I stare at Mathilde as she rests on the cushioned bench in the Grand Hall at the Figarosa Palace.

Also standing around are Lyne Highwind, Samza, and Mezos. The two royals, Cammy and Alphio, are tending to other duties around the palace.

Speaking of duties, sounds of magitech robots clanking and whirring from a distance work to repair the damage around the royal mansion. Especially nearby as they work to fix the gaping hole in the ceiling of the Grand Hall.

Turns out after we defeated Justinio Cagnazzo, a ray of light punched through the floor of the basement, into the grand hall, and through the stained glass ceiling towards the sky. Looks like the robots have a lot of work to clean up.

There is good news. The sun is shining once again over the nation of Bektorias. However, the people of Svyataya Reka are still feeling the effects of the Nightmare raid. Sadly, they no longer have an empress to watch over the country.

That's what Cammy and Alphio are discussing with their governing council — the future leadership of the country. I guess someone has to lead. Yet those two look rather young. Can the people of Bektorias trust someone that young to lead their nation? I suppose that's up to them.

A creaking noise sounds nearby. I glance around and notice Mathilde squirming. She's waking up.

"Mathilde," Lyne says, gasping. The dragoon kneels down and checks on Mathilde as she wakes up.

Mathilde grunts and sits up from the bench. "I had a vision, and she spoke to me."

"Who spoke to you?" Lyne asks.

"Someone who has the same name as me," Mathilde pauses, "but she's different. She's always calm and smiles a lot. I think she might be my alternate or something. I mean, if I'm supposed to be the Warrior of Light, then I guess she's going to be the Warrior of Darkness some day. Yet, that's something I can't process. No way a girl like her could walk down the path of darkness, can she? She's just too sweet."

"Was it that ghost-girl who confronted us before our trek through Mount Tribulation?"

"Yes, that's her. Her name is also Mathilde."

I say to Mathilde, "Sounds like you met my sister. Was she wearing a karate gi?"

"Karate?" Mathilde questions, her brows furrowing. "What's karate?"

"It's a kind of martial art."

"Oh, so something monks would practice, yeah?" Mathilde says.

"That's right," I say with a nod.

"She was wearing a monk's gi. Her outfit reminds me of what the Dragon Master would wear." Mathilde closes her eyes for a few seconds, then reopens them wider. "Wait a second. You said she's your sister?"

"Yeah."

"So she is from The Otherworld. Fuck!" Mathilde gasps. "You know, I wonder what it's like in your world. I'd imagine the technology is so different. How about magic? Is that a thing?"

I shrug. "Most of the magic we have in my world is mostly for show. It's not real — it's all tricks and illusions. I suppose our technology has reached that point where the use of magic as a utility makes little sense."

Mathilde stands up and glances upward through the gaping hole at the ceiling. "Is that light?" she asks, her voice still weak.

"It is."

Without hesitation, Mathilde bolts out of the Grand Hall and proceeds out the door towards the Palace Garden. The rest of us follow from behind, including Samza and Mezos.

The assassin stares upward where the sun shines, bringing light to the great holy city. She says, her voice low, gasping, "It's beautiful. I never thought this day would come." She turns around and stares at me with a tear flowing down her cheek. "For too long, this nation has gone dark, but this light — this radiant light. I guess I am the Warrior of Light."

"There is no guessing," I say, smiling at her, placing my hand on her shoulder. "You are the Warrior of Light."

Mathilde pauses and lowers her head, possibly looking for the right words. Then she raises her head, chin up, and stares at me. "You're right. You're fucking right. Darkness must be destroyed, and it's my job as the Warrior of Light to vanquish it."

Samza laughs. "That's right! That's how we roll up in this joint."

Mezos says, "Plus you're not alone. We're here to help you out. There's no way you can do this by yourself. I'm sure the Warrior of Light from way back in the day had friends to tag along with their adventures."

Lyne confronts Mathilde. "With our friends, we can finish bringing light to this world. Together, we will be victorious. Like those royals say, 'Believe in victory.'"

"Believe in victory," Mathilde says. "Yes, believe in victory."

"Indeed," a familiar female voice says from behind us.

I turn around and spot Cammy, Alphio, and Rin confronting us.

Rin grins at us as she places her hands on her hips. "Howdy, partners. Looks like we're all coming for the ride."

Mathilde asks, "What's the plan?"

Cammy says, "All three of us will accompany you on your adventures. The Council will continue to govern over the country until we return."

