Ch'en walked in the doctors office with a defeated expression, Yua's reaction earlier had exhausted the blue-haired lung. Seeing his partner now in his office, the doctor asked what was wrong with her, "What's up Ch'en? You look like you just lost an argument with a slitherbeast." Ch'en sighed before replying, "It's Yua, doctor. I've told her that she is being removed from field operations." The blue-haired lung told the man. "How did she take the news?" he asked his partner.
Ch'en replied, "Not very well. She stormed off when I told her. Yua isn't happy about it. I tried explaining to her that it was for her own good. But she didn't want to hear it. I just want her to understand that she has people who care about her, I know her mission is important, but to me, Yua is more important than anything else in Terra. Can't she see that?" Ch'en told the doctor. The man shared the same sentiment as the blue-haired lung, even though Yua came back in time to stop the seaborn her safety was paramount. Stopping the seaborn would mean nothing if the white-haired lung got herself killed in the process.
Both parents of the future lung worried for her greatly. They only wanted what was best for her. "Listen Ch'en, we should talk to Yua tomorrow morning. We need to get through to her why we have done this. It's not only about her PTSD that she has. It's also something else, something Amiya told me." The doctor informed the lung. Ch'en raised an eyebrow at what the doctor just told her. What did Amiya say to him. The doctor could see Ch'en was curious, so he decided to explain, "Amiya saw me not that long ago. She told me that while Yua was unconscious, she had a dream, or more specifically, it sounded like a nightmare. Yua told her that she felt she was back in the future, that she was home at her Rhodes Island. Yua described seeing everyone dead, including you. What really struck me is Amiya said that Yua could see an individual in red, that they knew who she was and why she had come back in time. This individual also claimed to have killed you." This sounded strange to Ch'en, "Yua told Amiya all that? Is there anything else, doctor?" The blue-haired lung asked. The man replied, "Yes, Yua believes that whoever or whatever this is, they have come back in time as well. And Yua is certain that whatever this is wants both you and her dead. And they want to claim me."
The story the doctor told her sounded almost completely absurd to Ch'en. But the blue-haired lung reminded herself that her daughter came from the future. Nothing was outside the realm of possibility. "If what Yua is saying is true, then she could be in grave danger. But what could have come back in time with her? And how did it happen? And more importantly, how does this thing know Yua and wants her and me dead? I need to speak to her, I need to know as much as possible so I can protect her." Ch'en told herself.
Ch'en was ready to leave the doctors office, but the man stopped her, "Wait Ch'en, I know what you are going to do. It's best to let Yua cool off for tonight. She probably doesn't want to see either of us right now." Ch'en wasn't happy with the doctor stopping her from seeing their daughter, "Aren't you worried about her doctor? If Yua is certain something is after her, it could come for her at any time. We can't let that happen. it's our job to protect her." Ch'en told the man. "I know it's our duty Ch'en, but I also know Yua can be stubborn and irrational. The last thing I want right now is an argument between us. She needs time to absorb the fact that she isn't going to be deployed to the field for some time. Hopefully, tomorrow morning, she would have calmed down. We should speak with her then and get more information from her. And don't worry, she is safe here at Rhodes Island. There are many operations here who can protect her if anything happens, Yua will be fine until morning."
Ch'en didn't feel comfortable with the doctors suggestion that they waited until morning, but she knew the man made valid points. If they tried to speak to her now, it would definitely end up in a screaming match between them. Yua was just as stubborn as Ch'en. If she felt something was right or wrong, Yua wouldn't back down. Without a doubt, the white-haired lung felt it was wrong being removed from the field. They would not be able to get any information from her while she was in the mood she was in. Also, Rhodes Island was incredibly safe. Nothing would dare try to attack Yua while she was aboard the landship. It was full of incredibly powerful operators, and they should be able to stop whatever tried to physically harm their future daughter. "Okay doctor, I see your point. But first thing tomorrow morning, we are going to see Yua. I don't want to delay speaking to her any longer than we have to." Ch'en told her partner. The doctor nodded, and this satisfied the lung. Unknown to the pair, however, Yua had already left the landship alongside the abyssal hunters. They would not be speaking to her in the morning...
