
Chapter 102: Time to Go Home (Arc 3 – Puppets On Starlight Strings END)
“You are a hard woman to find.”
Being found wasn’t something I expected, let alone that someone was directly looking for me.
“Eh, thanks, I guess. Was trying to sleep, but it is hard to tell how successful that was.” I kept the conversation light-hearted with my reply.
Nina asked, “Did you need help getting up?”
There was so little room in this tight crawl space I doubted a hand would help much.
“I can manage. Just what is the date?”
“Four days after you know what.”
“I know? What could I possibly know?” I replied.
(“ Don’t be shy, you have a friend now? ”)
Do not start joking around now. You still have a lot to answer for… I just need to distract myself from the pain for a moment.
“...I can’t say this was the interaction I expected from meeting you for the first time.”
“Blame the blood–” And soul “–loss, I’m extremely delirious at this point.” I groaned as I got up. “Can you lead the way? Not sure how you got in here.”
“I can, but first, do you need me to patch you up?” Nina asked, her hand already glowing a soft white light.
“No, I’m stable. Anything else can happen when I am in a proper seat.” My hand grabbed the ceiling. “But thank you for the offer, Nina.”
It wasn’t an instant recognition. I knew I heard the voice before, but that included a lot of people. However, after seeing the eyes in the darkness and the outline of her face, I recognised her. Nina Clarword, I looked up multiple videos of her when searching for options for Mella’s treatment. I wanted to be sure I would recognise her when she appeared on Earth; of course, that plan went out the window quickly after that occurred.
“So you did recognise me.”
“I’ve got good dark vision.”
We slowly exited the in-between space of the segment, and once I was finally out, I stood up and stretched my limbs out. The pain was technically bearable–as I wasn’t literally dying from it–but it had increased greatly compared to when I was sitting down.
The exit was a service tunnel, not the one I entered from, but it was likely connected.
After my stretching routine, I said. “I’m surprised you were able to find me; well, the fact you were looking for me might be a bigger surprise.” My brain was too worn out to think of the reasons why she could possibly be looking for me. All I did know was that this was to my advantage; her healing abilities might be able to help. Not completely; all the soul damage was likely unrecoverable with healing magic, but for the physical injuries while they were repaired, a specialist fixed my help greatly. However, I wanted to wait a moment before asking, as I had no idea how much pain that would cause me.
In the bright tunnel, I could properly see Nina. She was wearing proper combat gear with a grey colour and white accents. Her face was visible, and her long blond hair was tied up.
She then gave me a surprising answer. “Well, I have been looking for you for nearly a year now.”
A year?
My brain might’ve only been partially working, but hearing that jump started it.
“Is Mel–”
“Mella is okay. She is healed, going back to school, and misses you deeply.” Said Nina.
I leant back on the wall, smiling and relieved.
Thank the stars…
I knew that Mella had likely been healed… when that was more wishful thinking. After Dominous Hood’s commander tore a hole to Earth that day, I knew the chances of Mella being healed directly by Nina had greatly decreased if she hadn’t been healed by when the portal opened. If she hadn't, I had hoped she at least got proper surgery and prosthetics in the time apart.
“Thank you, Nina…” I thanked her, hearing that brought a sense of relief to me that I very much needed.
“No need. It is what I live for.” Replied Nina. Healers like her were weird people.
After my relief finished washing me, I asked. “What now?”
“Well, do you want to go home?” Looking into her eyes, I had a feeling no wasn’t an answer. Her determination was very visible in her eyes and concerned smile.
“Yes… that would be nice.” I had no reason to disagree.
After all the random events that plagued me in the last week that I had no prior knowledge of, this was by far the nicest and most welcomed one.
She explained that we were going to her ship that had been parked not too far away and that once we got on, we would be headed straight to Metous.
I asked if I had to present any information to anyone on our trip, which Nina explained wouldn’t be necessary. I figured she understood my current circumstances well.
The hallway we traversed through was empty, but soon we made it back above the surface, and Nina activated her helmet to cover her face to hide her features.
Back on the destroyed surface, I looked around to see the kilometres of destruction. “I’m surprised you found me; I could’ve been anywhere in space.”
She was honest, “I had help.”
Oh?
My thoughts shifted to one planet.
(“ I didn’t ask her ”)
I figured that. That doesn’t mean you didn’t indirectly do something.
If Espr did, I would have something to say thank it for.
(“ I didn’t. Are you sure you should trust her then? ”)
Well, has everything she said been true so far?
(“ Yes ”)
Good enough for me at the moment.
“Well, thank you to those who helped as well." I had no plans of questioning what the help was at the moment. It could’ve just been the best tracker in the universe or something more unknown. I couldn’t be fucked asking at the moment.
We walked to the ship, which was close to the hatch to our exit. It was a medium-sized vessel that had multiple rooms, and we entered through the open door and made our way to a lounge room with a window view.
There was a crew on the ship already, and the pilot got the signal from Nina and began to take off.
Soon we were flying off the ground, and I could see through the window what was left of the first segment.
It was a disaster.
Most of the buildings that littered the segment outside of the tower had been destroyed, and craters were left that dug into the metal sheets. The massive tower had only a few holes in it, which was impressive considering how tall it was.
Nearly painter-like stains were spread across the segment as if it were a canvas and it was painted with burns of fire and lightning; rubble; rust; melted metals; acids; etc.
Looking at it one could only wonder how many people were caught in the crossfire.
However, reconstruction had already begun. Large vessels were dropping new buildings on the segment that were being located and fused into the layer. Cleanup machinery was removing the rumble and reusing it to rebuild the damaged floor. Support vessels surrounded the outside of the segment, repairing the outer wall, and the connectors between the segments were visible as we flew further out.
