The Crossroads of Existence

[Karate]

I read the first page, and I'll say I'm impressed. I forgot what the fanfiction section was about. It's not just about postinf your fics. This reminded me. I'll be picking up later, but for now, I'm off to read more stuff.

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

((Author's Notes: alright, I'm back again and most likely going to get up about 10 - 15 more chapters. So, that being the case, here's what I'm going to do. I've been dilly dallying with the plot. Xascul, is a very important character, but he will be absent for a very long while. Right, now, I'm going to, instead of ending this part of the story after 50 chapters, I'm going to end it at 40 or 45. This part of the story is by far not the most exciting, and also not my best planned out, but still good. So, I'm skipping ahead a bit. If you need to refresh yourself by rereading the past few chapter, you may do, so, here's the next chapter, and the beginning of our part one climax. ))

((Chapter 23: Orders From the Deep))

"Tiera, Tiera..." She was asleep. After drifting in space for three days, without finding a world that was habitable, she was finaly, though uneasily getting to rest. The past few days has been troubling enough. Xekim has secluded himself from everyone else. Draco finds it difficult to locate anything even remotely habitable. Zachery tries to help, but in this case he just pilots in an giant vastness of empty or dead space.

"Tiera, Tiera..." She heard again. She knew it wasn't anyone she knew on the ship. the voice made the hair on the back of her neck prickle, though it gave her a numbing sense of pleasure and calm. She dreamed of a black lake, with a stone in the center. Dead trees surrounded it and shadows, seemly dances across the ground. the moon up above was shaped like a heart.

"My dear sweet girl." said the voice. She felt a shadow caress her face. "It is time for you to give your heart to me." She felt cold. She backed away.

"You said I could have a normal life, a whole, life!" She screamed getting into a defensive position. The darkness still tried to comfort her. "What has prompted you to act this way?!"

"My dear, it's not a question of me, it's what you have done. I said, you be able to keep your heart, as long as you lived a normal..." He emphasized the word with a hint of great amusement in his voice. "...life. And gallivanting across space with a sworn enemy of the deepness is not what I had in mind."

Tiera got onto her knees, and begged. "Please, no, not now, I'll do anything..!"

"ahha!" said the darkness. "Very well then, I'll make you a proposition." There was silence for a moment. "You have feelings for this boy, Xekim?"

"Yes," she said looking down at her feet, in embarrassment.

"Hmmm, then that should make it all the more painful.." Tiera looked up at the abyssal lake with fear etched in every part of her face, and in her eyes. "You will give your heart to me, however, once you kill this, anomaly of a Keybearer, you will have a true life again, no strings attached. You will be able to go home, without ever worrying about me again." Tiera lost the fear, and it was replaced with temptation, and greed, a feeling she'd not felt for a very long time.

"You- You really mean it?" She said into the darkness.

"I have no reason to lie. However, should you fail, your heart will forever lie in my abyss. Don't expect to be reborn, I won't let you back into Kingdom Hearts." The voice said, without any trace of amusement or comforting undertones. It was serious, and it was planning on doing precisely what it said if she should happen to fail.

"I agree, I give you my heart." She let her arms down and then a spot in the middle of her chest began to glow. A bright sphere of white light flew out of her chest, and then was surrounded in a black cage. "Now, embrace the darkness, and let it turn you into the perfect weapon." The dancing shadows rose out of the ground and began to envelop her. To flow into her mouth, her eyes and her ears. They began to turn her into a creature that was very far from human.

"Now wake up my dear, use the power I've given you...."

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She woke up. she was lying on a two person chair, alone. Xekim was sitting a in a corner sleeping. Draco and Zachery were in the cockpit. She was in a bit of a panic. Was that all a dream...?

She unzipped her shirt and opened it just enough to see her chest. She saw a strange symbol where her heart was supposed to be. It was an intricate version of the heartless symbol, except it was chained and spiked, as if much more final. It was not the customary red color, but violet. She gasped loudly and screamed. Zachery and Draco walked in. All they saw was Tiera with her shirt half open. they gaped at her. She screamed again and then slapped both of them before zipping up her shirt again.

"Pervs!" She stomped off. Xekim woke up.

