The Way Forward

It was still just the beginning of the day when the sun was hiding behind the thick gray clouds. Wind blew in turbulence as golden leaves fell from every tree at the cemetery. The graveyard was filled with people in black. Grief and sadness painted the entire scene in dim gray, and pale textures. It was utterly quiet. No one spoke a word except for the priest.

"From it stream we came, and to stream shall we return.." he iterated. "O' heavens above, in the name of the Almanac, deliver these holy souls onto Etro's gate.. Cleans them from their sins, and plunge them in grace.."

The priest continued as he stood on the graves of those died in the battle on Main Street three days ago. Yes, the brutal battle had become history, and the town was left to deal with the aftermath. With all the casualties and the damage that both Death Gun and the dark giant had inflicted, Maplewood had a long way to heal.

Among the mourning people, Jaden and Eugene stood in their formal suits, standing by the town folks to farewell those who had tragically fallen. But Jaden's mind wondered as he heard what the priest was uttering.

Even in an artificial world, he thought. The concept of death and afterlife is not that different. Being AI or not, life is still precious and death is yet eternal. It all seems true enough that these people are never gonna see the ones who died ever again. This gate that the passing souls wishfully go to; it resembles how heaven is for us in real life. After all, this is real life to them. But who is this 'Etro'?! Another deity, perhaps. Does it have some authority in the afterlife?

 This virtual reality is getting darker by the hour!, Jaden felt his chest tighten.

"Are you Jaden?" a soft spoken voice asked behind him.

"Yeah, he's the one!" another person exclaimed as Jaden turned to face them.

Before he knew it, a flock of people gathered around him and Eugene.

"It's incredible what you two had done!"

"You saved our town!" 

"You're true heroes!"

"They must have fallen from the skies!"

"Yeah, well.." Eugene scratched the back of his head.

"We really did nothing.." Jaden stuttered.

"Aww, they're so humble!" said a lady from within the crowd.

"You saved us from the masked assassin!" another one said.

As the crowd enlarged and became very overwhelming to him, Jaden retreated tactically, and told everyone how Eugene was the one who actually fought Death Gun. He then walked away from the crowd as the lights shifted towards his more approachable friend.

I need a time out, he thought to himself as he walked by few newly sat graves. The sound of crunching leaves was accompanying every step.

"Huh!" his eyes locked on an approaching figure. "It's you.."

"You became quite popular!" said Julia to him. She was wearing a long black coat, and her ginger colored hair danced with the blowing cold breeze. "Reminded me of the times when we have finals."

"You're talkin' about real life?" Jaden asked.

"Of course!" she looked towards the grave nearby. "Nothing else counts, right?"

Jaden's eyes traced hers towards Kim's epitaph. 

Three days ago, Julia and Kim were a thing, he thought. The fact that Death Gun was forcing Julia to cooperate with him is solely enough. All this time, she was protecting him. But he got shot protecting her, Julia's dark powers erupted afterwards, and almost erased the town. She felt her purpose for existing had perished. Thank goodness nobody suspected that monster to be coming from her! They believed it was one of Death Gun's tricks.

He gazed back at her face before he said "I'm truely sorry...but he" 

"It's alright.." she sighed. "It wasn't real, anyway.." 

Jaden realized that she already knew what he was planning to say; so, he went straight to the point. "So, you're leaving Julia behind, huh?" 

Julia smiled wistfully, "Julia had everything I ever wanted. Friends, love, popularity, elegance, talent; she had it all! And in an instant..."

Jaden saw the ginger headed girl gazing at her feet as the wind kept her hair twirling. 

He looked away towards the less cloudy horizon. "Isn't better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you're not.." he said. "This reality is all fake. There's no running away from that.."

"This reality.." she muttered.

"Yeah.. And fake realities will only create fake humans.. Fake dreams, fake lives, and fake connections.." Jaden's eyes rested back on Julia.

"Heh," a laugh managed to escape her mouth. "Funny how does it show us how fake some of us really are, too.." 

With saying that, Julia's looked Jaden in the eye. The latter couldn't muster the strength to sharply reply. It was futile to try to reason with her. After knowing her true desires, Jaden simply couldn't call Safi a friend anymore.

