Chapter 648: The Ones Left Behind

They say that hope often comes unexpectedly from the sky, but no one told them it would be literal. Their hope fell to the ground—well, not really—Diana caught her in her arms before the hope could fall indignantly.

It wasn't hard to identify Esme, she was a giant amongst her people, after all. But now, she looked even bigger than before as Diana wrapped her, refusing to let her go.

"Is... Is she alive?" Hannah also quickly rushed to her mother's side. Usually, the common reaction when seeing Esme up close for the very first time would be a muted shock. But as Esme's silhouette reflected in Hannah's eyes, the only thing that she really did was very gently place a finger near her nose—and there it was, a warmth escaping her body.

"Mom..." Hannah stuttered as she looked at Diana, "She's... I think she's alive."

"Is there anything we can do?" Bernard also landed near them; his armor quickly folding open as he looked at Esme from head to toe, "She... has too little energy for a themarian. Do you think a Guardian Force could fix that?"

"...No," Diana shook her head as she fixed Esme's hair, "The maximum energy a Guardian Force is capable of releasing is not even a quarter of a themarian's. And for her... it wouldn't even be a percent."

Diana closed her eyes; taking in a long and very deep breath to stop herself from releasing the unneeded emotions that were trying to burst through her right now.

She noticed it too, the beam of light. It was brief—instant, even—but Diana still felt something from it as it swallowed New Theran whole.

There were two beams, one was most likely a concentrated version of the EDP, like a bolt of lightning or a taser that completely strained and exhausted their body. For someone of Elder Skeem's intellect and knowledge in weaponry, this was easy to do—he rivaled Bernard in that regard.

That won't kill them, however, just fully incapacitate their bodies. It was the second beam that sent all of them to their eternal deaths—Diana was still quite unsure of what it is yet, but whatever it was, it only affected her people; New Theran seemed completely unscathed. If Diana was right, Elder Skeem had been scanning Aerith the entire time she was on Ahor Zai, studying their physiology.

The second beam was strong—strong enough that a ship the size of a planet could only provide a single shot before it was completely fried. Something like that takes time to build, and the energy it required would be cosmically massive. There really should only be one of them.

When Diana felt it earlier, it reminded her of supernovas... thousands of them exploding at the same time, and yet controlled.

"..." Diana turned to look at Hannah, before once again focusing on Esme. And seeing someone like her like this, barely even breathing... it meant her people didn't have a chance to begin with.

"Will... she live?" Hannah asked.

Diana, however, could really only close her eyes and gently brush Esme's cheek with her hand.

"Princess Esme," Riley, as well as some of the others also started making their way toward Esme; with Riley being extremely careful that Xra couldn't hear his thoughts—this was the reason he had shown himself so little after the battle, he didn't know whether he could calm his mind as he waited for something to happen.

But right now, however, Riley was currently thinking of whether to kill Esme. If she could recover, there was a chance of her releasing a rage that could tear the Known Universe apart—or there was also a chance that she discovers something...and points that rage at him instead.

"Is there a way for her to live after Elder Skeem's brutal attack?" Riley then bluntly said, making sure his voice traveled through Esme's ears. She might be completely unconscious, but it was better to make sure.

"I don't know," Diana shook her head, "I can hook her up in the Room of Revival, but that would require... energy we do not have readily access to. But even then, it will be solely up to her if she lives."

"...Is she in the same state Aerith was in when I hid her in my closet?" Riley tilted his head to the side.

"Yes. She...is refusing to live. She... is so young... this... this is my fault," Diana tried her best to stay calm. But alas, her breaths started to stutter. This was payment, she thought—payment for all the lives she had stripped away early. Her payment for tampering with the natural order of things.

She didn't deserve to cry.

"None of this is your fault, Diana..." And finally, Aerith stood up from the ground; her eyes, still swollen and empty as she looked at Esme, "I... Let's go back to Theran."

"...Why?" Diana's eyes widened as soon as she heard Aerith's words, "There's... there's nothing for us—"

"Please..." Aerith breathed out.

"Aerith," Diana then very gently placed Esme on the ground, before also standing up and looking Aerith in the eyes, "You... might not like what you see."

"I know, Diana..." Aerith shook her head; her voice, stuttering as tears once again trailed down her face, "...I know about the bomb, Riley told me."

"..." Diana blinked a couple of times as she looked at Riley. Did... she tell Riley about the bomb? Diana couldn't really recall if she did—but if not, then how did he know? Xra?

...Queen Adel?

"Diana, please."

"..." Diana closed her eyes. The bomb... should have exploded by now. The only way they could have survived is for Queen Adel to convince her people to leave...but Adel couldn't even convince herself.

"Diana..."

"..." Diana then turned to look at Aerith, before placing her palms together. And as she pulled them apart, a hologram appeared in front of her,

"Anna."

[Yes?]

"Is Tsula alive?"

[She is. She was unconscious for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, but she is awake now.]

"...Anna, take us back to Theran."

***

Diana already expected it—but Theran was truly gone.

The only thing that reflected in front of her eyes was a compressed giant clump of dust, almost completely spherical. She knew what it would look like, but now seeing it in reality, Diana didn't really know what to feel anymore.

The once mighty planet of Theran, now just an indestructible ball.

And just like that...

...themarians have become extinct.

"This..." Hannah once again grabbed her mother's hand—as tight as she could as she noticed her trembling shoulders, "...You can rebuild, mom. This... this isn't the end."

"..."

"Silvie—Silvie is the proof that your people have a future," Hannah stuttered; her words, slightly trembling, "You... you can just create more. Silvie—Silvie is her own person, she—"

"Hannah," Bernard quickly pulled her daughter away. Hannah didn't want to let go, but as she saw her father's shaking head, the only thing she could really do was walk away and let her mother grieve the death of her planet.

But Diana wasn't grieving, no—this was her doing. What she was doing right now... was filling herself with regret.

"I..." And while Diana's eyes were completely clouded, Aerith's, on the other hand, reflected what remained of her home planet clearly in her eyes. A small smile, very slowly crawling on her face,

"...I killed everyone."