Back to Stella.
They watched the monsters arriving, standing frozen in silence, held captive by Astella.
Ichigo looked at Stella sitting in despair, his own face remaining completely unchanged.
Astella took hold of Ichigo's hand.
She smiled.
"What do you think, Prince? Isn't this fascinating? Watching someone wear an expression so different from their usual one."
Ichigo stared at Astella with a cold gaze, then began to speak.
"I don't know... I feel nothing... It's empty."
"I know..." Astella drew closer to Ichigo.
"But what if I could fill that emptiness of yours?" Her hand gripped the collar of Ichigo's shirt.
She whispered into Ichigo's ear.
"The Life Council of the Universe, Enterprise Forest, holds the empty part of you."
Ichigo grabbed her in return.
"What do you mean?"
Astella slowly released Ichigo's grip.
"They hold your 'Heart' that was separated from you."
Astella put on a narrowed gaze and a sly smile before Ichigo.
"Aren't you curious what it feels like to FEEL, to LOVE, to experience the EMOTIONS that so many people feel, including your own mother?!"
She grabbed Ichigo's shoulders from the front.
"SO PRINCE... COME WITH ME TO MEET THEM, WILL YOU?!"
Ichigo looked at Stella, then removed Astella's grip from his shoulders.
He ran toward Stella and supported her body.
Stella turned to look at Ichigo.
Tears streamed from her eyes at once.
"I... Chigo."
Astella screamed.
"WHY?!"
While helping Stella to stand, he answered Astella's question.
"My family told me to survive, whatever happens."
"YOU WILL SURVIVE IF YOU COME WITH US! THEY ARE THE LIFE COUNCIL!" Astella shouted.
Ichigo brought Stella to the base of a large tree root, as she was too weak from the shock she had endured.
"But Astella, looking at how you have treated me... I am not confident I would survive by their side."
He stood up.
"From what I know through history, they are only obsessed with my soul. And from what I have read..."
He looked at Astella.
"Obsession will only make my situation worse. You may not know this, but I have studied emotions. I understand them, I simply do not feel them." Ichigo gripped the fabric of his shirt at his chest.
He walked slowly toward Astella.
At the same moment, Astella began stepping back little by little.
She tried to speak, her voice trembling and unsteady.
"B... BESIDES, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RUN ANYMORE! BE... BECAUSE THE FORCES HAVE ARRIVED NOW!" While pointing at Ichigo, she showed a forced smile.
"AND THEN WHAT?" Ichigo answered, radiating a terrifying aura.
"Even at 50/50 odds, I still have a considerable chance of using the power of my race to escape."
Astella was startled. She bit her own lower lip until it bled, then charged toward Ichigo.
It was at that moment that the village chief and Ayu Permata arrived, riding the wind spirit shaped like a horse.
Astella was struck by the spirit's kick and sent flying a fair distance away.
"DAMN IT! WHO DESTROYED THAT DOME?!" Astella was furious. She turned to see what had pushed her.
She was stunned.
"F... Father."
The village chief dismounted from his spirit.
He stared at Astella, who was on the ground struggling to get back up.
"Astella..."
"Good grief, this is certainly going to be troublesome." Said Ayu as she dismounted from the spirit horse and hurried to treat Stella.
"Child, are you alright?"
The light in Stella's eyes slowly returned.
"Master..."
Ayu rested Stella's head against her own body.
"Yes, calm down. Your teacher has arrived."
Stella smiled with a body too weak to hold itself up.
The village chief looked at Astella, then moved toward her.
"Astella, is that you? My child..." The village chief's face began to show a sorrowful expression.
Astella managed to stand, though unsteadily.
"Only now do you look at me?!" Astella's eyes tensed, the veins on her face standing out.
The village chief's arm tried to reach for Astella's shoulder, but she pushed it away.
