"What are you?" He received no answer.
Suddenly, he found himself looking down from the top of a towering mountain. Behind him stood the Cordis Cathedral —immense and magnificent. Its peak rose above the white clouds, invisible to his eyes.
The Cathedral had been built around a thousand years ago, but it had long since lost its original function. Constructed atop of the Grey Mount, protected by a line of towers and bastions, it had long been the residence of the most powerful people in Anima.
Five hundred years ago, the royal family turned it into an impregnable fortress, thanks also to its strategic location. After the monarchy fell, it became the seat of the central government, and more recently, the headquarters of the Aegir. Now, it had become the grim residence of the General.
"What am I doing here?" he asked aloud, not knowing whether there was anyone else present.
The dream shifted again; this time, he stood in the middle of what looked like a strange cave lit by dim light. The flames burning in the torches were a vivid blue.
He looked up: there was no ceiling—or at least, if there was one, he couldn't see it. He was far below the surface, who knew how many meters underground. A steep spiral staircase descended from above and ended just a few meters away from him, and countless waterfalls plunged downward.
He looked beyond the edge: a beautiful yet eerie blue vortex—the same shade as the flames—collected the waters from the falls above. Yuu wasn't even sure that was truly water.
He squinted and looked closer. He saw something swirling down there, but they weren't waves; they looked like human beings!
They weren't fully human—like the flames and the vortex, they too had that strange blue color. And they didn't seem corporeal, but rather ethereal. Even as they were pulled into the vortex, their faces were calm, peaceful.
Then something changed. A dark aura suddenly covered the vortex entirely, wrapping and trapping the beings swimming inside it.
Their appearance changed—they were now in pain, tormented. The whole place had transformed. Darkness lingered in every corner. Even the waterfalls had been corrupted, spewing only a black liquid that fed the vortex below.
"This was the World's Heart. My home."
Yuu flinched and turned around. The girl in the flame had spoken.
"Why did you bring me here? Why are you telling me this? Who are you?" Yuu didn't understand. He couldn't understand anything around him.
"The Darkness has corrupted everything. It was in this place that everything began," the girl continued, as if Yuu hadn't spoken. "It's here that I committed my sin."
The flames that surrounded her vanished, replaced by Darkness. Was the girl in the flame and the Darkness the same person?
"You've returned in spirit, but not with your body." Her red eyes stared into him.
"Returned?" Yuu replied. "I've never been to this place."
"There are many things you still don't know, Yuu. You managed to win one battle, but there will be others. You are weak—you will need me."
"Why won't either of you tell me anything? WHAT ARE YOU?" Yuu's scream was so loud it echoed off the walls.
The Darkness laughed. "Find all the fragments of me scattered across this world, and you'll get your answers."
The scene changed once more. Now Yuu was standing before a massive, black sphere. Strange carvings decorated it—men on one side, skeletons on the other.
Yuu tried to stand, but he noticed something in his hands. Seven gems, each a different color: one purple, one yellow, one green, one red, one blue, one white, and the last one shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
Yuu woke up when something heavy fell on top of him. "What the...?!" he exclaimed.
He opened his eyes: he was in what looked like an infirmary, but his was the only bed that was occupied. Then he looked down and saw Shinya lying on top of him.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"N-Nothing, nothing, eheh," she said, quickly getting up, her face bright red. "Mira! Don't you dare do that again!" she shouted at the ninja.
"Yuu, you should've seen how worried she was about you," Mira laughed, ignoring the increasingly embarrassed Shinya. "She stayed by your bedside for three days straight, like a little princess in love."
"It's a leader's duty to make sure her soldiers are okay," Shinya said angrily as she stormed out of the room.
"Welcome back," Mira said to him.
"Not sure I'd call it a good one," Yuu replied.
Mira stifled a laugh, then headed toward the exit. "I'll go get the others."
"Mira, wait!" Yuu called out. She stopped at the doorway. "Is everyone okay?"
"Of course! Who do you think you're dealing with?"
Yuu lay back down on the bed, his mind drifting back to the dream.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
His friends arrived shortly after. "Our champion finally woke up!" shouted Toru.
"Good morning, Yuu," Keiji greeted him calmly.
"I'm just glad you're all okay. But I'm not a champion... I never would've made it without you," Yuu admitted.
"Come on, you're the one who took that bastard out of this world," Toru insisted.
"But if it weren't for Keiji, I'd be dead. And without all of you, I never would've stood a chance against the Lightstorm."
Keiji simply smiled and said, "Thank you, Yuu. You were the one who gave us all the strength to win."
When everyone left to let him rest, Shinya appeared in the doorway. She was no longer embarrassed.
"I'm glad you're okay."
"I'm glad to see you too," Yuu replied.
For a moment, they looked into each other's eyes in silence, until Shinya broke it. "You need to rest now. They're supposed to discharge you tomorrow—just in time for their arrival."
"Whose arrival?" Yuu asked.
"Oh, you'll see, eheh." Shinya dashed off without answering, and he was left lying in bed, burning with curiosity.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
The next day, he left the infirmary and went to join his friends. They were no longer at the old Libertas base in the Harthland desert. Since the region had been liberated, the people—and most of the Governor's soldiers—had joined their cause. They were now occupying the palace in Sira, still under reconstruction after the battle.
With Raxis and the Lightstorm no longer around to inspire fear, even the soldiers who had hunted them not long ago had chosen to side with Libertas. However, a good number of Espers had remained loyal to the General and had fled to the other regions.
Yuu found his friends all busy preparing for the arrival of someone important—though no one had told him who it was.
