Chapter 21 - Before Light - Remastered - Chapter 17 - part 1

(Note: There are two new images in this chapter, see if you could find them.

Art source: https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/105675041 )

<ⅩⅦ> - I

—Hours Before Caesar Skyman's ascension—

Trudging down the smooth marble steps of the clean brightly lit foyer leading out of his quarters, Sir Delprim Jargo, Captain of the Delfalak airship, stopped before the gates of his porch, his bald head reflecting the morning hue as he stood face to face with two figures standing outside his humble estate, their silhouettes cloaked under the dim shade cast by the newly risen sun beaming through the tall obelisk skyscrapers lined across the horizon of splendid Skyworld.

" This truly is a queer hour to ask for audience, dare I say…Captain Bradson?"

Hastily awoken from his beauty sleep, Delprim Jargo still managed to get off bed, despite the rough night before of him being kicked out of the Grand Gathering. Dressing in his usual distinguished attire, Jargo prided much of his status as Master of the fleets under Sky, a title bestowed upon him by the Skylord way back after the battle against the first Scourge of Demon years before.

A remarkable rank that was rumored to have been Captain Bradson's, if he had not refused the Skylord's offer.

Thus was the root of his competing notions against this Bradson Captain, who seemed always to be the better man despite Jargo's unrelenting ego to stay lesser.

But this meeting of dawn had started with a different note, one that seemed to be in Delprim Jargo's favor.

Darrovid, Jargo's close Starbreaker aide was already settled on the side of his porch, clad in full dark silver Starbreaker armor as always, watching the two unexpected visitors through the runed visor that never once was deactivated to expose the illusive face inside the helm.

" What can I do for you two, Captain?" Delprim Jargo inquired, his palm upon the lock of his fence, not yet unlatching.

" Or should we adjourn indoors?"

" I recommend a place without ears nor eyes." Captain Bradson replied, motioning for Delprim Jargo to follow him. The other captain, blond of long hair, handsome and young of excellent features nodded in agreement.

" Out of the Skylord's scrutiny."

Delprim Jargo sensed an ominous plot at play.

" What is this? Are you attempting to lure me somewhere to be involved in your fowl deeds?" Jargo wasn't a man to easily trust others.

" I am not leaving my porch unless any of you come clean and elaborate on your silly act!"

Without a word, Bradson produced his beam pistol in protest and fired in Delprim Jargo's direction.

Darrovid the Starbreaker aide remained calm, instead of dashing forth and apprehending Bradson before his shocking action, for he knew by the way the old captain pointed his weapon, he was not after his master, Jargo.

A muffled whiz rattled before a crash of metal and fire sounded near the rooftop of Delprim Jargo's abode, then seconds later, a punctured droid dropped down with heavy momentum, lying in the center of the stately porch.

" Nicely shot, Captain Bradson!" Sir Valentine Vanodai, the handsome Captain of the Hydrangea ship standing by clapped in genuine applause.

While Captain Delprim Jargo was on his buttock, trembling all over on his own estate, blinking blankly not sure if he was still present or sent to the afterlife.

" Before the next pair of eyes and ears take its place, let me elaborate a little further on the objective of our meeting." Bradson calmly put his pistol back into his trench coat pocket.

" Captain Delprim Jargo, I am planning to revolt against the Skylord, starting now.

Are you willing to join this plight?"

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" Are you serious Captain Bradson?!?!" Delprim Jargo uttered as soon as the four gentlemen, consisting of three captains and one reserved Starbreaker knight, settled at a safe spot on the outskirts of the capital.

" Or are you drunk overnight and dragging me out for more of your nonsense?!"

" Captain Bradson is not drunk!" Captain Valentine vouched for Bradson's well-being.

" He is a chivalrous man! A virtuous man who seeks to end the tyranny of this unscrupulous Skylord!"

" Let Bradson speak for himself!" Delprim Jargo waved the noisy young men away annoyedly.

" Bradson! What is it that you seek?!"

" Vengeance." Captain Bradson replied tersely, the word like a gong ringing soundly in their ears.

" The Skylord has committed crimes that can no longer be ignored. He has hurt my crew, and those I cared for the most. I have to stop him, with as much help as I can muster."

" Ridding the Skylord benefits me nothing and shall cost both my life and status!" Delprim Jargo argued, realizing he was not the man they seek.

" None of you will succeed. Not even if you have gathered all the Captains and Starbreakers. The Skylord has powers that surpass imagination and exceeds the mind! I'd rather die slaying Demons than operating a coup."

" Perhaps you are unaware, Captain Jargo, for you, were excluded from the Grand Gathering the night before," Bradson cleared his throat as he continued solemnly.

" The Skylord has forbidden all actions to exterminate Demons. All Captains are relieved of their duties from this day onward."

" Huh?!" Delprim Jargo had not heard of such chickanery.

" Not just that, but even our ships! The Skylord has confiscated all our ships!" Captain Valentine added with furious fervor.

" We are but forgotten warriors deprived of our glory! But most unforgivable of all…He dares take all of lady Reina's Memories away!!!"

The young captain stomped the ground, beating his chest with unrivaled rage.

" Take away ships…and Memories…???" Delprim Jargo guffawed, looking at Bradson's grey stern eyes for confirmation.

The old Captain nodded back solemnly.

" Those that oppose him are snatched the will to Remember." Bradson's voice steamed with deep anger, like a raging sea with tides high like mountains.

" He seizes the Light in our hearts and either alter them…or destroys them entirely. And by taking our ships away, he dimmed us unable to retaliate."

" But you, Captain Jargo." Valentine Vanodai exclaimed hopefully, eager to persuade the distrusting man.

" You weren't present that night, like me! Thus your ship hasn't yet been confiscated. We will have two ships if you would lend a hand, Captain Jargo! At least we would stand a chance—"

" No way! Two ships to battle against hundreds?! And go against the power to snatch Memories and reshape our Light Hearts?! I'd rather leave myself out of this, thank you very much!"

Delprim Jargo turned to leave.

" Captain Jargo," Bradson called as the bald captain took his leave.

" Let me remind you that you are a Captain with the knowledge of our coup, someone with the 'Memories' of a dangerous revolt."

" What you are saying…is you won't let me leave this room?!" Captain Jargo snarled.

" Even if I swear to never tell a light soul of our meeting of paramount secrecy?!"

" We would be most glad that you don't foil our plans, Captain Jargo." Bradson nodded courteously.

" But it is the Skylord you should consider that may see through your Mind, with his Memory seeing eyes, and dim you a cohort of our plot."

Delprim Jargo stopped short, halting his steps at the doorstep, teeth gnashing, eyebrows twitching. He had been set up, the very moment he agreed to follow. Now with this Memory, with this past of conversing with Bradson and Valentine, he has automatically marked himself a criminal against the throne. There is no way for him to escape now. Either be caught and executed by the Skylord, or perish in this hopeless revolt.

" But let me remind you, Captain Jargo," Bradson added with a silent chuckle that resembled a feigned cough.

" That my intentions are to avenge. Not the Throne. This city still seeks a rightful ruler if our coup is somehow, successful in the end. Who better lead the legions of Starbreakers and command the array of starships, than a Master of the fleet himself?"

Bradson's words seized Delprim Jargo's heart the moment he finished. As competitive a man as Jargo, surely only one position can he finally be literally unrivaled, unsurpassed.

To become the Skylord himself.

" And…and you, Vanodai?!" Delprim Jargo guffawed nervously, stepping back into the room again gingerly, eyeing the young blond captain suspiciously.

" What are your motives in this coup??"

" I too am here to avenge lady Reina, and retrieve her Memory back from that tyrant." Captain Valentine replied chivalrously without hesitance.

Bradson rolled his eyes but kept silent.

" Sure, sure…" Jargo clasped his hands, brooding his path of majesty with a grin apparent to the eyes.

" If it is so…Let me fetch my ship, then. Jolly Cooperation, Gentlemen?"

Bradson sighed quietly in relief.

It took old Bradson Captain some minutes to return to his abode by foot, where his trusty commander Firren and new Starbreaker knight Momo were already there waiting at the front quarters, preparations all set, when suddenly—an explosion none would ever expect erupted miles away, thundering through the heavens, shaking the whole capital left to right, up and down, shuddering the strong-walled fortress of Skylord palace, leaving one large aperture in the castle gates.

" Is that part of your plan, captain…?" Firren uttered in awe and shock, staggering back up to his feet after the violent rumble.

" No…it is not…!" Bradson's face did blanch for his intuitions sensed an unease in the whole flow of happenings. Someone had also planned to assault the Skylord, earlier than they had planned. Something was clearly amiss.

" We stick to the plan. Hold our horses and observe." Bradson gave out the order discreetly, ushering Firren and Momo to follow him.

" We have only one chance…We have to make things Right!!"

" Yes, Captain!" Both Firren and Momo answered with bright fervor.

Neither of them, not even Bradson Captain himself, would expect things to go terribly wrong.

