Flight

"Beautiful sunrise, isn't it?" A sudden voice startled Sumire and Lucine as they bathed in the sun. Sumire gasped and recognized the voice immediately. She slipped her hand over Lucine and sheltered her over a bullet that passed through her shoulder. Lucine's eyes ruptured in sadness after watching Sumire deal with the pain of the bullet lodged inside her.

"Su-" Lucine stammered with her mouth agape. "Sumire...?"

Sumire slid off of Lucine to her side, breathing slowly and slowly the more time passed. Lucine clutched her tightly in an attempt to protect her. They both turned toward where the bullet originated from, and Rion slipped inside the crystalline barrier from where they laid with an orange crystal residing in his possession.

"But you know what's even more beautiful?" Rion asked rhetorically, lifting the amber crystal so that the sunrise gleamed against its marvelous beauty. "The memory fragment. And I had to say, Lucine... without you, I wouldn't have acquired this. I don't need your Glacial Crystal anymore. I'll use this... to finish what you started."

"Lucine, stop him!" Sumire shouted as the pain continued surging through her shoulder.

An unidentified individual grabbed Rion's boot, which startled him. The little boy that "August" used as an excuse to gain passage to Sagittarius Fon feebly dragged himself throughout the castle's destructive aftermath. August played the role of his father, and unfortunately, the boy failed to realize the truth in time. Lucine attempted to pull her right arm up from her position, but her stamina was depleted entirely.

"Fa... Father...?" The little boy's body was gushing with blood from the debris crushing him. His legs were nothing but bone sludge dragging through what remained of his temporary home. "Help... me..."

"Disgusting," Rion said, spitting into the boy's eyes. "No shame, hmm? Well, I'll gladly lighten your load..."

He aimed his pistol directly at the boy's forehead and fired. Blood splattered across the stone slabs, instantly killing the boy. His eyes rolled up into his brain, and pink remnants of his head gushed out. Lucine hounded at Rion, regaining her strength, and charged straight at him.

"You fucking monster!" She shouted.

"Persistent, aren't you?" Rion enthusiastically saw merit and joy in Lucine's efforts. He fired a bullet into her left shin. She collapsed on her face and fell back down once more. "Did I strike a nerve? I'm sorry. But that boy thought I was his father. No need for such trivial-garbage-"

His pistol continued aiming down at Lucine, but she tossed both of her arms up and attempted to seize control of it. Rion tried pulling back, but Lucine's anger kept her going. "Let go, you bitch!" Rion yelled. "Let go!"

"Sumire!" Corlean's voice called beyond the crystalline barrier. She stepped in and transferred her body's nanomachines onto Sumire's hands and legs. Some of the machines entered her bullet wound, regenerating and healing her from within. An instant burst of stamina engulfed Sumire as she arose from her weakened state.

"Rion!" Sumire roared at the top of her lungs as she rampaged forward, remembering his utter deception under the persona "August."

"Go!" Rion shouted at his two Genesis companions on his side. One of them knocked Lucine's grasp from Rion's pistol, and the other charged straight into Sumire to distract her. Rion hurriedly left the scene while the two soldiers rushed at Sumire to stop her.

By using the nanomachines on her left hand, she grabbed a remnant of Lucine's crimson gunblade from faraway and lodged it into one of the soldier's necks. The other soldier tackled Sumire to the ground and began strangling the life out of her. Lucine arose from behind, yanked her shattered gunblade out of the other soldier's neck, and jammed it deep into the nape of the soldier. Sumire pushed the soldier off and met with Lucine's desperate sobbing face after the death of the young boy.

"Sumire, he's heading to my hideout!" Lucine stated. "My particle accelerator... it's there!"

"Shit," Sumire said underneath her tongue.

"That memory fragment he had... he can easily substitute the Glacial Crystal for that. If he gets his hands on it, he'll take all of Aries and send it to my home planet! You have to stop him! Please!"

"Okay," Sumire said, using her nanomachines to support her back up. "I'm going. Take care of yourself!" She rushed out where Rion escaped and bumped shoulders with Corlean and Charlotte. The two of them searched for Sumire among the rubble. "I'm going after Rion! Take care of Lucine and keep her safe!"

"Wait, what!?" Charlotte's startled expression left her confuddled. "Sumire, wait!"

Sumire chased after Rion. Her feet slipped on frail pieces of debris from Vicious Castle as she struggled to descend the establishment. A narrow stairway leading to ground level remained intact, making it her only escape out. She passed by the corpses of both Fon and Genesis alike as she reached the bottom of the stairwell. She peeked over a crumbled balcony and witnessed Rion powerwalking towards two aircraft prepping for flight to Lucine's hideout. The amount of time that Sumire would take to reach him by following the castle's pathway was not enough. She swiftly examined her surroundings and caught a maroon-colored Fon banner torn and scorched in flame from the aftermath of the war.

