Half an hour in, Moonsalt's movements grew slightly slower. Her energy, tied to the Lunar essence, were beginning to wane.
She didn't realize it at first - not until Sunburn started landing more hits, small burns appearing on her arms and legs as her ice barriers shattered more easily.
Her body felt heavier.
Another fifteen minutes passed.
Moonsalt found herself on her knees, gasping for air, as Sunburn towered over her - his foot pressed firmly against her back, pinning her to the ground.
"That's the extent of your strength," Sunburn said mockingly, the heat radiating from him making it hard for Moonsalt to even breathe.
Then - a brutal Solar kick to her face.
Blood trickled from Moonsalt's mouth, staining the icy ground beneath her.
She tried to rise - but her body refused.
Suddenly - a ripple in the air.
From the depths of a nearby crater, a figure emerged.
A woman, her hair an eerie shade of dark blue stepped forward. She was tall and graceful, dressed in sleek, midnight armor that seemed to absorb the faint light around her.
Moonsalt's eyes widened. "Who...?"
Sunburn chuckled. "Oh, forgive me for not introducing her earlier."
He motioned to the woman, who stared down at Moonsalt with an expression colder than ice itself.
"This," Sunburn said smugly, "is my sister - Moonfreeze."
Moonsalt's heart sank as she said "But you said your sister is not here."
Sunburn grinned and said "I never said my sister wasn't here. You better listen carefully from now on."
Moonfreeze gave an unsettling grin.
Sunburn grinned. "Yes. A Solar brother and a Lunar sister as it normally is in Soluna thanks to the curse, that is a family consists of Solar-Lunar couple with one solar and one lunar child- born from the same blood, yet destined to rule together."
He stepped off Moonsalt, watching as Moonfreeze closed the distance between them.
"But here's the real secret..." Sunburn continued, his voice darkening. "From birth, my sister and I shared a rare ability - one even Dark Void doesn't fully understand."
Moonsalt tried to rise again - but Moonfreeze's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist.
A chilling sensation crept up Moonsalt's arm.
"Energy drain."
Moonsalt gasped as her strength seemed to leak out of her body - her Lunar aura dimming, her limbs growing heavier.
"While we fought," Sunburn said, "Moonfreeze has been draining your energy this entire time. No wonder you started getting weaker."
The truth hit Moonsalt like a thunderbolt - it wasn't just time or exhaustion. She had been fighting a losing battle from the moment Moonfreeze entered the field - hidden, waiting, feeding off her energy bit by bit.
Moonsalt struggled to pull away, but Moonfreeze's grip tightened like a vice as her grin never faded.
Sunburn knelt before her, a cruel smile playing on his lips.
"And now," he said softly, "we get to the fun part."
He summoned solar energy in his hand - small at first, then growing into a raging orb.
"I could kill you right now," Sunburn said, "but where's the fun in that?"
He slapped Moonsalt across the face - not enough to burn her, but enough to remind her of his power.
"No," he continued, "I want you to know how alone you really are."
Moonsalt's head hung low - her blue hair falling over her bloodied face.
"You lost your family," Sunburn sneered. "Your son - dead. Your husband - gone. And me? I still have my sister."
He raised the his hand. "We're still together - while you're nothing but a broken woman with no one left."
Moonfreeze nodded, silently muttering in a mocking tone. "Oh. How lonely!"
Meanwhile...
Inside their hidden spaceship, Heatsun's entire body was trembling with rage. His knuckles were white from clenching his fists.
"I'm not watching this any longer," Heatsun growled.
Jim, though furious, held him back.
"Wait," Jim whispered harshly. "Just... wait."
His eyes were locked on his mother, watching her every move.
The Isolated Planet
Moonsalt lay broken, bloodied, and weak - her blue hair matted against her pale face, her once-glowing Lunar aura now a dim flicker. The ground beneath her was stained with a cruel blend of Solar burns and Lunar cuts.
Sunburn loomed over her, his flames simmering dangerously in his palms, while Moonfreeze stood by his side - a silent, merciless shadow.
"So what if I lost my family?" Moonsalt rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her defiance only made Sunburn smirk.
"Spoken like someone who's truly broken," Sunburn said mockingly. "But I know the truth - you're not just broken... you're hollow inside."
He knelt down, his fiery gaze burning into hers. "And to make you realize how empty you really are... let me tell you a secret."
Moonsalt's breathing grew heavy, her heart pounding as Sunburn's smile widened.