Miles away from Rhodes Island Yua and the abyssal hunters were travelling to the location of their mission. Their mission was to destroy a large group of cultists from the church of the deep. Yua was current in a passenger seat of the vehicle Andreana was currently driving, and she was deep in thought, "Mother and father are going to be furious with me when I return. But I need to do this! I can't let my future happen again! I can't afford to be removed from operations! If my future happens again everyone's sacrifice would have been for nothing!" The lung could still remember the sight of all the operators who gave their lives for her during the future from her dream. In her mind, if she couldn't carry on her mission, then their sacrifice wouldn't mean anything. Yua was going to continue her mission no matter what her parents thought.
On the subject of the dream, Yua could still remember the individual in red. The lung didn't know why, but something about them felt very familiar to her, but she couldn't explain it. Yua's instincts were telling her that she knew this individual. She was trying to sort through her memories, but nothing was matching up. "No! Whoever they are, I know them! But where do I know them! The only place that makes any sense is Rhodes Island! It has to be someone on the landship! Someone who wants me and Mother dead is right in our midst!" Yua was certain her enemy was in Rhodes Island. When she returned, the white-haired lung had to investigate and find proof of who her enemy was.
Yua all of a sudden felt a chill in her body, she realised with this train of thought she could be amongst her enemy right now, "Could it really be one of the abyssal hunters? That means any of them could be responsible for mothers death! I...don't think I can trust them! I need to be on my guard! If any of them is my enemy, they could strike at any moment!" Yua was feeling claustrophobic being around the abyssal hunters. She wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Skadi was currently sitting next to Specter, and on the opposite side of Specter was Yua. The future aegir could see something had just changed with Yua by her demeanour. The white-haired lung looked like she didn't want to be here anymore. "What's wrong, Yua? Do you sense your death approaching? Fear not you vermin. Your death will be merciful in comparison to that harlot mother of yours! Soon, she will no longer stain the doctor with her filthy presence! Her death will not be quick! Nor will it be painless! Neither her heart nor her soul will escape my wrath!" the future aegir darkly thought.
The future Skadi truly intended to make Ch'en suffer. In the future, Skadi believed that the death she gave to Ch'en was too merciful, too lenient. The future aegir intended to correct that mistake. She was going to make sure that the blue-haired lung would be begging to die before her end. Killing her daughter would certainly push her to the edge.
Yua could notice Skadi was looking at her, and the lung immediately began to feel threatened. The aegir wasn't looking at her in any strange way, but Yua's gut feeling was telling her that she needed to keep as far away from her as possible. The lung wanted to get out. She didn't feel safe among the abyssal hunters anymore. For Yua, the trip to the mission was starting to feel like it was taking forever. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, the vehicle came to stop.
Yua felt relief when she was finally able to step outside. Once outside the vehicle, the white-haired lung had a look at her surroundings. Yua could see that they had arrived outside a cave, "Is this where the church of the deep is? This is a perfect place for an ambush. I can't let my guard down for a second, and I don't want to be around the abyssal hunters any longer than I have too. This was a mistake. I shouldn't have asked to come with them." Yua was regretting her decision to join the abyssal hunters on their mission. Unfortunately for the lung, she was stuck with them now. The white-haired lung hoped that they could complete this mission as soon as possible and return to Rhodes Island in one piece.
Gladiia also had a quick look at her surroundings, once she determined that there wasn't a threat in the immediate area the aegir leader called the rest of the squad over to brief everyone on the plan of action, "Everyone listen up. As you know from the information we have received, there is a large number of the church of the deep here. Our goal is to eliminate every last one of them. This cave system we are about to enter is likely full of traps they have set for intruders. Everyone be careful, I will enter first. Specter, you will follow me, Skadi. You are behind her. Yua, I want you to enter after. Andreana, you enter last and cover behind us. Is everyone happy with this?" Gladiia asked the group. Yua wasn't happy, but she decided to nod anyway. She just wanted all of this to be over. Seeing that everyone was ready, Gladiia entered the cave first with the rest of the abyssal hunters and Yua behind her.
The group slowly moved through the cave. They expected a trap to be activated at any moment. Yua was especially paranoid. The lung didn't just expect traps. She was expecting one of the abyssal hunters to attack her any second. "Calm down, Yua! Just keep calm and stay alert. Just focus on getting this mission done and get out of here. There is no need to panic." Is what the lung was thinking to herself. It was taking an incredible amount of effort on her part to keep her focus on the mission, but it was difficult for the white-haired lung.
Yua was struggling with her thoughts from earlier. After much time moving through the cave, the group eventually came across a system with many tunnels that led off into different directions. Gladiia ordered everyone to stop, the aegir then told everyone to rest for a minute while she decided what the best course of action was to take.
