Anya POV:

It had been roughly 3 years of peace since the incident had happened with the Atomic Cube and life had pretty much returned to normal. We kept visiting people across the different cubes, exchanged stories, had birthday parties, a lot. But then, on the morning of September 1st, Mystic Mermaid woke me up from my sleep and told me something.

"Mystic?... It's rare for you to wake me up... what's the issue?" I asked, her simply giving me a smile.

"I want to spend the day with you... just the two of us, down by the river," she said, me looking at her in confusion.

"What's really going on?" I asked. Mystic sighed.

"I'll tell you after we go to the river... it's something very serious. Something that will change everyone's lives..." she said, me only then getting out of bed, getting dressed, and both me and Mystic going to the water outside of our house. And we saw that everyone else in the town was out and about having fun with their own shadows. Yeah, during the past 3 years, nearly everyone in the world had managed to get their shadow to come out of their souls. Old, young, middle-aged, they got a shadow friend to call their own. It was very nice to see them having fun.

Mystic and I then got to the water and I proceeded to kick my feet in the water while Mystic swam in the water out of my shadow.

"Okay, we're here, now tell me what's going on," I said, Mystic sighing at me.

"I wanted to spend some time with you... before I say goodbye," she said, me looking at her in surprise.

"G-Goodbye?... What do you mean?" I asked in shock. "B-But... the promise you made me... you said you'd be with me forever!" I said with concern, Mystic sighing as I saw tears emerge from her eyes.

"It's not just me... many of the other shadows noticed before I did... there's going to be an event today... I don't know when, but a bright light will consume every bit of magic out of everyone in the world... and when that happes, all of us are going to be absorbed by this light... I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you before that happened," Mystic said... and with every word she said, my heart broke more and more.

"M-Mystic..." I teared up as I hugged her close to my body. "Please... tell me there's another way... I don't want you to go!" I cried to her, Mystic sighing as I saw she looked to the sky and then... she started to sing.

"~Lovely Anya... hear what I say to thee...
My love for you runs deeper.. than every single sea...
Listen to me... this final tune...
I will never stop... loving you...~" she sung... but then, before I could say anything, she kissed me on the lips and I felt it... a very insane blast of magic happening right behind us. "I love you... so much... farewell..." she cried out... and just like that... with a flash of light brighter than any light I'd seen before... I felt... empty... Mystic Mermaid had been stolen away... and all that remained of her was the seashell that she had on her.

"N-No... No... NO NO NO NO NOOOOO! ! !" I shouted in anguish as I felt the emotions going through my codes and wires... my chest smoked greater than it ever smoked before as I felt like I could throw up! "MYSTIC MERMAID! NOOOOOOOHOHOHOOOOOOOO! ! ! !" I had lost her... my dearest friend in the world, who stayed with me through thick and thin, through turmoil and hardship... and who saved me from the Balaur Shadow 3 years ago. She was gone forever... I then collapsed on the ground and simply allowed my body to go into the water. "G-Goodbye... best friend! AHHHAAAAA! ! !" I cried again. What was the point if everyone lost their soul? What caused it and why?! I guess I would never know, since I lost my only way of finding out.

I must've stayed in this state for a good long while, just crying with my head face-first in the water until I felt something grab onto me.

"Y-You're alive?... Thank goodness!" said a voice that... sounded like a little girl. One that sounded... kinda funny.

"I... She's gone... forever... why did this happen?..." I asked before crying again.

"Who's gone forever?... What happened?" the girl asked. I hadn't even looked at her yet because I was so ashamed.

"Mystic Mermaid... the light in the sky... it took her away from me..." I blubbered like a baby before I felt a hug around me... followed by... a voice. A voice I recognized immediately.

"Anya?..." I heard. And who said it? My heart suddenly lit up with fire and joy when I heard none other than MYSTIC MERMAID! I then looked around all over before I finally felt it... I felt her back in my Eternal Engine!

"MYSTIC MERMAID!" I cried out in joy as I then felt her emerge from my shadow and I felt tears of joy coming from my eyes.

"ANYA! I-I thought... I thought I was gone for good!" Mystic shouted as I felt her arms around me again, me smiling at the feeling of the wetness of her arms against my skin.

