Yua couldn't believe who was sitting at the end of the bed she was in. It was the blue-haired sankta, Mostima. Mostima simply had a smile on her face while drinking what looked like a fizzy beverage. She looked like she was speaking to an old friend again. The white-haired lung took some time to think before speaking to Mostima, "Mostima? What are you doing here? Where are we? And more importantly, how do you know me?" Yua asked the sankta.
Mostima simply chuckled before replying to the lung, "You know Yua, I could ask you the same question. How do you know me? But we both know the truth to that...don't we? I know who you are, Yua, and where you have come from. So don't think you can hide anything from me. Remember, I've known you since you were a child." Mostima stated to the lung, who simply had a look of shock on her face. "No way! You couldn't have come from the future as well! That isn't possible! You were sure you only had enough power to send me back! How are you here?" Yua replied, completely stunned. The shock was completely apparent in her voice. In her mind, it shouldn't be possible that the Mostima she knew had travelled back in time as well.
Mostima simply chuckled again. The sankta could understand the shock of the lung regarding the situation, "This is going to be a bit difficult to explain, Yua, but hear me out. Physically, I didn't come back in time. What happened is when I used my power to send you back, I unintentionally sent back a part of my consciousness along with you. One day, I started to receive dreams and visions. These dreams and visions I couldn't understand. As the days passed on, I started to receive more of them, I had many sleepless nights trying to understand everything. When I eventually understood these visions, I realised they weren't visions at all. They were memories. Memories of the future, I remember you, I remember Ch'en, helping Kal'tsit with the time machine, I remember everything."
Mostima then started to grimace when she explained what else she remembered, "Also Yua, I remember dying. I remember the seaborn tearing me apart as I lay dying, I remember the pain, the cold, and the darkness. That is something I will never forget, the experience of death itself." Mostima finished explaining everything. The sankta was clearly very distressed, having to explain her death to the lung.
Yua looked at Mostima with a solemn expression. The white-haired lung couldn't even begin to imagine the experience of suffering your own death, especially one at the hands of the seaborn. Yua then remembered her mother, and what happened with Skadi, "Oh no! Mother is in danger! Skadi tried to kill me! She's responsible for everything! She is going to try to kill Mother as well! I can't stay here! I have to get back to Rhodes Island and warn everyone!" The lung tried to move from her bed when she remembered everything. She had to return to Rhodes Island immediately.
However, when Yua tried to move, she felt an incredibly sharp pain in her stomach. The wound from Skadi's sword still hadn't fully healed. Mostima could see Yua trying to move and gently put one of her hands on her chest to stop the lung from causing herself more damage. "Whoa Yua! It's best you try not to move. Your wound still hasn't healed yet, so it's best you try not to move around so much." Mostima calmly told Yua. The lung however didn't want to listen. She needed to leave, "I can't stay here Mostima! I have to get back to Rhodes Island! If I don't, my mother is going to die! Skadi will kill her!" Yua's statement caused the sankta to question the lung on what she meant. "What do you mean Skadi is going to kill Ch'en? I don't understand Yua. What's going on?" Mostima questioned her.
Yua was more than eager to explain what she meant, "Skadi is responsible for everything Mostima! My world being destroyed! All the lives the seaborn took! The death! The destruction! She tried to kill me! She killed mother in the future! All of it happened because of her! Skadi is the leader of the seaborn! If I don't return to Rhodes Island, it will all happen again!" Yua screamed at Mostima.
This revelation shook the sankta to her very core, "Skadi is responsible for all that? No way! That can only mean one thing...Ishar-Mla! Skadi has been taken over by the seaborn god! Or at least the Skadi from the future. But how did she travel back in time? Never mind. The most important thing is that she is here. We need to find out why she is here in the first place. Maybe that is something we can use against her, a potential weakness, perhaps?" Mostima tried to think of a solution on how to defeat the future aegir.
