As the two ascended by elevator to the top floor where the spaceship's control center was, Alfaic couldn't help but hear the mumbling gibberish of Lyn's soft voice escaping the small crevices of her mouth. Nestled atop the back of his shoulders and neck with her arms wrapped around, the reached the top floor as the elevator opened automatically to pave the way for the cockpit. Several of the seats were misaligned, but upon first inspection, the control center was untouched compared to the rest of the torn apart bottom floors.
Located directly in front of them was a walkway with several leather passenger seats all lined up with control panels for them to interact with the guarantee a safe navigation through space. As Alfaic slowly stepped inside, the wide and vast open windows reflected through his eyes, revealing the beauty of space's incandescent and mysterious light. The bright blue hues of METIS's oceans, combined with the Rot's demanding red and crimson influence, was almost grotesquely beautiful in ways unexplainable.
Alfaic stepped beside the first passenger seat in the rear of the control center, propping Lyn down until she sat on the leather seat as gentle as possible. Her eyes, still half-open as if she was groggy and half-asleep, nestled back into the seat's top cushion as she continued to babble gibberish. She looked away, still dazed by the creature's spell.
"I'll check out the front." Alfaic said, approaching the main control hub. He approached the main seat, which was designed to a pilot's throne for a master pilot with decades of experience. Alfaic was not one of these individuals, which signaled a slow but encroaching panic moment where his poor expertise and insecurities made him nervous. He sat in the chair, orated it until he was faced with a holographic set of buttons and screens which had no discernable meaning to him.
After coordinating his vision through each individual button, he manager to locate a radio that could pick up on emergency frequencies with a dial and antennae system. He adjusted the radio after turning it on, hearing nothing but audible static emitting from its speakers.
"Let me... sit up there... with you, Blade." Lyn's voice trailed off as soon as she mentioned his name aloud. "I don't... want... to be back here."
"No," Alfaic replied nonchalantly, as he was continuing to adjust the frequency to pick up on anything. Although he was slowly losing hope, as there was nothing visible in the windows in front of their ship. "You stay back there. I'll work this out, just give me some time."
"Oh, you want more time..." Lyn muttered as she slouched back into her seat. "I already gave you more time, and you want more. How much more time... do I need to give... before you realize what I want?"
Alfaic ignored her and continued to adjust the dial, while changing the radio's channel to search for the closest clear frequency. The task itself for was beginning to irritate him as seconds felt like minutes.
"BLADE!" Lyn shouted, still garbled like a drunken individual. "Did you hear me?"
"YES! I did," Alfaic replied in an irritated tone. "I'm trying to fix this as fast as I can-"
"No," Lyn interrupted, pointing her finger toward the back of his head. She swiveled off to the side of the seat, nearly falling off of it as she stumbled to keep her balance. Her pointed finger swayed up and down, as if she was painting something midair. "Bring me closer to you. I want to sit closer," She commanded, cheeks flaring in red blossoms. Her eyes slanted down as she crossed her arms, appearing half asleep like a spoiled little girl. "I'm lonely back here."
"You don't know what loneliness is, Lyn," Alfaic spoke out, although he realized how rude it sounded after he took a split second to think beyond his frustrations. He wanted to take it back. "Just... sit still."
"I know... what loneliness is," Lyn replied in a dull tone. Her chin rested upon her chest in a cranky manner, in response to Alfaic's witty reply. "I'm feeling it right now. I know what it means. I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were."
"Then bring me closer!" Lyn shouted. "Bring me closer, you stupid liar..."
Alfaic sighed and stood up from his seat. He approached Lyn, who had a drunken smile upon her exterior, as if it was a shield put up to illicit human emotion beyond her normal capabilities. He kneeled down and wrapped his arms around the back of Lyn's neck and thighs, bringing her to the passenger seat closest to where he previously sat. He sat back down and continued adjusting frequencies to find for emergency support. He was half-way done.
Lyn, still daze by the creature's gaze, wrapped herself up into a fetal ball and clutched both of her knees to wrap them around. She rested her chin on her kneecaps as she looked away from Alfaic and into the stars. "I don't want to go back." She admitted out of nowhere.
