Trigger warning: Suicidal themes, mention of domestic abuse, blood, violence, death
—
Wind breezing her body as her fall was speeding up, Ream closed her eyes and spread her wings, having complete faith in the upgrade, but...
The artificial one was stuck!
She tried her hardest to get it to work, but it just wouldn't move. Reaching for the fake wing, trying to spread it manually-
It did nothing...
There...wasn't a way for her to stop falling.
Ream's face cringed in fear as she clenched onto her own body, but then a small smile formed on her face as at least she was the last person she saw.
Still standing on the edge of the cliff, Sheer stared straight ahead; still at the same spot where Ream was just a few seconds ago.
She should fly down and save Ream!
She couldn't... She couldn't move!
A fearless assassin...frozen by the thought of this random girl dying...
No...she isn't just a random girl. It's Ream. Her Ream!
She had to do something; she had to move-!
A blue flash suddenly shot right to her, grabbing her by the collar.
"Why did you push her?!" Foolscap's screaming did nothing to faze Sheer. Nothing he tried did.
He was furious, shouting at Sheer, shaking her body, but it did nothing. She did snap out of her fearful trans, yet she didn't react to the man right in front of her.
This was no different from the last time...
In a blink of an eye, Sheer's boomerang slid out of her sleeve into her hand, and with a swift motion, she slashed Foolscap's forehead, freeing herself from his grip.
Foolscap immediately covered the wound, his hand soaking with his blood. "You bi-"
"I didn't push her," Sheer snapped
"Do you think I'm stupid?!" he yelled back.
"Yes. But isn't relevant. I didn't do anything."
"I saw you with Ream before she fell."
"Instead of yelling at me, what about you actually saved her?"
"You didn't even try either!"
Sheer's hand with the boomerang trembled, she was about to strike again when suddenly Gavro landed near them and the argument broke. Not because of him, but because of who he was carrying in his arms.
Ream... She was okay; a little shaken up, but alive nonetheless.
Both Sheer and Foolscap turned to her and Gavro and their expressions softened.
Ream jumped out of Gavro's arms, stepping in between her brother and her Sheer. "Stop that you two."
"Why are you protecting this bitch?" Fools snapped out, "she pushed you-"
"She didn't do anything! Sheer did nothing wrong," his little sister corrected him, "...I jumped."
"...what...?" he breathed.
"I tried to prove to her that my new wing is totally okay," Ream explained, pulling herself back a bit, "...but it malfunctioned." She shook her head. "Don't blame Sheer for this; she did nothing wrong."
Foolscap pushed Ream behind him with his arm, glaring at Sheer. "Stay away from my sister."
Ream nudged her brother off the way to reach her partner. "Sheer..."
However, the pale Kai spread her wings and flew away.
"Sheer, wait!"
—
Sheer got back on the ship, walking through the corridors with her thoughts still on the edge of that cliff.
It was so similar to the last time...
At least she didn't lose her...
...it's not exactly the same... Yet...everything was on loop for her.
Ream disappearing right in front of her eyes with those quiet words.
"Trust me. Please..."
How could have that happened again...?
"Sheer!"
Her eyes widened as she heard Ream's voice while she proceeded to walk.
"...Sheer, I-" Ream let out shakily as she followed the smaller woman.
"Are you happy with that new wing of yours now?" Sheer asked snappingly, pronouncing each word sharply, get tune shifting lower, "...I warned you."
"I know! You were right-"
Sheer's wings spread as widely as possible, wrapping around her.
"It wasn't your fault," Ream continued but getting no response.
Instead, a different voice was heard: "Sheer, could I speak to you in the control room? Right away." Spectre's voice from the speakers died down and Ream watched Sheer do as she was told, her wings folding back.
Nearly reaching the door, Gavro stepped in Sheer's way.
The pale Kai stopped; her glare piercing through Gavro.
"You want to argue just like your little friend?" she growled out the question, "I wouldn't recommend that." The boomerang slid out of her sleeve once again.
"I want to know the truth," Gavro told her.
