<ⅩⅤ>
As the skylights of the spacious stadium of Skyworld palace returned to their full luminance, the bewildered airship captains and Starbreakers hustled back to their designated posts, rallied before the menacing Skylord looming before the slumped defeat poor Captain Bradson, holding his unconscious, memory-deprived secretary Reina in his robust arms, silent in deep melancholy.
" Escort Captain Bradson and his Starbreakers to their lodgings." Caesar Skylord bade his tall four-armed androids by his side.
" And make sure, they leave not one step."
Reluctantly, lifting Reina up in his arms, Castiel Bradson headed away without the androids ushering him out.
" I thought you can be reasoned…and spare our friendship...But I was wrong. To what extent, CAESAR…?!" Bradson asked in a weak groan, before turning away forever from his old friend that has walked down the ruthless path of no sentiment.
" To what extent…do you seek to achieve, with such cruelty?"
" You know pretty well of my extent, Cas." Caesar Skylord, with his back facing the world, heading back up the wide slanting steps of his monolith of light where his wired throne sat above.
" The world I shall drag with me, its powers and miracles altogether, to accomplish one mind alone…one saving grace…"
Supporting his frail body to one side of his throne of gold and titanium, with a sigh like the breeze of the chilling night,
" To save…Her."
Caesar Skyman whispered.
And Bradson understood that his old friend is lost, in a conquest without end, without reach.
Caesar Skyman…you would doom the world…just for your forgone cause…?!
And persecute even your remaining friends, who seek to pull you out of derailment…!
You leave me no choice…Caesar…!
No, you! Cas!!!!
" Captains…" The Skylord's loudened voice echoed around the hall.
" From now on…Your Demon hunting days are over…"
" WHAT?!?!" guffawed all the Captains of airships present with indignant bewilderment.
" And fellow Starbreakers…Your Demon Slaying duties are relieved…"
" WHAT?!?!" uttered all the Starbreakers of the land present with frantic disbelief.
" Yes." The Skylord nodded with a gleeful sneer to all.
" You will need your ships no more, neither shall the Demons hinder us. For our Transcendence has begun. We shall Go Beyond!!!!"
And surely, utterly, all that were present felt the sudden rocking of the enormous grand citadel of the skies, the capital of Light Skyworld, jolting all of a sudden to such power, cowed to a stumble by the drifting and acceleration that none perched upon its grounds had ever felt before until then.
The fortress of sky, pulled by the hundreds of starships now navigated by androids, sailed forth towards the brightening horizon, led by one mind.
One unconscious mind, yet subconsciously, carelessly, leading the Skylord to the gates of Miracles.
" Oy, Yuno! Something's wrong!!" Yuka shouted, eyeing the vital signs reflected upon a hologram surveilling Yuri's conditions that showed grave with exceeding numbers.
Turning back immediately to see Yuri, caught in a deep slumbering trance, Yuno watched with her thin slanted eyes opened wide in shock as Yuri glowed all over, slightly floating higher and higher from the ground as the whole city shivered as if answering Yuri's growing luminance. A trail of light spiraling out from the unconscious girl's presence snaking violently out to the night, spacing towards the palace of Skylord.
( We have to wake Yuri up!)
Yun suggested, bringing her medical equipment stored in a virtual plane of light spreading out like a fan before the timid Starbreaker as she chose the adequate medications and tools to assist the procedure, while Yuno discerned in deep thought.
Can it be…Yuno brooded thoroughly observing all the happenings around Yuri, the glowing trance, the unknown stream of energy surging out of her in rapid speed— Can it be… that the Skylord never really pursued Yuri and let her stay because…that's all that's needed of her?!
Somehow, this city, this Skyworld, has the power to link with Yuri's traversing subconscious, and find the route towards—The Herunis Carna???!!!!
This Caesar Skyman…! He is already one step ahead of us!
But wait…
A small but sure grin formed at the edges of Yuno's thin lips.
" Hello?! Yuno?! Are you also in a trance?!" Yuka the hasty bold Starbreaker hollered impatiently at her brooding sister.
" I can't tell for your eyes always seemed close, but we have to get Yuri out of this…!"
" Wait!" Yuno stopped Yun quickly, pulling her back by the arm like vice, stopping Yun from waking Yuri up.
" What are you planning, Yuno?! Yuri will explode with heart rates and blood pressures like this!!" Yuka pointed at the monitor screens hovering before them in front of Yuri's rising body.
But Yuno calmly dismissed her sisters' and the monitors' warnings, seeing one greater orchestration at work.
" The city is linked to Yuri's subconscious as we speak," Yuno explained quickly with as less words revealed as she chose to.
" The connection drainage is taking all of Yuri's memories away as we speak!"
" Yes, that's what I was trying to say!!" Yuka shouted in clarification.
" We have to wake Yuri up!!"
" Or, I can override the linkage between Yuri and Skyworld, and get inside the subconscious channel the Skylord so generously opened for us."
Yuno swiftly donned her Starbreaker armor as her round club-shaped helmet sealed her determined demeanor.
" What…?! What are you…?! How are you gonna do that?" Yuka asked in wonder.
To which Yuno grinned under her visor.
" With some help way back… from where I came from." with hushed intense whispers, Yuno recited the elden Starbreaker incantations blessed upon her in an age far beyond, and immediately as she finished, a unique glow bloomed all over Yuno's presence, like an unseen gateway parting out of the shrouding glow all over Yuri, granting Yuno alone to access the powers within.
Yuka could but stare with her mouth agape.
Yun instantly recognized Yuno's stance and stepped forth to stop her older sister.
( Yuno, don't!)
" Would you rather let the Skylord get access to the Herunis Carna, Yun?! It is our mission to protect it! And now is the time!" Yuno argued, pressing forth as her unique glow synchronized with Yuri's Light.
( …Not like this…!) Yun still managed to protest against her adamant sister.
( We can just break the link, and keep Yuri safe…You don't have to—)
" I Need To." Yuno sternly stated with much supremacy in her grave voice.
" It is why we are here…To finish what our Mother had started."
And Yuno traversed through the Light glow and penetrated into the linkage of Light and consciousness—
Only to be repelled immediately by a sudden surge of immense force from within. An emitting power of sheer extent bursting as soon as Yuno's mind reached into Yuri's glow, thrashing at all, breaking all that dares intrude the narrow gateway to the secrets of the Realm of Blessed Light.
With her last effort, Yuno escaped the counterattack, backing out and releasing herself from her Starbreaker armor just in time before electric bolts of a million colors struck her armor in a blink of an eye, flashing with tremendous sparks, pushing all three girls to the ground as the whole of Skyworld halted with a rocking jolt that swayed all to a side vehemently so.
Caesar Skylord looked up with his eyes wide with indignation.
Somehow, someone, something has breached his connections and brought his schemes to a halt.
No matter…Caesar snarled with discontent.
I have all the time in the world…as long as I have Her in my fiefdom!
" What the heck was that!!!???" Yuka yelled, rising up from the sizzling floor, and checking Yuri's vital signs which had all returned to normal range in an instant.
" Yuno, you nearly had us all perish!"
Without reply, her thoughts mainly on her failed attempt, Yuno breathed heavily in disbelief, brooding how the connections of the Herunis Carna had rejected her all of a sudden. It's not supposed to act against me…I am part of it too…!
Quietly, Yun and Yuka carried Yuri back to bed as Yuno stayed alone on the empty ravaged roof balcony,
Lost in denial.
…
...…
Waking up from the night of tears, Feira was shaken up with hurried nudging as the breaking dawn cleared her blurred sight.
" Feira, Look!!"
Lucky's voice hollered as the redhead with the golden crown led the restless girl to the entrance of their shared lodging, where before her disbelieving eyes,
was Finnir, safe and sound, staggering by Rio's side.