I wishC if I could go back in time and not get to see all those memories, Jaden thought. But that's sadly impossible. You can't alter anything that had already happened. You can never wipe out a bad impression; even though the opposite is so simple in comparison. A word can make someone sound hateful. A simple action can make you seem hateful. That's why excuses are meaningless. Because they too, will make you look hateful..

Jaden sighed, "I suppose, only time will tell.."

She kept staring at him, a look of betrayal in her eyes. Julia gritted her teeth together, as if trying to force the look off of her face; but Jaden had already seen it. He quietly looked downwards, unable to see her face any longer. Both of them remained silent for few seconds as leaves and grass around them danced with the wind.

"Hey, isn't that 'Jaden' over there?!" some town folks walked toward the two. Their voices were able to cut through the silence.

"I guess, I'll have to go.." Julia said. "Don't want your fans to hate you because of me."

"So, now what?" Jaden forced the words out of his mouth right before she passed him. "You won't be able to live here anymore knowing all that you do now."

"I have to be at the Town Hall in few minutes.." replied Julia before she started to walk away. The sound of crunched leaves corresponding with her footsteps were gradually fading out.

Julia Park, the girl with a dream!, Jaden thought. She worked so hard to win other people's respect and admiration. Both her and Safi are two sides of the same coin. The only difference is that where Julia put on enormous effort to earn that love, Jaden turned around and gazed at Julia as she walked away. 

 Safi believed that she deserved it..

? Third day of the Ninth Month, year 666 - Realm of Light: Lucis, Mapplewood.

Later that day, cameras flashed in a somewhat dim lit hall. The seats had all been filled when Mayor. Jaros stood on the stage to deliver her anticipated speech.

"My dear brothers and sisters, residents of Maplewood, I hereby welcome each and every one of you; thanking heavens that you were safe and sound." she said through the microphone. "What happened in the last few weeks which ended up threatening our lives in that confrontation, is the result of our ignorance. We were blinded by our goals, by our ambitions, and by our pride and poor judgement. All of this had made us bitter, and put us in a prison we built for ourselves. We looked down on those who are less fortunate, and simply rejected them until they had no other choice but to stumble in the dark. We rejected them, and then called them criminals. And the ugly truth is that as a 'Northside', we're not much different; if not even worse! We started the segregation, and we piled up all those sins. So, to all the ones who arrived today from the Southside, allow me on the behalf of all who live on the North, to give you my sincerest apology. And from here on out, there will no longer be a North and South, but one true Maplewood for all!" 

The claps and ovation raised up with her last words. Mayor. Jaros had finally diminished the social barrier that severed the town for a very long time. Both Julia and Eugene clapped hard in cheer among the crowds.

"And to ensure equality and fair judgement and law enforcement, I will resign from my position as a sole mayor." continued Mayor. Jaros. "Instead, a whole new supreme council will be established. It will have at least 4 members from our Southern youth." 

As she explained further, the faces of the leather wearing people brightened in delight. They were no longer considered lower class citizens. Some of them shed few tears during the speech. Julia, on the other hand, had a stir of mixed feelings.

Isn't this what I wanted?!, she thought. Why aren't I happy about it? 

Julia was hurt like never before. The fact that there were nobody around her to witness her dream became a reality crushed her heart. Not to mention that this reality was all artificially built.

"Congratulation, Safi!" Eugene smiled at her. "You've finally made it!"

With his words taking her by surprise, Julia couldn't fend off the smile drawing on her face, "Yeah, I guess so.." 

After the event had finished, Sheriff. Scott was conversing with Eugene. They were soon accompanied by one of Glaive leaders. He wanted to know more about the evidents obtained from Mr. Spensen.

"That's how you suspected Peter.." he exhaled.

"My friend Jaden noticed that Mr. Park was very eager to ensure the Southerns stay in the spotlight. He wanted people to direct their hate at them." Eugene said.

"So, no one ever try to figure who Death Gun really was." Sheriff. Scott added. "It was even shocking to me that he ended up being his real son."

"I was surprised at first, too.." Eugene said. 