Yua decided to wait on her own, a short distance away from the abyssal hunters. While on her own, the lung could notice Skadi was staring at her again, just like she did on the vehicle. As before, Yua couldn't sense any hostility from the aegirs look, but Yua's instincts were on high alert. The lung really began to suspect Skadi was the enemy. However, without definitive proof, the white-haired lung knew she couldn't just accuse the aegir of anything. Yua knew that she could be accusing Skadi of something she hadn't done without proof. The aegir could be completely innocent.
Yua however, couldn't shake this feeling that Skadi was hiding something sinister. Gladiia broke the lungs' thoughts by announcing her plan to everyone, "There are too many caves for us to go through as a group. It will take us too long to go through each cave individually, so we will split up and search each cave on our own. That way, we can cover more ground. If you come across a situation that is too dangerous, fall back here and wait until someone else arrives. Is that clear?" The aegir leader asked.
Yua was more than happy to be on her own, so she agreed to Gladiia's plan, and the other abyssal hunters agreed as well. Each member of the group decided on a cave to go down. The white-haired lung chose the furthest cave on the left. Once she was ready, Yua began traversing through the cave she had chosen. For quite some time, the lung went further and further into the cave she picked. She was still on edge from earlier. As the lung was travelling, Yua began to hear very familiar laughter from behind her.
Yua immediately drew her sword and turned around to face her attacker. But when she turned around, no one was behind her. More laughter was heard again, and Yua did the same again. The laughter carried on, and in the end, the white-haired lung had enough, "Okay you coward! Come out and face me! Let's see if you will laugh then!" Yua screamed at her potential attacker. Yua was on the edge. The lung was daring her enemy to face her and was expecting an attack at any moment.
The laughter soon stopped, and an attack never came. Yua sheathed her sword and carried on her path, but the lung was still on edge. Adrenaline running through her was keeping Yua on very high alert. After some more time travelling, Yua could finally see a cave exit. When she reached the exit, The white-haired lung could see many church of the deep cultists around an altar of some kind with a waterfall behind it. The lung remembered what happened the last time she was in a similar situation to this. Yua looked around for cover and saw a huge rock. She quickly hid behind it and looked around to make sure there were no enemies nearby to surprise attack her.
Once she was certain it was safe, Yua peeked from behind the rock to get a look on what the cultists were doing. Now closer, the white-haired lung could see an individual in lavish robes standing in front of the alter, clearly someone of high rank in the organisation. Yua carefully listened in to what the cultist leader was telling their subordinates, "My fellow brothers and sisters! Heed my message! Our god has spoken to me and warned me of a danger to his perfect world! Interlopers from the lung race want to stop our god from achieving his utopia! These lungs are heretics! Blasphemers! They want to deny our god his utopia! We must find and root out these vermin and bring our god his paradise! Join me brothers and sisters! Let us rid our god of his enemies!" the leader shouted to the others, which caused a loud cheer from the rest. "He must be on about me and mother. He plans to kill the both of us. Well, too bad for him! I'm stopping these cultists here and now!" the lung thought. Yua then left her cover and shouted at the cultists, "Looking for me? Well, come and get me then! I'll send you all to your god!"
This brought the attention of all the cultists. Looking at Yua, the leader realised who she was, "That is one of the heretics! She has come to deny our god! Stop her brothers and sisters! Show her our gods will not be denied!" the leader shouted. Many cultists then charged at Yua with the intention of killing her. While the church of the deep had numbers, Yua had skill and a lot of battle experience fighting greater numbers than herself.
The white-haired lung effortlessly dodged, jumped, and weaved her way around the cultists attacking her. She was able to strike down any cultist that was in the range of her sword. Any cultist that charged at her met their fate by her blade. More cultists tried to attack, but they were not successful. Seeing his subordinates dying, the leader decided to get involved. He launched a blast of magic at Yua. The lung saw this coming and managed to avoid it. The magic hit a pair of cultists instead, killing them.
Yua carried on fighting and defeating the cultists. The leader kept throwing magic at her. Yua, however, kept using that to her advantage, and the leader carried on killing his own men. Eventually, Yua defeated the last cultist. She was then left alone with the leader. Seeing the situation they were in, the leader spoke, "Damn you! You heretic! You will not stop our god! He will bring about his utopia! What you have done here today will change nothing! So fight all you want! It will all be for nothing! Before your end, you will be begging for our gods mercy!" The leader spat at Yua.
