✧ Chapter 73 ✧

With The Omniverse finally coming back to a somewhat more peaceful state than what it had been going through beforehand, The Judgment Warriors quickly helped to form a new structural system for Ynadith that would keep every universe left alive to remain intact.

Alongside this collaborative effort, the Optillica X4 e-glasses were being developed amongst the group. Its enhanced AI (which was integrated thanks to Chelbie’s digital assistant from The Flamethrottle Fury) would be capable of alerting them about abnormal breaches coming from outside The Void in the future.

By the time the damage done to these worlds were fixed, there was also a new form of structural balance.

Styra, Flight, Kade, and Eternika returned back to Cherry’s house after all of the hard work they did to maintain a newfound sustainability that The Omniverse could rely on.

While Kade chose to recharge his mechanical systems and Flight took his well-deserved break by taking a soothing shower, Styra decided to dedicate a week of her time to relaxation.

Especially with how much of that would calm her down from the noisy lifestyle she had been pushing herself through.

After changing into a grey shirt with a white star on it (with sleeves pulled up to her elbows) and light blue short denim jeans, she went upstairs to see how Cherry was doing by carefully knocking on her door.

“Hey Cherry, how’s everything?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

Cherry, who was previously glancing happily inside of her new package that arrived, let Styra come in as she was blushing with joy at the mysterious gift box she received.

“Hi Styra. Look at what the school gave me to wear tomorrow.”

What she showed Styra was a uniquely red maid dress which came with a white head dress bonnet that had a decorated cherry logo placed in the center.

However, unveiling this made her suddenly feel a bit more reserved than usual.

On the other hand, it made Styra incredibly interested.

“That is really impressive. Oh yeah, did you tell Dream Academy anything about your absence? If not, we can help with that. Remember to make sure and tell them it’s a secret between us.”

Closing the package shortly after this was said, Cherry tilted her glasses slightly with a tense nervousness crossing her face.

“I did tell them as you requested. They were understanding enough about us staying undercover as well. The truth is however, that I’m no longer going to be staying as a student there anymore. I chose to leave on my own accord to pursue working as a maid for the school’s library cafe instead. That job has always been something I looked up to more.”

Walking over to open the top dresser, she pulled out a photo of herself as a seven-year-old sitting with the maids in a vibrant garden grouped together.

Sitting back down to share the details of the image with Styra, she began to recollect on her memories.

“Maybe I will find out what happened to them the day I got left at the planetarium. They were the only real family I had back then alongside you. The way they raised me, it’s just, I wish I could also share what they inspired me to be.”

Upon hearing the grief she was expressing, Styra gently massaged her friend’s hands to comfort and support Cherry.

“If I ever get to meet them one day, I would tell them how much you’ve inspired everyone. That’s my real promise to you.”

Tears of euphoria filled Cherry’s heart before hugging Styra tightly. A fixated gaze of love led to her catching the adorable glow Styra’s eyes. This harmonious silence created a tense immersion into one another as they blushed at the thought of their friendship becoming something intimate.

It was this very feeling that flustered Styra through a lot of deeper emotions which she never necessarily explored the moment Cherry started fiddling around with her hair obsessively and inching closer to her face.

The adrenaline within Styra skyrocketed so much to the point where she decided to stop herself from going too far out of being purely awkward in this case.

“Uhhh hey, y’know what?! I’m thinking of going to one of those beaches that are around Centreplex City for a little while. To loosen up a bit, y’know? I’ve always wondered what that experience would be like. To explore and appreciate other worlds the way I did with Perenorbius for however long I can without anything bad happening.”

Immediately into this statement, Styra was about to leave when Cherry instinctively grabbed onto her hand with a daring yet personal question in mind.

“Styra, can it just be… You and me? I’m sorry if I come off clingy but, after being alone for such a long time, I—”

Her words paused out of intense anxiousness in remembering what she had told Ararima at one point. Swallowing her breath whole, she finally decided to admit what she was really feeling to her.

“I want to stay here with you!” exclaimed Cherry desperately as both of her hands clasped together onto Styra’s left hand.

The air was filled with unheard echoes regarding the shakiness in Cherry’s tone as it began to move Styra from within.

Gradually letting out a sigh of acceptance, she grinned softly out of reassurance to be there for that emotional connection her friend needed.

“Alright, we’ll go together.”

About an hour later, Styra and Cherry changed into matching red bathing suits with a bubbly salmon-colored star decorated in the center.

The only complete difference now was that Styra had braided a part of her hair bun into an iconic star shape.

With the both of them walking downstairs, ready to leave, they saw that Eternika could be seen waiting at the front door.

Almost as if it was about to tell them something.

“Hey, Eternika… Is something wrong?” inquired Styra.

“No, not entirely. However, I do find it concerning what you said upstairs to Cherry. You may have forgotten perhaps, but our vow between us is that we are each other’s inseparable protection. Therefore, it is a requirement that I must be at your side in case of emergencies.”

Styra cleared her throat to express that she understood the importance of its presence and that the precautions it was adhering to were well-intended.

“Of course. My bad if it came off that way. Cherry, you don’t mind if Eternika comes along, right?”

Although Cherry wanted to spend time with Styra without anyone else watching, she could slightly consider the weapon joining along.

Her only hope was that it wouldn’t treat her insensitively as it did when she was training against the gummy monkeys back in Tartropolatté.

“Ochidokie,” she said in a cutesy voice that made Styra giggle.

Leaving a note on the inside of the door in regards to their departure, Styra, Cherry, and Eternika teleported in the middle of Centreplex Beach with towels, beach umbrellas, and one simple objective:

To make the best of the refreshing time they would get to spend together.

∗ ∗ ∗

Back in the expanse of The Lucid Light, Voltaze was still inside of Creperus’s brace as he grew annoyed at the loss he had succumbed to.

Using every physical attack to the best of his ability wasn’t getting him out of here any faster either.

From his perspective, he seemed to be locked inside a looping golden crystal hallway. Ancient inscriptions written in an omniversal language lined up all around him. They also occasionally glowed a variety of nine different colors as well.

Being imprisoned within a giant sleeping guardian was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

Although his view was blocked, making it hard to determine where he was, Voltaze could slightly hear a dream-like static noise moving around at all times endlessly.

“I had nearly fulfilled it. Due to their idiocy, I now have to start from scratch before Prism returns. The only unusual logic to consider is, how can The Void remain formed when The Eternal Lights both deconstructed and merged with chaos itself? It must be that scroll. The Eternal Light Of Hierarchy is always above the others in terms of power scaling. If only I could retrieve it and take back control.”

Looking around for anything to make sense of in order to allow him a chance at escape, Voltaze decided to turn his attention at the inscriptions.

What interested him immediately was that it consisted of the symbols from within each Eternal Light. To his knowledge, he remembered a few details concerning omniversal inscriptions themselves from scientists mentioning it in passing.

Upon thinking further about it, he began to wonder if by suspicious circumstances that Spessarion had really created an artificial symbol. The Eternal Light Of Fractality’s creation was outside of the first ten, so it begged the question as to if its existence was either a magnificent work of innovation or some secret Prism knew about altogether.

And then as he observed the marks on the wall more, he saw a huge one which interconnected with the rest of the small language.

It was Styra’s star symbol.