"Thank heavens all of this has come to some closure for the time being.. This town owe you now a great deal." the Glaive said.

"Closure, huh..?" Eugene mumbled the words as his memories replayed the time when Death Gun was taken by some mysterious figure.

Who was that?!, he wondered. Why he insisted on obeying some boss's orders? Could Issac be part of a larger group? That if his name was ACTUALLY Issac! He even knows about this world being computer built..

 Who could you really be, Death Gun?..

Somewhere else, in a dark hall unlike any other, Death Gun sat in a large black seat that made him seem as though he was floating in the dark. The dark hall served as a meeting room. There were others sitting on other seats arranged in different heights, but they were all rounding up on a hologram monitor displaying the moment Julia was reunited with both Jaden and Eugene. They were all wearing black, and their faces were obscured by different kinds of masks.

"Tch! That little squirt took down that demon!" one of them clicked his tongue. "Who would've thought it?!"

"Not to mention tossing Taieb to the edge of that planetoid!" another one said. 

"How does it feel being these punks' new punching bag?" asked another one sarcastically. "Not the best way for a homecoming!"

"Are all medical students just stupid like you?! At least I brought the glitch home." Death Gun replied. "And that's not even all of it, hehehe.."

"What does that mean?" a serious voice asked.

"Well, I heard one of them screaming 'M-A-D-O'.." Death Gun answered.

"WHAT..?!" a female voice exclaimed.

"You can't be serious!" another female voice uttered.

"Please, go take a shit!" another guy laughed.

"Haha, damn straight!" 

"How could any of those shrimps be 'THAT'?!" one of them argued. "Stop embarrassing yourself!" 

"Why not?" another guy with a different accent interjected. "Let's expect the unexpected!"

"Maybe he is toying with us.." wondered another girl.

"That'd be really LAME if it turned out to be true!" 

"Yeah, it won't be much on an ending.."

"Well, when you look at them they managed to kick Taieb's ass!" 

"Again, with Taieb.." Death Gun sighed.

"Give him a break!" said another one through laughter. "They actually took the blast of the Axiom instead, right?"

"Yeah, I guess they were useful somehow!" 

"And also kinda cute, too.." said another masked girl sitting on a higher level.

"Then, why don't you put a ring on 'em?" 

"I meant their attitude! Don't get it wrong!" she replied quickly.

"Hahaha!" laughed one of them. "Don't let me revisit those old records from first year.." 

"Look how that one has two different eye colors!" a girl exclaimed. "Reminded me of Haisky!"

"More like a creep with a growing disease, if you ask me!" another girl smirked.

"You're no prize yourself, hahaha!" 

"SHUT UP!" she shouted back.

"ENOUGH.." a female voice echoed from a seat a little higher. "The boss knows our target's appearance, and he's not any of them.."

"We'll just keep an eye out for those meddlers for now." another guy seated at her level declared.

"And you never know," continued the previous girl with a sharp tone. "They could be quite useful.."

The guy with the serious voice gazed above at the highest top seat. "My lord," he said. "You once mentioned the circumstances of that boy with one red eye. Could he be a potential threat to our plan?"

"How dare you doubt our lord's judgement?!" 

" What's gotten into you?! You're fully aware the path we decided to take is dreadful to say the least.." a guy sneered.

"Dreadful? You speak as though you have a life to care about!" another guy complained. "How long has it been since any one of us considered themselves alive?!"

"Dear comrades!" the man on top spoke. His voice managed to render the entire meeting silent. "I understand your emotions, but there's no need to lash out at someone for being concerned.." 

"But boss, this one red-eyed guy was able to defeat a high rank demon" a girl from the bottom tried to ask.

"The boy of the crystal has embarked his new adventure.." uttered the boss on the top seat. "So, make sure it's a one he will remember.." 

"Hell, yeah!" Death Gun laughed.

"Hahahahaha.." the masked individu onr als laughed from within the depth of darkness.

"Huh!" 

He turned around in dread as his body heard a faint whisper escaping through the depth of the woods. The weather was still windy, and the trees were all shaking and creaking all around him. When the heterochromatic eyes of his rested on the girl approaching, Jaden regained his composure.

