When Tona emerged from the gate—he thought his eyes had betrayed him.
It was only when he saw a soldier stabbed through the back that he knew what he saw was reality. Persetta was crushed—his home, his people… now lifeless and unrecognizable.
Fire crept up the sides of homes as smoke spiraled into the air. Bodies of civilians, Memento soldiers and all the like littered the ground.
His fists clenched. The scarf fluttered behind him, catching ash in the wind. He took a step forward, and then another.
Then, he sprinted. No abilities or Solena—just his speed, fists and a hidden fury.
Three APC footsoldiers blocked his path ahead, raising swords in a readied stance.
He didn't blink. He ripped through them like paper. First, an elbow to a temple, followed by a knee to the gut. The third received special treatment.
Tona grabbed him, and hurled his body into a nearby wall with unimaginable force. Their weapons clattered uselessly against the ground.
His eyes kept moving, darting across the landscape. The flames reflected off his violet eyes.
High above, two masked stalkers stood on a crumbling rooftop. Their gaze followed Tona's every move.
"...The Ghost," the first said, a man wearing a full face mask painted in a rock formation.
The second was a shorter woman, also wearing a mask to seal her identity. Hers bore a mark of wind—a simple gust.
"We shouldn't engage," she said hesitantly.
The first nodded. "But we will," he said coldly, before leaping down decisively. He went low, advancing on the ground. His partner followed suit, taking a direct strike through the air at an unsuspecting Tona.
He felt the air change, and twisted just in time as the two were about to make contact.
"You're as fast as they say, Ghost," said the woman.
"Not fast enough, though," the man muttered, bringing his hands together. "Dune Ravager."
The ground trembled, shifting below Tona's feet. The stone underneath liquefied into a massive sinkhole—devouring all in its radius.
Tona's eyes widened at the technique.
"Dune… Ravager?" he asked himself in a hoarse tone.
He didn't hesitate. He summoned a gate just beside him, entering before getting sucked into the spiraling ground.
"I… I know that technique…" he whispered to himself, staring at the masked stalker.
With clenched fists, he launched forward. His body moved on instinct— each strike a question and every blow a demand.
The male stalker met him—but Tona was faster. One blow to the ribs, and another to the jaw. A third slams the figure into the stone, leaving a crater in the ground.
Tona landed, breathing hard. He ripped the mask off of the man's face in a swift, fluid motion—
—and the world fell silent.
Tona staggered back with a caught breath. Disbelief struck his face,
"D—dad?"
The man's face was older and more weathered—but unmistakable. His hair had become a stressed gray, and his eyes were voided of recognition—hollow. His mouth was curled into an emotionless frown.
"Son?" Tukami asked flatly. "I have no son."
Tona's hands trembled. He clutched the man's uniform in desperation.
"What the hell are you talking about?! It's me, Tona! You just, what… forgot? After disappearing for years?!"
Tukami jerked out of his grip with brutal efficiency. His voice was utterly calm and collected.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, before turning to the other stalker. She stepped forward in deliberate steps.
"We'll end him together," Tukami continued. "Siena."
The name stabbed Tona deeper than any blade could. He froze, his hands twitching."No… no—Mom?"
The second stalker removed her mask.
Dark strands fell loose, framing a face Tona had memorized before he ever learned to fight. Those green eyes—once warm, once alive—stared through him without recognition.
"We'll end him together," Tukami said calmly. "Siena."
The name hit harder than the blow that followed.
They moved in perfect unison.
Tona barely raised his arms before the impact—ribs screaming, legs swept out from under him. A kick drove him through the wall of what had once been a bakery. Stone collapsed around him as blood spilled from his mouth.
He forced himself upright.
"Why…" he whispered. "Why are you doing this?"
No answer. Tukami was already there.
He grabbed Tona by the collar and launched him straight through the ceiling. Tona hit the rooftop hard, coughing blood as pain flared through his chest.
I need to make them remember me.
Siena came down in a blur of motion—Solena screaming through the air. Tona dodged on instinct. Sand tore past his shoulder as Tukami followed up.
"Please," Tona shouted, desperation cracking his voice. "It's me."
No hesitation or sign of recognition from either.
Another blow struck his side and then his chest. Tona didn't stagger.
"Don't make me kill you," he said quietly. "Please… I can't."
Siena's eyes flashed with vicious intent. Not a hint of hesitation or love.
"Then die," she said, lunging at full speed. Her arm swung upward like a blade of compressed Solena aimed at Tona's head.
But he's faster—and the realization had now kicked in.
His mother… was no longer who he remembered.
Tona reappeared in a flash behind Siena, snatching her ankle mid-air. A gate appeared below, and he threw her into its depths—separating Siena and Tukami on the battlefield.
"...Forgive me…"
It led to another section of Persetta—isolated and alone. He slammed her into the ground, before wrapping an arm around her throat in a headlock. She thrashed, but to no avail. Her son only held her.
Memories of the woman she was… someone he loved and looked up to when he was a child.
The beautiful face that he once called mother.
"You don't remember me… but why? What happened to you… to forget your only son?"
Siena remained deadly calm.
"I don't know who you think I am… but you're dying here and now, Ghost!"
Time itself stopped—not from an ability, but from within. A voice called to Tona—ancient and familiar.
"Tona. These aren't your parents anymore," Severus spoke.
"I… I know…"
"They've been stripped of everything they once knew. Everything they loved and cherished. They are but husks of the people you once knew. Weapons of the stalker program," Severus echoed. "Kill… or be killed."
A single tear fell from Tona's eye, as he held Siena in a firm grip.
"Then… I really don't have a choice," he said aloud.
His fists trembled. His voice quivered—but his eyes remained clear.
"I'm sorry… I—I love you."
His free hand flared from pure violet Solena, engulfing his hand—and he thrusted it forward. A blind wave erupted from his palm, piercing directly through the stalker's heart.
Siena gasped with a sharp inhale, before stumbling. Tona caught her limp body in his arms—gently, cradling her head.
More tears hit the ground below, as Tona looked down at his mother's lifeless body. He grazed a strand of hair that covered her face, and closed the open eyelids. Her time for rest had come.
Tukami stood in the plaza where Tona and Siena had just disappeared from. His brown eyes scanned the environment, eyes widened in confusion from their disappearance.
A gate opened behind him, and out walked Tona—still carrying his mother.
Tukami's eyes bulged, and he stepped back with shock. His fists clenched in rage.
"SIENA!"
Tukami launched forward, as Tona gently set Siena on the ground. The man didn't even look at his approaching father.
The Ghost opened a gate below Tukami's driving body, and grabbed his leg, before slamming him hard into the ground. Tukami hit with a thud—but had no time to think.
Tona appeared above, lifting him by the uniform's collar.
Tona's Solena developed in a deep purple and infused in his hand. With that, he drove it directly into Tukami's chest—clean and deep.
His father's eyes widened, and his mouth opened, but no words came. There was only stillness, as Tukami's head fell forward like Siena's.
The man who taught Tona to walk. To laugh and make jokes.
To live with respect and forgive. Now dead by his son's hand.
Tona said nothing more. No tears followed. Only silence remained. The eerie quiet of regret and death.
Tona walked back to where Siena fell. He knelt solemnly. He carefully placed his father down so their hands gently touched. Even if they didn't remember love—he let them leave as lovers.
He stood, staring at their bodies for a long moment. A gust blew his hair, revealing fallen eyes that were dimmed of hope. The scarf fluttered behind.