Little Jia was now running in a random direction, trying to figure out where was that voice coming from. She was itching to find out who was that mysterious person. She was now gasping with every step taken.

Suddenly, as she stopped to take a breath, that voice became inaudible. Jia found herself in the heart of the forest. She didn’t feel scared. That was odd. She became very curious and now, all she wanted to do was to explore the thicket.

She smiled big and began to wander around. She felt free. She felt like she was dreaming with her eyes opened. The pastel colors of the trees surrounding made her feel so relieved and calm. It was so quiet. Only the mild wind and the pastel pink leaves rustling beneath her feet were making faint sounds.

Jia was running in circles around the huge trees and she was laughing. She seemed hypnotized by the beauty of the surroundings. She totally forgot about Miyumi and her parents; she lost track of time. She was enjoying her time in nature.  

As it turned late at night, Jia remembered about her parents, who had to be extremely worried about her. Yet she just couldn’t leave the forest. The trees were now glowing and the pastel colors became neon and they were so bright and hypnotizing. The millions of stars that lit up the night sky were generating a dreamy atmosphere. Jia was so fascinated. She began to love that reality. That one, trapped in the heart of the glowing forest.

Back at Miyumi’s house, the adults were very worried. They had been searching for Jia for such a long time and they still didn’t get any ideas of where she could possibly be…

“Nowhere in or around the house, not in the neighborhood either… Where could she go?” asked Kaito with a shaky voice. He was really worried. After all, she was his daughter and he cared about her. He couldn’t bare the thought of losing her.

Miyumi gave him a forced smile. “She went looking for Vantablack!” she giggled.

“Sis, not funny! She is my daughter!” yelled Kaito. He hated his sister’s jokes, but now, they were in a critical situation and Miyumi was not helping at all. She didn’t know how and she just wanted to act like she was at least trying.

Kaito went in the backyard. Rin followed. He shouted Jia’s name a few times, hoping she could hear him from wherever she was, but his efforts were pointless. There was no response. Rin came to comfort him, but suddenly, their eyes fell on a distant patch of darkness that was slowly covering the whole Section. Kaito made a few steps back. He realized what was the incoming danger.

“This can’t be… They all said the War was over…! NEON’s Destroyer is back… Is that the end for all of us…?” he muttered.

Rin looked at him, with tears in her eyes. She hugged her husband. “I can’t believe I lived up to this day… only to find out that this is the end of all things… I’m so sorry, Kaito…” she sobbed. She didn’t know what dying felt like and she was scared.

The dark matter covered the starry sky above the section. Then, it formed into an enormous warp gate and a huge, monstrous head emerged from it. It had glowing, pale purple skin and big, shiny, golden eyes. It roared loudly. It generated a strong gust of wind that blew away most of the buildings around… It had huge jaws and long, sharp fangs that were also luminous… After just a few seconds, the earth shook and many holes appeared in the sky. Ten, gigantic tails came out of them. They appeared to be made out of glowing crystals. They were long enough to reach the earth. As soon as they touched the ground, they destroyed everything. All of NightCity was torn to pieces. The buildings were smashed; collapsing on the helpless and innocent people who were desperately running for their lives. Yet there was no escape from the chaos. Along with the massive destructions came the fire. Black flames and smoke… The explosions and their powerful shockwaves reduced the fallen surroundings to ashes and dirt. That creature was standing there, watching as the whole Section was slowly burning. It roared victoriously and sunk back into its gate of dark matter. It pulled its tails back. When the patches of darkness vanished, the sky shook and the monster’s roar echoed all around.

It took a while for the chaos to settle down and all that was left of NightCity were the burning ruins…

From the forest, Jia only heard the loud roar. She began to feel very scared and decided to go back to her aunt’s house. As she kept running, trying to find her way out of the thicket, she sensed a strange smell of fresh blood mixed with smoke. It was so strong that it caused Jia to faint half-way…

As she fell to the ground, half conscious, strange images began to swirl in her head.