The lung however, wasn't interested in the leaders rant about her. She only wanted this person gone. Using her speed, Yua quickly charged at the cultist leader and stabbed him with her sword before he could launch another blast of magic at her.
When Yua stabbed the man, she could see a look of hatred on his face and blood coming out of his mouth. But then that look of hatred turned in an evil smile. Yua didn't know why he was smiling. She had just stabbed him, and he was dying. Before the cultist leader died, he began to chuckle despite the pain he was in and the amount of blood he was losing. The cultist leader then dropped to the ground. His chuckles were the last thing to leave the man's lips before his life was extinguished.
Once the cult leader was dead, Yua looked around the area to see if any church of the deep members remained. After searching, the lung couldn't find any in the area, so she decided to look at the waterfall. When she was closer, the white-haired lung couldn't see anything strange about it. She then looked down and could see a river, "That's quite a drop. I don't know how deep that river is. Or where it goes." The lung thought while looking at the river.
Yua decided that there was nothing more to do here, so she decided to leave, but as soon as she turned around, the lung felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Looking at her stomach, Yua could see that she had been stabbed with a sword. When the lung looked at who had stabbed her, Yua's eyes widened at the culprit. Skadi was looking at her with a sadistic smile on her face, "You have no idea how badly I have wanted to do this, Yua. To think that I get to kill Ch'en's daughter the same way I killed her back in the future. It's fitting that both of you have died by my sword." The aegir said to the lung.
Yua had a look of horror and realisation when the aegir said this to her, She knew what Skadi meant when she said that. "It makes sense now, doesn't it, Yua? You know that I'm from the future, your future. I'm the one who killed Ch'en, the one who destroyed the world. And I will kill Ch'en again, just as I did before. She took the doctor from me, the man who I loved. The man who accepted me for who I was without fear. She stole him from me! And she's trying to do the same again! Well, it's not going to happen again! Ch'en is going to suffer for this! The death you are about to receive Yua will be painless in comparison to what she will get! She will die! And the doctor will be mine!" Skadi told Yua everything.
The lung tried to remove herself from Skadi's blade, "I have to get out of here! I need to warn everyone! I need to warn Father! I need to warn Mother! This can't be allowed to happen! Skadi will destroy the world again!" The lung thought as she carried on trying to free herself. Skadi however wasn't going to let the white-haired lung go. She had to die here and now. Using her strength, the future aegir lifted her sword into the air with Yua still on the end of it.
This caused the lung to scream in agony. The aegir then dangled Yua in front of the waterfall above the river below. Yua's eyes widened in terror. She knew what the aegir was about to do. Skadi looked at the frightened lung and spoke to her, "This is the end for you, Yua. But do not worry, you get to be reunited with your mother in the afterlife." With a flick of her arm, the future Skadi sent Yua down into the depths of the river below.
When Yua reached the water, she struggled to fight the current. The stab wound in her stomach drained her strength. She was losing blood fast. The current dragged the lung all over the place. She kept hitting rocks as the river was dragging her along. Eventually, due to blood loss and being hit by rocks, Yua was losing consciousness. She vision was turning black. Before the lung passed out, the last thing on her mind was, "Mother...father...everyone...I'm so sorry...I've failed you all..."
Looking down at the river, Skadi was pleased with herself. The aegir then burst out laughing. She had removed one of the lungs, and Yua was dead in her mind. The aegir was in hysterical laughter. The euphoria she was feeling from killing Yua was amazing. The future Skadi knew she only had more thing to do to achieve her goal. Ch'en had to die. Skadi, however, was truly going to let the blue-haired lung suffer before she killed her.
The future aegir couldn't wait to return to Rhodes Island and see the reaction on Ch'en's face when she was told her daughter was killed. She wanted to return right now to see the despair on the face of the lung. With this in mind Skadi calmed herself down, she then decided to head back to the meeting point Gladiia had told her to tell the rest of abyssal hunters that Yua was dead, that the lung had met her end at the hands of the church of the deep...
It was morning at Rhodes Island. Currently, two people were on their way to see their daughter from the future. Ch'en and the doctor had met up to speak with her to discuss everything that happened yesterday. The two of them hoped that the white-haired lung had calmed down from receiving the news that she did yesterday. The two were outside her door, and Ch'en knocked to let her know they wanted to speak to her, "Yua! Open up! It's me and your father! We want to speak to you!" Ch'en called out to the white-haired lung.
