Déjà Vu
The next day. 5:30a.m.
Lilli: Get up!
Kay: Mmmhh.
Jake: Ten more-
Lilli: Okay
~~~~~
6:25a.m.
The boys came downstairs groaning with aches and pains.
Mira: What did you do to them?
Lilli: I woke them up.
Mira laughs at Lilli's remark.
Mira: ...Good morning boys, I made breakfast.
Jake: Morning.
Kay: Good morning, you made breakfast? What happened to Mrs. Lisa?
Mira: It's the Bakers day off, so I figured I'd do them a favor and let them sleep in.
Jake: You're still in pajamas. Are you not going to school today?
Mira: Yea, I think it's best that I don't.
Jake: Hey, If she could do it, I should be able to do it too.
Lilli: Oh my goodness you're such a baby.
Jake: I'm serious though.
Lilli: Unlike her we don't have a choice.
Jake: We should have a choice...
Kay: Mira.
Mira: Yes?
Kay: Did you sleep okay?
Mira: Yes I did, thank you.
Lilli: ...Stop complaining.
Jake: Mira, do you see what we have to put up with?
Lilli: Oh please, it's the other way around...Most of the time he doesn't even care, he just complains to get on my ner-
Lilli's eyes widen and she starts to hyperventilate.
Mira: L-Lilli? W-What's wrong?
The boys eyes widen as well. Through the kitchen window they notice the sky getting darker. Lilli drops her bags and rushes outside, the boys following after her.
Mira: Wait! W-What's going on?!
Jake: Mira stay inside!
Mira: O-Okay.
The three make it outside to check the sky, and there it was. The same black spaceship that had appeared on Galatalia. Lilli's bracelet vibrates and rings before revealing Cece's voice.
Cece: Lilli, we tried communicating with this ship multiple times and failed. From our guesses alone we can assume it isn't friendly-
Lilli: I-It's the same ship that was on our planet.
Cece: Listen! We need you to calm down and stay inside. We're already on the w-
Suddenly a beam of light appear in front of the kids. From the beam emerges a man and a woman.
Cece: Lilli! Lilli!...
...
Woman: Hmmm...I should've known he would send you here.
Man: Let's hurry this up, Kori.
Kay: Kori?
Lilli: K-Kayleb.
Kay: What?
Lilli: ...That's your mom.
Kori: ...Hello baby!
Kay: M-My mom?! What! But she's dead! Isn't she?
Kori: Is that what your father told you?
Man: Who cares. Let's just get this over with.
Kori: Calm down Ellis, look how scared they are...You three must be so confused as to what's going on. But don't worry, any and all questions you may have will be answered on the ship.
Lilli: W-We're not going anywhere with you!
Kori: ...Really? Please don't make this difficult...Jaku'o, don't you want to see your mother?
Jake: She's alive?
Kori: Of course she is! She's right up there!
She points to the ship.
Kori: Come on, let's go.
Lilli: I said, we're not going anywhere!
Ellis: She wasn't asking, kid.
Gerald, along with Lisa and Mira run outside the house.
Gerald: What is going on out here?! Mira told us there was something happening. What is all this?
Lilli: Mr. Gerald. Please go back inside!
Gerald: I can't do that while there are strangers out here...What do you want from us?!
Kori: We just want our children.
The beam of light crashes down once more. This time it was two little girls and one of them uses her ability to teleport over to Lilli and the others. The girls grab onto Lilli's clothes and seeing that, Gerald realizes the situation, walking up ahead and guarding the kids.
Ellis: Tsk...What are they doing up there?!
Kori: ...This is none of your business old man. Step aside and I can assure you that you won't get hurt.
Gerald: I will not! These children aren't going anywhere with you!
Kori: ...Are you really going to sacrifice your life for nothing?
Lilli: Mr. Gerald, listen to her and go back inside, please!
Gerald: I'm afraid I can't do that Lilli, I will not just stand by and watch as these people take you away!
Kori: How touching.
Kori raises her palm and fires a golden fireball towards Gerald. It strikes him and immediately his body combust into flames.
Lisa: Gerald! No!
Gerald screams in agony as he blackens from the flames. They watch as his skin crackles, burst, and peel from his flesh and bones. Kayleb, stunned, snaps back into his senses and runs over to Gerald to try to distinguish the flames.
