ARC

A monumental crater from where the metal sphere last towered over formed after it toppled and dissolved from Lyn and Alfaic's combined strength with the memories of the Stravian people. The two gently glided down from the aether remaining in Alfaic's system, slowing gravity down until they touched safely where the corrupted tree remained, half existent. Weak sands and pebbles shifted around her footsteps as she had almost forgotten what it was like to stand on something that was not poisonous.

Lyn, whose armor and skin had been badly stained, bruised, scratched, and wounded, clutched her left fist and gazed up at the air where Elaina last stood. The spirits of the Stravian civilians vanished, and the aethereal energy dissipated until there was no more distorted aura to be sensed.

"Do you think... humanity is beautiful, Blade?" Lyn asked, gazing up at the sun, astonished by how Llafiella's influence disappeared around her. The dew, the stars, the sky, and all of the illusion had vanished until it was nothing but the purity of nature.

"Ha, didn't you ask me that question before?" Alfaic replied. "My answer's the same. Always good and bad people out there, but whenever there's good, it's definitely a beautiful sight to behold."

"Their reunition... was beautiful," Lyn voiced out. "Would you agree?"

Alfaic chuckled. "Definitely," it said, hovering behind Lyn. "We wouldn't have been able to do it without you, though. I'm... proud of you, Lyn, if that means anything."

"Proud?" Lyn asked.

"It means that I hold high expectations and think highly of you," Alfaic defined. "I'm proud to be with you, and to have you as my wielder, and... I'm very happy to be with you."

Lyn nodded. "You are my blade." She voiced out.

"Although, that I'm not proud of," Alfaic said, aiming at the tree. "We ought to do something about that tree, after what it did to Elaina and these lands."

Lyn nodded. She approached the tree with Alfaic by her side, reaching the weakened core of the tree beating at a snail's pace. Although the energy from within the tree was merely lifeless because of Elaina's defeat, Lyn still sensed something trembling inside the tree's wake, calling out to her as it did in the illusion she was previously in.

"To think, that this entire tower was made up from the dreams of someone who wanted nothing more than to live freely," Alfaic mentioned. "Strange things have just been going on, too, with you. You bleeding, feeling pain, saying thank you... what's up with all of that?"

"I don't know," Lyn voiced out in a monotone demeanor. "I do not remember."

"I saw it clearly enough! And you not having a clue isn't helping either... but I guess that's always just been you, Lyn."

"The only thing that ponders my mind are the voices in my head," Lyn said. "And... these voices are getting stronger the more I approach this tree."

"Then we'd better put it out of its misery. This thing has done nothing but harm."

Lyn held Alfaic by the handle and prepared to pierce through the core of the weakened beating tree. It was true. The voices inside Lyn's head began to ramp up in volume, until it began to become more recognizable.

It was begging, pleading, and gasping for its survival. A remnant of its life still remain inside the mysterious construct of nature, so much that it almost spoke to Lyn in conversation. But the sense of it all needed to wipe itself away, and start life anew somewhere else was its final decree.

"Lyn, wait," Alfaic paused. "I... see something inside there. Hold me up closer to the center."

Lyn raised Alfaic up.

"Yeah, I can see something being covered by all that bark. Can you open it?"

"Yes." Lyn accepted, approaching the tree after releasing Alfaic to hover beside her. She placed both of her palms on the sides of the tree's core and began peeling apart the bark to reveal the mysterious object inside. It was like a puzzle piece assembling the final product; one strip after the other, and when the product was finally revealed, it something that the two had never expected.

The tree's insides were not hollow, nor were they filled with additional sap or bark. Instead, the tree's massive radius was larger if one were to peer inside compared to viewing it from a distance. But the peculiarity of the tree was not its size; it was the objects inside that shocked Alfaic, and even stunned Lyn momentarily.

Multiple glowing blue suspended transparent spherical pods containing nude replicas of humanoids were lined up around in a neat linear formation. Evidence of the humanoids were seen in its bodily structure, yet there was no visual features of a human available to witness; no eyes, no nose, no mouth, nor anything to determine its gender. All of them curled up in a fetal position, nestled away inside the tree for no purpose.

"Eliminating the lords and forebearers... assuming the lord... to seek the truth..." Lyn whispered.

Both Lyn and Alfaic were dragged inside to the entire tree after gazing too deeply inside the replicas of humanoids. They walked around, examining the eerie contents of the bodies for a closer inspection.

"Doesn't this place remind you of the place where you found me?" Alfaic mentioned. "It's just... too familiar to me. And look!"

Alfaic hovered closer to the end of the pod area, revealing a massive glowing white contained filled with suspended gooey liquid. The liquid's viscosity and pressure held up a circular shard of a glowing blue artifact suspended in the center. As Lyn met her eyes with the unknown fragment, she approached the container and raised her left palm toward it.

Another sensation pulsating from her left shoulder began to sting. It was a familiar sting, similar to the unknown door scanning and identifying her as Battalion Gamma 52.

