62. Getting Ambushed

"Wow, I didn't expect that there is something called a different timeline, and there is us in that timeline too." Vyrn says to us.

After a long explanation, we finally managed to convince them that we really are from a different timeline.

"Yeah, it's really weird seeing myself like this." Lyria² says, staring at Lyria with great curiosity while examining her entire body.

"You have no idea about that..." Lyria holds her forehead because this is the second time she has seen herself like this, but at least this one is not an adult version of her.

"So who are you? We understand that you're from a different timeline, but we've never seen you." Gran asks me.

"Yeah, are you the person my other self used Soul Link on?" Lyria² also asks me.

"What? You mean you used Soul Link?" Lyria looks shocked when she hears that, then she turns to Gran. "Is he the one?"

"Yes, he's the hero who saved me when I escaped from the Empire. But because of me, he got killed, so I used the Soul Link to save his life..." Lyria² says cheerfully at first, but when she tells us that Gran was killed because of it, her voice becomes full of sadness.

"Lyria, why are you still sad about that? I already told you many times that I don't mind sacrificing my life to save you. And you also saved me too, so we are equal." Gran says to Lyria², trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, yeah. Because of you, Gran is fine now, so you don't need to worry about anything." Vyrn also tries to comfort Lyria² while flying around her.

The three of them then seem to be having fun on their own and appear to forget we are standing in front of them...

"Well, even though we are the same person, their personalities are kind of different from ours, huh?" Lyria asks me while looking at them.

"They are similar to you, Lyria." Orchid answers Lyria in her flat tone.

"Wha—!? I'm not like their Lyria!"

"Alright, alright, that's enough. And you three too, can you tell us what's going on in this Sky Realm? I can feel the tetra-elements are in chaos, making the island fall." I say to the three of them who are busy in their own world.

After that, they tell us what is happening in the Sky Realm as we walk toward the place they want to go.

They also mention that they came here to check the old Wind Shrine where Lyria² can sense something, but while she was doing that, she suddenly sensed me.

Hearing this makes me more convinced that we are in the timeline where the event of "What Makes the Sky Blue" starts.

But the question remains: why are we here? And why did the Lyria from the future use Akasha and send us here?

"What? So you've never used the Soul Link at all!? And Gran in your world is a female named Djeeta!?" Lyria² looks very surprised when she hears Lyria's story about our timeline.

"Yeah, in my timeline, we have Djeeta and Rei, but in this one, it looks like you have Gran. But I don't see Rei at all." Lyria says while turning towards Gran, who is walking in front of them.

At the moment, Gran and I are talking about the situation in this timeline in front of them while Lyria and Lyria² are chatting with each other. The others like Orchid, Sierokarte, and Vyrn are behind them while watching the two Lyrias.

"This is really weird..." Vyrn murmurs while looking at the two Lyrias talking.

"Yeah... I could never guess today would be the day where I can see two Lyria's talking to each other." Sierokarte says.

Orchid remains silent while hugging her slightly dusty doll due to the previous landing.

"No... This is the first time I hear someone named Rei... How did you meet him?" Lyria² asks, turning to the front where Rei is.

"Well, we actually met in Zinkenstill when I was trying to escape from the Empire..." Lyria begins to explain to Lyria² how she and Rei meet.

Lyria² just stays silent, listening to her other self story. She can also see from Lyria's expression that she is genuinely happy with the man named Rei.

"You must really like him, huh? I can see that you look so happy telling me all that." Lyria² says to Lyria while smiling.

"No, I just don't like him." but she doesn't expect to hear such an answer from Lyria.

But when Lyria² wants to ask what she means, she suddenly sees an familiar expression from her other self...

An expression she has seen in the storybooks Katalina used to read to her...

The expression of a girl in love with her prince. "I really love him..." Lyria answers with her cheeks slightly red, as she looks at Rei's back.

"Love..." Lyria² murmured while staring at where Lyria is looking, which at Rei's back.

But their conversation is cut short as they all finally entered the forest where the old shrine is located.

"By the way, I forgot to ask. Why do you have wings?" Gran asks me once we were inside the forest.

"Well...-!?" But before I could tell him about my race, we suddenly feel the wind growing stronger around us.

"Eep!" Lyria² tries to hold down her short white dress to prevent it from being lifted by the wind.

