Windchimes. Pt. 2, Chapter 13.

 The bee landed outside of the carnival walls, the mutant pigs throwing themselves against the doors, trying to get them open. 

"There! The ship!" Eos pointed, slinging the rifle back over her shoulder and dashing off towards it. Pandora quickly followed, with Lonely in tow. The door opened, and the three climbed inside, Eos immediately sitting down at the control panel to start punching buttons. Leaving Lonely and Pandora to strap into their seats without command. As the carnival doors burst open, the spaceship turned on and started to fly away, leaving Carnalavilia in its dust. 

When they finally got far enough away from the planet,  Eos asked for the passkey piece to put with the others, in a chest under one of the cabin bunks. 

After she disappeared, Lonely realized the adrenaline was wearing off. His hands and arms had pieces of glass sticking out of him that were the size of paperclips. His lip was cut, and he was pretty sure he was sleep-deprived. 

Pandora watched him as he unbuckled and went over to the med bench, hoping to find some tweezers or gauze. The girl got up and said something that Lonely didn't understand before she pointed to the med bench, then him as she sighed.  He nodded slightly and sat down as Pandora started rummaging through the box of emergency equipment. She grinned when she finally found what she was looking for, and Lonely couldn't help but smile back. Her freckles shone brightly on her face, but her eyes shone brighter than any star he'd seen. He suddenly felt a lump in his throat as she walked over, flipping the laser-pointer-looking tool between her fingers. She held up her free hand in a "hold still" manner as she zapped each individual shard of glass with the laser pointer, making it evaporate, even the ones he hadn’t noticed in his back. The cuts weren't gone, but the glass was. 

Eos came back into the room, wearing a new pair of shoes and holding a jar in her hand.

"Found it! Now you'll be able to understand everyone else we come across." She cheered, and before Lonely could protest, Eos held the jar with the worm in it next to his ear, and he felt the slimy thing wiggle its way into his head. He gaged slightly and shivered.

"Couldn't have at least warned me, E, geez, that was disgusting." He made a face, rubbing his ear violently with his hand. 

"He should be able to understand you now, Pandora." Eos nodded, clearly stifling a laugh at his reaction, "I'm going to set up our next root; we only have one piece of the passkey left to find." 

Pandora frowned and huffed slightly, "You need to rest, Eos, you need medical attention as well. Look at your arms." 

Lonely blinked in astonishment; her voice had caught him completely off guard. It was smooth and clear, with a bit of what he and earthlings would consider a French accent. He felt lulled by her voice; he suddenly realized what Pandora had said and glanced at Eos's arms. Cut, like his, but with the way she'd landed back there, there were probably more gashes on her back than she'd care to admit. 

"Work on getting him patched up first, then I'll use whatever is left to patch myself up. Crew gets checked first, then the captain." Eos seemed to almost order this to Pandora, who sighed once again before turning back to Lonely.

"Your friend sure is stubborn." She huffed, reaching back into the box for some bandages and a cleaning agent, "Good news is your arms caught most of the glass when the two of you were thrown, the cuts on your back are minor and will heal fully in a few hours. You'll most likely have scars on your arms for a while; they'll probably fade with time, though." 

Lonely opened his mouth to say something that probably would have sounded stupid if Pandora hadn't started to clean his cuts, "OW! geez Louise, warn a guy next time!".

She raised an eyebrow at him before continuing to clean the wound. Lonely got out his question through the sharp inhales that made their way into his lungs, "How did you learn how to do this?"

"My mother taught me." That was all she answered.

"And," he winced slightly as his pointer finger flinched from the cold liquid being dabbed on his arm, "did she teach you how to fly like that, too?" 

"No. I taught myself. It's all I wanted to do back home, fly. I wasn't allowed to because I was a girl, so I taught myself. Got stuck on Carnalavilia on my own, it was a stroke of luck you two showed up." Her face was soft and tired as she said this, which made Lonely sad. He didn't feel the physical pain anymore, just the memories of back home. His aunts are telling him he couldn't go to his classmates' birthday parties or that he wouldn't be able to do anything in life with a name like his.

"I understand the feeling." He smiled slightly, but it didn't feel real. 

"I know you do." Pandora waved her hand and the emergency box floated towards her so she could put the cleaner back, "you're friend said you're human, yes?" 

Nodding, Lonely shifted uncomfortably.

"Back home, it is said Humans have a strong power. Just like the Lunarius have psychic powers, and like the Starlin can gift long life, humans can heal faster than most life forms out here. Whether it is physical or emotional. You're seemingly shorter life spans give you the understanding of time, and even though you're kind, are short-lived; they seem to be the wisest aliens out there. You're not out of place here." Pandora hummed as she finished wrapping his arms.

He looked at her for a second, before looking at his feet, now embarrassed that she had probably known what he'd been thinking for the last few minutes,  "Please don't go reading my thoughts and emotions without asking first. That feels like an invasion of privacy." 

"Sorry." She apologized as he stood up. 

"Can you let Eos know that I'm going to get in a nap before our next big life-threatening extravaganza?" He asked, already starting to walk away.

"So close. So close to finding me, but then what?" Foe whispered, "Have Eos die while trying to conquer me? You know she will, R-" 

Sliding open a cabin door, Lonely hissed "Shut up." before realizing Foe had started to say his real name, "Wait! No! Finish what you were saying!" He begged, but the voice was gone. Grabbing his head, he sank to the floor. His name, his real name. He had been so close to knowing. 

"R." He breathed, "My real name starts with an R."

*

"You're dying, Eos." Pandora frowned, looking down at the Starlin in the captain's chair, "and you'll die faster if you don't let me help." 

"Calm down, I'm almost done." Waving one hand, Eos was typing furiously. They were almost done, so close to finishing this quest. 

Foe spoke to her once again, "You'll never make it to see the end. You won't be able to protect him when you're dead, but I can. If you make a deal. You literally have nothing to lose. You can join me and get everything you want. A place where you belong, feel wanted. All you have to do is give me control." 

"Alright, I'm done." Eos smiled, quickly getting up from her seat, the blood rushed to her head, and she felt her vision start to fog. "Let's hurry this up; we'll be at Newslater in a few hours, and I need to make preparations before we land." 

Pandora rolled her eyes. "Stop being a captain for fifteen minutes so you can get patched up." 

"You're the medic." She paused, "If it's okay that I call you that?" 

"Don't see why not," the Lunarius shrugged and handed Eos the roll of bandages before pointing to the bench, "I want to be able to help anyway I can since you two got me off that terrible planet."

Eos sat down with her legs crossed, picking at the bandage fabric with her finger, knowing she'd need to process and talk to Lonely later about what was said, "just call it even. You saved us before the truth-telling became worse." 

"I'm just sorry I wasn't able to get there sooner."