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

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

As much as he worked out, Dean found himself out of breath. He made a mental not to start focusing on cardio a bit more. The intensity with which Trinity danced had caught him off guard at first, but it did not take him long to catch up to her pace.

He took a long sip of water and let out a satisfied whistle. "You sure have a lot of energy today. Did something happen, other than your mentor coming back to life. That was her I saw in here earlier, right? Freya?"

“Yeah.” she smiled, “That’s Freya. Y’know it was not an exaggeration, she really did come back from the dead. Not going into too much detail about it. I was in the land of the dead when I first met her wolf form Fenris.” She looked down, and closed her hand, as she thought of that moment “I thought it was the last time I saw her, that I would not see her again. But by some miracle she was out of there and as of last night she was back to her old self and no more Fenris.” She smiled thinking of the moment when she got her sensei back.

She rubbed one of her eyes “Sorry, it was kinda rough last night. We were up against a giant werewolf. Life doesn’t seem to skip a beat with me.” She rubbed her head. “Though I wouldn’t mind a change of pace.” Her fingers took a stroll to the center of the table in hopes he would return a similar gesture.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Rheum stood tall with his hands folded behind his back. He had been known by the names of many aquatic gods throughout history, and he exhibited their grandest features.

"Fret not, young one." he said in a gentle voice. "I will no longer use Deora as a conduit for myself. It was merely so that I may speak with you face to face, so to speak."

He sighed and continued, "I am Rheum, aspect of water's adaptability. You, Sara, daughter of the Mer, stand to inherit a great power. A boon of the Primantigua, or Ancients. Deora and the other seven gifted are blessed by our spirits for one purpose. This may be frightening, but I will not hide anything from you."

Rheum waved his hand in front of him and produced a thin sheet of ice. Within it's reflection, Sara was shown and told all that Deora knew within a matter of seconds. To her, the information would be perfectly relayed in spite of it's rapidity.

"Now you know what they face. What countless cycles have tried and failed to destroy. Know this, I would not approach you had I not the upmost confidence in your strength. Not your physically prowess, but the power of your heart. Your love for this planet, and the waters that birthed complex life, is rivaled only by the one called Kerana."

He sighed again and shook his head, "I wish I did not have to approach you first, Sara. This is an impossible task to ask of one so young, yet I could not allow the opportunity to pass me by. Know this. You do not have to accept my power. As your friend said, there are others whom I could speak. In time, I will approach them as I have you until one accepts or I am forced to take someone. Though time is of the essence, I will give you two days to think on what I have shown you."

"Also, though this may be considered manipulative, I should tell you what you will be given should you agree"

He approached her and studied her breathing apparatus. "'Tis a true shame that you must rely on such technology to be with the ones you care for. Yet, it does not have to remain so. The one called Heather the polar kin to water. You may remember that she was changed after an encounter with the one called Damien. Improved. You will also be improved No longer will you have to be imprisoned in a suit of metal and plastic so that you may walk in the grass you once ran on. You will attain an evolution that so few Mer knew before the end of the second age."

"Please think sincerely on my offer, Sara. Should you accept, come to Deora again. If you do not take her hand within forty-eight hours, then I will know you have declined."

In an instant, Rheum was gone, and the world around Sara became reanimated.

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

Dean smiled and chuckled. He placed his right hand tenderly onto her's and asked, "You know, as much as I am liking where this is going, I think it would be irresponsible if I didn't ask you where you want this to go? Beyond tonight, I mean."

He put his left hand over his right and paused for a second. "Are you giving us a second chance, or is this just a trip down memory lane? Honestly, I'm fine either way, but I'd like to know exactly what you want before I get my hopes up."

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

Okami was about to reply when she heard something that made her ears twitch. "Oof, speak of the devil. I think she's on her way back. Good luck!"

With that she dove into the shadows and ditched Liam. A few seconds later, Freya opened the door to her room. It was obvious that she had been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot, and the area around them was puffy. She sniffed and glared at Liam. "What're you doing here?! Get back on your side of the hole!"  

[Nova Blancke]

Liam was going to respond until Okami ditched him after saying she was returning. Freya's response to finding him on 'her' side made sense. After all it was her side. Why didn't he do this in his apartment? The empty bottles sank into shadows

"Okami asked for my help with something." Liam respond calmly before seeing Freya's face. His chest tightened upon seeing her like this. Seeing her in obvious pain.

He opened his mouth to speak but stopped. Asking if she were alright was a..dumb question. Her mother had most likely told her. Before heading back to his side of the 'fence', he looked at her.