"What?" Alfaic replied as he continued monitoring the frequencies.
"I don't... I don't want to go back," Lyn repeated herself. "I just don't want to anymore."
"You said you missed Ardine and Claire." Alfaic said.
"I do," Lyn said. "But they have nothing to do with it. It's more complicated than that. I... don't want to be in this body anymore. I don't want to live like this."
"Lyn... don't talk like that."
"Talk like that?"
"You're talking nonsense," Alfaic said, turning his head to face her. "You're still hurt from what that monster did to you. I just want you to relax until you get better-"
"But I'll never get better," Lyn interrupted. "I never will. Because I'm the Ascendant. The Rot Mother's daughter."
"We don't even know what that means-"
"But I do. That means I'm a monster," Lyn emphasized. It seemed as if she was no longer in her drunken trance, as her voice became more clear, and her eyes were solely focused on herself. "You said it yourself. I'm just a construct created to destroy. Ardine's telling me to forget about it... but I can't, because how can I? It's a part of who I am. I'm a monster created from the one responsible for this dying world. And don't monsters deserve to die?"
Alfaic covered his eyes in the shadows as he stopped tampering with the frequency on the radio. He looked down at his lap, wanting to suspend his own thoughts from coming out. But it was impossible.
"You're not a monster, Lyn." Alfaic's voice was direct.
Lyn's tethers seemed to have completely worn off. She leaned forward, keeping her back straight despite her sudden anguish, and sobbed into her palms. Her head arose up, catching Alfaic watching her cry for the first time ever. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was locked open. "But I am! I feel... trapped in this body. How... how can I change what I am?" She sobbed.
"All you've ever done was change, Lyn," Alfaic said. "You've helped so many people! You helped Claire and Ardine, and all of the Bountiful Sands! You've even helped Elaina and Kaiden pass on... and you put all those souls in Qliphos to rest!" He looked down at his hands, clasping them together as his voice was becoming less and less audible. "You're starting to smile more... and speak more..."
Lyn blinked rapidly before looking down at her own palms.
"If you think that classifies as 'being a monster...' then what even am I?" Alfaic ashamedly stated, hiding his face from Lyn.
Lyn looked back up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Just... look at me," Alfaic continued. "I'm the only child nobody wanted. My father's obsessed, my brother's are gone... and I ran away from home, hiding because I just wasn't good enough for them. They've become so infatuated with this Rot Mother... that they can't even hear my voice anymore, so why bother? And everywhere I go... I'm surrounded by death. I'm tired of pretending how it doesn't affect me, because it does. Elaina and Cethe, and all those Qliphosians..."
Lyn watched as he leaned his head back in the pilot's seat, exhaling a breath of disappointment. His face crumpled up in anguish as well, unable to establish simple eye contact with Lyn in return. "I just..." His voice broke apart as he struggled to recuperate from his grief. "I just wish I could go back to that life again where we were on the islands... where we didn't have to worry about a single thing in the world, and we were always looking forward to the next day. If only my mother would have still been here... things would have changed. Maybe she could have convinced my father and my brothers to stop. Maybe she could have sailed with me to those islands... so I could show her how beautiful the world really was."
"You... had a mother?" Lyn asked.
"I'd like to think so," Alfaic's voice cracked beneath all the pressure. "But knowing me... she probably ran away from all of it, just like I abandoned my family. I'm the real monster."
Watching Alfaic made Lyn almost forget about what she was going through. After watching him speak the truth of his feelings, she turned to face the expansive star-riddled space from the windows. She stood up from her seat and stumbled only slightly once before approaching the back two leather passenger seats. Alfaic watched as she placed the back of her palm on the chair's upholstery in tears, unsure of what was to come.
Suddenly, Lyn ripped off the entire chair with a single pull, dropping it beside her until it made a loud clashing noise with the metal floors. She then pulled another one off and dropped it beside the previous chair before approaching the walls on the side of the control center. With a firm stare at the top of the wall, she yanked off a massive chunk of it until it came out to be a flat piece of metal in her arms. She set it down on the ground, took the two leather chairs with posts beneath them, and rammed them directly on the slab of metal until they were snug and fit for seating.
