Two young girls sit at a table reading from a newspaper, while sipping coffee. One with orange tentacle like growths sprouting from her head, her mannerisms revealing her hurt, yet still young history. The other with much more normal black hair, but decorated with bright glowing blue streaks, her skin as pale as snow itself, and her eyes glowing like beacons.

The orange girl looks over to the blue one, grabbing her attention.

-√Z-

“Hey, Demi.” I say, as I look over to her. “Yeah, Rigel?” She says, as I steal away her attention for a moment. “You’ve been keeping an eye on Ryleth, right? I know it’s only been a few days, but I’ve been feeling a little homesick.” I say, causing her to look away for a nervous second… “I… I don’t know…” She says, annoying me… “We talked about this, Demi… No more lies! You promised you would tell me everything from now on.” She just stares at me, that look of anxiety on her face only granting me a feeling of uncertainty and uneasiness. “Right… I- I know… It’s just, some things have been happening, terrible things… I don’t know if you’re-” She tries to say, but I quickly interrupt her- “We have to share everything. You said it yourself, they’ll be after me. If you don’t tell me everything… Then how can we expect to survive?” I say, surprising her for a moment- “Fine. It’s your parents… They’re gone. Sirius took Pollux and Castor, they’re safe at least.” I just stare at her, as I try to contemplate the gravity… “Y-You’re joking…” I say, but she simply shakes her head… “Oh my god…” I say, as I drop my newspaper… “Your father gave himself to the kingdom. Your mother was killed by a young boy named Arigold. He’s about your age.” She says, surprising me- “W-Wait, what legendary creature could possibly stand up to my mother at such a young age?...” I ask, but she shakes her head again- “He’s not a legendary creature. He’s just Human. I don’t know how he was able to defeat her, but he did it seemingly effortlessly. She didn’t stand a chance… As for the kingdom, they elected a new Queen. It’s your old friend Forma- Or Formatia now.” She says, causing me to slam my fist into the table in rage! “That bitch!!! She pretends to be my friend, then stabs me in the back! I’ll kill her-” I shout, but Demi quickly interrupts me- “Rigel, your rage-” She says, causing me to calm down… “Right, thanks… I can’t believe Forma… She never even tried, and now she’s taken my home…” I say, as I rest my head in my arms on the table. “She was chosen by your Mother, if it means anything. Besides, now you no longer have any lingering attachments to it. Even your brothers no longer live in Ryleth. I guess what I’m saying is, you’re more free than you ever were, for everything it means…” She says, causing me to just turn my head and look at her again… “I guess that’s SOMETHING… I just… I can’t believe they’re gone… I’m still coming to grips with what my mother did in the first place… And now she’s gone… I guess I just don’t know WHAT to think anymore… I’m really gonna’ miss Dad, no more sports… Or games, or anything ever…” I say, as I rest my back on the chair again, as I look to the sky and contemplate my position now… “I wish there was something I could have done for them… I knew Arigold was powerful, but I never thought he was capable of even this… I’m so sorry, Rigel…” She says, as she pities me… “Thanks, Demi…” I say, as I continue to lie limply against the chair…

“We should probably get going. There’s androids on their way right now.” I quickly sit up and pull myself off of the chair. “Let’s go then.” I say, causing her to appear next to me, and nod. We quickly run off, waving at friendly strangers every now and then. We finally pass the city borders, but Demi is only getting more nervous by the second. “They’re somehow catching up with us-” She says, surprising me- “Seriously?! We’re moving as fast as we can!” I shout, but one of the aforementioned androids appears from the forest anyways! It’s propelled by these weird looking thrusters where its arms and legs should be- It spots us, and suddenly fires multiple lasers at me! I create multiple tentacles, and they take the shots for me. As we rush past the dust, we find that the android has disappeared- “Above us!” Demi shouts, as she suddenly throws herself at me, surprising me again- “Ah-” I unintentionally say, as we roll on the ground, and Demi’s leg suddenly turns into a large rifle! The Android crashes into the area where we were running, but not before Demi got a shot in. It slowly climbs out of the small crater, as mechanical limbs unfold and lock into position. “It’s a scout hunter, one of the fastest drones in Neotopia’s arsenal.” She says, as she backs us away. “If this guy’s here, his hunter squad can’t be far behind! I was wondering how this thing was so fast-” Demi says, before suddenly disappearing again.

The Android suddenly dashes towards me, but Demi slams its head into the ground, and blasts it multiple times with an arm rifle! “Rigel, I don’t have enough power to kill these things, I need you to crush it!” She shouts, and I quickly comply. I wrap my tentacles around it, and tear its limbs apart! “Good job!” She shouts, and quickly picks me up- “Let’s go!” She shouts, before blasting off into the sky with me. “Sadly that Hunter squad is usually outfitted with a repair droid or two! So any damage we do won’t be lasting! We should probably also expect more on the way!” She shouts over the rushing wind, as we soar into the distance.

