Waves washed over me as the water swayed my body along.
My hands were lodged over a long window of cloth and metal kept me up as I puked out water. Hair of white fell in front of my face while a strange limpness spread through my entire body.
Another wave, and I was pushed to the side again before spitting out more water.
"What the… fuck…"
I looked down at the object. Intricate metal working and wiring cased in plastic and rubber shields filled its lengths while words written in good old English were etched on its frame.
This…
"Titania, do you see this…?" I muttered with all my strength, but no response came.
"Titania?"
Did she go back? I tried to concentrate my mana in my brand, but though it glowed there was no other reaction coming back from it.
The sensation that I always felt when trying to call Titania over did not hit me at all.
If the words were truly in English below me, then it would make sense.
I spat out some more of the salty water and tried to climb up on the floating object, as I weakly pushed my body on it, I flipped over and fell on my back.
Below me, was a satellite.
My eyes turned upward, away from the familiar sun and the blue skies, a whirring sound spread through the air.
A giant bird of steel flying midair. An airplane.
A marvel of technology and engineering that could be seen nowhere else.
Nowhere.
Other than Earth.
I pushed my hair back and clasped my hand over my eyes.
"Fuck…"
***
I raised my hand above my head and looked at the chains. The bright sun was enough to dry me up for now.
"At least you're still here, Catene."
"Whirrrrrr."
"Did you just call me a bitch? Fuck you, just fuck you."
A sigh left me as Catene continued to throw a tantrum.
What was that?
What in the world was that?
Was that what we were up against?
It was almost as if a new peak had revealed itself to me. I was strong enough to stand with the best of the world, I was strong enough to fight against and with them.
I had always thought just a little more and I'll be the strongest. Kai had even offered to train me personally.
But.
But the strength that we were all aware of was nowhere close to the limits.
All that I held, none of it matched the very concept of that being.
"WHIRRRRR!"
"Sure, you might have liked it, you're not of this realm anyway."
"Whirrrr!!" Catene started pulling me up, the satellite was already pretty wonky, how was I going to get this comfortable position again.
"Look, I am not sulking. I am just excited to see that there's a new height to capture and a little worried that I may not have enough time."
"WHIRRR!"
Catene shifted to the other side in a fluster and pulled me down the satellite. I was barely using anything to keep myself up and the sudden movement made me fall to the side.
I was dunked into the water with Catene pulling me yet. It dragged my hand in the direction of the satellite and I turned my gaze.
There, underwater, pressed by the sunken half of the steel giant was Albert.
My eyes widened. That's who Catene was calling a bitch!
I immediately swam out of the water and took in a deep breath before diving in again. My hands pushed the water aside as I slowly navigated below the satellite and grabbed the bitch's collars.
He was knocked out cold, thankfully it had barely been a few minutes since the fall. I tried to pull him along, but his clothes had been stuck in a stray rod. It was great that satellites were made of aluminum.
I pulled it tight and the satellite broke from the rod as it freed Albert. With a hand on his collars, I swam with him to the top and shoved him on the satellite.
A sigh left me as I climbed up on the satellite too. It was pushed down a little more and some water climbed atop, but it didn't sink.
With a hand on his chest, I started giving him compressions.
Catene whirred and smacked Albert's lips, perhaps suggesting mouth breathing. He was promptly stomped on and taught to behave. Only perverts did that anyway, it barely had any effect.
Not long after, Albert started spitting out some water. I took the chance and used magic to send all the water coming out of his body away. Each person had their own mana core and it was impossible to affect someone else's body with magic, but the moment I saw an opening, it became many times easier for a person of my abilities.
Once the water was out, I sat down again and sighed.
After a short while, Albert finally groaned and woke up. His hand went straight to his head and his ears.
"Ouch… help…"
"You alright man?"
I asked, pushing him.
Albert's eyes slowly opened up and he sighed in relief when he saw me.
"What was… that…"
He sat up and sighed, his hands still on his head. It seemed he was still trembling.
"What we have to defeat," I said. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"You're insane. The games had nothing like that thing. That wasn't our enemy, if it was, I'd rather switch sides."
Not our enemy, huh?
Well I would agree, but ones friends weren't friends either until you were equals.
No matter what was the conclusion, nothing could be discussed unless we were equals.
So.
Strength. Was necessary.
The strength I had gathered all this time was true and correct, together the things that would have happened in the second and the third year of the game was already done before the first even ended.
But if something was needed, it was never enough.
I slowly got on my feet and balanced myself on the satellite.
"Where are we anyway?" Asked Luka. "The sea beyond Pinot? Or is it in the East?"
I pointed at the sky for an answer. There, another of the steel bird was flying up high.
Albert's jaw dropped in real time as realization hit him.
"We're… in EARTH AGAIN!?"
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