Horizon, Part 2: The Path of Light, Chapter 22: Lights on the Horizon
Horizon, Part 2: The Path of Light, Chapter 22: Lights on the Horizon

Lightning streaked across the sky, ripping through the inky darkness. For several moments, the only noise aside from the thunder was the cascading rainfall, but the deafening silence between the group was enough to eclipse both combined.

Chartreuse stood over Talus's body, the rain running unnoticed through his hair. He eyed the lifeless corpse with glazed orbs, reflecting back briefly to the death of his own father. The old king had gone peacefully enough, but to stand next to a person and feel them die through your mind was not an experience that Chartreuse ever wanted to repeat.

However, this time was different. Instead of accepting death with serenity, as his father had done, Talus' last thoughts were spent clinging desperately to reality, trying to achieve one last grasp on the mortal plane. When his thought finally terminated, the final moment ended with a wrenching, painful tug that struck Chartreuse right through the heart.

Blinking back several stinging tears, Chartreuse attempted to recall reading the thoughts of his daughter, Violet, the moment she had been born. Feeling the beginning of someone's life was an experience that, similar to feeling someone die, was impossible to describe.

Comforted slightly by the soothing memories, Chartreuse turned to the rest of the group and looked around. The remaining members of the party were all staring ahead blankly, absorbed by their own thoughts. He was about to make a statement when a particular thought floated through his mind, causing him to pause in his tracks.

Talus was lucky...dying the way he did. Very few people find a person they truly love before they die...I hope I'm that lucky. Sighing sadly, Narcy glanced downward. I hate having to shoot my way out of situations, and the person I'm forced to become...I just want a little happiness, for once in my life...

Chartreuse felt a slight pang in his chest, and the idea of holding Narcy in his arms briefly flashed through his mind. However, before he could explore it any further, a flash of lightening cut through the sky, pointing directly toward the tiny source of light on the horizon.

"Talus' last words...head toward the path of light," Rustopher mumbled. "In honor of the poor lad's memory, we shall do what he said."

"How do we get there?" Penetella asked, crossing his arms. "I don't suppose we could just sail, could we?"

"I don't see why not," Dan mused, glancing down at Talus. "But we're going to have to deal with Talus' body some time soon."

"Yes, and speaking of bodies," Paula said, raising a tentacled arm hesitantly, "Is it still possible to revive us?"

"Yes, I can take care of that below deck," Narcy said, snapping out of her own thoughts. "We're going to need to find you two some clothes in the cabin. As for Talus, I think a burial at sea would be most appropriate." So saying, Narcy nodded gently and led Poo and Paula below deck.

"I don't think Talus would want that," Luna said, staring at him softly. I don't know if I want to let go of him that way...

"Alright, we can deal with that problem once Paula and Poo are back in normal condition, and the others have healed. Chartreuse, do you want to take up your duties as captain and steer the ship toward the source of the light?" Dan asked, shaking some rain out of his eyes.

"No, I'd rather not, if that's alright with you. I think I'm going to join Narcy below deck - One of you can be captain." With that, Chartreuse turned around and headed for the stairs.

It was pouring down rain; the previous battle took a heavy toll on all of the fighters. People hobbled around trying their best to prepare for the next, and quite possibly final, battle. Christina sighed. She was covered in blood; working with the injured really messed up her clothes. She saw that Chartreuse went after Narcy; Talus' battered, dead body was still lying on the deck.

"Vincent!" Christina called out to Vincent. He was standing on the stern of the ship looking back to where they came from. He looked up.

"Yes?" He walked slowly to Christina.

"We... need to take care of Talus. Chi- err, Luna doesn't want to bury him at sea."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Well, it wouldn't be proper to just have him rot on deck." The rain started falling harder. The clouds above were pitch black. "We should take him to the freezer; it'd be better for him anyway. He wouldn't decompose as fast in there."

"True." Vincent hoisted Talus onto his shoulders. "Lead the way, Christina." Christina went inside the ship; she was lost for the moment. She realized that she never actually went inside of the ship before. Looking around, she shrugged.

"Well, let's go this way." The two walked through the rather spacious corridors; eventually they got to the freezer. Christina opened the door and Vincent walked in. He set down the dead body carefully; he straightened the legs and crossed the arms over the chest. He took a step back and hesitated for a bit.

"Christina... these battles really took a heavy toll on us, huh?"

"Yes." Her voice was more timid than usual. "I had to treat all of it..."

"If we fight Raltise again, do you think that it'll be worse?"

"I... don't know. It might. But then again, it might not." She looked at Vincent. "It's better not to think of these things. You may scare yourself into doing something that isn't right."