A little while later, we finally landed in the next town. “Are you sure you’re not being tracked or something, Demistar?” I ask, as we start walking around. “Absolutely certain, I would definitely know if there was some sort of tracker on me- Oh, what should we get for lunch- But yeah, I would have destroyed any and all trackers by now. It must be the orbiting ring that monitors all of Orion…” She says, surprising me with the random question. “Is ANYWHERE safe then?” I ask, as we stare at each other. “It’s not perfect. But it doesn’t need to be, Lian and Liyoxis can see us with their powers. They’ll always know where we are, the orbiting ring just helps them direct their androids.” She says, making me face the grim reality of my future… “So we’ll always be on the run…” I say, as I sit down on a bench… “I really never WILL get to live… I’ll only be able to survive… Is there really no way to stop them?” I ask, as I slowly turn to look at her…

She slowly shakes her head in resignation. “No. This is our life for now, Rigel… Maybe someday, they might find some sort of future where we can live together… Your prolonged existence for some reason leads to that undesirable future, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up… Maybe a sandwich?” She asks, causing me to simply nod and wave it off. “Fine, whatever, Sandwiches. Focus, Demi.” I say, trying to get back on track- “Right, sorry… That undesirable future supposedly leads to the end of the world. I asked them, but they said it would be safer to not elaborate on it. Something about this flood? I don’t know- Anyways, because of that, we have to run for now, until we’re strong enough to hold off the androids. Thanks to you being a Kraken, you’ll at least be as strong as your mother some day, so it hopefully won’t take too long.” She says, as we make our way through town. “Really… They’re absolutely certain that me being alive is what does the world in?” I ask, surprising her… I guess you didn’t want to think about it either… “Yeah, I find it hard to believe too. But I love you more than anything in the world, Rigel. So I’d gladly do anything for you.” She says, making me feel a little better… “Thanks Demi, that actually made me feel a little better about this whole situation. You wanna go have fun, while we still have time?” I ask, as we enter into a prepared goods shop. “Yeah, alright. What should we go do?” She asks, as we look at the surprising selection...

“Man, actually, I could make a game out of staring at these sandwiches, I’ve never seen such a variety...” I say, making her laugh, as I stare at all of the sandwiches through the glass. “Come on, hahah- I guess you never got out of Ryleth often. Breaded goods like this wouldn’t stay too nice underwater either. What would you like?” She asks, as the nicely displayed sandwiches sit there… I point at the most expensive looking one, and look back at her- “Are you sure? I mean, I can afford it… But it kinda’ looks weird.” She says, causing me to give it a double take- “Yeah, actually, I think you’re right… I think I see crab claws sticking out of it… Honestly, I could do without fish for a while… I mean, they’re nice, and as a Kraken I can’t help my instincts… But when you’ve eaten so much fish and crab, you kind of get REALLY tired of the taste.” I say, surprising her. “Yeah, you’re right. I think that’s a species of spider crab… I could never eat one of those… I heard they taste really good though!” She says, surprising me, since I’ve never actually had spider crab before… “Ah… Well, let’s just get this one.” I say, as I point at this sandwich with a bunch of different meats. “Yeah, alright.” She says, before we walk over to the counter.

We exit the shop, halfway unwrapped sandwiches in hand. I take another bite into my lunch, as Demi speaks up. “Let’s go see if we can find something to do. I’d advise against making friends, it’s hard enough coming to terms with the consequences of my actions… Although, I would hate to keep you from living your life… What do you think?” She says, before she starts on her own sandwich. “Maybe they have a park around here. I want to at least be able to look them in the face, if I’m really gonna’ be what brings the end of the world…” I say, causing her to simply shrug and agree. “Alright, I guess it’s at least a noble thing for you to do- I found one, come on.” I thank her, and we quickly move onto the park, finishing our sandwiches on the way there.

We finally arrive, and look around. There’s a few kids here and there, mostly human of course, but I can see at least a few Demihumans are muddying the water, and just one mythical demihuman. It seems this place is still small, my parents taught me that a trick to tell how far a civilization has developed, is by measuring the existence of diversity in public areas much like this. Of course, I could be wrong, I would probably need a larger array of samples to properly judge this town via the method- “Rigel, you there?” I blink in an awakening of awareness before I realize Demi’s been waving her hand in front of me. “Ah- I blanked out for a moment. I was thinking about something, sorry.” I say, as I nervously rub the back of my head.

