Once upon a time, there was a kingdom.

A grand, marvelous kingdom that was able to exist for centuries undisturbed by enemy forces or monsters, thanks to the protection of an ancient guardian tree.

This tree was under the care of the •••• Family, a group that was just as old as the tree was and as proud as the day they were established to be it's guardian.

But alas, even the most brilliant of crops had the tendency to produce some bad fruit.

As luck would have it, the second to last generation of the family had been blessed with twins to their patriarch and matriarch.

They were assured that the twins were an auspicious sign, an indicator of prosperity that would surely bloom once they had both reached adulthood.

Alas, that prophecy was hard to believe in given how the twins developed as they got older.

One of the twins grew to be calm, courteous, and an overall shining paragon to the family and to observing outsiders. In other words, the perfect child who would go on to become the perfect adult and guardian.

Many people in the family were certain that once this particular twin grew up, he would be the sole reason for any future prosperity.

As for the other twin, he grew to be wild, cantankerous, and the black sheep of the family. It was gradual at first, but his rebellious tendencies got worse and worse as he aged, to the point that people started to speculate on whether or not he was actually a child of the •••• Family.

Needless to say, such baseless accusations had a way of wheedling under the wild twin's skin and made him want to lash out and rebel even more.

Despite these contrasting reputations, though, the twins were still able to get along and see each other as family who would help one another through thick, thin, and everything in-between. At least, that was the case until the wild twin ended up making a terrible deal.

Due to years and years of negative treatment, the wild twin was suspectable to hollow flatteries and meaningless words of praise to the point of treason.

The kingdom was located in the middle of a resource rich area that many of its surrounding neighbors covetted to great effect, but they were all stopped by that blasted tree.

For centuries, these neighboring enemies did everything they could to try and break down the barrier, break the tree and plunder the land for all that it was worth, only to find themselves up against the wall because of that silly tree.

But after so many years, so many centuries of trial and error, they finally had a chance.

And all they had to do, was whisper sweet little lies and make hollow promises to the wild twin.

Promises of riches, glory, power, and respect.

No longer the black sheep of a boring family that guarded a boring tree, but someone who had his praises sang.

Evidently, it worked.

In the span of twenty-four little hours, the one prosperous kingdom and it's guardian tree, became engulfed in a conflagration that led to eighty percent of the populace getting wiped out.

And the wild twin didn't even regret a single...at least not till the very end of that wretched day.

Not until he saw his childhood home be reduced to ash and rubble.

Not until he saw his parents and family lose their heads to the cruel axe of an executioner that didn't deserve their pay.

Not until he was betrayed by his so-called friends and was about to die from their hands, but he was saved from his fate when his brother took the blow in his stead.

After these terrible moments, something in the wild twin broke as anger and hatred consumed him and the next thing he knew, he found himself surrounded by dozens of bodies that consisted of both his family and his foes...and missing most of his memories.

The guilt of what he had done mixed with the trauma he had endured and made his mind an absolute mess.

It wasn't until long after he had buried everyone he knew and ran into the Star Caller years later that a version of his memories came back.

In this version, he was one that was betrayed by their twin, and he had vowed to burn the world after being forced to kill his brother by those who had manipulated him

But...now that he was close to death, Dante realized that this version was anything but true and that his name wasn't even Dante.

Dante was the name of his brother, and the wild twin had simply taken up the name as a subconscious way of always being able to remember him.

But now, moments near his death, he realized the truth...and he didn't even have a comforting lie to take with him.

Only overwhelming guilt...and the truth.

[I did all this...because I was afraid of dying by own hands,] the wild twin finally realized as he felt his life slip away. [I wanted someone to punish me for my crimes...I hope I can apologize once I finally crossover...]

...Enough flashbacks and guilt, what does the executioner think?...

'Huh...I wonder what's going on through his head?' Captain Gallop asked himself as he observed Dante's expression through the spaceship's window. 'Well, I guess it doesn't matter though. He's going to be paying the piper his due any second now.'

This remark of his sounded cruel and callous, but keep in mind that Captain Gallop was technically the fusion born between four sentient beings, three of which absolutely hated Dante and wanted nothing more than to see their tormentor suffer and die.

That stated, this was a hell of a way for someone to die.

If the sheer amount of g-force didn't tear Dante to shreds on the way up, then the fall back down or the vacuum of space was definitely going to do it.

Aside from taking out Dante and subsequently removing from his base of power, though, there was one other reason why Captain Gallop did all this.

A reason that was rapidly approaching as Captain Gallop saw that he had eventually broke the cloudline.

'Alright, this is high enough,' Captain Gallop concluded as he began to will his [Chaos] and aether to move in specific ways around the ship.

Ways that caused the ship to glow bright with a golden color...moments before suddenly transforming into a ball of light that then divided into two orbs.

During this process, Dante's body was released from the upward momentum pushing him forward and was sent flying off to the side.

Captain Gallop was too focused on what was happening in his immediate surroundings, so he didn't get a chance to see whether Dante was sent flying or falling.

Instead, he got a full view of the Voyager-1 probe being sent back into space, while he and the newly upgraded [Storm Queen's Galleon] were sent back down to the world below.

As the two vehicles went into opposite directions, Captain Gallop could see the spirits of a fox, a sheep, and a little prince, suddenly appear around the Voyager-1 probe. As the two groups got further and further from another, he could see that the little prince had manifested a camera and was in the process of taking multiple photos.

What those photos recorded, Captain Gallop would never know.

But, thanks to the power of [Chaos] and aether, they could at least exchange some parting words.

[Alright, the Admiral has fulfilled his promise,] Captain Gallop proclaimed as he saw the Voyage-1 exit orbit and fly back into space. [Now go on and don't run into any more planets. Savy?]

Thank you.

We truly owe you one.

May we see you amongst the stars someday.

After saying these kind words, all three spirits disappeared as the Voyager-1 probe soon exited orbit and became unreachable once more.

'Hmmm. I wonder how this scene looks like from the outside...'

...Outside looking up...

"Holy crap..."

When Captain Gallop exited the mines via ramming a whole ass spaceship into Dante and through several layers of molten rock, the rebel observers and slaves made moves to see the aftermath.

They had never seen anyone get pulverized in such a way before, and wanted to see what the end result of such an attack was going to be.

Some expected a massive explosion, while others expected a burst of light followed by an eerie silence.

Instead, they greeted by a moment of pure...[Wonder].

Captain Gallop's attack had resembled a shooting star as he streaked across the sky and sent Dante flying off into the heavens.

At the very apex of this flight, the shooting star had exploded like a firework and was then accompanied by the appearance of a giant ship that seemed to ride the moonlight as gentle as a wave.

The onlookers couldn't help but feel, for the first time in a very long time, a genuine sense of [Wonder].

"Huh...what a delightfully strange way to end the day..."