"Battalion... Gamma..." Lyn whispered, which suddenly triggered a rising out of her. She ripped out a piece of her futuristic armor on her arm, revealing the code LYNBG52 glowing in white. She clenched her shoulder tightly as the pain continued to intensify, growing ever so slightly as each second passed.

"Lyn, Lyn?!" Alfaic called. "Are you okay?"

Alfaic's voice calmed her. "I'm fine," She said. Her sleeve regenerated itself with Alfaic's capabilities. "I..."

"Interesting, isn't it?" A sudden voice echoed behind Lyn and Alfaic, startling the both of them before they could speak to each other. Lyn and Alfaic both turned around, standing beside each other as a mysterious figure with black hair stood in their wake. "What a beautiful place, tarnished by the barbaric nature of your physicality."

"Lyn... it's..." Alfaic's feeble voice could barely utter a single word.

"No..." Lyn's mind began to agonize in pain. Not again. Not this... again!

The silhouette was easily identifiable as soon as the figure swayed his hair with his fingers. It was Lordran, alive and well, in the flesh. Instead of his combat attire at the fire station, riddled with weapons holstered by his side, he was shirtless instead, revealing an enormously muscular and slim body bolstered by his incredible and stunning prowess of survival. He wore tight black pants and had a silver ring around his index finger. His eyes gleamed in spectacular crimson, similar to Llafiella's addictive dew, and his black hair became a solid white after his skin began to turn pale at the sudden reveal. He grinned at Lyn, much like a person would after seeking them for millennia.

"You...!" Lyn's bitter and hoarse voice was only there for the one person that she truly despised. "I... I killed you!"

"That, you did," Another voice from behind Lordran appeared. An entire clone of him, replicated from head to toe, appeared from the illusion of the first. Only this time, this version's right arm had been completely cut off, revealing a sealed up body part of what used to be an arm. "And I'll never forget that. But now, we've reunited again, as if you had waited so long just to see me again!" His voice was more cheerful, uplifting, and brighter than the other.

"Two of him?" Alfaic's confusion came amok. "What the hell's going on?"

"Oh, don't be so confused," The first Lordran spoke, laughing. His voice was deeper and more soothing, as if one could fall asleep to a single line of a traditional lullaby if one brought him to th task. "Truly, is there anything in this world that can surprise us anymore? The world is on the brink of destruction, and we've seen it day by day."

"All I wanted was that blade," The second Lordran pointed at Alfaic with its only left hand. "I just wanted to feel special. It's hard to feel special these days...! Why can't I be special anymore?" He looked at Lyn's glaring pools of fiery rage staring down upon him with anger, and it reduced his facial expression to unnatural sulking. "Why are you looking at me with such rage? Such deceit...! Such poise...!?"

Lyn grabbed Alfaic and pointed it at the two Lordrans in spite.

"Control yourself," The first Lordran said. "You are in the presence of our creator."

Lyn clenched her teeth. "I don't care!" She angrily shouted.

"Ooh, so frightening, indeed!" The first Lordran swept away sarcastically, hardly phased by Lyn's sudden burst of emotion. "Now, look behind you. We are in the honorable presence of our great Mother Arc, and this tree is proof of her undying existence in this dying world. We, as byproducts of our great Mother Arc, are invited to reignite the vigor so she may return!"

Lyn and Alfaic did not budge a single inch.

"I said... look," The twins teleported behind them, leaving behind a trace of mystical energy, similar to the aether from Elaina's construct, but only a dark red color. They reappeared and gathered near the fragment suspended in liquid, gazing into its mystical beauty trapped beneath the container. Both of their presences caused the artifact to radiate even brighter, revealing fragments of an unknown language scribbled upon it. "Such rudeness will not be tolerated in front of Mother. Her grace befalls this planet, and all life along with it."

"But don't worry, Mother! We're coming to save you! We promise!" The second Lordran's sulking face reappeared again as it hyperventilated and exhausted its voice.

"Forgive us, Mother," The first Lordran turned back to Lyn and Alfaic. "Long ago, Mother Arc reigned supreme and created us. We were members of an advanced civilization born from her womb, destined to survive and create the seeds of what humanity was. But it was all wiped out in mere seconds, and our advances had been halted."

"You were... wiped out?" Alfaic asked.

"And do you know what the cause of this purge was? It was humanity, indeed, watching our every move, proving that we, as byproducts of synthetics, were unworthy to be called life!" The first Lordran raised his voice and raised his hands in the air. He glanced down at his arms and brought them to his side. "But we survived, because humanity was wrong about us. We are worthy, and this tree is proof of it all."

Lyn brought Alfaic to her side. "Then why are you here?" She asked.

"Oh, that's a secret," The first Lordran said, smirking at Lyn. "Mother Arc's revival is a bit confusing, after all. Thousands of years have passed ever since, and still, no progress has been made to see that beautiful face of hers again. But times have changed. The world has chosen, and with each dying day, Mother Arc shall be made whole again!"

Lyn, enraged by the talk of the unknown Mother Arc, charged at the twins with Alfaic, but stopped as soon as an ear-piercing shrill sound roared in her ears. She dropped Alfaic to the ground and fell on all fours, struggling to hear.