The two boys, returned after what seemed like an endless night.
Wasting no time, Feira rushed forth, burying her face and cradling her arms over her skinny brother's frail frame, tears of joy and gratitude well spent.
The waking children heeded Lucky's call and all gathered around, congratulating Finnir's safe return and not forgetting to praise Rio's undoubted bravery.
" Rio, you did what is worthy of a Hero's deed." Neo his brother commemorated with pride, placing his worries and admonitions aside that his brother has returned valorous.
" I am proud of you, brother. How did you do it?"
" As I told everyone here the day before!" Rio spake loud and clear.
" I know the Sky Princess, and she helped me out!"
This time, everyone believed him. And the grand host of children celebrated.
Except for Lima, who sat alone at a high spot where the dawning sunlight could shaft its first beams upon her, as she chose the way of solitude, for Lima deigned herself unworthy of celebrating with the children who she cared so much yet was unable to help them per the threatenings of the omnipresent Skylord, who knew too much of her weaknesses that are her friends.
Her friends will never be safe under the rule of the deranged Skylord. His threats will never cease and shall pose an everlasting menace to the children and everyone she knew.
She must act first.
She must smite the Skylord in his own game, before he could damage her friends…her Family…Yuri—any further!!!!
Lima rose up to her feet, her lightsaber handle in hand.
She shall stand idle no longer.
With the locations of all the patrolling droids and surveillance eyes in mind, Lima knew her plan to take down the Skylord, must begin.
Yet, unaware of the pair of thin vertical pupils staring at her from the group of children, watching Lima's every move in the dark.
…
...…
Staggering together down the dawn-lit boulevard, our commander Firren, carrying the badly injured Momo atop his back, the two battle-ravaged Starbreakers from yestereve, found their way back to their temporary lodging, where they were met with a more dire sight.
" Cas…Captain!!" Firren uttered as both he and Momo stared in horror as the commander fastened his steps, closer and closer he so discerned the large body of Seito lying on a hovering sky pod stretcher, next to the worn-out old man, carrying the secretary of the Betelgeuse ship in his arms.
The secretary in question, seemed lifeless.
" Re…Reina…?!"
With all that beheld his wide disbelieving eyes, Firren pieced out the happenings of what might have been to have resulted in such a dreadful state.
" What's had he done…?! What had he done to her, Captain…!"
His shouts echoing, his grief multiplying, all that Firren could do was cry out in hopes to wake secretary Reina up. To no avail.
" …Caesar took them away…"
The old captain managed to utter in a defeated whisper.
" He took them…consumed them…all of them…Memories…!"
Firren's flaming light blood ran cold in his veins that instant.
" …Even those of the past…?"
The young commander stammered, fearing the worst which volleyed back to him in a confirming grave nod.
Reina no longer remembers.
No more does the past call out to her.
She is but a foreigner, a stranger to her previous self.
" Sister Reina…will not remember Momo…ever? And brother Seito too…?!" Momo sobbed, tears shimmering down her bruised dusty cheeks.
" The Sister Reina we know…is gone…forever…?!"
Forever.
The silence, like ruthless shackles, had sealed their fate.
But the chains of ill will are unable to trap Firren's raged spirit of vengeance.
And he hoisted Momo down from his back.
" Firren…! Stay where you are!" Captain Bradson shouted the moment the young anguished man took one step out to the path forth to the palace of light.
But Firren heeded not. He had had enough.
" Firren…hear my order—Stop This Instance!!"
" No, Captain—Castiel Sensei! No more!!" The fury, like waves of fire, welled out of his tormented shout.
" No more shall I stand idle, no more shall I be the one to watch! I have lost too much to keep silent, and he still will taketh! This time it's Reina…the next is Us! Caesar Skyman can no longer be reasoned with, Sensei! I shall seize all that he has taken back, Yuri…Reina…with these bare hands! With my Life!!"
" That I Will Not Allow!!!" Bradson boomed like thunder thrashing the stormy mounts.
" Firren…I have lost too much…and I can't afford to lose anymore…I can't lose you as well, Firren!!"
Clenching his fists, gnashing his teeth, the greater the anger, the more Firren knew his Captain was right.
But being right is no longer an option.
He had to act.
But not like this.
Not rashly. Not blindly.
But like how he always did, in the field, in battles against Demons.
They need a plan.
Both Firren and Bradson exchanged looks of deep resolve under the stern silence.
" Momo, remember that weapon factory where we crashed into minutes before?" Firren quickly turned to the startled young girl, nodding quickly but yet to catch up with the commander's prompt thoughts.
" Good. We will be flying there after thirty minutes of rest. Prepare yourself, Starbreaker!"
" Ye…Yes, sir!" Momo saluted stiffly, encouraged greatly by the brightening gaze in the flaming Starbreaker's eyes.
" I happened to have met with some queer fellows before the ceremony that might help." Bradson mused, placing Reina gently to the android caretakers of their lodging as he straightened his jacket to leave, with a plan in mind.
" We'll meet back here, when the preparations are done. Understood?"
" Understood."
" …Understood!"
The three, the remaining forces of the Betelgeuse crew, headed their separate ways, with one unified thought.
To stop Caesar Skyman.
As Bradson Captain commuted his way down his path to meet with thought he sought to inquire assistance, he ran his fingers up the left side of his head, pressing down one thin rune hidden under his dull sparse bayish hair, turning off the glowing device sealed underneath the epidermis of his temple.
" Rest awhile, my child," Bradson whispered beyond.
" A long day is about to come."
…
...…
Sometime after, Neo called for a meeting of secrecy, a meeting where usually he and the other prominent members would group up and discuss urgent matters. But the contenders have changed slightly since the happenings of their ventures.
" Finnir's return softens the tension much." Neo sighed as he and his trustworthy comrades sat around him at the corner of Finnir and Feira's lodging, consisting of Neliya, Lucky, Rio his heroic brother, and Oullo, Neo's sidekicker. Finnir, saved and sound, slept on the bed behind them gang.
Tricia the silent one was not with them, for she was fast asleep at the moment. A long slumber that no one could wake her which would seldom occur, usually when the children are under safe circumstances, and due to Tricia's quiet yet prevalent aid, the children would rather let the serene girl rest than barge her nap.
While on the other hand, due to the reason from the near past of the vandalism of Sensei's book, which is a mystery yet to unfold, Kai was not invited to this secret meeting.
Neo still had not yet faced Kai to hear of his explanations, of guilt, of shame, for his actions perhaps, of reasons unsure that was in the way withholding Neo back to speak with his former friend, and vice versa.
Yet the matters at hand truly are the most notable reason that Neo hadn't made time to reconcile with his bosom pal.
" But folks, the grave circumstances have not yet been resolved." Neo continued, stating his concerns to his trusted allies.
" The Skylord of Light! With him present, he can snatch anyone of us, our fellow folk, and do whatever he wants! He is a Menace!"
" Neo, are you possibly invoking an overthrowing of the Skylord…?!" Lucky the redhead with the little golden crown of red rubies asked in awe, to see the determination flicker like wildfire in the eldest's eyes.
" Yes. I am." Neo replied sternly with much resolve.
" Yesterday they took Finnir, tomorrow they may take someone else. And the day after! The Skylord must be stopped."
" But…that's impossible!" Lucky protested as the others were caught in the silence of solemn brood.
" The Skylord has all the powers of Light on his side! All the Starbreakers, all the starships…the armies and androids, of course, I wish to stop the Skylord too, but…how…?!"
" Weapons, and leverage." Neo replied tersely, fixing his gaze on Feira, who nodded back to the child leader with flames of hatred towards the tyrant in the angered sister of Finnir's eyes.