Lyn sat back down next to Alfaic, staring at him with a blank face. He was perturbed at what she had done, but suddenly, a wave of unknown feelings that he barely could comprehend surged through. He watched as Lyn inhaled a large breath until her chest pumped out. She then clenched her stomach, inflated her cheeks, and closed her eyes tightly like an agitated pufferfish. She gave off a long high-pitched squeal that sounded like a kettle boiling water, getting louder the longer she went on.
"Wha-" Alfaic began, eyes still damp from his tears. "What are you doing?"
"Holding my breath." Lyn said, exhaling and then inhaling to hold it once more.
"Okay, what are you holding your breath for?" Alfaic asked again, confused out of his mind.
"For this," She began, snatching Alfaic's hand and standing the both of them up. She reached for a dial beside the speedometer of the spaceship and moved it down, reducing their speed to a complete minimum until it was suspended. "If you didn't notice, there's a nebula underneath us."
"What does this have to-"
"Just shush, and follow me." Lyn said, approaching the emergency exit door. She grabbed the metal slab with the two seats jammed on top of it and shoved it out of the door after holding in her breath. But as soon as she found out she could breathe without needing to because of her own personal abilities, she dragged Alfaic out into space until the two of them were floating outside.
The breathtaking violet nebula radiated luminescent particles beneath their feet, tickling them as tiny specks of dust brushed off against their cheeks. Lyn dragged Alfaic onto the two seats, pushing him on top of the front seat while she remained in the back. While Alfaic still remained confused, Lyn gave him a strong shove forward until they flipped forward and changed the trajectory of their travel, approaching the violet nebula at a slow pace.
"Come on, captain," Lyn joked. "Take me to Space Island."
As soon as Lyn spoke those words, Alfaic started to catch on. His smile was as radiant as the stars.
The two of them traversed through the cosmic skies, freefalling and letting space drag them forward on a journey of vibrancy. As soon as they entered the sides of the nebula, an expansive and lengthy set of neon rings appeared beside their palms, stretching like an endless road. Lyn and Alfaic brushed their hands on it, only to find it dissolving into gas as their "boat" took them forward.
Lyn pressed both of her hands on opposite sides of the "boat" and swayed upside down. Alfaic launched out of his seat while Lyn remained upright, giggling at Alfaic's startled reaction. She gleefully laughed aloud as the "boat" drifted across a much larger set of cosmic ring roads like a rally race.
"Weeeee!" Lyn cheered. "Weeeee!"
"Lyn, flip us around!" Alfaic shouted.
She rotated the "boat" once more until Alfaic desperately tried to rush back into his seat to play off how he was unbothered. The two of them skidded off to the side until they moved away from the iridescent rings.
"Oh my God," Alfaic breathed out a sigh of disbelief. "You're crazy."
"Isn't this fun!?" Lyn asked.
"More like dangerous," He corrected. "But... it sure is beautiful, this place. It's not every day you go up in space like this and see a nebula. Well, it's a pretty small one. Would this even be a nebula? I don't think so..."
The two of them sailed through the nebula until they made their way closer to their original spaceship. Entering back inside and sealing the chamber shut, Alfaic made his way toward the pilot's seat, but Lyn reached out from behind, clutching his shoulder tightly. Caught off guard, Alfaic turned around, locking eyes with Lyn's. Her eyes bore straight through his.
"I guess... we're both monsters, then," Lyn said. "I wanted to relive a part of your memories in my own way, to make more, with you."
Alfaic smiled. "I…" He said, but his head cocked to the side to avoid eye contact. "Thanks..."
He looked at the small nebula from a distance through the spacious windows, facing away from each other. But Lyn didn't take her eyes off of Alfaic.
"But… relatively speaking... you're not a monster either, Blade," Lyn voiced out. "You don't owe your family anything. They're the ones who made the decision to change. You weren't wrong for leaving them."
"No…" Alfaic mumbled, turning his head aside.
