Chapter LXXI: The Planet of Light ~Naaro

 

"Almost there," Vector said as he flew toward the swirling rift in the distance. It resembled a hurricane as it slowly spun, a small hole in the middle where the wormhole leading to Zion's dimension was. Back where Naaro was still unconscious, Rynn set beside him, stroking his head gently. "I hope this works, baby...I want you back...I want to get rid of this evil inside you," she whispered, kissing his head. "Might wanna put on a seatbelt or something, this ride could be rough," Vector warned as he flew toward the rift. Rynn nodded, making sure Naaro was strapped down tight then strapping herself in. As the Andromeda passed through the rift, everything went white. Time seemed to stop temporarily as the tiny ship changed dimensions, casting the group into Zion's home dimension. As soon as they became aware of time's passing once more, Rynn and Vector were rather surprised to find the ship had become transparent, and all around them were torrential storms of light, beating the Andromeda and shaking everyone quite well. Rynn held on tight while Vector struggled to find out which way Zion was and to dodge the huge balls of energy being flung about the realm. As they flew through the chaos, an energy ball struck them from behind. "Aaagh!" Vector cried as he was tossed around in his seat like a rag doll by the impact. Rynn screamed, the hectic pounding of their ship making her panic. Kai was also upset, crying loudly. Once Vector regained his bearings, he blinked as he thought he saw some winged creature of light out there in the storms. He looked again, and sure enough, there it was. As he looked about, he found several more. The pounding of the ship suddenly stopped, and they were in clear space. Vector and Rynn looked around, seeing no stars, only one tiny ball of light in front of them. Suddenly, that ball became huge, and before Vector could react, the ship was struck. Vector, Rynn, and Kai blacked out as the ship was torn to shreds by the blast...

Naaro tried to open his eyes. For some strange reason, he couldn't do it. He could not smell anything either...he only heard. What he heard was a strange, pulsating ring. It was a soft sound, not painful at all. Then he heard running water. All of a sudden, his eyes opened. The Essence of Evil's presence was strangely absent...had he been cured? "You are not cured...you are merely safe from its influence," a voice suddenly said, echoing inside his head. He blinked, and turned as if sensing someone behind him. Sure enough, behind him floated a white ball of energy with two purple eyes in the middle of it, ethereal ribbons slowly flowing on all sides of it. "Wha...what are you?" he asked, his voice echoing as well inside the chamber. "I am the Prime Dimensional Essence," the ball responded. "What's that?" Naaro asked. The Prime Dimensional Essence then replied, "The Prime Dimensional Essence, me, is the force that has fought the Essence of Evil since the creation of the multiverse. We are the antithesis of eachother. And, just as the Essence of Evil can corrupt you, I can restore you. Close your eyes." Naaro nodded, and his eyes closed. The blackness that his eyelids should have provided turned to whiteness, and the pulsating black blob that the Essence of Evil had placed within his soul appeared. Behind it appeared the Prime Dimensional Essence. The ribbons that flowed around it attached to the blob, and the blob slowly turned from black to white. It then disappeared. Naaro opened his eyes, and slowly felt himself losing consciousness. "On your homeworld, there is a Creation's Weapon...seek it, for it holds a power that you will need for your future..." Those were the last words that echoed inside his head before he fell unconscious.

Rynn shook Naaro. "Ka," she said softly, "please wake up." Kai babbled, his small hands reaching to touch his father. Naaro groaned, slowly opening his eyes. They had returned to their aquamarine color. "What...happened..." he muttered as he rubbed his head, left with a headache from the purge of the EoE's control. They were back on the Andromeda, the ship fully intact, and Vector was trying to establish contact with the Spectrum in order to rejoin the rest of the party. Rynn grinned and Kai gurgled happily. Crux cooed. "We flew through a bunch of energy storms when we entered that rift to Zion's dimension...never found Zion. Looks like you're alright though," Rynn told him, still grinning. Naaro blinked. "What? What energy storms...Zion?" Rynn then realized that Naaro hadn't been told about Zion and the Prime Dimensional Essence, so she proceeded to explain it all to him. Meanwhile, Vector continued to try and get a message through to the Spectrum, repeating, "Spectrum, this is Vector, please give us your coordinates, over," into the Andromeda's hailer. Eventually he got a reply. "Vector? Where have you guys been?" Omega replied. Vector then said, "We went to cure Naaro, didn't Ian and Jaded tell you?" "Err...no," Omega replied, a bit confused. Vector sighed, and said, "Never mind then, just give us your coordinates." "Alright," Omega replied as he proceeded to find and give the Spectrum's coordinates to Vector.

Back where Rynn and Naaro were, Rynn had finished explaining what all had happened since he was last awake to Naaro. "Ah, alright...so that's the guy..." Naaro said as he slowly nodded. "Who's the guy?" Rynn asked. Naaro looked up and replied, "The guy who healed me, he said he was the Prime Dimensional Essence." Rynn blinked, confused. "So he did heal you?" Naaro nodded. "But we never made it to Zion..." Rynn uttered. Naaro shrugged. "I'm healed, that's all that matters, right?" he said with a smile. Rynn smiled back, and hugged him. Kai smiled as well, warmly sandwiched between his parents and cuddled in Naaro's arms. "Oh, I almost forgot," Naaro said. Rynn broke the hug, and asked, "Forgot what?" Naaro replied, "The Prime Dimensional Essence...it told me there's a Creation's Weapon on Yoshin. Apparently it's rather important, because I'm going to need it in my future..." Rynn nodded. "Well, we're going back to the Spectrum, from there we can head back to Yoshin and find it, okay?" Naaro nodded. Vector then came back to them. "Hey, good to see you up again," Vector said, looking over at Naaro. Naaro nodded to Vector, saying, "Hey. Thanks for piloting us." Vector nodded, replying, "It was nothing. I got ahold of the Spectrum, we should be there pretty soon. I'll go back to the cockpit and leave you two alone for now." With that, Vector left, leaving Rynn, Naaro, and Kai to themselves as the Andromeda sailed through space to re-unite with the Spectrum...

Back on Cocytus, Belial was nowhere to be found. The planet was completely devoid of life...or so one would have thought until, deep within the catacombs where Exuro had once been, a reptilian fist erupted from a pile of rocks, and a loud roar spread across the surface of the planet. Rexxor was alive, and he was angry...