“This is the heart of the Memorandia, a vessel said to be older than time, orbiting around Alpha. It creates the passage of time and space, as the legends say.” Ozma chirped.

  “You sure know a lot, Ozzie,” Sophitia said with a smile.

  “Yeah, he’s taught me everything he knows.” Ezekiel added, “But even I haven’t retained much of it.”

  “You don’t retain much of anything, brother.” Ozma scoffed.

  “I’m more of a doer anyway.” he admitted, “Ozzie is only a thinker…”

  “I do things too!” Ozma interrupted.

  Ezekiel nodded sarcastically, “Please. Only to compete with me!”

  “Puh! Anyway!” Ozma rolled his eyes, “The door to Nyu is over here.” He said, leading them through the hall. It seemed like he was very familiar with the inner parts of the ship. Interestingly enough, the pristine halls were empty except for an Alphin here and there busy checking over the various glyphs strewn about. A familiar pce to Dante.

  “What are they doing?” Sophitia asked.

  “They’re just examining the structure. No one officially knows everything of the Memorandia, not even those that have been Pendulum Elementals before.” Ozma replied.

  “Oh right… the legend is that the Essences brought it, right?” Ezekiel asked.

  “Right. But no one knows for sure.”

  “Yeah… who knows. I don’t know what to believe anymore. Not like they’re going to tell us much.” He said, rolling his eyes.

  “Yeah, I really don’t know.” Ozma shrugged

  “I thought you knew everything, Oz?”

  “Bah!” He waved him off as they approached the end of the hall.

  A rge immacute door stood before them, barring their entrance. As they approached, the door opened on its own, exposing a massive intricately designed room. The Inner chamber pulsed with a faint, rhythmic glow. There was a hum, simir to a whirring sound, and an eerie vibration coursing through their bodies, reading their every move and welcoming them in. The walls moved as if the vessel breathed in response to its intruders. And at its center floated a creature that they could only assume was Nyu.

  The immense Eye, vast and gleaming, held an unnatural radiance, it constantly shifted as if it was phasing through time and space. Suspended beneath it was her feline form, sleek and slender, levitated slightly, unbound by gravity. The dark fur coat shined, it looked like it was probably soft but the energy radiating from her presence produced an unknown sensation. They weren’t sure what to say, but she noticed them, the pupil narrowed.

  “Welcome to my domain,” Nyu said, her voice carrying through the chamber as it came from every direction at once. “I am Nyu, the Essence of Pendulum and Celestial. We have much to discuss.”

  Ezekiel felt a stir in his core, an unease threading through his mind. That’s never a good sign when things like this want to discuss stuff.

  “indeed Ezekiel, you may find it less than good tidings.” She said, giving way to an ethereal movement.

  “Y-y-you know my name?” He stammered.

  “I see many things. I saw you here before you ever entered. Do not be afraid.” She said soothingly. The calming energy she emanated allowed them to release their guard from her ominous presence.

  “What do you need to tell us?” Ozma interrupted.

  “First and foremost, I shall address the destructive force within the room…” the Eye narrowed upon Sophitia.

  Sophitia flinched. “What?”

  Nyu released an unpleasant sound—not quite a ugh, not quite a sigh—it vibrated through their bodies. “You cannot py dumb any longer, Destroyer of Xerodia. For I know of you and the secret you hide behind your many facades.”

  All eyes were on her.

  Sophitia became stoic. “I figured I wouldn’t be able to hide from you, Nyu. But surely you must know that it was not I that destroyed your world.”

  Nyu’s Eye remained on her. “That may be true. But that is not the end of it.”

  Ezekiel looked at Sophitia, shocked by her response, “What do you mean?” He asked Nyu.

  The chamber hummed as Nyu turned her focus to him. The walls pulsed in response. A radiating heat weaved around them. “Allow me to expin. This being has a certain power that came from somewhere that not even my Eye can see,” Nyu continued. “That power was used by a weapon — the God Module. She should know it well for she resided within it aboard the Celestia, the twin vessel.”

  Sophitia shuddered, “that despicable machine. How long I’ve hated them for trapping me in that!”

  Nyu’s presence created a twinge among them. “So I ask you this, Destroyer… Do you still intend on carrying out your pn, even though it may not align with those you’ve aligned yourself with?”

