Dawn broke over Belthar-9 as the Arche Chronos landed before the Celestial Archives Tower. For the first time since their odyssey began, the crew was not heading off to some distant realm but deep into its own origins: Professor Myrha D'Avril's secret laboratory, where it had all begun. The crimson morning light danced on the glass walls like a silent warning: the hour of truth had come.
---
1. Return to the Cradle of Creation
1.1. The Glass Doors
In the entrance hall, two colossal engraved crystal doors depicted the cycle of Reflections in bas-relief: birth, quest, liberation. Mayu pressed her breastplate against the central symbol, and the doors parted with a soft crash, revealing a corridor lined with darkened monitors and sealed glass tubes.
> Mayu (quietly):
"Every step brings us closer to the source of our trials."
1.2. Rising the Flux
Renan and Lia located inactivated Kaléido cores mounted along the walls, frozen in time. As they progressed, flickering holograms of their own journey materialized—images of violet dunes, bioluminescent forests, quartz statues.
> Renan:
"It's as if the building itself remembers us."
---
2. Facing the Professor
2.1. The Hall of Judgement
At the corridor's end lay a vast circular chamber. In its center stood Myrha D'Avril, tall and composed, her holographic helmet projecting a mask of stars. At her feet pulsed the Heart of Liberation, faintly preserving the ten freed Reflections.
> Myrha (bittersweet):
"You've returned… You betrayed my dream, yet… you fulfilled it."
Mayu drew back her hood, revealing her blazing azure eyes—the mirror and the heir:
> Mayu:
"We did not betray you, Professor. We chose freedom—for you, for me, for Akira, and all travelers."
2.2. Masks Unveiled
Myrha gently lifted her holographic helmet: her real face, worn by the years, bore the same features as Mayu. In a trembling voice she confessed:
> Myrha:
"I am your creator, your mother… and your gaoler. I forged every Reflection to test you. Today, you pass judgment."
---
3. The Trials of Judgment
3.1. Duel of Wills
Renan activated the Choice Module, extracting three fragments from the Heart of Liberation:
1. The Sacrifice Fragment
2. The Truth Fragment
3. The Compassion Fragment
He offered them to Mayu:
> Renan:
"Before the Professor, choose what will guide our future: a sacrifice of memory, unveiling every truth, or forgiveness with compassion."
Myrha laid a trembling hand on the console:
> Myrha:
"My life has been a fatal choice between knowing and believing. Yours now, will seal your destiny."
3.2. The Chosen One's Decision
Mayu closed her eyes as visions of every Chapter flashed in her mind: Ammoniara's dunes, the Ether Gardens, the glowing seaweeds… then her creator's betrayal. She opened her eyes, resolute:
> Mayu:
"I choose Compassion. Without it, memory is an unbearable burden."
She pressed the Compassion Fragment into the central slot of the module. A warm wave filled the chamber, and the other two fragments blazed away in azure fire.
---
4. Redemption and Unity
4.1. Removing the Barriers
The Heart of Liberation ignited, sending forth filaments of benevolent energy. Gravito-ethereal circuits unlocked, granting access to every Reflection, even those once forbidden: Akira's final logs, Myrha's private recordings, and the lost notes of the Foundation.
> Akira (emerging in a beam of light):
"I reclaim my memory… and with it, my humanity."
Scattered holograms recomposed into a harmonious kaleidoscope where every world took its rightful place.
4.2. Worlds Reconciled
Myrha fell to her knees, tears streaming:
> Myrha:
"I never imagined the power of mercy…
Mayu, I return the life I stole from you."
Mayu knelt beside her, clasping the Professor's cold hand:
> Mayu:
"We are one gaze, one Reflection. History continues from this point of union."
---
5. Epilogue – The Final Chapter Ahead
As the Heart of Liberation pulsed with newfound peace, the Infinite Map displayed two final markers:
> Mayu:
"Chapter 131 will lead us to the Mirror World—birthplace of all reflections and of my own face. Then, in Chapter 134, the Assassin with Azure Eyes will find its conclusion."
Her holographic image dissolved into a swirl of azure fragments—proof that the journey, now bound by compassion, would forge a new future.