"E-E-Elysia..."
Liuke stammered.
His voice was trembling from the biting cold and the pure shock of seeing her.
Elysia sat in absolute silence.
Her right eye was hidden behind a crude, blood-soaked bandage.
The crimson stain was a sharp contrast against the ghostly blue light of the dungeon.
Liuke couldn't wrap his mind around it.
One moment she was his world. The next, she was his captor.
And now, she was a mutilated prisoner sitting right across from him.
"Why?" Liuke whispered. "Why..."
The silence stretched between them. It felt heavy and suffocating.
"WHY?!" he suddenly roared.
His voice cracked against the frozen walls.
"Why did you do this to me, Elysia? Was it all an act?"
"Every word, every look... was it all just a lie?"
Finally, Elysia lifted her head.
She stood up slowly, her movements graceful yet robotic.
She walked toward him and stopped just inches from the massive ice block encasing his body.
"I did it... for Loyalty," she said.
Her voice was devoid of any warmth.
"Loyalty?" Liuke spat the word like venom.
"I realized long ago, Liuke, that everything in this life eventually betrays you."
"But the wound that cuts the deepest... is the betrayal dealt by a loyal soul."
"I didn't destroy you. I brought you to your truth."
"You were going to die without ever using that power."
"But now, your energy will serve a purpose far greater than yourself."
"How can you stand there and act righteous?" Liuke growled.
"You slaughtered innocents at the Shigari Hotel!"
"I will never be convinced by your twisted logic."
"If I weren't trapped in this ice... if my power were functioning... I would have ended you already!"
Elysia leaned in closer.
Her single remaining eye was cold and vacant.
"But fate did not want that, Liuke. Which means you must listen."
"This eye," she gestured to the bloody bandage, "is proof."
"Proof that if loyalty is not absolute, even the Queen's most faithful servant is punished."
"And I am proud. I am proud that the Queen gave me exactly what I deserved."
"Loyalty is the only truth in this world."
"Why are you so obsessed with it, Elysia?"
"Do you want to hear my story?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," Liuke replied, his breathing heavy and ragged.
"I want to hear it all before I kill you."
"I want to see exactly what kind of monster you really are."
Elysia began her tale.
Her voice drifted back fourteen years into the past.
"When I was six years old, my family was the symbol of loyalty in the Eternal Freeze."
"For two hundred years, my ancestors served as the Queen's Royal Knights."
"But fourteen years ago, my mother, Lysendra, committed a great sin."
"My father, Feserys, had returned from a mission and was invited to dine with the Queen."
"But when he returned, he was drowned in alcohol and rage. He began to beat my mother."
"I was just a child, hiding in the corner, terrified."
Liuke's anger began to falter.
A small, unwanted spark of empathy appeared as he listened.
"My father drew his sword to kill her."
"My mother fought back, disarming him in a desperate struggle."
"When he lunged again, she struck. She drove the blade through his heart."
"He died right there, in front of me."
Elysia's expression didn't change as she continued.
"The next day, Queen Sharley learned of this."
"She sentenced my mother to death for the murder of a Royal Knight."
"Lysendra was beheaded before the entire kingdom."
"The Queen made me stand at the very front to watch the blade fall."
Liuke gasped, but Elysia went on.
"I was consumed by rage. I ran at the Queen, intending to kill her."
"But the knights restrained me."
"The Queen knelt before me and said: 'Your mother is responsible for her own death. She broke the sacred vow of loyalty.'"
"After that, Queen Sharley raised me."
"She treated me as her own, because her own children could not survive the cold."
"She taught me that loyalty is sacred."
"When I turned sixteen, I was sent for negative magic training."
"I became her most fearless guardian."
"I realized then... the Queen did what any good ruler would do."
"My mother deserved that punishment for breaking our family's honor."
"I will not repeat her mistake. I will give everything for the Queen."
"You were manipulated, Elysia," Liuke said.
His voice was softer now, filled with pity.
"Can't you see that? It's a sick cycle."
"From your perspective in Helmora, it looks like manipulation because your people know nothing of loyalty."
"You only care for yourselves. That is why your lands are filled with conflict."
"Our Queen is the only supreme authority. My loyalty is my ultimate surrender."
"What will happen to me, Elysia?"
"You are nothing before her," she replied, turning away.
"I have no right to tell you what the Queen has planned."
She walked back to her corner and sat on the frozen floor.
Liuke remained trapped, a prisoner of ice.
Only his head was exposed to keep him from suffocating.
Miles away, the five Commanders crossed the border into the Eternal Freeze.
They rode on steeds forged from pure Solar Energy.
They glowed with a brilliant red-and-white hue, cutting through the darkness like miniature suns.
Commander Elvis rode in silence.
His mind repeated one thought: Hang on, Liuke. We're coming.
"Hey Lak," Commander Yui said, breaking the silence.
"You're awfully young to be a Commander. You must be quite the prodigy."
"I don't know if my strength will be enough," the sixteen-year-old Lak replied modestly.
"But I will give everything I have."
Commander Jems looked at the veteran Kling, trying to lighten the mood.
"Commander Kling, are you sure you can keep up? You're sixty-eight..."
"I'd hate for you to become a burden to us out there, hahaha!"
Kling didn't even look at him.
"Don't underestimate me, boy."
"I have more experience in my little finger than you have in your entire body."
"I know the weaknesses of these ice beasts."
"I hope you're right," Jems smirked.
Suddenly, the horses neighed in alarm.
The air temperature plummeted.
A wall of Ice Monsters materialized out of the mist, blocking their path.
The Five Commanders drew their weapons.
The rescue mission had officially become a war.