Content Warnings:

-strong language

-violence

-Bone Snapping

-Eye Stabbing

A young Setsune stood atop a stage, staring out at the spotlight. She was nervous, her tiny hands shaking. She looked upon her script again.

“Hard at work, are you Setsune?” a woman called out.

She was bald with a faded gold kimono, a cane, and a single leg. She sat next to Setsune on the stage.

“One’s first major performance is quite stressful isn’t it?”

“....,”

“I know what your thinking, ‘Am I ready’, ‘am i good enough’, ‘should I wait for the right time’, and of course,” she commented, a warm laugh within her voice. “The old, ‘am i right for this role’. These  are questions every actor or even artist must think about. Am I right?”

Setsune nervously walked over to her, “How can I play a Star Hunter if I’ve never reached for the stars?”

“Ha ha, Setsune your not playing just any Star Hunter,”

“I’m playing Rem….the star,” Setsune commented looking down.

The woman placed a hand on her shoulder, “Do you know who Rem is, Setsune?”

“The founder of the city?” Setsune questioned, tilting her head to the side, her finger on her chin.

“No no no, she never saw the founding of the city,” she laughed, shaking her head and raising a finger. “The city was named for her, as the one that breached the darkness, returning humanity to the surface. She reached the furthest for the stars and vanished. So her comrades in Andrew’s Knights of the Roundtable named this tip of Triginta Octo LIV after her and left it to itself, as symbol of unity,”

“B-but I can’t reach for the Stars…I don’t know what they look like,” Setsune insisted, rapidly shaking her head.

“Neither did Rem. Humanity was trapped beneath the oceans for so long, the only knowledge they had of the stars were the lights of the creatures of the oceans. But even those lights were snuffed out in time. That’s when the first generation of Star Hunters began,  reaching for the myth of the stars,” she explained, placing a firm hand on Setsune’s shoulder and gesturing towards the sky. “And Rem didn’t awaken until the 38th Generation. She too, never knew of the stars, the legend that none knew existed. It was Andrew Twilight, the troublemaker that found her, who taught her to dream of the legend,”

“I can’t-,” Setsune exclaimed, stepping back.

“Can you dream, Setsune?” She insisted.

“Yes,”

“Do you have doubts?”

“Yes,”

“Then your perfect for the role of Rem Starlight. Focus on your doubts and then chase your dreams,” she assured.

Chapter XI

The Stars in the Night

Ursa and Tempestas wandered through the darkness. Their only lights were the colours shining through the cracks in the walls. This provided little solace however, as it felt like they were walking through the mouth of a crocodile, ready to swallow them at any moment.

“They’ll come for us,” it commented.

“We just need to reach a white shard,” Ursa assured.

“In a core-less gate, that’s wishful thinking,” it shook its head.

“Then make a wish on a star,” Ursa insisted, looking above.

“You believe in those?” it questioned.

“In so many plays, when the heroes were at their lowest, they always looked to the lights in the sky and wished for a better tomorrow,” Ursa exclaimed in a wonderfully optimistic voice.

“The only thing the sky has is birds{Aeternum},” it shrugged.

“Yes, but isn’t it wonderful to think about?” she wished, a warm smile on her face as she reached her claw up at the darkness.

“N-,”

“(Sh),” Ursa urged, raising a finger. “(Purple Nightmares),”

The lights around them seemed to all vanish. They were in pitch black, they could barely even see each other now.

Ursa closed her eyes and used her ears. Purple Nightmares resembled butterflies and their wings reflected what little light was available in the Gates. They often did it to confuse prey, either for present members of a cluster or to prepare the prey for the Cluster’s arrival.

With that in mind.

Ursa's ear twitched. She kicked Tempestas’s leg.

They both rolled dodging an oncoming attack. Ursa blinked.

Bears often have a layer around their eyes that give them night vision. While the Purple Nightmares were able to mess with this through light manipulation, Ursa could still get a brief flash of their attackers.

It was a collection of tiny black fragments put together, very similar to a disfigured skeleton. This one had long, thin claws that resembled tusks. Its body was held together by three orange points.

[“Orange Hearts,”]

She heard the Hearts’s movements, its body scraping against the ground. They often travelled in small groups.

Where are the others?

Another scraped around from the other side. The first charged them again.

Ursa put her back to Tempestas. She quickly jabbed the body of the one in front of them, breaking the Three Orange lights, while Tempestas shakingly hit the one behind them with the butt of its hammer, breaking a single light.