  Sophitia clenched her hands. “My pn is already underway. Don’t you worry.”

  The great eye blinked once, very slowly, pleased by her words. “I see. I am gd to hear that.”

  Ezekiel was even more shocked, “What… are you talking about, Sophie?”

  “Don’t worry, my love. The reckoning is at hand for all my enemies. Don't lose faith in me.”

  Ozma eyed her suspiciously and snorted. “Figures…”

  Ezekiel looked around at everyone like he just awoke from a dream. Unsure what just happened. Sophitia’s demeanor completely shifted. Like she became a completely new person in a matter of seconds. His body tightened, and the energy within him swirled like someone about to be sick. What… did I align myself with?

  “Sophie… Are you an enemy to us?”

  She smiled, “Of course not, my love.”

  Ozma crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

  “Now that you know the truth of the Destroyer. You must make a choice, as protectors of the material realm. You will soon come to a nexus and a decision must be made.” Nyu added.

  “I’m… so lost,” Ezekiel admitted.

  Sophitia gripped his shoulder, her touch felt harrowing like a presence was there that was not before. “It doesn’t change a thing, Zekey, I promise you. You are central to my pn, and it cannot be done without you.”

  Her words slithered into his soul like a snake. He turned to her, smiling brightly, “I… of course… I’m sorry for my doubts. I will stay strong in this!”

  Ozma smiled subtly. He knew something, it was written all over his face.

  Ezekiel turned to him, which allowed him to break away from Sophitia’s spellbinding eyes, “What is it, Oz? You look like you have something to say…” Ezekiel said, approaching him.

  Ozma became impatient, “Can we just get on with this blessing already!”

  “Why the rush?” He asked.

  “His truth is about to emerge.” Nyu interrupted.

  “His truth?”

  Nyu turned her gaze to him. “Accept my blessing, Ezekiel and you will see.” She said as she appeared to be growing rger and then focused on the brothers.

  Sophitia leaned over to Ezekiel and turned his face to hers. “Zekey, I need your power… to further my pn.”

  He turned to her smiling face, “I… yes. Of course. Sorry again.”

  “Knowing all of this, you are prepared to accept the final blessing? You will not be able to go back from this point.” Her eye beamed.

  Ezekiel wasn’t sure what was happening, but it was the only way he’d become an Elemental and the only way he could further Sophitia’s pn. He reluctantly agreed.

  Ozma, however, was for some reason fully on board, “Yes, we’re ready!”

  Nyu’s entire body pulsated and writhed, time and space rippled through the chamber and their bodies. “To receive the blessing, you must know the Xerodian’s pain and anguish. You will feel everything they have felt! Witness our story as though you were there,” Nyu said, her voice resonating as yers of multiple realities spoke in one.

  The surrounding space shattered like gss, reforming into something new. They were no longer within the Memorandia.

  A grand city stretched out before them, its towering spires woven from light and energy. The air hummed with vibrant currents, life flowing through the pathways. The smell of untouched air. The sound of millions of feline creatures meandered about, pying, working, talking, and ughing. Unaware of the impending doom.

  Ezekiel watched in awe. “Xerodia…”

  Nyu’s voice wrapped around them, a melody woven into the fabric of time. “Once, our world thrived. We were beings of pure energy, unbound by flesh, eternal in our design. And then… they came.”

  The sky darkened as ghostly figures took shape. Four immense entities descended from the Xerodian skies—two radiant with piercing light, two cloaked in impenetrable darkness. Their forms defied the ws of all physics, each movement warped through the Xerodian sky.

  Ezekiel’s core trembled. “What are they?”

  “Ancient creatures from another realm. They called themselves the Demivurgos. At first, they came peacefully. Little did we know, they were simply taking account of us. They did not bring love and peace. No. They brought war and hatred.”

  The vision fluctuated. The towering beings raised their gangly hands, and the sky ignited. A rge being, draped in light, summoned energy nces downward in searing waves, consuming entire cities. A dark creature cleaved the world with its axe, creating great fissures and destruction in its wake. The other light entity created bck holes sucking in entire cities. The st dark creature froze multiple Xerodians in time and slowly tortured them to death, forcing them through time loops, just to kill them again over and over. Ezekiel and Ozma felt every single moment, heard every cry, and saw all the brutality. There was a smell of putrid death, not quite like rotten flesh but close enough and the taste of a strange decay left its mark.

