✧ Chapter 75 ✧

The next morning, Styra felt a newfound need to set things right.

Throughout that time, they were able to create a new Compass and set their ideas into a halfway finished plan. Even though they were not ready to go to Niantom just yet, there was still no doubt that the issue with Perenorbius meant they would have to visit other worlds which went through this devastation.

For right now, all that could be done was to wait until they could come to a conclusive consensus that would really benefit everyone.

By the start of the day, Chelbie came to Styra during her conversation with Kade and Eternika concerning a small reminder about the spicy food contest she promised to attend.

“If you’re not too busy after that, do you want to do something together today? Cause, I just remembered that you did pretty promise me a little one-on-one.”

Styra smiled, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

“Got a place where we can do it at?”

Chelbie responded with the idea of a special restaurant she had in mind for them to visit. It called Ling’s Spice N’ Dine.

In an interesting twist, it was also another alternate location somewhat similar to the streets of StarSpace City except with the occasional yet beautifully vibrant environment.

Specifically located near where Chelbie’s auto shop would have been.

Amidst the brief walk to the restaurant, Cherry joined with Chelbie until Styra and Kade followed in about an hour later.

While Kade wore his Dream Academy sweater disguise to not attract too much attention, Styra looked almost completely unrecognizable.

She still had on the special star-shaped top knot hair bun. Some noticeable changes however included red rosy lips, a dangling necklace with a crimson lace, and a small golden star symbol that was similar to the one on her original suit. Alongside that, she wore a dark crop top that had sleeves up to the middle of her forearm. It matched the color of her short skirt, leggings that were up at her knees, small socks, and shoes she had on.

“Hey you two! This place looks great. Mind if we get a seat somewhere right now? I have lots of news to share,” said Styra.

When they finally found their desired spot which could fit all four of them in one booth, Chelbie immediately had questions about Kade’s appearance.

“So… Why are you here?” she asked directly out of curiosity.

“I am here to keep an eye and be on the watch out for any suspicious activity surrounding us. Of course that is why we brought you both something important,” he responded.

“Yes. Eternika and Compass said they are working together right now to search for Voltaze. Compass invented new earpieces that can communicate across the Omniverse this time so that when they see him, they’ll report his whereabouts to us. In the meantime, we will get the chance to relax for awhile here on Animearth,” added Styra.

Immediately after this, Kade placed the new earpieces in Cherry’s and Chelbie’s hands. The moment these pair of tiny devices got inserted inside each of their ears, they turned invisible.

“Damn! I can’t even feel them in my ears. They did crazy good work on these things. Now, with that outta the way, are we ready to start this showdown?!” Chelbie exclaimed happily while slamming her left fist on the red table.

The competition itself, while it began as a momentous affair at the time (with Kade and Cherry keeping track of who would win), ended up becoming a short-lived experience. This was due to the fact that Chelbie fainted from being overwhelmed from eating under a larger amount of pressure against a super-powered individual.

While they were about to go back home, Styra was told by Cherry that Chelbie had developed an interest in joining a racing competition that the restaurant was advertising known as The Blazethon.

Surprisingly, it would be hosted in a planet they had visited before too:

Revv.

Styra had a feeling that when they tracked down that world to find Voltaze, there was a good possibility that more suspicious things were going on in that planet.

Once the group went back to Cherry’s house to let Chelbie rest, she woke up about an hour later only to find Styra sitting there beside her bed.

As they talked back and forth between each other, she was shocked to see Styra pass the Blazethon application over to her.

And it was entirely filled out.

“I decided to follow up on that gift I was going to give you when we were in Wisteliah. The place you want to go to, it seems like the perfect way to do that now. Cherry was a bit worried after telling me what you were looking at before I got there. But, if you are fine with the idea, Hisa requested to join in and supervise you. Her words, not mine. Think you can handle it?”

Having to make this choice did not sit too well with Chelbie. Regardless of whether or not she would have preferred going alone this time, like Styra said before, she would have to sacrifice her original plans.

“Fine, fine, fine… Hisa can come. How bad can it be anyway right? I mean, you guys are coming along to watch too, right?”

A look of doubt began to cross Styra’s face when she heard this being mentioned.

“Remember when I said that we were able to hang out and relax until things got serious? Well, Eternika told me it now needs my help to find Voltaze and The Eternal Light that went missing while you were passed out. It has gotten a lot more urgent this time around. Cherry is coming too. Overall, this means it might be awhile before we figure out where they went. Since it’s really a tight knit mission, you can do your own thing and tell us how it goes. If anything comes up as an emergency, we’ll need you to come and help us.”

The sadness Chelbie felt from hearing this was heartbreaking yet understandable to an extent.

“Alright… Ya know I’ll come right away if it gets that bad. I’ve been waitin’ for round 3 with that guy anyways. Hopefully I can take care of that as soon as possible.”

Styra nodded in agreement as she got ready to leave when a sudden thought crossed her mind.

“Oh yeah, one last thing… If you find any traces of Voltaze or something else important in that world you’re going to, lay low and report it to us. Fair game?”

Chelbie smiled from ear to ear upon noticing what she had been waiting to hear.

“Fair game. See ya later best friend.”

The words echoing from within Cherry’s room began to warm Styra’s soul as she closed the door gently.

Deciding to head into the bathroom so she could change into a lavender sweater skirt, Eternika appeared as she closed the door to have a conversation.

“Oh hey, Eternika? Are you and Compass finished with the plan for visiting Niantom?”

“Actually, we are preparing for the leave first thing tomorrow morning. Currently Compass 2.0 is downloading programs that it will need to ensure we do not get ambushed. Otherwise, there is something else I want to speak directly to you about…”

“Oh okay, what is it?”