"Lyn? LYN!" Alfaic called.

"She cannot hear you," The first Lordran spoke. "She is... in a state of emotional turmoil."

"L-Lordran...!" Alfaic bitterly voiced out its spite.

The second Lordran kicked Alfaic's handle and spat on the floor. Alfaic spun around until it stopped near the end of one of the blue pods. "Stupid sword. I don't want it anymore." He said.

"Then I'll take him, you moron," Another gruff and hoarse voice filled to the brim with aggression and rage came to the mix. Yet another shirtless muscular clone of Lordran appeared before Alfaic, this time, with a battle scar crossed over his left eye. He held up Alfaic by the handle and refused to release it while examining it closely. "Pretty good looking sword, if I do say so myself. Mind if I take you for a spin?"

"No, no, no!" The second Lordran bawled and stomped on the ground. "We're not taking it with us! It rejected me! Just like they all do..."

A fourth Lordran clone appeared behind the third, snatching Alfaic's blade away with a swoop of its mouth. This disfigured hunchbacked clone carried Alfaic in its drooling mouth, dropping it to the floor covered in its saliva. The depth of his eyes were pulled forward, while his massive lower jaw nearly hung to the floor with how unorthodox his synthesis was among the others. Instead of speaking, it cackled like a hyena as it rose its hands up like a dinosaur.

"Disgusting piece of shit!" The third clone shouted, kicking the fourth in the stomach to shove it away. He then picked up Alfaic, who desperately attempted to hover away. "Trying to run, eh? The feisty type, I like it!"

Astra...

Astra...

Astra...

Lyn screamed in agonizing pain as the headaches began to worsen. She opened her eyes and looked back at the third and fourth clone taking possession of Alfaic, which caused her to unravel herself in a sea of deceit. "BLADE!" Her voice cracked with the amount of pain traveling through her system. "You stupid... I'll kill you!" She cried, charging at them.

But for how weak Lyn's body was, the third Lordran dispatched her immediately with a swift kick in the jaw. Red blood escaped Lyn's mouth and splattered all over her knees, and her vision dazed itself into a blur.

"Ooh, struck a nerve, did I?" The third Lordran chuckled and toyed with Lyn's black hair, pulling her head up by her elongated ponytail before shoving her back to the ground. "Guess I'm just like that. For someone who doesn't feel a thing, you're impressive!"

The first Lordran stared into the liquid container and rammed his arm through, snatching the artifact from within. The container exploded with blue and white liquid all over the ground, making the first two Lordrans teleport away with the others. They stood in a line formation, smiling at the weakened Lyn whose headaches prevented her from moving. As the third Lordran lifted Alfaic by his face and tapped its blade with a touch of his unusual magic, Alfaic stopped moving altogether.

"Blade..." Lyn feebly spoke, failing to move.

The tree's foundation began to rattle and crumble altogether after the artifact piece was forcibly removed. The ceiling began to cave in and topple on the pods of false humans, leaving Lyn alone.

"This was our fate, all along," The first Lordran mentioned, pressing his hands together. "And we have you to thank for it all. But it would be unsatisfactory to see you fall after helping Mother Arc so much."

"As for you and your sword," The second Lordran with the missing arm spoke without a sulk. "The Lords still roam the lands. We'll see you at the next one now, won't we?"

The fourth Lordran cackled and coughed out spit before the third one grinned. "But without her trusty weapon? It was nice to see your beautiful face again. Think about it all! You and your pathetic humanity against our great Mother."

The four of them laughed altogether and utilized their teleportation ability to vanish from existence, bringing Alfaic along with them.

Lyn's seized complete control of her headaches the moment they vanished with the artifact. The entrance to the tree began to seal up, making Lyn race for the exit. Summoning the last of her strength, Lyn leaped out of the tree's hole as it closed completely. The tree's bright blue glow faded, and its massive branches began collapsing on top of Lyn and her frail body. She dug through the sands to attempt to escape by making weak little strides away, but it was to no avail.

A large piece of the tree's branches collapsed on her, trapping her waist underneath. Blood seeped from her mouth as she struggled to escape. Now that Alfaic had vanished, her futuristic slender and steel armor whisked away, leaving her bare. And even with the headaches subsiding, Lyn's vigor began to wane away with the subsequent throbbing arriving for no discernable reason.

Her eyelids drooped down heavily as she rested her back against the collapsed tree of Mother Arc's name.

"B-Bla...Blade..." Lyn whispered. "Blade? Blade!? BLADE!" She screamed. "BLADE! BLADE! BLADE!"

Not even the echoes of her voice could be heard by the emptiness that was within the crater she was trapped upon. The destruction of the tree brought the calamity of the terrain nearby as well; rocks, boulders, and tiny pieces of sand began to settle in from the clash, burying Lyn's lower body. 

 "I'll kill them! I'LL KILL THEM! " Lyn's rage sapped her strength. Without any strength to move on, Lyn's eyes came to a complete halt, closing them entirely. "Blade..." She murmured before falling asleep.