  “We thought it was a losing battle. So many of us lost our lives. But then we learned that the reason they attacked was because they feared us,” Nyu continued. “They saw our existence as a threat. And so, they sought to erase us before we knew they were not invincible, so we fought back.”

  The vision shifted, the tide turned, and the Xerodians reversed their losses. They wielded power that bent pure energy to their will, a weakness of the intruders.

  “We fought,” Nyu said. “We resisted. I am proof of that.”

  The dark creature, the being able to bend time, was attacked by a notable Xerodian. It cwed her eye and tore it free. Then, the feline figure merged with the eye. Nyu was the Xerodian transformed from that act.

  “We drove them back,” she continued. “We nearly won.”

  But the vision darkened. The air recoiled. And a familiar sound whirred in the distance.

  “And then came the Void Ray.”

  The chamber trembled as the next memory unfolded. High above Xerodia, a vessel loomed—a construct of the Demivurgos, the Celestia. Its dragon-like face loomed from above. Its core burned with the energy of the void, spiraling into a singurity of destruction.

  The Void Ray struck.

  The brothers felt it as if they were there, the force ripping through them, turning everything into sparkling dust, unraveling their existence. The wave of destruction consumed everything, swallowing the cities, the sky, the ground, and the waters. They could only watch as their surroundings crumbled and began to absorb into a single form.

  “But then,” Nyu said, her form pulsing with residual energy, “that singurity of our world detonated, creating reality itself. From that explosion, the material realm was born. Our bodies were torn apart, and what remained of us scattered. We became what you see now; the Essences.” She continued, “But not all was lost… for we were able to steal the twin – the Memorandia – with that machine, we were able to gather all who were lost.”

  Once they gathered those who were lost aboard the Memorandia, filled with a burning desire for revenge, they realized a great depressing fact.

  “We could not face the Demivurgos again as mere fragments of what we once were,” Nyu continued. “So, using the Memorandia, we were able to create them, the ones of horns, wings, and fire. We poured our essence into them, giving them immortality and magic.”

  The vision shifted, revealing a vortex of energy known as the Well of Xero. From its depths, figures emerged, luminous and proud. The first Alphins.

  “But power without purpose is a dangerous thing.”

  The images changed. The Alphins, once united, turned upon each other. Battlefields scorched the ndscape, their elemental magic and Massa forms carved through hardened scales. The war was relentless.

  “This was not what we had intended,” Nyu said. “Their strength became a beacon, one that risked drawing the Demivurgos back to us.”

  The visions faded into darkness. The silence that followed was heavy, unyielding. The Well of Xero ran dry. No longer did Elementals come out.

  “A bance was necessary. A grand sacrifice.”

  A light revealed a solemn procession. Elementals surrendered themselves as payment to the Essences’ decree.

  “And so, the trials began,” Nyu said. “A perpetual cycle to ensure the bance remains intact until the day comes when we may rise again.”

  The memory dissolved. The chamber pulsed with ethereal light, signaling the completion of the trial. Ezekiel gasped as the power of the cosmos surged through him. It wrapped around his body, threading him with Celestial’s power.

  The brilliance faded, leaving them standing in eerie stillness. Ezekiel turned to Ozma, but his brother wasn’t joyous. He stood rigid, lost in contemption. Across the room, Sophitia remained stoic. The harsh reality now pressed against Ezekiel.

  He stepped toward her, needing to say something. But a sudden grip closed around his shoulder. Sharp. Unyielding. He spun, startled, to find Ozma staring at him. His gaze burned with urgency.

  “Zeke,” Ozma’s voice was low, nearly a whisper. “Did you not hear Nyu’s words? Did you not see it?”

  He frowned. “Oz, what are you talking about?”

  Ozma’s hold tightened. “I know you won’t believe me, but I must tell you what I see over and over again. She will betray us with her pn, and guess what, it doesn’t end well for any of us!”

  An unpleasant vibe threaded through Ezekiel. “What do you mean?”

  Ozma exhaled, stepping closer as if afraid the walls could listen. “I am the Elemental of Pendulum, my brother. I see beyond the now.” His voice trembled with certainty. “I see it all. The devastation. The loss. I see HER bringing ruin. Zeke. I know you can’t see it, but I can. You and her will doom us all.”

