CANNONFIRE 2: A Tempestuous Crescendo

     Dnias slammed the front door behind him. He then trudged down the hallway defeatedly, dripping water onto the carpet as he shuffled along. He couldn't even stop his own son from running off into the storm outside. Some father he was.
    He pushed open the door to his and his wife's room to find his wife huddled in bed with a book. She glanced up at him and her brow furrowed slightly.
    “Why are you all wet?” she asked.
    “Well, your son just ran away from home and I couldn't catch him,” Dnias replied with a sigh, “I don't even know what provoked him. There were some letters that came in for him and Jupiter and that's probably what triggered it, but he wouldn't even tell me what the letters said.”
    “Dante's out there in that storm?!”
    “Calm down, Adie,” Dnias said, comforting his wife, “This is our kid we're talking about. I'm sure he's fine.”
    Adie bit her lip, staring at her husband with a concerned look.
    “Well?” another voice similar to Dnias' said, “That said, what are you going to do about it?”
    Adie jumped as Yang materialized next to Dnias.
    “I don't know,” Dnias groaned, putting his hand on his head, “I guess I never have been that great a parent, have I?”
    “Don't say that,” Adie retorted, “Have a little self-confidence.”
    “It's not like he's wrong,” Yang interjected, “How often are you telling him to be a better role model for those two? He's a terrible father.”
    “Shut up, Yang,” Adie snapped, “We don't need any snide comments from you.”
    “I'm going to take a shower,” Dnias said in an effort to end the conversation. Yang shrugged before disappearing.
    “Don't worry too much,” Adie said, “I married you for a reason, after all.”
    Dnias sighed, making for the bathroom on the other side of the room. At this point, it didn't really matter how good a parent he was. All that mattered was letting Dante feel comfortable with telling him what was going on...
    ...if he ever came home.

~~

    Dante slumped back against the wall of the cafe under its awning, having finally found a place to get out of the rain. It was too late for the cafe to still be open, but at least he could stand here.
    He was completely soaked and the tears running down his cheeks mixed with the rainwater and seemed to disappear as if they never existed. In fact, the metaphor was strangely appropriate for the circumstance at hand.
    He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the letters. Incredibly, the letter was completely dry. He couldn't read the letter in the dark, but he felt for the ticket that was attached to the letter, which was also dry. The ticket was was made of what felt like thick metallic paper, just like the last one was.
    Dante sighed, a long, low groan accompanying it, as he shut his eyes tightly.
    “I can't be doing this,” Dante muttered to himself, “I have to be strong for everyone. I have to be strong for Jupiter.”
    Dante clutched the letter more tightly, the crumpling of the paper being all but drowned out by the roaring of the storm.
    “We'll be fine,” Dante said, trying to convince himself, his hands shaking, “We'll carry on in Cannonfire just like we did the first time.”
    A sudden gust of wind threatened to tear the letter from Dante's grasp, but he managed to hold on. The gale whipped his hair and antennae around wildly. It also sent a sudden blast of freezing rain under the awning that only served to chill him to the bone. Thunder tore through the chill like a gunshot and the blinding flash of lightning it brought with it caused Dante to shrink back against the wall. Now he knew how Jupiter felt during a storm.
    He then remembered the letter and felt it over to see if it had gotten wet. As if by some miracle, it were still dry. It made sense, though. The all-important summons to Cannonfire was something the recipient's life depended upon, so it was only logical for the Time Agents to make it waterproof, strange as the execution behind it likely was.
    Dante decided to push the worries out of his head for now and make a mental packing list for his return trip to Cannonfire. He remembered that, last time, his and Jupiter's luggage had been left behind when they were forced onto the train, but Dante hoped that, this time, he'd get to bring something along at least.
    “Might as well make the most of going back to Cannonfire, I guess...”