" Neo's right." Feira agreed wholeheartedly.
" To defeat the Skylord, we ourselves need a big upgrade. I'll design the weapons with the tech in this city, and we'll build them together."
But Lucky was still doubtful.
" But…but remember what Lima said?! Lima said Nay! Lima with the Lightsaber, the most skillful of our pack, even she has succumbed before the Skylord's impossibilities! By the way, why isn't Lima here in this meeting?" Lucky inquired the others but they all exchanged wondered glances with a shrug.
" Lima seemed to have some matters to attend to before leaving this morning after breakfast." Neliya the learned, sitting next to Neo, replied, however.
" Lima too is finding a way to solve this detriment we now face. But we must do it with utmost caution…"
" Caution and weapons are not the only things capable to stop the Skylord!" Lucky dejected with much concern.
" We must have a plan, a meticulous plan! A…a strategy to contest all of the Skylord's malicious schemes!"
" That's where the leverage comes into play." Neo explained, and this time, his eyes were on Rio his proud brother.
" Rio, you know of the Sky Princess, do you not?"
" Yeah, sure I do!" Rio grinned at his heroic deed, an adventurous core memory he would yearn to relive many a time in his daydreaming and nightdreaming hours.
" Then I need you to kidnap the Sky Princess, Rio."
Rio thought he didn't hear right.
" Sorry, brother, come again?"
" Rio, I need you to kidnap the Sky Princess, and bring her back here, so that we can have leverage over the Skylord!"
Neo rephrased with power of an older commanding sibling and a leader with a plan, a very questionable plan indeed.
A plan that aroused distraught all over the comrades in the elusive meeting.
Both Neliya and Lucky couldn't help but let out toneless gasps of disbelief.
" Neo…what…?!" Neliya couldn't believe her own ears.
" You all heard me." Neo continued his uncouth plot sternly.
" I have been brewing a plan to subdue this tyrant ever since the day he took Finnir! My plan is simple, we get the Sky Princess, and threaten the Skylord, for our safety!"
" That…!!" Lucky quickly lowered her voice and made a couple of quick glances outside of their grouped meeting, making sure no other children or androids have heard of their dangerous conversation.
" That is too daring…Neo!"
" Daring is right. For The Skylord has forced my hand." Neo nodded gravely, anger like a smoking smog enveloping his sitting presence in shadow.
" While Finnir was being taken away, the helplessness…the rage…it reminds me of how the Starbreakers snatched my sister Nia's light! I don't want to lose anyone…Anymore."
And eventually, Neo laid his sharp yet tender eyes on Neliya, who stared back at a loss.
" I know not all of you would agree with this plan that is very much uncouth to your ears. But I shall do it. No more shall we weep powerless tears. I'd rather struggle than wait idly in the face of impending doom!"
And Neo stood up, facing his trusty crew with wide-stretched arms.
" Friends, brothers, and sisters, the time of judgment for the ruthless Skylord has come, and I shall be the one to bring this reckoning upon him! Are you with me?!"
" Yes!" Feira stood up at once. " Neo, I too have planned many weapons to bring down this evil reign. For Finnir, for all of us! You will have my arsenals."
Neo nodded with approval.
" You lead, I follow." Oullo the sidekicker also stood up to his lead's call.
And Neo nodded again with approval.
" I'll rally the girls to aid in the weapon building." Lucky finally stood up as well with a sigh.
" Neo, this plan better work."
And Neo nodded, thrice with approval.
But the final two members stayed seated with grim looks of slight disapproval.
Neliya, though she did not disagree with the notion of fighting back, she believed there has to be a better solution than kidnapping others. If Tricia had been awake, Neliya thought, with her superior senses and remarkable intuition, though unable to express her thoughts through vocal speech, she would have most certainly found a better resolution in this critical turning point of the children's path. But now, unable to be awakened, the children are on their own to make their own destinies.
While Rio, obviously, refused to comply to this fate wholeheartedly.
" No way, Neo!" Rio the heroic younger brother refused vocally, standing up with much dispute.
" Princess Sora trusted me! She trusted all of us! And you want to turn that trust into a venom to fulfill your goal?!"
" To fulfill the greater goal! To save all of us!" Neo argued also with a raised voice.
" Rio, listen. We wouldn't even need to harm the Sky Princess as long as the Skylord leaves us alone. I need her here, with us, so that her presence may aid our way of survival! You will be the Princess guard, Rio. You will invite her here, and we'll treat her well, so she could stay comfortably around our folk. As long as she stays, we are safe. Can you do that, Rio?!"
Contemplating Neo's strategic words, Rio slowly, finally, agreed to his brother's proposal.
And the path was wrought.
" Then we shall start right away." Neo reached the exit, wasting no time to face his folk and give out the orders to his plot against majesty.
" My kin and folk, to me!!"
Watching from behind, seeing Neo off with all of them marching towards the fatalistic scheme,
a foreboding unease wavered up Neliya's light heart.
…
...…
Gazing forth, her eyes met with the pallid marble ceiling, like the reality that would never change.
Yuri quickly jolted up to a sitting, halting abruptly halfway as the cramps and sores erupted all together over her sinews the moment she moved each cell of her body, forcing her to fall back down onto the soft bed.
Once again, she was back where she started.
She tried to reach out to the others out there, Lima…the children…Commander Firren…Grandpapa Bradson…
But all had been in vain, and nothing was achieved.
Only new scars.
" We've talked about this, haven't we, Yuri?"
Yuri spun her head to the side, as her wide eyes met with the thin lukewarm glance of Yuno, standing at the doorway facing her leaning to a side. Her arms were wrapped across her ample chest, posing in a patronizing stance as her slit-like glance scanned Yuri's bandaged band-aid-wrapped bruised body from top to bottom in quick succession.
" Surrendering yourself to the Skylord will save no one, and only doom us all."
" But staying here isn't helping my friends either..."
Yuri replied, her voice adamant, and her gaze firm.
" He will find me, one way or another. He will get what he wants as long as I am here. As long as I stand. And he will make those around me suffer for it. I can't have that."
" But you have to." Yuno coldly rejected Yuri's offer.
" The Power within your sealed Memory is more than just you and I, and anyone else. It is a grand burden from your mother—"
" If it is that grand, why didn't she take it with her?! Why did she leave it in me?! To make me carry something that isn't supposed for anyone?!"
Yuri crawled up, panting distressfully as she supported herself with her trembling arms, half sitting on the bed, staring back at Yuno with such agony, powered by the anger and conflict inside of her light heart.
" She was right…" Yuri recalled of what The Lancer Starbreaker Queen had said to her during their encounter.
"...What is the meaning of all this struggle, if this memory is better off lost with my demise—"
( Don't.)
Yuri looked up as the sudden soft voice made her realize Yun's presence within the room, giving her medications through power runes and Starbreaking incantations of her abilities.
( Don't say it. Your memories…they are meant to save the world, remember? They are who you are, and it is worth keeping them safe. For you. For all of us. )
" But what meaning do these Memories have if I can't even save those I cared for?!" Yuri questioned them with anguish.
" Lima…sister Reina…Commander Firren…Grandpapa Bradson…! They are my family! What world is there to save if they are all gone?!"
To this, Yun gave no reply.
" Does it matter?"
Like a knife slitting through the silence, cold and without sentiment, did Yuno's voice echo.
" Family, or the world. Neither of which you are capable of saving. So why bother?"
( Yuno, what are you talking about—)
But Yuno cut her younger sister off with her continuing pressing path.
" It's because you are weak, and only think about yourself."
Stunned by the sudden turn of speech, Yuri opened her lips to respond, yet no words reached out.
