Not a single sunlight was seen below the underground prison on planet Walderan. Only giant rocks, boulders, and mud were seen. Roots and a special kind of grass weed could grow between boulders and stone paths, which Captain Hawk and his colleagues were forced to take. Guards from King Ashton's castle grabbed on them roughly to guide them down. General Skylar and two of his crew members were dragged down here as well. Seemed like the rest of Skylar's crew were all on board their spaceship and fled by now together with the Blackcrow- and the Redcloud crew.
Their spacesuits got filthy the more the guards forcefully pushed them to walk faster. The underground prison was huge. Starla, a young rose-colored bean, widened her visor in veneration. But sudden deep growling came from out a direction behind the bean once they reached the prison cells.
Very old prison cells.
Starla assumed they were very old and so was the person inside the cell as well, who began to growl as he saw the new prisoners coming along his grid. The old bean's visor luminous glowed in an evil, bright green tone and stared at the young one. For a second, froze Starla and couldn't walk forward. The guard who guided her behind her pushed her harshly as he noticed that she had stopped walking.
Starla gasped once she felt that brutal push and came back to the realization that she had to walk. Her visor, however, was concentrated as she looked at the old bean inside that cell. Never had she seen such an old bean before. He must be older than Captain Pitch... way older. That stranger wasn't the only one who was caught down here. Several others were trapped, too. Criminals, actual criminals, Starla was assuming in her mind.
After they passed a few more prison cells, they opened two more guards, which were standing in front of the cell's entrance, the grids. With one strong move, Hawk and his colleagues were thrown inside the empty prison cell. Skylar and Captain Hawk got one cell each. Starla was together with her dad inside one, and so were General Skylar with two of his crew members in a separate cell in the opposite direction.
"Urgh!" It was General Skylar who rushed over to the grid, in total frustration and grabbed on to them strongly, only to say the following: "Just wait until Lord Pitch finds out what you guys are doing with us!"
"Save it for another time, General", one of the guards meant. Not impressed by what he just said. "Your threats won't have an impact on us. We're well trained for this duty."
A female crew member from Skylar, who stood behind him, laid a hand on the general's shoulder. She hoped to calm him with the gentle touch and see that General Skylar calmed down. He went deeper inside the cell, until he noticed a muddy, dirty bench in the corner, where he could sit. With a frustrated sigh, sat the general down.
Skylar's reaction surprised Captain Hawk, yet he could understand his frustration. Like he was. Never did Hawk imagine that Ashton would turn against them. He always thought his friend was over that traumatic event after all those years had passed, but it looked like he was still in sorrow and grief. The cold, sticky air went inside their lungs, and Starla got colder. It was dark, too. Darker than the surface. Lanterns were hanging evenly on the muddy walls. Some parts of the prison were decorated like a mining area.
Before Starla could ask her father what they should do now, Skylar raised his voice within the shadows again to ask Hawk one question: "Hawk, what exactly did happen inside the castle?"
Captain Hawk swallowed nervously.
"We might have ended up with a conversation, which my friend didn't take well."
"How great. That's very professional of you, Captain Hawk." That's all the general could say in response.
"There might be a bigger reason behind it, General." A female voice, the same bean who calmed the general down earlier, involved herself.
"There is", Hawk admitted, and looked dreadfully exhausted to the ground. "General, do you possibly remember a certain planet called Jenaja?"
"Jenaja? It's been years since I last heard the name, I must admit. As far as I remember, it got destroyed in one of your..." One single thought made the general realize without saying anything further, what might have happened. He sighed again once he came to that realization and rubbed his forehead to relieve his disbelief. "... that's why King Ashton got out of hand. You reminded him about the mission."
"Almost. We called Captain Pitch since Queen Shalona became curious about who he was, so we reached out to him. As the call went on, Saros jumped into Pitch's office unexpectedly, and the king recognized him. And then... perhaps you can imagine what happened." Captain Hawk explained quickly to the general.
"I can imagine it, yes. And that's enough explanation to fill my last puzzle pieces inside my mind." The experienced general meant, still frustrated about the fact, that they got arrested.
"It might be an idea to try to call Captain Pitch for help, General", The other male member from General's Skylar crew. "I don't want to be trapped here for nothing."
