, legs, and hair, and wearing a dark bluish bandana.
Moron, however, is a grayish-pink-faced humanoid torso with a face to the torso, having two fingers on both of his hands. As his eyes are placed at the top torso as well as the mouth placed on the stomach, wore a pair of reddish-brown pants and black shoes.
Both are part of the "Riggers" aspect of the crew itself, as each one has a role of course.
Ceraza jumped with the crew holding back the urge to gasp at seeing the child's mop soon begin to act on its own and cleaning the deck, by a hiss above both their heads as a humanoid crustacean and insect-like hybrid creature of an alien named Mr. Scroop, as he climbs down the mast, and warns them both, "Cabin Boy's should learn to mind their own business."
Ceraza frowned at the Angry Crab Man for calling her a boy, as Jim narrowed his eyes suspiciously by questioning him and ignored the old alien's growing rage by what he nicknamed him, "Why? You got something to hide, bright eyes?"
Without warning as Ceraza gasped as she stilled in place not knowing what to do, she could use moves on the old alien but didn't know what to do in this situation as he immediately grabs Jim by the front of his shirt and lifts him off the deck, and forcibly made the teen male drop his mop when he firmly told the stubborn teen, "Maybe your ears don't work so well."
Jim then grunted out to anger him further as Ceraza snapped, as her eyes went into true slits by hearing Jim state to offend Mr. Scroop, as indeed he smelled bad from his breath, "Yeah… Too bad my nose works just fine."
"Why you impudent little-" he snarled out before slamming Jim onto the mast as the crew began to shout things they were all stunned as the old alien hissed while dropping Jim and the teen scooted a bit away, and with equally being stunned at seeing Ceraza chomping on the old alien's second-left leg, and refused to let go.
"Get off me, you twerp!" Mr. Scroop demanded as he felt the slightly sharp teeth the child had as he was shaking her in a way, she was becoming dizzy as he was swirling her before nabbing her tail, made her stiff and let go with whimpering as he had her by the neck within seconds, before grabbing Jim as he dropped his mop once again to use maybe as a weapon and the crowd of the crew growing excited once again, as he told Jim mainly and decided to deal with the girl secondly, "Any last words, Cabin Boy?"
Silver soon grabbed Mr. Scroop's arm that held Ceraza as he had a purp fruit in his solely free hand and took a small bite from it before telling the old crab-spider alien, "Mr. Scroop… You ever see what happens to a fresh purp…" he squeezes until Mr. Scroop both drops Jim and the girl, "When you squeeze real hard?" The two scurred a bit a few inches or so away as Ceraza growled at the old alien before Jim blinked at seeing her tail hit her head to make her blink, and shake her head.
"What's all this then? You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship." Mr. Arrow tells them as he came over and ordered the crew, to which they heard a response of 'Aye, aye, sir' before he addressed Mr. Scoops then, "Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage. Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"
It looked like the old alien was about to say something until he noticed Silver's one cybernetic eye turning red at him in warning, and responded while hiding his anger, "Transparently."
Ceraza blinked a few times after hitting her head to see she was back to normal before being gently gripped by the Cragorian male and informing her it was time for a lesson, as Silver dispersed the crew as he shouted to the rock alien, "Well done, Mr. Arrow, sir! A tight ship's a happy ship, sir."
Silver soon sharply turned to Jim as he was appalled by his words to him, "Jimbo, I gave you a job." He also gestures to the mop he locked up, and ignores the enchanted one flying off the deck.
"Hey, I was doing it until that bug thing-" Jim began to defend himself before Silver cut him off, "Belay that! Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless… And heaven help you if I come back and it's not done. Morph?" His pet came over from being called, "Keep an eye on this pup… And let me know if there be any more distractions."
"OK Aye-aye," Morph states with chittering after as Jim sighed at seeing the cook's pet showing large and wide eyes as it gazed at him.
Moments later and down in the galley, Silver gathers with the rest of the crew and eyes them all up, and states knowing his charge can deeply sleep unless she was touched, "So, we're all here, then." He allowed the last member of the crew to go through him as he sat down with Onus stating, excuse me, "Fine. Now, if you pardon my plain speaking, gentlemen…" he switched his hand to his robotic blade that was sharper as he ranted, "Are you all stark-racing, totally blinking daft?!" The crew chatters nervously as he finishes his rant, "After all me finagling getting us hired as an upstanding crew, you want to blow the whole mutiny before it's time?" In the end, he pointedly glared at Mr. Scroop.
"The boy was sniffing about and invoking that twerp." Mr. Scroop tells his boss as he told him firmly to remind the crew as well, "You just stick to the plan, you bug-brained twit. As for the boy, I'll run him so ragged… He won't have time to think." Silver blinked at seeing the teeth marks on his crew mate at the wordless gesture as he shrugged, before getting an idea of sorts, as everyone else looked crossed and gazed back at the captain, "As for the Wee Lass, I have an idea for her."
Later on, a few hours or so later as it became nighttime on the ship, Ceraza refused to let Jim do all the work as she felt like she needed to help him, much to the impressed looks of Amelia and Mr. Arrow at that as even Morph was a smaller mop and aiding the duo, and the teen finishes mopping his area.
Jim sighed in finality before gazing at Morph as he floated around them as he stared at the creature, "Well, this has been a fun day, huh? Making new friends, like that spider psycho." Morph shifted into a mini version of Mr. Scroop, "Spider psycho, spider psycho."
"Heh. A little uglier." Jim suggested as Morph thought about it for a few seconds before quickly making his impression of Mr. Scroop being more crazy and cartoonish, to get Ceraza to lightly giggle tiredly at the creature as Jim admits to Morph, "Pretty close."
"Well, thank heavens for little miracles. Up here for an hour and two, and the deck's still in one piece." Silver states to mainly Jim after tossing some leftovers of bones and whatever off the side of the ship and knowing the child just wanted to help and even amused the cyborg as she leaned on her mop as if it was a walking stick or a stand to try and stay awake.
"Um, look, I, uh… What you did… Thanks." Jim expressed to make Silver glance at Jim as Ceraza became more awake in moments as she oddly felt like she was being watched, again, but ignored it when the cook asked from watching her friend and the bear alien speaking to each other, "Didn't your pap ever teach you to pick your fights a bit more carefully?" Seeing Jim frowning at that, and looked away as he moped lazily, "Your father not the teachin' sort?"
"No. He was more than taking off and never coming back sort." Jim responded bitterly to get Silver to understand as he came over and leaned on the ship's bow with his arms and gazed at the teen, "Oh. Sorry, lad."
"Hey, no big deal. I'm doing just fine." Jim tells the cyborg as he was trying to cover himself up, and Silver hearing this, states assuredly in a decision, "Is that so? Well, since the Captain has put you in my charge like it or not, I'll be pounding a few skills into that thick head of yours to keep you out of trouble." He did poke Jim's forehead at that and ignored his astonished, what, as he resumed, "From now on I'm not letting you out of me sight."
"You can't do-" Jim began to rant before he was stopped by the cyborg as he contained, "You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch your bum without my say-so."
"Don't do me any favors!" Jim tells him in a way he was not at all excited about this arrangement, as Silver patted his back gently and pulled him closer with his cybernetic eye glowing lightly knowing he is going to keep to his words, "Oh, you can be sure of that, my lad. You can be sure of that. Heh heh heh heh!"
They turned to see Ceraza yawned a bit louder before Silver easily caught the child, and glanced at a shrugging Jim as he told the boy, "I be takin' this Wee Lass to sleep off her exhaustion in the galley, for now, best finish up, Jimbo." And he indeed carried her to the galley to make Jim shake his head as he blinked in a double-take at thinking he saw an unusual demonic and jaded-green ship that was way further behind them by several miles but placed it to the back of his mind as he blinked once more to seem it wasn't there as he began to finish mopping, and not even seeing a green flaming eyeball that vanished from above Onus' head that observed them all the entire day.
Months later on September 21st of 3022, at this point and time on the RLS Legacy:
Ceraza was waiting for her friend and Mr. Silver to come back as she was with her recent friend over the month, named Keres Silver, aka, Mr. Silver's secret charge he stowed in the ship to which Amelia wasn't pleased yet allowed her to stay from seeing she was around the same age as her and guessed she was bored or even lonely as indeed the Daughter of Maleficent did try and play pranks before being placed into the brig for one night, and stopped doing them then.
To mention Keres, she is a few inches taller than Ceraza herself yet she has pitch-black hair and mismatched widely squarish eyes as her left is crystal-blue and her right is sea-green yet they were both demonic looking, and within her hair, she has thin tendrils that were small on the side to reach at least behind her pointed cute and small elfin ears, and around the front of her forehead were cute medium devilish horns in white ivory that looked to be decently rigid. Her face was a bit rounded but delicate, alongside her having a cute button nose and naturally trimmed eyebrows while having mostly pale-blue skin but up to her forearms and below her kneecaps they were fading to bone-white, with her hands being clawed in gray colors around her fingertips, and she has four succubi tails and cute yet small gargoyle-like wings with rune-like patterns barely seen on the membranes.
She wears a gray sleeveless parka with its zipper entirely down to the bottom to show off the front of her torso (which for her age and race she has a basic C-Cup), including the beige tube top she wears. She also has a matching darker gray collar and spandex shorts. At each elbow and knee, she has navy-blue pieces of material with metal on them, acting as elbow and shin pads. She wears black fingerless gloves. She also wore basic gray traveling low-heeled rubbing sneakers with green flame decals on the sides, and they had black shoelaces with blue glitter infused into them.
From what she told Ceraza as they became close friends in moments, she was saved by Silver a few years ago when she ran away from the abusive home she got adopted into, and didn't recall things before her adopted father stabbed her side, and only woke up in a bed with him and a few others waiting for her to wake up.
Keres have been with him ever since and did most of the inventing for him and his friends as she was the one to make that special telescope for Onus, after a small payment of course.
She is good in alchemy and a few other sets of skills, and between them, both were able to train each other in the styles Ceraza was learning and able to share with Keres as well… Even though one day, Ceraza did apologize out of reluctance to use her tail to send Mr. Scroop into a wall and used her limited knowledge of magic to fix the damages, after being ordered to fetch the two for supper.
The dragon fae girl was managing her study time alongside Keres joining her two weeks ago, as she was introduced a few days after Silver made the proclamation and made Amelia feel bad for once as he had to resort to sneaking his charge on board due to rules, she was also told she would have to help Silver cook and do study time and training with Ceraza, as an odd punishment to them both.
Other than that, Ceraza noticed how close Jim was getting with Silver during that time, and she did confess to him and did show her how to cook with Keres aiding her at times, and learning from a crew member that her friend was some half-race of a Draenei… Whatever that was, and promised to maybe help Keres to look into her race as even Keras didn't know what she was at all until then, alongside her Foster Father: Silver.
Silver did seem wary for a bit when Ceraza did answer his question as to who her mother was, as if he may have encountered her before, but didn't treat her any differently than his charge, and of course, made most of the crew and Amelia herself to be irked as she only told them, why did it take so long, directly.
Ceraza also knew she may have missed Mary's birthday and hoped whenever she gets back, she would be able to forgive her as she had some bad feelings that something happened to her, but couldn't place what that might be.
Currently, the two were playing Go Fish from cards Keres has from her few possessions to herself, alongside her makeshift lab box to which she showed her friend, and to imagine it… Think of a cybernetic metal cube about the size of a large marble that immediately shifts to a full-set small lab with anything she needs, it can retrieve from its infinity storage compartment, when thrown at a perfect spot.
"Got any fives, Keri?" Ceraza asked her friend to which she saw her pause before shaking her head and telling her as the dragon fae girl draws a card, "Go Fish."
They both paused and cleaned their area after hearing whirring sounds as they both saw Jim and Silver are just arriving back, and so then came up from the launching hole itself from the shipping bay, and soon helping them as the two males were grunting as they load the longboat back into the ship.
"Oh, ho ho! You have a little trouble there?" Jim asked the cyborg as he waved Jim off as the two males were grateful for Ceraza giving him and Silver some cold purp juice she made today for everyone on the ship, and saw the small ship was tied down then.
"Oh, get away from me," Silver tells the teen as he saw Jim shove him and he gently patted his back with a few seconds or so of laughter, "Oh, Jimbo. lf I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age, they'd be bowing in the streets when I walked by today." Morph, as he arrived when they were tying the small ship down, mimicked Silver as they sat on the chairs provided by Keres, "Bowing in the streets."
"I don't know. They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home." Jim states recalling things with him finishing his end of typing the ship down and seeing it was secured, "But I'm gonna change all that." Jim as he spoke, sat down after seeing some jerky offered by Ceraza as he shook his head which got Silver's attention as he asked the teen, "Are you now? How so?"
"Uh, I got some plans. Gonna make people see me a little different." Jim admits while trying to not mention the treasure, and Ceraza narrows her eyes on unexpected suspicion by Silver's mixed look as he began to pet Morph before seeing her friend was hesitant but gave her a look for later as Silver told Jim, who had his arms crossed above his head and leaning on the walls to lean raise an eyebrow at the cyborg for, "Ooh. Sometimes, plans go astray."
"Not this time." Jim tells Silver to know he will see this out to make the cyborg hum to himself as he pulls up his pant leg to work on his mechanical leg, "Ooh…" he said to himself to get Jim and Ceraza's attention as Morph chatters and turns into a wrench to start tightening a loose bolt, "Oh, thank you, Morphy."
"So, uh, how'd that happen anyway?" Jim hesitated to ask Silver as the cyborg himself didn't mind and responded gently as he finished his task, and checking his leg over, "You give up a few things, chasing a dream."
"Was it worth it?" Jim says softly to him as he knew the dangers of sailing in space and guessed whatever occurred must have been harsh on Silver as they heard the cyborg chuckle for a moment as he lowered his pant leg back and leaned a bit more into his seat and tells them with a sigh after, "I'm hoping it is, Jimbo and girls. I most surely am."
"Ummm… Mr. Silver?" Ceraza hesitantly asks as he turns to the child, "Aye Lass?" They didn't expect her question at all as they knew she never grew up with her father as far as she knew from her mother's tales, he was either dead or something worse to be with her, "Do you think my Dad would be proud of me, and what I'm doing for myself?"
Rubbing his head now unsurely as Jim only shrugged as he understood equally with his friend and with Keres looking away at that, was about to say something when suddenly to get Jim to catch Ceraza as Silver managed to grab his charge from falling down the hole, the ship lurches and screams soon sound from up on the deck.
The four quickly make it up to the deck as Silver mainly asks himself from seeing the crew scrambling and whatnot in haste, "What the devil?"
They gazed where Delbert was as he got the telescope he had with him from his bag out to observe the stars later, and gazed right at the mentioned star and exclaimed to everyone in worry, "Good heavens. The Star Pelusa, it's gone supernova!"
They all saw the star itself explode a bit farther from them by several leagues in a terrifying but majestic display as Ceraza asked wearily Keres who was worried about this, "Is it that bad?"
"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" Ameli quickly ordered out to get to the helm and the area Delbert is as Turnbuckle nodded firmly, and Mr. Arrow shouted to make everyone prepare themselves in haste, "All hands, fasten your lifelines!" The crew was shouting amongst themselves at this.
Ceraza was wide-eyed as she was dragged nearby Silver, Jim, and Keres as she was quickly wrapped in thick rope to the few set of masts the ship has at witnessing the star soon letting out a quickly speeding cloud of fire and stardust to their directions and glanced hastily up with Amelia seeing it, some of the sails got broken by speeding debris from the fiery blast.
"Mr. Arrow, secure those sails!" Amelia shouted to her officer as he saw this as well and shouted to the crew, "Secure all sails! Reef them down, men!"
Ceraza saw the incoming chunks of rock at her spot with Keres as they hold onto the mast from being blasted by the cannons on deck, as it was high by the sails from Mr. Arrow's orders for the crew, Silver got hit by a chunk of rock and started to fall, "Aah!" Jim sees this and, acting quickly, grabs Silver's lifeline and pulls him back up, "Whoa. Thanks, lad."
"That's huge?!" Ceraza shouted with everyone gazing to where the child was pointing in fear as a large chunk of rock was coming right at the ship, but it suddenly swung back toward the imploded star to perplex most of them, and with Keres seeing her friend wince from the dragon fae child didn't detect the blood falling from her head by a sharper rock skimming past her forehead.
"Captain, the star!" Onus shouted in panic as Delbert gulped from his secured position by Amelia as she looked onward firmly as he stated to himself in growing alarm, as indeed the fiery blast was returning as well, "It's devolving into a…" he did gasp, "A black hole!"
"We're being pulled in! Ohh!" Turnbuckle tells them in a struggling grunt as he soon loses control of the wheel and Amelia, seeing this, held firmly down and tried to move the helm, "No, you don't, you-" she avoided being hit by the arms of the helm and resumed struggling for control as a fiery wave emitted from the center itself to send the ship a bit further away from itself, "Blast these waves! They're so deucedly erratic!"