" Thinking always on what you want, putting your mind on the things that only you yourself care about. You want to save others, not because they needed you to save them, but because of your want. Your ego."
( Yuno, stop—)
" And your weakness, Yuri, is not of strength. But of ignorance." Yuno fired away her traumatizing speech in swift cadence.
" You fail to acknowledge the true usage of the Power within your forgotten Memory, the one that you never cared to remember. The one grand purpose that you thought was nothing compared to your so-called friends. But still, that is not the main reason that makes you weak.
Yuri, ever wondered where the pain inside of you came from? That constant pain, in your belly?"
" …Eh?" Yuri blinked, her eyes widening, her pupils shrinking with apprehension.
( Yuno, No—!)
" It's because you are impure, Yuri. Poisoned by the toxin of that man you thought was family…the one you call Vernui. He is a Dark Unerva, a Demon. And you let him have part of your memory, and part of his…You kept it deep within you, causing all this pain, all this unwanted trouble. Ignorance, is your greatest weakness, Yuri. And you have failed your Mother's memory because of it—"
And before Yuno could go on with her harsh comments, she was finally stopped, by the resounding slap that echoed brightly across the room, the lounge, the entire lodging.
Panting, yet fully composed of what she had done, Yun pulled her hand back, clasping her throbbing palm with tears of anger in her eyes.
While Yuno just glanced, coldly at her assailant, letting her cheek swell pinkish red like it was nothing.
Both Yuri, and Yuka, who was standing at the door right behind Yuno, could but stare petrified by what had just transpired before their eyes.
" Am I wrong, Yun?"
Yuno asked after a long silence.
" Did I say anything that is false to the ears? Anything that contradicts the facts and the outcomes we now face?? Yun, and Yuri, ask yourselves, what part of my words are not true?"
Silence.
" …You are right."
Yuri finally broke the stalemate in a quiet whisper.
" Yuno, you are right. I am weak, even though I try not to be, I still am. I know too little, and got easily swayed by others…I trust people too quickly, I think too quickly, and act too quickly, it is because of me that these Memories were nearly destroyed…and all would have been in vain…I am sorry...I truly am...sorry…"
The last few words barely made out of the sobs that drowned her voice that turned to quiet wails of sorrow. Tears, like raindrops, dot the quilt and covers.
" …Fine…that you've realized."
With just that in a quick nearly indiscernible whisper, Yuno walked past Yuka, out of the room, and out of their lodging, leaving her sisters to console Yuri in their own right as she headed down the boulevards of the dim-lit Skyworld cast upon a sky of greyish white, wiping a tear that made its way out of the edge of her eye.
" What the…" Yuno's fingers wiped away as more and more tears came draining out the more she tried to stop them, until she gave in, letting those tears flow freely as she paced down towards the far-away palace of Light ahead.
I don't need to cry, Yuno scalded herself, her steps gaining in speed. I did nothing wrong.
But those words, those harsh remarks she gave that were used to condemn Yuri,
All sounded like admonishes to her own self.
I did nothing wrong…
…this is all for you…
…Mother…
…
...…
" Neliya, I can't let you go. You must stay!"
" No, Neo. I must go. And you must let me follow!"
" Neliya!"
" Neo!!"
" Alright you sappy couple, stop going all lovey-dovey and get on with it!" Lucky admonished the two, pulling Neliya with her out of the bickering.
" Neliya has the knowledge of Sensei with her. Why not let her follow, Neo? We need all the help we can get, right?"
Neo knew very well Lucky was right, and to overcome his arduous plan to take the Princess from the palace no help is unwanted.
But dragging Neliya with him to danger…just doesn't seem right to him.
He cared now, even without himself realizing, Neo now cared, of Neliya.
" Neo, the runes on the palace walls are similar to the drawings in Sensei's book." Neliya persuaded adamantly with reason.
" I can read them. I can get us in and out. Rio will escort Princess Sora, while I can lead the way! Please…don't let me stay here…and worry for you alone…"
Then and there, did Neo understood,
Neliya too, cared for him also.
"...fine. But you must stay behind me at all times, understood?!" Neo demanded, to which Neliya promised wholeheartedly.
" And you must not leave my sight, understood, Neo?" Neliya asked of him, to which Neo too promised wholeheartedly.
Rio rolled his eyes, silent instead of jeering his older brother, for he knew he might act the same in front of Princess Sora.
But someone was not buying all these loving scenes at play.
" Alright, alright! I am getting sick of this! Can't we just go?!" Lucky the redhead hollered, leading the squad hurriedly forth towards the Skyworld palace, getting all hostile and grumpy the more she saw of Neo and Neliya's relations nourish. Deep down, she was envious of them, and misses Kiro, the boy she so cared for, that was gone, forever.
" Wait Ho!!" Feira's cry pulled Lucky instantly back from the marching trance of the grieving mind.
" You guys, we have here a few upgraded weapons! Try it out if needed." Feira handed Lucky and the others of the Princess-seeking squad weapons of renewal, of advanced caliber wrought from the leftover Starbreaker armors and arsenals, and just by holding those finely designed weapons in hand, the children felt ready with excitement.
Neo marveled at his remarkable Starbreaker shield and broad sword in both hands, satisfied and determined. They might even stand a chance of smiting the malicious Skylord!
" Alright, friends, folk!" Neo turned to his team of trusted crew, his eyes scouring across his fellow comrades and family, of Neliya, of Rio, of Lucky, of Oullo, and a few others.
They are ready.
" To Me—"
" Wait!"
Neo halted as a thin arm raised before his eyes from the back of the curious pack.
He recognized the one that just spoke, it was the girl with the hoodie, the sleepy one, who had witnessed Kai's vandalism of Sensei's book firsthand—
Neruko there stood, raising her arm with voluntary spirits.
" Let me follow you."
Neo hesitated before he answered.
…
...…
Long had she been watching over the piercing towers and edifices spread across the horizon before she could remember, but never had Caerlia looked down without the sense of jurisdiction and the heavy burden of governing lifted away as she stared down this prosperous city, this strong walled capital of light, feeling like all the others, her Starbreaker brothers and sisters, who dwelled far down below her tower of supremacy, which now stands as her grounding confinement.
For what crimes the lord had stated to suspend her access to the skies Caerlia did not care, for the reason is apparently clear.
The Skylord wants to keep the One of the Herunis Carna to himself, alive.
This, contradicts her Exaltedness' liking greatly.
" Well, say something. "
Caerlia bade the one at the door, standing guard as to carry out the orders of the Skylord that is to ground the Exalted Starbreaker in short-term suspension.
" You are making my early noon awkward."
" There is nothing much to say here."
Spoke the mellow voice of the cunning contained man, the General of Skyworld, Solo himself, approaching slowly from the foyer of the splendid compartment.
He, who had served his liege with unwavering loyalty, and stopped the Lancer Starbreaker Queen before she erased the whole capital with one fell swoop the night before.
" The Skylord wishes to deal with the matter alone. Yet your shenanigans had hindered the path of majesty and nearly burned half the city to the ground. "
" Well, some taunting sure is better than silence."
Caerlia Lansara Suprima snapped wryly, slumping back onto her long devan where she could rest her body and her eyes on the city secured under her grace, which she so thought.
" Be at ease, general. I am inclined to have a week off anyways. You may as well be off on your own than being mundane stationery at my doorstep."
" Sure, sure. "
With a formal grin, Solo hesitantly replied, strolling around the Lancer's quarters leisurely with his hands rested upon the back of his waist, while the edge of his eyes scoured at the six hovering Starbreaker lance rifles pointed at his face from hidden spots of their master's majestic abode.
" But still, a mission is a mission, and I am built to abide by the orders. Which here is to keep you grounded." For I am the only person capable of such a mission.
" That's… not all that you are here for, is it?"
