Child of the stars
Chapter 2
Vessel

The mines were calling him.
As Huepow crept unseen through the castle halls, sneaking past the guards and descending into the crystalline undercity, the thought of the skeleton he had seen in his dreams had begun to overwhelm it. He knew he didn't have much time and he didn't want innocent blood on his hands.
Not more.
The song of rebirth had always restored Cress to its rightful form in times of need, allowing the kingdom, and Phantomile as a whole, to exist in a self perpetuating state. If crystals were mined out of the depths, it wouldn't be long until they were regenerated, and the cycle could continue. It was actually these very crystals that comprised the blade that Huepow carried in it's sheath by his side at that moment - the boy was still royalty after all, and was raised to take no chances.
As he staggered into the mines, in an almost groggy frenzy, he took a discarded pickaxe that had been carelessly left aside at the end of a long day's work. Without a second of hesitation, he slammed it into a crystal outcrop that speared out of the wall, before scrambling to pick up the pieces. He thought of the skeleton again. No. Not a skeleton. A vessel. Sol's vessel.
Its image seemed to sear itself into his mind, to call out to him - as he found himself pulled towards each and every outcrop, it seemed to be telling him just where to hit to get the perfect shard needed, to know just how hard to hit, and just what piece went where. It was as if he was bewitched, possessed by a spirit - which given the circumstance, he couldn't rule out.
He picked up two long, fragmented crystals and held them together at the ends, unsure of how to combine them until a familiar voice rang out in his head.
"We'll worry about it later. focus on the fragments for now."
Huepow was taken aback by Sol's presence in his mind, and called out. "H-How are you speaking to me?"
No answer. But he had no time to question it further.
As he considered the advice, he decided to pick up the crystals and move deeper into the mine. He wasn't sure how long this process would take and it was best to ensure no one would find what he was making.
He descended deeper, before finding a small fissure in the wall that led into a narrow tunnel. delicately, he squeezed through, taking great care to not let himself get stuck, and emerged into a small cave on the other end. Perfect. No one else would be able to get past here.
He lay the crystal shards he had mined onto the cold floor of the cavern and inspected his handiwork. The pieces he placed down formed the the right forearm exactly as his mind told him it would - but not nearly enough had been gathered to finish the full body. But…
He was alone. No one else would be down here, and it would be hours yet before morning.
He had the tools. He had his goal. And he had the resolve.
He crawled out of the tunnel, and set to work.

The hours passed, slowly yet surely. As he hacked away at the wall, each outcrop, he took short breaks to deposit his spoils within the hidden cavern he was using to store the vessel and to check in on his surroundings, to be sure he wouldn't be found within the mines at this hour. but aside from the echoes of wind throughout the caverns, and the echoing clinks of his pickaxe hitting the crystal outcrops, he could hear nothing to indicate that anyone was down here.
he carved out the pieces needed for the upper right arm, then the same for the left. Then the right leg. Then the left leg. Each individual piece took several long minutes at a time, and the boy had to take more and more breaks as he hacked, a sleep deprived exhaustion slowly but surely setting in. The dryness seared the back of his throat and he started to regret not bringing anything else with him. But ultimately, this was his penance. If he was going to see Klonoa again, he had to earn it. He had no doubt that the traveler would do the same for him.
Huepow believed that the torso would be a little trickier, but Sol commanded him within his mind to merely mine out the pieces for each individual structure. Huepow obeyed, but still felt uneasy as he did so - he pieced together a spine. Then an admittedly unstable looking attempt at a femur - "trust the process" he thought. And then, the ribs - he had taken care to remember the hexagonal structure between two of the ribs that bridged them together. as he chipped and hacked at the cavern walls, the voice would occasionally call out to him.
"It doesn't need to be perfect. We'll figure it out as we go."
Strangely, the more time passed, the gentler the voice became. As he grew weary, Huepow was at least grateful that he seemed to empathize with his struggles - if nothing else, at least he wasn't alone.
Finally, it was finished. Hours had passed, some of the longest of his life. But it was over. He crawled back through the tunnel and lay down every piece he had gathered on th floor, doing his best to shape the skeleton from it. It was a bit of a struggle, not having anything to conjoin the fragments - but he knew he wouldn't have to worry about that just yet. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, eager for relief, and felt himself slip back into unconsciousness…

