Himeko lounged on the sofa. Sakura stood by the wall, as was her habit. Immer hovered nervously by the door. All three watched Elysia pace back and forth like a cat on a hot tin roof, none of them able to utter a word.
"Elysia… calm down… sit down, and tell us what's wrong."
Seeing Elysia still pacing, Immer discreetly excused himself. As soon as he left, Elysia's pace slowed, and she finally sat down beside Himeko.
"Captain… Sakura… we have to get Mikael's core back!"
Himeko opened her mouth to speak, but her expression softened.
Instead of arguing, she went into her room and returned with a metal box.
"Elysia… if you want something to remember Mikael by, take this… the core… it's…"
Elysia took the box, staring at Himeko as if asking, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
But Himeko misinterpreted her look, ruffling her hair. "I'm sorry. I should have given this to you earlier, but I… I forgot…"
"So, what is it?"
The box looked familiar, but Elysia couldn't quite place it.
It was a plain metal box, with Mikael's name and ID number on it.
"He left this before the 2nd Eruption… Open it. Maybe he left you a message… he wrote one for you, you know…"
"Really?" Elysia was both amused and curious. She opened the box.
Inside were two thin sheets of paper. The first contained a single sentence.
*Opening Thunder Strike:*
*"My name is Mikael. When you read this, I'm dead."*
Elysia bit her lip, then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha…"
*Well, duh! If you were still alive, who would be reading your last will and testament?!*
Himeko, bewildered by her reaction, wondered what Mikael could have possibly written to make Elysia laugh like this…
*Could reading a will and testament really be this amusing…? Was Elysia okay?*
Himeko was already thinking about how to suggest a psychological evaluation.
Elysia picked up the second sheet of paper.
"Wait!"
Himeko grabbed her hand, a look of alarm on her face.
"Mikael only wrote one letter!"
*"Who did this? If they just read it, why leave a message…? It's as if they *wanted* us to know…"*
But Elysia's eyes lit up with excitement. She pulled out the second sheet, seeing a message written on the back:
"Hey! Elysia! Make sure only Captain Himeko, Sakura, and Mobius are around before opening this!"
"It's you! Mikael!"
She exclaimed, then covered her mouth, embarrassed.
"Mikael? You're saying he wrote this? But that's impossible… last wills are kept in Fire Moth's secure archives, and only given to the captain after the soldier's death…"
Elysia didn't know how to explain it.
Sakura, tilting her head, stared at Elysia for a moment, then asked, "Elysia, is Mikael… still alive?"
Time to come clean!
"Uh… well… actually… he's still alive…"
"Elysia! You kept this from us?!"
Himeko tackled Elysia onto the sofa. "Sakura, I've got her pinned! Target her feet! Attack!"
"Yes!" Sakura responded instinctively, then grinned.
"Wait! Stop! I'm sorry, Captain!"
After a brief scuffle, the heavy atmosphere in the small room dissipated.
"You… suspected something, didn't you?" Elysia asked, putting her pink socks back on.
"It wasn't exactly suspicion… just… something felt off."
Himeko shrugged.
"It's not that we didn't believe in your abilities, but… defeating an injured 3rd Herrscher *and* Śeṣa in minutes, with only minor injuries… it seemed a little too good to be true… So, Mikael intervened, didn't he?"
"Well… never mind that! Let's see what he wrote!"
Elysia opened the letter, then frowned.
Mikael had said he had a plan, she'd expected him to outline it here…
It was wishful thinking. Last wills and testaments weren't entirely private.
If someone had been unscrupulous enough to read a "Herrscher's" last words, Himeko wouldn't be surprised.
So, the letter contained only three characters:
[V2V]
"V two V? What does that mean?"
Himeko and Sakura were stumped.
Elysia tapped her chin thoughtfully…
She sent a text message to Hua:
"Hua, how do you pronounce the number 2 in ancient Chinese?"
This was a secret only Elysia knew—Mikael often muttered words in a language that sounded similar to ancient Chinese.
Hua quickly replied:
[er]
"Vill-V!"
Elysia's eyes lit up. This was a brilliant move… but how could she contact Vill-V?
Then she smacked her forehead. "No, wait! Captain! Sakura! We have to deal with the core first!"
"The core?"
"Yes! Mikael's… inside the core! I think I understand his plan, but once the core is moved from Mobius's private lab to the main lab…"
"It will be much harder for that genius Vill-V to steal it," Himeko finished her thought.
But Sakura questioned, "But… if Mikael is still alive, why didn't he just escape from Mobius's lab using his spatial powers?"
The three women exchanged glances.
*That was a good question!*
*Was he stupid? Why not just escape?*
Finally, Elysia, the one who understood Mikael best, offered an answer that was both unexpected and perfectly reasonable:
"That idiot… he didn't want to implicate Mobius…"
If he escaped directly, Mobius, already under suspicion, would be blamed. He had to be "stolen" by Vill-V, an enemy of Fire Moth, to clear Mobius of any responsibility…
"That kid… he's always been so… fundamentally kind…"
Himeko sighed.
"Anyway, let's wait and see. We can't do anything right now… I wonder if Mobius knows about this. We have to contact her, and Vill-V… Hopefully, Mobius can buy us some time…"
She summarized their situation, but her words sounded… helpless to Elysia…
Indeed… individual power was so insignificant. Even a Herrscher, so powerful, was still vulnerable against the collective will of humanity…
But… something about their conversation felt… off. Elysia couldn't quite place it…
She didn't notice Sakura turning away discreetly.
Himeko was, in fact, the only one who hadn't known Mikael was still alive…
"Rin… soon, we'll meet again…"