"Did I do that?..." asked the voice of the girl, me finally looking at her... and when I did? I was stupefied. The one that I looked at was a girl of roughly 11 years of age, having a braided ponytail, a dress of white, no shoes, and skin of a fair creamy color. But the one that that made me know she wasn't a normal girl was her eyes. Her right eye was normal, but her left eye was completely robotic, along with her left ear!

"Y-You're an android, too?" I asked.

"Um... I don't know... all I remember is that I woke up underground and came out from that hole over there... and when I hugged you, I felt a voice begging and pleading to see you again... and then, I felt something happen and your shadow turned into a mermaid..." the girl said. And it was then that I realized something. This robotic girl was a miracle.

"You... You saved Mystic Mermaid?" I asked, her nodding. I then gave her a big hug and she then hugged me back. "I must know your name, my hero!" I smiled happily.

"My... my name?... I can't remember..." she said.

"Well, we need to give you a name worthy of your status of rescuing Mystic Mermaid! How about... Awakened Shadow?" I asked, her looking at me with a smile.

"I think I'll stick with Shadow... for everyone else. I like you, so I'll allow you and only you to call me Awakened Shadow," she smiled.

"We need to see if you can use that power for anyone else. We need to find out where that light in the sky came from and how to destroy it before it does that stunt again!" I said with seriousness.

"I couldn't agree more, Anya. I don't want to be scared like that again!" Mystic said with seriousness.

Shadow POV:

I still had no idea what was going on, or how long I'd been asleep. But this Anya girl looked to be in a pretty sad state before I gave her a hug... and when I did so, I could hear tears on the inside... so when I then thought of how to reunite them, I felt some kind of power overwhelm me before then going into her. And she looked so happy when her shadow suddenly turned into a mermaid! It made me feel pretty good, especially since she gave me a temporary name of Awakened Shadow because she was that grateful.

Regardless, she then proceeded to show me around town and the whole time, she had her shadow out, which made the others in town look absolutely confounded.

"H-How do you still have your shadow, Anya?" asked one of the townies, her looking to be a young woman who had a black dress with a yellow sash around her waist, hair done in a ponytail, and having a pink bow tying it up.

"That's the thing, Kluke. I actually lost Mystic... I was so distraught, I ended up releasing the most steam I'd ever done in my life, followed by being reduced to a crying mess... it uh, got very ugly," Anya said with a sigh and a forlorn look. "But then... this young girl appeared," she said, me smiling at that with a big blush.

"This girl? She looks new... and partly robotic. What's up with that?" Kluke asked.

"I uh... I don't know," I admitted, trying to rack my brain for answers, and nothing happening.

"She said she woke up underground and I was the first person she saw. And when she hugged me, she ended up giving Mystic back to me! The amount of joy both of us feel right now is unfathomable!" Anya said with a big and bubbly smile.

"You think she could do the same thing with me? I uh, have a business to run, after all," Kluke asked as I looked at her in concern.

"I don't know... maybe?" I said as I then went to Kluke and held her hand... and afterwards, I felt it. Some kind of latent magic in her begging to be released. I then focused further and managed to feel it. Her soul erupting with magic as we saw her shadow form. But when Anya saw it, she looked shocked.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Anya asked in surprise when we saw Kluke's shadow appear. I didn't know why, but I felt I made a mistake.

"Is... something wrong?"

"Far from it, Kluke's Phoenix shadow has just been upgraded to the Immortal Phoenix instead of the Fiery Phoenix! Now it has access to even more powerful spells that even I can't use!" Anya exclaimed in surprise, which made Kluke confused.

"What?! How is that possible?!" Kluke asked in surprise. But after releasing Kluke's inner power, I suddenly felt a bit drained.

"I don't know... but I feel kinda tired..." I admitted as my left eye started to blink on and off blue.

"Hmm... you must be requiring a recharge, then. If you're like me and nearly completely robotic, then you'll need to rest to recharge your systems," Anya said, me then being even more confused. Robotic?... But then I felt something. A small memory open up in me!

"I... I remember something!" I shouted as I then explained the memory as it played out in my mind. "I had a fight with some strange purple people and they beat me badly... they ripped off my ear and destroyed my eye... and after that, they placed something called an Eternal Engine in my body and hooked it to some robotic replacements and my brain... but it's getting blurrier as I think about it!" I said in surprise as I then had my eye stop blinking on and off and I suddenly felt better.