"Gyah! What kind of wind is this!?" Vyrn says in a panic because the wind feels very different from usual.

"It feels like hot and cold seasonal winds are mixing together." Gran says, trying to feeling the nature of the wind.

"This wind is from Raphael, huh..." I murmur as I recognize the wind, knowing that the Primarch with wind powers is Raphael.

While they are discussing the strange wind, Rei suddenly moves quickly to the side with his right hand extended forward.

Soon, a red laser shoots towards Lyria², but thanks to Rei's quick reflex he easily deflects the laser with his right hand and redirects it towards a tree.

*Boom!* The tree is instantly cut in half by the laser.

"What happened!?" Lyria panics as she saw the tree suddenly fall.

Gran quickly moves to my side after realizing we're under attack.

Soon, strange monsters shaped like green balls surrounded by red crystals with wings begin to encircle us.

"Oh dear, it looks like we're surrounded!" Sierokarte says as she notices there's no way out of this place.

"You can fight right, Rei?" Gran asks me while drawing his sword from his waist.

"Yep."

"Well then, I'm gonna let you handle this side while I handle the other side." Gran said, looking at me seriously.

I just nod in agreement. Seeing my response, Gran quickly moves to the other side to protect that direction since we were surrounded by the strange monsters.

I only need to use Tiamat's weapon because there is a lot of wind blowing on this island, making Tiamat the most suitable Primal Beast for this situation.

But suddenly, we hear gunfire hitting one of the monsters, instantly destroying its green crystal.

I notice that the monster whose green crystal was destroyed disappears immediately, confirming that the crystal is their weak point.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting! This is turning out to be one busy day!" We hear a familiar voice, making us turn toward it.

"Rackam!!" Lyria and Lyria² say simultaneously.

"Yo, Lyria—!! Wait, what? Why are there two of you!?" Rackam is dumbfounded upon seeing the two Lyria's.

"That's for later, Rackam. For now, let's just deal with this!" Gran quickly instructs Rackam.

"Oh right!" Rackam then resumes shooting at the monsters.

Gran also begins using his sword to attack the monsters in front of him while dodging their attacks.

"Tiamat Bolt Aura" I call upon Tiamat's weapon just like when I used Celeste's weapon to retrieve Freesia's memory from before.

The wind begins to blow fiercely from my direction and quickly moves to my left hand, forming a weapon.

[IMAGE]

Lyria² could sense Tiamat's power from the weapon I'm holding, making her confused since she had never seen Tiamat use a weapon like that before.

"Procella Populans" I fire the weapon in front of me. The muzzle of the gun starts to gather green wind, which quickly shoot out toward the monsters in front of me.

*BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!* Everyone feels the strong wind after I fired the gun.

The trees in front of me are instantly destroyed by the powerful wind. All the monsters are blown away, crashing into trees and large rocks, shattering their crystals instantly.

"Holy moly—!!" Rackam looks very surprised, his eyes wide open when he sees what I've done.

I then aim the pistol at another group of remaining monsters and fire, this time without using the previous powerful attack.

This time, I only shoot green winds that quickly hit them, instantly destroying their green crystals.

Soon, all the monsters surrounding us disappear entirely, and I lower my pistol as its job is done.

"What the hell is that!?" Vyrn shouts at me.

"It's Rei's unique way of using Primal Beasts." Orchid says to Vyrn casually.

I can see Gran and Rackam staring at me with wide eyes, not expecting me to have such power.

"What?" is all I can say to them.

Gran can only sigh after seeing my confused expression, then he sheaths his sword and walks over to us.

"Is everyone okay?" Gran asks them.

"Yeah, we're fine... But what is that? I can sense Tiamat when you were using it, but I didn't see Tiamat at all." Lyria² says, looking at the pistol I am holding.

"What do you mean? This is Tiamat's power." I say, showing them the pistol I am holding.

Rackam then walks up to me, examining the pistol. "Hmm, this is a really unique gun. I never knew Tiamat had that kind of power..." Rackam murmurs.

"Yeah, you don't have this kind of gun after getting Tiamat's power, right, Rackam?" Gran turns to Rackam.

"No... All I feel is just Tiamat's power flowing inside me, and I don't get a gun like this at all..." Rackam says, sensing Tiamat's power within himself.

"Well, that's because I'm an Astral." I say to them.

"....WHAT!?" Everyone except Lyria and Orchid screams in shock.