The Truth of Ultima Tower

I woke up in a cold sweat, feeling my body all over... my face was perfectly fine.

I was sleeping next to Boo in a moving box. There was no light leading to the outside, but I could tell it was her based on her bangs. I awkwardly felt around her face to see if it was really her and if she was awake yet. Her fierce aura struck me as I felt her hand grip my wrist.

"Why are you touching my face? Where are we?" She whispered.

"In a box... I lost against Ultima, but I broke her arm in the process... can you see any openings?" I asked her once more.

"You're forgetting something important," She said, knocking on the side of the box.

"Oh, yeah," I muttered, charging kinetic energy to smash the box we were in.

The wooden planks burst into woodchips as I released them all at once, and Boo and I jumped out of the moving structure.

We landed on a dirt floor with two girls that were present in the fight before leading the horse that pulled us.

"You two again..." Boo muttered.

"It's not what you think... you, white-hair, you really set Ultima off," The girl named Chi-Chi with the eye patch said.

"The feeling is mutual. Where is that bitch?" I asked the two.

They shrugged.

"You got your wish, you were put in Ultima Tower... and Ultima's guard force was all executed in the streets a few days ago when you did everything," The other girl said.

"Few days? We've been asleep for a while... hey, where are Charlie and Alex? Do you know them?!" I shouted out to Chi-Chi and the other one.

"We brought them here, yeah. They're fine, they're in the Tower somewhere... you don't care that Ultima killed her entire army on her own?" Asoh asked me with shock in her voice. Boo spoke before I could.

"And why the hell would we care about that? That just makes her easier to kill in the future. She isn't invincible, is she?" Boo asked in a condescending tone.

"I guess not, but it's still worrying... Asoh and I have been traveling across this forest in The Tower for a really long time... you guys were put in the box together and it healed your injuries, but we couldn't break you out. Sorry if it scared you," Chi-Chi told us.

"Sorry, are we just supposed to trust you two after you tried to fight us? Frankly, I think I want to take my chances on my own," Boo said, crossing her arms.

Chi-Chi lifted up her eye patch to reveal a seared mark on her face, one that was branded into her face with a hot iron.

On it stood a small sentence, one that said "Property of Ultima", and she started crying out of her opposite eye.

"I've been Ultima's prisoner for my entire life... I was 'rescued' a long time ago, and when I disobeyed her, she branded me all over my body. Back then, Asoh and a few of our other past friends were in a group that Ultima took out her anger on, but Asoh was the only one who volunteered to take some of that anger she had to release. Asoh and I formed a bond, that we would revolt whenever we could. It broke my heart to treat Charlie and Alex like that... but you damaged Ultima... you stood a chance... and now, I want to fight too," Chi-Chi said while crying.

I turned to Boo with a pleased look on my face.

"Let this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship then... where do we go?" I asked, uncrossing Boo's arms for her.

"Anywhere... there are several ways to escape The Forest in The Tower... one of them could involve killing, but the other could involve finding ways to escape. We'll do that, and stay away from the killing," Chi-Chi said. She threw her eye patch in the dirt and let the wheel of the wagon stumble over it, permanently ruining it and leaving it to fade away with time.

"We don't know Ultima's evil... we will help you fight, but we need to get our friends out of here first. That is our first priority... well... second priority. We have a group of people after us that we need to take care of first, but after that, Ultima will be my next priority. Are we clear?" I asked Chi-Chi and Asoh.

"Yes... thank you..." Chi-Chi told us.

"Another group? You people are quite famous, huh?" Asoh asked Boo and me.

"Something like that, it's more like our leader who is popular, and we're just stringing along... but they're dangerous... a lot has happened, so it's hard to explain briefly, but I'm sure you'll learn as we get to know each other, right Boo?" I asked, looking at her with a smile.

"It's almost like you're trying to make me mad... that's right, Shike," She said with an annoyed look.

Boo really was coming along now.

I took time in the awkward silence to reminisce over our days when I first met her. She was cold and wanted to fight me with her friends all at once. She was fierce, but not in the same way, she was to this day. She was fierce and... ignorant, to say the least. Now, her ferocity was fueled by the past experiences that formed her to be the person she was to this day. I looked up at her in a sense, but I know I shouldn't have. It was probably irresponsible of me, but the only person who carries themselves better than Boo was Sky.

I wondered what Sky would do if he were here. He wouldn't have his strands, but it felt like he didn't need them to be a survivor like he currently was. He was capable, but weirdly so. From what I've heard from his friends, he's always had strands, but fought like he didn't. That hard work couldn't possibly go unnoticed.