MLTG P5- "Until We Meet Again"

"Until We Meet Again" is the last Part of "Miracula Luxia: The Guilt". It was released on 25.07.2020.
== Plot ==
Despite really wishing to help his father in protecting their workshop, Jared has to go to the cave at all costs. 
If he does not arrive in time, well... let us say that his mother will stay in the eternal realm forever.
Determined to save his mother from the Beyond above, Jared embarks on another adventure to find the mysterious object and restore life as it was before, possibly risking the lives of those who are around him.
Will he succeed and bring his beloved mother back? Or will he go to the Beyond himself? Find out now!
== Story ==
Jared looks back for a short time. He hears the sounds of a battle not too far away.
He sees some of the evil Vahnatai who are attacking the innocent citizens of his hometown. The guards are doing their best to fend them off, but they are too many.
Meanwhile, farther away, he can also hear someone breaking fragile objects, most likely in his father's alchemy.
Our hero immediately realizes that soon, those creatures will find out where he is and try to kill him.
He looks at his sword. It is clean, for now. But soon, it might be covered in the blood of his enemies.
"No matter what it takes, I must save my poor mother!"- He says to himself- "Nothing... and no one will stop me, no matter what they do."
He looks at the alchemy again and sees his father and John enter it. When he sees them, tears start falling from his eyes.
He knows that he must help them. He knows that he is risking the lives of everyone with his actions. He knows that they need him.
But he also knows that his current mission- to save his mother, is of uttermost importance and that every second matters.
Time is short and he has to hurry up.
Shaking his head, our hero proceeds to walk towards the cave's location, praying that his friends will handle the evil Vahnatai while he is in there.
Eventually, he reaches the location. However, he notices that there is no cave there.
"Wait just a minute... !"- Jared says- "So... I was fooled?!"
However, he soon comes back to his senses and realizes that the entrance must be hidden somewhere.
He starts scanning the perimeter, touching every part of the stone wall and sometimes even putting extra pressure, just in case.
Luckily enough, he does find the button that opens the cave. When he pushes it, a section of the wall slides down, enabling him to proceed.
"Whoever placed the object in this cave, they thought that they could hide the entrance from normal people."- Jared says to himself- "Well, I am no ordinary person. And they cannot hide anything from me!"
Confident in his abilities, Jared walks forward without any fear.
As he does, he notices that the cave is surprisingly well-lit. This is because of the fungus that grows on its ceiling, illuminating most of the cave.
Jared is happy that he can actually see everything without having to light a torch or cast a Fire spell, but he notes that he should still be careful. Just because the area has a high level of light does not mean that monsters are not hiding deeper within.
Soon, he finds the end of the cave. However, it is surprisingly treasure-free.
"There is... nothing here."- Jared mutters.
Just as he is about to leave, however, a spirit appears in front of him.
It is the spirit of his late mother who has come to tell him something. And it seems like she is very angry.
"Why are you still trying?!"- She yells at her son.
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"Mom?"- He says, confused- "W-what do you mean?"
Seiko shakes her head.
"You're still trying to bring me back to live! You're still wasting your time! And you even got your father involved in this! Why? Why are you so determined to save me when I am beyind saving?! Why do you keep trying when the result will always be the same?!"
"Why do you want to bring me back just to feel me close to you?!"
Jared shakes his head and is about to answer her numerous questions. However, he sees something on the ground.
It is a shiny rock that is shaped in the form of a crystal. It is gray and empty.
Jared bends and picks it up. When he holds it in the air, it shines with a faint light.
Realizing that it still doesn't do a lot, he shakes it a bit. This seems to trigger a hidden mechanism within the crystal-shaped rock.
It begins to shine in a dazzling, white light. Jared is forced to close his eyes for a few moments.
While his eyes are closed, he hears a loud scream. And it is coming from someone very close to him.
When he opens his eyes, he sees his mother's spirit flying up. However, part of it seems to be gone. It's insubstantial, gone... not there at all.
Jared looks down and sees that the rock is now with a pure white color. He can hear whispers coming from within.
He immediately recognizes the voice. It is of his mother.
