Back On Our Feet

--Cole's Perspective--

"We preemptively prepared for an all-out assault on Sky Asterio, and he completely turned us inside out. He killed half of us, and we completely failed our mission. We're trapped on Earth, we can't communicate with Eirikr... a total failure." Fico said with a pissed-off attitude.

I couldn't believe he had that strength. Fico told me that I got my head kicked off, but I didn't even see it happen. All I remember was waking up here.

"That Avie girl... she moves too fast! Even Fico couldn't stop her!" Zeka complained, holding his arms closely. It seems that saying that name gave him chills.

"I was kicking Sky's ass without that girl! When she showed up, we all lost... Sky doesn't have the strength, that girl does!" I shouted out to break the tension.

"No, you're wrong there. That isn't just some girl. That's a part of Sky that we didn't know would awaken, and will now forever be a problem until we solve it. We don't have much to go on, besides that she moves too fast. Usually, the way to beat an opponent like that is to have better timing and better precision. The problem is, we can't even think about those strategies before we die. I hate to say it, but we're beaten. Quake will no longer stand as a proper organization if we cannot bring down that girl." Fico said with her arms crossed.

"So... that's it? We can't beat Avie, and we're trapped, so we live our lives until we die? Don't be ridiculous, there must be something we can do." I said, but Fico was getting even madder.

"I'm the definition of a perfect, genetic human, and I failed. Do you think that there's something I haven't tried?! I'm perfect in every regard compared to you lowlife, idiotic, wastes of oxygen. I cannot age, I cannot feel fatigued, I cannot sleep, I cannot eat, I cannot relieve myself. I'm perfect... and there's somebody still better than me. What about you? You can improve! I'm stuck." Fico shouted out again.

Rustling bushes from nearby started to move and we all prepared our weaponry with weakened stances. Out came a man with brown hair and red eyes... Genesis Asterio.

"Hey there, Quake. Seems like I caught you at the opportune time. Seems you've just been beaten... what a shame." Genesis suggested. Fico only got angrier in his presence.

"If there wasn't a strand dome around this planet, I would've had you at Eirikr's feet already!" Fico screamed out again.

"Correct, and it's specifically because of that strand dome that I approached you," Genesis told us all.

"What do you want?" Fico flatly asked.

"To make a deal. I didn't expect Sky Asterio to already gather that much of his intelligence back already, which means he's starting to create a problem for me. On this three-way battlefield, I'm the one in the most disadvantageous position. I wish to level the field in our favor against him... I wish to improve you all." Genesis told us.

I didn't like the sound of that.

"In the face of Avie Asterio… there's only one person who can beat her. A person who was designed with the same unfair advantages as her. Another Asterio… Hikari Asterio, to be precise." Genesis said. I had no idea what was going on, but Fico seemed alarmed.

"You have possession of Hikari Asterio? So, that's how you've been living down here without immediately dying." Fico said. I was lost now, I didn't understand the tension between that name and Fico's look."

"Hikari, come out and say hello. These will be our partners from here on out, right?" Genesis looked up as if he was talking to the sun, and suddenly, a girl with light blonde hair, light-blue eyes, and a white dress slowly appeared from a creation of strands.

"Greetings, Quake. My name is Hikari Asterio, and I'm here to help. Fico, it's been a while." Hikari said in a calm and tame voice.

"Do you still have your intelligence?" Fico asked, getting close to Hikari.

"More intelligence than you'll ever have, bitch," Hikari said with a smile.

Before I could react, Fico threw a punch and Hikari successfully dodged it at the same speed it was thrown, slightly tilting her head to the right and avoiding a fatal strike.

Fico didn't engage after that and only smiled while turning back toward Genesis.

"The way to beat Avie… is through her sister, who can predict movements?" Fico asked Genesis.

"That's correct, Hikari's Pattern Recognition is even better than a Fully Evolved Eye of Providence, and cannot lose to her sister. Although I must mention, that Umbra is a direct counter to Hikari because of her absurd strength. The three sisters can only fight one of each other, while the other can take out the remaining one..." Genesis explained.

"Avie can take out Umbra, Umbra can take out Hikari, and Hikari can take out Avie. The three sisters were created with the goal in mind that if any one of them went rogue, the other two could stop her. As long as we keep Umbra out of the picture, then Avie won't stand a chance." Genesis added on.

I had observed Hikari's look from the beginning of his long explanation and noticed that Hikari seemed stirred while Genesis talked about Avie and Umbra... I'm sure it was nothing...

"So, you're going to give us a portion of Hikari's ability to read the future and let us have a chance at defeating Avie? I'm sure just like a normal person, both Hikari and Avie had limits that we will reach." Fico said. She planted a fist onto her hip as she leaned toward the opposite end and stared at Genesis with an annoyed look.

"Oh, you are absolutely right. If you're here to tell the tale of how you survived an encounter with Avie, then it's because she was out of energy. However, even attacking now would mean the end of you, since she's been slowly regenerating stamina since your fight ended. Now, if you follow me, I'll lead you to sanctuary, and improve you until you're ready to attack once more, and win against Sky and Avie." Genesis told us.