She clenched onto her weapon. "You heard it already. Ream stupidly jumped off that cliff to show me how great that fake wing is. That defective gift of yours nearly got her killed. It'd happen one day with or without me."
"That wing is meant to help her."
"All you did was giving her fake confidence."
"What is so wrong about that?"
"That confidence made her think she can do anything; that's why all that happened. Those wings resulted in so many deaths and you still gave one to her. Why? Just because she was different? So what? A lack of wings doesn't make a Kai useless or weak." Sheer shifted her eyes away from the buff man. "...it's the personality that does that."
"Why do you care so much?" he wondered.
Her hands twitched as she silently stared into a wall beside her. She looked weak... She clenched her hands into fists so hard that her nails and weapon dug into her palms. ...just to steady them. ...not to seem weak.
"Because I refuse to lose more people to malfunctions!" she snapped out, her voice echoing through ship's corridors, "...My little sibling lost their wings as a child. My parents got them the most expensive substitutes possible. They were only 12 when the wings malfunctioned on a fly with me, resulting in their death. Our mother left right after that. And our father...he blamed everything on me, beating me up every day." She shook her head aggressively. "I lost enough, I can't lose Ream too!"
"Sheer..."
She panted as her throat became sore from her yelling, releasing her fists while still not dropping the boomerang.
She pushed Gavro away to finally get to the door.
"Now, outta my way. The boss is waiting for me."
He turned to her, but the door was already closed shut.
"You wanted to see me, boss? Huh-"
A tall gray-skinned woman with short brown hair, black eyes, and dark marks all over her face was standing right next to Spectre. A smile formed on her face.
"I wanted to introduce you to someone," Spectre said.
Sheer scanned the tall woman's body; she was even taller than Spectre himself and wrapped completely in a dark pink cape.
"They call me Zepar," the woman spoke up.
"Sheer Blade."
"I'm fully aware. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Zepar made her way towards Sheer; there were no footsteps heard, yet she was still moving forward. She stopped right in front of her, towering over the pale Kai—she was nearly twice as tall as Sheer. "You're...incredible. Just as I imagined."
"Who exactly are you?" Sheer asked her, staying put when anyone else would be cowering in fear.
"What a fool to leave such a perfect being behind. She caused you so much pain," the woman's voice was deep, yet it was welcoming and caring in a strange way.
Sheer just breathed out a little "What...?", not really sure how to react.
"The woman, who married an abusive man and left her only living child with him. Such a coward gave birth to...you." Zepar's eyes were locked on the small woman who was stabbing her with the blood-red eye.
"How do you know all this?"
"You just talked about it, dear," Zepar replied, "you have a very strong voice; I was able to hear your every word. I'm sorry for what happened to you. You didn't deserve that."
She reached her hand towards Sheer's face; shivers ran down Sheer's spine, but Zepar didn't try to hurt her... Instead, she brushed the hair out of Sheer's face.
Sheer pulled away immediately. "Why are you really here?"
"I have an offer for you."
—
Meanwhile, the Cane siblings were sitting in Foolscap's room, Ream treating her brother's wound on the forehead.
"Why did you scream at her like that?" she wondered.
"She pushed you off a cliff-! Ouch-!" Fools whined a bit as his sister disinfected his wound.
"She never did. She might be mad at the world, but when you show her that she can rely on you, you can be friends. It would make me happy if we all could just get along."
"You're trying so hard... What for?"
"Because I care about both of you and about Gavro too," Ream told him, "...and all your arguments can easily get you into trouble. You might need help from the others, but they refuse; you need to rely on each other."
"Why would I ever need their help?" Foolscap snapped.
"I also...want to be sure there's someone who'd watch over you while I'm gone."
"Gone?" The slim man jumped to his feet, staring at his little sister in shock. " What are you talking about?"
Ream glanced away from him. "...I'm quitting."
Her brother let out a sigh.
"I'm not capable enough for this job. I made a stupid, rushed decision that not only endangered me, but it started a whole new argument amongst the group. ...I only joined because of you and Gavro." She pulled away a bit. "...And stayed because of Sheer." She stood up and smiled at her brother. "I'll go back home and I'll do what I'm good at and what makes me happy."
