Infiltrate Ultima Tower

Hiding behind the same cover we used to ambush the three soldiers, Belle, Boo, and Lily all put on the sets of armor.

"Good thing I checked that other guy. He was only pretending to play dead," Boo said, adjusting the shoulder plate on her body.

I was worried, she really didn't mind when it came to taking another person's life. I guess it was required, considering the people in this city took our friends.

"What will you do without a suit of armor Shike? Will you be okay?" Belle asked me, but I just shook my head.

"Doesn't matter. If at least three of us can sneak around, then it won't matter. The white and red coloring stands out, so you'll take half of the attention away from me at least," I said, fluffing my white hair. Everybody looked irritated with me but I only giggled it off.

"Okay look, since we're doing this in an aggressive way like this, our plan will be this... those buildings, they look higher than we're at right now, let's get on top of them and scope out the area first," I suggested. Everybody nodded, and we entered the building we first hid behind when we entered under the broken gate.

The building was empty, dirty, and ruined. It looked like it hadn't been touched in years, but it was perfect for us, considering we were using it to hide.

We climbed the broken staircase while helping each other and made it to the flattened roof with a small ridge over it to prevent anybody from falling. Peeking over was... sickening.

This entire portion of the city, on the half where we entered, was completely ruined. It was burnt, most of it being charcoal. I couldn't even believe the sight I was seeing, nor did I want to.

"What the hell...?" I muttered, looking out into the distance.

"That's not what it looked like... hold on, what is going on here?" Boo asked, stepping up on the ridgeline of the building.

"What's wrong? It's all burnt... did Charlie and Alex do this?" Lily silently asked while looking over.

"No... this isn't what it looked like at all... Belle, when I carried you on my back, you saw the Tower too, right? It was flourishing with life... this isn't real... this is an illusion," Boo suggested.

"An illusion? But... the same illusion for all four of us?" Lily asked in a confused tone. I was right behind her, I wasn't understanding this at all.

"You guys really don't remember what this looked like? Just in the distance, before the anti-strand barrier... this town was full and bustling with noises and people. It's only when we entered that barrier that things started to change," Boo said, pointing towards the large ruined tower in the distance.

"So, the barrier is doing this to us? How do we get rid of it?" I asked her.

"Well, that's kind of the whole reason we're here, isn't it, genius?" Boo asked me with a slight smile.

"Let's go to the Tower. If we climb that big thing, we might get a better vantage point and maybe even pass the barrier," Belle suggested.

"I'm in, what about you two?" Lily asked, moving over to Belle's position.

"No... something's wrong right now... we're being watched," Boo said, lowering her voice.

"Through the illusion? Which means people aren't affected by it?" I asked, leaning behind the railing that Boo was standing on. I didn't even notice her perfect balance.

"If they're not affected by it, it must know we're intruders... but how would it be able to do that? Is that some kind of technology we don't know about?" Boo asked, looking down at me.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be keeping your eyes forward? What if they shoot an arrow at you?" I asked, but she shrugged.

"They're not going to shoot to kill. Would you? We have the information they want, they're going to shoot to paralyze me, or try and hold me on this roof while others come to imprison me," Boo said.

"Paralyzing sounds kind of permanent, you want that to happen to yourself?" Lily asked Boo.

"Lily, the only things I have left in this life of mine are here, and Sky. If they did somehow end up hitting me accurately enough to paralyze me, Sky would de-bone everybody involved, and then some. This city would be nothing but dust. In fact, I sort of wish they would try something," Boo said confidently.

"Is Sky really that dangerous? I mean, I saw what he had done to Orion and his soldiers, along with that Deity girl... but can he wipe out cities?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure how to explain this to you without it sounding fake... but he was breaking the speed of sound with his punches and his steps. He had enough stamina to outlast not one, not two, but three Deities without sleep, he had enough strength to break the skull of somebody he just merely punched, he survived out in a wasteland for two years, killing monsters every day and every night, I hear he was quite the leader on the Isle as well... I wouldn't be surprised if Sky could destroy this entire planet," I suggested, shifting my fingers around as they interconnected.

"Damn... not messing with that guy," Lily muttered.

"I have a bad idea," Boo said with her arms crossed. "I feel their stares... I'm going to go for the Tower. Do you think it's a good idea to follow me, Belle?" Boo asked, keeping her head forward.

"No, Lily and Belle, you guys should stay up here. I'll go with Boo. We can use our strands from the inside of our bodies, but Belle can't summon any ice. We might be able to cause more destruction that way. Remember, our goal is to get Charlie and Alex out of here. If they somehow make it out of that Tower and try to escape this way, you guys can wait on the roof and follow them out," I said, standing up with Boo finally.

"How will we communicate?! You have the radio!" Belle whispered loudly to me.

"This isn't a radio, it's a button. You have the radio that connects to mine. So, here's the plan. If something goes wrong, I'll tell you to push the button. If that button gets destroyed up there, we might lose. Lily, will you keep Belle safe?" I asked her. She nodded quickly.

"Boo, let's go get ourselves taken captive. Can you survive the fall down?" I asked, jumping on the edge of the building with her.

"No, you'll have to break the fall for the both of us," She said. I tested my ability by slamming my foot into the ground and releasing the kinetic energy to make sure we both didn't jump to our deaths, picked Boo up, and jumped off of the building onto the main road.