Chapter 262, The Name of the Flower

"I'm just getting started!!" Arata shouted and a golden light engulfed his body. "No matter what, I won't succumb to the darkness ever again!!"

The dark world around him is shattered and he stands before the Tree of Origin once again, he sees Ruina standing before him.

"This is the end Ruina. No matter what tactics you pull, I've decided, that I'll accept everything of this world." Arata spoke. "Be it the good or the bad. These emotions, they're what created our world. And I will protect them, no matter what."

"You hypocrite! You claim to accept all? That you want to protect everything? That is impossible, no one can protect everything." Ruin laughed and mocked Arata. "There must always be a choice, one must be chosen over the other! To claim that you will protect everything is utter foolishness and greed!!"

"I know. I know I'm being foolish. I know I'm being greedy." Arata said as he took a step forward. "But everyone told me, I didn't have to endure everything by myself. That I could choose what I wanted and do whatever I wanted."

Arata's body began to glow golden and Tree of Origin also began to glow. Ruina stands before Arata her face filled with disbelief as the Tree of Origin resonated with Arata.

"Everyone's hard work, the countless lives laid down for the future. What I'm doing might be selfish, saying that I want to protect it all." Arata says. "But, it's precisely because they have played down everything for the future that I am willing to be called a hypocrite, that I'm willing to be branded as a fool. So that I can show them, that all they've done was not in vain! That is... The reason for me being here now!"

"My name is Arata. I am... the tenth Le Fluer, a Brave born with Felicia's blood, a Brave of Wings Academy." Arata stated as he stepped towards Ruina. "Bloom here, the name of my flower! Iris!!"

Arata's words echo through the night as a light emanates from his very body. The radiance is so bright, so dazzling that it covered the entire night.

"Everyone, can you hear me?" Arata called out to the Braves.

"Arata? We can hear you." Mayumi answered.

"It's time to close the curtains on this ancient war." Arata stated and turned to face Ruina. "It's the end Ruina."

"No! No! It's still!" As Ruina tried to flee she saw her body begun to fade.

"This is the end of the Ancient War. And the beginning of a new era!" Arata exclaimed as the Tree of Origin glowed along with him. "Tree of Origin, you have stood here since the beginning. To watch, to oversee, to record, to connect. Now, here at this moment and at this place. The time to put an end to this ancient tale has come."

Arata drew his blade and pointed towards Ruina.

"I am the one who inherited the will of the Fates, the one who knows the beginning and the end of the Ancients. The time to end the ancient tale has come, here I draw my blade." Arata changed as a golden light engulfed his sword. "Return the power to the origin, the seed to the tree, I call the end, with my blade, here at the farthest end, at the origin. Initium Finis!"

Arata cuts Ruina and she disappeared completely. He then turns to the empty expanse before him.

Elsewhere in the worlds, the Braves and Ancient were holding their ground against Ruina's clones.

"Look! Ruina's clone!!" Hanako points to the sky as the clone of Ruina began to fade into nothingness.

"Has Arata done it? Has he ended Ruina?" Monica asked.

The skies begin to clear as the Braves and the Fates stood in amazement as the night sky once more shined with the rays of the twinkling stars and the radiant moon.

"Arata's done it." Felicia says as she landed beside Spiro who was about to collapse.

"Gather, all who have been called. The end of this ancient war has come, with you all as my witnesses." Arata chanted.

All across the realms, the Braves are engulfed by a golden light, even William and the Braves. When they open their eyes they stood before Arata.

"This is... The rift between worlds?" Licht asked.

"No, this is the Primis Orbis." Arata's voice called out to them as he stood a few meters from them, behind him was the Tree of Origin.

"Arata!!" The Braves run for him and for once managed to hug him.

"Arata!!!" His mother and father hug him tightly.

"So, this is the Tree of Origin..." Van stared at the tree.

"Yes. It's the time to end everything." Arata answered as he gazed at the tree.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Zander asked.

"Seed of Fate within, I emplore you." Arata began to glow. "The end has come. Let the worlds... be purified once again."

The tree shines brightly and the light engulfs even Arata. The Braves then open their eyes back to where they were before Arata called them.

"What happened?" William asked, his gun still raised.

"The young Fate has finally fulfilled the ancient promise." Frajil stated as he floated apparitionally before William. "And with it, we are freed."

Frajil and the Harbingers disappear, and the sky before the Braves is engulfed by a golden light.

"What is that?" William asked.

"It's the dawn. For the first time in over millenias, the dawn has finally broken in the Primis Orbis." Fatum smiled as she floated above the Braves. "Now, off you go. Back to your world."

"What about Arata?" Liam asked.

"He'll be right behind you. Now go, you won't be able to go back if you don't go now." Fatum smiled as she pointed to the ship.

"William! We have to go back!! The portal... It's closing!!" Van shouted out to them.

"Let's go!" William gritted his teeth and the Braves flew towards the Asteria and into the portal.

"Arata... Will he really be able to make it back by himself?" Andrew asked as the Primis Orbis began to fade into obscurity.

"I'm sure he will. After all, he promised us." Zhen said as he looked forward.

"Everyone, we'll be arriving at the Sidus Pontem shrotly." Saint says and not long after a light engulfs the ship.

The Sidus Pontem shined brightly and the Asteria landed before a crowd of Braves and Fates.

"Welcome back!!" Spiro was the first to run up to William and hug him then he races his head. He looks around and back at the ship. "But... Where's Dad?"

"Will... Where's Arata?" His mother asked.

"Arata's still at the Primis Orbis. We had to rush back because Fatum said that the portal would close. But she said that Arata would be right behind us..." Alistar answered.

"Then we can only wait." Theo smiled and looked to the sky.

"It's our turn... To make a wish." Felicia smiled

"Arata..." All stood together and gazed towards the sky.

----

As the light engulfs me, I can almost feel myself being consumed in the waves. It's so gentle, so calming, like the gentle sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"..rata... Arata!!" Through the silence and calmness, I hear a voice call out to me and I try to focus. "Don't let the waters submerge! You must return to the surface!"

I can hear Fatum's voice calling to me and I try to focus but it's like I'm becoming inhibited. The gentleness and warmness are too much.

"Pull yourself together! Arata!" I can hear Fatum's voice calling out to me over and over again.

"I'm sorry... But..." I can barely muster up the energy to resist. It seems that I've been completely emptied of Vi.

As I open my eyes, I can see something... A lone thread of red hue. The thread seems to be calling out to me and soon it touches my hand.

"Arata..." I hear everyone's voice calling out to me.

"Dad..." Spiro's voice.

"Master... Please come home." Growth's voice echo in my head.

As if connecting me to everyone once more, the string wraps itself around my finger and I snap out of it.

"I have... To go back... To everyone!!" I tried to swim up from the waters and struggled. "I need... to... go home!! No matter what! So... Even if it's just once, bloom my flower!!!"

As if answering my desperate plea, a golden hue engulfs my body once again and I can feel everyone's warmth wrapping around me. And in an instant, I fly out of the water.