Chapter 21Petals in the Wind

The entire valley ignites with scorching intensity as Zobito’s Clone unleashes the beams from its Lotus Forge. Before one heartbeat passes, Peach’s armour wings burst open, propelling her mere inches from the hellfire. She rolls through mid-air, and in the space between blinks, she sees the Clone transforming—the head plate opening like a blossom, lighting up into a bright red chrysanthemum. Every instinct screams escape. The moment her feet touch ground, all dragonfly wings flash open, and she bolts in the opposite direction.

The Clone’s body plates unfold like metal petals, each segment locking onto the Rock Guai’s back like mechanical roots seeking purchase. Where Zobito would blossom into gentle flow, the Clone opens instead into something dangerous: a large chrysanthemum burning with bright white flames. Petals unfurl, spinning faster, faster, faster, harnessing energy from a distant world. Then the blossom flares, transforming the entire night sky into sudden daylight. Multiple beams of energy surge from the flower’s core. Like torrents of asteroids, they burst forth with uncontrollable force—even the Rock Guai staggers backward from the recoil. The beams accelerate toward Peach and Zobito. As if alive, they intertwine, unwind, twirl, and dance through the air, each burning with single-minded intent: to eradicate, to purge, to cleanse. Each beam’s power rivals the Lotus Forge.

Peach knows she cannot outrun the beams’ speed. She instinctively dives into the woods. Several beams collide with the giant trees, instantly disintegrating their massive trunks. She glances back—the beams look alive, twirling impossibly through the air. Heat washes over her as more beams close in.

“Let’s split up!” Zobito’s desperate voice hums.

Peach nods and zig-zags through the woods. Zobito propels upward, leading half the beams toward the cliff. Her petals spin, sending tremors through the rocky walls ahead. Boulders loosen and collapse. Zobito flies into the avalanche. The beams follow, exploding on impact and bursting into a massive dust storm that churns the sky.

Below, Peach continues desperately zipping through the woods. The beams swirl, drawing closer, closer. She flies toward a giant tree ahead, her remaining wings making a sharp turn around the trunk. The beams—seeming alive and learning—slow slightly to swirl around the tree. Peach buys herself a few precious moments to catch her breath.

Suddenly, not far ahead, a Rock Guai blocks her path. It growls at Peach and readies its massive palms to strike. The beams still trailing closely, Peach grinds her teeth and speeds toward the Rock Guai. The rocky giant swings its arm, narrowly missing her. Peach is inches from the beast when one wing releases a sudden burst. She dives and rolls between the Rock Guai’s towering legs.

Before the beast can react, three beams crash into the Rock Guai. Rocks explode, shooting outward on impact. Within the dust cloud, Peach sweats and breathes heavily—exhausted but unharmed—

A final beam hurtles toward her like a meteor. Too late to dodge, Peach crosses her arms before her head, bracing for impact—

BOOM!

A massive orb of fire explodes. Burning clouds surge upward. Dense dust clouds gather as burning debris rains down.

The Clone remains still atop the fallen Rock Guai. Its chrysanthemum’s glow fades from burning red to silver as it releases a geyser of scalding steam. Electrical sparks cascade down the celestial machine’s form.

The dust clouds settle and clear slightly. A crater emerges faintly, and at its centre, a glowing ward surrounds Peach. She slowly opens her eyes, realising she’s still standing. Zobito’s blossom rotates and breathes before her, some petals cracked and falling away.

“A force field…” Peach mutters. She turns to Zobito, watching her struggle to stay afloat. “You saved me again… are you all right?”

“I am…am fine, th-thank you.” Zobito’s petals retract and expand with visible rigidity. Some petals wither and fall. Her core loses glow, blinking intermittently as she hums. “You must ev-evacuate and get to safety.”

“No! I can’t leave you!”

“Maiden Peach…” Zobito’s voice resonates warmly, even in this dangerous situation. “Your mission is to sa-save the world. My mi-mission is to ensure you get home sa-safely… to your fa-family.”

“But…”

“Do-do not worry. The Elite Riders are close by. I will… I will fight with them to pro-protect Tiantan.”

“What if they’re not enough? We saw how powerful your clone is!”

“It-It won’t be able to fully replenish the Lotus Forge until… until tomorrow,” Zobito reassures her friend, “and the noise will draw the attention of nearby garrisons.”

Peach turns to look at the Clone. It mechanically retracts, plates closing as it transforms back into its anthropoid form. A wash of rainbow hues ripples down from head to toes, as if taking a deep breath, preparing for a second strike.