"No, Captain. They're not erratic at all. There'll be one more in precisely 47.2 seconds, followed by the biggest magilla of them all!" Delbert yells at her loudly from seeing the computer navigation revealing it to make Amelia quickly get a crazy idea from it, and states to him being surprised, "Of course! Brilliant, Doctor! We'll ride that last magilla out of here."
"All sails secured, Captain!" Mr. Arrow shouts from the blazing winds of the storm to which she shouted in excitement and thrill back, "Good man! Now, release them immediately!"
"Aye, Captain…" the Cragorian male stated unsurely before barking orders to the crew that came back down, "You heard her, men. Unfurl those sails!" The crew shouted stuff randomly at the officer but quickly in haste, began to go back up the rafters of the masts to do as told.
"Mr. Hawkins, make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!" Amelia shouted to Jim as Ceraza hid the urge to yell in pain as a sharp stray rock went through her left wing and another hit her back hard enough to knock her and her friend down and in a sort of odd circumstances, kissed her friend on the lips and no one didn't see the minor golden glow of both of their eyes, as Keres held Ceraza and herself down with using her tails to hold them both firmly down.
"Aye-aye, Captain. Lifelines secured, Captain!" Jim shouts to her as everything was chaos at this moment with him double-checking the thick ropes lifelines around the mast, "Very good!"
A sudden wave hits the ship, causing Mr. Arrow to fall off as he was helping the crew to further speed up the process to unfasten the sails.
"Gaah! Oof!" Mr. Arrow grunted to himself as he was using mainly his strength to carry himself back, and starts to climb up the rope when he sees Mr. Scroop standing at the top where his line is.
Realizing the intention of the old alien made the officer gasp to himself as Mr. Scroop cuts the line and caused Mr. Arrow to fall into the very black hole itself… But an unknown vortex materialized behind the Cragorian male and closed up within moments before his true demise, not known to the old alien or everyone else.
"Captain, the last wave! Here it comes!" Delbert shouts at seeing the rush readings as Amelia orders to everyone, "Hold on to your lifelines, gents! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Jim and Silver huddle down behind both Ceraza and Keres on the mast as Amelia manages to steer the ship to safety away from the black hole.
The crew began to laugh and cheer to make Silver and Jim realize that they made it, and didn't notice Ceraza's injuries yet as Amelia was walking from the helm as Delbert was trying to get out of his rope-based situation by applauding her, "Captain! That… Oh, my goodness. That was… That was absolutely… That was the most-" she stopped him and showing a small smile on her face, as she waved him off, "Oh, tish-tosh. Actually, Doctor, your astronomical advice was most helpful." She was looking into a device as she spoke to him though to start navigating a course.
The Canid was rather surprised by her words but responded in kind, "Well, uh, uh… Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, I have a lot of help to offer anatomically… amanamonically… as-astronomically." He slapped his forehead though as if he was stupid, as Amelia soon came over to Jim and Silver with Ceraza trying to hold on to her pain and ignored Keres' looks of utter concern as the female Captain told the cook cyborg, "Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver. It seems your Cabin Boy did a bang-up job with those lifelines." Both Silver and Jim chuckle hesitantly at this as she soon ordered out to her officer, "All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" Hearing no response as the crew was perplexed by this as well, "Mr. Arrow?"
Ceraza narrowed her eyes at Mr. Scroop as he steps forward holding Mr. Arrow's hat responding solemnly, "I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost. His lifeline was not secured."
"No, I checked them all." He tells Amelia as he ran over to the lifelines to see there is no rope in Mr. Arrow's space, "I- I did. I checked them all. They were secure. I swear." He tells her again to see the doubt in her eyes at him, and something familiar Jim saw before: Disappointment.
Silver glanced at Mr. Scroop and indeed guessed what occurred as he was smirking back, and Silver gave the old alien a look for later.
Amelia held onto her officer's hat as she hesitated before stating aloud for everyone to hear, "Mr. Arrow was a…" she cleared her throat as she tried to not cry and forced her training as her position is and resumed, "A fine spacer… Finer than most of us could ever hope to be… But he knew the risks, as did we all. Resume your posts. We carry on."
Jim not noticing Keres holding onto Ceraza as it seems to be her wing was becoming infected by seeing toxins from the particles of the rock, fled to be alone for a bit as Silver saw this and mentally sighed to himself, and Delbert despite the solemn atmosphere, headed over as Silver managed to grab Ceraza as she passed out from pain and fever.
"I'm not sure what's wrong with her, but I think she would be alright from the antibiotics I injected her with to maybe make her rest for a day," Delbert states to Amelia, Silver, and Keres who refused to leave the room and with using a small handheld matching to medically and naturally mend Ceraza's wing and forehead as there was a slight clinking sound from a metal bin to see a small rock was extracted from her tail.
Ceraza was unresponsive for the last half hour she was placed in the Captain's room and with a small enough mattress to lay on.
"She isn't from our realm, so she must be suffering a side effect perhaps from the foreign debris the star had?" Amelia offered to the Canid as a suggestion to which they turned to Silver as he looked to be deeply thinking, "Aye be that… She is a fighter no doubt, as she be suffering from poisonin' from that rock."
"Poison?" Delbert states quickly before rushing around the open compartment cabinet in the Captain's Quarters and finding at least a specific shot that he injected into Ceraza's neck to see her pained face immediately relax to please him, "Well, that's better than I can guess on things. She just needs to stay here and be kept an eye on."
Keres soon began to complain as Silver hearing this began to escort his charge out with a wordless nod from Amelia, in half-amused understanding, "Then it be best to get yourself to bed, Lass, as I'm sure the girl be fine within the morning."
Once out of earshot, Amelia made Delbert pause as she used her gloved hand to examine the blackened rock as it was unusual itself, before placing it carefully back and the two didn't see it slightly vibrate in the bin, "So besides your profession, you are an actual doctor?"
"Well, not to say anything more but not quite," Delbert confessed to her then to make Amelia impressed, "I did a study to do that professionally yet I felt more could be done in my life. So I studied what I am now and read from time to time some literature to keep my former career and help others in check… Well, not all of a professional doctor but enough for maybe survivability."
"I too had friends within the Academy before I too, became a Captain, Mr. Doppler. Though we went out ways, I can never forget Galina's vanishing point of one of our missions failing." Amelia admitted as she felt like she could trust the Canid, and made him gaze at her in wonder as, by the mention of the female name, it sounded sad in secret.
"You two were close?" Delbert decided to softly ask her as he began to take care of his equipment while seeing Ceraza was fine, "Indeed… Closely like best friends or sisters. She told me to stay behind as she went to scope out a lead of sorts, and we did have a small fight before we were sent to our mission as a scouting party for a possible lead for a man who is feared still to this very day: Obsidian Beard."
"Let me get this straight…" Delbert began to say in bewilderment to Amelia as she glanced at him with a raised brow as he adjusted his grip on his bag, "You were possibly on assignment for the government and academy during that time, as cadets, and they sent you to find that one of few legendary pirates besides Captain Flint?" Seeing her nod yes, she blinked back surprised by his words as if her former commanders in charge back then were crazy, "That's foolish! That pirate is said to never die for making deals not known to the living world… His methods were orthodoxy along with that bizarre vessel he used. Even his ways were unnatural."
"Yes, and rumors had it he made a deal recently when we were on assignment by the talk of his trusted crew, as we were in his jaded vessel itself…" Amelia said in a way Delbert was sorry for her in moments, "And being the only one to be alive out of many that were sent, to have lost so many…" she paused before rubbing the back of her head and looked to him in grief and more from the memories of that day playing through her eyes in seconds, "It's just at times I feel like if I stayed, I could have saved my best friend and she would be here today besides me and Sterling… Former Officer Sterling Arrow, that is."
She blinked back surprise as he patted her back and told her gently as he left after to make her ponder on things, "Nothing could have been done as I do trust Jim's judgement on the lines, as the storm itself could have caused the ropes to slowly untie themselves as the ship indeed was tossed around and even during our brief time in the hole itself. It's best to get some sleep and indeed do as you say, resume our course, and hope no one else is lost during it."
Later on the night, Silver approaches Jim on the deck after seeing he was still awake, and gazing off into the distance, on the footing of the ship in a secured spot.
The cyborg had his pipe out and took a few puffs before he started telling the teen, "It weren't your fault, you know?" Silver heard Jim sigh to himself and did see fragments of leftover rope from earlier on his hands, wrapping and unwrapping it within his hands and resumed to try and lift the teen's mood, "Why, half the crew would be spinning in that black abyss-" upset, Jim hopped down and landed on the balcony of the ship while tossing that rope into space and grabbed the footing with quick speed and told the cyborg off, "Look, don't you get it?! I screwed up! I mean for two seconds, l thought that maybe I could do something right, but…" he then was face to face with Silver and Jim patted himself in mixed emotions and a gesture to his chest, alongside others from his emotional spat to himself as the cyborg understood, "Aagh! I just…" Jim sighs with Silver looking determined then, "Just forget it. Forget it."
"Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins." Silver began as he swerved Jim around to make sure he faced him and with seeing the teen trying to hide the tears he truly had for thinking himself as a failure, "You got the makings of greatness in ya, but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls, and when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what you're made of… Well, I hope I'm there… Catching some of the light coming off ya that day."
Silver was surprised by Jim as he did sniffle, but placed his forehead on his gut as the cyborg looked around in a brief quick movement from being taken aback, and then hugged the teen with a few pats from his real hand, "There, there. Lad, it's all right, Jimbo. It's all right. "
After a few moments, he pushes Jim away, "Now, Jim, I, um… I best be getting about my watch… And you best be getting some shut-eye." Jim goes below deck without complaint as Silver watched on, and informed his pet that came to land on his shoulder, "Getting in too deep here, Morphy. Next thing ya know, they'll be saying I've gone soft." Silver walks away rubbing his head but Mr. Scroop is hiding in the shadows, up above as he had been watching this scene between the two with a smirk… Before being startled from catching sight of an unexpected glowing green and ethereal-looking fiery eyeball of sorts appeared next to his left.
"So how is your task at hand, Mr. Scroop?" A slight echoing and deep male voice stated to the old alien who then swerved and leaned onto his back with a good hood onto the mast as he looked at his left crab-clawed hand nonchalantly and told the eye firmly, "Swell… Silver and the rest do not know what will happen in due time. Once it is done, our deal shall be kept?"
"Yes… The deal is still on, Mr. Scroop, but there is a new addition to this as we are not too far off again from your passage's position, due to the former star." The eyeball started with being a few inches away from the old alien to make him raise an eyebrow and crossed his arms with a narrowed gaze then, "What pray that be?"
The old Mantavor blinked a few times before smirking at the eyeball's next set of words, knowing it was simply an enchanted manifestation of course, "I sense an entity of The Fae is on board alongside another, as either of them will be beneficial to my own master's cause. Possibly by your reports, the two children are the key to things in this realm. The Fae Child is of two worlds into one, to which can set my ship and those within to be free once again from Flint's doing… The other child is The Offering as her entire being will allow my true plan to come into play when I am freed. The world you venture into is more than you can realize as it is not just treasures awaited, but things that are meant to be forgotten are there… Amongst other things. As part of the improved deal, you will gain Flint's ship once you make your move, and summon my forces to the world to nab your former crew and those on board the ship. And once we have what we desire from the treasure hoard, you will have your reward."
Mr. Scroop then bowed once the eyeball sent a small fire-based beam to see an unnatural-looking whistle of sorts that was jaded and demonic in design into the old Mantavor's claws and stated to the eyeball with his own eyes glowing hellish for a few moments, "My will be done, Lord Obsidian Beard… You shall have the two twerps, I can give ya that."
The eyeball vanished from sight after Mr. Scroop soon uses his race's way of climbing to climb down, and head to the kitchens for a late-night snack.
The next morning of September 22nd of 3022:
Jim and the rest of the crew are sleeping down below the deck.
Jim is awoken by Mr. Snuff snoring above him, or in this case, farting on his face from his tentacles, "Uh… Oh! Oh! Ugh!" Jim shook his head before he went sleepily to put his boots on but one of them began to jump away.
Jim realized who it was with a tired sigh, "Morph," he one-steps over to the crew's luggage and whatnot to try and find the little creature, at Morph being mischievous today, "Morph? Morph, knock it off. It's too early for this." As he was looking, Morph came out of hiding, and soon kicked his behind, "Ow! Hey, Morph!"
Morph gives him a raspberry before shifting back to normal, laughs, and takes Jim's real boot as the teen begins to go after him, "Hey, come back here!" Morph only repeated the words, come back here, as he chased him to the deck Keres saw this from Jim quickly apologizing to her with a bowl of leftover stew a few days ago for Ceraza and shook her head at her father's pet's antics as she resumed her task.
"Gotcha!" Jim says as he grabbed his boot but Morph went between holes the door to the galley had before he came back up and became an alien-based qwilfish/lantern fish hybrid and sprayed water on his face on purpose before going back into the grate.
"That's it, you little squid," Jim says in being humored as Morph came up as only his head and began to repeat, little squid, back at him in a whack-a-mole fashion for a few moments before heading to the galley as he did trip onto his behind the last few steps at also trying to get his boot on, and began to look for the mischievous creature.
Jim eventually finds Morph hiding in the large barrel of the remaining purps and jumps into the barrel with him saying, "Ungh! Unh! Ha! Busted!"
As Jim tried grabbing Morph a few times, he paused with him looking into the slitted hole provided by the barrel as the galley starts to fill with all the crew members and Silver.
A female crew alien by the name of Bird Brain Mary, states for herself her opinion to someone, "Look. What we're saying is we're sick of all this waiting." Hands agreed with her, "There's only four of them left." Another agreed by the name of Meltdown, "We are wanting to move!" Jim stilled as he saw Silver speaking to them firmly, "We don't move till we got the treasure in hand."
"I say we kill 'em all now." Mr. Scroop suggested to the crew to which Silver grabbed him and firmly warned him and his crew, "I say what's to say! Disobey my orders again like that stunt you pulled with Mr. Arrow and so help me, you'll be joining him!" At the end of his words, stunning Jim by this information, Silver throws Mr. Scroop against the barrel of purps.
"Strong talk, but I know otherwise." reaches in for a purp and Jim gives one to him in quick movements as Silver declares in questioning the old alien, "You got something to say, Scroop?"
"It's that boy. Methinks you have a soft spot for him." Mr. Scroop, to prove his point, punctures the purp he has with his claw and makes the rest of the crew murmur to each other at this.
"Now, mark me, the lot of ya. I care about one thing, and one thing only! Flint's trove. You think I'd risk it all for the sake of some nose-wiping little whelp?" At Silver's words to his crew, Jim felt out of breath at this point of betrayal before gazing back through the slit-hole of the barrel as Mr. Scroop decided to prove otherwise and even gestured to amuse some of the crew, and others, chose to remain silent, "What was it now? 'Oh, you got the makings of greatness in ya'."
"Shut your yap! l cozied up to that kid to keep him off our scent. But I ain't gone soft." Silver tells him as from up on deck, Onus declared in excitement, "Land ho!" The crew and everyone else except for Jim and Morph scurry up to the deck to see the planet itself in its all marvelous glory.
Silver though ignored Onus' next set of words as he realized something was missing from his pockets, "Where the devil's me glass?"
Jim comes out of the barrel and didn't notice Silver's eyeglass at all as he decided and began to run up the steps to only encounter the cyborg himself.
"Jimbo? Playing games, are we?" Silver asked the teen to which he tried but failed to hold on to his anger by responding, as he was being backed up by the cook, "Yeah. Yeah, we're playing games."
"Oh, I see. Well, I was never much good at games. Always hated to lose." Silver admits to the teen as he secretly takes out his pistol from within his robotic arm and cocks it behind his back.
"Hmm. Me, too!" Jim quickly says as the teen stabs Silver in his mechanical leg with some cutting pliers and runs upstairs to warn the others by heading to Amelia's Quarters.
"Yaaah! Right-o… Ohh, blast it all!" Silver said as his cybernetic eye saw Jim enter the room, and blew a whistle to get the crew's attention, "Change in plan, lads! We move now!" He raised his blade at that with the crew cheering excitedly at this.
"Strike our colors, Mr. Onus." Silver ordered to which the alien giggled in glee, "With pleasure, Captain." And did switch the flags around as if he prepared for this day, as moments later, Hands roars and breaks the door into the armory to give them all weapons.
Meanwhile, Amelia, Delbert, and Jim are in Amelia's stateroom, aka her quarters, planning to escape with Keres claiming she didn't know what her father planned as she was told he turned over a new leaf, and Ceraza was awake but was weakened due to her feeling not only unwell, but her timely response was soon coming.
