Wherever the parchment crossed, the women inside shuddered, clutching their children tight. Little ones buried their faces into their mothers' laps, while older daughters shielded younger sisters with trembling arms.
The parchment flew unpredictably through the dusty streets until it landed on the roof of a primitive house.
Viridian warriors swarmed it instantly, encircling the home, their mocking laughter rising over the thunder of their drums.
The projection zoomed closer. Inside that house, it was actually the girl Luna whom they saw previously in the projection. It was like fate itself had projected them first and now selected them.
The mother's scream tore through the air. "No, oh god, no!"
Within, she clutched her daughters, three in all. Luna, the youngest, stared wide-eyed as her two elder sisters argued frantically.
"I'll go," one cried, her voice cracking.
"No, take care of Mama and Luna. I'll go," the other shouted, shaking her head violently.
"No!" the mother sobbed, pulling her daughters to her chest. "You are children. If anyone must go, let it be me!"
Tears streaked their faces. Their words overlapped, each trying to shield the others.
The mother's voice broke as she screamed to the heavens. "O Goddess! Save us! Save us, please!"
Luna's eyes hardened. She looked once at her mother, once at her sisters, then turned.
With trembling hands she pushed the others into the inner room and slammed the door shut, locking them inside.
Their pounding fists struck the wood as Luna whispered to herself, "If gods won't come, then I'll face the demon myself."
The door trembled under their frantic pounding. The mother's voice cracked, raw with terror. "Luna! No, don't! Please!"
But the little girl walked outside alone.
Outside, the plaza pulsed with drums. Darius leaned lazily on his conjured throne, eyes gleaming with cruelty.
"Hah... I don't know which flower will step out," he laughed. "The suspense is delicious."
The door creaked open. Luna emerged.
The crowd of Viridian warriors erupted in mocking celebration as Luna appeared, drums intensifying with each of her small steps. They threw flower petals in her path, showering the girl as though she were some honored guest.
On the ship, Adrian's chest tightened. Thomas and Elara exchanged looks of horror.
They grasped what was happening, but they did not want to believe what came into their mind. Yet the projection continued.
Luna walked slowly to the throne, her small figure dwarfed by the towering warriors. At the foot of the dais, she stopped, eyes hollow.
Her mother burst through the door at last, rushing forward with a scream. "Please, please, spare her!"
A Viridian warrior seized her, hurling her aside like trash. "Silence, woman!"
The mother still cried out, voice cracking. "She's just a child! I beg you, leave her!"
Darius didn't even glance at her. His gaze stayed fixed on Luna, hunger burning in his eyes.
He licked his lips and leaned forward. "A flower plucked at random, the galaxy never disappoints me."
One of the women beside him laughed softly. "Let's take her home, my lord."
But Darius shook his head, impatience flashing across his face. "No. I want it here. Now."
The woman's smile widened. "Two minutes, my lord. I'll dress her like a queen."
Darius nodded, that predatory hunger plain on his face. His fingers drummed against the throne's armrest.
On the ship, Adrian snapped his gaze toward Aurelia. His eyes blazed, unspoken words burning in them, Is this the cruel galaxy you told us of?
Aurelia met his stare and understood it. She did not try to shield the truth. She gave a single, almost imperceptible nod.
Her voice was low, bitter. "Yes. This is the galaxy. Some clans are worse than demons."
Adrian turned back to the projection. His chest heaved. He could not watch the girl being dragged away while her mother clawed at the ground, screaming to the god who never came.
Thomas gripped the console, knuckles white. Elara's jaw clenched, her light affinity trembling beneath her skin.
Kael stared at the screen, hands shaking. "We can't... there's nothing we can do."
Selena's face had gone ashen. She pressed her lips together, golden tattoos flickering with suppressed rage.
Aurelia stood motionless. She knew the galaxy's laws, the consequences of interfering with clan matters.
But Adrian couldn't just keep watching. Back on Earth, he never imagined someone would do this. Every day in the galaxy showed how cruel it was.
He kept questioning everything within him. Now, finally seeing something like this, something inside him snapped.
He stepped forward and vanished.
Gasps erupted in the command room. Kael surged upright, his voice sharp. "He's mad! There are hundreds of SSS-ranks there!"
"If he fights them all—" Thomas started, his face pale.
Elara's hands flew to her mouth. "Adrian, no..."
All eyes turned to Aurelia. The only one strong enough to intervene.
"Stop him!" Kael demanded. "He isn't strong enough! He'll die there!"
But Aurelia only shook her head. Her eyes were steady, her voice low and solemn.
"He is more than just a fighter. Adrian is the one destined to bear Earth's banner."
"If he cannot choose now, if he cannot act when his heart demands it, then he is no leader. This is his first decision as Earth's heir."
Thomas stepped forward. "And if they kill him?"
Her essence unfurled like a tide, space itself bending faintly under her will. Kael's breath caught.
This was space essence. Not space affinity. And he had never even sensed it until she revealed it.
"And if the worst comes..." Aurelia's voice carried absolute certainty. "I will pull him back. But this choice... this belongs to him alone."
The others exchanged anxious glances. They were powerless to argue.
The projection flickered as the satellite registered a sudden disturbance. A figure appeared in the plaza, kneeling beside the sobbing mother.
It was Adrian.
Dust swirled as he knelt beside the broken mother. He placed a hand lightly on the woman's shoulder.
The woman flinched, terror replacing confusion. Another warrior? Another tormentor?
"Tell me," his voice thundered as the Node translated into words she could understand. "Do you wish these creatures erased from your world?"
The mother froze, mouth open. Too broken to answer at first.
Shock and disbelief warred in her eyes, caught between terror and desperate hope. "Who... who are you?"