Ari'Va's large eyes were wide with disbelief as she stared at the central monitor at the image of Kaito standing tall on the battlefield.
"H-How did he get there so fast?" She whispered, voice trembling.
Her six fingers on each hand flew across the controls, switching views between team feeds and entry logs.
"No way... there's no way he made it through the finish line before the other teams! And how didn't they burn up on entry? Just what in the stars is that backpack made out of?!"
Her hands froze and her breath caught in her throat as she looked over to the status monitors. Rows of digital profiles glowed across the walls, each displaying a team's performance and survival status. She froze.
Team Grey:
Kaito… Passed
Rikona… Passed
Zeek… Passed
Valentina… Passed
All four of their names flashed a steady green unlike the remaining teams that all lit up red.
Back aboard the ship, the air was quiet but heavy with tension. Astra's projection hovered in the center of the cabin. Her expression remained unreadable for a short moment before a faint smirk that crawled up the corner of her lips.
"It appears that Kaito and Rikona have reached the finish line and arrived at the well's location just in time." She announced calmly.
Zeek knelt beside Valentina, who sat propped up against the wall, clutching her side as she laughed.
"That crazy round-eared bastard..." She chuckled through a wince.
Zeek gently adjusted her position, supporting her with one arm.
"Easy now Val baby. Don't move too much."
She grunted in response but didn't push him away.
"Why'd you agree to join his crew so fast? I thought you and Rikona were gonna start your own after this." He asked.
Valentina scoffed, tilting her head up to the holoscreen that displayed Kaito standing firm with Rikona clinging to his back as the cocoon slowly unraveled from around them, back into some semblance of a backpack.
She sighed.
"You see the way Rikona looks at him don't you? Like he's some kind of cosmic hero ripped straight out of a comic."
Her gaze drifted down to her trembling hands.
"I have no doubt in my body that after these exams, she wasn't going to follow me anymore… She was going to follow him."
She shook her head, chuckling though there was a hint of bitterness beneath it. Her eyes drifted to the small viewport, where the stars shimmered across the dark sea of space as Kaito's words echoed in her head.
"My dream is to become the King of the Stars."
Her lower lip trembled.
"King of the Stars, huh...? She really wants to follow that round-eared idiot and his absurd little dream."
Zeek watched her in silence.
"That was your dream too, wasn't it?" He asked quietly.
She didn't answer at first, instead her fists clenched.
"That was just a cosmic fairy tale... something the poor and enslaved believed in to cling on some sliver of hope in their pathetic lives. Something I believed in, back when I was too dumb to know better. Before I learned what the true reality of this universe really was."
Silence settled in the room for a long moment.
Then Zeek snorted before bursting out into a light laughter.
"What's so funny you lanky blue bastard!?" She blurted out, still facing the viewport.
His laughter settled to a chuckle.
"And yet you still joined him." He said calmly.
She flinched.
"Wh-What about you?! I thought you retired from piloting after your accident! Why'd you accept so fast?! HUH?!"
Zeek reached forward and grabbed her chin before gently turning her head, wiping the tears and snot from her face.
"Because…" He said with a soft smile.
"I believe in him. Just like you do."
That broke something inside her. Her usual fierce demeanor crumbled and her shoulders trembled as tears poured down her cheeks like rivers. Zeek pulled her into a soft hug, rubbing her head.
"Those two youngins... they're gonna do something great for this universe. I just know it."
Valentina sniffled.
"You're all... fucking idiots. You know that?"
Zeek chuckled again.
"I know. You are too."
Astra's projection watched, her four crimson eyes fixed on them. Yet for a fleeting moment, even in her cold elegance, there was something almost... awestruck in her gaze. She didn't speak, but deep inside, something stirred.
Back on the battlefield, Rikona's backpack fully retracted from its cocoon form back to its original form. Kaito stood motionless, his boots pressed into the fractured ground below. Cracks rippled outward from the crater his impact had caused, but his eyebrows furrowed.
"I didn't… hit it?" He muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing at the surface beneath him.
