The Sanctuary Side-Story (14/17)

I burst through the door of my home as quickly as possible and ran into the living room, only to find Genesis on my couch, with Inora and Ra sitting beside him.

"Yo, Kire. Seems you're in trouble, doesn't it?" He asked me with a smile.

"You! Are you involved with Nova's changed personality at all?! Are you at the source of this?!" I screamed at him, grabbing his collar, and pulling his face closer to mine.

"I actually think you have that backward. The strands, do you have them?" He asked me, ignoring my question.

I threw the knife I made at him on the couch, and as soon as it touched him, it vanished into thin air.

"Good, then, I will protect you. It seems you've been left in the dark about a few things. Would you like an explanation?" Genesis asked me.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" I retaliated, and Genesis slapped his legs in irritation.

"Then I'll talk, and you can decide to listen." He began.

"Nova Eternia is an erratic individual, one I've been trying to pin down for a very, very long time. Reincarnated by a mysterious force, I've been left picking up her scraps and interacting with her in a way that will keep her cornered. What I didn't expect was for her Eternia Bloodline to awaken, at such a young age. It should've taken until at least eighteen. So, I'm sorry, I miscalculated." Genesis said, bowing his head in an apologetic form.

"Nova wasn't dangerous before you visited us... you did something." I started accusing Genesis again, but he never disagreed with me.

"I did do something, but it's not something you can guess. Nova isn't stupid, in fact, she's almost on par with my intelligence. I'll explain it simply for you to understand. I backed Nova into this corner of civilization, and she tried to fight out of it. Gathering new groups on the beach to find out how much of this world is still survivable was part of her first plan. She never told anybody that, but I knew it." He explained.

"You're saying that Nova wanted to get the new group integrated into our home because she wanted to know if this Isle was survivable? Isn't that kind of a jump?" I asked Genesis, but he shook his head.

"As I said, I backed her into this corner, she was looking for a way out. I told Dustin to give her the wrong food to defuse her efforts, but you came in and saved her efforts at the last second and thus prolonged her exposure to a new set of ideas. She didn't beat Dustin down because he almost ruined it, she beat Dustin down because she knew that I was involved." He explained again.

"...That is really smart of her. Then, you showed up for what? Where do you come in?" I asked Genesis again, sitting on the couch.

"I come in to ruin her plan. I gave you strands, something she couldn't take control of, and she blew up. She went out of control, and thus, I ruined your city. There is one way out, and if you accept, I will take you three out of this Isle and into a sanctuary, where you'll be safe." Genesis told us.

I looked at him and waited for his preposition.

"The deal is... Kire, I want you to exercise those strands, and to grow them, enough for them to be a danger to Nova. As it stands right now, we can't win against her... not until around twenty years in the future, maybe even twenty-one." Genesis said.

"That long? I'll be forty-nine by then... I won't be able to fight!" I told him, but he shook his head with a laugh.

"Don't be ridiculous! You're an Arkian! The middle of your life is about a hundred years of age, forty is nothing! If you don't come with me, then your wasted potential will die with the rest of your friends on this Isle. I'm sorry, I didn't act sooner, but I will do all I can from here on out." Genesis told me.

"Please, save my family. I will take you up on the deal, no matter what." I confessed to Genesis.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. Now, everybody get behind me, we're getting out of here." Genesis said. He opened the front door with a wave of his hand and started walking forward.

However, Nova was already here, standing about thirty feet from my door. She was bloody beyond belief, and her look was grim.

"Long time no see, Nova!" Genesis shouted out in a playful tone.

"You're working with the enemy? I see, you're just as rotten as the other Arkians, Kire." Nova told me.

"Watching a girl covered head-to-toe in blood say that is kind of... contradictory. And no, he's not working with me, he's working alongside me. We have our own goals, and it's my understanding you want to interrupt my goals. Is that right, Nova Eternia?" Genesis asked her.

"I don't want to just interrupt your goals. I will kill you, and ruin the Asterio name. You Asterios and your control over these Arkians, making them stupid so you can rule them... you're the first targets on my list, and that won't ever change. Genesis, you will die before long, and there is nothing you can do about it." Nova said to him.

"I'm afraid there is," Genesis said, tapping on the weird stone in his left hand.

"You're a smart girl, Nova, but you aren't smarter than me," Genesis said again.

Nova charged in to strike him with her staff, but as soon as it collided with his arm, it exploded into strands, and Nova was launched backward into the wall of a house beside ours.

"Strands don't work on me, you should know that. Are you physically fit enough to stand against me in combat?" Genesis asked again, raising his hand up in front of Nova.