The room was quiet, save for the occasional flicker of red and blue light reflecting off the window as Hugo continued training outside.
Iris, still staring down at him, finally broke the silence.
"...What exactly happened between Hugo and Solstice?"
Stella's gaze didn't move from the training ground. Her expression remained firm, but distant.
"The Solstice wielded Vengeance, the Sword of the Black Hole."
Iris raised an eyebrow. "Another Cosmic Sword?"
Lena folded her arms. "Yeah. Like Cosmos, but… different."
Stella continued. "Vengeance was fueled by Voltra's power—the Black Hole Core. It didn't just grant strength. It consumed the wielder, feeding off their ambition, their emotions—"
Her hands clenched slightly.
"And eventually, it consumed Solstice."
Iris blinked. "Wait… Are you saying—"
"Solstice changed," Stella said simply. "The sword made him power-hungry. Obsessed with taking control of Arcana itself."
Reginald sighed. "A tragic fate. The very leader who once fought for balance became a threat himself."
Iris glanced between them. "So… what did Hugo do?"
Stella hesitated.
Then—her voice softened just a little.
"He sealed him away."
Iris's smirk faded.
"...Hugo sealed away the man he considered his brother?"
Stella nodded. "He didn't have a choice."
The room fell into silence.
Outside, Hugo swung Cosmos again.
For a brief moment, the red and blue light intertwined—
But then, it broke apart once more.
He let out a sharp breath, frustration creeping into his usually calm demeanor.
Iris, watching him closely, felt something unfamiliar.
For the first time, she saw Hugo as something other than untouchable.
And for some reason—
That bothered her.
Iris was silent for a moment, absorbing everything Stella had said about Hugo and Solstice.
Then, she turned to Reginald.
"What was he like?" she asked suddenly.
Reginald raised an eyebrow. "Master Hugo?"
Iris nodded. "Yeah. When he was our age. What was he like before all of this?"
Lena and Stella glanced toward Reginald as well, clearly interested in his answer.
The ghostly butler chuckled softly, his form flickering faintly.
"Oh, my dear, you wouldn't recognize him."
Stella frowned. "What do you mean?"
Reginald smiled fondly.
"Back then, Master Hugo was carefree and energetic. Always the first to charge into battle, always the first to crack a joke."
Lena raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Hugo? Carefree? Joking?!"
Reginald nodded. "Oh yes. He was nothing like the stoic warrior you see now. He, Xander—or rather, the Solstice—and Mina were the heart of Eclipse Requiem."
Iris tilted her head. "Mina?"
Reginald's smile softened.
"Lady Mina," he said. "Hugo's fiancée."
The room fell silent.
Iris's playful demeanor faded, replaced with genuine curiosity. "Hugo was engaged?"
Reginald nodded. "Indeed. And the three of them—Hugo, Xander, and Mina—were the core of Eclipse Requiem. They led the charge, inspired the rebellion. They were unstoppable together."
Lena crossed her arms. "And then… something happened."
Iris hesitated. Then, she asked the question hanging in the air.
"What happened to them?"
Reginald's expression darkened.
"The same thing that tore Eclipse Requiem apart," he said softly.
"The Solstice, consumed by power… killed Mina."
Iris's breath hitched slightly.
Stella closed her eyes. hearing it said aloud felt painful.
Reginald's gaze drifted toward the window, where Hugo was still swinging Cosmos, over and over again, fighting against his own limits.
"He's never forgiven himself for it," Reginald murmured. "Even though it wasn't his fault."
The room fell into a heavy silence.
Outside, Hugo swung again—
And the light of Eclipse Mode flickered… then vanished once more.
The night was silent, save for the soft hum of energy resonating from Cosmos.
Hugo stood alone in the training grounds, sweat dripping from his brow. His breaths were steady, but his frustration was growing.
He tightened his grip on the hilt of Cosmos, his white eyes glowing faintly.
"One more time," he muttered.
Cosmos, its voice deeper, more intense, responded immediately.
"Understood."
Then, it roared—
"ECLIPSE MODE!!"
A surge of red and blue energy erupted around Hugo, swirling like a raging storm. The air crackled, and the entire training ground shook as power coursed through his veins.
The two forces—the Corona core and the Luna core—began to merge, balancing on the edge of true equilibrium.
For a brief moment—he felt it.
The strength. The clarity.
He could almost reach it—
Then—
A memory flashed in his mind.
A battlefield.
A man standing before him, his once noble eyes consumed by power.
A voice, filled with rage.
"You don't understand, Hugo! This world needs someone strong enough to control it!"
The glint of Vengeance's dark blade.
The look of betrayal.
And then—
A scream.
Her scream.
"Hugo—!"
The memory hit him like a blade to the chest.
His breath caught—his vision blurred—
The balance shattered.
The energy around him imploded, vanishing in an instant.
His knees buckled, and before he could stop himself, Hugo collapsed onto the ground, landing on both hands, his breath coming in sharp gasps.
