(Inside Rhydan's Spaceship)
It had been two days since they had been drifting through the emptiness of the Phantom Zone, on their way to Nuvaar.
Henry and his group had already encountered several dangers along the way.
Luckily, they had Henry with them, and smaller threats were exterminated by the spaceship's weapons.
On the first day, they encountered no danger; the journey went by almost without a hitch.
Things got worse on the second day.
A group of Mist Shadows was following their spaceship.
They were small, shadowy entities made of dense mist, attacking in swarms. They flew together and hunted through the Phantom Zone.
Henry had to leave the ship and deal with them personally or else they would all perish.
But it wasn't just the Mist Shadows that appeared on their way to Nuvaar.
They also encountered Spectral Spears, energy-based creatures that formed energy spears to attack from a distance. Individually weak, but dangerous in numbers.
After dealing with these threats, everyone in the group started asking him questions.
"How are you so strong?"
Those beings were definitely capable of wiping out a group of over a hundred men, but Henry handled them alone.
Henry didn't explain much. He promised that one day he would tell them the truth—that he wasn't from this dimension.
"Are we almost there? I can't take it anymore..." Velra said impatiently, sitting in the ship's seat, watching Rhydan pilot.
Rhydan furrowed his brow in annoyance. It wasn't the first time she'd asked.
"When we arrive, I'll let you know... You don't have to ask every hour," Rhydan muttered, frustrated.
His sister noticed his bad attitude and spoke up.
"Be more polite, please... What's got into you?" Kaelia whispered in his ear. She was sitting in the co-pilot seat.
"Hmph," Rhydan muttered.
"Don't worry, Velra. We're almost there," Teyna said.
"How can you be so sure?" Velra asked.
"The atmosphere... As we get closer to Nuvaar, the atmosphere gets denser. That planet has a very peculiar environment," Teyna replied.
Velra leaned back in her seat and relaxed.
"Alright..."
Meanwhile, in the back of the spaceship,
Henry and Larek were checking if everything was okay with the ship, making sure it wasn't damaged.
Henry was holding some repair equipment.
Larek was helping him.
Larek couldn't stop asking Henry questions.
"How did you do that? Are you an alien? Where are you from? What do you want in Darnathi?"
"Ai, man, calm down with the questions, okay? I'll answer them later..." Henry replied.
"Please... Tell me what you know, I need help," Larek insisted.
To be honest, Henry started to feel a little sorry for him. He'd been asking questions ever since he learned about Henry's powers.
Larek seemed like a young guy full of doubts, searching for answers.
Henry sighed.
"Fine, just a few... but don't tell the others... Rhydan and Kaelia already know," Henry said.
"Alright... I promise I won't pressure you," Larek said, shaking his glasses.
"So... where do I start?"
---
After some time flying through the void, their spaceship arrived near a planet.
The planet in question was smaller than the others they had seen before, about the size of the Moon.
The planet's atmosphere seemed tense, a purple hue.
Around the planet, small explosions of energy or strange activities were happening due to Nuvaar's strange environment.
Rhydan, who was piloting, warned the others through the ship's microphone.
"We're here," he said.
Everyone who was sleeping or in the back woke up and rushed to the front of the spaceship to see the planet.
"Wow... is this Nuvaar? Why choose this planet? Isn't it dangerous?" Larek asked.
"The planet, for some reason, suffers very few attacks from creatures. Nuvaar's atmosphere is a natural repellent for creatures from the void. They don't like it here... The traders thought it would be a good idea to set up a base here..." Rhydan replied.
Henry also went to see the planet.
Rhydan piloted the ship and entered the planet's atmosphere.
They descended and approached the surface. On the way down, Henry was surprised by the number of spaceships he saw.
There were many of them, coming in and out of the atmosphere—traders.
They descended further into the planet, just enough to see the surface.
Everyone in the spaceship couldn't help but notice one thing.
The atmosphere.
Nuvaar's sky wasn't clear, but constantly lit up by cosmic disturbances or residual energy from the Phantom Zone. Some areas of the sky were tinted in violet, blue, and orange hues.
"How beautiful..." Kaelia murmured. She had never seen Nuvaar before.
Larek was equally impressed.
After arriving on the surface, Rhydan piloted the ship to a small city, one of many on Nuvaar.
It was a city of traders.
The city in question on Nuvaar consisted of simple buildings made from recycled and improvised materials. The structures were made of rusted metal, local stones, and materials collected from old spaceships or simple homes.
There were more modern or higher-class houses, but most were for traders.
