Those people had broken in without warning.
Without announcing who they were or what they wanted, she only heard them shatter and dismantle the peaceful life her family had built.
Since the moment she was woken and dragged out of bed, she had not seen her father even once.
They hauled her down into her father's basement lab and didn't bother to explain a single thing.
All she could feel was fear. Fear of these strange intruders whose faces meant nothing to her.
To make matters worse, the man gripping her arm held her far too tightly.
It hurt, and when she tried to complain, her voice refused to come out. It was trapped somewhere between her pounding heart and her dry, trembling throat.
Eventually, she finally saw her father, but he was anything but fine.
He was battered and bruised, his hands bound behind his back.
They dragged him away, never giving her even a moment to meet his eyes.
Surely he was distraught too, because when she called out to him, he didn't turn.
He only screamed and raged at the injustice these people had committed.
According to him, he hadn't done anything wrong, yet they had attacked him and his children.
And as far as she believed, that was the truth.
Her father, her siblings, and herself. They had never harmed anyone.
They lived a quiet, peaceful life together and never bothered a soul.
So why had these people come to punish them?
"Can't you see you're hurting her?"
Only moments after her father was taken away, a young woman in a white uniform knelt in front of her.
The man holding her arm released her immediately, and the woman gently brushed her fingers over the spot that was already turning purple.
"Lieutenant, I believe we shouldn't take any chances. She could be just like the others."
"That kind of chance isn't worth hurting a little girl. And besides, you should be able to tell that's not the case. Use your senses. Don't let what we saw cloud your judgment so easily. Reflect on what you've done."
"I… understand, Lieutenant."
The woman seemed kind, at least to the little girl's mind.
She stood out among the rest, but even so, something felt wrong.
"Hi there. My name is Nithya. What's yours?"
"…"
"No problem, it can stay your little secret. I'm sorry about how rough my friend was. One part of our operational procedures we tend to forget is how to be friendly. Is there something else you want to talk about?"
The woman was patient, understanding, and gentle.
It should have been enough to soothe the child's heart, yet something was still missing.
"Lieutenant, the culprit is being shipped to headquarters. He'll likely be handed off to Elkin."
Another officer stood behind her, bitterness twisting his expression.
"That despicable bastard already had most of them mutated by at least a six‑to‑four ratio of dark matter to organic cells. And once he commanded them to attack, the degradation rate spiked until salvage was impossible. We had no choice but to put them out of their–"
"I shouldn't have to remind you there's a child here. Watch your mouth."
"My apologies." The officer turned away. "We'll be heading out. The police will arrive shortly to take the girl into custody."
With that, he left.
Leaving the child alone with the woman who hadn't moved an inch since approaching her, nor allowed her to turn her head toward whatever the others were carrying out.
With nothing else left, the girl finally spoke.
"What's going to happen to Daddy?" she asked. "Can you tell them to let him go? He didn't do anything wrong."
The woman went silent for a moment, then touched the child's cheek.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I can't do that. Your dad has to come with us for a while."
"No!" The girl slapped her hand away. "Stop talking to me like that. I'm not stupid!"
The young woman rose as the girl backed away.
"Where are you taking Daddy?! And where are my brothers?! Where is my sister?! Why won't you tell me what we did wrong?!"
She should have known.
"You're the ones who broke everything!"
She should have known the woman would be no different.
"You hurt him! You destroyed what Daddy loved! You're the reason I can't see my family!"
Because with just those gentle words and gestures, the lady could have been trusted. The child could have been willing to listen.
"You are the bad guys!"
If not for the fact that from start to finish, the woman never once offered a friendly smile.
"Give me back my family!"
Instead, all the girl ever saw on her face was inexplicable, unyielding rage.
And she was certain that rage was directed at the person she loved most.
This woman was responsible for everything that happened that day.
She was the one who didn't stop them from punishing her father, yet she had the nerve to be furious.
To the girl, this was the most unforgivable sin she had ever witnessed.
***
"That's it!" Cydra exclaimed through her laughter, "That face is the most acceptable–no, it's the only acceptable gift I could have received from you after all this time!"
She crushed a marble that burst into a gentle white light, washing over her and erasing every wound and trace of blood.
"Answer me," Nithya insisted, but her demand only seemed to heighten Cydra's amusement.
"Him? I killed that son of a bitch myself." Cydra finally replied, choosing a tone she knew would be the most infuriating. "Are you satisfied with that answer?"
As her laughter tapered off, she continued.
"I believe you're finally ready to be serious about this. However, I must ask, do you still have no interest in my identity?"
Before Nithya could respond, Cydra flicked two marbles into the air above them, then placed a hand against her own cheek in a mocking gesture.
