Gabriel sat completely still, waiting for an answer, his hand sitting on the hilt of his blade. He was ready to pounce on his lifelong enemy, who was now defenseless. Meanwhile, the couple hesitated before Sophie mounted a response.

"Unfortunately for you, it looks like Lucia will be the ruler of Valeria. You don't seriously believe you are strong enough to overpower the both of us, right? So why not just let it go."

“Be that as it may, I cannot simply let Louis come away unscathed. How about this: I will let you have the crown, but you must leave Louis in my hands.”

The blonde-haired man brushed off the Sylvan girl's threat and offered a counter-proposal, one that ostensibly had little downside to Lucia and Sophie. Lucia shifted her eyes over to Sophie as if to ask, "So what do we do now?"

There are definitely worse offers, but I get the feeling that Sophie needs to use Louis for something. I also don't believe Gabriel knows that I am the Light Goddess. Maybe I can show him some of my power, and he'll…

“That’s fine.”

Without any argument, Sophie accepted his offer. 

"A wise decision. Simply remove the circlet from his head, and this will all be over."

While Louis began to back away from them, the ground started to tremble. It split the entirety of the palace and Valeria itself in two. Immediately, Lucia began using her newly found powers as a god to levitate the two floating masses of land. What sprung from the core of Valeria was none other than a colossal shark.

Lucia knew this sky shark from her past as Hinata. Its identity was none other than Bahamut, a White Beast with a rather frightening ability to alter the memories of those in its vicinity.

Sophie, Gabriel, and Louis all began acting rather irrationally. Each of them became aggressive and started attacking each other. Gabriel, in particular, had focused his blade on Sophie, keeping her occupied. 

If their memories had been altered this much, the beast must have truly awakened its power.

Lucia understood the significance of this monster's appearance: Aluber had returned to this world and fully revived his beasts. Acting quickly, she flew out of the palace and chased after the intimidating sky shark. It seemed her status as a deity protected her against the beast's memory-altering abilities.

With a roar, it blasted a lightning bolt from its horn at its pursuer. With haste, Lucia dodged it and shot a spear of light through the shark. Then, three more. Then another. No matter what she did, the flying beast did not falter. 

Instead, the beast caused a storm of lightning to pass over Valeria. Each bolt of lightning left devastation and rubble over the once-idyllic city. While looking over the city, a small tear formed in Lucia's eyes and traveled down her face. Her face contorted in rage, a scarce sight.

She brought her hands together and charged her mana. With each passing second, houses and streets were destroyed by the thunderbolts summoned by the sky shark. Then, she unleashed a massive beam of light. Slowly, she carved the ray of light through the shark, cleaving it straight in two.

The beast fought with all its strength, but it was still no match for Lucia's newly found powers. Her eyes briefly fell on the beast's corpse before returning to the palace.

The three had been standing still and in complete silence when Lucia had returned. Gabriel hadn't even made any movements towards Louis, and Sophie sat dumbstruck. Losing one's memories, even temporarily, had been a harrowing experience. 

However, there was more to what occurred while Lucia battled the shark.

"I can't believe it. My revenge, Louis's immortality, none of it was real."

Gabriel looked defeated.

“What’s going on here?”

Lucia questioned.

"It seems that the beast had manufactured this entire conflict between Gabriel and Louis."

Sophie’s explanation for Gabriel’s downtrodden state initially created confusion in Lucia.

Now that I think about it, a recent change in memories might explain why Gabriel had done so little to exact revenge in all the years he was alive.

As this revelation was occurring, though, another person joined the chaos. He was a Sylvan man with a gentle but shifty demeanor.

"Please, everyone, I need you to hear me out."

It was none other than Alfnor who had made this request.

"I know you all have no reason to trust me, but I'm receiving word from my guild members back home. Aluber has appeared back in the Heavenswood. He is trying to destroy our country first. I beg you for your aid in defeating him."

His characteristic stutter was nowhere to be seen, showing the sheer gravity of the situation that faced the Heavenswood and even the entirety of FOO. 

Lucia and Sophie did not know how exactly he had learned of Aluber, but there were larger problems to deal with. Sophie stared down at the man prostrating himself on the palace floor.

"It's now or never, Lucia. If we win this, we'll finally live in peace."

Before anyone could respond, an entire group spontaneously appeared in the control room.

“Hey Lucia, long time no see. Have we got news for you!”

Her voice, combined with a slight yawn, was unmistakable.

“Theresia!”

And alongside the bard came Magnus, Ceres, and… The Oracle.