"How about Empress Hestalia?" Mathilde turns to face Cammy and Alphio.

Alphio says, "Her body is resting in a glass coffer. She'll have a proper ceremonial funeral upon our return. Soon after, The Council will place her coffer in the royal tombs for proper burial."

When they return? I have to wonder how long this adventure could be. Weeks. Months. Heck, maybe a year. I ask, "What if this adventure takes a long time?"

Cammy lets out a weak smile. "The Council asked that same question. If it turns out our adventure is a lot longer than expected, then they can proceed with the ceremony without us. Vanquishing the evil that lurks in this land is much more important than a funeral, no matter the importance of the individual."

Lyne gazes at the skies. She squints an eye and grits her teeth. "I don't like how the clouds look."

Cammy turns to Lyne and says, "You know the skies better than all of us. A remark like that coming from a skilled dragoon such as yourself would mean something dreadful lurks around."

Lyne jumps high up. With expert grace, she lands on the roof of the Figarosa Imperial Palace. She glances ahead with a portable telescope and says over the aetheric communicator, "Bad news."

All us on the ground tap our ears, listening in on the conversation.

"I see three Archaean Sky Fortresses on the move: Lisaenaud, Baschenoa, and Camcapre."

Cammy taps and asks, "Are they waging an attack?"

"Camcapre is shrouded with dark energy, Baschenoa glows with light energy, and Lisaenaud seems to be overrun with Archaean Espers. I detect Nightmare aetheric signatures from all three structures. Okay, now the three are diverging. Lisaenaud is moving north towards the fae city-state, Mysidia. The other two are entering their own rifts."

Mezos says, while adjusting his glasses, "If two Sky Fortresses are entering rifts, then I wonder where they'll end up."

Samza says, shrugging, "Maybe one of them will end up in Ari's world."

Mezos asks, "How about the other one?"

"Maybe the White Moon? Beats the fuck out of me." Samza scratches her chin.

Another transmission airs from the communicator: "Deployment team. This is Rowynn. Are you there?"

Samza, Mezos, and I tap our communicators.

I say, "This is Arizona reporting in. Do you copy?"

"Copy that, lass. Pentagon officials have detected a massive unidentified structure about 25 kilometers southwest of our base of operations, near Mason Neck Peninsula."

"Can you get more details on the structure?" I ask with top urgency.

A slight pause, but I can overhear the chatter between Rowynn and an assortment of other voices on the comms. Rowynn finally answers. "It's a tower-like structure shrouded in darkness, floating about twenty stories above the ground. Mr. Vahn'dien and I are detecting Nightmare energies from it."

Mezos says, "That sounds like Sky Fortress Camcapre, the Archaean base that specializes in researching about the Nightmares. They're trying to figure out how the Archaeans can use them to augment the strength of the Lexia Imperial Army."

"I see. In either case, I think it would be wise to return to The Pentagon for further instruction. I don't suppose there's a nearby waygate, is there?"

I turn to face Cammy and Alphio.

Alphio says while putting a red flower-like eyepatch over his right eye, "I can hear your transmission. You are speaking with someone from another realm. And yes, there is a waygate nearby, about half a mallum north of the city's borders. I suppose you have the power to attune yourself to it, yes?"

"I do," I say.

The boy prince adjusts his eyepatch. "Interesting. From my understanding, only two races can interact with it, the Valkyr and the Reul-Sithe fae. Seeing that you don't have animal features, I would have to assume you're a Valkyr."

"I am."

Lyne jumps back down to our ground and meets with all of us. "I had feared as much. It seems Queen Serahlyne II has authorized the Sky Fortresses to enter Babil Mode."

Mathilde gasps. "What's Babil Mode? Is that the reason the Sky Fortresses are imbued with strange energies?"

Lyne says, "Indeed. It unlocks the Nightmare-infused aether stored in their reserves. The downside is that the Sky Fortresses are no longer controlled by Queen Serahlyne II — they are now under The Usurper's command."

Mathilde says, stomping her foot, "That means something must have happened to The Queen."

"I can only assume the worse."

Cammy interrupts. "Wait a second. So The Usurper is working for Queen Serahlyne II?"

From a distance, the sound of clanking metal comes close.

"Wrong," an older female's voice says as the clanks become louder. "The Queen is working for me."

All of us turn around to face the direction of the metal sounds.