"If you're sure..."
"You were the one who didn't want me to get involved in the first place," she reminded him, "you said that it's too dangerous."
"Yeah... But-"
"You're afraid that Sheer is gonna kill you without me around."
"I'm not afraid!" Fools snapped.
Ream chuckled. "...I still need to talk with Spectre about it, but I've decided."
"Alright then..."
After treating her brother's wound, she headed to meet with Spectre. The door from the control room opened and her eyes met with Sheer's. The smaller Kai walked right past her, making a frown form on Ream's face as she walked into the room, facing Spectre.
"I-I'd like to speak with you, boss."
"Yes?"
"Sir, I..." Ream started explaining her request.
Suddenly, Sheer's ears twitched and her head quickly shot back to the control room. Ream is...quitting? But...
"Huh...?" Despite her shock from the news, she noticed that Zepar was no longer in the room. ...but she didn't walk out, did she?
"If you're sure." Spectre nodded once Ream finished. "It is entirely your choice, even if it is a shame to lose an expert on space."
"Thank you, boss." Ream bowed before walking away.
Sheer's red eyes followed her for a bit before speaking up. "So, you're leaving?"
Ream froze on the spot, her eyes locked on the corridor right in front of her. "It's for the best." She gave Sheer a soft smile, their eyes meeting again. "...so, I don't have to adjust to the needs of others."
"It is your decision..." Sheer told her.
"Hey..." Ream reached to the hair covering Sheer's left eye and brushed it away. "You'll be okay without me."
After a few seconds of silence, Sheer smirked devilishly. "I'd be more worried about those two idiots if I were you."
"Just try not to kill them while I'm gone," Ream said with her smile widening.
"No promises."
"I'm glad you're doing a little better," Ream chuckled and started walking away, "well, I'll pack my stuff. See ya!"
Sheer smiled weakly. "Yeah..."
Once the blue Kai was off the sight, Sheer's ears twitched again as she heard that deep voice again.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
Sheer turned around, seeing the tall woman standing behind her out of nowhere.
"Seems that even the strongest people have their weaknesses," she said, her eyes piercing through Sheer, "even if they're quite unusual. Weaknesses are just distractions."
The black-haired's ears lowered as if she was a Bronton whose tail Zepar just stepped on; she wasn't far from hissing. "Don't you dare touch her," she growled.
A smirk just formed on Zepar's face.
—
The ship was just a few hours away from Kai's home planet when Spectre called all his pirates to meet him.
"So, we need to build more cages to capture as many creatures as we can, however, we also need to head back to that planet in a couple of days," he told them.
"Why do we need to come back so early?" Gavro asked him.
"A certain event is supposed to take place there and we should witness it," Spectre explained and turned his back to the pirates, "so, do not waste your time while we're back home; we can't afford to be late."
Foolscap looked at the others and groaned loudly. "Can't really catch a break, can we?
—
And soon, they arrived, welcomed by Spectre's family; no other families even acknowledged the return.
Goma happily rushed to them, nearly knocking the pirates and his grandfather down by a tackle hug. Meanwhile, Mittens charged at Foolscap, chasing him around.
Then Meraki approached with some news for three remaining pirates.
"News outfits?" Gavro wondered.
The pink Kai nodded. "I designed and requested some outfits for you to be more suitable for your missions."
"You sure they'll fit and...you know, we'll actually like them?" Foolscap pouted, crossing his arms.
"They'll fit," Meraki chuckled, "I measured Gel Jarks that transformed into you. And I do think you'd appreciate them. Spectre called me about what happened, so I prepared something. Yours even has a little bonus, Fools."
A bonus? It was a strange way of describing that; it gave no hint to the pirates.
Meraki didn't wait long with revealing the outfits; they all headed inside the mansion where he handed them their new clothes. The three pirates headed to change.
Foolscap and Gavro were the first ones to come back.
Gavro's outfit was a dark tight bodysuit with purple straps over his chest and back and huge lavender gauntlets on both hands while Foolscap had a black tight shirt under a light purple vest with a big fluffy collar, black gloves with silver claws attached, and most importantly a headband with a pink zigzag pattern similar to the one of the vest. He also appeared taller due to pointy shoes with high heels.
