Walking around in an empty void, Shiro didn’t know what she was doing here.

  Confusion filled her mind but seeing that she was alone, her heart pounded in anxiety.

  ’Where’s everyone else?’ She thought to herself as she started to hyperventilate.

  Panting heavily, she dashed forward in hopes of finding her friends. However, no matter how much she ran or how fast, she couldn’t see the end of this void.

  Clutching her chest, she was forced to kneel down as pain filled her face.

  Gritting her teeth, she heard some footsteps approach her as she quickly looked back and saw the watchman gripped Isilia by the neck.

  Widening her eyes, she immediately charged at him with anger.

  "ARG!!!" Punching towards him, she phased through him as she wasn’t able to damage him at all.

  Stumbling over herself due to the lack of connection, she could only look back as he killed Isilia with her not being able to do anything.

  "Sorry. Look after Lyrica for me ok?"

  Hearing Isilia’s final words again, tears started to fall as Shiro desperately climbed back to her feet only to phase through the watchman again.

  *Crack!

  ###

  Snapping her eyes open, Shiro started to panic on her bed as her chest ached from her wounds. Looking around her, she saw that she was alone in the med bay.

  Ignoring the pain in her body, she gritted her teeth and forced herself out of bed.

  Collapsing on the floor, her breathing quickened as she grabbed the closest chair to help her walk.

  She needed to see them. Anyone would do. Even if it’s just one person. Please…… even one person would do.

  Making her way to the door slowly with the chair, she tried to open the door but couldn’t even muster up any strength.

  Seeing that she couldn’t even open a simple door, Shiro burst into laughter as she collapsed against the wall and hugged her knees.

  Tears started to fall as she remembered Isilia’s face.

  ’I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry……’ Apologizing over and over in her mind, she didn’t know how she was even supposed to protect Lyrica when she couldn’t even open a door. Even when she had all of that power, even when she prided herself to be stronger than the other queens, even when she had the help of gods, she couldn’t stop the person from taking Isilia from her.

  What’s the point of all that power when she couldn’t stop her best friend from being taken away?

  Spiralling down with negative thoughts, Shiro clutched her knees in fear of leaving this room.

  What if she left and no one had survived? What if the future had come true and everyone died but her? What if-

  *BANG!!!!

  Hearing the door slam open, Shiro looked up slowly and saw Nan Tian panting by the doorway.

  He ran to the med bay as soon as he sensed movement.

  Seeing Shiro hugging her knees in the corner with tears down her face, he felt a thousand needles piercing his heart.

  Kneeling in front of her, he sighed.

  "Don’t move around too much, your body is still injured." Nan Tian muttered as Shiro scrambled to her feet and grabbed him with her shaking hands.

  Making sure that he was real, she sighed in relief before collapsing again.

  Quickly catching her before she fell on the floor, Nan Tian carried her to the bed but Shiro refused to let go of him.

  "Ahhh." Opening her mouth, Shiro wanted to say ’please don’t go’ but her throat was still damaged so all that came out was incoherent calls.

  "I’ll stay, don’t worry." Nan Tian reassured with a soft smile.

  Placing her on the bed, he pulled out a tablet and sat down on a chair.

  Turning her head so that she could keep him in her sights at all times, Shiro watched silently while Nan Tian felt like his heart was suffocating.

  He wanted to do something to help her but they couldn’t rush this.

  ’I wanted her to depend on me but not like this……’ He thought to himself since he had always wanted to help her.

  Sighing softly, he thought about what they’ve gained and loss during this excursion to the mountains. While the corrupted relic is destroyed, the cost of doing so was great. Isilia and Edvimar were gone, Shiro was weakened both physically and mentally and all of their plans have halted. It was unsure whether or not Shiro could recover but news of this couldn’t be spread to the outside.

  Sensing some movement outside of the med bay, Nan Tian glanced up and could sense that Madison and Lyrica were coming over.

  ’Madison probably told everything to Lyrica.’ Nan Tian thought as Lyrica’s aura seemed weak right now. It lost the flare it had originally.

  Hearing a few knocks on the door, Nan Tian opened his mouth.

  "Come in."

  Walking into the med bay, Lyrica faltered seeing Shiro’s state and took a deep breath.

  Pulling over a chair, Lyrica sat down next to Shiro.

  "I heard everything from Madison. It’s not your fault. I don’t know what I can say or do to lessen your guilt. It’s pathetic, you’ve helped me get out of my dump but I can’t help you." Lyrica said as she held Shiro’s hand.

  "I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to leave Asharia for a while. I’ll be travelling around with Asher and the others that you teleported here. They seem like nice folk and an adventure with them might help me clear my mind too. I don’t know when I’ll come back but when I do, I want to be strong enough so that I can contest against Queens and even beings like the person who took away my family. And don’t worry, I’ll keep myself safe with plenty of life saving talismans and items." Lyrica smiled as she stood up and walked towards the door.

  Hearing all of this, Shiro’s gaze panicked as she grabbed her sleeve. Even with life saving talismans and items, there are still things that can kill you by ignoring them!

  Closing her eyes, Lyrica took a deep breath and kept walking. She was afraid that if she hesitated now, she might not be able to leave.

  Watching Lyrica leave without turning back, Shiro reached out in desperation but wasn’t able to grab Lyrica’s arm.

  Looking at Nan Tian with pleading eyes, Shiro felt her heart sink when Nan Tian shook his head.

  "Lyrica has made her choice. It would be selfish of us to restrain her."

  Furrowing her brows, Shiro could only watch silently as Lyrica left the med bay.

  ###

  Making sure that everything was packed up, Lyrica glanced up at the centre tower of Asharia and sighed.

  She didn’t want to leave but this incident had made it clear for her.

  She had to be strong to protect her happiness. Her heart felt crushed by the news but during the short time she’s been with her mum, she knew that she wouldn’t want her to break down and mourn her death.

  She had to have the courage to stand up and face the future with determination.

  Plus, this incident had made it clear to her. When they place all of their burdens on Shiro, even her mental state will break. If one was to look at it from a different angle, they could say that they were the cause of Shiro’s pain.

  "I’ll miss you." Madison said as she was seeing Lyrica off.

  "Mn me too. I want to help Shiro but I’m too weak right now." Lyrica smiled as Madison hugged her.

  "Just remember that we’re always here for you. Shiro can’t say anything right now but I’m sure she feels the same."

  "I know. I’ll be back before you know it haha. I just hope there is still a spot open for me when I get back." Lyrica smiled as Madison nodded her head.

  "Don’t be silly, there is always a spot for you."

  Walking into the teleport hall, Lyrica could see Asher and the others waiting for her patiently.

  "Thanks for waiting." Lyrica smiled as Asher nodded his head.

  "It’s alright. We should be the ones thanking you instead." Asher replied since Lyrica provided them with a lot of help along with joining their party for a while.

  Helion had made them all new sets of armour and weapons while Yin gave Nitha some tips. After a bit of research, they realised that the armour made by Helion was essentially priceless.

  They also got a meal from Yin, but they’d rather not talk about that.

  Walking towards the portal, Lyrica looked back at the tower one last time before stepping forwards with determination.