Illya the Exile

"Same reason you are. I've been exiled." Illya said with a smile.

"Exiled?! How did you do that? What happened?" I asked her. Illya explained the story since I've been gone, which has only been a day.

"I asked Zach why you got exiled and when he finally explained it to me, I went to Richie and Dyna's funeral and killed both sets of parents. I sat with my hands behind my back, waiting to be taken into custody, and was sent here in the middle of the night last night. Here I am." She said.

"You killed their parents? Did they really deserve that?" I asked Illya. She looked up into the sky and sighed before looking down.

"Your Mom is okay. She knows about what happened to you and wanted me to deliver a message to you. She said... 'Know that I'm working to get you back, Sky. What you did wasn't wrong, as Richie and Dyna didn't plan to stop. I'll talk to Zach and retrieve you both back.' I think was along the lines of it. And, did they deserve it? Yes, they tried to kill Shike and Alexia. They're both fine and I gutted the two parents, stringing them up for all to see." She said.

"So... I have a shelter and water and food, but it's not a lot. Are you thirsty? Hungry?" I tried asking her, but tears were pouring out of my eyes and I couldn't even think.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Illya asked me. I slowly walked toward her, holding in all of that anger and regret I had, thinking I was going to be alone here.

I tightly embraced Illya in a hug and felt her shake. Was she the one who was scared right now?

I let go and looked at her to see what kind of face she had. Her cheeks were as red as her eyes and she was crying as well. When I asked her why she was, she shook her head and spoke under her breath.

"Finally." I heard. "I could go for some water now, yeah!" She added on, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"Right over here, it's not much, but it's better than nothing," I told her. Illya started to drink out of the tree bark that held a little bit of water.

"You did a good job killing those Rubeki, but you overdid it, didn't you?" Illya asked me. I shamefully nodded and she smiled, even laughing a little.

"I did, yeah. I'm far too weak right now to keep this up, but most Rubeki I've fought were ones I didn't have to push myself to kill. They die easily... and I want to kill as many of them as possible to make sure the students of MTG don't have to die on missions." I told her. Illya nodded.

"Well, it seems like we have a goal in mind now, that's good. And, I happen to notice you think that you're weak... let me train you." She told me.

"Train me? That's right, you have the strands too." I said to her. She shook her head and held her hands out, summoning the strands and drawing pictures with them. It was an amazing sight, but she revealed something to me that trumped how amazing the pictures were.

"All humans come from a source, they don't just appear. That being said, our creator was one of high quality, who had a special thing about him... he made all humans possess the same quality in order to boost our unity, and that one thing we all have are strands." She said.

"What are you talking about? We don't all have strands." I said to her with a worried look. If we all had strands, wouldn't that make us related to the Rubeki?

"We do. Some people, like you and I, can use them differently than their purpose. Shike, Belle, and Alexia all have strands, but they categorize themselves into having 'Abilities', which means their strands only do one thing. Shike can absorb damage, Belle can create ice and lower temperatures, and Alexia can alter objects at her will. That being said, that's all they'll be able to do so long as they're okay with being mediocre. You and I, however, can do anything we imagine with strands. You really think my ability is to draw pictures with strands?" Illya asked me. I shook my head. I see...

"Then, can we change our strands to do such a thing?" I asked her. Yet, she shook her head, which confused me even more.

"Our strands are limited to the extent that other abilities can't be used. The strands are one being, I guess you could say, so if they're being used as other abilities, like absorbing damage and changing the temperature of things, then the strands in your body can't do that. It's exclusive to Shike and Belle. However, we have the Free ability, which means we can do whatever we please with them, with the exception of existing abilities." She explained.

"Okay, I think I got it now. So, I can do anything I imagine?" I asked her. Illya nodded and I tried to summon something in my hand.

"What are you trying?" She asked me.

"Heat, or fire, or something. Maybe food." I told her. She laughed.

"You can't reproduce organic material, but I can make a canteen." She said, holding her hand out and handing over a canteen. It looked sturdy enough to hold liquid.

"So, you can use this permanently?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I can't make it go away, but if I die, it would disappear. Here, you can have it." She told me. I grabbed onto the canteen and thanked her. So, I can make objects too?

I summoned another canteen out of my hands by imagining the same shape Illya summoned and handed it over to her.

"Like that?" I asked her. She nodded, thanking me for my present.