Ten minutes later —
High above a vast silver landscape shimmering with strange radiance, a great boulder nearly ten meters in diameter hurtled through the air. W.W., now returned to her normal size, along with Six-Tail, Nana, C.C., and the others stood on the flat surface of the boulder as it sped through this world of peculiar light.
By now Shari had reverted from her earlier flame form back to her normal human appearance. She held the still-unconscious Rulu in her arms, a pensive expression on her face, her gaze fixed steadily on his.
C.C., assuming Shari was worried about Rulu's wellbeing, said to her: "Don't worry. Rulu's condition isn't great right now, but his life isn't in danger. You don't need to be too concerned, Shari."
"I know." Shari nodded, a lost look on her face. "I just find it all so unbelievable. I was already dead — and now I'm alive again. It honestly feels like I'm dreaming."
"You're not dreaming. All of this is real." Kallen said, her face bright with excitement. "The situation was truly terrifying. We all thought you were done for, Shari — and then somehow Rulu brought you back, though none of us know how. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it."
"But what about the wings on my back, and these strange abilities?" Shari said. She raised her right hand and held it out flat in front of her. With a *boom*, an orange-red fireball materialized above her palm out of thin air, burning steadily.
Kallen scratched her head and said: "That I don't know. Rulu was the one who brought you back — I think only he knows what happened to you."
At that moment, W.W.'s voice came from nearby: "I believe that in order to save you, Mr. Rulu transplanted the power of that Flame Bird into your body. That is why you now possess strength and knowledge you didn't have before."
Shari said: "Then what will become of me? Will I be like this from now on?"
W.W. said: "Yes. Your body has already fused with the Flame Bird. You cannot return to the way you were before."
"I can never go back…" Shari murmured softly, a deep melancholy settling over her face.
Seeing Shari's low spirits, Nana tried to comfort her: "Shari, the way you are now is wonderful too. You're still just as beautiful as before, and on top of that you have all these incredible abilities. Even if you can't go back to how you were, it's really okay."
Kallen added: "Exactly. If I could have the kind of power you have, Shari, I'd be laughing in my sleep. You're incredibly lucky."
"But…" Shari turned to look at the wings behind her, and said with a melancholy expression: "If I look like this, won't other people see me as a monster? I feel like I can barely even count as human anymore."
Kallen quickly waved her hand. "That doesn't matter at all. Look at W.W. — she looks pretty unusual too, and she gets along just fine. And even if other people have a problem with how you look, Rulu and Nana and I definitely won't."
Shari looked down at Rulu in her arms. She seemed to make a quiet decision, gave a firm nod, and said: "You're right. As long as Rulu and all of you don't hate me, that's enough."
Having lifted Shari's spirits, Kallen turned her attention to C.C. and said: "C.C., what do we do now? How do we escape from here?"
C.C. said: "The Emperor of the Sanctuary will never let us go. He'll certainly send a large number of people to cut us off and hunt us down. There is only one way to escape from this place successfully — we need to find the spatial cave."
"The spatial cave? What's that?"
C.C. said: "It's a one-way spatial tunnel that leads back to our original world. Once we pass through it, we can leave the Sanctuary and return home."
Kallen's eyes lit up. "So if we find this spatial cave, we can escape from here? Where is it?"
"Well… the truth is, I don't actually know where it is."
"What — you don't know?!"
C.C. said: "That's right. The location of the spatial cave isn't fixed. It could appear anywhere in this region. Finding it is no simple task."
A look of worry crossed Kallen's face. "Then what are we supposed to do? Rulu is still unconscious, and W.W. and Six-Tail are exhausted. If we can't find this spatial cave, we're definitely going to get caught."
Shari said: "Excuse me — what does this spatial cave you're talking about look like?"
C.C. said: "It's pitch black, like a vortex constantly spinning, constantly pulling in everything around it."
Shari raised her head and began scanning their surroundings carefully. Suddenly she seemed to spot something and said: "Found it. I've found where the spatial cave is."
"You found it?!"
"Where? Where is the spatial cave?!"
Kallen and C.C. both stared at Shari in astonishment.
Shari pointed in a direction and said: "It's roughly that way."
C.C. and Kallen looked in that direction. There was nothing there — just empty space.
"I don't see anything," Kallen said. "There's nothing there at all. Are you sure your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, Shari?"
Shari said: "The thing is, the cave is very far from where we are now. We need to fly forward and to the left first, then turn left again, then left again, then right, then fly back in the other direction — it's quite complicated."
"How do you know all this so precisely?" Kallen said with a skeptical look, not entirely convinced.
Shari said: "For some reason, I can see everything in this entire region — even the people and creatures that attacked us just now. I know exactly where they are."
"Are you certain that what you're seeing is real, and not some kind of illusion?" Kallen remained doubtful.
At that point W.W. spoke up: "What she's saying is most likely true. The great bird from before could see through the spatial distortions of this place, and since Shari has inherited that bird's power, she too can perceive the spatial changes here."
"So that's it!" Kallen's face broke into a look of delight. "Then Shari, guide us to this spatial cave as fast as you can! And we need to avoid the people chasing us as much as possible, or things will get very complicated."
"Understood. I'll tell you which way to go right now."
W.W. then maneuvered the boulder according to Shari's directions. The spatial environment around them shifted and changed continuously. About half an hour later, something appeared in the distant sky — a pitch-black, vortex-like shape. C.C. confirmed that this black whirlpool was the spatial cave they had been searching for.
W.W. steered the boulder carrying everyone straight toward the black whirlpool. At that moment, a thought occurred to C.C., and she said: "W.W., what are your plans? Are you going to come with us?"
W.W. said: "I have already thought it over. After what happened just now, Six-Tail and I have no way of continuing to live in the Sanctuary. I intend to leave the Sanctuary together with you, Lady C.C."
A look of regret crossed C.C.'s face. "I'm sorry. It's because of what happened with me and Rulu that you've been dragged into all this."
W.W. shook her head. "It's all right. As long as I can be of help to you, Lady C.C., nothing else matters to me."
Gradually, C.C. and the others drew closer and closer to the black whirlpool. A powerful pulling force emanated from its direction, lifting C.C. and the others from the surface of the boulder. W.W. called out loudly: "Everyone hold on to the person next to you — don't let yourselves be separated!"
Shari immediately pulled the still-unconscious Rulu tightly against her. Six-Tail and C.C. wrapped themselves around W.W.'s body. W.W. coiled her serpentine form around Shari's waist. Kallen and Nana grabbed hold of Shari's arms and the wings on her back.
The pull of the black whirlpool grew stronger and stronger. Caught in its force, C.C. and the others spun through the air as they accelerated toward the center of the vortex. Before long, their figures vanished into the deepest darkness of the black whirlpool.
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