Rikona's breath hitched in her throat.
Finn flickered in and out of existence before her—the world bending around him as if reality was struggling to keep up. He weaved around the guardian's crystal volleys. Every dodge came a fraction of a second before impact. Every counter happened in the precise window where the guardian couldn't react.
She should've been celebrating, cheering him on, but she wasn't.
Because something else dragged her attention. Something… hotter.
Her head snapped to the left to see Kaito who stood alone, over a dozen meters away.
His body hung crooked, broken in so many places she couldn't count. His right arm dangled unnaturally, his bent legs barely able to hold his upper torso. Blood streamed from his nose, dripping off his lip in slow, heavy droplets.
"…Kaito…?" She whispered to herself.
Then, a wave of heat rolled past, slapping the skin on her face. Sweat instantly pooled across her forehead, trickling down her neck and spine. The air in her lungs turned thick and hot.
"What… what is this heat?" She coughed, wiping the sweat from her cheek.
Another wave hit, this one even hotter. Her gaze locked onto Kaito's outstretched left arm. At the tip of his pointed index finger was a glimmer. A tiny, pulsating bead of white light.
Her lavender eyes widened.
"What… what is that?" She breathed, unable to look away.
She didn't see the shape of it from her distance. It was too small. Too bright. But every pulse it emitted sent ripples of scorching heat washing over the field.
Above the planet on the licensing station, a red alert blinked across every holographic interface.
TEMPERATURE SPIKE DETECTED
SOURCE: UNKNOWN
RADIATION LEVELS: RISING
AREA OF EFFECT: 50 METER AND EXPANDING
Ari'Va's hands slapped across multiple holopanels as she tried to override what she believed was a glitch only to realize shortly after they weren't glitches at all.
She raised one of her six green fingers to the side of her where a smaller holo projection of only Kaito materialized in front of her and Astra sitting next to her. There, floating just centimeters in front of his finger, the white bead the size of a corn kernel pulsed again.
WUM—WUM—
Each pulse released waves of visible heat like ripples bending the air.
At first, Ari'Va thought she was misreading the temperature readings… That was until she saw the number in the corner that made one of her two stomachs drop.
"This… this can't be right."
Astra tilted her head slowly.
"What is it?"
"The temperature… the air in front of his finger is… it's—"
She gulped.
"—hotter than the surface of the red star we're orbiting."
Gasps erupted around the room.
"But… how?" Ari'Va whispered.
"No affinity should reach that level of—"
BAM!!!
Astra slammed both her hands into the table with such force the holo-panels glitched. Ari'Va jumped, nearly falling out of her seat before looking over to her and saw something she's never seen before.
For the first time since she'd known Astra, her master she… she looked shaken.
Her four crimson eyes were wide, truly wide, locked onto Kaito like she was witnessing something she shouldn't be able to.
"This power… it can't be…" Her voice dipped into genuine awe.
"He possesses that affinity?"
Ari'Va blinked hard.
"A-an affinity? That's an affinity? But which one, ma'am? I've never even seen—"
Astra inhaled slowly, her expression morphing from shock to something… deeply reminiscent of reverence.
"It is an affinity so rare and so feared that most believe it never existed. Or prefer to believe that…"
Her lips curled slightly, almost nostalgically.
"…because those who awakened it scorched civilizations, no … entire worlds."
Every green worker froze mid-motion. Even the hum of the licensing station felt quieter. Astra continued, untouched by the tension her words carved into the air.
"It is a version of one of the twelve original true cosmic affinities."
Her gaze sharpened.
"The true cosmic affinity of stars."
Ari'Va's jaw fell open.
Astra pointed at the bead forming in front of Kaito's finger.
"That ability he is attempting to use… is plasma."
"Pl–Plasma!? But that's— that heat—any living being touching plasma evaporates instantly! It's hotter than fire, magma, lightning—everything!" Ari'Va looked frantically at the holo-screen.
"How is he not melting right now?!"
"Look closely." Astra murmured.
She zoomed in on the display.
Kaito's entire body was outlined in a thin, ghost-white layer of essence clinging tightly to his skin like a second layer.
A failing one though.
The skin on his pointed finger was blackened, charred and cracked like leather left too close to a bonfire.
The skin on his knuckles peeled, revealing wet red flesh beneath. Blistered boils ballooned across his arm, leaking clear fluid that evaporated instantly from the heat.
Ari'Va gagged, her hand covering her mouth to stop whatever was about to come up.
Kaito was cooking himself alive and he showed no signs of stopping.
But Astra's expression held no disgust, only fascination… and joy.
"So… this is how you intend to ascend, my human boy." She whispered, smirking as if she'd just witnessed a prophecy being fulfilled.
Her eyes gleamed like burning stars.
"I agree."
Her voice dropped to a near purr.
"To obtain what you desire… you must burn it all."
Her upper eyes narrowed.
"Burn it all to ash."
Her lower eyes gleamed.
"Then rise from it."
