"Wow, look at that!" Nao pointed excitedly at the stone wall ahead.
"What is this?" Ultraman Zero looked with puzzlement at the wall, its color distinct from the surrounding rock.
"It's Emerallad Ore," Nao said, showing the torch in his hand to Aria and Ultraman Zero. "Look, this is it."
Nao explained to them with excitement, "Everyone in our world extracts energy from this kind of ore to use."
Aria found this fascinating. After all, this ore might be unique to this universe, and she simply had to study it.
She pulled a device from her extra-dimensional pocket to scan the ore.
Ultraman Zero stepped forward, reaching out to touch the ore before him. "I see. The stuff inside Darklops is this."
"Darklops?" Aria asked, slightly puzzled as she recorded the ore's data. "What's that?"
"It's a war robot, and..." Ultraman Zero looked at Aria, hesitating slightly as he explained, "and its appearance is very much like ours."
Aria frowned. "Why would it look like us?" That was truly... deeply annoying.
"To be more precise," Ultraman Zero pointed at himself, "it looks very much like me."
Aria expressionlessly shut down her light screen.
Even more annoying!
Nao also walked up to the ore and looked up at it. "It's rare to find a piece of ore this big."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a violent earthquake shook the cavern, and a drill broke through the rock wall not far above their heads.
"Oh no! We've been found!"
Ultraman Zero shielded Nao and Aria behind him, blocking the falling rocks and debris.
At that moment, three circular rings of light encircled them, and the ground beneath the three of them suddenly collapsed within the glowing circles.
The next instant, the three of them found themselves inside a spaceship.
Aria surveyed her surroundings, then took a few steps forward to the window and looked outside.
"Where is this?"
Nao looked left and right. "It's a spaceship!"
The spaceship ascended, flying out into space as the three of them looked around the interior.
"Ah, the door opened!" Nao pointed excitedly at a door opening not far away.
The three walked through the hatch to find a woman sitting in the pilot's chair, her back turned to them.
"Did you save us?" Ultraman Zero asked, looking at her with confusion.
"My name is Nao, this is my big brother Ultraman Zero, and this is my... sister Seiya. Thank you!"
Aria observed the woman and sensed something was amiss.
The woman ignored them entirely, her body trembling as if she were terrified of something.
Ultraman Zero and Nao took two steps forward together in confusion, but suddenly collided with an energy grid. Electric currents sparked everywhere, and two ropes of light shot out to bind them.
"Ultraman Zero! Nao!" Shocked by the sudden turn of events, Aria drew the newly invented energy gun from her waist and pointed it at the seated woman, backing up until she stood beside Ultraman Zero and Nao.
At that moment, a mechanical voice echoed through the cabin: "Initiating memory erasure."
"What do you think you're doing?!" Hearing the screams of Ultraman Zero and Nao, Aria was consumed by a fury that nearly eclipsed her reason.
Keeping her gun trained on the woman, she swept her free hand, glowing with light, and snapped the binding ropes of light clean off Ultraman Zero and Nao.
Ultraman Zero and Nao collapsed miserably to the floor.
"You dare hurt them! How dare you..." A flash of red gleamed in the depths of Aria's eyes. She had just promised to protect them, yet right before her eyes, they had been harmed. Was this... a slap in the face to her?!
Where there is light, there is darkness, and fate is certainly not made of light alone. Fate has always... embraced both light and darkness.
"Seiya!" Ultraman Zero felt a surge of fury rising from the depths of his heart. Those were not his emotions; they belonged to... Seiya.
For reasons unknown, he could sense Seiya's emotional state, just like those many inexplicable waves of emotion from their childhood. Yet sensing that something was terribly wrong with Seiya, he reached out and held her back.
"She deserves to die!" Aria's expression remained eerily calm, like a dormant volcano. Beneath that calm, however, suppressed a monstrous rage.
She struggled to fire a shot at the woman, but Ultraman Zero reached out and put her gun away.
"I know... I know... Just calm down first. Your state right now is not right at all!" Ultraman Zero held Aria, coaxing her in a soft voice.
Considering how rebellious Ultraman Zero was, who had he ever coaxed in his entire life? So... could she cut him a little slack?
Though somewhat helpless, Ultraman Zero kept his voice gentle, patiently coaxing Aria to calm down.
Hearing the screams of Ultraman Zero and Nao, the woman over by the chair had stood up, seemingly wanting to stop the mechanical voice, but before she could speak, she was cut off by Aria's outburst.
The woman stood there, offering repeated apologies to the three of them.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Staggering as she grabbed the bulkhead for support, the woman dropped into a squat on the floor.
"But the price of saving them is the erasure of their memories," the mechanical voice said, carrying a hint of dissatisfaction and worry, "and sending them to another planet. That was the agreement. If Her Highness the Princess should meet with disaster once more..."
Listening to Ultraman Zero's voice, Aria finally managed to calm down. She reflected on the state she had just been in.
Something was wrong—terribly wrong. In all her life, her emotions had never overpowered her reason like that. She had known since childhood that she possessed both light and darkness, much like Uncle Tiga, yet she had never lost control in such a manner before.
Yet watching the two of them in pain, hearing their screams, she had seemingly felt their agony as well. And for reasons unknown, her emotions had instantly overwhelmed her reason.
She pondered for a moment, then looked up at Ultraman Zero, who was still holding her. She found that she seemingly did not want to see this person get hurt or suffer. Around this person, her emotions seemed entirely beyond her own control.
Why was that?