"So, what do you think?" Meraki asked them.
Foolscap rubbed the back of his head while still holding the headband in the other hand. "You were actually right. These look good!"
"Yeah, and they're comfortable too," Gavro added.
"Thankfully, mine's not green," the skinny Kai commented with a cringing grin on his face.
"I made sure to respect the wishes of each of you, but I am willing to make some adjustments while you're back," Meraki told the two.
Fools looked at the headband and then put it on; the two ends magnetically connecting once the band was around his head.
"That should cover that nasty scar," Spectre pointed out.
Realizing that, a happy smirk crossed Foolscap's face. "It fits well!"
"And it looks good too," Ream admitted and giggled, "a pity that now you have no eyebrows."
Her brother shot a death glare at her, groaning. She just gave him an innocent smile, but then her attention was turned to someone entering the room.
Ream's ears straightened as she saw Sheer walk in wearing a purple dress with black sleeves and matching long wedge-heeled boots; a big yellow ribbon was sticking out of her hair, which seemed to be the reason for her gloomy yet annoyed expression.
"Wow..." Ream just breathed out, her face and the tips of her ears turning red. She couldn't tear her eyes away from her...her partner... She was snapped out when she heard a sudden childish laugh.
Goma burst into laughter after seeing the pale Kai. "What's with that ribbon?"
Sheer's ears went quickly down and so did her ribbon as her cheeks flushed and she frowned. "Shut up, brat!" she snapped, pulling her boomerang out of her dress.
"It actually makes you look cute," Ream said, stopping Sheer from killing the child.
"I am not cute!" Sheer growled, her ears and the ribbon standing straight.
"I mean that you can easily confuse the enemy with looking adorable at first, but being very deadly!" Ream explained, her smile beaming at her partner, making Sheer a bit relieved.
She'd never admit that in front of the others, but that smile was something important to her...
—
With only a week left, the Space Pirates had a very limited time to enjoy their stay and to be with people they cared about.
Ream stuck near Sheer the whole time as she wanted to make up for her mess up on that other planet.
The two were sitting on Sheer's bed, Ream painting Sheer's nails.
"You really like that ribbon?" Sheer asked.
Ream smiled softly. "Of course! It suits you. As I said, it gives you the opportunity to deceive others. You can easily get close to people and then strike!" She held Sheer's hand gently, painting her long nails, looking up from her work for a bit, meeting with Sheer's eyes. "And most importantly, you like it."
"Don't you dare tell anyone about that," the black-haired mumbled. Her hand suddenly trembled in Ream's grip.
"You feeling okay?" Ream worried and stopped painting, "your ears have been mostly down since we left the ship."
"It's nothing," Sheer replied quickly.
"I know you prefer to suppress your emotions, but one day, you'll need to express all of that. It'll hurt less if it's in small doses instead of a huge outburst."
"I said it's nothing!" the pale Kai yelled out, jerking out of Ream's hand.
Ream pulled away, her ears hanging down. "I understand..."
Sheer bit her lip, watching her partner avoiding her scaredly. "I just don't want to talk about it. It makes me feel weak..." She felt a sudden touch on the hand with not yet painted nails—Ream took her hand.
"Hey, I'll be there when you're ready to let it out. I promise!" The blue Kai grinned at her.
How did this even happen? How did this girl get so close to Sheer? Ream was so weak just a year ago and yet after being thrown around and yelled at by Sheer, she fought back. She was strong now. ...way stronger than Sheer ever will be; at least that's how it was in her eyes...
Sheer still has her weaknesses...her distractions...
She looked away from Ream. "...could you promise me something else?"
"Sure!"
"Don't ever put your trust into something that can endanger you."
Ream glanced at her fake wing, frowning. "Promise..." She then gave Sheer a soft smile. "Would you, please, help me take it off then?" she asked, undressing from her coat.
The tips of Sheer's ears turned red when she saw Ream's back. She reached to the fake wing and started disconnecting it from the blue body. Ream tensed up and curled up as the wing was being pulled out; her eyes shut yet tearing up, hissing escaping her lips.
