000 - What Makes The Sky Blue

*ROAAAARRR*

"Uh oh..." Belle hadn't expected Lyria to summon Bahamut, especially now that Bahamut was focused directly on her.

"Daedalus Wings," both Lyria's commanded in unison.

Bahamut responded immediately, its massive wings moving with tremendous speed as they aimed to strike Belle.

"Ehh!!" Sandalphon quickly dodged, her strength as the Supreme Primarch allowing her to evade. But Belle wasn't as fortunate.

BAAM Bahamut's wing slammed into Belle, sending her flying far into the distance. The sheer force of the strike left her body covered in wounds, her form nearly destroyed from the powerful blow.

Before Belle could be thrown too far or plummet to the bottom of the sky, Djeeta caught her midair.

"Phew~ almost fell to the bottom of the sky," Djeeta sighed in relief, glad she caught Belle in time. Then she glanced toward Bahamut.

"Any second now..."

After a few moments, Bahamut started to disappear, as both Lyrias still couldn't maintain it for too long. Eventually, it completely vanished.

Seeing Bahamut gone, Djeeta quickly ran toward Grandcypher, carrying Belle. As she got closer, she noticed the others checking on the two exhausted Lyrias before she finally landed on the deck of the Grandcypher.

"Hey everyone."

Everyone turned to look at Djeeta, and they also noticed Belle slung over her shoulder.

"Is that the pervert fallen angel? Why did you bring her here?" Vyrn asked.

"Hey Vyrn, looks like you're still the same as in my timeline with those comments," Djeeta chuckled as she approached.

"Djeeta!" Lyria stood up and ran toward her.

Seeing this, Djeeta immediately set Belle down and embraced Lyria.

"It's been so long since we last saw each other!" Lyria exclaimed as she hugged Djeeta.

"Yeah, I heard from Future Lyria that you three have been gone for a year, but for me, you only disappeared yesterday."

After they finished hugging, Djeeta got a good look at Lyria and noticed the changes in her appearance.

"Wow, Lyria, you've really grown, huh. You're taller than you were yesterday, and look, your chest is bigger too!"

"Wha—?? Don't say stuff like that in public!" Lyria blushed furiously after hearing that.

"But you too, Djeeta. What's with these clothes you're wearing, and that cloak!" Lyria playfully patted Djeeta's exposed stomach.

"Hahaha, stop, Lyria! That tickles!"

[IMAGE]

While they were talking, the others could only watch in amazement.

"So that's your other self, Gran? She really reminds me of your mother," Vyrn remarked to Gran.

"Yeah... She really does look like Mom," Gran murmured, reminiscing about his mother.

"Aren't you going over there, Orchid?" Rosetta asked, noticing Orchid watching Djeeta and Lyria from a distance.

"...No, I'm not like Lyria who's close to Djeeta... The last time I met her, I was still her enemy," Orchid replied, shaking her head.

"What? That's it? If Djeeta is Gran's other self, I'm sure she won't care about that," Io chimed in.

"You don't need to think about strange things like that, just go and greet her," Katalina added, giving Orchid a little push from behind.

"Yeah, go on, Orchid," Io encouraged.

Hearing this, Orchid swallowed nervously before slowly making her way toward Djeeta and Lyria, who were still chatting.

As she got closer, Djeeta immediately turned her attention to Orchid.

"Ohhh, Orchid! We meet again! You've grown too, huh? You're so much taller than yesterday," Djeeta said, approaching and giving Orchid a warm hug.

"Umm... Thank you. You also look beautiful in your new clothes..." Orchid replied hesitantly.

"Thank you for the compliment."

After their greetings, Djeeta stood facing Gran and the others.

"Hello, my other self! You really do resemble Father, huh?"

"Haha, and you're so much like Mother."

"I know, right? It's so weird seeing your other self but as a different gender."

"Yeah, now I understand how Lyria feels."

"Hahaha."

"Hahaha."

The two laughed together, while the others just shook their heads, amused by the scene.

"Well, now we know Gran's other self is basically just him, but a different gender," Lyria² remarked, watching the two.

"Yeah, they're basically like siblings now," Vyrn added.

"By the way, sorry to interrupt you two, but Djeeta, right? Can you tell us why you brought this fallen angel back here? And what was that blue aura from earlier?" Halluel asked, curious.

"And also, what happened to Rei? Where did he go? Did you... kill him!?" Malluel chimed in, concerned.

"What? Of course not! I'd never kill my beloved like that," Djeeta replied firmly.

"...I see. Looks like your other self is one of Rei's lovers, Gran," Vyrn teased.

"Stop it..."

Djeeta then explained what had happened during her battle with Lucillus and how she let him escape.

"I see, so we need Belle to tell us where Lucillus is hiding," Gran murmured.

"Yeah, and we should find him quickly before his power is fully restored. I don't think I can beat him if he's back at full strength, even with my power," Djeeta admitted.

"Right, your power... What is it? I've never seen anything like it before," Sandalphon asked, recalling the blue aura that surrounded Djeeta and how she had moved effortlessly through the sky.

"That's something called Boundary power," Djeeta began explaining. "It's a power that allows me to access immense energy and break the fate of the world. There's so much I can do with it, but I still don't fully understand it because this power is only temporary."

