The Celestial Way

Chapter 25.2 - The Way of Love

Shortly afterward Magus, Lylana, Glawlrhain, and Stamat departed for the H'raal sphereship to timeshift it and then accelerate it to lightspeed on collision course with Terra Para. Nobody who remained on Ouroboros had prior experience with operating a dreadnought, yet between Kiana, Zuckeroff, Bernard, Zeromon, and a few other Radiant Knights who had participated in astral missions before, there was enough shared knowledge on board to make-do under the circumstances, especially with assistance from Yeoman Cloud.

Within minutes after Airo's rousing speech, Ouroboros fired its main drives and headed at full speed toward Terra Para. However, even with maximum acceleration and Æther assistance, the journey would last several hours. Onboard maintenance drones were dispatched to clear the dead from needed critical sections and people were assigned into two groups – those who'd remain aboard as crew and those who'd be in the escort squadron.

With those tasks done, there was nothing else to do but wait for time to pass.

Airo and Veralla were together amidst a cluster of communication stations on one of the bridge's elevated platforms, where they could have some privacy. He was still dismayed at the string of recent events. Mere days ago everything seemed all right – the war, the future, his own life. And then the world had come crashing down in every way imaginable. Victory was replaced with sheer defeat. A powerful ally had turned into a terrifying enemy. Millions had died, their souls defiled and gone.

He himself had been dead. Worse, he had been erased from reality. He shuddered at the thought. Under any other circumstances, he'd never believe that fact, or would've been paralyzed with existential fear whether his resurrection was true or he was in some illusory afterlife. Yet as miraculously as it sounds, he not only had died, but he had been returned to life by Veralla. Only because it had been her who saved him he believed it happened, and found at the same time enough strength to overcome the dread arising from such a harrowing nightmare.

He turned, seeking her eyes, and she craned her neck, meeting his gaze. He sat on the edge of a rounded floor casing, and she sat on her haunches next to him, her wing wrapped around his shoulders. He smiled and she returned the gesture with a happy hrrr. They both looked at the bridge at large.

Zuckeroff was in the process of boasting his academical knowledge of astral combat, while both Kiana and Cloud corrected him at every other sentence. Kiana had quickly gotten the hang of Ouroboros' systems and when she wasn't busy caring for Nightsong she was giving a multitude of orders to make the others familiar with their stations. It looked amusing, having a slender girl standing at the command helm of a titanic starship, bossing around heavily armored soldiers, futuristic career heroes, and dragons.

"Kiana better not get used to the idea of being in command," Airo remarked in a pensive tone. "Otherwise the rest of us will never hear the end of it."

"I think she is doing fine," Veralla objected lightly.

"Well, she is," he agreed. "I was just joking."

"Oh."

In truth, she would make a fine starship captain, he added privately to himself, watching as Kiana grew more and more confident with each instruction. Merely a couple of hours had passed and already she looked like someone who had done this for years. It was possible her performance was just a byproduct from the hyperfocus of a life-or-death situation, yet it was impressive nonetheless.

Oh, yes, I think the same, too!

"What!?" Airo nearly jumped. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Veralla asked with mild alarm.

"There was this... warm wave... and then I felt you... speaking in my mind!"

"Oh," she said, inclining her snout in apology. "Should I have not done so? I thought you simply wanted to change to non-verbal talking."