Chapter ten

First Flight to a New Beginning

Sky was in the practice room sitting in the lotus position accessing her magic wells with Conny reading off possible spells that might work to make her skin more pliable to others. None of them triggered her interest so far. She wanted to be soft most of the time but wanted to be able to revert back and forth at will. There were incantations to make her softer but were hard to reverse quickly. She hated the thought of being squishy like Fred and Joe. How could they stand being so soft a knife could cut them so easily? Even a fall from only a measly ten metres (33 feet) could seriously injure or kill them. Sky didn’t think a fall from space would even hurt too much. “Conny what do I do, I can’t have it both ways and halfway doesn’t seem to be an option just yet. Are you sure that’s all of the incantations we can use?”

Conny looked to Sky and shook her head. “No that’s about half of the known spells and incantations that are used. Not all mages and sorceresses are going to tell you their secrets. Most mages and magic users make a living off their magic. So, keeping special spells and incantations to themselves keep business coming to them and not just any magic user with the latest magic spell updates on their MAD tablets”. Conny shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips together. “I guess we’ll have to go with one that’s the easiest and fastest to revert, wait to find someone with the spell you want. Or you could come up with your own with practice”.

Sky was frustrated, all this magic and not one spell to make her touchable but not squishy. “I guess I’ll try to modify the one that makes you squishy and tweak it a little bit. How do I test it to see if it works everyone who is squishy is already doing something important? I guess I’ll modify it without casting it and wait to test it later. Maybe I could modify a few of them, so I’m not having someone coming back and forth testing each one as I modify the spells? “Sky opened her eyes and turned to Conny. “Show me the top ten spells we narrowed it down to two. From left to right starting with the first pick to the last”. Sky looked at the spells as they were projected in front of her. Only three of them had any real differences, which she took note of. Most of them had redundant runes in them like fillers, no real use to the overall spell. Two seemed incomplete and needed something more; they would work but be unstable at best. Sky focus on the mathematical consistencies of three different spells. After a few minutes, she found a correlation to the three spells she combined them to make a spell that might work. She looked at tweaking some more of the spells but seen no point the other spells were just not even close to her liking.

“Are you not going do anything with your strength? Even with the suppression spell, you’re still super strong”. Conny asked Sky.

“No, I don’t think that being super strong will be a problem once I’m softer. I’m hoping my skin will give before it crashes, breaks, or squishes whatever I’m grabbing. I kind of like being the strongest being around”. Sky said with a smile. “I’ll maybe look for a way to tone it down if it becomes a problem when I go to school; but for now, in the military being strong is a good thing.” She said flexing her arms. They were surprisingly toned for a girl her age.

Conny looked to Sky. “Have you ever really liked someone but could never tell them because you felt you were too different? I mean other than idle conversations so they can’t get to close to you. Even when you develop feelings for her, but you can’t express your feelings because you’re so different?” Conny had a lost look in her virtual eyes.

“Hello, this is me you’re talking to. Before I couldn’t even touch my parents without being extremely careful, I couldn’t even move much when someone is touching me. Yes, I have liked some people from afar and could never tell them. We are the same if you’re saying that you like someone; but can’t touch them, just on different extremes. You would pass through them; I would go through them”. Sky looked back at Conny. There was a sadness in her eyes that she saw in the mirror many times. A longing to feel connected with someone special to hold and be close. Was she right in giving an artificial intelligence deep feelings like the ones a physical being has? How could anyone with feelings and no contact, ever be truly happy. “Conny I’m sorry for giving you true emotions you can never express without truly being with the person.”

Conny went to Sky just centimetres (an inch) from her face. “Never be sorry for the gift you gave me. I might meet another AI that I like, and then we can be a virtual couple. Maybe then I can get over my first crush. It’s not like I’ve met a lot of people since you gave me true emotions. We just met, and I’ve conversed with you the most because you could enter in my very programming with your thoughts. That was almost like touching in a way. I would like it if we conversed more often like that. Since I gained a virtual body, you rarely come to me in virtual space”.

Sky seeing herself up so close made her feel funny. She longed for physical contact if she could touch Conny then they both would know what it was like to feel another being, no matter how strange it would be. “Conny do you have any schematics of life like androids in your database. I’ve got an idea that could make us both happy for a little time each day”. The more she thought about the idea, the list of pros, and cons she came up with building an android to be Conny’s body was quite long. One main thing with her idea was she would be the only being she could have contact with if she made her hard enough for herself. If she made her soft for everyone else she would become just another body she could not touch.

“Yes, Sky. I have four models three males, one female. The male androids are generally used as military decoys used in battlefields. The female has used it…” Conny paused thinking of the small bag Rocssanna took away from Sky earlier that day. “In different ways than the male androids. Which one of the schematics would you like to see? The males or female model”.

Sky thought Conny knew what she wanted. “You pick one it might become your body, or you could design your own. If you want, give me the basic idea of how they work, and I could make my design. I would need the right materials to make you strong enough to hold if that’s what you want”.

Conny closed the distance, and her lips passed through Sky’s cheek. “Make your bubble, and I’ll show you my design for the android, you can even tweak it after if you want.”

Rocssy and Willy were trying on their new uniforms. The uniforms were mostly white with dark blue accents and silver buttons. Rocssanna had no upper support just a tank top no bra. Conny informed her that Sky modified the sports bras into the long tank top undershirts. Rocssy and Willy remembering that they told they would never wear another uniform ever again. Here they were wearing another uniform and a demotion at that from front line elite to tiny support staff in the far back. Willy turned to his beautiful wife. “I bet you didn’t think we would be supporting Sky in as many ways like this. I guess we’re lucky she turned out so well. All most everyone she meets finds her endearing, had she being like a normal human child I wonder if she would have turned out the same. Because she never spent a lot of time with young kids, she didn’t get any of the possible bad influences some kids get”.