The wing was separated from a metal piece that was still stuck in Ream's body, connected to her spine.
Her body was trembling like crazy even after it was over. It still hurt...
The pain faded away as she felt a cold touch on her back.
She relaxed and whispered, "thank you".
—
Meanwhile, Meraki was pacing across one of the rooms on the ship, talking to his husband.
"You just came back," the pink man said.
"This is important," Spectre replied, showing his back to Meraki.
The smaller Kai stopped his pacing, shooting a death glare at Spectre. "What's so important about that?" he snapped out, "she's never told you the point of all these missions. You're blindly listening to her orders, using those kids without them knowing...!" He slowly headed to the other man. "...and for what? Limitless power? You've always told me you already have everything in the world. What changed?"
Spectre shook his head. "...nothing... Nothing changed... But it's too late to quit."
Meraki reached his hands to Spectre, cupping his cheeks, turning his face to himself. "There has to be a way to back out of this. You sacrificed enough already."
"That's why I can't stop now," Spectre told him, "...not after all that. It's just one last mission, that's it. Then everything will be back to normal." He rested his hand on Meraki's. "Everything...even Trouble."
The men were looking into each other's eyes, the red ones begging for his husband to wait for him just one last time.
The orange eyes closed and Meraki finally spoke up. "Okay... One last mission and then it'll all be over."
Spectre nodded happily. "You have my word."
—
"And so after a week has passed and we were about to leave. Actually, we had to take the Gel Jarks with us since apparently a week wasn't long for them to build enough cages—at least now they can serve as bait for those creatures, not me."
The young boy surrounded by nothing, but rubble and darkness, was still reading Foolscap's diary. This was the only way of remembering what Goma has forgotten over his time in the Shadow Kingdom. Time was really irrelevant there, so reading year-long diary entries was just another distraction.
During his time in this world, he actually never went beyond a certain point—the space itself. He lived only on an island floating in outer space. Despite having wings, Goma never dared to fly too far off, possibly afraid of what he can find there—he wasn't sure himself.
While reading through the diary, he started to remember a lot of things about himself and his family. ...but it was this specific bit that not only reminded him of the event but also made him recall what happened after one of his grandfathers left.
—
Back then, he hugged his grandpa Spectre tightly and so did grandpa Meraki, although, he didn't speak to his husband that much. All he said was a sad "goodbye".
Goma understood that something must've happened between the two, but he acknowledged that it would be awkward to ask about it.
Ream received a big hug from Gavro; he had to be careful not to hurt her.
With Foolscap, the two siblings just joked around and she asked him not to get eaten.
Then with Sheer... The girls stared at each other for a while, not sure what to say. Ream was the one to speak up first after brushing Sheer's hair from her left eye.
"Please, be careful."
Sheer let out a small devilish chuckle. "I'm not the one you should be telling that to."
"Well, you're the only one who'd actually listen to me," Ream joked, glaring at Fools and Gavro.
"There's nothing to worry about; we'll be back in no time," Sheer said, folding her arms and giving Ream a soft smile.
"What is even going on between those two?" Gavro wondered, scratching his cheek.
"Something starting with an 'L' and ending with an 'E'," Spectre replied.
"A 'lake'?" Goma questioned.
Meraki laughed, ruffling his grandson's hair. "You might understand one day."
Foolscap groaned annoyedly. "Alright, alright! Can we go now?"
A sudden purr sounded behind him and before he could turn around, Mittens bit into the slim man's fluffy collar.
"Hey! Not the collar!" Foolscap screamed at the beast. The tiger-like creature let go of him, munching on the bits of the collar happily.
"We should head out," Spectre said.
Meraki nodded. "Take care."
With one last smile, Spectre and his pirates headed onto the ship. And soon, the ship flew into the distance.
Despite just coming back to him, this was an important memory to Goma. He just didn't know it at the time.
It was a few days later when Ream came to visit them. Meraki asked her a lot about how her life with her brother and a close friend was and wondering about how she in particular managed to bring out Sheer's soft side.
