Villain Retirement

"Princess Aerith."

Riley stretched his hand, offering his arm to Aerith as he made his way to her.

"..." Aerith, on the other hand, completely ignored him. She just stood in front of Elder Olseyir on her own without saying a word or waiting for Riley.

Riley did not seem to mind, however, as he just smiled and stood beside Aerith. His long white hair was neatly tied at the end, allowing the suit and tie he was wearing to be seen whole.

"...This is your idea, isn't it?" Aerith then quietly whispered as she slightly leaned closer to Riley; her eyes, glancing at the people standing on an aisle behind them, "Very funny."

"No, it is actually Mother's," Riley shook his head, "She has a twisted sense of humor, Aerith."

"Runs in the family."

"I'm adopted. And perhaps you did not notice, the concept is similar to a wedding, Aerith."

"I'm not blind, child."

"And you're the bride and I suppose that makes me the gro—"

"Yes, I know. Why are you even here?"

"Elder Olseyir instructed me to."

"Wh—"

"Everyone!" And as Aerith and Riley were whispering to each other, Elder Olseyir suddenly clapped her hands right in front of their faces.

"..."

"..."

"All of you here stand witness to the registration of the planet New Theran, as well as its people, the Themarians, to the Cosmic Codex," Elder Olseyir then stretched her arms to the side; her pink robes, snapping in the air as she did so,

"The two that stand in front of me and before you have fought long and hard for this achievement to be possible. Their efforts have not been in vain, and have been recognized by the Common Council. And therefore, by the power and authority vested upon me by my fellow Elders and the Elders before us…

…I welcome New Theran and its people to the Known Universe!"

"..."

"..."

"You guys can clap."

"Oh."

"Pft."

Hannah and the others did not know whether to laugh or clap as they watched Elder Olseyir dramatically flailing her robes. Even Aerith, who was previously immersed in the ceremony, was trying her best not to laugh at the sudden awkward silence that happened before them. Perhaps the only one truly clapping was Riley.

"I… apologize," Aerith shook her head as she grabbed Riley's hands, "What… do we do now?"

"It's actually done."

"...What?"

"You just need to place your palm here to complete the registration," Elder Olseyir then retrieved an orb from inside her robes.

"That's it?" Aerith blinked a couple of times as she looked at Elder Olseyir's silvery eyes.

"Yes. There actually isn't a ceremony for this, I just like being extra," Elder Olseyir giggled, "People just come and go to register their planet, renewing it every century or so—or so I was told, I'm new."

"...Right," Aerith could really only let out a loud and deep sigh as she placed her hand on the orb. The smile on her face, however, could not be hidden from anyone on the bridge.

"So… that's that?"

"Hmhm," Elder Olseyir shrugged as she retrieved the orb and hid it back in her robes. A light and subtle light then casually flickered far behind her in the expanse of space—a flashing beam that covered the entirety of New Theran,

"I guess we can go eat now."

"Alright!"

"When did you guys have the time to prepare food?"

"Congratulations again, Princess Aerith. I hope your new world offers your people a better life."

"Wait… What was that?" And while everyone was stepping out of their places, Her feet, planted on the floor as she blinked; her eyes, completely focused on New Theran. And before she could blink again, another flash beamed through New Theran—this time seemingly even more violent. She then turned to see where the beam came from, only to see some sort of ship the size of a planet.

"Was…" Aerith's breaths started to turn heavy; the smile on her face, trembling as it very slowly faded away, "Is… Is that supposed to happen? The light, what was the light?"

"Hm?" Elder Olseyir looked behind her to see what Aerith was pointing to, "What light? Wait…whose ship is that?"

"What's… going on?" Bernard squinted his eyes as he started looking back and forth between the expanse of space outside and Aerith; he was feeling something inside of him, almost as if the Guardian Force was trying to tell him something.

It wasn't only him, Hannah, and the rest of the people that were standing in a line all looked at each other—their breaths, confused.

"Did any of you see that?" Hannah breathed out as she looked at Xra's crew, "What… was that light? It… felt familiar."

"I saw it," Aella, Xra's engineer, raised her hand, "It… it looked like a… beam?"

"...Miss Hera!?"

Everyone then turned their heads toward Paige as she suddenly screamed, only to see her kneeling on the ground—her hand placed on Hera, who was trembling as she groveled on the floor.

And before they could even ask, a troubling whisper echoed in the air.

"Oh no…"

"..." They then quietly turned their heads toward Xra, whose eyes now also trembled as they reflected New Theran.

"Oh…" Xra sucked in a deep breath as the veins on her pale skin started to redden; her fangs, forcefully showing themselves as she continued staring at New Theran. Soon, however, any sort of rage that could be seen from her died down. And instead, she just turned to look at Diana; her eyes that were once completely dead, seemingly filled with life as the blood that trailed from them distortedly reflected Diana's silhouette.

"Caitlain…"

"..." Diana slightly squinted her eyes as she returned Xra's sorrowful gaze; her head, slightly tilted to the side in confusion.

"Caitlain…" Xra repeated, "Don't—"

"NOOO!"

And before Xra could finish her words, a wailing scream thundered through the entire ship, piercing everyone's ears with a cry that seemed filled with anguish and despair.

"M…mom?" Hannah instinctively backed away, flinching as she saw her mother's mouth wide open; tears, gushing out from her reddening eyes. Hannah couldn't even breathe properly; her breaths became gasps as she watched as her mother screamed and embraced herself.

Her fingers, digging through her arms as her wails did not seem to have an end.

"...Mom?" Hannah also started to cry as she wanted to approach her mother—but she couldn't. She wasn't afraid, no. This was the very first time she was seeing her mother like this… and she was completely at a loss as to what to do, "R… Riley? Dad? Wh—"

And before Hannah could finish her words, the entire ship quaked.

"Mom!?"

Diana flew away, ramming through the windows and barriers of the Bloodcruiser as she suddenly flew straight to New Theran; her wails, still echoing even from afar.

"Hannah, stay here!" Bernard's instantly wrapped around him as he quickly chased Diana.

"Put all the ship's energy into the shields!" A pair of bloody wings emerged from Xra's back as she too, flew hastily toward New Theran to chase Diana.

"What…" As for Aerith, her feet were still completely planted on the floor. Her eyes were blinking without stop; her lips, trembling as she whispered, "Riley, what…

…what just happened?"