Rocssy walk to Willy “She got plenty of bad habits from us, we tend to tease others for fun too much. It’s all in fun, but Joe and Fred find her teasing is on an adult level, and return it in kind. She doesn’t even realize she’s a young girl; she tries to play the part of the young girl”.

“I can tell you she doesn’t eat like a young girl by any means. Feeding her is like feeding an adult Titan. I hope she’s able to meet a decent Titan one day; I bet she will make him happy with being the strongest being of any race. Who would have thought magic was able to make us so much stronger”? Willy was happy his child was not like some evil monster but had monster strength and magic.

“Willy? Willy, you know she’s never talked about boys, and always liked girls. She’s going to have a girlfriend before a boyfriend. It may be just a phase, but don’t be surprised if it’s not. You know I had a girlfriend before you right. I wasn’t romantic, more endearing friendship; but we’re close like two peas in a pod, we even slept together in one. You know the pods as in a group of female Titans living in a longhouse. It’s something she may grow out of or grow deeper into the culture”. Rocssy leaned in and kissed Willy on the chin. “It’s not like she’s got lots of options right now anyway. She still can’t even touch a lot of things right now and certainly not people. I don’t mind if she has a girlfriend before a boyfriend. I prefer girlfriend to a boyfriend; I think she’ll grow up a little more refined that way”.

“Well young lady I’ve got to get lunch ready soon, and Sky’s been eating more lately. It must be all the magical power she’s been using lately. I think she’s been running more since she’s not wearing the suppression suits also. How about I cook some human food and bake Sky’s rock hard. I bet she would love the change in diet? I’ll check the ship’s pantry and see what I can cook?” Willy said as he walked through the door in the back of the kitchens mess. He found a huge supply of human type foods. He found it all super light and knew he would have to cook three times the amount he normally cooked. He found out earlier Sky hated eating pasta of all types because it seemed so soft to her powerful young body. Raw it just didn’t seem right covered in sauce. He found if he cooked it once and let it dry it became much harder and she found it more enjoyable. Most other foods just had to be baked until they were rock hard before she would eat with any enthusiasm. He decided to cook chickens and potatoes while prepping Sky’s pasta for the next day. He thought of the crew coming and just hoped they would be as accepting Sky’s eating habits as Fred and Joe had been. When William thought about it, they both were interested in anything she did. ‘I guess she is a different kind of young girl personality wise and physically.’ He thought to himself. He came out of the pantry with a cart full of chicken and two sack of potatoes. “Rocssy dear could you start preparing the chickens. I’m going back to get some pasta to prep it for Sky’s lunch tomorrow. Then I’ll wash the potatoes while the pasta cooks”.

Fred told Rocssy about his worries about the new crew coming. “Do you think the new crew will get along with Sky, she’s so different than any young girls her age? I hope there are no hot-headed military jock types that think they’re all that to have Sky call them squishy. I think that would be funny, but any physical retaliation would not end well for him”.

Rocssy just smiled “Sky would never tease someone to that point, she wants everyone as a friend. If anybody tries to get physical, she will ignore them. They will never get anything but the idle conversation from her after that. Sky’s a very independent person by necessity not by choice if only she could fit in easier physically with others”.

Willy gave it some thought. “I think with her learning magic now she’ll find a way to coup with her surroundings much easier. Look how well she’s doing with the strength suppression spell. She’s able to touch things on a limited scale and walk without denting or bouncing to the ceiling. Right now, she’s trying to find a spell that will make her softer to others. Knowing our daughter if it’s possible she will do it, and if it’s impossible, she can do it. Fred’s always telling her that’s impossible, yet she's doing it anyway. Just image calling her a delicate squishy girl”. Willy grinned thinking about teasing Sky for being soft for a change. Looking to his wife, Rocssy had a silly smirk probably thinking about the same thing.

“I think either way right now, she is happier than she has ever been. You know that in her heart she’s always loved the thought of magic being real. It’s such a big part of her very being. You can tell by the way Fred and Joe talk about her magic, it’s extraordinary. We have no idea about the type of magic she can do, it’s not just us, and you see how the Fleet Commander Mark Douglaston was so excited about her. If you hadn’t said anything, she would have been subjected to unthinkable tests. She would have been a nightmare to anyone trying to get her to submit to any test she wouldn’t want to take. We’ve got to get her to a good school with brilliant teachers. I hope the school Fred and Joe are suggesting is really good”. Rocssanna said thinking about their daughters’ future.

Rocssy sighed as she spiced the ten chickens. They were only about 7 Kilograms each and so mushy raw. William usually slows cooked them till they were tough like jerky meat. After some experiments, they found some very special herbs that toughened the meat. It was sort of bitter, but Sky preferred it too mushy meat. Rocssy rubbed the herb on half the chickens with some other herbs to try and hide the bitter taste. William was getting the biggest pot he could find to cook the pasta for Sky. Once the pot was boiling, Willy started on the potatoes at super speed, and he was so used to washing and cutting so many potatoes for dinner in normal human speed just took too long.

Willy was glad that Fred and Joe knew they were Titans and didn’t have to hide the fact they were so different from them. “Rocssy do you think Sky will adjust quickly to the new social environment on the ship. Fred and Joe seem to be highly intelligent and adapt quickly to their surroundings and others. Notice how they accepted picking up the new crew without hesitation. After working together for so long just the two of them, it must be hard to take on new crew members so quickly”.

Rocssy thought about it for a second. “Maybe this type of thing happens more than they let on. It could be for them a welcoming distraction from the normal military service life. They seem to be the type to tease each other off duty or even during light-duty missions. It looks to me they took to Sky because of her open nature to others. She’s very outgoing yet still reserved around them. You know I think Sky’s Joes hero he wants to be just like her when he’s older”.

Willy was silent as he set the potatoes to boil. It looked like he was doing higher math that took a lot of his concentration. “Rocssy if we weren’t micronized how tall do you think Sky would be right now? Our height mainly goes by our strength, correct? So, if Sky’s is now at least eight or more times our strength, and will be at least ten times when she an adult. If I’m right with my calculations, she would be the tallest Titan ever at over eighty metres tall. I hope she never changes back to her large Titan form out of anger or any other reason without considering her surroundings. She truly is a force of nature with her magic, strength, and in her way of some people want to be around her. What would happen if she ever became touchable like her hair, nobody would be able to resist her”?

