Ra Side Story (7/13)

From Sky's explanation, he went on to explain the headspace required to use and wield Asterio Strands. Although different, their foundation was the same.

"When I was being trained by my late mother and sister, they related the control of Strands to one thing. The flow of water. It's unpredictable and follows the flow of gravity. That's the only real thing we know about the flow of water, isn't it? It tries to reach the lowest point, weighed down by gravity. So, when they were teaching me to control the flow of Strands, I was told to imagine that flow of water," Sky said. He materialized the Strands that followed his explanations in front of me, showing me their flow and the puddle that illuminated the ground underneath us.

"So, visualize the flow of water, I can do that," I said. I closed my eyes and thought of the image. When I thought of the image, my skin felt colder from gusts of wind around me.

"Perfect. So, from this point on, you need to learn to control Strands. Imagine placing your hand into the stream of water. It is disrupted from its natural flow, and your hands have the power to move with the stream. You can shift its position, lift upward, or even slam down and splatter the water so it flies everywhere. Your hands hold a ton of power with Strands. The hard part of controlling them is visualizing them and materializing them after that. They can be unpredictable. That's the difference between this." Sky began.

In his right hand, Sky summoned a wildly flowing saber that bounced off of the air millions of times. The Strands were erratic and uncontrollable. Since the saber was only White, nothing happened to the air around it.

When Sky held up his left hand, he summoned a Golden Saber. The Strands were neatly tucked and weaved into each other, so much so that it appeared to be a solid object. They were sharp, as the air around it looked like it was bein split with ripples coming off of it.

"Controlling the White Saber was something I could do on the second week of my life. However, this Golden Saber took about fourteen years of my life to manage. When I say it's difficult, don't take it lightly. It truly is a task of a different caliber. However, that doesn't mean you won't be able to do it. You're the descendant of somebody who's already pretty powerful in their own regard, so I'm sure you'll get it in no time." He said.

"But...you're Sky Asterio. If it took you fourteen years, what's 'no time' to you?" I responded.

"Well, I didn't always know what my identity was. Now that I do, it's reasonable."

The conversation came to a close as Sky approached me. He sat down on the bench beside me and held up my left hand, summoning a White Saber into the palm of my hand through the point by my elbow where he was touching me.

"Hold it, get a feel for it. It's erratic, hard to disrupt the flow, isn't it?" He asked.

I noticed that he was right. If I was comparing it to a stream of water, the White Saber was so jagged and unpredictable that it felt like rapids. 

Sky changed the color of the saber to Gold, allowing me to hold it after the White. From the initial grip I had, I immediately noticed it was different. It was as if Sky had built a dam around the stream, and only allowed it to escape from a single point.

"Here, you manage the Strands much more strongly than before. You have control over them, they do not have control over you. That's one mistake both Dani and I made before. As I said, it may be different since you cannot use these Strands, but Essence Strands must have a downside to them as Asterio Strands do." He explained.

"You think so? That downside is that you lost your mind during the Quake fight, right?"

"Exactly that. Dani lost it previous to that. You see when you put your arm into the stream to disrupt the flow, you control the water. But, if you dip your hand too deep into the stream, the current takes you and drowns you. You can fight, but you will drown. Let that be a philosophical lesson about wanting too much power." 

"And, one last thing..." I started. I wasn't sure how to ask Sky this question, because he wasn't the one that got into a fight with my dad, Kire. However, I decided to ask it anyway.

"Do you think I'll be stronger than my dad? Especially if I pair Essence Strands with The Ra Beam?"

"Of course I do. I think it's ignorant to assume the newer generation, which I would call everybody younger than me, to be more powerful than your dad and I. Someday, I'll have a kid who's even more powerful than me. Well, I suppose I already do, don't I? Don't tell Faith I said that." Sky chuckled. He found himself taking away the Saber in my left hand and stretching his arms out.

"Go ahead, take some swings, I'm going to go get some water." He told me. I nodded, watching him go away to the kitchen. I focused, closing my eyes, and visualizing the stream.

It was infinite, and almost too powerful for me to comprehend. Every second I spent looking at it was another second risking falling into the stream. All I could do was watch in its infinite glory. 

Where do I even start?