Kaito and Nara stood frozen as popsicles, staring up at the parted clouds where the miniature moon broke through. Talon lowered her hand, exhaling as her multi-pink essence settled down.
"It's over." She mumbled out.
Kaeline, who had been watching the scene unfold, eyes drifted over to Aqua.
"Not exactly."
Aqua still looked slightly dazed, as if someone woke her up from a long deep sleep and she wasn't all the way there yet. Kaeline reached behind her, pulling out a kunai.
"I still have questions, and I expect answers."
Aqua barely reacted. Her blank stare showed zero fear and very little awareness.
Kaeline took another step, but then—
Thud-thud.
Kaito was suddenly in front of her. His arms stayed at his sides, but the tension in his body made it clear that he wasn't planning to move… not without a fight.
Kaeline halted immediately, her eyes narrowing at him.
"What exactly do you think you're doing, Kaito?"
"There are other ways to get information. Besides, we don't even know how much she actually remembers. Sera was in her head for who knows how long… who's to say she even knows what happened?" He replied, his tone even.
Talon looked at Aqua, seeing the way her chest barely rose and fell, as if even breathing was an afterthought.
"…I think Kaito has a point. To an extent." She muttered out.
Kaeline shot her a glance but didn't respond as she continued.
"Sera was controlling not just Aqua, but dozens, no, hundreds of draconians and her own subordinates. Not just their bodies, but their minds. Who's to say she didn't wipe Aqua's memories completely?"
That statement made Kaito's eyes widen as something clicked in his mind, before turning sharply to Nara.
"Wait—Nara! You were under Sera's control too, right?"
Nara flinched slightly as his words, her eyes becoming contemplative.
"…Now that you mention it, I—"
Kaeline suddenly cut her off.
"Nara. Do you remember anything from when you were under Sera's control?"
Nara took a moment before closing her eyes, both eyebrows pressing together as she tried to dig through the fog in her mind.
"…No. I don't remember anything at all. The last thing I do remember is fighting Aqua then… nothing."
Everyone turned to her, listening intently.
"I was protecting my brother after we went to see one of the moonlit waterfalls in the forest. I launched a huge blast of fire at her, but she… sent it right back at me. It hit me full force and then… everything went black."
"That technique… The water mirror. She did the same thing to me." Kaito thought to himself.
Nara exhaled before continuing.
"After that… it felt like I was in a deep sleep. Like I was just… floating in nothingness. And then—"
"Then you heard Nix's voice." Kaito finished for her.
Nara nodded. A heavy silence settled over them as everyone processed her words, until Kaeline spoke up.
"…That doesn't add up."
Everyone turned to her, shocked and confused. Talon raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"Sera was powerful, yes. But memory manipulation on that level? She shouldn't be capable of something like that. Controlling multiple people at once, maybe, but erasing their memories? Wiping them clean?" She shook her head.
"That requires an entirely different level of ability. A level she's nowhere near."
"Then what do you think it is? Nara definitely doesn't remember a thing, and Aqua—" Kaito hesitated before looking over his shoulder at her.
"—she might not either."
Kaeline's eyes darkened.
"…I believe this is the work of someone far beyond Sera. Remember what we were told by Enaros and the others, that draconians were taken away on ships, correct? Wherever they were taken… that's possibly where their minds were altered."
Kaito fists clenched at his sides.
"Then… if they had the ability to erase memories, why didn't they just erase Nara's completely? Why take the risk of her breaking free?"
Kaeline was about to answer, but—
"…That's probably because Nara never made it to the place where everyone else was taken."
Everyone's eyes shot toward the voice that spoke, completely caught off guard.
It was Aqua.
The dazed look in her eyes was gone. Her voice was clear and she was staring straight ahead, though her body was still battered. Nara turned to her, her expression becoming intense.
"What do you mean by the place? Where is it?" Kaeline demanded.
Aqua clutched her head.
"I… I don't know… It's like parts of my memory are missing, like someone… took them."
Kaeline's look seemed to sharpen even more as she pressed the issue further.
"But you said you remember hearing about the draconians being taken somewhere. Whose voice was it? Sera's?"