Nithya ignored the theatrics and prepared to dash forward.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I can't do that. Your dad has to come with us for a while." Cydra mimicked, and the words made Nithya stumble mid‑stride, her eyes widening.
"You are…"
The itching sense of familiarity she had ignored all this time finally swallowed her whole.
Even when she had considered it, the timing made no sense.
But now she had no choice but to acknowledge the matter of void aging and time dilation.
With those factors in play, age in the conmundia became negligible.
"Simply priceless!"
Cydra dashed toward her, and the marbles she had thrown dropped at staggered heights. Nithya didn't react.
The first marble erupted into thorn‑covered purple vines that lashed around her, restraining her.
The second detonated, releasing a dozen black nails that didn't strike her body.
Instead, they pierced her shadow on the ground.
Yet Nithya's body bled from the exact places her shadow had been stabbed.
"Sierra… Taj…" Nithya muttered.
The origin of those skills was unmistakable.
"At least you remember them," Cydra said as she approached. "You lot are always stupid enough to give up so quickly. All you bugs ever do is throw your lives away the moment you're cornered. But now I see why. It's easy to forfeit your life when you believe you'll be remembered."
A wave of metallic sand surged forward and engulfed Nithya, sparking violently before exploding in a way that made each grain seem to devour whatever it touched.
"Ram…"
"But tell me, Nithya…"
Before the sand finished its burst, Cydra had already followed with another stored skill.
This one sealed Nithya inside a transparent, impenetrable bubble.
"When I die, who's left to remember me? Thanks to you, it's not anyone I give a shit about. I wonder if it's the same for you!"
Only then did Nithya acknowledge the several marbles inside the bubble with her.
"You should be proud of one thing." Cydra tapped the surface of the barrier. "Sure, each of these last resorts isn't enough to take down a Captain, but they do cause quite a lot of damage. It's safe to say you've indoctrinated quite many capable fools. I wonder how much they could accomplish when put together."
She released the contents of the marbles, leaving Nithya no escape from the full brunt of the attacks stored within.
Each one was an attack officers had staked their lives on.
Even a graze would leave a person ruined, yet Nithya was forced to take their concentrated effects.
Damning shockwaves, destructive surges, absolute damage, even artifact effects. None were exempt.
And Cydra was certain they struck her.
Even if Nithya attempted to phase through them, the sheer structural complexity created by the number of different skills made it impossible.
Still, Cydra wouldn't rely solely on that.
Leaving everything to that plan had never been her intention.
THUCK!
Cydra touched the bubble, and it was instantly stored inside a marble that dropped to the ground.
She picked it up and peered into it.
With the sheer density trapped inside that barrier, there was no telling how long it would last before collapsing under the chaos.
So she halted the events within the marble until she could finish her plan.
There was no easy method that guaranteed the end of a Captain of Veil, but she refused to let anyone else interfere with the climax of her long‑standing revenge.
She could throw Nithya into the foils.
She could even let her drift off the surface of the conmundia into the outer voids.
How it happened didn't matter.
All that mattered was that she had succeeded–and she had done so without giving the Captain a chance to use the artifact Cydra knew she carried.
Thanks to all her work, she now literally held her foe in the palm of her hand, and she couldn't help the satisfied smile spreading across her face.
THINK!
THU‑THUCK!
"Hm?"
The marble slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor for no discernible reason.
She sighed, assuming her excitement had made her clumsy.
But when she bent down to retrieve it, a familiar streak of light flashed before her eyes, followed by a high kick straight to her jaw.
She was launched into the air, and the culprit followed.
Before Cydra could look down, the heel of a white boot struck her neck in a roundhouse kick that made her entire body seize.
She crashed into the ground with dangerous force, skidding helplessly across the surface and stirring up clouds of dust.
"Ripley, May, Otho, Atlas…"
Cydra forced herself upright as she heard an unbelievable voice through the veil of dust.
She tried to make sense of it, but found no explanation for how this was possible.
"Morgan, Clair, Ezra, Drew…"
Then Cydra's mind replayed Nithya's primary movement skill, the flash of light that made her move as though she were teleporting.
She had assumed it was merely a trick using Resonance to merge with the environment.
But after what had just happened, she could no longer deny one obvious conclusion.
This was a Captain of Veil. Someone who could only have reached this level through several blooms. It was obvious that she could have broken through the natural definition and limitations of her Authority's translation.
Cydra was dumbfounded.
"Aqua, and Ari."
And when Nithya swept the dust away with a single wave of her hand, Cydra pointed at her accusingly and yelled:
"You infuriating witch! You can resonate with space, can't you?!"