Surely, as expected, her Exalted one's senses of threat and foreboding are parallel to none, and through Solo's speech and body language, Caerlia observed that this man… No, this entity disguised as the General of The Skylord, has a hidden purpose, a more nefarious notion in mind, which now was set to motion.
The Starbreaker General chuckled, before his expression gradually sterned.
" Very astute," Solo affirmed, leaving nothing behind, for he too understands the full extent of her intuitions as the Champion Starbreaker.
" I am here also, to take back what was mine. "
Both adults, Starbreakers of high caliber, their superficial grins of formality fading in that one instance.
The six lance rifles in the air thrummed in activation,
pointing their photon-loaded tips at the general, whose one hand slowly, was enveloped in dark silver nanoparticle Starbreaker armor.
…
...…
Amongst the children of the pack under Neo's lead, who believed in Sensei's teachings and worship friendship more than anything else, there was this chubby boy known by all as Treize, of age six or seven, notably tallest of the children yet not the most focused in tales and spotlight, but was surely there in the background if you watched close enough.
But sadly, Treize isn't yet the spotlight of our viewpoint, for we merely just follow his steps as this chubby big boy follows the trail of his bosom friend and savior who had lent him a hand months before meeting the Betelgeuse crew, in the direst of moments while Treize had fumbled and was at the mercy of becoming a Demon's meal.
That boy who saved him was none other than the wise member of the prominence, Kai, himself. Treize had admired Kai since the day he was saved by this clever champ, and never once had Treize doubted a word Kai uttered. Even on the day when Kai was proven to have vandalized and ripped the book of Sensei, it was chubby Treize who stood up and spoke for Kai of his innocence.
" Kai is a friend to the community! I vouch for his innocence with my life!" Treize had vehemently stated for days after the folk had lost trust in Kai and still, he rooted for Kai even to this day, if you listen carefully, you might actually hear the shouts " Kai is Benevelont! Kai is innocent! Kai is imminent!" Outside your window. But I digress.
As the moment we now see, of the day that seemed peaceful at first glance, hiding the storm underneath its wake, Treize followed his way across the children's gathered lodging, after this boy who he would vouch for his credibility throughout his entire life, ahead to the far corner where Finnir's room resided.
" Great Kai, why seeketh Finnir in such hurry and secrecy? My legs are sore and my breath is lacking." Treize spoke up for his chunky appearance.
" Treize, many times have I told you and again I shall calmly state, call me Kai, not Great Kai." Kai patiently replied as the two boys stopped right outside of Finnir's lounge, resting for Treize's sake.
" And the reason for our secrecy is due to my tarnished name, and those who misunderstood and see me go near anything or anyone would surmise I am about to vandalize who or what. That's why I have to approach, while Finnir's sister Feira is managing the weapons building with the other children, lest they hinder my goal."
" And what is this goal you seek of poor sick Finnir bro?" Treize asked curiously.
" Apparently, Finnir has visions that exceed ours, Treize. A Demon had granted him insight, one that even the Skylord pursues. I wish to seek his guidance, and find out who framed me for destroying Sensei's book!!"
" The big frame! Must find out!" Treize agreed and the two boys entered Finnir's lounge silently.
To the two boys' surprise, Finnir was already awake, and sitting atop his bed, cross-legged as if in meditation, waiting for their arrival.
" Finnir!" Treize guffawed, for the sake of drama, and astonishment at the transformation Finnir had undergone in but days' time.
The sitting boy looked no longer sick, still lean as before, but glowing with mysterious light; his countenance calm yet beneath his unreadable facade seemed to withhold waves that tower the highest skyscrapers of Skyworld.
" It is I." Finnir calmly replied.
" You look better, Finnir. I am glad." Kai bade with a kindly nod.
" You look like a saint." Treize admired in awe.
" My looks are not paramount. Kai, I know why you are here." Finnir spake in a dreamy absolute tone.
" You do?!" Kai and Treize both believed immediately by the looks of Finnir's transcendence.
" Yes. You seek the answer of the one that truly vandalized the Book of Sensei."
Finnir astutely answered the grave question that had bothered Kai for days and nights.
" Through my visions, I am sure it was not you, Kai.
But it was someone else, Among Us."
Both Treize and Kai's jaws dropped.
" Sus!" The two boys both cried in unison.
…
...…
In the past two days and a half, Lima had memorized all the corners set with surveilling systems, the exact time the patrolling sky pods would pass each lane and street across the capital, and the placements of all the royal droids safeguarding the palace grounds in pairs and which glass corridors they would march.
As sophisticated the security systems may seem, there was an apparent pattern to their operations, and adapting to the stiff behaviors of the machinery poses no difficulty to our bright resourceful Lima, who had survived in the treacherous wild for months in the barren lands swarmed with Demons.
By following these single-sighted automatons and hiding between the blind spots of their vision, Lima soon made her way to the inner layers of the Skyworld palace grounds,
Where she planned, to seek the Skylord, Caesar Skyman,
and slay him in cold blood.
With the handle of her lightsaber in hand, her back rested on the wall of the corner, in the shade Lima prepared her resolve. The opening is nigh, and the path is clear. The time is ripe.
Taking one last breath, Lima lunged forth, down the light blue corridors of irreflective glass.
And lo!! Was met face-to-face with a pair of tall four-armed palace droids!!!!!
Appearing out of nowhere, standing before where Lima exposed herself unwillingly.
" Impossible…!" Lima bit her lips, dashing back the way she came, zigzagging in confusing pace to misdirect the chasing droids before hiding once again, a couple of miles away from the inner palace grounds.
" They weren't there a second before…they must have tracked me down at the last second…" Lima muttered to herself, fixing her route in mind and planning her next move as she eyed the vast marble courtyard and her surroundings quickly. Pale cement obelisks stood aligned to certain points upon the metal rings wrought to the marble flooring, turning the outer clearing into a mysterious oversized chess piece that no one was supposed to engage. Mesmerizing the placements and structure of the environment in seconds, Lima made her final decision, darting east from her hideout, circling the central yard, pausing for seconds behind each stone obelisk she came across, making sure her path was clear, as expected.
No droid or surveilling sky pods in sight.
What just happened must have been a random encounter, Lima calmed herself as she made the last dash—
only to be once again, face-to-face with a hovering disc-shaped sky pod, whose red monoeye blazed as it captured Lima upon its searing lenses.
Lima did a double take, utterly shocked by the sudden revelation that was not as she saw, as she witnessed with her own eyes.
There were no droids or sky pods around the perimeter one second before!
And now there was, slightly larger than Lima as the sky pod hovered closer menacingly, chasing Lima across the marble clearing as it shot out lasers and photon bullets without hesitation, deeming Lima as Demon threat.
Two times, Lima thought rapidly as she slid behind a rock monument to escape the aggressive barrage. Can it be so coincidentally that I missed the patrolling drone twice…?
No. This drone was too large for her to miss. And for such aggression of its type, it would have started firing the moment Lima set foot onto this palace yard. Something's afoot!!
She is being watched, and targeted while she was most unaware!!!!
The time is gone, and the opportunity to strike the Skylord is blown. Exasperated, Lima turned away to retreat, but the moment her one foot stepped back from her former trajectory, two droids appeared out of the blue, right in front of her once again, their four long-clawed metal arms spread wide, lunging out to grab her.
With a shout and flurry of slashes, Lima diced the assaulting droids to bits with her full-drawn lightsaber, opportunely unsheathed to accomplish the deed of her escape. It may be impossible to fight her way to the Skylord's chambers, but cutting her way back to the children's lodging surely is much easier without the need for stealth, as Lima thought.
Which was then proven wrong, by the emerging arrays of countless tall sharp-faced droids and circular skypods that surrounded the clearing all in but seconds time.
