✧ Chapter 16 ✧

"Wake up! Something's not right about this place," an alarming voice shouted.

That is what Styra woke up to, laying flat on her back in exhaustion. The hot sandy beach complimented the waves of clear cold water brushing the heels of her boots. As for the voice accompanying this strange environment, it was none other than Flight himself. He still had bruises where everything mostly hurt from being thrown earlier. Styra's ears opened up to the sound of conga drums and castanets playing a weird beat looping in the distance somewhere. Upon surveying the place further, she could smell the tangy sweetness of the pink palm trees behind her. Beyond them was a jungle stretching far up the mountainous isle's peak with many types of huge exotic plants decorating the land with color. White misty clouds surrounded the calm atmosphere. Wherever they were, it definitely was odder than the recent worlds they had been to.

"Yeah, that song has been playing since I woke up. We'll need to figure out what's going on and why we're here in the first place. Another thing is that orange crystal next to you. Isn't that from the robot on Aviatopolis? I think its name was Drift. Man, my memory feels terrible after facing that idiot. He was a wild card. That's for sure," exclaimed Flight.

Styra sat up straight with her hands and legs curled into a motionless reserved pose. Upon picking up the orange crystal to observe it, the light source contained inside looked like it was blinking excessively. She couldn't understand why this was the case.

Flight walked towards her, reaching out his hand so she could give the crystal to him as a means to secure it. However, the gesture was so vague that she ended up interpreting it differently. One part of her was flustered with embarrassment. The other was depressed, knowing that the quest was pointless. Flight could tell she was sinking deep into her own guilt again. He decided to finally address these issues on a more personal level.

"I think I know what it is. When we woke up on the beach, it reminded you a lot of what it was like when you first lived on Perenorbius. You woke up knowing nothing and questioning yourself. Everything that is alive goes through that as well, including me. During The Great Invasion, I didn't know I was going to lose those I loved that day. To some, they were seen as generous. To others, they saw someone who would be easy to take advantage of."

Styra looked at Flight as tears began to run down his face from saying those words. She could feel his pain. It was a side of him that was suffering from a deeper trauma.

"The cruel thing about life is that we tend to be the end product of a wasted system that doesn't really care about what you're born with. I know you are wondering how I got to that conclusion. Well, you know how you mentioned StarSpace's government taking advantage of other planets? You weren't exactly wrong. Apparently, Hisa told me that they were striving to keep the planets we inhabited cleaner than our own. It's disappointing in a sense. Then again, that invasion set us up for our society to crumble." Flight's eyes closed with certainty that StarSpace would no longer be what it could have been. A utopia.

"Styra, your power is great. With that, there are people who will challenge your strength. If I was born strong, who is to say that there isn't someone stronger? There always is. Whatever happened back at Aviatopolis was exactly what occurred for us both. We need to have a better plan if there is a chance of changing anything at all. My question is, what are you planning on doing once we figure out who you really are?"

The depth of Flight's question inquired Styra to rethink her intentions.

The role of being this New Guardian seemed abstract at best according to the way Amethion described it. He was so quick to say that she was the one to rule over the entirety of existence in the placement of Prism. What if she wasn't that? Then finding out who she was could end up being only half of what would concern her. Inside, she felt like dying. Even if she chose to reunite with whichever family she loved, the length of her lifespan was already infinite enough. That took a toll on her mentality. It didn't take long for her to imagine one day when she was dead, just like every other creature in Perenorbius.

Styra remembered how the extinction caused her consciousness to black out from experiencing an overwhelming amount of energy. Since she didn't know what it was or how to control this power at that time, there was no way of figuring out what exactly kept her alive. The reason why it was easier to understand some of what was going on with herself recently was because Flight had more experience with knowing a part of himself. His confidence became useful advice or important information across all the times he stuck by her side when she was confused. He gave her tips on how to fight, which she was grateful for because they worked against Topazion. Still, all this stuff that they fought for came to a halt when Sapphirion nearly killed them.

It was then that when she really looked at Flight, his broken facial expression showed tremendous guilt like she had felt while he stared dead at the ground. His clothes were tattered with dust, sweat, and blood. He had clearly worn out his welcome on their journey. Her actions had affected him insufferably. She began to hate herself for it. This wasn't what he wanted. This wasn't what she wanted either.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I should've known better than to bring my emotions into this. Sapphirion was right. I'm messing around with something I shouldn't have bothered with in the first place. Don't you see Flight? Every world I went to. Aviatopolis, Phiras, StarSpace, and even Perenorbius. They all have one thing in common. I literally just invaded their civilizations and then things got destroyed left and right. Those that I thought I cared for the most just died because of my ignorance. Worst of all, I started becoming so selfish about figuring out who I am that it stopped you from going back to your home. I'm putting you in danger without considering the consequences. I don't even deserve to belong anywhere. Knowing that death exists, I wish I was never born to begin with," said an emotionally deprived Styra.

Flight was about to find the words to tell her that none of it was true until a huge erupting sound wave came from the center of the isle to the coastline they were sitting at. It created a barrier that hastily pushed Styra and Flight into the water below. A yellow figure flew from above the force field. She was taller and brighter than Sapphirion. Her design consisted of fanciful attire decorating the armor and helmet she wore. On the back of it, a large uniquely crafted sword accompanied her. This sword was considerably like Amethion's Time Axe, in which it was a weapon of choice able to amplify this anonymous entity's power level. This weapon was called the Sonus Sword.

Meanwhile, around the depths of the ocean next to the beach, Styra flew out of the rushing water with Flight in an air bubble created by the Eternal Light Of Energy. Deciding to protect him from the upcoming danger, she made the hardest choice and sent him back to StarSpace City clean and healed using the Eternal Light Of Time. Styra teleported herself to the previous spot past the blinding sound wave where they had heard the tune. It was extremely quiet within the barrier, making her wary of it all. By looking above, she could instantly make out something coming down fast in her direction.

She dodged the object striking the ground but the sound wave of drums coming from it added an extra flair to this mystery guardian's style of attack. The sword blasted Styra pretty far away across the sand until she violently flung past one of the pink palm trees that was standing firmly in her way. The noise began to painfully affect her body's durability, as she didn't recover too well from the other fight earlier. Her eyes were overheating as she stood up wearily, feeling done with everything she had gone through.

"You know what? Whoever you are, I don't care if you kill me. If you want to start something then I'm going to let myself die if that is what you want. I am not The New Guardian and I never wanted to be."

Styra's attitude hardened from how much she despised her previous actions. She knew it was time to do this alone so she could end her misery. As she kneeled down to accept her death, on the opposing side, the seemingly mysterious guardian finally spoke.

"Why do you think anyone cares? If you are expecting some sort of redemption or pity, you won't find it here on Sonus. Stranger, you're only acting this way because you are afraid. It is the judgment that you want so you can satisfy the end of yourself. Well then, let me introduce myself so you will know what real judgment looks like." The figure lifted the sword which charged itself with vibrational pulses, as she proceeded to sentence a penalty.

"I, Citrinion, condemn you for trespassing on Brightbay's isle upon entry. Your punishment shall fit according to your misdeed. You will receive the cessation of your existence, forever."

With a swing of the sword, Citrinion landed one of her strongest moves yet that would change the course of history forever.