Thalia's Tale (A Team Crafted Spinoff)

Fifteen: To the Raymond

Venom grinned cockily. "You're just pouting because you lost."
     "I'm not pouting." Thalia replied calmly.
     "Yes you are." Before Thalia could reply, Venom closed her GameBoy and the Pokémon group duel closed.
     Thalia rolled her eyes closed her borrowed one, handing it back to Logan. They headed back into the base from where they had been sitting on the front steps and bickered as they walked along the halls.
     "Venom, did you know that your Servine was gonna do that one trick?" Kevin asked her as he ran up.
    "Of course I did!" Venom replied. "I always know!"
     "Sure you do."
     "Oh? Is that a challenge, Jack?"  
     As her friends argued, something caught Thalia's eye. She stopped and looked into the training room. It was lit up – totally and entirely. But there didn't appear to be anyone inside.
     Ahead, Logan alone noticed her and stopped as well. "TK? You coming?" He asked.
    "Hmm...? Oh!" Thalia nodded. "Yeah, Ginger, I just gotta check something..."
     Logan nodded. "Alright, just don't wear yourself out tomorrow. We're all gonna have to be on top of it come tomorrow."
     "I will." Thalia replied with a smile. "Goodnight."
     Logan saluted and turned to head after the others as they continued to bicker. Thalia watched the four go for a moment before looking back at the training hall and stepping inside. She looked around, but her suspicions were confirmed.
     She walked over to and sat down on a bench by the wall of the training hall. She took off her backpack and set it beside her, then pulled out a rather large book titled, 'The Ins and Outs of Airships'.
     She opened it and began to read about the different classes of airships. She got a few pages in before she yawned and started to feel a bit drowsy. Thalia considered heading off to bed, then quickly reconsidered. Here in the training hall, it was so quiet. Nobody wanted to train at midnight. It was the perfect studying environment. But still, she was tried...
     Thalia laid down long-ways on the bench and rested her head on her backpack. She smiled. "Much better." Then she settled down and continued her studies.

BOOM
     Thalia looked up. She hesitated for a moment. But when the noise didn't come again, she figured it was just her imagination. She shrugged it off and continued to read.
     BOOM
     Thalia laid down her book and stood up. She walked cautiously forward. "Hello?" She called. "Anybody there?" No response.
     BOOM
     The noise was getting louder. Thalia was just starting to get worried when an enormous crash split the air. A massive hole blew up in the wall of the training hall and squids came rushing in. Thalia's eyes widened. Then one of them noticed her and started towards her with a shout. She cried out and bolted out of the training hall.
     "We're under attack!" She shouted. "Arm yourselves!"
     She sprinted up the stairs taking them three-by-three until she came to her floor level. Strangely enough, there seemed to be no movement at all in the base. All of a sudden, it seemed very cold. She ran to a familiar dorm and opened the door. She looked around quickly, but Venom was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and she moved on to the next door. No one. She opened several more, but no recruits were there.
    A small, gentle voice echoed in the back of Thalia's mind. "Thalia..." She pushed it aside, knowing it was only her imagination.
     Suddenly, the squid picked her up in its slimy tentacles and slammed her up against the door. It pressed its tentacle to her neck and strangled her. She let out a choked scream, but no one heard her. It was like the base was an empty shell as her cry echoed through the halls.
    "Hey, Thalia." The voice spoke again, but still Thalia ignored it.
     The squid smirked at her darkly. "Goodnight, scum." He said. "I'll tell Xandra of your unfortunate demise..."
     Suddenly, as everything was starting to go dark, the voice spoke again, this time at a shout. "Thalia!"
     Thalia screamed and fell off the bench, her book flying out of sight. She immediately pulled her legs in close to her couldn't stop her terrified tears as she started to get her breath back. For a moment, nothing happened and she thought she was alone in the training hall. Then she felt someone sit beside her. "Bad dream?" The Commander asked. All Thalia could do was nod. Sky smiled grimly. "Wanna talk about it?"
     Thalia looked up at him, ashamed by the tears streaking down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and nodded. "The base was under attack. I was here in the hall when it happened. I-I ran and tried to warn everyone, b-but there was nobody here."
     Sky raised an eyebrow. "Nobody here?" He asked.
     Thalia nodded. "I-It was like it was d-deserted." Her voice wavered as the adrenaline started to wear off and she forced down her tears. "Th-Then this squid found me and strangled me a-and I tried to call for help but nobody was here and..." Thalia let out a low sob and quickly looked away, embarrassed by her childish fear.
     Sky noticed what she was doing and cocked his head to one side. "Thalia, it's alright. Everybody cries." He said. "Even me."
     Thalia looked up. "Really?"
     Sky smiled. "Yes, really." He said.
     Thalia pulled her knees close to her chest. "Like when?"
     Sky winced. "Like when the squids tried to drown me in that swamp. I was a little younger than you, at the time." He shook his head. "I was so scared... I was certain I was going to die. But back then, the squids weren't my enemy. I was downright terrified of them. I mean, with their wiggly tentacles..." He shuddered. "They're pretty ugly."
     Thalia nodded. "That I'll admit." 
     Sky smiled at her. "So, wanna tell me why you're in here at three AM?"
     "Oh, that..." Thalia laughed nervously and picked her book up off the ground. "I was doing a little research and... I guess I fell asleep..."
     Sky smiled knowingly. "I know the feeling." He stood and so did Thalia. "I'd suggest you get some sleep. In your dorm this time."
     Thalia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know." Without thinking, she stepped forward and hugged the Commander. She realized what she'd done and quickly stepped back, blushing. "Oh! S-Sorry, I just... It was instinct... Because you reminded me of my dad or something, and-"
     Thalia stopped as Sky smiled and hugged her. "It's okay." He said. She smiled and higged him back. "Good luck on your mission, Thalia." He said.
     "Thanks, Commander..." Thalia pulled back and smiled as she studied the Commander's expression for a moment. "Sometimes I forget you're not my dad..." She said quietly. She shook her head thoughtfully. "You act like him so much." She turned and headed out of the training hall. "Anyways, I'm tired. I'm heading off to bed."
     Sky smirked. "Nice to meet you, Tired. I'm Sky."
     Thalia didn't looked back as she groaned. "Oh my god, you even have the same jokes as him..." She scowled as she walked out of the base. Sky smiled after her and shook his head knowingly.