"Lennon, we're hundreds of meters under the surface, I don't believe we have enough connection down here to contact our Lord to help us." Skylar shared his knowledge. The purple captain inside the other cell had to nod in agreement. He had a point. They couldn't contact anyone. All they could do was hope that the others, who went back to the space station, would get the idea to contact Captain Pitch. Whilst they waited impatiently, an uncomfortable feeling arose inside Starla's veins, which spread across her whole, inexperienced body...
The storm still raged on on planet Aella as time passed by. The sun behind the storm clouds went down, and it became night.
After their conversation had ended, I invited Rowan's wife Lydia Lord Pitch for dinner. He must have been very hungry. That was all Lydia thought of and gave him a bit more on his plate than expected. Some veggies which grew behind their garden, special kinds of noodles and Gregu, of course. Gregu could be compared with chickens. However, Pitch's hunger was indeed huge. As he finished his meal, he even asked for a second plate. Lydia couldn't deny it, although it was questionable why their ruler had such a big appetite as if he wouldn't get enough goods at their place. Usually, she always thought that they were rich in food and everything they needed for a living.
It didn't take too long until the family finished their dinner and went to bed. Our exhausted lord had a full stomach now. Lydia guided him to an empty old room, where he could sleep overnight. Candles blew on the walls they took, and Rowan's wife turned them off with her fingers once she passed them by.
In his corner of Pitch's visor, he followed the leader Lydia walking downstairs. Before she was halfway gone, Pitch raised his deep, exhausted voice up: "The meal was great. Thank you for inviting me."
Lydia's legs stopped and froze as he said it. That unexpected compliment from Lord Pitch warmed her heart. She didn't dare to look around, as she talked and answered back. "It's a simple family recipe, Lord Pitch. But I'm glad you enjoyed your meal. It's late, you look exhausted."
"I probably do, don't I?" The lord openly admitted and gained more confidence and safety the more he spent his time with Corentin's family.
"Goodnight, Lord Pitch." Lydia ended their conversation and went without expecting an answer from him back downstairs to the living room.
Of course, Pitch couldn't deny following her silently with his visor until she was fully gone, out of sight. It was an old wooden door which Pitch was standing in front of now and gazed at it, lost in thoughts for a little while. His cracked visor moved down to the door handle. Gold, the door handle looked golden. Secretly, in doubt, that it was real gold, moved Pitch his black hand up to the door handle and opened it.
Slowly.
The door made cracking sounds as he went in. Dust was seen within the air. Very old furniture decorated the simple shaped room, which was made of wood as well. The rain was loudly pouring against the windows. A burning smell reached Pitch's nose as if it had hit fire recently. Little of a breeze was breezing on Captain Pitch's clothes and aroused his attention. As he looked around, he noticed a black bean in one window, which was slightly open. Some rain drops also went inside the room on that spot. Exhausted, stepped Pitch nearer to the window to close it. Once the window was closed, Pitch then felt a familiar aura once more.
"You're inside Corentin's old room, Lord Pitch", an unexpected old voice was heard behind him. The old granny heard him entering her husband's old room and decided to have another small chat with him before she went to sleep. "Everything in here once belonged to my husband."
That was the reason why Pitch felt that familiar aura again. It should have been obvious. Lord Pitch wasn't scared by the granny's sudden appearance, nor was he surprised to hear that this room was once Admiral Cogentin's sleeping room. The black bean turned around and looked down at the old granny. She had a walking stick with her.
"Perhaps, if you're already here", the old lady continued. "You might want to take a look over there." With her other hand, pointed the old bean at an old shelf, a wooden shelf which had a glass door. The lightning outside brightened the shelf a bit up, and all Pitch could see were portraits inside it and some books.
Silently, he toddled over to the shelf with curiosity. The closer he went to the shelf, the more he could see. Even the granny went together with Pitch to the shelf, only to open it for him.
"Portraits and books." Whispered Pitch and the granny nodded.
"Yes, portraits and books", The old bean agreed and let Pitch explore the shelf by himself.
