How To Heal?

---February 20th, 2446---

I woke up at a sharp 5:00 A.M. to the light tapping of Umbra's nails on my window. I opened my eyes slightly to peer at her, as she stared with droopy eyes coated in a tired glaze.

I quickly put on my clothing, grabbed my A-Robe, and walked outside to meet her.

"Is there a reason you wanted to meet so early? You couldn't wait for me to sleep a little longer?" I asked her. Umbra shook her head and pulled a small notebook out of her chest pocket, pointing to a paragraph of text.

It read as follows:

"Sky Asterio is a powerful being. Without his Abilities from The First Trial, he is severely weaker. Ways to combat? Might need substitute abilities for those that have been lost. Might have him awaken an Incarnation. Will require a ton of strain. Might be possible." It read in broken letters.

"Substitute abilities? What do you mean?" I asked her.

Umbra explained to me a concept I couldn't imagine before... my strands can make anything, so why wouldn't it be able to mimic the abilities that I had lost? The answer is... there's no reason it couldn't.

"Okay, then I want to recreate those abilities... starting with Shike's. Let's see, he had the power to transfer kinetic energy any way he liked... that ability alone is too much for me to handle... but how could I change the way that ability works?" I asked, but Umbra was falling asleep standing up at this point.

"Hey! Maybe we should wait until later. Go take my bed in there," I told her, leading her inside.

"I'll be up soon, good night," She said without even a fraction of resistance. She must have been up late last night coming up with ways that I could improve... that woman is crazy.

I was awake now, and I didn't feel like going to sleep, so I gave up on it and walked around the city before everybody woke up to fill the streets.

I told Hiyochi I would stop by to help her yesterday... but I ended up forgetting about it completely. So, I headed over to the infirmary.

The dirt path was much easier to traverse without anybody giving me hateful looks. As I walked to the infirmary, I wondered what I would have to do to get everybody to start liking me.

I arrived at the front doors at the same time as Hiyochi. She had a backpack on, and it looked like she was wide awake. She didn't have bags underneath her eyes, and she slightly stepped away from me as I grew closer to her.

"Good to see you, Hiyochi. You're up this early as well?" I asked. I kept my distance from her, respecting her wishes and cautions around me.

"A doctor doesn't sleep. So, why are you up? You could use the rest, couldn't you?" She asked.

"Well, I guess, but I'm not tired. I wanted to help you with any patients with injuries. Is now a good time?" I asked.

"They aren't awake right now... but I still want you to follow me. I have a few questions about that, and how you healed Ruby," Hiyochi said with her closed fists. It was like she completely forgot about avoiding me, and was now close to me with eagerness in her eyes.

I followed her inside and she brought me over to an empty room. I sat on the bed nearby and waited for her to finish rummaging around in one of the cupboards of the room.

They were white with metal handles that closed on their own because Hiyochi didn't care to do it by herself.

"So, from the looks of it, you just grabbed onto her arm and then squeezed, but those golden things you have around your body sometimes recreated her arm and gave her full control of it once more," She paused with a quick breath, then continued, "But, that shouldn't be possible. You recreated every nerve ending, restored muscles, and their contractions, and effectively recreated organic matter that takes more than nine months to create in a woman's womb. How did you do that on purpose, of all things? Can you see all of that stuff?" Hiyochi asked. She was nailing me with questions, not letting me answer anything.

"Hold on! I'll explain to you... well, no I won't. I don't control the golden strands that you saw. I just let them take action in their own way. They work on their own, and in an effective way that lines up with my will. Like I can create weaponry, just like this," I said, summoning a small saber in my hand.

"Amazing... you control these things that share your will, or whatever you said. Aren't you afraid that they would turn on you one day? Although, I'm not sure you would, considering your past. You seem too intimidating to fight against. I do have another question for you, unrelated to your weird gold things." Hiyochi continued even further, leaving me unable to answer any questions.

"That thing you did in your fight with that guy... a lot of us could see you while leaving the city. I had to focus on my patients caught in the rubble from an attack that apparently 'appeared out of nowhere'. I watched how fast you were moving... how did you do it?" Hiyochi asked me.

"I didn't. I know, that answer seems lackluster and like a lie, but it's the truth," I said.

Avie and I switched after a small exchange and Avie began to talk to Hiyochi just like they had been friends for a while.

"I am the one who moved that fast. I can explain it to you, but you probably wouldn't believe me. Are you ready to hear my answer?" Avie asked Hiyochi.

"I've been ready ever since I saw you do it," She replied.

"Okay, then here it is. I move that fast because I was mad. Is that satisfactory enough?" Avie asked Hiyochi.

"No... but something tells me I won't get a scientific answer?" Hiyochi asked. I could hear Avie scoff before explaining once more.

"Scientific? Can you keep up? My atoms move faster than you. Every subatomic particle within my bones and blood moves a shit ton faster than you'd believe. The rate I perceive information, the rate I perceive reality, the rate I think, the rate I move, it's all faster than you can comprehend. The closest speed I can move to that you can still see me at is the speed of light, but I move twice that speed, almost three times. When I use Sky's body, I can only move slightly faster than the speed of light without destroying him," Avie explained.