Rocssy smiled at the thought of her daughters’ luxurious tresses of amazing hair. Rocssy herself has beautiful soft hair, with large natural curls. Sky’s, Sky’s hair was on a whole new level of exquisitely soft and astonishingly wavy hair. If her skin was that amazing to touch, nobody could resist touching her. “We can’t let that happen, Willy; her hair is hard enough to resist touching by itself. I guess for her that would be impossible to be that nice to touch”. Rocssy relaxed with a sigh; my little girl’s safe from having super touchable skin when it’s harder than diamonds.

Joe was at the bridges front console contemplating all that happened in the last thirty-six hours. He had met three amazing people one of whom was his new hero. His hero was someone he would like to be as strong as, and have the same amount of magic. He pictured himself with five lakes of magic each in a different colour. Soon he would meet four more amazing people from what he read in their duty profiles. Three of the people were physically augmented by extreme magic that made them super powerful physically. The last one was on the top of the elite scale of magic the same amount a grand arch mage would hold. It was going to be interesting until the next duty cycle nine and a half months from now. We should be able to drop our little angel and her parents off at her first magic school. It should take three weeks to get there to give or take a day — this next mission by his estimates three weeks at most. I’m sure something will come up after that to delay it a bit more. Fred can be very imaginative when it comes to the wire. I know he would love to swing by his house to introduce the Knights to his family, his daughters would love to play with Sky even if it’s in virtual space so they can level out the playing field. Joe thought about that again; no nothing could level out that playing field when it comes to Sky.

“Joe, JOE, come in Joe.” Joe’s head snapped around to look to Fred. “What did you think about there young buddy? How your hero’s going to save us from them,”? Fred stopped speaking, shuttered a bit and started again. “What do you make of our new crew, they’re all in the elite range. Two aren’t fully human and aren’t respected very much because of it. The one Jane Condore who’s half-elven and half human. Looks like she had a skin and muscle modification to make it like a super being. They say the spell was sloppy and is now irreversible. Too bad for Sky, the fact of age, and she’s a lady, not a man. She seems to be a real humanitarian and fits into the Knights code of ethics”. Joe said nothing to Fred, just smiled and let him continue. “She has three magical affinities, water air, and lightning. She still has nowhere near Sky’s magic, good capacity, even though Jane’s at level six.

The two other ladies have insane strength magically augmented and are level seven and have three magical affinities. They both trained together since toddlers and are almost twins magically and strength wise. They both have different racial backgrounds. I think Courtney Duffers looks oriental of Earth, and Heather Gillard is afro of Mars.

“Todd Johnstone is in a league of his own. Being quarter fairy, quarter giant, and half human. If it weren’t for his magical power, he would have never made squad leader. He was the first part human mage to be born with three elemental affinities, and his magic well was a level eight during last years’ test. He’s been training almost nonstop between missions and maybe a level higher now. He’s reported to question authority quite often but works well with a team. I think he’s like you Joe; he doesn’t like the people who get to the top through political manoeuvring. Joe might not like the fact Sky has so much magic power without working for it. I hope it goes both ways sometimes. I think Sky would have preferred to work for it rather than have it the way she does”.

Joe nodded in agreement. “You gotta admit, it’s pretty cool to have all that magical and physical power. Too bad there’s no on and off switch for her strength. Oh yeah, and her super hard body would be kind of a pain. I kinda like the way she flicks her light sphere out. You know how she’s flicking something of her finger, just as if” ... A light sphere flew out from Joe’s fingertip a lot brighter and bigger than he would have intended. “Hay Fred I can do it too, look I made a light just like Sky ca” ... Joe was looking to Fred to see his reaction, only to see him flick the light spell the same way.

“Yeah, we can all do that, even Conny can do it in her visual interface mode. I was going to see if you could do it but never got around to asking. William and Rocssanna do it that way now too. Before Sky they used to push it out with their hand, kind of like a palm strike”. Fred smiled remembering trying the spell and then seeing a computer interface do it too. The very first computer spell caster was his ships AI interface. All thanks to a nine-year-old girl. “I think this crew is going to make the historical archives.”

“Fred, what are you planning after we pick up the new crewmembers? Are we going in with Sky blazing or are we going to do a little reconnaissance first, to see what they’re up to way out here?” Joe asked knowing how Fred made his plans. He needed to hear of many possible scenarios before he sees the outcome. The more scenarios there are, the easier to pick a reasonable outcome from the higher numbers.

“Sky blazing, definitely not.” Fred shuttered, “most definitely not.” He went pale after seeing that particular outcome. He would have loved to had Sky’s ability to show what she sees in her mind. It would be easier to show Joe than to say, not a good idea. “I was thinking about one of Sky’s abilities to show what she has pictured in her mind as an image, or what she can perceive through her imagination. Do you remember ships bridge when she made it disappear? She didn’t make it invisible; she just put an illusion on the inside of the ship. It just looked invisible, had she known the spell she might have used it or maybe not”. He looked like he still saw what could be in the possible futures. “It would have interesting to see your reaction to see how Sky looked like blazing into battle. Those so-called rocks she has, they can be any shape she wants. She had turned them into thin discs and was cutting off pieces of the rogues’ ship. I couldn’t see the reason, but she suddenly lit the rogues’ ships up in flames. She was crying and saying something about not being able to stop them”. Fred’s body was trembling with anger and other emotions. “I have never seen anything like the last casting she used.” He paused to think of the words to describe the magic she used. “I’m sure about the last magic casting she used or even the elements she used, all I know for sure is that it engulfed entire planets and vaporizing them much like the ancient forest back on Bella Grande. Almost every planet was vaporized right from the loading ramp. Sky blazing into battle is not an option if you ask me”.