Aqua hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head.
"No. It wasn't her."
"Then whose voice was it? Do you remember a face?" Kaeline continued with.
Aqua squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the answer from the depths of her fractured mind, but it was like reaching into an ocean trying to grab air.
"No… I don't. But the voice was deep—a man's voice. Nothing close to Velzari or Jorak though."
Kaeline exchanged glances with Talon and Kaito before continuing.
"Where were you when you heard this voice? And do you remember if they were speaking to someone?" She asked.
"I… I think we were on a ship. I was in a hallway when I overheard that voice speaking to someone in a room. It sounded like they were on a call. But before I could listen in more… Sera walked up behind me and told me we had to go somewhere…Then everything went black." Aqua said.
"If it wasn't Velzari or Jorak, and Sera was with her the whole time, then who was that voice?" Kaeline began to think to herself, piecing together everything she could at once.
"Is there a fifth member of their crew we don't know about? Or…"
She turned her attention back to Aqua.
"You're coming with me."
Kaito's body tensed up immediately, feet planting firmly into the ground.
"She's already told us all she can for now and she's not hostile. We shouldn't treat her like some kind of criminal for actions she didn't even have control over." He stated.
Kaeline ignored his words, her eyes darting over to Talon.
"Sera and Aqua seemed to have a different type of relationship compared to the others. Did you notice it too, Talon?"
Talon didn't speak, but her eyes lingered on Aqua as Kaeline continued.
"Every time Sera called for her, there was something different in her tone. Based on that alone, they seemed to be close… really close."
Her gaze drifted over to Talon's battered left side, eyes narrowing.
"And if her friend uses living people as bombs, discarding life like it's nothing—" Her voice became sharper, colder.
"Then there's no telling what kind of monster she could be."
Kaito's eyes widened slightly, the horrifying possibility of her words sinking in. Aqua lowered her head, shame and guilt visibly creeping over her.
"Maybe… maybe Aqua—" Kaito began to stutter out.
"That's enough, Kaito." Talon's voice cut him off immediately, her tone completely serious.
Kaito, caught off guard, turned to her.
"I saw firsthand what kind of monster Sera was. And from her own words, her bestie here is far more powerful than her. She even conjured a cosmic artifact in our fight. There's no telling what she's capable of. We shouldn't just treat her like she's our friend."
A heavy silence followed for a long moment before—
"I don't care." Kaito said bluntly.
Aqua's head slowly lifted, her eyes wide as she stared at his back.
"I don't care what kind of monster you think she might be. What I see isn't some monster. What I see… is someone who's been hurt. Someone who's lost everything. Someone who needs help. I won't treat her like she's some tool to be used for information. I won't treat her like she's some lost cause. Because she isn't. She's a person. And no matter how any of you feel about it, I'll stand by her side. She isn't a monster."
Faint traces of his purple essence began to ripple around him. Kaeline's eyes lingered on him for a second before she closed them gently.
"…Very well."
That very next instance, Kaito's entire body stiffened as he felt a cold sharp sensation pressed against his neck.
"What the—"
He looked to where Kaeline had been standing just a moment ago, but she was no longer there. She was behind him.
"She's… moved? But when?!"
His mind began racing until he remembered something.
"The kunai she threw at my shadow earlier."
His eyes darted down and there it was, lodged right into his shadow. At first glance, it seemed ordinary. But when he looked closer, he saw a black aura enveloping it.
"That black aura…Is that her essence flowing around it?"
"You have a long way to go before you can stand against me." She whispered in his ear.
Nara stared at the sudden stand-off in complete shock, unable to take her amazed eyes off them.
"I… I didn't even see her move. Who are these people…? They're far stronger than any of those troupe guys, no wonder they handled them so easily. I don't even think that Aqua chick could handle them even if she was at full strength… they're on a completely different level than us."
Kaeline pressed the kunai even closer to his throat. He could feel the cold metal begin to split open the top layer of his skin, a drop of blood running down his neck.
"Settle your essence." She whispered.
Kaito gritted his teeth, but before he could do anything—
Clink.
The kunai at his throat suddenly dropped from Kaeline's hand and clattered on the ground in front of him.
