The squad arrived at the mission site, ready to retrieve Zaid from the enemy.
Lorya turned to Chucky. "I'm going in. You're the commander of this squad now. If I don't come back, do what you must."
"Captain, you can't go in alone," Chucky protested. "If they kill you, we lose another leader." He stepped forward. "I'll go with you."
"Don't worry about me," Lorya replied. "If today is my fate, so be it. Your priority is to save Zaid."
Lorya slipped into the meeting cave. Outside, Chucky formed a plan. "Ruka, Leo, Barthood — find where Zaid is being held and report back to me."
"Ruka — do not act without my orders. If you do, you'll endanger Zaid," he warned. Ruka nodded, "Understood, Captain."
"Kuze — find Ario and Boxery. If you locate them, tell me. This time I will not spare them." Kuze left to search.
Inside the cave, Boxery met Lorya and escorted her to the inner chamber. He told her the leader was preparing the ritual to reopen Zaid's memories.
"You came to honor my elder brother," Boxery said. "Today he will join us — wait a moment."
Lorya snapped, "Zaid is not your brother. You're using him to complete some grand plan."
"You don't know the whole story," Boxery replied. "It began with my father, Draxel. He made the alien serum — the same serum the king commissioned to protect humanity. Instead it turned civilians into aliens. Draxel drank it and was exiled through the Yellow Door."
"He gave me the power to alter memories," Boxery said. "But Zaid was given the real monstrous power — the power to destroy and remake the world in an instant. No one truly understood it — not even Draxel."
"Now the time has come to reopen his memories," Boxery continued. "If you want to see him one last time, watch."
Ruka fired blue smoke and reported, "Captain — Zaid is held in the rear."
"Good," Chucky said. "You're responsible for freeing him — do it without being seen." Ruka moved into position.
Kuze returned in a panic. "Boxery is trying to reopen Zaid's memories now — he's attacking Lorya!" Chucky acted fast, dragging Lorya through a side window to safety.
"If Boxery succeeds, we're finished," Chucky growled. "I'll kill him if I have to."
In the ritual, Boxery called in a voice full of false kinship. "Brother, open your eyes. I will give you the truth."
"Brother?" Zaid asked, confused. "How are you my brother? Tell me about Draxel."
Boxery spun a fabricated past — a story of Draxel's private sins, exile, and the strange lineage he claimed. Boxery stitched fake memories into Zaid's mind. Just then Chucky struck, severing Boxery's hands and legs to stop his transformation. "Not today," Chucky hissed.
Boxery insisted he had already succeeded. Ruka burst in and freed Zaid from his chains. "Zaid — speak to me!" she cried.
Boxery boasted that Zaid would wake up with the false past he had crafted.
"Tomorrow he will rise," he declared.
Ruka swore, "I'll kill you — you changed everything."
Before more could happen, Ario charged in, seizing Lorya. "Give me Boxery and Zaid, or I kill her," he snarled.
"Take your master," Chucky spat. "But leave Lorya." Boxery agreed. "Our work here is done — we don't need Zaid anymore."
Zaid, freed, laughed wildly while his captors fled. Chucky ordered, "Prepare the cart — we return to camp." Kuze fired white smoke to signal success, and the squad rode back.
Zaid didn't open his eyes. He had been unconscious for three days.
On the fourth day Ruka pleaded, "Please, wake up. Don't believe those fake memories from your past."
Lorya moved closer. "Ruka, stand aside — I have to check him." She frowned. "Why won't Zaid open his eyes?"
"He's stuck in the false past Boxery forced on him," Lorya said. "Everything is fine. He'll come back — he just needs to try."
Ruka's voice broke. "If he doesn't wake up…" she started, then trailed off. Lorya's jaw tightened. "If he doesn't wake, we may have to kill him. Once he's lost to that power, he's no use to humanity."
Ruka snapped back, "If anyone tries to kill Zaid, they'll first touch my sword."
"Calm down," Lorya said. "If he's still unresponsive tonight, I'll make the hard decision. We don't know whether he will stand with us or against us. If Boxery's lies are true, nothing may be left to save."
Kuze came over and said Ruka, "Go eat something. You haven't eaten since the attack."
"No," she said fiercely, "I won't drink or eat until he opens his eyes. Leave me alone with him."
"All right," Kuze relented. "I'll go. Stay with your love."
Ruka whispered to Zaid: "When you fight, you sometimes get defeated — why do you always say you can handle it? Please—wake up." She wept loudly.
Time ran out. Lorya snapped, "Chucky — do it now. Kill him if necessary." Chucky moved to obey, but Ruka grabbed him and ran.
"Find her," Lorya roared. "If you don't, I will kill you with my hands. Go, idiots!" She was burning with fury. "Ruka, what have you done? I warned you. Now you will die with him."
Ruka hid in a room. Then, suddenly, Zaid opened his eyes. Ruka breathed, "Thank God. Wake up — don't ever leave me. I want to live with you."
Zaid smiled, distant. "I've seen my past — all of it. Now I will destroy the world. Only you and I will remain to live in a new, peaceful world."
"You mean Boxery's lies?" Ruka asked. "Boxery made your fake past."
"No," Zaid replied. "I saw the real past — the memories my father Draxel erased."
The squad returned. Tension flared;
someone seized Ruka. Zaid warned: "Let her go. Touch her, and you die by my mind." Lorya demanded, "We're not your enemies. Will you support us or your brother?"
"You used me," Zaid said. "Now I will fulfill what Draxel ordered — I will finish his dream. Lorya, leave Ruka and me — or die."
A squad member spat insults at Ruka. Zaid's eyes flared. In a terrible burst of mental power he killed the men who attacked.
Lorya shouted, "What have you done to my squad?"
"I killed them with my power," Zaid said plainly.
He grabbed Ruka and fled. "They made me a monster," he whispered. "We must join Boxery, then I will complete my true mission."
Ruka asked about his missing past — the memories Draxel erased. Zaid made her promise not to tell Kuze. "He is my enemy too," Zaid said. "I know everything now."
Zaid recounted what he had seen: Draxel had created the alien serum under
government orders to protect humanity. When the government began using it as a weapon, Draxel destroyed most of the serum. A friend — Pxco — had hidden some and sold it to the government. The army used it against civilians and were exiled through the Yellow Door. Draxel tried to save people, but the civilians turned on him. In rage, Draxel erased people's memories to stop the bloodshed.
Later, Draxel married. A maid got him drunk one night and a scandal followed — a plot to weaken Draxel and turn his wife against him. Boxery was born from that chaos. Draxel hid Boxery from the world and raised him. Draxel then gave powers — to Zaid and to Boxery — and told them their mission: to control the monstrous alien power and use it to remake the world.
Ruka said, "I'll stand with you. I'll protect you until your mission is done."
Zaid whispered, "You are my life, Ruka. They ruined everything of mine. They ruined everything."