Lima was finally sure,
She was being watched.
By the surveilling eyes on the way…? No, she had hidden from their spying eye all the way.
By the patrolling droids…? No, they are incapable of chasing a target that has escaped out of their reach, that is 5 meters, and Lima was sure she kept more than double of that distance with each droid she passed.
There can only be one reason for this…
…Someone was giving out her location to the droids, to the Skylord!!!!!
But WHO?!?!?!?!
Who Can It Be?!?!?!?
…
...…
" It's alright~ Don't listen too much to what Yuno says, Yuri. She is just bossy on the outside and soft on the inside." Yuka muttered, passing a mug of steamy water for Yuri to warm up.
" She is probably regretting all she'd said and crying somewhere outside. That's how she is…Umm, Yuri? You listening? You alright???"
Stiff as a rock, eyes wide, staring at the void, Yuri didn't respond nor reply, merely breathing more heavily than before.
Once again, as the moments of the night before and earlier so, Yuri felt the sudden beating of her light heart missing significant steps, thumping anti-rhythmically in a foreboding fashion.
Yuri knew at once someone close to her was in danger.
" I…It's…nothing…" shaking away the thought, oppressing the unease as Yuri gulp the water in her mug, instantly coughing it out as she had forgotten it was scorching water that Yuka had poured for her.
" There is apparently something!" Yuka deducted as she helped clean the mess while Yun healed Yuri's burnt lips and tongue with her healing incantations.
" It's probably someone out there who is in danger again, is it?!"
Yuri was surprised by the sudden improvement in Yuka's awareness.
" Hey, come on. We are all connected to the Herunis Carna somehow, and besides, we've been watching over you for some time now. We know that you are worried, and that's why…" Yuka turned around to a longitudinal package on the floor behind her and hoisted it up to Yuri's bedside.
" I made you this! Sword Rifle Mark-II!!"
There, within the long case, was Yuri's blue shimmering glass weapon, once shattered in the fight from the night before, now reforged and regained its full glory, dazzling with new brightened light of electric blue.
Yuri stared, jaws agape in awe.
" How is it? Is it cool? Cool, right? Try it for once?" Yuka butted here and there, eager to know of Yuri's thoughts.
Yet, to Yuka's utter surprise, Yuri closed the lid of the case gently.
" Thank you, Yuka. But…I won't be needing it…for now." Yuri spoke with a sad smile.
A smile that Yuka did not buy.
" Oy, oy! Yuri! What's wrong with you?! Are you actually buying what Yuno said?! Come on!! She said you are weak, now is the moment to prove to her face that she's wrong!"
Yuka scalded, reopening the lid, and waved the Sword Rifle Mark-II violently in the small room, hacking the air and nearly both Yuri and Yun's heads before Yun finally stopped her.
" Your sword was in pieces when I got it back, and look how it is now!! Look—how it could separate into two parts, into double swording mode like this, and that, and when you attach the two parts like this—"
And Yuka proceeded to showcase the remarkable new combinations of the Mark-II sword rifle like a reckless saleswoman in front of Yuri and Yun.
( Yuka, stop.)
Yun yanked the two separated double swording of the Sword Rifle Mark-II and put it away back into the case.
" But my point is—! You are stronger now, Yuri! With this new weapon!"
Yuka hollered, apparently not done yet.
" I forged it for you, all through the morning, finished just minutes ago, and now you don't want to save your friends because Yuno said you are weak?! Well, prove her wrong!! No way she would say so again if she'd see what Mark-II could achieve—"
" It's not about the weapon, Yuka." Yuri finally spoke, silencing the energetic girl
" It's what you said. You forged this weapon, a shattered weapon in just one morning. Yuka, I saw you build weapons, and Yun, when you heal my wounds and shield us with your mist…You both have those Starbreaker Runes of power by your side… Yuno has them too…But I don't. I don't have it…"
That is why she was weak.
Runes that emerge out of a Starbreaker knight's summoning, are the powers of Light that each Starbreaker posses of their unique abilities, attributes that reflect the soul—The Memory that empowers those Runes of favor.
And without the full extent of Memory, one's powers are fatefully limited.
Not to mention Yuri also carries a different Rune…a Dark Corrupted Rune from the Memories forcefully implanted into her from Dark Unerva Vernui, not only causing her much discomfort but also draining her inner Light Strength away.
Currently, Yuri was, as Yuno so said,
unable to protect anyone, and herself.
Even in the face of the foreboding unease, knowing for sure those she knew, the ones she deared, were trapped in harm's way, Yuri cannot help. For the only thing she is now capable of—is to keep her memory…the Memories of the Herunis Carna…the way to save the world as far away as possible.
She must stay, for the greater good…
…besides, she will only be a burden to her friends and family anyways, being wounded and providing little to no help whenever she tried—
" It's because you are weak, and only think about yourself."
Yuno was right.
She was too weak, powerless to defend even herself, not to mention others.
Because of my ignorance…because I didn't know…
That's why… I was unable to fight back Vitas, Vernui's grasp, and let him plant his corrupted darkness inside of me—
" Sorry…I…I just need some time alone…that'ss all…"
With the mug in hand, feeling the tepid warmth enveloping her palms, Yuri bade for them to leave,
to leave her alone, in morose silence.
…
...…
" Your highness, please do remain in your chambers, per the Lord's decree."
" I plan to go meet my friends this afternoon, and give them a surprise." Sora insisted, heading towards the door where two royal four-armed droids stood guard.
" But what is this decree that I was never informed of?"
" Your highness, Per the Lord's decree,"
The androids bade, one blocking the princess' path while the other ushered Sora back to her room forcefully by the shoulder.
"We have to keep your highness safe. Per the Lord's decree."
" But…but…" unknown of such a sudden decree from her father, Sora reluctantly complied, following the android back when suddenly—
" HEYYAAAHH!!!!!!"
Before her eyes, Sora witnessed an iron pole of searing red heat pierce through the tall android ushering behind her's stomach, as the weapon twisted and turned before pulling out and severing the royal guard android in half, the upper torso crashing the floor with a thundering thud.
Sora gave out a gasp of fear, which instantly turned to excitement and joy as her eyes beheld of the brave, heroic,
Rio, the friend savior.
" Sora! I've come for you!"
The boy uttered courageously, sneaking in from the secret passages hidden across the palace which Sora had shown him the day before, hurrying too far off and leaving his brother and the others of the team behind just to spend more time with Sora. Yet unbeknownst of the severed android alarming with constant warnings.
" Stop the alarm! There are no intruders here!" Sora demanded before the warning signals could reach any further, and the half-android on the floor could but comply.
" But your highness, a blunt attack from an unknown source has been detected."
" That…that is a jest from Rio, who is friend, not foe. Cease all warnings whenever you meet him thereafter." Sora gave out her decree sternly as a person of royalty should, and Rio couldn't feel the prouder for himself.
Now I am a Royal friend, Rio thought to himself gleefully.
" Your highness, the Lord's decree—"
But before the second tall android could utter another word of the decree of Skyman, Sora's eyes flickered and glowed with dazzling blue luminesce which evidently silenced the two androids at once.
Even the skylights at the high ceiling and some skypods, Rio saw with sheer awe, stopped functioning momentarily while the princess' glistening stare lasted for less than two seconds before it faded, back to her usual blissful gaze.
" Lord father's decree I shall hear, from him in person." Sora calmly replied to the androids that ceased to speak or respond.
" And my friend is now present, who I shall bring to meet my beloved father. Follow me, Rio."
Rio's light heart skipped a beat at what he had just heard.
" Rio? What's wrong?"
Rio stammered to ask with his trembling lips.