A tall woman in black plated armor with a purple cape on her back appears. Her shoulders are broad and her long white hair flows with the brisk breeze. Her green eyes glint like emeralds. An arrogant smile paints her face.

"You!" Mathilde yells. The assassin dashes at the woman, winding her fist, readying herself to deliver a devastating sideways hammer-fist attack.

The tall woman opens her palm and a blast of dark purple energy knocks Mathilde back a great distance through the shrubbery walls of the Royal Gardens.

Mathilde's body tumbles, but she picks herself back up. An angry, sneering grin paints her face as she catches heavy breaths.

The woman turns her head to me, letting out a piercing gaze. "Never thought I'd see you around here, daughter."

"Daughter?" Mathilde gasps. "Arizona is The Usurper's daughter?"

"Indeed," she says. "I have a bastard for a daughter."

I ready myself, my hand gripping the handle of my triggerblade on my back, waiting for the right moment to pull it out from its holster. "And I got a bitch for a mother. So it all works out."

"Oh, snap!" Samza says, "I haven't heard a bad word from your mouth in like over a month."

"Sometimes, you just have to let it all out and go unhinged." I pull out my triggerblade and point at The Usurper. "Gunhild Ylfing, nice to see you around." An arrogant grin forms on my face.

"You would dare point that blade at me, child?"

"If you wanna fight, then let's rock!" I say as the mini-engine attached to my triggerblade revs up.

My allies around me also draw their weapons. Rin with her massive triggerblade. Cammy and her dual-wielded swords. Lyne and her spear. Alphio and his tome and staff. Samza and Mezos with their summoner books. And Mathilde with her armored fists.

"A noble effort," Gunhild says, swaying her right arm to the side, her palm open with a swirling mass of black and white energy, "but I come here not to fight. Instead, I come here to claim what I had originally thought was a reject. Arizona, it turns out I have a use for you after all." The armored sorceress extends her right hand forward, her palms open, and black and white streams of aetheric energy swirl around her arm. The streams converge on to her palm, forming a powerful blast.

With my blade upward and a flat side facing forward, I shield myself, expecting a burst of energy to fire from Gunhild's hand.

That's not what comes out. Instead, everything around me turns white. I see the Figarosa Royal Palace and the surrounding shrubbery of the Royal Gardens. Yet, my surroundings are devoid of color. Only white and shades of gray surround me. I turn around and spot seven black apparitions. My friends behind me appear nothing more than shadows in this strange realm of light.

Where the heck am I?

The apparitions spread and surround me. One of them lunges and tries to strike with a flurry of punches and kicks. Somehow, it feels like I'm fighting Mathilde, but this thing in front of me looks nothing like her.

"Fight!" Gunhild says, her voice echoing from a distance.

I assume a defensive stance, parrying those strikes.

"Fight back," Gunhild says, her voice getting louder.

A second and third apparition enter the fray, one with dual blades while the other attacks with an oversized weapon. Cammy and Rin, I bet. I continue to maintain a defensive posture.

"Fight back," Gunhild says again, this time with a fierce demand.

Another apparition strikes. This one wielding a spear — Lyne.

Something clicks. My triggerblade. It's revving. My arm extends, yet it feels like I'm not in control of myself. In a quick swipe, I spin around with my blade out, unleashing a wave of fire and electricity. All the apparitions fly backward, knocked by the electrifying burning rave of my triggerblade.

I can't control myself. I don't want to fight, but I'm still fighting. Crap!

I drop my triggerblade, yet my fist still feels the urge to strike. My legs launch my forward towards an apparition, tackling it down. Purple flames ignite from both of my fists and, in a flash, it delivers a nasty ground-and-pound flurry at the apparition.

A burst of energy hits my side and knocks me off the apparition.

Four more apparitions stand, one of them much larger than the rest. Looks like Samza, Mezos, and Alphio. The bigger one must be an eikon.

Without thought, my body continues the charge and lunges at the larger eikon-sized apparition.

Bad idea. A sudden impact strikes my chin and launches me upward into the sky. A blade of wind comes at me like a flying buzzsaw, pushing me further up. The apparition jumps and strikes with some kind of somersault attack, knocking me out cold as I land back on the ground.

I lay on my back, staring at the gray sky. All the apparitions disappear and retreat.

Then darkness fills my scene and the armored sorceress, Gunhild Ylfing, appears, towering over my passed out body.

"It's time I bring you home, daughter." She extends her purple glowing hand over my face.

And my vision goes black.