[ Creators ]

Chapter 13

The siblings stare in confusion at the mysterious portal. "What the- is that yours?", asked Koto. "No?", replied Straus. Suddenly, the two feel an immense force come from the portal, it's so strong that it begins to draw both of them into it. They try to resist it but it's no use, the portal closes behind them as they're pulled inside.

After a few minutes, an exit portal opens into a white and green-colored Space with a large castle in the distance. The siblings are flung out of the portal and land on their backs. Straus opens his eyes and immediately a feeling of panic overtakes him, he knows where he is; he knows this scenery all too well. Koto sits up and looks around, "Where...are we?" She sees the mighty castle in the distance and gets excited, tugging on Straus' sleeve and pointing, "Brother look!" Straus jumps to his feet, "I'M LEAVING, THANKS!" he shouts while his voice breaks.

"Huh- why?", inquires Koto.

"This is- uhm- not our castle obviously. So, we shouldn't go near it."

"Hm...yeah, I guess...hey look!" Koto looks up and sees a stream of World Orbs floating aimlessly. She jumps up and grabs one, it's so light that she's able to toss it between her hands without any problem. "It's so light!" She squints against the harsh amount of white light emitting from it, it's so bright she can't see inside of it. "mmph- really light actually." She lets the orb go and lets it float away. Straus is getting antsy, "Yeah- interesting. Let's go now." Koto tries to open a portal back home but nothing happens. "I got it.", Straus manages to summon a portal and proceeds to enter; only for an exit portal to open a few feet in the air and he lands face-first in front of Koto. He gets up and is understandably frustrated, "What in the ACTUAL-". Before he can continue, he's cut off by an all-too-familiar voice.

"I don't think you're going anywhere...Straus."

Koto recognizes the woman who suddenly appeared as the one from her nightmare earlier; Straus recognizes her as the bane of his existence.

"You couldn't do it, could you? You couldn't let bygones be bygones?", sighs Straus.

"After what you did, how could I?" Said Gaia, clearly holding back her rage. "Impurities such as yourself are deserving of eternal punishment...I have tried for years to track you down; it seems you hid fairly well."

Straus steps forward, "You talk way too much about this 'Purity and Impurity' stuff you know that, right? And eternal punishment for what? Giving lives some personality? Helping them understand what it means to live and how they can represent themselves?"

"Purity must outweigh Impurity! That is the way of the Multiverse!"

"No! It's more like a system that segregates people because they see things in a different light than you!"
"ENOUGH!", Gaia's aura pulses through the Space. She then looks down and finally notices Koto. "...A Cosmic?" She kneels and speaks to her, "Oh... you poor thing. Did this boy hurt you? Did he corrupt you with his impurities?"

"Leave her out of it...!" Straus says with a shaky tone.

"Quiet, Straus!", snaps Gaia. "Now then, let's see that soul of yours, deary..." With a wave of her hand, Koto's soul is pulled out and exposed. It's a light blue soul with indigo patches dappled on it. "He did corrupt you...", said Gaia, disappointed in this discovery.

Straus had enough. He screams, "You're NOT THE BOSS OF ME!" and begins to fire at Gaia, who simply stands up to avoid the shot. Koto's soul returns to her and she staggers, clutching her chest. Straus tries to negotiate, "Just go away, Gaia! I don't want to hurt you anymore!" "Please let us go home!", interjects Koto. Gaia looks at her softly and speaks, "My dear, you did nothing wrong. Your mind has simply been clouded by impurity. You can leave, but Straus will remain here, isolated from the rest of the Multiverse...and this time I will make sure he never leaves again." Straus wasn't having it. "I wasn't reborn to spend the rest of my life...alone. Everything was taken from me, she's all I have now!" "Then perhaps", Gaia glares at Straus and grabs him, making him unable to attack or escape. Koto jolts, she knows what this is! "Wait- what are you doing?! NO- STOP IT NOW!! BROTHER GET OUT OF THERE!!" "STOP! LET ME GO!", Straus shouts.

"I would hate to see this...dust bunny suffer the same impurities as yourself... But it seems like she's too far gone already... as for you, Straus. You never deserved my gift." Gaia summons a magic spear and prepares to stab Straus' right hand. In one last-ditch effort, the siblings cry out to her:

"NO! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU DON'T HURT HIM!"

"NO! PARA!!!"

With one swift motion, Gaia stabs the spear through Straus' hand, releasing Para as well as some excess magical energy in a puff of blue smoke, that floats out of the Space. The siblings cry out in agony as Gaia disgruntledly drops Straus. "(He still has immense power...I suppose I taught him too well. But at least that Beast of his is taken care of...)", she thinks to herself as Straus holds his wounded hand with tears in his eyes. Koto had never seen Straus in so much pain before, she couldn't speak, there was just concern in her eyes.

And she wasn't happy about this. Not one bit.

Gaia looks away from them, "I'll give you two a moment to say your goodbyes. Cosmic, you may leave whenever you please. Straus, I expect you in your room shortly.", then she warps away, back to her castle. Koto holds Straus' hand; she could heal it with her magic but she can't focus; her mind is clouded by the anger she feels towards Gaia. Who is she? Why does she hate Straus? Why did she hurt Straus?

Why did she hurt him?

Straus clenches his teeth from the pain as tears start to stream down, "not cool...it hurts..." He looks to Koto, who suddenly has flecks of light blue magic sparking off of them.

"Gaia...she will pay for this!!"

In a flash of light, Koto is surrounded by an erratic, light blue aura; her skin goes pale and her eyes glow with a piercing light. Straus has no idea what he is looking at, but what stands before him is a phenomenon this is feared throughout the Multiverse. What he was witnessing was known as a Cosmic Supernova.

"Stay here, I'll take care of this."