In her room in Rhodes Island, a certain white-haired lung was waking up from her slumber. As Yua was coming to, she could feel a weight on her arm, "Huh...why can't I move my arm? What's going on? Why does it feel like something is gripping it?" The lung pondered to herself as she tried to move the arm that felt heavy. Yua looked towards her arm that felt heavy, "Amiya! What is she still doing here?! I know when I fell asleep, I thought she would leave and return to the medical wing. Looks like she decided to fall asleep next to me instead, I don't mind, but does she have to hold my arm so tightly?" Lying next to the white-haired lung was her sister, Amiya.
When Yua had finished speaking with Kal'tsit last night, the lung decided to part ways with everyone else and return to her room. On her way back to her room, Yua heard a voice shout her name. When she looked at who called her name, the white-haired lung could see Amiya running towards her. Amiya tackled her and had Yua in the tightest hug she had ever received in her life.
Amiya was sobbing loudly when she realised that her sister was truly alive and well. The cautus was crying and telling Yua how she missed her and thought she was dead. It took a while for the cautus to calm down, when Amiya had calmed down sufficiently Yua took her back to her room and they had a very long talk about everything that had happened since she had been gone. Amiya told her what happened during the fight between herself and Skadi and the injuries the future aegir had given her. She said to Yua that she had been recovering in the medical wing since that battle.
Yua, in turn, explained everything that had happened to her and what she discovered about herself. Being found by Mostima and Fiammetta, finding her aunt Talulah, taking down Reunion, discovering that the doctor was an alien and she herself was part alien, her infection, and finally being able to use her originium arts without hurting herself. Yua also explained to Amiya everything had happened with Kal'tsit last night.
Amiya was stunned by what her sister told her. The cautus couldn't believe all of the information. It all sounded so surreal. The two sisters carried on talking throughout the night until the lung began to feel tired. Before she fell asleep, Yua said to Amiya that she would see her in the morning. The lung believed that the cautus would head back to the medical wing to carry on with her recovery. That clearly didn't happen, Amiya fell asleep next to Yua and must have grabbed her arm during the night. Looking at the sleeping cautus Yua decided that she could let Amiya stay in her position for a few more minutes, without a doubt Amiya must have greatly missed her since she had been gone and everyone thought she was dead.
After a few minutes, the white-haired lung decided it was time for her to get up. She needed to speak with Kal'tsit and everyone else today. They had to discuss about Skadi, namely where was she and how to defeat her. "Amiya, I know you're probably really comfortable right now, but we have to get up. I need to speak with Doctor Kal'tsit and everyone else, come on Amiya, wake up." Yua called out to the sleeping cautus in an attempt to wake her from her slumber.
When hearing her name, Amiya's eyes began to flutter open, "Huh...Yua? Is that you? Where am I?" Amiya asked the lung as she was waking up. "Your in my room, Amiya...and you fell asleep right next to me. I understand that you must have missed me, but can I have my arm back, please? I kind of need it right now." Yua told Amiya where she was and the predicament she was in right now, Amiya hadn't let go of her arm yet.
When Amiya was more aware of where she was and what she was holding on to the cautus immediately let go of Yua's arm, she then quickly got off the lungs bed and started apologising, "Yua! I'm so sorry! I was going to go back to the medical wing, but I missed you so much! I didn't want to leave! I was scared you would disappear and I would lose you again!" Amiya explained to Yua why she stayed in her room last night. Amiya was clearly embarrassed. She didn't expect herself to be holding Yua's arm when she woke up. The cactus's reaction caused Yua to chuckle as she began sitting up on her bed. "It's fine, Amiya, I understand. And just to let you know, I missed you too." The lung told the cautus.
A knock was then heard at Yua's door, which caused Amiya to jump slightly from surprise, "Yua it's me! Are you awake?" The person on the other side of the door called out to the white-haired lung. Yua knew who it was. It was her mother, Ch'en. "Yes mother! I'm awake!" the white-haired lung replied to Ch'en. "Good! I'm heading down to the cafeteria! Me, Hoshiguma, and Swire knocked earlier at breakfast, but you didn't respond! It's nearly lunchtime, and they have been dying to see you! We need to see Kal'tsit today as well, so hurry up and get yourself ready!" Ch'en told her daughter to get herself ready. Her surrogate aunts had missed her and couldn't wait to see the white-haired lung again. Both lungs also had to meet with Kal'tsit today as well. They needed to talk with everyone else about the crisis with Skadi.
