Guild Pieces

Faith had left Sky's group as soon as she had awakened as a Pure Asterio. To her knowledge, being a Pure Asterio just meant that she was able to wield the same powerful abilities that Sky once could. She left the room, sobbing into an ultimate mess of emotions as she walked as far as she could from Alicas. Faith walked in a straight line for an entire day, refusing to stop even when she felt a sliver of hunger or fatigue.

With the bundle of strands that surrounded her body, even more potent and plentiful than before, Faith walked throughout the entire night without feeling fatigue, the need to relieve herself, or hunger at all. She had been boosting her physical ability, moving until she got to a large lake underneath a mountain she climbed wearing nothing but a tattered t-shirt and pants.

Faith Asterio was a remarkable young girl, but not one who had any sight of a goal in mind. She was mentally even more mature than Sky, but couldn't help leaving his side to become strong enough herself. She demanded that Sky became strong enough to protect those around him, but Faith wasn't able to just stand around on the off-chance, deciding that her time to grow had out-performed Sky's.

She sat on the mountain ridge, rough rocks surrounding her position as she threw them into the lake. With every rock she threw, she was closer and closer to imagining Illya coming up behind her and rubbing her shoulders. Unfortunately, Faith was struck with the harsh reality repeatedly and threw a handful of rocks into the water at a high speed.

The rocks were thrown so fast that they were heated up into steam as they struck the lake underneath her, echoing so loudly that the entire valley could hear it. Faith sat in the same position with heavy eyes, locking onto the ground while thinking about Illya's death.

Every time the emotions got too intense, her eyes flickered gold and she was met with an intense headache. She fell to the floor every time, clutching her temples as if it would keep her head from pulsing in pain.

After the third round of repeated pain to her temples, Faith sprawled out on the ground, facing the sky while watching the clouds move by. She wasn't sure what feeling of grief she had, but she knew that it was untamable. In the grief she felt, Faith screamed and struck the mountain with her bare hands, digging small craters into the side while rushing strands to her hands to heal them from the strike. She panted, crying, and screaming in a rage almost as bad as Sky's.

"Hey! Don't be angry! What's wrong?" She heard a voice call out. Faith turned her gold-flickering eyes to the person on the side of the mountain, covering their injured hands from the climb up to the position of the banging on the top of the mountain.

"Who the hell are you?" Faith asked, moving back to a sitting position while keeping her eyes fixated on the person who snuck up on her.

"My name is Solstice Danafall... my brother Zenith and my sister Clementine. And our cousin, Stark," Solstice told Faith," She looked at him, and then his brother, sister, and cousin. She watched them take a seat on the top of the mountain, looking out toward the lake she had been throwing the rocks in.

"Leave," Faith said. She hadn't to introduce herself, causing Stark to bring it up.

"We don't get a name either? We're not here to make enemies. What do they call you? And, why are you alone?" Stark asked Faith. She turned toward Stark, looking at his entire body before scoffing.

"It's Faith Asterio," She bluntly said.

Solstice and his family had paused in their tracks, silently watching Faith as she began to notice their reactions to her last name.

"A real Asterio...? Woah... I thought they had all died," Stark said. He took the initiative, sitting next to Faith while pointing at the lake.

"I'm not sure where it happened, or how long ago, but they said that a really strong Asterio was killed on a lake like that one... by a man named Finlis Vega," Stark mentioned to her. Faith was unfamiliar with the name, turning to look at Stark in confusion.

"Finlis Vega? I'm unsure of that name... why are you even telling me that?" Faith asked. She was baffled with the weird man's sincere messages to her. Faith was creeped out, standing up, and walking away from Stark.

"Faith, was it? Look... I'm not exactly saying that I know Finlis Vega is still out there, but I am telling you that you should trust me when I tell you to be careful," Stark told her.

"Yeah! Stark is extremely good at having those future dreams... he knows a lot of cool things!" Zenith added on. Faith wasn't impressed, continuing her trek down the mountain without regard for Stark and Solstice's family.

"Hey! We'll be in town... south of here there's a city we saw on a map called 'Shadow's Onset', we'll be heading there if you want to meet back up with us?" Stark shouted out to Faith next. She paid no attention to his plea, sliding down a slope, and vanishing into the thick brush of the trees at the bottom of the mountain.

Faith didn't know there was an actual city around her position but liked the idea of settling down. So, Faith kept its location in mind while shuddering at the mention of the mysterious name Stark gave out to her. It shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did, but as soon as she caught wind of the name, her Eternia Palm began to light up, as if it resonated with the thought of the mysterious man.