Grace

Flames scorched the perimeter of the castle dungeons, blanketing the area with throat-erupting smoke and lethal chemicals. One of the Fon's most valuable resources, blanket straw, was burning at an accelerated rate. From within one of the spacious hallways leading above one of the side dungeons of the castle, Sumire shot herself through one of the crumbling walls searching for the glacial crystal. When her face was met with flaming peril, she backtracked and decided to search another sector of the castle. However, something halted her motive.

"Young warrior." A weakened voice called for Sumire to return.

"No..." Sumire's voice faltered as she sprinted towards the scorching fire. Wooden planks from above her collapsed next to her, making every single step volatile. However, the situation was dire. "Sir Vayah, your..."

Vayah chuckled, revealing a fatal wound on his chest and stomach area. Light blood seeped through his mouth, and he spat it out to the side.

Sumire activated her nanomachines, but Vayah stopped her by snatching her arm tightly. "W-why?" Sumire asked, face concerned for his unreasonable actions.

"It cannot save me," Vayah said, throat bubbling with blood. He swallowed hard. "My wounds are already infected. Bame... Senna... Halmich... and my advisor, Adric... they have all died, haven't they?"

"No, don't say those things," Sumire said. "You're gonna make me... you're gonna make me regret everything that I've done so far...!" She cried, slamming her fists on the ground.

"Young warrior..."

"I never wanted all of you to die like this!" Sumire shouted, holding herself accountable. "I was supposed to save you all. You were all supposed to live to see a brighter future. I wanted to give all of you a better home! This wasn't meant to happen! You don't under-"

Vayah placed his hand on Sumire's head, ruffling it up slowly with how little strength he had left. "I understand." He voiced out.

Sumire stared into his eyes; his voice, confidence, and pure respect still lingered even though he was inches away from death. His strength, his courage, and his leadership made him sound understanding as if he could understand everything in the universe. His powerful gaze was nothing shy from the truth, and Sumire knew that much.

"Vayah..." Sumire whispered, but something caught her off guard. "Hey, August...! I mean, Rion... Rion told me that you knew where the glacial crystal was. Why did you send me to Sitan just to find it?"

"I had my suspicions..." Vayah weakly stated. "But I could not insist on capturing him. I did not know what tricks he had in store. If I did capture him, I was unsure if my people would be killed. But... look at us now. It seemed that I only delayed that fate."

"But you-"

"I had hopes of you stopping him," Vayah continued. "And now that you are here... you can."

Sumire watched as Vayah summoned his strength to lift his grand silver claymore, leaning it on the ground next to his right. His gargantuan left gauntlet blew out steam and hot chemical fumes before he set it on his left. Both of his weapons were laid out for Sumire. He pressed his hand against the bottom of his sword, revealing a small crystalline-shining compartment.

"No way..." Sumire whispered to herself, dazzled by the divine light of what remained in his blade.

"This is the Glacial Crystal," Vayah said, holding it gently in his palm. A gleaming blue gem in the shape of a teardrop rested in his hand. Sumire swore she could have seen the stars inside because of how shiny it was. "You must take this and use it to defeat the enemy. The power of this crystal... is beyond your wildest dreams. It is yours now."

Vayah plummeted the crystal down into Sumire's palms. She looked up at Vayah, who was about to rest for his final minute. "Sir Vayah, please," She said. "Don't leave right now. I still have to save you. I still have to save your home and Lucine."

"I..." Vayah broke down in tears, blinking rapidly before setting his eyes on Sumire one last time. "Young warrior. Your generous heart... can save anyone at any time. Never... lose sight of it. And also..."

"Sir Vayah!" Sumire shouted.

Vayah began wheezing through his breath. "Grace... waits for no one..." He quoted Lucine before his eyes lost all sources of light. He slumped back with his head against an iron gate.

Sumire froze with the crystal in her palms. He blinked multiple times before eyeing both of Vayah's weapons. With her battle attire, fused with nanosuit machines, she stood up from her seat and bowed in honor of Vayah's bravery. With the Glacial Crystal in her hand, she closed her eyes and pressed it against her chest. The crystal locked deeply into her nanosuit, infusing it with radiant energy. Power, stamina, and speed surged through her body at an accelerated rate, and her body began to cool down from the blistering flames.

With the power of the fabled founder of Planet Vicious and his ferocious tiger companion surging through her body, she kneeled and grabbed Vayah's silver claymore. She used nanomachines to attach it towards her right hand, fusing the iron with her suit. The machines shrunk the blade significantly to Sumire's liking. Vayah's iron gauntlet attached to Sumire's left hand, steaming full of weight with a single clamp against her wrist.

Sumire took a deep breath and lifted her left fist. With all her mighty, she slammed it against the ground, conjuring a powerful freezing wave with her infused nanosuit. The fires extinguished themselves as rapid invisible blistering airbrushed every speck of flame away.

"It's up to me now." Sumire voiced as she began walking away from Vayah's corpse. Armed with her new weapons, she turned around the corner of the dungeon's hallway.

It's time to end this.