"Yuu, hurry up. They'll be here any minute. Put on something decent," Shinya told him.She was wearing an elegant pink dress.
Toru came up behind him, dressed in a black jacket and trousers. The outfit didn't suit him at all—he was more comfortable in simple clothes. "Come on, get ready, Yuu. Captain Arien is about to arrive! Even I put on this ridiculous outfit."
"What? And who is that?" Yuu asked.
Shinya laughed. "She's one of the Thirteen. Number Two, to be exact," she explained. "She's coming here to join forces with us. Her resistance group has been operating in secret in the Esios region. Now that Harthland is free, there's a good chance more people will join our cause."
"Okay, sure. But that still doesn't explain why we have to dress like this. I dress however I want in front of Kyorano—why should she be any different?" Yuu protested.
Toru dragged him toward his room. "Because first impressions matter, obviously! Ahahaha!"
"That's it?"
"They say she's a neat freak, has weird tastes, but is really beautiful—so it's totally worth it."
Yuu was forced to change. Like Toru, he hated wearing fancy clothes.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
In the reception hall, Kyorano sat on the throne that once belonged to Raxis. Next to him stood Hitoshi, Lucas, and Mercure—all dressed as usual in the red battle uniforms of Libertas.
"They don't have to dress up?" Yuu asked Shinya.
"Ahaha, apparently not."
Yuu was wearing an outfit identical to Toru's. Keiji and Mira hadn't arrived yet—or maybe they were lost in the crowd. Several soldiers were stationed throughout the hall for security.
When the room suddenly fell silent, Yuu realized Arien had arrived.
People stepped aside as a young woman walked to the center of the hall. She had long black hair tied into two ponytails that hung down her back, and she wore a long black dress. She looked to be around thirty.
Behind her followed a group of five people—four younger individuals and one adult man. At the end of the line came a squad of armed soldiers. Their uniforms were similar to Libertas's, but pure white in color.
When Arien reached Kyorano, everyone held their breath. The two of them exchanged a look, and then Arien spoke: "It's been a long time, Captain Kyorano."
Her voice was calm, yet piercing. Kyorano spat out the cigar from his mouth and suddenly stood up, pulling her into a hug.
"Arien, my dear! It's been too long! Ahahah!"
She blushed deeply and wriggled out of his grip. "I see you haven't changed a bit," she muttered.
"Haha, right, if I remember correctly, you're not into men like me," Kyorano teased.
The whole room burst into laughter, and Yuu caught a glimpse of Arien trying her best not to smile.
Kyorano went on, "You prefer wom—" Arien cut him off with a punch to the stomach that doubled him over. Kyorano was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
"You're the same as ever, huh?"
Arien smirked smugly. Kyorano sat back down and offered her a seat. "Why don't you introduce your friends?"
She gestured to the five standing behind her.
"These are the members of our main team. This is Gilbert Strauss, the leader—one of the strongest fire Espers in all of Anima," she said, pointing to the oldest among them.
He looked to be in his forties. Gilbert wore a long dark cloak, had fiery red hair, and his face was decorated with multiple earrings and piercings.
"To our comrades from Harthland—this is my team."
The first to step forward was a boy with messy blond hair, wearing sunglasses and shorts. Yuu noticed he'd been smiling at everyone since the moment he walked in.
"This is Kaito Lange. His ability allows him to nullify any type of Esper energy with just a touch."
There was a wave of surprise among the Harthland members. Yuu had heard that some Espers possessed "unknown" powers—unique abilities not tied to any specific element.
"Yo," Kaito greeted with a grin.
The next to step forward was the only girl in the group. She had light brown hair that reached her shoulders, held back with clips. She wore a simple combat uniform and had a chain wrapped around her right wrist.
"This is Katia Mein," said Gilbert. "She's a skilled lightning user, and the enemies in Esios have nicknamed her Electromaster."
Yuu had heard of the legendary Electromaster—the strongest lightning Esper to ever exist. The idea that it was this younger girl standing in front of him gave him an odd sense of unease.
"She's never actually called herself that," Gilbert continued with a teasing smile, "but we all call her that now."
Katia gave a small wave before stepping aside, saying nothing.
Next came another blond boy, but unlike Kaito, everything about him was polished and refined.He wore a beautiful vest over a red shirt, and dark blue trousers.
As Gilbert was about to introduce him, the boy raised a hand to stop him.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Erich Steinfeld," he said, striking a confident pose. "I'm an air Esper, and I live to protect every defenseless lady out there."
Yuu could already hear several feminine voices whispering about how handsome, cute, and amazing he was. He turned to Shinya and saw her smiling.
"I bet Mira's going to make a move on him," Yuu whispered to Toru. "Just like you will with Arien."
Toru snorted. "That Electromaster girl's not bad either."
Gilbert then introduced the last member. "This is Geist. Unfortunately, no one knows his real name. He's our strongest member, and he's a psychic specialist."
Geist stepped forward with a sullen look on his face. He wore a white jacket with fur lining and black pants, but what struck Yuu the most were his hair—wild, messy, and a silver-white color unlike anything he had seen before.
Around his neck was a device with cables running down to his chest.
Shinya leaned in and whispered, "His white hair isn't natural. I heard the Kingdom runs experiments on children and teens. The ones who survive suffer long-term side effects—heart issues, for example. The white hair is just one of them. I'm sure 'Geist' is the codename the Kingdom scientists gave him."
He looked about the same age as Yuu. One thing was certain: like Yuu, that boy had suffered greatly because of the Kingdom.
The Esios team lined up together.
Arien turned to face Yuu's group and spoke: "Tomorrow, our two teams will depart on a joint mission. The destination is Esios!"