Amelia though was mixed with being furious as part of it, as she told them while fetching a gun she kept on the cabinet the map was in, "Pirates on my ship? I'll see they all hang. Doctor, familiar with these?" She tossed a gun to Delbert as the gun powers up, "Oh, I've seen- Well, I've read-" He fires the gun by accident, "Uh, no. No. No, I'm not."
Amelia unlocks the chest with Morph liking the map itself and laughing to himself as the Felinid female states to Jim as she tossed the map over, "Mr. Hawkins! Defend this with your life." Morph catches it but Jim snatches it back as he stated firmly, "Morph! Give me that!"
Meanwhile outside, the pirates are trying to still break into the stateroom with the use of laser pistols before Silver gets fed up with waiting, "Oh, you're taking all day about it." He adjusted his arm by the use of his leg a bit into a cannon, and blasts the door open… To only make them discover that there is a hole in the floor. "Oh! Stop them!"
The small group of four were soon running for their lives with Keres easily supporting Ceraza by her race's strength as they traverse the engine area of the ship and eventually are in the shipping bay, "To the longboats, quickly!" Amelia shouts as she was sealing the door shut with a spare laser pistol she found, as Jim and Delbert jump into a longboat while Amelia pulls the switch to open the hatch while helping Keres at getting Ceraza inside the boat. Amelia soon runs and jumps into the boat, "Rrr-yeah!" Cocks the gun just as Morph grabs the map from Jim.
"Morph! No!" Jim exclaimed as while he went after the creature, the pirates broke into the launch bay and both sides started firing at one another.
"Chew on this, you pus-filled boils!" Amelia exclaimed as she kept firing, Delbert manages to shoot a light above the walkway, causing it to fall and make several pirates fall out of the ship.
This made her pause in her shooting as she asked firing once again at the pirates, to the Canid male, "Did you aim for that?" Even though he was still stunned, he honestly told her, "You know, actually, I did." They ducked as laser fire was soon being aimed closer to their heads, and with Ceraza wincing but inwardly, was cursing at her mixed weakened state of which Keres was mixed on.
Silver flips the switch so the gears start turning the other way and closing the hatch door as Amelia, seeing this, quickly tells Delbert in order, "Oh, blast it. Doctor, when I say 'Now', shoot out the forward cable. I'll take this one."
With Jim, he was still after Morph with being lucky he didn't get shot or worse during this, and Silver noticed his pet had the map as both of them tried to get his pet's attention, "Morph. here! Morph!" The critter turned to Jim, "Morph! Morphy, come here." Silver states hastily as he whistles to make Morph turn to him, "Morph. Morph. Bring it here. Morph, come here." Jim begged the critter as he turned to the teen, "Come here. Come here, boy. Come to your dad. Come here, boy." Looking wary, Morph turned to Silver and back to Jim, as they both kept calling him, and since he couldn't decide who to go to so he swoops into a pile of rope while holding the map, and Silver approached but Jim gets there first, and reaches in to grab the map, then runs.
"Ohh." Silver powers up his gun and aims at Jim but can't bring himself to shoot him as he sighs, and even seeing his charge was with them and Mr. Scroop did see this with a smirk as he slinks back to the shadows at the back and began to communicate within an unusual device briefly, before heading back to the galley for something.
"Now!" Amelia tells Delbert as they shoot the ropes just as Jim landed on the small boat as Amelia checked things and they took off… For only to be shot at by one of the Legacy's cannons as the small ship is hit but Amelia manages to crash land on the planet, however she is badly injured.
Ceraza, by her accidental magic acting up, managed to make a bubble barrier for her and Keres, but the other two males were not so lucky as yes they didn't get harmed, but they did get some minor scraps.
Jim rubbed his neck after seeing the two girls were alright not too far from them and winced by saying 'Ow' for a moment as Delbert admitted to them, "Oh, my goodness. That was more fun than I ever want to have again."
Amelia chuckled a moment before admitting to them as well, "That's not one of my… Gossamer landings. Unh!" She clutches her side as the Canid male exclaimed her title, "Oh. Ooh. Oh, don't fuss. Uh... Uh... Slight bruising. That's all. Cup of tea, and I'll be right as rain. Mr. Hawkins. The map if you please."
Ceraza and Keres were by them at this point as Jim grabbed the map from his pocket… To which proceeds to levitate and then turns into Morph who starts laughing. "Morph? Morph, where's the map?! Are you serious?! It's back on the ship!?" Morph made images of himself as stated and with Amelia hearing, something alongside Ceraza, "Stifle that blob and get low." Up high another longboat of pirates goes by. "We've got company."
Amelia then tells them as she holds back wincing from her ribs and more damaged, "We need a more defensible position. Mr. Hawkins, scout ahead." She gives Jim a pistol as he tells her firmly in understanding, "Aye, Captain."
As he left with Morph, Ceraza stiffened and sharply glanced behind her to confuse Keres as Delbert began to inspect Amelia's wound the best he could as despite knowing things, he fully studied in his astronomy courses and only knew enough to survive, "What is it?"
"Not sure… It just feels like something unexpected is going to happen, Keri," Ceraza tells her friend as hidden in the fungal-like trees was a green fiery eyeball that vanished as with Jim and Morph, the two wander into the dense woods to find cover; they hear rustling and get the feeling they are being watched by someone.
Jim shushed Morph's nervous chittering as he grabbed the pistol given to him and went over to the stalk-like bushes nearby them as a small whir sound began to gently emit from the gun as he peered it up, and looked down to only get jump scared by a robot as they equally screamed at each other.
The robot shifted moods quicker than the teen as he responded in excitement and joy at possibly finding him with hope, "Oh, this is fantastic! A carbon-based life form came to rescue me at last! I just want to hug you and squeeze you and hold you close to me." Though the robot knocked Jim down and was making sure he was real though.
Once Jim got up warily he did get hugged tightly by the robot and with him trying to get it off him, "All right. OK. Would you just let go of me?!" The robot took a step back and was sheepish at Jim, "Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. It's just I- I've been marooned for so long, I mean… Solitude's fine. Don't get me wrong. For heaven's sake, after a hundred years… You go little nuts! Ha ha ha! I'm sorry. Am I… I am, um… My name is, uh…" here Morph shifted into the robot with Jim giving the critter a look as he showed that this robot was nuts a bit by having a cuckoo bird making sounds going in and out of the head until the robot recalled something and gasped at reminding himself before telling Jim his name, "B.E.N.! Of course, I'm B.E.N. Bio-Electronic Navigator. Oops. And you are?"
"Jim," Jim states warily before he repeatedly handshakes the robot with both of his hands from the teen's left, "Oh, what a pleasure to meet you, Jimmy."
"It's Jim," Jim corrected the robot as it seemed the robot half-heard him as he began to speak, "Anyways-" B.E.N. blinked as Jim stopped him, as he began to walk in a random direction, "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry, OK? I got to find a place to hide, and there's pirates chasing me." He was stopped by B.E.N. in moments as if he recalled something random and ranted to make the teen astonished, "Oh, pirates! Don't get me started on pirates! I don't like them. I remember Captain Flint. This guy had such a temper-" Jim stopped him there as he asked to make sure, "Wait, wait, wait. You knew Captain Flint?"
"I think he suffered from mood swings, personally. I'm not a therapist, anyway, but I… You let me know when I'm rambling." B.E.N. began to ramble and informed Jin as he leaned on a thick mushroom tree stalk with Jim realizing the robot here might know things, and asked to make B.E.N. try and recall things then, "But that means… But wait. But then you gotta know about the treasure?"
"Treasure?" B.E.N. asked as Jim nodded as he guessed the robot was forgetful and reminded him to try and make the robot think, "Yeah, Flint's trove? You know, loot of a thousand worlds."
B.E.N. stood up as he tried to think, "It's… Well, it's… It's all a little- little- little fuzzy. Wait. I- I r-r-remember. l do. I- treasure! Lots of treasure is buried in the centroid- centroid- centroid of the mechanism. And there was this big door opening and closing… And opening and closing… And Captain Flint wanted to make sure… Nobody could ever get to his treasure… So I helped him…" B.E.N. began sputtering and stuttering in his words at first seeing his eyes go digitally crazy after Jim saw images of what he was trying to recall in his robotic eyes until he began shouting, "Aah! Data inaccessible! Reboot!"
"BEN?!" Jim states in worry over the robot as he keeps shouting, reboot, many times until Jim slaps him before being stumped. saw him and asked Jim then, "Aah! And you are?"
"Wait, wait, wait! What about the treasure?" Jim states to the robot with mixed emotions with both urgency and being stumped showing as B.E.N. ignored that as he guessed a random name to call Jim, "I want to say Larry-" Jim kept at his words though to make the robot realize he may have spoken something to this teen human male, "The… The Centroid of the mechanism, or-" B.E.N. stops him and makes Jim wary and perplexed, by his words to him, "I'm sorry. M-M-My memory isn't what it used to be. I-I've lost my mind. Ha ha! I've lost my mind. You haven't found it, have you?"
"Uh…" Jim began to say unsurely before B.E.N. understood and said to him, "My missing piece? My primary memory circuit?" On the back of his head there appears to be a piece missing from what the robot revealed, and made the robot sad as he replied to his current problem, "Look, B.E.N., I really need to find a place to hide, OK? So I'm just gonna be, you know, moving on."
"Oh, uh… So, well, then… I guess, uh… This is goodbye, huh? I'm sorry that I'm so dysfunctional. So, uh, go ahead and… I do understand. I do. Bye-bye." B.E.N. sadly says before his mood shifts as starts to wheel away and Morph whines.
Jim sighed to himself briefly thinking of him not regretting this as he told B.E.N., to perk the robot up, "Look, if you're gonna come along you're gonna have to stop talking." The robot quickly stands up and danced for a moment in excitement, "Huzzah! Ha ha ha! Oh, this is fantastic! Me and my best buddy are lookin' for a…" he leaped into the teen's arms as Jim looks at him sternly in which B.E.N. sees, clears his robotic voice box as he hastily got off him and whispered a bit loudly, "Being quiet." And Jim decided to add to make the robot nod quickly, "And you have to stop touching me."
"Touching and talking. That's my two big no-nos." B.E.N. tells himself a bit loudly as Jim began to suggest to his new member of the tracking group, and points in a random direction, "OK. Now, I think that we should-" B.E.N. stops the teen male to make Jim raise an eyebrow at him for, "Say, listen, before we go out on our big search… Um, would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?" The robot chuckled as he revealed a perfect spot to hide out, "Kind of urgent." B.E.N.'s home is off in the distance, a massive moss-covered building in the middle of a field.
"B.E.N., I think you solved my problem," Jim tells him later on and despite the situation, of the robot entertaining the two girls, they were now inside the robot's home with Jim, Amelia, Delbert, the two girls and Morph all gathering there in the evening.
"Uh. pardon the mess. people. You'd think in a hundred years… I would've dusted a little more often," here he chuckles before resuming his words, "But, you know when you're batchin' it… You tend to, uh, let things go." B.E.N. tells them awkwardly as Delbert carries in Amelia who is now bandaged up and has her left arm in a sling from the spare cloth the wrecked boat they crashed landed on the planet, had and noticed the two, "Aw, isn't that sweet? I find old-fashioned romance so touching, don't you? How about drinks for the happy couple?" He did have cups of oil and whatnot as drinks.
To mention briefly, from what Ceraza saw alongside the others noticed was that there were things possibly from Flint's old crew in here the robot salvaged and also preserved to maybe keep himself entertained and more, especially since he quickly tossed some large heart-underwear into a random corner of the home.
Ceraza quickly stated 'No thanks' kindly to the robot, alongside Keres and Jim as Delbert heard this while placing Amelia down on a nearby orb platform and told B.E.N. within moments of denial, "Oh, uh, ooh. Uh, no. Thank you, we don't drink… And, uh, we're not a couple." Amelia, while still aware, only smirks at the Canid as he coughed into his hand at the awkward moment before he motions to the walls as indeed the two girls and male teen saw, did hold what he said, "Look at these markings. They're identical to the ones on the map. I suspect these are the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture."
Amelia did try and get up yet failed to do so as she ordered Jim, "Mr. Hawkins, stop anyone who tries to approach. Ohh!" She fell as Delbert gave her a pointed look to which she lowered her ears in submission for once after so long at being berated, "Yes, yes. Now listen to me, stop giving orders for a few milliseconds, and lie still."
"Very forceful, Doctor. Go on. Say something else," Amelia admits in being impressed at him taking charge to which Delbert just smiles at her.
Though, Amelia, Delbert, and Jim saw Ceraza glancing at some parts of the wall within B.E.N.'s home seeing the markings were fresher than seeing Delbert's face to amuse Jim and the Felinid female at being the one who "Borrowed" his camera from his suit and took several photographs with it.
Seeing their looks made her tint as she responded quickly and Delbert did see what she meant by the unusual language and more imprinted by force on the wall itself, and revealed more when she brushed it off with her hands alongside Keres, "I just have an unusual feeling there is more to this right here than the other markings." Especially when it showed dragons and possibly people similar to her one friend-based sister back home: Morgana, and a prism-based orb similar to the one map in use.
"Understanding, but ask next time to use my equipment young lady," Delbert agreed to further make Ceraza tint more to not see her friend shake her head at thinking that was cute of the dragon fae girl, and quickly moves her first tail of four out of uncurling with her friends, from not realizing her own did so.
"Hey. look! There's some more of your buddies! Hey, fellas! We're over here, fellas!" B.E.N. yelled out from the entrance just as Ceraza placed her photos and the camera that became enchanted from her minor magic burst of sorts from jumping in fright, as outside, a group of pirates start firing at B.E.N. and the building and alerting the others.
"Oh! Uhh! Ooh! Ohh!" Jim pulls him inside as outside the home, Silver declared quickly to the crew with him, "Stop wastin' your fire!" The crew stopped as he gazed at the home before shouting, "Hello. up there! Jimbo? If it's all right with the Captain, I'd like a short word with ya. No tricks, just a little palaver."
"Come to bargain for the map, doubtless. Pestilential… Ugh!" Amelia tells them before wincing in pain as Delbert stated her title in concern and with Jim realizing what the captain said, made them realize it well, "That means… That he thinks we still have it."
Ceraza and Keres were told to not go with Jim by Amelia's orders but they can watch to see what is going to happen, by peeking from the entrance and making the two adult aliens ponder as to why the two children's tails kept wrapping around each other at times as they watched, and B.E.N. gathering things to make Amelia a bit more comfortable in his home.
As mentioned, Jim meets with Silver outside the building along with Morph and easily sees that Silver is now walking with a cane.
"Ah, Morphy! I wondered where you lit off to." Silver states at seeing his pet before he sits down and groans as he rubs his mechanical leg, "Ooh. Oh, this poor old leg's downright snarky since that game attack we had in the galley." Here he chuckled to Jim at that, before Jin kept his guard up by Silver admitting to the teen, "Ahh… Whatever you heard back there, at least the part concerning you, I didn't mean a word of it. If that bloodthirsty lot had thought I'd gone soft… They'd have gutted us both."
Ceraza did hear this with her ears as she was repeating their words to the two adult aliens as she even mentioned the cyborg was being honest to Jim but from the looks of things he was mixed at bringing doubt to that as he gently grabbed Jim to make sure they weren't heard, "Listen to me. If we play our cards right, we can both walk away from this rich as kings." Silver then told Jim.
"Yeah?" Jim says to Silver with convincing interest as the cyborg chuckles before telling him his offer, "You get me that map, and uh… An even portion of the treasure is yours." Silver chuckles and holds out his mechanical hand for a handshake and Jim smirks for a second then shakes his head to make Silver falter for a moment, "Boy. You are really something… All that talk of greatness, light coming off my sails, what a joke."
"Now, just see here, Jimbo…" Silver began to realize the trust issues between him and Jim were strained a bit and was trying to correct the teen yet Jim continued, circling him around the orb-like bolder close to B.E.N.'s home the ursid cyborg was on, "l mean, at least you taught me one thing. Stick to it, right? Well, that's just what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make sure that you never see one drabloon of my treasure!"
"That treasure is owed me, by thunder!" Silver half-shouted at Jim as the teen responded nonchalantly and determined back, as they were face to face, "Well, try to find it without my map, by thunder!"
"Oh, you still don't know how to pick your fights, do you, boy?" Seeing Jim's determination mixed with anger and betrayal still at him, told the teen then, "Now, mark me. Either I get that map by dawn tomorrow, or so help me, I'll use the ship's cannons to blast ya all to kingdom come!" Silver starts to march away before ordering Morph, "Morph, hop to it." Seeing the critter hesitate as he stayed near Jim, "Now!" Morph trembles behind Jim in moments, "Oh, blast it!"
As Jim and Morph start walking back to the building, Silver looks back remorsefully from his position and notices his charge and the draconian fae girl ducked by his gaze and heads back to his crew.
