✧ Chapter 19 ✧

Back on Sonus, Citrinion used a move called Sound Quake which was enough to create a seismic shifting across every landmass there. Styra's eyes had been closed for a while now, expecting a swift end to her life. When nothing seemed to be happening, she looked up only to witness four luminous white blades in front of her, preventing Citrinion's sword from landing.

It was Omnikra.

Styra knew nothing about this weapon, but its mysterious appearance definitely sparked confusion. Why was this thing defending her from the death that she asked for? Suddenly Omnikra began to speak from itself, communicating to her mind as a means to introduce itself properly.

"Styra, I know who you are. However, if you should know anything about me to start off with, it is that I am not just a thing. I am Omnikra, the most powerful weapon in existence. Right now you need to wake up. Believe it or not, you were chosen to be a successor in comparison to Prism. It is your destiny to rule over the Omniverse."

As great as this would sound to any chosen one who felt obliged to have this power, it wasn't enough to persuade Styra as much anymore. In the background of those thoughts, Citrinion was shocked by what she was seeing. Meanwhile, Styra started to argue with Omnikra in her brain.

"I don't care about Prism and I never asked for anyone to save me right now, including you. I've made too many mistakes as it is. Do what you want, but don't try to defend me. I am not worth defending."

This angered the weapon who saw her as ungrateful for its help.

"What kind of treachery is this I see before me? You do realize it is you who asked for me to exist, right? Yet you deny saying you did not command it. How can you lie and then wield my power if I am meant to serve the most humble and purest of them all? Surely you must know that to be impossible!" said an enraged Omnikra.

Styra had to calm herself down. If this weapon summoned itself from her subconscious, this meant that it wasn't aware that she couldn't figure a way of working in tandem with it. The subconscious was unknown, hence why it had an unorganized process of thinking to her.

Unless Omnikra could find a way for her, since it was already acting enthusiastic about its own goals anyways. However, the weapon responded with a sheer feeling of irritation upon listening to her thoughts, which to it, sounded like nonsense.

"I may have my own agency about myself but that does not mean you can take advantage of it. I am here to serve the real New Guardian, not a liar who distorts my words. You would be wise to command me out of existence now because I cannot bear this from you child. You are impervious to understanding that playing around with someone else's destiny will be monumental."

She wanted to let go of it badly, but because its existence depended on her subconscious thoughts which clearly didn't agree with the inevitability of death, there was no way to control it. Even if she had the conscious choice to die, what was that going to do? There was a difference between choosing to die and not having that choice at all. In both instances, suffering was evident in its own form. Who was to say that life or death could be trusted? Supposing that Amethion didn't lie as Sapphirion had said, his words were hanging there as an evident truth. She didn't want to rule the Omniverse. This wasn't about destiny either. Flight asked her what she was really going to do once this part of the journey ended. For that, she had an answer to balance his concerns now.

Omnikra saw that Citrinion had put the sword behind her own back, returning to the center of the isle after their argument. Styra stood up with confidence unmatched by her mentality beforehand. With Omnikra there, she decided to explain her true intentions for it to understand what was going on. This time she spoke out to the weapon with a soft spot for it saving her life.

"Omnikra, I am not the New Guardian. However, that doesn't mean I'm shying away from the journey that I've started. Apparently, this isn't just about figuring out who I am. It's going to also be about who I want to become."

It was at this moment that Omnikra saw Styra in a different light. The bond between her and this weapon was indeed due to showing true humility and her power was made of pure energy which formed itself from her willingness to die, even against her subconscious's own will. Although it seemed like she was close to fulfilling this prophecy, Omnikra could see Styra was going to deny the supposed future where she would become The New Guardian that protected the Omniverse in the end. Would it only be a matter of time before she developed away from this new identity she craved within herself? That could very well depend.

Finally, Styra synced with her subconscious mind upon agreeing not to end her life. The pure energy began to shine, emitting itself outside of her. Once her eye pupils began to glow bright, she flew to the middle of the isle with Omnikra trailing behind her towards The Iternua Temple. This specific place held a mysteriously huge cyan orb located atop the shrine. It was surrounded by this lava pit inside the ancient structure to test newcomers who were interested in traveling to a reality of their choice. Such power had to be guarded so any lethal threats couldn't just go across The Omniverse. Citrinion was the guardian of that temple who meditated around it often to sense danger nearby. In this case, she could tell Styra was near.

To start it off, Omnikra spun each of its blades at Citrinion who immediately dodged out of the way to avoid being obliterated. Then Styra jumped in, in an attempt to toss jabs her way. With each hit, it was a missed opportunity. Things came to a cross when Citrinion used a roundhouse kick to mess with Styra's fist fighting pattern. Seconds in, Styra crashed full force through the tropical terrain after getting hit. To save her from flying out of control, she recovered by using her instincts to grab the nearest tree's trunk with one hand and using that to circumvent her flight trajectory.

Styra's two feet smacked Citrinion upside the head which scratched her helmet in the process. Expecting the comeback, Citrinion decided to play up on her strategic skill set by rotating the sword as an intimidation tactic along with a blunt thrust to disable Styra from using her cross punch mid-flight. This knocked her down, allowing Citrinion to use a tornado kick that transitioned into a spinning low cut. Styra stumbled out of balance, further making her moves look clumsy in comparison to what she was fighting against.