"Come on, Sumire." She told herself as she exhaled rapid breaths. She lunged forward and grabbed the banner with both of her hands. The banner began to stretch and rip from Sumire's weight, dangling it down towards an angle where the castle's debris piled up all at once. She landed on the side of the castle, sliding off a steep ramp made up of the dungeons destroyed in the battle. As she finally reached ground level, she leaped off and landed on all fours on the grassy plains.

The sun nearly blinded her eyes as she chased after Rion, who reached the aircraft in time. A disoriented Ryo shoveled more stone debris off of his body after being blasted off of the rooftop garden. His eyes tracked his sister sprinting at full speed towards the two aircraft readying to take off. He muttered his sister's name and keeled over with his palms beneath his shoulders.

Rion stepped inside the aircraft's transport; a military-grade juggernaut carrying explosive supplies in its transport strapped on began prepping for flight. Rion witnessed Sumire sprinting towards the aircraft, prompting him to slam the pilot's head against the wall to wake him up. "Fly, you son of a bitch! Hurry the fuck up! Get the other plane airborne!" He ordered.

Grass blades and a variety of sliced mystical flowers bombarded Sumire's face as both aircraft propellers activated. The aircraft Rion resided in took off, while the second aircraft was late to join. Three of the Genesis soldiers signaled for the pilot to finally take off by activating its emergency thrusters.

Sumire disappeared as soon as both aircraft were airborne. Rion chuckled and sat back down on one of the transport seats with the memory fragment in hand. He glossed his hand over it and heard it whispering to him in an unknown dialect. He smiled, showing off his teeth as he watched the aircraft ascend toward the clouds and out of the Sagittarius District entirely. His destination was the Libra District where Lucine's hideout was.

"Mission success, Mr. Stormfield," The pilot in Rion's aircraft noted. "You finally got the memory fragment. Congratulations."

"Hey, why don't you do your fucking duty and fly," Rion said. "Soon as we reach that bitch's hideout, that accelerator's ours."

The second aircraft trailed after Rion's, transporting more explosive materials on board to presumably destroy Lucine's hideout before activating the particle accelerator. The soldiers on board watched the clouds pass by their faces as the wind flapped their uniforms around. One of the soldiers looked at the other two, slapping his knee with his palm.

"Can't believe a select few in Aries'll survive today," The Genesis soldier said. "Hope I still get to stay. I always loved their food."

"Hey, don't worry about that shit," Another soldier explained. "Mr. Stormfield will choose us for sure. We are the ones that extracted him out of that alien shitfest after all."

Metal slamming sounds caught one of the other soldiers off guard as they wondered about the status of their homes. The soldier peeked his head toward the pilot trailing after Rion's aircraft. "Hey, did you turn off those emergency turbines?" He asked.

"I should have," The pilot said, eyeing the radars on his cockpit's control panel. "Yeah, they're both off."

"What the hell's making that noise then?" The soldier asked himself, unbuckling his seatbelt from the transport seat. He peeked his head near the massive cascading opening where the sound came from.

"Man, in only five minutes, we'll be at Libra," One of the other soldiers noted. "Can't believe it. I still need some time to process all this."

"What the fu-"

The soldier checking for the metal slamming sound was instantly silenced by a shard of glass embedded in his throat. As blood bubbled and trickled down his collarbone, a slim hand snatched one of the pistols in his side holster.

Both soldiers unbuckled their seatbelts as they reached for their firearms on the opposite side of the aircraft. Sumire yanked the deceased soldier down the aircraft, plummeting him to his death. She lunged forward and sent another Genesis soldier soaring out of the aircraft with a powerful kick.

"Holy sh-" The soldier had no time to speak. Sumire fired multiple rounds into the soldier's legs with her pistol. She tackled him and tossed him off the aircraft. His screams were all Sumire could hear with the high-altitude winds colliding against her ears. The nanomachines on her hands and feet were gone, as they were used to stick on the bottom of the aircraft by melding in with its material.

"Hey, who the fuck are you?!" The pilot shouted, activating the aircraft's auto-pilot mechanic. He rammed into Sumire with his shoulder and brandished a knife underneath his wrist. Sumire yelled as she slammed into the back of the aircraft. She dodged two swipes from the pilot's knife before using his pistol to shoot into his knee. Sumire snatched his knife and jammed it into his chest before kicking him out of the aircraft with both of her feet.

Sumire's ponytail swiveled uncontrollably in the wind as she rushed towards the pilot's seat. She had no experience piloting one of Genesis's aircraft, so she decided to use her best skill; improv. She deactivated the auto-pilot mechanic, buckled her seatbelt, and steered the aircraft with the vehicle's flight stick. After being unfamiliar with the control panel's details, Sumire had one thing and only one thing in mind; she needed to stop Rion no matter what the cost was.