"YOU MISERABLE WRETCH! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU?!! DID YOU EVER ONCE THINK ABOUT HOW I WAS DOING?! EVEN JUST ONCE, BEFORE?!" Astella's tears began to fall.
"As... Astella! I... Father truly..." The village chief shifted his gaze slightly, his expression anxious, his eyes visibly glistening with clear sadness.
Astella clenched her fists and bit the edge of her lower lip.
"DAMN IT! EVEN NOW, AT A MOMENT LIKE THIS, YOU STILL TURN YOUR FACE AWAY FROM ME?!"
At that same moment, Ayu whispered, calling Ichigo over from where Stella was.
"Prince... come here." Ayu waved her palm toward him.
Ichigo turned and began walking back toward Stella.
Once he arrived, Ayu whispered again.
"Prince, please kneel down..."
Ichigo knelt as directed. At that moment, Ayu produced the teleportation orb from beneath the folds of her skirt and held it before Ichigo.
"I humbly ask of you, Prince, descendant of the great spirit, to channel your power into this teleportation orb." Ayu handed the orb to Ichigo.
"Because we do not have much time left." Said Ayu in her exhausted state, her eyes deeply shadowed, sweat still flowing continuously.
Ichigo stood upright again, holding the teleportation orb.
"Very well. I will try."
Ayu smiled while letting out a breath of relief.
Ichigo began focusing the mana he possessed into the orb.
The teleportation orb began to glow white. The light that emerged caused Stella to stir and pulled Astella's attention away.
"That... don't tell me?!" Astella was startled.
Stella opened her eyes. She saw Ichigo activating the glowing teleportation orb right in front of her.
Within her heart, Stella wondered what was actually happening. What was that object?
Then Astella charged forward rapidly, raising a knife toward Ichigo.
"As long as I can bring the prince alive before the Life Council! Yes, that's right! As long as he is still alive! Knocking him unconscious won't cause serious harm!" Astella said within her mind.
And as she reached Ichigo:
Astella thought she had stabbed Ichigo's shoulder. But when she opened her eyes, she was puzzled by the large figure blocking her path. Astella looked up.
She saw her father's face, grimacing in pain.
The village chief then embraced Astella, even as the knife remained buried in his abdomen, nearly reaching his heart.
Stella saw all of it.
"Father!!" She tried to break free from Ayu's restraining hold.
Ichigo opened his eyes at the commotion.
He spoke to Stella.
"Stella..."
Stella turned to look.
"The teleportation for all of you will be complete soon. But I, along with all the bodies, your sister who has betrayed us, and your father over there, will not be teleported. So take the rope hanging from my clothing."
Stella did as he asked. She took the rope that Night Snow had left behind long ago, then asked:
"Hey, Ichigo... will we meet again?"
Ichigo went quiet for a brief moment, then answered:
"...Let fate decide that."
Light appeared around the forest elf villagers, as well as around Stella and Ayu.
Slowly, the light covered them. But before it did, Stella smiled at Ichigo with tears streaming heavily down her face.
"I truly hope we can meet again, Prince..." Stella disappeared from Ichigo's sight, and immediately after, the orb shattered in Ichigo's hands.
"Yes... until then..." Ichigo answered Stella's words.
Behind him, the village chief continued enduring the pain while embracing Astella, who was struggling to break free.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU MISERABLE OLD MAN! DAMN IT, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE NOW?!"
The village chief's hold tightened every time Astella fought against it.
"I am truly sorry, my child. It seems now is the moment I receive my punishment." Blood began to seep from the village chief's mouth, his body growing cold by degrees.
With blood flowing without end, the village chief passed away at that moment, his arms still wrapped tightly around Astella.
Astella then opened the village chief's embrace, dropped his lifeless body to the ground, and performed a few stretching movements to loosen her stiffened body.
She pulled the knife from her father's body and resumed her effort to subdue Ichigo.
The ground began to tremble, with vibrations different from those before.
The forces had already surrounded the dome.
To Be Continued