"Sniff...sniff." After some time, Orchid finally stops crying.
Orchid cried for quite a while, and I can see Lyria's clothes are wet from her tears.
"You fine now, Orchid?" I ask then use Tiamat's power to dry Lyria's clothes.
Orchid wipes her eyes to clean up the remaining tears. "I'm sorry for that..." she says to us.
"No, it's fine, Orchid. You can cry as much as you want." Lyria says to her with a smile.
At this moment, it's just the three of us on the deck of the empire airship. Since Orchid started crying, the other empire soldiers went inside the airship to give us space.
They also feel sorry for Orchid, understanding why she's crying, so it's just the three of us here.
After that, I summon a floating water ball and hand it to Orchid so she can wash her face. "Here, Orchid, you can use this."
"Thank you..." Orchid uses the water to clean her face for a while, and when she finishes, I use Tiamat to dry her face.
"What do you want to do now? As Orchid, not as Freesia's doll," I ask her.
Orchid staying silent while feeling anxious. She hugs her doll tightly as if she's trying to make really important decision. Then suddenly she says, "I want to return this body to Orchis..."
"This body is not mine in the first place... so I need to return it to its owner," Orchid says to us with a sad expression.
"What?! But if you do that then—!" Lyria starts, but I place my hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"If that is your choice, then we won't stop you," I say to Orchid with a smile.
"Thank you, both of you... But before that, I want to meet her first to ask her something..."
Black Knight, huh... From Freesia's memories, the Black Knight is currently being held by Monika and Lecia's organization and is in the opposite direction of Akasha.
And I want to retrieve Akasha as soon as possible before something happens...
"But how are you going to find Black Knight? Are you going to ask for help from the Empire soldiers?" Lyria asks Orchid, worried.
Hearing that makes Orchid think for a while. She hadn't considered that, but she's probably going to ask Pommern to take her to Black Knight.
"Well, if you want, you can come with us. We are actually heading to another island to do something, but if you wait until we finish there, I will take you to Black Knight," I say to her.
"Oh, that's right! You can come with us, Orchid. It's going to be fun!" Lyria says excitedly while holding both of Orchid's hands.
At first, Orchid looks hesitant because they both have already helped her break free from Freesia and even given her a name, so she doesn't want to ask for more.
"You don't need to worry about that, Orchid. And you can see Lyria is really excited to have you as her friend," I tell her while pointing to Lyria.
"Yeah, come on, Orchid, just accept it! I also want to talk to you and become friends," Lyria says while looking at Orchid with a hopeful expression.
Orchid seems overwhelmed and hesitant when she sees Lyria looking at her like that. Then she looks at me, and I smile at her.
I just nod at her, indicating it's okay to accept the offer.
"...sure," Orchid finally replies in a small voice.
"Yay!" Lyria looks happy because she's finally made a friend who is very similar to her.
"Alright then, is there something you want to bring?"
Orchid shakes her head after hearing my question since the only important item she has is the doll she always hugs.
Lyria then walks over to me and extends her hand, indicating she's ready to continue our journey.
I easily lift Lyria with my right arm and place her on my right side. "Hehe, this time I'm gonna have a friend to talk to during the flight."
The reason Lyria says that is because when we are flying, I am usually too focused on ensuring we don't hit anything or get spotted by other airships. I'm sure nothing good would come from someone seeing a man with wings flying with a girl with long blue hair.
I then extend my left hand to Orchid. "Come on, Orchid. We are leaving."
Orchid slowly raises her hand to take mine while looking at me and Lyria.
After grasping my hand I immediately pull her towards me and lift her like I did with Lyria. "Kyaa!"
"It's fine, Orchid. At first, your legs might feel stiff, but when you get used to it, you'll appreciate the scenery from up there," Lyria tells Orchid.
After that, I spread my four wings and walk to the edge of the airship deck. "Alright, hold tight, you two," I tell them.
Lyria then hugs my neck tightly while Orchid holds onto my arm to keep her from falling.
I leap off the edge of the airship, and with my wings we soar into the sky towards the Lumacie Archipelago, where Akasha is located.
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
We need a few days to reach the Lumacie Archipelago, so every night we stop at small islands to rest.
On each island, I also hunt for our meals. But since we don't carry spices, the food we eat is pretty bland.
However, the food is enough to fill our stomachs. Lyria and Orchid eat without complaining at all.
Lyria once mentions that food tastes better when eaten together, which might explain why she enjoys it (even though Lyria will eat anything Rei cook, while Orchid rarely eats because as a half-astral she doesn't get hungry easily, and thus Freesia and the Black Knight rarely feed her).
Currently, we are still flying in the sky as usual. I focus on watching our surroundings to ensure no other airships see us, while Lyria and Orchid are talking to each other.
At first Orchid rarely talks to us but after spending several nights together and with Lyria often engaging her in conversation, she begins to feel comfortable speaking to us.
Now she frequently asks us questions and seems interested in the world where I come from.
