The light was warm, wrapping around me in an all-encompassing embrace.
It was not merely illumination, it felt like a ritual meant to shield, a blessing cast in the moment between life and death.
A calm, beautiful voice reached my ears. "Stars Cradle."
I turned, my eyes finding Uhana.
She stood with one arm raised, but her hand was gone, severed at the wrist, blood pattering onto the frozen ground.
Above her loomed Zehliah, his presence like a shadow devouring the light.
In the next instant, another flash came, and both her arms were gone.
The glow in her eyes dimmed until it was no more.
Normally, I would have accepted such a loss. Another life spent for my ambition.
Sad, yes, cruel, certainly, but sacrifices are the path to my goal. And yet… it was her.
Uhana was not like others. She was kind, but cloaked herself in masks within masks, always keeping the truth of herself hidden.
I could not look away from her fallen body.
Zehliah turned his head toward me, the corner of his mouth twitching upward into the faintest, most poisonous smile,
One that bloomed into laughter the instant he saw my face. "Now one remains, pure in hate! So much so, he would rewrite fate!"
I gripped my sword in my left hand, my movements slow, deliberate. I walked to her side, kneeling.
Gently, I rolled her onto her back and pressed my ear to her chest.
No heartbeat. No rhythm. No song. No sign of life.
The truth settled in me like cold stone.
"Let the world be bathed in the glory of death. Let reality tremble, and let the gates sealing his will be opened. Ormuth… awaken in me."
In that instant, I saw something, or perhaps I remembered. A vision.
A lone bird flew through a storm of hail, its wings pierced and torn.
The world demanded it fall, the winds screamed for its surrender, yet it did not yield.
It flew on, defying the standards and the expectations of all who watched from beyond.
Light erupted from my body, so intense it could have been a scream made flesh. The continent shook.
Space and time fractured, green shards of mana flickering into existence around the stump where my arm had been.
My right arm reformed, swathed in a living sheath of emerald mana.
A single horn, bold and jagged, burst from my skull, followed by a wing woven from falling leaves and broken vows.
My blade shifted, its steel drank the color of grass, lengthening in my grip.
A second wing bloomed from my back as Zehliah watched, his manic grin faltering into awe.
"This is fate. This is light. This is the law that rewrites light!" he cried as our blades met.
Steel clashed with a thunderous crack, the impact distorting the air. But I disliked the way they connected.
It wasn't enough. So I bent the law, the very definition of the moment, and severed his sword, driving mine toward his throat.
Blood spattered, but he vanished an instant before death claimed him.
I understood then. His Regalia allowed him to slip into a parallel space-time, emerging anywhere he desired.
But I caught the moment of his return, my blade finding his side and piercing through cracked armor.
His eyes widened, struck by something beyond fear, recognition of Ormuth's Inheritance.
Power burned in me, immense yet heavy. My arm trembled, my blade dragging at my will, but I swung regardless.
The strike tore through mountains, air, space, and time, meeting his guard head-on.
This time, he blocked. That was the limit, I could only alter one law at a time.
Annoying. I rewrote that as well. Now my blade passed through his entirely, but he moved to dodge.
I rewrote that too, dodging was impossible. Yet still he vanished.
I tore the surrounding time-space apart, forcing him out above me. His hounds lunged in unison.
I spun, my blade sweeping in a perfect arc, tearing them down before grazing Zehliah's neck as he landed to my left.
Their bodies fell lifeless behind me. I lunged for the killing blow.
But my wings flickered. Power faltered.
The presence of Ormuth, sharp, burning, absolute, began to withdraw, his essence slipping back through the gates I had opened.
I cursed, my eyes snapping to Uhana's still form.
With the last of my strength, I rewrote the law of death, if only for her.
My body collapsed before Zehliah's feet as the green light bled away, and Ormuth's power faded into nothing.
He looked down at me with a twisted smile, one steeped in joy and pride. "Tick tock, the clock loses its time."
My fingers tightened instinctively as I realized I was clutching an object, a small lock, green and brimming with power.
It was rare for me to summon my Regalia's physical form on instinct alone.
I lifted my gaze to Zehliah and scowled. "You will not live past this day, past this time, or past this moment."
Just as his blade began to fall, everything stopped.
I had given the totality of my Regalia's energy to Uhana, restoring her life.
For myself, I called upon something else, the mark engraved deep within me.
Despite my weakness, I could not stand still. In answer to that truth, I found a new power.
"Leopard of Resolve: Habadon!"
My blade shattered, and my Regalia twisted and morphed, reshaping into a weapon unlike any I had held before.
Its guard formed from interlocking chains designed to shield me.
Its hilt was a cold, muted green, solid, unyielding.
The blade itself was long, impossibly sharp, and gleaming with refined, unearthly glory.
The pommel, shaped like an inverted lock, radiated purpose.
As his sword descended to end me, I defied the laws once more. Even with my strength nearly gone, I moved.
Rolling across the ice, I rose in a single motion, driving my blade clean through his back.
Wrenching it free, I pressed my palm to his chest, sending a swirl of force through him.
He resisted, but it was too late, the blast hurled him back, his body slamming into the jagged ice.
Blood spattered across the frozen ground as my own heart faltered.
Before I could collapse completely, Uhana caught me, tears streaming down her face.
"You idiot… I used that spell so you could escape!"
I coughed, crimson dripping onto her chest. "It is only natural to stay and protect. How else does one prove his loyalty?"
She clutched me tightly, her warmth flowing into me, not to heal, but to preserve.
It was in that embrace that I understood. Why? Why do I continue?
Beyond my ambitions and my struggles, there must be something greater.
Something that transcends all else, reaching past my fragile limits.
And I realized… even if I fail, it will not matter. As long as this woman lives, my efforts will hold meaning, purpose, and strength.
Zehliah rose, almost unscathed, and advanced. Still holding her close, I dodged, evading his blows.
I deflected strike after strike, his blade moving faster than moments themselves, yet each was seen and countered.
And in that shared embrace, Uhana revealed her own power.
"Mother of Nature: Gaia!"
The barren ice continent around us vanished in an instant. In less than the blink of a thought, it became a lush, living land.