In the last memory of Sayaka's, she was floating aimlessly inside an endless void.. She could not remember what had happened that caused her to be there. All she could remember was the anger and regret she felt when she had died. She felt more of the latter rather than the former.
Is the afterlife just endless floating? She wondered as she kept floating around. Many thoughts came to her such as whether time flew in this void or if anyone actually knew she had died.
She closed her eyes. The void was pure silence; she had neither a heartbeat nor breath. She found it rather peaceful. It was as if the silence was giving her a sense of freedom she longed for. Perhaps, this isn't as bad as I assumed.
Nova saw her floating around even more, hoping to find some other person or an exit. She had passed through the present Sayaka, Kori and him several times. The past Sayaka eventually stopped. Nova sensed her peaceful sense of self slowly becoming anxious. He could tell it was due to loneliness.
A voice suddenly called out to her, Why do you change your emotions so quickly?
"Who's there?" She recognized the voice as male, but there weren't any men in sight.
She noticed an unusual light around her vicinity. She looked down to see herself glowing. The light amalgamated towards her heart and then pulled itself out until it was across from her. The ball of light started changing its shape into a humanoid one.
Once it ceased to change, the light stopped glowing and in front of her resided a young boy with snow white hair, lopped rabbit ears while wearing an outfit identical to hers. Nova recognized this boy as Kori. The only difference between the current one and the past was the glint in their eyes. The past Kori had lifeless eyes while the current one had vibrant blue eyes.
"Who are you?" Sayaka asked.
"I don't know…. All I know is that I am a Shiftie and that I came out of you."
"What is a Shiftie?"
"We are advanced androids–the perfect lifeforms. We live to serve our masters."
Sayaka scoffed at his explanation. "Perfect lifeforms? Live to serve your masters? That's not perfection in any way. People just created you for convenience. You have no sense of freedom."
"What is freedom?"
"Freedom is choosing what you want to do and be without anyone tying you down."
"Do I have freedom?"
"Not with that mindset of living to serve your masters. Freedom is about you. If you live to serve, that's not freedom. That's being contained. Freedom is living without containment."
"I do not understand."
Sayaka sighed. "First off, can I have your name?"
"My ID code is 541-RBT, but the name my master gave me is Kori."
She furrowed her eyebrows. He felt like a product to her–also like a pet. She did not like it at all. She pitied him. He was alive, yet still so distant from life itself.
"Well, Kori, it seems like we'll be here for a long time, so let's get along."
"What does 'get along' mean, exactly?"
She sighed as she muttered, "This is going to take a while…"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll teach you the ways of being alive and free."
"Is that a factor to why your emotions change quickly?"
"That is also a part of freedom. Prepare yourself, Kori."
Nova saw from the memory that there was a slight glint in Kori's eyes before it faded away.
The present Sayaka could only chuckle at the memory. "While Kori did change thanks to my lessons, it's unfortunate that he got too attached to Arcturus and had to destroy himself to save him."
"That is my sense of freedom–all taught from you."
Nova smiled at the friendly atmosphere the two shared. They seemed like siblings in a way. However, he had a lot of questions piling up in his head, but he best asked the people in question upfront.
"How were you able to form a soul from Sayaka?" Nova asked Kori.
"I…do not know exactly. However, I do know this: a soul is taken from the Spirit Realm and it is placed into us Shifties. That is how we activate–by the power of souls."
Nova was quick to realize that the concept of Shifties and how they were created were all eerily similar to him. He was the vessel of Souhait. Why were Shifties similar to him? The thought of him being the same as these man-made beings gave him chills. His answer intrigued Nova. He went deeper in. "Who was the one who took out Sayaka's soul and placed it into your vessel?"
"I do not know. All I know is that my creator, Nathaniel Hope, did not do it as he is an ordinary human. I believe whoever has done it has extraordinary powers."
Nova couldn't believe his words. It was impossible for someone to remove a soul from the Spirit World. In fact, Souhait and he were the only people capable of doing so; however, they never removed souls forcibly as it caused great pain for the both of them. Seeing how they felt pain occasionally to the point that they had to numb themselves helped Nova understand that the culprit was no ordinary human.
In fact, they had to be someone who knew how his own body functioned. Nova closed his eyes. Memories of him and another person fighting a woman with extraordinary powers came to him. His heart ached when he saw the woman floating and summoning an impossibly large energy ball meant for them. When she threw it, Nova's companion shielded him from the attack. Nova placed a hand to his heart.
I'm sorry, Souhait…
Do not apologize. I never regretted what I did back then.
Do you think we'll be able to defeat her this time?
Definitely. We have Arcturus with us. He is our hope.
Our hope…
The sadness Nova had felt slowly became joy. He couldn't wait to wake up and return to Arcturus. He felt excited at the thought of finally taking a step forward with their goal after countless years of inactivity.
"Are you okay?" Sayaka asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"I'm fine. I was just deducing who could've done such a thing. I can only think of one person, The Invader…"
"Excuse me?" Sayaka muttered.
"This is all done by the Invader."
"Who's that?"
"She is someone who came from another world and invaded this planet seeking power–our power. Because she's from another world, the rules and regulations of this planet do not apply to her; she's able to defy any logic that Souhait applied to this world because she's not a denizen of Terrenter. This means she's allowed to do as she pleases whether it'd be taking souls from the Spirit Realm or fighting me on equal terms."
Nova stood up. This realization helped him understand what he needed to do: grant wishes. He needed Sayaka and Kori's wishes.
"The only way I can become strong enough to defeat the Invader is to grant wishes. So, Sayaka, have you decided on what your true wish is?"
"I'm not sure about whether or not it's considered "true", but all I want is to be free. Even in death, I just want to be free. I don't want to be in this realm anymore. While it's fun hanging out with Kori and teaching him how to be human, it's lonely, you know? If you are able to grant it, then I wish to be a free soul."
It made sense to Nova. The Spirit Realm was a vast world where fallen souls could rest peacefully without worry. Sayaka's peace was taken away from her as she was trapped in another realm unwillingly.
He sensed her sincerity. He wanted to grant that wish for her. He raised a hand out to her. "Take my hand. I'll make sure your wish will be granted."
Sayaka turned to Kori. "I'm sorry. I can't be with you anymore now."
Kori shook his head. "I'll be fine."
With affirmation, she grabbed Nova's hand. He gripped hers and he helped her stand up. A door appeared in front of him, to which he ran towards while Sayaka followed behind. He opened it and then he found himself back in the aster flower field. His house was in sight, so he guided her towards it.
He opened the door for her. "Enter. This is where your wish will be granted."
Sayaka entered without any hesitation. He did not follow. He just closed the door on her while scurrying back to where he had come from. While Souhait was busy granting her wish, he needed to find Kori's wish.
A sense of confidence came to him. He was able to persuade someone to get their wish granted. He knew he wouldn't always be successful, but knowing he had successes made him happy. He couldn't wait to find more wishes and to get Souhait to grant them all.