~~

    Dnias strode down the hallway to Dante's room. Once there, he slowly pushed open the door, cringing as it creaked open. Some part of him expected his son to be there, but he still hadn't returned and the room was empty.
    “I wonder if he'll be okay out there,” Yang mused, appearing in front of Dnias, “It certainly sounds terrible out there. Hopefully, he hasn't been struck by lightning yet.”
    “Shut up,” Dnias snarled, “I have enough to deal with without you patronizing me.”
    Yang clicked his tongue, likely unable to come up with a suitable reply. Dnias then noticed Yang following behind him as he continued on to Jupiter's room. He hadn't stayed outside Dnias' body this long in a very long time.
    “What do you want out of me?” Dnias snapped.
    “Nothing, really,” Yang replied bemusedly, “I'm just curious to see how this all turns out.”
    Dnias rolled his eyes, finally arriving at Jupiter's bedroom door. He turned to Yang, putting a finger to his lips to signal for the apparition to remain silent.
    “What am I? Six?” Yang whispered defiantly.
    “Just shut up,” Dnias whispered back hoarsely. Once he was sure Yang wasn't going to speak again, he carefully opened the door to Jupiter's room, trying his best to make sure it didn't creak. He saw Jupiter and Ryan cuddled together underneath the covers, both sound asleep. A slight grimace formed on his face as he closed the door.
    “I still can't believe that your daughter is dating Jake's kid, of all people,” Yang said after the door clicked shut, “I guess picking men of the opposite moral alignment is something she gets from her mother.”
    “Do you ever say anything decent?” Dnias snarled, glaring at Yang.
    “You should know the answer to that question, Dnias,” Yang replied. Dnias massaged his temple, walking back down the hall. Between the incident at hand and Yang's constant mocking of it, he was beginning to get a headache. He contemplated just going to bed, but he was determined to stay up until Dante came home.
    He soon found himself standing just outside Dante’s bedroom door, which still hung wide open, giving a glimpse into the forlorn, empty room. With a sigh, Dnias headed inside, throwing himself onto Dante’s bed and lying there motionless. After a while of silence, Yang spoke up again.
    “Are you just going to wallow in your own self-pity all night?”
    Dnias didn’t respond.
    “You’re pathetic,” Yang scoffed. He then began to walk around the room, inspecting Dante’s things in curiosity. Dnias would have objected, but he didn’t feel like it. The night’s events had drained him of his energy, both physically and emotionally. Instead, his eyes lazily followed Yang’s movements as the apparition continued his snooping, phasing through walls and various other objects to get a good look around. Yang then entered the wall where Dante’s bookshelf was located and didn’t come out for an unnaturally long time. When he finally did come out, though, his brow was furrowed in confusion.
    “Hey,” Yang said, vocally prodding Dnias, “Do you think Adie knows that Dante has a secret compartment in this bookshelf?”
    Dnias perked up immediately, sitting up and staring at Yang in bewilderment.
    “What do you mean by that?” Dnias asked, vaulting off of the bed and kneeling down next to the bookshelf.
    “Here,” Yang said, pointing to a few books, “Take these out. I think the compartment’s behind those.”
    Dnias began pulling the books off the shelf. Once he did, he noticed a panel at the back of the bookshelf with a small hole serving as its handle. Dnias carefully removed the panel to reveal a small compartment with a few more books inside. Most of them were titles Dnias had never heard of before, which probably wasn’t all that worrying considering Dnias didn’t read all that much anyway, but there was one title he did recognize. At the right side of the compartment, Dnias spotted a copy of “A Nowhere Legacy”, the book that had been on everyone’s mind since it exploded in popularity just a short while ago. Dnias had read it due to Adie’s prompting and had enjoyed it also.
    Dnias pulled the book out of the compartment and turned it over in his hands. That was when he noticed something strange. On the cover, where the name “Daniel Spier” would usually be to credit the author, the name was now changed to “Dante Speed”.
    “Well, well, well,” Yang crooned, “What did we find here?”
    Dnias flipped the book open to the middle, scanning through it. Sure enough, the main characters’ names were changed from Daniel and Julie to Dante and Jupiter.
    “What did he do?” Dnias mused, flipping through the pages and reading as he went.
    “This is practically surreal,” Yang mused aloud as Dnias scanned over a part where his and Yang’s names were mentioned. Flipping forward a few chapters, and reading over a future part, he found an almost perfect description of the house he used to live in when he was a teenager. Just then, he froze, almost losing his grip on the book. He began to shudder as he saw a familiar name printed on the page.
    “There’s no way,” Dnias said, staring wide-eyed at the name of his old ex-girlfriend, Winnona Aishis.
    “How in the world…?” Yang trailed off. He seemed to be at just as much of a loss for words as Dnias was.
    “There’s no way he should know about her,” Dnias muttered, “I haven’t even seen her in almost twenty years. There’s no possible way for him to know about her.”
    Dnias decided to keep reading. He had to see what else Dante knew.