Demi just giggles at me, and slaps my back, surprising me- “Well come on girl, we don’t have all day, Let’s have some fun!” I simply nod, and we walk up to some kids we spotted on some sort of spinning wheel. One of them turns around to look at us, surprised by my hair. “Your hair’s weird.” He says, catching the attention of the others. “Oh dang, her hair IS weird! Is she a Demihuman?” Another asks, surprising me- “Oh, no I’m not.” I say, surprising them all with the fact that I could speak. “You made that yourself? Can you teach me how to do it?” A girl in a pink dress asks, but I simply shake my head. “No, sorry. I’m not a human either. I’m a Kraken.” I say, causing them all to step back- “What’s wrong?” I ask, but they continue to inch backwards… “Like, the legendary creature? The ones that wiped out the Megas?” My eyes widen, but before I can speak up, Demi does so instead, surprising me. “No-no-no! Listen, that was Queen Regelask, the fallen ruler of Ryleth. This is Vega, she’s a pacifist, and al my best friend!” Demi says, as she hugs me. “Ah, y-yeah, I’m Vega. Sorry about the scare.” I say, as I nervously try and follow Demi’s lead. “Well, okay. But is it true, are krakens really born with great strength? Why aren’t you a giant squid?” One of the boys asks, stars in his eyes. “Oh, I can transform, but I turn into an octopus, not a squid. And well, we’re not really born very powerful, but we DO grow into it very quickly.” I say, as they stare in awe, completely believing me. “Really?! Could you lift this boulder for us? It rolled down from a nearby mountain, and landed over there a little while ago!” The little boy says, pointing at the aforementioned boulder.

Yeah, it’s a little buried, surrounded by freshly unearthed ground around it... Must have fallen there. Did someone toss it? “Ah, I see… I guess I could. How come you haven’t gotten a grownup for this? I ask, as I turn to look at the group again. “Oh, we didn’t want to bother them, and were hoping one of them would just walk over and move it for us when they noticed. We tried moving it… Yeah…” I look over at it, and notice some lines in the dirt where they tried to move it. The ground must’ve given way, causing them to give up. “I’ll do it!” I shout, after patting myself on the chest!

“Wait just a minute-” Demi says, surprising me- “I’ve been analysing it for a while now… You think you can break it in half, Vega?” I look at Demi, then the boulder, then back at Demi again. I nod, and she simply gestures for me to do so, and thus I do. I walk up to it, stretch my arm a little, and slam my balled up fists into it, fracturing and nearly splitting it- “Yay!” The children cheer, as I slam my fist into it again! And with that , the rock falls apart into two halves, split right down the middle, revealing it’s actually a massive geode of crystals! “As I suspected, a geode! Precious geodes like this are what have been funding this town since its conception. I’ll be sure to have a word with the people tossing around these things all willy nilly.” She says, as she runs her hand over the surface where the outside converges with the inside. “How’s that work? Couldn’t they just make crystals with mana?” I ask, but she simply shakes her head. “No, that’s what people call: ‘Fool’s Fortune’ You see, the chemical structure of a crystal like that, is perfect, and far more pure than it would be via natural formation. Anyone can learn to replicate gold, or a crystal. But you can’t fake the genuine stuff like this.” She says, as she pulls out a crystal, and shows it to us. “I’ll be having a word with safety practices around here. I imagine one of the workers must have gotten lazy, and thought they could just toss this thing. I’m guessing their aim was a little off…” She says, as she sits atop the geode, staring directly at the Crystal…

“You know a lot about this stuff!” I call out to her, grabbing her attention again. “Ah… Yeah, I guess. I know a lot about everything thanks to having access to Neotopia’s info storage.” She says, as she climbs down from the geode. “Wow, you’re a robot?” One of the girls asks. She’s a Brown Bear Demihuman. “Yeah. I’m Demistar of Neotopia.” She says, easily amazing the children. “Wait, I’ve heard of you. You’re supposed to be really advanced. Couldn’t a machine like you replicate crystals with those faults?” One of the older boys says, as he folds his arms. “Oh, well, it’s still against the law. Not that people didn’t try, most Mineralogists can tell when something is suspicious with a rock. At that point they would ask where they got the gem, and move on to find out that it was faked. Happens to rookies all the time.” She says, surprising everyone again. “Okay… So you’re a Robot?” The other kid asks, as they all stare at us. “Yep. Pretty cool right? I can perform almost any function with this body, and I can process info thousands of times faster than any living creature. Aside from my creators of course, but they’re like, the most powerful people in the world anyways. So what’s your guys’ names?” She asks, making them all realize they never gave us their names.

One of the older girls steps forward, and speaks up. “I’m Sonia! This is my little sister Gerscal, and this is Martin, Faln, Voliya, and finally Zaq.” She says, as she introduces her friends one by one. “I like Blastsurfers!” Zaq says, making the others giggle… He’s a normal human boy, neat. “You like anything else?” Demistar asks, her curiosity peaked. “Nope!” He says, as the boy stares at us with a big smile. “Yeah, Zaq’s weird. But he also knows a lot about blastsurfers.” She says, making me curious. “What’s a blastsurfer?” I ask, surprising them. “She doesn’t get out much…” Demistar says, with a sigh. “Blastsurfers are large underground vehicles that surf along Dirails. They’re pretty cool, you should ask Zaq, if you’re interested in the individual blastsurfers themself.” Sonia says, as she introduces us to the enigma that is Zaq. “So is Zaq short for something?” Demistar says, surprising the children. “Oh, we never asked, Zaq just always gave everyone the same answer.” Voliya says, as everyone looks at him. “Hey Zaq, you got a full name?” She asks, causing him to think to himself for almost minutes. “Zaquaral! I like Blastsurfers!” The young boy says, as he throws his hands in the air in celebration of even mentioning his favorite thing. “He’s seen a doctor right?” Demistar asks, before leaning in and whispering in one of the other’s ears- “I don’t want to be rude, but… Does he have a disability?” She says, surprising them. “We’re not sure. Once again, he usually just talks about his favorite thing. I’ve known him the longest, but once again, it’s all he talks about.” Voliya says, as she begins to realize just how weird her friend is.