"And, you're not wrong for running away, because I would have done the same," Lyn admitted. Her face turned pale and her eyes were glistening with passion. "The real monsters are them for siding with the Rot Mother."
"I can't even imagine how much they're suffering right now… and I can't do anything about it." Alfaic said.
"It wasn't your fault," Lyn said, extending her slender hand, placing it on Alfaic's kneecap. "We'll make things right, Blade. I promise."
"How?! By killing them? Because we're really good at that!"
"Blade-"
"I know, we have no choice. But I can't just help but think... so many things could have been different. Maybe I could have stopped them if I had stayed. If I hadn't been so selfish... maybe I could have changed them!"
"Why would you say that!? Would you have rather not met me? Because if you did do exactly as you said..." Lyn began, watching Alfaic wallow in his fantasy. "None of this would have happened. I wouldn't be able to control my tethers and feel the way that I do now. And... I would still... be alone."
It didn't take long for Alfaic to realize that Lyn's words were the truth.
"You being here... changes everything," Lyn continued, raising her voice over her frustration over Alfaic's foolish inquiries. "And if you had stayed, they would have taken you along with them into that endless worshipping bullshit! So don't tell me that you'd rather stay with them over me, because we both know that I'd be nothing without you!"
"You don't know that." Alfaic hounded back, turning against her before approaching the pilot's seat once more.
"But I DO!" Lyn's voice rattled the spaceship's control center, stopping Alfaic in his tracks. Her face was muddled with confusion, distraught over her uncontrollable emotions. All of it was too much for her to bear, and there was no use in suppressing it any longer. Her voice began to hesitate as she lost control of her breath. "And... if you think... if you think your life isn't worth the decisions you've made... then I can't stop you. You can hate yourself, all you want. But nothing will change the fact that I need you..."
She crumbled to the floor like a piece of trash dropped from the face of the earth without a single worth within her. Clutching her flushed red cheeks in torment, she sobbed as the center of her chest began to ache in heartbreak. There was absolutely nothing worse that she had ever felt until now. Not the Rot's poison, nor the severe scalding burns on her skin. This internal agony tore her apart from the inside, and she couldn't control it, no matter what tether she had or hadn't. She felt it all slipping from her, escaping through her mind and soul without a way back home. And now, this far into her life, she didn't hold it back one bit.
And now, it was all let go, in a blinding flash of light.
The burns on her body began to tear through her flesh. Her stamina was growing thinner and thinner, as if she had expended it all in a single instance. Her mind swirled in a cloud of doubt, never to collect itself as easy as it was before. The seldom voices inside her head shouting into her ears the name 'Astra,' had started to diminish. It was all fading, little by little, by the second.
But all of it began to shift into uncertainty as soon as Lyn felt her legs tugging upward. She removed both of her palms from her tear-soaked eyes, catching Alfaic lifting her off of the feet and supporting her like a prince would with a princess. Her white irises shrunk as she took slow, veiled but exalted breaths at Alfaic's change in demeanor. The two of them gazed deeply into each other, emotionally tense and high.
"You don't need to worry about anything... because I've got you," Alfaic said. "And I always will, until the end."
His words rang deep inside Lyn's being. As the two continued their long and silent exchange of eyes, Alfaic's face plunged into sudden distress after realizing that he was too close to Lyn. She noticed it as well, but her eyes didn't leave his until he swiftly placed her on her feet once more. The two stepped away and gave each other distance in embarrassment, seeking for ways to move their conversation aside despite their sudden feelings crashing down upon them.
"Sorry, I just wanted to show you-" Alfaic began.
"It's okay, it's okay-" Lyn said immediately after without giving him an opportunity to explain.
"Good talk."
"Yep."
"Guess it's time to-"
"Yeah."
The tension between the two was suddenly broken apart by a transmission request through the radio, detecting the signal from a single source from faraway. Alfaic bolted toward it and accepted the signal, not wanting to lose the chance for a safe rescue.
"Hello? Hello?" Alfaic spoke directly into the microphone of the radio beside it. "Requesting immediate assistance and guidance! We're stranded in a Qliphos carrier in space and we have no idea how to reroute back to METIS. Requesting assistance!"
