"Aqua? And is that… Nara? What in the stars are they doing here?" Talon thought to herself, her confused eyes watching the wrestling match between the two.
"Frost Sheet!"
A blanket of ice enveloped Aqua's body, spreading outward to freeze the ground beneath their feet. The sudden temperature change seemed to suck the air out of the surrounding area.
Nara reacted without hesitation, her wings unfolding as she soared upward, out of range of the attack. Talon's frustration bubbled to the surface as she yelled out.
"Hey, are you Nara?"
"Yeah, and who's asking?" Nara responded bluntly, seemingly irritated.
"Who in the stars does this brat think she's talking to??" She thought to herself, her expression sour at the unexpected attitude.
She shook her head to focus her thoughts again before responding.
"I'm Kaito's and Elysia's crewmate. Where are they? Why aren't they here?"
"Your friends are alive… mostly that is, and they might take a while getting here. You can thank our little friend there for that."
A few minutes earlier, the battle outside of the perimeter was heating up. Kaito disappeared in a blur, reappearing behind Aqua with a kick already in motion. The force of his kick made the air whistle, as he aimed squarely at her back.
Aqua's eyes flicked to the side, her body already responding before the attack was even close.
Her hand moved to counter him, but a thick tree root burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around her wrist. Her calm expression cracked for a brief moment showing a hint of surprise in her eyes.
But that surprise was short-lived.
"Specular Reflection."
A mirror made of water appeared between her and Kaito. Before he could register what was happening, his kick collided with it causing the mirror's surface to ripple, reflecting the force of his strike back at him.
The rebound sent him flipping backward, skidding across the frozen ground before his boots dug into the dirt, finally getting some traction to stop.
"Shit... That ability again?" Kaito thought to himself, staring at the mirror of water.
"It even works on physical attacks? How are we supposed to hit her?"
Aqua, now free after slashing the root holding her arm with an ice sword she conjured in an instant. She calmly turned her attention towards Kaito.
"Are you starting to understand, Kaito? It doesn't matter what you try… none of it will work. You're wasting your energy in this futile fight and for what? To keep up this foolish hero act?" Her tone hardened.
"Stop pretending you're something you're not. Join the Grand Order. It's the only path that makes sense, you know I'm right."
Kaito straightened up, his shoulders squared as he met her eyes head-on.
"You don't get it, do you?"
Aqua's eyebrow twitched.
"Don't get what exactly?"
"I'm not fighting because I think I'm some kind of hero. I fight because I want to change things. I want to make space, every moon, every world, every star, a place where people don't have to live in fear… where they don't have to deal with people like the ones giving you orders. I fight because I want to be the King of the Stars."
Aqua's eyes widened slightly and his words seemed to rattle in her mind.
"King of the Stars…" She repeated under her breath.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumble. The ground beneath her feet shook violently before a massive tree root erupted upward, aiming straight for her. She leapt to the side just in time, nearly avoiding it.
She turned, her eyes landing on Elysia, who walked calmly behind Kaito.
"Kaito isn't doing this alone. He's my crewmate, my friend, and I'll stand by him no matter what. I might not be a fighter, but I'll do everything I can to stop anyone who gets in his way of achieving his dreams."
Kaito blinked, caught off guard by the seriousness in her tone. Aqua, however, was anything but amused. She let out a long sigh, her patience visibly wearing thin.
"Fine." She said calmly.
Both Kaito and Elysia became on guard, sensing the shift in her demeanor.
"I've been more than patient and I've given you countless chances to surrender. But it's clear you're too stubborn, too naive to take them. So now…" Her icy blue eyes narrowed.
"I'll capture you both, even if it means freezing you solid."
Kaito smirked, raising his fists.
"Go ahead and try."
He dashed toward her, purple essence surging around him as he closed the distance.
Aqua didn't move, instead the temperature in the surrounding area plummeted, frost spreading across the ground. Kaito's steps faltered, feeling the air grow heavy and bitterly cold.
"Thi–This is the same as before!"
His mind raced as the memory of her Absolute Zero ability from their previous encounter surfaced.
"Damn it." He muttered before skidding to a stop and leaping back in the air to safety.
"Gotcha." Aqua smirked, raising her hand.
"Glacial Shards."
Dozens of razor-sharp icicles materialized around her. The next moment, she unleashed them in a deadly barrage. Kaito's eyes widened as the projectiles hurtled toward him.
"I can't dodge them in the air like this! Shit… she got me!"
He braced himself, closing his eyes as the shards closed in. But the pain he expected never came.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and froze. Elysia hovered in front of him, her arms outstretched, her body riddled with ice shards.
"Elysia?!" His voice cracked as the two began to fall to the ground.
Before they hit the ground, he caught her in his arms, lowering her gently. His eyes frantically darted at all the ice lodged in her body.
"Why– Why didn't you block it with a tree? A shield?"
Elysia gave him a weak smile.
"I wasn't able to come into the fight with a full reserves of essence and those wood abilities use a large amount of essence."
His chest tightened as he looked down at her injuries. He opened his mouth to say something, but she placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I can heal myself. You need to focus on Aqua, not me. Once I finish healing, I can support you from the rear with my shields and healing."