"I will be here should you need anything. Well...almost anything" He said, placing his hand on her shoulder before heading back. Thinking back to what Okami said. Despite wanting to embrace her he went back to his apartment through the hole. Emotions were such a strange and illogical thing.  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

Dean smiled and chuckled. He placed his right hand tenderly onto her's and asked, "You know, as much as I am liking where this is going, I think it would be irresponsible if I didn't ask you where you want this to go? Beyond tonight, I mean."

He put his left hand over his right and paused for a second. "Are you giving us a second chance, or is this just a trip down memory lane? Honestly, I'm fine either way, but I'd like to know exactly what you want before I get my hopes up."

Trinity listened carefully and took note of his hands. Part of her wanted to consider
Theonis but the moment she thought of him the eventuality would follow. Currently
she wasn't able to see past that. Right now Dean was in front of her their future was
uncertain and after a good chunk of her life was in some ways fortold. Her ancestors delt with a similar fate, destined to save the world, to die in her 30s, never see her own child grow up but got to choose the one she loves. It seemed like there was just more of that when the AU kids popped up that hers and Theo’s love was destined to fail for Liv. Another foretelling in a sense. Shake it off Theo is not here, Dean is.

“A lot has happened recently and it got me to reflect on some things. Like perhaps when your power evolved to enable to not only conjure a mythical item but a mythical creature I thought you were hiding that from me. Was worse was the mermaid looked an awful lot like Catherine and I just jumped to the conclusion that you wanted to be with her.” She rubbed her head with her other hand. “Perhaps it was kind of vein of me to zero in on that rather than the notion that this was a new ordeal you needed to sort out and I was no help at all in that front. Guess I was so busy thinking ’Why did she look like Catherine and not me’ I know real self-absorbed of me huh.” Her eyes lowered then she looked at his hands both of them on hers. “But, if you are willing to look past this, then so am I.” She placed her other hand on top of his. She looked into his eyes like hidden sapphires amongst his ash blond bangs. “I’m willing to give us a second chance if you are.” Her eyes shimmered as she awaited his response.  

[BeaMichelle]

Ravan was quick to act. She floated Sara over the pool and frantically began to pull at the apparatus to allow her friend to breath. "You saw it, didn't you?! They showed you the Hellstar! You should've never had to see it!"

Ravan desperately looked to Kerana. She knew the fox-girl could heal. She'd seen her heal Deora earlier that day. With just her eyes, Ravan asked Kerana to make Sara's pain go away.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec wrung his hands anxiously after he closed the rift. There was no future where Sara saw the Hellstar and did not freak out. She would be okay, though. He knew that much. Whether she would accept Rheum's proposal or not was still a 50/50 chance.

Deora cried quietly. That day had started so well. A nice morning. A day out at the fair. Then it all went to s**t at the shot of a bullet. She sniffed and motioned toward Alec. "Hey, I know there's a lot to think about, but I think I'd like to go ahead and rip this particular band-aid off. Can you hand me my phone, por favor?"

Deora took her phone from Alec. She paused for a moment as she thought about the best way to go about the message. Was there even a best way, or just a way that was least awful? Her hands trembled.

"Alec...can you bring a dead person here?"

Alec was shocked. "What?! I mean, no...not really. Why?"

"I kinda wanted to talk to mi bisabuela, my great grandmother. She died when I was 9, but I love her a lot. She was then best when it came to making me feel better. So, after I type this up, do you think I could see her? "

Alec did not know how to respond. He was not sure if it would be the best thing for Deora, but then who was he to make that determination. The best he could do would be to bring her great grandmother's spirit forth, and that was only if deceased had not decided to move on.

"I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best." he offered.

Deora nodded and replied, "Gracias." She then took a deep breath and typed her awful update in the group chat. When Deora finished she dropped her phone, put her face in her hands, and wept.

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

Dean smile and replied cheerfuly, "Yeah, I think I could. One day at a time, right? Let's see where this thing goes."

The dinner was brought out and placed on their tables when Trinity's phone signified a message had been posted to The Chose group chat.

"Never heard that ring tone before." Dean commented. "Something important?"

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

Freya rolled her eyes and focused on why she had returned to her room. She planned to drink herself into a small coma. Yet, as she looked around her stashes, her drinks were nowhere to be found. The only thing she did find was the single bottle of sake on her table. Her pulse quickened, and her head ached with the sudden rush of blood and anger. She ransacked her emergency stashes and found nothing. She even went into the defcon-1 stash. Nothing! She threw a glass that was next to the sink. When it shattered against the wall, a thought occurred to her. The sink? No. There was no way.