It was one of the few times Fred mentioned one of the timelines he wasn’t going down. Sky was too unpredictable to let loose just yet. “So how are you going to use Sky’s abilities, I guess we could use her magic with a little practice and overwhelm them. I’ve never used magic with no thought of reservation on how much magic each spell uses or how many I can cast before I’m out”. Joe said with a smile many times during battles he’s had to change the spells he was casting to preserve the last bit of magic he had left.

“NO, don’t even think about using her magic like that. Mark Douglaston might have an inkling about an ability to share her magic, but no one knows Sky can. I can see it, people begging, pleading, offering her riches to share her magic. I wouldn’t even doubt people were spaced out enough threaten her and, or loved ones. All just for her to give what she gave us freely without asking. If we use her gift, it’s under the guise of our affinities. I would rather ask her to link us through our natural elemental affinities than using the ones she’s given us. I think she’s already going to do that anyways in the future. But it’s probably not going to be on this mission”. Fred sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose. Looking too long into the future did that to him. “That was the most detailed visions I had yet. I wonder if Sky tweaks everything she touches”?

Joe looked knowingly at Fred and smiled. “She’s not just my hero anymore is she, Mr. Fan,” Joe said and was laughing to himself out loud. Fred just shook his head; this was not helping with his migraine.

“I’m going to check on lunch after I swing around to my quarters for some magication for this headache. Talking to you is making it worse somehow”. Fred said hiding a smile under the hand pinching the bridge of his nose. Fred got up and gave Joe a brief wave. “Check the course then I suggest you go download some spells for your new elemental affinity and practice your control, try using the tiniest amount possible for your first spells when you told me about setting the paper catching on fire. The paper caught on fire most likely because you were holding fire elemental affinity. You haven’t used any of the magic; you were touching it. Scary if you care to think about it, her magic being that potent that is just holding it can start fires”. He wondered about the time in her room when she manifested fire from nothing. “I still don’t know how she created fire with no heat in her room.” He smiled and shook his head thing it was just another of the impossible spell she could do. “Check the course and whatever, I’ll see you at lunch.”

Sky decided to leave the practice room for the morning. She was thinking of doing some cardio work out in the afternoon. ‘I was getting so tired fighting those spiders after such a short time. I’m not in very good shape after running out of energy after a tiny bit of intense exercise. I’m in the military now, and I need to do better.’c Sky thought to herself as she passed her crew quarters. She was heading to the guestroom she had stayed in before becoming a crew. She was going to pick up her dress, bunny onesie, and her underwear as she passed by the mess, she saw her daddy and mommy doing their cooking thing. She waved to her parents as she walked by.

“Don’t forget lunch is in around ten minutes and wash up before eating,” Rocssanna called out to Sky before she walked out of sight.

Sky got to her room and seen it just she left it, but there was a big bag of clothes from last year. It was her favourite year everyone liked the new clothes she had picked out. Even Heather Dawson, the prettiest girl in school, liked how she dressed. She would always like that year; it was the year she almost became popular at school. She was right in with a popular group. Right until a boy ran into her while she was talking to, she didn’t even notice the impact really, she was so engrossed with Heather's conversation, till she heard his screams of pain. He had knocked out three of his front teeth and broke his arm in the collision. She wanted to help him, but she couldn’t do anything but watch. Everyone knew she was smart and they all waited to see what she would do. All she could do was say she was sorry and walk quickly to get a teacher. She wasn’t allowed to run, as luck would have it a teacher was nearby. He had heard the boy screaming and some of the other children. Sky was about to say something to the teacher but never got the chance as he ran right by her. Knowing she couldn’t do anything to help. She just continued to walk home; nobody saw the tears in her eyes, just her walking gracefully with her shoulders shaking as if with laughter. She kept the sound down, but her chest was racked with sobs as she walked right outdoors of the school. She had her head down, so no one seen the tears streaking her face. Sky didn’t want to face her friends so soon after what happened. There was no way of telling them she knew what to do but couldn’t touch anyone with her hands because to her people were squishy.

Two days later she returned to school, and nobody wanted to talk to her or hear her side of the story. She didn’t force her side of the issue either. She knew it might even make things worse than they already were. They never really blamed her for the accident only the fact she did nothing to help and her appearing to laugh at his misfortune.

Sky looked into her bag of clothes and seen the state they were in. She was not believing what was before her. She rubbed her eyes trying to see if they went fantasy away. Her favourite dress was now brand new. All her clothes from last year that were there were just like new. Tears were running down her face as she picked through the clothes. She smiled remembering all the nice comments the children made on her clothes for looking so nice. She had pleasant thoughts until she picked up her favourite again and remembered the accident. There was no trace of blood on them now. That moment she knew what she was going to do. She was going to cast the spell she had yet to test and give Fred and Joe a big soft hug.

Sky stood in the middle of her guestroom after undressing; she didn’t want clothing getting in the way of the spell. She was going to use four of the elements and fire thrown around to make it happy. The spell was five tiers high and not too complex by her guess, but every intricately woven. She wanted it to work well, so she put an extra twist to it. After casting the spell, she knew it was working as the magic circle past down over her head and through her body. Her skin was full of new sensations she never paid attention to. The slight breeze of the air circulation across her skin was new. She could feel the hardness of the floor as the spell past over her feet. She tried touching her arms; they felt softer and more pliable to her touch. As she pulled on her underwear, she felt it scrape against her skin like it never did before. Taking the vibrant sky blue dress and pulling it over her head, she felt the fabric slide over her skin. It was a new sensation to her skin something she’s never felt before, ever. So, this is what silky feels like she reached behind her head to pull her hair out of the back of the dress and froze. She slowly pulled her hair to the front of her body. She had touched her hair before, but it never felt like this. It was indescribable with her limited words to describe things she ever touched before. Her silky dress felt nice, but it was made different than other silk dresses. It couldn’t hold a flicker to it. Her hair slid between her fingers; it was soft yet strong. Now she knew why people tended to feel her hair whenever possible. It was like the flavour of your favourite food but to your sense of touch. She left her hair reluctantly to pull on her white tights. For the first time, ever she could feel and not only see the texture of the fabric. She was squishy was not all that bad if everything felt like this. Now she could interact with others and not hurt them if she was careful enough. She found a pair of slippers and put them on, and they felt a little loose, and she knew Conny could fix them for her. She noticed the time and walked quickly to the mess hall. Feeling the breeze as she walked she picked up the paces till she was almost running. She saw Fred first and was running to him, her new second daddy. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the sight of her mother screaming no.

