More Meteor Showers Bring Even Stranger Powers. (O/A)

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Lokelonni felt like a dam had finally been put in place behind her eyes. She could still feel the presence of the power, but it was not threatening to burst forth through her eyelids. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times as they adjusted to the light. Her expression lit up like someone seeing for the fist time. Her lip quivered, and tears of joy flowed freely from her restored eyes. She brought her hands up to her mouth and looked to Liv. Her pupils were normal, and her irises were a pale color that shined like diamonds.

"Oh my! You are quite beautiful. I can see why Fenris said you looked like Princess Elianna." she said with a refined, yet genuine, smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright. Be well, Theonis."

Rydia left the room with less signicantly poise than she had entered it with.

Widget hopped and hovered back onto Theonis' desktop. "Alrighty then. Ready to dive back into the records? What would you like to see next?"
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"I don't care! What are you doing next to my room, and what did you do with..." She glanced at the digital name plaque, then back him. "...Liam Aiden? Wait, where've I heard that last name before?"  

[Nova Blancke]

"This room was available. If I understand it right it is because you are a...loud neighbor." Legio explained calmly." Aiden is the last name of the twins. Alexavier and Cassandra. Since I was created with them as a base, it seemed.....right."

"You too. Good luck" He replied absent minded.

"Hmmm....The Hellstar...did it only consume intelligent life or all?"

Liv breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed to have worked. She didn't know if it stayed that way or if it relapsed. But this also meant that she could do it to Rhydia as well. It was hard for her not to smile back.

"Why thank you. You look even better with that smile though. Got nice eyes."  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

[…]

"Okay. I'll try. I can't really promise no shadows, though. It kind of has a mind of it's own."

"Oh?" Sill commented with curiosity.

Leo put his hands up and bent his knees. He cocked his right arm back and threw a sloppy haymaker.

Trinity quirked an eyebrow as he mentioned no control of his shadow.


Leo proceeded with his first move. Trinity could imagine endless options of how she could she could counter. He was wide opened. She decided to simply dodge it. She kept dodging and blocking everything. While doing so she was assessing how hard she would have the liberty to go on him. Based on her assessment he had enough experience to take what she could throw. Just when he could almost hear him say fight back! she started countering.

Leo tried to get a clear shot but every move he did was blocked and then countered. She knew she would have to adjust his form to make it more of a challenge. Despite it all, like Theonis, she did see potential in him. He threw a wild punch. She grabbed his punch and used the momentum to toss him over ending round and one with Leo landing on his back on a mat.

“Okay. Not bad. Thing is you’re used to fighting against those bio-beasts and not a fighter. Let’s take a moment to adjust your stance. You kept yourself wide open, you need to be able to catch your opponent's blows and counter…” Trinity continued to show Leo proper stances and proper form with punches and kicks explaining how this would give him more power with these adjustments. She hoped he inherited Theo’s learning curve, the next round could be way more interesting and not one-sided. She couldn’t help but think about that first spar with Theo.

“… Alright let’s try that again.” She prepared for round two and gave that ‘bring it gesture’ signaling to begin.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Loud?! Who said I was loud?! Was it that moron at P&H?! I'll show her loud!" Fenris loudly ranted.

"So wait, your name is Liam now? Eh, it's better than Legio." she admitted, a bit less loudly.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. As much as I hate, and I do mean hate, the idea of you being this close to me, I'm not so callous as to kick you out of shelter. But let's get one thing straight. We aren't neighbors in the friendly sense. Don't come knocking at my door for any goddamn thing. You need help, call Heron."

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"The Hellstar, and by extension the bio-beasts, consumed anything comprised of cells. So even the smallest microbe wasn't safe from it's hunger. Before the Hellstar appeared, the bio-beasts were a mindless horde that only sought sustenance. Once it actually appeared, however, more complex and intelligent bio-beasts were created to harvest lifeforms. Think of it like the Hellstar creating farming equipment for specific tasks."