"True." He stretched and turned around suddenly. "Well then, if nobody's going to take over, we may as well set this ship on the proper course, right?" Christina nodded slowly. "Well then, let's get up to the bridge."

Vincent ran out of the freezer. The ladder leading up to the bridge was nearby. He sprinted up the stairs and eventually arrived at the helm. Christina arrived shortly after. "Well then, where are we going again?"

Christina pointed towards the horizon. "I suppose that that's what Talus said. The sun is setting over there. Perhaps we'll find what we're looking for in that direction." Vincent nodded and took the wheel. He pushed the throttle up to all ahead 2/3 and the luxury ship lurched forward. "Um, I'm going to look around. Perhaps there're some things on board that could help us with the final battle." Christina left the bridge and started looking for something – anything – that could help against Raltise.

Siris stood alone, away from the activities of the others. Though he felt a tinge of guilt at not helping with the duties of his companions, he felt at the same time that he would not have had strength enough to do so at this point. He reached for the pouch that he carried on his belt; he failed to come across it. Frowning, he scanned the deck and discovered that it had fallen from its designated position during the battle. With a slight moment of hesitation, he walked swiftly to where it had landed and picked it up, replacing it on his belt. He reached into it and began to feel around for something in particular.

He did this, however, a bit absentmindedly. He looked with somewhat-teary eyes at his friends and partners around him. Talus's death had been a bit stressful, and indeed his final words left him something more to brood about for months to come. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes, and turned these in the direction of the recently-reawakened Luna. A single thought rolled through his mind; a single emotion surfaced above the rest.

This sure is awkward.

Luna turned to face Siris, and the latter hastily averted his gaze with a soft cough. Presently he appeared to discover that which he had been digging for in his bag; he removed this from the bag and held it up such that some light might have shone onto it, had the sun been out. The object he held in his right hand was a small vial, no taller than an inch and a half. It was filled halfway with a green liquid, and above this was a pale green vapor. He turned the vial upside-down, causing the liquid to come in contact with the cork wedged into the opening. Following this, he righted the vial and removed the cork; this he squeezed slightly and placed onto his tongue for the slightest instant, quickly replacing the cork after doing so. He smiled as he felt the magic energy that had been drained during the fight replenish quickly, but soon returned to his frown.

Siris looked around until he spotted Harsemhin. He approached the quasi-druid swiftly, offering the vial. "Harsemhin," he called. "Here, have a drop of this."

Harsemhin eyed the vial inquisitively as he took it from Siris's hand. "What is it?"

"Not sure what to call it, really," Siris said with a grin. "Some people call it Ether. It replenishes lost magic power. Not sure how much it'll help you, but it's worth a shot." Siris proceeded to instruct him as to how to consume the liquid; Harsemhin quickly followed these directions, taking a single drop from the vial's cork. He handed it back to Siris, who put it back into the bag. Harsemhin nodded slowly.

"Thank you," Harsemhin said.

"No problem," grinned Siris.

He turned his head, pretending to look around, and set his eyes on Luna once again. He sighed and let out a short "Hm." before turning back to Harsemhin.

"When this is all over," Siris said, "I'm going to need a lot of serious therapy. Look at my eye twitch!"

Harsemhin raised an eyebrow.

Down below in the cabin, Chartreuse walked through wooden corridors of the ship, admiring the builder's handiwork. The SS Thed was built in a similar fashion to the Narcy III, but a major difference was an intricate network of pipes which flowed throughout the ship. He grinned as he stared at the open mouth of a single pipe, briefly entertaining the thought of a shipwide game of Marco Polo.

It was then that Narcy thoughts drifted into his mind briefly, signaling that she was close by. Sure enough, Chartreuse opened the door on his left to see Narcy resting languidly on an aging couch, her arm tossed over the back as she stared ahead into nothingness.

"What happened to Paula and Poo?" Chartreuse said, alerting her to his presence as he sat down next to her.

"They're getting dressed in two rooms down the hall. We found some clothing that the cabin boys used to wear with the former ship owner, and after that I allowed them to revive themselves. It should only be a few moments more before they go to visit Ness and Jeff."

"Oh..." Chartreuse said softly, glancing forward. Inside, he was slowly building up the courage to ask Narcy a question, but he wasn't sure how to ask her. It wasn't long before Narcy noticed that Chartreuse was clearly nervous about something, and although she wasn't sure of what it was, she put her hand over his comfortingly.

"Chartreuse, what's wrong?" She asked, staring up at him. Chartreuse gulped slightly, screwing up his remaining nerve.

