Silence stirred in the vast nothingness of space. Lyn's eyes were shut as she struggled to remain conscious in the swirling emptiness. Her frail ears were ringing, and she was on the verge of losing herself. She was only one star of billions, and no one would know that the one star was a life.
Her specialized body allowed her to endure the pressure of space, but only for a limited time, as the first breaths of her reinvigorated body were shallow and slow. Her eyelids felt sealed shut the moment she tried to open them, as the weight of the world around her pressed down against her shoulders.
The moment she did though, she was met with the heaviest burden she could ever bear. Cain, who had escaped through space along with her, had consumed the entire top of the tower like a parasite leeching onto life. He grew exponentially in size, attaching onto the tip of the tower like a dog on a leash.
She was fully awakened now, and although it took her several seconds to acclimate to space's harsh pressure, she tried swaying her arms in a butterfly manner in an attempt to move through. Nothing worked. It was only a matter of time before Cain would devour her once and for all.
A tendril ripped out of Cain's solid-like state, snatching Lyn's ankle and wrapping carnivorously around it. He drew it forward as she dangled without any hope of stopping it. Cain slammed Lyn against the side of the tower before slamming down against a wing-like platform, pinning her there as a gaping maw of teeth inched its way to devour her. As the tendril made it impossible to wriggle out, the bottom half of Lyn's leg was about to snap off into nothing but bone and flesh.
All of this would have happened had it not been for Alfaic in his sword form, bolting down against the middle of the tendril to pin and weaken it. Lyn reached forward and snatched Alfaic by the handle, desperately slashing down upon the wrapped tendril around her to free herself.
She managed to set herself loose, but another tendril smashed against her flank, sending her soaring through space once more. Shards of debris from the opening of the tower slammed against her body, propelling her back even further. The abhorrent monstrous amalgamation that was once Cain continued to increase in size, growing more mouths, eyes, and limbs to signal its further corruption.
Just as Lyn was about to lose consciousness from the immense pressure, her eyes caught onto one piece of debris that was not at all; it was Ardine's loaded rifle, overheating from the incendiary rounds and the pressure placed upon it. Her eyes shot forward, noticing it hovering directly arm's length in front of her. After snapping her hand out, she pulled it forward and checked the magazine.
There were only five bullets, and they had been enhanced from the pressure.
As another tendril lashed out toward Lyn's leg, she allowed it to carry her close to enact her plan. One of the visible eyes on Cain's monstrous husk signaled a weak spot, prompting her to blast a singular fiery bullet into it. His eye socket popped out as his monstrous growl roared in rage. He attempted to fling Lyn away, but she held on tightly as the tendril retracted itself, moving closer to Cain's face.
Burning pustules formed beside Cain's body, exploding filled with acidic saliva in an attempt to push Lyn back. Despite having it splattered across her face and body, searing with the same agonizing pain as it did the first time she had met Krin, she endured, pressing Ardine's rifle against an open mouth that tried lashing out to devour her.
Once the mouth came into contact with the rifle, its gaping jaws pulled her close, snapping down rapidly to eat Lyn. She jammed the barrel inside and fired twice, debilitating Cain even further as the mouth choked on a torrent of blood. The wound spread through Cain's entire system, clotting the other eyes and mouths riddled across the body.
As a large slit formation appeared in the center of Cain's body, another tendril lashed out and seized Lyn's right arm, forcing her to swap the rifle into her left and blast it off. She had one bullet remaining, and she intended to save it for the right time.
The large slit revealed itself to be Cain's main eye, which was a gigantic swirling vortex of pain and bitter rage. Once the wisest and tranquil out of all the Krin brothers who relied solely on logic and the holiness of his mother, his all-seeing eye was blind to it all, proof that even the calm was a storm within itself.
The eye glistened as a large teardrop formed in the center, completely aware that what it had become was filled with regret. But it was too late. It was the consequence of worship, and the road that he had chosen.
But there was once another path that he could have taken, and he realized that as soon as he saw Alfaic floating in the distance, eyeing him with a strange feeling of acceptance. They were once a family, but no longer.
Amidst the center of the eye housed the GLAIV's overheated core in the pupil, sitting in containment ready to combust once again. Lyn dashed forward and grabbed Cain's giant eyelid with her left hand, ramming the sharp barrel into the center. Red and green blood spewed out of the eye as Lyn angled it to face the core.