The sankta knew an abyssal hunter with the power of a god would be nearly impossible to stop. But, Mostima was certain the future Skadi had to have a weakness that could be used against her. Mostima decided to ask Yua if she knew anything. It was a long shot, but the sankta hoped the lung had found out something which they could use to their advantage.
"Yua, do you know anything about why the Skadi from the timeline we know is here? Even the littlest thing you have found out we can use against her." Mostima asked the white-haired lung. "All I know is she says she loves father and wants him for herself. That's why she wants mother dead. That is what she told me when I was attacked by her. She believes that in my timeline, mother stole father from her. That father only belongs to her, that is all I know." The lung replied to Mostima.
Yua's answer gave Mostima something to think about, "I see. I do remember that Skadi liked to be around the doctor in the future before she disappeared. But the doctor loved Ch'en and she loved him just as much. There's no way the doctor would even look at another woman. He only had eyes for Her. So that explains why she is here. She wants the doctor for herself. But the doctor...does Yua know what he is? I remember Kal'tsit telling me what he is not long before Yua was sent back in in time. If Yua doesn't know... then I have to tell her. Yua deserves to know what she is." Mostima thought to herself. She knew that what she was about the white-haired lung was going to be a revelation for her.
Mostima took a few seconds to compose herself before deciding to speak to Yua, "Yua, I'm glad you told me that. At least we know why Skadi has travelled back to the past. At least I now know what she wants. Yua, what I am about to tell you about your father is going to be a shock, so prepare yourself. One thing I want to ask you before I tell you, do you know what the doctor is?" This question confused the lung.
To her, the doctor was her father. Nothing more and nothing less. "I don't understand what you mean Mostima. The doctor is my father. What are you trying to tell me?" The lung responded honestly to Mostima's question. "I meant what race your father is, Yua. Surely, you are curious about what he truly is. Do you know? If not, I can tell you." This did get Yua very curious. The lung never found out what race her father was, but it was always a point of fascination for her. If Mostima knew what he was, then why was she never told. Did her mother know? The white-haired lung was very interested in finding out now. Yua had a look on her face that was telling Mostima she wanted to find out.
"Very well, Yua, I'll tell you what he is. Not long before you were sent back in time, me and Kal'tsit had a talk. One subject that came up was the doctor, Kal'tsit explained to me that the race he belongs to is not originally from Terra. The race your father is of hails from another world, and they are the original ancestors of the sarkaz. Yua, the race Kal'tsit called your father's race is named alien." Mostima explained to the lung her fathers origins.
Finding out this information completely blew Yua's mind, "Alien? my father is an alien? I can't believe it. And fathers race are the original ancestors of the sarkaz? No wonder people in the past have mentioned I look like a sarkaz. It's because father is one of their original ancestors. But if he is an ancestor of the sarkaz, how old is he? Is he the only pure alien left? I have so many questions right now." Yua thought to herself. The lung was still trying to absorb the fact that her father wasn't of Terra, and she was distantly related to the modern-day sarkaz.
Mostima let Yua have sometime to take all this information in, she could imagine it was overwhelming for the lung right now. Once Mostima was sure Yua had sufficient time to absorb this knowledge the sankta let her know that there was more she needed to hear, "Yua, there's still more to tell you. It's about your originium arts. Kal'tsit had a theory of why they cause you harm whenever you use them. She believed it was because of your alien blood. Originium arts are a phenomenon of Terra and originium. Because your alien blood is not native to Terra, you shouldn't be able to use originium arts, but your lung blood is compatible with originium arts. This has created a unique circumstance. You are someone who shouldn't be able to use originium arts, but you can, but at a huge price. Your arts cause damage to you because of your alien DNA." Mostima explained to the lung about her originium arts.
Yua was blown away again. This was getting more and more fascinating for her. At least now the lung had an understanding of why her originium arts were potentially so fatal for her; it was because of her alien DNA...
