Chapter 237 - Warp Speed Ahead

"Yeah, well...I don't really know how to say this…"

Leaning against the cold steel of the magical vehicle's interior, Sora slowly lowered himself onto the ground, ruffling his locks as he searched for the right words. Silence filled the room as the two sat there without any words before Sora finally sucked in the air between his teeth. 

"Lucas is dead."

Letting the words out in one, sharp breath, just saying those words cemented it in for himself as well, looking down as he could see his own tears raining down on the sleek steel below. 

"What…? You're kidding, right?"

Looking at the red-haired man sitting across the room, Sirius found the words to be true as nothing was said in return. 

"Goddammit…!"

Slamming his fist against the wall beside him, the room shook as he bit down on his lip until blood was drawn. The slew of raw emotions that flooded his expression came immediately, his lip quivering as his eyes watered, glistening with a sea of sorrow. 

Running his hands over his face and through his locks, it was like his entire face shifted from being clear to being drenched in tears. 

"This is my fault!...If I wasn't such an idiot, if I took the fight seriously from the start, then…! I'm such a miserable, useless idiot!"

Listening to Sirius' choked-up words, Sora couldn't even bring himself to speak up. The same guilt was just as potent in his aching heart, biting down on his hand as he tried to fight the tears back. 

Silence once again sat between the two men as reality sank its teeth into their pained hearts. It was a surreal feeling; Sirius could feel his body run into a cold sweat as the sheets beneath his fingers felt like ice. 

"That's another one…And for what?"

"It never gets any easier, does it?...He told me he saw him--Sebastian."

"Heh…"

It was a wry smile at best shared between them, though their eyes were anything but smiling, running bloodshot from the flow of tears. 

"Sebastian is going to give us an earful when it's our time…"

"Probably." 

"...On the topic of earfuls, I think that sage needs one when we get back…"

"Yeah."

Sora wasn't very plentiful with his words, having to force them past his tightening throat as he nodded his head in agreement with his maroon-eyed friend. 

"This isn't acceptable. The mission she gave us--it was much worse than she explained. If we just knew, if we really understood--he would still be here. I can't accept that...I just can't. Honestly, if she was right here, right now--I might just kill her."

"Sirius…" 

"Yeah, those are just my emotions talking, don't worry."

Though he said that, the calmness in his voice was blatantly forced as his eyes were anything but tranquil; vibrant with a deep-seated contempt. 

"...I've got to change something, I don't know what, but I do. As it is, I don't know if I can wield a sword anymore...I'm just...sick of this game of cat and mouse with death. Ever since I came here, it's been the same thing. Over and over. I've started to wonder if it'll truly end when our mission is done."

Sora muttered as he looked disgusted at the sight of his own two hands, scoffing before slumping his shoulders again. 

I can't blame you, Sora. If you can't fight anymore, I'll fight for you. I'm the opposite right now--I'm burning up with rage like never before; I'll unleash all of that on our enemies, Sirius thought. 

Throwing off the brooding mood in the silver-steel room, a feeling of complete weightlessness took both of the men over as it seemed gravity was churning itself. 

"What the?!..."

"Damn, now is not the time for this kind of shit...I'm light-headed as it is…"

Grabbing his own head, Sora groaned and stood himself up, venturing out of the room alongside Sirius as they made their way toward the control room to check on what the source of this new lack of gravity was. 

Entering the control room, once again, Nikko was the first to greet the guests upon the magical vehicle. 

"Ah, up and about, you two?"

"The hell is going on? It feels like my stomach is in my throat…"

Sora groaned, placing his hand over his abdomen as he pressed his back against the wall--on the other hand, Sirius wasn't too bothered by it. 

"Oh, we've just taken to the air!"

"The air…? You're telling me this big-ass hunk of steel is flying?"

"Yup! Pretty awesome, ain't she?" 

"Awesome, my ass! It's only because this thing is sucking my mana dry!"

From the forefront seat just in front of the display that showed that was just in front of the ship, the man with blonde locks complained with his rough, abrasive tone. Seeing what was on display via the magical tool confirmed to both men that they were indeed amongst the clouds, witnessing the swimming, fluffy forms through the azure skies. 

"Anyway, you two up for a trip to Old Treyna?"

"...Why the hell would we want to go there?"

Sora asked groggily, still keeping a tight hold on his shifting stomach as he worked up a sweat from the feather-like sensation. 

"The Hollow Order, right?"

Figuring it out quickly, Sirius' guess was confirmed from a nod by the captain of the strange guild, who took a seat on one of the metallic structures placed in the room. 

"Bingo! We only saw a bit of it, but things got really out of hand back there. I bet you two know that more than anyone. This is definitely something they'll want to hear."

Hearing this, Sirius and Sora glanced at each other before they both shrugged in unison. Turning back to face the smiling, eccentric captain, Sirius let out a sigh while ruffling his own locks. 

Suddenly, something clicked in his brain as he froze, his eyes slowly widening to a full moon. 

"That's probably not a bad idea…Oh, shit." 

"Oh, crap."

Sirius and Sora both came to the same realization at the same time--much to the confusion of everyone else in the room. 

"Our damn mission! We have to find Getrude! We didn't do all of this for nothing...He didn't die just so we could forget our entire fucking mission!"

"Getrude…? The Princess Getrude?"

"Yes! She was supposed to be en route to Lemasdale, coming in from the capital! Shit, we might be too late!"

Beginning to understand the direness of the situation, Nikko began nodding slowly before turning towards the man guiding the vehicle.

"Sai, get on that route, A.S.A.P! Pronto!"

"...Shit. I'm going to need a mana potion!"

Pushing both of his arms forward that were lodged in some sort of tubular device connected to the vehicle, the steel object burst forth with a speed that seemed completely impossible for its size. 

"Take my damn mana if you need it, just get us there--and fast!"

Putting his hand on the shoulder of the demi-human pilot, Sirius directly fed him a chunk of his own magical energy, bringing the vehicle into even further speed as it carved its way through the air in a blitz. 

"I'm going to hurl…!"

Feeling the gravitational pull of such speeds, Sora held on for dear life onto one of the metal bars, sucking in any feelings of vomit. 

Rushing over, the boy who looked hardly old enough to be part of a guild popped the cap off of a glass vial containing a sparkling, azure liquid. Pressing the open container to Sai's lips, the man with shark teeth held it up with just his mouth alone, chugging its contents. 

"Oh, yeah! That's the good stuff! Full-speed ahead----!"

"Is this warp speed?!"

Sora groaned out, relieving himself to the forces of gravity as he pressed his cheek against the cold steel, allowing his saliva to fly out. 

"Ha-ha! This is quite fast, isn't it?"

Hanging on for dear life to a railing as the rest of his body flailed helplessly against gravity, Nikko laughed frivolously. 

"Are you in any position to be laughing?!"

The woman with crimson locks scolded the man as she kept herself strapped to her seat, feeling the effects all the same. 

I'll add a kick of my own, Sirius thought. 

Focusing on his surroundings, he guided the airborne vehicle to even greater heights of travel speed with the assistance of his own spatial magic, hurling it through the clouds.