Blood On Blood

--Sky's Perspective--

As soon as I emerged from the vision with my older self, I opened my eyes, to see Fico, Cynthia, and Cole all standing far away from me with their sights honed in.

The black and gold saber in my left hand illuminated brightly as the wind blew once more. My own sister... standing against me...

I scoffed, then smiled with anticipation as the three of us ran into the middle.

I held Cynthia off specifically while Cole and Fico shot past me with similar speeds. The two of them tried to appear intimidating... but Cynthia was my main target.

[Incarnation of Wrath: ENGAGED]

My tunnel vision cured itself, warping around me in golden strands and expanding widely all around the field. I could see everything in the form of echolocation, just as I did before at Orion's Castle. Everything was coming together in one big surge of abilities.

[Adrenaline Surge: Activated]

[Heart Rate: 220]

I pushed Cynthia back, diving forward to dodge the attacks from Cole and Fico. I could see them coming around for another attack while I ran at Cynthia. She held her left hand out and purple and gold strands shot out, to which the Mahina Blade cut straight through. With the blade closing in on Cynthia, she tightened her grip on the blade. It sliced through her fingers, somewhat through her body, and caused Fico to change trajectory.

I felt it... the strands in my body changed, leaning toward the left side on their own as the black strands shifted out of the saber and over to my left arm.

The black strands perfectly blocked Fico and pushed her into the ground without my direction, and I split Cynthia in half, watching blood scatter all over the field.

My senses were firing on all cylinders. I was using my thoughts to predict all of the actions between Cole, Cynthia, and Fico, watching for any indicators as the black strands worked with me. For every action I took, they checked in advance, they let me know what would happen, and they blocked what I needed to be blocked.

Umbra had previously taught me Parallel Thought, and I was exercising that here as well. I thought about Fico's attacks, about Cole's attacks, and while doing so, I imagined how they would intertwine.

Cole has that large mace head and the Retriever that I have to watch out for. Fico has those claws and that weird substance on her body that I have to avoid. All of these things would combine and trap me if they intertwined, so I had to prevent that above all else.

[Current Heart Rate: 250]

[Lifespan Reduction: 7 Years]

I cut through Cynthia's body again as she nervously squinted her eyes toward me.

Fico rose from the ground underneath me, so I simply flipped over her, kicked her in the stomach, and ripped the sword inside of Cynthia's back. I cut Fico's hair on her head, almost piercing her throat, and narrowly dodged Cole's strike from above.

All three members of what's left of Quake were teaming up on me, ruthlessly sending attacks my way to stop me. As we came to a standstill while ripping through cement and dirt, I observed my surroundings... rather, what was left of them.

One telephone pole... three slabs of a building left... two fully-intact houses...

I first started by running at the telephone pole, clashing against Fico on the way, and jumped over Cynthia's hands that came out of the ground.

I kicked her fingers backward, pulled Fico into me, and used black strands to launch myself off of her.

I was flipped upside down in midair, slowly floating over to the pole, when The Retriever came right for my head. I smiled, knowing it was a terrible idea for an attack.

[Deflection: Engaged]

The Retriever shot at Cole, Cynthia, and Fico in the mix of bodies and dug up the ground, spurting blood everywhere while I grabbed onto the telephone pole.

I covered the pole in golden strands, pushing purple strands into my legs for the first time in my life, and slammed the pole into the ground above where Cole ruined the attack.

It melted into the ground, sparked, and exploded like a stick of dynamite upon impact. I braced myself previous to the explosion and watched shrapnel of metal fly past my head as I walked toward everybody.

Cynthia shot up from the disaster, as the first one to heal her wounds, and teetered back and forth from the unstoppable force of the attack.

"You... you've changed a lot, Sky. I see it now... Mom's Wrath in your eyes. Do you miss her?" Cynthia asked me.

I ignored her. Wrath could no longer swallow me. I visualized myself in that giant, black lake, and the water had all drained, leaving the sky to shine brightly in the distance, and eventually filling that lake with sunlight, something I'd never seen in that place.

I was at peace. No matter what happened before, I was unstoppable now. The Incarnation of Wrath shuts off the past like a light switch and leads to new possibilities, new ideas, and new power.

After learning the point of all the different strand colors, I was even sentient enough in my most powerful state. I could push the purple strands into the parts of my body that needed reinforcement and more power. I could regenerate when needed, I could enhance when needed, and I could control when needed.

I was becoming an unstoppable force.

"Of course, I miss her. Don't you? Knowing that while she was dying and we were trying to fight with her, you were gone, working on betraying your own blood?" I asked her. My voice was thorough with a calm nature.

I deleted the part of me I hated the most.

"If only you knew what truly happened. If only you were powerful enough to stop her before Providence killed her. If only you were stronger. You're pathetic lack of strength had ruined our entire family. Aren't you ashamed?" Cynthia asked me.

Cole and Fico rose from the debris, and I smiled.

"You will soon think the same of yourself," I told her.

The black strands slowly took more of the golden saber over, spiraling over the distance of the saber.