"So... part of mom's spirit is within this crystal?"- Jared says, quickly learning about what just happened to his mother.
When he realizes what he has done to her, he falls to his knees and begins to cry.
"What have I done?!"- He says- "I-I'm a monster! How could I do that to... to my mother?!"
His mother's spirit descends back down and looks at him sadly. Part of her is still insubstantial.
When her son looks at her, he sees the damage that he has done to her.
"Mom! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"- He says, crying uncontrollably as he does so- "I will fix this, I promise!"
Seiko looks down at the insubstantial part of her body.
"Oh, this?"
She shakes her head and smiles as she looks back up.
"You don't have to worry. It's just a scratch. It doesn't really hurt me."
She sighs.
"Well, it looks like you picked up a part of my soul with this small crystal. And it is not going to come back. But I know how we can repair this."
Jared looks at his mother hopefully.
"There is... a way?"- He says.
Seiko nods, although she looks very reluctant to share what she knows with her son.
"Give this crystal to your father and tell him what happened."- She begins- "Don't be reluctant. I can see the fear and sadness in your eyes. Don't become a victim of them. Instead, you should fight them and do what you can to be a hero again. Do you understand that?"
Jared nods.
"Good. Now go help your father. He still needs your help and I don't want to keep him waiting."
Jared starts to leave. Before he does, however, he looks back at his mother.
She is staring back at him.
The two of them don't know what to say to each other. Eventually, Jared decides to speak:
"Mom?"- He says- "Will we... ever reunite? Will we ever be truly together again?"
"Will we ever be the amazing mother and son that we used to be?"
Seiko nods and smiles.
"Of course we will!"- She responds- "One day, you and I will be together again. And I will protect you more than I ever have."
"But... you must fight for that to happen. And I'm very confident that you will."
She starts to fly up and waves goodbye.
"Until we meet again, sweet child of mine."
Jared looks up at the sky as she leaves and waves goodbye as well.
"I will bring you back, mom. No, we will."- He says to himself- "Hang in there, because soon you will be with us once again."
He leaves the cavern with the crystal and goes back to his father's alchemy.
He sees his father struggling with one of the Vahnatai. The creature sees him before he has the chance to react.
"Jared Kaos, you have returned. To save your dear father, I assume?"
Jared looks at the creature angrily.
"What do you want from us?"- He yells- "Why don't you just leave us alone?!"
The Vahnatai smiles. Or, this is what it seems, at the very least. The dim lighting in the room makes it hard to recognize its real expression.
"Your father killed our leader."- It says- "And for that, the blood debt must be paid by him. We have come here, because we want to complete our mission- slay the one who killed Rentar-Ihrno. And nothing is going to stop us from achieving it."
Jared shrugs.
"Funny you just said that, because nothing is going to stop me from protecting my father from your evil army. Nothing will stop me from stopping you!"
The Vahnatai sighs.
"It this is because he is the only one who truly understands you?"
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?"- He asks.
"Would you fight so valiantly to ensure his safety if he was not that important to you? Like, say, if he was just a distant cousin of yours? Would you protect him at all costs?"
This question infuriates Jared.
"Of course I will!"- He responds angrily- "No matter if it is my father, my distant cousin or just a person on the street that I do no even know, I will protect them! This is what a true hero does- he is devoted to protecting those around him and fight in their name with no fear in his heart. So far, I have fought to ensure the safety of everything and everyone. And I have succeeded."
The Vahnatai smirks.
"You still made many mistakes. What if you make more?"
Jared shakes his head.
"Yes, that is correct. I did make many mistakes in the past. People died because of them. But I am a better person now! Back then, I did not value life so much, I did not protect the people around me so valiantly. And, because of that, I even lost my mother. However, I have changed, grown up."
He draws his sword.
"And I will show you how much I have changed by destroying you and all of your fellow evil Vahnatai. Mark my words, all of you evil ones shall be slain and punished for your crimes."
Those words get the Vahnatai's immediate attention. Instead of continuing to attack Aleks, it stands up and points its blade at Jared.
"Enough!"- It says- "You have insulted our race way too much. You have gone too far. And we shall punish you for that!"
It whistles for its allies.