I had to ask, “Are you sure you shouldn’t be down there helping?”
Nina paused, likely expecting this question. “I’ve already provided my aid; there is no one left in critical positions that needs my help.”
“I still think you should be down there.” Everything that was spoken and written about Nina basically pointed to being someone who would go out of their way to help the injured if she could see them.
“Normally I would, but there are other people that need my help at the moment.” Nina's eyes glazed across the station. “You are correct. It does hurt my soul seeing all those lives in pain, but I’ve gone around already, so no one else will be dying from injuries inflicted upon them.”
My gaze looked up to the stars. “I guess you have been busy then.”
“Once I learned you weren’t moving, it gave me the confidence to go around and offer my aid.”
“I am glad my laziness helped you save a few lives.”
“It was more than a few, and you saved a number yourself.” Said Nina, confident in her answer. She likely didn’t know exactly what I did, but considering my state when found, not a hard guess.
…
Maybe.
Nina left the room to allow Ceella a moment alone.
All the permission had already been accounted for, so it was going to be a trip with no interruption to Metous.
This trip had been a lot, and the amount of mana recovery items she consumed had made her feel sick. She had been in disguise, running around the segments, using her skills to track anyone who was hurt and dying.
Though many people had died before she arrived, there was nothing she could do to bring them back.
Nina received a message from the staff from her personal clinic on Metous.
NCFM4 – ([ The patient is now in stable condition. ])
It’s the wrong one…
There was one person she wanted to save, and once again, that was the person that didn’t make it.
([ Understood. Ensure they are locked up for questioning. ]) – Nina
There was originally going to be an expanded segment three section with Ceella interacting with more people and investigating, but that got cut.
I had planned for a whole minor criminal subplot on the second segment, that got cut.
A bunch of other small stuff got cut.
Some big moments with the Blazers got cut.
I already commented in previous chapters that I was noticing strange things and inconsistencies during the arc, now afterwords I understand it.
So, yeah, out of the three arcs I probably have the most negative thoughts about this one.
But even if I understand it, it doesn't mean it's not wrong. I'll be honest, the flow of the story has felt wrong, it has felt in several parts (from when she arrives at the station until the battle begins) that there is something missing. In fact, I would say that it feels like the protagonist is making forced decisions to follow the script instead of being the story of the protagonist making her own decisions.
I had planned for a whole minor criminal subplot on the second segment, that got cut.
I would have really liked to see some missions and plots that were against the law and in general morally gray, such as robberies, murders, heists (and piracy), espionage, drugs or artifact trafficking.
Honestly if this content had been at the beginning of the story I probably would have abandoned this story and put a 2* review. But after reading 129 chapters and quite a few of them of good quality I will continue to give it a chance and see what happens in arc 4.
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My recommendation on how to continue would be quite simple, The protagonist, herself, has realized several flaws and shortcomings that she has and it would be a good idea to see how she tries to solve them.
1. The problem with the wounds in her soul
2. Lack of training to fight with other people
3. Lack of information about the enemy (and society in general).
4. Lack of knowledge and influence in the criminal world.
5. Lack of reliable contacts (legal or criminal).
6. Lack of money
All this means that the protagonist is not even able to repair a mobile phone during the entire plot of the arc and frankly, this inability has frustrated me a lot about the protagonist.
Yeah, this arc was meant to end of a bit of low point for the characters. But it also happened to be a low point in terms of the writing...
A good number of the those points will be things Ceella is going to try and address, as they were all things that f*cked her over during this arc. Though point 1 will be the focus as that is the most pressing issue for her.
That's fine, but don't become so obsessed with curing the soul problem that you miss opportunities to deal with the other issues.
For example: by investigating how to solve the problem, Ceella can discover an artefact that can solve her problem but this artefact is considered high risk and is in government custody (1). Therefore, in order to get it, she will need to know information about the government (3) and to do so, she will need to contact trusted information brokers (5), who in turn will need a certain reputation in the criminal world (4) and money (6).
This would also introduce antagonists other than the Dominous Hood.
Note: the numbers in brackets indicate the points I refer to in the spoiler of the first comment.
I won't say too much more because I don't want to spoil it as arc 4 is mostly planned out now.
Arc 4 will have different villains from Dominous Hood. Since I've reached around the midpoint of the story now, keeping them away from the camera for a moment. And at some point, there will be some thieving done by some of the main/supporting cast.
Also, very nice sequences of events
. That would've been a very fun way to write the next arc centred around a plot like that, I will keep it in mind for a future story
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Infinite cookies are here ?♾️









I'll try to eat as many as I can over the break!









Thanks for reading!
Caught up.
@Anemo Congrats
I think overall the changes and edits are positive. The arc had a pretty good flow to it, and most parts don’t feel dragged on or barely covered. There are also some good subplots and/or hooks to be explored and brought back in future chapters. Thank you for your decision to keep writing, it has been a pleasure and we are thankful for more to come!


I'm glad you liked it! My negatives feelings have been from my own perspective, so it's nice to hear those parts aren't as bad as I think they are
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More to come soon!
Thank you for the story. We look forward to seeing more.
Thanks for reading!
I'll do my best!