"What…? Why did she–" He began to ask himself.
"That's enough, Kaeline."
His heart nearly jumped at the sound of that voice. He looked up instantly.
"That voice, that's—
A few meters ahead, standing in front of both of them, was Elara.
—The captain!"
Kaeline remained silent for a moment. Then, slowly, she withdrew her hand, stepping back.
"Understood… captain." She said calmly, though there was a very subtle annoyance in her gaze.
Without another word, she walked away. But as she passed Aqua, she cast her one final glance. Aqua didn't look up, keeping her head low, eyes glued to the ground.
"Took you long enough. I made myself co-captain so I didn't have to do captain duties, you remember that right?" Talon said casually.
"I'm sorry for the burden you and the others had to deal with, but it's over now."
Talon scoffed and waved her off.
"Whatever." She mumbled out before her eyes glanced down to her neck.
"What about the bomb? And the others?"
"Once Kaeline teleported us away to our ship where we crashed, her clone was able to free us from the strings using one of her wind jutsu. After that, Jinx managed to deactivate the bombs using her tools before destroying them entirely. Rorik, Finn, and Jinx are still at the ship, fixing all of the damage from the crash and preparing for immediate departure to the licensing exams so that Finn and Kaito can obtain their official star traveler licenses."
Kaito nodded slightly until something dawned on him.
"Wait… then where's Viro?"
On cue—
BOOM!
A small explosion erupted behind them. Both Kaito and Nara jumped in shock, spinning around instantly.
"What in the stars was that?!" Kaito shouted.
"Another enemy?!" Nara tensed, the scales on her neck and arms glowing.
But as the dust settled, their expressions contorted into a mixture of disbelief and secondhand embarrassment. Standing triumphantly in the middle of the scene was Viro holding up a wrestling championship belt high above his head. Beneath his metallic stompers was a beaten and unconscious Jorak, his pants ripped, exposing the crack of his ass to the entire world.
"Look, everyone! I took down the Beast and became the Galactic Heavyweight Champion!"
There was complete silence. Kaito and Nara exchanged an awkward glance, trying their best not to cringe.
"Good job, Viro." Kaeline said flatly.
Kaito blinked rapidly for a moment.
"Wait… weren't they supposed to be on the other floating land? What happened? Wasn't that part of the plan?"
Kaeline turned to him.
"Right before Talon activated her ability to break the three lands apart, I used my shadow step to teleport to the shadow of a clone I hid on their floating land. I grabbed them both before things got out of hand, just in case we needed someone to interrogate."
Viro face plate lit up with a range of different facial emojis.
"Yeah, that was weird! One second, I'm about to powerbomb Jorak off the top of a tree branch, and then boom! Everything went black, and when I could see again, I was here! Is that what it's like to blink?"
There was even more silence.
Elara turned back to Kaeline.
"What about Velzari?" She asked bluntly.
Kaeline met her gaze and shook her head. Elara's expression didn't shift much, but she nodded in acknowledgment, understanding the clear implications. Aqua, however, eyes widened slightly at the realization of his fate.
Elara took a step forward, positioning herself in the center of everyone.
"We're regrouping with the others at the ship. That's our next move."
She turned toward Kaito.
"What about Elysia and the other draconians? Where are they?"
Kaito snapped out of his thoughts and pointed in the direction he had come from earlier.
"That way. They should be near the eastern perimeter by now."
"Kaeline, retrieve them. Save as many casualties as you can."
"Understood." Kaeline said calmly, before disappearing into her shadow.
Elara's attention shifted to Aqua.
"Can you walk?"
Aqua hesitated. She placed her hands on the ground, slowly pushing herself up to her feet. The moment she tried to step forward, her legs wobbled before giving out on her completely.
But before she hit the ground—
"Woah. Don't worry, I can help you, okay?" Kaito said reassuringly, catching her before she fell too far.
She blinked, looking up to see his face close to hers. Her fins twitched slightly.
"…T–Th–Thank you."
Talon watched the interaction from the side with a blank expression. Elara turned, facing the direction of the ship.
"Good. Then let's go."