When evening comes I finally see Lumacie ahead of us. "Both of you, we've finally arrived," I say to the two who are sleeping.
"Ummm...." Orchid is the first to wake up while rubbing her eyes.
"Did... we finally arrive?" Orchid asks me.
"Yeah, if you can, please wake up the other sleeping princess," I say, looking at Lyria who is still sound asleep.
After Orchid wakes Lyria the three of us finally land in Lumacie specifically at the ruins left by the Astrals.
"This feeling... This is a barrier," I say while looking at the place.
"Barrier? So that's why we don't feel anything when we get here," Lyria says while also looking at the place.
"Is awakening Akasha a good idea? Since Freesia has been captured, no one else knows about its existence right?" Orchid asks us.
"Orchid, there are other Astrals still in the Sky Realm, so we don't know if one of them will try to take Akasha for themselves or not if we leave it here," I tell Orchid while walking closer to the place.
I'm referring to Loki, who roams the Sky Realm with Fenrir. He is if I'm not mistaken the brother of the missing Erste Empire king.
Sooner or later I'm sure we'll encounter him, but for now I'll focus on Akasha.
I raise my right hand and easily break the barrier surrounding the place.
The moment I do that, Lyria and Orchid immediately feel the power of a Primal Beast much stronger than any they've ever felt. "What the-?!" Lyria exclaims in shock.
"This much power..." Orchid mutters to herself while staring at me.
"Finally..." I murmur, and two additional wings appear on my back bringing the total to six.
Lyria and Orchid watch my wings warily, but when they see none of them are purple, they feel slightly relieved.
During our journey here, Lyria and I explain to Orchid why I lost control before and tell her to be cautious if they ever see my wings turn purple.
Currently Lyria's usually blue necklace is still purple because my power is still inside her, and also Orchid her red eyes now have a hint of purple due to my power inside her.
My six black wings then begin to emit their dark aura as I raise my hand over the ruins.
"I command under the order of Lucillus with code 000, the activation of Akasha" I unconsciously said.
After that six more wings emerge from my back making it twelve. From the wings a woman's voice begins to speak.
[Request confirmed... Processing... Authentication... Complete]
[Activating Primal Beast Akasha]
The aura emitted by my wings getting stronger causing the entire island to shake violently.
"Kyaaaa!?" Lyria and Orchid struggle to stand due to the strong tremors.
"Yggdrasil!" Lyria uses Yggdrasil power to help them stay standing.
"What happened?! Did Rei lose control again?!" Orchid asks Lyria in a panic.
"No, I don't feel the usual pressure I sense when Rei loses control!"
Then a bright silver light begins to emerge from the ruins rising into the sky.
The light fragments start to merge, forming a massive creature.
"Akasha is here!" Lyria exclaims while looking up.
The light continues to grow until it finally stops, as the light fades and revealing what lies inside it.
A giant angel-whale-looking thing with a book embedded in its body appears before us, but since Akasha doesn't have a face in this form, we don't know what it's thinking or doing.
[IMAGE]
Lyria and Orchid can't hear Akasha's voice like they can with other Primal Beasts.
All they hear is Akasha's silence, which sends chills down their spines.
I just smile while looking at Akasha, because my goal is finally achieved. Now, I just need to finish it.
But before I can say anything, we suddenly hear a woman's voice that I recognize.
"My my~. You don't think I'm gonna let that happen, do you?"
"Who-?!" Orchid says while turning towards the voice.
When she sees who is speaking, Orchid's eyes widen in disbelief.
"Wha-what?!" Lyria is equally shocked, for they both see a stunning woman with long blue hair and a face that resembles Lyria's.
"You!" I turn towards the woman with my blue eyes glowing.
The woman looks at her past self and then at Orchid with a smile. "The future is changing~" she murmurs happily.
"Too bad, Rei, but this time you need to learn how to control your power without getting possessed before you can use Akasha." the woman says while smiling at me.
Hearing this, Rei seem ready to summon the Sword of Repudiation to attack her.
But unfortunately, the woman snaps her fingers and Akasha immediately lights up obeying her command.
Quickly white light envelops Rei, Lyria, and Orchid causing confusion except for me.
"This is-?! Akasha Power!? what are you doing?!" Rei ask the woman in a threatening tone.
"After the three of you come back, I'm sure everything will be better," the woman says cheerfully while smiling at them, and soon after they disappear from the place.
With the three of them gone only the woman and Akasha remain who silently observing her.
Soon, a red light appears beside the woman and from it emerges a small red dragon looking at her.
"Everything is going well... Lyria."
"Yes, Vyrn, everything is changing now that they have Orchid too, so everything will be fine." Lyria says to Vyrn, smiling and looking up at the sky.
Night is falling and the stars are visible from there. "It's just too bad I can't see the blue sky."
Then, the woman snaps her fingers again to stop time in that world, ensuring that no matter how long the three of them are gone, the world won't continued until they return.
With that they both disappear leaving Akasha trapped in the frozen time.