John and Serah flew through the jungle, weaving between the trees and searching for prey. At their level, nothing short of a horror would be a challenge, so they didn’t feel threatened at all.

At least not by beasts.

Serah’s grip grew tighter the higher they flew, and John could feel her eyes only looking down instead of at the surroundings.

“Hey, I enjoy breathing,” he rasped out, hoping he wouldn’t need to put essence into his neck.

“Oh! Sorry!” She released her grip enough for him to breathe again.

“Ah, thanks. You’re scared of heights?”

“... Not usually. I think it’s just the lack of control freaking me out. I trust you, of course! But my instinct is telling me to jump off. Find firm ground.”

“Ah, no fun flying, then?” he asked, feeling a hint of disappointment. “After carrying Rain all this time, I kind of wanted to show what I can do.”

Serah hesitated, cowering slightly while they flew closely under a branch. “I… Maybe on the way back? Just let me get used to it first.”

“Sure! Do you have any way to stop yourself from falling?” he asked, thinking that would help her fears.

She nodded into his neck. “Wind or water spells can stop the momentum, but I’m not entirely confident I could use them while falling. Terminal velocity wouldn’t kill me unless I fell on a spike, though, so I guess it’s fine.”

“Yeah, once you get used to using solid essence and putting it into your armor, you probably won’t feel much. It happened to me, but even with this armor, I was relatively okay. Most of my limbs were broken, but that wasn’t because of the fall.”

“What?! What happened? When?”

“Oh, it was during the fight with the horror. After I gave the final blow, it kept coming after me, and then it used its aspect and invocation to hit me perfectly. I would be dead without this necklace.”

“... You didn’t mention that one during the talk earlier. Sounds like something best kept secret, right?”

“Oh, you don’t like me keeping secrets?” he asked smugly, knowing she didn’t have much of an argument.

She sighed lightly into his ear. “... You’re right; it’s not fun being left in the dark.”

John felt like there should have been a follow-up, but she remained silent. And so did he.

‘At least you know. But I guess that only makes your reason to stay quiet stronger…’

He looked around at the surroundings, not seeing any sign of demons. “Is there a particular spot we’re heading to? And any particular beast?”

“Not really, we’re just looking for food. But if I’m going to demonstrate my power fully, it should be a demon.”

John figured they had already hunted this area thoroughly, considering they hadn’t seen a single beast. Not even a monster. “Then would it be better if we went far away? I can travel really fast in a straight line.”

She didn’t consider his suggestion for long before replying. “We need to be able to find our way back, you know. Let’s just stay in the area.”

It was hard to say whether she said that to avoid the rapid flight or not, but she definitely had a point. Without Rain, John had no idea how to get back, or if she would be able to point them to the tree.

“... How far would– Oh! Over there!” John exclaimed, pointing at a large snake demon tucked snugly against a tree. It looked exactly like the one they had killed earlier, except the scales were much larger and had a metallic sheen.

Serah looked over and cheered once she saw it. “Great! Okay, could you take me over the trees for a while? I’m going to try fighting from your back.”

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“Why over the trees? To get more light?”

“Exactly. It’s a significant weakness of my aspect; I need light to use it. I can create light with a spell, of course, but it wouldn’t be anything like the sun. And I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to having a sun again so I can see how much it helps…”

She sounded almost melancholic near the end, so it seemed to be something she really looked forward to.

John smiled, understanding her well. “I also can’t wait to get back. I just hope we find the portal sooner than later.” He started lifting them over the treetops, giving Serah as much light as possible on this planet.

“Yep. Now look closely!”

She let go of his neck and spread her arms out, and John could see dozens of golden copies of Larang start to take shape around them. He would have loved to see it at a distance, but being in the center had to be even better.

“... It’s so cool!” John exclaimed, feeling the little kid inside him having the time of his life. He could not stop smiling, and the swords hadn’t even started moving yet.

Her arms moved together again, leading all the swords to line up in front of them, almost looking like the golden wings of an angel.

“Do you need me to get closer?” John asked, feeling like the distance was a bit large. He could barely see the snake throught the leaves.

“Shhh, just watch,” she said, and her hands fell forcefully. The swords listened obediently, flying off in a curved path toward the middle.

It was a scene of destruction. Tree branches were cut into pieces, entire trees fell to the ground, and the snake barely had time to react before it fell with them.

Although John saw some swords hitting it, it had no visible wounds, and sparks were flying. It seemed to have an aspect related to defense.

But the swords didn’t give up. Now, every sword was focused on the yellow giant, aiming for its head in particular. The snake tried biting after them as they whirred around it, but then two swords stuck themselves in its mouth.

‘Ah, of course!’

Five other swords went in front of the snake's head and pointed in a cone toward it, while every remaining sword pressed against it to keep it in place. And then the cone flew into its mouth, continuing as long as they could.

The snake stopped moving moments after, dead from its internal carnage.

Only then did John notice his mouth hanging open. He had never seen such a demonstration of power before. And Serah had used nothing but her aspect for the whole fight, not even close to the battle itself.

“... That really was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Holy shit!” John yelled while heading over to the corpse.

Serah hummed with satisfaction while returning the swords and dissipating them into nothing. “I’m glad you like it! So, do you think I could take on a horror?”

“Oh. No. Not with just that,” John replied matter-of-factly. He was impressed, but none of the attacks seemed capable of wounding a horror. It was much more suited to fighting multiple enemies at once.

“How about with that?” Serah asked, using her thumb to point behind them.

John turned Larang around and saw the most gigantic sword he had ever seen. It was easily twenty meters tall and shimmered gently in the light. But it did not look solid; it was more like a translucent shadow of a sword.

“You’re trying to impress me, huh? Well, you did! But I know that one isn’t solid.”

Serah chuckled sweetly, putting her arms tighter around his neck. “I figured you would notice. But what happens when I have enough essence for that? I imagine solid essence will be perfect for my aspect.”

He imagined the same thing, and started feeling slightly sour about his own aspect. The Aspect of Onyx fit him much better, and it was more versatile, but Serah’s aspect seemed to be on another level entirely.

He turned his head toward hers, getting dangerously close. “If anyone–”

“Hyoh!” she yelped, leaning her head away from him. “Warn me first, will you?”

“Heh, sorry,” he chuckled, turning back to the sword. “What I was trying to say was, if anyone is going to have such an incredible ability, I’m very glad it’s you. And yeah, if that sword has the weight and momentum behind it that the smaller swords have, you should be able to defeat a horror. But don’t ever underestimate them!”

The sword dissipated into fragments of light as Serah leaned closer to him again. “I won’t…”

Her voice sounded unmistakably sad as she replied, making John wonder if he said anything wrong. “... You wanna head down to the snake now?”

“Yeah, but… can you turn around one more time?” she asked, pointing behind them again.

John did as she asked, wondering if she had made something else out of light. And she had.

A small heart of light was rotating right before his eyes, leaving him speechless. It was a beautiful gesture. Serah was a romantic, but he didn’t expect her to be so bold.

“Take it,” she whispered into his ear. “It will last for as long as we’re near each other. Keep it close to your heart.”

John could feel her heart beating through his armor, and he knew she would stop him if he tried to look at her. But his own heart was beating just as hard, so he couldn’t make fun of her.

He reached out and grabbed the heart, feeling it drop into his hand. It was heavier than he expected and felt completely solid. And warm.

“... Then let’s make sure we always stay near each other. Thank you, Serah.”

Instead of replying, she simply squeezed him tighter. It was a gesture of a thousand words.