Kaito hesitated, his jaw clenched.
"Why though..?" He mumbled, barely able to be heard.
"Why what?" Elsyia asked.
"Why are you doing this? Why do you care so much about helping me achieve my dreams? Why would you…?"
Elysia chuckled weakly.
"Because I believe in you Kaito dear."
Kaito's eyes widened slightly.
"Wha– What do you mean… you believe in me?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but ever since I met you… I've felt like there's something special about you. Something… special. Something I've never felt from any being I've met in my life. Even the captain herself. There are so many things I want to talk about with you, myself, my homeworld, and many other things, but there's something I want to tell you first."
She paused, her green eyes locking with his.
"I believe you'll become the King of the Stars and I want to help you achieve that dream by being your shield, protecting and nurturing you whenever you need it."
Her words touched Kaito in a way that felt fairly familiar to him... one that he always seeked as a human child on Thaloria.
"Sh–She sounds just like him." He thought to himself, thinking of Farro.
"I know you're probably confused at the sudden confession, but–"
Elysia's words were cut short as Kaito placed a hand gently on her head.
"Thank you Elysia." He said quietly before standing up.
"If you'll be my shield, then I'll be your sword. We'll take on the cosmos together as one!" He said looking back at her with a big smile.
Elysia was left speechless as her eyes lingered on his warm smile.
Kaito turned then exhaled slowly, his eyes locked on Aqua.
"That was a cool front but I'm almost in the same position as her too. My essence is nearly depleted. I have to finish this… in one blow." He thought to himself.
Memories of the Grand Sirius Tournament passed through his mind but he focused on one in particular.
He inhaled deeply, raising his hands in front of him then interlocked his fingers, pointing straight at Aqua.
"Remember Kaito… remember the feeling from back then… remember that heat and replicate it!"
His usual purple essence flaring around him began to shift, flickering into the same white essence as in the tournament. It clung tightly to his skin instead of flaring outward. Veins bulged out of his forehead and arms. After a few moments, a small white orb the size of a ping pong ball began forming at his fingertips.
"He's trying that technique again!" Elysia realized in shock, recalling the footage she'd seen from the ship's medical bay.
"I wasn't able to grasp the true power of it before but feeling it in person only confirms it… This is no normal ability from a normal affinity… That's a true cosmic affinity!"
Behind them in the distance, Tyrek stared in shock. Waves of heat radiating out so intensely that patches of ice on the battlefield melted into puddles almost instantly.
"What kind of ability is that? Fire? No… that's impossible. I've fought draconic warriors my whole life over this entire world, but I've never felt heat like this." He thought to himself, beginning to sweat profusely from the hellish heat.
Aqua stood on the opposing side, struggling to breathe in the now superheated air. Her CPI scanner began rising rapidly.
Kaito: 70,000… 260,000… 580,000…
"His CPI, it's skyrocketing! How? Is that a fire subaffinity of some kind? I've never seen anything like it and this heat… Just how many more surprises does he have left?"
Kaito gritted his teeth, forcing every ounce of willpower into the small white orb. The ground beneath him began to crack. The once frozen trees around them were now beginning to burst into flames.
"This is it. One shot… Just one shot…" He reminded himself.
He tensed his body in preparation shooting the ability off but when he tried to unleash it, a searing pain tore through him. The orb crackled, its intense power turning wild and unstable.
"No, no—stay together!" He pleaded, but his essence seemed to have other interests in mind, dispersing in a blinding flash.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
A white explosion ripped through the entire battlefield followed by a wave of heat. Kaito flew back dozens of meters before crashing into the ground unconscious.
Elysia's heart nearly stopped.
"It backfired on him?" She realized, pushing herself off the ground despite her own injuries not being healed.
She tried to rush to Kaito's side, but a seemingly impenetrable wall of ice formed in an instant, cutting her off. Ice crawled up her legs and torso, freezing her in place.
Aqua lowered her outstretched hand, her eyes snapping back to Kaito's motionless body.
"You should've listened." She mumbled to herself quietly.
"He tried to wield something beyond him, beyond his capabilities and it backfired on him.But still… What is he? Who is he? And why does it feel like… I know him?"
She approached Kaito's side, walking through puddles left from her melted ice.
"I'm taking you, your crewmate Elysia, and that boy Nix. We can use your gifts to save the cosmos… just like you said you wanted to, right Kaito…?"
She raised her hand and the temperature dipped again, each breath turning to large clouds of mist. Layer by layer, ice began to form around Kaito's legs and arms, creeping up his torso.
Elysia watched trapped in the ice wall, true fury and desperation forming in her eyes.
"I can't break free. I don't have much essence left to use either. I have no choice… please forgive me miss Kaeline, I know you wanted to keep our abilities a secret from the crew, but I have to use that ability. I have to save Kaito. He's the one who will guide us to our goals, not the captain Elara. The one chosen by the stars like us, to heal this fractured universe like the prophecy said, and…"
A golden essence began to subtly flicker around her body and the small horns on her head seemed to slowly grow.
"The one I will guide and protect with my very life…"