Ra Side Story (10/13)

***

After the fight with Obsidia had ended, Sky, Dani, and Faith returned to our group, and after talking with the world leaders, we were prepared to head home.

"So, what the hell happened there? What was Obsidia?" I asked Sky. Instead of him answering, Hikari, Avie, and Umbra all simultaneously started rubbing the backs of their heads.

"Well, she was a last resort. You see, to us A.I., there is always a counterpart of equality. When we were created, our counterparts were stored within us so we could weaken each other without creating a being too powerful. Obsidia, on the other hand, was another servant of Eirikr, so her counterpart would end up being a positive person." Hikari finally explained.

We walked further into the street of the obviously disrupted people. However, nobody seemed to pay attention to them.

"About that...does the name 'Soul' sound familiar to anybody?" Carl meagerly asked. He rubbed his head in the same way that Hikari did, and she looked at him dumbfounded.

"You're kidding...that's where she went? But you're an Eternia... I guess everything's pretty messed up now, huh?" Hikari began.

"I have no idea what's going on. Sky, what's this about a guy named Eirikr? Is he dangerous or something?" Red chipped in. There seemed to be a multitude of people all asking questions.

"Look, Eirikr is a very, very powerful person I don't know if we can even call him a person as of right now. All plans trying to bring him back failed...so, I don't know what everybody's plan is, but what I do know is that his arrival is inevitable. We will conquer that when we get to it. For now, Soul and Obsidia are two sides of the same coin, one powered by all Asterio Strands that transcend dimensions, and the other powered by the Essence Strands that power the planets. I hate to be pessimistic, but there's no way Sky should've been able to defeat Obsidia at all."

"Well, for one, I didn't, Faith did. And two, I was able to restrict her power by allowing her into my body. I'd be lying if I said I knew my plan would work." He clarified.

"You...restricted the power of a multi-dimensional being? Do you want to explain how you did that?" Umbra asked next. I looked back and forth, silently listening to the bickering continue.

"I just let her in. I'm an A.I., after all."

"You're a what?" 

Red quickly interrupted Sky and he shook his hands back and forth to dissuade any paths of thinking. She silently listened, nodding her head while ignoring her own confusion.

"You let Obsidia into your body and you're still alive to tell the tale... Black Strands Incarnate and you just took her in. You truly are remarkable, Sky." Avie said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter what happened, she's dead, and we have Faith to thank. Faith really didn't hold up...and she put a chasm into the continent. That, and she teleported us back to our original location. She really is getting strong, isn't she?" Sky asked. He pat Faith on the back and her hair swayed back and forth from the strength of each hit.

"Don't give me all the credit, Dad, you did a lot of work that I couldn't. I wouldn't have made it as far as I did without you...don't let him fool you, Red when he gets serious, nobody could beat him." Faith said to Red. Carl and Red were standing oddly close to each other...

"I hate to admit it, but that's wrong. From what Faith showed me today, she seems to have already become more powerful than I am. Fighting all of those people at once wasn't an easy feat. It was something only Illya could do." Sky told her.

Faith seemed to look at the ground in despair, staring at the dirt with a slight frown on her face.

"Ever since The Pinnacle, I've had to repeatedly place myself into uncomfortable situations to save the ones that I love. You, Faith, pulled me out of an uncomfortable situation when I was trapped in The First Trial. You helped my friends fight against Illya when her System was corrupted, and not once did you give up on us. If we didn't have you here, there is no telling where we would've gone. It is fairly possible that Arthur and Finlis could've stomped us out without you to weaken them. Don't discredit yourself just because of what I've accomplished, use it to push yourself forward..." Sky told his daughter.

He placed his hands on the necklace, half-broken from the heavy amount of combat he explained himself to be in, and lightly pulled on it. The chains broke, but the pendant remained. With the pendant hanging by a thread in his hand, he held it out in front of Faith's lowered head. She lifted her vision up to stare at Sky.

"Use that, to push yourself forward, and become the Arkian who surpassed them all."