✧ Chapter 45 ✧

The morning sun was shining bright throughout the city of Centreplex. Birds chirping atop the rooftops woke Flight and Hisa up. They had slept together in a bed nearest to the glistening curtains on the left. Chelbie, who had been sleeping in the other bed next to theirs, stretched her arms with energetic excitement before hopping out to open the windows. Stepping outside onto the terrace, her eyes took in the breathtaking view.

Today was the day.

“Hope you’re ready Animearth! This feisty girl is revvin’ to go.”

Walking back inside, Chelbie went over to Styra who was finished with Eternika and Compass about how they would stop Voltaze.

“Oh hey Chelbie. We just finished up the rest of our battle strategy. Are you ready to come over to visit Dream Academy with me?”

“Of course! I want to do so many other things too. Plus, in the case of a crazy confrontation, maybe a little power boost couldn’t hurt… If ya know what I mean.”

“Actually… We did have something in mind for that. Eternika and I wanted to make it up to you. Our idea comes down to this. Compass will transfer its power through your mechanical legs which will allow you to only transform them into anything you want. We can’t go higher since it would be too dangerous. I hope that is alright.”

Chelbie’s face lit up as she stared at Compass with tears of joy in her eyes while hugging him fondly.

“You’re the best robot a girl could ever ask for.”

Compass patted Chelbie’s head out of care. Seeing this much heartfelt emotion touched the Eternal Light to its core.

From what Styra was seeing, this wholesome interaction made her rethink back to that floaty feeling of being engulfed in the clouds of Wisteliah. It was hard to describe, but led to this belief that the love she was trying to find could be here in Animearth. At the same time, a sense of doubt persisted against it. Almost as if a warning was attached to that particular desire.

The emotional obsession for romantic intimacy could put the individual in question at risk. If that person were to die, she wouldn’t be able to cope with that loss. Whether that would be her fault or not also had its own implications. She wasn’t willing enough to even imagine the consequences.

Upon taking a deep breath, something settled deep inside of being herself. No matter how she looked at it, staying under the radar was a necessary option. Lingering possibilities suggested that if Voltaze did destroy Diamondion, he had to have done the same to the other guardians that went missing. Sapphirion and Creperus would likely be next on his list of targets.

During the discussion last night to attempt to prevent something like this from happening, Compass even theorized that Voltaze’s actions were tied to Prism’s unusual behavior. By unknown motives, The Master Of The Omniverse could have brought about a strange evil that these Eternal Lights weren’t entirely aware of. Worse than that, they had been forged by it.

If Sapphirion was going to talk to Prism, there was a chance for betrayal to occur. However, stopping that proved to be difficult in hindsight. They were hopeful that Creperus would be able to stall Voltaze, but she was worried it wouldn’t last long enough to be effective either.

With such a tense situation to grapple, her eyes proceeded to glow intensely. During her stagnating response to those feelings within, it caught Chelbie’s attention while she was talking to Eternika and Compass.

“Are you okay Styra? You look like you are spacin’ out or something.”

Shaking her head frantically with embarrassment, Styra noticed Flight’s reaction. He knew what had happened and so did she. Whenever her body acted like this, it meant that whatever she was thinking about connected in some way to her past. How exactly would that anxiety have contributed to what occurred before the bright light?

Bigger questions remained about whether uncovering this part of herself was going to play a key role in discovering more about her identity. It didn’t seem too promising at the moment.

“Sorry about that. I’m just worried about everything. That’s all,” she replied.

Then out of this rush of sudden urgency, Chelbie softly grabbed both of Styra’s hands. Clasping them together with her own, she pushed through to confess her supportive feelings.

“I just want you to know that you don’t have to worry this time. That’s what we are here for.”

Deep down, Styra was grateful that they wanted to help her get through this. Still, her concerns of being separated again only amplified. After all, Voltaze was already capable of making her nose bleed. It furthered a fear that had stuck with her for too long now. Past facing Death itself, she was more afraid of the nightmares she had on Perenorbius.

Those nightmares… She didn’t want them to come true, but a part of that darkness remained to haunt her memories. Like the dead nurse that got dumped over from a bridge by a mysterious man.

It was the most real of the dreams she had felt not just because of the pain that came from within.

No. This was much worse.

