The Beginning of Phase Two

Cynthia, Netsu, and Ultima all headed over to Fico's position with the help of strands. Closing the distance alone, even at full speed, took about an hour of constant travel. After being fatigued from the journey, Netsu fell to the ground, but Ultima and Cynthia stood  as Fico appeared in front of them.

Her face was growing wrinkles, and black strands were replacing her veins. Fico was twisted with a sick sense of confusion and stress as she noticed who appeared in front of her. She held out her hand, which had been taken completely over by the black strands that Sky and the others feared.

"Yo! It's good to see you again!" Fico said. Cynthia was shot with a gross look of grotesque cockiness. Fico was warped with some sort of euphoric pleasure that was unknown to the others.

"This... you're here for this, aren't you?" Fico asked Cynthia. At the snap of her fingers, a metal shipping crate came in through the wall, crashing the cement foundation of the building placed near the bottom of Antarctica. 

The doors opened up and, to everybody's surprise, ten people rubbed their heads in confusion while observing their surroundings. Their looks were curious, but Cynthia observed the future in their eyes and grew worried.

"These people..." She muttered. Netsu and Ultima were still left in the dark until Fico went on an insane tangent.

"That's right, Cynthia. You know, I've spent nine whole fucking months thinking... thinking about how Sky Asterio broke Quake in one day. That little kid destroyed everything!" She screamed out. She kicked down nearby cups and plates, crashing them and cracking them under the pressure of her kick.

"How is that fair? How can he attain such a level of strength that we couldn't even train to get?! Do you know why? Do you know where his strength comes from? It's other people. The people he has killed. That's why! That's why it's literally impossible to kill that damn weasel!" Fico screamed out again. Her volume worried Netsu.

"So... why was he powerful from before then? What difference was there? Between then, and now? The difference, since I know you're wondering, is nothing. He's always had that! That's what a Pure Asterio is! The ability to gain everything! The Purest bloodline that can achieve, interact, and change Strands! Black Strands, Gold Strands! Even the Iridescent Ones I still can't use... every last bit of them," Fico led on. Ultima and Netsu weren't sure where she was heading with this, so they rapdily began to lose interest as it just sounded like she was rambling on like an insane person.

"A man like that could change the world on his own... the people around him? They slowed him down on purpose. Those people were put there on purpose! By ten people you see here today! These ten people wanted to slow down Sky Asterio's development so he did not get to The First Trial soon enough and couldn't ascend to the proper level before Quake was ready! Before Genesis was ready! Before I was ready!" Fico rambled.

As she explained the events, she grabbed Netsu's attention, turning it from a conversation he didn't care about, to one he only cared about.

"These ten people were the parents of the children who woke up on The Pinnacle... the parents of the children that were meant to slow him down," Fico said.

"Oberon Slicious. Twilight Autumn. Lucius Pinewell. Ester Samura. Titania Artifice. Shirou Agartha. Novi Eternia. Aruba Lilie. Grayson Ugunada. Elliot Camalai," Fico said. As the name 'Novi Eternia' appeared in the group, Ultima was now drawn in.

"My mom? What does she have to do with this?" Ultima asked Fico. With her wicked smile, she pointed toward the group of ten people.

"Your mother put your sister, Cecelia Eternia, onto The Pinnacle with Sky Asterio and the others to slow him down. Everything was on purpose all along! His sporadic ability to change the things he's apart of has expanded so greatly... and so forcefully. These people were the only ones who could stop Sky for one reason, and one reason only..." Fico muttered. She pointed toward Oberon Slicious, the first man she introduced, and had him hold up his hand. Out of it sprouted green and blue Strands.

"They are the ones who asked Eirikr to reincarnate their children in the event Sky Asterio had been reincarnated as well. Eirikr always knew about his arrival but never interfered in fear of ruining his chances at a vessel. This is my job! He gave this job to me!" Fico said. She was mentally unhinged, clinging to the belief that she could take down Sky Asterio with a new opponent.

"We can't win against him with brute force, no, but with these parents of those around him? We can whittle him down simultaneously with whatever person you brought back from the dead! It'll all work out... and then he'll be dead!" Fico shouted out happily. She maniacally laughed in front of everybody, smiling widely while clapping her hands together.

"Why not just bring everybody back?" Oberon asked Fico. His voice was well-refined and almost too adamant.

"Because! My body can't handle any more than you ten! There were originally twelve of you I wanted to bring back... but my Strands are stretched too thin! It's corroding my brain. My brain!" Fico said to Oberon. He nodded, staying silent.

"Cynthia... Ultima... Netsu... here we are! At the very end of the first part of his life. The part where everything went his way and the part where we had been made into fools. With your revival of that psychotic guy... with my revival of their parents... this is the beginning of phase two. No more brute force. If there's something Sky Asterio isn't capable of, it's large-scale strategy. It's World War. And that's what he will get with my new forces. In case you didn't recognize him... Oberon Slicious is the reason this all started. He is the creator of Survival Evolved," Fico said.