✧ Chapter 18 ✧

Back in StarSpace City, Flight ended up getting teleported in the middle of an investigation around the Zuropa Museum. SAF soldiers had blocked off all intersections within the surrounding area to analyze the situations prevalent to the problem. The thing that caught Flight's attention in all of this was a giant figure roaming in the dark alleyway right beside where he had previously hidden. The purple glowing eyes seemed to be staring at him. It was extremely uncanny, to say the least.

Even with this in mind, a voice caught him off guard.

"Wait, Flight? Last I recalled, you were going to the Nebules Tower yesterday with that girl from Perenorbius. What are you doing here bright and early like this?" said the voice behind his back.

Turning around, he found Hisa looking at him with curious concern. Flight stuttered in shock as he did not expect Styra to send him back so fast. He may not have stood a chance against these all-powerful guardians but his determination to help her was going to happen in some sort of way. He was having a blast traveling from one world to the next. A desire built itself within him to see more. It wasn't the easiest decision since he did live here on StarSpace.

However, Flight knew he wasn't the only one who wanted to explore the cosmos.

"Hisa, there is something I must ask. You know how when we were little, you said that one day if you could, you would visit every place unimaginable and make this cool memorabilia out of it?"

Hisa remembered how much she wanted to do that. Her job still took up most of that which was significant in this case but it did linger in her thoughts often.

"Yes, I've definitely been able to do that a little bit. Only went to two planets recently for an important meeting to discuss with each of their leaders. What are you trying to get at though?" she asked.

Flight started to bite his lips with inquisitive hesitation. Hisa's interrogation skills caught on to his intentions. She realized that he looked emotionally damaged so this clearly had something to do with Styra since she was probable enough to be a questionable suspect in his reasoning for being there. In fact, it was easy to deduce what Flight was going to ask with how much he was holding back on his question.

"You want me to help you look for Styra, don't you? I really can't do that. There is a small chance you will even be allowed to find her if you're going to try. They are kind of strict about leaving StarSpace unauthorized anyways," she told him.

Flight looked at Hisa with an intense sense of trembling optimism as he showed the orange crystal that he had caught while being pushed into the water. He knew it had to be important since it was the only memory he had of Celeste, Drift, and Styra.

"I understand. This time, however, it is critical. Styra is stuck on this beach somewhere but I can't pinpoint its location too well. Maybe it's in the files if there are any records of a place like it. The thing is if we find her, we can leave this hellscape and travel to universes we've never been to. It was your dream as much as it was mine. Without you, I wouldn't have found that inspiration to keep living. Let's find someplace to talk about this more in private. I promise you it will be worth the journey," said Flight with a shuddering low voice as if he was begging for his life in the most calming way he could.

Hisa wasn't entirely sure of this. Unlike Flight, the job she was in already felt challenging enough for her not to complain about the work environment. She was happy that he had found what inspired her to be motivational, but to tie in that opportunity now was unnecessary considering how much she already revealed back at the SPQB-190. She didn't want either of them to get in trouble if Nebules were to discover what she did. It would destroy her career and livelihood. The problem was that a friend she knew for a long time was committing serious offenses against the law. StarSpace's government could sentence them to death for violating regulations that were set outside of their planet.

She had to convince him about the dangers of his plans. "I'm sorry Flight. The last time was my final exception. I don't know what you're trying to pull. If you want them to catch you illegally participating in criminal activity, I tried to tell you. May as well call them about your actions because knowing about this isn't going to seal their decisions on me either."

Flight debated her claim quickly to defend his actions as a matter of goodwill.

"It isn't criminal. Nebules told me how much he was reconsidering meeting Styra again. She is the key to changing reality itself and if I don't find out where she is, her home is likely to be destroyed. She has lost everything, and from what I remember, we went to Mechatopolis in the past and found this crystal. If anything it should help us find out more concerning The Great Invasion."

Hisa's heartbeat stopped for a split second. Bringing up The Great Invasion reminded her of a dark traumatic experience she had from it. On one specific day, her mother (Graham Night) and ten year-old brother (Kade Night) were with her when they went to the small town of Enen to a special amusement park in the area. Little did it come to their attention that the machines would have begun their invasion in multiple different locations on StarSpace, including this one. It started when Kade was high up on something similar to a Ferris wheel that was packed with many other people stuck mostly at the top when the machines arrived. They began to create havoc by destroying everything within their range. There was no way to get him down in time before the terrifying experience happened. Ever since that event, she was haunted by the death of her brother. Occasionally, it would come back into her nightmares every so often without regret. Memories like these made her seethe revenge.

