Well, back from first day of marching band practice, and the chapter comes as follows. Enjoy!
-*28*-
Flying Lessons
Dawn came to Willow Castle in a myriad of inviting yellows, warm reds, and enigmatic purples. Helios stood in the Grand Hall which was off of the foyer. The dust covered stones in the hall added to the empty feeling the decrepid ruin emanated with naturally. Wrought iron chandeliers were adorned with various creatures, and on the walls hung tapestries depicting the ancient times. The albino smiled as he looked at the room. Soon enough, this place would make a stunning base to command the worlds controlled by the Nexus Stone.
A sudden knock came from the large oak door that led back out into the foyer. Once splendid and majestic, it was rotting out and the bolts and hinges had long ago rusted over. Helios walked over to the door and looked out to see Treble standing outside. Helios let his servant inside of the hall.
"What brings you here, Treble?"
"I was wondering how you were going to pull off your first round fiasco."
Helios smiled. "That is simple. You'll face me."
Treble was slightly taken aback. "What? You want
me to face you in the tournament, first round?"
"That is the plan here. You are a powerful person, and when the Keybearers make their way here, they will have no idea of any of our fighting capabilities. So, you'll just beat me and I'll go easy. Simple, eh?"
Treble nodded in agreement. Almost in sync with the gesture, a black portal opened in the doorway. Treble studied the figure that walked out of it: black hair, scarred face, red coat, and a stern gaze.
"Ah, Requiem. I trust that you were successful in your venture."
Requiem nodded with obvious difficulty. Treble watched as the highly notorious assassin stumbled and fell to the ground. Only then did it become apparent the extent of the battle.
"Riku was an equal opponent, was he not?" Helios nonchalantly asked. "Anyway, I'll make sure you have a place in the castle to rest and heal. Treble, please escort him out."
Treble bent down and picked up the teen assassin, putting him over his shoulder with about as much care as he'd been a laundry bag.
Requiem looked at Helios as Treble carried him away. "You knew what he did. You knew he was the one all along."
Helios laughed. "What can I say? It's a gift!"
(~`~`--`~`~)
Dirst, Harmony, and Nire were still shaken as the sat on the beach of Open Ocean. Each was lost in their thoughts and the mesmerizing crash of the surf. Harmony was still sobbing softly, and Dirst clenched his fists in bottled up rage. Nire was tired of the whole thing.
"We have to get going. "
Dirst looked at him. "What do you mean? We have no idea what were doing, we don't know where to go, and we don't know how to get to the place we don't know!" Dirst's words became so passionate that by the end of his sentence, he was standing and yelling.
Nire responded with equal fervor. "Come on! You heard what Riku's last wishes were. We have to stop Helios and we have to stay together. Arguing will do nothing but bog us down."
Harmony nodded. "He's right."
Dirst sighed. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm just frustrated with this whole thing. I mean, I know we have to leave, it's just that we don't know how to pilot the Gummi ship thing, and we don't know where Helios is or where Requiem is-." Dirst was interrupted by Harmony.
"You know, they're probably both together. Requiem and Helios. So if we find one, we'll find the other."
"Harmony's right,"Nire said. "Anyway, we have to try to get out of here and on the right track. And that means we have to try to get the Gummi ship running and off of this world."
"Okay, "Dirst agreed. "Then let's do it."
All three of them walked away from the hill of boulders that marked Riku's tomb and back towards the Gummi ship. Dirst turned back for one last look.
"
I made a promise," he thought. "
And I intend to keep it."
After around five minutes, they found the spot where the Gummi ship had landed. They all looked at the craft that would take them into space and towards their destiny. Then a thought hit Harmony.
"The keyhole."
"What?" Dirst asked.
"The keyhole. Remember at the Celestial Convent? Riku sealed the keyhole their so that the Heartless things couldn't get to it. He said that whenever we go to a world, we should have to seal a keyhole."
Nire turned from the ship to face Harmony. "Look, we don't have time. If we don't leave soon, it won't matter what happens because Helios may do something big. Besides, this world is uninhabited. The Heartless can have it as far as I'm concerned."
With defeat written on her facial expression, Harmony nodded, then climbed into the Gummi ship. Dirst followed, and then Nire came last. Dirst and Nire took the job of trying to fly it, while Harmony was going to navigate once they got off the world. But that would all come down to
if they got off of the world.
"Okay, let's look for any wording on the console," Dirst put forward. Both boys began to search the ship for anything that would lead to how to drive the ship. Dirst found the steering wheel, and Nire found a button marked ignition. Without thinking, the bionic teen pressed the button. Instantly, lights flashed on the console, and the engines roared to life. Dirst looked at the steering wheel and pushed it. The gummi ship began to press down to the ground. Harmony grabbed one of his arms and pulled back. The ship began to rise some.
"Okay. So, push to land, pull to fly," Dirst said. "Turn to steer... how about acceleration?"
Nire pointed to glowing pads on the floor. One emananted a green aura, while the other one was red in color.
"I'm guessing green is accel, red is brake."
"Okay. So, I guess we're ready to fly!" Dirst exclaimed. With that, he pulled back on the steering wheel, and the Gummi ship rose up into the sky in response. Then he pressed down on the glowi9ng green pad, and the ship began to move forward. Dirst slowly watched as the island on Open Ocean slowly shrank until it was invisible. He also watched as the mound of black stones evaporated as they flew upward and away.
After watching the world disappear, Dirst turned back to look out before him. The emptiness of space shimmered with stars and other celestial objects. At this time, a screen lit up on the console. On it was what seemed to be some sort of a map of the cosmos. Their position was denoted by a red flashing dot flying away from a blue circle. Various other blue circles dotted the small screen.
Harmony, as resident navigator, studied the map and looked at the blue circles and noticed that they each had letters on them. They were leaving O.O. on the map. On the 'north' side of the map was a circle marked C.C., and close to them on the 'east' side of it was one marked V.C. Harmony instantly knew what it was. She pressed down on the blue circle marked V.C., and in response a full scale model of the world appeared as a hologram. A bustling metropolis materialized, and around it was a large ring with several small objects zipping around it.
Harmony looked to Dirst. "Let's go here."
Dirst looked to Nire. Nire, seeing the hologram of the world on the map marked as V.C., nodded in response. Dirst turned to face outward.
"Alright. V.C. it is."
Harmony sighed. "
Yes. Finally I get to go... home."