Doubts and an Old Friend

Blood began to slowly drip from my body as the wound grew worse.

I held my face, feeling Strands set in against my face as I laid on the ground. I wasn't sure how much time passed, but I knew that I was being tended to by somebody unknown. 

I tilted my face up, staring at the brown-haired figure fixing me.

"...you're awake?" The voice called out.

I roughly observed my surrounding, watching slight water droplets fall from the top of a rigid cave.

"Where are we?" I asked. I cleared my vision of the sleepiness in my eyes and observed a girl with bandages wrapped over her eye and a Saber left turned on leaning against the wall.

"I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine, Carl." The girl said. I tilted my head and looked at her once again. She appeared...familiar.

"Are you...Faith?" I asked, leaning my hand against the wet floor.

"You do recognize me..." She mumbled, staring at the floor.

Faith looked much older than before, progressing even further than I had...or even Sky. She looked much sharper than before and had a resting face that appeared to have seen some stuff.

"You were with Red! Is she okay?" I asked. I moved my body too fast, falling down to the ground and landing in a cluster of Golden Strands Faith created for me.

"She's fine. But, she shares something similar to you. I can't heal your eye, not even with my Golden Strands. It may be something only Sky can do." She mumbled. It seemed she was down about something.

"What's going on right now? Red told us that you said Sky was sealed? What does that mean?"

"I don't know how to explain this to you without growing worried. The parents of the Arkians returned with Sky and Red's sister. Dani's father, your mother, a lot of people seemingly came back from the dead with their own goals all playing into a bigger picture. I can't predict what's going on, but it's not looking the best." She told me.

"Dani will be able to handle it. We just have to depend on her to beat them out. I fought my mother, Twilight Autumn, she gave me this injury."

"No...Carl...Dani is sealed too. Sky and Dani are taken out. My mom's dead and all that's left is me. They took out two of the three Asterios, all it takes is one more person to capture me and that's it, they win." Faith told me. She began to draw picture in the dirt with a stick. I noticed it to be in the shape of a tombstone.

"How did we get here? Are we hiding from them?" I asked her. As I stood back up, Faith pushed my away and I could hear her voice turn sour. Her right eye turned blood red, just as I remember Illya's appearing, and she screamed.

"THERE IS NO WE! IT'S ME! THEY WANT ME! ALL I CAN DO IS RUN BECAUSE I CAN'T FIGHT THEM. I CAN'T DO THIS!" 

"Faith..." I muttered. I could tell through her quivering lip that talking would turn the mood worse, so I stood silent, looking at my gun lying on the floor.

"I have no idea what you're feeling, and I'm sorry I can't take this away from you."

She remained silent, sobbing into her hands as she clutched her knees close to her chest. There was nothing I could say to her that I wasn't also feeling. Everything between us was similar. If Sky and Dani were sealed, could Faith step up?

Common sense told me that the answer was no...but looking at her, I had interchangeable thoughts.

Perhaps Faith is much stronger than she is letting on.

"Red said you vanished into thin air. How did you do that?" I asked her.

"More bloodlines were activated within me, and now it activated at random. This one just warps me all over the world. There's another that turns my bones into liquid." She said.

"I know you don't want to hear any of the bullshit I have to say, Faith. However, I think you should hear it. Sky had been working a lot to prove himself to you, isn't that flattering? When was the last time you heard of Sky working to improve himself for somebody that wasn't more powerful than him?" I asked her. She stood silent, looking at me with a straight face.

"The main point is, you have all of these things in you...just like Sky did. You're just like him, whether you see it or not. I do want to help you...but before you vanish, I need directions home." I told her.

Faith pointed toward the entrance of the cave, revealing to me a grassy field.

"You haven't moved at all. I kicked the ground and sprouted this cave to shelter you. Red's outside, waiting." Faith explained. She stood up, wiping her tears away and walking out of the cave in front of me.

I could see Red finally, and she looked the same as she always had. I was overcome with joy, feeling tears well up in my eyes as she wrapped me in the tightest hug I've ever felt. I held her tight, so tight that she couldn't move.

"I'm back...Carl..." She muttered with a smile. I held her and I wasn't sure how long I stood there in her embrace, waiting for our world to peacefully blossom.

"I've missed you so much...so much..." Red said in my shoulder. Faith stood behind us with her hands on her hips, looking behind the cave as she sunk it back into the ground with the expert control of Golden Strands.

From behind the cave came Shike, Belle, Alexia, and Boo, staring at her in awe.

"Who are you?! Is that you, Faith?!" Boo shouted out first.

"It is. I probably don't have much time before I warp from this place again. Sky and Dani are sealed, and they're after me. It's only a matter of time, especially with this crutch I have to deal with."