The battle was finally over. Rousse had been defeated.
"Angel, are you okay?" Yabal asked, reverting to his normal form.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Thanks for everything, Yabal," Rhea said softly.
"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."
Yabal sprinted to where Léopold had landed, scooped him up, and brought the injured Tamer back to the group.
"I have someone to introduce to you," Yabal said, a grin spreading across his face. "Meet Angeles, the Sacred Fox of Saturn."
A soft, ethereal light gathered, forming the shape of a magnificent creature. A nine-tailed fox appeared, glowing with a divine luminescence.
"Hi there!" the fox said in a cheerful voice. "I'm Angeles. I'll be accompanying you on all your adventures from now on... It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is ours, Angeles," Rhea replied, mesmerized.
The Grand Vayûra approached them, followed by several inhabitants of Kong.
"The Children of the END," the Ancient said with a deep bow. "We are honored by your visit. We are so happy to see you among us... Your return heralds something great for this planet. We have faith that, with you, we will be freed from the grip of evil."
"What is he talking about?" Rhea whispered to Angel.
"You asked to go to Europe, didn't you?" Vayûra continued. "Rest here tonight. Tomorrow, I will open the portal."
"We are truly sorry," Yabal interjected respectfully, "but this is an urgent matter. We must leave now."
Vayûra sighed but nodded. "It is a pity. Nevertheless, please accept at least the Rite of Explorers."
"Understood," Yabal agreed.
Night fell over the circular city. Our four heroes stood in the center of Kong for the ceremony.
The Grand Vayûra poured sacred water over their heads, his voice resonating through the square.
"Oh, God of Time... Oh, God of Time, Protector of the Children of Saturn. We pray to you to protect these explorers during their journey. Bless them with your blue petals, and may Time be their ally."
He traced a line of white mineral powder on their foreheads. The people of Kong erupted in cheers, offering food and supplies. Our heroes were now ready to depart for Europe, the Hidden Moon of Saturn.
For the journey, they had changed into new outfits:
Angel had opted for a casual, modern look: blue shorts, a loose white shirt, fresh white Air Force Ones, and a pair of multicolored headphones around his neck.
Yabal looked like a Japanese street punk: baggy pants with silver chains, multiple earrings, and a small utility bag slung over his shoulder.
Rhea looked elegant and timeless, wearing a long, light blue Victorian-style gown, reminiscent of 19th-century English nobility.
Léopold, fitting the theme, wore a Sherlock Holmes-style detective outfit, looking sharp despite his injuries.
The Grand Vayûra raised his hands and created a swirling travel portal. Waving goodbye to the villagers, our heroes stepped inside.
The transition was instant.
They landed on a beach. The water was a crystal-clear turquoise, but the sky above was a stark, blinding white.
Before them lay a landscape that defied logic. Mountains rose in the distance, and a dense forest of trees with massive leaves stretched out. The wildlife was alien: squirrels floated in mid-air without wings, and giant earthworms lived in the canopy, stiffening their bodies to mimic vines.
As they walked into the forest, the ground shook.
A creature resembling a hippopotamus charged toward them. In its path lay a large brown spiral on the ground, topped with leaves.
SNAP.
As soon as the hippo stepped on the spiral, it uncoiled like a giant spring. The Spring-Tree launched the heavy animal high into the air.
While airborne, the hippo's body was instantly covered in a thick slime secreted by the tree. By the time it hit the ground, the animal was dead, its flesh already dissolving. The slime compressed the liquefied remains into a ball and rolled it toward... a snail.
A giant snail, the size of a dog, emerged to swallow the organic soup in seconds before burying itself back underground.
"What... what is this place?!" Angel gasped, horrified.
"A snail that eats hippos..." Yabal muttered. "Europe is intense."
Yabal hopped onto a Spring-Tree (carefully) and let it launch him upward to scout.
"Hey guys! I see houses far away! They look like white water droplets made of stone!"