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—Present Moment—

—Within the Realm of Memories—

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That was indeed, wrought deeply into his despondent mind's visual, the amount of data he had managed to transmit into his USB cartridge, of the secrets, blueprints, journals, and insights, that his mentor had left behind, stored once inside the Solar Industry headquarters.

It was not all.

Not all of them were retrieved…

Caesar Skyman scanned the stored data through his dingy laptop, set at the inner side of his stuffed unorganized secret lab underneath the school grounds, clicking open files and folders, pouring upon his wide eyes the long-lost teachings, convoluted graphs, and illusive tactics that surpassed his imagination that all seemed too surreal to be true, acknowledging one ultimate message amongst all the distinct technologies combined.

It is possible.

The current world can still be saved.

Caesar slumped back onto his chair rest, astonished, dumbfounded by the series of astounding reveals that his eyes had been blessed to feast upon.

It was as if his mentor was there by his side, guiding his hand, focusing his vision,

showing him the way.

Amongst all the sea of message files and data prints, Caesar scrolled slowly, one particular file format caught his eyes, sticking out among the rest.

It was a video file—possibly a visual recording of the Past!

No way…Caesar double-clicked intensely, without even the courage to speculate what he was about to witness.

His laptop flickered in a split second, before dying into darkness.

Exasperated, coming to a rash conclusion without even waiting for a second more, Caesar quickly attached his laptop to a secondary screen fearing that his old laptop wasn't working as it should. But the secondary screen was dark as before.

Clicking countlessly to test if the file had deteriorated his whole computer, Caesar realized the file was running. The footage was playing.

But nothing visible!

He must see it. He must make sure nothing is left behind—but as he wired all the screens he could find in his to his antic laptop, a chilling dreadful thought surged up his veins and froze his heart.

Is this the 8% that he had not brought back from Solar Industries…?

Can it be…that this footage, this recording, is all that he needed to know, to connect all the dots, all the secrets and teachings inside this hard drive…?! The most fundamental part of his mission…his task to save the dying world, restore humanity, squandered by his blunder?!?!

" No…" Caesar could not help but utter, collapsing onto his seat, close to tears.

The puzzle is close to completion…yet the last piece…gone, forever—

"...Is this thing on…?"

Caesar jolted back up, shook, and tremendously startled by the sudden voice ringing out of the speakers at the back of his many collective screens, echoing across the occupied enclosure.

It was a voice of power, of confidence. A voice he could never forget, intonations that stirred his emotions and rippled his memories.

It was his mentor speaking.

Passing her voice and knowledge through time.

Tears no more could his eyes hold back as they cascaded freely down Caesar's cheeks.

As always…Hoshino Sensei never disappoints—!!!

" Oh, it IS on! Gomen, gomen…here, let me adjust it right—Here."

And all the screens, all the monitors Caesar had attached to his laptop in a frenzy, all lit up in bursting light altogether in unison, flashing the lab like dozens of suns at full rise. illuminating the already-lit room into a holy space of pure white, and bluish glow.

Caesar tried to shield his eyes, but the want to witness, to see his mentor once more barged the thought as he stared, staring with eyes so wide as his vision slowly adapted to the astounding blooms of blue gentle light.

At first, Caesar thought it was a hand moving slowly in the middle of the screen. But the longer he stared, the more randomness the moving entity exhibited, drifting, grasping to the side until finally, the lens of the shooting camera readjusted its focus and the floating thing before him gradually resembled a certain form.

" Is it clear? Anyways," His mentor's voice chuckled as if she had expected her apprentice Caesar Skyman's look of utter disbelief way back while she was recording this bit.

" This here, is the Turritopsis Dorhnii, in the flesh! The Immortal Jellyfish, once lost, now found!"

Caesar nodded quickly in answer, his mind reflecting on the pages of his diary, notes he made during his learning years.

" But this is not just any Turritopsis Dorhnii. You see the glow?...umm…The screen's too small…Anyhow, this one is infused with something different. Something…not of this Earth. Something out there had caused its mutation, and enhanced its healing abilities, so as to withstand the Scourge.

Yes, indeed…It repels the Nano Scourge."

Caesar Skyman felt like a student again, sitting through his favorite class of techno-biology and engineering. listening to his beloved teacher's lecturing. His hands trembled with excitement, struggling to find a pen to hurriedly scribble down what he had heard onto parchment.

" It's the genes, the mutated ones that show such behavior. The ones that this…Force embellishes. I call it—Light. It is Light. And extracting this Light, I made—"

" …Mommy?"

Caesar Skyman did a double take, not by the sudden appearance of the voice that seemed to not cause any interruption to the speaker within the many screens.

But by how the child's call seemed so close, as if right behind him—

"...Yuri…?!" Caesar Skyman gapped, as there, his wide eyes so beheld, standing a meter away behind him, those wide eyes gazing at all the screens flickering that one familiar silhouette.

Eyes of the young child, light blue dazzling locks of hair twinkling in the shadows of the cramped storage space, staring with a gaze of- longing, earning, to see her mother once again.

That was when the mentor panned the screen to a wide drawing board behind her, where the blueprints of a massive, circular establishment were revealed alongside many military arsenals and 2D flying battleship models.

" This, is the container, the ultimate engine to power this neverending Power—"

" No...Yuri, what are you doing here ?!" Caesar rashly rose up from his seat, sprawling his way across the over-cumbered room.

But small Yuri couldn't care less of what Caesar Sensei had to say.

She was trying to listen to what her mother was saying—

"—This Light of Miracles—"

" You are not supposed to be here… Yuri !" Caesar's shadow loomed over the young child, an arm reaching out towards her.

And that was when Yuri first heard of the word,

when Caesar Skyman too,

when they both heard of the exact name for the first time in their lives—

" —Let's call it, The Herunis Carna."

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A violent jolt brought Caesar Skyman back from another spontaneous Memory that had just flashed through his mind as he stood, upon the rivers of Stars and Blaze, amongst the void eternal, locked in a standstill between this young girl, this Starbreaker of wonders before him.

The powers of the Herunis Carna, is it…? Caesar slightly adjusted his stance, reminiscing what he had just encountered, a vivid memory out of the blue. Entities, sorcery-like amalgamations that are far beyond his comprehension. Powers of miraculous feats he so needs… to fulfill his one Promise.

" To show mercy upon a child of my former Mentor," Caesar Skylord began his chant triumphantly.

" To show you that I HAVE ALREADY WON, I shall share my perspective and motive with thee. Listen well, Yuri, child of My Benefactor—Child of Hoshino Sensei,

I need the Herunis Carna, to seek back my Claudia…

…My Love."

Caesar Skylord, he who now stood in the middle of the stream of Light, in the realm of Memory, cared not to clarify the details but jumped straight to his motives without further elaboration. Details are not meant to be explained to them, Caesar had decided from the start of his crusade. I do, therefore I achieve. They need not know of the technicalities, but only heed my Call!

" I have only one thing in mind, one thought that is never clouded by hesitation, and that is to save my beloved Claudia, who now drifts helplessly…Waiting for My Arrival! My resolve has led to my victory. My Noble Cause is about to be fulfilled! Yuri, stand not in the way of the Wrong. Lead Me To The Herunis Carna!!!!!"

Yuri stared back, eyes full of hatred, her sword trapped in the Skylord's grasp as she silently glared at first before finally, she spoke.

" …What… did you just call me…?"

The Skylord's sneer broadened.

Hoh…A misstep on my part, Caesar chuckled in snide thought, to have mentioned your Mother's family name in a fit of triumph. But futile of you to try to remember—for your memories are no longer with you, no longer capable of serving yourself! It is mine for the using, mine for the taking! Swell, swell, your curiosity shall be my clear opening!

With Yuri's pressing sword rifle in his hardened grip, Caesar slowly motioned it away, further with leisure, toying his assailant like a cat to a mouse, his prize.

" Do you really want to know?" Caesar Skyman edged his malicious sneer closer, bowing in towards the standstill hovering inches away from Yuri.

" Of the dire, woeful, Past? Of the tears and pain of the times? Ignorance is a blessing once lost never would return. You don't have to dwell in those sorrows, you don't have to endure the torments I have so experienced...But still, you want to. It is well planted within you, Your Curiosity. Your longing to Seek what was yours that now lay dormant. Fortunately, I can grant you that knowledge. I can grant Everyone, All of Us, that knowledge! In exchange…of that Memory you so hold. Grant it to me, grant me insight, Yuri!"

Caesar knew his enticing words had affected Yuri somehow by the way she struggled, the strength of Yuri's endeavor diminishing. He could feel the weapon in the teenager's hand falter, her vice-like grip upon his other hand loosening.

Yuri is giving in. Caesar knows it. Any second now, the moment she lets go, the moment she lets her guard down—Is the Moment he strikes.

But Yuri didn't let go.

" You could have asked…" Yuri hissed in a threatening whisper, the streams of light reflecting the fiery glow in her now-raising glance of sheer anger.

" You could have asked…You could have asked, like anyone would…! But all you did was hurt my friends, my family! Only to lure me out into your grasp…! No matter how right, no matter how noble, how benevolent your reasons are— I am Never Going to Help You! Never!"