The weight of the past crushed him.
He clenched his fists against the cold stone floor, his jaw tightening.
Even now.
Even after all this time.
He still couldn't do it.
Hugo's fists clenched against the cold stone floor, his breath ragged. His entire body trembled, not from exhaustion—but from something far worse.
The weight of failure.
The weight of the past.
His white eyes glowed dimly, staring at his hands—hands that once held the power to change the world… but now felt empty.
His frustration boiled over.
"Why?!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the silent training ground.
"Why can't I use it?! Why do I keep failing?!"
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then—Cosmos spoke.
"Because you still haven't moved on."
Hugo's breath hitched.
Cosmos's voice was calm but firm, carrying a weight of truth that cut deeper than any blade.
"You carry the past like chains, Hugo. You try to summon Eclipse Mode, but the moment you reach for it—"
The sword hummed, its energy pulsing faintly.
"—you see him. You see her. And you hesitate."
Hugo gritted his teeth.
"You think I don't know that?" he muttered. "You think I don't relive it every time?"
Cosmos's glow flickered. "Then tell me… do you truly want to move forward?"
Hugo said nothing.
Because he didn't know the answer.
The wind howled softly through the training ground, the moonlight casting a long shadow over him as he remained on the ground, unmoving.
Still trapped.
Still unable to let go.
Hugo's breath remained uneven, his body still frozen in place.
Then—
A wave of memory crashed over him.
His surroundings shifted, the cold night air replaced by something warmer. The distant hum of the city faded, replaced by the soft chirping of birds and the crackle of sparring weapons.
When Hugo lifted his head, he was no longer in the present.
He was a thousand years in the past.
The early days of Eclipse Requiem.
And he was right here—on the very same training ground.
The sun hung high in the sky, its golden rays casting long shadows over the courtyard. The once empty training grounds were alive—filled with the echoes of clashing steel, laughter, and the faint melody of a harmonica.
Two figures sparred in the center.
Hugo and Xander.
They were younger, their faces unburdened by war, their movements sharp and filled with promise.
Hugo lunged forward, swinging his blade—Cosmos, still untainted by time.
Xander met the strike head-on, his black-bladed sword Vengeance clashing against it in a brilliant burst of light and dark energy.
The impact sent ripples of force through the ground, but both fighters grinned through the intensity.
"Come on, Hugo," Xander teased. "You're faster than this."
Hugo smirked. "Yeah? Then why aren't you winning?"
Xander laughed, pushing back against him. "Because I'm letting you feel confident first!"
They clashed again—strike for strike, both refusing to yield.
And in the background—
A soft, familiar melody drifted through the air.
A harmonica.
Hugo's heart clenched as he turned slightly—
There, sitting on the edge of the training ground, was Mina.
Her long dark hair swayed gently in the breeze, her golden eyes filled with warmth as she played a simple, slow tune on a harmonica.
The same harmonica Hugo carried.
The same tune he played now, a thousand years later.
She smiled as she watched them spar. "You two act like this is a real fight."
Xander, grinning, blocked one of Hugo's strikes before calling back to her. "That's because it is! How else am I supposed to prove I'm better than him?"
Hugo scoffed. "In your dreams, Xander."
Mina giggled, her melody never faltering. "You two are impossible."
But Hugo remembered this moment perfectly.
This was before the war consumed them. Before everything fell apart.
Back when they were still brothers.
Back when she was still alive.
The memory began to blur, the warmth fading—
And before Hugo could hold onto it, reality came crashing back.
The training ground was empty again.
The laughter was gone.
The harmonica had fallen silent.
Hugo's breath was still shaky, his hands trembling slightly as he clenched his fists.
The past was still right there.
And no matter how hard he tried—
He still couldn't move past it.
Hugo remained on his knees, staring at the ground as the last echoes of the past faded from his mind.
The warmth of Mina's smile.
The sound of Xander's laughter.
The melody of her harmonica.
His fingers twitched slightly—reaching for something that wasn't there.
Then, without thinking, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, worn harmonica.
The same one she used to play.
The same one he had carried for a thousand years.
For a moment, he simply held it, his white eyes reflecting the dim light of the night. His grip was gentle, almost hesitant, as if the weight of it alone threatened to break him.
Then, slowly—
He brought it to his lips.
A soft, familiar tune drifted into the silent night.
The same melody Mina had played back then.
The same tune Hugo had played countless times since.
It was slow, almost melancholic. A song of memories long past.
As the notes filled the air, the mansion's upper window remained lit.
The girls had stopped talking.
Iris, Lena, and Stella watched in silence as Hugo sat alone in the courtyard, playing a song from a time that no longer existed.
Reginald, standing behind them, closed his eyes.
"Ah…" he murmured. "It has been so long since I last heard that tune."
The melody carried into the night, weaving through the air like a whisper of something lost… but never truly gone.
And for the first time in a long while—
Hugo let himself remember.