"Fifteen years ago," Sunburn began slowly, "my sister and I were at the top of the hierarchy in the Solunar Council."
Moonsalt's eyes darkened with hatred.
"We were admired," Sunburn continued, "but never as much as you and Heatsun. The strongest Solar-Lunar couple. The rising stars of Soluna. Everyone adored you two - and it disgusted me."
Moonsalt's fists clenched weakly, her anger sparking like a dying flame.
"I was jealous," Sunburn admitted with a cruel grin. "Jealous of your strength, your unity, your... popularity."
Moonfreeze remained silent, her icy eyes fixed on Moonsalt like a predator watching its prey.
"But then..." Sunburn's voice turned venomous. "You gave birth to a son."
Moonsalt's heart stopped for a moment.
"A boy unlike any other - born with a strange power neither fully Solar nor Lunar." Sunburn chuckled. "It was the perfect opportunity."
Moonsalt's vision blurred - not from pain, but from rage.
"It was me," Sunburn said, his voice cold and triumphant. "I was the one who spread the rumor that he was cursed."
Moonsalt's entire body tensed.
"I convinced the council that your son was unnatural - a threat to the balance of Soluna."
Her lips trembled, but she said nothing.
"And using the political power I shared with my sister," Sunburn went on, "we pushed the narrative further, painting Jim as a danger... isolating you and Heatsun from the rest of the planet."
Moonsalt's mind flashed back to that day - the day Jim was taken from her.
"It didn't stop there," Sunburn said, tilting his head. "I took it a step further."
Moonsalt's voice cracked as she flailed helplessly trying to free herself from the grip. "What did you do...?"
Moonfreeze used the tip of her feet to pin her down smirking. "Don't even try to forget your position here. We are trying to remind how tragically pathetic you really are."
Sunburn added excitedly. "Heh! Great point. But let's not get rough just right now. Let me reveal the fun part before we have our fun."
Meanwhile...
Heatsun almost rushed to the spaceship's exit raging with intense Solar aura but Jim held him tight muttering. "Sorry Dad! But we can't charge recklessly, we have to wait for the right time."
Heatsun clenched his fists pretty hard trying to vent his frustration.
Jim sighed nervously. "At least, he understands the situation."
_ _ _
Moonsalt squealed as she was unpinned and gripped even tighter by Moonfreeze.
Sunburn's smile grew sharper as he proudly announced. "I was the one who personally requested Jim's execution before the Solunar Council - 15 years ago."
Tears welled in Moonsalt's eyes as it struck her ears, but she refused to let them fall.
"Your son was marked for death because of me," Sunburn said. "And the council listened."
Jim's body stiffened inside the hidden spaceship. His fists trembled on the controls.
Heatsun's head hung low, his teeth gritted with fury - and regret.
"When you, Heatsun, and Jim escaped that day," Sunburn added, "I wasn't going to let you get away so easily."
Moonsalt's memories blurred with the pain - the chaotic escape, the flashing lights of Solunar ships in pursuit, the sound of alarms echoing through their spaceship.
"Heatsun stayed behind," Sunburn sneered. "A hero, wasn't he? Distracting the Solunar ships so you and Jim could flee."
Moonsalt's throat tightened. She remembered it - Heatsun standing there, facing the enemy alone, giving her and Jim a slim chance to escape.
But Sunburn wasn't finished.
"While Heatsun was keeping the others busy," Sunburn said darkly, "my sister and I secretly tailed your spaceship - with a few Solar and Lunar warriors loyal to me."
Moonsalt's heart pounded.
"That was your spaceship," she muttered weakly. "The one that attacked us..."
Sunburn chuckled. "Indeed."
She remembered the relentless assault - Solar blasts and Lunar waves tearing through their hull.
The ship's systems failing.
The explosion that was about to happen.
And Jim... only five years old.
Her voice broke. "You... you forced me to... to..."
Sunburn's smile was sadistic. "Yes. You had no choice but to put your son in that escape capsule and launch him into space."
Moonsalt's vision blurred with tears. She remembered Jim's terrified face as the capsule sealed shut - his small hand pressed against the glass - and the last thing she heard before the launch:
"Mom... I'm scared..."
Sunburn leaned in closer. "There was no way he could have survived."
The words struck like a dagger.
"You killed him yourself."
Moonsalt broke down, sobbing - her cries echoing through the desolate planet but even as she struggled to break free, Moonfreeze raised her leg and landed it hard on her spine making her shriek in pain.