The two waited for several minutes but heard no reply. Ch'en decided to try again, "Listen Yua! I understand you are angry! But trust me, we only did this for your own good! Ignoring us isn't going to change anything! We want to talk so please open the door!" Again, both Ch'en and the doctor were met with silence. The pair could understand their daughters anger, but they wanted to discuss everything with her. Eventually, after enough waiting Ch'en had enough. She opened the door to speak to her, but when both of her parents entered her room, they saw no trace of the white-haired lung.
This got both of them curious. The two discussed were she could be and decided to search the training room. When both arrived at the training room, neither of them could find her there either, "Okay where could she be? If Yua's not here or her room, did she head back to the Copper Coast? Has she gone to her hotel room to be away from us? I know she's angry, but can't she see we just want to help." The doctor thought to himself.
The man told his partner where she could be, so the two decided to head to the Copper Coast to find their daughter. The two of them made their way to the entrance of the landship to head to the Copper Coast. When they were there, they found the abyssal hunters. Gladiia saw the doctor and Ch'en and walked up to them, both the lung and the doctor noticed a solemn look on the face of the aegir leader. "Doctor, madam Ch'en, I need to speak to both of you. It is regarding Yua. This isn't going to be easy to tell you. So can we please talk in private?" the aegir asked.
Both Ch'en and the doctor felt pits in their stomachs. Whatever it was Gladiia wanted to tell them wasn't going to be something they wanted to hear, "Yua! Where is she? What has she done now?" the doctor asked. Gladiia, however, said again that this needed to be in private. The doctor then told the aegir that they would speak in his office so the trio headed there. The silence on the way made both parents of the future lung feel fear and dread. They had a sickening feeling Yua had done something completely insane.
Once at the office Gladiia shut the door behind them. She then turned to the blue-haired lung and the doctor, "Doctor, madam Ch'en, please brace yourselves. What I am about to tell you gives me no joy. Yua came with us on a mission to eliminate a group of church of the deep cultists. We arrived at the location and split . However, r from what Skadi has told me, she saw Yua get stabbed by a cultist, and that cultist then kicked her into a river from a great height. Skadi said she tried to save her but couldn't reach her in time. We tried to search the area for her but could not find her. Doctor...madam Ch'en...I am sorry to tell you this...but I believe your daughter is dead." Gladiia informed them with sorrow in her voice.
When the doctor and Ch'en heard this news, they didn't know how to react. Neither wanted to believe it, "Yua...is dead?! No! Gladiia is wrong! She has to be wrong! Yua can't be dead! She can't! How? Why?! Why was Yua with them?! Why didn't they keep her safe?! Why?! Why did this happen?! Please, someone tell me why!" is what Ch'en thoughts were. The lung couldn't accept it, she tried asking Gladiia again but the aegir told her the same as before. Ch'en then burst into tears. She couldn't accept her daughter was dead. The doctor held on to the blue-haired lung and was also crying. The only sounds in the room were the cries of pain from Yua's parents.
The news that their daughter was dead had shattered the pair of them. Both were overcome with grief. Gladiia could only look on in sorrow. She knew this would be difficult, but seeing two of the strongest people she knew at Rhodes Island caused the aegir to tear up as well. The grief and sorrow from them caused Gladiia to feel it as well. Seeing as there was nothing she could do, the aegir leader left the room so the doctor and Ch'en could process everything and mourn their daughter.
Once on her own, Gladiia thought to herself, "Yua, I promise for your parents' sake you will be avenged! The church of the deep will suffer for this! I swear to you they will be wiped off the face of Terra! Not one more person will die at their hands!" Gladiia told herself. She was going to do whatever it took to take revenge for the lung. With this in mind, Gladiia headed back to her comrades to think of a plan of attack. The church of the deep would be nothing but a memory when she was finished...
Many miles away, an unconscious individual was lying face down in a bank by a river. It was Yua. The river Skadi had thrown her into had carried her a very long distance across Rim Billiton. No one knew she was still alive if only barely. Skadi's attempt at killing her had failed. The lung was still only just clinging on to life. Another individual had arrived and looked down at the unconscious lung. They checked her neck and managed to find a weak pulse. Seeing the white-haired lung was still alive brought a smile to this individuals face, "I can't believe it, I finally found you...Yua." The individual said. Yua was then picked up and put into the back of a vehicle. The vehicle then sped off into the distance, far away from Rim Billiton and Rhodes Island...