[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vQOmUnK.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/DxUIER1.png[/img][/center] [sub][i]"--indicates that none of the hostages have been killed, however the masked terrorists seem to be--" "--eyewitnesses report seeing mysterious unidentified aircraft over the--" "--possible sightings of unknown men in masks, possibly associated with the terrorists, or--"[/i][/sub] [color=Orange]"Friend Rachel, this is horrible! We must take the action and head toward Gotham City!"[/color] [color=MediumPurple]"Gotham City's on the other side of the country,"[/color] I say. [color=MediumPurple]"How fast can you fly?"[/color] [color=Orange]"At my greatest speed, I can travel nearly twice the speed of sound itself."[/color] [color=MediumPurple]"Hmmm, that's....."[/color] I try to think of how long it would take in my head, but I was never great at math, so I instead look it up on the laptop Mr. Abel loaned me. [color=MediumPurple]"Ah. Even if you left right now, it would take over an hour. Whatever's happening there would be long over by then."[/color] After my....[i]episode[/i] where I either had an extraordinarily vivid hallucination or discovered I'm effectively the Anti-Christ, I had tried to bury my nose in research, find more leads about Sebastian Blood and his cult, about the monstrous creature that said my name and claimed to be my father. Mr. Abel had loaned me an old laptop-- which struck me as weird that he even had one, considering how old-fashioned his sensibilities are-- and I started going down various occultist rabbit-holes looking for anything that matched up. Just as I felt we were making real progress, I got a news alert of some crazy situation happening in Gotham City. Kory and I have been watching the live stream. Rather, [i]I've[/i] been watching; Kory has been flying around the room on the verge of a nervous fit. [color=Orange]"But there are innocents in danger!"[/color] Kory protests. [color=Orange]"Surely it cannot be allowed to--"[/color] [color=MediumPurple]"Look, I don't like it either,"[/color] I cut in, [color=MediumPurple]"But even with your space-powers and my magic, there's only so much we can do. Besides, rushing out into the open at the first sign of trouble would be advertising our location to the people who are after us."[/color] [color=Orange]"You would sacrifice innocent lives to maintain your secret?"[/color] she asks, indignant. [color=MediumPurple]"No, that's not what I---...I mean, it's complicated,"[/color] I say with a sigh. [color=MediumPurple]"You know how to use your powers, I don't. I'm only just now getting my head around the idea that all of this stuff is real, let alone how to make any of it work. Even if I don't get grabbed by HIVE or the Church of Blood and taken away to be made into a weapon, there's a chance that I'll end up doing more harm than good if I rush in not knowing what I'm doing. I need.....practice."[/color] The live stream of the hostage situation in Gotham plays out on the laptop screen, and I shake my head. [color=MediumPurple]"And anyway, all of that's too far away for us to be able to do anything about it,"[/color] I say. [color=MediumPurple]"Maybe if there was some crazy event like that happening somewhere on the West Coast..."[/color] [color=Orange]"Then we would rush to help!"[/color] Kory says with righteous confidence. [color=MediumPurple]"....yeah, probably,"[/color] I nod before closing the laptop and getting up from the bed. [color=MediumPurple]"If something like that ever happens, I mean. Anyway, I'm gonna make some tea; it should help calm things down after all this excitement."[/color] I take a step or two toward the kitchenette, then as I look toward the kettle and the drawer where I keep the teabags, I realize I'm already at the counter. I [i]floated[/i] across the remaining distance, like Kory does all the time. The stove is already turned on, the water is already running, and the kettle is already in my hand. Without even thinking about it, I'm starting to just 'magic' my way around the apartment. Sure, it's harmless enough doing something small like making tea, but what if I start doing it in public? What if I can't stop? ....what if I don't [i]want[/i] to stop? [color=Orange]"You seem to be developing control of your abilities already,"[/color] Kory remarks. [color=Orange]"This is good news, yes?"[/color] The small blue flame on the stove suddenly roars, scorching a black mark on the ceiling, before I glare at it and it shrinks back to normal. [color=MediumPurple]"Maybe,"[/color] I answer, filling the kettle with water and putting it on the fire, [color=MediumPurple]"maybe not. From what I've been able to read, it's an extension of something called the Soul Self, a manifestation of your life force, your memories, and your state of mind. Everyone has one, but most people can't project theirs into the physical world. Apparently, though, I'm not most people."[/color] [color=Orange]"This is good fortune, then!"[/color] [color=MediumPurple]"Yeah, lucky me,"[/color] I say bitterly, as the stove starts to flare up again and I will it back down. [color=MediumPurple]"Between what I've read and what I've seen in my, erm, visions....I'm only half human. The other half is, well....something else. Something [i]worse.