System Corruption Level Two

"S-Sky?! How do you know him?!" I asked Shike.

"Sky? He's my childhood friend... I've never heard about you before, who are you?" Shike asked me again.

"That doesn't matter. How do I get back to him?! Tell me, right now!" I screamed at Shike.

"Woah! Calm down, I'm not sure how we can get to him from here. I just woke up here randomly, I think this is a dream... are you a dream?" He asked me.

What the hell was this guy talking about?!

Was he withholding Sky from me? Why? Do I have to fight him to get to Sky?

"Why did you wake up here, and how do we get back to where you're from?!" I asked him again.

"I'm not entirely sure I want you to meet Sky... I've heard a lot of things from his Mom, and people like Illya seem suspicious to us right now. Are you with her in any way? You have the same eye color..." Shike said to me.

"Shike... I don't have time to explain anything. I need to see Sky right now. I want to kill Illya for what she's done to him. I need to find him and get him out of that world. Bring me to him." I told Shike again. I was getting pissed now.

Shike took a fighting stance.

"I hope you understand, but I can't trust you." He said, crouching down and putting his fists up.

"I hope you understand, but I'm going to break your body if you don't knock that shit off. You will not remain in one piece if you do not bring me to Sky." I told him. Just as I saw Sky do plenty of times, I held out my hand and summoned a saber.

"Just like Sky... one last time, what is your relationship with him?" Shike asked me.

"I'm his girlfriend, Dani. He doesn't belong in this world." I told him.

"Miss Ali was saying that too... but how do I know you're not with Illya?" Shike asked me again.

I closed the distance between us in an instant, threw my saber to the side, and cocked back a punch to throw into his stomach.

The wind around my fist warped and I hit him dead on. He coughed up blood and was thrown through a hundred feet of water, bouncing and sliding on the wet surface.

Afterward, I jogged toward Shike while he was still getting up and held out my hand.

"If I was with Illya, I would've killed you right there with that punch. It sounds to me that Illya is highly against my arrival into your world, so I'm stuck here. Shike, bring me Sky. Please." I told him while bowing.

"Fine! Geez, you hit hard girl... I'll do my best. Now, how do I..." Shike's voice faded away as he turned to dust and disappeared. I was left in this lake alone.

…

…

…

I blinked and when I opened my eyes again, I was in the real world, in the chair, looking at the ceiling. I noticed both of my eyes were back in my head, and everybody was still standing around me.

I lifted my weakened body up and looked around.

"Looks like she's back. You alright? Have any crazy dreams?" Eo asked me while standing at the end of a small bed I was on.

"Shike... there was a boy... Shike... he knew Sky..." I muttered.

Eo dropped a glass of water she was holding and stared at me with wide eyes.

"What the... Dani... where did you go?" Eo asked me. It was the most emotion invoked with her that I had ever seen.

"Sky's Mindspace. That's what Illya told me." I said, getting nervous in the chair.

"Dammit... then, she knows what's happening. I knew I shouldn't have overlooked that. Dani, you went to The First Trial, the world Sky is being held in. If you can get back there, all you have to do is jump off of an edge there and you will end up in close vicinity to Sky. We have to find a way for you to get back." Eo told me.

I was that close...?

"You're right. How can I get back?" I asked Eo, trying to get up out of the chair. She used strands to latch me to the bed, or chair, that I was sitting in, and turned the other way.

"Things aren't good right now... Dani, I know I said we should slow down, but how would you feel about pushing Level Five of Corruption?" Eo asked me.

"Ready when you are. Can we get back to The Scorched Isle, with Sky? I want to fight Illya right after." I said to Eo.

The room froze as I said it out loud and Eo shook her head.

"I don't think you'd win." She said.

That was blunt. And ignorant.

"You haven't seen me fight. Take me there." I told her.

"I don't think so. I'm afraid you're not strong enough." Eo told me again. She sat down in the chair adjacent to the chair and crossed her legs while Lia tugged on her arm.

"Eo, Dani can do this. She's the strongest one here." Lia said, but Eo didn't take that for an answer and grunted in a sarcastic tone.

"Then you guys are already dead," Eo told us.

"What's your problem bitch? You're not making any sense right now, you said you would help out Dani, and we're trying our best here as well. So, what's your plan here?" Alatus stepped in now. I barely knew her... yet she was being nice to me.

"What's my problem? I think you're forgetting that I'm Illya's Assistant. My problem is somebody of such an impeccable caliber, like Dani, is so willing to trust. You know betrayal all too well, between Ellie, Lia, and so many others, yet you're going to trust me just because I have something you want? Give me a break." Eo's entire attitude was starting to change.

Fudo unsheathed his dagger and Alatus used strands to strap together armor to her chest and arms. The entire room turned quiet, yet loud with silence.

"It's too bad, really! I got the Goddess of Wrath to awaken, and you didn't even know what I was going to do to you." Eo said with a terrifying smile.