When Wu was brought to this world, he had never imagined having to manage the personalities in his team just the same way he did when he was still playing basketball at Oxford. Though he should come that realize that this world never failed to surprise him.

"So...That's what happened." Lily nodded her head before sighing, "Maybe we pushed you too far on day 1?"

"No." Wu shook his head and smiled, "In higher stress situations, we tend to let more things come out. In the long run, this has to be good for us. For us to go as far as we want together, this is something we have to work through together."

"At least you have the right mindset." Yuna said, flipping the roast fish around before Shin looked it over and applied a strange purple-colored seasoning mix. A strong exotic aroma arose from the fish instantly as Wu's mouth started to water.

"Ha...yeah. I did not miss that part of..." Wu murmured, standing up and walking towards Ver and Augen who's also cooking together, "Any tips, Lily?"

"When your eyes are clouded by your own doubt and insecurities, those things became all you can see, especially in others,” Lily said.

"Thanks." Wu said, his eyes darting around as a few ideas popped into his head, "Could you...uh...help at least be our sparring partner while we take a little break from one another? To keep things sharp. You know, more of the good ol’ individual training, what Fatera wanted."

"Of course." Lily nodded, "As I said. You are all individually impressive, so it will be beneficial for my group too."

Wu nodded and smiled back at Lily, thanking her for her advice before walking towards Ver and Augen.

"Lera said she needed to cool off somewhere." Augen said, seeing Wu approaching them.

"Did you see that coming?" Wu asked, and Augen shrugged before chuckling.

"A funny question to ask a blind man." Augen said cheekily before reaching over and picking up the seasoning container given to them by Shin, "No. The fragments of the future I saw are just that, fragments. Snapshots in time. But I have trust that we will work through whatever this is."

"You just have to face these problems head-on." Ver said, her eyes locking onto Wu, "Fatera's been acting weird, and Lera's been on the edge for a little while now."

"And what about you?" Wu asked, "How are you doing?"

"Don't you worry about me." Ver smiled, "I have been taking care of myself all this time."

Wu nodded, though making a mental note to also check on Ver when all of this is over just to make sure. However, before Wu could head out towards Lera, she already returned with her hair wet and hanging over her shoulders as their eyes met.

"...I am back." Lera said, "I needed a shower. That is all."

"Lera..." Wu said, suddenly finding it difficult to talk to her when she walked right past him and sat down next to Ver, who handed her some roast fish in a bed of fresh leaves and fruits.

"I am fine, really." Lera looked back at him, her grey eyes focused and sharp, "Don't worry about me."

Fatera also returned shortly after smelling the scent of Shin's seasoning on the roast fish, and she sat down opposite Lera from the firepit. There were no words being exchanged, and though palpable and uncomfortable tension filled the air. Augen and Wu tried to get a conversation going, but only Ver's responding to them.

Lily came over soon after, explaining the arrangements of individual sparring training in the afternoon, with Fatera going with Lily, Lera going with Matty, Wu going with Yuna, Ver going with Shin, and Augen going with Braka. They each head out in a separate direction, taking one corner of the island for their training purposes.

Wu couldn't focus at all during his sparring the whole afternoon, and Yuna knocked him onto the ground, again and again, overpowering him physically whenever Wu activated his Void Domain and hoped to use it to his advantage. He could very easily blame his failings on matchups, but Yuna shot that idea down right away.

"You ain't in your right mind," Yuna said, wagging her finger and decloaking herself with the semi-transparent figure of the white tiger. She then came to Wu and reached her hand forward.

"You and Matty and Braka are close, right?" Wu asked, taking Yuna's hand and standing up, "Did you guys ever get into a fight?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"All the time." Yuna laughed, "I love beating them up. Those idiots!"

"And...that's it?" Wu asked.

"Yep, cause they know." Yuna said, pointing her finger at Wu before pressing it hard into his left chest, "They know I will always be with them until we reached the last unseen place on this world and the end of our journey."

But Fatera and Lera may not have known that. Or rather, Wu had not talked to them recently about it. Wu was not the same as Yuna, and Lera and Fatera were far from being like Matty or Braka.

"A word of advice." Yuna said, pointing herself in the head, "When feelings run hot, you might say things you never meant, or things you regret. Sometimes, those feelings of regret can hurt more than the words."