"W-what was that all about?" He Yawned. Her looked at Zachery and Draco.
"hey, why are your faces all red?" They gave him a dirty look and walked back into the cock pit. "Weird, maybe I should sleep less. I'll keep missing all the excitement. " He got up and loked around. "Tiera, what happened, where'd you go?" He said not really caring that much. Xekim wasn't one for listening to his gut feelings. He usually used facts to get answers, but in this case, he had a nasty feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"We've got to be near a planet soon, we'll run out of food..."

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

((Chapter 24: A Boy named Jim))

"I'm getting reading everyone!" Draco said, his face lighting up as soon as he saw the blips on his radar. He typed fast, his finger almost a blur, and a 3-d schematic appeared in front of him. "Xekim, Tiera, get in here, I think we've found land!" Moments later, the room was full. Xekim, Tiera, Zachery and Draco were standing around the holographic image of a brown planet, with a moon constantly in the shape of a crescent.

"Montresor?" Zachery said touching the hologram and getting a zoom in of the planet's surface. "Is this planet modern enough to get us the parts we need?"

"It doesn't matter whether it is or not. We need to land or we'll be stranded. The moons on the other side of the planet, and we can't reach it, so right now, we're looking at our rest stop." Draco said fixing the Navi-System to find the best place to land on the surface. The three of them watched Draco perform these actions absentmindedly for a little bit, until the combat radar went off.

"What the hell?" Zachery said under his breath sitting down and looking at the radar. "Umm, guys....I really...don't know how to...uhh, say this. "

Spit it out already, what is it?!" Xekim said, a little bit impatiently.

"Well, it looks like there's a boat, and a pirate ship just a few clicks from out location."

"Well, there goes my definition of the laws of physics..." Xekim said. Behind him, Tiera fiddled with her fingers, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Xekim put his hand on her back and she gasped and slapped his had away. Xekim looked surprised.

"S-sorry, just startled me....that's all." She looked away from him. Xekim could swear he saw a flicker of voilet under her shirt.

"What's.." But, before he could ask about it, the ship shook violently. They all looked towards the radar, in total panic as it became apparent that the pirate ship was taking hostile action against them. They were nearly out of fuel, but they had enough for a few evasive maneuvers on their way down to the planet. A ball of plasma flew next to the hull of the ship. The things seemed to be highly destructive, seeing as the hull was singed just by it passing by. They swerved to the left, as another one of the plasma balls flew their way. They were nearing the planets atmosphere. Meanwhile the little boat was heading on a collision coarse with the planet.

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Jim sat on the roof of the Benbow Inn flinging pieces of grain off off it. He was sitting comfortably, dwelling over the events of the past few days. He'd gone up there for some peace and quiet when suddenly there was a loud crash off in the distance. He looked on and saw a trail of ash black smoke trailing from an apparent crash site just about three miles away. He he climbed down from the roof and went off to see what happened.

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Mrs Hawkins sat at one of the many wooden tables at the Benbow Inn's diner. She was sitting, sipping coffee from a small metal mug. She had the looks of a beautiful woman, who had been going through a great deal of stress. She sat back in her chair and ran her hand through her long, somewhat unkempt brown hair.

"I don't know what to do Delbert, I..." She sipper her coffee. she looked towards the dog-like man standing just a few feet from her, adjusting the vision settings on the Window to show a field of beautiful pink flowers in bloom. "...I mean Jim's a great kid, but ever since his father left, he's be so...difficult to handle. If he doesn't clean up his act soon, they cart him off to Juvenile Hall, and I don't think I can handle losing some one else in my family..."

"You can't concern yourself, when dealing with a ruffian like Jim. He's just confused, and uses these acts of crime as an outlet, to his inner feelings." Delbert said adjusting his glassed, that were perched over his canine like nose. He looked over to Mrs. Hawkins and noticed that his talk wasn't making her feel any better. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He smiled at her in a friendly way. "He'll get over this, don't worry. He's just having a hard time."

She sighed and took out an old picture device that showed holographic photos. she pressed some buttons and it showed a young boy, with short brown hair playing with some toys. Then it changed from that, into another picture of his holding an octopus like creature, then a bug.

"I can still remember the little boy, who used to come home after a long day with stray animals, and ask me to let him keep them." Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the door. She went towards it, and slowly opened the door to reveal Ji, holding an old reptilian man up. The man seemed hurt and collapsed onto the floor the moment the door opened.

"James P. Hawkins!!"

"Mom, he needs help. He's hurt, bad!" Jim said kneeling down next to the old salamander.