The one Ursa struck fell to dust while the one Tempestas struck was barely shaken, its broken spot regenerating. Ursa switched Tempestas around kneeing, elbowing and jabbing the other one.

“ENOUGH!” Tempestas exclaimed, raising a hand.

Ursa closed her eyes. It let out thin bolts that spread around the ceiling, striking down two of the Nightmares.

The darkness cracked. They could see cloudy shadows ahead of them. Two more hearts.

Ursa liften Tempestas over her shoulder.

“HEY!” It argued.

“No time,”

She charged forwards. Rather than destroy the Hearts before her, she smashed dashed through them, making them stumble, but not breaking them altogether.

“Don’t leave your enemies wounded they’ll-?!” it backseat fought.

She gave it the eye, the two now able to see each other. It went silent.

The Orange Hearts followed behind them, but with their disfigured bodies, they were unable to keep up. They breathed a sigh of relief.

“Your still afraid of my lighting?” it asked, scrambling free and falling to the ground.

She sighed, helping it back up, “Everyone has fears they can’t shake,”

“Where’s the wishful thinking? Wouldn’t you think you could-,” it shrugged, a sarcastic tone in its voice.

“No,”

“That masked one would like a hypocrite like you,” it commented.

She stopped moving, her eyes pale, “....I should’ve known,”

“Known what?”

Ursa dropped it to the ground and placed her left claw on her head, leaving marks in her own skin, “Of course she knew where I’ve been all this time, how the fuck could she not?!”

“What’s wrong-?” it questioned, looking a little concerned.

“You fucking idiot!” she shrieked, turning to it.

“You dare speak to-,”

“She wore a mask right?! Did she have crystular claws and wear a suit?!”

“Ugh…yeah?”

She closed her eyes, a feux smile on her face, ready to explode, “I’m not angry…I’m just disappointed,”

Its eyes sharpened, “What gives you the right to judge *me*....?”

“Nothing in particular,” she responded, looming over it. “More that you made a mistake that should’ve been so obvious it hurts,”

“So you think I’m fucking idiot, yeah?!” It exclaimed, stretching its neck to make itself look bigger. “Well I’m the one who almost caught you!”

“Almost? Almost….?” she questioned, tilting her head. “Your reckless actions nearly killed us both, as well as trusting someone with a known history of lying, scamming, and trickery,”

“I saw her just earlier and she didn’t kill me,” it stated, using its hammer as a stool. “So I’m fine don’t you think?”

“Do you *look* fine, Tempestas Glacies?” she asked, staring it down with sharp eyes. “I’d think that if we never encountered each other, we’d *both* be better off,”

Its eyes widened.

It laughed, “I knew you felt that way. Of course you feel that way-,”

“Feelings have nothing-,”

“Fuck your feelings!” it exclaimed, getting down from its hammer. “I did what I had to. Just cause you want to selfishly run away from everything for your own safety, doesn’t mean I should allow you to do such. The world exists outside your self centred mind!”

She sighed, placing her face down in her left claw, “You know, Tempestas, your right about me, but I think you should think about you for a change,” she suggested, raising one of her eyes.

There was rumbling around them. A cold breeze flowed through the halls. Not the direction of the halls however, the wind went right through the walls.

The walls creeked. They opened up, revealing the Three Eyes one watching them in the valley from high above.

It was crawling upon the ceiling, its tail at the ready. It scratched in a circular motion.

Purple Nightmares created a fog around the edges of the valley. Two green wheels charged down into the valley, aimed directly at the pair.

Ursa threw it out of the way and braced herself for the collision. The two wheels hit her HARD, shattering her arms and snapping her spine.

The green wheels resembled Pangolins, their bodies made up of spikes and scales, with angular heads and covering their stomachs. Their stomachs were entirely covered in green cracks, and would be easy to break.

Tempestas hobbled quickly to get away. Thankfully for it, the Green Wheels had to make some distance to roll again and they seemed to be fixated on Ursa.

Unluckily however. The Three Eyes rapidly tapped the ceiling.

Tiny, beetle-like Beasts leapt down near Tempestas and exploded in a yellow burst. It stumbled.

“YOU THINK YOUR YELLOW BURSTS CAN PARALYZE ME, THINK AGAIN!” it called out, shooting a bolt of lightning at the Three Eyes.

It easily dodged. A swarm of Blue Mould entered the valley.

Ursa’s bones mended themselves, she stumbled to her feet as the Wheels began to rush down again. Tempestas sent bolts at the Mould, but it was being quickly overwhelmed.