"Narcy, earlier when you were looking at Talus, you said you were looking for a little happiness...what did you mean by that?"

Narcy blushed profusely, shutting her eyes briefly. "I always forget that you can read thoughts...Well, I suppose that what I meant when I thought that was that I've always wanted someone to care for me, to care about me. Both my parents had died by the time I was six, leaving me to fend for myself. I told you before that I didn't mind doing it, and I really didn't, but it's hard to keep going when there's no one in your corner to support you. The only thing I ever had to keep me safe was my gun, but it's just a weapon, nothing more. I wish I had even one person out there who loved me-"

Chartreuse put his hand on Narcy's arm softly, staring into her eyes. Jade met magenta in a moment which seemed to transcend time and space, cutting out the rest of the world.

"Narcy, I love you." Narcy's eyes widened briefly, but she shut them again as she felt Chartreuse's mouth brush up against her own.

-----

Walking through the cargo hold some time later, Christina was becoming increasingly despondent in regards to her search for aid for the group. She wandered the halls aimlessly, checking into random rooms for anything that could be helpful. Although she came across the occasional sealed door, most of the entryways were left wide open, so it was a surprise to her when she came across a door that had been locked tightly.

Jiggling the handle slightly, Christina was just about to give up when she noticed that this particular door, like several others of its kind, had a round window near the top. By standing on her toes, she was able to see inside the room almost perfectly.

It only took her a single glance to quickly drop back down to her heels, a bright red blush covering her cheeks. Taking care to be extra quiet, she walked away from the cabin as quickly and discreetly as she could.

-----

"Maybe it's just me, but I think we're getting closer to the source of that light," Vincent said, leaning hand on the wheel of the ship. Dan nodded, gazing out into the horizon.

"You're right, it does seem like it's getting closer." Just then, Dan saw Christina out of the corner of his eye.

"Ch

ristina, did you find anything of interest?" He asked, gaining her attention.

"No...Nothing particularly interesting." Dan noticed that Christina hesitated briefly when she said this, but he decided that it was probably nothing.

"Anyway, I'm going to keep looking. I just wanted to see how we were progressing."

"We're doing quite well, actually," Vincent said, and then paused briefly to look up at the raven sky. "Well, as well as the circumstances permit."

"Alright then, I'm going back up below deck. Paula and Poo should be up shortly." So saying, Christina headed back down the stairs and below deck. Once she was gone, Vincent winked at Dan slyly.

"Did you notice her falter a little when we asked if she had seen anything interesting?

"Yeah, but I'm sure it didn't mean anything," Dan said slowly, trying to guess where Vincent was going.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but what would you like to bet that she caught a glimpse of Prince Poo back in his human form while he was...changing? Rumor has it he was quite the catch back in Dalaam!"

Dan laughed slightly. "Yeah, you're probably right. After all, who wouldn't like a prince?"

At the bottom of the stairs, Christina didn't know whether to sigh with relief or to burst out laughing.

"Arrgh."

Jack pulled himself off the deck, much worse for wear having just weathered a direct attack from Raltise. He couldn't tell if he was quite alive or dead, but since he was capable of moving, he decided on the former. Man, did he ever need a drink...

He half-walked, half-staggered over to the railing, where Dan and Vincent were talking. "You guys got anything to drink?"

Vincent stared, wide-eyed. Dan managed to stutter out something along the lines of "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay. Must be the Spanish Inquisition of Drinking," Jack muttered with annoyance. "No. I am not okay. I need something to drink. Near-death experiences make me thirsty."

Dan passed Jack a white plastic bottle. It had a pull-up-two-way-nozzle-drinking-thingy which Jack ignored as he pulled the whole cap off and chugged the liquid. He then spat it over the side. "Geez, what is this?" he asked, peering into the bottle.

"It's water," Vincent informed him with a worried expression.

"Gah." Jack tossed the bottle into the ocean. "I'm goin' for something harder."

He wandered down into the lower deck, where he ran into Christina. "Where's the storage place?" he asked her tersely.

"This way, then down the stairs," she said, pointing. Her face carried the same shock that Vincent's and Dan's had.

On his way to the storage room, Jack tried to check himself in a window. The first one he tried was fogged up; the second was right next to a light and therefore too bright to provide a reflection. Then, to Jack's chagrin, there was a mirror next to the stairs.

He took a look.

"Wow..." No wonder everyone was shocked. He looked like a darn burn victim. His cheeks were flaking and there were blisters dotted around his forehead. Some of his hair was turning black at the ends. Oddly enough, though, he didn't feel itchy at all. And his suit was pristine.