And there, as Caesar thought his stance and pressure were paramount, the young Starbreaker, the determined girl pushed forward with all her starlight strength, sinking her blade down inched across the Skylord's deflecting palm.

Blood, rich in a bright emerald hue with tinges of crimson spurted out from the aperture now carved deep between his fingers.

Gnashing his teeth in response to the pain, Caesar pushed forth his vertically sliced hand, forcefully severing it with Yuri's blade, freeing half of his body from the standstill as the sword rifle traveled downward behind Caesar's evading pose.

But his other hand, his left arm, was still caught in Yuri's adamant grasp.

Before Caesar Skyman could think of a way to break free from the last portion of thin captivity, Yuri her captor was already in the air, spinning above him still grabbing hard upon that arm of Skyman, which through Yuri's full spin, rotated counterclockwise in an anti-anatomical fashion, splintering the ulna and breaking the radius within Caesar as Yuri landed back onto the starry lit stream, swinging her blade up towards his neck with a final ending note.

Insolence! Caesar uttered in his maddening thoughts, drowned in the pain of his shattered left arm and the confusion of the impossible agility of this young Starbreaker girl before him. Escape seemed as easy as flipping his palm seconds before, but now, under the drastic change of power within this Starbreaker, all his actions were deemed futile.

But who am I?!?! Who am I who have strived and toiled for ages, only to fail at the last milestone?! That is not this Caesar Skyman…! That is not my Fate!!!

" Naaarrrgghhhhh!!!!!"

The cry of the Skylord reflected his resolve, and empowered that severed right arm to bloom and bulge into a beam of light, a saber of searing flare that he used not to strike nor deflect Yuri his opponent—

— But cut off the left arm that Yuri so clenched tightly to hinder his own flight.

Free from all attachments, Caesar Skyman darted out with a deafening zoom, and vanished, right before Yuri's eyes.

The sword rifle swung full circle, slicing nothing but the sparkling light specs fluttering in the air. Like snow.

Blue snow.

And there in the flakes, were voices, and faces.

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" Caesar, I need you to be honest with me."

Gazing at the school grounds out of his tainted foggy round office window, fixed in a frown of melancholy, Caesar did not reply to Claudia's apprehensive questioning.

" What happened the night before? What happened between you and Yuri that frightened her so?!"

" …It is for her own good…"

The man could but murmur in a whisper aghast.

" …For all our own good…"

" Then What Is It?!?!" Claudia demanded, her body arched over the solemn man, arms pressed against his, turning Caesar's chair to face her and her alone, caging him in her adamant inquisition.

" Tell me…Please…Caesar…!"

" I can't drag you into this…"

" You never dragged me anywhere. I chose my own path. I chose you."

" …I might lose you…Claudia…"

" We are never gone, Caesar…as long as we remember, we believe—"

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Yuri quickly spun around, panicking, under the dwindling flurry of blue snow, eyes wide like saucers.

What have I just seen…?! What Memory am I feeling right now…?!?!

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Dashing to Yuri's rear, Caesar Skylord could sense the Starbreaker girl's sudden hesitance.

Can it be…that she could see it too…?! Caesar gnashed his teeth, mustering strength far behind with grave fervor.

She could see it too…!! Her eyes…they are staring into my Memory, like how I stared into hers—Our subconsciouses are connected in this Zone!!! This Realm of the Herunis Carna!!!

Wo…Wonderful—!!!!

Caesar nearly shouted out with utter glee, barely exposing his whereabouts, flying across the stars and the void, charging in to stop whatever Yuri had seen that has been exposed of him.

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" You know my mentor…Hoshino ■■■■ Sensei…?"

" We all know her very well, Caesar," Claudia replied to the man's solemn question with earnest.

" Is it…something with the Files of Hoshino Sensei…? You found them in Solar Industries…have you not…?"

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Caesar gulped, swallowing back the remorseful truth, and whispered.

" Do you know…Hoshino Sensei… has a Daughter…?"

Pale white did Claudia's expression blenched the instant Caesar finished his say.

"...No..." Claudia admitted, shaking slightly all over, her intuitions shouting the obvious to her ears, deducting from what she had seen earlier that day—of the terrified Yuri, silent and distant all morning unlike her previous bright self—and what she had not seen the night before.

" Is it…Can it be…?!?!"

" Her name is Hoshino Yuri. Hoshino Sensei's heir." Caesar's voice echoed with indifference.

" I never told you, but the truth is…this whole institute, this school…It is all made for Her. It is…Sensei's dying wish…"

" Then what have you done to her…??" Claudia stammered, trying to set her emotions aside and focus on the truth, the happenings she craveth knowing.

" What has she seen—what have you done, that made her terrified so?!?!"

Silence.

" CAESAR !!!"

Reluctantly, the man let go of his clenched fist, letting it roll out of his palm, to the reflecting smooth surface of his desk.

There, a glass vial no more than three inches, stopped in the middle of the broad messy platform.

The viscous liquid sparkled with bluish light.

It was Claudia's turn to fall ultimately silent. in sheer distraught.

" Ten years ago, near the ending years of the War… A spec of an Asteroid was found under the sea."

" …Zeorudea…!" Claudia gasped, not believing her own ears. As a researcher in the field of astronomy and the vast universe, the name struck a chord so deep in the depth of her memories that seemed long lost but remerged once more with newfound light.

Like a myth, scientists have been chasing this astronomical Being since the first telescope was invented, a secret of its existence and the utter power it holds that has lingered through time within journals and obscure texts, being disregarded by common folk, but analyzed unrelentlessly by pioneers.

And after eons of searching and waiting, the veil of mystery has slightly been unveiled.

" So you know…The Millenium Comet." Caesar sighed quietly, nodding delayingly.

" Years before, at the time when the Comet is closest to Earth, research teams have attempted to reach it, to plant a satellite probe into its shell with atomic drills. Though unsuccessful, somehow, a piece of the Comet fell into the seas near Yokohama region, and they discovered…unexplainable phenomena exhibited by the animal life around that area of sea. Especially the Jellyfishes—the Turritopsis Dohrnii."

" Turritopsis…Dohrnii…?" Claudia repeated, a faint bell ringing inside of her.

" A Jellyfish that can rebirth itself through reverting through life stages, into a polyp, then grow back, and again. We nicknamed it the immortal Jellyfish due to its unique habit, but now…with the Light of the comet's essence…It's…Truly Immortal."

Claudia's eyes were now on the glowing liquid kept within the reflecting glass. Sparkles surreal bubbling as if with life.

" And that…is…??"

" A Replica, according to my Mentor's research. I extracted the Blood and the genes from the Dorhnii in my lab and engineered it as Sensei did. And I…"

Caesar Stopped short immediately before the words slipped out of his mouth.

" …And ?!"

Caesar turned away quickly but Claudia turned him back to face her fiercely.

" What Did You Do?!?!"

Reluctantly, Caesar Skyman replied.

" I tested it…on Yuri…"

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Two seconds after did Yuri's ears caught track the swirls of a nearly silent breeze, whooshing backward behind her as she swung her whole body, along with her blade as soon as she could, clashing just in time against the bursting light blade protruding out of the Skylord's severed arm that was aiming right at her nape.

It was as if she was sent back to that night.

The moment in time when this man, this person she once knew, she once called Headmaster…

was holding an injection needle toward her.

Fear, like tendrils wrapped all around her limbs, pulled Yuri down with beastly force. One she cannot succumb.

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" It is for her own good…For All Of Us…!!" Caesar argued despite the tears of anger welling out of Claudia's eyes.

" There is something I haven't shown you, something Hoshino Sensei hasn't shown to the world—Something that could save All Of Us!!!"

" No matter what it is—How could you do this to a child?!" Exasperated, Claudia questioned.

Yet Caesar remained firm in answer.

" Because she knows…She Has the Memory of it."

The Memory…of that one place…!

" Claudia…I didn't bring back all that my mentor has kept in Solar Industries…8%...8% is what we still lack. And that 8%, documents where this thing…this Innovation to save the world…Where this Herunis Carna lies!! In this Realm somewhere!! And Only Yuri knows! Yuri must not perish!! She must…be Eternal…For Our Salvation…!!!!"

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" You have seen it…Have you Not…?!?!"

With a frenzied swipe of her blade, Yuri parried the Skylord's slash, pushing the looming man back as he leapt miles apart, almost ready to charge again with all his might.

" You have seen my Memories…So You know…how special you are…!"

" What have you done to me…?!?!" Yuri shouted, fear writhing like shaded arms from deep within.

" What have you done to me in the Past…Before All of This…!?!?!?!"

Caesar Skylord's lips curled into a senile grin of satisfaction, mangled with scents of insanity as he replied ghastly.

" I…brought you back, Yuri. I brought everyone back…"

And raising his left arm he so severed himself, showing the glowing stub from which sparkles dazzled from the bright bloody liquid. And with flashes of supernatural fashion, the humming of the unorthodox, a new arm grew out from its roots.

" Light Blood, Yuri." Caesar chuckled, flexing his newly grown arm with ease.