"Temporary?" Katalina asked, puzzled.

"Yes, temporary," Djeeta confirmed. "I can only manage to use this power because Future Lyria connected me to my other self from a different timeline. Once that connection is severed, I won't be able to use this power as easily."

"Future Lyria? What does that mean?" Lyria² asked, clearly confused.

"I'm not sure what version of Lyria she is," Djeeta replied, "but she's basically you, just from the future. She has really long blue hair and a beautiful appearance. She suddenly showed up and said something about helping us."

"Myself from the future!? How many versions of me are there?" Lyria² exclaimed, feeling overwhelmed after hearing about yet another version of herself.

"There are countless timelines," Djeeta explained. "So many different versions of us and different events they go through, but almost all of them have the same key moments."

"I see... all of them have the same event of our lives getting linked together," Gran remarked, glancing over at Lyria².

"But I remember that your life isn't linked to your Lyria," Rosetta pointed out to Djeeta.

"Yes, only in my case," Djeeta nodded. "My Lyria and I never experienced that."

"Our lives were never linked together," Lyria added, addressing the group.

"And the difference is because..." Sandalphon muttered thoughtfully.

"Rei," they all said in unison.

-----

A few moments later, Djeeta sighed in relief. "Done. She can't get out of the binding now," she said after using her harp to tie up Belle securely.

"Now we should get out of Canaan while we wait for Belle to wake up," Djeeta suggested.

Rackam steered the Grandcypher away from Canaan and back toward the Sky Realm. However, in the middle of the journey, something materialized on the deck of the ship.

"Sandalphon, sorry we're late," Michael said as she appeared before them. "Repairing the sky that was losing control took longer than expected."

She was followed by the other Tetra Archangels—Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.

"You're so late! Everything's already finished in Canaan!" Halluel grumbled at them.

"Sorry about that," Michael apologized again. "I didn't expect it to take so long. Can someone fill us in on what happened?"

"I can explain," Sandalphon offered.

She proceeded to recount what had happened in Canaan and also the memories she gained after absorbing the Feather. When Rei had given her the Feather and the Supreme Primarch's power, it had unlocked Lucifer's memories—everything that had been happening in Canaan and their plan to bring Rei back.

"Supreme Primarch died??? Are you serious, Sandalphon?" Uriel asked in shock.

"Yes," Sandalphon confirmed. "I understand how everyone feels, but Lucifer truly died, and he entrusted his power to me to help fix things."

"...We can't change what's already happened, but Sandalphon, do you know who was responsible? And what's the plan now?" Gabriel asked, still processing the news.

"Right, the plan," Sandalphon nodded, turning toward Gabriel. "Can you heal her?"

"Heal? Heal who?" Gabriel asked, looking confused.

Sandalphon pointed to Belle, whose body was covered in injuries and who lay unconscious on the deck.

"Is that... the Fallen Angel?" Raphael asked in shock.

"Yes," Sandalphon confirmed. "I know she's a Fallen Angel, but Djeeta said we need her to tell us where Rei is. We don't have enough time to search for him ourselves."

"I see... Alright, I'll see what I can do, but I'm only doing this to help us find Rei," Gabriel said, approaching Belle.

Her six blue wings appeared, glowing with divine light. She closed her eyes, concentrating her power.

"Sacred Word: Heal this being," Gabriel intoned. A soft blue light enveloped Belle's body, and slowly, her wounds began to heal.

It didn't take long before all of Belle's injuries had vanished.

"What now?" Gabriel asked Sandalphon.

Sandalphon turned to Djeeta after hearing the question. "Alright, everyone is here, so I'm going to explain the plan for when we meet Rei again."

A short while later, after Djeeta had explained the details, Vyrn spoke up, sounding incredulous. "Are you serious, Djeeta? We need to beat Rei after he absorbed the entire Avatar's body and core? And now he has Avatar's regeneration?"

"Yes," Djeeta confirmed. "We need to beat him and drain as much of his energy as possible. I don't know how long the fight will be, but after that, Lyria, Lyria², and Orchid will absorb his power. Once that happens, Rei will definitely be able to come back."

"That's easier said than done..." Eugen muttered. "We couldn't do anything when he attacked us before, and with our current strength, we definitely can't fight him head-on."

"I know," Djeeta acknowledged. "But we don't have to defeat him outright; we just need to prolong the fight long enough for Lyria and the others to absorb his power."

"But can our bodies handle his power?" Lyria² asked, concerned.

"Yes," Djeeta reassured her. "Future Lyria said that with Orchid there, the three of you will definitely be able to handle it."

"Alright," Lyria² nodded. "But until Belle wakes up, we should figure out a way for the rest of us to fight too. I don't want to just stand by and watch."

"I feel the same," Katalina agreed. "I want to help save Rei. After all the food he's cooked for me, there's no way I'm just going to stand aside!"

"Yeah! I want to help too!" Io added, full of determination.

Everyone shared the same sentiment—they wanted to help save Rei and didn't want to just stay behind and watch.

"...I see," Djeeta smiled, seeing their resolve. "Alright then, I'll come up with a way for everyone to fight too!"

"Yeah!" they all cheered in unison, ready to face the challenges ahead.