She leaned in, smiling wider than she had all exam cycles.
"Only then will you become what you desperately seek…"
Her four crimson eyes locked onto him.
"Only then will you become a true king."
Kaito's vision blurred at the edges. Every breath scorched his throat. Every tremble of his body sent knives of agony ricocheting through his broken limbs.
Still… he kept his left arm raised.
Essence gathered sluggishly, like molasses dragging itself through his veins. The tiny bead of plasma flickered weakly in front of his index finger.
WUM…wum…
Its pulse was slower now like a star suffocating.
"Tch… come on…" He hissed between ragged breaths.
"Not yet… not yet… don't give up on me body. Just keep fighting a little longer."
He forced his will into his essence, scraping whatever was left inside him, but there was nothing. His jaw tightened as he looked toward Finn and his heart lurched.
Finn's movements slowed. And then—
CRACK!
A jagged crystal slammed clean into his ribs, launching him across the ground. He hit with a sickening roll, skidding through the rusted dirt until he finally stopped in a crumpled heap. His green eyes sputtered, flickering between emerald and soft brown.
"No… Finn…" Kaito muttered, voice cracking.
He tried desperately to spark another adrenaline boost. He thought of Elysia in danger. Talon. Finn. Zeek. Elara. Rikona. The orphanage. Earth. Thaloria…
But nothing seemed to work.
His heart didn't spike. His blood didn't rush.
His body… was done.
His extended arm slowly began to fall. Weakly, like gravity was ten times stronger on him alone. The kernel of white plasma dimmed until it looked no brighter than a dying ember in an old lantern.
"No—no no no, come on!" He begged, trying to force his limb back up with raw will.
It didn't move.
"Please… don't give up on me… not yet…"
But his body had reached its limit.
Or so he believed.
From the corner of his eye, a large purple hand suddenly rose into his vision—pressing against his elbow, lifting his broken arm back into position with a gentle but unwavering strength. It was the touch of a hand he knew all too well, one that nurtured every single wound or black eye he got growing up on Thaloria. Farro.
But when he turned, Farro wasn't there. Instead he saw someone else.
"Rikona!?" He exclaimed.
Rikona stood right behind his left arm, her lavender eyes were squeezed shut, face twisted from pure heat. Sweat streamed down her cheeks only to evaporate before reaching her chin. The front of her hair curled slightly from the scorching air. She held his arm up with both hands. The white sheet of essence covering his body envelopled her as if they were one. She was trembling so violently it looked like she'd collapse any second.
"R-Rikona—what are you doing!? You need to get away—it's dangerous!" He shouted, voice cracking with panic.
She shook her head immediately, digging her heels into the dirt, keeping his arm raised.
"I'm not leaving!" She screamed over the roaring heat.
"Why!?" Kaito barked.
"You have to get out of here, you're going to get hurt! Why won't you—"
Her voice broke.
"Because… if I run now… then I'm just the same useless coward I've always been!"
He froze..
"All my life I've been scared. Scared to fight… scared to change… scared of everything!" She cried.
"I thought becoming a star traveler would fix that, but I didn't even know what I wanted to become…"
She looked up at him, eyes glowing with something fierce beneath the fear.
"But when I met you… I saw it. I saw exactly what I wanted to be. Someone fearless..."
Her grip tightened on his arm.
"Someone who doesn't care what anyone thinks. Someone who would do anything to help others."
She swallowed, looking away briefly before staring deeply into his eyes again, tears welling in her eyes before rolling down her face.
"But I'll never be you. I know that. And I'm okay with that now. But I won't run. Not anymore. Because you accepted me for who I am not what I was trying to be. So I'll help you no matter what."
Her tears evaporated before dripping off her face.
"I won't leave… I won't leave you because…"
Her voice dropped to a soft, trembling whisper.
"…Because you're my captain."
Something in Kaito's chest snapped open, like a door he'd been holding shut for years. And in that instant, Farro's voice filled his mind from his memories on Thaloria.
Kaito my boy… out in the stars, you'll meet many people. Some good, some cruel… but once in a while, you'll meet a few who aren't like the others. Those who feel the same as you. Those who choose you. When you find those people… protect them. Cherish them. Treat them like family.
Ahead, Finn's body slid through the rusted dirt, stopping twenty meters in front of them. He pushed himself up, legs trembling, blood dripping from his chin. His green essence was barely a flicker and his CPI plummeted by the second. The guardian landed gracefully, wings folding behind its crystalline back. Its cold voice echoed.
"I grow tired of this. I will kill the elf child… then the girl… and finally absorb you, Kaito… the so-called human."
Finn gritted his teeth, barely able to keep his stance. He turned his head just enough to see Kaito and his eyes widened as he froze mid-breath.
Kaito was smiling.
Finn inhaled sharply, turning back to the guardian. He could barely stand. But that smile… That was all he needed.
No words needed to be said. No signal.
Just a mutual understanding that this next move would be their last.