Faln raises his hand in front of his chest- “What should we do with the boulder? It’s still there, and we kind of wanted not here anymore.” He asks, as he points his thumb at the boulder behind him. “Right, come on Vega, we should leave anyways. I wasn’t able to make as much distance this time. Plus, I could probably sell it to a geologist, or maybe a jeweler.” She says, as she walks back over to me, earning curious looks from the children. “Right, good idea. It was nice meeting you guys.” I say, as I wave at them with a smile, while also picking up the two halves of the giant geode.

They wave back at me, as Demi and I quickly depart. “Right, you said you were going to have a word with the miners?” I ask Demi, surprising her, as I surprise passersby with my strength. “Ah, I already have. You see, I can separate my body into multiple forms, and then just move some mass around. Of course, this weakens me considerably-”

-I stop her-

“Demi… I… I don’t know about this…” I say, surprising her… “What do you mean?” She says, as I look around at the people going about their daily lives… “At first… I thought I wanted to live, Demi… But I’m not so sure now. What right do I have to ruin this world’s future, just for my own?” I say, her expression slowly growing more and more concerned… “Rigel, you never got a childhood. It’s my fault you never did, it’s on me for giving you this future. I reap what I sow… And if I had the chance to do it all again, I would. You’re the most precious thing in my life, Rigel.” She says, but I simply shake my head, as we finally pass through the outskirts of the town. “Isn’t that a little selfish though, Demi?” I say, surprising her. “This isn’t about you, Demi. I love you too, Demi. But this is the world we’re talking about… What makes my life worth anymore than theirs?” I say, but it only seems to get worse… “Rigel, no… I’m sorry if it came out a little selfish… Listen, Rigel… You didn’t ask for this, you never got a childhood. Only a few years after you were born, it was I that taught you that your life isn’t worth living… Now it is, and you deserve to live it, just as much as everyone else deserves to live theirs.” She says, as she hugs me… “Alright… I… Alright. I trust you, Demistar.” I say, as I give her a melancholic smile…

We find ourselves in the next town, it’s bustling with activity, it must be a satellite settlement to one of the major countries. “Welcome to Salvicity! It’s a satellite city to the celestial college, it was co-founded by the Great Owl himself! Nowadays it provides precious jewelry to the college for enchanting and educational purposes. Another reason why gems like the ones we acquired are so precious, is that they grow from the ancients themselves, who’s mana is so dense and potent, that their gems and crystals can enhance the power of enchantments.” She says, as I stare in speechless awe at the volume of this city’s history and success… “Yep, it’s pretty impressive. Let’s see if we can’t get someone to take a look at our geode.” Demi says, as the stares begin to return-

“Excuse me, miss, but is that a Geode by chance?” A young looking man says, as he stares at it. “Yeah, what about it?” Demistar says, with a threatening tone. “Now-now calm down tiger. I just wanted to offer to take such a heavy rock off yer’ little friend here’s hands, see? Of course, I would lovingly replace it with something that you all might find a little more financially beneficial.” He says, but Demistar refuses to lose focus. “Who are you?” She says, causing him to simply tip his hat. “I’m Volgskartin. What may I call you two?” He says, as he continues to simply smile at us… “I’m Demi, this is Rigel. How much are you offering?” Demi asks, as I stare at the two of them go back and forth. “Ah, it’s nice to meet you. Moving on... I still need’a confirm the quality of the gems within. If you’d be willin’ to humor me, I could have my brother look at the gems.” Demistar’s eyes squint a little more, but she nods anyways. “Alright, fine.” She says, causing him to lightly clap. “Wonderful! Quickly now, we wouldn’t want to be followed by any prying eyes!” He says, before we quickly walk away.

We arrive at a building with two doors, one nice and pristine, the other large and bulky. Volgsk quickly walks in after telling us to wait out here. “Are you sure this is safe, Demi?” I ask, as we stare at the two doors. “It’s fine, I have clones posted on the rooftops, charged and ready to fire at anything that would even dare THINK about attacking us.” She says, as she points a few of them out to me.