Static transmitted through the radio before a muffled voice played through. Alfaic and Lyn leaned closer to it to pick up on the words, but it naturally became clearer as time passed.
"Alfaic?" A familiar voice rang through. "Alfaic, is that you? Come in!"
"Ardine." Lyn whispered, face bubbling up into glee.
"Yes, yes!" Alfaic replied, pressing his mouth against the microphone. "It's so good to hear from you. Where are you? Are you safe?"
"Yeah," Ardine replied through the static transmission. "We managed to escape, thanks to Lyn's help. Claire and I are aboard an escape vessel enroute back to METIS."
Lyn smiled beside Alfaic. She couldn't help but exude her brief moments of joy hearing Claire's name as well.
"Okay, good," Alfaic said. "I need help rerouting the ship to METIS."
"There should be this control panel to your left with a bunch of numbers and a button that says 'INPUT.' Do you see it?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, press it, and type '*AUTOREROUTE to 24D*'."
"Okay." Alfaic typed the input code.
"Press 'Enter.'" Lyn said, pointing at the green button underneath it.
"Did it work?" Ardine asked.
"Do I- Do I press 'Enter?'" Alfaic asked.
"Yes, yes, you do." Lyn whispered to herself.
"Yeah." Ardine said.
After pressing the 'Enter' button, a slight turbulence shook the two. The ship corrected itself and pinpointed the front of it toward METIS's reddened lands directly underneath them. An increase in speed propelled them forward, with an estimated time of arrival in fifteen minutes.
"Okay, we're enroute now," Alfaic said. "See you there?"
"Yeah," Ardine said. "Is Lyn there? Is she safe?"
"She's good."
"You two better behave yourselves up there, you hear me?"
Lyn and Alfaic's eyes widened in before trying to divert the subject, shaking their heads. "Is... Claire safe?" Lyn asked.
"Yeah. She's fast asleep. She's been through a lot. Releasing all those souls, fighting with us... I figured I'd give her the rest that she deserves. There's a lot of have to say about her... but I think it's best if we put it on hold for now until we get back."
"Good idea." Lyn agreed.
"Actually, Ardine... if you don't mind, I'd like to land our vessel somewhere else." Alfaic said.
"Oh? What did you have in mind?"
"D'Avuzel. The island of the Figments."
Lyn hadn't heard of that location before. She wondered why.
"I... don't know much about that place, but are you sure? How's Rot activity there?"
Alfaic smirked, as if he knew the answer to it immediately. "There's no Rot to worry about when the Figments are there," He said. "I know someone there who will helps us decipher all of these fragments, and to find the rest according to the planetarium. The center of dreams... and the abstract dimension... I have a hunch of where to look. But I need his help."
"A friend of yours?" Ardine asked.
"Friend is an understatement. When I left my family... I practically lived in D'Avuzel... until I left to keep them safe from my father. But one man made my disembark quite tolerable, traveling through those islands that I loved so much, together. And he's one of the only ones I can trust outside of the others who are searching for me in the Bountiful Sands. So if you don't mind, Ardine..."
"No, I understand," Ardine said. "Still don't know why people are searching for you... though I'd assume it has something to do with your connection to your brothers. But... is it safe there? Are you absolutely sure?"
"More than sure." Alfaic said.
"All right. Hit the panel again and type *AUTOREROUTE to 89C*."
Lyn rested down on the passenger seat while Alfaic and Ardine worked out the necessary steps to arrive back to METIS. She gazed out the spacious window, admiring the beauty of the blue oceans from a microscopic distance... only to then sit firmly with a resolute glare at the rotten hues. Something inside her mind had awoken itself from beginning to end on her journey to Qliphos, and it cleared her mind from the inside out. From experiencing the ethereal transition to the truth about her identity, the name Gemma, and all of the terminologies beyond 'Ascendant,' her mind was shifted from all of it toward Alfaic, and his one goal; finding the Rot Mother and ending it all. It didn't matter what her fate was. She was dead set on it. She didn't care for anything else.
"I'll make things right." Lyn whispered to herself.