" No…nothing…but, sorry, did you just say—"
" Yes. I…was planning to see you earlier, and ask you something…But now that you are here, things have been much easier on my part."
Sora beamed cheerfully, holding Rio's hands close.
" You have been a good friend, Rio. I can't wait to introduce you to him. Mayhap father would knight you, and bequeath you the rank of Starbreaker."
Rio's jaws dropped low.
" …Starbreaker…me…??"
" Not just any Starbreaker." Sora smiled shyly, blushing a little.
" …My personal Starbreaker knight…?"
At that moment, Rio realized he was at a crossroads.
To become a knight of Skyworld, and serve the girl she loves…?
Or to fulfill his promise to his brother Neo, for his friends' and folks' survival…?!
A dew of cold sweat rolled down his temple, down across his cheek.
…
...…
Down, the drop of tear went, joining the others as one mottled dotted canvas upon the wrinkled bed sheets.
There, Yuri stared, knees bent, sitting upon her heels, looking down blankly at the wet covers, then down, slowly her vision panned.
Towards her belly.
Where all her pain had risen,
where her weakness left its mark.
That was when it occurred to Yuri, a drastic, ghastly thought.
Now that she knows.
Now that Yuno had told her what the constant excruciating suffering inside of her belly was, she had the knowledge, she had the power—to get rid of it!
With one hand, tightly grabbing one of the split swordings of her upgraded sword rifle, her fingers tightening in trembling grasp, Yuri aimed the tip of the sharp blade at the center of the intermittent aching.
She had to make a sacrifice. She had to become Stronger. In any way possible!
Getting rid of this corrupting memory, this painful remembrance of Vernui…should be enough to relieve her somehow—!!!!!!
She took a deep breath.
And the blade she held above her head.
Her arms and body trembling all over.
…
...…
" You have lost your place, Caerlia. "
His voice, like the rumbling of the depth of the sea, stated in a humming menacing tone as the General's staggering frame seemed to enlarge in the spacious room, his presence unseen yet present, looming all over Caerlia, who was still lying to her side on the divan, eyeing Solo with a rather unperturbed glance of contempt.
The six hovering rifles, their flaring tips tracing Solo's head as he moved one delaying step at a time.
" Hoh."
Caerlia simply remarked with mild interest.
" Are you sure it's not you, Solo? Or should I say—Bradinn, Who has lost your place?"
Solo continued.
" Your existence comes directly from my blessings. Your powers roots from my source."
His voice deepened to inhuman depths, devoid of sentiment, resembling machinery.
" And your conscious and soul, from the Light of which Caesar Skyman forged! And here you are, acting as a god. You don't deserve these blessings—!!"
And at the next second, his slow edging accelerated into an unbelievable dash, so fast that the place was, where Solo was no longer there, erupted into an explosion of sound and air, sweeping the lounge of Caerlia, the undaunted, the unswathed, who was still lying there on her divan, one arm bent supporting her bored looking face in such an unscrupulous pose before the vanished devastating entity that has advanced to retrieve its power!
Lo!!!
The armored fist, one hundred times the size of the general Solo's regular hand, flashed out of the supersonic speed to land its detriment blow, flying straight at Caerlia, who, staring back in that milli-second before the metallic full-clad punch crushes her skull, her lips happen to curl slightly upwards, into a sneer of such contempt.
And there it came, out of the blue.
A sudden crack, an abrupt rumble, and the following unexpected shudder of the whole capital Skyworld shook all that stood upon its wake, towers protruding high into the heavens swaying violently side to side, up and down, as the deafening thrumming swept out far and wide, sending violent shockwaves that rumble and cracked every glass in proximity. A surge of the extreme, coming from miles below where Solo now stood, erupting out from the site of the palace gates, a thundering force so disastrous not a single Starbreaker on the Skyworld streets were steady on their feet, all brought down to the vibrating pavements and boulevards, astounded by the ever-humming blast of empowering light and sound.
…
...…
What was that???
Lima looked up and around at the sudden chaos that had just ensued across not just the center yard, but all over the whole wide capital of the skies, a shattering force that could bring down two or more Betelgeuse class airships that had just erupted somewhere close to where she now stood.
And it was because of that one unknown blast that had blown all the androids surrounding her off to all sides, opening a gap for her to quickly dart out of the arrays and dash full speed back the way she came.
Whatever that explosion was, and whoever had made it happen, no doubt it had saved Lima from imminent doom.
And this, angered the one perched on the high ground of the citadel clearing, shrouded under a dark hoodie, with a droid navigating device in that hand that clenched with much fury.
…
...…
Opening her eyes, Yuri looked down, at both her arms that had swung down beneath.
Where her cold hands had just guided her blade to a steep dive.
Right at the same moment when the sudden shudder that shook the whole city had just occurred.
She felt light, surreal, devoid of the piercing pain that she had imagined herself to make, only to realize that the continuous aching yet remained.
Gasping in shock, Yuri looked down, to see her blade absent, nowhere to be seen, not even under the covers, or under the bed. Gone.
There, as her searching glance finally stopped, at the window to her right, where her piercing weapon sank inches deep. Cracks like webs spreading with a loud chiming clatter.
( …Yuri…)
Yuri looked up, tears in her eyes, staring straight at the similarly teary eyes of Yun.
A glance, of utmost sorrow,
of Disappointment.
…
...…
Hovering passed the smoke and debris, the royal androids of Skyworld palace landed before the unsavory large aperture punctured through the fortified gates of gold and steel, extending miles across at the east side of the citadel, breaking a jarring hole where defenses had diminished to a new low.
With such a drastic happening, many eyes sure were drawn to the scene, Starbreakers nearby, Captains, and all the residents of Skyworld gathered at the large gaping hole in the wall, dumbstruck by the appalling sight.
Strong walled Skyworld, shattered by someone, or something.
Solo made a double take, seeing that his gigantic armored-clad fist had already penetrated through Caerlia's top-floor apartment window, running through where her body should have been. The divan now pulverized instead of being pushed out to the long plunge below due to the tremendous force and exceeding the speed of his blow, yet, Solo felt something missing throughout his one striking shot.
" Too bad."
Caerlia's upset sigh blew past Solo's startled ear from behind the moment the Starbreaker general realized what was missing in his one blow.
" I kinda liked that sofa."
Jolting to kickstart his rotation, bursting the air around his feet as circles of whirlwinds swept over his turning presence, as his right arm swung back towards the Caerlia hovering behind him just centimeters away, as more black and grey armor, sharp and jagged, smooth and cruel, snaking like tentacles wrapping around his right shoulder, enveloping up higher and higher to his neck as half his upper torso now clad, reaching back with steel-shattering force, sailing his elbow down onto Caerlia's temple in the speed of a bullet train!
To which Caerlia blocked simply with her hand. Her one hand, indeed, simply raised right before the man's body could touch her unguarded flesh.
The standstill, the blocking of the breaking, sent out one more horizontal ripple of sheer resounding force that sliced the top floor in half and lifted the roof and ceiling out of existence in one whoosh, one devastating extreme whoosh.
" Indeed, with all that I am given, by the Skylord and you, Bradinn, I do hold certain gratitude," Caerlia remarked with little effort like her hand was resting not on a crashing metallic elbow but a flimsy wall instead.
" But it is also this power that you have given to me that has granted me insight, to see through the lies of the Skylord! Solo…you are nothing but a mindless mannequin, an algorithm with a Body!"
" INSOLENCE!!!!!" Solo snarled, as the black silver nano armor finally smothering his face, sheathing upon his visage,
the helm of the dominant antediluvian existence,
the face of Bradinn.
Zigzagging, grotesque runes blazed red with immense power, lighting up his ultramarine visor.
