One week had passed since Epsilon's miraculous return. She lay in the care of Dr. Owen, suspended between life and death, her body mangled and her spirit imprisoned in a coma that refused to break. Her wounds had been grievous, and though she lived, she drifted far from consciousness. Edo never left her side, a sentinel of grief, despair carved into his every gesture. His weathered hands clasped her fragile ones, his voice hoarse with the weight of regret.
"I am so sorry…" he whispered, words quivering with sorrow as if spoken into a void that would never answer.
The Stellaris entered quietly, their presence solemn. They found Edo exactly where he had been for days unmoving, a statue of anguish.
Alya knelt before him, her voice tender yet steady. "Hey Edo... we are going to search the facility. But first, I must depart to Lunaria. The Elite Nobilities must hear of this."
Edo remained still, his eyes fixed upon Epsilon's face as though the mere act of looking might summon her back from the abyss. He gave no reply, for grief had stolen his tongue.
Alya's gaze shifted to Kaylin, Lyrien, Thane, and Lila. "Please... stay here with him." Her plea was quiet, but filled with weight.
They answered with nods, silent and steadfast.
Without delay, Alya departed, seizing a Skybolt and ascending swiftly into the skies. From the shadows beyond the courtyard, Ivo observed her leave. His enigmatic eyes followed her ascent, his thoughts veiled. Soon after, he slipped into the building, drawn to Epsilon's presence. But what he found unsettled even him... the once-mighty warrior was frail, bound in suffering.
Meanwhile, Alya pierced the clouds, descending at last upon the towering bastion of Stellaluna Fortress. She entered its soaring halls, marble floors echoing beneath her steps, until the elevator bore her upward into the cathedral of the elite nobilities.
When she entered the great chamber, silence fractured. The nobles, clad in regal finery, stared at her as if beholding an anomaly.
"What is this? Why are you still here?" one demanded, voice cutting.
Another thundered, "We made it clear you had a mission in two days."
A third scoffed, "It has been over a week, and still you remain?"
Their disdain struck her ears like hammers, yet Alya did not flinch. Her eyes swept across them, one by one, resolute.
"The mission has been delayed," she declared with unshaken authority. "I fear Helixia stands at the precipice of war. Epsilon, the Golden Storm, yet lives. She was grievously wounded and has lingered in a coma for a week."
A noble sneered. "Why should this concern us? Your mission demands focus."
Another chimed in, dismissive. "If Helixia teeters upon war, it is our decision, not yours."
A third spat venom. "You are an outsider, brought here by fortune. Faith may have deemed you worthy of a Cerebrox fragment, but you forget yourself."
A final voice rose. "This is not your nation. Its affairs are not yours to dictate."
Their words crashed over her like waves upon stone. Her head lowered, her expression shadowed, her lips pressed into a bitter line. Slowly, deliberately, she raised her gaze and began to circle them like a wolf among sheep.
"You call me outsider. You tell me this nation's fate is not mine to care for. And yet I was tested. Again and again. Each time, the result was the same: I am Helixian." Her voice resonated with righteous fury. "I lived among you. Not hated, accepted. When Dr. Xypher rose with his abominations, I did not flee. Together with my brothers and my sister... outsiders, we stood with the Seven Shadows, when none esle dared. We alone bore the burden of standing against the tide."
Her voice grew sharper, cutting through the chamber. "The appearance of the mecha titans sundered Helixia in chaos. The Seven Shadows laid down their lives to protect this nation. Only Kenneth survived. We believed Epsilon lost... but now she breathes again."
A noble slammed his staff upon the marble. "Enough! Insolence!"
But Alya's voice crashed over him like thunder. "Ever since their fall, Helixia has rotted. Corruption spreads like poison through its veins. I endured your trails. You deemed me worthy of a fragment. You entrusted me with the mission of retrieval. And yet when chaos reigns, I abandoned thar mission to heal this nation. Now you call me unworthy?"
Her finger stabbed the air, indicting them one by one. "Since my arrival, you have done nothing! You sit here in your lofty chamber, sipping tea while your people suffer. You claim dominion, but when calamity comes, you do not rise.. you cower! Perhaps I am an outsider. But I am Helixian. And if you will not act, then I will."
The chamber was struck dumb. The nobles, usually brimming with arrogance, sat frozen, tongues stilled. The grand minister, who had overheard from the shadows, found his intrigue sharpened.
With no further word, Alya turned and strode from the chamber, her fury leaving the air quivering. She descended once more, fire in her veins. On the ground below, she crossed paths with Ivo, his lips curved in an enigmatic smile.
"So," he mused, voice smooth, "you abandoned your mission as well?"