The wheels charged. Ursa stared one of them down, ignored the one coming from behind.

They got closer. The Blue Mould was throwing itself onto Tempestas suicidally as it let out bolts and ice to break them.

Ursa sidestepped. She dodged both and reached her left claw in the middle of the one behind her. She sank her claw into its stomach and spin tossed it.

It SMASHED right through a portion of the Mould before dissipating itself. 

The Three Eyes narrowed. It leapt down to the ground.

Tempestas tried to escape, getting some distance, but the Blue Mould kept swarming it. It swung its hammer around wildly in response.

The Orange Hearts caught up. One of them tried to tackle her.

She countered, trying to break its hearts. The Three Eyes jumped in, cutting at her and dashing away.

The other Orange tackled her. She clawed at its hearts.

The Three Eyes stabbed her claws through one of the hearts. She grabbed the tail.

It wrapped the rest of its tail around her. She tried biting it, but it didn’t break.

The remaining green wheel crashed through her and the Orange Hearts. The blow was lessened, but she felt it.

The Hearts regenerated, standing with the Three Eyes. They tackled Ursa while she was down.

She bore her fangs, struggling as the Three Eyes repeatedly impaled her. She scraped her claws along the ground.

The Mould rapidly shaped around Tempestas.

The Three Eyes stepped on the Hearts, crawling right on top of Ursa. Her eyes went sharp.

She twisted her body around and GRABBED the Three Eyes’s head. She pulled it close and SMASHED her thumbs into TWO of its THREE eyes.

Its third eye was shocked. It flailed its tail around as its face broke apart and eventually its body with it.

She slipped out of the hearts just as the Wheel came around again. She dashed towards the Mould.

She clawed at the pile, reaching deep within and grabbing Tempestas. She pulled it out from the Mould, releasing her last gust of wind to break a portion apart.

“Are you okay?” she questioned.

A bolt of lightning went through her body.

She fell to the ground, shaking.

Tempestas hit her with its hammer.

She vanished from the Colour Realm.

Tempestas quickly wandered off, trying to escape. There was a scratch not far off.

It froze. It stumbled, attempting to run.

There were great bursts of yellow. Tempestas fell to the ground, paralyzed.

The Two Eyes looked down at it.

“My child, you really are a worthless,” a voice like infinite metronomes all slightly off called out.

A purple-red strand like a serpent filled the air, infecting each of the Corrupted Beasts through their cracks. Behind Tempestas, the Taipan picked up an echo of Setsune in both arms like she was cradling a child.

“It's okay Setsune, this will be done and over with soon,” she assured the unconscious woman.

“YOOOOUUUUUU!” Tempestas shreaked. “Why-?!”

“(*SILENCE*),” She slit. “We’ll talk in a moment,”

An entire other body split off from her own and carried Setsune away. She looked to the Corrupted Beasts.

“My children, you understand your assignment,”

The Red Eyes bowed. The Mould rushed Tempestas, but instead of entrapping it, they took Tempestas away.

Taipan looked back at Setsune.

---

Setsune awoke in a cold sweat. She immediately grabbed her broach and switched to the Colour Realm.

She laid beneath a white shard. The light that no Corrupted Beast would approach.

Her black cloth had only partially reformed. She was still a long ways to go.

She stumbled to her feet and closed one eye. She could barely see the shard in this light.

She reached for it. A bit of grey formed around her nails. It stung like touching dry ice.

She retracted her claw.

She looked out, out at the Corrupted Beasts that watched her eagerly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

[She looked up at the spotlight. She wore a red dress, a messy red wig, and a black leotard.

“What are ‘stars’?” Rem asked. “This fool, Andrew A. Twilight, wishes to  reach for something beyond the imagination? Beyond the black abyss? I have been awake for so short, yet now he asks me to dream?”

She chuckled and reached up at the light, “What notion is this?! I don’t know who I am, does he think I’ll find myself out there! In the stars! Its such wishful thinking!”

She threw her hand down in a fist, “this is the last thing I should be doing! I should be sensible! I should wait! I should return to the cold…darkness, but perhaps…perhaps….I’ll need a moment,”

She placed her hand on her cheek and closed her eyes. The spotlight went out.

She opened her eyes. They were whirlpools, shining in the darkness, drawing the audience in.

“Perhaps stars exist to be wished upon. I must rest on these thoughts, and tell Andrew my wish…soon, yet not now,”

She wandered off the stage].

To Be Continued………