He landed back down, and they mounted their animals (Léopold summoning his dragon in a smaller form) to head in that direction.
As they approached, they saw the inhabitants. They were pale-skinned, almost white. The men wore white cloth draped over their shoulders, while the women wore small loincloths made of local fibers to cover their chests and thighs.
"Look friends! People!" Yabal cheered. "That's so cool!"
"Calm down, Yabal," Rhea warned.
They stopped to rest near a giant tree before entering the village. Léopold turned to Rhea.
"By the way, Rhea... you wanted to explain more about yourself and your clan, right? Now that we're here..."
Rhea's face fell. A deep sadness replaced her usual determination.
"Yes. It's time."
She sat down, took a deep breath, and began to tell the story of the Lunain Clan.
"It started when we were eight years old. I had gone back to live with my father, Fugaku Ada. My mother had just given birth to my little brother. My father was overjoyed. He threw massive parties, bought video games for when the baby grew up... it was perfect.
"But two days later, my mother died.
"My father was devastated. I was in shock; I had just lost my mom. It was painful. But then, a short time later, my one-month-old baby brother disappeared. Vanished.
"That was the breaking point. My father started to lose his mind. He would speak in tongues, repeating incomprehensible words every night of the full moon. Two years later... he locked me up.
"He put me in a pitch-black room where no light could enter, day or night. I was chained by the feet like an animal.
"Three months passed. One night, he took me out. There was a ritual symbol drawn on the floor. He drugged me so I couldn't move and placed me in the center.
"He started chanting strange words. Suddenly, a blue light flooded the circle, and... blood began to gush from my eyes. It felt like my eyes were being ripped out of their sockets. I screamed, I begged... The house staff were terrified, but no one could stop him.
"It lasted thirty minutes. When the symbol faded, I couldn't see anything. I was blind. My father bandaged my eyes and threw me back into my prison."
The boys were silent, horrified.
"In the darkness of my blindness," Rhea continued, her voice trembling, "I had a vision. I saw a boy. He looked like you, Angel, but older. He was standing in a garden of blue roses at night.
"He smiled at me and said: 'Hey, Rhea. Come to the END. When you get there, we'll be together forever. Your father won't hurt you anymore, I promise. I will always be with you.'
"I asked him who he was and why he looked like Angel.
"He replied: 'If you want to know, come to the END. You will learn the whole truth, Daughter of the...'"
"Daughter of the what?" Yabal asked.
"He didn't finish. My concentration was broken by a gunshot.
"A shootout had started in the house. I heard swords clashing, blood spilling. I heard my father screaming that 'Rhea is dead,' begging the people in front of him.
"And then, a man burst in. He broke my chains and grabbed me. We jumped out the window. Bullets rained down from the sky. One pierced the man's leg as we fell, but he landed on his feet and kept running.
"We reached a cliff. With men chasing us, he jumped off the edge with me. He used his strength to punch a hole into the cliff face as we fell, creating a cave where we hid.
"We lived there for a long time. I was still blind, but he fed me, protected me. At first, I was scared to talk to him. eventually, he told me my father had died in the attack.
"He told me he was dying from his wounds, but that my life would be full of adventure. He told me I belonged to a world beyond my imagination... and that I would regain my sight soon. He made me promise to do everything to reach the END."
"You... you lived through hell," Angel whispered.
"I blame my father," Rhea said, her voice hardening. "The worst part is that he knew the clan's history. He knew what he was doing."
"Don't worry, Rhea," Angel said softly. "You are the strongest girl in the world. Your father didn't deserve you."
At those words, Rhea looked up.
Suddenly, her eyes changed.
The whites of her eyes turned pitch black. Her pupils vanished. In their place, thousands of twinkling stars appeared.
It was a night sky trapped within a gaze.
She looked breathtakingly beautiful, like a goddess descended from the stars, carrying the weight of the universe in her eyes.