As it became nighttime later on, the robot was at the entrance with partial relief from seeing the pirates were not aware at the moment as Ceraza and Keres shared some purps they managed to gather a day earlier and quietly shared with the others, as Delbert and Jim were finished with making sure the captain finished hers.
Amelia winced, from being injured still as she told the two, seeing that the two children huddled for warmth as they forgot a blanket, "Gentlemen, we all must stay together and… And… Ooh!"
"And what? What?! We must stay together and what?!" Delbert began to ask frantically to her before being taken aback by her confusing words back to him at truly gazing into the Canid male's eyes, "Doctor, you have wonderful eyes."
"She's lost her mind!" Delbert tells them aloud to which Jim states worriedly to make the Canid male sigh, "Well, you gotta help her."
"Dang it, Jim. I'm an Astronomer, not a Doctor. I mean, I am a Doctor, but I'm not that kind of Doctor. I have a doctorate for a minor amount of knowledge but do not fully know. It's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there, and you're useless." Delbert tells him as Jim nods, recalling his growing up with the Canid male and how limited his knowledge of as a true doctor was, then, "It's OK Doc. It's all right." He tried to settle his family friend after he said those words.
"Yeah, Doc! Jimmy knows exactly how to get out of this. It's just Jimmy has this knowledge of things. Jim, any thoughts at all?" B.E.N. spoke up before asking Jim and being a few inches away but close by to the teen male and made Jim sigh before looking down at the pirate in the distance, "Without the map, we're dead. If we try to leave, we're dead. If we stay here-" "We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!" Morph interrupts the teen in agreement.
The robot seeing the issues with his human teen friend, made Jim pause and gaze at the robot like the two girls by his words, "Well, I think that Jimmy could use a little quiet time. Heh. So I'll just slip out the backdoor."
"Backdoor?" Jim questions the robot as he and Morph followed him and glanced to see Ceraza was still weak but was wincing from not her body, but from her particular part of her body, she knew she would have to excuse herself real soon, as B.E.N. nodded to the teenager as he revealed at the back of the room was a movable hole which leads to the center of the planet, "Oh, yeah. l get this delightful breeze through here, which I think is important because ventilation among friends-" "Whoa! What is all this stuff?" Jim stopped him as the robot blinked before telling the teen, "You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this planet? Not a clue."
"Hey, Doc! Doc! I think I found a way out of here!" Jim tells Delbert as the Canid male sees what the teen plans to do, didn't see Keres help Ceraza up as she whispered about following their friend, "No, no. Jim, wait. The captain ordered us to stay-" "I'll be back." He and Morph jump down into the hole, and the robot yelled, cannonball, as he did the doctor sighed as he noticed the two girls were missing as well and guessed they followed Jim, "Woof." He stated in irritation.
Later on, Jim, B.E.N., Ceraza, Keres, and Morph popped out near the pirates' camp as they were all sleeping, especially Silver.
"So, what's the plan?" The robot states a bit loudly before Jim shushes him and responds quietly, letting the two girls get out first from knowing how quiet they were, and covering the robot's mouth, "B.E.N., quiet…" Jim then whispered, "OK, here it is. We sneak back to the Legacy, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map." Muffled, the robot agreed and muffled out, "That's a good plan. l like that plan. The only thing is, I'm wondering, how do we get there?"
"On that," Jim quietly told him as he looked at the pirate's longboat sitting near the camp.
After Ceraza relieved herself of her issues, with Keres giving them a pointed look as if to wordlessly state, to not ask, the duo of girls alongside Jim, B.E.N., and Morph silently takes the longboat back up to the ship, seeing no one appears to be there.
As they all got onto the ship with Jim seeing Ceraza was a bit better to get on the deck by herself, B.E.N. falls onto the deck with a minor shout, as Jim tells the robot immediately, "B.E.N., shh!" The robot apologized after.
There, the small group split up: Jim, Morph, and B.E.N. going to sneak below deck and the two girls going to join them after getting some healing supplies from Amelia's cabinet they recalled at times for maybe making the captain a bit better until further treatment was done.
With Jim and the two others, he whispered to the robot, "OK, I'll get the map. You wait here." The robot misheard the teen though and gave Jim a salute after his words as he took off, singing a pirate song as well, "Roger, Jimmy. I'll neutralize laser cannons, sir!"
Jim sighed as he went the other way the robot sings Jim a parting chanting song at this point as he makes his way to the control room, "Disable a few laser cannons. What is the big deal? All we gotta do is find that one little wire…" He gasps as he opens the main circuit board to reveal a mess of wiring, "Oh, mama." He tells himself at the sight of the difficulties of the circuit board itself.
With Jim in the docking bay, he finds that the map was still on the rope that Morph dropped in earlier in the day, and sighed out in relief, "Yes."
Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring as B.E.N. pulls a bad wire from his place on the ship, "Bad, B.E.N. Bad. OK, fixing." He puts the plug back to stop the alarm.
With Jim, he states to himself in ire, "That stupid robot's gonna get us all…" Jim stopped his words as he comes up the steps to get to the deck, to see Mr. Scroop at the top, and finished his words warily, "Killed."
The old Mantavor soon smirked evilly at the teen male and stated in a way that Jim didn't like, "Cabin Boy."
Mr. Scroop starts to chase Jim and Morph through the cargo hold of the ship, with Morph trying to distract Mr. Scroop until he is sucked into the ship's pipe system. As they round a corner, Jim powers up his pistol and points it at Mr. Scroop. Just as he does, B.E.N. pulls another plug causing the lights to go out, "Whoops OK. d-don't panic. Breathing in, breathing out…" the robot states at his spot as emergency lights come on, illuminating the cargo hold in an eerie red light.
Back with Jim, he gasps as he looks for Mr. Scroop who is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Morph pops out of the pipes and pokes Mr. Scroop in the eyes, and then goes into the pipes again.
Jim sees Mr. Scroop above him, but Mr. Scroop smacks him, causing Jim to drop his pistol.
With the robot, he states to himself unsurely, "This has gotta be cannons." He pulls a plug that makes the ship's artificial gravity turned off. "Maybe not."
Back with Jim, he and Mr. Scroop float up off the floor, break through the deck and end up hanging onto the mast. Jim manages to grab onto the pirate flag.
The old Mantavor laughs as he crawls along the mast making his way toward Jim, as the teen is also trying to reach his pistol, "Come on, come on, come on," he smacks it away by accident. "No!"
Mr. Scroop snickering at this, states in growing satisfaction, "Oh, yes." He soon starts to cut the rope holding the flag, "Do say hello to Mr. Arrow."
Jim manages to crawl down the flag and grab onto the flagpole, causing the old Mantavor to gasp, and then roars angrily as he jumps toward Jim who kicks Mr. Scroop into the flag, causing the rope to snap, "Tell him yourself!" Jim shouts as Mr. Scroop floats away, with no gravity to bring him down as when he was further away to where the teen didn't see him holding his breath, he used his pincers to crush a dark green orb from his pockets as he was immediately teleported somewhere on the planet's surface with narrowed eyes at the faraway ship.
With the robot, he firmly stated as he managed to reach the control box, "Back you go, you naughty plug!" He puts the gravity plug back into place. "Oh!"
With Jim, he falls back onto the ship. "Unh!" He panted out before the pipes rattle next to him and out pops Morph covered in soot, and the critter coughs a few times, "Morph?"
Moments later Jim sees a look at the girl's hair being frazzled as if they encountered something else, with giving Ceraza a look of later from her hands being shown to have unusual green blood on them she wiped easily off from the downed pirate flag as they see B.E.N. coming out from below deck covered in wiring. "Laser cannons disconnected Captain Jimmy, Sir! Gee, that wasn't so tough."
"I managed to find something Keres told me might help Amelia a bit until an actual doctor sees her," Ceraza stated as she held a vial to which she had Keres looked into as the words were not English at all, and Jim recognized it as he nodded with a partially relieved smile on his face but did wonder at this point as they are getting ready to head back down, and eventually sneak back to the robot's home, "Why is that bag following you?" Indeed, the bag itself was easily floating in the air and had been most of the time until she told it to stay as it acted like an obedient dog at times.
Ceraza shrugged to make the teen hide the urge to facepalm as Keres only showed an amused smile on her face, and the robot shrugged as Morph laid on Jim's right shoulder, "I think it's more than it seems as it acts like an obedient dog than a regular bag."
Eventually, the five head back to B.E.N.'s house to regroup with the others, and Ceraza strangely felt like something was wrong as they all emerged from the hole itself, and with her taking things or even snapping more photographs as they went through the planet itself.
"Doc! Doc, wake up! I got the map." Jim showed where or what looked like Delbert in the darkness only to see it was Silver, coming out of the shadows as he snatched the map from the teen's hands, "Fine work, Jimbo. Fine work indeed." The five did see before they were restrained by the other pirate crew members as close by, there's muffled yelling from both Amelia and Delbert off to the side.
"What's this sorry stack of metal?!" Bird Brain Mary exclaimed as she held the robot at knifepoint with him stating, not the face.
Silver, as he eyed them all before looking at Jim, snidely tells him, "You're just like me, Jimbo. Ya hates to lose." Here the cyborg chuckles and then tries to open the map, "What the devil's the…" He is unable to unlock it, even with the help of his mechanical arm but notices Jim smirking from his hood by his crew, and sees the teen shake his head as he gives it to Jim, ignoring his glare, "Open it… I'd get busy," Silver takes out his pistol. Delbert shakes his head 'Yes' while Amelia shakes her head 'No', and the cyborg cocks his pistol and glances at Jim, who then reluctantly unlocks the sphere to reveal the map.
"Oh, the powers that be. Would you look?" Silver states with the crew also being in awe of it as the map makes a trail that points the way toward the treasure, and the Pirate Captain laughed before telling his crew, "Tie him up and leave him with the others till we- What?" Jim locks up the sphere before he could finish his words.
"You want the map, you're taking me, too." Jim firmly tells Silver to make the cyborg groan for a moment, thinks, and then chuckles as he orders his crew with an impressed smirk on his face, "We'll take 'em all."
Meanwhile or around thirty or so miles away from B.E.N.'s home, Mr. Scroop was tapping his front legs impatiently before smirking as a vortex showed itself to reveal it was the same person who captured Galina, from a hellish-green and darkness-infused vortex with several demonic-like robots of sorts resembling lizard men with another set of extra arms and collapsing wings came out after, along with the robots having ninja-based and medieval-armor in obsidian and unknown metals infused.
"I see that you are not with Silver at this moment. Lord Obsidian Beard is a patient person, but does expect things to be done." The person told the old Mantavor who shrugged as he came over and pointed to see a longboat take off from passing them by without a glance, high above the planets sky before seeing it even out to follow a green line that was pulsating, "That will be your Captain's salvation, Lieutenant Astromus. I had to resort to the whistle early for a moment to see things through as the Cabin Boy thinks I died in space."
Astromus did chuckle as they smirked under the hood to reveal and make Mr. Scroop blink seeing it was a girl that was in her late twenties and resembled closely the humanized race similar to the Zabrak, but she was pale-skinned with demonic runes all around the right side of her face and with her horns being rigid and ivory-colored similar in style to a particular Siru of her race and her right eye being demonic looking in orange color, as her left held an unusual cybernetic-like biological yet glass eye that was designed to look like a dragon's, and revealed to be wearing gothic battle armor to which a corrupt Paladin would wear or more-so a death knight, mixed with leather bindings and materials as she did have short silver hair with black highlights at the tips up to her neck, and a delicate face for her kind.
"My Lord will be somewhat pleased by this news, but we will wait until they make the first move for the treasure as long ago before things occurs, the original trap set up for the planet was disarmed by one of our minions, but that minion perished by falling into the fire the core has," Astromus tells the old Mantavor to which he nodded firmly.
"Much as I want revenge on specific people… I hate to agree to this," Mr. Scroop says as the woman nodded with understanding, "We will march unseen and soon… Things will happen once again, and my Lord Obsidian Beard's plan will come again."
She raised her left arm as a collapsible sword easily came out and pointed in the direction the ship went, in barking orders, "March onwards! The time of the return is upon us!"
The early morning of the next day, on Treasure Planet, on September 23rd of 3022:
Ceraza was jostled awake with Keres looking at her in apology as she bumped into her from their tied spots with recalling the orders of Silver, and glanced at the cyborg from recalling last night as well, of allowing her to at least use the vial on Amelia as the two girls saw that they were still following the map's locator beam.
It was then that they eventually landed on the ground once again that the two children were ordered by Silver to go with them, leaving Meltdown to guard both Amelia and Delbert, and Silver and Jim leading the way, "It's OK, Morph. It's OK." The teen comforts the critter as Morph was chattering inside Jim's pocket.
"Jimmy, I- I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes. At least, I think it's my life. Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupe?!" B.E.N. yells to Jim to which even though Silver heard that with being briefly weirded out the robot, shushed him as he told the robot in quiet confidence, "This isn't over yet."
"We're gettin' close. lads! I smell treasure a-waitin'!" Silver exclaimed at seeing the line pulsating quicker too which, Jim saw the look Ceraza had as to her, she had an unsettling feeling of something mixed was going to happen. The group cuts through a thicket and finds themself on an empty cliff with a view magnificent for seeing parts of the world itself, but… The map also closes and refuses to open as it closes itself off.
"Where is it?" Silver says from seeing the view as Onus told the others in growing anger, "I see nothing! One great, big stinking hunk of nothing!" The cyborg turned to Jim, "What's going on, Jimbo?"
"I don't know. I can't get it open." Jim states as he was indeed trying to get it to open back up before Bird Brain Mary tells the crew, "We should've never followed this boy!" She kicks Jim and knocks him over as he winces before seeing Silver tell him, "I'd suggest you get that gizmo going again, and fast!"
As the crew was suggesting what to do to Jim, he notices a hole in the ground that seems to be the perfect shape for the map. He puts the sphere inside, causing the ground to rumble as the planet comes to life.
The map shows a hologram of many galaxies, and a giant portal opens up in front of them to settle them all, as Silver exclaimed in utter awe and shock, "Oh, have mercy." Jim agrees with seeing Ceraza poke the jiggly portal before being yanked by Keres who made her wilt by her brief stern look to her friend who looked back sheepishly, "The Lagoon Nebula?"
"But that's halfway across the galaxy." Silver tells mostly Jim yet his crew heard it as the teen finally thought of something that immediately clicked by recalling Flint's tales, and got their attention as he looked at the map, "A big door, opening, and closing." He starts pressing locations on the hologram, and they appear on the other side of the portal. "Let's see. Kinapis. Montressor Spaceport. So that's how Flint did it. He used this portal to roam the universe stealing treasure."
"But where'd he stash it all? Where's that blasted treasure?!" He starts pressing random locations to which they moved out of the way as by random coincidence, one was an actual vortex that spat out to quickly make Ceraza trip over herself and with the crew standing by, at seeing it was nonetheless Morgana as she got up and winced and realized who it was, hugged Ceraza back as Silver resumed pressing the icons.
"Ceri! It's a sight for sore eyes to see you… But I thought you were with your Auntie Angeline?" Morgana tells her and then questioned as she then noticed the guns aimed at her to hide a gulp and gave her a look for later to which she was sheepish, and blinked at seeing a golden line was already formed between her and the other unusual girl who looked secretly jealous at her and made Keres blinked back surprise as Morgana simply walked over to her with a hand casually out for her to shake, ignoring the guns still aimed at them to not try anything, "The name is Morgana Jasmine Potter-Evergreen, the last royal race of the Chaosarinian's," everyone paled with Silver pausing yet shrugged as he resumed, and confused Jim by whom she titled as her mothers, "And knowing child of both Lady Ophis and Lady Lucifer."
To be honest, everyone, Morgana was told by her two mothers to accept her racial role, and if she was to introduce herself at times of need, to do this.
Morgana eventually glanced over to the portal and turned to Ceraza in a way she did want to know what she missed out on, but instead said as if it was normal for her to make Jim hide the urge to jaw drop, "Let me guess… You got sucked into a vortex, joined a ship, and eventually are a hostage without much choice of your weakened state to even do anything about it?"
"Pretty much, Mary." Ceraza nodded as Morgana gazed once again at the portal and before she could ask, Ceraza nodded and with Keres introduced herself after her words, "Ya, you were spat out from that thing."
"Figures as I was halfway done with my sword lessons from Claudia and me new teacher for my stances as well, when that type of portal sucked me up and, well," here she did a 360-degree circle in place as she finished lamely to amuse Ceraza, with Keres seeing her friend and this strange girl are likely siblings then more, to which she shook her head at thinking about Ceraza like that, "Here I am."