~~

    “Hey. Hey, kid. Wake up.”
    Dante’s eyes opened groggily as he looked up into the eyes of the middle-aged man staring down at him. Suddenly, he remembered where he was and scrambled to his feet.
    “I’m so sorry, sir!” Dante exclaimed, shrinking back against the wall in shame, “You see, last night was a really crazy night and I—”
    “Don’t worry about it, kid,” the man said, “I just needed you to get up so I don’t have some kid sleeping out in front of my restaurant when I open up.”
    “Oh,” Dante replied, his face growing flush, “Sorry about that.”
    “Quit apologizing, kid,” the man said firmly, “I already told you you’re fine.”
    Dante smiled nervously, giving the man a nod before leaving quickly, keeping the same hurried pace as he headed down the street toward home. His family must be worried sick about him by now.
    His hand reflexively went to his pocket where the Cannonfire letter was. He sighed deeply. He figured that he and Jupiter could probably leave without making a fuss if they played their cards right. He didn’t want to worry his parents any more than he already had and his friends certainly didn’t need to know what was going on.

~~

    Jupiter’s eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring up at the ceiling. Sunlight poured in through her window, making for the perfect tranquil morning scene. Ryan’s arm was draped over her torso and he was still sleeping heavily. His hair was a mess and his mouth was hanging wide open. He looked like he’d never wake up. Since he was on top of one of her arms, though, he’d have to wake up.
    “Hey,” Jupiter prodded, nudging Ryan until he began to stir. His eyes opened slowly and he stared back at her, looking like he was still half asleep.
    “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Jupiter teased, giggling at her boyfriend. Ryan sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.
    “What time is it?” Ryan asked, his words on the verge of slurring together.
    “It’s almost ten o’clock,” Jupiter said, glancing at the digital clock on her bedside table. She then got up out of bed and crossed the room to her closet, shutting the door behind her so she could have some privacy to change clothes. She was still wearing the dress she wore yesterday, as she’d never changed into her pajamas before she and Ryan fell asleep.
    “I’m glad you’re in a better mood this morning,” Ryan said, talking through the closet door. That’s when Jupiter remembered exactly what had happened last night. She and Dante had received summons to Cannonfire and she’d cried herself to sleep in Ryan’s arms.
    “Don’t worry about last night,” Jupiter replied. There was no reason for her to worry Ryan any more. Last night was a disaster. Both she and Dante had completely overreacted.
    Once Jupiter was changed, she came out of the closet and made straight for the door to the hall, Ryan following close behind. She decided her first course of action would be to see how Dante was doing. After all, she hadn’t seen him since he stormed out of her room last night. Upon peeking into his room, however, she found no one there. Figuring he was in either the kitchen or the living room, she headed for the former, hoping to snag some breakfast in the process.
    “Looking for Dante?” Ryan asked.
    “Yeah,” Jupiter replied, “I’m a bit worried about him.”
    “I’ve never seen him have an outburst like that,” Ryan said, “It was kind of scary, actually.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Jupiter responded, “He’ll be fine.”
    She wasn’t sure how much she meant what she just said, but she knew that, eventually, she and Dante would have to get over this. Trying to fight it wasn’t going to get them anywhere, especially knowing the results it brought them last time they tried.
    “Good morning, you two,” her mother greeted as she and Ryan entered the kitchen. Looking around, Jupiter quickly found that Dante wasn’t here either.
    “Have you seen Dante today?” Jupiter asked.
    “No,” her mother replied solemnly, “Your father told me he ran away last night.”
    “In the storm?!” Ryan exclaimed. Jupiter was frozen in fear staring at her mother with wide eyes.
    “I tried to catch him, but he was too fast for me.”
    Jupiter whirled around to see her father standing directly behind her. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she hugged her father tightly. After a moment, he hugged her back. Upon pulling away, Jupiter noticed her father holding a book in his hand. It was undeniably a copy of “A Nowhere Legacy”. He held the front cover inward toward his body, obscuring it from view, but Jupiter was able to catch the name of the book printed on the spine.
    Just then, she heard the front door slam from the other room. Everyone in the room perked up at the sound. That’s when Jupiter saw Dante walk into the room.