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The large door begins to open, Volgsk standing right behind it. “Please come in my friends, meet my brother.” He says, as he quickly steps to the side, permitting us entry. “Good lord, Volg. Why have you brought two children into our home? Here you had me thinkin’ we’d gotten a good deal.” His brother says, as he stares at us with a disappointed look. “Don’t mind him, Girls, he’s just grumpy because he’s lazy and I just woke’im up.” He says, as he points to a large opening in the ground to place the geode. “Oh shut up Volg. I’m Grimstole. You?” He asks Demi, as she simply stares at him. “Demi, and that’s Rigel-” His eyes widen- Uh oh… “Wait, Rigel as in, from the news?” He says, as he looks over at me… “Something wrong, Grim?” Volg asks, as he tears his attention away from the shiny rocks inside the geode. “Now you’ve literally brought a CRIMINAL, Volg! What the hell are you trying to pull here?!” He shouts, as he points at me- “What, this little kid? What could she have possibly done?” He says, as Demistar suddenly appears in front of me- “We’re not criminals you idiot! Rigel here has literally never done anything wrong in her life! It’s not her fault!” She shouts, as the two men stare at us… “Please leave now, I don’t want anything to do with you. I’m trying to run a business here.” He says, but Volg quickly steps in- “Dude, look at this thing! It’s huge!” Volg says, causing Grimst to walk over and take a look… “Fine, I’ll take a look. But if it’s fake, I’m calling the authorities.” He says, as he climbs down and takes a closer look at it, slightly nudging the large boulder as he stares into its gemstones…

“It’ll take him a while. Why do you two come sit down while we wait? I don’t watch the news as often as my brother does, but I still can’t imagine you two are criminals.” Volg says, as he guides us to a couch to rest on. “So how’d you get yourselves into such a predicament?” He asks, as he raises an eyebrow, while sitting on a chair next to the nice couch. “It’s complicated.” I say, as I look away… “Try me. I once again find it impossible. You definitely don’t seem like you’re from around here, but you’re both very well dressed. And once again, you two are just kids, I doubt you could even get yourselves into this much trouble. Who’s been bothering you? I’m sure if we get the authorities involved, and get a proper investigation going, then we could really get to the bottom of this, and lock away whatever monster would think to do this.” He says, surprising us… “It’s not that… We can’t just… Please, let’s just get this over with. We appreciate it, but there’s not much you can actually do. I know it’s frustrating, but please consider how we feel… And try to not make our lives any harder than it already is.” Demi says, causing him to simply nod in resignation.

A few hours later, Grimstole returns, and simply nods. “I’ve checked everything, it’s genuine. I don’t know where you two got your hands on a geode of this size, but it’s definitely real. I’ll buy it for a fair price… How’s 40% sound? 20% of the profits has to go to extracting the gemstones, preparing them, and sending them off to the college to help prepare the adventurers of the future. I hope you can understand why I’m only giving you half.” Demistar simply nods, telling me I can calm down. I sigh. “Sounds good. Be sure to message me once you have our money. I’ll know if you’re lying.” She says, before we both stand up and leave, to find a place to stay for the night.

We finally get into our rooms in the hotel, and finally lie down… “FINALLY… We can lie down…” I say, as I rest on the one bed in the room. “How about you, Demi? Where are you going to sleep?” I ask, as she just leans against the wall. “I’m good, I’m a robot. Remember? I guess if I wanted, I could lie down and close my eyes for a while, but I wouldn’t be sleeping. I’ll keep watch, in case any of the androids arrive. You can just sleep, I’ll protect you.” She says, and I decide to simply climb under the covers. I guess I’ve trusted her this long…

. . .

A young girl sits atop the roof of a simple hotel, her legs dangling over the side, as she watches the clouds, stars, and floating islands that pass and decorate the night sky, illuminated by the bright colorful moons that both orbit the planet and themselves...

-√D-

Robin… I stand up, and blast off the roof, flying through the sky as my body begins to grow in size until I’m at my proper height. I land in the forest, and instantly deflect a bullet! “Hey kiddo!” Robin says, as she walks out of the bushes. “You’re not gettin’ your hands on her, so go home Robin. Chase us all you like, but we’ll never be caught.” I say, slowly deflating that grin... “Jeez, am I not allowed to talk to my little sister?” She says, as she scratches the back of her head. “We’ve been fighting for days now, and we STILL ARE! What do you think?!” I exclaim, as she more nervously tries to calm me down! “Hey~ Hey~... Come on Demi, I know, I’m just following orders. Please calm down.” She says, as I stare at her. “Whatever. It’s not like you’d get past me anyways.” I say, as our clones continue to clash in a thirty kilometer radius outside of the city.

