To his right, the floor turned to a paved dirt road. Footprints decorated them, going everywhere as if they were running from something. Further up the path, pieces of equipment poked out from under rubble.
Fires raged above the rubble, but they were frozen in time. Everything was perfectly still, waiting for Ether to step on the road to resume their actions.
So he turned his head to the left. The floor turned to bright white feathers. Each one elegant and mystical, like those of a Mountain Ascent Sky Beasts. Which caught his attention.
Without a second thought, Ether stepped on the feathers. He blinked, changing the world around him to fit the scene.
Savage winds pierced his eardrums, followed by ruthless thunderclaps. His heartbeat naturally increased as his breathing got slower. Preparing himself for what was to come.
Ether looked around to see he was on the back of a Sky Beast. But this one was a lot different, because it was way bigger. In fact, it wasn't any Sky Beast.
It didn't have four wings, it had six thousand. Each wing was of varying sizes. Some were massive, while others were smaller.
He looked down at himself to see if anything changed, that's when he realized something. Instead of his normal attire, he was wearing armor.
Black and a pearl-like white covered his body. One detail he couldn't see was his helmet, which had one small tear drop painted below the left eye.
Expecting the beast he stood on was the threat, Ether didn't notice the incoming danger.
A hand grabbed him by the chin, pulling his entire head up. The character kicked the back of his legs, sending him to the ground.
"Agh, you..." Ether grunted.
He looked up to see another Variant standing over him. She had thin cloth wrapped around her hips to cover herself. One big purple heart displayed itself in the center. With armor going up her legs before stopping on the knees.
She had no armor on her torso. Except for a large armor plate covering her flat chest. Matching purple and white armor covered her arms up to her shoulders.
All leading up to a mask. It lifelessly stared down at Ether. Pitch black eyes with spikes at the end of every corner. They darkened as the spike reached its full length. Contrasting the white mask.
Ether quickly got to his feet. Effortlessly flowing back up like wind. The two locked eyes, both tilted their heads to the side. But this wasn't to threaten, it felt more like a playful gesture.
After that small interaction, she tackled Ether. Feathers parted, leaving a mold of two Variants fighting for the bottom position.
Which startled Ether, but he also understood why she was trying to get below him. They were both the same size, and same weight.
She struck Ether between his eyes. He could feel the impact on his nose and forehead. It felt like a blunt pain, hitting a fist against the wall. Except it was on his face.
Before he could react with his own counterattack, she grabbed onto his ankles and drove the base of her foot up to his face. Delivering a dazing blow that broke his focus.
Right as he was regaining control, she rolled him over. Now she was on top. One of her arms wrapped around his neck while her legs wrapped around his torso.
With all her strength, she pulled. Trying to choke him to sleep. Her arm tightened like a boa around its prey. Until he could feel himself losing control.
[To survive, it means to know who you truly are...]
Hearing that voice again gave him courage. Ether didn't want to die in this path as well. So he grabbed her arm and began breaking himself free.
"Oh, oh, oh! You're a strong one - strong one, indeed!" Her unusually playful voice commented.
Yet there was something off about it. Because she sounded so familiar to someone Ether knew. But this was a do-or-die scenario.
She tried to tighten her grasp just as Ether ducked his head under her arm. Which sent her fist flying into her own mask. Dazing her for a moment.
Ether rolled over, now he was on top of her. His two fists came down like a lightning strike on her chest. Right now, his goal was to hit the air out of her lungs.
One of her hands reached for his own, catching it before the next blow. In response, Ether tore off her mask.
He readjusted his eyes to see who this was and why did they sound so familiar. Which shocked him when he saw two crystal green eyes staring up at him.
"Ahh! You decided to make this fun!! Okay. I will play along, just this one time!" Ether responded to Ether's action.
"What the hell? Who are you?" Ether asked.
He got off him, allowing the two to get back on their feet. Instead of getting to fighting right away, Ether watched Ether back away.
"Me? Oh, I'm Purple Heart!" Purple Heart gleefully introduced himself. "And you?" He asked, this time with the same deep Zegus voice Ether had.
Ether took off his helmet. "I'm Ether Coros. I believe you and I look so much alike."
Purple Heart stared blankly at Ether. "Y - you're me... dammit. Look, this may seem strange, but you'll understand my attire when you get to where I am in life. But for now, I have to do something about you."
"Like what? And why are you... me... I?? Why am I dressed like this in the future?" Ether asked, hysterically.
"Purple Heart. What does it symbolize? If you know, you know. If you don't, prepare to experience it. Your future is a long way to fill my boots. But for now, goodbye. Also, I love your puffy cheeks. I looked so good when I was young!" Purple Heart concluded.
With a flash of blinding light, the world went back to darkness. Leaving Ether with many questions. Why was he now named 'Purple Heart?' Why was he wearing that armor set and color? Why did his future self look so worried?
Did something happen to change him so much? Why was his Yonie side the one out in combat? But most importantly, what did he mean 'prepare to experience it?'
"...He is dead, no doubt. If he hasn't been up for a week then its most likely that he's far gone. But for some reason his body hasn't spoiled yet," a voice said.
Ether opened his eyes, his heart began beating faster and vision became blurry. As he scanned the room, he realized there were many visitors.
In an instant, Orako and Pearl flew onto him. They wrapped him in a warm squeeze, doing their best to show just how much they missed his presence.
"Ethie, you alright? Hey, tell me, do you feel good?" Pearl desperately asked.
"Why do you sound so relieved? I've been gone for maybe an hour or so," Ether asked in confusion.
Orako's eyes blazed to life. "N - Neddy? Hour? No. You have been gone for so long. I missed my Neddy."
Pearl rubbed his hair. "You have been asleep for seven cycles. So much as changed since you were asleep. And we're ready to launch another attack against the Light Legion's defenses over at Digon."
Valentine placed his hand on Ether's heart. He felt the blood run through his veins. Each beat pumped blood back into the Veins. As if it was normal to have woken up from a deathbed.
He glanced up at Ether, trying to see if he was missing anything else. Which he did. His cheeks were pale, while his pupils were darkened.
"He should gain everything back in due time," Valentine sat back up. "Keep an eye on him, just in case anything else happens."
With that, Valentine exited the room. Footsteps faded away as he walked down the hall and out of the home. Leaving Ether alone with his family.
Orako stood on the bed, getting to lock eyes with his caretaker to show him something special he had learned while asleep. He opened his mouth and revealed another row of teeth that expanded from behind his first set.
But these teeth were thinner. As if they were designed to sever whatever was inside the jaws already. Which luckily, nothing was.
"You're finally becoming a fully grown Feral! How old are you, Orako?" Ether's gentle voice asked.
"I think thirty. But how long until I am fully grown up like you?" Orako's innocent voice replied.
Ether ran his hand through Orako's hair. "Give it twenty more years and you'll reach full physical adulthood. Then you'll have to wait a bit longer for your mentality to catch up."
Pearl placed her hand on Orako's shoulder. "I wonder if you'll be the same way with our kids. They'll be so different from little Orako."
"It's our kids. I'll take care of them regardless. Because at the end of the day, I helped make them. It's just up to chance to see if we get Zawed or Thresawed," Ether confidently replied.
"Well? Do you want to see our new plan?" Pearl changed the topic.
Without missing a beat, Ether replied. "Take me to it."