“The human form which I have shown you I am capable of transforming into. It happened because I started to have feelings for the love within you, but in doing so I changed into another human you admired. I started to desire becoming something I really am not. Deep within me, I felt the same as you. I wanted to destroy the past so I could be reborn anew. Now, I am unsure if I should have remained under the name of Omnikra.”

Patting the weapon with generosity, Styra gave a somber smile.

“Eternika, I have always appreciated who you chose to be. It’s only right for me to be there for you because of what you are. Although, I don’t really know how to feel about having intimate relationships anymore. Even with Cherry getting as close as she does, I start to remember that I only felt this way because of what I saw Flight and Hisa doing. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel I already have enough. Plus, I don’t want it to go too far where bridges are burned, if that makes sense.”

“Indeed. I remain by the core values of my real vow to believe in, protect, and preserve all that is true to itself. However, an ill-intentioned obsession is a one-sided affair that I cannot tolerate out of myself any longer. Your respect is of the utmost importance.”

“So is yours Eternika.”

“You’re right. That is why our mutual depth lies not in obsession but in open-mindedness. Tell me, what really made you want the life that Hisa and Flight had?”

Dwelling on the question for a few seconds, she began to see that it came from the experienced loneliness of residing in a destroyed Perenorbius.

There was nothing but a small sense of privacy and self-exploration.

Was there really a problem with independence in her own choices if she had the ability to live with it for as many years as she did?

Sure, not everyone would have liked it, and for awhile this only seemed plausible considering how she was taught. Still, she respected what was left of the environment she once knew.

She made the best of her choices, even if that meant repeatedly enduring hardship.

In an ideal world, it could have gone away, but the truth was simple.

“I remember what it felt to accept being forgotten. To then say I wasn’t scared of it. Deep inside, the reality was that I covered up the pain I felt from choosing it. So I started relying on others’ paths and left almost all of me behind. That doesn’t work. I need to act on my words. Acknowledge that pain and help it recover no matter what instead of leaving it behind.”

“I suppose I should do the same,” confessed Eternika.

A quietness filled the room as the girl and her blades stared at themselves in the mirror with an awareness of having reflected on their real ambitions.

That was until Cherry suddenly knocked on the door with her maid outfit on.

“Hey, it’s getting close to noon and I will be heading off to work shortly. The weather is starting to get a bit cooler outside too. Do you want to come with me and Kade? I just need a bit of company to take me there if you don’t mind.”

Sliding into her sweater skirt as quickly as possible, Styra finally opened the door.

“Sure. A little more outside time wouldn’t hurt.”

Cherry softly clapped her hands with happiness as she ran back downstairs to talk to Kade.

“Also, that reminds me… Maybe we can find the opportunity to finish what we didn’t fully get. What do you think Eternika?” whispered Styra.

“I certainly agree with this. Perhaps we can finally settle finding more information to dispute against it.”

Agreeing with the weapon’s secret sentiment, Styra was now prepared to leave with Kade and Cherry to Dream Academy High’s library cafe.

∗ ∗ ∗

The group arrived at the busy place with a background plan already being set in action.

As Styra and Kade sat at a table, Cherry clocked into her job early while getting set up to head back outside to talk to her friends for a small amount of time before serving customers.

“Wow, it’s kind of shocking that this place even has an outside cafe. Have you ever visited this area Kade?” asked Styra.

“In passing, yes. Actually I have recorded instances of Cat and Otodo previously as well. I even knew where they both lived beforehand, which we obviously have already caught a glimpse of Cat’s house before,” mentioned Kade.

“Right… So we have that checked out currently. Y’know, I can’t wait to see what they would even end up doing today at a time like this,” she replied.

“I have a few minutes left to tell you some more things about Cat,” said Cherry as she approached their table.

Turning to face her direction Styra and Kade proceeded to listen.

“Cat Nakahara and I have been intellectual rivals for a few months to be honest. During that period of time, I was able to pick up on many aspects of her personality. She is at the top of many classes, her strongest being Astronomy,” explained Cherry.

“That makes it sound like Cat had a part to play with the planetarium. Do you think she had any involvement in its creation?” questioned Styra.

“Hypothetically, it is likely. Oh yes, when you searched inside of Cat’s house earlier what did you find?”

“Tangerina Ballerina Shoes from Candiere’s Cafe.”

Hearing this come from Styra alerted Cherry greatly.

Suddenly, just as she was going to elaborate further, the building’s speakers outside of the school announced for all of the maids to head toward the kitchen.

“I have to go, guess we’ll talk the topic later tomorrow. My shift is going to be from now to 8 PM so you can head back home until I call again for any of you to pick me up,” said Cherry before waving goodbye whilst heading into the school’s backend entrance.

With more customers lining up and sitting down at tables, Styra and Kade walked back to Cherry’s house.

When Styra finally got the chance to privately head to her temporary room, she sat down on the bed before Eternika reappeared with more news to share.

“I have searched throughout Cat’s house for more evidence to prove our case. What I found however was rather… Unsettling…” stated the weapon.

Unsettling? This was already beginning to intrigue her.

“Go on…” she replied.

It was then that Eternika created a small floating Kra Forcefield that had a strange yet fanciful purple gift box with pink ribbons.

Placing it on Styra’s lap, she carefully unwrapped it with a looming sense of uncertainty. Upon opening the lid, her eyes widened at the emanating brightness coming from indigo rays of light that could be seen inside of the box.

After seeing this item, Styra only knew one thing:

There was no going back on the impact it would cause for wherever else they would go in the future.

For that was always going to be…

Indefinite.