"Yes, Mother! Just let me get ready! You go on ahead! I'll see all of you down there!" Yua replied to her mother. Ch'en heard her time travelling daughters answer and began to walk away towards the cafeteria to meet up with Swire and Hoshiguma. "Phew...thank goodness she's gone. It would have been awkward to explain to Mother why you're in here if I didn't wake up earlier. It's best you head back to the medical wing, Amiya. The last thing anyone wants is an annoyed Gavial. I'll catch up with you more later, okay?"
Yua told Amiya it was best to head back to the medical wing. No doubt Gavial wouldn't be too happy with the cautus that she left her treatment room last night. Amiya knew what the archosauria was like. She definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of a lecture. Amiya, however, also wanted to stay with the white-haired lung a bit longer, but she couldn't. Reluctantly, the cautus bid her sister farewell and said she would see her later, Amiya then left the room.
Yua then began to get herself ready to meet her mother and the two people who she classed as her aunts. The lung cleaned herself up and then changed into fresh clothes. Yua then left her room and began walking to the cafeteria to meet with the others. After some time walking, Yua arrived at her destination, looking around the white-haired lung could see the place was bustling. Many operators had decided to come here, Yua looked around for any sign of Ch'en or the other two.
Yua found the three of them sitting at a table in the corner and began to walk over. Hoshiguma was the first to spot the white-haired lung approaching them. With a smile on her face, the green-haired oni got up from her chair and walked over to Yua. "Yua! It's so good to see you! I've missed you so much!" Hoshiguma exclaimed as she got the lung in a near bone crunching hug. The oni had picked the lung up from her feet and began twirling her around.
"It's good to see you too, Aunt Hoshiguma, but can you put me down? I'm struggling to breathe here." The lung was having trouble breathing with how hard the oni was hugging her. Hoshiguma was holding her more tightly than what Amiya was earlier. Swire could see the situation the white-haired lung was in and decided it was best for Hoshiguma to let her go, "Let the poor girl go, Hoshiguma. I know you have missed her just as much as me and Ch'en have, but there's no need to nearly suffocate her. I don't think Ch'en will be happy if her daughter ends up in the medical wing." Swire said to the oni as she got near the pair.
Hoshiguma put the lung down when the feline spoke to her, Yua then looked at Swire and thanked her for the save. Ch'en looked on at the scene with a smile on her face, despite everything that had happened recently, one good thing had come out of this. Yua was still alive, and the blue-haired lung planned to keep it that way...
Talulah was walking towards the cafeteria, the dracos body was crying out for some proper food. Since she had woken up this morning, the draco wanted to stay in the room that Kal'tsit assigned to her. Talulah knew she wasn't popular around Rhodes Island. Many operators would more than likely want her head for all of the chaos and death she had caused while under the control of Kashchey.
Talulah wanted to avoid any confrontation with any of Rhodes islands operators. She didn't want to cause any more problems for Ch'en. Talulah, however, was starving. The draco tried to ignore her hunger for as long as she could but couldn't do it anymore. Talulah decided it was best she got something to eat, she hoped that when she arrived at the cafeteria there would be no one to bother her.
Unfortunately for the draco when she was at the cafeteria there were many operators who had the same idea as she did. Talulah cursed under her breath, being around so many operators of Rhodes Island was the last thing on Terra that she wanted right now. The hustle and bustle of the cafeteria stopped when everyone realised she was here, Talulah could see many operators glaring at her. Talulah however wasn't intimidated by all of the glaring she was receiving. The draco was confident in her strength if anyone tried to harm her.
Talulah walked past all the glares she was getting and went up to the counter to order what food she wanted. Gummy and the other operators who were on duty weren't comfortable about having to serve the draco, but not wanting to start a fight with Talulah decided it was best to give her what she wanted.
A lupo man who was part of the reserve operations team was not happy with Talulah's presence. The man has his fist clenched when he caught sight of the draco. He was angry with everything Reunion had done. The lupo walked up the draco when she had collected her food and immediately got up in her face. Talulah didn't seem bothered by the man, "Can I help you?" Talulah calmly asked. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face here after everything you and your people have done!" The lupo shouted at Talulah. The draco tried to walk away to avoid a fight, but the man wasn't going to let her go, "Don't you dare walk away from me! I'm not finished with you!" The lupo didn't want to let Talulah go. Many operators could see the confrontation and were ready for a fight to break out.
