The Runic Arrays covering the Surface of The Cosmic Cruiser glowed to life after Malikai closed his eyes.
They glowed in red, purple, blue, silver, black, and white light. Mana then began to travel through the Runic Arrays of the ship before converging in the bridge and running into the captain's chair where Malikai was sitting with his eyes closed.
The Mana entered his body before making its way to his Sea of Consciousness.
Malikai's Sea of Consciousness
The forms of Malikai and Skye sat in silent meditation on the central mountain peak.
As they took long, deep breaths Mana entered their bodies, Spiritual and Physical respectively. As the Mana circulated through them, cleansing their minds and strengthening their Sea's of Consciousness slowly. The effects were more obvious in regards to Malikai as they were already within his Sea of Consciousness.
As they were in this meditative state, they did not solely cultivate Mana as they also studied the Aria contained in the void around them.
"Virgo, could you help me take care of the contraction ceremony between me and Cynthia?" His voice although soft traveled all the way down to Virgo who was situated in the middle of The Thundering Forest below The Archaic Mountain Zone.
"Sure, why not?" Virgo spoke in a carefree tone of voice, from her perch on a towering tree.
Malikai's eyes opened as he gave a small smile, knowing that he did not have to thank her for such a small favor, as they were now tied together.
He nodded his head in appreciation before closing his eyes and once more sinking into meditation.
During their brief exchange, Mana of various attributes had surged up from the forest floor and condensed into Runes containing the inherent powers of Virgo, Malikai, and Skye.
Virgo glanced at the Runes briefly before spreading her wings and flying upwards.
When she reached the point in between the Archaic Mountain Zone and The Thundering Forest a mirror image of The Cosmic Cruiser began to descend from the Mana Malestorm in the sky above.
A woman was on the ship's bow. She had thick golden-blonde hair, which traveled down to just below her bottom and her skin had a sunkissed appetite, yet was still fair. She had a gracefully arched behind, round stormy gray colored eyes, an upturned nose, golden-colored cat-like ears, a long golden-tail, and wore a reddish-purple sundress which trailed on the ground behind her.
Her dainty hands were gripping the ship's railing and her gaze was traveling over the terrain below her, pausing on the figures of Malikai and Skye briefly before moving on.
The ship maneuvered through the complex terrain of The Mountain Zone before arriving in Virgo's vicinity.
Virgo flapped her wings gently in order to reach the ship's bow and hovered diametrically to the woman.
She looked into the woman's eyes and gave a cheeky smile before saying, "So you are the fledgling spirit' Cynthia?"
A look of aggravation appeared in Cynthia's eyes and she scrunched up her pert nose as she responded, "Yes, and you're that old fogey Virgo, right?"
"Hohooo... A little hurtful, but I guess I had that one coming. Anyway, are you going to make this process harder than it needs to be?"
"There is no need for difficulty, as I was forged to serve as the flagship of The Young Master and The Young Mistress," Cynthia spoke with a tone of sincerity and naivety.
"Hmph... Sometimes you fledgling spirits are no fun, cause your so naive you can't even understand an insult. Anyway, let's began the ceremony shall we?" Virgo's tone was filled with obvious annoyance.
"Yes. Let us began." Cynthia's tone was straightforward as she vanished from the bow of the ship and appeared by Virgo's side.
Virg raised her hand upwards and the Compound Runic Array she and Malikai had created earlier floated down and entered her grasp.
She gazed at glanced at it briefly before passing it to Cynthia.
"After I begin the process of refining your spiritual manifestation through the use of the combined Mana from me Malikai, and Skye, add your Core Runic Arrays to this Compound Runic Array."
Cynthia nodded her head and flew upwards so as to be out of Virgo's way.
Virgo then spread her arms wide and the clouds of Mana and countless Runes separated into distinct streams. She then brought her palms together causing the streams to rush through the air and crash into the ship from opposite sides.
