☆ CELESTIAL CRUSADERS ☆ (Classic Edition)

☆ Chapter 5 - The New Crusade ☆

André opened his eyes. But when he did, he noticed something strange. He wasn't in Zytruvia, but rather some sort of structure in the middle of a bright blue sky, surrounded by clouds.

"...?"

He slowly got up to take a better look around. In front of him was a staircase which lead to some sort of pedestal. With nowhere left to go, he goes up the stairs. In the pedestal was a sphere of pure light, and below it was a scroll. He picked it up and read it:

"You have shown to possess great potential in the fight against ultimate evil. I am aware that you want to take a more important role after the suffering your planet went through. Then allow me to give you a gift that will be useful during your crusade.
This sphere of light purifies the souls of those who were struck with it. Use it to free those under the control of evil influences. It will prove useful in your fight against the ones you call the Paragons of Shadow and Dissle.

May you be victorious."

The scroll wasn't signed by anyone. André tried looking around to find someone, but he was the only one present.
Who was this? How did they immediatelly know of his intentions? Why assist him?

Not having much of a choice, he reached out his hand and touched the sphere. It then gently dissolved and apparently merged with André. Something then suddenly clicked on his head: somehow, he had instantly learned how to use his new skill, the Arrow of Purification.

After that, the light source in the strange area started growing brighter, to the point where André had to shield his eyes as his vision went white.

He then heard a female's voice echo through his mind.
ªHelp them...save them...and save him.ª

As André recovered his vision, he is now back at Zytruvia. He was now inside his house.
Paulo was sitting next to his bed, watching over him.

|"Filho? Você pode me ouvir?"| (Son? Can you hear me?)
"...pai?" (...dad?)
|"Você acordou!"| (You're awake!)

André slowly got up. Once he did, Paulo hugged him happily. He hugged back too.

|"Everyone! He is awake!"|

Once he said that, the Splatoon trio ran through the door towards him.

^Hey! Are you alright?^
"...I feel lightheaded..."
'Take it easy. You just went through quite the timeline of events.'
"...what happened?"
|"We won, son. Soon after you defeated the cyborg leader and we took back control of the planet itself, the tides turned in our favor. We recovered most of the stolen ships."|

He did a huge sigh of relief

'"...yeah, about that. What happened to you, André? You were surrounded with a dark aura when you killed him."'
"...I...don't know, actually. I just got so...angry and dreadful...I couldn't control myself."

He laid his back against the wall behind him.

"I didn't hurt anyone else, did I?"
^Nope. All you did was chop the cyborg's head off and you dropped to the floor.^
'And leave a hole in the President's Building.'
"Whoops."
|"Don't worry, son. We can restore everything that was damaged with enough time. Thankfully, it seems only the north hemisphere was heaviliy damaged."|
^Wait here. I'll go get some water for you.^ Petra walked to another room.

"...was there really nothing I could've done?"
'Hmm?'
"Was I just too late to save her?"
|"..."| He hugged him.
|"There was nothing any of us could've done. You did what you could, son. Without you...this victory probably would have come as smoothly as it did."|
'Look...' Uni placed his hand on his head.
'I know someone who lost...both of her parents. And I care for them very much. I don't know how that pain feels, but I know how to save someone from it.'
"...?"
'I know we only met, like, a few days ago but that won't stop me from helping you. I'll do my best.'
"...t...thank you."