Yua and the rest were watching the whole incident unfold. They were eating when they noticed the area went quiet, and all of them could see why it went quiet when they all saw who had entered the cafeteria. Now, all of them could see Talulah being harassed by a member of the reserve operations teams. Yua remembered when everyone found out when she was the doctors daughter and the comments she received from other operators. The white-haired lung could feel the situation now was very similar to her own, except this time it could turn violent. Yua wanted to stop it from reaching that far.
The white-haired lung got up from where she was sitting and walked over to the pair. The lupo man was joined by other reserve team operators, and they too began harassing the draco, one of them knocked Talulah's food out of her hands. Talulah was losing her patience with the operators around her. She was about to lash out and attack them, but a white-haired lung came in between them all to stop the situation from escalating any further.
"All of you...leave my aunt alone... now!" Yua told the operators who were giving the draco trouble. The lupo who started all of this could see who had arrived. He wasn't happy that Yua was sticking up for Talulah. "Yua, why are you defending this animal? Don't you know what she's done? A lot of people have died because of her. She has no right to be here. I don't care if she is your aunt, Talulah can't get away with all of the chaos and destruction Reunion caused." The lupo man tried to explain that Talulah shouldn't be at Rhodes Island. The draco had committed many horrific crimes, and in his mind, she should be punished.
"Trust me, I know what she's done. But right now, whether you like it or not, Rhodes Island has bigger problems to worry about. I'm aware that Skadi attacked the landship. My mother told me what happened. She is a much bigger problem than my aunt could ever be. So do yourself a favour and leave my aunt alone." Yua told the lupo man and the other operators to leave her aunt alone, Skadi was a much bigger threat than Talulah. The white-haired lung was also aware that Talulah could easily annihilate these operators with little effort on her part, Yua was also trying to save their lives.
The lupo man was about to argue with the white-haired lung, but someone else had entered the situation, "If I were you, I would listen to what my daughter is saying. If you want a problem, I'll be more than happy to give you one." Ch'en had inserted herself into the conversation and like Yua was trying to stop things from going any further. The blue-haired lung however, wouldn't just sit by if the lupo was going to give her time travelling daughter any trouble.
The man and the rest of the operators could see who else had arrived, this caused them all to back down, and they all began to leave the draco alone. Ch'en Hui-Chieh was someone who they didn't want to be on the wrong side of. Once the other operators had left, Talulah looked at Yua then at Ch'en, "Thank you, both of you. Neither of you needed to do that for me." Talulah was grateful that her sister and niece managed to get the operators to leave her alone.
"It's no problem, Aunt Talulah, your family after all. And I know you could have handled those guys on your own, but Kal'tsit would have then gotten involved." Yua knew that if Talulah harmed those that were giving her trouble Kal'tsit would have had to do something about the draco. If she didn't then other operators at Rhodes Island would have certainly done so. Many despised the fact that Talulah was aboard the landship. "Talulah, go and get some more food, then come and sit with us. At least no one else will cause you problems if you're with us." Ch'en told her sister that it was best to stay with herself, Yua, Hoshiguma, and Swire. No one would dare approach her with some of Rhodes Islands best fighters around her. Talulah nodded at her sisters suggestion. The draco ordered another meal and then sat with Ch'en and the others.
Once Talulah was with them, the group began talking and asking Yua and Talulah questions about what they got up to. They learned much from the pair, they learned that Reunion was no more thanks to the efforts of themselves and Mostima and Fiammetta. Hoshiguma and Swire also learned that Mostima was from the same future as Yua. The sankta had sent her consciousness back into the past alongside the white-haired lung. The pair also were told about what the doctor truly was, an alien from another world.
Yua explained to the oni and feline that the sarkaz were descendants of his people, but she wasn't sure if she herself was half-alien or half-sarkaz. The children that were born from his people changed into the sarkaz of today. Yua also admitted that she was now infected to the duo. The oni and feline had their minds blown from all of this information. They wanted to know how the white-haired lung found out this information.
Yua said she learned this from Kal'tsit and Mostima. "Wow Yua, that's...a lot to unpack. I can't believe that Mostima is from the future as well. And the doctor is an alien, but you aren't sure if you're half-sarkaz or half-alien. Then again, I always thought you looked different from most other lungs I've seen. You definitely have the white hair of most sarkaz, and you do look...sarkazy." Swire told her thoughts to the white-haired lung.
Ch'en then spoke, "Well it doesn't matter if you're half-sarkaz or half-alien Yua. To me, you are my daughter. You are the flesh and blood of myself and the doctor. That is what's most important." The blue-haired lung didn't care what her time-travelling daughter was, to Ch'en all that mattered was Yua was her daughter. "Thank you, Mother." Yua replied with a sincere smile. The lung was thankful that her mother didn't care what she was.
