The Glimmer of Hope

Running through the field of Rubeki, I flipped over one, slid under another, killed them both in one large arc, and continued my run to Boo.

She was going ballistic right now and fighting Illya over the Rubeki wasn't ideal, so I had to divert her anger for a period of time until this issue was solved.

I saw her in her anger as she continuously used her ability to boost herself forward toward Illya's old position. It bothered me a little, to see Illya stand on top of the peak of a small mound while her sabers were drawn. She was looking down at Boo, and her face was scary. I'd never seen Illya mad before, but seeing her now was starting to shake me to my core.

"BOO! STOP IT!" I screamed out as loudly as I could, disrupting the students around me. Boo stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to look at me again.

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Asterio!" She screamed again, turning her head.

Just like when we first met, she was refusing to use my name. It went back to what Myth explained to me. She had been using that name again, but why? What was fueling her anger this time around?

My name? What did my last name have anything to do with this?

"Achamo, listen to me! You fight Illya, and you will start something you won't be able to finish. Not while we're fighting the Rubeki! Wait until this is over!" I yelled at Boo, using her same strategy. I was rapidly closing the distance, even getting as close as Illya was, but from an opposite direction.

"Listen to your friend, Achamo. You might get yourself hurt if you step up to me." Illya told her. Her gaze tightened in intensity and her sabers blew up in a golden yellow color. Her irises followed suit and Boo was stuck fearing Illya's terrifying look.

"Boo, just back off. This conflict can be solved later on. Okay?" I asked her, as politely as possible, but she still didn't conform.

"I know somebody like you, Boo. So unrelenting with your hatred that it makes you borderline ignorant. You react to everything with cloudy judgment, and you'll strike pain into the hearts of the people who claim to care about you. Sit your sad ass down and don't cross paths with me again, because I have no problem forgetting my feelings about you and dragging this saber straight through your stomach and then through the rest of you." Illya said.

There was something odd about Illya. Her behavior was erratic, and she definitely had something going on. As Boo looked at Illya with the same gaze of hate she received, the battle of looks finally came to a close as she turned around.

"This will continue," Boo told Illya.

"Are you mad your master plan is falling apart?" The three of us heard an undefinable echo coming throughout the field. Landing in front of us by kicking up the dirt around her body, Mom stood with a gaze at Illya right beside me.

"You could say something like that, Ali," Illya said to Mom.

"Miss Ali! I was just-" Boo was interrupted by a pat on her head and my mom lightly smiled at her.

"Don't be afraid, Boo. Go kill more Rubeki with Sky. I'll handle things here with her." Mom drew her saber and it morphed into the same golden color Illya was wielding.

"HEY?! What the hell is going on?! Why won't anybody talk to me right now?!" I asked anybody who would answer at this point.

"Do you really want the answer to that Sky? It sounds like your family is turning on me because I'm defending myself from false accusations. Doesn't that sound familiar? Sort of like exiling me into Rubeki territory because I was doing what was necessary, doesn't it?" Illya asked me.

"Please, are you really trying to convince him that you're the innocent one?" Mom asked Illya. The stare-down between the two was looking more like an impending fight. Boo seemed to recognize this and pulled on my sleeve.

"I can explain things on the way to kill more Rubeki. We should leave them alone." Boo told me.

"Why are you suddenly okay with this?! Why does everybody hate Illya?! You need to start explaining this shit to me right now!" I grabbed onto Boo's collar and threw her to the ground as that same rage was starting to climb up my throat. It felt like I was choking as I threw myself on top of her and held her down, waiting for her explanation.

"I can't tell you. Your Mom told me to keep my mouth shut for as long as possible until we get the signal... I'm sorry, Sky. Please, let me tell you why she pisses me off, and why I now know the truth of Illya." Boo said. Her expression changed as I let her up from the ground.

...

...

...

"Mom and Dad saved you when you were younger... they left you with Mitra and Myth after your Mom killed your father... I'm sorry, Boo." I told her.

She explained her entire story to me and even included the part where she explained her Mom to me.

It became clear to me why everything was slowly turning upside down here.

Boo's Mom, Providence Achamo, is the exact person Mom was hunting down back then. She wanted to kill her and end the suffering Providence inflicted on so many, but she missed her opportunity and Providence had been missing ever since.

"The reason I think Illya is a part of that is that Illya was around back then. Not as a child, but as the same person as she currently is. It was weird when Miss Ali explained it to me, but it's true. Miss Ali, Providence, and Illya all seem to be connected, and the only one on our side is Miss Ali. I trust her with all of my heart, knowing the atrocities Providence caused me and my father." Boo told me.

I could tell it was traumatic for her, as she had been sniffling the entire time and holding back tears.

"Boo, if you needed the help, you should've asked for it. I'm sorry I pinned you to the ground, you didn't deserve that. You deserve to be treated the best for the rest of your life. And I will do everything to make sure that happens. You have my word, but don't go around calling me by that last name if it's so traumatic for you. You can call me Sky, or anything else that works. Now, let's kill Rubeki, and leave Mom and Illya to it. I trust you and Mom over Illya any day, especially recently." I told Boo.