Sky Asterio's Reawakening

--Charlie's Perspective--

After all was said and done with the Ultima conflict, I met up with Hikari, Shike, and the others to move out of the bunker. Hikari wasn't betraying me yet, but I kept a very, very close eye on her.

"Sky Asterio is reawakening, huh? So... was he asleep? What's up with that?" I asked Hikari. She carried every single body out of the bunker that she could, evacuating everybody, including David, Tyler, and Aegis.

"I can't believe I'm stuck explaining this... but, it's not your friend. To put it simply, the Sky Asterio from four hundred years ago has been brought back. I can feel two pressures of almost equal proportion, which means there are two copies..." Hikari paused. She started to shield everybody in a dome made of golden strands and then continued.

"Anyway, it's what Genesis had been planning for all along. To bring back the Sky Asterio from four hundred years ago, and watch him wreak havoc on Earth. That would attract Eirikr down here, and then Genesis would ambush him. What his plan was doesn't matter anymore, as Genesis was killed by Charlie. What does matter is that the fight in Zealous will most likely cause catastrophe all around the Earth," Hikari said. She stopped moving, staring toward the dome that stuck up over the destroyed walls of the city.

"Can we help? If everybody who can still fight is there, we would stand a much better chance," Shike said, trying to push himself ahead of Hikari to get to Sky.

"No. You'd get in the way. You'd be another target for the Old Sky to kill," Hikari told him. I was surprised she was being so honest. She could easily kill all of us if she didn't warn us.

"So, what, you're saying that I'm too weak to help Sky out? Do you have any idea of what I'm capable of?!" Shike got mad, picking up his voice and getting close to Hikari while threatening her.

"Shike... stop... I think Hikari knows what you're capable of... would my speed even help Sky?" Boo asked Hikari.

"No," She sharply said. She turned back toward the dome and sighed.

"I don't think anybody on Planet Earth could help him at this point. Our job is to get far, far away," Hikari said. I was paying attention to her, but by the time I looked back at Shike, he was already running toward the dome.

"Dammit! What is that idiot doing?!" I yelled out. I turned back, looking at Boo and Belle, who quickly followed behind him.

"I'm not just gonna stand around while they do that. Hikari, you get everybody to safety at Ultima Tower, we'll come for you," I shouted to her, starting to bounce in order to run.

"Charlie," She stopped me by grabbing onto my wrist before it was too late and handed me a weird weapon... that pistol she used earlier.

"If you can somehow get this to Sky... please... give it to him. It might help him," She told me. She ran with all of the bodies from the bunker, and I went the opposite way. I really, really hope she wasn't still evil. As I speculated before, she split us up with every injured person in Ultima Tower, and that could be disastrous... but still, I trusted her.

I ran nearby Zealous, running through a cluster of trees in front of the gate, when between my breaths, I heard labored breathing from underneath me.

I spent around thirty seconds looking for the source of it. When I found it, my eyes widened in surprise.

Noboki was hanging on by a threat, with holes all over her body that were patched with golden strands that were visible on her body, threaded like a blanket. Her head was severely damaged, and her right arm was corroded beyond belief. It looked like black acid that encapsulated it, and her bone was sticking out in various places.

"Noboki! Hey!" I shouted out to her, but she was unresponsive. Her eyes were open, and they were weakly staring at the ground.

I moved her face to look at me. Noboki lifted her left arm and pointed at her eyes, and then made a movement across her throat. I predicted that her ear drums were blown out... and she affirmed it with a nod.

I didn't know how to communicate with her, so I picked her up and ran into Zealous.

"Come on... where is everybody!" I said to myself, looking all around.

I caught Shike's white hair from around the corner about forty feet in front of me and ran straight behind him until I grouped up with everybody.

"Charlie! You're alright! Oh my God... what happened to Noboki?!" Tavian yelled out. He ran by my side, taking her up in his arms, and looking at her wounds.

"I thought... I thought you were in the bunker... why didn't I go to you..." Tavian muttered while looking all over.

"Her eardrums are damaged, she can't hear anything... what the hell is going on? Sky Asterio has reawakened... that's what Hikari told me," I said to everybody. I completely missed the greetings, and Umbra pushed her way to the front of the crowd surrounding the dome.

"H-Hikari...? Hikari's okay?!" Umbra asked me. She was amped up with sadness, almost preemptively covering her mouth to shield her crying stare.

"Yes... she told me to give this to Sky," I said. I pulled out the pistol and showed it off to everybody. When it got to Umbra's field of view, her eyes went wide and she looked into the dome.

"I see... Lia... I need that gauntlet back..." Umbra held out her arm toward Lia as she just finished hugging Lily tightly and Lia neatly put it onto her.

"I have to return these to Sky... Alexia, open the dome..." Umbra demanded.

"Are you sure? Should we really go in there?" Alexia asked next, looking around in worry.

"No. Hikari said we should stay away, and that we would get in the way... but we need to return these weapons to their rightful owner," I said to everybody, pointing toward the pistol and gauntlets that Umbra had.