The Demons of Shadow Moon

Part 28.5 - Enough is Enough

"Do we really need to get into another argument over this?" Luna sighed, feeling her shoulders slump in resignation.

"No. Because I'm going to prove it!" Echo declared.

Eclipse gasped, unsure of what Echo meant.

"What... do you mean by that?" Luna asked nervously, her eyes flickering to Eclipse, who seemed just as confused and apprehensive.

"I can't take another second of this! Luna, there's a way I can take you to see the truth," Echo declared, her tone ringing with an urgency that left everyone on edge.

"But... the artefact doesn't work yet, does it?" Luna asked nervously, not feeling prepared to go to the underworld yet.

"I'm not talking about going to the underworld. I know how we can reveal if Eclipse is hiding anything from us. Do you remember Hachiro?" Echo asked.

"Aw! The human we met back when we were living on Angels Peek!!" Luna beamed, her face lighting up with excitement at the memory.

"Hachirou?" Leo repeated with a tilt of his head.

"Hachirou, the time lord!!!" Luna announced, her eyes shining with wonder.

"The what?!" Eclipse remarked.

"He wasn't a time lord. He just studied it. On one of the smaller islands near Angels Peek, there was a place called The Lost Island of Soya, known for holding some sort of time magic," Echo explained, her hands gesturing animatedly as she spoke.

"Hachirou said he had been there, studying time, for years! We visited him quite often! He was so kind, and his work was so fascinating!" Luna went on, her voice ringing with excitement.

"So what's he got to do with proving Eclipse is secretly trying to kill us or something??" Aki asked, hovering upside down from nowhere!!

"Gah-- where'd you come from?!" Echo hissed, clearly irritated by Aki's sudden appearance.

"Welll, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much-" Aki began, only to be interrupted by Echo's sharp retort.

"NOT WHAT I MEANT!!" Echo snapped, her eyes flashing with annoyance.

"Jeez, someone's cranky," Aki pouted.

"Aki, why are you wearing... doggy ears??" Luna questioned, her brow creasing in confusion.

"It's cosplay," Aki reacted instantly with a concerningly stern expression, causing Galaxy to grin deviously in the background.

"Punishment!" Galaxy corrected, clearly amused by Aki's discomfort.

"IT'S COSPLAY!!" Aki squeaked, urging Luna to believe him.

"Punishmentttt~" Galaxy grinned deviously in the background.

"What on earth happens behind the main plot?!" Eclipse questioned in disgust, clearly exasperated by the group's sudden detour into unrelated topics.

"I can show you~~" Galaxy brought out her plot book again.

"You don't wanna look there; trust me," Echo warned her.

"I thought that was the dilemma of this entire argument??" Eclipse reminded her, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her gaze was fixed on Echo.

"OH YEAH!!! SO!!! My point!! I read some of Hachirou's research and-" Echo went to explain.

"Wasn't that private?" Luna pointed out, a look of concern etched on her face as she leaned in closer to Echo.

"Yes, but hear me out. It talked about different dimensions with different timelines. He found a few specific ones and calculated an estimate for which dimensions are on which timeline," Echo told them, her voice growing more confident with each passing word.