“Yeah, maybe…” She says, before slicing me in half- I reform and kick her head off! “Bitch!” I shout, but her head appears back in its spot, and she bounds backwards! “Just come home you fool! Finish her off, and come home! Liyoxis is already considering allowing orbital bombardment! Why must the world be punished for the life of one little girl?!” She shouts, as I approach her, and dodge multiple laser blasts! “I don’t care!” I shout, as I run her head through on a pike! “You’re my sister! Why don’t you care?!” She shouts, as I tear her head from her shoulders and toss it into and through multiple trees! “You can’t be serious about this! He’ll glass a fucking city!” She runs me through my stomach with her sword, the long blade still forming in front of me… “I said I don’t care!” I shout, as my body begins to glow, and I start shredding her into ribbons! “She never asked for this! Why should she suffer, because they can’t find a future for her?!” I shout, as she quickly reforms and tears my arm off! “Because the world will be destroyed! They’ve been preparing for years now, you’re putting the life of one girl, over the lives of the world! You can’t be serious!” She shouts, as I dash backwards, and move my arm back into position- “He can glass the world for all I care!” I shout, as I hit her with a powerful wave of energy that destroys her body!...

She appears behind me… “Dick move, Demi.” She says, as her new body walks up from the bushes. “Why are you still trying?” I ask, as I turn around to look at her. “Because I want to live, Demi. And so does everyone else. She’s sleeping, right? If you let her go peacefully, then we wouldn’t have to fight anymore… Liyoxis won’t let me shut you down, he doesn’t want to do that to you again… He cares about you, Demi… So PLEASE… Please let her die peacefully, and stop prolonging this. Listen, Demi, you and her will die anyways if you go down this path… You love her, and I get it… Liyoxis didn’t want me to tell you this, but I think he knows there’s no avoiding it. If you wish to die with her, Demi, then I’ll honor your decision, and I’ll remember you AND her. You don’t have long left, until you reach the point of no return. You’re right, I can’t stop you. I’m not strong enough to reach her, and Liyoxis would rather kill the poor girl, than risk you. So you have a decision to make, either you go with her, or you let us finish her off…” She says, as we slowly return to our normal forms… “I know it’s wrong, Robin… I’d do it in a heartbeat, if there was an alternative… I’ll… I’ll think about it…” And with that, I depart. I quickly soar through the air, returning to salvicity and Rigel…

-√Z-

I pick myself up off the bed, as I wake up and walk around in the newly sterilized rooms, until I reach the kitchen, finding a large set of dishes, all prepared and set out on the dining table… “D-Demi?” I ask, as I look around… “Right here!” She announces, as she cooks in a maid’s dress… “Sorry if the spread is a bit much, I got kind of bored, so I decided to make dinner before you woke up!” She says, as I look at the seemingly sterile room… “Did you do some cleaning?” I ask, as another Demi appears around the corner, in the same dress, with their hands formed into weird cleaning tools- “That would be me~! I decided to do some cleaning~!” She calls out, as she leans towards me from a pillar in the middle of that room… “Demi, this is a hotel…” I say, making her realize what she’s been doing… “Oh yeah. Once again, I’ve just been bored. I figured I’d do some nice cleaning.” She says, as I run my hand on the wall, and the dirt and dust I’d built up from yesterday suddenly spreads on it… “I feel like I’m in an emergency room…” I say, as she quickly cleans it… “Go ahead and take a bath, I have it ready and preheated to your liking with a nice change of clothes, and three towels to dry yourself off with.” She says, as she shows me to the bathroom…

We find ourselves heading outside, Demi and I dressed in our new clothes. “So where’d you get these?” I ask, as I observe my new apparel. A nice top with thin “A clothes store obviously. You’ve not really worn much aside from your cute dresses, so I figured it would be a nice change of pace, to go with your change of scenery.” She says, causing me to look at the thin yet tall buildings that surround us, populated heavily with people and enough vehicles to require road management. “Well, they’re very nice, and comfortable.” I say, as I adjust them a little. “Glad to hear. Come on, we’re almost there.” She says, before we begin to run towards Mr. Grimst’s place.

We finally arrive, but find Volgsk standing outside looking for something- He spots us, and rushes over! “Quickly, hide.” He says, as he pulls us behind a tree- “What’s going on?!” I ask, as he suddenly covers our mouths- “Be quiet, he’s still in there. Whoever’s after you hired a bounty hunter. Grimst is dealing with him right now, just stay here, I’ll tell you when it’s safe to come out.” He says, causing us both to simply nod.

After a while, the supposed bounty hunter finally exits the building, it’s some sort of skeleton, wearing weird clothes. “Oh my god, that’s Skall… They sent HIM after us?...” Demi whispers, as I turn to see a horrified look on her face…

I turn back, he’s wearing some sort of scaly coat, most likely dragon scales… He has a belt that says: “El Rey Dorado” He’s wearing a large stetson, as his spurs break the concrete below him. “Oh I’ve broken SO MANY BONES, kid! Now you have a good day, and don’t make one of your bones one of my numbers… Got it?” He says, causing Grimst to simply nod, before he tips his hat and leaves.

As the bounty hunter rounds the next corner and disappears from sight, Grimstole sighs heavily, and sits down on a bench with Volg… “You two can come out now!” Volg announces, causing us to quickly climb out of the bushes.

