I soared through the endless sky, Izumi's trembling body cradled in my arms.
Her warmth was faint—too faint.
A lump formed in my throat as I tightened my hold on her, afraid that if I let go, she would slip away forever. But just as I thought I could hold on a little longer, a sudden, overwhelming flood of emotions crashed into me like a tidal wave.
I gasped, my vision blurring—not from the stinging tears clouding my eyes, but from something much deeper.
Then… the memories came.
They weren't mine.
They belonged to her.
A flickering reel of broken images forced their way into my mind, each one jagged and raw. I froze mid-flight, my body locking up as a vision seized control of me.
In a shattered world that wasn't my own, I saw her—Alter Izumi—kneeling in the middle of a bloodied battlefield, her entire being wracked with despair.
She was clutching him.
Another version of me—Alter Daichi.
His body was lifeless in her arms, his blood staining the cold ground beneath them. The air was thick with the stench of death and decay, but none of it mattered to her.
She screamed.
A scream so broken, so agonized, it felt as though the universe itself was mourning with her.
"Why?!" she cried out, her voice raw and cracking. "Why couldn't I save you?!"
She shook his body, her trembling fingers tracing his pale, unmoving face. The desperation in her touch—it was the same desperation I felt now, holding her close, willing her to stay with me.
"You promised…" she sobbed, her voice barely above a whisper. "You promised we'd fight together… But now… now I'm alone…"
Her breaths came in ragged gasps as she buried her face into his chest, her tears soaking his bloodied clothes.
Alone.
Completely alone.
My chest tightened, an unbearable ache spreading through me.
Her grief… it wasn't just sorrow—it was a love so deep, so infinite, that even death couldn't sever it. She had lost everything. And that loss had festered, corroding her heart until nothing remained but emptiness.
Another memory surfaced.
Izumi stood before a cracked mirror, her reflection distorted by a growing black void in her chest.
The first sign of corruption.
"If I could see you again…" she whispered, pressing her fingertips against the glass. Her voice was fragile, barely holding itself together. "Just once…"
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'd give up everything… even my own soul."
The vision twisted again.
This time, she was alone—trapped in a collapsing world, a universe drained of all life. The sky above her cracked and crumbled like shattered glass, yet she remained standing, reaching out to forces beyond her understanding.
"Take me!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation. "Take my body, my mind, my heart—anything! Just bring him back! Please… I'll do anything!"
The sheer weight of her words crushed me.
This was why.
This was what had driven her to this point.
It wasn't just power. It wasn't vengeance.
It was love.
A love so desperate, so consuming, that she was willing to sacrifice everything just to bring him back.
And yet… the memories weren't done with me.
The scene shifted.
This time, I saw myself—no, Alter Daichi—smiling at her, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.
"I'll protect you, no matter what," he murmured, his voice filled with warmth. "You're my everything, Izumi. Always."
Izumi's radiant smile burned itself into my mind, her golden eyes shimmering with hope and trust.
And then…
Blood.
So much blood.
He collapsed in her arms, a deep wound gaping in his chest. His breaths came in weak, shallow gasps.
"Daichi…" she choked out, her hands pressing desperately against his wound. "No, no, no—don't talk like that! You're going to be fine! Just hold on!"
His hand weakly brushed against her cheek, his fingers barely touching her skin.
"I'm sorry… I couldn't keep my promise…"
His hand slipped away.
His eyes dimmed.
And then… he was gone.
Izumi's scream tore through the battlefield.
A scream of complete and utter devastation.
The vision shattered.
I gasped, my consciousness slamming back into the present.
Izumi was still in my arms, her body trembling weakly against mine.
Tears streamed freely down my face as I stared at her, my heart breaking all over again.
"I understand," I whispered, my voice shaking. "I understand why you did this… why you became this."
Her eyelids fluttered open, just barely.
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"I… I didn't want to hurt anyone…" she murmured, her voice so faint I almost couldn't hear it. "I just… wanted him back…"
I bit my lip, my arms tightening around her as my entire body trembled.
"I'm sorry, Izumi," I choked out, my voice breaking under the weight of what I had to do. "I can't let this continue… but I swear, I'll carry your love with me. Always."
Her lips curved into a fragile smile.
"Thank you… for understanding…"
And then—
The sun loomed before us.
A blazing inferno, devouring everything in its path.
Its heat was unbearable, suffocating. It pressed down on me like the weight of the entire universe.
With shaking hands, I gently pushed her forward, my glowing right hand pressing against the core embedded in her chest.
"This is the only way…" I whispered, more to myself than to her.
A cataclysmic surge of energy erupted as the sun's power surged into the key.
The collision of forces was deafening.
Izumi screamed—a scream that shattered the very air around us, a scream so raw that it made my heart feel like it was being torn apart.
Tears fell freely down my face.
"I'm sorry…" My voice cracked. "I'm so sorry…"
My wings—radiant, shimmering with the light of galaxies—unfurled behind me, but I barely noticed them. My entire being burned, but I forced myself to keep going.
The core cracked.
Fractures spread across it like fragile spiderwebs.
Izumi gasped, her fingers trembling as she reached for me.
Her touch was warm.
Gentle.
Her glowing eyes softened, and she smiled—so softly, so beautifully, that it felt like the entire world had gone still.
"I'm glad… to have met you," she whispered.
And then…
She dissolved into light.
The explosion consumed everything.
The world flickered.
The pain was unbearable.
But even as my consciousness slipped away, I clung desperately to the memory of her smile… her touch… her love.
And as the light swallowed me whole—
A single tear slipped down my cheek.
A tear that carried the weight of a thousand goodbyes.
And then…
Silence.