"Come, my brothers. We have an enemy to defeat!"
The rest of the Vahnatai come out from their hiding spots and surround Jared, making him unable to protect his father.
He shrugs.
"So, you are challenging me?"- He says and swings his sword in the air- "Let's see if you are able to survive for more than five minutes."
True to his word, they do not survive for more than five minutes as he easily kills all of them with a few swings of his sword, leaving the first Vahnatai the only survivor of the battle.
Jared points his sword at him.
"I will give you one last chance, alien creature."- He says- "If you get out of here right now, I promise to spare you. I will not hunt you down. I will leave you alone. That, I promise."
The Vahnatai shrugs.
"After you have slain all of my brothers?"- It says- "I don't think so, hero. I will die right here, right now!"
Jared sighs.
"So it be, then. I am done trying to reason with your misunderstanding lot."
"Now, the only way I will talk to you... is with my sword."
The battle seems hard for Jared, at first, but he eventually overpowers the Vahnatai and stabs it in the chest.
"You brought this to yourself!"- He screams at it- "I gave you a chance, but you just threw it away! You forced me to fight you! And now, your fate has been decided."
"I am so sorry!"- He continues- "Things shouldn't have ended like this. But... this is your fate."
The Vahnatai does not respond. Instead, it closes its eyes and passes away peacefully.
Jared sighs and helps his father stand up.
"Are you alright, dad?"- He says- "Did the Vahnatai hurt you?"
Aleks smiles.
"Thank God you came back, son."- He responds- "Fortunately, they didn't hurt me."
He sighs.
"Though... they tried to break my will and tell me that I will never be able to save your mother."
Jared shakes his head.
"They are not right about that!"- He says- "There is still hope for us to save mom!"
He presents the crystal that contains a part of Seiko's soul to his father.
The man takes the crystal from his son and listens to the whispers coming from within.
"I can hear her."- He mutters- "I can hear your mother."
He goes back to his workplace, continuing to stare at the crystal.
"We will bring her back. We will!"
Having said his piece, he gets to work, intending to bring his beloved wife back as soon as possible.
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Over the course of the next few weeks, Aleks keeps working on his new contraption.
Jared is very concerned about his mental health as he rarely talks to him. Instead of taking care of his son himself, he has left him in the care of his father, as well as Jared's sister.
Jared and Marinette stare at their father from a distance, wondering if he will ever stop the madness that he has created.
Marinette shakes her head.
"I have a bad feeling, little brother."- She says- "That our father will never be the same."
Jared shrugs.
"I know that very well. But... I know that there is still hope."
"We can save him, sister. I know that we can!"
Marinette sighs.
"I hope so, too. And we must act fast. Or... we might lose him."
Jared nods and continues looking sadly at his father as he continues working maniacally on his new contraption.
"I don't believe a single word that I just said to my sister."- He says to himself- "But I still have hope that I will succeed. And I will stop at nothing to bring back my old, cheerful father back."
He looks at the door behind him.
"Maybe it won't be today. Maybe it won't be next week. But I know that I will succeed! Eventually."
"Until then, I will keep improving. I will become a better person and make my dad proud."
He leaves the alchemy, goes outside and looks at the sky.
"I will fight against the world's evil and eradicate it completely, all in the name of my dear family."
He opens the door and looks back at his father.
"Don't worry, papa. One day, life will be back to normal and we will be happy once again. Our family will be strong and our bond will be even stronger."
"One day, the change will happen. But, if we want it to happen, we have to fight for it. All of us. Together. And I will unite our army. We will fight the darkness in the name of the light... and win."
"One day, we... will save the world."
Inspired by his own words, Jared leaves the alchemy and goes to help an old lady cross a street nearby.
His family may be falling apart, his friendships also may be falling apart. His whole world is falling apart. But he knows that it is not too late to fix his mistakes yet.
And he will keep fighting for the good of everyone, day after day.
The world that we used to know may be gone, but a new world has replaced it. A new world order of brave heroes who will protect it with all of their might.
This... is the New World that we have been hoping to achieve, the heroes that we have been waiting for. The bravery that we have been hoping to see.
This... is our world.