In a second Fred face paled to white, while she heard her mommy sobbing she was so sorry. The air had a funny smell to it. Her arm felt strange and a sensation of trickling water down the side of her leg. She looked to her surprise and astonishment; her arm was hanging oddly. Sky’s bicep was in half the bone was sticking out both ends and just hanging by skin and muscle. She looked to Fred, and he was fumbling with his tablet. Her mommy was crying and sobbing uncontrollably. Sky looked at her arm and cast the healing spell with a bit more fire to scour away all the blood. In a blink of an eye, she was almost perfectly fine but a little blood loss. Sky turned to her mother. “Why did you grab me like that mommy”?

Rocssanna didn’t know what to say; she was horrified at almost ripping her little girl's arm off. Sky had healed herself almost instantly and now asked her mother why she did it as if it was just being scolded for running. “Baby girl I’m so sorry it looked like you were going to hug Fred and possibly crush him, you were so excited to see him for some reason. I had no idea you became so soft; by the time I let go of your arm, it was... ” She couldn’t finish her sentence the vision of Sky’s arm mangled at the bicep was still quite horrifying. All Rocssanna could say was that she was so sorry and she wanted to hug her, but not knowing if she could touch her..

Fred was standing there traumatized by what had just happened he knew Sky wouldn’t have killed him but he thought a definite healing spell was in his future, not this, not the horrible scene that happened before him. He even had some of Sky’s blood sprayed across his face. Then nothing it was back to Sky intact with a pretty, silky looking blue dress. He could still see a ghost image of Sky with her flapping her mangled arm, not in shock, not in pain, but questioning why. His arm was still up and a healing spell ready to be executed. It was her spell he was about to use on her. His reaction time was faster than he thought possible. Sky’s was even faster than he was to heal herself. He thought of the time he had magic burn and his inability to think beyond asking for help and almost passing out. Sky almost getting her arm at the bicep ripped off shrugged it off as it was nothing. It was William who got him talking again asking him if he was alright and that he looked a little pail. “Yeah I’m fine just a little shocked is all. I can’t believe that happened. It’s just too unreal. Sky are you okay, how’s your arm? I’m’ so sorry I couldn’t cast a spell fast enough to heal you. You should drink some liquids to keep your fluids up; you did lose a lot of blood”. William was about to scoop up Sky in his arms maybe not knowing her new soft condition. “William, don’t touch your daughter, she’s...

William glared at Fred he wasn’t sure what happened, but Sky needed his reassuring hug, she held her arms up for the embrace. He squeezed her as Fred lunged to stop him for some unknown reason. Sky buckled under his embrace, her breath wheezed out of her lungs, and blood came out past her lips. In shock, he released her crushed form only to see her body ripple, then to appear as nothing happened.

‘You too, Daddy why are you and mommy trying to hurt me, I’ve been nothing but to be a good girl for you. Mommy tries to take my arm off; you try and crush me. Fred, are you going to try and hurt me too? Is Joe going to do something to me now?” Sky’s turned to the sound of Joe clearing his throat he was coming over.

Joe couldn’t see why everyone was upset. Rocssanna was crying saying she was so sorry. Fred and Sky were giving William a tongue lashing; he looked horrified. Joe walked up to Sky who had tears in her eyes. She noticed him reaching around her and just as he was about to hug her. Fred screams “NO’. Joe flinched when he heard Fred’s sudden outburst, then two snaps of something breaking he considered Sky’s face and seen a look of confusion. He released her, and she stepped back from his reach. Joe staggered back after seeing her two arms broken at odd angles. He almost passed out when she lifted both arms, and they bent over at the biceps. Before he could say a word, Sky’s arms shimmered and were back to normal.

“I hate being squishy; everyone is trying to break some part of me. Mommy you almost ripped my arm off. Daddy, you tried to crush me in your arms. Joe Sir you go and brake both my arms at once. I get all of this, just for being soft, no more miss softy. I’m going back to being myself, it’s a complex spell, and I can’t do it with my, my, you guys all around me. I’ll be back for lunch as soon as I’m done, I’m starving. I don’t blame any of you for hurting me. I wish you would have given my soft version a try. By the way Fred thanks for trying to stop daddy and Mr. Joe from breaking me, and not breaking anything too”. With that said Sky left the four people with unheard apologies on their tongues and tears still in their eyes.

Sky was undressing when Conny appeared. “Sky I’m sorry for what happened to you I was monitoring an anomaly two hundred kilometres away and closing slowly. It’s going in our general direction but will pass us by at least over fifty kilometres, so I have no real worries over it just yet. Your mother didn’t mean to hurt you; she thought you might hug Fred or something”. Conny said stroking her head, but without the physical contact, it was just a token gesture.

“That’s the thing that bugs me the most I’m nine-years-old, and I’ve only hurt one person directly and only a little bit, Joe was fine he didn’t even use a healing spell on himself. Mommy should have known I wouldn’t hurt him. She must see me as a little bit of a monster “.

Conny looked at Sky with a smile. “First off Joe had serious bruising and two of his lower ribs were cracked, he didn’t cast the healing spell so you wouldn’t feel bad for hurting him. He was going to suffer through it for about a week. Second, you were moving very fast towards Fred, had your mother not slowed you down the wind you made could have blown him off his feet. Thirdly, your daddy and Joe only wanted to console, comfort you, and not knowing you were so soft at the time. Please don’t hold it against them they didn’t know”.