The population of the city was mainly composed of traders, nomads, and mercenaries who traveled through the Phantom Zone. They came from different planets and systems to exchange goods, from fuel and spaceship parts to rare or exotic items.
Rhydan arrived at the city and landed his spaceship in an open spot where parking was allowed.
There were several spaceship coming in and out of the city.
There were many Rest and Refuel Platforms, and Rhydan landed on one of them.
"We're here. Everyone out."
The group grabbed their things and exited.
"Finally," Velra murmured.
---
Henry was lying on a bed.
Rhydan and his group had rented a night in a tavern to rest.
Rhydan had to pay a hefty sum for them to stay here, so they decided to share rooms to save money.
They had stopped in Nuvaar mainly to refuel.
But beyond that, they couldn't continue without stopping because the ship's engine was overheating, so they had to take a break. Also, the spaceship needed some repairs.
Rhydan took the spaceship to a mechanic.
Henry was in his room thinking about Eve...
He missed her terribly. He wished he could go back and see her.
He wondered what had happened to the people on Earth while he was gone.
Were they all okay?
Henry sighed as he thought about it.
As his mind wandered, someone knocked on the door.
(Knock, knock)
Henry got up and opened the door.
It was Kaelia, his teacher. She looked stunning...
"Hi, good to see you. Want to come in?" Henry said.
"I came to check on you... How are you?" Kaelia asked as she stepped into his room.
"How is everyone else?" Henry asked.
"They're fine..." Kaelia replied.
Henry noticed something strange about her and asked,
"Is there something you want to say?"
"I... I wanted to ask if you want to go out with me. I don't want to wander around alone... I don't know anything about this place," Kaelia said shyly.
"Go out with you? Of course... Why not?" Henry replied with a smile.
"Great... It's a date then," Kaelia smiled.
"And Henry... I wasn't sure about the prophecy before, but now… maybe it really is you…"
She left and closed the door after saying that.
Henry smiled.
"I hope she doesn't misunderstand things..." he murmured.
He wanted to see what Nuvaar was like, but doing it alone wasn't ideal; having company was always better.
Henry changed his clothes and wore the outfit he had gotten when he lived at the camp with Kaelia and the others.
He now looked similar to them...
"I hope she likes it... It's all I've got," Henry said.
He left the room and went down the futuristic tavern stairs.
The others were in their rooms resting or doing other things.
Henry saw Kaelia waiting for him.
He went up to her and greeted her.
"Hey... You look really nice, let's go," Henry said.
"Thanks..." Kaelia replied, a little shy.
They walked side by side through the city, looking at things they had never seen before—food stores, entertainment, and much more.
Henry and Kaelia arrived in front of a small shop that sold a variety of things.
Kaelia spotted something that caught her attention.
A beautiful shiny necklace, decorated with several sparkling jewels.
Henry noticed and said,
"Do you like this? Why don't you ask the price?"
"I... I don't have any money," Kaelia replied, a little sad. After saying that, she changed her attitude.
"It's okay... Let's move on," Kaelia said, holding his arm.
Henry didn't have money either. He put his hands in his pockets and realized he didn't have anything.
"If you don't have money, get out of my shop, you're disrupting the sale," the owner said, frowning.
Henry heard this and had an idea, one he might regret—or maybe not.
"Alright... We're leaving, no need to shout," Kaelia replied.
They walked away from the shop.
Kaelia had a sad or disappointed expression on her face.
Henry noticed the sadness in her eyes. He couldn't help it.
Henry, standing next to her, disappeared in an instant, fast enough for her not to notice.
He vanished and returned.
But when he came back, Henry was holding two things.
Kaelia didn't notice when he disappeared.
"I'll buy one for myself when I get back..." she said.
Henry was standing next to her.
"You can take it now..." Henry said, pulling the necklace from his pocket.
"Did... did you steal it?" Kaelia asked.
Henry smiled awkwardly and said,
"Uh... I'm sorry, didn't you like it? I can return it... But it seemed like you really wanted it... So I took it."
Kaelia took the necklace.
"I can't believe you stole it..." she said, putting the necklace on.
"But I think he deserved it..." Kaelia laughed.
"How does it look?" she asked.
"It looks really good," Henry replied.
They continued walking until they reached a food shop.
Kaelia looked at the food with her mouth watering. It smelled so good.
Henry pulled out a wallet he had stolen and asked,
"What do you want?" he said, smiling.
"I can't believe you stole money too..." she said, surprised.
"You're not going to want anything? Because I'm really hungry," Henry said, sitting at the table.
"I said I can't believe you did that, not that I don't want it..." she said, sitting down.