"Me chest, lad..." The old salamander gestures to the old metal chest that he'd been carrying in after Jim found him in the wreckage of his ship. "He didn't get it, that old Cyborg wants this chest, but he'll have to pry it out of Billy Bones cold, dead fingers if he...!" He began to cough hard and he forced the coughing back down. he pressed some buttons on some kind of keypad on the front of the Chest. It popped open with a loud mechanical whizz. He removed a round package, about the size of a baseball. He handed it to Jim. "Protect it. Keep it safe. Beware the Cyborg."

"The what?"

"THE CYBORG!" He wheezed and with his last breath he said "The Cyborg, with his shining eye, his inhuman arm and leg. Watch for him boy." With that last warning he lt his last breath out." Suddenly, there was an explosion outside. They all looked at the door and stood there in shock.

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The ship lurched as the atmosphere hit the hull of Faust like a brick wall. Xekim and Tiera nearly lost their balance and needed to use railing and indents in the walls to support themselves. Mean while, the pirate ship was bypassing them and going full speed towards the planet.

"Follow that ship!" Xekim said finally getting angry. "I want to greet them when they land."

"I could use some exercise." Tiera said, "I think I've been gaining some weight." She said examining her figure.

"Alright, going in to meet them. At this rate, they'll get there first, but we'll be right behind them." Zachery said pressing some buttons and increasing the ship's speed.

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

Okay, Chapter has been salvaged and is now readable...

[-Arcana-X-]

I would have to say: wow.
For a person who has not read the beginning first, I am actually well informed of what's going on.
There are a few minor mistakes you can fix easily, such as 3-d being 3-D, finaly being finally and a little more. But that does not at all change my interpretation of the story. Kudos for getting away with that.

Chapter 23 contains most of the minor mistakes. Also, reading it the first time, I became hooked onto the story by it. And the conflict introduced is very well done as well as the cliffhanger

Chapter 24. let me just say that the movie was AWESOME. Seriously loved it. Introducing the movie's plot was very well done.

I'm not the best person to critique your story because I have not seen your writing ability before, but right now I'm impressed and would certainly read this story. Excellent job.

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

((Author Notes: Thanks Arcana, that does a lot for my motivation. I practically feed upon left over good impressions to give me writing ability. Now, back on track, here's number 25.))

((Chapter 25: Escaping Benbow))

Faust zoomed under the atmosphere and arrived to find the ship docked at a long wooden path way. This lead up to a building that seemed to be mostly made of wood, and also rather old. Faust landed, a bit chaotically down on the surface of the planet, just a mile away from the wooden establishment. Xekim hurried to open the hatch and jump out of the ship. He could see the pirate already trying to blow the door open, setting fire to the house and breaking the door down. Xekim prepared himself for a fight.

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Jim, Mrs Hawkins, and Delbert all stood frozen, until something exploded outside the door again. This time, what ever it was set the door on fire. The all of a sudden the door flew off the hinges. The three of them, began to run, quickly up the stairs, while the pirates entered.

"Find the map!" Cried a voice from outside. Three pirates started tearing the house apart looking for the three of them. Tables were over turned, lanterns were broken, and assorted silverware littered the floor. Jim, looked at them and then out the window. Delberts horse and carriage were tied there, just below the window. The three of them looked down at it in worry.

"Alright then, on the count of three, we'll jump. One...T.." The moment Delbert began to say two, pirate began coming up the stairs and they jumped out, hitting the carriage nicely and evenly, the horses speeding off, down the road.

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Silver, walked into the recked house, his metallic eye whirring a bit. He used it to gaze in and under the ruins, and realized that there was nothing of value.

"Blast it, They got away!" He said, his light Irish accent just adding to the stereotype of him being a pirate. "Aight, let's get back to the ship. Twenty of you, stay behind and take care of witnesses. The Cyborg walked out of the building, looking around, and then heading back towards the ship, with about 25 other men. 15 were waiting back at his ship. He strode calmly, down the wooden path. As he left, he other twenty, came out and began heading for the village, just south of the former Benbow Inn.

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"Follow them!" Xekim said, using his inhuman speed to follow behind them. The others weren't far behind. The Pirate entered the village, and soon began to fire their weapons in no particular direction. Just to cause mayhem. Xekim closed his eyes and summoned both keyblades. Holding one in each hand. He rose into the air slightly, just about a half an foot off the ground. then he dashed off. Tiera changed into her Antiform. Tiera gagged when she did this. the blackness, of the her heartless form blanketed her skin, her hair, her insides, and then, in her chest, a hole opened up, where her heart was supposed to be. She cried out silently. She felt the hole physically, and in her mind she could also feel it, an emptiness, an absence of her being.