" It is the Light that now flows in your vessels, in the Children's veins, pumping in Everyone's Light Hearts!! Light that grants all…a Second Chance. Light Blood…that comes from—YOU."

Yuri stepped back, her mind at a loss computing all that had just entered her ears.

Light…Blood…?!

" Your Mother left behind Gifts for you that surpass all riches, Blessings invaluable through time. Yet you do not see, you do not Remember…But I do. Light of the Millenium Comet fused with the Blood of the Immortal Jellyfish! It is your Mother's design…a brand new biological force to defend against Nano Scourge—to Go Against the Laws of Nature!!

That is what I have done to thee, For Thee…"

" Lies!!" Yuri uttered, raising her blade once more, pointing its sharp tip at the exuberant Skylord.

" You do it for yourself…! You made me…You made me out of the Yuri that once was, the Yuri whose Memories now reside in Me…!! You made me out of this Light Blood, so that you can Harvest My Memories of the Herunis Carna!!"

" Ha Ha Ha!! Indeed, I need you and your Memories." Caesar nodded in confirmation.

" To map out the exact location of your Mother's Greatest Work, to find the Herunis Carna—to save My Claudia!!!"

" I Will Not!!!!" Yuri refused, sending out her six energy grappling hooks as she charged with them, against the Skylord, who, with a blast of Light, like a bubble of gold exploding around the Lord's presence, emitted such immense force and blaze, his whole visage now glowing with superb daze.

" You Have To!!!!" Caesar shouted back, grabbing one shooting grappling hook towards his face and using it as his own weapon, slashing with wild force, forcing Yuri to the defensive.

" You owe us all…Too Much, Yuri!! You Owe Me!!! You Owe Claudia!!!! You Owe Every one of Us—Every Child you cared for and called friend and family—An Apology!! Redemption!!!!!!"

With a tremendous thrust, Caesar struck the sharp energy grappling hook seized in his muscular grip into Yuri's left shoulder, shattering the Starbreaker shoulder piece in one fell swoop.

Teeth gnashed in perseverance of her splintered shoulder, Yuri let another set of grappling hooks pull her out of range, panting as she staggered, sword rifle pierced to the ground as support. Aside from the pain of her wounds, her belly throbbed, aching more and more in intermittent waves.

Caesar Skyman saw it plain. Yuri would fall in no time. Something inside of her is dragging her down, causing her great handicap.

He could take her out in seconds, but it is the pain and torment he wished to inflict upon Yuri, for her surrender of the Memory is paramount. He has to break her, and Caesar Skylord knows exactly how, now that she knows a small bit of her past. She had seen of her younger self, her days Before All This—!

With just a small push, Her Memories she shall surrender to Me—

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.

.

Back in the realm of reality, where Skyworld afloat in the gloomy morn, smog heralding the upheaval and outcomes of conflict wafting across the city skylines, our Starbreaker General 'Solo' was still pushing back the overwhelming Astra that threatens to puncture his full presence whole.

Though his actions were bound and his position trapped by the utter force crushing from above, 'Solo' was not at all in a hurry.

Caesar Skyman has succeeded. It is only a matter of time before his ventures move to the next step.

" Futile of you to assume you can surpass the Skylord now, Caerlia!" 'Solo' hollered from far below near the subspaces of the palace bases, with his two bulging metallic arms pushing up the drilling hurricane of starlight flare up higher than before. It is only a matter before I defeat you, Caerlia!

" Your pursuits to seize the Herunis Carna without the Skylord's bidding shall be considered treason. But your repentance will still be considered. Lay down your weapons and turn back now! His highness is a negotiable man."

But Caerlia, the Lansara Suprima, gave no reply but responded in tranquil silence, with the Astra she still pressured upon Solo, no sign of turning back. That foolish girl…!

Without sentiment, without warning nor hollering of incantations, Solo set off a dozen long-bladed fangs out of his leg armor units, thrust-type drones of loyal sentience capable of either close or far-range assaults, all out to the air, soaring in secrecy under the transparent alloy tinted upon their smooth ebony film.

She wouldn't even know how she perished!

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Falling upon her thigh as she rested on a hovering wide disc pod in the smoke-filled skies above the ashen towers and skyscrapers, Yuno coughed with much strain as to prevent her exposed lungs from erupting.

The Skylord's utter blow had cast irreversible damage upon her body, and only through her Starbreaker armor closing in to somehow barge the excessive bleeding can Yuno slightly withstand the fatal wound a while longer.

Had the Skylord gone on with his pursuit, Yuno knew she would no longer be here coughing for life. But the situation was way worse than just her sacrificing her Light. Caesar Skyman had connected to the Herunis Carna networks, and invaded Yuri's Minds and Memories through the Capital, through Skyworld's linking power sources. And though the lord of Sky may now seem as if stranded in a vegetative state floating above his royal abode, his soul was afar and battling for control of the Herunis Carna, and his physical body free from all kinds of inflictions.

Yuno, gnashing her teeth and summoning two disc blades through her diminishing force, tossed one of the weapons forth at the man that stood in the air like a sturdy monument, only to be repelled by an invisible barrier that glistened bright of many colors before vanishing once more into transparency.

No doubt, the barrier around the Skylord's presence is of the Herunis Carna's blessings, and to use them upon his physical form means he had certain control over the whole mystical realm. This could mean only ill will, and the risk of the Herunis Carna falling into the Skylord's hands rising higher with each second passing.

But wait…!

Yuno's observing eyes, though blurred by her own tears saw through Caesar Skyman's T-posing menace and beheld the other form also enveloped in hues of light, glowing in a bluish sphere way back at the highest floor of the Skyworld palace that was exposed excluding of the roof.

The Sky Princess. Also caught in a trance, operating as her lord Father's power assistance vessel, granting Caesar Skylord the competence to override the Herunis Carna's network and access powers of neverending Light Souls he gathered across the lands. Without the Princess…exterminating the Sky Princess would pull Caesar Skyman back to reality…!

With her visor, Yuno quickly calculated the distance between herself and the floating princess far below.

Her eyes narrowed with deep resolve.

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.

Aside from the dominant immovable pose of the tranced Skylord in the air, and Sora sleeping above the quarters trapped in a blue energy shell, Rio saw another growing blaze of ultramarine and searing white far higher above the Skylord's position, gathering spark and conjoining energies welling with much force.

" No way…" Rio's eyes widened as his knowing caught up with his sight.

" That Starbreaker…!!" Rio uttered, pointing to the other dumbfounded children focusing their mortified gaze on the Skylord instead of what Rio was seeing.

" That Starbreaker…She is about to cast an Astra…!"

" To defeat the Skylord?!?!" Lucky asked hopefully, to which Rio didn't instantly reply.

The angle, the trajectory of the weapon…It is after Sora…!!!!

" Sora…That Starbreaker is aiming at Sora!!!!" Rio blurted out of sheer terror, springing to action right then and there, climbing the jagged ravaged marble walls to get to the upper tier of the palace dome where the Sky Princess now levitated.

" We have to wake her up…!!!" Lima cried, sheathing her Lightsaber quickly and climbing the rock pillars close behind.

" The Skylord is unstoppable if She is in this state!"

Sensing Neliya's consciousness fleeting right out of reach, Neo too decided he should climb up with his brother Rio and bring the Sky Princess down to save Neliya from her mortal wounds.

" Lucky, take care of Neliya. Oullo, to me!" The child lead spake shortly and went on with firm determination, with his loyal sidekick behind as the two followed Lima and Rio up the crooked slope.

.

.

.

The target was over 10 meters away, with the wind against her.

And just one disc blade left in her pouch.

" If the fates so ordain it…!!" Yuno panted, mustering all her remaining Starbreaker essence into her hand and into the circular disc that started to rotate and spin with vigorous velocity.

" Caesar Skyman…Your reign is over!!!!"

Three minutes. Three minutes is all she needs, to power this one last blow and send it to sever the ties.

To destroy Sora Sky Princess and Caesar Skyman both in one fell swoop!!!

But to Yuno's utter shock, four children there were, climbing up to where the Princess resided, approaching her target ignorantly. They are getting within blast radius…!

Yuno bit her lips impatiently and in agitation.

These children were going to be in the way of her one last blow!

What are they thinking?!

Aiming for a better visual, Yuno somehow realized why she never tried to make contact or communicate with them children.

They are more of a hindrance than the help they can ever provide.

And besides…They remind her of her Past, Her failures.

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" Right there, Captain Bradson!" Captain Valentine whispered valiantly, pointing down from where he perched on top of the ravaged half-shattered dome roof of the Skyworld palace. His pinkish-red Starbreaker armor glistened under the morning lights like a rose in juvenile bloom.

" Her highness the Princess is on the third floor, in the center of the Lord's throne room! And the Skylord seemed to be morbid as we speak! Let's charge!"

" Wait!!" Bradson Captain held the young captain back with an appalled cry, kneeling also on the palace dome with his Starbreaker binoculars pointing down at the corners of the wreaked imploded throne room.

