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

[PixelMuse]

Rikki Tikki Travi

"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!"

Trinity was about to answer Leo when the glass shattered. The way Ravan, Leo, and Dawn react she could tell Ravan harbored feelings for Leo. Trinity got the feeling that she was perceived as the other woman. She could feel Ravan’s anger. Trinity let out a sharp breath and said, “Alright everybody calm down. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.” She joined them in doing so. “Then sigh it out.”

She couldn’t help but feel like she was taming a group of velociraptors, like in that one dinosaur movie.

“Okay…” she looked to Leo. “To answer your question, yes, you did hear me say, Theo… Allow me to explain. Earlier I was helping Fenris in the Shadow Realm deal with an identity crisis sorting things out in her head. That took a month in the Shadow Realm… about 20 minutes here. While we were sparing Leo’s shadow acted up and thrust me against the wall. Didn’t see that coming. So it roughed up my head.” She rubbed her head. “When I regained consciousness that month without even seeing Theo hit me hard. That train of thought led me to think Leo’s silhouette was Theo’s and so … you know the rest. It was a mistake.”

“Leo I’m so sorry, I did not mean for this to happen. Are you okay?”

She will admit the kiss didn’t feel wrong. The question was if she knew it was Leo she was initially kissing would it still feel that way? Crystalion did say that technically he isn’t her son. Yet last she checked she allowed the boy to call her mother. In his view right now it was his mother that gave him a deep and loving kiss and not some girl he met from this timeline. But what if he could accept that? Would it be a sin to date him once he’s more adjusted?  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Ilex glared at Kerana when her name was called. Then her captive was released by a power greater than her own. "Damn." she thought "Am I so weak after my sleep that I am overpowered by a mortal?"

"Do not speak to me of kindness, child! For centuries I was the epitome of kindness, compassion, and love. Do you know what difference it made? None! Hateful, frightened men raised hateful, frightened children. Children that grew into men that ignored my good will and burned my gardens! I was stopped then as well; by my father! Now look what has become of this world in my absence!"

The assailant had attempted to crawl away quietly while the scary green girl yelled at the fox girl. He was quickly stopped by stone wedges that folded over his ankle.

"The sky weeps! The forests burn! The beasts starve! The seas boil! For what?! Greed! Greed and the fear of losing what finite riches these worms horde in their short lives! The play has not changed in tens of thousands of years; only the players! If they will not learn to respect the only home they have, then they will give back what they have taken! If vengeance is sought, then they will join their lost!"

A whimper was heard behind Kerana. Ilex glanced in the direction of the pitiful sound and saw that Hailey cowered in her sister's arms and wept in terror. Ilex's hard gaze softened at the sight. She turned to look behind her and finally took in what she had done. She had just warned Kerana about how state of mind could affect their control over flora. She had lost herself in her anger and created instruments of pain and torture; not fixtures of life and beauty.

"Hailey, I..." she reached a hand out and took one step toward the frightened child. Hailey only balled up tighter in her sisters embrace.

"Stay back!" Natalie shouted.

Ilex withdrew her hand and stopped. She suddenly felt very tired and dropped to her knees. She looked up at Kerana, who's aura and attitude reminded the little Ancient of her mother, Vivi.

She held her head in her hands and said, "You are right, Kerana Carter. You are better than me."

Sirens could be heard in the distance and law enforcement finally responded. Natalie stood up with Hailey still in her arms and called to Kerana, "You guys should go! There's no way of knowing whether or not there'll be Prometheus sympathizers in those cars!"

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

Leo blushed in spite of himself. So in her confusion, his "not-mom" thought he was his "not-dad"? Crystalion had often said how much he looked like his father, so he supposed it was a solid explanation as to what happened. However, he still felt very confused about what he had felt when it happened. He wondered if he should talk to Crystalion about it, but part of him felt embarrassed just to bring it up. It was all too much. He had never really given much thought to romantic feelings. There was no time. He wondered how Ravan had done so. Dawn did not, as far as he knew. What he did know is that Ravan was ready to explode, and that had to be addressed first.

"Yeah, no, I mean...yeah. I'm fine. No harm done."  

