✧ Chapter 25 ✧

Emeraldion could see exactly what she was referring to. Much like how Omnikra could read Styra's subconscious, he could already do the same. The Eternal Light Of Life detached itself from him as he let the green light particles flow over to the star on her suit. They started to dance towards Styra like fireflies on a cool summer night. Once it was done, he instructed and showed them how to get to their next location.

"Make haste and use the Reality Orb at this shrine to guide you straight towards the planet known as Frostice which resides in the Bilemn galaxy. There, you must be cautious to approach the realm that dictates it. My sister is of great importance there, so do not try to stir her wrong. It will cost you greatly if you do."

Everyone accepted his words as evidentiary. With that in mind, as Styra was about to use the orb, she looked back to find Emeraldion holding out his hand. He knew about the customs of many worlds, but the fact that he also saw the lasting impression between Amethion and her unexpectedly pulled at Styra's heartstrings. As she shook his hand out of respect, a part of her compassion began to show in her eyes. She ran to his leg, hugging it tightly while looking up at him with immeasurable gratitude. This gentle giant understood her pain, but he also figured that it would be the last time they would meet. The moment Styra touched the forcefield once more, everyone except for Emeraldion disappeared into the StormStrike Zero where they would safely travel afar.

The diamond star on Styra's suit shined a satisfying green that was bright enough to be seen from the STS-0 that flew through this intrepid new galaxy. Flight and Hisa sat in the front cockpit while Styra and Chelbie were sitting in the cargo seats originally designed for military personnel.

"I have to say, it's so cool to finally meet someone with epic taste. By the way, I made this mask for ya. What da ya think 'bout it?" asked Chelbie. She handed it to Styra who observed it carefully like with the astromask Flight gave her. Upon observation, there wasn't too much detail, unlike the last one she saw. In fact, it had a more solid feel to its sleek dark purple texture. The cherry on top was this bright white LED-lit diamond star design atop the eyes like a tiara.

It was fascinating to see such a simple mask having been created from the ground up to have lots of care put into its creation. Still, she didn't feel it was ideal to don the mask early. After all, wearing something like this was new to her. In a way, the thought of wearing it made Styra a tad anxious.

"Thanks Chelbie, but I'm okay. I definitely appreciate the offer. It's just that I've never really worn an astromask before so… you know. I like the lights on top though. It looks pretty."

Chelbie smiled from ear to ear. As they all stared towards the front, an icy violet-blue planet could be seen outside heading closer in their direction.

"So this is where Emeraldion wanted us to go, huh? From the looks of it, heading straight into the atmosphere might be risky. Think you can teleport this ship somewhere safe Styra?" asked Flight. With a mere thought, she allowed the Eternal Light Of Time to find a safe place for them to land. The STS-0 ended up marooned around a boreal forest where there weren't many creatures hanging around the vicinity of their location. Glittering snowy hills stretched for miles surrounded by purple pine trees that were scattered as far as the eye could see.

Everyone began to unbuckle their seatbelts, as Chelbie set the new mask on the seat next to her and started to whisper something to Styra so she wouldn't alert Flight or Hisa.

"Just to let ya know, my real first name is Chelsea. Don't tell anyone else. Just call me Chelbie for right now, okay?" Amid most of them starting to stand up and check the temperature readings coming from outside of the ship, Styra was still sitting down. She blankly glared across at what was now an empty spot for anyone to sit on the other side. Why would such a secret be left for her to keep? What did Chelbie see in her that made it necessary to tell this private information? Curiously, she wasn't even sure if it was supposed to garner some sort of significance later.

Flight and the others arrived at the cargo hold where they were ready to formulate a plan to find the next Eternal Light. "Gather up everyone. So, the temperature readings are pretty bad out here. Twenty to negative fifty-one degrees Fahrenheit isn't going to make traveling out there on foot easy for any of us, except for Styra probably. Let's keep the heat on in here for those staying in as backup." Chelbie interrupted his plan by raising her hand high in favor of being able to go outside in the freezing weather. "Me, me, me! I can go out with Styra! In case ya wanna know something, blazin' is kinda my thing. Y'all should watch me at all of the spicy food contests. I'm like unstoppable. As a matter of fact, I have this chili pepper badge as my hairpin for proof!"

Mostly everyone was unamused by what they had just witnessed. Styra however, saw her as an inspirational challenger.

