A Celebration Fit For The People

As various Arkians, such as Lia, Lily, Boo, and Belle all grouped together, they thought of different ways to commemorate the day, thinking of sparklers to use for the occasion, confetti, and banners to hang up to follow. Since the city was destroyed, the four girls were left with no resources to make for a good celebration.

People were gathered in the central area of the crater, setting up stands with limited materials, such as fallen boulders, cracked cement, and dirt boulders, offering up whatever they could to survivors who needed it most.

"I got an idea," Lia said to the three other girls. She ripped her sleeves off of her shirt, further shredding them with her dagger and throwing it up in the air, causing the others to realize that she made confetti. Lily, Boo, and Belle all followed behind, putting together their sleeves to make enough confetti fit for the people.

Dani, Carl, Charlie, Asoh, Hikari, and Charlotte were all grouped together as well, wondering what kind of celebration it would be. Asoh, Hikari, and Charlotte were the only ones who ever witnessed such an event, since the beach never had a suitable celebration for the Arkians.

After mixing groups with Lia's group. Dani's group all settled down and started small talk, discussing the adventure so far that they had, remembering the good and the bad, and laughing about it all. A way Dani found to commemorate Ellie was by telling the entire story of what she knew, tying it into Orion's lineage as Ellie turned out to be his daughter.

Sky and Ruby watched from an overhanging ledge, looking down on Alicas from a slight incline in elevation.

"This is what the people need, huh? Lou-Lou was a person who could do that, that's why you picked her," Sky asked Ruby. She lightly nodded, shrugging away her smug smile while pointing down toward the citizens.

"People need a reason to come together, a reason to unite. We can be that for them, Sky. We are that for them," Ruby stated. As she finished talking, Lou-Lou stepped up onto a boulder, clearing her voice, and summoning a strange item in her hands made of strands. It was amazing to Sky, realizing that Lou-Lou had such powerful strand control to make items. He could barely even do that with things other than sabers.

"Ahem! Excuse me, people of the new city Alicas, my name is Lou-Lou, and I'm here to give you the celebration of a lifetime!" She shouted out. The megaphone in her hands disappeared into strands, flowing into her strange guitar-like instrument. As she strummed the guitar once, it leaked out noise with a high pitch, and behind it followed a variety of instruments, all from one.

Drums could be heard as the bass boomed loudly. Cymbals could be heard as well. Trumpets, violins, and pianos fit in when necessary for the first thirty seconds of the song. Then, Lou-Lou began to sing.

"~Descended from the sky came enemies from long ago, fire and brimstone it appears they ascended from low~" She sang. Sky was impressed with the way Lou-Lou could piece together words, giving certain sounds emphasis over others to make the song flow better together.

"~They fought and they fought, we overlooked what they brought, into the lies of our ancestors we easily bought~" Lou-Lou continued. It took him a moment, but he realized the song was about the Arkians.

"~We cannot think we're angels if we judge so harshly, we cannot love if we only do it partially~" She continued. Sky listened to her words carefully as the song continued. He was moved.

"~Returned to the beginning to start anew, the Arkians have given the chance to you. From Zealous to Alicas, a renovation was overdue~" Lou-Lou said. She opened her closed eyes, peering up at Sky before smiling and jumping down from the boulder while strumming the instrument further.

Lou-Lou continued her song onward, leaving Sky to think about all that has happened with the Arkians. Realizing they came to Earth with nothing but dreams, they were accepted into society, regardless of what he thought would happen. He felt grateful, knowing his friends were in good hands, and that he led them to such a place.

It was a long day for him, and as he was nearing the 16th hour of being awake, Sky felt tired as Lou-Lou's song came to an end. He was ready to fall asleep standing up.

The other Arkians dispersed as the song ended, all disappearing in thick crowds, to presumably chat with the others. Sky turned his back toward Ruby and began to walk off, stating that he was going to bed.

"Not so fast, there's something we want to give you," Ruby said. He was confused with her use of nouns, turning to see the Arkians all sweating from running so fast to Sky's position from the crowd.

"Happy birthday Sky!" They shouted. He was stunned, completely forgetting that today was his birthday. He looked among the crowd, watching as everybody was smiling in celebration. The Arkians no longer cared about the celebration of defeating Quake, but the celebration of Sky's birthday.

"Happy birthday, Sky," Dani said. She was teary-eyed from the fear that her present wouldn't be accepted.

Dani handed to Sky a golden ring. In the fight with Cole, Sky's ring from Lia had broken off and shattered into pieces from the severed limbs, meaning that he was ring-less until he got one from Dani.

"What... is this? A ring?" He asked. Sky put it up to his eye, looking through it to see Dani.

"A promise ring... to all of us. A promise that you won't sacrifice yourself when things get tough... that you'll depend on us... and that you'll continue to lead for us," Dani explained. The Arkians grew silent, nodding in conjunction with her explanation.

Sky began to sob as he put the ring on where Lia's old ring used to be. Even she was smiling, knowing that her previous ring and its meaning would be remembered and infused into the current one.

"Yeah, I promise. Thank you for letting me be your leader, for all this time," He said with a light-hearted smile. The Arkians clapped in celebration, all clutching to Sky with a tight hug as he couldn't help but sob even more.