When he woke up in the morning he saw that there was no plate on the table. Once again Sky took in a deep breath and tested his joints and motion, noticing that the pain from his arms and legs had disappeared. He started undoing the bandages, slowly uncoiling, starting from his fingers going to his shoulder. Once he had undone his right arm he saw a scar going halfway from his shoulder to his elbow from his fight with Striker.
Once his limbs had been freed up he felt his torso finding that there was a slight pain in his side he left the bandages on, however he took off the ones covering his face and head. Sky stretched out his neck and enjoyed the liberating feeling of having his externals finally unwrapped before heading out the door.
He reached the bottom of the stairs when he saw Stella, carrying a basket towards him.
"Yo." He said.
"Sky, you're up unusually early, and bandage free." She replied.
Sky rubbed his scar. "Yea, I felt no pain so I decided it was time to take them off, still got them on my torso though." Sky said as he pulled up his T-shirt.
A worried look crossed her face as she touched the scar. "Ah, don't worry it's not because of the rescue." Sky said with a smile.
"Anyway I gotta go now, see you later!" He said as he continued walking.
After a few minutes of walking and being stopped by strangers inviting him to their activities he finally made it to the tree. Quietly, he stood around waiting for someone to appear like they did the time before, yet no one did. On the other side, Sky could see the large gap in the wall from where Atlas had appeared before. The impatience got the better of him and slowly Sky started walking towards the gap, entering it and finding himself inside of a large library.
Sky spun around staring at the large, three story building with an open center. On the far walls as well as next to him he saw two spiral staircases spinning until they reached the third floor. On the walls as well as in front of him were dozens of rows of bookshelves, decorated with books of all kinds.
As he took in the sight Sky continued to walk forward until he reached a small open space with a deep red carpet. In front of him were a set of brown, wooden desks and on the far right side was Atlas sitting and reading.
"Welcome to my library." He said, looking up from the book.
"It's important to strengthen your mind along with your body." Atlas continued, "It's something those at the Hero's Stronghold don't understand."
"Now why have you shown yourself before me boy?" He asked as he got up and placed the book into a hole in a nearby bookshelf.
"I want you to train me." Sky said.
Atlas turned around and looked at Sky's bright eyes, glowing with determination.
"No." Atlas responded, crushing Sky's hopes. "You are my servant, not the other way around."
"But don't you want to have a strong servant?" Sky pleaded.
"Might does not mean strength!" Atlas growled.
He quickly started leaving the library as Sky stared, shaking himself back to life and running after him.
"Please!" Sky begged, "Help me get strong enough to fight against the giants!"
Atlas ignored him as the two entered the giant room with the tree.
"We've returned Pops!" Said a voice from the far side.
Sky and Atlas stopped and Sky stared at Lea, Slik and Rune standing in front of them, covered in a strange liquid with scratches and wounds, holding the head of a strange reptilian monster.
"Good, is it there?" Atlas asked.
"Yea… along with a whole bunch of other things…" Rune started wiping the goop off.
"Good, take that to Blitz," Atlas pointed to the head, "See what he can do with it."
"Afterwards, make a plan and execute." He looked to Rune, turning back around to Sky.
"What is that?" Sky asked.
"A Dracaenae." Atlas said.
Sky studied it as Lea took it away. It looked to be like the head of a giant lizard but strangely had human features such as its eyes and teeth and looked feminine.
"The giants aren't the only threat we deal with here." Atlas said, "And among all that, if you are asking me to spend all my time making sure that you can defeat one, measly giant, then you are more selfish than I thought you to be!"
Sky absorbed the words, sparking a train of thought but he kept it to himself. Only able to nod, he did so before quietly leaving the area and returning back home where he found Stella, waiting for him.
"You said you'd be back, so I waited for a little while." She replied.
The two talked while Sky ate and afterwards she left, saying she had to get back to work. Soon night had fallen and yet another clear sky allowed the moon's bright light to shine down. Still wondering about what he should do he found his way outside and sat down on the staircase, looking straight up.
"Silk?" Sky said.
He was met with silence.
"Hello?" He said slightly louder, "Silk?"
Still silence.
"Silky! Hello! You there?" Sky said even louder knocking on the wall of the house saying 'Silky' over and over again until something hit him in the back of his head.
"What do you want?!" Silk said angrily from atop his home.
"Why're you still here?" Sky asked with a grin.
"I live next door!" Silk said angrily pointing to the house on the wall next to Sky's.
"Oh?" Sky said, "And you can hear me?"
"With all the noise you're making I'm surprised no one else has heard you." He replied.
"You need to loosen up a bit." Sky said.
"No, you need to understand your situation!" Silk replied.
"You, someone brought into this place of free will and freedom, shows signs of wanting to help and become stronger yet you rely on others to help you become stronger." Silk started.
"Answer me this Sky, have you even tried training by yourself?" Silk asked.
"No… but that's because I was told that I'm a manipulator but then Atlas didn't do anything with that when I was training with him and so…." Sky trailed off.
"You still believe in that stuff?" Silk snorted, "I'm ashamed to be in the same generation as you."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ASHAMED?!!?" Sky suddenly shouted.
"That whole thing they told you at Hero's Stronghold is useless… just a convenient way to categorize people…" Silk said.
"It's more liberating than they make it seem…" Silk looked up to the moon, "Your powers are simply an extension of you, they can be anything…"
Sky looked ahead at the floor beneath, remembering how at first he needed lightning to kick start the cloak and now it naturally flowed out from him. He thought about the weight of his punches against Striker.
"Just an extension of you… huh?" Sky mumbled.
"Thanks…" Sky said as he got up and started walking inside.
"Just doing my best." Silk grumbled.
Sky turned the lights off as Silk disappeared, going to bed but still thinking about what Silk said until his eyes drifted close.