Alya did not answer. Her narrowed eyes pierced him for a heartbeat, then looked away. She passed without pause. Ivo raised a brow, astonished at her indifference, his smirk fading as he watched her depart.
When Alya returned, she found Edo unchanged, still anchored to Epsilon's side, drowning in misery. She watched silently, her own heart heavy. Turning to her companions... Kaylin, Lyrien, Thane, and Lila... she spoke softly. "Let us go."
They obeyed, departing together toward the ruins of the facility where the blinding light had erupted.
The Skybolt hummed through the heavens, but within its cabin, silence reigned. Not one dared disturb the gloom. They were all burdened, haunted by Edo's despair and Epsilon's fragile state. At the helm, Alya guided the craft, her hands steady but her spirit storming.
They neared their destination when suddenly a shadow streaked across their path... an unidentified object, swift as death. The Skybolt shuddered, its controls dead. The craft halted midair, then lurched forward with unnatural force.
Panic gripped them, but there was no time to react. The Skybolt screamed through the sky and crashed into the ruins of the collapsed facility. Metal shrieked, earth shattered, yet fortune spared their lives. Kaylin and Lila emerged battered but alive.
Rising from the wreckage, they beheld a haunting sight. Before them, hovering with metallic grace, was Mot-Suna, her nanotech wings vibrating with unholy speed. And above the ruins stood a shadowed figure, cloaked in menace.
"How kind of you to come, Stellaris," the figure murmured, voice like a serpent's hiss.
Alya's wrath ignited, her voice seething. "So... it was you."
The figure inclined its head, words dripping with mockery. "But of course. I was....."
A flash. Alya vanished, reappearing before him in a storm of speed, her right arm blazing with a cannon's fury. She fired, light obliterating the air. The figure reeled, caught in the blast, yet twisted away with inhuman swiftness. In an instant, he stood beside Mot-Suna once more, gazing down at her with disdain.
"That was bothersome. You did not let me fin....."
Another flash. Alya struck again, fists ablaze with annihilation. Yet before she could release the torrent, Mot-Suna intervened.
"Antigravity," she whispered.
The air folded. Alya froze, suspended midair, her body imprisoned by invisible force.
The shadowed figure's voice boiled with venom. "You... insolent wretch. You wish to kill me so eagerly? Then allow me, at least, to speak."
The Stellaris held their ground, eyes sharp, waiting for the moment to strike.
"I am the architect," the figure declared with relish. "The one who built the robots. Shiwunki serves beneath me. It was I who unleashed the mecha titans that annihilated the Seven Shadows."
His words struck like knives.
He continued, pride dripping from every syllable. "I held Epsilon captive. A warrior of such caliber... how could I resist? I sought her DNA, her discipline, to forge the ultimate creation. But the this fool ruined all."
Mot-Suna dropped a cube. It expanded, revealing within a broken form... Vildar, torn and bleeding, his life flickering like a candle in the storm. His breath rattled, his flesh pale, death's shadow looming.
The Stellaris gasped in horror. Lyrien's voice trembled. "Brother… no…" Her anguish was a knife to the heart.
Alya's eyes widened, her breath catching. Slowly, wrath consumed her. Her gaze shifted back to the shadowed figure, and her aura darkened with violent fire.
"He infiltrated my ranks and freed Epsilon," the figure sneered. "For too long, I have carried Dr. Xypher's dream forward. The Seven Shadows stood in my way, and I erased them. Now, with all proceeding as designed, you rise to defy me You alone can halt my reign."
Alya trembled in the grip of Antigravity, her fury leaking into the world around her. Her voice thundered, each syllable a quake. "...So if I had left, Helixia would have fallen to ruin. I know not who you are, but one thing is certain... you are Helixian."
Shock rippled through them all. The Stellaris gasped. The figure stiffened.
Her voice sharpened into a blade. "I know not what torment shaped you into this. But hear me: Helixia does not destroy itself. What gives you the right to bring cruelty upon your own nation?"
Mot-Suna's hands trembled, struggling to contain Alya's overwhelming wrath. The power was immense.
Alya drew into herself, coiled like a storm, white shockwaves spiraling around her. Her eyes blazed with violet light, pupils searing like seas. With an eruption of power, she shattered her prison, unleashing a maelstrom that shook the ground. The force rippled outward, overwhelming all in its path. The shadowed figure buckled, forced to kneel by an unseen hand.
Even Alya's comrades staggered, stunned by the sight. Mot-Suna faltered, overwhelmed. And yet it was the figure's humiliation that seared deepest brought to bow before her, body betraying him.
His voice cracked, disbelief raging. "What... what was that? Why does my body kneel? As if compelled by her very essence…"
He rose, furious, his aura lashing like fire. "I brought you here to speak. But if it is battle you crave... then battle you shall have. For that insult, I will deliver war."