The ship floated through the endless void, surrounded by the eerie silence of space. A deep sense of unease had settled over the cockpit as Soltz, the old grand magus, crossed his arms and scowled at Emery.
“It’s been three days! Just tell me the truth… Are we lost?” Soltz demanded, his voice laced with irritation.
Emery remained composed, his eyes fixed on the holographic projection before him. “No, we are not… Just give me a bit more time.”
Each hour that passed only increased Soltz’s frustration. The two of them had been flying across the Tartarus system, a region with unpredictable void currents and gravity anomalies. Navigating it was akin to feeling their way through pitch darkness.
The ship’s navigation system was practically useless, as there was no established database of the Tartarus star charts. Emery had been forced to chart the system from scratch, relying solely on his divine sense and comprehension of the law of space. It was a painstaking process, that was only possible with the help of VIA, which cross-referenced every asteroid, star cluster, and anomaly they had passed to construct a makeshift map.
The problem, however, was time.
Not only was his true clone body beginning to feel the strain of prolonged existence, but the ship itself was also suffering. With every passing hour, the constant gravitational fluctuations were wearing down the ship’s defenses. And then, the inevitable happened.
[Warning: Shield integrity reaching critical levels.]
[Warning… Warning…]
Soltz’s eyebrows shot up as the alarm rang throughout the cockpit. “What is that?!” he snapped.
Emery exhaled through his nose, keeping his tone steady. “It’s the gravity anomaly in this region. It’s rapidly affecting the ship… but don’t worry. I can divert energy reserves to the shields. We’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” The old magus didn’t sound convinced.
“Yes. Trust me. I wouldn’t lie about this—it involves both of our safety.”
Technically, Emery wasn’t lying. But he wasn’t telling the whole truth either.
The reality was far worse than what he let on. The reserve energy he mentioned? He had already used it hours ago, and they were now running on fumes. At this rate, the ship’s structural integrity would collapse within minutes. He hadn’t shared this little detail with Soltz because, frankly, there was no point in panicking the old man.
For Emery, the worst-case scenario would be getting teleported back to where his light counterpart resided. It would disrupt his timeline, waste precious days, and cost him his only interceptor-class spaceship. But the real uncertainty lay with Soltz—Emery wasn’t sure how well the old magus would fare if they were left stranded in the void.
“Well, he is a powerful earth-element cosmic expert… I’m sure he can hold on in space for a few days,” Emery mused to himself. “I’ll send a rescue later if it comes to that.”
Refocusing his mind, Emery pushed his divine sense to its absolute limit, scanning their surroundings in desperate search of an exit. He could feel VIA accelerating its calculations, cross-referencing the gathered data.
Then, the inevitable happened.
The ship trembled violently as warning lights flooded the cockpit.
[Warning: Hull structural integrity decreasing rapidly.]
[98% structural defense remaining.]
The shaking grew more intense.
Soltz gritted his teeth. “We need to get back!”
“How? It will take days to retrace our steps!” Emery shot back.
The realization dawned on Soltz. “So we really are lost, aren’t we? You lying bastard!”
Before their argument could escalate further, the ship’s interface began blinking furiously. Then, VIA’s synthesized voice echoed through the cockpit.
[Navigation chart complete.]
Emery let out a triumphant laugh. “See? I told you! We weren’t lost! We were just… temporarily misplaced.”
Despite Soltz’s annoyed grumble, Emery wasted no time letting VIA consolidate all the navigational data they had gathered, finalizing a path toward the Fey planet.
“Got it!” he exclaimed, gripping the controls to fly at maximum speed.
But time was running out. The ship was deteriorating far faster than he had anticipated. Warnings flashed in front of him, and the numbers kept dropping at an alarming rate.
[85% structural defense]
The ship trembled violently as unseen forces pressed against its failing hull.
“Dammit, this piece of junk!” Emery growled,
[62% structural defense]
Panels in the cockpit flickered, sparks flying from the failing systems. The controls were growing sluggish, resisting his commands as if the ship itself was fighting against their survival.
[34% structural defense]
Cracks formed along the interior walls, and an ominous groan echoed through the ship. Then, with a sickening snap, the main power conduit ruptured. The entire vessel shuddered as if struck by an unseen hammer.
The ship splintered apart as the gravitational anomaly pulled them in different directions. Debris scattered into the void as both Emery and Soltz were forcibly ejected, left hovering in the abyss.
They were now free-floating in space, adrift in a chaotic gravitational storm, surrounded by sharp, tumbling debris that had once been their only means of transport.
The crushing force of the void pressed upon them. Though his newly enhanced cosmic body was formidable, Emery could still feel the strain of this merciless environment.
Beside him, Soltz reacted immediately. He crossed his arms, and a pulse of earth energy surged from him, forming a thick, layered shield of rock-like substance around them. The floating asteroid fragments nearby were instantly drawn into the shield’s orbit, wrapping around them in a protective cocoon.
<I really hope you know what you’re doing!> Soltz’s voice echoed in Emery’s mind, his telepathic link strained by the chaotic energies.
For the next few hours, the two of them drifted carefully through the unpredictable currents of space, Then, suddenly—he felt something.
It wasn’t the planet just yet, but it was a presence. Two distinct energies flickered through the void, faint yet familiar. His heartbeat quickened.
“Khaos energy” he muttered under his breath.
It wasn’t Shinta, but the unmistakable resonance of Khaos seeds.
His two students; Kingrig and Haron.
Without hesitation, Emery began casting multiple spatial gates, each one flickering to life as he tore through the void. He wove them together, a desperate gamble to break free from the crushing grip of the gravitational field.
Then—
The void split open.
A burst of energy flooded their surroundings, and through the rift, the green expanse of a planet came into view.
The Fey planet.
“We’re here!” Emery announced triumphantly.
They angle their descent as they breach the atmosphere, intense heat enveloped them, fire licking at their protective stone barrier. Their entry into the planet’s atmosphere was disguised as nothing more than a common comet falling from the sky.