Captain Valentine noticed the slight trembling of this old captain's fingers that grew more and more apparent as the old man's body followed suit into a horrified shiver.

" Captain Bradson?! Are you having a stroke?!" The young man questioned, feverously fumbling through his weapons set to seek a health kit, in fear that this old gentleman, this Captain that was like a father figure to Reina perishing under his watch would tarnish his good reputation. I still need Bradson Captain's consent for Reina's hand—!!! This Valentine Vanodai uttered in thought, frantically producing his weaponized sedative drones.

" Get that away from me!!" Bradson Captain hollered, stupefying the young man as Bradson stood up, frantic as ever, before leaping down step by step onto the protruding steel frameworks, charging into the throne room at full speed.

Dazed by shock and the deafening holler, Valentine wondered what could steer such a wave of emotion within this old reserved Captain's light heart.

It was, of course, the children that triggered Captain Bradson's alertness to the highest alarm.

It was the sight of Neo, Rio, Oullo…and especially Lima, climbing up to the throne room, that terrified the old man so.

They are not supposed to be here!! How have things come to this ?!?! Regretting achingly for averting his glance away from the children he deared, Bradson quickly activated the secret device lodged at the left side of his head, as a faint glow flickered where his temple was.

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Jolting up out of her slumber all of a sudden back in the Children's shelter, scaring the children sitting nearby, Tricia sat straight, panning her wide frantic gaze at the frightened children around her, who were building weapons and armor out of leftover Starbreaker metal.

" Tricia…you alright?" the scared children asked perplexed. Eyes wide in confusion, Tricia panned her gaze across their headquarters, filling her eyes with all the children's faces as much as she could.

But some were apparently missing.

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.

Neo, Rio, Neliya, Oullo, Lucky, Feira, Finnir, Kai, Treize…Lima.

Inhaling deeply, Bradson closed his eyes to calm himself. This was on me…I shouldn't have turned Tricia off at this critical moment…

Praying, Castiel Bradson made a vow to the greater power his faith so resides with as he matched forth, to do what has to be done, to save those that were in peril.

Oh, Lord, help me protect my children…

Help me guide them back from astray…!!!

Whatever price I shall pay, whatever hardship I shall withstand—

Whatever it takes, I Shall Give!!!

With My All————

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.

Two minutes.

Yuno raised her arm, the ringed blade spinning light speed above her bloody palm, eyeing the children down below nearing her impact range coldly.

That is their choice. That is not of her concern.

The final step has been set into motion.

" Whatever it takes…" Yuno whispered to herself.

" To Fulfill Mother's Promise—!!!"

.

…

...…

.

" Yes...Feel it, Yuri." The Skylord stood his ground abright, slightly levitating above the massive flow of Light.

" You are pretty close now. Let me guide thee to the Memory we all Seek!"

She will see it!! Caesar Skyman planned meticulously. She will see what my Memory sees, and remember…!!

NO!! Yuri refused to listen, refused to be influenced. For so long, from the beginning, from the moment she woke up that morning on the corridors of the Betelgeuse Starship, she had longed to Remember, to Seek her Mother, her Past. But now, doing so shall grant only the Skylord's wishes. His wishes to save someone…someone that he longed so desperately that he could hurt others to achieve that goal…!

…Claudia…

Yuri gasped, unknowingly, the name of the person the Skylord so sought had inadvertently ushered memories, though vague, were full in sound and color, echoing with voices of a gentle, blissful woman, speaking to her in the Lights of Memory scattered across the void of the Realm Beyond space and time.

No…Yuri tried all efforts to shake the reminiscence away from her head, only for the voices to reverberate more, as the silhouette of a fair-featured lady formed before her sight, reflecting deeper into her mind, surrounded by children.

Children she knew.

And among them…was herself…

Claudia…Sensei…

She knew her…She…She…

NO!!! With a hardened fist, Yuri slammed her helmet hard at the visor, bringing her focus back onto her surroundings.

No…Stop it, Yuri…!! Don't Remember now…!!! It's what the Skylord wants—!!

Stop it…Stop…!!!

" You looked up to her back then." Caesar Skylord's voice chimed in snidely, chorusing with the Memories flooding into Yuri's vision.

" We all did. She liked you as well. You were always there by her side, dragging Claudia here and there, joining in your games and joy—"

" STOP!!!!"

Feelings from the past, that can never be fully extinguished, welled up with grief and desperation.

" She cared for you, for all of the poor children left behind by war. She turned away from safety, from a life of escape, for you…for Me…!"

Caesar's voice lagged as he struggled to take a deep breath to bar his overflowing emotions. Star flakes, floating and flowing across the Light stream, reflecting a thousand Memories untold, ready to unfold.

" But see how you shun her away just now. The Thought of even remembering her voice terrifies you? You fear to remember fully, to keep your Memories as far away from me as possible. Yet…

…That is not the only reason, is it? Yuri?"

Before Yuri realized it, the Skylord was already standing right before her, his blinding frame beaming over her kneeling form.

But Caesar did not strike. But stood, confident and menacing.

" Your anger…" The Skylord mused condescendingly.

" Your anger is towards the suffering I caused upon the children…upon your so-called…Family. See??

Somehow you knew. Somehow, without you even seeing, you could sense their jeopardy…! It is part of you…This sentiment…This feeling you have for them. It is from a Memory, one that you so feared; One that you so locked away in the deepest of places… "

Before Caesar finished, Yuri twisted back, spinning around and sending one lethal blow of her sword rifle upon where Caesar's ankles were, only for the Skylord to leap up high before the slash could touch him, landing gracefully at Yuri's rear. She is slowing down. Caesar sensed with glee, she is weakening, in pain… somehow she wouldn't make it as far as I—!!

With his words well sought to undermine Yuri's stability, Caesar went on with his lethal utterance.

" But the Children!! They are not who you thought they were! You yourself are not who you thought to be! You know nothing about the family and friends you so call, Yuri..."

" I know—They are suffering under your reign!!!!" Not giving up until the last second, Yuri rose up again, swiping the air behind her with her blade, which Caesar evaded with lightning backstep. But Yuri slashed again, and again, and again. With only one hand, whirling her caliber with grave determination to stop this tyrannic lord once and for all, only to realize how far The Skylord's level of sheer power and abilities were above hers.

Caesar Skylord continued his insidious speech, slapping the sword rifle and grappling hooks aside as he spoke in venomous cadence.

" You thought it was love that powers you now to strike me, the anger that my governing upon my folk doesn't suit your likings? You thought you cared, you thought it was the sentiment, the intimacy towards those you know and dear…But what if I tell you, It was not of Love upon them that ails you—

—But the Guilt deep within?!"

Guilt…?!

At that moment, Yuri realized her hand, was inadvertently clenched before her chest. Right above that gripping cold sensation that so chained ruthlessly around her Light Heart.

Is this…this Feeling…

…Guilt…?!

Far, far away, Yuri's ears started to hear what she thought she had already gotten rid of long before, her head dizzying and stinging the more the seconds pass.

The high-piercing screeches, the screams, and the incomprehensible cries in her head

have all started to return.

.

…

...…

.

" Don't try it, Claudia…! I beg of you…I can find it! I can find the Herunis Carna!!"

" There is no time! If there is a chance another Solar Industries kept the data up there— I have to get it back, Caesar…I have to."

" It's in space!!!!"

" I know how to navigate a shuttle…"

.

…

...…

.

" Indeed…" Caesar nodded in answer, feigning a sigh of melancholy.

" For the folly you have committed, for the things you have done in your youth!!! Woe be the one that forgets their own sins of the Past. But such an atrocity is never easily forgotten, don't you say?"

" What are you talking about…?!?!" Stammering, her body trembling and cold, Yuri asked in a wavering demand, sword rifle raised.

Caesar replied with a sheepish scoff.

" WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!?!?!" Yuri shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to drown the painful incoherent shouts ringing in her ears.

But they were not just inside of her.

The screams were all echoing across the vast void of star and Memory.

The Realm was weeping.

Gazing as he panned his sight, marveling at the outcoming, Caesar Skyman chuckled before laughing with elated triumph.

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…

...…

.

" Lift off in five, four, three—"

" Castiel, WAIT!!!"

The old janitor spun around, the ringing of the alarm screaming across the hangars.

" Nano Scourge…Grade A…!! Closing in!!!"

" We have to go back…Abort Mission!! The School is in danger!!!!" Caesar rushed forth, heading towards the operating board as he shouted to the microphone linked to the personal-sized space shuttle down below the control platform.

" Claudia, ABORT—"

" NO, CAESAR!!!!"

The engines started to roar as steam and fire burst out of the plump engines.

" I'll get it back…" the ruffling distortions of the radio hid not Claudia's uncertainty, and neither her determination.

" Go, Caesar…I will Get it Back…We'll go there…together…

To The Herunis Carna—"

" CLAUDIA——————————!!!!!!!!"

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.

When Caesar and Castiel returned to the school grounds, the bleak scene tore their hearts apart.