"What, how...how!" She was feeling suffocated. she slunk off into an alleyway. She turned back to normal, and just lie there, holding her chest in her arms, curled up. she was afraid for anyone to see her. She really had, made that deal. It wasn't just a dream.

Xekim drew back his key and brought it down towards one of the pirates. The pirate brought up his cutlass, and parried the blow, but the cutlass took a great deal of force and after a second hit from Xekim, it shattered. Next, the keyblade, hit the alien pirate, sending him down, bleeding from his wound. The pirates, all turned to him and took out pistols and other assorted long ranged weapons. Zachery jump forward from behind Xekim and put his left arm forward. Xekim, Draco and Zachery were surrounded in a bubble of crystal blue energy. in which the bullets and beams just bounced off of.

Zachery dissipated the bubble, and then sent a stream of lightning at the pirates, They all jumped out of the way, avoiding the blue current of electricity. Draco, took out his two keyblades and began to spin violently, being surrounded by fire. He spun like a top, making himself into a wheel of flame. He cut into the pirates, burning and killing three of them. Xekim closed his eyes and was surrounded in a faint dark aura. His teeth became sharp, and his skin tanned. His eyes turned yellow, and his hair black, His clothing all darkened and inverted.

The light keyblade vanished laving only the lark one surrounded in a violet aura. He held it aloft, He then charged towards them in a bestial way. he dug the blade of the Death of the Heart Keyblade into the back of one of the pirates. The aliens heart left the body and flew into the keyblade. He sent tendrils of shadows at three of pirates. They were all wrapped up in them, slowly getting their heart drained out of them.

A voice, that wasn't Xekim's left his mouth. "Feed the deepness, feed me!!" He then took out their hearts and absorbed them into his keyblade.

"Xekim, Control yourself! NOW!" Zachery yelled. Xekim stopped in his tracks. The darkness around him became more tame, and the dark features toned down a bit. His sharp teeth became more flat again. He looked down at the bodies he's taken hearts from. They were empty shells, Their eyes lifeless.

"Go, wait next to Tiera, we'll take care of the rest of them. Okay?" Draco said. Xekim looked at him, and nodded, turning completely normal again and sending both keyblades off. He ran back down the street trying to find Tiera, until he saw her in the alley way, curled up, and shivering.

"Tiera!" He knelt down beside her. he helped her up into a sitting position, and held her. She held him back. "What happened?!"

"Nothing, important...just...just.."

"Save it, what happened?!" Xekim asked more urgently.

"I...just got scared, is all. Just scared. I wasn't sure whether my fighting abilities were...up to par." she looked up at him. He was skeptical. "I'm serious!" She said, half sobbing. Xekim pulled her closer, and she let out a long breath.

"When you're ready to tell me the truth, you can..." Xekim said with a resigned tone of voice. she sighed and smiled a bit.

"Thanks, for talking to me..." she leaned in a kissed him softly on the lips. He blushed furiously. He also heard a voice, deep down in his sub-concious, One that he;d heard very long ago, that said, very softly, but in a way that shook through his entire being:

"She will crush you..."

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

Bump, since I always remain on the bottom of the page even when I put in a new page...

[Dragonstar1715]

Nice man, keep up the good work! Can't wait to see Draco's first form XD

[Lycanthrope]

Haha... I remember helping you with this. Damn, I have a lot to catch up on.

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

(([/b]Author Notes: Yeah, I still read over that conversation occasionally.
My writing changes a lot between chapters 22 and 23 since there was a long writing break between the two. So, here's the next chapter. I'd like to ask you guys what world he should visit next before the climax of Crossroads. By the way. After Crossroads the next part will have a different name... Just know I may be making more chapters than expected... ))

(( Chapter 26: Starting the Expedition))

The flickering, warm light of the fireplaces shone into that large room full of many colored books. Large books, small books, torn books, and even round books littered the floors and shelves of Doctor Delbert's library, part observatory, part living room. Mrs. Hawkins sat in the red arm chair in front of the fire place, taking a cup of something warm from Delbert. Jim was standing off to the side.

"I'm not sure what they could want with something like this..." Delbert said, holding the small round package and starting to rip of the cloth covering the hard sphere. He finally removed it to reveal a metallic ball covered in hieroglyphs of some alien race. "Hmm, I've never seen markings like these before! Astounding!"

