As hours turned to days, days to weeks, and weeks to months, everyone carried on with their lives--but always with the weight of that day pressing on their backs.
The day that stripped them of their comrades, their allies... their friends.
From the outside, it looked like everyone had moved on. Battles resumed, Missions continued, Life pushed forward because it just had to. But underneath the thin mask of 'normality', the nightmare still lingered.
It crawled up their spines, settled in their chests, and whispered in the back of their minds. A parasite that infected sleep, a quiet virus that ate through the soul inside and out.
For many, rest became a stranger. Some couldn't sleep without jolting awake, drenched in sweat, hearing echoes of that arena, of their yells, and even the grunts they made yearning for survival. Some developed insomnia entirely, terrified to close their eyes and relive the moment Rikushi and Blaidd's bodies were sucked into a dimensional unknown to most. Others stepped away from the battlefield, unable to wield their weapons without the memory of the portal's bright light burning behind their eyes.
They remembered it all like it was yesterday.
The colors. The screams. The portal.
And the silence that followed as they lost someone important.
Later that month--during one of those long nights where Nova Concordia Nexus barely slept--a strange figure approached a small cafe on the outskirts of the city. They left without a word, leaving only an unmarked envelope on the counter before disappearing into the fog-dimmed mountains.
When the letter reached the main Town Hall the next morning, everyone from The NCN gathered for an emergency meeting. Even Brant and his squad--they were staying over the past month to heal up and recover their strength--stood amongst the crowd, tension weighing down their shoulders.
Rumoto, Para, Davie, Rez, LuLu, Mek, Tyrant, and the others circled around the table.
No one wanted to be the first to touch it.
They debated what it could be, who it could be from, whether it was a warning or a trap. But before the arguments could escalate, Kaide stepped forward and opened it without hesitation.
Inside was a single drawing and some words at the bottom.
A mountain.
A familiar one--the one that the Academy of Astral sits upon.
And beneath the sketch, written in ink that shimmered faintly like yellow-starlight:
"Oh climb atop the mountain, for your wishes may be granted,
as even our fallen allies can rise once again."
The room fell silent with shock, but everyone was thinking the same thing.
And then, without another word, Hoshina stepped out the room.
Toku stood up from his seat.
Glonk stopped leaning on the wall.
Jin walked up behind Valentine, putting his arm around his shoulder.
LuLu Smiled with a grin from ear to ear.
Brant gripped his sword's hilt.
Moments later, some metal thuds are heard like something is hitting the walls and ground.
The noises come to a halt as Hoshina turns around the corner and into the doorway, carrying her Lance, Toku's Spear, LuLu's Scythe, and Valentine's Knuckles.
Hoshinia says "We're going, now, to-"
"save them." Valentine says, with a tear coming down his cheek.
Glonk, LuLu, Valentine, Jin, Toku, Hoshina, and even Brant volunteered without a moment's notice, as if their bodies were reacting faster than their minds.
They would go to the Astral Academy.
They would climb that mountain.
And they would not return empty-handed.
They would return with Rikushi and Blaidd--
or not at all.