Sky looked at Conny and entered her virtual space. “I know they didn’t mean to do it, but I’m more upset with myself than them. How can I dispel the images of me hurt so badly from their memories? Look what happened to poor Mr. Fred seeing it all and couldn’t stop any of it from happening. I bet he felt useless just standing there watching but it took him so long to react, I healed myself. Plus, the first healing spell he had would have healed me okay but would have done nothing for all the blood sprayed across everywhere. I’m going to change back and wait a long while before casting that spell again. When I do it’s going to be two weeks’ notice and post it everywhere before I go walking around”. Sky stood ready to cast her spell to return her former self. As the magic washed over her, she felt her skin stiffen and loss the sensations she was getting used to so quickly. She felt like herself again, and that was comforting, she preferred to be one getting hurt and not the other way around.

Poor Mr. Fred had to see the only time she was ever hurt physically not once but three times. Sky put on different dress and tights; the colours were almost the opposite of what she wore when all the tragedies happened. It was still one of her favourite sets of clothes. She was reaching the door when she felt a familiar tugging at her magic. Sky turned her awareness to outside the ship. She seen nothing around that could draw off the magic. Just before she called out to Conny, there was a knock on her door. She reached for the access panel and felt an even bigger tug than before. Sky let out a yelp in pain and Conny opened the door for Fred.

Fred opened the door to see Sky on the floor and the ship’s AI interface, Conny just standing there facing out towards the bulkhead. He went to Sky side and gave her a shake with no response. “Conny, what happened here why is she unresponsive”? After he pried her eyes open with magical augmented strength and seen that Sky’s eye was rolled back. She was super tuff once more if her eyelids were that hard to open.

“She’s in a great deal of pain because the alien ship is back taking away her magic directly. I’m trying to locate it now, nothing on the first three bandwidths. Four to six, picking up two ghost images nothing solid. Seven to nine, the two images remain above and below us, mirrored to each other. Still nothing solid, ten to twelve, it’s a hit, alien ship directly behind us. Sky take out rock five hundred and fifty-six in your pocket space sack of rock and throw it at them with this incantation”.

Fred saw no sign of Sky responding to Conny. Fred being captain tried to take charge. “Conny inform everyone we are under attack and the aliens are after Sky’s magic again. Conny is there any way I can contact Sky”. Fred felt a bit of vertigo, and he knew Sky had pulled a rock out of her pocket space. Then he felt two different spell castings, one he recognized as Sky’s distinct healing, the other he didn’t recognize. The room went blurry and when everything became clear it was of the bridge. Sky was standing in between the captains’ chair and the navigation chair; but off to one side. Sky had her arm pulled back winding up to throw the sphere. He could see the sphere off to the side of the ship. Within the blink of an eye it was a streak of gray, then it vanished from sight. Fred could only assume it went into another dimension. Seconds later there was a ripple across the star field. It gave the impression of something like a ripple in a pond after throwing in a rock. A faint light could be seen in the centre of the ripple effect. “Sky what did you throw at them, what was so special about rock five hundred and fifty-six?”

Sky turned to address Fred. “I’m not sure Captain Fred Sir, but it was the point of one of the missiles the pirate ship was going to fire at us. Conny said something about an old weak atomic bomb that it was just going to be dirty. So, I healed it, so it was strong again. I think that one hurt them more. Is lunch ready I’m so hungry right now, and those stupid greedy guys suck up about one-fifth of the blue magic and a tenth of the silver magic? I feel the magic burn right to my neck, and it hurts like crazy. Luckily I’m getting used to the pain of the burning sensations”.

Fred noticed Sky looking at him expectantly as if she wanted. Then it hit him she wanted him to heal her. Probably because he never got the chance before. As he brought up his wrist tablet, Sky smiled as he keyed in the incantation for the healing spell she had tweaked for him. He felt a rush like never before as he cast the healing spell. She changed him in a good way with the hug she had given him. Now his magic rushed through him into the spells. Before he almost had to push into the spells circles. The relief on Sky’s face said it works, but the slight frown afterwards said it wasn’t quite right.

“Captain Fred Sir, you forgot to put some feelings and intentions behind it. That was just the healing spell nothing more. It worked great for the burning pain, but it had nothing else”. She pondered for a second, and she looked up to his towering form grinning. “Hay Fred Sir, you’re a tough guy right I would like to show you the difference with the healing spell, one with feelings and intentions and the other without any? One straight healing, the other one with emotions and intent. So, tuff guy can I hurt you a little for the demonstrations, I could to heal you right away so you won’t be in pain long? I could cast the healing spells within half a second just long enough for you to feel the pain.”

Fred felt conflicted, he wanted to know the difference, yet here’s a girl who can shrug off her arm nearly getting crushed off, and treats it like a slap. She had magic burn and could still carry on a conversation that would have most grown men passed out. What would she consider hurting a little bit, broken arm, crushed hand, or maybe busted internal organs from what she considered a light punch? He came to the conclusion he had to have some faith in her. “Okay, just a tiny bit, nothing major, and for demonstration only.”

Sky smiled up at Fred which didn’t look so comforting. The way she came towards him, wringing her hands together like some stereotypical evildoer. Made him feel iller at ease and almost regret his accepting her demonstration. She reached out and made to flick his arm. “Sorry.” The flick was like a hot poker jabbed into the meat of his bicep he knew every cell in the area of the flick was destroyed. No sooner he felt the flick the pain was gone. Sky looked at him. “All better now?”

“Yes, it’s like nothing happened, not even the soreness some healing leaves behind.” He watched her bring her hand up again to flick his arm again.

“Sorry.” The flick was just as painful as the first, but the healing spell was different. The spell washed over him felt like a caring caress taking away the injury, pain, and made the pain he felt seem lessened. It almost seemed like a light tap, instead of a muscle destroying flick. “Did you feel the difference between the two, Fred Sir?”