The Mana and Runes within fused with the inner workings of the ships and its Runic Arrays, place the entire ship through a process of refinement. A spiritual bond was built between Malikai and Cynthia, tying them together. And using Malikai as a waypoint, new connections were built between Cynthia and Virgo and Cynthia and Skye soon after.
As Virgo began to refine her spiritual manifestation, Cynthia placed her attention on the Compound Runic Array in her own hands.
She closed her eyes and focused her Mana on the Array. She then funneled the Mana into the Array through her palms. Her Mana was the same color as her physical body (The Cosmic Cruiser). As the Mana fused with the Array it condensed into countless Runes, representing her entire being and the Truths she had comprehended about the Aria (Secrets or Core Laws of The Universe).
The internal structure of the Array evolved countless times and it began to emit pulses of Mana. As it did reddish-purple Runic chains took shape in The Archaic Mountain Zone above her. They anchored themselves to the Mountains before stretching downwards and binding to the ship as Virgo refined it. After the chains fused seamlessly with the ship they underwent a change similar to the latter.
New Runes were added to their structure and they became a darker purple in color, which contained hints of blue.
After she had completed the process of adding her inherent Runic Arrays and Runes to the Compound Array, Cynthia took a deep breath filled with exhaustion.
She looked down at Virgo in order to observe the latter's progress in her refinement.
"I'll be done soon," Virgo stated without pulling her focus from the task at hand.
"Very well," Cynthia said as she turned her gaze to the Compound Array in her hands.
"Take it to him so he can complete the process," Virgo's voice broke her from her reverie.
She looked upwards at The Archaic Mountain Zone as Wind and Lightning Attributed Mana surged from her back in the form of a single pair of wings.
As she began to flap them she took off like a rocket through the air. She exerted her already exhausted mind as she maneuvering through the debris field within as she made her way to the Central Mountain whose top half was situated within The Mana Maelstrom itself.
Her speed constantly decreased as she moved due to both the exponential increase in wind speeds and the increased air resistance caused by unrefined Mana in higher densities.
By the time she reached The Central Mountain's base she was only traveling at half of her original speed, as she passed the mountain's mid-section and entered the maelstrom her speed had decreased to a third of her initial amount. By the time she made it to the peak where Malikai and Skye were located, she was only flying at on tenth of her original speed.
Lightning often streaked past her and after 20 minutes of laborious flight, she reaches her destination.
Skye's body was coiled around the peak with black streaks of lightning floating in the void around her, entangled with occasional blades of Space Attributed Star Qi. Malikai was floating in the void above the peak with wind and lightning swirling around him alongside chaotic Runes.
His legs were crossed beneath him with his palms face down on top of his knees as he absorbed vast streams of Mana into his Spiritual Body.
"Young Master," She softly called out to Malikai.
He and Skye both opened their eyes at her call, leveling their gazes in her direction.
"Hello Cynthia, are you finished on your end of things?" Malikai asked in a relaxed tone of voice.
Cynthia nodded her as she responded, "Yes, I have finished adding my Core Arrays and Runes into this Compound Array. All that's left to do is for you to refine the Compound Array once more, and Virgo to finish refining the spiritual manifestation of my main body.
Malikai reached his right-hand forward in response and the Compound Array escaped Cynthia's grasp before flying towards his open palm.
He bit the tip of his tongue and brought the Compound Array to his mouth. He spat the blood in his mouth onto the Compound Array, and the internal structure of Compound Array began to shift as it refined his blood and absorbed large amounts of Maa from the surroundings. It then began to glow in blue, silver, and red lights as he lowered his hand from his mouth in order to absorb the process.
As he did the mountains within The Archaic Mountain Zone(AMZ) gave of streaks of Reddish-purple light as new Runic Arrays began to decorate their surface. The mountains absorbed the vast quantities of mana surrounding them as blue, silver, white, and blue Runes spread across the surface of the chains binding them to The Cosmic Cruiser bellow.