"Impressive. Maybe we should face off one day. Until then… Sure! Flight and I have been doing it for quite a while. I wouldn't mind someone new to hang out with. What do you guys think?" Hisa and Flight found the enthusiasm a bit overdone for what they were about to face, but Omnikra didn't think just bringing one individual along was going to help on its own.

"If I may, Styra, you will certainly need me. The conditions are dangerous and my assistance can provide much use in case there are any enemies that will try to attack us. Although once we reach near the settlement, I will be in the foreground when she arrives to avoid being seen by Diamondion. Unless she provokes an attack that is."

The entire ship was shrouded in a strange reticence. No one spoke or even made the tiniest indistinct noise for a couple of seconds. However, it became quite obvious that the quietness would eventually be interrupted by a naive response.

"Um, Styra. Am I going insane? Talking blades? Someone please tell me this is a dream and that I'm gonna wake up at the auto parts shop where I can work on one of my beautiful Vespas," said Chelbie sarcastically.

Styra tried to defend its existence by normalizing it as a part of her powers. Despite how unusual this was to them, the crew onboard were willing to accept it.

"Alright, I'm going to be honest here. Chelbie, I don't really believe it is a good idea to send you out there with clothing that won't protect you from getting sick. You're wearing a sleeveless shirt. Hisa also isn't wearing too much either. I'm going to have to join Styra and her talking weapon since I am wearing something suitable enough for right now. Besides that, I also have the most experience with these kinds of situations anyway. Speaking of which, I'll be using the orange crystal to the best of my abilities if things get serious," said Flight.

Hisa remembered having taken the crystal from him to save his life. Reasonably, she felt hesitant to tell him about this, but the mission they were going to start would naturally require the proper assets to defend oneself in an unfamiliar environment.

Styra was wondering exactly why Flight started talking about Drift's crystal with crafted expertise on using it. Meanwhile, Omnikra recognized the talk behind it from having explored a certain universe. It wasn't even what they thought it could've been. "That is not a crystal at all, actually. It is one of the three Shards Of Surreality. To my knowledge, each one is supposed to be contained in a secure world within each of their respective universes where they reside. It can allow you to create anything you want relative across all realities, but I don't suggest using it against her either. She will expose what is real and what is not based on the power you hold now. A certain other guardian created the shards, but who that is and why he made them will have to be explained for another time. We need to get the Eternal Light Of Reality first and foremost. In order for us not to seem chary to the entire realm according to Emeraldion, we need to form relations with the creatures that are under her rule."

With the wealth of information being presented here, there was a chance that it would serve a purpose later if Flight was going to harness his new powers properly. As for Omnikra itself, he found it to be rather useful for once to their entire operation. He was also curious about how the weapon was filled with boatloads of intel. As Styra, Omnikra, and Flight began to tread the snowy terrain, Hisa ran to him as she took the shard from her pocket and gave it to him. It was then that a sudden glance that they shared established their deeper feelings under fresh cold lips complementing one another. Styra accepted the sight of the two together with content. Chelbie on the other hand was covering her mouth to the point where she nearly felt like gagging up vomit for some reason.

After the kiss, Hisa handed him two earpieces to communicate with them. They went their separate ways, waving each other goodbye before Styra stated her farewells as well. Effortlessly, she used the Eternal Light Of Time to create a Time Shield that would surround the STS-0. This would keep Hisa and Chelbie safe from the intrusive winds or unidentifiable attackers lurking while they were away. Once the cargo door was closed shut, Hisa went to rest in the pilot seat of the cockpit. Her eyes closed to the warmth of the ship's heat. It was similar to sleeping under loads of comfortable covers piling atop of her on an already made bed. Meanwhile, Chelbie hid beside the passenger chair where she peeked from an unnoticeable viewpoint at her, still cautious about what she had seen.

Somewhere out there in the expansive winter wonderland, a lonely creature slept underneath one of the pine trees, next to a glimmering frozen lake. It had a furry white body, two distinctly arch-shaped ears that could catch sound from more than five miles away, and sky blue blush marks that matched the color of a beautiful diamond pattern stretching down its back to the tip of that large bushy tail cuddling it from the stark chilly air. Styra, finding it, asked Omnikra what it was. The weapon revealed that because it knew Frostice well, the name of its species here was known as Shirokeis. She kneeled down next to it, patting its fur with care. The shirokei behaved by kindly returning the favor. It stood on its two hind legs brushing up against her, inching in for a satisfying touch from those tickling fingers.

"Isn't it so cute?" asked Styra.