A lot of portraits and books were standing inside the shelf. The images showed a younger Corentin, some memories from his childhood up to the age when he first met his wife. But there was one certain image, which Pitch was confused about and pointed at the unknown stranger, who was proudly holding the young green admiral from the past.
"Was this... Corentin's father?" Pitch then asked. There was a blue-grey toned bean showing on it.
"You'd be surprised", She then began. "But he wasn't his dad. He was his idol, Admiral Palikan. A brave one, for sure."
Now, Pitch was even more confused. Never had he heard of someone named Admiral Palikan before. Rowan's mother noticed Pitch's confusion on his facial expression quickly and relieved his irritation as she explained: "Admiral Palikan was the leader of a huge space station, from many years ago. He and his crew went on wild adventures, traveled through space and even time. Through obstacles none other could have survived from. Courage was what made Admiral Palikan an idol to many, including Corentin. Over time, his own interest and desire to be as successful as his idol grew immensely."
"And that's why Admiral Corentin left you and his family?" Pitch said out loud and interrupted the storytelling.
"Corentin dreamed of becoming like Admiral Palikan, to be successful like him." She kept talking and Pitch just simply couldn't believe it. "But my husband noticed quickly that his family duties held him back from starting his dream. He got riled up a lot of times, moody and saddened. Frustrated. I began to worry a lot about him as he started to lock himself up in his room, out of this world. But never would I have imagined what would happen as we confronted each other about the situation. His emotions, as I mentioned about our family, arose quickly and anger was all that was leading him inside his mind and the words he said and yelled. Past words of our argument keep echoing in my mind today. I clearly remember him saying:
'Does my family care about my dreams and desires? Do they? Do you care about my dreams and wishes, Marigelle? I've been stuck here on this planet since my birth. I was always curious what would be hidden beneath the stars in the sky, which we see at night. To explore... to see new things! I hoped my family would support me and my dreams, but I can clearly see you do not care!'
He slammed the door in front of me after he was done with his speech. It was late. We slept in separate beds that night. In sorrow and mental heartache, I went back to bed to sleep. As the morning arrived, I went to the kitchen like I always did in the hope he'd calm down by now and checked on him carefully after I put down pancakes for my husband on the kitchen table. But as I stood in front of the door, I noticed that the door was slightly open. I opened the door carefully only to realize that my husband was nowhere to be seen. And I have never heard anything from him back since then."
A bright lightning strike followed by a very loud thunder made Pitch almost overhear the granny's last words from her side of the story. His own heart became heavy, knowing now about the full story of what happened to them. Pitch himself was lost with words and needed some time to process it.
"Corentin was like a father to me", Then, Pitch made up his mind to talk a little bit about what he experienced with him. It was just fair to let her know what he did in these past years before he died.
"He found me, rescued me after my own father died within an accident. I only remember in my younger years, that he worked for my father. I was only 7, as the accident happened. He was the one who taught me a lot about life, how things worked around the galaxy..." Flashbacks from the past popped up inside Pitch's mind and his broken visor got heavier the more he talked. It was almost closed as he went on with talking. "All I've left from him as a memory, before he passed away, is a drawing I carry with me."
With very slow movements took Captain Pitch a crumpled letter out of his jacket pocket. He opened it, a paper piece, which was torn apart in half and gave it gently to the granny. She saw the drawing Pitch did as he was younger. The same old drawing, where Corentin and a younger Pitch were seen on it. Once she read what was standing there, she then understood how much of a father figure Corentin was for their lord and couldn't hold back a tear. On the drawing was written the following:
You might not be my real dad, but I see you as one. Thanks for taking care of me. I love you. ~ Pitch.
"Keep it, Lord Pitch. Treasure it." Marigelle meant she was hiding her sorrow and grief about her husband in her voice and gave the drawing pieces back to him. After she did, she walked towards the room's door. She looked exhausted and sleepy. "Get yourself some well-deserved rest, now. You must be tired as well, Pitch. Goodnight."
It was clear enough for Captain Pitch to understand that she had enough to talk about this and fled out of this conversation quickly with the excuse of going to sleep. To be fair, Pitch was indeed fatigued. Perhaps tomorrow could be a better day. Perhaps tomorrow, the raging storm outside will cool down as well. When everyone got their needed rest...