  Each word struck Ezekiel like a hammer blow. Ozma’s revetion rooted itself deep in his core, sending shockwaves through his mind. A storm of emotions raged inside him; fear, confusion, and deep sorrow.

  “No...” he whispered, shaking his head, his voice barely audible. “I… don’t believe it. I don’t believe Sophie will destroy us! She’s not our enemy! She said so!”

  Ozma’s eyes burned with intensity, his frustration mounting. “Brother, you don’t understand!” His voice was pleading. “I see everything—past, present, and future all at once! I saw Xerodia’s destruction, and she was there. She is not who you think she is! What do you think you are going to do? Run away with her? Be with her every second of your life? She. Is. Using. YOU!”

  The space between them crackled, signaling their bond was breaking apart.

  Ezekiel clenched his fists, his jaw set in defiance. “I don’t care what you see!” His voice rose, fierce and unwavering. “Sophie deserves a chance! I will do whatever it takes to help her, no matter the cost. I won’t abandon her! Not now. Not ever!”

  “Zeke...” Ozma’s voice was quieter now, but no less intense. “Do you intend to turn away from the Alphins? From your family? Throw it all behind?!” He turned to the Eye, she simply floated, watching the spectacle. “Nyu!?”

  Nyu shook up and down – a nod, perhaps, “You know as well as I do your role in this. If he wants to side with Sophitia, that is ultimately his choice. Sophitia may not be our enemy. Her pn does not align with ours. The result may be the same. The method is not.”

  Ozma grew more angry. He trembled with rage. “I know… I just wish it didn’t come down to this! Brother… come on. Whose side will you be on!? I don’t want to lose you!”

  Ezekiel exhaled sharply, turning his back on the doubt threatening to consume him. “I believe in her, Ozma. Just as I hope you’ll believe in me. Whatever comes, I’ll face it. But I won’t abandon her.”

  He stepped forward, reaching out to Sophitia. Then, cws dug into his shoulder. He barely had time to react before Ozma yanked him back. The look in his brother’s eyes was fractured, hurt, furious, and an unshakable conviction.

  “Can’t you see? She’s pced a spell on you!” Ozma snarled, his voice shaking with rage. “If you won’t listen to reason, then I will beat it into you!!”

  His scream echoed through the chamber, reverberating against the walls like the tolling of a war drum. He threw Ezekiel toward the floor. But his reflexes didn’t allow him to hit the floor. He focused his power and teleported back to his feet. Quickly, he turned to face his attacker.

  “Is this really what it’s come to?” Ezekiel’s voice was ced with sorrow and disbelief in his eyes. “Why can’t you just let me go?”

  Ozma’s jaw tightened, his expression hardening. “Because… you are supposed to be my brother! We were supposed to fight together! Not against each other… NOT OVER HER!” His power surged, and time bent around him as he split into multiple versions of himself and merged. “Cease this folly strife or I will.”

  Ezekiel felt the amulet pulse against his chest. Energy poured from it, flowing through his extremities, cycling endlessly through his cws. He could see different points that he could move to and from. But, he had to withhold his emotions from overwhelming his logic.

  “I don’t want to fight you, Oz,” he said, his voice steady. “But if you force my hand, I won’t back down.”

  The moment hung suspended.

  They waited, in silence.

  Eyes fixed upon each other.

  At the center of it all, Nyu loomed, unblinking, its pupil shifting in fractal-like patterns as it observed. It then floated over to Sophitia. It knew the impending battle was coming – it was best to get out of the way than to be caught in the crossfire.

  Sophitia stood at the edge, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

  “Did you know this would happen?” She asked Nyu.

  “Yes. I knew this event would occur. One will become the victor and a decision will need to be made. I have seen multiple ways of this ending. I wonder which one will come to pass…”

  The brothers stood opposite each other, their new powers thrumming in their bodies.

  Ozma smirked, rolling his shoulders. “So, brother, think you can keep up?”

  Ezekiel exhaled sharply, flexing his fingers. “Guess we’ll find out.”

  A moment of silence.

  They moved.