"Quit your jabber and allow me to find the treasure in peace, Lasses!" Silver exclaimed to see the crew flinched at his flustered mood with Morgana narrowing her eyes before letting her inner prankster reveal itself at the jab she made to the cyborg then, and making Jim shake his head at her for, "Doesn't he ever get out much? I don't see any treasures at all on the… Wait, is this another planet?" She questioned Jim at seeing she could trust the teen from Ceraza's nod, "Yes, but it's called Treasure Planet."
Jim and a select few saw the child's eyes widen at this as if she knew what she was on now, and only responded with her arms crossed gently without a bite to her words as she looked to be thinking with her left fingers lightly tapping her cheek, "Huh? I figured maybe someone was interfering with things to send me to you if you were being tested or something, Ceri." In the end, she looked at the girl in question.
She then turned her head to make Jim blink at her being weirded out as Morgana had her hand out, and which he reluctantly shook it with feeling her skin was reptilian, "I already introduced myself as by seeing a vision, I know who you are, James 'Seven Star' Hawkins. And I plan to help as much as I can if things are feeling off as they are."
Before he could respond, the mention of 'Treasure' at most brought B.E.N. out of his dazed look as he stated a bit loudly to himself at trying to recall things, "Treasure! Treasure! It's buried in the-" Jim understood as he said aloud to make Silver stop on one particular planet by sheer accident by the teen's words, "Buried in the centroid of the mechanism. What if the whole planet is the mechanism, and the treasure is buried in the center of this planet?"
At those words, the crew starts scrambling to dig into the planet, not seeing something cloaked come through as Silver stated to him, and not even seeing Morgana memorizing the set-up for later, "And how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there?"
"Just open the right door." Jim presses the icon representing Treasure Planet on the hologram map, and the portal soon shifts and shows the center of the planet filled to the brim with treasure.
Jim, Silver, and the rest pass through the portal, but they fail to recognize when they trip the alarm at the entrance that didn't go off after the laser faded at failing, but in the treasure hoard itself was an adjusted remote detonator that was after many years, active, on Flint's smaller yet more expensive ship.
The crew gasps and cheers as they see the treasure Morgana narrowed her eyes as she saw Ceraza had the same feeling, something was amiss, and Silver exclaimed to himself in awe as they were all as well by how much was there, "The loot of a thousand worlds."
It was vast and more of many treasures and things Flint stole for years as a pirate, as the tales themselves did nothing but justice and Jim and the others noticed the plasma beams going into the core to keep the planet stable, too.
Not realizing to them outside the barrier, an army was approaching as Ceraza only nodded a head to the robot with seeing him grabbing his head and told them after a few moments of seeing them head into the treasure, catching Keres and Morgana's attention, "This is all seeming very familiar. I- I can't remember why."
"B.E.N., come on. We're getting out of here, and we're not leaving empty-handed." Jim and B.E.N. start to head for a pirate ship parked amongst the treasure he saw, and not just any ship either as the three girls soon followed them, with Silver simply laughing as he could finally touch the treasure itself as secretly, Morgana's trinkets she is wearing was sending most of the treasure, all the artifacts, into her 'Vault', and not known to her, some treasure into another important few vaults.
The group of five alongside Morph make it to the ship as they climb aboard with the robot beginning to tell Jim, "Do you know what's strange? I can't tell you how frustrating this is, Jimmy, 'cause there's something just- It's nagging at the back of my mind. Aah!" They all saw, to shock them, the full skeletal remains of Captain Flint himself.
"Captain Flint?" Jim says in utter surprise and shock as the robot agreed, "In the flesh! Well, s-sort of, except for skin, organs, or anything that- that- that resembles flesh… That's not there. And yet it's so odd. you know?" Jim notices something within skeletal Captain Flint's hand with it clutching something in his fist, "I remember there was something horrible Flint didn't want anyone else to know, but I- I just can't remember what it was." Jim pulls the piece from Flint's grasp as B.E.N. continues to ramble on with the girls blinking in weariness at seeing the bones give off a brief ethereal glow for a few seconds before fading, "Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!" Jim sees that the piece is a similar shape to B.E.N.'s missing piece.
"B.E.N., l think I just found your mind. Hold still." Jim tells the robot to which he stilled and didn't struggle, "Aah! Jimmy, your hands are very, very cold." B.E.N. seems to reboot as he gains his memories back, and his eyes go from green to blue, "Whoa! Hello. You know, uh, Jimmy, l was just thinking… I was just thinking- It's all flooding back! All my memories! Right up until Flint pulled my memory circuits so I could never tell anybody about his improved booby trap as his previous failed!"
"B.E.N., what do you mean his previous trapped failed?" Ceraza was the first to ask as Morgana touched the remains of Flint, and look startled as the bone face smirked with brief glowing eyes aimed at her before looking normal, which she and Keres were the ones to only see, "Flint was offered a deal by someone from tossing a traitor amongst his midst into the planet's core to burn, and made it that if someone who entered into his treasure hoard with purpose, his remote detonator would activate the new trap, from a vision being shown by that stranger as he made the deal."
They heard a minor explosion in the ship itself as the floor rumbled and shook the girls glanced at themselves with a bad feeling before shouting as fel-green laser bolts were soon being shot at to see, stunning Jim as he thought he died, of Mr. Scroop being alive with the unusual army as Silver was restrained, "You traitorous urchin!"
Silver was punched in the gut as Mr. Scroop states to him firmly with wicked glee at finally being able to hit the cyborg, and with the crew restrained, "Nothing personal Ol' Long John, but I was given a better offer with mostly all the treasure to my wee self… After all," here they saw one of the robots easily holding the map, and chuckled by the fearful face for once on Silver's face, "Ol' Obsidian Beard is about to return after what I learned of his false demise."
Mr. Scroop chuckled at Silver's face before noticing a particular ship was shaking to see Astromus narrowed her eyes as she told her soldiers, "Take them to the others we captured and outside the manipulated and working portal… I will gather those on the ship."
"Hey Jim, can you get this ship to run?" Morgana asked them and realized things as Jim gazed as to where the controls were, and said to her, guessing like his friend, she was not from here either, "If you can somehow cover me the next five minutes, yes."
Morgana kept her gaze right at the approaching female as she gazed at Ceraza and stunned her fully as she only thought they were not cousins and just non-blooded sisters, by her words, as she summoned both Heartbound and Xal'atath alongside ignored B.E.N's quick gasp at recognizing the latter, as she told the dragon fae girl with a grin, "If your friends could help Jim, I can by us some time with your help, Cousin."
Ceraza smirked at her as she was hoping to get to fight with Morgana someday, and it seems this was the perfect time as she looked to Keres yet before she could ask, stunned her before smirking again with a nod as Morgana tossed her a vial, downed it, and felt instantly better as magic soon showed from her clawed hands by Keres telling her, "Just be careful, otherwise, I would lose my sparring partner."
Both Ceraza and Morgana jumped and landed a few feet from Astromus, who cocked an eyebrow at seeing Morgana's unexpected appearance with one of two targets needed for further plans, stated to them both as she brought forth two collapsing blades out, told them nonchalantly, "Nothing personal, just business My Lord needs to be freed of his forced imprisonment after a hundred years."
It was a standoff at this point before Morgana was impressed like her one weapon was at seeing her cousin leaping and the one to start as she sent fiery blasts of her magic at the woman who dodged and began to leap back without effort, and Morgana soon making Astromus block her incoming attacks from her weapons for nearly the time allowed until Ceraza didn't see Morgana suddenly looked furious by Astromus easily stabbing her side to see her blood-soaked on the woman's blade, and smirked as she leaped back seven times before sheathing her weapon, and hearing the engine roar on the one ship Jim, Keres, B.E.N. and Morph were on.
"I have the start of what was needed now, to my gratitude is favorable yet disliked, but impressed how long you lasted against me," Astromus told them cheekily as Morgana dismissed her weapons to help Ceraza up and was grossed out when she licked her hand and astonished her cousin as she healed her wound within moments but saw the dragon fae girl was weak once again as if she was drained.
"You will pay for this," Morgana vows to Astromus before they widen their eyes at her confessed words and vanished with the two girls coughing from the black smoke bomb she sent, "I do not doubt after all… My comrade named Malazar's project for you, isn't even complete as of yet, Morgana."
Once the smoke cleared, she was gone but was replaced by robots and in odd circumstances, one of them still held the map.
As the ship with treasure and the remains of Flint neared, Morgana hurled her cousin as she oddly enough, landed on top of Keres as she stunned those watching on board as she let out an echoing and magically empowered roar of sorts at the incoming army, and saw she sent them back with them being fried by the Magical EMP Wave she produced, stopped, and grabbed the map a few feet in front of her.
Once on board, and through the portal as Morgana stunned Jim with a look of what, and shaking from Ceraza as she winced from Keres checking her over as the robot helped the teen at stealing the ship, saw the massive ship itself that was possibly run by Astromus herself, or whoever commanded her.
To mention the ship, it resembled greatly the many known ships, for those in the know, of the "Burning Legion Spaceships", mixed with a massive "UNSC Ship" in mixed technology and more with the color scheme being closer to the Legion Ships with some obsidian trimmings, but the main aspect is similar to a "First Order Star Destroyer".
They did see a smaller version close to one-fourth of the large ship, docking into the docking bay as it looked like a warship of sorts, and a vanishing blackened and fiery portal from beams the planet gave off, disappearing to make B.E.N. say in growing horror, "Those fools did release Obsidian Beard and those others he made a deal with!"
They saw him then wheel around in panic while shouting out, 'We're doomed' until Jim stopped him and asked him quickly as Keres was forced to steer the ship as they ignored Morgana taking Ceraza's bag and making her go wide-eyed as her bag sucked up all the treasures on the ship into itself, and looked smugly at the remains of Flint as there were mixed glowing eyes of ire, anger, and more aimed right at the two girls, "B.E.N.! Calm down and tell us what you mean?"
"When I was made a robot service d-droid to Flint when he was younger, h-he was a former crew mate to Obsidian Beard or otherwise known as Edward Teach, and that man was given a vision of him truly dying to a person who could wield a weapon in myths k-known, as the wielder of the Blade of Souls from obtaining that ship and more… I recall Obsidian Beard making a deal with what Flint said was the Dark Devil, but I looked into it to know it was a race that follows a Corrupt Titan… Not sure of the name of the male Titan, and fled to recruit the few loyal to him from the former crew. Not sure what happened but all I have awareness of is Flint sent Obsidian Beard who became a Hybrid Demon, into a vortex alongside his ship."
"But it seems they managed to free it to what I guess, from my Cousin's Blood," Morgana realized with them turning to the girl in question as Ceraza unknowingly touched where that woman stabbed her on her body with her left hand as the Young Chaosarinian explained things, and making Ceraza pale from the times when she was with her mother, and alone with… Him, "Depending on the race itself, like mine, our blood from what Uncle Frost and a few others explained to me, would be a key component to doing anything if it was used right, especially any blood concerning The Fae."
Ceraza turned to Jim and made the teenager blink as he didn't expect her to ask him this as he was being looked at by them all as if he knew better, "So how do we free everyone from their clutches?"
Jim guessed he was made the leader as he gazed at the ship, and yet before they could hear his plan, they stilled and hold onto whatever they could of the ship itself, as it rattled and shook for what seemed like longer yet it was short and stilled in place as they all saw a dense yellowish mist of sorts come out of the ship's storage area and began to converge all over the bones of Captain Flint before covering their eyes, and when it died down… There stood the man himself and he looked to be around in his later twenties at best.
They were wary as they saw him crack his neck and stood up slowly as he stretched, and soon chuckled by the gawking expressions they all had from seeing them and with Morph being a bit more cartoonish, as he replied to them with a smirk with crossing his arms, "I be wanting to see this so-called plan into action, as the enchanted remodeled bomb with foreign things, brought me back to the right time."
Morgana sensed something familiar with Flint, but couldn't place it as Jim shook his head before stating with them seeing Flint roll his eyes as if it wasn't a big deal, "B-But how? You're supposed to be dead!"
"Making wee deals is nothing compared to being a former crew to the traitorous man who runs that ship, as he became a demon that very day I purposely tricked into sealing him and his wee battle cruiser away here, through that portal…" but he gazed sharply at Ceraza with an annoyed look to make her sigh in wordless response with Keres reluctantly patting her back, and Morgana intrigued by seeing that, but not what he said, "But special creatures tend to screw up plans that were meant to not be disturbed."
"Regardless, we need to get the others back and maybe free anyone else in their hold." Jim tells Flint in a way to make the brought-back pirate blink all four of his eyes owlishly at him, before laughing for a few moments and stating with a smirk on his features and simply making Jim and the others blink back in astonishment, "Well now? Seems you have guts, Boy. I can see clearly you have great things planned ahead of your life… Very well, I be thinking about maybe joining forces for now, as I see if we defeat Ol' Obsidian Beard, then I can claim a better ship for maybe seeing another verse or two."
They were startled as he rushed to the controls before seeing to make Morgana astonished at seeing drones coming from the ship like her, everyone guessed that they were finally spotted and held fast as Flint made the ship go fast as the drones which resembled Eggman Wasps, but demonic looking from the design of the ship, began shooting purplish laser bullets at then randomly as it seems a force field was up to prevent gunfire, and Flint nearly made them tumble onto the floor as he sharply turned with them rushing to the right sides at seeing cannons revealing themselves and soon sent many waves of energy blasts at randomly placed spots the robots were and resumed flying the vessel.
"There may be a way to try and sneak on that blasted ship, but it is risky as I will be the distraction, and find an enclosed space to dock." Flint tells them loudly over the laser fire as Jim blinked as he saw Flint toss him his pistol that may look old, but seems to be fully functioning, "Go below the deck, I made sure that there be a teleportation device and set coordinate passcode: Black Chaos, and should take you to a part of the ship they never would guess and see be a sneaky way in and out…" Flint struggled as he began to expertly move the ship left and right through the large stalks and made them jump, "What ye be waiting for? Get moving you group of scallywags, and give that traitorous Ex-Captain of mine my regards!"
They looked at each other before heading down below to see at the very back was indeed a familiar site to Morgana as it was a modified version of the way gate she goes into, and Keres and Jim went over to it as the other two helped with the quick repairs as in unfortunate circumstances, they saw the remains of the smoky remote near the console.
With Jim and B.E.N. mainly fixing it as Keres simply aided the other two girls, it whirred instantly to life to see the vortex showed a closed-off large closet of sorts to make Morgana wary of that, but one by one, they went through it with the space being small enough the old door bust open and made them all tumble onto each other.
All of them got up and saw that this slightly large room was converted into a large storage hold if the sealed boxes and more machine-based preserved foods and more were to go by, and Jim quickly cocked and charged his pistol as he decided to tell them his quick plan, "Alright… You girls go and try to find something to maybe break free the others as I also look as well, and B.E.N. could try and disable the ship. Just be careful as I'm not sure as to what we can expect."
Morgana only gave an understanding nod as they went their ways, seeing she made it they were invisible by saying the spelled word, Invisis, as with the girls ten or so minutes later… Knew that things will be difficult as it seems the shop has few prisoners yet some seem to have been time-preserved and from overhearing the guards at times, would still be as they are until they leave the ship and age normally, as it seems the shop also keeps those within unless ordered, to remain forever their age in a twisted way of the fountain of youth, and with being horrified by thousands of upon thousands of souls being used as a power source for the ship from worlds lost years ago.
They did have to book it a few times from some of the guards having unusual hounds of sorts with a keen sense of smell, and eventually came to a secluded place within the massive ship with the trio of girls hiding their urge to shiver to themselves at finding labs and more as well, but blinked from seeing within Ceraza's hand was an odd runestone of sorts that was oddly pure white with fel-green runes all around it.
The area they were at looked to be a discarded room to place things, and Morgana decided to let Keres ask since she decided by Xal'atath's words within her head, along with Ami agreeing, of wanting to see how much she bonded with a potential friend as she nabbed it and asked her cousin in surprise, or moreover stated to them, "You must've nabbed this keystone from one of the guards we kept bumping into."
Seeing she confused both Ceraza and Morgana, as the two children never heard of that, and told them things.
There were three types of keystones as she studied them in alchemy lessons.
The first was the Guarding Keystone which is made to use as a particular key to any enchanted door or anything similar and would be keyed to them all or specific ones, and also chests and anything else that's also similar.
The second would be the Scryer Keystone which was designed to help those that are struggling to translate words or ancient texts for better documentation and revealing the knowledge within, but the setback is that each one can hold up to a specific amount of "Knowledge", and they are also able to be used to store one individual's entire memories as a rare back-up, in case the person ends up having amnesia or worse, even dark rituals for a soulless body frame by dark magic.
The final is known as the hardest to make besides the fourth and hidden keystone: The Keystone of Entirety or an item that can be used as a prison for those who were either good, evil, or neutral as it requires many types of ingredients to make with the use of particular objects to finalize it, and when broken, cannot be remade and had or have to make a new version. The items though can be used to empower the one who wields them as each version has a different meaning or way to break the item itself.