~~

    Dante froze, the eyes of everyone in the room glued on him. His face went pale as he frantically thought up an explanation for why he’d run off last night. Just then, his father stepped forward. Dante noticed a copy of “A Nowhere Legacy” in his hand.
    “Dante.”
    Dante stiffened up.
    “Y-yes, dad?”
    His father took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
    “Is there something you’re afraid to tell me about?”
    “Wh-what do you mean by that?” Dante stuttered nervously. His eyes darted back and forth from his father’s gaze to the book in his hand. There was something wrong.
    “I guess I should ask you a different question then, shouldn’t I?” his father said, “All right then. How much do you know about Winnona?”
    Dante choked on a breath, his gaze finally breaking away from his father’s as he began coughing. He had to place one hand against the doorframe he was standing in to steady himself. His head was spinning and he felt like he could faint at any moment. He finally was able to look back at his father, who had a deathly serious look on his face as he stared Dante down, awaiting an explanation.
    “H-how do you know that I know anything about her?” Dante asked in a last desperate attempt to bluff his way out of the situation.     Without a word, his father handed Dante the book in his hand. To his horror, Dante found his own name printed on the front of the book. Somehow, his father had found his first-edition copy of the book he’d brought back with him from Cannonfire.
    “W-were you snooping around my room last night?!” Dante cried, half angry and half terrified.
    “I may have been,” his father replied, “That’s not the point right now, though. I want to know where this book came from and why it exists.”
    At that point, Dante was desperately hoping that he’d faint just so that he could get out of this conversation. It never happened, though, and, eventually, Dante gave up, sighing deeply to try to steady his nerves.
    “It’s mine,” Dante began, “It’s my book. I wrote it. I’m the real author of ‘A Nowhere Legacy’.”
    “You’re Daniel Spier?!” Ryan exclaimed.
    “Why?” Dante’s father asked in surprise, “Why hide that from everyone?”
    “Because I had to,” Dante answered, “That book is based on a true story. It’s something that actually happened to me and Jupiter a while back. If you read that copy of the book, you’d know everything.”
    His father stared at the book intently, a look of shock on his face.
    “Th-that actually happened to you?” he asked shakily.
    “It did,” Dante replied, “I wrote the book during the seven months that Jupiter and I were living in Cannonfire, that place I called    ‘Departia’ in the edited version of the book.”
    Everyone continued staring at Dante. His father, though, looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.
    “I-I’m sorry, Dante,” he said, the tears beginning to overflow, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for—”
    “There was no way you could have been there for us,” Dante interrupted, “Don’t be sorry. It was never your fault.”
    “Why are you telling me all this?” his father asked. Dante hesitated before finally realizing what the right thing to do was.
    “Because it’s about to happen again.”
    “What?!” his mother, father, and Ryan all exclaimed at once.
    “Those letters that Jupiter and I got last night are our summons,” Dante explained, “We’re going again and, this time, I don’t think we’ll be coming back.”

