Rising Shards

The last time Oka and I were caught in Laenie’s claws while she was in an Exa Cani rage felt like ages ago, even if it was only a few months. But so much had changed since then. For instance, last time Oka and I were being crushed by Laenie’s giant monster paws, our arms were free, and we had enough space to do a dual bite move that somehow used our fangs’ powers to neutralize her transformation. This time, our hands were very much not free, and even if we were able to do the dual bite move, Laenie was swinging us around so wildly I don’t think we’d be able to even shout out a countdown. I was terrified I was about to pass out from the spinning or what would happen if Laenie smashed our heads together.

Just as the dizziness started to get really bad, I felt a burst of wind, then Laenie smacking her chops. Her crushing grip loosened immediately, and once my head stopped spinning, I realized Aira had teleported over.

“There, there.” Aira said, patting Laenie with one hand. Her other hand held the tub of beets Oka had brought, which was now empty. Laenie slumped over, falling asleep as she went back to the small girl we knew her best as.

“Thanks, Aira,” Oka wheezed. “Knew those…beets would come in handy.”

“Yeah…” Aira sniffed again. She wiped a tear. “I don’t know if Laenie will like my choice, but I’ve decided. I would like to come home with you guys.”

“Right,” I said. “Once we get Kalei…wait!”

“What is it?” Oka asked.

“Aira, if you’re part of this, you know where Kalei is!” I said. “We can get this all wrapped up quickly!”

“I wasn’t there for the Kalei taking part,” Aira said. “I was minding my own business at school when I got called over by Ovie, and then when we met up Laenie had a knocked-out Kalei in her big ol’ hands and we left immediately. To be honest, I barely know what’s going on anymore.”

“Ovie…” I said. “So who’s all part of this? Same group as the one…when you…” I wanted to say ‘when we all met in that bizarre void station and I got beast tendency’d.’ But it hurt to talk from all the running from Laenie and rib smashening by Laenie, and it was still hard to talk about that night with my parents.

“Yeah.” Aira said.

“Are my parents part of this?” I asked.

“No, we haven’t talked to them since we split up at Vita Coa…” Aira said. “At least I haven't. This one’s Ovie's. Well, her and 09.”

“09…” Oka said. She scowled and crossed her arms. “What the frick is wrong with her? First she hurts my girlfriend, now she like kidnaps one of my best friends, too? Is this a kidnapping? Void-napping?”

“Um, I could explain 09’s…motivation. But it might take a while.” Aira said.

“Maybe we should focus on getting Kalei back safe first,” I said. “Do you know where she is right now? Or what they’re even doing with her?”

“Do you remember that machine your parents used to get around in the void?” Aira asked.

“Unfortunately.” I said. The console my father proudly showed me, that I also was pretty sure was the one Stella said she broke to stop my parents from taking us into the void permanently.

“Well, Ovie and 09 got their hands on one,” Aira said. “I don’t think it’s the same one, it looks more like a wet vacuum. But they think if they have Kalei they can zip right to where they want to go.”

“To Laenie’s brother, right?” Oka said. “I think I’m pretty decently well versed in this void stuff, but how the butt could having Kalei and a void travel machine lead them to Laenie’s brother? Doesn’t there need to be some kind of connection between people if they’re trying something like that?”

“I don’t…” Aira said. “Know. But Ovie’s more interested in getting—"

The ground shook. I whipped around to see a giant beam shot out into the night sky, looking like a shooting star came up from the ground.

Diast called in on our wristbands immediately.

“Hey, are you guys good?” Diast asked.

“Yeah, we got Laenie, er,” I said. “Knocked out, I think. Do we just leave her here? She slept through that big laser thing.”

Aira scooped up the still sleeping Laenie and carried her backpack style.

“Aira’s here too!” Oka said. “She’s coming home with us!”

“Good work,” Diast said. “No debris hit you from that…that beam deal there?”

“What the heck was that?” I asked.

“Yeah, what is this, the dénouement to the famed Shark Era musical ‘Seventeen Days with Your Koala That I’d Rather Forget?’” Oka said. “Eh? Anyone?”

“Um…” Aira said. She shrugged.

“Sorry, I don’t know that one.” I said.

“I really need to get you caught up on some classics,” Oka said, blushing mainly at her bit not landing. “It…ended on…there was a big…laser…”

“I got it,” Lillia said over the call. “Love it.”

“Thank you!” Oka said. “Anyways, sorry. This is probably a serious…probably not the best times for goofs and references.”

“I think it’s the perfect time for them.” Lillia said.

“Right, musical references aside,” Diast said. “Can you head to the spot I’m pinging your way? We’re regrouping because things maybe just got a little stupider.”

We followed the path set by Diast’s waypoint, wandering past a hearty amount of wrecked Wildfire Hearts robots on the way. We ended up at a barn-like building. Caya and Mahina were hard at work smacking the metal entryway doors in, alternating between their powers with Caya blasting her energy bolts at the door and Mahina punching water blasts at it. No one looked out of sorts among the students. Well, Marmalade looked a bit anxious, but I got it. I wasn’t sure if she’d ever been on a void trip like this before.

“Alas, it seems our seventeenth day has come and went.” Lillia said.

“Uh…” I said.

“That’s from Seventeen Days with Your Koala,” Oka explained.

“Ah,” I said, glad Oka and Lillia had each other to bounce theater references off of. “Is Kalei in there?” I asked Diast.

“Well…we think they just took off.” Diast said. “They have a void traversal device, but if we can get in this barn quick enough, we can trace them to where they’re headed next. I think it’s sealed with some kind of charm, but brute force is always worth a shot in cases like this.”

“That gives me a great idea!” Mahina said as she gave up on water blasts and just tried kicking the door down. “If it’s charmed!” Another firm kick. “Then it’s only blocked against Cani powers, right?” Caya gave a firm shoulder tackle, and the door started to buckle. The two alternating powerful strikes eventually caved the door in, and the two rushed inside. I started running after, but froze in place, feeling Diast’s glare on me.

“Well, you stopped, so good,” Diast said. “Do we need to go over the rules again?”

“I’m not supposed to rush into things in the void.” I said, not liking being scolded by Diast in front of everyone.

“Especially if we don’t have the all clear,” Diast said. “Caya! You good in there?”

“Clear,” Caya said.

Those of us that wanted to investigate the barn followed Diast in, while the rest waited outside. I wasn’t sure if either was really safer, but at least I was learning from my past mistakes if I didn’t immediately rush into danger.