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…

...…

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" Can you not hear?! The Past is Calling!!!" The Skylord howled, arms wide apart as if displaying his wondrous work as Yuri crumbled to her knees, hugging herself out of fear, the cold hollowness freezing her from the inside.

" They are calling for Retribution, YURI!!!!!"

And the dark skies flashed abright with sparks like fireworks that stayed long, firing out scenes of the most unnerving, terrifying to behold.

All over the realm, residing in sources of Light,

Yuri could only see Dead Children.

Her friends, perishing before her eyes.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO—————————!!!!!!!!!!!

.

…

...…

.

" No…No no no no no no no no no no no no…"

racing with his feet that sank limply to the bloody soil, Caesar crawled up to the nearest body he could reach, hugging the stiff listless body tightly in his arms.

Tears of anguish streaming down his contorted face of sheer sorrow and agony.

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Steering the safe house to a dive down the left before swerving back up to the right, Yun pushed their headquarters with prestigious maneuver, all efforts to evade the zigzagging proliferating lightning bolts shooting out of the Starlight Lance Rifle Pt-Retura dancing in the air, hot on their heels.

To keep Yuri's body safe within the safe house, whereas Yuri attempts to stop the Skylord by linking her mind to the Memory realm.

But even with her midst of concealment and elusion, the lance rifle seemed to be able to track them down wherever Yun went around the floating capital. Fighting back is impossible, Yun quickly deducted as she pushed the headquarters down to a steep dive, narrowly dodging a flurry of blasts unending like rain showers of fire and spark. Running out of options, Yun quickly guided the headquarters behind a towering skyscraper and searched the city skylines in search of her partner and sister Yuka, who was not far away, being dragged around in an unforgiving manner by the ferocious lance rifle Ti-tanaro.

That was when an idea flashed through Yun's mind.

(YUKA!!!!) Yun managed to speak up through her hushed voice, crying out to the one being toyed by a sentient weapon.

(I have a plan, and I need Your Help!!)

" I need YOUR help too!!!" Yuka shrieked at the top of her lungs as she rammed into a glass edifice along with the Ti-tanaro dashing with rapid fervor.

( Just…keep hanging on, and don't go too far…) fearing the chance of victory might slip out of their grasp any second, Yun lunged once more, pushing their headquarters full speed towards Yuka's accelerated position, dodging the shooting stakes of searing flame as she quickly gazed down worriedly, keeping a close eye on Yuri.

The girl in slumber seemed to also be in a toiling battle in the realms beyond.

( Hang on there…Yuri…!!)

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…

...….

.

No…This isn't…It can't be…!

Turning away from the horrors around her, Yuri crawled back, fleeing with all she could muster before the Skylord barged in like a blazing catapult, seizing Yuri from behind cruelly around the neck and turned her back to face them all.

To face her fears.

" Open your eyes!!" Caesar snarled, yanking Yuri's head upward with brute force, forcing her to see, to witness the baneful Past.

" Look! LOOOOOK NOW!!!! Look at their faces! Look at the terror in their eyes!! It is because of you. It is because of you that they had to suffer!!!"

Tears blurring, lights shafting, Yuri, as much as she feared and struggled to unsee,

bore witness of children, the children of the school lying across the field, scattered, mangled with demise. Blood, dark crimson blood, flowing out of their lifeless orifices.

And among them,

was Herself.

Her younger, fragile self,

on a pool of her own crimson blood,

lying motionless, face down on the crude ashen soil.

No...

Yuri could but gasp, terror and regret merged into a single airy moan.

What have I done...?!

" Not just you, Yuri." Caesar Skyman crooned solemnly to her ear.

" All of them…Perished.

Their blood, is in your hands alone!"

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.

.

Rushing as fast as his legs could take him, Rio was by the unconscious levitating Princess' side in no time.

" SORA!!" Rio shouted at the top of his lungs, to no avail. No words could reach her now. Instinctively, the rash boy reached out his arm to shake his crush out of the heavy slumber before Lima stopped him just in time.

" No! Keep a distance from her!" Lima advised cautiously.

" She now has all the power of the capital stored in her. That aura around her…it could burn through the hardest metal…"

" How do you know that?!" Rio uttered indignantly. Though Lima's wisdom has never failed the pack, it was the niche details no one would definitely know but Lima that felt fishy in Rio's eyes from the start. And the reluctance of elaboration from Lima only added more suspicion from others.

" How do you know she has all the power of the city?! She is Sora! She is a Princess!"

" She is a machine!!" Lima shouted back, yanking Rio by the arm back away from Sora.

" She is not like us…She is the Skylord's creation!"

" Just Like All of You, really."

Elsa, the wolf cub perched on Lima's shoulder, started barking before Lima, Neo, and Rio all spun around to face the speaker, the intruder of their plight. Neo growled in rage as soon as he lay first sight,

on the person standing before them, cloaked in ragged cloth, hair long and messy of dull tortoise grey with ears of fur protruding out of the sides above her head.

A gun the newcomer raised at the three, aiming especially at Lima without sentiment.

" Except you, Lima." Neruko approached, weapon firmly in hand.

" You are not like us…You are pristine. Unaltered. Your Memories are of truest form."

" Neruko, for what you have done to Neliya, I will not that it slide easily!!" Neo shouted, stepping forward as Neruko quickly shifted the tip of her gun to the child lead's chest, stopping the boy at his tracks.

" For what you are trying to do…to hinder Headmaster Caesar's goal…You will only doom us all." Neruko replied, motioning Neo to step back.

" What are you even talking about?!" Rio uttered in sheer confusion.

" Neruko! What's wrong with you?! Aren't we all on the same side?! Stop your madness! Put the damn gun down!"

" You forced my hand!!!" Neruko shouted, cutting Rio short.

" All of you…forgetting it all…forgetting everything we've been through…Forgetting me entirely…And now, you threaten to sabotage the Headmaster's plans to save us all!"

" Who the Heck is this Headmaster Caesar?!?!" Rio argued furiously.

" There is only one Sensei I know and that is definitely not this Caesar guy you are talking about! Stop speaking in riddles, all of you! I mean you too, Lima! And let's all come clean! First off—Who is Caesar Sensei, Neruko?!"

" Caesar is the man who we call Skylord." Lima answered solemnly, stepping forth with her hand reaching the handle of her lightsaber.

Neruko fired, and within that split second, Lima had drawn her blade of light fully, just in time to slice the coming bullet toward her head in two.

" And his goal is never about saving anyone." Lima continued, stepping forth closer and closer menacingly.

" He cared about none of us no more. He only wants to save himself from his failures!"

" You are wrong!!" Neruko darted back, firing flurries of shots, which forced Neo and Rio to take cover, while Lima swiped her energy blade as fast as a rotor engine, charging against Neruko with all her might.

Bullets spent in seconds, Neruko seized her dagger, the one that Neo immediately recognized as the one that was found in Kai's pouch that dreadful night, the dagger that they accused Kai of, for dismembering Sensei's Book of Teachings!

" So it was you!!! Neruko!!!!" Neo burst out of cover, drawing out his sword and shield also to join in on the combat with wrath. A debt he must make the cat-eared girl pay!!

Outnumbered the cat girl may be, her speed and frightening agility made up for any handicap possible, zigzagging to Lima and Neo's backs, slicing through their handmade armor with blows that the two could not anticipate.

With a cry, thrashing his sword about and giving up a decent chance of ambush, Rio joined in, only to be stepped on the head as Neruko leapt about, traversing freely within their grasp while slowly breaking their stances.

Oullo, the sidekick of Neo burst out with his long saber drawn to assist the battle out of the silence, but Neruko's moves are far superior to what the boys could ever muster.

Four children, fighting a former ally now defector of the pack.

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.

.

One minute.

As soon as this minute passes, Yuno promised herself, she would fire her last blow across the air, and strike down Sora Sky Princess, without hesitation.

No matter how many children were in her way.

No matter if she knew any of them before…

No matter if it is even Lima…!

She would set it all in motion.

Sentiment is not needed here, no more—!

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.

.

Still waiting for Caerlia's ultimate demise to set himself free from this immovable Astra of doom, our Starbreaker General 'Solo' looked up with his scanning visor to check if his silent assassin blade drones have finished the job.

Two rifles sent out to track the child of the Herunis Carna…with the rest merged into this one blow upon me…She had left nothing to defend herself! Let alone fangs of anti-Starbreaker alloy!

Solo mused to himself indignantly.

And there, far above in the skies, 'Solo's' visor sensed the returning signals of his sentient blades, hovering in the air as if lost in confusion.

Nani?! Why are they not tracking down and obliterating Caerlia in an instant?! Why are they hovering idle?! Is their supervision overridden by Caerlia herself?! Impossible!!!

" Starlight Fangs! Report status!!!" Solo demanded, with the images of the above sent to his visor immediately.

All the images caught were of the sky, gloom, and cloaked in dark grey.

No Lansara Suprima in sight.

.

.

.

