Watch For The Day

--Cole's Perspective--

---March 17th, 2446---

"It is finished! It'll only take a couple more days for the blood to settle in... but you all now have Asterio blood in your veins," Genesis said, crossing his arms in satisfaction.

I felt around my face, feeling the new eyes in my body. When I closed them, I could see strands and the predicted path strands can take. With this, I can efficiently find and counter Avie without a single doubt in my mind.

What killed me last time will not kill me this time.

"Now that we're more powerful, we should attack right away, right?" I asked Fico. She shook her head, lying down on a couch in the corner of the room while throwing a crumpled piece of paper up and down.

"Attack right away? Please, we need to wait for the blood to settle. That alone would take about a week... but I had another plan," Fico said. She turned her body up as everybody sat around her.

"Sky's birthday is only five days from the time our blood settles. I plan to strike on that day when everybody's guards are at their lowest," Fico told us.

It was a smart plan, what could I say?

"Their guards are going to be down because Sky's birthday is coming up? Wouldn't they strengthen their defense for an occasion like that?" Zeka asked next. He was sitting closest to Fico, slowly leaning in while he asked the question.

"So long as they have Illya on their side, their defense will always be high, but if we strike on that day, we might be able to get the jump on them. You all aren't stupid enough to think they haven't been training to fight us, have you?" Fico nonchalantly said.

"You better believe it. We want a challenge, we won't have that if we use our abilities now," Austin said. He always had such a cocky attitude.

"We will get our challenge, don't you worry. If I had to take a guess now... Sky could probably beat half of us before falling. The other half of that damned city would be lightwork to take out for me. Not even Avie can contest me now. So, here's how it's going to go..." Fico started.

"Cole, you'll follow me the entire time. We'll fight Sky together. Zeka, I'll send you to get Illya's head while we're linked to your Regenerator. Austin and Amy, I want you to handle the Goddess of Wrath... Kire, you'll handle everybody else. As for you... Arashi... you'll go for anybody left at a range that tries to meddle with our fights," Fico said next.

The plan was simple and concise, I could follow this very easily.

"You really don't think Sky will be able to beat all of us? We'll be able to stop him from awakening?" I asked Fico. She seemed to be getting tired of my timid nature, but ever since Avie awakened, I haven't been able to think straight this entire time...

"Clear your damn head! The entire time we've been observing Sky, we've seen power spikes when things revealed themselves to him. Illya, Faith, Avie... what's next? There's nothing. Sky can't get more powerful, which means this is the golden opportunity to make our strike. Does that make sense to your paranoid brain?" Fico asked me.

She got up, walking over to Genesis and his table full of trinkets. While she was there, she threw me a sword with wings as the guard and a green diamond in the middle.

"What's this sword made of again? What did you call that metal?" Fico asked Genesis, tapping him on the shoulder with the tip of the blade.

"It doesn't have a name. It's from the Isle and regenerates from an influx of strands put into it. It won't break, so you might like it," Genesis explained while dodging Fico's unfriendly poking.

"Thanks, Genny, for my claws. I might be able to pull out my Incarnation while I use these... hey, Austin, ask Amy what kind of weapon she wants. I need to eat something," Fico said.

"But, I thought you never got hungry," I asked her in return, following her to the kitchen.

"I don't, I just want something in my stomach," She sharply said.

I figured her hostility here would probably make this a bad idea, but I had one pressing question for her that she never paid attention to when I asked it.

"Fico... why are you able to transform yourself into a person with wings? Is it the strands? Can I do it too?" I asked her.

"You're still asking me that damn question? Why does it matter to you so much?" Fico replied. She started dragging things out of the refrigerator at this point and held up a bag of shredded cheese.

"It doesn't matter... I'm just curious. If it's a question you won't even answer, it has to hold a lot of meaning... you even told me about your-" She cut me off by wagging her finger in front of my face.

"That's personal... you never know who's listening... anyway, if you really want to know that badly, I'll tell you," She said. She took a deep breath in, shoved some cheese in her mouth, and began to explain.

"I was a being brought to consciousness by Overlord Eirikr himself. A man as important as him, he doesn't have the time to waste his strands on things like flying. Not many people can master flying with strands, as it's probably one of the hardest skills to master, but I had a natural affinity for my back muscles being able to move like that. A selection of probably a thousand different people all meant for the purpose of air travel... I was the one who made it," She said.

"Isn't that honor awesome? You had that talent that stood out in front of a thousand different people. You're one in a thousand chance! I think that would be really cool..." I muttered, noticing how she wasn't agreeing.