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Lokelonni daintily wiped the tears from her face and chuckled, "Thank you, dear. Though I can already tell this wont be permanent, knowing that I can look upon my family with my own eyes before I die is a priceless gift. Is there any way that I can repay you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo was beyond frustrated during the bout, He had fought other people for food before, but they never had the chance to get close to him. He remembered stories about how his mother was a demon on the battlefield, so he knew she was holding back. He understood why, he was new, but that made him all the more frustrated. Then, before he knew it, he hit the mat. His shadow had actually acted to break his fall, but it was nearly imperceptible.

With some energy expended, he was a lot less angry when Trinity walked him through how to fight properly. In spite of his palpable tension, he was actually enjoying himself. He occasionally looked over to Dawn and saw that she was happy for him.

Round two did not start much better than round one had. He felt more in control, but he still could not get close to landing a blow. All the while, Trinity coached him through his movements and gave him corrections and affirmations as she avoided and blocked his blows.

Then it was time for her to fight back again. That time, he handled himself better. He still felt a bit off balance, but with his wider stance it was easier to correct himself. Then, unknown to him, his shadow started to react to his footwork and provide better placement. He grinned a bit, thinking that he had finally gotten the hang of it.

Silhouette kept her attention on Leo's shadow. She confirmed that he was correct. It acted of it's own accord. What more, it seemed to steadily strengthen itself the more the fight went on. Almost as if it were learning from Trinity's lesson. No, not quite learning, re-learning.

"Fascinating. I wonder..."

Just as the pieces were falling in place for Sill, Trinity had brought her back leg around for a sweep. Leo's shadow popped his front leg up to avoid it just as he threw a right hook. This action caused him to fall forward and plant his first directly into Trinity's temple.

Dawn and Leo immediately stood up and went to check on Trinity.

"Trinity?! Trinity are you okay?! Leo, what happened?!"

"I don't know! It felt like something pushed my leg up!"

"It was obviously your shadow!"

"I didn't mean to use it!"  

[Nova Blancke]

"Yes that would be my name now. Though it is mostly for documents."

Legio cocked his head a little with a slight frown.

"You came knocking to my door however? Regardless, may I go back to sleep now? It was a very interesting experience."

"Before you....right. So that's what I saw." Liv said to herself.

"Just help with training these eyes I suppose."

"Well that is just ******** up.Was any kind of chemical warfare successful against it?"  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

[…]

Just as the pieces were falling in place for Sill, Trinity had brought her back leg around for a sweep. Leo's shadow popped his front leg up to avoid it just as he threw a right hook. This action caused him to fall forward and plant his first directly into Trinity's temple.

Dawn and Leo immediately stood up and went to check on Trinity.

"Trinity?! Trinity are you okay?! Leo, what happened?!"

"I don't know! It felt like something pushed my leg up!"

"It was obviously your shadow!"

"I didn't mean to use it!"

Trinity saw the right hook coming and was about to avoid it but did not account his shadow would protect him. The shadow hit hard it threw her against the wall. Her last thought before impact Sill, this is like you protecting me in combat Sill prevented injury from her host. Her ponytail came undone revealing that her hair was longer now than it was this morning.

As she regained consciousness it hit her how long she was without Theonis. A month. Not just a few hours as anyone else experienced today. She longed to see him. Muffled voices were heard especially his calling her name. She saw silhouettes one for sure she thought was his, she felt his cheek, “Theo” she whispered and placed a long deep kiss.

As they parted, her eyes cleared and she realized her error in judgment she covered her lips. “OH MY GOD! Leo I’m sorry I thought you were someone else.” She blushed and was flustered as she backed away. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She exhaled “Okay, we’re all adults here. Let’s call it what it is alright? A mistake. My head wasn’t in the right place.” She rubbed her head and proceeded to take a few steps away tying up her hair. I totally messed up.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Fenris put her hands on her hips and asked, "Are you blowing me off? You don't blow me off! I blow you off! I'm gonna take a nap too, and I bet I'll hit REM faster than you do! How ya like them apples?!"