Rikona clung to his back a second longer before lifting her head, her gaze finally sweeping the surrounding terrain.
And then—her breath hitched.
Her lavender eyes bulged at the grotesque sight before them. Mangled bodies. Blood smeared across shattered stone.
She trembled, her hands tightening around the fabric of Kaito's suit.
"This… this…." She whispered, unable to get her words from her throat.
Kaito, however, continued to scan the battlefield calmly, but not scouting the area out for the wounded or the dead.
He was looking for something. Or someone.
"Where are you…" He mumbled to himself..
Then, in his peripheral vision, he noticed a green fabric beneath a mound of collapsed debris about fifty meters out. He turned his head.
"There—Rikona!" He shouted, pointing at it.
She snapped her gaze to the direction he pointed. Without hesitation, she slid off his back and sprinted toward it.
Behind them, half-buried in the rusty dirt and rocks, Nara sat stunned, her red eyes locked onto the figure ahead of her.
"Kaito…?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but full of disbelief.
"Where did he come from?" She muttered before her eyes shoot open as wide as they could.
Her head snapped around frantically.
"Wait. Where is it? Where did that thing go?!"
Her body jolted with panic, spinning in every direction, scanning for the monstrous creature. She turned back to Kaito.
"Kaito!" She called out urgently.
He turned his head slowly, just enough for one eye to catch her in his gaze.
"Nara." He said with a soft smirk.
"Figured you'd be here. Glad to see you're—"
"Shut up, idiot, and listen!" She snapped, eyes wide and frantic.
"There's something out here! Something way stronger than any C-ranked head guardian! It's—"
"I know already." He cut her off flatly.
He turned his head forward again, his gaze sweeping the rust-colored battlefield like a hawk. Then, he spotted an empty patch of ground. Nothing visibly there, yet he stared at it.
"I don't know why… but I can sense you." He muttered, eyes narrowing.
"There's no point in hiding. Come on out."
Nara's brows furrowed.
"What are you—"
Then her CPI scanner flickered in her eye. She turned quickly to where his gaze was locked only to see the dirt shifted.
A giant grey hand burst upward from the ground. With a slow, unnatural movement, the massive creature pulled itself from the soil like a demon crawling from hell. It fully surfaced before standing tall.
Its black eyes locked onto Kaito.
Neither moved, they just stood there.
They weren't just sizing each other up…it was as if they were reading something deeper inside each other's souls.
The guardian finally spoke, its voice low and deep.
"…What well did you come from?" He asked calmly.
Kaito blinked, confused.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I asked, what well did you come from?" The guardian repeated.
"I didn't come from a well. I was born on Earth and raised on Thaloria." Kaito responded, his eyebrows scrunched up slightly.
The guardian tilted his head.
"Hmm… Interesting."
He pointed to the left of them.
"I originated far to the north of here. Or at least, that's where I first gained consciousness. I don't recall anything before that moment. Just… darkness."
Kaito remained still, his eyes locked onto the being. The guardian raised its gaze to the sky above, its tone shifting into something almost… reflective.
"After awakening, I wandered aimlessly. Confused. But then… I felt something. A pull. A sensation I couldn't explain."
It slowly lowered its head and looked over to Kaito.
"You feel it too, don't you? That quiet hum deep within your essence… drawing you toward the birthplace of beings like us."
Kaito's eyes widened.
The memory of the night he met Finn and the crew on Thaloria at the well played in his mind.
"…Just like that night… Something guided me to the well there…" He muttered to himself.
The guardian's voice cut through his thoughts.
"I can see it on your face. It confirms what I suspected."
Kaito clenched his fists.
"I don't care what it felt like. I didn't come from some well. I told you—I'm human."
The guardian paused.
Then, slowly, it raised a massive finger and pointed squarely at Kaito's chest.
"I believe you are… mistaken."
Kaito's breath hitched slightly.
"You and I… we carry the same essence." The guardian said, its voice resolute.
"There's no doubt about it…
You…
You are a guardian—just like me."