( Come on…any time now…) making sure the lance rifle was still hot on their heels with acceleration unperturbed, Yun carefully calculated its speed and trajectory, slowing down to a slight halt as she watched the Starfire rifle, Pt-Retura, charging full speed toward her, firing myriads of lasers and lightning that proliferated like monstrous fingers ready to devour Yun and the whole safehouse with Yuri lying within into its merciless grasp.

( —NOW!)

And before the laser stakes penetrated the force field around Yun and the headquarters, the Starbreaker of fog and mist made an instant dive vertically straight down to the capital fields of cement, while the fiery beams of the cosmos went on, traveling straight, too fast to turn as the second instance, out of the building standing by,

Ti-Tanaro burst out, as Yuka had purposely lure it to sail out to the exact point Yun so calculated it to be, where the searing stakes of the Pt-Retura all fell upon the later lance rifle's steel crooked body, melting its metallic hide until the Ti-Tanaro failed to withstand the oppression of its own kind, and broke in two under the rain shower of storm and heat by its weapon partner.

" YEEAAAHHH!!!! I knew it would work—" Yuka cheered elatedly, forgetting her blade lasso had lost any support to grab upon and the ocean-blue Starbreaker crashed face-first onto the busy Skyworld streets. Unscathed, at least, but painful nonetheless.

( Yuka!!!) Yun instantly dived down along with the hovering safehouse beside her, waking Yuka up from the wreak of her fall.

( Yuka, hurry, there is still one lance rifle left…!)

Her worlds still swirling, Yuka the rashful one sat up, one hand supporting her dizzied head as she slowly looked up at Yun her sister, the round safehouse put together by four circular compartments end to end, and the lance rifle, swinging down so fast.

And so close. Closer as if it was right behind Yun that very instant.

That was when Yuka saw another shadow, towering over right behind Yun's unknowing silhouette, thrashing the crooked longitudinal weapon with immense force.

" YUUUN!!!!!" Yuka screamed but was a moment too late.

Pt-Retura swung down full speed, striking Yun at the back with a tremendous crack, sending the quiet Starbreaker flying hundred of feet away, crashing through shops and stores avid the Skyworld city square.

All the Starbreakers around the vacinity suited up their armor instinctively, assuming another Demon assault breaking out as before.

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If there's anything Neruko's quick observation and experience staying in the pack could tell her, it's that among them three she now fought, Lima is the most possible to defeat her in one-on-one combat. That's why she must be taken down first!

Evading both Neo's stab and Rio's crush in two impossible sidesteps, Neruko swiped their ankles with her wide-ranged kick, tripping the two boys to the ground before she charged forth toward Lima, dagger piercing upfront.

Lima tilted her body to a side, racing her arms from below where her lightsaber traced along, sending a circular slice across the air that would definitely rip Neruko's body in half. But Lima had no choice. She had to stop Neruko.

She had to stop her!!!!

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" Stand. Down."

Two words, was all it needed to make them all backen in reverence, for there, rising out of dust, standing atop the safehouse now sank into the cement pavement,

was the Starlight queen, the Starbreaker Champion, Caerlia Lansara Suprima herself. With just one lance rifle in hand, already more than capable to bring down all the hundred Starbreakers present in that city square.

" Leave us, my brothers and sisters."

Caerlia walked down slowly from the teetered headquarters, her steps light but resounding with reverberating force, her yellowish armor of purple haze clanking ominously with each overpowering stride.

" I cannot guarantee your safety if you stay."

Heeding the champion's words of warning, the bystanders left in a jiffy, the capital boulevards ghastly empty in but seconds.

Leaving Yuka, kneeling helplessly on the wrecked pavement, staring eye to eye to the Grand Starbreaker emerging in the flesh. The dreadful memories of that night, when Yuri nearly perished under Her Exaltedness' hands, when she and her sisters all fought side by side and barely making it out alive, swept across Yuka's mind, flashing through her eyes like she was about to make a last stand.

" Yu, ka, is it?" Caerlia asked, devoice of emotion, a deity of mass destruction.

" I have never heard of your name before. And never have I seen your face in my capital. Where are you from, young sister?"

" I…uh…I…I am…not sure…either…" Yuka stammered, staggering to her feet, hiding her many trick weapons behind her lest thid monster of a Starbreaker sees them.

But Caerlia already saw all the gadgets and artillery behind Yuka's back, but still feigned to not notice.

" So you are lost." Caerlia chuckled gently, now but a meter away from where Yuka stood.

" Poor thing. I forgive you, for shattering my beloved Ti-Tanaro, as Long as You Turn Away and Leave At Once."

Her last few words, like bells of the holy chapel, booming thunderously, austere and with valor, murderous and grandeur, moving the world with but her voice and her terrifying stare.

Cowed to the core, Yuka didn't even realize that her own feet had stumbled back tens of steps away from this imminent doom, this towering frame that seemed to grow larger and more terrifying, an aura full of pressure and deferance that no living soul could ever resist.

But she cannot just turn away and leave.

Yuri…Yuri's Memories are in danger…!!!

Yuri alone can't defeat this monster…Neither can Yun…Neither can I…But…but…!!

…Courage Yuka…Not now then Never…!!!!

There is no other way!!!!

Stabbing her lance deep into the safehouse ceiling before thrashing hard to the side, ripping the upper tiles all off with one vehement stroke, Caerlia looked down as a sadistic grin curled up upon her thin lips.

" There you are…Herunis Carna…!" Caerlia hissed, those yearning gazes riveted to Yuri's slumbered form, glowing faintly in the dim lit bedroom, lying on the soft bed just a few inches away.

" Don't mind if I do…sister—"

Caught by the edge of her eye, Caerlia spun to her right like lightning, realizing that the lost Starbreaker girl in light blue armor not only refused to leave, but raised her one arm loaded with sharp needles and wrist blades pointing at her Exaltedness' presence.

Caerlia was more disappointed than angered.

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Crawling up from the fallen shops and buildings, Yun crawled up, her Starbreaker armor cracked and dented in various places.

Despite her visor covered under a thick layer of dust, Yun could see Yuka, standing in the way of the undefeatable Starbreaker Queen,

alone.

( Yuka…!!!!) Yun tried to run, dragging her battered body across the ravaged boulevard, with her legs possibly fractured more serious than she imagined, Yun still fought her way forth.

She tried to call out to her sister, but her serene voice couldn't reach Yuka's ears.

Without her assistance, without her defense support, Yuka would definitely never make it out alive…!

The Champion of Star and flare is too much for her to deal with alone—!!!

Begging desperately, Yun made her way forth as quickly as she could, fighting the pain all over her entire wounded body.

( Yuka…wait—)

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" …Are you sure, young one?" Caerlia asked, her voice hollow, her grip around her lance tightening.

" That you don't want ot leave…when you had the chance to?"

" I…I can't let you hurt Yuri…!!" Yuka stammered, standing her ground.

" I…I have to Protect Yuri's Memory! Our Memory!!!!"

" I see."

Without hesitation, nor sentiment, Caerlia raised her lance rifle, pointing its sharp crooked tip at Yuka's head,

and fired,

a bursting series of wrathful stakes ablaze, scorching the lands and melting the cement as the laser spears protruded through the air,

all about to rip Yuka to pieces.

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There, before Lima's eyes, the dagger that Neruko so took a second, was now in the air, let go and frozen in time, in that split second before punctuating her face.

Time seemed to have stopped in that precise moment, with Neruko being hte only one able to move, faster than any of them combined, twisting at an utterly different direction Lima had predicted, grabbing the floating dagger with the off hand and before Lima could stop her predecided motioin and turn away, Neruko was already right upon her.

The tip of the jagged dagger, touching Lima's belly.

" It is over, Lima."

Lima could hear Neruko's cold whisper between the seconds passing by like hours.

" Your Memories shall finally be put to rest—"

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…

...…

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Arms swinging down numbly, Yuri gave up struggle, letting it all flood into her blank eyes, lights and macabre filling her irises.

" See it…? That shuttle to the sky…?"

Caesar asked in a faint whisper, motioning Yuri's head higher as an ebony-winged object soared up high at the edge of all the Memories exposed.

" The Nano Scourge razed everything to the ground…including any ways of communication. But she is out there…She is definitely out there…My Claudia…And she has found it. She just needs help…I have to reach out to her…With the Herunis Carna on My side, and all the Light Hearts, all the Light streaming in your veins as my endless power supply—I shall navigate Skyworld out of this doomed Earth, and bring Claudia with me to the everlasting Paradise ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!!!!!"

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...…

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" Remember, children. No matter what happens, don't leave the school grounds today until Castiel sensei and I return. Do you all understand?"

The children energetically replied in unison.

Everything will be alright, Caesar promised himself. Everything will be alright. The infrasound arsenals will activate as soon as even a spec of Nano tendril nears the premise.

Everything will be alright…as long as the children stay in the classroom…

" Yuri." Caesar turned to the girl of blue hair and radiant twinkling eyes before his ultimate leave.

" Make sure the children don't leave the school building.

I am counting on You."

"...Yes…Headmaster."

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…

...…

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As the stark Memories died out, Caesar finally let go of Yuri's throat, and the girl tumbled and fell on all fours on the twinkling stream of Light.

