✧ Chapter 23 ✧

Sapphirion called out to the legions of Morskars who flew past him and Spessarion as they arrived at their destination after the hectic disorder among the base from what Flight, Hisa, and Chelbie did. It weakened StarSpace's defenses, allowing them to enter inside with nothing stopping them. Along with that fact, The Morskar Army was able to fly undetected against radar signals made by the satellites because they were already dead. Operating without any sort of a heart, mind, or body meant there was ease in traveling freely across the dense environment. A darkness penetrated the sky unlike anything seen before.

All defenses were down, causing them to violently attack every lifeform they saw was alive and suck out their living essence. They would drain their minds for information by covering themselves over each one like a large blanket. This would eliminate all possibilities of him hiding as one of them. Especially knowing he could also easily shapeshift into anything in that world to disguise himself into, there was a chance this would work. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of more than 1.5 million lives. That count included those that remained on the SPQB-190. The only exception were the space pilots that would be stranded in another solar system due to loss of communication.

Impending doom flooded the news as the end of this world became certain with each passing second. While that was happening, Sapphirion and Spessarion came through the upper atmosphere, surveying for any signs of the traitor. They searched throughout the eight continents of StarSpace which were: Notheq, Azid, Katar, Ayedina, Hixih, Aumbok, Roproz, and Acicore. StarSpace City was located in Notheq. From there, they could diverge and search for any suspicious glimpses of an outcast. Minutes passed with not much being found across every landmass or body of water searched, indicating that the results thus far were of no value.

"The Morskars yielded no findings except with the people here having recollections of the events that occurred around a day ago. He reverted the world from the previous damage which had accumulated when he chased Styra in this area," Spessarion reported to Sapphirion.

Both of them knew Amethion was really great at removing his traces. That was why he ended up being worthy of the Heptarion Commander rank for quite a while. Many other notable traits of discipline due to his achievements were things he trained for years to accomplish. It boggled their thoughts. What could have possibly caused him to give an Eternal Light away to a mere reckless creature?

Then it occurred to Sapphirion that Styra's two accomplices back at Aviatopolis could have succeeded Amethion's interest. Perhaps the memories of either would prove substantial in determining if there was a specific location he would be dormant around. After all, he was probably digging deeper to figure out where the supposed New Guardian came from. Her allies would be the closest to knowing for sure. It made sense for him to consider an alternative way to view their histories like this without an Eternal Light to travel back in time with. Dwelling on a likely lead led Sapphirion to ask if any of the Morskars found someone who was in or near StarSpace's proximity that knew both of the accomplices the most. As it turned out, there was one that caught their attention.

Three Morskars who invaded the tallest tower, confessed to witnessing something indescribable on the 95th floor. It spoke in an unusual tone combination that mimicked all their dead parents, revealing the possible location of Amethion and mentioning a strange puzzle for them to solve.

"I know what you want. Your sender sent you on a fallible mission without much planning. The Time Keeper has traveled far from you all. There was once a place which you must find that is constructed beyond the spacetime continuum where he resides. None can see except those that once remained there. I challenge your superior to solve my puzzle. Otherwise, Prism will not like what I have in store for it or any of you. Heed my words and take this with you."

The disturbing voice recited an uncanny message that froze these three Morskars into confusion at what it was referring to:

Over the hills of spring's grass.

I picked a vanilla flower with thorns.

Dancing freely with the wind.

Skipping away from the world.

Into the waters of freedom.

Where the stream takes me.

They will never know.

What I have hidden.

Deep in my burning heart.

The clouds cover me with warmth.

Floating away from the sky.

Into the frozen memories.

Of what once was a life.

Is now a door of shattered times.

When I lost the petals of redemption.

When Sapphirion had heard it repeated to him, this poetic tale that lacked context at first, now struck a clue. He knew this world well, but an uncovered location? Amethion told The Heptarion Force and Alpha Guardians about the time disconnect he sensed. That intricate riddle had to be a guide leading them to a specific place that was hidden from their own Omniverse. Something was clearly pulling the strings behind what had occurred.

"Amethion and I heard those words before in Mechatopolis. We were trying to find out if The Surreality Shard that disappeared from Sonus had been transferred to another world without us knowing. We found many divergent timelines where it did happen and in that world… A figure of unknown magnitude said this exact same thing," mentioned Sapphirion as he used a light pulse with both fists to detect something in the space around him.

Spessarion observed the place before reaching a wide hillside filled with vanilla flowers that encompassed the view. He started to see what was going on. Sapphirion picked the only one with thorns and flew next to the bridge. He placed it in the river to give him a sense of the direction it would go. Following the small plant led them to Katar Village, where the large stream ended at a cemetery of those that died from The Great Invasion.

"There is something odd about this graveyard," Spessarion pointed out. "The grave rooms structured around here make it look as if there was a place that existed before this one. The only problem is it has, to my knowledge, never been that way. There were never any signs of it being relative to our history of The Omniverse."

Sapphirion knew he was right. The only question remaining was, what could it be? During these concerning inquiries, an indistinct noise of footsteps tapping across the grass could be overheard. The sound was unnatural to the environment outside, so they concluded that it had to have been one of the graves. Following the mysterious noise led them to a special grave room that caught their attention. It had this door covered with a stained glass image of the vanilla flower with thorns they had seen. In an almost unusual way, the space surrounding this area in particular felt eerie. When Sapphirion opened the doors, they saw a dark liquid mirror space covering the entrance. Perhaps. Trying to touch it with two hands felt like there was a force mimicking his movement to keep him from entering.

"I feel hands like my own. Strange. Spessarion, we must leave here and tell what was seen here to The Fatal One. Morskars, continue on and destroy every planet in sight. Leave none alive. Our Omniverse is on the brink of a dangerous siege worse than death. We must do this before it comes," he said.

With StarSpace left in ruins, every living creature there had mutated into a more dangerous version of itself, becoming part of the Morskar army. Sapphirion and Spessarion returned to the death world which was controlling universes outside its range. Death had been sitting on its throne, waiting for their response with restrained resilience, knowing that Styra was still out there attempting to collect all Ten Eternal Lights.

"Fatal One, we have located Amethion but he is in a place of solitary confinement that holds a dark unknown portal of some sort. I am unable to enter as something behind it mirrors whatever touches it. In fact, it may be a part of that unknown force whom we have called Chaosity."

This made Death grin with satisfaction. Having evidence of a rare encounter such as this was offering a chance to outplay these weak threats. There was an opening in The Omniverse. The opportunity in that would be potentially viable here by baiting Styra into an elaborate plan. It made everything feel more close to victory than Death had anticipated.