[/i] The thing I saw in my last vision, the Children of Azarath don't even speak its name, but Sebastian Blood and his cult, they called it 'Trigon.' It's not of this plane, and not from Azarath. It's a....."[/color] I roll my eyes at how silly it sounds in my head, then I say it out loud. [color=MediumPurple]"....it's one of the lords of Hell."[/color] Saying it out loud doesn't make it sound any less ridiculous. [color=MediumPurple]"It wants me to be its vessel on Earth, so it can destroy the world. And apparently, it's my father."[/color] Kory nods, I assume processing it and trying to relate to it. [color=Orange]"On Tamaran, the Priestesses of X'haal warned of the Troq, the Nothing, nihilistic entities that preyed upon negativity and would use the vulnerable as vessels in the physical world. If they were not stopped, they would render all unto the void. It was believed they could be driven away by an overwhelming abundance of love."[/color] As she floats toward me, I raise a skeptical eyebrow. [color=MediumPurple]"Is that what you're suggesting? That I fight a lord of Hell with the 'Power of Love?'"[/color] [color=Orange]"Oh no,"[/color] she shakes her head. [color=Orange]"The Troq were very real, and could only be defeated by incinerating them with concentrated volleys of Star-Bolts. Having an abundance of love in one's heart, however, was vital for the Priestesses to fight together and keep each other alive. It also provided resistance to the Troq's psychic attacks, and allowed for rather exuberant celebrations upon each victory. Since the days of our victory over the Troq, Tamaranians are raised to be masterful warriors and lovers alike, for only through finding and fostering true love do we find the strength to fight."[/color] Her eyes meet mine, and I see a fire in them like the light of a sun. During my freak-out, it was Kory who had brought me out of it, holding me and giving me the inner strength to force Trigon out. Before that, she had driven away my nightmares with, in her words, 'an application of the snuggles.' Every time I have come close to losing it, to letting the darkness overcome me, she has been there to help me with support and... I scoff and turn away, turning my attention back to the kettle, which at this point is near boiling. [color=MediumPurple]"Well, either way, I doubt that's going to be something I can manage,"[/color] I say, wiping away sweat from my brow, as it's gotten unexpectedly hot in here all of a sudden. [color=MediumPurple]"The only person I've ever had any sort of 'abundance of love' for was my Mom, and that....didn't end well. And anyway, that's not the same thing as what I'm dealing with. This isn't Tamaran, and I'm not some warrior-priestess. You might be a master-fighter and master-lover and all that, and that's all well and good. But I'm not. I can't fight off demons and mercenaries and whatever else with the 'power of love.' I don't know how."[/color] Kory grabs me by the shoulder and turns me back around to face her. Her hand moves down my arm to take my own hand. [color=Orange]"I can show you,"[/color] she says, as the tea kettle whistles. [color=MediumPurple]".....wha--"[/color] [color=Orange]"How to fight, I mean!"[/color] she says with a bright smile. [color=Orange]"I was trained since childhood by the Warlords of Okaara in all manner of combat--it would be my honor to train you in the ways of glorious and honorable battle!"[/color] I stand there and stare for a moment, then I blink as my thoughts return to me. [color=MediumPurple]"....oh! Um, yeah, that....that would be great,"[/color] I say, finding it strangely hard to catch my breath. [color=MediumPurple]"Yeah, let's....let's learn how to fight. If we're going to be taking on HIVE and the cultists and the rest, I should know how to handle myself."[/color] [color=Orange]"Wondrous!"[/color] she exclaims, doing a loop-de-loop in the air to celebrate. [color=Orange]"Ah! But we must remain covert about it so as not to reveal ourselves. Perhaps we can use Friend Alex's simulated combat game, this LARP of his, to disguise our training as the mere play of Dorks?"[/color] [color=MediumPurple]"....that....sounds ridiculous,"[/color] I say, [color=MediumPurple]"but at the moment, I really don't have a better idea. Anyway, the, erm, the tea's almost ready."[/color] I pour the hot water into a pair of cups, steep the teabags in them, and hand one to Kory. [color=MediumPurple]"It's chamomile and peppermint,"[/color] I tell her, [color=MediumPurple]"It's good for calming frazzled nerves."[/color] [color=Orange]"But my nerves do not have the frazzling."[/color] [color=MediumPurple]"Mine do,"[/color] I say as I sip mine and let the cool, refreshing flavor and aroma work its magic. Kory takes a deep breath to take in the smell of hers, then eagerly drinks it down. [color=Orange]"Mmmmm!"[/color] she exclaims. [color=Orange]"That was the worst thing I have ever tasted."[/color] I stare at her for a moment, and then for the first time in as long as I can remember, I laugh out loud.