You had no idea what was going on. All you knew was that somehow, these weird pod things were supposed to be.. regenerating their parents somehow?
And this.. Omen thing had taken the parts they need to regenerate them from? This was so confusing-
"Intruder Alert: Tarrons Detected", a robotic voice echoed throughout the room.
You frowned, and looked over at Krel.
"Isn't this your house- ship- thing?"
"It sounds like Omen got to Mother, too.."
Wait what- that's their Mom?
"More reason to find Mama and Papa's cores and get out of this ship."
But then who are- Oh gods, I give up.
As Aja finished her sentence the voice came back over the speakers.
"Oh, you won't be getting out of here.", it said in a condescending tone.
Why is this house so freaky- What had you gotten yourself into-
The two ignored it, uncaring about how freaking scary an ominous disembodied voice is.
"Krel, you find a way to override Mother's systems so we can escape, and I'll get Mamma and Papa back from Omen."
There was no way Aja could defeat whatever this was by herself.
"I'll come with you."
She sighed and put a hand on your shoulder, looking you dead in the eye, a serious tone in her voice.
"No. You stay here, and keep my brother safe."
You paused for a moment.
"I will."
-
"Self destruct in five Mecrons."
You panicked internally while Krel fiddled with the large battery-looking thing.
"That's not a good thing, right? Self destruct is never a good thing-"
"No, I would think not.", he muttered quietly, focused intently on his work.
He pulled a weird-cellphone looking thing out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
You could sort of hear Aja yelling through it.
"We heard! Still working on disabling Mother! (Y/n), can you hold this?"
"Is it radioactive?"
"Only mildly, you'll be fine."
You were about to protest when another alert sounded around you.
"Four Mecrons until Mass Nuclearization."
So that might be a little more scary than self destruct.
Aja said something through the device and Krel rolled his eyes.
"No, I was just thinking of taking a nap."
He reached inside and tried to pull out a circuit.
"Oh, that would never work.", the voice chuckled.
He reached for another and the voice laughed.
"Ha! That just tickles."
He pulled one out and it shocked him, causing it to clatter to the ground.
"You deprogrammed the ice-maker.", it said condescendingly.
Krel made an irritated face.
"Don't Mother me, Mother."
"Blanks Activated. Three Mekrons to Self Destruct."
Krel chucks a metal plate behind him and the clanging startles you.
"And they called you a genius on Akaridion 5- This dumpheap of humans must be rubbing off on you."
"Hey-"
-
Techno music blared from the ceiling, and a grinning Krel descended on a large wire.
"DJ Kleb, taking control of our mothership!"
You get a good look at Omen for the first time. It's a terrifyingly well designed robot with glowing red accents. If it wasn't trying to kill you, you'd want one.
What the Colonel would do to get her hands on one of these..
As you think that, it launches itself towards Krel, and you spring into action, tackling it mid-air as Krel deactivates it.
The boy jumps down, laughing.
"You want to see it blow up?"
Aja races over.
"No, No! Mama and Papa's cores are inside!", she says, reaching inside a chest compartment inside the Omen.
She pulls out two glowing.. things and hugs them to her chest.
"Mama and Papa.. I have you. You're safe.."
She looks so happy and relieved.
It's hard to hate either of them even if you have plenty of justification.
They're just kids like you after all, you think, reaching out and laying a stony hand on Aja's shoulder.
She smiles a little up at you.
"Self destruct sequence suspended, rerouting audio-video feed."
What?
"Krel, what are you doing?", Aja asks as he holds up his phone in front of the three of them.
"Ringing back home."
-
Well that was heart-warming.
Jeez, Krel sure can give a speech.
But apparently, he can't charge his phone properly, because it died midway through.
Letting the Omen take control once again.
It laughs sinisterly.
"Your battery may be dead, but mine is not!"
It flings Krel back against a door, and you lunge at it, reaching to rip it's head off. It grabs ahold of your tail and slams you into the ground.
It pins Aja to the door with one of it's hands and continues to fend you off with the other, eventually throwing you across the floor to where Aja and Krel are.
Krel manages to free Aja.
"30 Sectons until Self Destruct."
"If we destroy Omen, we can stop the self destruct sequence."
"Well how do we stop Omen?", Krel asks as Aja deflects an energy bolt.
"I've been trying to figure that out!", she yells.
You dodge a laser and it reflects off Aja's shield and onto the wall, causing pieces to fall down into the massive spinning reactor beneath you.
You look at Aja and you can tell she know what you're thinking.
"I've got a plan. It's dangerous.", she says, looking back at Krel.
"How dangerous?"
"Just follow my lead."
As Aja deflects another laser to destabilize the ring above Omen, he realizes the plan and his eyes widen.
"10 Sektons till self destruct."
"If we don't get crushed, we'll be pulverized!"
"And we'll die if we don't!"
You lay a reassuring hand on Krel's arm as the scratchy, sinister voice echoes out from the Omen.
"There'll be no escape now!"
It fires another laser.
"Now, Krel!"
They deflect it together and it knocks out the final support, causing the ring to come crashing down.
The Omen flies above the falling debris, and Aja tries to hand the cores to Krel, clearly planning to go for the Omen.
She pushes of the platform, and launches herself forward and delivers a flying kick to it's abdomen, knocking it back just far enough that it gets caught under the debris and into the reactor.
"3"
The platform she lands on begins to fall away as she hangs from the edge now, legs dangling above the whirring blades.
"2"
She begins to slip and you and Krel lunge towards her, catching her hand just as she falls.
"1"
The reactor explodes out in a flash of blinding, superheated light filled with shrapnel, as the three of you lie on the platform.
-
As Morgana's Eternal Night slips away and the blue sky returns, you say goodbye to the Tarrons, as they clearly need some time to themselves.
You manage to find Jim eventually.
They're celebrating and you join in for a while, until Jim pulls you away from the group.
You know what he's going to say before he says it.
"You're leaving."
He pulls you into a tight hug.
"You know I don't want to. I have to. You can.. you can come with us if you want?"
You sigh.
"I can't. I have.. unfinished business in Arcadia, Jim. Stuff that I can't just run from."
He looks saddened and questioning but he just grins.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of solving all of Good Old Arcadia's mysteries."
"Guess I'll seeya 'round then Jimbo.", you smile sadly, giving a two finger salute before walking away into the forest.
As you start to follow your mental map to get home, you realize.
There's no home to go back to.
You sink down into the mossy ground of the dark woods and salty tears fall from your eyes.
----
Oh my goodness, I am so sorry for not updating in so long!
I have had the BIGGEST case of writer's block and have been super preoccupied with school-
Anyways, I have finally conquered the foul beast of procrastination and I hope you enjoy this (quite long) chapter!
<3 - Rio