Journey to the Dark Side of the Universe

The twenty-eighth chapter of the Crusaders of the Constellations Novel, it details the trip to the universe's dark side.

## Story

Two vessels are travelling the black reaches of Outer Space: The Dimensional Shuttle and the Dimensional Wayfarer. Inside, Samson is manning the cannons. "Once we clear all asteroids, we are good to go," he said. King Athos informed his staff that when they see an obsidian portal, they are near the entrance to the dark side. Meanwhile, the students in the spacecraft are busy chatting, sleeping, even eating snacks. Ranald was sleeping, while Phrixus was looking at the window. He had Chrysomallos stowed in the Wayfarer, and he could see giant shadow snakes being shot by the ship cannons. He hoped that everyone there was safe.

The Dimensional Shuttle was shooting up space squid monsters though. These gigantic monsters tried to pry open the ship with their slimy tentacles, but the laser cannons ripped through them. After the space squids were chased off, Samson and Schiff respectively manned their spacecraft's controls and shot the asteroids. "This should do for now!" Samson exclaimed. He rode the ship away from the smaller pieces of the asteroids, and said to the passengers,"There's nuthin' to worry about here! I've been driving this baby ever since the king hired me to be the driver."

Ranald silently grumbled about how bumpy the ride is despite the Dimensional Shuttle being in space. "Bud, at least we're alive," Phrixus assured him. In the Dimensional Wayfarer's air bubble, Schiff and Autahi were checking the holographic map on the deck. "We have been looking and there are no signs that we are near the obsidian portal," Schiff glumly said, "Maybe we have no choice but to give up and rest," "Now stop that talking. We must continue onward just like the Dimensional Shuttle is doing. We can't give up now since we've got a universe to save. The best we can do is to keep looking," Autahi told his friend. Schiff then went to the steering wheel of the Wayfarer and steered it near the Shuttle so that they would not get lost. In one of the spacecraft's rooms, Mayari decided to join Delmare in stargazing.

"I see... a white dwarf star!" Mayari pointed to the window, where some stars can be seen. "A dwarf star? Well, I've seen things like a space crystal floating by the Wayfarer's windows!" Delmare spoke. The young lady then told her classmate that she can see several planets and their suns and moons. "But they are too small from here!" Delmare said while flying to the bunk bed to prepare her pajamas. She flew to the window and looked out of it. It's the same old things seen from the Dimensional Wayfarer. Stars and moons, some comets and even some non-hostile space squid. If there's space squid, surely there must be some space whales, she thought to herself. Now, every room in the Dimensional Wayfarer at least is big for two people to sleep in and a reinforced-glass window that is big enough to allow those inside to have a nice view of outer space.

Delmare was about to get lost in her thoughts again when Mayari's voice pierced the air. "Look! Something 's not right with the moon I saw!" she rushed over to the Earth lady's side only to find that the moon Mayari saw was...shattered. How is this even possible? Is this the work of the Devourer of Worlds from long ago? Or that they were getting closer to the dark side of the universe? "I got to tell the others!" Delmare said to Mayari and went up to the ship deck. Mayari nodded and went to observe from the window to see if there are any more anomalies. At the ship deck, Schiff told Autahi and Kohi that he's going to go down and pack up his belongings and then go home. "You can't go home now!" Autahi protested, "We're going to see some weird stuff that indicates that we're getting close!" Schiff told his classmates to let King Athos know that he's going to quit when Delmare burst in and told him about the shattered moon. Surprised, he took out his telescope and looked out for the celestial object. When he saw the shattered moon, he mouthed out,"That's it. We are getting closer..." "Inscriptions say that the nearer you get to the dark side's entrance, the weirder things get. It sure scares me..." Kohi whispered. Among what happens to be liquid air, comets flying backwards and stars even unknown to the rest of the universe, the two spacecraft are getting closer to their destination.