Kay: Ow! I can't get rid of it! It's too hot!
Kori: Too hot? You're telling me you can't diminish that? Geez, your father is still pathetic as ever.
Ellis: Enough of this! There's no point in standing here and waiting for them to come to us.
Ellis begins his approach towards the kids but suddenly stops. Both Ellis and Kori touch their heads as if they were in pain. Angered, he then turns around and walks back towards Kori.
Ellis: You've got to be kidding me!
Kori:
Kori snaps her fingers and the flames on Gerald vanish. The beam appears and the two disappear with the light. Once the ship starts to fly away, everyone frantically runs to Gerald's charred body.
Lisa: Gerald! Gerald!
Kay: I-I'm sorry Mrs. Lisa, I-I couldn't stop it.
Minutes later and multiple armored cars arrive at the scene. One of the cars pulls up to the group and out comes Cece and The General rushing over.
Cece: Is everyone okay- ...No! No, no, no...No! Papa! What happened?!
Kayleb drops his head but Jake quickly wraps his arm around his shoulder.
Lilli: H-He was trying to protect us.
Cece: ...Shit! Come on everyone, let's go!
1hr 30mins Later. In the H.Q.
Cece walks into the H.Q. and everyone stands up.
Lilli: How is he?
Cece quietly shakes her head.
Kay: ...I-I'm sorry Cece. I-
Cece: It's not your fault. Let's just move on, okay?...But first, who is that?
She points at Mira.
Jake: Her name is Mira. Long story short, Kayleb told her about us and now she's here.
Kay: ...Sorry.
Cece:
Lilli: Yea.
Cece: ...Well, the introductions will have to come later. Right now we really need to be informed on what happened.
Lilli: Well it seems they came to retrieve us.
Cece: Lilli, please, I need you to do better than that. Explain to me, who is "they"?
Lilli: ...Our parents, but not the ones who sent us here. They were the ones we thought were dead.
Cece: I'm not following.
Lilli: ...There was a woman. She was the one who burned Mr. Gerald. That woman was Kayleb's mom. The same mom that his father told him died.
Cece: So...you're telling me that you all believed that one side of your family was dead.
Lilli: Yes.
Cece: But...in actuality, that same side you believed to be dead was actually the ones coming for you this entire time.
Lilli: We were lied to, we had no idea! You have to believe us!
Cece: Relax...I believe you. My question now is...How did they find you?
Luna: Ummm...there was a boy who showed up to our planet with our escape ship. I guess he told them this location because after his arrival they were certain on where to go.
The realization changes Cece's calm demeanor into an angry one.
Cece: ...Shit! Damn you Rai! I knew it was a bad idea to let you go...Please, tell me, was there a girl with him?
Luna: ...No.
Cece: ....Damn it! Why? What was his motive?
The room fills with silence as everyone is at a loss for words. Luna looks up to see Lilli crestfallen and decides to tug on Lilli's sweater.
Luna: ...Are you okay Lilli?
Lilli looks down and acknowledges Luna, wrapping her arm around Luna's shoulder, bringing her in closer.
Lilli: ...I was just thinking… Maybe we shouldn't go back. If we do, they'll just continue to lie to us and force us to do what they want. It's just that the unfortunate part is that we have no choice but to be a part of this. So I say we-
Jake: What? Fight back?
Lilli: …Yea.
Mela: What?!
Jake: Lilli, do you hear yourself?! You know exactly what it is we're up against and you want to fight?
Lilli: What other choice do we have?!
Jake: I-I don't know… Something not as crazy as fighting back?!
Lilli: Think about it, Jaku'o. If we go back to Gala, they're just going to keep treating us like dogs. Constant training and constant lies. And if we go with… I don't even know what to call them. Who knows what they'll do to us.
Jake: You're just forgetting one thing Lilli… They're way stronger than us!
Lilli: Then we train.
Mela: Sounds like something we can do at home!
Lilli: Sure, but at least now we know what it is we're fighting for!
Mela: Okay, Lil, but what about my sister?! What about Mesa?! How can we say fuck Gala when she's still there?!
Lilli: I'm sorry, Mela, but there's nothing we can do for Mesa right now.
Mela: So what?! We just abandon her?!
Lilli: Mela! Your sister did what she did so you could be free. The best way to honor that is to stay here.
