Diamond!
I'm glad we split up.
From afar, I see just how much you mean to me.
I do, too.
Run, Bort...
What?!
Is it just me, or does this thing look way different than a minute ago?
My... sword...
Swo...
D-dangit! I don't have enough alloy left! I can't lift it!
Alex, finish it!
N-no way! No way! No way! No way!
Alex! N-no way! No way! No way! No way!
No way! No way! No way! No way!
I'm not even supposed to look at the Lunarians, Sensei's orders!
You just swing and slice! It's easy!
Come on already!
But...! Come on already!
I'm begging you!
I can't... take... it...
Fi...
Fine then.
A-Alex?
A-Ale... Lexi?
Huh?
Bort!
So it was red Alex, was it?
You knew about this...?
That's what happens when Alex sees Lunarians. A real nutcase, that one.
Look who's talking.
Finally...
We're not finished yet.
You've gotta be kidding.
Get ready for it.
I'm... not really sure I can swing a sword at these.
Whaddya know? I guess even Bort has a soft side.
They...
just ran off...
That's it! That was their plan!
There hasn't been any word since the bell rang out.
Do you think everything's all right?
I wonder.
Y-Yellow!
Any idea what this might be?
What?! What is this thing?
It's adorable! And so soft!
A-are you sure that's okay?
We don't even know what this thing is-
Yellow! Zircon!
Have you spotted any soft, fluffy white th-
That's it!
What now?
Word is there's a new type of Lunarian.
It came right up to me while I was out.
So I tried dissecting it to pass the time, but it just split in two and came back to life.
Right...
Not even that cute little thing could stop you, huh...
You're really something.
I have to attend to Dia. Go off and find the rest of these things.
Yeah, yeah.
Benito! It's heading your way!
Two to the southwest! Two more to the southeast!
Incoming!
Gotch-
Hold it right there! Wait, wait! Where are you going?!
They're everywhere! Wait, wait! Where are you going?!
101, 102...
103, 104, 105, 106...
107...
That's all of them. I hope...
Good enough...
Good grief...
Alex, you sure you should be looking at those?
I think I can handle these, so long as I just squint a bit...
I hear there were two sunspots?
I want to compile all information from its appearance.
Ah, all right. At first it was...
...kinda like that.
Did it just... bark?
Alex! Time to bring out that other you agai-
Not like that.
That's dead Alex.
You creep!
Jade! Hang in there!
Halt!
I am the one you want!
Who's that?
Show me what you've got!
That's it. There we go.
Just keep heading this way.
I'll lead you right to Sensei and-
Maybe not!
Phos!
Phos... not again!
What are we gonna do?
Slice it up again and segregate all its parts. There's nothing else we can do...
Sensei!
Sit.
Lay down.
Chin.
Poor Shiro, what happened to your hand?
Sensei...
I didn't notice you there.
Right...
So, why did you call this thing "Shiro"-?
Sensei.
Do you know this thing?
No. Not at all.
Are you telling me I just mistakenly heard you call it "Shiro" then-
Don't doze off on me, Sensei!
Apologies.
The fluffiness is just so inviting.
It's magnificent. Magnificently fluffy.
Is the thing's name really that big of a deal?
No, that's not really the point...
Why not just ask it yourself?
What?
You were able to speak to that slug after all.
Uh...
It's just...
If I might just inquire something of you...
Truly a lost cause, that one.
It just says, "woof woof"...
"Poor Shiro, what happened to your hand?"
I definitely heard Sensei say that.
Maybe I'm just overthinking the whole thing...
The way it was said, though.
It sounded like the two of them were so much closer than any of us.
Sensei and a Lunarian...
Have I just allowed myself to imagine the unthinkable?
Here. These must be Bort's.
This thing too.
This isn't Bort's.
Well then what is it, exactly? It was right there with those shoes.
This is a piece of the Lunarian that showed up today.
And as far as I can tell...
it belongs to Sensei.
Cinnabar, I'm starting to feel like Sensei is hiding something from us.
You mean in relation to the Lunarians?
You knew?! Then why-?
Everyone knows.
Well, everyone has come to guess as much.
But no one knows the truth.
They've all made an unspoken agreement to trust in Sensei no matter what the truth might be.
Even you?
I'm still debating it.
What are you going to do?
I...
I just...
I want to know the truth.
It's going to take courage to confront Sensei about this.
Courage...
It's always courage...
Just how much is it going to take?
How much...
What was I...
What was I after in the first place?
Hey.
C'mon, wait!
Sen-
Antarcticite.
You knew too...
Yet still...
Returning home to the moon, is it?
No.
It would seem it has found peace.
How was it working alongside Bort?
Right.
Bort is far wiser and more prudent than I imagined.
Above all else, it is that quick-wittedness and precision that we could all stand to learn from.
I believe each of us should team up with Bort at least once.
And what will you do?
I have matters I wish to pursue on my own.
About these Lunarians.
To find out, I'll have to...
ask the Lunarians themselves.
How long has it been now?
Ten days.
You've got sharp ears.
You're pushing yourself too hard.
It's funny, the more you wait for the Lunarians, the less they show up.
That last one was something spectacular, so we might assume something is happening on their end.
How is Dia?
We found the last fragments this morning, and now Dia is quite back to normal.
What?!
I only saw the big scary version!
I wanted to see the fluffy little ones and floof them up!
Red Beryl put together these little replicas of the thing for Dia, and everyone has been playing with them. I wanted to see the fluffy little ones and floof them up!
Red Beryl put together these little replicas of the thing for Dia, and everyone has been playing with them. Like this!
Red Beryl put together these little replicas of the thing for Dia, and everyone has been playing with them. So floofy!
Red Beryl put together these little replicas of the thing for Dia, and everyone has been playing with them.
Yeah? That's good.
Make sure you drop in for a checkup.
Are you headed somewhere?
The Chord Shore.
Looking for parts for Padparadscha, I take it...
I guess I haven't forgotten about Padparadscha.
That's a relief.
Padparadscha was so cool... Practically knew everything.
Yeah...
Padparadscha once fought alongside Rutile.
A hardness of nine.
A toughness just under first class.
The second strongest after Bort.
Just about as old as Yellow.
Born with a number of holes.
Rutile modified the body and kept Padparadscha going.
It's how Rutile got to be such a skilled doctor.
But as of late, there's been no movement...
Okay, so it was probably around here somewhere...
Here it is.
I found it during the winter and just sort of buried it here.
It's all ruby. This will help.
It has a hardness of nine and is a similar type to Padparadscha.
This should allow a better chance of awakening and retaining consciousness longer.
The more I work on this, the harder it becomes the next time around.