"Hey Doc, can I..." Jim said, gesturing to the ball.

"Hmmm? Oh, yes! Here..." Delbert lightly tossed the ball to Jim. He caught it and began to fiddle with it. He pressed a few buttons on the sides and then the two halves of the circle move apart a little bit. He smiled and began to press more buttons.

"This is an astounding machine! It could take me months, no years to decode it...hey!" Delbert exclaimed and Jim had finished pressing buttons and pushed the two sides back together. Then the ball began to glow and it released data in the form of a hologram. This 3-D star map was vastly detailed and completely accurate. By the time the map was completely out in the open, it covered the entire room. Jim looked around and then found it.

"Here it is, Montresor Space port." He poked the crescent moon with his index finger and suddenly the whole map began to shift. Planets and galaxies flew by them. Clusters of starts passed through them on their way to their final destination. After a few more minutes the map began to slow down and them stopped. The other planets and galaxies began to fade away as one planet in particular grew larger and came into great focus. This planet was spherical, habitable, and surrounded by two rings; one of ice and one of some kind of energy discharge that was trapped in orbit.

"That's Treasure planet." Jim said in shock.

"Can it be! No?!" Delbert said cleaning his glasses to make sure his vision wasn't fooling him.

"That's Treasure planet!"

"Flint's Trove! The loot of a Thousand worlds! Do you know what this means!?" Delbert said excitedly.

"It means that all that treasure is only a boat ride away!" Jim finished for him.

"Who every brings it back! Will hold an eternal place among the Pantheon of explorers. He'd be able to experience...!" He said with building exaggeration. As he was about to finish his sentence the map just suddenly turned off. "What just happened..."

"Mom, with this map, and that treasure all our problems would just disappear."

"There is absolutely no way I'd let you...!" Mrs. Hawkins began to argue.

"Don't you remember all those stories you told as a kid, all those tales of treasures, and pirates..."

"That's all they were! Stories and fairy tales!" Mrs. Hawkins said in an exasperated tone of voice.

"Mom, with that treasure, we could rebuild the Benbow more than a hundred times over."

"Well, this is..uhh...well. Delbert, tell him how ridiculous this is..."

"Your right, it's totally preposterous to think about traversing the galaxy all by yourself..." Delbert said pompously.

"Thank god, I always knew you were the voice of reason." She said nodding and looking victories in this argument.

"Which is why I'm going with you..."

"What?!" Mrs.Hawkins said looking at him as if he'd gone mad. Delbert ran across the room and up several piles of books to collect supplies. He collected a series of compasses, measuring tools, uncountable pieces of paper, and even a small purple toothbrush. In his haste, several small glasses were broken after falling off very delicate piles of books. Several book pages flew out of older books and covered the floor.

"I'll use my savings to finance the Expedition. I'll commission a ship. I'll hire a captain and a crew!

"You can't be serious."

"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this all my life and he it is screaming. Go Delbert, Go Delbert!" He even did a small impromptu dance while saying this.

"Okay, you've both lost your minds..."

"Look, mom. i know I've let you down before. I know I'm hard to work with but this is my chance to make things right...I can do this..."

"Sara...you said you've tried everything. There are worse things that a few character building months in space. "

"You're just saying that because you really want to go."

"I'm saying this becuase it's the right thing to do...and I really want to go."

"Jim..I just don't want to lose you..." She said with a note of sorry and worry in her voice.

"Don't worry mom, I'll make you proud." Jim said back. They looked at each other silently for a moment. Knowing that this was a sure fire thing. Delbert put his hands on both their shoulders and nodded.

"Well then, We'll begin preparations as once. Jim my boy, soon we'll be off to the space port." He gestured out the window with a sense of purpose. The crescent moon-shaped space port gleamed in the night sky.

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-2 Hours later: On Montresor Space Port -

Xekim's eye twitched in irritation as a man looked him up and down.

"Hmm, yes, moving along." the man said with a wave of his hand. Xekim just stood there. The man eyed him again in a mutual sense of irritation. "We are done here..."