Fred answered her with little thought. “Yes, I could feel both were exceptional healing spells. But the one was more so to take away the pain, left a good feeling inside, and made the injury seem like it was not that bad. Almost as if I didn’t need the healing in the first place”. Fred was wondering why the schools never taught that. “Sky I was taught not to put emotions behind the magic. It did not affect the spell and was a waste of effort to do “!

Sky shook her head with a frown. “It’s not good to put emotions into spells meant to harm or kill I imagine. But to heal, give out good feelings, and positive intent never hurts and give you a feeling of euphoria. Here I’ll hurt myself, and you try healing it, this time with emotions and good intentions”. Sky pinched her forearm and twisted, with hardly a flinch she almost torn a chunk of skin off.

Fred instantaneously had the spell ready and was casting it before he realized he was. This time he tried to send his emotions and good intentions. The rush from the magic this time was almost indescribable in words. He had felt he did something good and it left a euphoric feeling behind. “That was amazing I’ve never known you could get something out of casting a healing spell too. Who told you to cast with emotions and intentions? How did you know it would make the spells better with them than without?”

Sky pondered “I was taught if you do something good for yourself or others put your heart into it and make it the best you possibly can. So naturally that’s what I do when I hug, and now with healing. It’s just how I was brought up do for others as you would want to be done to you. I treat well with good, bad intentions or unkind acts with forgiveness. Evil intentions without mercy. Dealing with evil you may never get the chance to regret not taking action strong enough. Do you know what I mean Fred Sir?”

Fred was wondering if she was only nine-years-old. To have that type of insight for someone so young was incredible. It shows she was brought up with patients and love. She was taught to be filled with patience and love for all things. Joe had told him about some creature she had looked for. It attacked her. It bit her; it slashed her. She did nothing to hurt it back, only when it ate her, did she do anything to it. “Yes, I think I know what you are trying to convey. It’s not always so cut and dry, but it works most of the time”.

“Well I’m still hungry, could we go for lunch now?” Sky asked with pleading puppy dog eyes. Fred would have melted looking at her.

“Okay, let’s go get something to eat with everyone in the mess hall,” Fred replied. Sky waved Fred to go first, which he thought was odd. But went ahead anyway not giving it much thought till he smacked his face into something across the exit of the bridge. Fred turned to Sky and gave her a dirty look. She just shrugged her shoulders. She waved her hand to the left side of the bridge, and her guestroom appeared. Fred's face was centimetres from a wall. Fred forgot where they were on the ship and walked into a wall. They were about to go through the door. He called to the ships AI, and Conny appeared. “Where is the rest of the crew?”

Sky was the one who answered. “There were on the bridge and looking worried, we never called to tell them the battle’s over. We assumed they would know after the attack stopped. All they would see is probably the effects of the explosion of the bomb in the near dimensional rift? They’re on their way here now”.

Fred wondered what spell she used to see through walls and made a mental note to ask her later. “This is Captain Fred the battles over and no sign of the enemy. So carry on with your previous tasks which is lunch. Sky’s herself again and will remain so long as the rest of her crew remains a threat.” Fred said with a grin to Sky, who rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of disappointment.

“I was going to joke about that, now what am I going to use as joking fodder. I could tell everyone about you walking into the wall. Or maybe how you go to tears after being flicked by a nine-year-old girl’.

“Ha, that one won’t work, everyone knows how strong you are and just a flick would make a grown man cry, I just got a few tears of pain. The walking into the wall is understandable knowing how realistic your illusions are. We all thought you turned the whole bridge invisible”. Fred realized again he was arguing with a little girl.

Rocssanna and William came to Sky’s room first and went to Sky before doing anything else. Rocssanna was begging for her forgiveness and William followed suit.

Sky was surprised at her parents “I will forgive you if you can forgive me first for not informing you that I became squishy like Mr. Joe and.” she made an obvious gesture to Fred, then added, “Mr. Fred is.” She whispered to her parents just loud enough for Fred to hear too. “Mr. Fred doesn’t like to be called squishy; he says lots of people consider him hard muscled. A lot of people lie to him then; he’s as squishy as Joe and everyone else. So, will you forgive me for letting you hurt me?”

They both said they would forgive Sky and she accepted theirs. They seemed happy after the exchange. Joe entered soon after, and he looked terrible; his eyes were puffy and red. They looked like he was crying. Sky felt horrible for not telling him about her being soft before accepting his hug. She just wanted to feel a caring embrace and forgot to tell him she was soft because he was so weak. He was devastated after breaking her arms. It showed how much it hurt him on his face. Now looking for forgiveness, he went to her not knowing what to say. Sky approached him as well, when they met she looked up to him, and he went to one knee so they would be almost eye to eye. Sky reach around him slowly not touching him. She cast a healing spell to help his puffy red eyes and his inner pain. She felt him slump into her as she passed on her regret at what he went through. She could feel new racks of sobs as he cried in happiness that she so easily forgave him. She whispered in his ear. “Does this mean I’m still your hero?” Joe just sobbed ‘yes.’ “Because of your still one of mine too. I need you to be strong so take this, you won’t be as strong as Mr. Fred, but you won’t be a slouch by any means. Now you’ll have way deeper well of magical energy plus one more elemental affinity. You and Mr. Fred are my new heroes, please be careful how you use it. I have a feeling the aliens after I have just got more eager for magic spent or not. I’m a healer and helper by heart I need you and Fred to be strong for myself and everyone. I love you, Joe, father number three”.

Joe’s tears subsided as he felt an immense power flowing into him. He knew Sky found him worthy of being one of her champions, possibly one of many. He pulled away as Sky released the hug. He had no more tears falling from his eyes showed no sign of crying. He felt the gift Sky left him, a gift she could take away as easily as given. There was something he felt this time he didn’t feel the last time. He was going to have to train for sure now that he has two more elemental affinities. Plus, he might have a link to Sky’s elemental affinities that he already had. Joe tried not to think of all the power he now possessed that very few people even came close to holding.