~~

    It had been a long morning of trying to explain to his family what was going on, but Dante finally got a moment to himself. In one way, it was almost relieving that Dante didn’t have to hide it anymore, but, on the other hand, he knew that it was only going to make his and Jupiter’s departure that much worse. They only had one day left before they had to leave, so Dante knew he had to make the most of it, but he knew that his and Jupiter’s fate would be on his mind the whole time.
    “Hey, Dante,” he heard Jupiter call. He whirled around to see Jupiter and Ryan standing across the room from him. He smiled back at them, albeit weakly.
    “We were thinking about going out and spending some time with the others before...” Jupiter trailed off.
    Dante bit his lip. He glanced at Ryan, who was staring off to the side blankly, obviously trying not to show Dante and Jupiter his distress over the situation at hand. It was probably a lot for him to try to take in at once. Dante sighed.
    “As long as we can act like we aren't about to leave them forever tomorrow, then I guess it's fine,” Dante replied solemnly. He turned away, but was quickly snapped back into reality by Jupiter grabbing his hand.
    “Please, Dante,” Jupiter said, “I know it's hard, but we have to try to be happy...for their sakes.”
    Dante nodded silently. It would probably be hard to face his friends with the situation ahead of them, but Jupiter had a point. If only for their sakes, he had to remain calm.

~~

    Dante stared down at the sidewalk as he, Jupiter, and Ryan walked. They were hoping to find their friends at their usual hangout: the ice cream shop downtown. Most days, they wouldn't even order anything. They'd just sit at one of the tables and talk about life. The owner was perfectly fine with it, being an old friend of Ryan's parents.
    “Hey, guys!”
    Dante's antennae perked up at the call. His attention immediately turned to his friends. They'd apparently already reached the ice cream shop. Dante hadn't even been paying attention. He had simply followed Jupiter and Ryan here. His mind was more focused on other things at the moment.
    “What's up?” the twins, Rina and Wren Spawson, chimed in unison. Rina and Wren were always together and were the perfect example of a set of twins that were always in sync with each other. Because of their powers, they could even communicate telepathically with each other. Dante could always tell when they were doing so, as their cat-like ears would perk up and seem to react to unspoken words.
    “Nothing much,” Dante replied, putting on a smile. From behind the twins, he saw Estella's brow furrow. Dante's smile immediately faded as Estella pulled the twins away from him, Jupiter, and Ryan, stepping forward to stand not more that a foot away from Dante. The alien child grit his teeth nervously while Estella loomed over him, staring down at him with a sharp, intimidating gaze. If there was anyone that could read hidden emotions, it was Estella Lefawn.
    “What's wrong?” Estella asked with a commanding tone. Dante shrank back, turning his gaze away from Estella.
    “Nothing's wrong,” Dante answered.
    “Come on, Estella,” Jupiter piped up, “You know Dante. He probably read something that got him in a mood, you know?”
    Dante internally sighed with relief. Jupiter was much better at covering things up than he was.
    “Well?” Rina interjected, “Are we getting ice cream today or what?”
    The group agreed with a series of acknowledgements that all ran together in Dante's head. He then followed the group into the shop, halfway lost in his own thoughts. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden embrace from Thicket, who held Dante tightly.
    “You don't have to be sad, Dante,” Thicket said, her voice quiet, as usual, “You've got all of us here for you.”
    Dante sighed deeply, standing stiffly and desperately trying not to cry in front of Thicket. Once she let him go, he finally was able to muster the courage to look at her. Her soft, green eyes stared into his with a look of sympathy as she nervously played with her long, braided, white hair. She then closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. When her eyes were closed, the crimson crescent moon tattoo adorning her right eye was all the more noticeable. Truthfully, Dante thought it made Thicket look mysteriously beautiful, but he would never tell her to her face. He'd had a crush on her since he'd first met her, but he'd never given her any hints about it, though he was often paranoid about one slipping out every so often.
    “If only you were right,” Dante thought to himself, ruminating on the words Thicket had spoken, “If only you were right...”