Chapter 21: Understand

Oof! That's quite a painful landing, well he will be out of commission for a while. I am pretty sure this guy isn't Kayn after all, no way the second strongest pilot would squash like that–"

"What the heck?! He regenerated already?!" shouts Orbit, spitting out his drink in disbelief.

"Man, this is messing with my head now . . . is this Kayn playing 5D chess or something and trying to hide his powers? The only people I ever know that have this level of regeneration are among his caliber. Not to mention his wife's reaction after he disappeared . . . I wonder how he'll deal with Zahtan if they meet,"

He looks at the screen displaying Zahtan with an excited smile, "Speaking of which, he seems to be making his move as well,"

. . .

Zahtan seems to be by himself in one of the corners of the stage.

Reaching inside the pocket of his suit, he pulls out an orb, a lighter, and a cigar. He places the cigar in his mouth and lights it up with some style. He then throws the orb out.

"Hey game, courtesy of your maker. Meet a different innovation of his," he says as inhales and lets out a puff.

The orb grows in size a little and a huge, terrifying T-Rex robot forms around it. It seems loaded with guns and rockets and can fly. Zahtan pulls out a compass-looking device that has a needlepoint in a direction. The robot picks him up and he sits in the seat atop it, locking himself in. Zahtan sits there for a moment in silence. Looking at the compass-like object.

He inhales once and throws the cigar away, "Go and take off in that direction," orders Zahtan, pointing in his desired direction. The robot immediately follows the order, launching itself in that direction at full speed.

. . .

"He seems to be heading towards his first property, but Kayn, or maybe not Kayn still seems to be the first to reach one. What about the other three? They seem to have all been put on one of the corners, why is that?" muses Orbit, watching the three screens in contemplation.

. . .

Charlotte scans her surroundings, noticing Adora, who is reading something and in deep thought, and Neo standing still near the edge, facing the void.

Furious, she moves toward Neo with the intention to smack him for signing the application without talking to her about it.

"How many times have I told you to not keep disappear–" she stops talking as she feels something strange about Neo.

". . . Hard to believe, just days back, I never knew the Castle or anything within it existed. And a little before that, all I ever knew was the fall off this edge . . . endless . . . dark . . . void," murmurs Neo, longing and sadness etched on his face.

But, for what? He doesn't know, nor does he understand.

Charlotte stays silent, unsure how to respond or what to say.

"You know, even though you and I had a conversation about pilots and the rope just a bit ago . . . I felt nothing. It's almost as if I treated the conversation like how I was treating almost everything I was enjoying in the Castle. Yet, seeing this void again after all that I have experienced, I remember a past me that never knew about the Castle. A me that laughed like a madman for days after being saved and what he saw the rope as," he continues as he turns around and starts walking, "I wonder . . . how would have things gone if I kept going for the rope and didn't come to the Castle?"

He shakes his head, "But it's pointless to think about that now, all that's important now is mo–" he says as he walks past Charlotte.

Charlotte grabs his arm and looks him in the eye. She's never known what falling is like, but she can see it, she can see a glimpse, a fraction of her past self.

But in Neo's eyes, she feels like she can see a deeper void that wants to be filled far more than what she is. She has no idea what to say, she wants to say something so that Neo doesn't fall into the same hole as her but–

"Hello," says Adora, coming in between them and patting Charlotte on the back, making Charlotte let go of Neo's arm instinctively.

Haco jumps onto Charlotte's shoulder surprising her, trying to comfort Charlotte after seeing her stressed.

"I happened to overhear your conversation. My ears are too good, and I can pay attention to multiple things at the same time. I acquired these skills from work, so I am sorry for unintentionally prying," says Adora.

She looks at Neo, "Neo, did you say that you came to the Castle from the void?" she asks, clenching her hand tightly.

A faint sound of cracking can be heard.

"Oh. Um . . . yes, yes I did,"

"By the way, did the pilot that got you here only speak to you in letters?"

Neo nods.

"I see . . . well, look Neo, this is a long conversation that I can't have with you right here. But I will say this for now, since all you have known is the void, I suggest that you don't decide things hastily. You are still fresh out of the void, I implore you to wait on making a decision on what to do or how to behave until after you have gone to the rope and experienced what life is like there," says Adora, kindly.

"But make no mistake," she starts firmly, "Should you choose to become an enemy of the rope, I will defend my family tooth and nail," she says, sincerity covering her tone.

Neo looks at Adora as if he has a deep understanding of what she means.

But how? How does he understand what she means? He doesn't know.

"What a quaint display, what sayest myself," declares the Female One.

"Indeed," agrees the Male One.

Hearing One speak, everyone turns around to look at their grace. As they hover over the ground, the Female and Male seem to be standing on . . . each other? Their feet rest on each other, the Female One standing upside down while the Male One stands upright.

They walk a little bit forward in perfect synchronization, each step of their feet mirrors each other and connects perfectly.

"Striver," says the Male One as looks at Charlotte.

"Shell," he says as he turns his gaze towards Neo.

Neo feels the word sting badly for some reason. It's unlike any feeling he's felt before. It's something akin to hitting a nerve but much stronger. Neo doesn't understand why the Male One calling him that agitates him.

Again . . . he doesn't understand.

His lack of understanding is changing the deep agitation to something else bit by bit. He feels heated up and his blood boils.

"But it seemeth that thy spouse is elsewhere. Apologies for the interruption, Fragment of Light. We shall be taking our leaveth," concludes the Male One.

"Why are you looking for my husband?" asks Adora.

The Female One turns around to look at her, but before she can say anything, Neo, holding a great sword, charges at One with extreme speed.

The Female One raises her arm and blocks Neo's attack with a barrier, sparks fly as the sword and barrier meet.

"Why draw thy weapon upon myself, Shell?" asks the Male One as he turns around.

"I shall not permit transgressions upon myself to go free," he continues as he raises the palm of his hand towards Neo.

Neo feels an extremely powerful force push him back and he is sent flying off the edge of the stage.

"Neo!" screams Charlotte as he falls off the stage.