(TW: Slight Blood Description)

(????? PoV)

I woke up lying on the beige desert sand.

I sat up and looked at my surroundings. A hill stood in the distance, and atop was a large white building with a medicinal cross on the front. I recognized it. It was MedBay, AKA Meme's Medical Center.

But... that would mean that I was back on Earth.

I remembered the sea-blue vegetation of the hybrid planet, Xero. Someone, I can't remember who, was talking with me. I was angry, we were arguing. I had turned around, and something curled around my neck as I plummeted towards the wall. I caught a glimpse of something orange before I blacked out...

Oh.

Oh.

I looked down at my hands. They were nearly transparent, and tinted orange through a furious glowing pattern of red.

A Netherlandish-accented voice spoke behind me.

"Took you that long to figure it out?"

I turned around to see a green figure, his neck swallowed by the same red glow that covered most of my body. A reptilian tail swayed behind him.

"Dino?" I said, shocked to see my dead friend standing right in front of me.

"Yeah, it's me," Dino said, rolling his eyes.

"But... you're... am I...?" I stuttered.

"Yes, idiot, you're dead," Dino explained, "And killed quite violently, by the looks of it."

"Well, if being slammed into the wall is violent, then I guess so," I said.

Dino looked at me skeptically. "It was a bit more than that, by the looks of it."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough," Dino said, "Now just to be sure, do you remember who you were? Or do we have to play the memory game?"

"I'm Oompa," I recalled, "Yeah I remember. Why wouldn't I?"

"Something about becoming a ghost makes you sometimes forget your past life," Dino shrugged.

"Ah."

Dino cleared his throat (even though he doesn't really have one... what the heck-). "Anyways, we should probably get moving. Staying in one place for very long isn't a great idea in the afterlife."

"Why?" I said, suddenly concerned.

"I'll explain later. Follow me."

(Akik PoV)

As we exited the underground chamber and went back around to the front of the complex, I could immediately see the damage from the earlier battle.

Corpses were scattered at random everywhere, most covered with blood. As was the ground - the blue grass below was stained dark by it. There were a few Xentonials as well, although most of those had been spared. The ones that had fought back lay on the ground, probably killed by their opponent. One of the surviving felines was nudging as the body of what was probably their former rider, whimpering like a puppy and its tail swishing anxiously.

Poor thing, I thought.

I saw multiple surviving Hybrids grouped up on one end of the clearing, all of them bloodied or injured in some way. Some Angels were checking injuries and healing them. Some other Hybrids were guiding a few others, probably Demon soldiers, to where I knew a prison was built under the complex.

A soft meow was heard behind me, and I turned to see Charley crouching beneath a bush, his fur fluffed up in fear.

"Charley!" I said, kneeling down to pick up the frightened feralxon. Charley curled up and pressed himself against me, his unnerved breathing making way for soft feline purrs.

"Who's that?" Nyau asked me.

Right. No one knows about him except Blaza, Dayan, Moon, and Luci.

"This is Charley," I explained, showing the animal to Nyau. "I found him in the woods a few years back, and have kind of been taking care of him since then."

"Huh," Nyau said, "Well, you can bring him. Poor thing's probably scared half to death."

I nodded, and our small group continued to the complex.

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[Time Skip because idk what to put]

(3rd PoV)

Akik emerged from his room wearing a t-shirt with a thin, unzipped gray jacket over top. His spacesuit was now useless, seeing that there was a gaping hole in it, but he knew his ship would be protection enough from the vacuum of empty space.

Charley was close behind him, nearly tripping him twice as the feralxon brushed against his legs. If you didn't look at him, he could easily be mistaken for one of Earth's house cats.

Blaza was waiting for Akik outside of his room, and his face lit up when the Nephalem came into view.

"You look good," Blaza complimented.

Akik swept Blaza from where he was standing with his tail and wrapped his arm around him.

"Thanks," he said. He brushed his hand over Blaza's forehead to sweep some hair out of his face, and Blaza blushed slightly. Akik chuckled softly.

"Come on. The others are probably dying to get home," Akik said. Blaza nodded, and followed him down the corridor.

They continued out of the complex and headed to where Akik's ship had been landed the first day they had arrived on Xero. How long ago was it? Blaza had lost count of the days. And it didn't help that Xero's days were shorter, or that space altered the time as well.

Space travel is confusing.

TBVG, Dusk, and Nadwe were sitting at the door of the ship, along with Woolfster. Nyau, Dayan, Luci, and Moon (who was making sure to stay at least seven feet away from Dayan) were standing nearby. Blaza and Akik approached the group.

Nyau pricked his ears, and turned to see the two walking towards the spaceship. He flicked his tails as Akik stood in front of him.

"Made sure that everything was up and running," Nyau explained, "I also reset the autopilot on a route that goes through a calmer area of the Outer Belt, so that you can pass."

Akik nodded. "Thank you, Nyau. I'm gonna miss you."

"You too," Nyau nodded, patting Akik's shoulder before heading to oversee the launch. Hardly three seconds afterwards, he was tackled from behind by Moon. Surprised, he had to balance himself back with his wings and tail.

"Moon!" He said, laughing, "Get off me!"

"Oh, alright," Moon said, her childish voice making her sound like a five year old. She slipped back down to the ground as Luci and Dayan approached him.

"You guys sure you're staying?" Akik said, "None of you were incredibly happy with the fact that I had to leave."

"Hey, it's fine," Luci said, "All's forgiven, if it wasn't before."

Dayan nodded in agreement, still a bit guilty about how he had acted when Akik had first arrived.

"Try not to die while I'm gone, please?" Akik said jokingly.

"No need to worry about that. I heard the Angel leaders are gonna attempt to make a treaty with the demons. I'm just hoping that it works," Luci said.

"That'll save me a bit of worrying," Akik sighed.

"Stop worrying about us, then!" Luci laughed, "We'll be fine, I swear!"

"If you say so," Akik chuckled.

Dayan cleared his throat, and stepped forward from where he stood next to Luci. He looked up at Akik, and opened his mouth to say something.

He was cut off when Akik threw him into a hug.

Dayan simply stood there in Akik's embrace before hugging him back tightly.

"Come and visit sometime?" Dayan said.

"I'll try my best," Akik replied.

Akik was gonna miss his friend. Dayan was like the family he could never see again.

The two stood there for a moment before pulling apart and remaining in an awkward silence.

"I'll... see you later, then?" Akik said.

"Y-yeah," Dayan said, "I'll miss you."

"You too," Akik said. He turned to Blaza, who was patiently waiting with Charley laying belly-up in his arms. Akik nodded, and walked with Blaza to the ship. At seeing them, the other four that were waiting all headed inside.

Before Akik entered the ship, he turned back to look at his three friends standing not too far away. He smiled, and gave them one last wave before the door sealed behind him and he headed to the control room.

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Guys it's finished oh my god-

We have the Epilogue, and then... this book is finished.

The heck-

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