With a final pull of the trigger, Lyn blasted the last bullet through the main eye and toward the core, rupturing it completely as flames imploded and incinerated what remained inside Cain's body. Painful and agonizing screeches filled the garbled space, destroying the black ooze that contained Cain within. As the fires made its way across the entire body, one final explosion from the GLAIV's core detonated, sending a massive shockwave that shattered the tip of the tower. Lyn and Alfaic were blasted back as Cain's body exploded into dissolving chunks of matter, revealing his main body within still containing the GLAIV's core.
He smiled bravely as his eyes turned completely white with the core on his chest. As the core incinerated, so did his body, and he was defeated.
Lyn slumped backward, numb from the usage of her stamina in the overbearing space. All light sources ceased to exist as she closed her eyes, unable to breathe. All she knew before she lost consciousness was that the battle was over, and she was victorious. She had one lingering thought, hoping that Alfaic, Ardine, and Claire were safe, but she lost it the moment she passed out.
Alfaic caught a blue fragment of the Rot Mother suspended in midair from Cain's body and kept it close to him. He transformed into his sword form and bolted for Lyn, reverting back the moment he collided with her. He grabbed her arm and tugged her close, maneuvering through space together, alone.
It was only a matter of time before Alfaic would lose himself too, but that didn't matter. There was a drive inside him that compelled him to push forward, despite the sacrifice. And he continued to push, until they were out of the tower's reach and toward the vast unknown.
Alfaic closed his eyes, reminiscing a memory that gave him the life to push forward.
The night they had encountered Aldion toward their journey to Qliphos Station, Lyn and Ardine were fast asleep beside a snow blanket, while Claire remained awake. She had been sharpening her blade with a whetstone, laid idle besides a glistening lake away from the fire in secret. Alfaic, who hovered beside her, nearly startled her the moment she sensed his presence. She wanted no one to follow her.
"You're the last person I'd want to see right now." Claire's voice seethed without looking directly at Alfaic.
"I know," Alfaic replied, his voice naturally hushed. "But I can explain."
"What exactly can you explain?" Claire asked, turning around while dropping the whetstone. "You don't know how much pain that man has caused me. All this time, I thought I could save my friends and myself, without him in my life. But I can't escape from it. It's back. He's back. And that's why I'll kill him. So what? Are you here to stop me?"
"No..." Alfaic said. "In fact, at this point, I'm supportive of it."
Claire turned her head curtly away.
"But it isn't worth it." Alfaic continued. "I know that much-"
"Watch me," Claire said, lashing her left hand out. "I can do things not even you or the others know about. I can take your father... and make him vanish, just like that," She said, snapping her finger. "And I will, even if he is your father."
"I don't want you and the others to die," Alfaic said. "Especially... Lyn."
Claire paused, perturbed by his statement. "Why should that matter?" She asked.
"It shouldn't. But I've realized that we're all blind to our own discrepancies, and we've been fogged up by an invisible pain that we haven't addressed. Your vengeance, Ardine's family, Lyn's true identity... and my own demons. My father, and my brothers."
Claire shook her head in denial and turned back to face the glistening lake.
"I want things to be different for you and for all of us," Alfaic confessed. "I'm not like my father, nor my brothers. And I know it's nearly impossible for you to trust me right now, but I can prove it."
In the present, the memory drove Alfaic forward, pushing even further despite nothingness still in radius. He grasped Lyn's arm tighter and pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulder as weight to press down.
"What makes you think I'd trust you?" Claire asked.
"Just give me a chance," Alfaic pleaded. "Please."
In the present, Alfaic pressed his lips together and clenched his teeth, determined to push and push despite it all against him.
"One. Chance." Claire said. "That's all you get."
Alfaic was on the verge of falling unconscious after pushing for over ten minutes. Signs of larger debris were now around after the collapse of Qliphos Tower. Several chromatic spaceships shaped in the form of mechanized jets hovered dormant without a single sign of life within. These ships were enormous, scaling to the size of an otherworldly behemoth. These ships seemed to be the only way to regain life, so Alfaic pushed forward, hoping to find the hull and the presumed entrance where they would stay at.
He moved closer and pressed a latch, revealing a button that unveiled a safe entrance from underneath the ship. It was a small tunnel system that allowed the crew to enter freely by floating within. Alfaic held Lyn tightly, wrapping his arms around her as they both slow-fell inside.
Alfaic remembered the exact moment he teetered on the prospect of regret and relief. He knew that what he was about to say and show was necessary, despite not knowing if the result would be what he exactly wanted. But that second of doubt was enough for Claire to almost retort back in annoyance. He had one chance. One push, and that wave of relief would happen.
He let it go.
Can a sword... really love someone?