"Closest friend?" Ikaris scoffed. "That is impossible-"
"How would you know when you have no memory of your past outside of the Sol Collective?" Jun fired back heatedly. "When the news of you being alive spread across the Grand collective, a lot of inner circles started booming with noise, Buche already knew, bur he had no idea about who you truly were, I was one of the thousands of people infiltrating these circles on his behalf, I heard this from a reliable source, and as I said, The emperor himself admitted to killing your mother!"
"Cool your head, Jun," Sol warned her, causing her to grit her teeth and glare at him.
"Why her, of all the beings, of all the Arkadians and all the humans you could have possibly chased after? Why the very woman than abandoned us for dead."
"Hey, watch your fucking mouth." Dina stood abruptly behind Sol resting her hand on his shoulder, much to the annoyance of the increasingly enraged woman. "You have no idea what she's sacrificed to-"
"Who are you anyways? Constantly touching and clinging to him like-"
Her words were silenced with a sharp pain to her jaw when Ikaris arose from her seat in Sol's lap and lightly smacked her, sending her crashing throuch the hall of the ship and slamming into a wall in the back causing sparks from the impact.
"Jun." Ikaris slowly perched before her amidst her trying and failing to stand. "While I am glad that you are alive even under the circumstances surrounding your resurrection being clouded in mystery which only that grotesque being can explain, I owe you nothing more than an apology, you suffered because of my absence, you died because I was not there and for that I am deeply sorry," She took her by her hands and pulled her to her feet.
"That is where my goodwill towards you ends, I owe you nothing more. Dina, Arla and myself are all devoted to our Master beyond the bounds of this or any other reality, tethered by more than our souls" She kept hold of Jun's hand while speaking.
"Do not speak ill of myself or any of the others in his regard in his or my presence again unless you are willing to defend your words with your life, it is an insult to us, but more to him who suffered a hundred times what you did for all our sakes, who destroyed an entire sentient universe in your name!"
"Do you have any idea-"
"I loved him first," Ikaris stared at her blankly. "If all you have to rely on is that you were once his love then know that I have felt the same as you do right now, I understand what you feel, I know it down to my soul, as does Dina, as does Arla and many others whom he will never recognise as anything more than friends, allies and enemies."
Ikaris shook Jun lightly. "I understand, but you relinquished that love on the day of your death and he spent years tormented by your memory until he was able to move on, the sol before you and the sol who once loved you are two separate beings entirely, one a broken man who sought to plunder the heavens, and the other a man guided by light who seeks to heal the ruins before him," She smiled at her.
"Do not make this any harder than it already is, you have a chance now to start over just as he did, to rediscover yourself." Ikaris slowly released Jun's shaking arms and stood straight, knowing well that the other two were listening to her.
"What if I do not want to rediscover myself?" Jun asked. "What if-"
"Then wallow in your own murky sea of misery and self pity, but keep everyone else out of it, if you are too distracted to be of help then keep whatever you know to yourself and stay quiet."
"I was going to intervene, but I agree with everything Ikaris said," Sol relaxed in his seat again and turned his back. "As harsh as those words are, I no longer have the love I felt for her, I lost that love the day I killed the demon god, when I asked and was told that the dead do not return I chose to move on, and I did, her being here again doesn't change that." He spoke, not loudly but without whispering.
"I still consider myself lucky," Dina thought to herself.
"Our focus is better spent on dealing with buche first, Zan'el will be dealt with whether he was or was not Ikaris's closest friend, in fact, this only serves to motivate me."
***
"Sovereign, it has been months since I last saw your face," Xie rested his right fist in his left palm paying his respects to Sol as soon as he was standing firmly inside of the ship.
"This feels like I'm wasting your skills as nothing more than an attack dog, but I don't want to spend too much time with him, take him down, but bring him to me alive there's something I want to ask before I kill him."
"The man called Buche, yes," Xie nodded looking to the space before them occupied by a small star.
"He hid inside of the fourth dimension and then trapped it in a star along with all of his forces," Sol explained. "I've barely a proper grasp of th econcept and Ikaris is not his match so your skills and knowledge here are required."
"Understood, you recruited me on the condition that I serve you, Sovereign, how better do I than with my fists?" Xie grinned, walking towards Ikaris and bowing lightly to her and then Dina. "Miladies, I will have this enemy before you in short order harmless and most willing to speak." He declared and then vanished, reappearing on the outside of the ship withhis hands folded behind him.
"Who exactly is that man?" Jun looked at Alpha.
"Xie Tsung, is a friend, follower and admirer of the Master, he is also the most powerful being within the Sol Collective, if he and Master were to fight Master would lose in a matter of minutes at least the current version of Master" Alpha explained just as the star right before their eyes began spitting its guts into the cosmos while it was inverted upon itself as Xie's crimson mana collapsed around it violently, preventing escape while he descended towards it with a crazed grin.
At the same time that this was happening, Sol emerged on the other side extending his hand before himself and creating a golden gate from which Dr'ul, Cecelia and Yu, the daughter of Zhang of the same name emerged.
"It begins."