"Did I just straddled you?!" said Petra.

"I thought you'd be with the others at the Town Hall.." Jaden replied.

"Nuh, didn't feel like goin'." Petra handed him a soda. As he thanked her, the two sat on a fallen tree trunk nearby.

"Damn, that's so good!" Jaden felt refreshed after one long gulp of that cold soda.

"Arrived on time, huh?.." she laughed at him.

"Heck yeah!" he exhaled in relief. "Wait! Why'd ya come here anyway?!"

"Well, everybody went to attend the mayor speech." she took a sip of her drink.

"Shouldn't the leader of the revolution be there, too?" he teased her.

"With the Southside getting merged with the North, and the Sato Vatos losing their influence with Chico and the Candy-Man's death, I'm a little outta place." she explained.

"So, that's it. No more fighting?!" 

"I don't know!" she replied. "I can't keep fighting for a gang that doesn't exist anymore."

Petra then noticed Aksel, along with some of his late father's lackeys running around Jaden's wrecked ship.

"Are these guys..?" 

"Yep! They're fixing the ship!" he finished. "Using secondhand parts of old Candy-Man's ship."

"Oh.." she said. "You were stranded here anyway; no doubt that you'll leave.."

"I guess so.." Jaden replied as he took another gulp. "I gotta keep going till I find the way back home." 

"You mean, real life..?" she muttered.

"How's that going for you, by the way?" he asked.

"Not so sure." she twisted the can between her fingers. "It's all still unreal! It's like somebody messed up with my head!"

"That's how it started with me at first." Jaden explained. "You begin by doubting it, but a strange sense of relief comes along, and before you know it" 

"You hold on to it.." she finished. "That's why I wanted to talk to you! To be relieved.."

"Exactly, I feel that everytime I encounter someone familiar." he added.

"But if that's true, why can't I remember how I got here?!" Petra asked in concern. "Whenever I try looking inside, my mind goes fuzzy!"

"'Guess whoever put us here doesn't wanna let us know." he replied. "That's why I have to travel the realm and find out."

"Alex...she's gotta be somewhere out there.. and Soony, too." 

"Thinking about that gets me stressed out.." Jaden sighed.

"I wonder if they're okay.." she mumbled. 

"Somebody's missing her friends!" Jaden teased her.

"Yeah, well.. whaddya know? You got your friends here with you!" Petra pouted her cheeks.

"About that.." he squeezed his soda can as he mumbled, but Petra faintly heard it. 

Maybe the grass isn't green on the other side!, she thought. I've never seen his eyes looking this sad before..

"You okay there, Mado?.." she asked.

"Sure, it doesn't matter; I've got much more important things at stake." Jaden threw the can away.

"Dude, that was awesome.. what you did when you fought that demon!" Petra changed the topic. "How did ya get all that power?!" 

"I had special training!" Jaden answered.

"Like military?!" she questioned.

"Umm, no it was more of a private force." he explained. "They're a family of Bahamout followers, and demon hunters."

"'Guess your teacher was very great though.." Petra wondered.

"Yeah.." he gazed at his empty palms. Petra saw Jaden as his expressions loosened. "He was one of a kind.." 

"Seems like you had to leave them behind." she gazed up at the clouds.

"It's not that simple!" Jaden got up on his feet. "I was an outsider; a kid that had no lineage, no family, or anywhere to go! Ovan found me inside a crystal when I was only a baby. He took care of me, taught me everything: sword skills, demon hunting, how to read and write even! I had to let it all go.."

"Sorry, man.." she muttered.

"It's alright. That place stopped being a home to me since he'd left. So, when I got my memories back, I wholeheartedly decided to never look back. There's a life that's waiting for me to set it right."

"That's incredible!" Petra commented. "You've been through all this and still you wanna keep goin'.." 

"Someone has to! I can't let us stay in this fake reality forever." Jaden ground his teeth.

"Yeah, we have to come back to what's really important to us.." petra replied.

 Alex. Soony. Please, be okay..

"Mado!" Petra looked him hard in the eye. "I'm coming with you!" 

"What?!" his jaw dropped.

