The Exit to Ultima Tower

After climbing a small incline of collapsed walls, the true sunlight entered the Tower at last and it blinded us for a slight moment.

"The... sun...?" Alex asked before anybody else could.

"They're outside! Go!" I yelled out, running as fast as I could with Chi-Chi in my arms.

"Give her to me Charlie, I'm stronger!" Orion yelled out to me. I handed her off and ran toward the Tower wall right beside Shike. He was far more athletic than I was, but I was slowly gaining on him.

He stopped himself right on the outer edge of the wall after we ran for about thirty seconds at full speed, and looked down. What I was fearing was that we were high up...

But, technically we weren't. There was a lower floor we could easily drop into... but it was the balcony of the Tower.

At the very top.

"This wasn't here before!" I yelled out.

The Tower violently started to shake once more, this time around, the ceiling started to collapse upon the Labyrinth, turning some of the intact walls from the previous collapse into dust.

As everybody caught up to Shike and me, we all jumped onto the balcony, with the roof fully caving in ten seconds after we made it.

"Holy shit... there's really no way down now," Alex said, peeking at the horizon in front of us.

The balcony was so wide and long that we couldn't see the ground from this high up, but we all knew that we were at the very top of the Tower.

We ran out further into the balcony, hearing a loud rumbling, followed by the flames from Boo's wings taking our eyes away from the blue sky and onto her.

Genesis was looking really messed up... but Boo wasn't far behind him.

"Shit, I gotta get in there!" Shike said, leaning Hikari against one of the fences to the balcony while running over to Boo.

"Shike! Dammit, I'm joining him!" I yelled out, specifically to Asoh.

This was stupid... I don't have the ability to compete with him! I'm just running in there like an idiot!

"How can we help her Shike? What do I do?" I asked him.

As I was running with him, Boo stopped and came back to us with blood all over her body. It was unclear if it was hers or Genesis's, buts he was panting as if she was tired.

"He's not taking any damage... absolutely none... my weapon isn't penetrating his skin at all..." She muttered between shortened breaths.

"What the hell? Then why did the axe hit him?" I asked, looking over at Genesis.

He was also covered in blood, walking over to us with his hands in his pockets. What a scary man...

"Charlie, run back. Get a weapon and then come back, you can't do much without it," Shike told me, brandishing his while standing next to Boo.

Shike was right... I was stupidly running back and forth, I need to keep my head level.

Right as I turned around, Genesis appeared in front of me with his hands raised.

He ran at me with a punch to the stomach, forcing the air out of my lungs. Just as the oxygen left my mouth, he put his leg between mine and tripped me to the floor.

"You people do not understand that weapons do not hurt me, and strands cannot touch me. As primitive as it might sound, your best bet is to fight me with the weapons you've been given since birth," Genesis said to me.

He hit me right after that, right in the jaw.

I couldn't explain what I felt at that hit, but it was like something traveled through my head. I was hit on the right side of my head and felt something click on the left side.

Why would he tell me the trick? All I had to do was just tell Shike and Boo and this battle would be over...

"..." I tried opening my mouth... but nothing happened.

Huh?

"..." My mouth wouldn't open.

"..." I started to get nervous, looking at Genesis while trying to pry my mouth open.

"With a broken jaw, I'm not sure you can quite explain," Genesis said, punching me in the arm.

The sheer force of the punch alone sent me bouncing off of the ground, and Shike finally made it over to me.

Boo circled behind Genesis the entire time, but when their swords connected, they merely bounced off Genesis like it was nothing.

"What the hell?!" Boo said in an irritated tone.

I held up my fists and punched Genesis, who pushed Shike away after breaking his weapon.

Boo seemed to catch on directly and slashed at Genesis with her sharp nails, cutting through his right eye, and down his cheek.

Every injury I've ever seen Genesis have was healed immediately.... but this didn't fade.

There was one last thing that didn't make sense to me... the axe that plunged into his chest... if weapons didn't affect him, it shouldn't have done that.

Something wasn't right... but I'm right on the cusp of figuring it out...

When Boo slashed at Genesis and it went through his eyes, his shirt rippled in the wind up high in the sky.

For a split second, and only for that split second, his shirt collided with something on his chest.

It wasn't his muscles, it wasn't his stomach... it was something sharp, something rigid.

Something in the shape of a Diamond...

A White Stone...

A White Stone!

I hadn't understood it before, but Illya was another person who had that White Stone. Sky had that Stone... Illya had that Stone... did all of them have that Stone?

I haven't met an Asterio without that thing... but why was it on his chest?

…

I looked back to Boo, observing the two stones in her hands.

Three sisters... they would require three stones...

Three Stones...

One on the Left Hand...

One on the Right Hand...

One on the Chest...

I jumped up from the ground as Genesis reached back toward Boo.

That's it... when I met Genesis as Clyde, he was wearing a glove over both hands, hiding what I thought would be a stone.

I can't prove it yet, but it's very possible Genesis was passing the Stones in his body to Boo, that way his body wasn't to be used to resurrect Sky, or whatever he was talking about.

I tackled Genesis as his hand reached toward Boo and grabbed the center of his shirt, ripping as hard as possible, and revealing the glowing Stone on his chest.

I knew it.

Boo caught on immediately, and with wide eyes, she used her ability to speed away.