  Ezekiel vanished in a blink, a wormhole snapping open exposing a brilliant color and a visible path to Ozma’s backside. However, Ozma’s instincts fred, and time around him slowed just enough for him to see the blur of motion behind him. He bowed, dodging Ezekiel’s fist by a strand of time. The air cracked as the strike missed, the sheer force sending shockwaves rippling through the space.

  Ozma retaliated, accelerating his own time. His movements became a blur, his punches nding in rapid succession, too fast for the eye to follow. Ezekiel gritted his teeth, feeling the impacts rattle through his body. He tried to teleport, but Ozma was already adjusting, slowing time around him just enough to disrupt the escape. He could already see what Ezekiel was going to do seconds before he would do it.

  Ezekiel growled. "Tch—annoying trick!"

  He rolled his body, using the momentum to slip through a brief opening. Another wormhole opened, and he disappeared—only to reappear high above, turning midair and unching a kick down at Ozma’s head.

  Ozma barely managed to tilt his head, but the wind pressure alone sent him staggering. He clicked his tongue and pushed time forward around himself, accelerating his recovery and lunging forward with a spinning strike aimed at Ezekiel’s side.

  It connected.

  Ezekiel coughed up bits of sparkling sand, the force sending him skidding across the metallic floor. He barely caught himself before tumbling, warping just in time to avoid Ozma’s follow-up barrage. He reappeared at an angle, driving an elbow toward Ozma’s back.

  Ozma slowed everything around him—except himself.

  He turned smoothly, meeting Ezekiel’s strike with an open palm, gripping his wrist and twisting. Ezekiel grimaced but didn’t let up, opening a wormhole just beside them and yanking Ozma through.

  They reappeared midair, falling.

  Ezekiel used the momentum to drive his knee into Ozma’s abdomen, but Ozma bent time once more, rewinding his body’s position by a fraction of a second, causing the attack to miss.

  They nded hard, eyes locked.

  Nyu finally spoke, her voice vibrating through the walls.

  "Fascinating. They fight with such desperation, but they cannot fathom why."

  Sophitia’s gaze dashed toward the Eye. “You think it matters?”

  "Everything matters. Even the illusions they cling to. Each has a part to py in the grand scheme. You as well. They fight to prove to each other what and who they are."

  Ezekiel wiped sparkling sand from his mouth and lunged again. This time, he didn’t teleport—he went straight in. Ozma met him head-on.

  Fists cshed, and shockwaves cracked through the chamber, distorting the surrounding atmosphere.

  Ozma slowed time to weave through the onsught, but Ezekiel anticipated it, forcing a wormhole open at an unpredictable angle, catching Ozma off-guard and delivering a crushing blow to his jaw.

  Ozma stumbled, dazed.

  Ezekiel seized the chance, teleporting behind him and smming a knee into the back of his head. Ozma coughed, trying to rewind time to undo the hit—but Ezekiel was already warping reality itself, disrupting the flow.

  A final teleport. A final strike.

  Ezekiel reappeared just above Ozma, his fist already descending towards his face.

  Ozma raised his arms, but it was too te.

  With the well-pced strike, Ezekiel’s blow nded true. Ozma’s bracelets buckled under the force, the impact cutting deep and sending him crashing to the floor. He realized that if his jewelry was broken, then any other attack would prove fatal. So he yielded.

  Ezekiel stood victorious, but his body trembled, drained from the struggle. He waited for Ozma to make another move, but the brother stayed down.

  Nyu hummed. "A victor is chosen. Good."

  Sophitia exhaled through her nose. “It was definitely Zeke.” She smiled, she knew that she made the right choice. Her face portrayed it in perpetuity.

  “What say you, brother?” Ezekiel asked with a cw out.

  Ozma pushed himself up, sparkling sand dripping from his lip, his gre seething with betrayal. His sneer cut deeper than any wound Ezekiel had inflicted. “You are no brother of mine,” he spat.

  The words struck harder than any attack.

  Without another gnce, Ozma turned away. His figure, once so familiar, now felt impossibly distant as he strode toward the exit. They watched as he passed through the door and then through the glow of the portal that was destined back to Alpha. It cast his retreating form in a ghostly light until, at st, he was gone.

  Ezekiel remained frozen, the thrill of victory smothered beneath the suffocation of a significant loss. The atmosphere settled, and the chamber was left eerily silent. As the echoes of their battle faded, realization crashed into him like a tidal wave. He had won, but what did he win?