"I can't just wait here for you to do it all by yourself. Besides, my friends are out there!" she said. "I'm the brains in our squad, ain't I? They're like hopeless without me."

"Heh, 'guess you're right." he admitted.

"I have to find them," she said. "And we're all gonna go back to our lives together."

"But here's a disclaimer!" he warned her. "There's no map where we're going. It's gonna be a bumpy ride." 

"Humph, don't underestimate the leader of a revolution." Petra smirked.

~VAHHAAM!!

~GRRRAUUU!

"IT'S ALIVE!" Aksel yelled from within the ship as it hovered above the trees.

Jaden's face brightened when the ship floated back to the sky. "Oh, YEAH!" 

"HEY JADEN! JUST FEW MORE ADJUSTMENTS AND SHE'LL BE GOOD AS NEW!" Aksel shouted.

"GOOD JOB, GUYS!" Jaden yelled back. "YOU REALLY MADE IT!" 

Jaden looked back at Petra with smile stretching on his face. "Get ready, Noor. We're touching the stars very soon!" 

On the following morning, an ambulance parked briefly near the Park's front door. The para-medic team came in and checked Mrs. Park's vitals before taking her with them. Julia was standing there with them. She helped the team carrying her mother to the vehicle. Tears were fighting their way out of her eyes as Julia said goodbye to her mom. She kissed her forehead and stepped back as the ambulance drove away.

Later that day, Julia met up with her besties an ice-cream shop. They witnessed Doulchry begging people for a slight smear of Anthem, but they decided to ignore him.

"They took her this morning?" Toby asked.

"Yeah.." Julia replied. "The rehab center assigned her for a 4 years withdrawal program. Heeh, and my father's behind bars.." 

"I'm sorry Julls.." Cristina held her hands. 

"We're here for you." Toby said.

"Always!" Cristina added.

"Thanks guys! You're the best." she lowered her gaze as she cried silently.

"How about you come back to school?" Cristina suggested. "Be with us!" 

"Toby is right! You shouldn't be alone at times like this." Cristina said.

"No, how can I, you guys?!" she sobbed.

"You can't carry this weight on your own." Cristina replied.

"Because of my dad, the town went through hell and back!" Julia said. "Because of him, both Kym and his father are dead!" 

"Death Gun killed them!" Toby argued. "Stop blaming yourself!"

"My dad created Death Gun!" Julia cried. "And I wasn't strong enough, and ended up helping him.."

"But you can't stay on your own like thisC" Cristina cried back.

"How am I supposed to show my face there, again?!" Julia interjected.

"Here's your order! Two milkshakes and one black coffee!" the waitress put three cups on their table as the three friends stayed quiet for a while.

As she gazed at her cup of dark liquid, Julia's memories of being in the pitch black space with Jaden resurfaced. Noticing that, Cristina shook her shoulder and brought her back to present moment.

"Oh..!" she shrugged quickly.

"You' okay ?" Cristina asked.

"Cristina." she uttered. "Do you hate him, my dad?" 

Both Cristina and Toby looked back at each other before saying "No.." 

"Because I do." Julia's eyes glowed purple for a second. "I hate my father."

"Julls," Toby uttered. "How about you travel with Eugene and Jaden?"

"Huh?!" Julia's expressions changed dramatically.

"Toby?!" Cristina yelled.

"If you stayed here with us, you would never be able to move on." he explained. "Death Gun, Kym, your dad. Their shadows will always haunt you till you drown." 

"Travel with them..?" Julia's face relaxed.

Cristina exhaled before saying "Yeah, go with them. Especially if you wanna know the reason to these crazy powers you just found out." 

Julia looked at her friends smiling at her face, and their reflection changed into two girls only Safi recognized.

Hanan! Hadeel!, she thought.

"Thank you.." 

Julia had finally made up her mind. But first, there was still one more thing she had to do.

~Light flashed!

"You have a visitor!" an officer said through a microphone.

When the place was lit, the area was quite obvious. The prisoner was behind a thick wall with only a portion of it made of bulletproof glass.

"I told myself, I wasn't going to see you again." said the prisoner.

"Really?" 

"But I never doubted for a moment you'd come." he continued. "You're the only one who understands me, that's like me." 