The fourth was a mystery, to which Morgana glanced at her cousin for from what Keres stated was made to make not only summoning entities for battle it for service easier with worded enchantments, but more to which was most to time by a race of sorts similar described to be maybe Morgana's kind, and on past terms, replication was used for rituals or other types.
"So maybe we could use this to further help us?" Cereza stated as an idea as she casually and gently tossed the opal-like keystone a few times before showing it off from the old seats for maybe meetings or a higher up, as they also appeared to have been tossed or broken as well as Keres wasn't sure yet she shrugged with Morgana glancing to the exit/entrance to their current place and resumed walking carefully before finding themselves in the prison ward, and with seeing the guards were being summoned to the main part of the ship itself.
Seeing the cell doors glowing when they held the keystone made it that it was a jail cell version of the Guarding Keystones, and saw there were closing door flaps at least closer to their heights and began looking for the others.
Morgana quickly closed one of the door flaps after seeing a slime monster of sorts trying to attack her in anger, and Ceraza did the same after seeing an unusual black lizard thing without eyes try to strike her as well with the use of its barbed tail and held their hearts to amuse Keres a bit and kept looking until Ceraza stilled.
She saw a similar woman in the cell labeled 1123, glanced at the one near Keres and back, and started to get the twos' attention by seeing the female was unresponsive from her tortured state, "Hey Keri! I think I found someone related to your kind!"
That made them come over and stilled Keres as she did see a fellow female of her race, but looked to have been tortured, experimented on, and worse for wear for years.
The two girls moved as Keres used the keystone to unlock the cell door as it close sideways to the right, and Morgana feeling things, brought Xal'atath out and allowing her magic to channel into the blade, easily sliced the chains to which both Ceraza and Keres quickly grabbed the woman.
"She seems fine for a woman that's tortured and used," Ceraza tells them her seeing Keres looking at the experimented female Draenei for a moment in sadness before shaking her head, as they heard Morgana say to the duo, "Hey girls, there is a dog in the cell next to hers."
"Up to you Mary, as we got our hands full with this lady at the moment." Ceraza struggled out with a huff as Morgana wordlessly asked for the keystone and opened it… For the dog to knock her down and slobber her face a bit in wordless thanks.
It or rather he was mainly a large black shaggy dog, and by the size they guessed, was often mistaken for a black shaggy wolf.
Once Morgana gets up, she gently rubbed the dog's head to which she got the wordless response of him sitting down and thumping his left-back leg a few times before they saw him stiffen as to their horror and Morgana being a mix of wariness and gazing at the keystone that was formerly in her hand… It was roasted by her sneeze mishap and sent a minor and barely seen shockwave throughout the ship as one by one, the doors began to open.
"Can the dog carry this female? As I have a feeling we need to get out of the holding area and fast." Keres questions her two friends before they all ducked from that one black thing trying to charge at them, for only it to comically struggle from another cell closeby, of some type of mossy entity dumbly looking at the struggling creature as if it didn't expect to have anything through its chest.
The girls along with the black dog quickly moved with Morgana also being suspicious about the dog she dubbed Padfoot, and reminding her of the toy she got back as one of her gifts of her mother: Ophis, being involved and saw him falter for a brief second before they resumed running and avoiding to what appeared to now be a jailbreak situation.
Aliens and unusual creatures were being fought back by the guards they knew were either robots or even demons, and with sheer luck, they avoided the feud between Prisoners Vs Ship Guards as they bumped into Jim and the others, and unfortunately, Long John and what's left of his crew.
Though Morgana and the other two girls were the only ones to see, Amelia hid shocked features from seeing the woman.
"We need to get off this ship, fast!" Jim tells them before they ducked from electricity-charged sets of spikes soon impaling a robot to cause it to explode a bit into pieces from a small porcupine-like alien creature and with forced effort, managed to get at least into a large area of sorts with Silver being the one to state and made them all reluctantly agree, from how eerily there were no guards in this part of the ship, as it seems they were in a massive mess hall, after traversing at least twelve or so minutes later within the maze-like design the ship seemed to have, "Seems that there be issues with that plan of yours, Jimbo."
"Indeed." A voice soon spoke to make them all swerve to see not only it was the one female but made a few in the know back up as he only had a cold grin on his features, and saw the area was surrounded by demons and bots, by Amelia for once scowling at the man who caused her to secretly have nightmares and more from her past mistakes.
"Obsidian Beard." Amelia coldly stated to get Delbert to blink in wary shock at not only her tone, but to see the very supernatural legend was alive, and not part of whatever race was left.
To mention the dark captain, he was easily ten feet tall, and while once he might have been a normal Panthera Felinid, it was clear he'd made deals with dark powers. Demonic gargoyle wings sprouted from his back, and he had two tails that ended with spiked tips. His hands and paws were clawed like demons, with extra toes seemingly for that sole purpose. His medium-length hair and thick but trimmed beard were obsidian black, from which rigid bullish horns sprouted from the sides of his head, just above his pointed ears, which were not so wide as a cat's, yet not so narrow as an elf's. His fangs were gold capped, and he looked out of any world with piercing magenta eyes, the right one surrounded by a slashing scar that cut across his lips and ended at his jaw.
His clothes were mostly blacks and grays, with stitchings of sewn visible in places. It was the garb of a Pirate Lord, but across the shoulders of his greatcoat was black plate armor, the cuffs tucked into vambraces with dark runes around his forearms, and more plate protecting his wings. On his belt was a sheathed katana with a scabbard and hilt of black alien snake species and leather, as well as a matching knife and a couple of pistols. A silvery cross earring hung from his left ear, and gothic but demonic four rings adorned his right hand except for his thumb as each held a gemstone that was blood-red in color, a worn but well cared for black tricorn sat on his head, and an unusual large coin-like medallion on a thin but strong black-metallic chain hung around his neck.
The demonic pirate darkly chuckled to them all as they became guarded as his eyes gazed mainly at the three girls with desired interest, not known to them, "It is futile to escape my enchanted and demon blessed vessel. Sure you may try and run, but you will all be unable to do so."
Morgana and the others glanced around as they saw both robots and the demons possibly made part of this Obsidian Beard's improved crew, had their guns aimed at them as he motioned to the girls to make the others glance at them with Jim heating his gun, "Join me my dear lasses, and together, we can summon my master who blessed me and into this realm and brings forth the opportunity of many lifetimes."
"How about no," Ceraza told off the Demonic Felinid Panthera Pirate to make him blink back fake surprise with having his hand in an unseen gesture to his first commander, who grinned secretly to which Silver noticed, alongside Amelia, as he chuckled with a shrug, "I say, you and the other two don't have a choice as long as ye be on my vessel, then ye be under my jurisdiction..." He in his unexpected speed, made the girls cry out with Amelia not acting like herself and hissed at the demonic pirate as he shot at Delbert's left arm on purpose, and with even Jim's eyes oddly glowing for a few moments in anger at this as he helped the Captain to steady his family friend, "So call that a warning shot, as I can do far, far worse."
Obsidian Beard gazed at the girls with seeing all the guns both robots and demon guards showed with lasers all over them, and Jim and the others gazed at the girls with seeing Morgana paling and Ceraza growling by what the demon pirate said next, "If you don't, then ya find these scallywags be goin' to Davy Jones's Locker, as a particular eavesdropper told me you, little scallywag, might be of use to me crew via your power and aid in me plan to her."
This perplexed the girls and others before now gazing at the Draenei Hybrid with seeing Keres stiffened as he pointed at her, "That lass right there, as she was the sacrifice needed to bring for my master's armada into this realm."
Hearing the cocking of the guns his so-called crew had with seeing Astromus just darkly chuckled in her place next to her Pirate Lord, as they all eventually raised their hands, and soon, were back on the planet's surface and within the large crater most saw before, and with everyone else in cages, and the three girls were on x-based stone pillars they brought with seeing it was somehow zapping their strength to make the trio weak, much to the displeasure of the girls mentioned.
The one woman, Galina not known to the girls, was with Amelia and Delbert as Jim was with Silver and the crew, alongside B.E.N., in cages close by to possibly witness things… Especially since some cloaked demon priests were adding stuff to several bowls close to the girls with seeing the one portal open up above, barely.
Though it didn't help that Jim glared heartedly with brief glowing eyes of sorts when Obsidian Beard slapped Morgana and Ceraza in the face, however, to agitate the two girls.
Hearing the two of three girls growling at him from their places, pleased the demon pirate before turning to his general and second-in-command as Astromus bowed slightly with a grin on her face in wordless response, "Is everything ready?"
"It is indeed, My Lord… The old warlock you had acquired years ago has eventually died from losing her power to adjust your spells for this ritual, and it has a ninety percent success rate." Astromus told Obsidian Beard to indeed please him as he took the old parchment while using his eyes to quickly scan it as he darkly chuckled, "Excellent… Now, to bring forth what is due."
Ceraza glanced at her cousin and friend after seeing Keres glancing at Morgana she was thinking of a plan and tried to hide a grin from her using her fingers to gently rub the ring as her genie hid from guessing things quickly, and waited for her time as the demon pirate began his ritual.
"From the first of my wrath, I bring to this sacrifice," here he placed to disgust the watchers placing what looked like body parts of ears, eyes, and tongues of what they could guess were his former enemies into an unusual cauldron and resumed by gathering to what the girls winced at from the trio's blood unwilling taken, "From the blood of threes power, unwilling taken, provide the essence to further my goal." He placed the mixed blood into the cauldron as it began to immediately give off an unnatural aura that made everyone except those that worked with the demon pirate, wary.
"By bones of the dragon of space, may this spell forge my goals further to keep it up and further to let them come into this realm," here the grinder dust bones of the games space dragons were placed into it as Obsidian Beard ignored how the others winced at the eerie banshee-like roar that was let out from the unexpected black smoke that began to form as he grabbed two bowls and continued the ritual, "From riches galore and fragments of thy clothing from ear and strife, further the goals of the conquest of my reign and this realms doomed pain!" He tossed the bowls seeing blood-stained fabric and portions of actual treasures being shown as the cauldron shook and trembled in place.
"And now…" He stalled with him sharply gazing right at Keres and ignoring the unexpected warning growls from Ceraza as he came up to her with a knife, "The sacrifice of a pure soul, to speed things along and empower both thy self and thy master!"
Before he could stab her, he winced from the minor pain as from sharply glaring at her place, Yidhian had narrowed eyes of anger at the demon pirate as she snapped her fingers, and the three girls, and the others, were soon freed and behind her in a minor flash with the black dog looking between Morgana and the genie with brief eyes of being surprised before she told Obsidian Beard firmly, "Using a ritual to bring forth demons unto this realm is dangerous all to its own… But using those My Mistress sees as kin and friends, is a big N-O."
"Now this be unexpected… A genie to a young one at that, and one given reigns to roam? Perhaps I can force ye to do more for me." Obsidian Beard commented with a glint in his eyes they didn't like before making Astromus look down and gaze at him in mixed emotions from sensing the unusual dagger right to her heart as it easily pierced through her armor, and she soon screamed as her entire being became intangible and was sucked into the cauldron itself as a black beam of unnatural light soon went right into the sky itself, and turned crookedly right into the open portal opened without seeing Flint's smaller ship narrowly dodging the enhanced beam itself, from spotting them.
"Confused as to why I be using my former crew to finish me task? Simple. She be a backup as, despite the things she be doing, she was the original I twisted and turns to be loyal to me and me crew," Obsidian Beard smirked while telling them all, and saw him snapping his fingers as they were not prepared for not only demons, but what looked to be darkness-made soldiers that had yellowish glowing eyes, and wore dark-green armor with having four tentacles behind them, and stood closer to six feet tall in a large group closer to thousands that came out the vortex, and awaited orders. "Now I have thy army at me disposal as agreed long ago, and to soon unleash my master into the realm!"
They all jumped except the demonic pirate lord as he sharply grinned with brief glowing eyes as they gazed at the portal as it began to spew a massive dark mass of darkness in the form of dense black and condensed smoke.
They all could only watch now in fascinated horror as the clouds quickly flew through them and back into the sky to see the unnatural smoke begin to combine and converge into something to make the trio of girls and those that knew them, question their sanity: A massive, pitch-black, egg with an unknown language swirling around it in silvery-like barbershop-style lettering.
"Soon… Soon, me master will be back, and the realm will belong to him and all the riches in this blasted verse, shall be mine!" Obsidian Beard cackled loudly with feeling unnatural wind began to pick up before seeing the demonic pirate being blasted by a cannon from Flint's current vessel, and a few miles away from them by following the wind itself.
"Get on board ya scallywags!" He shouted once he landed in haste, and with Silver and them stunned by this unexpected sight of seeing the pirate himself shouting, but scurried up from feeling the planet itself shake and shiver as if something was occurring within the core of the mechanism… Which it was, as in secret, a far more ancient race hid energy within the core that was soon being revealed and began to burst out of the open seams of the world itself and right into the massive, smokey-like egg with hearing roars within it, and tree-based shrooms and whatnot shaking tremensivly.
Amelia was mixed with seeing Flint somehow alive with a look of later to Jim and the three girls, as she began to bark, alongside Flint seeing no other choice, but to hurry and try and get to the other ship after seeing how damaged Flint's own was and managed to make it while avoiding not only uprooted fungus and natural trees that grew on the planet in eons, but actual debris the massive egg-like smoke was pulling: Passing meteorites.
Once they managed, Galina and Padfoot were placed into Amelia's Quarters for now as they all luckily managed to get off the smaller ship in time with seeing the one massive vessel of Obsidian Beard's being forcibly sucked into the egg as well, alongside the immediate debris of the smaller ship Flint used.
"There go at least a million doubloons down the drain," Flint stated to himself aloud with everyone seeing more of the dark energy being sucked into the enlarging egg with roars more frequently heard from within, alongside some cursed treasures from within the remnants of the treasure hoard the planet has within itself.
"That moron goin' to kill us all with this rubbish!" Silver exclaimed as he had Morph in his hands firmly in a cupping motion before handing it to Keres to hang onto, and Delbert with the aid of B.E.N., managed to scan the thing and exclaimed from seeing what the thermal readings had and shouted from the growing winds, and the current crew from Silver's fleet, was trying to make sure they live by aiding the ship from the months they were on it, and B.E.N. began calculating to them as well, "Whatever that is, it is going to end up destroying the planet itself unless we stop it somehow!"
"We have 2.5 minutes until planetary destruction and the winds going faster at this rate, is unacceptable to the point there is a 5% chance of success, Captain!" B.E.N. soon responded loudly with Flint glancing at Amelia with his arms crossed, and gave a wordless 'What' look to him, "By ye orders Lass, as I may be coming back from the dead, but I no longer a true lord."
Silver and the other pirates remained jaw-dropped as they overheard that before they had a sense of Dejavu when they saw all three girls soon gesture to a familiar sighting of a massive, burning hunk of rock about to crash them, but simply flew overhead with seeing whatever it was, was pulling several others into itself and indeed, the winds were picking up with Morgana, thankfully, kept them in check from casting a spell she learned only recently: The Sticky Charm, onto their feet with being able to move without effort as well.
To briefly explain the charm, it is somewhat similar to the tree walking aspect from Naruto, but more in control and able to withstand any type of setting, even this strong amount of wind, to which they can also leap and land without effort, to stay on moving objects too.
Ty, and let's resume.
The world began to combust and looked to be as B.E.N. exclaimed to them all with seeing the flames going right to the creature within and saw that Obsidian Beard had some type of glowing object in his hands in the distance before laughing crazily and taking off in a lifeboat of sorts and into a vortex made of demonic energy as Morgana narrowed her eyes at this and stated to those close to her, "If that bad guy is leaving… This isn't good, as it's like he expected this to happen."
She turned to Ceraza as Keres came over yet before either of them could say anything, the ship nearly keeled over itself from the massive shockwaves that were sent from whatever the entity is within, seemed to be awakening, as if the silvery trials of condensed mist began to go by on most parts of the shell itself.
"We can get out of here by using the other door!" Jim shouts as an idea to which Silver eyed the portal to see it was normal once again, but was using a random setting as of now, as it was mainly a smaller star that no one would notice missing, being sent via fire and flame to the egg-like structure to further empower it from the one side.
"So how are we going to do that, Jim!" Ceraza's shouted words spoke before they ducked as some shroom tree limbs managed to pass over their heads with them turning to Morgana as her eyes became a draconian version with her being hesitant, and Ceraza and a select few were rather surprised by this answer from her, "I can get Jim to the portal, and with help from my cousin and genie to defend me, we can get us all out of this area."
