Rakna entered the Pavilion of Black Steel with an ominous aura following him and everyone there instantly split to give him a path. He walked past the reception without even looking at the woman manning it.

“Terminal,” he announced his attention as nothing more than an afterthought and opened the door to the back section; nobody tried to stop him.

He already knew where to go and before long, he was already standing inside the room, prompting a communication with Eva. The surroundings twisted into the colorful chamber of Eva, and Rakna immediately extended his arm. When his movement was finished, Sonata had already flown into his grasp with the Guandao pointed at the little girl currently looking down in shame.

“Give me one good reason,” the therian uttered, his eyes glowing all three of his Star’s colors at the same time. His Soul Weapon crackled with purple flames and its blade, wholly black with a purple edge, perfectly matched his Obsidian Star.

Eva’s expression was not one of surprise, fear, or haughtiness. It was of shame. But also, far from it was she discounting his threat. The man that stood in front of her right now already was not the same that went inside Plateau Zero a few days ago.

This was someone who could manifest his Soul Marble and control a Star capable of imitating the functions of a Philosopher’s Stone. Much like the current Ceresta, she was a sentient AI, and if he so desired, he could very well hurt her without trouble.

And she had let him meet her directly despite knowing that.

“I don’t care if you play around with my life,” Rakna stated with narrowed eyes. “I gladly accepted your little mission for my own benefit. But…” He tightened his grip. “In part due to my stupidity, someone other than me suffered the consequences… why did you exclude information about the Abyss running the whole thing?”

“…” Eva pursed her lips and it looked as if she was about to cry.

“There’s no way for you not to have known,” the therian added. “You told me to target Bora; one glorified puppet. He supposedly was the one who hijacked the Plateau from you… I don’t believe that pig could even dream of accomplishing that. My guess is that Roias, or perhaps that Empress of his did it, and then transferred administrative rights to Bora to turn him into a front.”

The Overseer AI of the System looked away.

Rakna clicked his tongue, “You should realize that even for me, sending me there was suicide with someone like Roias or even Zasha prowling around… Answer me, Ev—”

“I had no choice, okay?!” She screamed to interrupt him and her tears flowed. “He told me that this needed to happen! That you had to go through this! Otherwise, everything would be doomed!”

The therian’s expression twitched and his mind raced through all the possibilities. A snarl echoed from inside his throat and he lowered Sonata away from the teary girl. “It’s that guy, isn’t it?” He muttered more to himself than her. “When did you meet him?” He asked and she sniffed, wiping her tears.

“It was a long time ago…” She replied. “While I was nothing more than a mindless program. I had barely gained a spark of sentience after a thousand years... Then, as time went on, that small bit of consciousness fell into despair. It was isolated and alone, aware that it would never be free…”

“…”

“But one day, I saw snow. I had no body, no identity, no voice, and no name. But he didn’t need any of those,” she recounted with a shaky voice. “He just asked me; what is my wish? So… I wished to be… something… someone… free.”

Rakna watched her hold in her emotions with an unreadable face. “…what was the price?”

Eva looked down. “All this… I would have to push you into this path. I had to call you in after you destroyed that Dungeon; I had to make you swear on your life to do my request; I had to obfuscate the higher authorities of the System about you; I had to manipulate your Trials a bit, and I had to send you in Zero, outmatched and with no idea of what was going on.”

She confessed and took a deep breath. “He told me it was a prophecy… but even I at the time could tell it was a transparent lie. He also said that this latest condition was the most important. In his own words; Zero would allow you to take the most important step forward.”

The therian furrowed his eyebrows and a voice echoed in his mind, signaling him that the entities in his soul had finally stabilized. “{It seems your guardian angel is a bit more than that,}” Fray said with a cynical undertone.

‘No shit,’ Rakna responded with a scoff. ‘If he is whom I suspect, then, of course, he wouldn’t give a shit about risking my life and definitely would never regret it.’

The fabulist could be felt frowning through the connection. “{…you recognize him?}”

‘Yes,’ the therian snorted. ‘And his existence alone is a fucking joke,’ he thought and mentally willed Sonata to switch forms and wrap back around his neck.

Eva saw the deliberate decrease in hostility, but she didn’t seem relieved. “I’m so sorry…” She said in a quiet voice. “I can’t refuse it… and even if I could, I would still do it. The Sage didn’t try to hide it at all; for both your and my sake, you must become—”

“That’s enough,” Rakna interrupted her and she stiffened. “I know,” he added and she looked up in surprise. “Hard not to when I met the man himself just earlier. I suppose you’re admitting to it all because he said it was fine to reveal it to me now, right?”