The group carried on eating and talking until Ch'en realised what time it was and realised it was best to meet up with Kal'tsit and the others to discuss the Skadi situation. Ch'en, Yua, and Talulah bid Hoshiguma and Swire farewell, they promised to all meet up later to discuss everything that was said between them.
The trio walked around the landship towards Kal'tsit's office, while on their way, the three of them noticed several operators giving them sour looks. Or, more precisely, they were giving those looks to Talulah. The draco, however, did her best to ignore them. She had more pressing matters on her mind right now. The trio eventually arrived at Kal'tsit's office and Ch'en knocked on the door. The ancient feline heard the knock and told whoever it was to come inside. The three walked inside.
When they entered the office, the trio could see Kal'tsit at her desk with Fiammetta and Mostima sitting in chairs. However Ch'en, Yua, and Talulah could see three other people in the room. The draco didn't know who these people were, but the two lungs did. Also sitting in the room were Skadi's comrades, Gladiia, Specter, and Andreana. The abyssal hunters.
Gladiia looked at who had arrived, and she couldn't believe her eyes, "So it's true, Yua is alive. Skadi didn't kill her." Gladiia was internally relieved that the white-haired lung didn't die at the hands of Skadi. The aegir had been living with the guilt that her comrade had killed Yua since the day the white-haired lung disappeared. Gladiia still felt some guilt. However, she believed that if she discovered the truth earlier, she could have prevented the future aegir from trying to kill the lung. The aegir leader got up from her seat and then walked towards the white-haired lung.
Gladiia looked Yua up and down just to confirm it was truly her, once the aegir was satisfied it was the lung she then began to speak to her, "It is good that you are alive, Yua. I thought Skadi had killed you." Gladiia then took off her hat and bowed towards the lung, "You have my deepest apologies, Yua. I am partly to blame for all of this. If I discovered the truth earlier, then none of this would have happened. I am sorry for everything Skadi has done. She has put you and Madam Ch'en through so much. I promise that I will do everything in my power to correct my mistakes. Both of you have my word as the leader of the abyssal hunters." Gladiia apologised to both lungs. She was going to do whatever it took to stop her comrade.
Yua said to Gladiia that she didn't need to apologise for anything. There was no way that she could have known about the Skadi that tried to kill was from her timeline. Ch'en however, knew that there was something that Gladiia was telling her between the lines that her daughter didn't pick up on, "So I'm guessing you also knew about Ishar-Mla residing in Skadi...correct?" Ch'en asked the aegir leader if that was what she truly meant.
Gladiia raised her head then looked at Ch'en, "You are correct, Madam Ch'en, I was the one who told Doctor Kal'tsit the truth about Ishar-Mla and Skadi. That is why I am partly responsible for this mess. You have every right to be angry at me for this." The aegir admitted the truth to the blue-haired lung. Ch'en was angry with this but knew that losing her temper at Gladiia would be pointless at the moment. It wouldn't help the situation at hand. Ch'en simply sat down in a chair, and so did Yua, Gladiia returned to sit next to her fellow abyssal hunters.
Once she could see everything had sat down Kal'tsit decided it was best to now discuss the Skadi situation, "Right, now that everyone is ready, we need to talk about Skadi. She is a threat to the whole of Terra, and she has the doctor in her grasp. We need to stop her by any means necessary before she destroys the world. What do we know about her first? Does anyone have anything to tell the rest of us?" The ancient feline wanted to know if anyone in the room knew anything about Skadi that they could use against her.
Yua was the first to speak up, "Well we know that she has taken over the body of the Skadi of this timeline and that she loves father and wants him for herself. But how did she do it? How did she manage to travel across time? I don't know how she did it, but she dragged me back to the future when I had my...episode at the Copper Coast. I saw that the time machine used to send me back was destroyed. So Skadi couldn't have used it. Could her connection to Ishar-Mla have something to do with it?" Yua spoke her thoughts to everyone else in the room.
Everyone pondered what the white-haired lung said. After some time, they all came to the same conclusion that Skadi's connection to the seaborn god must be the reason she was able to jump back to the past. "Okay, so I think we can all establish that the power of Ishar-Mla is the reason Skadi was able to time travel. She has the power of a god in her hands. How can we beat her? There has to be a weakness that we can use against her? Any thoughts?" Kal'tsit again asked for the thoughts of everyone else in the room. At first, nobody could think of any ideas on how to stop the future aegir. They all believed she was invulnerable.
