Eric's Adventure Stories: Worlds in Peril Volume 1 Director's Cut (ON HOLD)

Chapter 4: Eternal Darkness

(Eric's POV)

It's been three days since that battle. We did eventually receive help, and we were brought back to civilisation. We had a rest period before our next assignment, so we were able to chill out on my home planet for quite some time. We had to keep the Catgirls hidden though, as it may start something unwanted worldwide. Emiliano had been unconscious for a long time. Yet, there was a certain feeling of dread near him, at all times. Everyone in our group was getting concerned, one way or another. But, I was most concerned, because of how long he was out. Sometimes I wondered if he was dead. I just generally felt uneasy. But, soon, I'll fix this.
I eventually did receive the next assignment, it wasn't as serious as the other ones. We were informed to bring in as many teammates as possible though, which did concern us a little, but regardless, we had to go do it. We took Emiliano with us to the ship, just in case he woke up. We all sat down in our seats, and I took the pilot seat again, much to everyone's concern. "Shush. I got this." I said to all of them, before starting the ship up. And soon, we were in space, once again. I sigh as I look into the vacuum of space, wondering if I should've just not done this at all. Certainly would've made sure I didn't almost die a hundred times. "What's wrong Eric? Too nervous to fly the ship? Hehehe!" Azuki suddenly commentated on my nervousness out of nowhere. "O-Of course not! I was just thinking to myself! Now just shush and let me concentrate!" I replied, kicking the ship into overdrive.
As we flew through space, I locked my eyes to the window as I stayed on alert for anything that may come our way. Eventually, I heard footsteps behind us. "Ngh... what happened...? Is everyone alright?" Everyone was shocked. Emiliano was now awake, and still alive, even after what had happened earlier.
"Emiliano! You're alright! Thank god." I said. I got out of the seat, patting him on the shoulder. "Did everything go alright? What happened?" Emiliano asked, looking genuinely confused. "For the most part, yeah." I give a vague response, since I know what happened to Owen. "Anyway, sit down, take a seat. We're on another mission." In his confusion, Emiliano reluctantly nods and sits down, as I sit back down in the driver's seat.
I let out a light yawn as we approached our destination. We slowed down, as we approached the planet. It was a cold, dark-ish planet, with almost no sign of life on it. Our objective was to investigate a strange power source coming from it. I had to turn on the lights of the ship in order to even slightly see where we were landing. We eventually did land on a slightly slanted surface. As the door opened, and we all stepped out, I had a torch so we can see but barely. "Alright everyone, stick together, don't get lost." I said, as everyone nodded. We all began our travel to the location marked out by my tracker.

(Emiliano's POV)

Everyone had gone except me. I offered to stay behind, since I wasn't feeling my best. I sighed as I looked into the darkness. When, all of a sudden, I started hearing faint voices in my head, for some reason.
"Hm? Who's there?" I yelled out into the ship, and the never ending darkness. "Boy... you still feel guilty, don't you?" "Hm? What do you mean?" "There is still time to save "Him..." your fallen comrade..." "You mean Owen? No way to get him back, he was killed." "Just because he's dead... that doesn't mean getting him back is impossible." "What? What are you on about?" The voice suddenly stopped. I looked around the ship, completely confused, yet curious. "Who the hell was that? I swear, does he think I'm in a story or something? This is real life. People die, and go." I took a nearby lamp and walked out of the ship, my entire self being swallowed by never ending darkness. I just walked forward, into the never ending abyss. I wasn't sure why I was doing this. Perhaps out of curiosity, or something else. But, I just kept walking, and walking.
After a bit more time, I heard the noise of my footsteps change. Meaning I was on some kind of different ground from what I was just on. The darkness seemed to somehow get worse, as not even my lamp could light the way anymore. Eventually, I just decided to turn it off, since it wasn't much help anymore. Darkness, surrounded everything. I felt a faint tap on my shoulder, and I turned around quickly to touch whatever it was, but... nothing seemed to be there.
"What the hell!?" "Boy. What you just touched and felt... was your comrade's soul. It lies, in the middle of this planet. A source of all souls, including your friend's." "That's not even possible, cut the bullshit!" I punched the darkness, facing it head on. "You have strong will, boy. I can sense your desire for revenge. It can be seen in your actions. Your hatred flows, to a near uncontrollable level." "I said cut the bullshit!" And I once again punched into the darkness, but I actually hit something this time. What I felt... wasn't a joke, or anything like that. It definitely felt like a part of Owen.