She stomped off to her room and call back, "Yer not gettin' to me!" Before she slipped into her shadow to break into her own room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lokelonni put her hands to her mouth again out of embarrassment. "Oh, Liv. I am so sorry you had to find out like that. I should have realized you would have seen that in your eyes, and I was so careless with my words. Do forgive me."

"I will most certainly train you in the ways of the eleilya. When Fenris is not busy with you and Kerana, the I will help you both to master your respective abilities."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes, and no. BW79 was initially developed by a collaborative effort between Ray Industries scientists and Gidget Morris as a means of destroying Legion the day Shane Morris absorbed the Aidens. It worked, but a little too well. The remains of bio-beasts that were broken down off of pavement seeped into the soil and rendered the areas permanently uninhabitable for flora, thus potentially wiping out entire ecosystems. When that was discovered, use of BW79 and similar biological or chemical agents was strictly forbidden from that point."

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When it happened, Leo froze and did not move the entire time. He had no idea what was happening, outside of the obvious, and did not know what to do. He did not retaliate as he had with Ravan. What she did felt like a violation. What Trinity did was different. It was actually kind of nice, but it was very very confusing. So he stayed still until Trinity snapped out of it.

Dawn was left completely speechless. Her hands went to her mouth and stayed there as she processed what had just happened. She knew exactly who that someone else was, and it both relieved and upset her. She lacked the mental and emotional maturity to understand the nuances and context of what she had just witnessed.

Silhouette thought it best to keep her opinions to herself for the moment.

Leo was at a loss as how to reply. Sure, he was an adult, but if he did not know what to do with his feelings before then he certainly did not know what to do with what he felt. "Um...did, did you say Th-"

The sound of shattered glass broke the tension. Dawn and Leo looked to the entrance of the training area and both gasped.

"Ravan?"

"Ravan!"  

[BeaMichelle]

With so much going on at the pool, Ravan felt a bit overwhelmed. More than anything, she wanted to be around Leo and Dawn. As badly as she wanted to be out of their underground hotel, she wanted to be around those she felt closest too. Crystalion had come to mind, but there was still a lot there to unpack that she was not ready for.

She heard about the angry young man at the gym and managed to find her way to the area with some help. She heard the sounds of what sounded like a fist fight from up ahead and figured that had to be him. Then came a hard thud, followed by Leo and Dawn arguing. Then silence. When Ravan finally arrived at the glass door that led to the area, she witnessed the last second of Trinity and Leo's kiss. Her face felt hot, and her chest hurt. Two days before, she was worried about Leo falling for the younger Liv. That he would rather be with a younger version of his mother. How stupid she felt at that moment.

Her hand balled up into a fist, and the glass of the door shattered after a little gravitational distortion from her power. She audibly grit her teeth, and failed to choke back her tears. Her eyes were bloodshot and wide with pain and betrayal. It was all she could do to keep from "blacking out."

"Leo..." was all she could manage to croak out.  

[Nova Blancke]

Legio stood there for a second confused.

"It's not a competition,...is it?" He asked himself before closing the door. Legio could go back to sleep. It was a nice experience but he felt, better? Instead he decided to turn on the TV. There were a lot of interesting things out there after all. There was a channel about cooking and for some reason, Legio could not turn it off. His eyes were almost glued to the channel.

"Yeah I saw....a lot. Still filtering most of it. Feel like a bit of a voyeur."She responded. "Thanks it would be useful to being able to use them flawlessly. I still think that you might be able to live longer if I take away the eyes. Draining I mean, not actually taking them out."

"Hmm...yeah that might be bad. Unless it's in space.....until it falls down on earth. Yeeaaah....let's not make it but forward it to Gidget just in case. What about the various types of Biobeasts? From what I've gathered they became more intelligent as the Hellstar directed it. Like forced evolution or specialized tools. Were there types that seemed independent? We have Legio after all. Maybe you had something similar?"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Lokelonni smiled with a tranquil sadness. "I appreciate the thought, dear, but what is killing me is not the eyes. Because this body is host to the reincarnated soul of an Ancient, I am afflicted with a spiritual illness for which there is no cure. I have lived a long and fulfilling life with many highs and lows. I have loved and lost over the course of many human lifetimes. I am glad that I will spend my last days with family and new friends. I have made peace with my inevitable end. If I had one regret, it is that my children suffered while I slept within the crystal."