She looked over and, sure enough, she could smell the contents of her extensive collection waft up from the drain. She gripped the counter as the red aura enveloped her body. With a single shriek of rage, her aura exploded out an caused the fire system to go off. As alarms rang and she became drenched in rancid, black water, her aura dropped as she let go of the counter and fell to her knees. She did not cry, she just stared out somewhere far past the floor in front of her.  

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

Dean smile and replied cheerfuly, "Yeah, I think I could. One day at a time, right? Let's see where this thing goes."

The dinner was brought out and placed on their tables when Trinity's phone signified a message had been posted to The Chosen group chat.

"Never heard that ring tone before." Dean commented. "Something important?"

Trinity quirked her eyebrow at the sound. Normally she would have it on silent mode. She quickly silenced her phone. “Um … I think it can wait. Despite how important that group is there have been quite a few posts that aren’t as important. Especially memes…” She was mostly used to text groups that would relay strictly important stuff. Though one on ones were a bit more casual. Admittedly The Chosen group had a few people amongst them that did not have combat experience. There were times she had to stop the shenanigans to get them to focus on the task at hand.

“Anyway, yes, one day at a time.” then placed her hand on top of his hands. She looked into his eyes beyond his bangs. I could easily get lost in his eyes. Something about them remind me of a stormy ocean night.

Her stomach growled, “Right. 😅 dinner.” She slipped out her hands and started eating her chicken caesar salad. “So, aside the bartending and the PE teaching what else have you been up to?”  

[Nova Blancke]

Liam was in his kitchen doing the dishes. Cleaning up some of the mess as he heard the shattering of the glass followed by a scream of rage. A suddenly coldness ran across his back, stomach twisting. He felt .....bad? Guilty? By helping Okami he had hurt Freya by taking away her means of escaping reality. Should he talk to her? Should he leave her be? There was something in his hand though he couldn't recognize what it used to be as it was crumpled up completely due to his strength. A fork perhaps? His shoulder slumped as he sighed before walking over to the hole to look. It was rather quiet. Too quiet apart from the sprinklers going off. What he saw was something he did not enjoy seeing. Freya on her knees, just staring in front of her as the black water rained down on her.

Using Anna's power to apply a sort of filter to sieve out the black....stuff. Gently he moved closer to her and got on one knee next to her but not side by side. Placing a hand on her back. Liam wasn't sure what to say nor did he know if he should speak at all. So he didn't. Perhaps she would just take her anger out on him. That would be fine, preferable even to seeing her like this.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Dean's eyes lit up as he said, "Oh tons! I'm starting a youth outreach program for kids that need help coping with trauma by way of physical training."

He explains that he teamed up with Valhalla's psychiatric department a few weeks after the future kids arrived. He wanted to help, but the only way he knew how was through what he knew best. Physical self improvement. It would not be best for every kid, but for those who had the drive he had become something of a surrogate father figure. All the while he would occasionally take a bite or two out of his food. He was very passionate as he spoke.

"It's not just exercise, either. We're thinking about branching out to other special interests. Academics, writing, video games, music, you name it! We had all these programs in place already, but by working with the docs we can target kids that need a healthier outlet. A couple of the older kids have even volunteered to educate themselves and help while the rest of us work."

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

Freya tensed up when Liam's hand came into contact with her back. Her first instinct was to turn around and slug him. Her mind was willing, but her body was weak. She felt like she had no energy. Almost as though the explosion took everything out of her. Another lesson from her father. Anger wastes energy. The thought of him just brought to mind everyone and everything else she had lost.

She put her face in her hands and cried silently. It did not take long for the sprinklers to stop and the Valhalla fire and security teams to arrive. They looked into the room, saw who was there, and decided to give Freya a moment to calm down.

A few minutes later, Freya put her hands down and spoke to Liam without looking to him. "You knew, didn't you. Probably back when Fenris was here, cuz Rydia said she knew too."  

[BeaMichelle]

Ravan sighed with immense relief as Sara swam away. There was still a bit of unease about her, though. She had never seen Sara so upset before. It made her stomach hurt. This confused her because she had to be around a lot of upset people until just recently. Yet there was something different when it came to Sara.

She looked to Kerana and nodded in response to her question. "She was the first friend I made here. She's almost always happy, but not in the way adults are when they're trying to keep kids from being scared. Even though she's stuck here, she's smiling. I like her smile a lot."

"Also...I thinks mermaids are really pretty."  

[Nova Blancke]

Liam felt her tense. Perhaps he shouldn't have done that but he had to do something. Watching her silently cry was painful. His throat felt awfully tight and heavy. There had to be something for him to do. To try and comfort her. To help her. He could have stopped the downpour of water but chose not to.

Liam didn't answer right away.

"Yes. She...." He paused" Did not want me to tell you. I told her-"

He stopped himself.

"I'm sorry"