We walk over to the two brothers, Demi frantically looking out for the bounty hunter, while I only wear a confused look on my face. “Jeez kid, what’d you do to get a guy like that huntin’ for ya’?” Volg says, as we approach him… “I didn’t do anything…” I mutter under my breath, before Demi speaks up… “I didn’t think they’d send a bounty hunter! Especially someone like him…” She says as she quickly looks around one more time. “The world’s greatest bounty hunter, after two kids… What the hell are you not telling me?” He says, but we both simply look away.

Demi sighs, and looks at them. “We can’t. Okay? Let’s just get this deal over and done with. Our money?” Demi asks, as she continues to stare at them. “Right, it’s on a separate bank account, I’ve got the code-” -Demi interrupts- “Done. We’ll be going now. We’d love to stay, but Skall will certainly-” Demistar herself is suddenly interrupted by something-

Demistar looks in a seemingly random direction, then speaks up again… “He just blew up the hotel we were staying in… He’ll be on top of us soon, Rigel, we have to go now.” Demistar says, before we suddenly disappear-

...

We appear in a forest, the city nowhere in sight- “Wh-Where are we?” I ask, as I turn to look at Demi… “We’re on Pangaia now, I don’t think Skall was able to follow us…” Demistar says, as she quickly looks around… “Wait, you mean the ancient?! How the hell would he have followed us?! Who the fuck is he?!” I exclaim, as she continues to secure the area…

She finally stops, and turns to look back at me. “He’s known as Eternal Skall. He’s well known for his tenacity and unpredictability. I’ve even heard rumors that he’s indestructible, but that’s here-say, so I’m not entirely sure.” She explains as we lean against a tree. “His name is familiar, but I was never really interested...” I say, as we stand up again, to move on.

We continue into a new city… “Welcome to the Crying City! It’s another satellite city, but it’s a very crucial one to the success of the Grand Church that’s held within Valhalla. Supposedly, you could meet the gods themselves, if you could find your way there to begin with. Sadly though, nobody knows where it is, and the current world power won’t tell anyone. Aside from those of whom have completed the trials of course. I’ve personally never been interested, but Lian said she met them.” She says, overexplaining as she does…

The Crying City is a lot like home, actually. Just more open… It’s constantly raining, and the roads are covered in puddles that seemingly mimic the hanging roads of Ryleth… “You know, your religious background could be very helpful here. Maybe someday you could even meet that god of yours.” Demi says, somewhat surprising me… “Ah, the Great Old One. Maybe… I doubt it though, he’s recognized as a bit of an outlier, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m almost a heretical presence here, for believing in him.” I say, surprising her. “Shit, I had no idea. I don’t have much info on religion in the first place. I should definitely educate my database for future reference.” She says, her internal programming beginning to shine through again.

We walk past fountains, canals, and even aqueducts, just like Ryleth… “Demi, I’m feeling kind of homesick…” I say, as we pass by many different creatures of all shapes and sizes, the aquatic ones instantly reminding me of the people I had left behind… “Ah, I guess that’s only natural, what with Ryleth being a heavy inspiration during the creation of this city. Once again, I’m surprised you haven’t at least heard of this place.” She says, as we continue to simply explore the city…

I look at her, as she walks forwards, her eyes happily closed yet her sight unimpaired. “So what should we do now? We’re pretty far from the androids that were chasing us. We won’t have anything to worry about for at least a week.” I say, as I rest the back of my head in my hands. “That’s a good question. I was just so happy to be out of the heat, I guess I just kind of want to rest. Let’s go sit down at the park, and enjoy our time.” I agree with her, and we decide to hasten our pace, as to not waste our break from the attacks.

We arrive at the park, and walk over to a bench to sit down, as the rain begins to let up into a light drizzle. “So how DID we teleport anyways? I was so distracted, I forgot to ask…” I say, surprising her. “Right! It’s an experimental ability of mine, I’m still working on it. It’s a long range teleport, it was supposed to be used for the general’s drop troopers, but now it’s being used for this. Currently, I’m trying to enhance its efficiency, so it can be used with smaller troops. Problem with that though, is that I’ve had to use all of my processing power trying to deal with my sister.” She says, as she starts teleporting random rocks around us.

A rock hits me in the head, and falls down my shoulder. “Ah- Demi-” I say, as I turn to look at her snickering… “Gotcha~!” She says, annoying me… I lean over, pick up a rock- “Good one…” I say, before I toss it straight through her stupid head! “D-Demi-” I quietly exclaim, as her head is blasted to pieces- It suddenly reforms, and she stares at me in surprise… “Nice shot. Sorry if that scared you, I can reform destroyed pieces of my body, so I’m basically invincible.” She says, surprising me…

I calm down, and rest against the back of the bench. “Man, I kind of wish I was like you, now.” I say, as I stare into the nice sky, as small drops of rain land around us- The rain suddenly holds still… As though time had stopped... “No… They wouldn’t dare…” Demi says, as she quickly stands up- “Rigel, we have to get out of here, it’s Liyoxis and Lian, they’re attacking us.” She says, before she scoops me off the bench, and blasts off!