The retired queen chuckled and looked Liv in the eyes. "Surely you would rather not sit here and commiserate the approaching end of my life. You have a loved one who is no doubt awaiting your return. Go now. Love and be loved."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Widget pulled up a list of Bio-Beast classifications that came with respective thumbnails of each one.

Hellstar: sky blocking horror with many eyes.
Legion: An enormous blob of biomass.
Seeker: panther like mass of human and animal parts.
Diver: large, bird like creature.
Bruiser: the things Theonis had seen a few days ago.
Snatcher: small, bird like creature.
Mirror: disfigured humanoid nightmare.
Jack: blob that hides under things.
Ripper: humanoid with serrated pikes for arms.
Kinder: rolling mass of screaming and crying toddlers/infants.
Swarm: transformed children that roamed in large packs.
Digger: large, mole like creature.
Scrambler: floating, lidless eyes the size of human heads that disrupted psychics.
Walker: four legged behemoths that devoured flora. Ignores humans.
Chaser: bipedal carnivores that resembled velociraptors and hunted land fauna. Will pursue humans.
Swimmer: Aquatic creatures of various size that inhabited large bodies of water and devoured marine fauna. Will pursue humans.
Skimmer: Aquatic behemoths that devoured marine flora. Ignores humans.

"To our knowledge, independent beings comprised of biomass did not exist after the creation of the first legion. In fact, most of the classifications listed did not exist until the Hellstar emerged and established control."

"Also, what's a Legio?"  

[Nova Blancke]

Theo forwarded the information they had on Legio to Widget.

"Being that was....no hold on. Easier this way." Theo said and send her the data of the events that occurred when they defeated Legio.

"Hasn't shown signs of hunger or the likes. Seems to be on our side as Eclipse back-stabbed him but we are keeping an eye on him." He sighed."Not much we can do against him regardless." Theo went over the list of classifications, straight up nightmare fuel some of those. That Dead Space game was tame compared.

"Strange that some ignored humans. Were there instances of those devouring humans on purpose? Sorry, just feeding my own curiosity now."

There was another itch in the back of his mind that he wanted to scratch but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"How.....how did I....how did HE die?

"So my blood wouldn't help at all." Liv said but mostly to herself."Yeah I suppose I...." She stopped and looked back at the former Queen. "I'm in a good mood. How about I show you the world? I know a place with a great few. Let's celebrate by actually using your eyes to see some other beauty of the world or than me."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"The behemoths never acted directly to harm people, but they were always protected by large numbers of air, land, or sea support."

Widget beeped and said in a monotonous voice, "Warning. The following information can be particularly sensitive for anyone who is, or knows, the subject in question. I strongly advise that you do not inquire as to the ways you or loved ones have expired. To continue, please type your full name and press enter."

*click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click...clack*

Theonis Richards. AKA Theo. Cause of death: incineration.

Report: At 0437, the "bunker" safehouse was discovered and subsequently attacked by the first wave of the Hellstar's advanced bio-beasts. Defensive positions were held for seven hours, forty eight minutes, and three seconds. At that time, the first instance of the Digger classification breached the safehouse from beneath. Survivors were secured into a safety vault. At that time Theonis, against the wishes of all present, broke the lockdown and used his power to vent the infiltrating bio-beasts.

It is unknown how he came to the surface, but he was found once the sensors confirmed no bio-beast presence. The area around him suffered catastrophic damage, likely due to his power. Witnesses stated that he was on his knees and stared unblinking into the main eye of the Hellstar while rambling incoherently. .

At that time, it was determined that he had been infected with the mutagenic strain designated HSVAI (Hellstar Viral Assimilation Infection). With no known cure, he was terminated of at the hands of [REDACTED] to end his suffering and maintain safety.

End of report.