Flight grinned at how playful and loving the little creature acted. This was something he had never seen or felt before in his childhood. Dark days existed in an early life where war was the only thing that dominated every aspect of living ever since he was forced to leave Katar. Once, he remembered having to travel alongside a busy highway for days and nights on end when his parents died because of how bad staying in a foster home was for him. Eventually, he was caught and sent back, but it was stuff like this that scarred him for nearly three to four years.

He nodded to her in appreciation of what the extending landscape provided for these animals here. Stuffy clouds bordered the openly spacious sky where stars could be found twinkling up above. It was upon observing the environment around him that he noticed a larger hill covering up an extremely strong light from their sight. The wind blew more ferociously as if to instantiate that it would be a difficult obstacle to climb. Regardless of all of the trials and errors when fighting that challenge, Styra caught onto it as well. She walked beside him and held out her hand. She saw that by just teleporting up there, it wasn't going to be as satisfying to have earned the desired view. As they began their hike towards the top, Omnikra followed behind patiently; listening to her thoughts.

She saw the value of limitation. Flight had fought by her side and she respected that. To her, it was about time she could do the same for him. The same for everyone that aided her in this perilous journey. Being born with power didn't mean she could just belittle everyone as she had seen with Prism and some of its guardians. Sapphirion by far was the most ruthless but dedicated of them. His loyalty and strategic effort made him stand above flawlessly with authority. Did she really want to control reality? The sought-after Eternal Lights did have voices inside of them after all. Obeying every command. Were they free? It was hard to decipher considering those voices only answered whatever they were asked to do. Perhaps they wanted to be of their own thoughts and ideas.

When Styra and Flight reached the top, they saw a massive village with wooden cabins, tightly knit straw roofs, and lantern boxes that lit up houses to give it a certain aesthetic to it. In the center of it all, a huge festive marketplace was in front of a majestically colorful ice castle which defined the adventure that was about to unfold before their eyes. Upon traveling further down to hide behind a stone plastered with snow, the shirokei that Styra pet earlier followed them down the hill as well. It yelped eccentrically for attention.

Taking notice of this, they allowed the little creature to tag along. When they were coming closer to the village, Styra started to get anxious about giving the shirokei a name.

"Umm Flight, I have a question. What would you name something you like a lot? I'm not sure if I have any ideas right now."

Flight decided to talk up the thought of using an example of something she remembered as advice. "Oh. Well, maybe name it something that you liked from Perenorbius. I'm pretty sure there are a ton of things about your home that you can use as one."

Although Styra did like Perenorbius, she wasn't entirely sure what would make sense for a name since she preferred to remember the things there as they were.

However, she did begin to notice something small and tingly land in front of her nose. Many like it proceeded to flutter everywhere around her. She started to ask Flight to see if he knew what these were.

"That is called a snowflake. If you want to know what they look like up close, most of them look like hexagrams. It is one of the things you'll see in StarSpace when it hits the fourth season. I'm surprised you've never heard of those before. When you get the chance, educate yourself a bit. I might be able to teach you a few things but once you grasp the concept of research, you'll understand what I'm saying."

Styra's face was tainted with embarrassment, even though it was justifiable for her to say that because she did not visit any snowy regions at all on Perenorbius. The tripedyras never told her anything about snow, but the possibility of returning to see if there was a region there like this interested her.

"I guess I'll name it… Snowflake!" were the last words she spoke of on the topic before bumping into something unusual. An eight-foot-tall beast with a fat wooly pale coat of fur was standing in front of the both of them. Its outstandingly long ears, wild fluffy tail, elongated beady eyes, hulking arms, pudgy feet, and derpy facial expression captivated her with a hug. Omnikra instantly began to recognize this creature as well.

"A Fluffle. One of the more intelligent species here that built the village of Polarice. If we go further, you'll see that community market down the trail called Polar Plaza which celebrates Luminaria Day. This happens once a month when the Luminaria lights in the sky show up from what I remember. We must gain the trust of The Elder Fluffle who hosts this event so that we can go past the gates of the Frostice Realm without being seen as threatening trespassers to them."

"Wait Omnikra… What will happen if we don't?" asked Styra.

"Styra, Frostice's greatest queen, is also one of the most deadliest forces in the entire Omniverse. Her armies may surpass millions, but stirring her wrong means that every reality is doomed."

The weapon paused in consideration of the consequences which would be downright severe.

There was a high risk with meeting this next guardian.