"What the hell do you mean 'done here'!" Xekim said raising his voice to the little man that was the ship's examiner. Xekim, Tiera, Zachery and Draco had been asking around for ways to earn money. They were relatively broke and paying for repair parts on a ship that didn't seem to belong in this solar system wasn't going to be cheap. So, after hearing that joining the crew of the ship called the RLS Legacy was going to pay a great sum of gold if the mission was successful. They weren't told the destination, but they were sure to make the last of the recruitment meetings. This little man, was the one who decided whether the four of them were going to get the job.

"You aren't suitable."

"Why they hell not!?" Xekim said, taking a step towards the man.

"You're...tiny. You're thin, you've got no muscle..." The tiny man said punching Xekim's legs lightly, as if to make a point that he was weak.

"You hypocritical piece of sh..."

"What is going on here?" Came a voice from the outside of the little booth in which the Examiner did his work. A cat-like woman wearing very well made clothing, seemingly of a high ranking officer. She had a very strong air of superiority, and she seemed very graceful in the way she walked.

"This kid's trying to join our crew!" The examiner said while waving around a clipboard.

"What makes you think you're even able to serve on my crew?" the captain said to Xekim.

"I don't think so, know I can, and I'm willing to prove it."

"Very well child, come with me..." the captain said walking out the booth. Xekim followed giving the Examiner one last dirty look.

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-RLS Legacy, Cargo Hold-

Tiera stood behind a box with Draco, and Zachery. She peek out from behind it as a large four armed man with a body that looked like it would have been able to with stand getting hit by an iron grate. Tiera looked at Draco.

" Xekim should be on his way. We need one of us to get onto the ship legally before we consider staying here." Tiera whispered.

"We have to stay put for now. Besides, this is our last chance, we really need to get this job."

"We set sail soon." He peeked out from behind the boxes. "Come on Xekim, get on board already..."

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

Bump....Forgot to do so earlier....

[Dragonstar1715]

lol its stowaways ahoy now!

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

(( Chapter 27: Setting Sail))

[spoiler] Xekim walked behind the captain. He didn't say anything, for he knew that saying the wrong thing might kill any remaining chances he had of getting onto the crew of this ship. Besides, the others were waiting for him. The woman turn up onto a large ramp leading onto the deck of the ship. The wooden deck clucked with every foot fall. He felt a child-like pleasure of being on a ship like this. He'd dream of going out to see in one of these and now he...sorta go it his chance. Space is called the "Final Sea" by some people. As they finally got onto the ship, the captain turn abruptly and looked at him.

"Now young man, what is your name."

"Xekim..." He said.

"Your full name?" The commanded.

"Xekim Lysander."

"Well Mister Lysander, if you want to be on my crew, you will have to prove to me that you're physically fit to remain on board. Show me what you can do. Climb the masts one by one, starting with the closest ending witht the furthest. Then you must run back to me. You have five minutes to do so." She said taking out a golden pocket watch from of of the pockets of her blue vests.

"Five minutes?!"

"Make that four minutes and fifty five seconds..." She said showing him the pocket watch. Xekim growled and ran to the nearest mast and literally jumped up half way. He then grabbed on to the ladder on the side and worked his way up. He ran to the other side and climbed back down. He wasn't sure that he was going make it. One was took up a lot of time. Xekim just finished climbing down the second mast when he heard the captain call. "You have one minute left."

"Damn!" He said under his breath. He jumped as high as he could up to about two thirds up the ladder. He climbed the rest of the way up and then realized he had about 20 seconds left. He though for about three. How to get back in time. He looked around and then grabbed a rope. He stepped back three times then ran off the mast and swung on that rope back to the captain. He was high in the air when he let go of it, but he eased himself down using his old glide technique. The captain nodded.

"Very good mister Lysander. Three seconds to spare. You've beat my record." She said closing the watch with a loud click and then placing back in her pocket. " You are fit to be in my crew. I would, however, like to see you in my office and twenty minutes."

------------------------------------------- 40 minutes later ---------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah, Doctor Delbert Doppler I presume..." The captain said loudly to Debert, who seemed to be wearing a cross between a suit of armor and a scuba tank. The helmet was very thick which would explain why she decided to raise her voice.

"Why yes, I-I.."

"Hello, Can you hear me?" She knocked on the helmet of the suit which seemed to fluster Delbert.

"Now stop that knocking immediately. "

"You know doctor, this suit is greatly more effective when it's right side up..." She grabbed the electronic box on the front of the suit and turned it around. "...and plugged in!" She said turning Delbert around and sticking a large plug that came from the box into the back of his suit.

"I can do my own plugging thank you very much." He said indignantly. The captain smiled and grabbed Delbert's hand, shaking it briefly.