Schiff sent a signal to the Dimension Wayfarer to let them know about the strange sights. "Yes, we're sailing on liquid air, and some creepy shadows floating by that don't seem to show hostility to us so far," King Athos said while sipping fruit punch and reading Pride and Prejudice. "The portal must be close," Samson said. The two ships flew near a huge portal made of obsidian and with strange symbols carved on the sides. "Entering in there will be like getting sucked in by a black hole...fairly unpleasant," Phrixus stated. "Yes. But we'll pull through," Ranald said cheerfully, "It'll be just like entering the portals to other dimensions back in Aether World's university." Samson's voice boomed through the speakers, jolting some passengers from their sleep, and freaking out Anbesa before he calmed down. "Attention, all passengers. We will be entering the dark side of the galaxy. Please stay in your seats and hold on tight. Don't panic, and when we enter and find a landing spot, be sure to wait until further instructions," he said. On the Dimensional Wayfarer, Husdent gave similar instructions and assured them that the spaceships are built for portal travel as well. "So... we won't get dead or something?" Bai Tu nervously asked. "Yes. Now Schiff, let's fly in this baby!" Husdent yelled. The ship captain gulped and drove the Dimensional Wayfarer into the obsidian portal. The Dimensional Shuttle followed suit.

\*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH\*

The spacecraft and their passengers found themselves in the darkest part of the universe. Remains of worlds eaten by the Devourer of Worlds, or the Void Serpent, littered the expanses of the area. The sky there has no stars, just an empty void without end. "This is an unpleasant place...aw look, we are running low on fuel. That's the bad news," Samson said. "And the good news is that we have some extra fuel pods. Just goes to show that preparations are necessary when going one really long voyages like this one," Husdent told him through speaker.

King Athos warned that they will face more obstacles in the dark side of the universe. He sealed the Devourer and his allies long ago in here, so it must be difficult for them to get out. Ranald asked the king where the Devourer's minions come from. "Some may have been approached by the Devourer in their dreams and visions and were promised power by him. They made a deal with him to become his servants, and thus have to aid him in the destruction of all worlds, otherwise, the Devourer will punish them," Athos answered.

Avoiding black holes, the spacecraft landed on a nearby floating island to refuel. One way they accomplished this was for a student to attach a hose to the ship's tank to the fuel pod and pump it in. Asterion refilled the Dimensional Shuttle and Asclepius refilled the Dimensional Wayfarer. When they got back to their vehicles, Ranald asked Asterion how's it like getting sucked into a giant portal. "Well, not so good...I was dizzy afterwards and I felt like I'm stretched into beef noodles or something," the minotaur said. Everyone agreed. Asclepius, on the other hand, admitted that he was scared after the whole Wayfarer got sucked in and he had to lie down on his bed afterwards. Cerynitis and Mayari comforted him and thanked him for helping refuel the ship. "Thanks. I'll eat some of my medicine afterwards," Asclepius said as he joined Bai Tu and Shiba in a game of chess.

At the Dimensional Shuttle, Samson looked at the map display on the screen of the Dimensional Shuttle and mapped the coordinates to the Devourer of World's resting place. "Your Majesty, we'll teleport to the floating island nearest to the entrance. I'll prepare the teleportation and relay the message to Husdent," Samson told King Athos through intercom. "Yes, do it immediately and we'll set off." Samson then told Husdent through a speaker on the Dimensional Wayfarer about the coordinates, and Husdent went on all fours and pressed some buttons with his paws. "Ready, Sam? We're all set!" the flame dog barked. "Well then," replied Samson, and then he pressed the teleport button. The Dimensional Shuttle and its cars vanished in a blink. The Dimensional Wayfarer did the same.

Soon, the students and crew found that their vehicles are now near a huge fortress carved from an unknown black rock. It seemed to be neglected and crumbling. It is on an island that seemed to be a dark reflection of the Realm of the Sun, with a forest of dead trees surrounding the fortress. Everyone disembarked on a plain near the forest and faced the castle. Samson and the rest of the staff placed force fields on the spaceships. "You guys may have powers, but you can't rush in there blindly. We must be sure to take down the monsters and servants of the Devourer of Worlds before getting to the big boss," Ranald told the students. "That's right. We will defeat whatever evil that goes up against us as long as we work together," King Athos said. They all cheered.

"I guess it's true that Ranald is leader material," Delmare told Bai Tu. "Well, yes of course. He may be a bit rough on us during his first time in Aether World Cosmic University, but he must have improved a lot since then ever since Phrixus and the others mentored him," he thoughtfully said. Delmare had Ocean's Wrath at her side, Bai Tu had his jade pestle and bowl. "You...are fighting monsters...with that?" Kibahime asked him. "Uh... I wear the bowl on my head and hit them with the pestle," Bai Tu said. Ranald walked to Bai Tu and assured him that they will defeat the Devourer of Worlds together. "And I won't run away from you guys this time," he chuckled.

With that, the students and staff went into the forest to end the threat of the Devourer of Worlds.