The air in Elaine's white stone courtyard grew thin and sharp as Zuzu faced her brother. Yugi's disdain was a physical force, pressing down on the space between them. His eyes, the same shade as her own but frozen with contempt, remained locked on her.
"A 'Sword Saint' who cannot wield a sword," Yugi continued, his voice a low, mocking drawl. "You cling to that polearm like a child clings to a security blanket. It is a crutch, sister. An admission that you were never worthy of our family's true legacy."
Zuzu's knuckles were white, her fingernails digging into her palms. The weight of her glaive on her back felt heavier than ever - not just a physical burden, but the accumulated weight of every disappointed glance, every failed sword lesson, every whispered criticism from the elders of Elaine.
Before she could respond, frantic shouts erupted from the temple gates. A guard stumbled into the courtyard, armor scorched. "Captain Yugi! Intruders in the lower vaults - they're after the Star Shrine!"
Yugi's head snapped toward the commotion. "The Star Germ," he hissed, hand flying to his sword. He turned to his guards. "Secure the inner sanctum! I will handle this distraction personally." His gaze swept over Zuzu with pure contempt.
Rael took a deliberate step forward. "I'll handle the intruders," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. He glanced at Zuzu, a silent message passing between them: This is your fight to win. Before Yugi could protest, Rael became a blur of motion, disappearing into the smoky chaos.
The courtyard emptied, leaving only siblings and their long-simmering war.
"You see what your presence brings?" Yugi spat, drawing his exquisite longsword. "Chaos and dishonor. That outsider you travel with - he's no better than the filth attacking our temple."
"He's here to help save our people!" Zuzu countered, her voice gaining strength as she unsheathed her glaive.
"Save our people?" Yugi laughed harshly. "You can't even save yourself from your own inadequacy. That stick you carry proves it. A true Sword Saint wields a blade with precision and honor, not some brute's instrument meant for common guards."
He lunged, his attack a masterpiece of brutal efficiency - a straight, blindingly fast thrust aimed at her heart, embodying the core Elaine principle she had never mastered.
Instinct born of countless hours with her chosen weapon took over. Zuzu didn't try to parry. She sidestepped, his sword tip whispering past her shoulder, and used the momentum to swing her glaive's haft toward his ribs.
Yugi blocked, the impact jarring his arm. Surprise flickered across his face. "Wild and unrefined!" he snarled, pressing with a series of controlled slashes designed to overwhelm a swordsman's guard.
But Zuzu wasn't a swordsman. She was a master of distance. She gave ground, using the glaive's reach to keep him at bay, deflecting strikes with metal-shod wood. The air rang with their clash.
"You see?" he taunted, breathing heavily. "You can only run! You cannot stand and fight with the honor of a true Saint!"
"You call this honor?" Zuzu retorted, finding her rhythm. "Tormenting your sister while our temple is under attack? Your vision of honor is as narrow as your sword!"
Enraged, Yugi unleashed his signature technique. "Falling Star Piercer!" He became a blur, body and sword aligning into a single, piercing line of energy - the very move Zuzu had always failed to counter with a sword.
But this time, she didn't try to be a swordsman.
She planted her feet, grounded her glaive, and angled the blade. As Yugi's attack arrived, she guided it rather than meeting it head-on. His sword point shrieked along her glaive's curved surface. She redirected his force, spinning with the impact, using his speed against him.
Yugi stumbled past, over-extended and off-balance, his perfect technique broken.
In that moment, Zuzu saw not her tormentor, but a man trapped by dogma. And she saw her own path, clear at last.
She didn't thrust. She swung.
"Luminous Star Breaker!"
A wave of silver energy erupted from her glaive - not the piercing light of a sword, but the sweeping radiance of her own will. The power of a Saint, finally unleashed in its true form.
The energy slammed into Yugi, not to cut but to overwhelm. His sword flew from his grasp as he crashed against the courtyard wall. He slid down, dazed, armor scorched as he stood up with disbelief that she managed to disarm him. He began summoning his power again, aura flaring with golden intensity, when temple guards rushed into the courtyard.
"Captain! The intruders have been defeated, but the Star Germ chamber has been breached!"
Yugi's aura faded as duty overcame personal vendetta. He shot Zuzu one last look of mixed fury and something resembling grudging respect. "Looks like fate is on your side today," he muttered before turning to address his guards.
Meanwhile, deep within the temple's sacred vaults, Rael moved through chaos with unnatural calm. Three figures shrouded in shadowy energy were attempting to pry the Star Germ from its crystalline pedestal. The artifact pulsed with soft white light, resisting their corrupt touch.
"Step away from the merchandise," Rael said calmly.
The lead intruder spun, hurling a dagger of solidified shadow. Rael didn't even draw his sword - he simply tilted his head, letting the blade whisper past his cheek. The other two charged, their movements unnaturally fast.
Rael's hand finally went to his sword hilt. He didn't draw it fully - just enough for a sliver of steel to show. "Silent Flash."
A line of silver light cut through the chamber. Not a destructive blast, but a precise, surgical strike that severed the magical connections binding the intruders to their dark power source. They collapsed, unconscious, their corruption neutralized.
Rael approached the Star Germ, his reflection distorted in its multifaceted surface. As his fingers closed around it, the artifact flared with recognition, as if it had been waiting for him. A map of celestial pathways bloomed in his mind, showing him the routes between worlds.
He found Zuzu just as she was lowering her cracked glaive, standing over her defeated brother. "Nice work," he said, tossing her the Star Germ. "Hold this."
Zuzu caught the glowing artifact. "What now?"
"Now we wake up our sleeping beauty," Rael said, placing his hand over hers on the Star Germ. "The real question is - are you ready to see where this path leads?"
The Star Germ responded to their combined touch, its light intensifying until it enveloped them completely. The last thing Zuzu saw was the hairline crack in her glaive beginning to glow with the same celestial energy, and she understood - this wasn't an ending, but a transformation.
The world dissolved into around them, carrying them toward serenar.