"I'm Captain Amelia, late of a few run ins with the Protian Armada, but I won't bore you with my scars." She said smiling. "This is my first mate, Mr. Aero. Strong, dependable, honest, brave and true!" She said pointing at a tall man who's skin seemed to resembled something like stone, though it obviously moved like flesh.

"You flatter me captain..." He said with a small bow of the head...

"Oh shut up Aero, you know I don't mean a word of it." she said back playfully.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this....lovely banter, but this is..." Delbert said bringing Jim into view. "Jim. You see, Jim is the boy who found the Trea..."

"Doctor please!" She said quickly holding Delbert's mouth closed with her right hand. She looked behind her at the many people working on transferring cargo and on the maintenance of the ship. The man with four arms and the incredibly muscular body looked at them and growled.
"I would like a word with you in my state room." she said letting go of Delbert's mouth and walking towards a large wooden door down into the ship.

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Amelia's state room was small. It has a few cupboards and a large desk inside. On that desk was a compass, and many maps, to figure out their trajectory. The group walked in and stood inside while Amelia locked the door. She turned to them all. The windows behind the desk let in small columns of lights. They hit the desk making a roughly checkerboard pattern along the it.

"Doctor, to muse and blabber about a treasure map in front of this particular crew, demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic, and I mean that in a very caring way..." She said with a smile. Delbert looked outraged, spluttering. Xekim sat in the corner of the room and he laughed at her comment. Everyone's heads turned to Xekim and he stood up. Captain Amelia looked over to him and nodded.

"Everyone, this is Mr. Lysander. He was let on the ship under special conditions to which he has agreed to. He's on board as a safety measure. His skills in combat may prove useful to us in the time to come."

Delbert looked even more outraged. "How can you bring someone I haven't hired on board, this is outrageous!"

"The map please...." Amelia said holding her hand out. Xekim looked at Jim and he looked back for a moment. Their eyes locked and Jim began to look uneasy. He shook his head and threw Amelia the ball. She caught it perfectly then began to examine it. Her cat-like ears perking up, her face becoming much like a child discovering a new toy. "Fascinating..." She tossed it up and down once before catching it, her face returning to the stern and official manner that usually inhabited it. "This map is to be kept under lock and key when not in use." she turned to Jim. "Mr, Hawkins, for the remainder of the voyage, you will refer to me as captain, or ma'am, is that clear?" Jim rolled his eyes and moaned to himself. Amelia looked around. "Mr. Hawkins...?" She said sternly.

"Yes ma'am." he said begrudgingly.

"That'll do. Now, I've got work to be doing. Mister Aero will take you down stairs while I talk to Mister Lysander, and Doctor, please, with the greatest possible respect, zip your howling screamer!" she said at first kindly, then sternly, getting right up into his face. Delbert babbled a bit, but Amelia stopped him from really saying anything. "Let try to make this as monosyllabic as possible. I don't much care for this crew, you hired. They are...how did I describe them Aero, I said something rather good this morning before coffee?"

"A ludicrous parcel of dribbling galoots, ma'am." Aero said, as if reciting a ballad. Amelia smiled, her ears perking up.

"There you are...poetry..." She said smiling.

"Now see here!"

"Doctor, I'd love to chat, tea, cake, the whole shebang but I've got a ship to launch and you've got a suit to buff up. Mr. Aero, please escort these two Neophytes down to the Galley. Mr. Hawkins will be working for our cook, Mr. Silver.

"What? The cook?" Jim said while fiddling with a metallic measuring tool that was attached to the wall. Mr. Aero took Delbert and Jim out of the room. Amelia looked at Xekim.

"Mr. Lysander, I've given you a special place upon this ship. However, before we can leave I've got a problem I need you to solve for me.

"Sure, what's the matter?" Xekim asked standing up and walking into the sunlight. His skin was paler than ever, his eyes, their new shade of gray was now darker.

"I need to address the issue of the three stowaways we have in the brig..." She said giving him a look. Xekim's eyes widened.

Uh-oh...

[)-(The Anomaly)-(]

Bump. Finally finished it at 1:43 in the morning. Sorry about grammar and punctuation. I just wanted to get it done. I was feeling guilty leaving it half finished...lol

[Dragonstar1715]

Dum, dum, dum!

Lol I wonder whats gonna happen to them (anticipates a fight or comedic scene)