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The last few days were... Heavy. Leah had managed to put Marrok out of her mind, but the haunting postcard she found on her door weighed on her mind ever since. When she sat down to rest, her thoughts drifted towards her dad sneaking in during the dead of night. It pissed her off, and made her a bit more skittish than she usually was. And that was saying something, since Leah was always on guard in some capacity or another, to an extent where it seemed as if that was her natural state of being. 

The fact that he was coming for her, the fact that he had done things to her that she was only learning about [i]years[/i] later. She needed to do something about it, and Leah was almost nervous to talk about it with her girlfriends. It was irrational, she knew. But it still plagued her. 


[hider=@April, @Sabine]
[color=ff9a4f]Earthbender: Hey. You two wanna hang and talk about stuff? I'm in mine and Bines dorm rn.[/color]
[/hider]

Sabine had taken some time to herself over the past few weeks. Shopping and spa days were called for. What she didn't do was invite April or Leah. It weighed on her, but she needed to be alone to process things. She knew they had to have a conversation and to have it soon. So when her phone chimed with a message from Leah, she took it as a sign. She shot off a reply.

[hider=@Leah, @April]
[color=A2797E]Sounds good. Meet you there in a bit. I'll bring treats!"[/color]
[/hider]

Sabine passed by a bakery and bought some cookies before she made her way back to the school and dorm. She would need the energy. Her stomach rumbled the reminder of how out of it she was at the dance when she almost passed out. She played it off as being exhausted from the fight in the maze, but she knew better. And she figured April and Leah did too.

Ever since the Monster Mash, April had re-dedicated herself to her training. She kept her thoughts out of her mind but a relentless regiment, studying, exercising, practicing - she woke up early to review footage of previous Contest of Champions fights, and she went to bed late, her muscles aching from laps she'd done in the school's pool. Unlike a fictional demigod, the water wasn't rejuvenating - but it was still welcome. But above all else, she didn't think about what she'd seen in Nimue's maze - those thoughts haunted her nightmares, so she pushed them aside with more coffee, with more work. The Contest was getting ever closer - everything would be over before they went home for Christmas Break. 

She had just finished a session in the pool - her first of three for the day - when her phone buzzed in the locker room. 

[hider=@Leah, @Sabine][color=42A9FF]Omw!!!! 🏊🏊🏊[/color][/hider]
Quickly finishing drying off her hair from the shower, April got back into her school uniform and then hurried to the dorms, her heart bursting with anxiety. It was probably fine. Right?

Leah wasn’t in her school uniform. Instead, she was in some comfy sweatpants and an old [url= https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.cZF1EOgLuUIcwqS5nECZkAHaJC%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=86bf6f9a0ff4bffff8cdaaae473bfa9fad9a0757b111d619a369031c036097af&ipo=images]Firewind t-shirt[/url] due to the fact that she was too damn lazy to put anything fancy on right now. There were a lot of things they had to talk about. The dance, the way Leah handle it, the way she reacted to April’s situation… God, they weren’t going to leave this bedroom for hours, were they?

When someone finally came through the door, Leah was sitting on her bed with that ominous postcard in hand. The sword she got from the dance was leaning against a wall, since it didn’t come with a scabbard or a set of nails to hang it up. Why was she nervous? It was just her girlfriends.

[color=ff944f]”Hey.”[/color]

Sabine had entered her room, carrying the bright pink box, and saw Leah sitting there. Sabine was not dressed in her school uniform either. Instead she wore lavender-colored skinny jeans and a light blue crop top. She wanted to get the most out of the day and the weather. Sabine walked in and set the cookies down on her desk. [color=A2797E]"Hey.'[/color] 

Well this was sufficiently awkward. [color=A2797E]"I brought cookies. Got all our favorites. April should be here soon."[/color] Sabine said that like she knew exactly where April was, but she didn't. 

April's hair was still damp when she made it to the dorm, knocking on the door to Sabine's and Leah's suite. She didn't have a key - the academy didn't issue extra ones, and making copies was strictly against the rules. So instead, she had to hover outside, waiting for one of her girlfriends - Leah, maybe? - to let her on in. She didn't know if Sabine was back yet from wherever she had been just yet. Or maybe she was the last one to arrive. 

[color=42A9FF]"Leah, Sabine, it's me!"[/color] April added, shifting slightly from side to side as she waited. 