Citrinion was placid at how inexperienced her opponent was.

"I figured as much according to your statement. The New Guardian is a false myth. As for your weapon of choice, it fails you."

Suddenly, Omnikra struck back at Citrinion by using its blades like arrows shot from a bow to scratch more parts of her armor. The Kra Blades landed around Styra, creating a Kra Forcefield which was an impenetrable dome of pure energy able to adjust to its environment and shield its wielder.

As Citrinion slowly approached from the distance, charging her Sonus Sword again, Omnikra coached Styra inside her mind on their battle.

"Listen well, master. I am your weapon if you see fit to it. My experience in combat is beyond your comprehension, but right now we need to start working together if you want to successfully defeat her. If I am gone, you will have to fight for yourself eventually. So that means your training is now in session. See this shield I created for you? I want you to command me to fly and hit that guardian with it using your subconscious."

Styra's body was struggling from the pressure of the situation again, making it hard for her to focus. Omnikra decided to give advice as a way to help her recover from the trauma she had to endure.

"Look closely at the way she is approaching you. I have seen you fly just recently, but Citrinion will evade those and your straightforward attacks. She is toying with your emotions. Stay calm, calculated, and confident. That is what you will need in order to use a smarter strategy than her. What do you think she expects you to do, judging by how she is portraying the target?"

Styra took one look at Citrinion's eyes which seemed unfazed at best. Her sword was at a side angle from the way she gripped the blade without it touching the ground. Of course. It all made sense now. Citrinion was listening to her sound waves, expecting a direct attack from her the most. Whichever way that was could change the course of their battle. If she was the offender that is...

Suddenly, Styra teleported from outside of the Kra Forcefield and behind Citrinion, who turned around to use an outside crescent kick. However, upon doing so, the foot passed through the head with no damage done to it. Styra had used a time projection of herself standing to divert attention away from where she actually was. Momentarily after this trick, a hundred Kra Blades looked like they were falling from the sky. Even though this seemed true, Citrinion flew against them to avoid the possibility of being stabbed by at least one of the real blades by twirling the sword at those blocking her direction. When she was sky-high, multiple time projections of Styra punching appeared to confuse her reflexes. Being overwhelmed by the possibility that one of them was the real Styra pushed her reactionary speed at its highest.

The time put into those distracting techniques paid off because, during the crazy onslaught that followed, Omnikra taught Styra more tactical moves in private to give her an advantage against Citrinion. As the fight for the real Styra began to wear on the guardian's mind, things came to a head when a large ball of pure light came from above the atmosphere and plunged within mere seconds on top of her. The explosion created a windy storm across nearly half of the planet. By that point, Citrinion's body ricocheted off the ground, giving Styra the advantage to grab and throw her against multiple trees with a surprising amount of potential strength being used to effectively pull it off.

Styra began to exchange blows that led from knee strikes and scissor kicks to flying back kicks that broke her helmet to a crouch and thrust strategy in which she used a Kra Blade to finally hold it near Citrinion's chest armor. Fear surged through her after Styra destroyed the suit so much that the Eternal Light Of Sound shuddered angry chatter. After having done that, Citrinion shouted back at her to bog down Styra's achievement.

"Impossible! How are you still wielding Omnikra? That weapon was meant to eradicate our existence had Prism chosen it over us. What is the meaning of this madness? You may have found a way to deem me useless by attempting to strip me of my Eternal Light, but that does not make you right!"

Styra stared back at Citrinion with a serious yet understanding expression. Right beside her, Omnikra was muddled at the way she looked while being held like it was the handle to a shield.

"Citrinion, I am not here to make you believe I am right. I am not going to steal an Eternal Light because a destiny that hurts others without impartial insight on their perspective is wrong, even with those that will reject me no matter what. You have a point. No one would care if I died knowing what I am or not. What that has done to those that cared about me though is what has stopped me from wanting to find out who I really am. The question is, do you fight what you were born to be or accept what you really are?"

Citrinion froze on the emphasized meaning of those words to her, as both of them waited to hear what she had to say.

"Fair enough, Styra. So you are saying that completing the said lore ends here?"

"Yes. I do not see a reason to continue playing into my selfish desires. Omnikra, we need to go find Flight. He is a friend of mine that I feel I should have treated better. He was trying to help me and all I did was push him away for some idiotic goal. Will you come with me?"

The weapon could feel her humility growing. It was surprising to witness but seemed convincing enough to make sense. That was until Citrinion intervened with a more sympathetic approach to what she was giving up on.

"I want to be honest about something. I owe you for ruining the bond between you and your friend. It is not right what I did either. The loneliness of this world has left me dry of less than favorable interactions. Yours has changed that. I think it is better however to leave him out of it. I have rethought what I saw and believe it is for his safety. He is only human. If The New Guardian must save our Omniverse at the expense of what we are blind to accept, that may be for the best. Take my Eternal Light. Do it for them."

The Eternal Light Of Sound floated over to Styra out of Citrinion being willing enough to repay her to some degree. Upon absorbing the light particles in the star on her chest, it whispered the words "Whimsical Woods". A pause of relief settled through Omnikra, but Styra was hesitant about completing the journey at least around a third of the way. Still, she decided that Citrinion could be right. Flight was back where he originally said he wanted to be. The girl and her four-bladed weapon disappeared to travel to their next location, repairing Sonus to the way it was before moving on.