“Lucia, I can’t believe it. I thought we would never see you again!”

Ceres smiled but remained silent at Magnus’s greeting. Then, the Oracle cut the reunion short.

"Excuse me, but we must discuss the matter of Aluber. I don't know if news has reached your ears yet, my Goddess, but the Heavenswood is currently under siege. We must awaken the Goddess of Darkness and create a permanent seal for this evil creature. Furthermore, I have fully recalled where we must reawaken the Goddess of Darkness, as you should have, Hinata. Your memories have returned, have they not?"

“Yes, but I still prefer the name Lucia.”

"Very well, my Goddess, I shall refer to you as Lucia. Lucia, we must travel to the Temple of Darkness and awaken Mizuki. Do you have any knowledge of who the other True Incarnate may be?"

“Yes.”

Lucia answered bluntly and turned her head to Sophie.

"I just have this feeling deep in me that I am connected to Sophie somehow. She must be Mizuki. I just know it."

"I'll trust you, my goddess, but beware: We cannot afford to be wrong about this."

"I know. I am positive that Sophie is Mizuki. I'm just sure of it deep in my heart."

Lucia gazed longingly at her lover before breaking eye contact.

“Let’s end this.”

Lucia, you need to use your powers as Goddess to teleport there. It should be relatively straightforward. Enter your Lux Aeterna, bring your friends, and then it will be possible to change your current location from the realm. Think of it as a sort of "level editor" used in those "video games" back in your world.

Hinata provided a helpful analogy for how the Lux Aeterna functioned, but Lucia's mind was elsewhere.

We will stop Aluber tonight, but there is just something I need to do first.

✿✿✿

The lights of the Nebula Night bathed Blue Swallow Inn in a colorful glow. It was truly spectacular in all senses of the word. People danced and ignored the destruction they had faced earlier in the day. One chair in the bar was occupied by a Fairy, now a goddess with purple and white hair.

A young-looking man opened the inn door and instantly spotted his friend by the distinct color of her hair. After taking a seat, he let out a long sigh.

“Lucia?”

“Hello, Yves.”

“It’s been what, a week?”

“Yeah.”

For a few seconds, the two sat in complete silence. 

“I wanted to apologize… It wasn’t right for me to use you to quell my loneliness.”

Lucia's eyes shifted downwards as she spoke.

"I actually wanted to apologize as well. I could have been gentler; I had just been taken off guard by how you acted; it just brought back memories of someone."

Yves's voice seemed to trip over itself with each word he spoke.

Another silence came between the two.

"You know I never showed up to the battle today. It just didn't feel right with all that happened between us."

“That’s fine. I honestly couldn’t imagine you getting bossed around by Sophie.”

Lucia let out a small giggle as images of her berating Yves appeared in her head.

"I have something I want to give to you. It's an Overture Class. You said you wanted one, didn't you? I obtained it in the battle earlier today."

Using her status window, Lucia transferred over the class that had once belonged to Sirius.

"Mirror Harbinger Replicana, huh. Judging by the skills associated with it, the class utilizes a strategy of copying an opponent's level for a short time. However, it seems relatively weak regarding the other skills it offers the user. Might be purposefully weak to balance the power that comes with copying a level."

"I'm not sure if it's really your playstyle, but it's better than nothing! And don't forget, the class employs a scythe as its main weapon, just like your Reaper class!"

“Yeah, I’m not sure this class fits me…”

Lucia’s face quickly came into a frown after realizing he wasn’t appreciating the gift.

"Uhhh, there was one cool trick the previous owner used. His friends all used an Advanced class known as "Copycat," which has a skill that can copy the level of a party member for a short period of time. Though, this class is even weaker because it restricts the user to daggers."

Instead of paying attention to her explanation, Yves circled his finger around his drink's rim.

"Hey, Yves. I want to ask you something. I'm planning to start my own guild. Would you join it? I know you have Angel Dirge and everything, but I felt like we made such a good team that time we went dungeoneering once. I'll even let all of Angel Dirge join."

It took a few moments for him to respond as he entered a deep state of contemplation.

“...Fine.”

“WOO HOO”

Lucia jumped into the air, and from the stairs, the entirety of their old party appeared.

“I never thought we’d all get to travel like this again!”

Magnus wrapped his arm around Yves's neck playfully while the others looked on. Then, Lucia made an announcement.

“This colorful night marks the day “Violet Refrain” was founded. Cheers to our future adventures!”

With that, they clinked their glasses—except for Yves, who squinted in irritation.