Leah looked at the door, then back at Sabine. She grinned a little, happy that April came but also a little amused that she was waiting on tne door to be opened. Leah stood up and walked over to open door.

[color=ff9a4f]”We’re both here,”[/color] she said, standing aside to let her in. 

[color=ff9a4f]”Get in here, c’mon.”[/color]

Sabine allowed April to be let in as she took a seat on her own bed. Once they were all in the room, Sabine spoke. [color=A2797E]"Okay, we are all here. What's up Leah?"[/color] Although truth be told, Sabine had a feeling she knew what Leah wanted to say. She assumed April wouldn't be comfortable bringing up the dance first. Better to get her acclimated first.

April entered the room quickly, doing her best to keep a smile on her face even as the anxiety started to eat away at her insides. She wished she already knew what Leah wanted to talk to them about - the suspense, even brief, was killing her. And the space was only giving her time to come up with a billion different ways for Leah to be about to bring up something terrible - to explain that she actually hated both of them, that she was dumping them [i]and[/i] going to make sure everyone knew what horrible people they were, that Leah was dying, that she was moving to Mars and never coming back, that she -- April blinked. She tried to catch the thought, to force herself to just breathe and be present in this moment. 

[color=42A9FF]"Yeah, what's up?"[/color] April asked, taking a seat on Sabine's desk chair. 

Closing the door and sitting down on her bed, Leah inhaled, and thought about her words. They had to start somewhere. [color=ff9a4f]”Before we get into anything else… I made the dance [i]way[/i] worse that it had to be for anybody. And… I’m sorry for that,”[/color] She finally said, genuinely. She [i]exploded[/i] and didn’t stop to think about the ramifications. Hell, Leah could’ve turned the entire dance floor into a bear trap and devoured Nimue whole if it weren’t for the fact that she wasn’t [i]completely[/i] unhinged.

[color=ff9a4f]”I’m sorry for making that worse, April.”[/color]

Sabine stood up after Leah apologized and confessed. [color=A2797E]"You are not solely to blame. I didn't help matters. Nimue deserved some repercussion, but we could have saved it for after the dance and ensured you were okay, April. So I am also sorry."[/color] Sabine felt like a sucky girlfriend.

This couldn't be all Leah wanted to say though. Plus there was the whole werewolf scene too. But April took priority. She had been traumatized and if it was anything like the scene she got when she entered the haunted house, it was mental wreckage.

April loosened up, not because she had been waiting for an apology, but because her fears that everything was about to go disastrously wrong were abated ever so slightly. If she was being honest though, she hadn't needed all of that fuss - hadn't needed people to draw [i]more[/i] attention to her breakdown, and while her girlfriends had been sweet to go righteously dismantle an unjust system... She also would have preferred them to... well, to be with her. Or maybe that was wrong of her too - maybe the right answer was that she should have insisted Sabine and Leah go have fun without her. The more she thought about it, the more confused she felt - the more a blush of potential shame rose in her cheeks. [color=42A9FF]"Oh, it's totally okay!"[/color] Did she mean it? She didn't know. No, she did know. She did mean it. It was okay. 

[color=42A9FF]"I, uh, kinda lost it... And it's not on either of you to, like, pick me back up when something happens - which it won't happen again, it was just a stressful night and... yeah! So no apologies needed. Plus, you two were heroes - you stopped it from happening to anyone else!"[/color] April then paused, biting her lip. [color=42A9FF]"I'm sorry I ruined our night - you didn't ruin it at all, Leah, I just... I didn't do so great with the thing it showed me."[/color]

[color=ff9a4f]"I didn't either. I got my [i]ass kicked,[/i] and I didn't even recognize who it was. Bigger than me, stronger than me, I punched them in the back of the head and it flayed my hand..."[/color] Leah thought for a second. [color=ff9a4f]"They knew my birth name, for some reason. Didn't look like anyone I would recognize. Grey skin, a bunch of magic runes on their arms... It was weird. And they just talked in riddles, saying I'd "understand eventually," or something."[/color]

[color=ff9a4f]"Speaking of that... I've got some pretty fucked up news. When I went by our dorm that day, I found this stuck to the door."[/color] Leah grabbed the menacing postcard, and tossed onto the desk April was sat at. It had her birth name on it, and a hole from the knife it was impaled with.