A similar scene took place within the Compound Array itself as it continuously absorbed Mana and refined Malikai's blood. When The Cosmic Cruiser and the chains binding it to the mountains hang above the sky appeared within Malikai looked to Cynthia and spoke, "It is done. You are now bound to me in body and spirit."
On the physical plane, Malikai opened eyes after just a few minutes as time inside his Sea of Consciousness moved at a faster pace than that of reality.
After he opened his eyes he turned to speak to his sister, "The contract is complete, we can take off at any time."
"Haha..." Alyssa gave a bubbly-laugh before she continued on, "I know brother. You sometimes forget that we are in each other's minds."
"I guess we are, aren't we? But what do I always say to you when you remind me." Malikai responded.
"That words fill the void that a sense of isolation can sometimes create, and if we don't use them what is there?" Alyssa said with a philosophical tone.
"Exactly."
Quentin and the others were to distracted, with their marveling of the bridge itself and the view it provided to pay much attention to brother and sister, leaving just Gregor to witness their intimacy.
It left him with a sense of loneliness as the only real relationship of any kind he had ever had been with his creator Georgina Hightower and she had long since passed on from this life.
A single tear formed in his eye, but he quickly wiped it away before anyone could notice and he once more became impassive.
Malikai extended his left-hand and stroked her cheek. In response, Alyssa grasped his arm, closed her eyes, and leaned her head into his palm.
He soon removed his palm from her cheek and she opened her eyes, though she still gripped his hand in her own.
He turned his attention to the space in front of his seat and called out, "Cynthia,"
Cynthia soon materialized out of the convergence of Mana within the bridge.
Her beauty was shocking to Quentin and the others who looked over as she took shape.
As they marveled at her she paid them little attention as she instead performed for Malikai and Alyssa as she asked politely, "Young Master, Young Mistress how may I be of service you?"
"Set course for The Forest of Eden in The Evergreen Nebula." Malikai spoke.
"Very well." Cynthia responded before asking, "Would you prefer a leisurely route or a direct one?"
"A direct route as we as we are on a relatively tight schedule this time around Cynthia." Malikai confirmed after a quick thought.
" Very well. We should arrive in approximately 96 hours. Is that to your satisfaction or do you require me to redirect energy flow for decreased travel speed?" Cynthia asked as she turned around to face the podium towards the front of the bridge, which she made her way onto.
"That won't be necessary, 36 hours is fine. Thank you, Cynthia. " Malikai said in response.
"It is my pleasure Young Master."
Malikai, Alyssa, and Gregory watched Cynthia as she stepped onto the podium and a panel made of light materialized before her.
She typed out strings of words into the panel, causing maps and chats to appear which should occasionally glance at and move her fingers across as she plotted out courses and ran diagnostics.
She soon stopped typing in strings of words and instead blew up an image of the ship and its surroundings so that it took up most of the panel. They watched as the ship began to pur and flames shot out of its rear thrusters, and the ship tilted upwards.
"Thrusters are set to completely ignite in 10...9...8...7...6..." Cynthia's voice reached everyone within the bridge as the ship's pur continued to grow in volume, and the flames shooting out of the thrusters became hotter and hotter.
Cynthia navigated the ship to the void beyond the Hightower Spatial plane.
As Malikai appreciated the astral bodies filling the void he thought about how the resources they provided did nothing to assuage the bloodlust within his universe.
Spatial planes were mostly occupied by Superpowers such as; The Burkhardt Imperial family, The Caster Heavenly Clan, The Guild, and The Cradle of Chaos, which he was about to attend himself.
In fact, to truly be considered a Superpower, a force must possess at least one spatial plane. But, the only ones still left unoccupied exist within The Forbidden Zones of the universe. And since only superpowers have the strength required to conquer these territories, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and Super-1st rate powers have to scramble over the different astral bodies such as; planets, stars, nebulas, constellations, moons, and asteroid belts.
They fight savagely for the resources contained within so that they may either conquer one of the few, spatial planes left. That was their only route to becoming a Superpower aside from destroying an already existing Superpower and laying claim to all that belonged to it.
