✧ Chapter 30 ✧

The child hovered above worlds, becoming brighter and brighter until even Strage could not stare straight at her. She was too empyreal to witness. Blocking the blades over its eyes and peering through wasn't enough to suffice the wondrous sight. This luminous force that became viewable to every universe no matter how far it ranged, was nothing ordinary. It defied the physical limitations of solar masses known to life. Abruptly, Star gave light to all of the white dwarf stars, reconstructing the universes in Jahlir back to their healthy states. Death, for the first time, could tell that this was not The New Guardian. She was not wielding Omnikra. The weapon didn't shatter from its grip to begin with. As mystifying as it seemed, the whole experience fumbled Strage into unforeseen uncertainty.

In comparison to the reign it tried to maintain, Star transformed back into Styra. She then separated after fusing with Perenorbius's core. Her home was rebuilt into a bigger world where all generations of the life that she lived with would coincide in harmony. Peace was sustainable enough for nature itself to be satisfied. Death, nevertheless, had gripes to speak over what it was seeing.

"Oh so what will you do now? Give every world infinite life just to fulfill your happiness? You know well enough that not everyone wants to live like you do. All of this was done because you despise me. It does not strike me as unique."

Styra serenely floated before Strage and was not afraid of it as she had been recently. She smiled calmly whilst remaining evermore careful to admit her true feelings about everything up until that moment.

"Death, you do not have to be a monster. No, not many will love what I love the most, but that is okay. The loneliness of life is a lot more important than I realized. Being alone. Being forgotten. Becoming a remnant of the past. It does not frighten me anymore. I will continue to treasure the good that I can give to others until I have nothing left. A star does not need to shine in front of others in order to be one."

Tranquility touched Strage in a way it was not expecting. The rage inside began to settle. This girl who was disconnected from time and lived for billions of years did not really worry about anyone forgetting her or what she did. Becoming meaningless was a sacrifice she was willing to make. But why? Why was figuring out who she was no longer concerning her?

"I do not understand you Styra. Life is impulsive in leaving behind a part of itself. You do not have the courage to face coming and going as nothing, as you have not been there yet. I am essential in that regard. The dead are husks which operate under my control. They are never forgotten to me, just in a different way that the living cannot fathom."

"Do you really care about those that die? If they lived till the end of their lives only for you, why hold something against who they were before? You are their last hope when they leave. It is all they can depend on."

Death thought about this. Perhaps he did not need to use The Morskar army to keep The Heptarion Sanctum guarded for this celestial artifact to remain safe. Although, whatever happened to Amethion would have a clear impact on that decision. There was only one thing left to do. The Ring Of Infernum would have to be destroyed, despite the consequences attached to any of the other guardians getting mad about it. The move was risky but necessary.

After doing that, Strage gave Omnikra back to Styra and asked if she wanted to persuade their "Master" about not being The New Guardian. Unfortunately, at a time like now, she didn't feel like dealing with Prism at the moment. In fairness, Strage agreed with her viewpoint and planned on returning to the Infinite Infernum to protect the five Eternal Lights it now had in its possession. Prior to that happening, she had admitted the reason for declining was because her friends were still missing. Death answered her inquisitive apprehensions by revealing that they weren't actually dead; showing which galaxy and worlds that Diamondion had disclosed to it during the time Styra was in Liquatics Laboratory.

The first world called Blattaga was filled with large roaches crawling around on the muddy ground which stretched for miles. They kept on bugging Hisa and Chelbie outside of the crashed ship by crawling around it. Most of them weren't really strong enough to break in so easily, which led to many of them just staring at the window casually. It felt like days until a bright light fixed the ship they were in and sent them to the galaxy called Rosenhan. Styra was glad to see they were alive. Now all she had to do was find Flight.

Flight on the other hand ended up in a planet called Madara in the same galaxy which was one of these medieval towns with magical girls ruling over them. It took place around a weirder realm than Frostice's called Fidaliath. He was about to aim the Crimson Chargeon at Diamondion, when he found himself in an awkward situation where instead he was pointing it at the ruler known as Princess Fidaliath on her throne. The girls ganged up around him unnecessarily without talking it through. Fending off most of them proved to be difficult when they stole his gun anyways. At this point, he was now considered a criminal in their town. He had escaped by catching them off-guard with a massive smokescreen bomb to escape the castle unnoticed. Apparently hiding in alleyways was now his thing. He had survived for days wearing one of those brown medieval cloaks with a hood draping over his eyes.

Over time, he grew accustomed to their civilization by hiding in the shadows. Often he would find ways to earn money to eat and rent a home so he could take care of himself. However, once the signs of reward for his capture went up, it was clear he would have to find his own way out. When he was stalking guards to find an exit, Styra popped up behind him. His reaction was more grateful than anything else he could have asked for.

"I thought something bad happened to you, and that I would never be able to forgive myself for not doing enough," he said.

Styra began to cry, hugging him tight while expressing that she felt the same way about what she had done. In her hand, she had taken the Shard Of Surreality away from Compass without Mr. Nebules knowing. Giving it to Flight, a shadow hovered over them as soon as they did this.

"Uh, Styra… What is Compass doing here?" asked Flight with an unsettled look on his face.

For some reason, Styra smiled at the machine. She had a feeling that quite a few things were going to get better from here. For her, staying on Perenorbius was nice, but it was about time she explored places just for the fun of it. She liked going on these adventures, not knowing what she might encounter. She wasn't as afraid anymore. In the same sense though, it occurred to her that Strage did mention Amethion having disappeared. Wherever he was, she had to find out what happened to him. For right now, everything was…

Imperceptible.