"So, heard you've been studying your part." Kevin said as he, Thalia, Venom, Logan, and Jack walked the way from the base to Port Colwald.
     Thalia nodded. "I know all there is from airships to pilots." She said. She hesitated. "I think..."
     Logan rolled his eyes. "Well, I looked up some sais techniques in the library last night and found some interesting stuff. I should be good to go."
     "And General Provst gave me a fake knife. Pretty sick." He pulled out a rather real-looking dagger and stabbed himself with it to no ill effect. He stashed it away and smirked at Logan. "But seriously, can we just take a moment and look at Logan's outfit?" Kevin said, gesturing to Logan's black shirt that went halfway up his neck and his black pants. He had the sais sheaths behind his back like they were supposed to be and wore brown trench boots. "You look like a ninja dude."
     Logan rolled his eyes. "That's kinda the point Jeck." He said.
     Venom glanced at Jack, who had been strangely quiet during the journey, and grinned mischievously at his perplexed expression. "Nervous, Stillman?"
     Jack didn't respond. Logan raised an eyebrow and nudged him with his elbow. Jack started and looked around. "Huh?"
     Venom smirked. "I asked you if you were nervous."
     "Not nervous." Jack sighed and looked away. "But terrified sounds good..."
     Thalia smiled sympathetically. "Relax, Jack, you'll be fine. It's just a boat ride."
     "I know that! That's why I'm scared!" Jack replied. He sighed frustratedly. "Look, imagine floating on a ship over an ocean of lava."
     Logan shuddered. "That doesn't sound like fun."
     "No shit, Ginger."
     "That's what I feel like, only it's real. If I fall overboard, I'll die." Jack's face paled even more than it already was.
     "Which is why we'll make sure you don't fall overboard." Thalia said confidently.
    Before any more conversation could be made, Kevin beamed and pointed ahead of them. "There she is!" He said. "The Raymond. In all her ship-ly glory."
    "Ship-ly?" Venom asked. "Is that even a word?"
    "No idea." Kevin replied simply.
    "Alright, let's get into character." Logan said.
    Jack smirked. "This'll be fun to watch." He said.
    "Should be interesting, considering we have to pretend to be strangers." Venom said.
    "Just... think of it as a role-play on steroids." Kevin said. "Like D&D. We'll just playing a massive game of Dungeons and Dragons."
    Thalia smirked. "Alright then. I'll go first." She nodded to her friends. "See you on deck." Then she turned and headed off towards the dock.