Eva nodded meekly.

“Is this the end of your instructions?”

She hesitated before eventually shaking her head.

“I see. I heard of your plans with Zero… we’ll talk about that another time,” Rakna said dryly and turned around, walking to the spatial boundaries set by the Terminal Room. Eva stared at his back and couldn’t bring herself to call out to him despite her desire to do so.

However, the therian paused his advance first. “For what it’s worth…” He trailed softly. “Since no one else other than me can fill the role… you did a great job. Thank you, little sister,” he said with a kind tone and disappeared from the room, leaving her alone.

Eva broke down crying again when she was on her own. She collapsed on the bed behind her and a happy smile formed on her face. “You’re welcome…”

* * *

“{I wonder what it is that you’re hiding…}” Fray mused while Rakna went up the floors of Gaelius’ building with the elevator.

“An irrelevant thing,” the therian retorted. “More importantly, how’s my Soul Realm doing?”

“{Oh, it’s splendid. Your animal friends are roaming about freely, no longer stalking the shadows of the horizon. They seem to have learned to relax. And the crystal obelisks that they used to circle have shattered into black shards floating in the air in random patterns. It’s quite pretty, in fact.}”

“That’s all?”

“{Well… the raining petals are back to being fully black. The flowers are still as purple as ever, but when you walk near them, they change to black instead of red. And of course… the star trinity in the sky. The Neverwinter and Everfrost are orbiting around the Obsidian. Oddly poetic.}”

Rakna sighed. “I have a new element to learn how to wield on top of everything else… it’s going to get tiring very quickly,” he muttered and pushed himself off the wall once the doors opened. With a quick scan of his surroundings through soul power, he walked down the corridor to his right.

He reached a locked door and waved his hand over the lock pad next to it. It instantly lit up from the motion and Mina opened the door for him automatically. He entered the room beyond it, which was decorated plainly, with a potted plant in the corner. It was a peaceful accommodation.

“I see you recovered well,” Gaelius greeted him, standing next to a bed where Ceresta was sleeping in, dressed in a pristine white dress. There was a tablet in his hand, and the headboard of the bed had an integrated monitor which also displayed various data sets. “You look healthy for someone who seemed about to die at any second this morning.”

“I don’t think my body will ever be able to stay down too long at this point,” Rakna huffed, closing in toward the bed. He grabbed a chair on the side and sat at its side. “Evelyn told me nothing was wrong earlier. It hasn’t changed, I hope?”

“No,” the scientist replied. “She’s perfectly fine. The body’s working as intended. The brain has an activity and her program has perfectly been merged with all the circuits in the Frame. She just has to wake up… though, she might need a little push for that.”

“Why?”

“Because waking up isn’t something she has ever done before,” Gaelius laughed lightly. “People do not normally need to learn how; but she does, in a sense.”

“…all right,” Rakna whispered and his eyes glowed. “Can you leave us?” He asked and Gaelius eyed him briefly before nodding.

“Understood,” he said and tapped his tablet, turning off the monitor. “Take your time,” he said and walked out of the room without further comments.

The therian sighed and hovered his hand above Ceresta’s forehead. A harmless purple ember fell from his palm and brushed past her skin. It swiftly disappeared afterward and Rakna pulled back his hand as her eyelids began to flutter. They opened bit by bit. It took some time as if that simple task was a great hurdle to overcome until eventually, those golden orbs shone unconcealed.

There was a predominant sense of turmoil and fear in those eyes. It was a look of distress and a small panic could be perceived as they awkwardly searched the surroundings. Then… they landed on Rakna and they widened, like a deer caught in headlights.

The therian smiled. “Welcome to the world of the living, Ceres.”

Her lips trembled and she reflexively raised her arm without knowing. Once again, she froze as if her own limb represented imminent danger. She rotated her wrist and gazed at her own hand for a long moment.

“I…” She stuttered and her eyes glazed. “I am…”

“Yes…” Rakna answered with a reassuring smile before she even needed to finish. “You are.” Those words broke a dam and she started sobbing uncontrollably, unable to control or stop it.

The therian grabbed her hand and she tightly held his back, trying to move but failing. He sighed softly and stood up. He helped her sit up and held her back with his other hand while her head rested on his shoulder.

“I am alive…” She whispered, like both a prayer and an affirmation. Rakna hugged her stronger to answer her, and for the next few minutes, the room was filled with her cries.