She inhaled slowly, and exhaled quickly. [color=ff9a4f]"There's only two people alive on the planet who knew me by that name. Sabine's one of them, after she saw through my memories by accident once, and the other is my [i]dad."[/i][/color] Her voice dropped half a step. [color=ff9a4f]"I'm pretty sure he left that to scare the shit out of me. Or to prove a point- [i]I don't know.[/i] But... He knows I'm here, now. He found me. So... Now it's official, he'll be here one day. I don't know when, and I know know [i]how,[/i] but he'll show up. Probably when he's expected the least."[/color] She was putting on a brave face, but Leah felt nothing but [i]dread[/i] every time she thought about it. The girls had to know sooner rather than later, though.

[color=ff9a4f]"I meant to say something sooner but- Well- Everything happened and... Yeah."[/color]

[color=A2797E]"I faced an older version of myself. One significantly more skilled than I currently am. One whose powers advanced. She nearly controlled me. How I got the better of her, I do not know. But I don't think I won. I think she let me."[/color] Sabine's memory shifted to her fortune from the fair.

Sabine listened intently as Leah spoke about her father. She remembered vividly the images shown when she accidentally saw Leah's memories. Her father was a beast. And now he knew where she was.

Before, Sabine would have said that the school was a safe place. It had faculty with powers and students training to be the next Avenger. But given what happened at the dance, could she trust the school to protect their own?

[color=A2797E]"Well when he shows up, he's going to have to go through me. And I am prepared to blow his brain up from the inside if it comes to that."[/color] Sabine hoped this provided some comfort to Leah, but she couldn't imagine what Leah was thinking or feeling. Her own father wasn't the best, but she didn't doubt he cared about her in some way.

April bit down on her lip, and sat on her hands to keep herself from shredding the skin near her nails as Leah and Sabine explained everything that had happened to them - Leah in particular. She couldn't help but be horrified. This was a [i]real[/i] problem - it wasn't something silly or stupid, it wasn't anything like what April had faced in Nimue's haunted house. It was real and pressing and terrifying. It made her feel ashamed for how she had reacted, when Leah was so strong - so strong as to be carrying the weight of the knowledge that her villainous father was hunting her down, and that she took the time to care for others over herself... Trauma wasn't a competition, something that April had yet to learn, so she couldn't help but feel wretched. 

[color=42A9FF]"Can we... We should tell someone, like SHIELD or - or someone on staff here,"[/color] April said. [color=42A9FF]"They can protect you, Leah. I mean, not that we can't [i]also[/i] protect you but, like, they can do a better job of it. Is there... is there a reason we can't tell someone and get help? I... I don't want to lose you or see you get hurt, and if he's found you..."[/color] She bit her lip again. 

[color=ff9a4f]”He’s better than that,”[/color] Leah said, quickly. [color=ff9a4f]”He’s too smart, if he’s announcing himself [i]now,[/i] that means he’s been watching long enough that he knows what to expect. He- He waits and spies on people before he makes a move, he could’ve stalked the teachers- Learned their weaknesses and where their families are- or he might know where you two go when school is out…”[/color] And Leah didn’t go [i]anywhere[/i] during the summer.

[color=ff9a4f]”He has ways of getting through security systems, getting past people and dealing with mutants. You could throw the Avengers at him and he won’t give them a fight unless he’s already planned ahead.”[/color] The longer Leah talked about him, the harder it was for her to ignore the slight shaking she felt. [color=ff9a4f]”He could show up in the dead if night, trick everyone who can see the future into thinking there was a problem somewhere else, then kill everybody else who gets in his way. Tha- That’s what he [i]does.[/i] He uses his mutant powers to make it possible, he finds a way.”[/color]

There it was again, that feeling of being so unfathomably small that she was powerless against everything.

Sabine could feel the tenseness coming off of Leah. Understandably so. [color=A2797E]"Even if he wasn't as dangerous as Leah said, I doubt any of the faculty here could be of some help. Look how they handled the dance."[/color] Sabine also didn't know if SHIELD would be someone to let in on this information.

[color=A2797E]"No one is beyond weakness. Surely there must be something that could turn it in our favor. I'm not letting him get to you."[/color]

Maybe if she had been older, less impressionable, April would have argued back - would have pointed out the numerous different foes that superhero groups around the galaxy had managed to take down - would have even stressed how her parents were both SHIELD agents who had done the impossible, that no matter how powerful someone was, they had a weakness. But she was young and she accepted Leah's assertion at face value - accepted that her father was beyond powerful, that there was no one they could talk to to help, that it was [i]them[/i] and that was it. It was the same helplessness she had felt in Nimue's maze, the same inevitability - that one day April would wake up and no longer recognize herself, that Magneto's helmet would be on her head, that she would become a monster. That Leah would die, or worse, suffer whatever twisted fate her father had in store for her. 