…
...…
Astounded and shaken by the unexpected intrusion in the form of a sudden earthquake, occurring amongst the city in the sky, Kai and Treize quickly sat back straight to listen more to saintly Finnir's words of visions.
" Then who framed me?!" Kai asked with great eagerness, greater than his nickname great Kai.
Finnir opened his eyes holily.
" Send Neo in, I must tell him also of the truth now that I am awake, and seeing visions that none are supposed to see."
Treize went out of Finnir's lodging to do as Finnir bade, but couldn't find Neo anywhere in the children's lounge.
" Where is Neo?" Treize asked a girl who was helping craft a set of new armor out of scrap Starbreaker parts.
" Do you not know? Neo had gone forth to accomplish his grave deed!" The girl replied.
" What grave deed?" Treize inquired in haste.
" To kidnap the Sky Princess, to secure our safety from the threats of the Skylord!"
" Aiyah!! Such are the times!" Finnir sighed in anguish, beating his chest as he heard the news.
" Who has he brought with him?!"
…
...…
As Lima raced down the glass corridors, familiar voices that shouldn't have belonged in the palace interior gradually neared, and as soon as she turned at the next corner, Lima stood, face-to-face with Neliya, Neo, and Lucky. The squad gasped also, shocked by Lima's random appearance. The two teams reunited into one at last.
" Are you insane?! What are you guys doing here?!" Lima admonished, pushing the crowd back from whence they came, which the group pushed onward opposite Lima.
" We were following Rio! But then he turned at a corner and vanished!" Lucky explained in much dismay.
" Then we asked Neruko, you know, her sense of scent helped us track down Rio, when suddenly, she too got lost and vanished!"
" Wait…!" Lima stopped Lucky the redhead mid-sentence.
" Neruko…was lost too…?!"
" That's why we are here! We must find her, before the Skylord's androids—"
" …When exactly did Neruko get lost…?"
Lucky, Neliya, and the others looked puzzled at Lima's oddly specific inquiry.
" Before or after the explosion?! When did she disappear?? Is it after, or before?!"
Lima asked, her voice rising.
…
...…
Treize led the girl he had asked into Finnir's lounge to enlighten them of Neo's company that had set out hours beforehand.
" There was mainly Neo, Neliya, Lucky, and they followed Rio who knew the secret path into the castle."
The girl stated and Finnir's brow deepened in grave thought.
" Well…?" Treize turned to Finnir eagerly.
" Who framed Great Kai?"
" I am Kai." Kai bade.
" Ah, yes. I remembered! I forgot someone." The girl clapped in sudden realization.
" There was Neruko. She volunteered to follow. It's weird because she used to be sleeping all the time, but still, they had her follow—"
And to both Kai and Treize, and the girl's utter shock, Finnir's eyes, and mouth suddenly opened wide in sheer understanding, the dire picture of the whole plot slowly coming to light.
…
...…
" …I think it's before. She got lost long before the explosion even happened." Neliya replied, slightly worried by Lima's ashen expression.
" Lima…are you alright? What is it—"
And Neliya's eyes lit up, from what she saw coming behind Lima.
" Neruko, there you are—"
Then and there, all sound was drowned under that one single muffled shot.
Light, yellowish, glistening tepid liquid, splattered out upon her cheek the moment the hollow hostile rattle echoed all over Lima's ears, rippling across the long glass corridor.
Their gazes, wide and startled, all followed the sinking body of Neliya, who slowly, gradually slipped down right next to Lima's shoulder,
drawing a thick rough line of light blood down across her shirt.
Before Lima realized,
Neliya was already on the floor,
a small pool of thick liquid flooding out from underneath her motionless frame.
Drawing out her Lightsaber to full glow, Lima spun around, eyes wide, golden pupils flaring with hatred, as the thin hooded figure stood ten steps away,
holding a photon pistol in hand, pointed at the terrified children.
Neruko stared back.
…
...…
" Neruko…She wasn't supposed to be here…!!!"
Finnir's words met with incomprehensive ears.
" Neruko…She…she is not one of us…!!"
Finnir tried his best to explain, at the same time standing up from his bed and rushing as fast as he could to the door.
" She Is with the Skylord….!! She is—"
…
...…
Blown by the impact of the weapon, the hoodie slided in delayed motion over the girl with the gun's head. There, atop the dusty gray striped hair, beheld by Lima and the others' disbelieving eyes,
were a pair of fluffy furred pointy ears.
Those thin vertical black pupils reflecting the rage of Lima, charging towards her with the lightsaber raised.
…
...….
" — She is Caesar Skyman's Creation—!!!!!!!"
Neither Kai nor Treize understood what Finnir was saying, but through his voice, they knew the gravity of the matter has exceeded both their expectations.
…
...…
With one hand, Yun held tightly onto Yuri's arm, making sure she wouldn't hurt herself any further.
"...why did you stop me…Yun?!"Yuri tried to break free, only for the silent girl to clench even harder.
" Why did you stop me?! This pain…this corrupted aching, it was from Vernui who lied to me to get my memories! I know that now! And I am ready to get rid of Him and his memories! Once and for all! But—Why are you stopping me?! Why are you stopping me from becoming stronger?! YUN?!?!"
(Because you are unaware of what it truly is, Yuri.)
Gently, like the ripples of a dew formed of the dawn vapors underneath the lush green leaves, dropping onto the serene lake untouched, peaceful, and resounding waves of calm,
Yun replied.
(Neither does Yuno. But…I do.)
Yuri's tensed arm softened as she leaned forward in anticipation.
" …You know…this pain? This aching feeling that drains out strength, that dims the light of the heart, and ceases flavor of all that once tasted of bliss?"
Slowly, yet firmly, Yun nodded.
(...I do.)
" …Then what is it…Yun…? Tell me…teach me…Please…!!!"
Yun closed her eyes to take one deep breath.
And there she whispered, tenderly to Yuri
( It is Life, Yuri.
The merging of Light and Dark,
The joining of two longing Memories—
— Is Life.
And Life, is the Ultimate Power—)
…
...…
Rested upon his golden throne attached with wires reaching across each and every corner of the flying city,
Caesar Skyman, with his crown of machinery and devices his fingers did cling upon, admiring the jewelry and designs of his sophisticated works,
when the hollow clattering of footsteps approached his empty dimmed throne room.
" Impressive." Caesar Skyman acknowledged the one before him yards away coming forth from the other side of the throne room, cast under the shadow from the lone pillar of light shafted down onto his lifted seated pedestal.
" Utilizing the system, luring all my security away with your bombastic red hearing, and leaving us alone here in this antechamber. Simple yet impressively effective. I should congratulate you."
The Skylord then placed the crown his fingers so played back on top of his head as the monarch straightened his sitting, staring at the figure he beheld with his sharp sadistic eyes, grinning majestically with triumph.
And he clapped, one, two, three. Three resounding claps of hollow ripples, echoing out of his clasping palms, reverberating across the bleak hall.
But the Skylord didn't clap more than four times.
" Three claps is adequate enough to show my respect to your shrewd antiques." Caesar Skylord remarked, his grin broadening to a sneer of contempt, hands clinging together, with runes of immense power carving abright upon the back of his hands, with blasting light gathering in his grasp.
"For from here on after, everything you are going to do, IS FUTILE !!!!"
" Is that so?"
Stepping out of the shadows and into light, light blue Starbreaker armor dazzling in reflection of the novel skylights,
Yuno emerged, fully clad in her sky-blue Starbreaker armor,
With twin enormous disc cannons, blazing with staggering power, hovering over her shoulder, pointing anticipatingly their vibrating canisters at the feeble-looking royalty on the throne,
as she slowly approached, menacingly.
" Well, You won't mind if I break a bone or two then? "
[... to be continued…...]