Before Yidhian could stop her and ignoring their shouts of shock or panic, she ran over to the edge and jumped with a blinding light to be stunned as she became her dragon self once again, but this time she was aware of leaving them no choice as Jim and Ceraza climbed on alongside the child's genie for a wordless look of later to explain things, began flapping and soaring with the aid of the wind to the portal… And both the ship and Morgana soon being flanked by unusual dragons made of darkness that came from the egg itself, alongside darkness-empowered drones, within seconds.
It was as if the entity within that unusual structure wanted them to perish alongside this world, knowing that they were on the surface and didn't care about their lives.
"Keep firing! We must let them get to the doorway!" Amelia shouts with everyone not at the controls, aiding them with those that knew how to use the cannons, began shouting as they fired and Silver being worried about Jim, as with them, Jim held on with Morgana trying to evade getting attacked, as Yidhian and Ceraza used spells and magic they knew that was offensive to defend them as they came closer and closer to the portal, especially it switched to another smaller star for the egg to absorb.
The four were soon getting closer and closer while evading things and with Morgana accidentally swallowing a few glinting gemstones in a shape of an egg when her maw was open, trying to chomp some of the enemies that the shadowy egg itself kept sending to try and stall them next, and a managed to land on the shaky and disturbed surface of the planet as to those on the ship, saw the remaining prices of the treasure from the world itself was soon being sucked into an unusual vortex of sorts that was silvery and had multiple colors as if a rainbow, and he quickly hopped down from Morgana's left side along with Ceraza before being stopped by an unexpected dark a fiery blast of energy that would have burned them on the spot as Morgana shifted back to herself with glowering eyes.
It was a cloaked person that welled an unusual weapon of sorts, one that they saw Morgana narrowed her eyes as if she may have seen it or something else before, and in truth, she has seen it within her dreams.
Mention, the person appears to be eighteen years old, and after he lowers his hood, he has mildly tanned skin, golden eyes, and silver hair which both have slight spikes in design and falls past his shoulders in the back albeit with four bangs framing his face, the back two being thicker than the front two, and the two backward spikes on the sides are absent, the topmost one slicked back. And he mostly wears a black and unusual enchanted coat.
His weapon, however, was what made the Potter Heiress narrow her eyes.
It has a dark black handle with a raised spiral carved around it. It's pommel and guard resemble black, demonic wings. The base of the blade is an etching of a goat, and the shaft is formed from two black, barbed blades, etched with a white icon resembling a bramble of thorns. The teeth are formed in the shape of a demonic wing with a blue eye with a cat's eye iris. The keychain is made of small, gray links, and the token is an entangled, gray talisman with an additional Gazing Eye. In secret, the keychain itself can form change into an impenetrable barrier, a claw-like weapon, a pair of gauntlets and greaves, a pair of wings that allow flight, or an orb of light.
"I cannot prevent your leave," the young man firmly said to the trio as Yidhian was keeping the ongoing enemies away from not only them, but aiding the others on the ship as he got into a stance, and Jim blinked at the confidence between both Ceraza and Morgana as Ceraza firmly told her friend, "Jim, you go activate the portal and make it out. Mary and I can handle this bozo."
"But if we leave-" Jim tried to speak back but only nodded from Morgana agreeing with her as their weapons came out, and intrigued the young man by mainly gazing at Morgana's in unexpected interest, "We got this Jim, besides we can get Yidhian to aid us off this world! Go!"
As soon as Jim took off and avoided blasts of darkened lasers to try and prevent them from succeeding by the shadowy egg, the young man chuckled as if it was futile, and charged at the two with the three easily clashing their weapons against each other as he leaped back, and sent several blasts of the same fire from his hands at the duo, which they blocked with their weapons before making him dodge then of silvery flames from Morgana's power being used by her weapon, and green and blue infused ones from Ceraza.
In truth, they merely copied the guy's attack and didn't expect it to work, as the ground was scorched to where he was with him looking at them with an impressed stare before they resumed fighting him.
With Jim, he did show some minor burns on his outfit but managed to make it in time, and just as he was about to quickly push the image of the spaceport, he was rather perplexed as to why the enemies stopped and saw they vanished, and to everyone's horror as even Ceraza and Morgana stopped when they shoved the young man away from them, only heard him state loudly as the egg began to release darkened flames and light, "So it has awakened after nearly ten thousand years… My task is done."
The young man sent a discarded keychain at Morgana, which she caught, and saw it was that same eye as the young man's weapon at the end and was rather confused as he simply smirked, and told her, "I don't have use of that one much further as I was sent to distract you both, so with that, good luck… You are going to need it when you're tested."
He then left hastily into a shadowy vortex just as both girls and Jim landed on their feet as a barrier covered the key to travel to thousands of worlds as Silver exclaimed in disbelief as, during his youth, he heard it even read tales of the beast now revealed within the atmosphere in dread, "By bleary of Davy Jones Locker… It's real!"
Everyone saw it was mostly a massive demonic-like space kraken of sorts with also having six demonic webbed gargoyle wings and two deadly-looking sickles or scythes darkly. Its face was mostly close to a Protoss Race of a face with glowing amberish eyes, but with crooked and many shark-like teeth and a maw similar to a humanized t-rex. The tentacle hooks were also three-toed claws that looked deadly as well, and with each end of it, they held a dark ring of sorts with fel-glowing runes in an unexplained language.
It let out an unnatural and echoing roar sending shockwaves to make those on the surface of the ship, hang on before it opened up its maw, just as Yidhian landed next to the girls, and began to finish the planet's fiery core in devouring it.
The trio of Morgana, Ceraza, and Yidhian ran over to Jim as the surface began to deteriorate further as even the land itself was being sucked into the maws of the beast, as Yidhian comments to them warily, "If that is one of those things, this world doesn't have a chance."
"You know what that is?!" Jim exclaimed to the female genie as she nodded sadly, "It's a Colossus Shadomala. Only a select few exist as they are demonic entities that devour chosen worlds and send most of what is, to an even more powerful entity as well… A dark entity that is imprisoned in a pocket dimension of sorts."
"Is there a way we can beat that thing?" Ceraza asked her hastily as she was thankful for her cousin using the sticky charm on their feet to stay easily on the surface, otherwise, they are dead in moments of being devoured, "If it was sucked into a black hole, it would dissolve itself in moments as they are mainly darkness-made entities." Yidhian answered their shared questions with Jim glancing at the barrier-infused key he was going to use with seeing on the map that at the furthest reach, was the famed and staying-in-size black hole known as the Junkyard Sender, due to mainly junk or trash being sent into it that no one wants.
"If you guys can somehow get that barrier to go away, I know where we can send it." Jim tells them of a plan forming they saw easily from his face, and Morgana gazed at her genie before blinking at her smirk, "I can do this without a wish this time, but the next barrier or something powerful is a wish."
She vanished before being in front of it as Yidhian was doing some type of chant with the trio soon defending her as those creatures came back to try and get her to stop this, but both girl's reserves were almost spent by doing that one attack but in a flaming wave of sorts as a minute later, just as the ship was getting close the maws of the beast itself, Jim quickly touched the sigil for the black hole… And the portal soon changed to that to startle the beast before it was being sucked in an unusual dejavu of when Jafar was sucked into his lamp and was soon gone with the girls and Jim nearly avoiding being sliced by it before Jim switched it to the spaceport, and the portal sucked them all into it as the world collapsed and exploded.
The four were rather surprised they were on the ship with everyone cheering at this unexpected outcome and knew this would be a tale of legends.
Jim though looks around and sees Silver is gone, much like Morgana and Ceraza, and Keres was hugging Ceraza before noticing her adopted father was gone too.
Yidhian gave a short nod to her mistress as the four ended up following Jim, and made their way down to the hanger to find Silver untying the longboat.
"Morphy, we gotta make tracks." Silver tells his pet to which he got a response from the critter before turning to Jim and the three girls as he asked him, "You never quit, do you?"
"Ah, Jimbo! Girls! Ha ha! l was merely checking to make sure our last longboat was safe and secure." He ties a loose knot to which Jim sees and comes over to inspect it, "Mmm. Well…" Jim fixes the knot before he spoke, "That should hold it."
"Heh heh heh. l taught you too well." Silver tells him to be satisfied over something, before telling him as the girls gave a look between Jim and Silver, "If you don't mind, we'd just as soon avoid prison. Little Morphy here, he's a free spirit. Being in a cage, it'd break his heart." Morph does squeak in confirming this.
Jim sees the girls' gazes as he sighed, and smiled as he pulls the lever to open the hatch below the longboat, and then untied his knot.
"Ohh! What say you ship out with us, lad? You and me, Hawkins and Silver, full of ourselves and no ties to anyone! Even Keres can be a scout and part of our time." Silver suggests to Jim before understanding filled the cyborg's eyes by her response to him by showing his wordless pride of being proud of her choice secretly, holding Ceraza's hand and giving a gentle squeeze, "I would love to go Papa, but I think that I need to stay and discover things on my own for a while."
"You know, when I got on this boat, l would've taken you up on that offer in a second…" Jim began as Silver looked on as if he expected this, with what both Ceraza and Morgana knew of their relationship as non-blooded father and son, "But uh, I met this old cyborg, and he taught me that l could chart my course. That's what I'm gonna do."
"And what do you see, off that bow of yours?" Silver asked him in a way, he wanted to be sure as Jim looked on in confidence to impress the cyborg with his words, "A future."
Silver chuckled for a few moments as he adjusted himself in the dingy and expressed to him in a way, the girls and Jim understood, "Why… Look at ya, glowing like a solar fire. You're something special, Jim." Here the cyborg was getting choked up, "You're gonna rattle the stars, you are." Jim and Silver then embrace with tears in both of their eyes.
Silver then clears his throat, and makes Jim smile small with his words, "Got a bit of grease in this cyborg eye of mine." In the end, he did hide a sniffle with them, seeing Morph soon sobbing and turning into a pool of tears, "Oh, hey, Morph. I'll see ya around, OK?"
Morgana and the two girls felt sad for the critter as he stated a quiet, see ya around, to Jim before they gazed at Silver as he got a determined look as he orders him to get Morph to be happy after, "Morphy, I got a job for ya. I need you to keep an eye on this here pup. Will ya do me that little favor?"
"Aye-aye, Captain." Morph saluted to the teary-eyed former master of his, now before gently rubbing the cyborg's left cheek in goodbye and heading over to Jim, and Silver climbs into the longboat as it starts to lower out of the ship.
"Oh, and one more thing." Silver began as he chuckled, "This is for your dear mother… To rebuild that inn of hers." He tosses Jim up a handful of gold and jewels as he smiled and grinned at him and the girls, and tossed Morgana a strange jewel that looked like a small emerald Pokéball of sorts and with her blinking back her tears while both she and Keres comforted Ceraza as she was silently trying to hold her tears back yet was failing, "Keep outta trouble girls!"
"Stay out of trouble yourself, ya old scalawag." Jim retorted before making Silver laugh as he responded to him, "Why, Jimbo, lad… When have I ever done otherwise?" He laughs as heads off on his longboat, as before they docked they learned Jim was to be accepted to the academy by Amelia herself, and after they arrived back at the Montressor Spaceport.
Sarah is there waiting for Jim, and when they see each other they hug before exclaiming an 'Oh' from Morph giggling and rubbing his body against her left cheek as he meets Sarah, and Ceraza seeing Keres' mood, saw her cousin nodding to her with some medical staff carrying to what they learned was her mother, from the files that B.E.N. secretly stole from the one ship, with Amelia looking at Delbert to make him lightly gulp with a blush for, as she went with the medical staff give Galina and the dog some needed attention.
Once it was just both Ceraza and Keres, and Morgana went with her genie to go with Amelia to make sure nothing will harm the dog and the other Draenei woman, asked her in concern, "You ok?"
Keres hesitated before making Ceraza blink back shocked surprise as she kissed her on the lips shyly before gazing at her with mixed emotions and it was Keres' turn to be stunned as Ceraza kissed her back, before she asked her in mirth, "Was it before or now you had feelings for me?"
"A week or so after we met," Keres confessed making Ceraza hood into her smirk before it dropped as she caused Keres to sigh gently in not knowing about this, "So besides that, how will your mom take it once she wakes up?"
"Well, I did state a while ago I'm charting my course to my former Papa, so if she disapproves, it may be her head to maybe strain our relationship." Keres responded with Ceraza only nodding in response to this, with soon holding their hands as they saw Morgana come back with a conflicting look with a rather healthier-looking Padfoot, as he pants once he sat down next to them and with Jim and Sarah coming over along with Delbert, and startled the crowd as a vortex appeared to make Morgana sigh, "It's time for us to go."
Ceraza blinked before making Morgana conflicted at seeing Keres and her cousin's situation from easily seeing things, and made them blink at the Young Chaosarinian as she soon stated to them, "We could maybe stay for a bit more, but time won't affect us at all due to what Yidhian explained won't affect us at all."
"What do you mean?" Delbert began with him looking at Yidhian after she whispered it to his ears alongside some information about things, and stated plainly with intrigued orbs, "Well, that explains things."
Giving Jim and Sarah a look for later, the time has passed to the point Sarah and everyone else is at the grand opening of the newly rebuilt Benbow Inn. Everyone enjoys food and drink, and we see Delbert and Amelia with their babies, with them being fraternal quadruplets as three were female kittens and there was one male pup similar to Delbert, as they married and he became his new wife's guidance scholar, by the names of Jamie, Mei, Jasmine, and William.
To briefly explain the babies of their existing presence, everyone, and also both Amelia and Delbert having kids, both alien races have female gestation of their kinds being capable of at least having five to seven months? and having at least two to six children in one time of each pregnancy, but it is rare though to have more than two as most don't survive, and even rarer to have a single child out of it.
So in terms of that, the Captain and Delbert got lucky, and by orders of names based on the movie is that Jamie is the blonde-haired one, Mei is the black-haired one, and Jasmine is the darker brown-haired one of all the trio of female babies; three of the four quadruplets.
Anyways, let's resume things.
Everyone gasps with Morgana and her genie helping B.E.N. at serving desert as the robot police officers come to the door, but they bring Jim in with them, wearing a new suit to know he graduated with honors.
Next to Ceraza though was Padfoot or in terms, her father: Sirius Orion Black (same in movies, if I didn't mention it, but healthier), and got to know as Keres did with her mother, for nearly a year or close to being six months in this dimension-time-based world.
Yidhian explained to them all before they decided to stay for a while, that time wouldn't be affecting things due to it not being synced at all, until the vortex would come again and sync it to where Jim would be ten years older or so, as a universal pocket dimension of sorts… Which went over but the most intelligent of minds' heads.
Especially since no one has heard or seen Captain Flint at all, but rumors were said he hijacked a fancier yet powerful shop that was in development and took off with a new purpose of sorts and to state that he would be seeing them in time.
Anyways, Jim, Sarah, and everyone else begin dancing at this point, and as Jim looks out the window to the stars above, he catches a glimpse of a familiar-looking cloud smiling down at him.
Jim jumped before seeing Sirius gaze at him in concern to make the teen shake his head, and only nodded before Morgana came over to confuse them and asked, with them seeing everyone was still being themselves as they partied, "Jim, Uncle Siri, can you both come with me outside?"
Once outside with Ceraza nodding at her before laughing at something Keres said, as Galina was with Amelia talking about something important, they saw Yidhian was there and both blinked at seeing a very specific gateway there as well, but also a cloaked man who immediately looked at Jim, and also Silver to which he came over and hugged Jim in congratulations.
"So what's this about, Pup?" Sirius asked Morgana as she didn't say anything but gestures to the gateau and saw it was active, and immediate understanding took hold to make Jim blink a few times as if he heard things, as he knew that they would leave but not when, "So that thing finally appeared to get us back?"
"Ya… And well, it spat out him, mostly, when it finished setting up," Morgana tells them with a thumb to the cloaked man and Silver agreed with him stating to concern Jim for a moment at the cyborg, "Aye, and myself as well. I was in a bit of a bind but a vortex sucked me up and spat me into the ground in me bum."
Jim was briefly amused by that but gazed at the cloaked man who kept staring at Jim and was a bit unnerving, to be honest with the young man.
Jim glanced at Morgana as she looked hesitant but told Jim he sharply looked to the man who lowered his hood by what she told him, "I asked a few favors as for some reason, Yidhian didn't want to make me waste a wish on this, and knowing things, I wanted to see who your dad was but… I didn't expect him to be this Greek God guy, once we talked with him oddly knowing me when he landed on top of me too. It was thanks to Bwonsamdi that this happened when I summoned and asked him for the favor, with him getting two hundred thousand purps as a prize."
The man mostly looked like Jim slightly but with a square jaw with a beard and his eyes being molting brown as if they were a cooling of bronze metal of sorts in a forge, and a darker tan of natural skin with scars on some parts of his body, and trimmed but still bushy eyebrows, and was also well built to know he was a hard worker.