"Thank you."
Huepow started, and gazed around him, before coming face to face with Sol once more, in that dark void. Strangely, though his body still bore that terrible wound in his chest, his eyes seemed much less sunken in than before, and bore an almost hopeful gleam. One look was all it took for Huepow to fill with pride for doing the right thing for once - a feeling that, suddenly, he felt all too eager to chase.
"It hurts, doesn't it? I can see you've pushed yourself to the point of exhaustion to atone for what you did… Deservedly so."
At this, Huepow faltered. Just for a moment. The last two words seemed to carry a cruel weight to them, but as quickly as it had come that weight vanished, replaced by a considerably more gentle inflection.
"I'm sorry - I… forget myself. Where were we - Ah, yes…"
Sol held out his hand and another faint apparition appeared over it - a large, dull, gray diamond with a black line in the girdle to indicate that the two parts could be separated. Sol pondered the object with intrigue, and Huepow knew that he recognised it from somewhere.
"Behold: the crucibles."
The surrounding void blurred once more into visions of the past: Ancient Cressians being given an order by the king - Huepow's ancestor - before setting off and forging the object Sol held in his hand - the Crucible, as he so called it. Sol gazed upon the past he once called home, and spoke delicately and clearly.
"Long ago, during my time, the Crucibles were forged to replicate the powers of the great crystal that gives Phantomile form - only, on a smaller scale."
The visions shifted to show the Crucible being opened, the crown being removed to reveal that the jewel was hollow, before a strange, starry liquid was poured in, and the Crucible resealed. Sol continued: "The powers of the great crystal leave behind a residue when it uses the forgotten dreams of this world to give it shape: Star Matter. It was their belief that if tempered properly within these Crucibles, the fluid could give form to whatever we want."
"Of the many prototypes that were made, two succeeded. Two Crucibles were made that could give form to whatever was needed: Weaponry. Defenses. And most importantly of all… Life itself."
Huepow looked down, confused at this last part, but Sol quickly corrected himself.
"Not - life, as in a consciousness - That wasn't possible, and still likely isn't. But it could create a body and a mind to house that consciousness."
Huepow perked up. "Oh-! So That's-"
"How we plan to save my soul." Sol finished. "And that's exactly why I need you, Huepow."
Huepow stared inquisitively - he was hoping that Sol wasn't about to ask what he thought he was about to ask, but deep down he knew he couldn't avoid it. Yet another image was seared into his brain - the palace's trophy room, in all its glory. Behind one of the many glass cases that adorned the walls, were the two Crucibles.
"You are the only one who can recover the crucibles. The only one who is trusted enough to get close to them. But to acquire them is not enough. We will save that for another time. First, we need fuel-"
"Why do I need to do it? Couldn't you ask one of the guards?"
Upon Huepow's question, the two of them stood silent. Huepow interjected quickly, fearing that he was making himself look unwilling.
"It's not... that I don't want to help you, it's just... why me?"
Sol seemed to look sternly at Huepow, before shaking his head, turning away and beginning to circle him.
"I have considered every option I had available to me since I was freed from Ghadius. And I have come to the conclusion that you are the only one willing, and able, to do the deed. You have mistakes that you are eager to atone for, and access to the Crucibles. That is reason enough. This is what's best for the both of us."
Sol spoke carefully and deliberately, choosing his words with precision. However, that wasn't enough for Huepow, who interjected with a sharper tone than he was used to.
"That doesn't answer my question-"
"I did not want to manipulate a child grieving his own mistakes to my own end." His tone was now scolding, putting Huepow down as if berating a young child into silence. Whether or not that was the intention, it certainly worked.
"When my spirit returned to Cress, I cast as wide a net as I could. But the average Cressian citizen has no access to the castle and its trophy room, and the average guard or servant of the royal family is too blindly loyal to even consider it."
"What about Lephise?" Huepow questioned. "She's surely important enough to at least have access to the palace." Sol spoke up not a moment after the prince's suggestion.
"She's surrounded by guards at all times, all of whom would be on high alert after Ghadius' resurrection. Neutralised though he may be, it'll be several months - possibly years even - before they let her out of her sight again."
By the way he described it, it was clear he truly had mulled this over. Still, Huepow knew there was one factor he was leaving out. "What about-?"
"Do you honestly think for even a moment that she would be willing to help me? I heard what she said to you. That's why I appeared when I did. "The traveler will have forgotten you. I'm so proud of you." What dross!"
He spoke the last word with a much more strained, restricted inflection - as if the thought angered him to no end - and strangely, while it did scare him at the time, it also brought Huepow a sense of… comfort? If nothing else, at least he wasn't alone in his thoughts - even if his reaction wasn't as… extreme. However, it was at that moment that Sol calmed down and turned away, returnin to a more quiet, apologetic demeanor.
"…I am sorry. I do not mean to speak ill of you… or your mother. I have been trapped… for so long… and I want to feel again. I want to live again. "
he paused.
"3000 years. That is how long I have been trapped. Only I wasn't given the mercy that Ghadius was given. I was awake, for every second of it. But… that is not your fault. I acknowledge that. and were it not for you, I still would be trapped."
The surroundings shifted once more to display the great crystal - and the pools of fluid gathered beneath it, alongside a vision of a small crystal vial that appeared in Huepow's hands. Despite being a hallucination, nothing more, Huepow felt it as if it were real, the glassy material feeling cold in his palm.
"For now, I just want you to gather Star Matter from the great crystal. We must save the Crucibles - and my body - for last, as they are the riskiest part of this mission. The Star Matter will need to be stored in something we can carry with us, and we need a lot of it. A simple vial or jar will do. For the time being we just need enough to last…" he thought. "...A month, shall we say?"
Huepow nodded, inclined to agree after Sol's prior outburst.
"Good. Now… return to the castle. Sunrise is almost upon us. Gather the star matter and we will speak again shortly."
With that, Huepow awoke once more.