He needed that drink more than ever. Down he went, into the storage area. The first few boxes he opened had nothing but currant juice, but a careful search soon yielded something called "Pirate's Choice Grog (9% vol.)" Jack shrugged, opened up a bottle, and took a swig. Hmm, not bad. He dropped a few more bottles into his suit for later and made his way back to the deck, where he sat quietly in a darkened corner, watching the others.

As he sat, he thought for a bit. Raltise had called that gun "the path of light" or something like that, hadn't he? And he, Jack Flash, was the one who'd shown that woman where it was. Wasn't that something. He began to chuckle to himself.

"I will be the chaos that helps define the order," he whispered. He smiled. He took another sip.

The Regime.. it wasn't real. His villa probably wasn't real. The money more than anything probably wasn't real. This was probably a dream. He, Jack Flash, wasn't real at all. He took yet another sip, longer this time. The drink was real, that was all that mattered at the moment.

He sat there, sitting and thinking and drinking, until the bottle ran out. Then he reached for another one. Raltise wasn't there, so he must've done something right, and that called for celebration. Or something. He was feeling tired again.

Eventually the others found him, passed out with half of the second bottle left, lying there in the corner.

Yeah, so he'd spotted the gun. He'd hijacked some cars, sicced a giant mole on people, and maybe caused a slight wrinkle in an attempt to get someplace. So what?

Christina continued looking around the ship after running into Jack. My my, Jack didn't seem to be alright. It's really too bad that he threw his life away for an escape from reality. She continued wandering around the ship while thinking to herself. Chartreuse and Narcy... my goodness. I never would have thought... She started thinking about something else. I can't believe that my parents are dead. For real this time, too. Tears came to her eyes. I dont' know if I'll ever be able to recover from that... She eventually arrived at the ship's medical room. Well, I suppose that if I can't find any weapons, I'll help out by being a medic once again. She entered the medical room.

Entering the medical room shocked Christina. The gigantic hallways traversing the ship were quite amazing but this particular room was exquisite in design and functionality. The room itself was a pristine white; there wasn't a trace of dirt anywhere. The various tools used for treating wounds were in their holders; the place could even double as an operating room. It pretty much had everything a doctor would need to fix people up. She looked around the room once more; although the room was awesome in its simplicity, something seemed out of place.

Ah, there it is. That's what's wrong. Christina walked to the far wall. A small segment of the wall was discolored. She pressed it in and much to Christina's surprise a secret compartment opened up. She was shocked by its contents. Oh my goodness, who were the previous owners of this ship?!

Inside the secret compartment there were many crates. Inside of the crates there were various items that would make the coastguard confiscate the ship. My my. Not only is there that stuff but there are also weapons! But they're much too heavy for me to use... Christina left the secret room. She figured that it would be better if nobody knew about this particular compartment. Who knows what the others would do? Perhaps they may engage in activities that would ruin their good name.

Christina was about to leave the medical room when she remembered that she was going to be a medic. Oh right, I've gotta get supplies. She grabbed a bag out of the nearest cabinet and started throwing in bandages, compresses, and other items critical to any medic's kit.

Siris sighed, and walked down the creaking, deteriorating, stairs into the cabin below. Walking further down the dimly lit corridor, he heard footsteps walking slowly up behind him. Stopping, Siris turned around.

"Siris..." Luna said quietly, biting her lip. Siris smiled weakly, and looked at her.

"It's been a while since we last met, Luna." He said, watching her fumble with a piece of paper. "At least a year. You know, since the last Fourmoon incident. I thought I'd never see you again... or if I did, I never dreamed you'd ever recognize me... what happened?"

"I... I tried to.. to merge my consciousness from every universe in existence, so that..." she trailed off, but raised her voice to continue. "...so that I would recognize you again, if I ever saw you. But... but something went wrong. When I merged, there was a lot more than just two universes where major things happened. I hadn't expected it, so... there were glitches, and some things got changed. I became a different person, with a personality developed from circumstances after the merge. For a year, I lived a different life, with no knowledge of my last. Born again. My memories were blocked, for some reason, and my hair and eye color changed... and other little things. Like... I can roll my tongue now." Luna said, smiling timidly.

Siris moved to speak, but she held up her fist, then opened it, offering the object to Siris' vision. He stared at its crumpled, folded surface, the two words on the scrap of paper stirring memories from more than a year ago. Amo Te was all it said, written in latin, and with a shaky hand. "You still.. how did you get it if...?"

