A certain white-haired lung was currently waking up from her drinking session with Hoshiguma and Swire. Yua's brain was currently feeling too small for her skull; the lung was suffering a serious hangover. "I swear I'm never drinking with Aunt Hoshiguma and Aunt Swire ever again! In fact, I'm staying away from alcohol for the rest of my life! How could my mother keep up with them two?!" Yua thought to herself through the mist in her head. She was seriously regretting her life choices.
As Yua was getting more to grips with reality, the lung looked around where she was, "Okay, seriously, what did I do? Where even am I? How on Terra did I end up here?" Yua tried to remember what she did, but she couldn't remember anything past drinking with her two aunts. Everything after that remained a mystery.
Looking at the bed she was on, it looked similar to the one in her own hotel room, "Okay, so I'm probably back at the hotel. But whose room am I in? And who brought me here? Well, I'm not going to find out by just sitting here, I need to move. I need to find mother, father, and Amiya. They are probably wondering where I am." Yua rose up from the bed to leave the room. However, the bathroom door opened, and someone stepped out of it.
Yua looked who it was, and the lung went incredibly pale. It was Ch'en. The blue-haired lung saw that her future daughter was awake, and Yua could see an unreadable expression on her face, "Hello, mother...what a surprise seeing you here." Yua nervously said to Ch'en. The white-haired lung cautiously waited for her mother's response.
Ch'en simply sighed and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. She remembered what Yua did and wasn't happy with how her future daughter acted. Her anger from earlier had subsided with help from the doctor. When everyone had returned to the hotel, Ch'en informed them all that Yua had been found and was sleeping off the alcohol in her room. Hoshiguma and Swire breathed a sigh of relief; they thought that would be the end of the matter now that Yua had been found.
Ch'en, however, wasn't going to let the pair off that easily regarding what happened. The blue-haired lung admonished the pair of them, calling them reckless and stupid for letting Yua get arrested. Ch'en left out the part about bribing the police officer for her release. The two couldn't stop apologizing to the lung, promising that they would never do something like that with Yua again.
After this, the doctor spoke to Ch'en. He talked with her about what happened and helped her calm down. The doctor said it was best to have a talk with Yua when she woke up; simply losing her cool with her would do nothing to help. The man remembered what happened when Yua returned from Ursus. He couldn't understand the situation until Kal'tsit told him that he should let Yua speak. He didn't want Ch'en to make the same mistake.
Ch'en was only still coming to grips that she had a future daughter. So he passed on what experience he had dealing with both Yua and Amiya. The blue-haired lung thanked him for his advice and returned to her room to wait for Yua to wake up.
Now that her daughter was awake, Ch'en remembered what the doctor had said, "Let her speak; shouting at her will only make things worse." Ch'en then spoke to Yua in a calm voice, "Yua, please tell me what you can remember from yesterday." The white-haired lung was surprised by how calm her mother was; it was surprising to her, to say the least, "I expected mother to just start shouting; I'm not complaining. This is just different." Seeing that her mother was patiently waiting, Yua explained everything she could remember from yesterday.
After Yua finished explaining, Ch'en took note of what she was told. By the sounds of it, Yua had never drunk alcohol before, and Swire and Hoshiguma buying her drinks was a huge mistake on their part. Yua however wasn't completely blameless. Because of the alcohol she drank, she ended up attacking a police officer and got herself arrested. Ch'en then told her what she did while she was drunk, "Yua, Yesterday while you were drunk, you ended up attacking a police officer and got arrested. Don't tell Swire and Hoshiguma this, but I had to bribe a senior officer to get you released, 5000 LMD it cost me. What you did yesterday was wrong. You would have been sent to prison for a long time. But I know your mission is important, that's why I did it. Yua, please don't make me regret my decision, don't ever do anything like that ever again."
Yua was mortified with what she had done when Ch'en finished speaking. The white-haired lung couldn't believe what her mother had done for her. It went against every one of her principles. Yua knew she should have been punished for what she had done. Being drunk was no excuse. Ch'en got her out of trouble, but she also nearly got herself into serious trouble by bribing a cop, "I'm so sorry, mother, I messed up, I'm so sorry. I promise I will never do something so stupid again, I promise." Yua told Ch'en with complete remorse in her voice.
Ch'en could tell her future daughter was serious about not messing up like this again. Seeing that the matter was settled, Ch'en told Yua to clean herself up, themselves, the doctor, and Amiya would be having an evening meal; no one was going to interrupt them this time. Yua went to leave to do what her mother asked and headed for the door. Once at the door, before she left, Yua turned to the older lung and said, "Thank you, mother. I know it wasn't easy for you to do what you did, I'm grateful." Ch'en smiled at what Yua said, the younger lung then left the room to get herself ready.
Sometime later, the four of them were in the restaurant at their hotel; they were currently sitting at a table in the corner away from everyone else. The other tables around them were occupied by corporate leaders and business types, the kind of people with lots of money and power. Because of the clientele, the family of four dressed more formally to not draw attention to themselves. This occasion was only for them.