Mela: But, Lil-
Lilli: She'll be okay. Mela, you know that.
Jake: … But what about us? Vitaly's crew will be coming back for us. So, What will we do? We are all nowhere near prepared for something like this!
Cece: If you're serious about staying on Earth, we can join forces.
Lilli: I'm serious.
Jake: Lilli!-
Lilli: Enough! I've made up my mind. What matters now is that you trust me...Do you?
He takes a deep breath and lets it all out.
Jake: ...Yea, I trust you.
Lilli: Kayleb?
Kay: Yes.
Lilli: Lunarius?
Luna: Yes.
Lilli: ...Melaru?
Mela walks up to Lilli, hugs her tightly and whimpers into her sweater.
Mela: ...Yes.
Cece: Then it's settled.
Lilli: ...Cece, I'm sorry to drag you into this.
Cece: You're not dragging me. I want to help.
Mela: ...Why? You don't even know us.
Cece: Because, you need help, and it wouldn't be right if I didn't.
Luna: ...Ow...my...
Lilli: Luna are you okay?
Cece: Her nose is bleeding!
Before anyone can react, she collapses.
Lilli: Luna!
Later. In the training room infirmary.
Mira: Is she going to be okay?
Lilli: She'll be okay for now, but her disease is getting worse.
Mira: What kind of disease is that?...Uhh, if you don't mind me asking.
Lilli: ...It's called Blackheart. It's when a person's body is too weak to handle its own energy. It develops in the heart turning it black, then it spreads throughout the left side of the body whilst making its way to the brain. Once that happens…
Lilli pulls Luna's shirt to the side exposing the black veins on her neck.
Lilli: Shit! It's spreading faster. All this stress isn't good for her.
Mira: ...I-I'm sorry she has to go through that.
Mela: Don't be. It's not helping anything.
Lilli: Melaru, now is not the time for that.
…
Lilli: Cece, how do you plan on helping us?
Cece: Well, we obviously don't know when they're coming back so we're going to have to train as much as we can for as long as we can. Luckily, I can start off by helping Kayleb with his energy right now. As for everything else, I apologize but it'll have to wait for tomorrow. I just need a little time for myself.
Lilli: That's fine.
Cece pulls out her phone and disables the bracelets around their wrists.
Cece: ...Alright, Kayleb, follow me.
Kayleb gets up and is led into the room on the other side.
Kay: What is this place?
Cece: It's my special training room. It's made to withstand almost anything. Now sit. I want you to cross your legs and put your fist together.
Kayleb follows his instructions and does what she says.
Kay: ...Like this.?
Cece: Yup, just like that.
Cece gets down in front of him and crosses her legs as well. She takes her hand and places it above his fists.
Cece: Now, I want you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on connecting with your inner world.
He takes a deep breath, and tries to focus but struggles. After a couple of seconds he opens his eyes.
Kay: ...It's not working.
Cece: Come on, Kay, you have to try harder than that. From here on out things are going to be a lot more difficult, and if you can't even get through this, then...there's no hope for you. You don't want that...do you?
Kay: No.
Cece: Good. Now try again, and focus!
Once again he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. A couple of seconds later he opens his eyes to see a black dragon flying in the sky. He gets off of his back to sit up and see a field of roses made of black flames.
Cece: (A dragon?)
Kay: ...Cece, where are we?
Cece: We're in your spirit world. You have used your powers but it seems everything else is still dormant.
Kay: What do I do?
Cece: ...Become whole.
Kay: Well that's vague.
Cece: Just walk to the center.
Kayleb gets up and makes his way towards the center of the field. The dragon above him notices and begins to descend. As it lands, it transforms to reveal its true identity.
D-Kay: Took you long enough.
Kay: Y-You look like me.
D-Kay: That is because I am you. In spirit.
Kay: So what now?
D-Kay: To unlock your true powers we need to become one. Are you ready?
Kay: ...Yes?
Dragon Kayleb walks inside of his body becoming one. For a split second, the field of roses burns bright with golden flames before simmering down to a calm and warm red fire. Exhausted, Kayleb falls over and wakes up in the real world.
Cece: All done.
Kay: ...That's it?
Cece: Yep.
Kay: But I don't feel any different.
Cece: Trust me, you'll feel the difference. Come on, let's get out of here.