Meanwhile, on Earth...
A steady wind whistled through the glacial landscape, its icy breath doing little to chill Purnama, even without his cloak, while Suria shivered and pulled her wool cloak tighter around her.
They found themselves in the Cirque Valley, a breathtaking expanse hemmed in by towering cliffs that seemed to claw at the sky. Suria's gaze was fixed on these imposing peaks.
"Are we going to climb that?" she asked, her voice tight with a question. "Or do you plan to summon Zirko again to help us?"
The valley, carved by ancient glaciers into a vast, natural arena, suddenly felt more like a prison than a place of wonder.
Purnama shook his head.
"We should conserve our energy; who knows what dangers may lie ahead? There could be powerful Darkseeds lurking nearby. It's best to remain vigilant and avoid unnecessary energy expenditures in unfamiliar territory."
A flicker of movement caught Purnama's eye.
Something translucent, almost invisible, shimmered against the wall of the eroded valley. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of the strange sight.
"Suria," he said, his voice low and urgent, "how many days left before the Skyrea arrives?"
Suria frowned, calculating in her head.
"It should be within the next twelve nights. Why, Purnama? What is it?"
Purnama cautiously approached the shimmering anomaly, his eyes fixed on its mesmerizing dance. As he drew closer, a horizontal band of aurora borealis, encircling the valley like a celestial crown, pulsed with renewed vigor.
Its ethereal light, a symphony of emerald, violet, and rose, bathed the snow-covered landscape in an otherworldly glow.
Purnama reached into his pouch and withdrew one of his Dykin seeds, holding it on his open palm. The seed pulsed with a soft, white light, its glow intensifying with each passing moment.
Suria watched her brother's actions with growing curiosity.
"Do you plan to plant the seed and grow a giant beanstalk so we can climb up, Purnama?"
Purnama chuckled and returned the seed to his pouch.
"It's your lucky day, Suria," he said. "It's glowing."
"My lucky day?" Suria's eyes widened with hope. "What do you mean by glowing…? Is that…?"
Purnama confirmed, his grin widening.
"It's a gateway to Rona. Since we still have some time before the Skyrea arrives, we can spend it in Rona… but…"
Suria rushed towards Purnama, overwhelmed with joy, and embraced him tightly.
"Yay! Finally!" she shouted, echoing through the valley.
Seeing Suria's unrestrained excitement, Purnama let his unfinished sentence slide.
"Anyway," Suria continued, pulling back from the hug, "you never told me how you ended up in Rona. Since we're going, I'd like to hear the whole story. I almost gave up on ever learning about it."
Purnama nodded.
"Well, after I escaped from the White Hell," he began, his voice distant, "I was lost and injured. A mysterious woman found me and took me to Rona to heal. That's where I met Belang. They both helped me a lot during my stay. At first, I didn't realize the time difference between Rona and Earth. That's one of the reasons I was away for so long before the war started."
"Belang is there?" Suria's eyes sparkled with interest. "And a mysterious woman? Who is—"
Her question was abruptly cut short by a loud shout from where they had come. Both Purnama and Suria turned their heads toward the sound, their expressions shifting from excitement to apprehension.
"Give way! Give way!!" a voice cried out, laced with panic. A small figure, pursued by a pack of snarling low-class Puaka, burst into view.
Purnama and Suria exchanged a startled look, their eyes widening as they recognized the fleeing figure. It was Riang, one of the Kshatriya warriors dispatched to Earth.
Though miniaturized to twice the span of a hand, she remained a formidable warrior, renowned for her agility and lightning reflexes.
Yet now, terror filled her large, mint-green eyes, usually sparkling with mischief. Her eyebrows were drawn together in a worried frown, and her lips trembled slightly.
Her long, pale purple pigtails streamed behind her as she fled, the three gold ornaments—a four-cornered star nestled amongst the braids and two more adorning the pigtail ties—glinting in the weak sunlight that filtered into the cirque.
Her tiny button nose was scrunched up in distress as she desperately evaded the relentless pursuit of the Puaka. Her wide purple cloak, fastened with a pearl accessory at her collar, billowed out behind her like a dark wave, mirroring the panic within her.
The shimmering dark blue iron wristbands and armbands, usually a source of playful jingles, now caught the dim light with each panicked movement. The red diamond stitches on the chest of her sleeveless mauve cheongsam symbolized the warrior spirit she carried within.
Riang stumbled and rolled across the snowy ground, her slight form disappearing momentarily in the swirling snow.
Before the Puaka could capitalize on her vulnerability, Purnama surged forward, his face a mask of grim determination. He wouldn't allow harm to befall a fellow Kshatriya, not while he still drew breath.
His fists became blurs, each striking a precise and devastating execution of the King's Fist technique. The lesser Puaka were sent reeling, their bodies slamming against the ice walls with sickening crunches.
Suria, her concern for Riang fueling her movements, launched into the fray. Using her light arrow technique, she shot each Puaka with deadly accuracy, her arrows exploding on impact and filling the cirque with a blinding snow flurry.
In a matter of moments, the low-class Puaka were defeated.
Suria shielded her eyes from the swirling snow as she called out to Riang.
"You can come out now, Riang. How long do you plan to act like a snowball?" her voice, a mix of relief and gentle teasing.
Riang suddenly bounced up, brushing the snow off her clothes with a determined frown. With a swift motion, she pulled out her thin kris from its gold and white abstract-decorated cover. Her kris was tied to her white intersect belt with a gold gripper.
"You want some piece of me?! Come! Come!" she shouted, her voice filled with bravado and childish defiance, as she struck the air with her kris in a playful yet determined manner.
"Hey, Riang! How did you get here? And why are you in your miniature form?" Suria exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise but concerned as she noticed the fear lingering in Riang's eyes.
"Not sure I can explain it now! But we're in danger!" Riang tried to warn them, her voice still trembling slightly.
A low rumble echoed through the cirque, followed by the crunch of heavy footsteps on the snow...