"Huh... you actually stopped low power mode? And that fast? That Eternal Engine in you must be leagues above mine, then!" Anya said with a smirk.

"Maybe we should take you to King Jibral? He could probably-" Kluke was about to say before we heard a loud shriek.

"EEEEEK MONSTER!" shouted the voice of a little girl! I immediately looked at Kluke and Anya and all three of us then rushed to the scene, seeing that two men and a robot were attacking three different monsters with some different weaponry. The one robot that had a very pointy head slashed into the monstrous monkey with some bladed cuffs on her wrists while the two men were whacking the other two with sticks!

"Let's assist!" I shouted as we then rushed in and I felt it. A feeling to protect the little girl from the monsters... I then shouted in fury as I felt a loud roar emerge from my shadow before it then rammed into the middle monster and completely annihilated it in one go! Kluke and Anya then followed suit with their shadows, which made the four surprised at our shadows destroying the monsters.

"Oh my gosh... how do you still have your shadows?!" the robot asked, me then seeing it was female due to the voice.

"You can thank Awakened Shadow here," Anya smiled.

"Wait... you gave her the name Awakened Shadow? Why?" Kluke asked in annoyance.

"Because she reunited me with Mystic when I thought she was gone forever, that's why!" Anya shouted at Kluke in annoyance.

"Ahem!" the one called Shu said, which made the duo stop their petty argument. "I want to know if she could give me mine and Zola's shadows back," Shu said, me feeling like I was being used, me sighing at them.

"I don't know if I'm at all comfortable with this... I get you miss your shadows, but I don't like being used like this," I said with annoyance, which made Zola frown.

"Shu, apologize. That was rude and inconsiderate," Zola said with a stern gaze, which made Shu groan in annoyance.

"Ugh... sorry... you don't have to do it if you don't want to," Shu said, me smiling at him.

"I just feel like I might need some time to recharge my senses, get something to eat, maybe try to think and remember who I was?" I admitted. That's what I wanted more than anything else.

"Why not come with me to Neo Jibral Castle, then? I'm sure that King Jibral can give you a bed to rest on," Zola said, me looking at her in surprise.

"King Jibral? Like, a really real king?" I asked.

"Yes. He's also one of the nicest kings you'll ever meet! He helped us and many others out a lot in the past," Anya smiled as we then proceeded down the path to the castle in question... but when we approached it, we saw that there were some soldiers guarding the entry and that there was a man that was talking to them.

"Uh, what's going on?" Anya asked.

"Master Anya, Shu, and Ladies Zola and Kluke. Thanks for your cooperation," the guard said, which confused me until the townie looked at me in shock.

"AH! That's her, that's the one!" he said, which spooked me.

"Me?! What'd I do?" I asked.

"I saw it with my own eyes! Shortly after that bright light in the sky, I saw a giant elevator rise out of the ocean! And then you came right out of it! Scared me half to death!" he said, which made Anya look at me in surprise.

"You came from an underground elevator?... When you said you came from underground, I thought you meant that you came out from a staircase or something..." she said, me being conflicted at all the attention.

"I... I woke up in some place very science-y looking, then I went onto a teleporter device... then I went onto an elevator and I appeared in town..." I said as I recounted what happened. But when I did, the soldiers looked at me with seriousness.

"King Jibral would like a word with you," they said, which made Anya and Shu look at me with surprise as they came in and grabbed me by the arms. It wasn't roughly, but it was uncomfortable.

"Hey! Are you trying to say she took our shadows?! Because she gave me and Kluke our shadows back after we felt them leave! If anything, she should be getting a heroe's welcome instead of being treated like a criminal!" Anya said with anger in her face as Kluke looked like she was emanating a strange red aura, but she calmed herself shortly after.

"Let her go before I lose my lid... I don't want to go into that state again..." Kluke said with anger, which made me concerned at her tone of voice becoming much deeper.

"We're simply carrying out orders," the soldier said.

"At the very least, just let me follow you without manhandling me?... I'm feeling very uncomfortable," I said, the soldiers then simply releasing me and me then rubbing my armpits from how they held me. "Okay... let's go, then," I said as our entire group went into the castle. I had to think a lot harder in order to explain myself... but I didn't know what that bright light was or why I could call out peoples' inner shadows. Or even why I needed a recharge from the sun after doing so.