Scene: Arrival Too Late
A golden rift opened in the skies above the battlefield, and Kazuya stepped through, sword drawn, heart pounding.
He had felt the shockwave from across realms — the collapse of two divine signatures. He had felt Silvey's light disappear.
But he had hoped... prayed...
Now, standing on the shattered remains of the skybridge, he saw the truth.
Marine knelt beside Silvey's body, tears silently falling onto the broken stones. Jasmine's form had already begun to fade, her soul having returned to the Source. But Silvey... Silvey still lay there, as if simply asleep.
Kazuya's knees gave way.
He staggered forward.
Kazuya (barely whispering):
"No…"
His voice cracked. His sword dropped from his hand.
Then he saw Marine — alone, alive, trembling — and his expression shifted from sorrow to rage.
He stepped closer, fists shaking.
Kazuya (hoarsely):
"Was it him? Did he do this?!"
Marine looked up, shocked by the sharpness in his voice.
Marine (quickly):
"No. No, he didn't."
Kazuya (staring):
"You saw him, didn't you? He was here."
Marine (nods):
"Yes... but he didn't kill them. Rogan did. He came to take me. Jasmine and Silvey fought him."
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
Marine:
"They died protecting me."
Kazuya's chest rose and fell like a storm was trapped inside him.
He turned away, jaw clenched.
Marine (softly):
"Then Kai appeared. He saved me. He killed Rogan."
Kazuya froze.
His back was still turned, but Marine could see the tremble in his fingers.
Kazuya (quietly):
"He saved you…"
He said it like it didn't fit in the world he had imagined.
Without speaking further, he walked toward Silvey's body and knelt beside her.
He reached out, fingers brushing her hand.
Kazuya (barely audible):
"You always believed in him. Even after I couldn't."
The wind around them stilled.
Then Kazuya rose, eyes heavier than before.
He looked at Marine.
Kazuya:
"We can't stay here."
---
Scene: Return to Airoma — A Broken Home
A portal opened behind them. Together, they stepped through — returning to Airoma.
But it was no longer the same village.
The once lush green fields were blackened. Homes lay in ruin. The watchtowers had fallen. The central shrine where the Aether Mirror once stood was reduced to rubble.
Ash hung in the air like ghostly dust.
Marine gasped softly.
Everything looked dead. Hollow.
Only a few scattered survivors moved through the wreckage — those too wounded to leave or too stubborn to let go.
Isaka sat propped against a broken column, her systems dim. Megum was trying to repair a half-functioning shield dome. Luci was nowhere in sight — probably out scavenging for supplies.
Marine (softly):
"It's… all gone."
Kazuya:
"This isn't home anymore. Not for you. Not for anyone."
Marine didn't argue. The truth was already breaking her heart.
Kazuya stood silently for a moment, then turned.
Kazuya:
"There's a place. A world hidden far beyond the starfields."
Marine looked at him.
Kazuya (continued):
"It's where Kai trained once. Back when he believed in peace."
Marine:
"He won't return there?"
Kazuya:
"No. That place holds his memories. Painful ones."
Marine (softly):
"Then maybe it's the only place he won't follow me."
Kazuya looked toward the stars, eyes distant.
Kazuya:
"Maybe."
---
Scene: Portal to the Forgotten Planet
The survivors gathered to see them off. Isaka gave a faint nod, Megum pressed a tracker crystal into Marine's palm, and Luci, bruised but breathing, simply pulled her into a tight hug.
Luci:
"Don't forget who you are."
Marine (whispering):
"I don't even know that yet."
Luci:
"Then go find her. And come back as someone they fear."
They stepped away from the ashes of Airoma, into a new portal. This one was darker, deeper. It wasn't golden or divine. It was silent. Like it led to a world untouched by the war.
Before stepping through, Marine turned one last time.
She looked at the village she was born in. The place that raised her. The place that died for her.
Then she walked forward.
The portal closed.
Scene: The Truth Beneath the Stars
The fire had burned low.
It was night on Vel'Raeth — and the stars above shimmered like frozen spirits.