"After you gave it to me... I... I translated it. Back at school. I guess I still had it in my pocket, after that... but... I didn't have to look it up... to know what it said." Luna whispered, barely audible. "I-"

"Don't." Siris said, placing a finger to her lips. "Don't say anything at all. It's better that way." He sighed deeply, and looked at Luna. She nodded, but tears were brimming silently in her eyes, then rolling down her cheeks, laden with the stress of everything that had happened, everything in an infinite universes. "No..." he whispered, "don't cry..." Siris wrapped his arms around Luna, and held her close. He tried to swallow, but there was a lump developing in his throat. "Please don't cry..."

--------

Christina turned the corner with her new bag of medical supplies, making her way to the sick bay. Spotting Siris and Luna, she slipped back around the corner, and collapsed against the wall, a blush rising up to her face.

"What is this..." she whispered to herself, her face reddening rapidly, "...the love cruise?!"

-----

Skulryk looked around from where he had been resting. Most of the wounded were with him on the deck. Raltise's grand transformation had gone completely unrecorded and would remain unreported; Skulryk cursed himself for that, and for going up against Raltise in the first place. He had been in a great lot of pain earlier, but after being treated, he didn't feel as bad. He wiped some blood off himself then attempted to get up.

It was painful, and shortly after his attempt to stand, he fell back down to the ground again. He wasn't ready for that. Trying again, with the support of the ship's mast, he managed to stand up.

Feeling something pressing against his side, he reached into his jacket pocket to see what it was. He found it to be a small photo camera. "Well, this is better than nothing, I guess..." It really was very good; now Skulryk had something to capture the events on, even if it wasn't his video camera. He began to get pictures of the deck, showing the injured and fatigued. He frowned upon seeing Siris and Luna through the viewfinder, then shrugged as he put his camera away. His leg hurt, but he limped to the other wounded.

The first he came to was Lucky. "Hey, are you alright?" Skulryk said.

Lucky was bleeding quite a bit. "Hey, Skul. Ah dunno how I am. Hope I can make it through this... Want to do one more show..." He looked in pretty bad shape. Looking around, Skulryk had no real way of telling how anyone was, and ended up being fairly useless there.

Dealing with his injuries, Skulryk made his way below deck. As he descended the stairs, he ran into Christina, who had her arms full of medical equipment.

"Hey," Skulryk said. "I figure I'm well enough to help out the others. Where's all the medical supplies?"

Christina frowned, but pointed down the hall. "You can find some stuff down the hall. It's the third door on the right; you should be able to find it, as it's the cleanest room in the ship. Make sure you don't go anywhere else down here, and, uh... make sure you hurry back with those supplies." She figured the less people who knew about the secret compartment, the better. "You might also want to get a few stuff for yourself." she added, seeing Skulryk's condition.

Skulryk continued down the hall, heading towards the medical room. He was able to find the supplies he needed, then glancing in the mirror he noticed he didn't look too good at all. He washed himself up, which did clear away a lot of blood on his face and body, and put some gauze over some open wounds. He really had to admit he didn't look very good, but he had been hit pretty hard. He grabbed the medical supplies he had and went outside. He thought he heard some noise as he left the medical room, but passed it off as the ship moving back and forth on the waves, then ran back to the deck to help the rest of the injured.

Jack got up slowly, not sure how long he'd been out. "Ugh...what a headache." He could hear shouting out the porthole, although it was faint. Jack pulled himself to his feet and, held up by the handrails, out the door and onto the deck.

"Yeah?"

"It's me, Philo! The Japs thought they'd shot me down, but you'll have to do more than blow my plane up to take out Philo D. Pilot!" A crazy looking man in an inflatable raft was following the ship. He was wearing a disheveled pilot's uniform and a cap with some wet, sagging plush wings. He continued to speak. "Is dat kid with the plastic wings here? I gotta talk to him!"

Dan, who had been passing the area, quickly fell to the ground and, obviously frightened, threw Jack the wings which to that point had been pinned to his shirt. Jack put them on, not knowing the reason why.

"Oh, it's you!"

"Huh?"

"You know those yens that crazy kid gave me? Well, the exchange rate just went crazy! I's a millionaire, and I got me a nice new plane, too! The thing is, I needs me a copilot! You ever flewed a plane before?"

"No..." Jack held his head.

"Great! Come with me to Japantown! We can live a life of luxury shuttling people to the mainland in my snazzy new Boeing 666! They haven't even banned me from obtaining a license there!"

Jack weighed the positives against the negatives. No one knew who he was, either. "Okay... I guess."

"Great! Just hop into the lifeboat!"

Although it was closer to falling over the deck due to his blood-alcohol level, he landed into the lifeboat and headed towards Summers Airport. Suddenly, in a fleeting glimpse of sobriety, Jack muttered to himself: "Boeing...666?"