She looked up at Flight with tears forming in her eyes. He started to hug her with genuine sympathy for the loss because he knew that many people had lost those dear to them during the invasion, including himself. After a moment of mourning, she calmed down to decide what was the best course of action. At this point, she believed that there was a chance to help those that suffered.

"Okay. If it is possible, I think I know someone who can help us figure out where that crystal came from," she said in a serious tone.

Hisa gestured Flight to follow her. They walked away from the investigation site, once they explained to an officer that they had an emergency situation to handle outside of the investigation. Twelve minutes later, they approached an interestingly huge public facility that was located on Hotah Drive and Tysar Avenue. On the outside, it had a massive garage door next to a smaller normal door through which the entrance was accessible by pushing it open. The interior of the building could be described as a brightly lit auto mechanic's workshop that was vacant, polished, and plastered with white tiles and walls. A red and yellow gradient neon sign could also be seen to the left that said "Chile's Auto Parts".

Flight couldn't understand what this place would contribute in terms of helping Styra but he was about to find out soon. There were many different types of motorbikes, trikes, cars, and even a few monster trucks lined in an orderly fashion across the spacious view. Without warning, a roaring noise came from inside another room at the end of the first one they were currently in. By the time Hisa and Flight went to the second room to check where it had come from, a short person with a welding helmet popped out erratically. She ran past them, oblivious to anything except for what she was doing. She went underneath one of the monster trucks to fix it.

That was until she had a feeling two people were watching her. In an instant, she came from below the truck to stand up and get a glimpse of who was staring at her. When they finally took off their welding mask, it unveiled a girl who was filled with raw excitement while her raspy voice was noticeable.

"Oh hi Hisa! How are ya? Not that I'm saying too much but, who's the guy with the blue hair? Is he your boyfriend? I can't tell. Like at all."

Flight's face fell flat on his anticipation. He couldn't necessarily make out what she was trying to get at. Hisa proceeded to introduce her acquaintance.

"I'm doing fine. Chelbie, this is Mr. Takeshi. He is a friend of mine in the armed forces that I've known for awhile. Flight, this is Chelbie Chile. She is my mother's niece from her brother, Xavier. I take care of her sometimes but she is sixteen, so she's pretty close to being considered an adult."

Flight had mixed thoughts on Chelbie's personality. Besides that, her ethnicity was different from Hisa due to her having warmer skin and eyes with red-orange pupils filled with fiery ambitions. She wore a white sleeveless shirt, dark blue jeans, and matching pairs of soft arm bands with a yellow caution tape pattern that fit above her elbows. To add to it, she had a twin tail hairstyle filled with a distinct color that also matched her armbands. The most interesting feature of her selective apparel was the dark spike boots which at length were about an inch away from her rollerskating kneecaps.

So far, Flight's perspective defined her attitude as mildly naive and immature. It didn't make sense why Hisa chose someone like this for such an important task.

"Alright Chelbie, here's the thing. We have this crystal that I found on another planet. Care to show us what it can do? If not, you can just give it back to me."

He gave the crystal to Chelbie who took it and ran over to her personal workstation for hobbies she liked to do inside a hidden area of the garage. When they followed her over there, it turned out that she owned an RIID for scanning radioactive materials. Hisa explained to Flight that Xavier was really rich, giving him the ability to support Chelbie between her work and school environments. He had bought her this machine at the age of thirteen when she started to show him fascinating devices she built from the ground up. These would later be patented after she was able to inform how they worked by studying and tinkering often by herself for months on end.

All of that got her working in a family-owned company for manufacturing and engineering vehicles without any necessary assistance. Almost any other form of technology she got her hands on was considered an alternative path to owning more businesses so she could become an entrepreneur like her father. The crystal itself was shown to have some sort of sentient being living inside of it. Eventually, the analysis made it clear that the orange crystal was in fact discovered before on Sonus through StarSpace's archives of the internet. Its description summarized it to be a rare unknown mineral infused with unlimited power according to previous tests. Chelbie turned to Flight and Hisa with speechlessness, only to address the identity of the orange crystal with disbelief. This crystal found on Aviatopolis seemed to also have a surprising connection to something revolving around StarSpace itself. Flight knew it wasn't just a hunch for this to seem susceptible enough to be infused with one of the Eternal Lights.

It was the fact that with this power, there was a good chance for it to be functioning inside of something they had met along the way earlier.