Close Nemesis

Chapter Forty-Five: Full Circle

XALIR:

The wound in my chest has since healed. If it hadn't been for my powers, I would not be here right now. I'd be dead, likely forgotten. Even though I could see that Laiva was draining my powers, when she hit me with that burst of energy, my powers must've returned to me and pulled me away the brink of death.

I'm not angry at Laiva for almost killing me. It was a terrible accident. But, when I was lying on the floor, all I could think of was the mess she made on Podplanata. I wanted her to fix it. It would be a way for her to right her wrongs.

I'm still mad at her for leaving me to believe that she had been killed by Oppugnant. She should've just told me. Of course, due to our chat in the forest, I have begun to understand why she had hidden the truth from me. Now that I think about it, I would've likely faked my death if it meant that Laiva would be safe from Oppugnant.

In some ways, I feel like I did know that it was Laiva beneath Oppugnant's guise. I'm sure she had her suspicions about me being Rotcetorp, as well. Now that our secret's out, we can hopefully rekindle what remains of our romance.

But that's not the main focus of today. The main focus of today is righting our wrongs. Becoming the heroes we were meant to be. Everything in the past is dust under the rug. Of course, that doesn't mean I have forgotten about Oppugnant and I's feud.

I also haven't forgotten about TeleVisore and I's brief battles. I don't necessarily trust him. He's an enigma. I have no idea who he is or whether he is someone I'd know. But I do know that he was never evil. He was just trying to stop us from causing chaos.

Of course, he failed, and I'm sure he's pissed about that. But at least he has a chance to help us fix our mess.

TeleVisore's teleportation ability has allowed us to travel to The Eastern Convergence in an instant. The Eastern Convergence is the place where the gravity pushes the western side of Podplanata I into the eastern side of Podplanata II. In a way, this connects the two worlds.

The ground slopes down towards the similarly sloped border of Podplanata I. In a gap between the two slopes, large cracks reveal the molten lava underneath.

The gravity pushes against us like a tight cocoon. I try jumping, but I only manage to lift up a few metres.

"This is crazy!" Lygor voices behind me. "I've been to many planets and systems, but Podplanata officially takes the cake as the weirdest planet."

"It's not a planet," corrects TeleVisore slickly. "It's a tri-planet."

"It doesn't matter!" I exclaim. "We've got a job to do!"

I lift into the air using my air powers, ignoring the rules of gravity. As I rise into the air, I turn around towards the misty surface of Podplanata, staring towards the army that appears as thousands of black dots in the distance.

"We'll head to the castle city! Perhaps we can find the leader of this army!"

"Monarp!" TeleVisore corrects.

"Oh, who cares!" Lygor responds gruffly, before turning his attention to me. "Rotcetorp, we'll go with you!"

I tilt my curved helmet towards Lygor, who appears much smaller than I. TeleVisore then teleports us inside the castle. We find ourselves in the castle's mall. Shops are tucked into the mall's stone bricked walls, and Podplanatan knights stand guard in their chain armour.

I reach my right hand out towards one of the knights, causing their armour to melt away. They scream as their molten armour kills them.

Lygor grumbles.