Rising Shards

Distant thunder rumbled as we walked back to the group. The movement of the clouds above us was strange; it made the colors around us slowly change, something that always made me worry something was wrong with my eyes.

“You doing that?” Kalei asked.

“Huh?” I asked.

“The sky…it’s…weather-y.”

“I don’t think it’s me.” I said. “I’ve never managed anything like that.”

“Maybe it’s just Fang Moon Web stuff.” Kalei said. “Makes the moon weird, then makes the sky weird?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Students, line up!” Caya yelled out. Her booming voice made everyone chattering instantly stop. All the teachers that had a pod of students to lead were behind her, working through screens on their wristband projections.

“Excellent work on completing the first task of this trip,” Caya said. “Next is the real meat of this operation. In a few short moments, you’ll be sent to a new level of this void.”

I expected another clap of thunder there. At least there was one in my head, as this was the part that truly scared me. Dr. Diast had tried to be as comforting as possible about it, but there was so much about this trip the teachers either weren’t allowed to tell us or just didn’t want to tell us to keep us in the dark. I especially didn’t like that Caya said ‘a few short moments,’ which made me feel the panic rise.

“Your main mission is to observe the new world you’ve entered, take note of the items listed on your worksheets, and make it home. How you accomplish the latter is up to you and your problem-solving skills. Points will be deducted for frequent questions to your teacher advisor, as this mission is to test how far your own skills have come. That said, in the event of an emergency, do not hesitate to contact us. You shouldn’t face any threat you can’t handle, but we’ll be observing you the entire time.”

I hated that I didn’t even know how we were going to get to this new place. I hoped it was more of a ‘scrape a fang on a thing and put that in a bowl’ situation than a ‘get in weird shower thing and fall hundreds of feet below’ one. Just as I thought about the latter, my wristband made a noise and projected a screen that simply said, ‘Location confirmed.’

“Each pod will place the crystal they found in their center,” Caya said. Aira immediately dropped the crystal in front of us. “Your pod teacher will be with you shortly for further instructions.”

Laenie immediately shrieked as Aira started poking the crystal with her bloodsaber. Lillia sighed.

“Don’t do that!” Laenie said. “The last crystal we poked got absorbed into our bloodsabers! That’s probably how we’re going to this new place!”

“I dunno,” Aira said, continuing to poke the crystal. It didn’t seem to react the same as the one that powered up our bloodsabers. “Poking this thing is kinda fun.”

As Aira continued to poke the crystal to Laenie’s growing discomfort, I noticed someone in the pod missing.

“Wait, where’s Oka?” I asked.

Oka was a bit away from the others in our pod, talking to her new cousin 09.

“Well, if it isn’t Rex Steel herself.” Kalei said.

I saw the look of concern in Oka’s eyes instantly. 09 was standing stiffly, staring away from us.

“09? Are you alright?” Oka asked.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as Kalei and I went to Oka’s side. 09’s eyes were open, but she looked like she was a million miles away from us.

“She’s…not saying anything.” Oka said. “And just staring blankly.”

“Is this a clybrid Cani thing?” I asked. “Maybe the Fang Moon Web’s…doing something.”

“Yeah, like it did to the sky.” Kalei said. “Makes the moon weird, makes the sky weird, then makes the clybrid android Cani weird?”

“I don’t know…” Oka said. “She was fine just a minute ago.”

Oka reached for her shoulder, but 09 didn’t react.

“Maybe we should get a teacher—” I started.

“The Harmony…” 09 said.

Her voice didn’t sound like she normally did. It took me a second to register it.

“Hey 09, can you hear me?” Oka asked.

“It’s finally, finally time.”

I knew the voice then. Panic hit my heart and I stumbled over.

“Zeta?” Oka asked. She looked back and forth, unsure of who needed the immediate attention the most.

“That’s…that’s Jeans’ voice.” I said.

“What?” Oka asked and turned back to 09.

“Don’t look at me like that, Ovie.”

Oka flinched at that.

“Wait, ‘Ovie’?” Kalei said.

“I told you,” 09 said in Jeans’ voice. “It’ll work. I promise.”

A louder rumble of thunder clapped near us. Or at least, I thought it was thunder. I began to realize it wasn’t thunder when the ground shook violently, and the sky began to turn the same blood red shade as the moon. We all looked at each other as screams rang out. Before the noise became deafening, I heard one more thing as Jeans’ voice continued to come from 09.

“Now we truly begin.”

The growing red from the sky descended upon us like a wave, too fast for me to prepare as it smashed into me.