Marine sat beside the red-glowing altar where she had found Kai's journal. She had been silent for a long time. Her hands still held the book, though she hadn't turned a page in hours.
Kazuya stood behind her, arms crossed, eyes on the sky.
Finally, he spoke.
Kazuya (softly):
"You've read enough to feel it now, haven't you?"
Marine (quietly):
"There's something familiar about the way he writes… the way he remembers Sophie. The way he saw Airoma. It's not just a protector's voice. It's something… deeper."
Kazuya stepped forward and knelt beside her.
Kazuya:
"There's something I never told you.
Not because I wanted to hide it…
But because I wasn't sure it was true."
He paused.
Then his voice, strong and careful, broke like a whisper.
Kazuya:
"Marine… Kai is your father."
Marine blinked. Her breath caught. The world didn't move.
Kazuya (continued):
"He never knew you survived. Sophie protected you with a spell so powerful that it even blinded him — the one man who could sense almost anything."
Marine stared at the journal in her hands.
Marine (softly):
"All this time… the person protecting me... the one who saved me from Rogan…"
Her voice cracked.
Marine:
"He didn't even know he was saving his daughter."
Kazuya nodded.
Kazuya:
"He's changed. Hardened. But something in him still moves when you're in danger. That's not coincidence. That's love… buried under fire."
She held the journal tighter, as if it might vanish.
Marine:
"Then I have to bring him back. Not to stop the war… but to remind him who he was before it began."
---
Scene: The Warrior's Home
The next day, Kazuya and Marine walked deeper into the cliffs of Vel'Raeth.
Eventually, they came upon a narrow mountain path covered in vines and crystal moss. At the top stood a house — carved directly into the mountain rock. Its outer walls were painted with fading symbols of protection, honor, and flame.
Marine (softly):
"He lived here?"
Kazuya (nodding):
"Before he was a hunter. Before Sophie. Before the universe twisted us."
They entered the house. Inside, it was silent, empty, but not lifeless. The scent of old parchment and ash lingered. A few training relics still hung on the walls — broken gauntlets, a scorched spear, a shattered medallion of the Solari Order.
Marine ran her hand over the stone table in the center.
A carved mark was still etched into the surface:
> "Strength is not destruction. It is the refusal to let the weak be destroyed."
Marine closed her eyes and whispered to herself.
Marine:
"He wrote this for me… before I was even born."
---
Scene: The Training Begins
They decided to stay in the house. Kazuya prepared the grounds for combat drills. Megum rebuilt what little tech could be salvaged from Airoma. Luci returned two days later with supplies, bruised but smirking. And Isaka — now repaired — stood ready once more, sharper and more precise than ever.
The training began at dawn.
Marine's body ached by midday. Her breathing was ragged. Her hands blistered from holding a blade she wasn't yet ready to wield. But she didn't stop.
Kazuya didn't go easy on her — nor did Isaka. She sparred with both, learned to read movement, to feel energy shifts, to awaken her inner shield and use it as more than defense.
Still — she was not yet ready.
She could summon Aether light but couldn't hold it steady. Her speed was improving, but her stance still broke under pressure.
One evening, after a long session, she collapsed onto the grass outside the house, panting, arms limp.
Marine (groaning):
"I'm never going to be strong enough…"
Isaka sat nearby, legs crossed, watching the stars begin to appear.
Isaka:
"Strength doesn't mean beating Kai. Not yet. It means surviving him."
Marine:
"He's too powerful."
Isaka (nodding):
"He is. And even I, with all my upgrades, can't guarantee victory. But I can stall him."
Marine looked over, surprised.
Isaka (serious):
"I can't defeat him. But I can keep him busy long enough for you to reach him. Through her."
Marine (softly):
"Sophie."
Isaka nodded.
Isaka:
"Your mother gave you more than power. She gave you the key to his memory. His heart. That's something even he can't destroy."
Marine sat up slowly, shoulders aching but mind sharper than before.
She looked to the old training field beyond the mountain house — where Kai once stood, defending others, where he trained to fight not for rage, but for righteousness.
And she whispered to herself:
Marine:
"I will bring you back, Father. Not for me…
But for who you used to be."