Ch'en was still struggling with this situation. If anyone asked her a few months ago that she would be sharing a meal with her future family, she would have called them insane. But here she was, seated with the man whom she had come to adore, Amiya, who was practically her daughter-in-law, and her daughter from the future: Yua. "And to think, this is the future that awaits me. I don't hate it; I love it." Ch'en was looking forward to many days like this in the future, hopefully with her own Yua one day.
Speaking of the future, Ch'en wanted to know what Yua's plans were. She knew the dark future she came from but was curious about what her goals and what her daughter wanted to achieve. "Yua, I want to ask you about the future." The blue-haired lung asked Yua. The white-haired lung still wasn't comfortably talking about her ruined future. The lung didn't know what more her mother wanted to know. But if it was something Ch'en wanted to find out, she would tell her no matter how uncomfortable it was.
Yua was about to ask what Ch'en wanted to know but Ch'en realised she asked her question wrong, "Sorry Yua, I meant to ask about your future, what are your plans for it?" Ch'en corrected herself. This question intrigued Amiya and the doctor as well. Neither had ever asked the lung what she wanted to do. They only assumed that she only ever wanted to be a Rhodes Island operator. Curious to find out, both the doctor and Amiya would listen to what Yua was about to say.
Ch'en's first thought was that Yua either wanted to stay at Rhodes Island and continue being an operator or join the LGD back in Lungman. If Yua wanted to join the LGD, Ch'en would be more than happy to help her through the process. Yua's answer, however, surprised those around her. "I will not lie, mother. My plan was to simply disappear and live somewhere quiet once my future is averted. However, instead, I've decided I want to achieve my childhood dream. I want to be a contest knight in Kazimierz." She told them all with a smile. "A contest knight? Why does Yua want to be a contest knight?" the doctor thought to himself upon hearing his daughter's plans. "Yua, are you sure you know the risks that come with being a contest knight?" The man asked. A smile suddenly appeared on Yua's face. She was remembering her inspiration for wanting to be a knight.
"I know it's not as glamorous as people think, but I'm not naïve, father. The reason why that is my dream is because of Nearl, the radiant knight. When I was young, we went to Kazimierz to see a major. I saw how Nearl fought; it was amazing. She was an honourable warrior, someone who wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves. I wanted to be like her, I wanted to face her in a match, I didn't care if I won or lost. She epitomised what a contest knight was supposed to be. But I never got to meet her in person. That's what I want to do in the future. When I've achieved my mission, I want to head to Kazimierz and face Nearl in a contest." Yua explained her dream to everyone.
The doctor, Ch'en, and Amiya all had smiles on their faces when they listened to Yua's reasons. Nearl was certainly an honourable person, an excellent role model. If that is what Yua wanted to do one day, they would all support her in her dream. They would make sure it happened. If Yua wanted to meet Nearl, the doctor knew he could make that happen. He had worked with her before, and he was more than happy to send her a letter and ask her to visit Rhodes Island and meet Yua in person.
Amiya then spoke up, "That's a truly noble goal, Yua, and don't worry about your mission. We will succeed, and you will become an incredible contest knight, I'm sure of it." Yua was thankful for her sisters confidence and belief in her. She also saw the same belief on her parents' faces. The lung felt invigorated by all of this, Yua was more motivated than ever that she could prevent her future from happening and achieve her dream..
On top of the Rhodes Island landship, an individual was staring into the night sky. She was having second thoughts on what she was about to do, "Is this really worth it? I know I want the doctor to be mine, but at the cost of innocent people?" The aegirs resolve was wavering. Skadi didn't want to do this. The voice, however, tried to goad Skadi into letting her carry out her plan, "What are you waiting for?! Remember why we are doing this! If you hesitate now, you will lose the doctor forever!" The voice was screaming inside Skadi's head.
Skadi, however, realised she couldn't do it. She couldn't get innocent people involved. However, the voice spoke again, "Fine! I'll have to do this myself!" The aegir then suddenly began to lose control of her body. She tried to fight whatever it was that was taking control, but Skadi could not stop it. Her mind then started to be pushed out. She was screaming for it to stop, for anyone to help her. Skadi's screams went unanswered. She was losing consciousness and dropped to the floor.
After some time, Skadi rose to her feet. Looking around, she noticed what had happened, "Yes! I am the dominant personality now! I am in control." This was not the present Skadi, but the Skadi from Yua's timeline, the one who surrendered herself to Ishar-Mla. Skadi, the corrupting heart. She couldn't believe it. The future Skadi had managed to high jack the present one's body. She could still feel the presence of the current Skadi in the back of her head but this did not matter, she no longer had to manipulate the emotions of the Skadi of the present to achieve what she wanted.
Looking at the coast from atop the landship, the future Skadi remembered what she wanted, "The doctor, he is down there with those two pests. I will be rid of you both. It is a shame I can't kill you both myself, I wanted to kill you again Ch'en. And that spawn of yours that has interfered. Once both of you pests are gone, the doctor will be mine!"
The future Skadi had a horrific grin on her face, unlike the present Skadi she did not care if people died to get what she wanted. She failed to obtain the doctor before, and she wasn't going to fail again. Determined to carry out her plan, Skadi, the corrupting heart raised her head to the sky and began to sing...