"Break: Thousandfold Wall."
Yon drew his sword with steady deliberation before thrusting it past Blue's body, driving the blade into the same hole she had bored earlier.
Following this, his false reflections surged through the orb, and as though he had detonated a bomb at point‑blank range, a massive shockwave blasted outward, hurling shards of the orb back toward him.
He was sent flying, and the fragments did not leave him unscathed.
Blue's vessel, however, remained unfettered.
It drove forward despite the damage, forcing its way through the repulsion toward the girl trapped at the center, as the path to her had just been carved open.
It was clear that the explosion wasn't the only force pushing it back. Another constant, unseen repulsion, slowed its advance.
Before Blue's body could reach the light at the core, it began to lose ground.
It had been pushed to its limits and could no longer advance. It lost control of all but one option. It could only extend Blue's hand toward the light and wait for the one who could take it.
***
"Let's go," Blue said to Rita as she turned and began walking out of the void.
The girl she wished would follow trembled with hesitation.
Such a simple resolution would have rendered all the trouble she had caused nothing more than a meaningless tantrum–one that had only inflicted pain on everyone involved.
Could she really walk away and pretend none of it had happened?
Surely not.
That was the last thing she wanted. So instead, she shamelessly hurried after Blue with a different destination in mind–to face the consequences of her actions in a true reality, away from the delusions she had trapped herself in.
***
Blue's hand was seized by a figure within the light, and the will fulfilled its mission.
Blue returned to reality, but she did not release that hand.
She tightened her grip and pulled Rita with everything she had. They had finally made it back, and all that remained was to leave the vicinity; then, as Cosmo had assured them, they would be free from the Spire once and for all.
"Hold on…" The woman's voice resounded as hundreds upon hundreds of tendrils, appearing as nothing but radiant light, suddenly wrapped around Rita's other arm.
Although Blue had returned to her body, Rita was still being denied escape from the dream.
"Did you think it would be that easy? You have nowhere to return to. I made sure of that myself."
"That's fine with me," Rita finally answered the bitter woman. "I'll try anyway… and accept whatever happens along the way."
"You're nothing but a selfish fool! Your sins are the same as mine now, don't you dare look at me like that. I'm not something you can leave behind and forget!"
"I won't leave you behind. You're already a part of me. One I'll never let go. And if all these parts of me that are unforgivable cause me more hurt, then that's good too. That's how it's supposed to be for anyone. And it'll be that way for me too, since I'm just a normal girl. An average girl who can't help but blow a fuse sometimes."
While wrestling Rita's body away from the tendrils, Blue suddenly heard a familiar whirring.
Before she could understand what was happening, a deafening bang followed, and the resistance she had been fighting vanished, sending both of them tumbling out of the shattered orb.
***
Moments later, Yon staggered to his feet, still recovering from the recoil of the blast. But the true reason for his sudden rush was the sound of weeping he heard.
"No! No! Please–no!"
He sprinted toward the voice to offer whatever help he could, but froze the moment he saw the scene.
Rita lay unconscious, stripped of her uniform, and beneath her on the reflective floor pooled her blood.
Blue was desperately pressing both hands against the wound, but that was all she could do for the girl who had just lost her left arm.
"What happened?"
Blue whipped her head toward him at the sound of his voice. "Yon! Hurry, help me take off my uniform. I can't move my hands or else–"
Yon understood immediately. The scales of their uniforms would help staunch the bleeding, but there was a problem she hadn't mentioned.
"Would that even work? They're bonded to us. I've only ever seen the Captain share his."
"I know," she replied, "but before the fight, I asked him to shut mine off in case something like this happened."
"Al–alright, but there's still another problem." He gestured at her hands.
She realized the difficulty a moment later. He couldn't assist her with her clothing while she had to maintain pressure on the wound.
The alternative was to command the scales herself and force them to deform.
"Blue, I get this is hard right now, but you've got to calm down. Those scales won't listen if you keep panicking. Try to picture it clearly."
At his urging, she tried to will the scales to detach. But with her inability to slow her racing heartbeat and the damage her body had sustained while Cosmo's intent had been in control, the scales only vibrated, refusing to budge, prioritizing her safety and recovery above all else.
"It's not working."
"Damn it…" Yon racked his mind for alternatives.
He wanted to believe Cosmo had accounted for this kind of problem, which begged the question: what exactly would he have prepared?
"Wait…" He suddenly shrugged off his jacket.
"What are you–"
Yon realized the answer was simple.
He draped his jacket over Rita.
'Of course, why would Cosmo only give Blue that option?'
The white dissolved, transforming into a makeshift robe that clothed Rita before scales began to cover the injury.
What Blue had just revealed was that she had been the one to inform Cosmo of an unintentional design flaw.
Their Captain wasn't the type who enjoyed being wrong, and he liked being corrected even less. It only made sense that he would have disabled the binding feature of the scales for all of them if he truly acknowledged her point.
Still, the glaring issue of his inability to communicate that beforehand remained. Even he would have to admit that forgetting something like that could have resulted in a major, avoidable loss.
Blue released her grip and exhaled in relief.
"Thank goodness…" she breathed.
And with that breath, her body finally released its tension, and she slumped to the floor in exhaustion.
Yon was startled, but remembering his mission, he wasted no time.
He lifted her onto his back, crossing her arms over his shoulders and around his neck.
"I'm… sorry," he heard her whisper, and he could only smile.
Then he picked up Rita, who was admittedly lighter, with his arms and began to run.
Fortunately for him, Blanchard could still support his physical abilities while sheathed and held in his mouth, ensuring he could get very far.