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Lokelonni laughed softly and replied, "My dear, I have lived long enough to see the civilizations rise and fall dozens of times over. I highly doubt there is anything you could show me that I have not seen before. However, it would be rude of me to deny such a kind gesture. I would be glad to accompany you under once condition. Bring your girlfriend with us. I would like to meet her."  

[Nova Blancke]

Theo was reading and judging by the situation, he would have most likely have done the same. But still...it is a bit unnerving to read about the death of your own future self. He imagined it'd be one of the rare times where he did have to pay attention to collateral damage when on the surface.

Terminated by [Redacted]. Incineration.....Liv? According to Ravan it was one of the only ways to kill the Bio Beasts.

"Play Chant of the Seen."

"Wow, no need to brag about your age." She chuckled."You can meet her if you'd want but....I think I can actually show you a world that is...I suppose it is mine now. A world of Light. The place I use to teleport from one place to another"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"This is Gidget Morris. By the clock, it's been six or so days since the...thing, came out and blocked out the sun. We think this is the thing Silhouette warned us about, the Daecalum. Some of the others have taken to calling it something else, something more fitting. The Hellstar. Whatever it's called, it's made the bio-beasts exponentially more intelligent, coordinated, and lethal."

"Not only that, but we've witnessed a phenomenon that occurs when one of us looks directly into one of the Hellstars many...many eyes. The affected person chants, almost like an incantation, and does only that even after being removed from the sight of the Hellstar's eyes. They don't eat, don't sleep, and will eventually die from dehydration, starvation, or most likely sleep deprivation. This phenomenon doesn't seem to happen through photo or video, only in person. What they say is a garbled mess of abstract sentences and declarations. This is the first recording of someone who has been "seen." (i.e. make direct visual contact with a Hellstar eye)."

"We are worms through time.

The temporal song distorts us.

Happiness comes.

White pearls, but yellow and red in the eye.

Through a mirror, inverted is made right.

Leave our insides by the door.

Push the fingers through the surface into the wet.

We've always been the new us.

We want this to be true.

You watch over us while we dream.

We can almost hear your words but we forget.

This happens more and more now.

We gave you the permission in our regulations.

You wait in the stains.

The word that describes this is forgotten.

Repeat the word.

The name of the sound.

It resonates in our house.

After the song, time for applause.

You build us till nothing remains.

The egg cracks and the truth will emerge out of us.

We are home.

We remind you of home.

We’ve taken our God with their God with us.

All life must be devoured.

Under the conceptual reality behind this reality we must want these waves to drag us away.

After the song, time for applause.

This cliché is death out of time, breaking the first the second the third the fourth wall, the fifth wall, floor; no floor: we fall!

How do we say “insane”?

Hurts to be happy.

An earworm is a tune we can’t stop humming in a dream: “when all become one”.

Just plastic.

So, safe and nothing to worry about.

Ha ha, funny.

The last egg breaks now.

The hole in our room is a hole in us.

You came and we let you in through the hole in us.

You have always been here, the only child.

A copy of a copy of a copy.

Orange peel.

The picture is us holding the picture.

When we hear this we will know you’re in the new us.

We want to listen.

We want to dream.

We want to smile.

We want to hurt.

We don’t want to be."

"At this point, the subject repeated the chant ad infinitum. It is unclear as to why this effect occurs. If it is a fracturing of the psyche, then why is the chant always the same? Is it a message to the survivors? A call to accept our fate? But then why does the afflicted person speaks in first person plural and not singular sentences? Is it just toying with us? So many unanswered questions...that'll most likely never be answered."

Widget turned and looked up to Leo. Her bubbly speech pattern had returned. "Are you sure you want to keep going? It's okay to take a break, you know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, you mean the realm of light. You are correct. Not since my first life have I bared witness to it's splendor. A memory of a memory does not do it justice. I humbly accept your offer, though I must ask that we not stay for very long. I don not know when my eyes will return to their prior state, and I would hate to tear a hole in your realm. Also, hopefully, Kerana and Ilex will return from their outdoor lessons. I am eager to see what they have learned from each other."