She turned into what she could only describe as the reckless puppeteer of a dead corpse. Almost as if she had no control or say in whatever she did to the body. The same burst of energy flowed through her eyes and she swore in that second that she heard a horrifying tune being whistled by someone in the background.

Everything from that point on was hard to remember as she woke up frightened by the experience.

Whatever happened then had to be solved now.

∗ ∗ ∗

Although Flight and Hisa had not suspected anything necessary about having travelled to Mechatopolis, there was an underlying issue at play.

Celeste, the transhuman girl had been used in undergoing experiments connected to that machine factory. Most of it took place underground thanks to that anonymous spy who claimed she was a test subject of UVOCA. Those memories of being part of a family were false, causing her to question how she was really born.

Asking this triggered a deep memory that started to play in her mind without the aid of a file to prompt those emotions.

She would wake up in a dark living room filled with glowing Christmas decorations. It was as if she had been laying there for hours. Her body could feel a force guiding her around, spectating all of the events that were about to unfold with no control besides being able to sense the feeling from within.

An experience of this magnitude traumatized her since she could clearly make out her identity as a small girl. Hearing an ambience of holiday music echoing from the surrounding darkness made for an audibly familiar feeling. Celeste was already confused about being held captive, but there was something scarier to be found in a perspective where choice did not exist.

The child’s feet slowly ventured towards a staircase, climbing up them silently. Upon turning to the left corner, Celeste saw colorful lights decorating the walls. Paintings were hanging above with a picture of these pair of puppet-like eyes staring her down. Walking further through the large hallway, a door suddenly opened by itself from her left side.

From the looks of it, this had to be the kid’s bedroom.

Entering inside, the noises she heard began to intensify and distort. Those sounds led her to a glass window where the air from outside banged against it. Celeste could make out the tune through each drop of water. The cold rain proceeded to patter harder across the rooftops.

Wiping her hand against the glass to get a better look at what was down below, she could see a beautiful lush garden full of many different fruits, vegetables, and cherry blossom trees. Amongst the colorful plants however, there stood a dark foggy figure that she couldn’t quite make out.

Celeste’s eyes shot awake only to be reminded that she was still in the same spot she had been left in after that spy disappeared.

The isolation wasn’t driving her insane as it had before. What she just experienced felt a lot more real than the other plights she went through for a long while. There was nothing else that could possibly explain what occurred except for one thing.

Styra and Flight. Those people that risked their lives to help her take down the Skyway Suite. She remembered them talking about The Eternal Lights. They could explain a lot more about what this power within her was. She recalled Styra using one associated with time too. Was this Styra like her? Perhaps she was also not human since she could use an Eternal Light at will? She wasn’t really sure what to make of these thoughts.

Questioning the validity of such strikingly possible similarities gave her a sense of hope. The spy said she was an ancient powerhouse unlocked. If that was true, then what new ability was she able to use in comparison to the previous ten? Ideas flooded Celeste’s mind but it was not answering anything significant. Especially the most confusing part. Who really created her?

If she was going to find a way out of this situation, it would mean outsmarting the spy that was holding her captive. She let her emotions wander when the answer was to be more more calculated and strategic. That was what Styra and Flight told Drift. Now that very same lesson would have to apply to herself right now if she wanted to get out. Being stuck in a past world was no way to end.

During her mental revival, she heard a metal door swing open. Footsteps sounded as if they were approaching Celeste. There was no need to really panic as she had to remember what the next step was. If she could play into being emotionally dumb, the spy would likely act domineering and mention critical information to help her escape.

“Celeste, it seems I found out about your little friends.”

This made Celeste curious.

“My friends?”

“Yes… There were two of them searching for you. Too bad they left you here all alone.”

Was the spy claiming to have killed her friends? If that was true, this meant they returned back to Avtiatopolis. Clearly Celeste was still in her home world, but the problem lied in how she would get out of here. She needed to find a way to use her speech as bait.

“You killed them… Didn’t you?” asked Celeste.

“A small price to pay for them disturbing my privacy. The VCDs probably killed them on sight.”

Celeste knew better than anyone that the machines and their revolution was unfolding across the planet. Soon, they were bound to travel to StarSpace and ruin the futures of people living there as Flight had told her. As far as the news about the deaths were concerned, Celeste was skeptical about that too because of how the spy’s voice kept sounding enthusiastic and dramatic in tone.