It was a considerably less pleasant awakening than the one hours earlier - he could feel his back aching from falling asleep - even just momentarily - on the hard crystalline floor of the cavern. The exhaustion from hours of fervent mining instead of sleeping hit him like a brick wall, and the thirst burned the back of his throat worse than ever. One thing was clear though - morning had come at last, and the miners would be here soon.
It was time to leave.

"…Huepow?"
As Huepow returned to his sleeping chamber, a crystal glass of water in hand, he came face to face with his mother, a concerned look on her face.
"…where were you?"
This was unfortunate. Huepow was at least hoping that he would be back before his mother woke, so that no one would have to know about what he had been doing the past few hours. His mind blanked.
"…I was getting myself some water. I was thirsty."
It was a bad excuse but it was all he had.
"…you look exhausted dear. Did you sleep well?" His mother chirped, sympathetically. Huepow shook his head no. Better to spew half truths than outright lies - they carried less risk of coming back to bite him.
"I figured as such… I'm… sorry about yesterday. I realize that I haven't been doing my best to take your feelings into consideration, and for that I do apologise. If ever you need someone to talk to-"
Huepow perked up once more at this - this certainly changed things. If she was actually going to start helping him through his issues-
"-I'm absolutely certain I can arrange for someone to help with that."
…figured. A half hearted "ok" was all he could muster in response. He set down his glass on a nearby nightstand, and set off into the corridors for breakfast.

How stupid he was.
An immediate turnaround like that? In the span of a day? With naivety of that magnitude he found it hard to believe he hadn't been assassinated yet. Sol had been right. She wasn't willing to handle his problems, nor would she likely be willing to help Sol with his predicament.
Sol.
It was at that moment, as Huepow finally had a moment of calm to himself, to register that the name bore a slight familiarity to him, although he wasn't sure where from. Still, he had no time to worry about that now. Sol was going to die without his help, and it was better to ask forgiveness than to live with guilt. More guilt.
"I'm so proud of you."
What dross.