"Father," Julia got closer to the glass. She looked him straight in the eye. "You did unspeakable horrible things. I'm not like that."

"Heh!" 

"I. Am. Not like you." she said slowly.

"Aren't you?" Mr. Park smirked.

"No." she replied. "You've hurt tons of people to ensure your benefit. You considered me a trophy, and tortured your wife to shut her up. You killed your old wife and your child with cold blood."

"I did it to keep you safe! To be a good father."

"You were never a father to either Issac or me! You're nothing but a criminal."

"Then why are you here?" 

"To say goodbye, forever.." she answered. "And also to say: No more darkness. No more evil. It's over. You have no power over me..."

Right after saying that, Julia started walking away, turning her back on the very same man she once walked towards. Mr. Park on the other hand, kept yelling from within his cell as the lights went off.

"You'll be back, Julia!" he shouted hysterically. "You can fly across the realm! You can changed the locks! YOU CAN FRY ME ON AN ELECTRIC CHAIR! BUT I'LL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU!!"

"I'LL ALWAYS BE YOUR DARKNESS!" 

Back on the ship that was still parked in the middle of the woods, Aksel and his men were doing their last check up, preparing for the take off. While on the inside of the ship, Eugene came back with lots of gifts from the glaive squad.

"Whoa, man! That looks cool." Petra was impressed to see Eugene wearing something other than that yellow hoodie.

"Thanks! I got it as a present from the leader." he chuckled.

~Sheeen!

The door slid open and Jaden stepped out of his room. He went back to his original clothes that he got from Kathryn.

"There you are!" Eugene said. "And why are you back in these clothes?! I brought you a dashing glaive outfit!" 

"Hmm.." Jaden gazed at Eugene's new look. He was wearing a blue upper long sleeve garment extending to his mid- thigh, and splits near the pants with silver outlines. Along with a blue pants, silver belt, collar accessory, and black shoes. His Blue Rose Sword was hung in his waist.

"Nuh, I'll pass." 

"What?!" Eugene didn't like his friend's response at all.

"I'm more comfortable in my regular clothes." Jaden confirmed.

"Heeh, you've always been hard to please.." he sighed.

"I think I'll take it, instead." said Petra. "I might add few touches here and there."

"Okay, but it's black. You're fine with that?" he questioned.

"Absolutely!" she cracked a slight smile.

"Anyways," Jaden started. "We've got only two rooms in this ship. You will have one. Majd and I will bunk together in the other."

"That's good." she replied.

"Hey, Jaden!" Aksel hollered from the outside. "Get over here for a sec!" 

Jaden walked towards him as Eugene continued the ship tour with Petra.

"Each room has it's own bathroom and shower." he said.

"Wow, this ship is really wide!" Petra replied.

"I said something like that before!" Eugene exclaimed.

"We're done checking the system's configuration." said Aksel as Jaden approached him near the ship's gate. "The engine is also the best it could get!" 

"I can tell you guys did an amazing job, thank you!" Jaden replied.

"We're the ones who should be thanking ya!" Aksel admitted. "You saved our town, and changed our lives for the better!" 

"Don't say that. You guys did it all by yourselves." he smiled proudly.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye!" Aksel stretched out his hand. "It's been a pleasure workin' with you, Jaden Inferno."

Jaden shook his hand. "Likewise, Aksel Dolph.."

"Hey, Aksel!" Eugene came out as well. "Planning to leave without a proper goodbye!" 

"Shut up, blondie!" he replied. "I'll be standing on the lookout station there to watch ya guys go."

"Really?! That's amazing!" Eugene became emotional for some reason. "I never thought you were this nice, Aksel!"

"Uhhh, I---I don't know, but it feels like an insult coming from you.." he backed off suspiciously.

"Alright then.." Jaden snapped. "Time to get going!" 

"Okay. I'll hit the station!" Aksel hurried down.

"Yay, check us out! We're three now!" said Eugene.

"Yeah, lets hop on!" the two boys did their signature handshake.

"Is there a room for one more?" 

"Hm?!" They looked towards the person who said that.

"Ehh!" Eugene exclaimed. "Ju----SAFI! What are you doing here?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked sarcastically.

