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"Oh, George..!"
"This is your wife, Maria."
"I know you've been waiting…"
And just as Queen Mary said that the whole castle started shaking, pillars collapsing but not in a destructive way, walls and ceilings turning to dust and sand, just to get blown away by the air.
Ninten and his friends took cover from the now decaying castle as it and all its workers inside vanished into thin air, the only one standing still as if nothing were happening being Queen Mary herself.
And after just a few seconds which felt like hours, Magicant was no more, nothing but a vast view of rocks.
"Grandma-" Stuttered Ninten at his just discovered relative which was now beginning to fade away, but it was too late.
"I'm on my way to join you in heaven now…"
And just like that, Maria was gone, Ninten felt like he wanted to cry, but he didn't, not right now.
The kids inspected for a moment their surroundings, rocky terrain, with the horizon showing the entirety of Podunk, Merrysvile, and Ellay from that same peak, it was clear now, they were at the top of mount Itoi.
The views were amazing, but this was short-lived as in just a few seconds the entire sky was hidden by a giant spaceship, there wasn't a single spot of it visible anymore, all covered by a giant mass of iron and metal.
"Do you think that's… him?" Said, Lloyd with a very obvious hint of worry.
No one replied to him, they all knew the answer, it was best to prepare themselves for the fight, but how? What could stop something as big as that?
The spaceship started descending, and it descended and descended until a single big capsule came out of it, it was him, Giegue.
"Ninten", said the deep voice coming out of it, as if talking directly to the kid's minds.
"Giegue…"
"That will be Commander Giygas to you", the voice sounded louder, almost offended, but it was hard to tell.
"We are here to stop you, we will NOT let you take over the world!", pointed out Ninten raising his baseball bat at him.
"Oh, do not worry child, I am not here for that, at least not if you listen to me"
Ninten stopped for a moment, he was curious about what the voice had planned, even if he didn't want to admit it, he was not confident about if he could win this fight.
The voice kept talking after seeing Ninten's lack of response.
"I owe a great deal to your family line, Maria, George's wife, raised me when I was very young…"
A moment of silence between them, then, the capsule finally opened wide, revealing the tall alien, a cat-like appearance with red eyes and a completely white body.
"But George himself found vital information from our planet and turned it against us, making him able to escape back here with it, the PSI"
"But, then that means you're here for-"
"Yes Ninten, I am here for you…"
The sudden realization hit the kids like a truck, Ninten completely unable to move, just barely turning around to face his friends, Lloyd on the verge of tears while Ana looked empty of emotion at Ninten.
Io
"Here's my offer" Said Giygas as if he didn't just witness their reaction.
"Come with me back to my planet, you'll be treated as an equal, and we will even teach you to handle your powers to even greater levels…
Or die trying to protect something that doesn't belong to you."
Ninten doesn't know how to respond, this isn't what he thought was gonna happen, it was all too sudden, what should he do..? He didn't want to fight him, and neither did he, he could feel it.
His friends, they've been there for him always, they'll know what to do, he turned around once more.
"What do I do..?"
"Are you crazy?! You can't go with him!!" Said Ana as soon as the words of Ninten left his mouth.
"But-"
"BUT WHAT?"
…
"I don't think he's being dishonest"
A short pause.
The white-haired glasses kid suddenly speaks his mind from his side.
"N-Ninten, are you sure about that-"
"YES, I'm very much sure!.. It felt as if, he was reaching out to me with his mind…"
Another pause.
"Come on Lloyd… You're the smart one of us 3, what do you think I should do?"
"...Do you think we can defeat him?"
"No"
…
"Then go with him-"
"WHAT" Suddenly Ana blurts out. "ARE YOU INSANE LLOYD? We can't let him go! Wise can't just- NO We need to fi-"
"ANA"
Ninten grabs her shoulders, she was crying rivers of tears, no, not him yet.
"Please… I don't want to make this harder…"
"Then DONT do it! We will cover you, help you, w-we will win the fight just- Please…"
…
"Don't leave me…"
Ninten touches softly Ana's cheek, brushing off her tears and looking into her eyes, he hated this, he despised seeing her like this, but it was better than the alternative.
He leaned closer to her and planted a soft kiss to reassure her that he will be fine, no matter what would happen.
"Promise me that you will be back-"
"I promise"
And with no more time to spare as he felt Giegue's sight locked onto them, he turned around and approached the border of the mountain where the alien awaited. he reached out his hand to him just to be completely taken back by Giegue's telekinesis raising him from the ground and onto the capsule, right beside him.
The glass suddenly closed and he saw his two friends screaming out to him, he couldn't tell if it was a warning, if it was cheering, or a goodbye, all he could do, was wave at them as the capsule elevated itself into the ship farther and farther away from them.
"You've done the right choice child, thank you"
But even if it was the right choice, it didn't feel like it, it felt bad, it felt horrible how even he could feel down his cheeks how he broke the promise he made to himself.
How he started crying in the end.