We soar through the air, her stealth abilities beginning to cloak us. We land about a mile outside of the city, just before Demi’s arm falls off, causing her to drop me- “D-Demi?” I ask, as I land on my feet, and pick myself up… “I’m fine, this body is almost out of energy, I’ll call in another one-” She says, before suddenly disappearing, and reappearing behind me. “Are you good?” I ask, causing her to simply nod…

The rain stops again, and we begin to float into the air, held in place with it- “No- No! Liyoxis, stop this!” Demi shouts, before suddenly grabbing and flying away with me- “Demi, how are they doing this?!” I ask, as we soar just above the ground- “Not now, Rigel, it’s taking everything I have to resist them-” She says, as her body begins to melt again… “Demi…” I say, before she suddenly disappears again, and drops me-

I skid against the dirt, until I find myself in front of Demi again… “What?....” I ask, as I begin to slowly make sense of what’s happening in front of me… We begin to float again- “You can’t have her-” Demi screams, as her arm suddenly turns into a large gun, and she throws it back, aiming at a Man and a Woman, both of whom are surprised to see us- “Demistar, you have mere hours until there really IS no turning back!” He shouts, as he slams his fist against the desk, but Demi fires a powerful bullet, destroying the protective glass dome…

I stand up and look around, we’re- Oh my god… I stand up to stare at the thousands and thousands of stars that litter across the sky- “A-Are we in space?!” I shout, as my eyes dart around… “Demi, no! This can’t end well like this, just come home! I refuse to let you end the world, for one girl!” Liyoxis shouts, as the last of the oxygen escapes the room… “This isn’t fair! It’s not fair! I hate you!” Demi shouts, as an energy barrier now covers the room, while she fires at the two of them, unable to hit them… “I’ll kill you!” She shouts, yet every shot misses their mark… “Demi, we have to get out of here!” I shout, as I grab and surprise her!

. . .

They teleport. The two girls find themselves surrounded by stone and darkness, the only light afforded to them being from the pale young girl… “Demi?...” The girl with orange hair asks her friend, as they sit down and stare into each other’s eyes… “Yes, Rigel?” Demistar says, a broken yet hopeful look on her face… “I love you, Demistar…” Rigelask says, as she leans in to hug her… “I get it now, I understand what you’ve been going through for me this entire time!” She shouts, surprising Demistar… “Wait, what-” She says, but she’s quickly interrupted by her friend’s screaming. “No, it’ll be okay, Demi! I never thought about it until now! You fought for me, you brought me on adventures, you did everything you could for me! Because you understood me, better than anyone! That night, you would have killed me!…” She shouts, her words echoing against the walls of the cave, as though they were painting the blank canvas that now protects them.

Rigel continues to embrace her closest friend, while their emotions run wild, leaving them motionless and powerless to stop her… “You knew all that time, you could have pitied me from afar, but you decided to give me everything you had…” She says, as she holds herself up to stare Demistar in the eyes again. “You would have thrown away the life you once knew, just to spend the rest of it with me… Demi, your life is so much more precious to me than I ever realized… You need to let me go, they’re right… The world shouldn’t die for me…” She continues, as Demistar continues to try and process all of her emotions…

“Your love for me, Demi, it can’t help me stay… This is how it was destined to be, it’s how it was foretold by Liyoxis and Lian, just as you said… I beg of you, Demistar! If I have to give my life to anyone, then I want it to be YOU!” She says, as Demistar begins to finally look at her… “Are you sure?” Demistar asks, already knowing the answer, yet still waiting for Rigel’s simple nod…

The two girls stand, Demistar ignites her blade, and turns to look at Rigel… “So that really was the light I had seen… I’m ready.” Young Rigelask says, before turning around and closing her eyes, her hands held together…

The young girl falls into Demistar’s arms, her lifeless body peacefully resting in Demistar’s embrace… “RIGEL!!!” She screams, as she falls to her knees. Her body begins to melt, along with the rest of them, unable to keep themselves together, as her emotions run wild inside of her core…

A little while later, Demistar emerges from the cave, her body fully assembled, as she carries her dearly departed friend… She finds herself standing before the world powers Liyoxisloragram and Lianlovloragram. “So you really did it…” Liyoxis says, as Demistar stares them down… “I have a coffin ready for her.” He says, before standing up and walking over to Demistar with his wife. “It’s on its way now. After what we did to Ryleth, her coffin won’t find a proper resting place there any longer. So instead she will be left with you. It’ll be up to you, how you decide to honor her.” Lian says, as the large coffin finally arrives.

End of Chapter: 10√ZD “Even when all is lost, love stays eternal.”

Thank you for reading.