Moonfreeze smirked. "Now physical pain combined with emotional pain- this adds flavour, doesn't it, brother?"
Sunburn clapped. "Yeah, no doubt."
"It not just adds flavour, it adds entertainment." he added in a maniacal tone.
_ _ _
Jim, watching from the spaceship, felt his heart shatter.
Tears streamed down his face, his mother's pain cutting deeper than any wound ever could.
Heatsun's fists trembled at his sides. "I... I never understood..." he whispered. "I never knew she suffered like this..."
He regretted not finding her sooner - not seeing the depth of her agony.
Sunburn continued, his voice cold and sharp:
"When your spaceship finally crash-landed on another planet, I thought you were dead."
His fists burned brighter.
"But no - not only did you survive the blast..." Sunburn hissed, "you were found by Dark Void."
Moonsalt's breathing steadied - her sorrow hardening into bitter resolve.
"He picked you up," Sunburn spat. "Gave you the same rank as me - despite me working for him long before you ever did."
Moonsalt's voice, though weak, was steady now:
"Dark Void saw the vengeance in me."
Sunburn's glare darkened.
"He saw what my own people did to me - what you did."
Her eyes, despite the pain, shone with cold fury.
"And I chose to destroy Soluna - not for him, but for my son."
Her voice softened slightly, remembering another figure:
"A month after joining Dark Void," she said, "I was entrusted with training Rei - the earthling girl meant to fight for him."
Sunburn's jaw tightened at the mention of Rei.
"I saw the same pain in her eyes that I felt," Moonsalt said softly. "She was gloomy, angry, and lost... just like me."
A tear slipped down her face.
"I trained her not only to be a warrior - but maybe... as a daughter."
Her voice cracked.
"Because my son... is never coming back."
Inside the spaceship, Jim couldn't stop the flood of emotions.
He thought of all the years he spent wondering why his mother abandoned him - the pain, the anger - only to now realize the truth.
She never abandoned him.
She fought for him.
She suffered for him.
And Heatsun...
He saw it too - the agony he failed to understand.
"If I had just... found her sooner..." Heatsun whispered. "If I had realized her pain..."
Jim's voice cracked. "Maybe... maybe she could have been saved."
Their tears fell silently.
The moment was shattering.
The tension - unbearable.
And now... all that remained was what came next.
Moonsalt's heart sank as she said "But you said your sister is not here."
Sunburn grinned and said "I never said my sister wasn't here. You better listen carefully from now on."
Moonfreeze gave an unsettling grin.
Sunburn grinned. "Yes. A Solar brother and a Lunar sister as it normally is in Soluna thanks to the curse, that is a family consists of Solar-Lunar couple with one solar and one lunar child- born from the same blood, yet destined to rule together."
He stepped off Moonsalt, watching as Moonfreeze closed the distance between them.
"But here's the real secret..." Sunburn continued, his voice darkening. "From birth, my sister and I shared a rare ability - one even Dark Void doesn't fully understand."
Moonsalt tried to rise again - but Moonfreeze's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist.
A chilling sensation crept up Moonsalt's arm.
"Energy drain."
Moonsalt gasped as her strength seemed to leak out of her body - her Lunar aura dimming, her limbs growing heavier.
"While we fought," Sunburn said, "Moonfreeze has been draining your energy this entire time. No wonder you started getting weaker."
The truth hit Moonsalt like a thunderbolt - it wasn't just time or exhaustion. She had been fighting a losing battle from the moment Moonfreeze entered the field - hidden, waiting, feeding off her energy bit by bit.
Moonsalt struggled to pull away, but Moonfreeze's grip tightened like a vice as her grin never faded.
Sunburn knelt before her, a cruel smile playing on his lips.
"And now," he said softly, "we get to the fun part."
He summoned solar energy in his hand - small at first, then growing into a raging orb.
"I could kill you right now," Sunburn said, "but where's the fun in that?"
He slapped Moonsalt across the face - not enough to burn her, but enough to remind her of his power.
"No," he continued, "I want you to know how alone you really are."
Moonsalt's head hung low - her blue hair falling over her bloodied face.
"You lost your family," Sunburn sneered. "Your son - dead. Your husband - gone. And me? I still have my sister."
He raised the his hand. "We're still together - while you're nothing but a broken woman with no one left."
Moonfreeze nodded, silently muttering in a mocking tone. "Oh. How lonely!"