[color=42A9FF]"How can we know he's not listening now then?"[/color] April whispered. [color=42A9FF]"Like, should we even be talking about this here? Maybe..."[/color] April got an idea. It would be hard, but something she could try. [color=42A9FF]"Maybe we should go to the beach - and take a swim,"[/color] she didn't say it outright - that she wanted to bring her girlfriends to the ocean floor, using her powers over water to create a bubble, the ultimate spot of privacy where no listening ears could be found. But if Leah's dad [i]was[/i] listening right now, she didn't want to give the plan away here. 

Leah mentally winced at that. [color=ff9a4f]”I’m probably about to sound weird for saying this, but I’ve been asking myself that a lot. And by a lot, I mean for years,”[/color] she admitted. [color=ff9a4f]”Since I first showed up to this place, every little sound would keep me up all night, because I’d get in my head about it.”[/color] And as she said that out loud, she considered burying herself under a mountain just to feel safer. [color=ff9a4f]”And… Sometimes that’s still a thing. If he was watching right now, I don’t think we’d know. I used to tear my dorm upside down looking for bugs or hidden cameras because he’s a total psychopath.”[/color]

[color=ff9a4f]”But a beach day sounds nice, when we have time. Just the three of us. If you want.”[/color]

Whispers infected Sabine's mind. They weren't loud enough to cause notice, but they were still lingering. [I]You can't protect them.[/i] Sabine shook her head. She could. She will. 

[I]"No one trusts you. You can make people forget or remember. Their deepest fears are yours to capitalize on. No one trusts you. Not your family. Not your friends. The school probably has systems in place should you go on a rampage."[/i]

Sabine closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. This was just her anxiety peaking from everything going on.

[I]"Leah's father will take you out first. Or use you to get to her. Is Leah really safe with you nearby?"[/i]

Sabine clenched her fist and unclenched. [color=A2797E]"A beach day sounds amazing. Much needed with everything going on. And Leah, we will figure this out. His brain will be goo by the time I am done with him. And if he [b]can[/b] hear me, I hope he knows that I will go to every length to see you safe."[/color]

Was she convincing Leah or herself?

April's face fell slightly. Neither of them had caught onto her suggestion. Or maybe they had and had already dismissed it - the listening devices could be on them, after all. Maybe it was embedded into their skin. [color=42A9FF]"We should go to the beach [i]now[/i],"[/color] April insisted. Sabine was being brave after all, speaking directly to the specter. Leah was being brave, dealing with all of this alone, not asking for help. So it was the very least that April could do was to try - to try to bring Leah to a safe space, a space where her father wouldn't anticipate to hear them. [color=42A9FF]"Did you all ever read Percy Jackson - the kiss they had?"[/color] she then added, referencing Annabeth and Percy's Underwater kiss, done in that location as to give them privacy. 

Holy [i]shit,[/i] her girls were cool. For a moment, Leah silently felt as if she were dating a literal goddess due to how fucking [i]brazen[/i] it was of Sabine to speak like that as if he were hearing them now.

[color=ff9a4f]"I- Uh... [i]Did[/i] I read that..."[/color] Gears turned in her mind for a moment. Back home, she didn't even have a TV. [color=ff9a4f]"Nah, don't think I have. Waaaaait. Beach- Water... You want to go the bottom of the [i]ocean?[/i] April... You can [i]do that?"[/i] Fuck yeah, let's fucking go to the beach right the hell now. That sounds cool as [i]shit."[/i][/color] Leah didn't have to read the books, but she knew how April's gay little mind worked. She could read April like a book. [color=ff9a4f]"Let's do it."[/color]

It was real cute how excited Leah was to go to the beach. One could almost miss how her life was in danger. Still, it was important to make time for them. Plus, if Leah calmed down enough, perhaps they could think of a plan on how to deal with her father. [color=A2797E]"Beach day it is. Bought a new swimsuit for it and everything."[/color] Sabine's mind flashed, albeit briefly, to her own family. She should consider herself lucky despite how horrendous her step-mother and her spawn were. [color=A2797E]"Let's get ready then."[/color]

[center]***[/center]

A little while later, the girls had made it to the beach. April was standing at the shore, curling her toes into the sand - she knew a lot of people tended to hate sand, hate the way that it clung to them, that it scratched, but there was something comforting about it to her. It was like clay that she could mold, but could be returned to its original state by the waves - something that would always be there, unchangeable, no matter what happened. She then took a deep breath, feeling the rhythm of the ocean in her gut, before holding out her hands to Sabine and Leah. She hadn't tried this before, not with other people. 