Gladly, Rion suspected nothing as he rested his back against the transport seat. Sumire clenched her teeth and yelled as she pulled the flight stick upwards, disappearing into the clouds. The pilot inside Rion's vehicle took notice of this and flicked two switches on his control panel. He yanked a coil-based microphone over his neck and spoke into it using radiofrequency.

"99-B, do you read me?" The pilot spoke through the radio. "Do not break trail. I repeat, do not break trail. Visibility is poor. Leave the vehicle on auto-pilot, do you copy?"

The fog began blocking the aircraft's cockpit. Rion lifted his head from his resting position, noticing his pilot speaking toward the other aircraft. He unbuckled his seatbelt and peeked his head out of the transport's window. His second aircraft had completely vanished.

"Visibility is poor, do you copy?" The pilot repeated. "Visibility is poor! Do you copy, 99-B? Do you copy?"

Rion's aircraft escaped the fog, leading towards a glossy navy-blue ocean near the Libra District where Lucine's hideout was. He turned his head out the other window and held his breath after being met with a colossal disaster rampaging towards him. The second aircraft was heading straight for his aircraft at top speed.

"Yeah, I fucking copy, bitch!" Sumire's voice rang through the radio as she held her breath. She closed her eyes as her aircraft slammed into the side of Rion's vehicle. The impact of the slam caused Rion's head to plummet towards his lap where the memory fragment resided. Its sharp and pointy edge drove into Rion's right eye, gouging it out immediately as it bled profusely. Rion's foul screams were barely audible with both aircraft's propellers spiraling out of control. The pilot inside his aircraft screamed in horror as the cockpit's glass windows shattered. The sheer force and pressure from the wind launched the pilot out of the aircraft without means of a safe drop.

Rion closed his right eye as he placed the memory fragment in one of his side holsters. He rushed toward the front of the aircraft and leaned on the flight stick to stabilize it. But it was too late. He toppled over and fell back toward the transport's rear. Seatbelts from the other transport seats flapped all over Rion's waist, ensnaring him in a tangled web. He reached for his knife to slice himself out.

Meanwhile, Sumire's vehicle spiraled out of control as well. Her aircraft was very close to Rion's, but both were at their absolute limit of being reduced to nothingness by the sheer damage. Sumire unbuckled her seatbelt and slid down towards the transport window. She eyed Rion's aircraft and lunged forward as soon as her aircraft began descending at a rapid rate. She shouted to build strength and landed on the edge of Rion's aircraft with her arms supporting her weight. One of the loose seatbelts was available for her to snatch, which she did.

Sumire held her breath and pushed herself in with her weight. The aircraft began to spiral and rotate even further, forcing her to close her eyes. While at the edge of Lucine's hideout on the side of several mountainous cliffs, both she and Rion prepared for impact. Flames surfaced on the dysfunctional propellers, eventually springing off with ongoing damages and pressure. The aircraft collided near the top of the cliff, rotating with both Sumire and Rion inside.

Both of them suffered minor injuries; Sumire's back slammed against the cockpit, and Rion's face grazed against jagged rocks entering the aircraft. His right eye continued to bleed. He shouted after continuing to slice through the seatbelts entangling his body. The aircraft's impact on the cliff near Lucine's hideout sent the memory fragment outside of the window.

"No!" Rion cried, increasing his pace at slicing the seatbelts apart.

The aircraft eventually took a nose dive down into a rocky plain at the edge of Libra. It stopped moving after both emergency turbines caught on a loose boulder, giving Sumire and Rion enough time to think.

While on the cockpit side, Sumire watched Rion slice himself free. He snatched his pistol and began aimlessly firing in Sumire's general direction. She hid behind the pilot's seat. A bullet passed and whizzed by her head, nearly missing her cheek by a centimeter.

"Come out, Sumire!" Rion playfully called. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Sumire patiently waited for him to run out of ammunition. She heard the click of his pistol go off without any fire, using the opportunity to strike back. She unraveled a seatbelt strapped around her waist and lunged toward Rion. The two of them collided with one another. Sumire slapped Rion's pistol out of his hand and wrapped one of the seatbelts around his neck. She tightened it while she delivered several punches to Rion's gut.

Rion spat in Sumire's eye. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," He weakly said as Sumire continued tightening the seatbelt. "Weak, weak, weak little Sumire escaped my trap! Satisfied now, are you? Are you?"

Sumire had no response. She was done with him.

"Well, I will not give this up!" Rion shouted, slicing through Sumire's shoulder with his knife. He freed himself from his tightened neck and thrust his knife once again at Sumire's chest. Sumire mustered out of the way and pulled him down toward the cockpit. The aircraft's emergency turbine began to crush itself by the weight of the boulder and itself. The aircraft shook and rattled back and forth like a live earthquake.

