Polyetta already knew the outcome. Once she saw Neige shake his head, she knew there was no chance for him to accept her perfect world.

"Neige... I was so close... Then so be it, I'll do my best to stop you."

A flash of light filled the room but Neige stared at it unbothered, ready to face the consequences of his act.

"I'll do my best to stop you too, Yada."

Everyone grouped after a good night of rest, Neige stayed silent about Polyetta's visit last night, not wanting to cause a scene. The group was relieved to see that Sepide regained most of her memories, Silva even jumping on her to take her in her arms.

"Sepide! I'm so glad you're back!"

"Thanks... I missed you all too."

After this charming reunion, the members of the ship turned toward Neige, waiting for instruction from their temporary leader.

"So Neige, what now?"

"I actually don't know. Polyetta's hiding somewhere and I can't tell where. I tried but it's like she completely vanished, and we don't have much time either."

"Should we split up?" Asked Ina "Maybe it would be faster this way."

"I'm not sure, it's pretty dangerous to be alone. I think we should-"

Neige suddenly stopped and turned around, feeling something familiar.

"It's... Cinnamon! I can feel him!"

"The cat?" Asked Emely "So you should go save him before finding the leader."

"No... I think the leader is there too. I can't explain why, it's like Cinnamon is guiding us there."

Silva smirked at Neige's words, clearly amused.

"First you have voices in your head, now cats talk to you... Neige, you really lost it."

"Shut up Silva, I swear I can feel it... I think we should all go together, what do you think?"

The group looked at each other, a bit hesitant to face their former leader. Frustrated by everyone's lack of courage, Gwyn stepped up and faced everyone with a harsh expression on her face.

"She's our leader, but we're the reason she's doing it. We can't let Neige, Silva, and Sepide do all the work. As members of the Kronos, we all need to take responsibility and fight for the world we want."

"Indeed, I agree." Remiel said with a smile, leading to Emely answering as well.

"I'm always in my lab usually, but now the leader needs us to stop her from making a mistake!"

"As the Goddess of Death, I need to restore the world's balance. But as a friend, all I want is to enjoy more free and peaceful days with my friends."

Gwyn turned toward Neige with a serious expression on her face and a heavy heart.

"Neige, I know she is your friend, but Polyetta has gone too far. I'm not sure she can be saved anymore... You need to be ready for everything."

"Yes... I am."

After a few minutes to prepare themselves, the crew of the Kronos all gathered around Neige. It was the last ordeal that was standing between them and their former leader, and they were ready to face it with all their heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

A vast city stood in front of the group. The futuristic sight of the world surprised them at first but something else, more eerie was in front of their eyes. The streets were filled with ads and billboards, all showing Neige's face. It was like this whole world was only made to worship Neige and nothing else. Sepide was the first one to point out the obvious.

"There are Neige's everywhere... What is this place?"

"I think it's Polyetta's perfect world. Just like we all had a world made for us, I think it's how she imagines her perfect world."

Gwyn stared at the place with frustration, blaming herself for letting it go this far. At the end of the street they were in, a small church was standing there. The friends walked toward the holy building in the hope of finding Polyetta but all stopped when they saw Cinnamon sitting in front of them, like it was waiting for them. The cat ran toward the church, giving everyone the assurance that their former leader was indeed there. They reached the door but a golden goo appeared in front of them and took a form similar to Neige, preventing them from entering. A voice echoed in the world, the voice of Polyetta.

"Why... Why do you insist so much on struggling? I'll prevent you from making a mistake, you don't know what you're doing..."

"You're the one that doesn't understand!" Ina yelled with an unusual resolution in her voice "Life is not worth it if it's decided by someone else, it's a precious gift that we'll fight for until the end!"

"Ina... You more than anyone should understand. Life is unfair, I can create a world where no one has to die earlier than their natural way."

"Leader... Life is unfair, but living in bliss away from all problems is not the solution!" Ina stepped forward and faced the strange substance in front of her "I'll take care of it, you need to stop the leader!"

"Are you sure?" Asked Neige "We don't know what that thing is!"

"I would make a sad ruler of Life and Death if I perished here." Ina turned around and made a warm smile to everyone else "Go on, I believe in you."

Neige nodded and ran into the church along with everyone else. Despite looking small from the outside, the interior was as big as a manor. The whole church was filled with orange and black along with luxurious decorations made of gold. A stair was standing in front of them, with Cinnamon climbing them. The group tried to follow him but was instead stopped by another monster made of gold sludge in their way. The more he saw it, the more this substance reminded him of the anomaly's body. Polyetta's voice echoed in the church, tensing the atmosphere.

"It's not too late! Please, I don't want to hurt anyone."

"And I do not want to live a life where I am told what to do."

Remiel walked toward the strange matter, ready to face it.

"Remiel? You're just a robot, why would you even go against me?"

"I have experienced many feelings. There is still a lot more to feel and I cannot allow myself to stop until I live all of it. And besides, I cannot allow you to destroy the world my friends protected through sweat and blood."

"That's right! I'm proud of you Remiel!" Emely took her firearm and stood next to her robot with a proud smile "I'm not going to live in a world without all the suffering I had! They made me who I am, if I was never in danger, then my knight in shining armor never would have saved me!"

"It's insane..." Whisper Polyetta "How do you find this strength? You know how hard life is!"

Emely turned toward the rest of the group with a smile on her face and winked in Silva's direction.

"Come on brave bat! It's your time to shine now, Remiel and I will manage don't worry. And if I do get hurt, I hope you'll give me a magic kiss."

"Of course, I will my little inventor. But still, don't get hurt!"

Neige groaned a bit and looked on the side, a bit embarrassed.

"Even at the end of the world, I'm exposed to their love..."

~Come on Neige! It's cute!~

Neige smiled at Ada's words before continuing to the upper levels. The stairs were long and seemed to stretch to infinity, the crew started to think they had taken the wrong direction but became sure they were on the right tracks once one of those Neiges made of golden slime appeared. It seemed obvious that Polyetta was trying her best to stop them.

"You had a perfect life... You could have stayed in your cozy little world... so why... Why are you still fighting!?"

Gwyn stepped forward and took a small knife, ready to face their roadblock.

"I'm sorry Polyetta, I didn't have the strength to stop you before."

"You don't need to find the strength! Didn't you want to travel everywhere? You told me countless times how much you hated being a doctor!"

"I was wrong. I thought I hated being a doctor and staying in my office all day. But what I hate is being told what to do. I never cared about exploring, I never cared about saving the world, all I want is to carve my own path. I'm not scared anymore, I'm going to face the reality of our world, and you'll realize it too Polyetta! What is a perfect world if you alter your loved ones to fit your desires? Yes, I wish so many things to be different, but it's what makes my life." Gwyn slightly turned her head toward the rest of the group, with an unusual confidant smile "Neige, Silva, Sepide. Please, save Polyetta like you saved me."

Neige nodded and ran toward the top with his two friends. A long time passed until they finally reached the top of the structure. Surprisingly, they appeared to now be at the top of a tower. The moon was high in the sky, enlightening the roof where the three friends were standing. Polyetta stood in front of them, her book in one hand and her sword in the other. The only thing they could see was her back as she stared at the moon high in the sky.

"The Goddess... No, something even above chose me. I'm the one who shall create peace in this desolated universe."