They had no clue what was about to happen.
—
On top of the tallest building in the city was standing a Kai woman. Her pale skin, blood-red eyes, dark hair, and yellowish wing made her resemble Sheer. Yet...she was very different. She was taller; her hair was wavy and shoulder-length; her eyes didn't just pierce through people with a glare, they seemed much kinder.
She was watching what was going on below her.
It was time...
She took a deep breath, spread her wings, and was about to leap off the building when someone spoke to her.
"Long time no see, sister."
The woman froze on the spot when she heard that deep voice. "W-what do you want here?" she asked, slowly turning around.
The Kai behind her was none other than the tall, gray-skinned woman, Zepar.
"I should be the one asking that," she told her sister, approaching her, "so, Ronwe, what brings you back here? I thought that you're too big of a coward to face the consequences of your actions. What do you want here then?"
"I will not let you get away with your schemes," Ronwe replied.
"And what do you plan to do? You can't stop me."
"But I can stop your puppets from destroying my planet."
"Good luck with that," Zepar laughed sarcastically, "you have no clue where they are and I am not going give you a hint. You don't even know who all of them are."
Ronwe laid her hand to her heart. "Then I'll get rid of everyone I can."
A huge grin formed on Zepar's face. "You're willing to make my creations extinct just to protect your own. You're no better than me. And even if you don't kill everyone...you're still willing to kill your own daughter just so you can win."
Ronwe's hand curled into a fist, trembling. "No...you didn't-!"
"Oh, I did, sister," Zepar let out a deep chuckle.
The red eyes pierced through Zepar with pure anger. "It doesn't matter. Sacrifices have to be made."
Zepar's small dark eyes widened in shock, but then she glared at her younger sister. "A mother of the year I see. You're not afraid to murder your own daughter after causing her so much suffering already."
The tall Kai closed her eyes calmly. "Tell me, Ronwe..." Her eyes quickly shot opened, glowing purple. "Who's really the bad guy here?"
Zepar spread her wings, but instead of the usual bat-like ones, these were black and bird-like.
Ronwe made a step back, nearly losing her balance and falling off the building. She looked at her feet, making sure she stays standing. She could fly away, yet, she refused to run away.
"Prepare to meet your doom," Zepar said.
Her sister glanced swiftly back at her but found that Zepar was gone. Before she could react, Zepar was already flying behind her. In a blink of an eye, she swang her arm, hitting Ronwe with full force, sending her flying across the roof.
Ronwe's wing started to glow and just like Zepar's turned bird-like, stopping herself. "I can't let them chase after those stones!"
"You're just scared of losing to me," Zepar mocked her, "just do it, then. Kill all my creations; you're a god, after all, that shouldn't be a problem! But you have to get through me first."
With no hesitation, Ronwe's body shot straight to her sister with her leg ready to kick, but Zepar's arm blocked her.
The battle of two flying gods didn't come unnoticed as each of their impacts resulted in a flash of light and occasionally, a power wave that caused buildings to collapse as their powers shot around like lighting.
—
"Of course," Meraki told Ream inside the mansion right before the first impact, "she'd appreciate that no doubt-"
Lightning hit near the mansion. Everything started to shake, books were falling off the shelves, chairs were knocked over, the chandelier was swinging from side to side.
Mittens quickly jumped under the table, hissing.
"What is that?" Goma gasped.
"No clue..." Meraki replied when the shaking stopped.
"At least it's over, right?" Ream mumbled.
She was very wrong, the mansion itself was struck. The whole building shook and a part of the wall fell apart., landing right beside Ream, missing her just barely. She let out a high-pitched yelp.
"We have to get out of here," Meraki stated.
Then, a part of the ceiling collapsed, about to fall in Goma. Spreading his wings as fast as possible, Meraki flew at full speed, pushing his grandson out of the danger.
...however, the rubble still landed, hitting Meraki instead, injuring his right leg and wing.
Blood quickly colored the carpet.
"Grandpa!" Goma kneeled to him in tears immediately, trying to pull the man out.