Tears flowing uncontrollably and endlessly.

The silence gave sound to the slowly descending light flakes falling around them two, dissolving into the flow of light with hollow tinkles.

" Why…?" Caesar Skyman asked, sorrow as much as rage welling over his trembling voice.

" Why did you not stay…? Why did you not keep them safe? Why…?!"

Silence.

" Alas…it doesn't matter anymore." Caesar sighed, exhaling long as if the weight over his shoulders were finally lifted.

" Here we are, after all those years of toil…of struggle…Here we are. All that matters now, is the next step."

The Skylord stopped short with one heavy defining step, stomping before Yuri's somber frame.

" My Next Step."

Reaching his arm, seeking the one thing that he so pledged his life upon, the one knowledge his goal so depends, reaching to the stars to the secrets of the universe, to the Wisdom that shall save his love, his Claudia.

Caesar Skyman, Lord of the Skies so ordered with reverent pride.

" Surrender thy Memories to Me, Hoshino Yuri.

For you owe me, you owe All of us—

—The Right to Salvation—!!!!!!"

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.

Yes…

Yuri's blank gaze stared at the lights flowing underneath her knees, yet nothing she could see, nothing her eyes could behold anymore,

Yes…

Tapping with trembling fingers, Yuri deactivated her Starbreaker helm, her blue shimmering hair tied to a side ponytail to her right swayed out dismally down to her shoulder.

I…I…don't deserve this power…

Along with the helmet, the rest of the Starbreaker armor disintegrated particle after particle, like snow gusted out into the wintery breeze.

There she now knelt, defenseless, before the Lord of Light, monarch of Sky.

Her eyes, dimmed without glow, flooded by the tears of grand sorrow, devoid of hope, rejected by grace.

It is over.

I am sorry…very sorry…Everyone…

I…I…—

The Skylord now approached one full step at a time, his presence looming, his triumph at arm's reach.

" Very well, now that you have discarded your animosity…" Caesar Skyman amusedly lowered his stance before Yuri, whose face was lowered and her gaze still panned down onto the star shines passing below their feet.

" I shall ask kindly, will you give me now thy Memories, Yuri…?"

Sobbing, Yuri's lips quivered, ready to reply.

— It's not over yet! —

Wha…? Who———

Yuri paused.

She blinked, her gaze slowly, slowly moving upwards.

To where the soft echoey voice came.

The voice…of a child—

— It's not over yet…! —

Who…Who... is it…???

— It's not over yet…!

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Mother—!!!

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...…

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Caerlia Lansara Suprima could see no possibility for this young Starbreaker before her to make it out in one piece after withstanding her myriads of fiery rainshower and thunderbolts fired out of her lance rifle Pt-Retura.

And indeed it was as she predicted.

Slicing through the limbs and torso, the searing beam stakes of light ripped Yuka's Starbreaker body apart, cutting her into literal pieces right in front of Yun's eyes.

Not even a scream could Yun utter out of such crushing desperation and gore.

The Starbreaker queen turned away, slightly in remorse, for she believed there could have been other ways for this naive Starbreaker sister to live. Yet this is the path she chose, and Caerlia let her be. At least, no one is here now to stand in her way between her and the Herunis Carna.

" Need not sadden, young one." Caerlia delivered with much condolences, her back still facing Yun, who was now kneeling before Yuka's scattered parts, stunned in silence.

" You may or may not cease your anger upon me, but that is not my part to concern. Hate me all you want, for my intentions are clear, unclouded. I Seek to bring all of us to the Realm of Light!! To escort all Light souls to true transcendence! There is a paradise, designs of the most miraculous kind in store within the Herunis Carna! I felt it, I have seen It! Surely you, like all of us, know the fragility of the Light soul, the ultimate fate of demise, of decomposition.

No more. That can all be averted.

I seek what is everlasting. I seek what is true. For all of you! Only with the Blessing of Miracles in my hand can I bring all of us, my beloved brothers and sisters with me, to transform into our ultimate form—

—To become Forevers."

Caerlia now turned fully to face Yun, and the mauled Starbreaker parts lying around the sizzling cracked pavement. Her eyes stern with a glance so sharp that nothing seemed to escape her. Nothing could.

" I know what I did. I know I have hurt a fellow sibling by seeking this power for you all. But you must understand, my actions are necessary. But to be Everlasting, to depart from all sadness and strife of this reality, it is required of me to make the hardest of choices. Come, dear sisters mine, I have been candid with thee both. Is it not fair enough to ask for mutual honesty?! Is this how you wish to respond to my confession?! By feigning your demise?!?!?!"

" NOW, YUN!!!"

Instantly, the moment Caerlia finished, all of Yuka's severed parts flew up with a bang, soaring in all directions like shooting stars circling the Lansara Suprima in unruly orbit, functioning either as blades cutting at the speed of light, or laser drones firing at a distance from all directions.

Yun had already sprung to action, having conjured her evading mist the moment Caerlia had arrived, vanished into thin air, and joined Yuka's separate parts in perpetual waves of melee and assault.

Weaponization has always been Yuka's expertise. Have it be a simple rod, Yuka can insightfully saw it in two and put a laser chain between to form a laser whip mace, or load rifles onto a rotating wheel as radiuses and cross three of them gun-slinging wheels vertically to each other, forming a metal ball lined with arsenals. Let that be some kind of talent. One day, an idea occurred to Yuka: What if I turn myself into a weapon? A weapon that none would expect?

Thus the queer outcome, saving her life as of now.

By activating two portal drones faced together and latching them onto separate flying ring-shaped drones wide enough to load on the wrist, thighs, elbows, and any joints of preference, like intersecting joints with portals interconnecting, thus nullifying the need to sever any body parts and just separate the portal drones attached to the flying rings, thus performing the illusion of falling apart. Carrying all sorts of blades, small laser pistols, and missile launchers onto each separate body part was a major part of Yuka's troubles, but I digress. Back to the actual tale.

Even now, facing Yuka's many oppositions from all sides, left with but one lance by her side, Caerlia the Exalted one still was able to parry each and every move against her, swinging and spinning her loyal weapon like a twisted hurricane dancing freely along the breeze, a whirlpool sending each wave in before pivoting them out with power and grace.

" I know what went wrong!" Yuka's voice echoed from between the energy field connecting all her separate parts flying about, controlling her many body parts at the same time.

" I should have prepared some fake light blood! That won't give it away too easily!"

This multi-segment technique was supposed to be Yuka's most secret maneuver, only to be used in times of grave distress to trick the enemy and ambush while the opponent had lowered their guard.

But apparently, The Starbreaker Queen was not so easily fooled by most kinds of chicanery and forms of deceit.

( Focus, Yuka!) Yun whispered in haste, dodging a blow from above by bending her upper torso back down in a nimble fashion.

( Keep her occupied...I must get Yuri out…!)

" Roger that!!" And from each separate part of her body, Yuka separated them again, doubling in number but diminishing in size, yet tripling in speed and offense, now becoming a swarm of blades and scatter-shooting remote artillery.

And still, not a single attack could penetrate Her Exaltedness' self-defense.

Stealthy, Yun made her way to the corner of the crashed safehouse behind the flurry, stopping at Yuri's chamber when she saw something unusual brewing at work.

(...Yuri…??)

Yun looked closer, her eyes catching a glimpse of faint starry glow radiating out of Yuri's unconscious form, no longer in sorrow, nor confusion.

But drifting, floating slightly, with her mind somewhere else, somewhere yonder.

Somewhere Brighter.

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...…

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Caesar waited, sensing a queer hesitance in this hapless girl's silence, who, rather than staring at the stream seconds before, now was gazing yonder, at the void afar that filled the spaces of the realm around them.

Making sure nothing else could be in his way of victory, Caesar cautiously glanced back at his rear.

Nothing.

Only the line of gold and blue, traveling out to the infinite dark.

What is she looking at? Why is she not responding?!

" Yuri! Surrender your Memories, before I pry them out of your skull myself!!" The Skylord demanded powerfully, scanning the zone behind him with rising discretion, sensing an unnerving hollowness within the sudden silence.

" Yuri!! Answer Me!!! Surrender Thy Memories or Not?!?!?!"

Caesar Skylord shouted, hurtling his wide exceptional physique back in rage.

Still, Yuri responded with but silence.

A silence that the Skylord can no longer take.

" Yuri…You Leave Me No Choice!!!!!!! BRING ME THY MEMORIES!!!!!!!!!"

Rising with light and blaze, his hand in the shape of a grand chop, bursting like a sword meters long, ready to sever all the ties, past, present, and Future.

The Light—! The Memories lie within the Light!!! The Light of the soul is where The Memories reside! Where the secrets of the Herunis Carna shall forever be unfolded!

Claudia—Wait for me!

I shall be there—

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Yuri blinked again, her eyes wide like saucers now, letting in all the light that beamed out to her, as the blinding sword protruding out of the Skylord's hand filled her sight.

Dawning her last few seconds of Memory—

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— It's not over yet—

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— Mother!!!!!—

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[...to be continue...]