“Listen, I’m sorry I offended you earlier, but please don’t do that again. I do not want more people to die after what I’ve seen. It scares me.”

“I don’t know about that. See, the problem with what you’re saying is that not all humans deserve to live. Aviatopolis is the epitome of those examples. I picked up on what you did from above. Do you even know what you’ve been doing when you thought you were asleep for twenty-three years?”

“No.”

“Sucks to be you then I suppose.”

Noticing the arrogance in the spy’s words, Celeste pushed her next plan into action with a lie.

“Wait! Maybe I can help you… To destroy the humans…”

Baffled by what this transhuman girl said, the spy shined a desk lamp in Celeste’s face.

“What changed in you? I thought you said you didn’t want to do it anymore.”

“I heard what you said about Aviatopolis and realized that we both have something in common.”

“Oh? And that is?”

“We want the humans to pay for what they’ve done to us.”

“That would be interesting… If it wasn’t for another problem I have. Why were you scared of killing them?”

A sudden feeling of regret passed through Celeste’s heart. Almost as if she was trying to show how uncomfortable she was with the question in itself.

“My friends that were human, they assisted me in destroying Aviatopolis. They come from StarSpace.”

“You’re kidding… I mean if they were doing it for themselves that would be one thing. Instead, you’re actually saying they wanted to help you?”

“Yes?”

The spy looked down at the ground while muttering swear words under their breath. From what Celeste could see, this person seemed displeased by what they were hearing. Without warning, the spy pulled a photo out of one of their pockets which hanged from a utility belt.

“These people… Do you recognize them as friends of yours?”

Celeste squinted at what she was seeing in disbelief. A hidden camera from within the abandoned machine factory caught a picture of Flight and a young woman she never saw before hugging all over each other. It almost seemed as if they didn’t even have a clue what she was going through. Beside that was another thing that disturbed her.

“Where is Styra?” asked Celeste out of frustration.

“I have no clue who you’re referring to.”

Calming herself down, Celeste decided to ask a more serious question that aligned with the photo.

“Ah, okay. Can you at least tell me what they were talking about? Like the person in the green cloak? His name is Flight Takeshi.”

“He said something along the lines of why would she send us here? Maybe your friend Styra is the one that sent them to find you.”

Curious about why Flight would say something like this in particular, Celeste asked if she was allowed to see the raw footage. When the spy gave her a chance to watch it all, this deep-rooted disappointment began to build inside of her.

Although Celeste was not entirely set on assuming anything, she felt a bit betrayed knowing that Flight forgot about her after all that time. There was reasonable intent for him to be searching for his parents who might be hiding on this planet. The issue was more of how they were making light use of solving this dilemma. If nothing confused her more than anything, how they disappeared out of sight afterwards made it hard to comprehend. Styra couldn’t have sent them back. Right?

Whatever the context behind the situation was, it just seemed off-putting.

“I have a proposal for you. If you want to find your friends, you must do me a favor,” requested the spy who went to a small table where a briefcase was lying.

“Anything. I’ll do it even if it’s the last time I live.”

Silence filled the entire room until a certain noise was audibly emanating whispers. The Eleventh Eternal Light’s minty green glow made its presence known within seconds. When Celeste stared at it, there was something hypnotizing about the way this thing was formed. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the brightly lit wonder as the spy brought the suitcase over to her table to make a deal.

“If I give you a new Eternal Light to replace the one within you now, you will allow me to train you. In return, capture missing test subject 45 and bring them to me.”

When Celeste looked at the photo that was being shown, her memories caught onto who this was. However, she was never going to reveal it to the spy because this was the most unusual case of deja vu she would ever have to witness.

The picture showed a younger yet serious Styra who was sixteen wearing the same outfit with a diamond symbol in the center. However, the part that sent Celeste into a mental fit of distraught anger was the person in the background. It was a bald man wearing a lab coat who gave off a devious smile while putting his hand on Styra’s shoulder.

She now at least saw who the spy worked for. All Celeste had to do now was play along with the mission until she would betray these UVOCA agents who were possibly traitors of the older agency for their own personal benefit.

“Alright, let’s do it,” she replied.