SKY ARMY BEGINS Book 3 Ch. 2

     When Sky arrived at the infirmary, he saw that Jason had woken up. He sat on a hospital bed with his left arm wrapped in bandages and his left leg on ice.

     "You alright, Jason?" Sky asked.

     "I am now." Jason replied. Sky rolled his eyes at Jason's pathetic excuse for a pun and sat next to him on the bed.

     "How long are you gonna be stuck here?" Sky asked.

     "Doc says I gotta rest here until tomorrow." Jason said.

     "Not true." Seto said as he walking into the room from the side door. "I told you that you had to take it easy. You're free to go, you just can't take a shift until tomorrow. You just never listen."

     Jason rolled his eyes and left the infirmary without another word. Sky smiled. "I'm gonna go back to my quarters as well. Later Seto!" Sky started to leave the infirmary.

     "Sky, you've gotta get checked out too." Seto said. Sky turned around, leaning against the door frame.

     "Why? There's nothing wrong with me." He said.

     "Sky, you got hit by a shuttle." Seto said, crossing his arms.

     Sky cocked his head to one side as though he were confused. "Hit by a shuttle?" He asked. "I'm not sure what you mean."

     Seto opened his mouth to retaliate but Sky spoke first. "Alright Seto, I'll miss ya but I gotta go. Bye!" Without another word, Sky fled the infirmary.

     Seto leaned against his desk and facepalmed with a sigh. "What am I gonna do with you, Sky?" He asked to no one in particular.

     Over by the diagnostics table, his assistant smiled at Seto knowingly, them went back to her work.

•••

     Sky looked up from his book as he heard a knock on his door. He walked over and opened it to see Bodil.

     "Hey, Bodil! Come on in!" Sky said with a smile. He led Bodil over to his table and they sat in chairs on either side of it. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

     "Sky, are you alright?" Bodil asked.

      "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sky replied.

       "Well, you did just get hit by a shuttle fifteen minutes ago."

     Sky rolled his eyes. "Bodil, I'm fine."

     "I think you're lying."

     "Bodil, I told you, I'm FINE!" Sky said, starting to get annoyed.

     "Sky, I know you, and you never tell anyone if something's wrong with you."

     Sky breathed a frustrated sigh. Bodil knew that noise. He'd heard it once before. It was a noise that a man made when he overworked himself.

     "God dammit Bodil... You wanna know what's wrong? FINE! Every single person on this ship relies on me to lead them and I'm worried that I'll lead us all to our deaths." Sky snapped. "And I have an annoying headache." He added after a moment of thought.

     Right when he finished, Sky regretted snapping at his friend. But stubborn as Sky was, Sky refused to apologize. Luckily, the friend he had snapped at was the most patient friend he had. For a moment, Bodil stayed quiet as well. "Is that all?" He asked finally.

     Sky sighed. "No..."

     When he didn't continue, Bodil smiled grimly and stood up from the table. "I gotta go Sky. Just remember that no matter what happens, your recruits trust you. You've given them good reason to."

     Sky sighed, hoping his friend was right. After a moment he looked up, but Bodil had disappeared without a sound. He rolled his eyes. "Freaking Bodil..." He left his quarters and started to walk down the hall.

     "You're dismissed." Sky said to the guards posted at either side of the door. They exchanged knowing glances and left their posts obediently. Sky sighed and entered the room, closing the door and locking it behind him.

     The room was lit up with glowstone. Along the back wall were several sets of two smooth stone blocks placed on top of one another. Each stood ten feet apart.

     The first had a brown leather pouch necklace resting on top of it. The plaque below it read: 

     'In honor of the first battle of the war of the squids. 

     The second had a gold sword resting on the top. The plaque below that one read:

     'The sword that cut the gold- pardon- BUTTER ribbon to the Squid Slayer. 

     The third and final plaque read:

     'In honor of General Deadlox

     Sitting on top of the two stone blocks were a pair of green headphones that glowed no more.

     Sky sat down with a sigh and leaned against the stone, his back to the memorial.

     "What am I gonna do, Ty?" He said. "Everyone is expecting me to protect them, but I'm just one guy. I can't do all of this myself. And then there's this whole thing with this other airship..." Sky sighed.

     "It's just not the same around here without you fighting with us. It's been a year now since you died and not one of us seems to have gotten over it..." Sky's voice trailed off as he heard footsteps outside the room.

     "Sky, you in there?" A familiar voice called from the other side of the door. Sky didn't respond. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone. Suddenly he heard the door being unlocked from the outside and the door opened.

     Sky watched as Jason peered into the room. "Sky, you alright buddy?" He asked.

     Sky sighed. His friend deserved to know. No matter what he did, Sky couldn't bring himself to lie to Truth. "Not really." Jason walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

     "You miss him?"

    "Who doesn't..."

     Jason smiled grimly. "I know... It's not as much fun fighting squids together when we're not... Together..." Jason sat down next to Sky.

     Sky sighed and hid his face in his hands. "What happened, Jason?" He asked. "We used to be a trio. We used to be the best three fighters out of all of them. Now we're just two... We're not the big three without Ty. It's not right. I can't explain it, but  it just doesn't feel right."

     "What do you mean?" Jason asked.

     "I mean that it just doesn't... I can't... I feel like Ty wasn't... Supposed to be dead." Sky said.

     Jason cocked his head to one side. "Like it was a mistake?"

     Sky nodded slightly, staring at the ground. "I think so. Do you remember what Bryce said to him?" Sky asked.

     "'When your time comes you'll know it'." Jason recited without hesitation.

     "What if Ty thought it was his time and got it wrong?" Sky asked.

     Jason hesitated. "Then his death was a mistake." He said, his voice low. "But it's too late."

     Neither of them spoke for a moment.

     "Bodil told me you were worried about the recruits." Jason said finally.

     "Freaking Bodil..."

     "You shouldn't be worried. They'll fight for you to their deaths. We're fighters. We don't give up." Jason said with a smile. Sky couldn't help but smile back.

     "Sky, we're staring right at the airship." Dawn's voice said through the PCD. Sky tapped his sunglasses.

     "Be right there." He and Jason stood up. Sky turned around to look at the memorial once more and gasped.

     The headphones were gone.

     He tapped his sunglasses once again. "Ant, get a security team down to memorial hall."

     "You got it." Any replied through the PCD. Sky and Jason started to head out of the hall. Then a voice stopped them.

     "'His spirit will live on forever...' Come up with that yourself, Sky?" Sky froze, his eyes wide. He knew that voice. But... How...? It was impossible!

     Sky turned around. His jaw dropped.

     There, leaning against the memorial, was a man wearing a white t-shirt, gray pants, and purple and black shoes. He had brown hair covering one of his red eyes.

      But his most significant feature were his green headphones- and how they were glowing. The man grinned and tossed a blue and orange object to Jason. Jason caught it and looked at it. It was his ray gun.

     "What's that matter, Sky?" Deadlox asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."