Yua however, wanted to know if Kal'tsit told Mostima a way to mitigate the damage to her or stop it completely whenever she used them, "Mostima, did Kal'tsit think of a way to stop the damage done to me whenever I use them? This could help me fight Skadi. If I can use my originium arts against her, it will definitely catch her off guard." Yua asked the blue-haired sankta. It was a very valid point, If the future Skadi knew about her weakness, then she would definitely be thrown off guard if Yua could use her originium arts with no repercussions when they inevitably fought. Yua had to know. She was desperate to get rid of her fatal weakness.
Mostima was told an idea by Kal'tsit, but there was one drawback, "There might be a way Yua, but because of your alien blood it will be difficult to achieve...you need to be infected. I know if Ch'en heard me say that she would have my head on a spike. Your alien blood rejects originium, that's why when you were born you weren't infected even though Ch'en was. That's why you and your father aren't infected. But you aren't completely immune, Kal'tsit believed that if either of you were exposed to a high enough concentration of originium, not even your alien blood would prevent you from getting infected. The highest concentration of originium only appears right after a natural disaster, so you wouldn't have a lot of time to get infected when one occurred." Mostima explained the ancient felines idea to Yua.
"I need to be infected? And the best chance is after a natural disaster? Then what are we waiting for Mostima? We need to hurry! Let's try to find one, then I can return to Rhodes Island! We don't have time to wait around! Skadi could kill Mother at any time!" Yua exclaimed. The white-haired lung tried to move again, but as before her wound caused her much pain, she definitely wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. "Now is not a good time, Yua. Your wound needs to heal. And I understand that you want to get back to Rhodes Island, but if I know your father, he will make sure nothing happens to Ch'en. Skadi wouldn't dare to be so bold to strike right now. For now, we need to stay here in Yan and wait until you're healed up before we plan our next move. The last thing I want is for you to rush off and get yourself killed, I know what you are like, Yua. Ch'en used to tell me she struggled to sleep at night sometimes because of how reckless you were." Mostima told Yua. The white-haired lung wanted to argue against that fact, but she knew Mostima had her. It was because of her own recklessness that she was here in Yan right now.
Seeing that Yua wasn't going to argue, the blue-haired sankta called out a name, "Fiammetta, can you get in here?" A few seconds later, a red-haired liberi entered the room Yua and Mostima were currently occupying, "What is it, Mostima? What do you need me to do?" the liberi known as Fiammetta asked her friend. Mostima replied, "I'm going out to get us a few things, I shouldn't be long. Keep an eye on our friend Yua here, trust me, Fiammetta , she's a stubborn one. Make sure Yua stays here, I know she might try to get back to Rhodes Island, but with the condition she is in now, she won't make it." Mostima told the liberi.
Fiammetta nodded and then sat down in the chair at the end of Yua's bed, Mostima then left the room to go get what she needed. This left Yua alone with the red-haired liberi. Yua could do nothing at this moment in time except process all the monumental that Mostima had just told her. It was all so surreal for the lung to take in...
Several miles away, not too far from Yua's location, a lone traveller had been wondering across Yan. This traveller had been keeping a very low profile so as not to alert the authorities as to her presence. She was one of the most wanted individuals in all of Terra. It was Talulah. The draco had come to Yan to finish off the remnants of Reunion and her former comrade, Nine. Talulah knew she had to finish them off now. If she didn't the draco was certain Nine would do whatever she could to rebuild the organisations numbers. That would only lead to more death and suffering.
Talulah was going to put an end to all of that. No more people would suffer at the hands of the organisation she built, Talulah already had enough blood on her hands. Talulah was resolved in what she was going to do, what she had to do. The reunion between herself and the pythia would be their last. She would finally put an end to the organisation or die trying.
Unknown to Talulah, however, she would soon be having another reunion with a certain time travelling family member of hers, a reunion that could signal the start of the downfall of the future Skadi...