For The First Time Again

The cheering died down, leading to Raiden, Ruby, Khalil, Acchi, and Avie to group up and start to hand out commands to the citizens willing to help rebuild Alicas, The New City.

From the end of the battle, Umbra and Hikari purposefully hid themselves to give more attention to Sky, knowing that their popular presence would distract the entire reason they showed up to Zealous: For a fresh start.

"There he is! The forgiven War Criminal," Umbra said, lightly clapping her hands while Hikari followed behind her. Avie, at the sight of her two sisters, tilted her head. She couldn't seem to remember them.

"Who are you two?" Avie asked, watching Umbra gaze with a confused stare.

"Ah, I figured that would happen," Hikari teased, "You see, when Sky regenerated Avie's lifespan with Cole's, the strands that composed her memory and her muscular functions were wiped, replaced, and combined, meaning that things like memories won't come back for a decent bit. You may be able to use your insane speed, but probably only once and with profane injuries right after,"

"Wow, you know a lot about that, where did you learn?" Sky asked Hikari. He hadn't spoke to her in a conversation yet, only hearing small glimpses and teases of her presence beforehand.

"Pattern Recognition. It's come to my attention that you have never met me before, yet you talk like we're familiar. I assume you know that I am Hikari Asterio, The Keeper of Sky Asterio's Intellect?" She asked, strangely tracing Sky's body with her eyes.

"I do, yes. It was explained to me when I fought Cole and the person from four hundred years ago. Avie is the Keeper of my Speed, Umbra keeps my strength, you keep my intelligence, and I kept the memories for that guy. But, he's dead, which means you are free to live how you want with what's been given to you," Sky explained to the sisters. They all seemed confused, looking at each other strangely.

"What? Not what you expected? I don't plan to fight anymore. I know, it's inevitable, but my own strength will have to do from here on out. I don't want to depend on anybody anymore, I want everybody to depend on me," Sky stated. Avie clapped, congratulating Sky for changing so soon.

"Huh, you really are that guy from all that time ago... well, Sky, we'd like to help with the construction of Alicas? I think you said the name was... I'll have Karia import tons of timber and construction equipment for Alicas, and we'll have it rebuilt in no time at all," Umbra explained, putting the land with craters and blemishes in the natural landscape into a rectangle she made with her fingers. She smiled, thinking of the potential.

Hikari thought about the potential as well, wishing to become a permanent resident of Alicas.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Charlie ended up killing Genesis. Orion went for Ultima, but I see his mission failed, and there was something else... I can't remember," Hikari admitted, scratching her head.

"Then, Ultima was right. Orion was brought back to life? He was with you guys? He didn't try attacking Charlie?" Sky asked Hikari. She shook her head, explaining that Orion only wished to kill Ultima and had no quarrels with the people who fought against him in the war. It confused him, but he was glad to hear Orion was a trusted ally when Charlie needed one.

The orders were continued from Raiden as she explained that she would need tons of carts, and to prioritize them over anything else because the trees in the surrounding area were all leveled out with the rest of the floor. Sky could easily use his strands to carry logs, but not enough or as fast as necessary to build a home for the citizens of Zealous.

Alicas wouldn't be built in one day, but what he needed to give people before anything else were shelters to cover them from the elements. As Sky had this thought, he began to remember his time on The Pinnacle, smiling while looking down at the ground. His shoes were different, but he still had a tattered shirt and the same White Stone. He laughed.

The Arkians were all grouped together, sharing their knowledge from starting out with the citizens and vastly growing the amount of people in groups to build shelters for. Unfortunately, the seven thousand citizens who were without homes was a lot harder than seventy five people to take care of. There was no conceivable way to get food for that many people. Because of this problem, Sky sought to solve it first.

"What about our food situation, is there something we can do?" Sky asked, looking to Umbra and Hikari for answers.

"Well, my city has a stockpile for food prepared to last us a hundred years. Preservatives and what not. However, your city is ten times as big as mine, which means it'll last you maybe, and I mean maybe a year before we need a stable food supply, and that's leaving me with enough to sustain my people," Umbra stated.

"You know, while you were busy leveling the ground and digging holes to the Earth's core, you threw fertile soil everywhere, meaning that most places right now have a higher chance of growing crops than others in this area. You can start growing food here now, especially with some seeds from Karia," Hikari explained, tracing her finger around the steep hills they stood upon.

"You're a farmer too? What kind of pattern recognition do you have?" Sky asked Hikari. She shrugged, explaining that she would be whatever Charlie wanted her to be, since she referred to him as her master. Sky was confused for a moment, briefly remembering that Avie referred to Sky as her master at the start too.