Wu nodded in understanding and was able to briefly focus on improving his individual combat, learning to react quicker and control his movements in his Void Domain Special, coming to a dead-even against Yuna with her inherent superhuman physicality by using his suit’s thrusters in the gaps within his Void Domain.

When evening comes, Wu and Yuna returned to the camp to see Braka and Augen conversing casually. Matty soon showed up, gesturing towards the beach as the sun slowly sets beyond the horizon.

"Lera's still out there."

"Thanks."

Tracking through the forest, his toes pressing the sand aside and his fingers brushing through the breeze, Wu caught onto Lera's figure in the red backdrop of sunset with the twin moons far out in the edge of the sky slipping into view. One of the Scouting Eyes twitched, and Lera turned around to face Wu as he approached.

With the sun far behind her, Wu squinted as he moved closer and closer to her. She reached a hand towards him, and started heading into the ocean as the water chilled up to her ankle. Wu started running towards her, and Lera waited. Then, she turned around and started running into the waves.

"Lera!" Wu shouted, blasting himself forward until he dived into the water next to her before she turned and splashed water all over his face.

"Got you~" Lera laughed, her hands crashing into the wave and sending jets of water into Wu's eyes. Wu screamed and turned around, his hands aimlessly flopping in the water and pushing water in her direction.

They fought in the water for a bit before finally, Wu conceded.

"Come." Lera said, grabbing Wu by the wrist and pulling him back to shore as he ran his hands through his hair, trying to push the water out from it.

"Lera. After what happened..."

"No, I will start first." Lera said, her eyes determined as she fully made up her mind, "You listen, okay? Just this time."

"Of course..."

"What Fatera said about me being weak, it's true. It's all too true." Lera said, sitting Wu down as her hand still pinned around Wu's wrist. She placed it over her soft thigh and rested her hand in Wu's, "I thought about what she had said, and she was right. I hated everything she said, but that just meant I hate everything about me."

Wu's eyes widened, and he held his breathe unconsciously.

"I...have feelings for you." Lera said, her face red yet her eyes determined, "You might know that, or you might not know. But I think...my feelings for you had begun to affect how I Cast, and how I fight...I am no longer relying on what made me strong in the first place, but rather thinking about how I can fight beside you, for as long as I can."

“Selfishly, that’s all I wanted, all I cared about. My every move felt like I was just trying to convince myself that I am good enough to be the guardian, to be besides you, to be the girl you think I am…”

"But that's not-"

"You remember what I said after that night?" Lera squeezed Wu's hand, "That we will talk about it? About us?"

Wu nodded, and Lera looked down at the ocean, her face covered by strands of her black hair.

"To get stronger, to protect you, to save this world, both of us need to develop on our own for a bit...Maybe, just maybe...a savior and his guardian getting too close is a bad idea. The reason that it never happened...it's probably because it is a bad idea." Lera said, stuttering slightly before she made up her mind, "We need to be rational about this, about all of this. My feelings for you have to be put behind us..."

Wu sat still like a statue, and his eyes started to lose focus as Lera slowly lifted her hand off Wu's.

"I was complacent, happy, and feeling comfortable because I looked strong in front of you during the Winter Wars, but in reality, I have been the same," Lera said when Wu finally had to jump in.

"You know that's not true. Strenght can be reflected in all kinds of nontangibles." Wu explained rapidly until he started speaking so fast that the words strung together, "Your poise, your control, timing of using Casts...you are getting stronger, and even I can tell that!"

"You have to stop worrying about me, and let me become the strongest version I can be on my own." Lera said, standing up slowly as the moonlight rained down over her shoulder. She wiped something off her face and turned away, "Then I will return to your side as someone that's actually capable of standing on my own, not needing to rely on your Void Domain, or rely on the others...not needing to look strong just for you, but actually be strong."

"Lera!" Wu said, standing up as Lera walked off into the shadows of the trees.

"From now on, let's just be normal. Let's just be friends, like the rest of the group." Lera said, biting onto her lips and trying to keep her voice steady. Then, she ran off into the dark and left Wu sitting along on the beach.

"Now she's done it..." Ver sighed, shaking her head before retracting the Kraken's tendril from her hands, "Maybe this break will help all of them? Even if it hurts like hell in the moment..."

Biting down onto her lips until it started bleeding, Lera ran around the island, leaving her tears in the wind as her gut wrenches and her stomach tightened.