Blackberry's Second Journal: Chapter 10.5

[Blackberry Bun]

Chapter 10.5: Truth


The country fair was over, and Carmel's farm had been saved. All of us were very happy that Strawberry's plan was a big success. After cleaning up with everyone, I and Almond decided to go home.

"Really? But it's getting dark. You should spend the night here," Carmel said when we told her.

"She's berry right, Blackberry," Strawberry said. "Why don't you spend the night here first?"

"Thanks for the offer," I said. "But I have something important to do with my brother here."

"Don't worry, we got good transport!" Almond said.

"Good transport?" Carmel asked.

"Oh yeah, Carmel has never met Albatross," Strawberry said. "He's Blackberry's spaceship, and he's alive!"

"Really? I'd like to see him!" Carmel said, seeming amazed.

"We're kinda in a hurry, but you can have a quick look, I think," I said. "Let's go outside."

All of us then went outside. Without anybody knowing, Almond sneaked to the back of the house and quickly transformed into Albatross. He then flew to the front of the house and picked me up into the cockpit. Carmel was very astonished on what she saw.

"So long, see you again soon," Albatross said with his original voice, then he quickly flew towards my home. However, he landed roughly near Blueberry's house and transformed back into Almond Cookie before I could get off. As the result, I fell to the ground pretty hard.

"Sorry, that was the very last second I could have for today," he said.

"I guess we have to walk the rest of the way, then," I said, getting up. We then walked home. When we arrived inside, I immediately sat on the sofa. Almond then sat next to me.

"Well," he said. "I told you that I would tell you what I am once we got home."

"Tell me, then," I said.

"But before that, any final guess?" he asked.

"Actually, I have one," I said.

"Really? What is it?" he asked.

"Are you... the regenerating stone from The Center of The Planet?" I said. There was a silence for a moment.

"You're amazing, brother," he said. "That is correct."

"But I still don't know many things about you," I said.

"Then listen up," he said.

"Okay, I'm listening," I said.

"I'm the soul of the planet," he said.

"Soul? But that means..." I said, realizing that I had taken the soul of Planet Oz.

"Don't worry! You only took a fragment!" he said. "The planet is still fine without this tiny fragment."

"That's a relief," I said. "Tell me more."

"I can telepathically communicate with all life forms on the planet," he said. "Though I had one problem."

"Is that how you could read my mind?" I asked and he nodded. "And one problem? What was it?"

"Language barrier," he said.

"Did you mean you couldn't understand our language?" I asked and he nodded. "But now you can. How?"

"It all started when we arrived on this planet," he said.

"This planet?" I asked.

"Yeah, apparently this planet has its own soul too," he said. "I tried communicating with it, and it replied."

"What did it say?" I asked.

"It was happy to have a visitor. I then learned that unlike me, the soul of this planet doesn't have any language barrier but it cannot communicate telepathically," he said. "It only can watch things happening on the planet."

"That's interesting," I said. "So he taught you our language?"

"He?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think it's better to mention the soul of this planet as 'him' just like I did to you back then," I replied.

"Alright if you say so," he said. "Yes, he taught me little by little about it."

"I see, but until now your biggest mystery for me is about what happened when you were wrecked at Porcupine Peak," I said.

"Oh... That..." he said. "Back then, I actually didn't care much about what happened. But thanks to you, I got the motivation to regenerate and go to help."

"Me?" I asked.

"He told me what happened to you after that," he said. "He said that you were crying..."

"Stop that!" I interrupted with blush sticker on my face. "It's embarrassing!"

"But you showed that you actually cared about me," he said. "There was still a problem though."

"What was it?" I asked.

"My regeneration was not enough to bring myself back to full function," he replied.

"But you could," I said.

"That was thanks to the Sun Stone," he said. "It gave me energy to push beyond my limit."

"I see. Oh, let me guess," I said. "You knew about Banana Candy before we met her because you learned about her from this planet in the future, right?"

"Bzzt! Incorrect," he said, grinning. "Not completely wrong, though. From future me."

"Alright, now I'm starting to get it," I said. "Then how did you transform into what you are now?"

"That morning after we talked about the festival, I talked a bit with him," he said. "He said he could change me to become human."

"Really? How?" I asked.

"He said about using his soul power for that," he said. "But he warned me that this transformation would be permanent and there was no promise about how I would look. I took some time to consider, and in the end I decided to take the chance."

"Where were you in the morning of the festival?" I asked.

"I went to where he resides," he said. "It was a very large and very deep crater located on an island in the middle of the ocean. Don't ask me about detail. It'll be too long to explain."

"Alright if you say so," I said.

"In the end I met him and he warned me once more. I was determined so I told him to do it. And here I am," he said. "After that he teleported me to Strawberryland, just in time for the festival."

"Wait a second. You were warned that the transformation is permanent? But you still can morph back to Albatross, though limited," I said, wondering.

"I can use my own soul power to force a reversion, but like I said it cannot last long. Can't expect much soul power from a fragment, I guess?" he said.

"Well, in any case, I'm happy to have you here with me," I said. "Oh, one more thing! I still wonder about what the future me has said about his Albatross being stonger than you."

"Ah yes, the future me didn't say anything about it, but I figured it out myself this morning," he said.

"Really? Tell me," I said.

"My powers grow as we speak," he said. "Not much, though. It will take months and years to see any difference."

"I see," I said. Then I yawned.

"You should go to sleep. It's getting late," he said.

"Yeah you're right..." I said, standing up. "Good night."

"Good night, bro," he said as I walked to my bedroom, leaving him sitting alone in the living room.


--End of Chapter 10.5--

[Stella Grapes]

Very interesting reveal!

Hm, I have two thoughts now.

• Perhaps the soul of Strawberry's planet should instead be a she, as the planet's female to male ratio is disproportionate in favor of females.
  
  
  
• Will Albatross/Almond ever reveal his shapeshifting to others besides Blackberry?