The Only One

"M-Me...? I can't take down Arthur Vega, you haven't seen him. He's capable of doing a lot of damage... and I can barely stand my ground against Finlis, if at all!" Faith confessed. She slid the eye patch down from her covered eye and it rested against the base of her neck.

I couldn't help but think of another thing I could do in the situation, but nothing came to mind. It was purely plotting for now, so I decided to keep watch to see if the thirteen people would come to meet us.

"It doesn't matter if I've seen him or not. With Sky out of the play, we do not have a Pure Asterio on our team other than you," Hikari told Faith.

"Dani... you said our parents are out there right now? I can't believe after all of this time, we have parents too. What are they like? Are they nice people?" Charlie asked me.

I looked at him through the peripheral of my vision, unable to find strength in my voice to deny his curiosity. The people were hunting Sky, so they couldn't have been friendly... but my father felt strangely different than the rest. I could tell he wasn't friendly, but I wasn't sure about the others. I also wasn't sure which person belonged to the head of Charlie's family.

"Not my father... Oberon is the one who imprisoned Sky and wiped our memories, but I'm not sure about the others," I told Charlie. I had a feeling they were all of the same motivation, but I had to keep an open mind for Charlie.

"Yeah, I'm a Pure Asterio, but I'm nothing like Sky! Khalil, Mizu, and I met with Arthur and he teleported around the room and shit! I can't do anything like that!" Faith called out to Hikari once more as I kept my eyes forward. I wasn't sure what the plan was or where everybody planned to go at this point. I was afraid.

"Again, Faith, it's not about what you can do, it's about what you have to do," Hikari said.

While she was trapped in the conversation, I had a live demonstration of what Faith was feeling. It was the exact same emotion and facial shape that Sky had when he learned about the weighted feeling of existing with the sole purpose of being hunted. It was powerlessness... and I could clearly see that Hikari was forcibly pushing Faith into the same position as Sky was in.

As I thought about it more, I started to sympathize with Faith. It wasn't right to put her in a situation where she would follow in Sky's footsteps. In fact, Sky would feel abhorrent toward Hikari right now. But... I was intrigued to see what would happen if Faith finally understood what Sky went through.

I always was skeptical of her and her determination to be better than Sky could ever be. Faith was within him the entire time and knew his pain, but yet, couldn't even see where it came from. As harsh as it sounded in my mind, her weakness is what pushed him to such a self-sacrificing point... and watching her dive into the train of thought she condemned so much would most certainly provide a point of growth for her.

I was stuck... what would Sky do?

"What do I have to do?! I don't have to help you people! I reveal my identity to you and you just think you can boss me around?! I can't fight Arthur, I can't fight Finlis... I'm terrified of this outcome! It would just be easier to run!" Faith shouted out.

I was focused on Faith's weak stance while looking all around herself, but through the peripheral of my eye, I could connect myself to Hikari's bright blue eyes, scanning me and almost enticing me to open my mouth once more. I listened, intrigued at what it could bring.

"What was the quote...?" I asked out loud. Faith looked at me with a concerned look on her face. She began to bite her lip while waiting for me to continue.

"I hope, for the love of God, that you save the people you love by growing a pair of fucking balls and learning to use them in the face of danger," I told Faith. As soon as I said that to her, it appeared that her heart dropped to the very pit of her stomach, and she was stuck staring at me in awe. 

"That was the line you used on Sky right before you left, wasn't it? Oh yeah, he repeated that every day right when he climbed out of bed. He got up every day repeating those words and trying to change who he was based on that," I said to Faith. I rested my hands down by my side and began to walk over to her. Hikari smiled as the pressure I was applying got heavier and heavier. She would be forced to make a decision sooner or later. I got closer and closer to Faith, and her presence began to sink.

"I don't know what you're talking about... you don't scare me, Dani," Faith crossed her arms, attempting to make herself look bigger, but I understood it all too well. Faith was full of shit.

It had been a tactic that I used before to try and hide my fear, but at a certain point of my fear, love came into the mix and poisoned it, for better or for worse, and I went on a suicide mission to bring Sky back. I wasn't sure how Faith couldn't see that, but she wasn't. She needed to.

"Charlie, do you remember when I acted like this when Sky was in danger after Illya trapped him in The First Trial?"

"I don't,"

"I know," I said. I kept him out of my vision and locked my eyes on Faith. Khalil was oddly silent during the entire thing, maybe he was starting to catch on.