✧ Chapter 29 ✧

"How did you wake up after all of that was happening?" inquired the weapon.

As the mask faded away from her face, Styra smiled because to her, the answer was kind of simple. At least to her anyway.

"I was really tired of hearing the word 'death'. They never shut up about it. What is up with almost every single guardian talking so much? There were a few exceptions, but I felt like I was attending that bad speech announcement with the Elder Fluffle all over again. Then again, Diamondon was there as well. She wasn't any better. Guess I'll never really know."

Triumphant as it would've been, this was not where it ended. Styra now had all of her previous powers rolled into one through herself. She wasn't really sure if the Eternal Lights were needed anymore to rectify the future.

"So what should we do now since you have the power of four Eternal Lights using the Kra Force within you?" asked Omnikra.

This was of course a tricky question. For what it was worth, she wanted to do almost everything good with it. However, there was also a feeling that she couldn't. Strage made that abundantly clear. Loose ends had to be tied though. For one, Prism still disabled the Eternal Lights within her. Perhaps it was time to let go, especially knowing what she was now. With that in mind, she released the Eternal Lights Of Time, Energy, Sound, and Life; sending them all away to the Infinite Infernum for another guardian to find.

Once that was done, a sudden burst of maniacal laughter echoed throughout the entirety of Jahlir. Styra looked closer only to find Strage rushing back with full force. This time, he had activated all four of The Eternal Lights she had thrown out. In trying to combat Death itself, The Eternal Light Of Death was amplified through a powerful bond shared by one another. A now more experienced Strage overpowered each attack she attempted to counter more flawlessly than the last. Even Omnikra could not open any weak spots because its armor had become stronger.

Out of sheer enjoyment of being challenged, Death transformed back to its ten-horned form. It brutally used a glowing red hand to slam her through the core of several worlds in other universes that existed in that multiverse. Styra's suit was breaking. The imminence of this happening forced her to free herself from Strage's grip. Trying to recover and deal so many blows began to overwhelm her physical and mental strength though. It seemed that removing The Eternal Lights from her body earlier further sipped away what energy she had left.

Distracted by these thoughts, Strage took the opportunity to sweep both blades from underneath her legs which caused Styra to lose control over balancing her flight for less than a fifth of a second. Within that time, she ended up crashing into Perenorbius which nearly shook it out of orbit from the collision. Deep scratches had torn her skin. The heart and mind on the other hand were going sore from the impact, alongside the gravitational pull of Perenorbius's core coming from behind her. The booming Ethereal Echo of Strage could be heard from millions of miles away.

"You are more of an idiot than I was led to believe. These Eternal Lights have a more stronger bond to me than they do to you. In case you forgot, I am an Alpha Guardian. And unlike The Heptarion Force, we are able to use the power of more than one Eternal Light Of Creation."

Amongst the great danger, Styra lost all hope in stopping Death. Omnikra, who was still fighting, could feel her pain. Everything about the synchronized connection slowed down its abilities. Strage used this to its advantage and trapped the four blades in another red luminous hand before saying something of extreme concern.

"Life in the Omniverse all share the same fate. In their heads, I am an abomination. A monstrosity. When in reality, they are creating their own despair. The pain of living is atrocious, is it not? Everything you are, you hate. You agonize yourself without realizing you did. That is because your pain is your doing. All of these problems stem from you, Styra. Now, against all odds, what choice have you left? Nothing."

After the monumentally condescending speech, Death held out its huge blades to absorb every sun in the Omniverse. This turned the dead stars into white dwarfs stars. Solar flares passing through galaxies just to reach Strage prompted excruciating consequences. A darkness consumed worlds without remorse for the natural life that depended on it. Power outages began to surface with technological civilizations. Those that relied on it as an energy source were doomed. While this was happening, all Styra could think of was one word. Nothing.

She could not fight a force that was pulling her back. In fact she was hurting from having lost and lied to everyone she cared about. Perhaps for once, Death was right. Tears streamed down in silence; eyes closed in accepting what would come. The melancholy however, unlocked something unexpected. Styra could feel an intricate vibration. It was the hot core of the world she was stuck to. There were rumblings coming from it in a distinct way. As if it was communicating with her… Omnikra told her that universes had a mind of their own. Did Perenorbius have the same? If that was true, this world probably hated her as well. Leaving it unattended to be destroyed. She made the wrong choice to leave where she lived.

Then, Styra realized something. Her mind was starting to experience a different notion. She never really understood Perenorbius. Even billions of years ago, when the asteroid hit, she did not consider how everything else felt. Only letting her guilt establish an emotion that life on Perenorbius really had for her. Assuming the worst but, never seeing both sides of the story. Plants grew again, the weather was returning to its normal state, and the world continued to orbit.

Perenorbius was still trying to live, if she would give it a second chance. The little planet could not help what it was made to be, nor what fate had planned for its future. Regardless, it wanted to make the best of what it was. And Styra showed Perenorbius that hope. Death no longer frightened her home. Now, this tiny orb that experienced the best and worst parts of Styra's life wanted to show her what she could do.

Meanwhile, Strage finally collected all of the solar energy from every universe unimaginable, opening its mouth which clasped chthonic dread from the nightmarish amusement of completing such an immense task. Words of bliss spewed from Death before preparing to blast the itty-bitty girl and her puny planet out of existence.

"Consider yourself dead," it responded with a sense of superciliousness.

An engulfing red star storm shot out with massive power so great that it contained the capacity to rip through hundreds of multiverses, potentially to leave a scar in the Omniverse forever. It would not matter if more Morskars were sent back to The Heptarion Sanctum from dissolving in this blazing inferno. They would just revive and continue the mission. Besides, all Prism had done was rank Death to a higher role for destroying The Illuminator Of Realities. Their "Master" was soft, weak, and flimsy to be in the leading position and claiming to save existence. To be ruling without structure.

At that point, when the emission of incomprehensible heat blew against Perenorbius's atmosphere, a red barrier of light absorbed the surrounding environment. This perplexed Strage. Pushing closer to increase the pressure and break the boundary did not work either. Attempting to slice the core in half instead, a mysterious force field protected that from occurring. Death continued to beat on it as hard as possible with enraged fury to destabilize the world out of orbit. How could this be possible? What did Styra just do? That was when a strange event turned the tide of the entire battle. A pause of shocking proportions that even bewildered Death itself.

Perenorbius had transformed into the most beautiful star anyone could ever dream of. At the center of this colossal glowing giant, Styra had changed into a child. She was not aware of it, but there was clearly a difference to be established with what she was wearing. An azure robe now held the imprinted diamond symbol which reflected what was on her suit beforehand.

Star was reborn.