Rise and Fall- The Fight Inside

Not Even Grainger

Ryland glared at Reagan with a touch of hate. Reagan instantly regretted letting that string of words leave her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Ryland." Reagan apologized. 

Ryland slowly but certainly began crying. Reagan didn't know what else to do.

"I could have saved him, I know I could have. But now he is gone and it's all my fault." Ryland expressed.

"No it's not, there is nothing you could have done. You can't blame yourself for your parents' deaths." Reagan restated.

"If I didn't believe what I had seen then I wouldn't have fallen asleep and I could have beaten Olivia and saved everyone." Ryland mentioned.

"When I was your age, I lived alone without any parents or siblings. I knew my father died at the hands of my aunt and that my mother was somewhere out there but I had not the slightest clue as to where she was.  That is when I met Grainger and Malice. She told me that Grainger was my twin brother. It wasn't soon after that she passed away. My point is, I know how you feel." Reagan explained.

"I just can't believe it's all over and it seems as if it just began. We need to find the rest of the ship and make certain that he is dead." Ryland suggested.

"Again with this? Your father was very powerful but not even him could fly through an asteroid field like that." Reagan reiterated. 

"Exactly, look at this piece of the ship. There isn't any sign of it being hit and torn apart. If the ship was hit by an asteroid, the ship would've splintered apart and the pieces would be bigger but it's in tiny pieces. This is indicative that the ship exploded. Now I only knew him for a short time, but he would never blow up his ship on purpose." Ryland theorized. 

"What are you trying to say?" Reagan asked.

"I think that Olivia staged this to make it appear that he is dead. I can still feel his presence... I know he is alive." Ryland assured her. 

"What do you suggest we do then?" Reagan questioned.

"I say we get out of here and go back to where you found this piece of the ship. From there, we can locate the rest of the pieces and use one the analyzing stations to create a 3D model of the crash or explosion and get to the bottom of this." Ryland planned.

Reagan nodded in approval and made her way out of the room with Ryland following. He stood by her side as they left the hospital and exited through the doors to the ship docking station. Ryland smiled, noticing he was a good foot taller than Reagan now. Reagan pointed him to the ship that had brought him here. As they got on board, the memories came back to him. 

"I know it has been a long time since I have set foot on this ship but for me it was yesterday." Ryland pointed out.

"I know." Reagan laughed. 

Ryland ran to his former room and opened the door. Everything was the same as he had left it, to his surprise. Next, he went to Grainger's room. Opening the door slowly, he watched as the light crept through the darkness, illuminating the dark space. He reached around the corner to turn on the lights and searched the room for any differences. 

"Ready?" Reagan shouted.

"Yeah!" Ryland yelled back to Reagan as the ship lifted off the ground.

He rummaged through the boxes under Grainger's bed. The majority of the boxes with filled to the top with Grainger's old clothing. Feeling discouraged after not finding anything, he returned to the front of the ship with Reagan.

"Did you find what you where looking for?" Reagan asked.

"I don't know what I was looking for but it wasn't there. I only found a ton of dad's old clothing." Ryland sighed. 

"I'll tell you what- why don't I go look and you can stay here and monitor the ship." Reagan stated.

"Okay, let me know if you find anything." Ryland hollered to Reagan who was already half way to Grainger's room. 

"Uh huh." Reagan muttered as she opened the door.

She glanced around quickly and then proceeded to the bed. She knelt down on the floor and peered under the bed. She reached under and grabbed all of the cardboard boxes and moved them out of the way. Reagan was shocked at what she had found. Hidden by the rest of the boxes, was a smaller, metal box. Reagan slid it from under the bed gently. She stared down at the box with curiosity. She picked at the lock, realizing that she couldn't open it.

"Ryland! Ryland, I found something- come here!" Reagan yelled.

Ryland emerged from the hallway, kneeling beside Reagan. He studied the box with his eyes.

"Is this my father's?" Ryland wondered. 

"I requires some kind of DNA to open it, I think." Reagan answered.

"Then open it. You and my father were twins so you should be able to open it." Ryland murmured.

Reagan swiped her finger over the metal lock. She pulled her hand away, waiting for it to open but the lock only glowed with a red light.

"I don't think that it is Grainger's box. I can't open it so it can't be his." Reagan put together. 

"Then who's box is it and why did my father have it?" Ryland asked. 

"Ryland," Reagan stated dramatically. 

"What?" Ryland gasped.

"Give me your hand." she demanded.

Ryland gave Reagan his hand, muttering "Why?". Reagan didn't respond but instead she placed his index finger over the hard, metal, lock. Ryland watched as the lock turned green and the top of the box opened.

"How is that possible?" Ryland questioned.

"The box must have been your mother's. I couldn't open the box because I am Grainger's sister and I'm not related to Sofia. you, on the other hand,  are Sofia's son so you have her DNA and can open the box." Reagan declared.

"Why did my father have a box that belonged to my mother?"

"After your mother died, Grainger must have taken it to remember her." Reagan announced as she began opening the box.

Ryland watched as the contents of the box became exposed. He stood, staring, at the box as it glimmered in the light above them. It was blinding and truly beautiful.

"It's for you." Reagan noted, looking at the note in the bottom of the box.

Reagan handed the mysterious object and the note to Ryland. 

Ryland inspected the-