Earthbound

I was the first to enter onto his strange large disc. He made it fly like a bird onto the Isle made of glass.

We had to leave Sky behind because we couldn't get close enough to bring him with us. He was closed off from the outside world completely... and I didn't want to believe it, but Carl explained it and I tried far too many times for that to be false.

When I walked in, it was an unreal sight in front of me. There were wires in the walls, covered by a glass casing, and seats lined with red cushions that led up to a small area where a wheel on a stick was sitting behind a chair.

As everybody slowly gathered onto the huge disc, the doors shut behind us. I couldn't help but watch Sky slowly fade away as the door closed. I don't want to go down to Earth without him... but we need to. To help him.

"Alright everybody, now that you're in, this will probably feel pretty weird... but we're leaving the Earth's atmosphere and heading down to the ground. Are there any questions?" Fudo asked, turning back as he put his hand on the wheel.

"No. Bring us down." I told him after a few seconds of silence.

"Alright girly... say, you don't seem so threatening when I'm not looking at you... what happened to you guys? It's been pretty quiet about the events on the Isle, especially since Zeal and Orion had their fight after his wife died." Fudo told us.

"Orion's wife... that's right, Moonlight. Hey, what happened to her again?" I asked him.

"Killed. Zeal and Nova were in an agreement to ruin Orion. Nova's daughter, Mizu, was lost on an expedition and ended up on the Isle, under Orion's care. That's when Nova claimed that Orion's hands tainted her daughter because of who Orion was, and then Nova killed his wife. It's a pretty messed up story, but we're lucky we don't have to worry about Nova at the moment." Fudo explained.

Why does that name sound familiar...

"That's a pretty terrible thing that Nova did. I wonder if Orion would've been more tolerable if his wife didn't die." Lia made a slight comment.

"Sky told us that he was pretty forgiving when he died... which was out of character. He didn't tell me anything else, but I know Sky and Orion had a conversation before they died." I told everybody.

"I wonder if that terrible father said anything about his daughter. We were lucky Carl was accurate enough to take out that rock that almost killed us. Thank you again, Carl." Lisa said. Lisa was the girl that took care of Aegis in Ellie's stead after leaving the Isle to sail over to the Glassed-Out Isle, and she was very brave for that.

"If you don't mind me asking..." Fudo flicked a switch on his panel by the wheel and turned his chair to look back at the rest of us.

"What other things happened on that Isle? I have always been curious, but I've been afraid to fly in because I didn't know if you were the type of people to kill me on sight." He added.

"At first, we weren't. But we became those types of people after Lia gave us some trouble. So, you made the right decision." I told him. I didn't mean to make Lia feel guilty, but I also didn't feel like lying.

"I can see that, especially you, blondie. Dani, right? Your people skills need work. You don't seem very sociable." Fudo told me.

"Usually, she is. She's probably under System Corruption right now." Carl told him.

Huh? I'm under what? Don't be ridiculous, my System isn't corrupt.

"I can actually see that... that explains her red irises. Dani, does your System talk to you as well?" Ellie asked me.

"Not a word. I don't have a weird bitch locked inside of my head." I told them while adjusting my legs in my seat.

"Seems complicated... I'm also surprised you guys haven't reacted to our movement. You guys don't get space-sick at all?" Fudo asked us.

"Apparently not... what is it like on Earth? Is it peaceful...?" Lily asked Fudo.

"It'll never be peaceful, but judging the way you guys are banged up, I'd assume that it's a lot better. And, don't worry. Your injuries will be taken care of. Even that guy, with the hole in his chest." Fudo said while pointing at Tavian.

"Thank you... we will do whatever it takes to get ourselves healed. And, we hope that if you help us in fighting Deity, we can pay you back as well." Ellie told him again. I stood silent as the girl cleared her throat.

"They're not the ones who can help us. They're just Humans. We need the Arkians on Earth. Genesis, Umbra, maybe even..." The girl stopped mid-sentence when Fudo interrupted her.

"She's right, Genesis and Umbra will have to help you, I can't do anything on a scale like Deities. Those sword things in your hand, that you can summon... are pretty cool. How do you do it?" Fudo asked us.

"We can do it naturally, just by feeling it out. It's hard to explain to somebody like yourself. How much longer until we get to Earth?" I asked Fudo again.

"This System Corruption thing... does it intentionally turn people into assholes, because she's really not nice," Fudo said to my friends.

"You should've seen what it did to Sky... he was a nice guy, but when his System was Corrupt, it was like his entire personality shifted. He was pretty angry as well, but he kept us safe... for the most part." Lia said while rubbing her cheek.

"I guess that's something I just don't understand then. Maybe Ruby will know some more. She's the leader of our city, I'll bring her to you after we've finished landing... which should be around any second now." Fudo said, turning his chair around and looking back at the window.

"Alright, we've landed. And hey, Miss Blondie, maybe let your friends do the talking. You don't want to make an enemy out of the people who've told you that they'd help you." Fudo told me. I kept my sour look firm on my face and turned my head back toward Carl, as he nodded at my cue to take the lead.