Keep me in distant sight

Chapter 21 : And at dawn, armed with glowing patience...

... 

 we will enter the city of glory

In the twirls/months leading up to the trial, Konoha and Akaashi were almost inseparable. They would regale their audience, from Kōtarō to their family, with all their nillians friends in between, with tales of their younger selves. Since Konoha didn't really know what would happen to him in the future, he had chosen to follow Akaashi in his nillian's lesson, as well as checking in for ablio training once or twice. However, in the end, they would always come back to the impending trial.

Both of them were hoping to let the past rest.

Both of them wanted to claim back the years they have spent separated. Stories were shared, bonds were built, memories were dug open and before they knew it, they were called.

Akaashi hadn't expected the Galactic Alliance's spaceship to be this ginormous but looking back, it was only logical. The whole thing is perhaps as wide as an island and tall like a mountain, a mass of foreign metal sturdy enough to withstand everything thrown in its paths, barely visible in the depths of space. Just like Konoha has told him, there are hundreds of kinds, flying, gliding, teleporting, walking, swimming (thanks to wide waterpipes in every hallway) everywhere at once, a never-ending whirlpool of life. Akaashi, taken aback by the sheer numbers of different kinds, bodies, faces, skin, everything, has to take a step back, hitting Kōtarō's chest as the other steps down from the docking station. Of course his Soulmate has followed him here, even if they weren't called - although, it seems like they were expected because the tiny hopping rabbit/mouse/paradise bird alien hovering in front of them doesn't even blink at them before they're ordering their little group to follow them. Akaashi's gaze flits from one point to the opposite, drinking in the sight- the high ceiling sparsely decorated with lights or phosphorescent algae-like things - and yes, he was right, it was a Sausian swimming leisurely in the transparent pipe.

(All of them seem to converge to the same point. None of them can prevent their eyes, numerous or single, from straying to the two humans marching between them. One is known around these parts and welcomed as an acquaintance. The other is known but was never seen before, merely reports of his dive through Ayll's atmosphere until his crash; his feat of preventing his poisonous cargo from spreading paid in his blood has instilled a grudging respect and thankful nods. The nillian that follows them walking instead of flying is a celebrity for some, a nobody for others but everyone knows the strange bound that can link human and alien together knows no borders and no reasons. Be as it may, other humans will awaken their Soulbond and join their siblings in the stars. It is something they can't prevent and humans have tried but it has failed miserably. Still. Their goals were too much a madness to ignore and they're here to judge them fairly).

Soon, they stop before a magnificent metal door, towering at 10 meters high and dwarfing every single being gathered in front. It's simple in its design, the most basic shape and still, its size makes Akaashi feel small and insignificant - which he is, in the end, just a tiny spec in the incredible variety of life in their galaxy. He has the fleeting thought that even all those people around him are nothing compared to the millions, billions, trillions of species that thrive in other galaxies. It's an oddly soothing thought, he decides as the doors open and he observes the gigantic structure.

Akaashi could try to guess its size but he would be wrong - it's far too wide, too high for him to translate in numbers. The room seems to occupy a whole floor of the spaceship. Perhaps two. If he had thought he was tiny before the doors, now he feels like he has been reduced to the size of a quark.

On every wall, stretching from what seems like kilometers, tiny niches are hanging, private observation nests for the public - some are double, perhaps for translators, seeing as the Galactic Alliance has never offered a universal language. A whole row of dozens niches are filled with water, some look almost frozen, others seem moist, overheating and Akaashi would like to take his time and see more but he has to follow their guide until they are seated right before the Court, ready to be called.