Sumire supported her weight by holding on to both of the seats on her opposite sides. The glass underneath the cockpit where Rion leaned on was breaking.

"How..." Rion's fury took control of his body. "How are you still alive?! Why won't you fucking die!?"

The aircraft shook one final time before it toppled down to the rocky cliffs. Sumire and Rion leaped out and rolled across the terrain as the aircraft plummeted down towards Lucine's hideout. The particle accelerator was visible just from leaning out to watch the sunrise. An explosion rattled the cliff once more as Sumire and Rion regained consciousness. The twinkling glimmer of the memory fragment in Rion's possession was positioned in the center of the rocky cliff, dividing them in half.

Sumire and Rion both stood up. Sumire clenched both of her fists and reared them back, assuming a combat position as Rion clutched his right eye in pain.

"Because... I promised myself that before I died, I'd kill you first," Sumire clarified with her hoarse voice. "A few weeks ago, I killed my first victim and I swore never to kill again. But with you... I'm breaking that rule."

Rion removed his hand from his eye and aimed his sights at the memory fragment. He then looked back up at Sumire and slicked his hair back with his blood once more. He licked his lips and chuckled. "There we go," He encouraged. "I like that. That fire inside you. That bloodlust. If anyone will change you into a fearmongering killer, it'll be me."

"No," Sumire denied. "I just want to kill you."

"I don't think you understand, Sumire," Rion said, laughing once again. "I told you before. I've inflicted unending damage to your Fon. And now... I'll be coming back for more. Even if you kill me... nothing will change."

"Then so be it," Sumire said.

"There we go," Rion replied. "That's what I like!"

Sumire yelled and charged towards Rion, who sprinted after the memory fragment. Before he could grasp the fragment, Sumire rammed into him with her shoulder to push him back. Rion snapped Sumire's shoulder back, sending his fist deep into her cheeks twice. She fell to the ground and sprinted after the memory fragment.

With another battlecry, Sumire pushed herself back and latched onto Rion's back, and shoved him away. She kicked the fragment away and pushed him once more to the ground. Rion laughed as Sumire wrestled him down, pummeling his face rapidly with blows. But none of them seemed to deal any damage to him at all. Rion continued cackling, grabbing Sumire's neck and tossing her down to the ground with a chokehold around her neck.

"You can't stop me, girl," Rion threatened. "Maybe after I kill you, your brother's next on my list!"

"Get... off!" Sumire shouted, kicking him off of her. She charged forward after regaining her breath and assaulted him with two more punches to the gut. Rion counterattacked after absorbing the blows with another strike to the cheek. Sumire wrapped his right arm around in a hold and yanked it back, pulling his bone and dislocating his arm. Rion shouted as she slammed her fist down at his forehead.

Rion rolled back with his dislodged arm, pushing it back into position. He brandished his knife out and licked the tip, coating it with blood. "Come on, baby!" Rion taunted with an impish grin on his face. "Daddy wants to play with you!"

Sumire charged forward again, dodging the first few swipes of Rion's knife. She flipped over him to dodge another swipe underneath. While in midair, Sumire placed both of her legs around Rion's neck and tossed him over to the ground. After a speedy recovery, Sumire kicked the knife out of Rion's grasp and pummeled him to the ground once more.

She darted for the memory fragment, but a quick swipe of Rion's hands pulled Sumire back down to the ground. Rion chased after the fragment. Sumire snatched the knife off from the rocky terrain and leaped forward, jamming it into his leg. Rion yelped in pain, kicking Sumire's face twice to knock her off. He removed the knife and sliced through Sumire's knuckle, pushing her back.

"Very well done, Sumire," Rion complimented after regaining control of the memory fragment. The skin on his face appeared as if it was melting off with the amount of damage done from his previous injuries. His jaw was wide opened as he gasped for air. "Very well done. I think it's time to show you the truth of who I really am."

Sumire clenched both of her fists and watched.

Rion brought the fragment into his left palm and held his knife over it with his right. "Have you wondered who's fragment this is? Well, it doesn't matter now. All that matters right now... is me. If I will not send this entire world to hell above... then I'm only taking you with me!"

"No!" Sumire shouted, charging forward again.

Rion stabbed his knife through the crystal and his palm, shattering the fragment into pieces. Unknown whispers and pleas for help and guidance began surrounding the both of them. Shards of the crystal lodged into Rion's palm, infusing with his blood. Before Sumire could reach Rion in time, a pulsating wave of white light engulfed his body in a sphere. The sphere eventually expanded as it touched Sumire, dragging her into a parallel world of incomprehensible nature. Her eyes faded out into pure white, and she lost consciousness after being lost.