This was Hephaestus: The Greek God of Fire, Forges, Sculpture, Metalworking, Stone Masonry, Carpenters, Metallurgy, Artisans, and Volcanoes. Also, Lord of Craftsmen and Smiths and the Blacksmith of the Gods, alongside being dubbed as Fur Face, due to his stubble-based scratchy beard, was perfectly placed but still haggard looking.
In truth to his arrival beforehand, Hephaestus was forwarded after a few days ago of Athena telling him of something that he wasn't expected for of having an interesting son in another plain of future existence, and ended up via Eris, to this place through a gateway as he was, and fixed up too from his injuries and more to which he knew Zeus and then would be bothered by, and did apologize to Morgana for landing on her when she was reading a book near the recently made gateway.
There was a tense silence between both Jim and the God, with Morgana looking at both Silver and Yidhian in a way, was she doing the right thing, before Hephaestus scratched his cheek awkwardly, stating to Jim, "It seems that I'm your father."
"My father died out of cowardice of stating with family," Jim firmly told him with mixed emotions as Hephaestus only gave him a nod as it looked like he had a small wrapped gift in his cloak that Morgana and Silver saw, and grabbed it with admitting things, "True, but I only recently gained my aspected self's memories of his time, and I wouldn't have walked away from family if things were different."
"Well, if you're my father, why did you leave?" Jim demanded and being thankful that everyone inside wasn't able to hear them due to the music and festivities being truly distracting as Hephaestus now rubbed the back of his head, but clarified things to him to make him blink, "Your mother and I had a falling out as she didn't want me to join the forces that were assigned to travel and save a formerly inhabited planet… I can barely recall what went down or how my aspect died, but it was to an enemy that was after the planet's core for some type of plan that wasn't good. So many innocent lives lost yet most saved by my group."
Jim was now crossed with glancing to see that Ceraza and Keres were soon joining them and was perplexed as to who or what was going on, as the young man crossed his arms with Silver blinking at Hephaestus introducing himself from the look his son gave him, "Besides being formerly Leland Hawkins, I am the Greek God known as Hephaestus, and to make up for it, a gift for many birthdays missed." Here he carefully walked to Jim and placed the wrapped gift into his perplexed hands.
Jim glanced at Silver as if the cyborg heard of the man, and also seeing the girls were simply silent as he began opening the gift, "Fancy that lad! He be a living God who can forge treasure galore… I would say more, but it's up to ya lad. I'm not sure on your feelings, but he at least be apologetic."
Jim only nodded to know he understood before being perplexed at seeing the gift with putting it on his left hand, as it was a celestial and black metal infused designed punk layered hand chain with the chains interlinked to each other as the center was a dull yet perfectly cut gemstone in the shape of a diamond with the center having a birthstone that was Jim's in the center.
"I figured from overhearing you're just becoming the youngest captain in a month of recorded history, of something to defend yourself with at least." Hephaestus began to explain softy to Jim by giving him permission to attach it, which Jim reluctantly did with them seeing the gemstone began to glow dimly with untold power within moments and explained how it worked to impress Jim and made Morgana blink of how it worked as in another verse, a person who uses white gloves and a weird sigil on them, sneezed before resuming his paperwork.
"But this won't make up lost time," Jim tells the God as he nodded with a sigh in understanding before looking to Silver to soon make Jom at least smirk at him as the cyborg rubbed his head sheepishly, "I'm rather glad you gave my son a father's view when I couldn't for a small time, to which I plan to repay you at some point as well."
They then saw him grab something from his robes and place to perplex Morgana into her hands, it was a book of sorts to immediately intrigue her, much to the eye roll of Ceraza as her new girlfriend just giggled to herself quietly at that, "I was told by Athena to give you that book, as a similar book was given not too long ago to another of yourself, in another realm to make a gift to her soulmate and friend. Especially since it will be a while for my son to visit…" Seeing his looks, Jim gazed at the girls in saddened shock with being upset and more at this, "I was told it would take at least ten or so years from here, but around the current children's age to ten, to revisit them and in time, from Aphrodite… She blessed you too, my son, to find your own love."
Jim grumbled to amuse Silver and then at this before they saw the gateway make an unexpected golden vortex to make the God sigh as it was Athena herself as she softly told him, "Hephaestus, you have to return now. Father did state you can visit him at least due to the law not affecting his birth realm."
Making those before the two Gods be perplexed by that, he nodded with Athena giving knowing eyes that the trio of younger girls with Yidhian narrowing her own in suspicion back as she left into the vortex, and Hephaestus gently patted his son's back with giving him a book on crafting things for his realm, and intrigued Jim only slightly, "I will come back now and then, and even speak with your mother and try to apologize for her grief my aspect caused her… I was rather a stubborn man though," he turned to Silver as he only nodded once, "Keep an eye whenever you can of my son, as I have a feeling that he would secretly seek you out for guidance when I cannot… Especially since Flint stole a prototype ship, to get to the Lost World."
He then left with the group except for Ceraza, Morgana, and Sirius waiting behind as it seems the two girls wanted to speak to him more.
"Uncle Siri…" Morgana began as she did get to hang out with her secretive surprise, her godfather, and by a DNA Test for when Ceraza got sick from eating a weird blood-sucking fish, Ceraza's actual father, she was still unsure how he would react to her past and up to this point, alongside her cousin. "Yes, Pup?"
"Would… Would my daddy be proud of me? Us?" Morgana asked, with Ceraza giving her cousin a concerned gaze as this was not normally like her to feel like that, but guessed by what she knew of her past in parts, she would be insecure at times.
"He would be proud as you thrived from your previous place, and made a name for yourself at this moment," Sirius soon spoke making sure he had Morgana's attention while he gently reassured her by gently grabbing her left shoulder with his right hand and gave a gentle squeeze, "Even though there were some things that left to be unexpected." He added before he turned to his daughter, as the entire time they only managed to hang out for a few moments or so at best with him giving her some space, "I also promise to be the best dad to you than my own did for me, Ceri."
Ceraza was slightly convinced as the three girls knew how immature Sirius was at times, which was funny as well but not all to others, as they rejoined the party and knew that he would rather be surprised by things, yet for the two girls out of three… They felt they haven't seen the last of Obsidian Beard as Silver left already with the girls and Jim gave him some food for the road.
In an unknown reality of sorts, at this point and time:
In this unusual and dark dimension was a castle floating amongst a vast broken land with slowly roaming around it were several landmarks and masses from various environments from destroyed worlds being preserved for sinister or scientific or more means, as off in the distance was an opened dark-like vortex that appeared to be a barrier for it, to prevent to what seemed like another landmass with a giant pyramid of sorts and storms all around the top, to enter this realm yet be as equal neighbors of sorts.
This, everyone, is where those that do have connections with the more foul or tainted aspects of darkness can enter, and even kidnap more of others from other realms that are dying or taken by specific means, despite the other side of the one vortex being slightly more but managed, and can be linked to dark aspected realms that are also pure in darkened nature.
And awaiting within the gothic yet dark castle by the vast open ruins of what were once windows, was Malazar himself, for a new alliance of sorts.
To speak, the castle was both in perfect condition and ruins, despite the land itself to that of a long and forgotten kingdom of sorts, and signs of a long and hard-fought battle still showed in the castle's village squares by powerful attacks and more, which in the background are still being repaired by the unusual dark creatures with glowing amberish eyes by his orders.
Maleficent was able to come and go to this place but preferred the one castle they pilfered a while ago for the one other comrade to their schemes, or more to his own, from using her mostly and with her under his thumb via a spell she was made to forget about her rebellion, in secret, otherwise, she wouldn't have sent her only child away to try and kill her… Which failed from his plans on that, from Morgana's and Co.'s involvement back then.
And from sensing Morgana and Maleficent's daughter growing in power by obtaining things, angered him yet also made his mind calculate to maybe further things to use to make things faster to unlock his master, which was formerly a creature that was related to the other side of the vortex, as something not expected.
Malazar paused in his thoughts about those two before sensing a presence behind him, and stated casually to the newcomer, "It has been a while since you were free, Obsidian Beard," he glanced with being half impressed by the demonic pirate's look to which Obsidian Beard didn't seem to mind, "Seems you did follow through with your goals to serve another master."
"Aye, Lad. I did… And was the best thing to do at the time." Obsidian Beard began to intrigue Malazar with him soon standing next to his right with them equally observing the ruins and whatnot from the open wall's distance, "And Sargeras is interested with thy world and wouldn't mind a ransacking team-up with ye and me former master, as we both have similar goals."
"Oh?" Malazar only declared to him nonchalantly as Obsidian Beard was shrugging his wings for a minor stretch as he spoke again, "Aye. He be wanting more servants to his cause as he be having plans for Avalon's Twin Titan: Azeroth, in a wee few years or so, as he be gatherin' more strength before unleashing his army."
"So he is also interested in the worlds connected to Avalon as well?" Malazar expressed in a way he wasn't pleased to which Obsidian Beard truly shrugged with a glance to him, "Not sure 'bout that, but he be careful with his plans, and he be observin' and sending people, like yours truly, for offers and more to things. It was shear luck durin' those within thy Shadowlands of Azeroth, they were not aware at all of the movements and more he sent in a plan to the Dreadlords, and impressively revived the duo at that one creation place they fell as well as took the body of his former comrade to take control of half of the forces from The Maw to make improved versions."
Malazar figured that was the cause of the unusual entities that arrived one day to offer him things, but refused until someone- "He sent you to offer me aid to my plans then to also offer to his?" Malazar stated more than questions to his old comrade as he nodded with a grin, "Aye."
He then looked solemn after that, as they both gazed at the ruins and the cast of this existing and connected dimension to others, and Obsidian Beard saw the hidden smirk on Malazar's face despite his face hidden from being hooded, by his words, "Despite the goals of ye others, it be great for findin' our other comrades in arms, and further the goals we walked… Even though we both know that is a low chance."
"True, Edward, so true as if most won't join… They will be spared from what I was told and their homes as well, as to what may come to pass once my master is freed." Malazar soon spoke to the demon pirate as he nodded in understanding, "Aye, Lad, my own master is of some mindset ever since the void got a hold of 'im those years ago. He may be cruel, yes, but he does allow lives to fester in his ways, even demons from The Legion have lives and lovers, and kin."
Malazar raised an eyebrow and glanced at the demon pirate and easily seeing things, shrugged, "Some wee demons and others do tend to settle if they were given a chance, as some even hide amongst the one wee world we know The Lass thrives upon, and free as agreed."
Understanding in moments Obsidian Beard's words, he only gave a curt nod before gazing back with easily spotting a dark bolt storm coming, and got his comrade to sigh, "If you are looking for recruits, perhaps one of my spies on several other realms could assist you, as by guessing you have nearly a thousand or so souls via a deal already."
"Aye that I do, and my master would be pleased I kept my bargain as most are worthless cutthroats and whatnot, and be ye glad on your offer." Obsidian Beard stated in a way their business was concluded in a success, before perplexing the demon pirate as Malazar tossed a dark-looking box that easily fit within his hands, before sharply grinning at him wordlessly for, "I recalled that the last time we met, you needed an item for a plan, so hopefully that can help you out."
"It will Lad, as despite the years I still have hidden goals up me sleeves," Obsidian Beard acknowledged the gift as a shadowy vortex was made and he left into it and Malazar silently gazed onward with seeing black lightning zapping some of the underlings to pure smoke and channeling power to the strip poles to the land itself, and paused once again and glared behind him at seeing a shadowy specter revealed itself.
"So you can leave your cursed tomb and enter our domain for a limited time then, Dark One?" He questioned as the misty head the entity gave off wordlessly to him nodded a wordless 'Yes', and spoke in an enriched and dark-toned voice held with untold power as well to him in agreement, "Long enough for meetings, Chosen of My Creation… And I am slowly growing in my power and soon, may come and go within longer limits to provide my ways of testing the child… And also observe her and those she cherishes at pointed times."
"Understanding it is, but your appearance is more to my presence than it may seem?" Malazar decided to speak to which he heard a dark and raspy chuckle from the entity known as the Dark One as he continued revealing who he was, "Or would you prefer to talk as the name of the elder brother of the Ancient One: Ansemakku?"
Ansemakku only chuckled darkly at the man, and told him in correction, "I would prefer to be spoken as either the Dark One, or rather as the Tainted King in business affairs… But if we share similar ideas and goals for this realm, then you may call me upon my empowered and forgotten name when we're alone."
"Agreed as to unto mine, as I welcome aid at times when it is needed, Ansemakku, as I have a feeling we will be meeting alone more often than not." Malazar agreed as the entity chuckled before the entity seemed to shiver, and eventually tossed an object into his hands as he left in a mass of black smoke and darkness, "Perhaps this will aid you as to what you need… And it will inform you how to unlock it when she has grown more in power… Until we meet again."
Malazar pocketed the item before he decided to leave and check Maleficent's progress of where the next artifact was or whatever might lead him to it.
The next day:
Ceraza and her cousin were now saying their goodbyes with them slightly unnerved at beholding the Death Loa: Bwonsamdi was making sure their way back went smooth with Morgana also telling Yidhian to go back ahead and prepare things for Ceraza's father and her godfather: Sirius, a room within the castle.
Sylvanas was also brought to make Sirius sweat a bit, unintentionally, and with learning that their world: Azeroth, wasn't touched but began recently having alien visitors of various races, for the last several years with events not taken hold except the cataclysm and Deathwing… May had a change of heart from them facing ahead of schedule, N'zoth, and the Jailer as combined forces, and won.
"So how long of a wait for the gateway to be open again?" Delbert asked the Loa of Death to which he shrugged casually, and responded to them, "Time be a fickle ting, as once we folk leave this altered realm, time be movin' forward unlike ours, for perhaps ten or so wee years. Given or taken, as we don't know when da time for ours be."
Amelia nodded as she was feeding their son who easily burped without much of a fuss as B.E.N. was handling the other three girls of their quadruplets, closeby, especially Jim and Sarah hugging Ceraza and Morgana, and gave Galina an understanding look as she and her child decided to go with and head from Bwonsamdi's suggestion, to where Ceraza was last placed and to explain things to her aunt.
Sirius planned to go at some point, with his child slightly understanding of him wanting to see who was taking care of his godchild before going with her to the temple she was training at and knew Angeline would slightly or truly faint at the adventure she had.
"So how long has Morgana been as she is for a race?" Delbert decided to ask the Voodoo God of Death to make him blink, think, and shrug before replying unsurely, "Not I know of dat, but the Wee One might be close to a year or closer to two at some point. Not sure as she is da last royal of her wee kindred folk, and has been through rougher tings than anyone here be imaginin'."
Amelia gave her husband a look he got to know in moments from his college degrees, that the girl may have been abused as they easily saw the signs like they knew Sarah did as well but kept their mouths shut as she seemed alright for the most part.
Amelia then felt Ceraza hug her gently without trying to harm her son, which she gently rubbed her hair with understanding, and with giving Sirius a brief firm gaze of him also understanding things, waved goodbye when it was time to leave, and the group of Jim and others saw the gateway immediately shut itself off after Ceraza left.
They felt it would be a long time before they would see the three girls again, and in time, they will see them with a slight surprise along the way.
Hey guys, I hope you like the story chapter here, as I'm not sure which movie to do next as I am focusing on moving further north to where I previously am right now, and moving within or a bit further of December on the 17th of this year (2022).
I just hope you all truly appreciate that I finally placed a new Morgana Chapter up, and yes, my next idea would be for Morgana, Sylvanas, and either Jaina or Sirius to join her, or someone else… Not sure as to what the movie might be, and I have been considering maybe having it while Morgana leaves on her next adventure, to lose some more girls or not, or possibly within her longer adventure to where she will grow into her person (and grow of course).
Belle will indeed though give birth to the twins pretty soon, as maybe an early birth than expected, but I also haven't decided when or what their names will be, and no, I will not add the one series-based movie of their world, that is, but I can add the few or selective characters with them being de-aged closer to our Main Character (one of few that is) into Morgana's verse-based realm, by the last effort to save their lives, as an idea.
And yes, I will also be adding the EG Cast (and Sirens) and the OC based on them herself into an adventure with Morgana (or someone) to or when she is before or during Hogwarts, alongside several others within their adventures with Morgana or Ceraza, or even a few others too (which also includes Morgana's soulmates or her girls).
All I have to say is to wait for the next chapter to come, as I will probably be working on it in my off time while also working on my others, which do expect to be updated soon before December (2022), hopefully.
While on small breaks I did mention in my ANNOUNCEMENTS that I did watch Hocus Pocus 2, and it was slightly decent but not to what I expected it would be, but I do have an idea or two about that world/realm's book and the new trio themselves, in the future, alongside particular characters, and leave it at that.
Anyways, until the next chapter, I will leave the mystery as to who the Dark One / The Tainted King / Ansemakku is for a later period, and let's hope no AU Verse of someone unexpected might show up.
Peace out and cya in the next chapter!