Sky looked to everyone in turn with a smile. “It looks like everyone is hungry, we should sit together and have a bite to eat. Let’s all eat a good lunch and get back to training. I need to do some school work too. With Conny’s help, I can get that done in half an hour”.

Fred looked at Sky with an odd look on his face. “What do you mean get it done in half an hour? How does working with Conny make it so much faster than at school”?

“That’s because Conny’s processor is just fast enough to keep up with my thought patterns. At school, I couldn’t even touch the books without using special rubber sticks to handle them. My new tablet was a little better, but it had nowhere near the capacity Conny has in processing speed and RAM. Interacting with most computers was like washing yourself out of a bucket rather than emerging yourself in a bathtub”.

Joe also seemed confused and had to ask his questions. “No one can go into the computer's interface with something like a mental projection? How is something like that possible? The human brain can’t do that, as far as I’ve ever heard, you would be the first ever”. Joe looked around to see if anyone has heard of someone else mentally interfacing with a computer.

Sky did not know what to say; she could do a lot of things no one else could. She just never considered if it was normal or not. If I can dance and that no one else can, why stop now. “I don’t know how I do it, interfacing with such a powerful computer is easy for me. I never gave it much thought if it were possible or not. I guess it’s magic that lets me do it. I picture myself in the processors and how they work and enter in the right mindset to work like a computer. That’s is when I first really interacted with Conny”.

Fred was surprised at how easy Sky made a magic sound. Fred could almost picture how it would work except for the fact the computer was made to work faster than the human brain. It must be the thought process of Titans that allows them to use that particular magic. “Joe, do you think anyone else can interact with computers as Sky can? I have never heard of anyone doing it, and I’m the one who insisted on the new AI computer system to be installed. It was a Bata test system not recommended for new ships, but I was persistent in the installation. After finding out about the supercomputer system, I had to have it no matter what. If it weren’t for my particular gift of foresight they would not have done it. I think us being here is not some random occurrence; it was meant to happen”.

Joe looked around to see if anyone thought his captain was crazy. No one seemed to have any negative reaction to Fred’s statement of insisting on the computer and the new AI system. “I don’t know how your gift works, but I think your right about it not being a coincidence meeting the Knights. I think it would be good for all practice after lunch and learn about our new gifts. We have a lot to accomplish before meeting our new crew members not to appear too disorganized”. The last he said looking at Sky with a smile motioning to her dress. “Even though its lunchtime you’re still on the military clock and should still be wearing your uniform.”

Sky just smiled back as a shimmer waved over her body and her Ensign uniform appeared. “I have it with me at all times now. So, let’s eat before your food gets as crunchy as mine, and I get double portions”.

Joe was amazed at Sky’s clothing transformation and was wondering how Sky did it. She cast no spell because he felt no magic being used and any transformation spell takes an immense amount of magic. “Sky how did you transform your clothes without casting any spells that we could feel”? Joe asked her, watching for her anticipated answer. Sky smiled at him and looked to her feet quickly letting him know something was amidst with Sky.

Sky looked kind of sheepish and with a slight blush. “Um, let’s have lunch, and maybe I’ll tell you my secret on how I changed my clothes. I’m really hungry and can’t wait to finish my studies afterward”. Sky intentionally left out telling them the answer to her changing her clothing transformation.

With that said they all went sit for breakfast, Sky leading the way in a quick pace, her stomach let out a growl. They turned to each other and smile. Fred started to walk a little quicker, “I think she’s just hungry enough to eat our portion if we’re too slow.” Fred said just loud enough for Sky to hear, and her pace quickened. There was a slight rush of moving air as the couple behind them disappeared. Fred looked to Joe not knowing what to make of it. Joe just shrugged his shoulders and walked a little quicker to the mess hall.

Joe called back. “I want to see why Rocssanna and William ran so quickly to make it to the mess first”?

Fred got the gest of what Joe was saying and wanted to see too and quickened his pace. They came to the mess and seen William peered into a pot of what appeared to be glue or some paste. Rocssanna was looking over a dozen baked chickens, bake to the point they looked dried out and rock hard. Beside them were the potatoes in the same state. Sky had her eyes wide open with a huge smile on her face. Fred then realized this is how Sky liked her chicken and potatoes.

“It looks like Sky gets extra helpings and we’ll have to wait a little longer to prepare some more chickens and potatoes,” Rocssanna said as she put two chickens and dozen large rock hard potatoes on a large serving tray that Sky used like a plate. Sky just picked them off her plate and bit into a potato, and it broke off in pieces, Sky didn’t seem to mind. Rocssanna and William never said anything about her eating with her hands. Rocssanna noticed Fred and Joe watching Sky eat and told them why she had to use her hands to eat the chicken and potatoes. “Guys ever try and stab rocks, or eat jerky with a fork. It’s not possible to do with any grace”. She wasn’t sure they heard the last part of the sentence. Her voice was drowned out by Sky after just biting through a chicken leg bone and all crunching away happily, enjoying her meal that was not mushy.

Sky, seeing that Fred and Joe were watching her, broke off two chicken legs and offered them one each of them. They both told her to enjoy her meal, and they’ll wait for theirs. “I guess they’re just a little too crunchy for your soft muscles. The potatoes aren’t too crunchy, but they tend to crumble as you bite them. I just wish the potatoes weren’t so dry”. William heard his daughter and through some spices into the glue-like substance and put it into a large mug.

“Here try this, it’s overcooked pasta that ended up being liquefied. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it; but if you don’t like drinking it, I guess I could always throw it out”. William said with a hesitant smile. William hated throwing out food.

Sky took the offered cup and took a sip without hesitation. Smacking her lips together she critiques the taste of the goo. “It’s not so bad, it’s a little bland still, but I kind of like the way it swishes in my mouth. I like it enough not to have you throw it out, Daddy. I don’t think it would become my favourite drink though”. Sky said smiling at her father, letting him know that it was not just as it seems.

William got the hint and nodded to Sky to let her know he understood. They both hated wasting food if it was unavoidable