[color=42A9FF]"Do you trust me?"[/color]

Leah liked sand, personally. One could imagine she wouldn’t, given that she was raised in a desert, but the warmth and the familiarity made her feel like she was at peace. Leah came in a loose tank top and gray sweatpants. It was about as much skin as she was showing at the dance. She took April’s hand and held it close. 

[color=ff9a4f]”I trust you two more than literally anyone else I know,”[/color] she said.

This was needed. Sabine with her two girls. A bright day, a warm beach. There is nowhere she'd rather be. So when April offered her hand and asked if she trusted her, Sabine's response was almost instantaneous. [color=A2797E]"Without question."[/color] Sabine took Aprils hand and reached for Leah's.

This was hers.

April nodded, giving both of her girlfriends' hands a squeeze. She took a breath and slowly waded out into the water, concentrating on her surroundings, on the movement - feeling the push and pull of the waves as if they were a part of her. And strangely, despite being in contact with the water, neither Leah or Sabine would feel wet - the water touched them, yes, but it parted so easily - like an invisible membrane had been constructed around them. 

April glanced back over her shoulder, searching their eyes for a moment, before her mouth split open into a wide grin - and they plunged to the ocean floor, her control over the water propelling them forward and down, a bubble forming around Sabine and Leah - April didn't need one. Her hair fluttered behind her in the water like a mermaid's. [color=42A9FF]"No one can hear you down here. He can't hear you down here. It's completely safe and private - just us and the fish,"[/color] April promised, breathing the water like it was air. 

[color=ff9a4f][i]”Holy hell…”[/i][/color] Leah was, in no uncertain terms, mesmerized by what she saw as they walked deeper and deeper down into the sea. How long has April been able to do things like this? It was incredible, and Leah couldn’t help but admire her all the more intensely for it. Her hand didn’t leave April’s, or Sabine’s. She didn’t like being touched very often, but she made an exception for them. Especially now.

[color=ff9a4f]”Just us… And the fish… Would- Would either of you two believe me if I’ve never been in a place as safe as this before? I lived in a desert before we met. It was just me and him for hundreds of miles, and I didn’t feel safe then, even after I thought he was dead,”[/color] she admitted.

[color=ff9a4f]”And then the school. There are so many ways you could slip in and [i]not[/i] be noticed. I mean- Shit, the teachers can’t even tell what we’re up to half the time, not unless they’re on our asses. Dad definitely doesn’t have a submarine or anything- I think- But this feels… Not like a lot. It’s- This is the [i]opposite[/i] of a lot…”[/color] She stopped and looked at the ground- Magmatic basalt from the lithosphere. [color=ff9a4f]”Sorry, I’m talking nonsense now.”[/color]

It was a brilliant idea of April's. As they stood there with the aquatic life swirling around them, Sabine was reminded of how lucky she was. And how strong a drive she held in wanting to protect this. [color=A2797E]"You aren't talking nonsense. This is a lot to take in, but think of it like this: when you need it, this is your space. Where you can say what you want without fear. And I will stop at nothing to ensure that you are able to do so out there as well."[/color]

She squeezed both of their hands. [color=A2797E]"This is amazing April. You're amazing."[/color]

It made April want to cry, both from sorrow that Leah had never felt such safety before, but also from happiness at how much her girlfriends were both moved by this gesture. She drew strength from them, from their bonds, as she maintained the bubble - as she kept them safe at the ocean floor. It should have been incredibly draining, her hands should have been shaking, but it felt... almost effortless. Because they were here with her - because they were her anchor. [color=42A9FF]"Thank you,"[/color] April blushed, accepting Sabine's compliment. [color=42A9FF]"Any time you need to come here, Leah, just say that we need a beach day - same thing for you, Sabine. This space will always be here for us - and no one else."[/color]