Mostima however, had a theory that she wanted to tell everyone, "I have an idea, everyone. I think that Skadi's situation is similar to me. She has sent her consciousness back in time." Mostima told her theory to everyone else in the room. They all looked towards the blue-haired sankta when she said this. The expressions on everyone's faces told the sankta's they wanted her to elaborate more on what she meant.
"What I mean is her consciousness is here, but her physical body is back in the future. While there is a connection between herself and Ishar-Mla, the future Skadi is in control of the Skadi from this timeline. If we can somehow sever that connection or get this Skadi to take control back of her body, then maybe she can force the future Skadi out of her mind. While the future Skadi's body is invincible...her mind isn't. We can't destroy the future Skadi's body, but we can destroy her mind, or the manifestation of it. We do that then her body in the future will become nothing more than an empty husk. That's the only way I think we can stop her." Mostima told her theory to everyone else in the room.
The eyes of everyone else widened when Mostima put her idea forward. They wanted to know how she came up with this idea. "Well, technically, my mind is made up of two people, me and my future self. I could kick out my future self from my head if I wanted, but I really don't want to, I've learned so much from my future self. So instead, we have become one, and that's how it's going to stay. That's why I think if we can get Skadi to overpower her future self, then she will be vulnerable. She won't have Ishar-Mla's protection anymore." Mostima elaborated more on her situation and how they could use it against the future Skadi.
"Mostima...that's a brilliant idea!" Kal'tsit was overjoyed with the blue-haired sankta's idea, and so was everyone else. They now believed they had an idea to defeat Skadi. The abyssal hunters were especially happy. They were glad that they didn't have to potentially kill their friend, they could save her. While everyone was happy they had a plan of attack, they still had two snags in the plan, those being where was Skadi now and how could they get her to overpower herself from the future.
"Maybe she needs help? Maybe Skadi needs the encouragement of someone who she cares about. What about the doctor?" This time, it was Specter who thought of who could help Skadi in her time of need. "Maybe, but I don't think the doctor will be able to help. If the future Skadi is so obsessed with him, then I bet she has him under control or is preventing the Skadi from this timeline from being able to reach out or be reached out by him. No, it has to be someone else, someone else who Skadi truly cares about." Mostima's first thought was also the doctor, but the sankta had an idea that the future Skadi wouldn't let that happen.
Gladiia had an idea who could help them, "I know someone who can help us. While me and him don't exactly see eye to eye, I know that if Skadi is in trouble, he will definitely help us." Andreana then spoke. She knew exactly who her leader was on about, "Wait Gladiia...you don't mean?" Gladiia then looked at her comrade, "Yes Andreana...Ulpianus." Gladiia said a name that the other abyssal hunters were familiar with.
Nobody else knew who Gladiia was on about, so she decided to explain who he was, "Ulpianus is another abyssal hunter just like ourselves. Me and him have never really gotten along, but he does care about Skadi. She sees him as a father, and he sees her as his daughter. He used to be her captain. If there is anyone who can help us it's him. I know how to get in contact with him, I'll tell him the situation and to find Rhodes Island as soon as he can." Gladiia told everyone about Ulpianus and how he could help. The aegir then got up and left the room. She was going to get in contact with the man.
Now that everyone had a plan to defeat Skadi, they tried to figure out where she could be, but no one had any ideas. Kal'tsit decided that it was best to pause this meeting for now. Without any idea of where the future aegir was, they couldn't do anything for now. They also had to wait for Ulpianus to get to Rhodes Island. All everyone could do at this moment in time was wait...
Later on in the day Talulah was in her room at Rhodes Island, Ch'en and Yua had gone to see Hoshiguma and Swire to brief them on everything that was going to happen and what the plan was to defeat Skadi. Talulah at first thought to go with her sister and niece but in the end decided against it. The draco wanted to talk with her sister and niece in private. She had so much she wanted to get off her chest and only wanted the two of them to know. Talulah was drifting through her thoughts about what she wanted to talk to them about when a knock at her door came.
Talulah wasn't expecting anyone to see her. She hoped it wasn't another operator had come to give her more trouble. The draco went up to her door, and she was going to tell whoever it was to go away. However when Talulah saw who it was it brought a small smile to her face, standing in front of her was a familiar sarkaz woman who she knew from her days in Reunion, it was one of a few people who Talulah considered a friend.
"It's good to see you again...W" standing in front of Talulah was the infamous mercenary who's name shook fear into her enemies. It was W...