"You don't say.." he muttered. 

She's holding a suitcase!, he was surprised. Is she serious about coming with us?! I thought she'll wait here like how Aya did!

Eugene looked back at Jaden who darted his eye down on Julia. She stood on the ground, and stared straight back at him. Her freckled face remained refined as her gazing brown eyes stayed determined.

They both look tensed, he thought. Did he know about this?! Isn't he okay with her joining us? Come on Mado, say something!

After Eugene's heart was about to jump out of his chest, Jaden finally said "This ship is taking off now, everybody to their seats.." 

"Yeah!" said Eugene happily as Jaden walked ahead. "That was a YES!" 

Eugene smiled wide as he stretched his hand to help Julia climb aboard.

The moment she stepped inside, Julia received a tour from the light-brown haired boy.

"Wow!" Julia muttered. "It's so wide inside!" 

"Haha, why do we all keep saying that?!" Eugene laughed out loud.

"ENGINE IS READY! SYSTEM ALL GREEN! WAITING FOR PILOT!" 

"Everything is all set!" Petra told Jaden as he approached the console.

"We got a new club member." Jaden pointed at Julia behind him ad he sat in the pilot seat.

"Isn't that smelly Safi?!...I don't wanna share a bathroom with...." she whispered in disgust.

"I heard that.." he muttered.

"OH SHYAT!!" Petra clapped while laughing hysterically.

"'The heck?!" Jaden was shocked. Is that a stalling dance?!, he wondered.

Eugene walked the ginger haired girl towards the console, but there was only one seat left there. "Uhh, you can take--" he tried to say.

"No need. I can sit on the side bench by the window." she finished.

"But.."

"There're seat-belts there as well; so don't worry." Jaden added.

"Ehh, it's fine then.." he hesitated.

Eugene watched as Julia sat properly on the side bench. He noticed that her outfit was different. She was wearing a blue jeans pants, and blue jeans jacket with a dark pink zipped hoodie underneath. Her hair was still styled in ponytail. But her face was avoiding any eye contact.

Something sure happened between these two, Eugene looked back and forth between Safi and Mado.

"Take your seat, Majd!" Jaden demanded.

"Okay, what's the problem with you?!" Eugene sighed and settled down.

"TAKING OFF IN 3----- 2-----1!"

~VAHHAAAM!

~GRRRRRR!!

And with that, the ship began soaring high. It gradually progressed upwards, shaking the entire forest. Aksel had to hold on into the bench of his station tightly as the ship hovered, twisted, and propelled itself forward until it had finally left the planetoid's orbit. And before they knew it. Julia and Petra, along with the two boys were looking at the starry sky.

"DAMN!!" Petra exclaimed.

"WAHH!!" Julia's jaw dropped.

"It gets me every time!" Eugene chuckled.

"Geez.." Jaden was sort of annoyed by their exaggerated reactions. 

The ship has become very lively!, he smiled slightly as he looked at their astonished faces.

But then, a memory crawled up into his mind. A dark truth he had been avoiding all his life, but ended up succumbing to it. Jaden's grin faded as he turned forward.

There is no meaning to things that are only superficial, he tightened his grip on the handles. That was a belief both me and her once shared..

"..Hey Jaden.. Everything alright?.." asked Aksel through the communicator.

Jaden then snapped and answered right away, "Yeah, we're on our way! Thanks again Aksel." 

"...Take care out there!..." 

"Sure. You too, take care.." he replied.

The call had just ended at that, and Jaden determination had been renewed.

"We're gonna go full speed!" he pushed the turbo switch forward. "Next stop, the 5th Level. This time for sure!" 

~VAHHHAAAA!

~SHEEEEEN!

So this is it!, Eugene thought. With all that we've been through, we're still moving forward! Our new team is certainly not the best, maybe. But still, we will try our hardest to set things right. I wonder what's gonna be waiting for us ahead. A prideful victory, or a painful tragedy! But I won't fear it; not after I made you wait all these years! But now, It's all a matter of time, and the space between us will fall short! You won't have to wait much longer..

 I'm coming, Elaine.. I'm on my way...