Breaking The Chains

--Charlotte's Perspective--

---March 29th, 2446---

I woke up, looking up at the sky while lying in Asoh's lap. I had used the Katachi Style against Hikari in hopes of stopping her... I hope I succeeded.

When I finally realized my surroundings, I felt an intense pressure coming from behind. One so intense that I felt like puking.

"What is that?!" I shouted out with a weakened voice.

"Oh, you're awake... so you are okay. It's nice to meet you, Miss. What's your name?" A man asked. He had dark skin... and the people around me looked unfamiliar.

"It's Charlotte... who are you? Where is Charlie? Alex? Orion?" I asked, looking all around.

I was lying by some trees, and confused with my surroundings. However, from around the trees, Charlie peaked out. He had his injuries taken care of, and bandages outlined his body.

"Charlotte is your real name... got it," Charlie mumbled as the man introduced himself to be named Khalil Leyndell.

"Sorry to spring this all on you at once... but your friends needed help and I was in the area. Do you remember what happened before you passed out?" The man asked me.

From the corner of my eye, Charlie was looking at me while lightly shaking his head behind the tree. Something was amiss here...

I took a second and then acted as if my head hurt.

"Not much... it's all still fuzzy," I muttered under my breath. I didn't want anything bad to happen to us, not after this.

"Your wound... on your head. I don't mean to push, but I noticed it said 'Property of Ultima' and I was just worried you had a connection to her. Do you know where she's at? I need to speak with her," Khalil asked me again.

"I haven't seen her in a long time... I'm sorry I can't help you," I told Khalil. He nodded, accepting what I knew, and nodded toward his friends.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend heading back toward that city... but I won't stop you now. I believe you're rested enough to handle the truth... but it's not something I want to explain to you. You deserve to see what happened yourself. Who's the leader of this little group here?" Khalil asked, looking around at all of my friends.

"That would be Boo,"

"That would be Charlie,"

The two of them both volunteered the other, but after Charlie looked at Boo, she nodded with her hand up, handing over the reins. I didn't dislike Boo... but I agreed with the decision to make Charlie the leader.

There was something about him that was too courageous to pass up. Boo was courageous on her own, sure, but she had that crazy ability where she could move extremely fast... and Charlie had nothing.

Charlie had a sharp stick and stood against the equivalent of a General... no ability in hand, no guarantee... but all motivation and hope.

"Charlie, this radio is directly connected with the one at my homeland, the Americas. If you need help... you can call me any time with that. I'll bring whatever you need me to, just give me a heads up. But, don't call me for that pointless shit. If the Earth is in danger, I'll come to your aid, but if your city needs help? I won't care, I'll be honest. Harry, Scovia, let's get out of here," Khalil said. He snapped his fingers and whistled.

His people followed close behind him and they began to walk to the west. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed that they came from that direction.

"I don't like the way he talked about Zealous... is it even still standing?" Boo asked, slowly pushing her body up. It looked like she took a ton of damage...

"We can only hope... Sky wouldn't die that easily, and that city wouldn't fall if he was still alive. Maybe Khalil was just trying to push us to get back... or something. I don't know, but let's just go see. It's not too far of a walk," Charlie said.

Again, he stood up, leading the charge. He had taken quite the beating too, but he was prepared to walk about five hours in one direction without stopping to get back to his friends.

I followed right behind him, motivating everybody else to follow.

I'm not sure why I was watching Charlie so closely... but something about him shifted in my head. Maybe I was hit a little too hard.

"Charlotte... that's your name? What do you prefer?" He asked. He must've noticed I was walking behind him.

"Chi-Chi was a name given to me by Ultima... I rolled with it for a bit, but my real name is Charlotte," I told him.

"You deserve your real name above all else. You're free from Ultima... I saw the scar. You aren't the property of anybody, and that's not how it will be with Sky either. He takes care of everybody before himself, and he's protected us so far," Charlie said.

He idolized this Sky person a lot... a man I grew up thinking was a villain, and Charlie watched as a role model. Charlie wasn't a bad person... and if his role model would be better than him in theory, then Sky isn't a bad person either.

Asoh tugged on my shoulder and got close to me.

"You're close to him, you okay? Are you coming down with feelings?" She asked me with a devious smile.

At first, I didn't understand what she was saying, but when my brain processed it, I felt my cheeks turn hot and pushed her away. Asoh laughed out loud and was caught up with Shike, Belle, Boo, Lily, and Alex in the back.

I watched Charlie turn back while walking and look at me.

Shit... she's not right, is she?

I can't stop looking at him... how hard was I hit?! This is impossible, I barely even know this guy, and he's never done anything for me. All the girls in the fairytales are rescued, or even do the rescuing!

But... why do I feel like this?

I feel... free...