  Doubt gnawed at him. Had he done the right thing? Was this truly the path he was meant to walk? His chest clenched at the thought of Ozma’s pain, and shame whispered through the cracks in his resolve.

  Nyu floated forward, her piercing gaze meeting his.

  "You've made your choice, Ezekiel," she said, her voice cool and knowing. "I do hope that you know of the developments that will be."

  Then, without another word, she vanished, leaving him alone with what he had done.

  “Wait!” Ezekiel called out. Too te. For the first time, he felt as though he had committed the grandest of treasons. Yet, amidst the turmoil, a single anchor remained.

  Sophitia.

  She stood nearby, watching him, concern behind her luminous eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

  Ezekiel forced a sigh to steady himself. “Yeah... I’m fine.”

  Her gaze searched his. “So what now? What will you do?”

  He didn’t have an easy answer. However, he knew one thing with absolute certainty. “I can’t go back,” he said. The words felt final, yet right. “Not now. Not after this.”

  He couldn’t return to the world that would see him as a traitor. Couldn’t face those who would judge him for the choice he had made.

  Instead, he reached for Sophitia’s hands. His fingers intertwined with hers, anchoring him. He met her gaze, searching for the hope he so desperately needed.

  “We’ll find a pce far from the world. Just you and me.” His voice carried quiet determination, even as his decision pressed down on him. “And whatever your pn is. I will help you to return home. I just hope your home will welcome me.”

  She smiled brightly. It made her so happy to hear just how much he wanted to help her. Even though he didn’t know what it would actually cost. That smile created a spark that ignited within him.

  With every fiber of his being, he focused on their connection, feeling the energy of the cosmos reacting to his thoughts. The world around them blurred as a radiant light enveloped them, erasing everything else. And then, silence.

  When the light faded, they stood on unfamiliar ground, beneath an alien sky. Sophitia turned, taking in the vast, untouched ndscape. A world untainted by war, by duty, by expectation.

  “Where are we?” she asked, uncertainty cing her voice.

  Ezekiel exhaled, gncing at the sky above them, at the endless horizon stretching before them.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. Then, with quiet certainty, “But it doesn’t matter. As long as I’m with you, I’ll keep you safe. From everything.”

  A soft smile broke across Sophitia’s face. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him, pressing herself into his embrace.

  “There’s no one else I’d rather be with,” she whispered.

  Ezekiel closed his eyes, sighing as relief from the sorrow and war within him finally faded away. He had chosen this path—one that diverged from his brother’s, from his people, and even from the creators who had shaped his destiny. But somehow, through all his choices, he could tell, it wasn’t over yet.

  As they stood in the alien ndscape unsure of what to do next, Sophitia leaned over to him. “My love, about the seal pced upon me…”

  Ezekiel blinked and reached for her hands, “what can I do?”

  Sophitia, deep in thought, closed her eyes, “Well, you are the only one that can help me. I need you to remove the seal.”

  He smiled, he always wanted to be needed. “I’ll do anything for you my love. How do we remove the seal?”

  “Well, it would require a part of your life to contain a part of me.”

  “Yes. My life is yours.” He decred, bowing before her.

  Her crystal eyes brightened as she smiled, “Okay, hold your cws out like so.” She id them ft. Then pced her hands over his. “Now, using your power, you will need to create a spatial rift. Then, you must reach into my body and move my seal into the rift.”

  “Brilliant, what happens next?”

  “Let’s just say it will release the real me.”

  “Whatever you require, my love. “ Ezekiel focused his energy, he created the spatial rift just as she asked. Then he put his cw on her chest, then, he put his cw through her chest. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

  “No, my love… This body is just a container anyway.”

  “Oh, well that is good. Ok, I think I feel it.”

  “Yes… I knew you were the one to carry my pn forward. And with me, you’ll live forever. In freedom from this prison.”

  He pulled out a strange object from her body. It was dark and malevolent. It caused the surrounding space to contort and writhe as he pced it within the rift. He could feel his life being drained away by the object until it was finally released into the rift.

  Moments ter, the rift transformed into a rge module. Inside, he sensed the power within fluctuating. It was creating something. They created something.

  Myria.