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"Altera!" Her voice rang out into the emptiness, but no answer came.

She looked everywhere, her eyes searching through the endless white nothing around her. But there wasn't a single thing to see - just blank whiteness stretching on forever.

"Altera, where are you?" Her voice grew smaller, weaker, as hope slipped away with each moment of silence.

The truth settled heavily on her shoulders. Her sister Manaka's words came back to her, sharp and clear: no matter how well you hide something, no matter how hard you try to change it, a thing will always be what it truly is.

Ayaka had always known her sister was more than human. From the moment of her birth, Manaka was powerful and all-knowing. Though she looked human, she was something else entirely. But because she grew up around humans and their ways of life, Manaka had made herself believe she was human, should be human, and had to be human. So she forced herself to live as one.

She played every part perfectly: the good daughter, the caring sister, the well-behaved student. She followed the rules of human society like she was reading from a list. But it was all wrong - how could someone who wasn't human truly become human? How could someone so different follow rules that were never meant for them?

So when she felt what seemed to be first love—that false feeling born from trying so hard to be human—it had torn the world apart, spreading chaos throughout the world.

If she had just accepted her true nature from the beginning, if she had embraced all her power and knowledge, would things have turned out differently? Would all this destruction have been avoided?

The truth was simple: White Titan was White Titan - not Altera, and could never become Altera. From the moment her true self had awakened, there was no going back. Everything had changed forever.

But Ayaka couldn't accept it.

She bit her lip until she tasted blood, burning with helpless anger.

Why did this world always work backwards? Why did it always take away what you wanted the most, while drowning you in things you never asked for?

Her mind filled with faces, with stories of wishes turned cruel: Fujimaru Shirou, who only wanted a peaceful life, trapped in endless cycles of death and rebirth, feeling his world crumble again and again. Her sister, who just wanted to be normal, destroyed by that very wish until she became neither human nor ghost. Kiara Sessyoin, hoping for harmony with Demonic Bodhisattva, betrayed by the very being she trusted. Mordred, whose love for her mother and desire to protect their kingdom led her to destroy them both, becoming the very thing she had fought against.

And Altera who wanted nothing but peace, transformed into an engine of destruction.

The unfairness of it all clawed at her heart. She couldn't accept it.

She would never accept it.

Ayaka bit her lip until it stung, then threw her voice into the void: "ALTERA!"

The silence that answered was absolute.

Complete nothingness.

A small voice in her head whispered: Should she give up?

No.

Never.

If the gods had written life's cruelties into the fabric of existence, then surely human stubbornness - the will to fight back - was just as much a part of their design.

How could she even think of giving up? This was Altera - her friend, precious and irreplaceable.

"I won't lose anyone else!" The thought blazed through her mind like fire.

Ayaka clenched her teeth, hesitated for just a moment, then filled her lungs and shouted again: "ALTERA!"

The blank space around her shivered, like ripples in a still pond.

—Why? Why do you persist?

—The Altera you seek isn't here anymore. There is only Sefar now.

"That's not true!" Ayaka's words rang with certainty, with truth. "You're still here. I know you are!"

—You're wrong.

"I don't care what name they gave you – White Titan, Sefar, Altera." Ayaka's voice softened but didn't waver. "You're still my friend."

—Thank you. But stay away from me. I never expected to be saved.

"Fujimaru said only you can save yourself. I'm not here to save you - I couldn't even if I wanted to. I just want to take you away from this place."

—Fujimaru... that liar! Don't mention him to me!

"He might be a liar," Ayaka's voice softened. "But he lied because he cared. He wanted you and Artoria to have a chance – to get past the awkwardness. And you agreed to it, didn't you? Because some part of you wanted that friendship too."

—Artoria would never accept me as a friend.

"How can you be so sure when you've never asked her?" Ayaka stretched out her hand. "You're my Servant, Altera. Our home feels empty without you there."

—I bring only destruction.

"Really?" A gentle smile touched Ayaka's lips. "Then who's been tending those flowers in the garden? Who leaves bread crumbs for the birds every morning?"

—These thoughts... they fill me with the urge to kill everyone.

"Yet every time you and Artoria get carried away and wreck something in Chaldea, it mysteriously gets repaired overnight. Everyone thinks I ordered you to fix things, but that was all you, wasn't it? You just don't want to show your true feelings."

—I only cause trouble.

"And I'm terrified of the dark, but you stay beside me every night. After... after I killed Arthur, when I couldn't stop crying, you held me until morning."

—...Give up on me. I can't overcome my instincts. That Beast is better than me.

"But you're the only one I want," Ayaka insisted. "Maybe you can't overcome your instincts alone, but we'll help you. Even if I can't, there's still Kiara, Fujimaru, Koyanskaya, everyone at Chaldea. You're not alone anymore."

Ayaka held out her hand again.

Sefar was silent for a moment.

—...Leave.

Ayaka felt her heart sink.

She wasn't the only one who wanted to leave this place. Just like her, Altera also wanted to leave this white emptiness, but she was afraid of hurting others, especially the ones she cared about.

Just as Ayaka was about to speak, her eyes suddenly closed. Her face contorted in pain, and she doubled over, clutching her chest.

"Ah—" She cried out in pain, clutching her chest.

—Ayaka? What's happening to you? Sefar's voice trembled with fear.

"The pain... Sister... what are you... doing to me?"

—Please, tell me what's wrong! The panic in Sefar's voice was raw, desperate. —Ayaka!

Suddenly, streams of light shot through the monotonous white world, like a painter adding vibrant strokes of color to a blank canvas. Phantom bubbles appeared, each one flickering with different scenes. Within these bubbles, countless colors merged, forming a small Altera. She rushed to Ayaka's side, her voice filled with concern. "Are you okay, Ayaka?"

Ayaka reached out and grabbed Altera's wrist, a sly smile spreading across her face. "Got you!"

"Eh!?" Altera froze, then her eyes widened in realization. Her face immediately puffed up in anger. "You... you were pretending?!

"How else would you come out?" Ayaka laughed. No wonder Fujimaru likes to trick people, she thought. It really does work.