Mittens ran from under the table, biting onto Meraki's arm, helping his own rescue the old Kai.
"...that's okay...just go..." Meraki grunted.
"But, Meraki-!" Ream exclaimed.
The pink man's orange eyes glanced at her. "Go get a pod outside and fly as far as possible...you might be safe..."
Ream teared up, refusing to leave him there. "What about you?"
"...take care of Goma and Mittens. ...and tell Spectre that-" Meraki stopped his speech when he realized what Ream was up to.
She kneeled to him and moved the rubble away as fast as she could.
"You can tell him yourself, sir," she said and then glared at Goma and Mittens, who took some time to recover from the shock. They also got to work, freeing Meraki.
He couldn't properly walk and definitely couldn't fly like this, so, Ream took his arm around her shoulders while Mittens supported him from the other side.
Meraki was still overwhelmed as they all walked to the pod, doing their best to avoid any others parts of the ceiling.
—
Meanwhile, the battle was still raging; neither of the two gods refused to back down.
Ronwe shot behind Zepar, wrapping her arms around her throat. "Why did you pick her?"
Zepar let out a chuckle. "Because she's perfect... And you broke her. It's not that hard to pin her against you..."
Dark feathers formed out of nowhere on Zepar's body as she grew bigger and more bird-shaped, setting herself free.
"ShE sufFEred beCauSe of yoU! YOu tuRned hEr life INto hELl!" the dark bird creature screeched so loud every Kai could hear her clearly, "yOU BroUGht heR NothiNG but AngER AnD DeaTH! EVeryThing IS yOuR FAult!"
"You don't understand," Ronwe told her calmly.
"She...her...everything...everything...Ronwe..." the bird growled nonsensical words, "because...life...anger...death... EvERytHIng!"
She let out a powerful shriek.
—
Goma and the others covered their ears; the sound was so unbearable.
Once it became quiet, Meraki petted Mittens' head in an attempt to soothe him after the noise.
Ream finally led Meraki to the pod, helping him sit down. She tore off a part of her coat and did her best to stop Meraki's bleeding.
Mittens jumped into the other side of the pod, lying calmly down. Goma sat beside him.
"You're more capable than you think..." Meraki told Ream, "you still would have made a good pirate."
The blue Kai shook her head. "Now's not the time. We can talk once we're s-"
Her eyes widened and her voice froze when she heard people screaming. Ream was about to run; she couldn't just-
Meraki grabbed her arm, stopping her.
Ream glanced back at him, her face completely pale. She got pulled into the pod and the red glass closed her in.
"There's no time," the pink Kai said.
The pod slowly left the ground. Goma and Mittens watched two bird-like creatures flying in the sky.
Suddenly, the white one was knocked to the ground, causing the ground to tremble.
It's their fault...
If they can be stopped, all this chaos would be over, right...?
Goma didn't hesitate, opened his part of the pod, and flew at full speed straight to the two gods.
After a while, Meraki noticed his grandson heading towards the danger, turning the course his way in hopes they can catch up.
The young boy was getting closer and closer, yelling at the gods to stop.
The dark bird flew down at her sister, ready to strike.
Goma reached his hand to them and then...
The two birds clashed and everything was suddenly covered in nothing, but bright light. Once the light died out, a complete wasteland was revealed.
Everyone was gone...
Everything touching the ground was dead...
—
That's what happened... That's how Goma got there. The last thing he remembered was that bright light and then he woke up in the Shadow World, meeting his little companion, similar to the creatures the Space Pirates tried to capture. Since that day, he was there...by himself.
His mind was flooded with memories of that day as, after centuries, he finally knew, finally remembered what happened.
Goma burst into tears, clenching Foolscap's diary to his chest.
He didn't know what caused him to up in this place.
Why was he the only one there?
Was he even alive...?
—
Well, that was depressing. This took some time, but it's finally done and now you're all gonna hate me for this whole chapter...oh, just wait for the last one!
So, yeah... Sheer's revealed her past a bit, the White and Dark Pterosaurs had a fight, the SSP headed back to Earth, and well...death happened.
I hope you like the chapter and prepare for the last one properly.