“Hu-Hurry, we d-don’t have much time… time.” Zobito blinks at Peach. “Head s-s-south straight for the Cap-Capital. Fi-Find the Earth Princesses. You-you are our-our salvation.”

“Promise me you’ll stay alive.” Tears pour from Peach’s eyes. As much as her mind rejects leaving her friend behind, her heart knows she carries the weight of this world, and she has no choice but to run.

Peach turns, the remaining dragonfly wings flare open, and she bolts off towards the south.

“St-stay alive… alive?” Zobito hums faintly. “Worry no-not. I-I am just a tool.”

Zobito’s flower turns toward the Clone, its plates folding back as it efficiently returns to its anthropoid form. Six dragonfly wings snap open. Without hesitation, it bursts forward.

“I-I will stop you here…” Zobito’s petals spin faster, scattering forward. They beam toward each other, connecting into a web of energy.

CLASH!

The Clone crashes into the web. The blast from its wings keeps pushing forward, stretching the web against Zobito’s determination. Its hands press hard, clawing fingers breaching through.

Behind the Zobitos, Peach desperately stumbles, trying to get as far away as possible with her remaining, sputtering wings. She gasps for air as she rushes down the hill. Tears flood her face. Ahead, Husks flock to intercept her. Her gauntlets draw the last remaining heat as she pummels them to clear a path—less form, more desperation. A few Husks’ claws land hits. Two dragonfly wings tear away. She retaliates with brute force and keeps moving forward.

Even as Husks evaporate from her landing hits, more emerge from the woods. They surround her, overwhelm her, pile over her like a storm cloud crushing down. Desperate light shines through. Her armour releases heat from its core, scorching the Husks yet leaving little reserve for escape. Exhausted, she stumbles to one knee.

Behind her, up on the hill, the Zobitos remain caught in a tight hold. Suddenly, the Clone releases Comet Stings from its gauntlets, piercing Zobito’s web. As the force field weakens, the Clone swings the piercers in a swift dance, cutting the web’s threads—it breaks free!

“No…” Before Zobito can blink, the Clone’s wings flare and it blasts through. It crashes through Zobito, leaving a trail of untethered threads and burning petals.

Peach feels the intensity and instinctively swings around to defend herself. She raises her left gauntlet. The Clone’s right arm bounces off. The Clone lands, legs firmly rooted, and immediately bounces back with a flurry of Cotton Palm Strikes. Ancient memories of survival instincts rush into Peach’s muscles. All her limbs answer with rapid flows of Petal Hands. Two pairs of hands caught in a dance of pushing hands—flowing back and forth, too fast for the eye to track.

Suddenly, four plates open behind the Clone, and light flares out. Four more ethereal arms form in the air, glowing with starlight and amber intensity.

Peach’s face dims with fear.

The Clone relentlessly rushes forward with a stronger torrent of Cotton Palms.

Peach’s Petal Hands push faster. Her hands struggle to catch up. Palms land on her armour plates. Her steps fall backward with each impact.

The Palms spin faster into Talon Claws, as if tearing the very air into a vacuum. The six Talons rip through the Petal Hands’ flow.

“Oh no…” Before Peach can react to the breach in her form, a Claw digs into her right gauntlet and rips the plating away.

The halos behind Peach dim. Shreds of alloy fly through the air. Peach loses her composure. Even her armour’s ancient wisdom has run out of options. Her arms cross to cover her face—she has no forms left.

A burst of light and petals appears behind the Clone.

“Grapple and hold it down!” Peach hears Zobito’s voice through her remaining consciousness.

She channels her remaining energy into faith in her companion. She charges in, arms latching onto the Clone. Petals rain down, latching onto the Clone.

“Go.”

Zobito’s core heats up and burns its way into the Clone’s head.

The Clone’s head turns red. Light shoots from its eyes. Its body stops. The ethereal arms fade in the air. Its eyes dim.

“Zobito?” Peach gasps for air as she returns to her first moment of relief.

The Clone stands still, freezes. Its glow disappears. Lifeless. Its head nods. The body hardens and cracks. With a gentle breeze, Zobito’s petals disintegrate into dust. The Clone’s body falls and cracks into lumps of clay.

“No…” Peach mutters. “No… no, no, no, no… No! Zobito! Where are you? Come in!”

Peach looks up. Petals float with the breeze. One by one, they burn up and vanish into the air.

Silence.

The void of silence floods with Peach’s sadness. Her excruciating sadness. Lips shaking. Tears flooding down her face.

Alas, respite is a luxury she cannot afford.

Through her wet eyes, she sees Rock Guais entering Tiantan’s gates.

“No… not again…”