Belle's Awakening

--Belle's Perspective--

Like a long dream slowly coming to a close, I felt myself snap out of the state I was in.

I didn't feel alive before, well, maybe I did, but it's nothing compared to this. What I felt right now was the intelligence required to understand that I wasn't really alive before.

Sky held his hand over my stomach and my wounds slowly healed, along with this intelligence flooding my brain.

Shike told me not to say a word, so I didn't want to exploit us... but I felt so good!

All things considered, today was terrible, but I can understand why! It's hard to explain, but beforehand, it felt like I was supposed to be sad about Naomi and Eo's deaths, but now, I understand why it's so sad.

"Shike... Sky... what the hell is this?" I said, lifting my arms up to look at myself.

I had pale skin and blonde hair slowly covered my arms as I tilted my head down. I thought about so many things. I thought about Sky leaving for two years, Miss Ali's fight with Zach, and everything all at once.

Richie and Dyna, and their deaths. My injury, my guilt for sending Sky away... I understood it and processed it once more, but this time, as an actual person.

"Sky... I'm so sorry... for sending you away!" I said, covering my mouth as I cried thousands of tears.

His kind, blue eyes looked at me confused, then darted back to Shike's face as he turned toward the field.

That's right... we were under attack, and Alexia and I were hiding by this fountain. What were we doing? Why weren't we joining the fight?

"Why are you apologizing now? I never blamed you, Belle." Sky told me. There he went, being that same old friend I knew could never hate me.

"You killed for me... I ruined your life... and you forgive me... you're amazing... Shike, why were Illya and you fighting?" I asked him. He shook his head and looked in the opposite direction.

"I never realized it until Boo and Miss Ali told me, but something isn't right. Miss Ali woke me up with those strands and awakened my mind. I'm sure you feel it now too, Belle." Shike looked at me with a look that made me blush.

"I do... what is this? Why didn't I feel this before?" I said to myself, looking at my arms again.

"It's because of Illya. It's all because of Illya, as Miss Ali told me. She put strands into me and explained that her strands took over my mind because she willed it. The strands cleared my head and took away Illya's grasp from my mind, as she described. Boo must've caught onto a clue of that or something, otherwise, it doesn't make sense that she would shift so suddenly. Sky, do you understand what I'm saying?" Shike turned to Sky while explaining everything.

"I'm not sure I do. Why don't you elaborate for me?" Sky asked him. It seems like the atmosphere was getting even tenser now.

"I'm saying that Illya is the source of something evil and terrible. I don't know how else to explain it to you." Shike said, but Sky wasn't buying it.

"Really? Because when I was with her for two years, she never made me second guess myself once, not like you are. It makes me wonder who's really the one at fault here." Sky said to Shike.

It turned into something much worse when Shike put his hands on Sky's collar and threw him into an upturned rock nearby.

"Listen, you shithead, I'm not confident she's the one at fault, but it's making more sense the more you do. Why was she, of Belle, Alexia, and I, the one to follow you after two years? You don't think I would've followed you through hell and back through that Rubeki territory? I would've eaten through the wall if that's what it took to recover you. In fact, why don't I just kill you now if I have an evil plan? Open your damn mind." Shike said, letting go of Sky's collar.

"Maybe you have a plan of some sort. I don't know, but keeping me alive so I could kill these Rubeki sounds like a fair plan." Sky commented.

"You would throw away ten years of friendship and becoming a family for a girl you met and spent time with for two years. You're pathetically stupid." Shike said again.

"Hey! Let's not fight right now! We have Rubeki to kill." I yelled at the both of them, but that wasn't enough to settle their feud.

"Why didn't you follow me then, if you claim to be my friend?" Sky asked Shike, then turning to Alexia and I.

"Because we weren't ourselves. If I'm right, and Illya is a huge source for these problems, I wouldn't be surprised. She manipulated you to turn against us based on the trust that's now lacking. She tried to attack and kill me, and had hypnotized us to be mindless people who are only here to make you more powerful. That's something your mother told me, of all people. Do you trust me now?" Shike asked Sky again. Something between the two of them was rubbing together and now starting to create sparks.

Nothing good would come from this.

"Belle... why didn't you?" Sky asked me.

"I wasn't conscious to make the decision. But, I'm conscious to make this one." I stood up, charged my hand back, and planted it into the side of Sky's face. I probably didn't hurt him, but I sure as hell shocked him.

I grabbed his collar, just as Shike did, and looked at him dead in the center of his eyes.

"You are willing to damage our friendship for over twelve years together with some girl who jumped the gun because she could consciously make decisions. Either she's successfully manipulated you, or you were never our friend anyway." I told him. That seemed to shake him out of his daze.

He shook his head and turned down to Alexia, gently setting his hand against her stomach to heal her.