[BeaMichelle]

"Yeah, I noticed there was no harm." Ravan hissed.

"When I kissed you, you threw me into a wall! But your ********' mom kisses you, it's all good. You just stand there. No harm. Why is that, huh?! Do you hate me so much that you'd rather love her?! Is that it?! Answer me goddammit!!!"

She took two steps forward, then there was a blink of light. Before Ravan knew it, her arms were pinned to her sides and her legs were off the ground. She felt her powers fizzle out and knew immediately who was responsible.

"Put me down, Dawn!"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Dawn held Ravan in a tight bear hug. She strained and grunted as she restrained her adoptive sister. "Not...until...you calm down! You know that isn't what happened! You...crossed a line back then. You tried to do more...than just kiss him, and you know it! What happened just now was a mistake! Let it go!"

Dawn was also having a hard time processing what she had seen. She would never consider doing something similar with the younger Theonis. Would she? She doubted Leo had even considered the idea. To her, though, there was something uncomfortable about what had just happened.

Silhouette finally chimed in. "I know it's not the right time to say this, but you certainly know how to keep things interesting. I didn't even have to take over your body this time. Regardless, If Ravan is anything like the other Natiquis I know, I'd sleep somewhere safe tonight. She may actually try to kill you."  

[Nova Blancke]

Theo listened to the... chant. It was unsettling. He was relieved there wasn't any footage of himself chanting that or anything of himself in an case. It'd be strange too see footage of your own death even if it is a different person.

"I'm fine Widge, Just deny me when I try to look up Trinity's death. I am not sure if I can ever handle that." He responded."...on that note, block Agatha's death from her own viewing. I am sure she can overwrite it if she wants to but it will at least serve as a warning from me if she sees it."

"I don't really need sleep but you know that. I can keep combing through all of these files all day if I have to."

"You are...packed with knowledge. Is there anything that you think would be of use now? Please don't tell me if I have MORE kids out there. "

"As long as I stay in range I think it should stick around? I haven't used it to...plug a hole to sort of say?" Liv responded and suppressed a chuckle as she came up with a raunchy joke. "Wow I am in a mood today..."

"Anyway," She grabbed the former Queen's hand and gave it a kiss."Let us be off." She winked and both blinked into the Light Realm.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Okie dokie! All access to death records have been blocked. Three tier authentication now required to overwrite." The AI chirped

"Nope, just the two. The most useful thing right now would be medical and psych records for the people that came through the rift with me. Wouldn't want them to eat something that might kill them, right? Also, most of them haven't been exposed to plants and diseases that had been eradicated over the course of the war. As a result, their immunization records are spotty at best and non existent at worst."


"But you were probably asking about measures against the Hellstar and the bio-beasts. In that case, Gidget had recommended a number of weapons that cover every possible stage of invasion. From orbital satellite weapons to GTA ballistics."

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

"All the more reason to make this little trip brief. You are young, and should be allowed to indulge in your 'mood.'" Lokelonni said with a knowing smile.

The queen's shining eyes took in the splendor of the light realm. For her soul, it had been millions of years since it had born witness to the sight. For Lokelonni it was all new.

"Breathtaking."

She sat in silence and basked in the atmosphere for a few minutes. "You have been exceedingly kind to this total stranger. That is a rarity in this day and age. Tell me, what made you decide to indulge in my requests and curiosities?"  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity seemed to be relieved when Leo declared he was fine. Then Ravan chimed in upset that he didn’t give her the same treatment that he did Ravan. It made her pause for a moment Why didn’t he push me? There was no struggle at all. I pulled back because I noticed he wasn’t acting like Theo would. Did he … like it? Oh god did I start something that I didn’t mean to start? No no no-no no, it’s just a mistake.

She followed up what Dawn said “Exactly, it was a mistake. I do not wish to pursue a relationship of that nature with Leo. Certainly not like this. It was a mistake and nothing more. Let’s not dig into this more than necessary alright.”

She heard Sill’s commentary of the situation Glad someone is getting a kick out of this. You got some popcorn and watch I single-handedly wreck my life.

“Um how about I show you guys what one can do for fun around here? Get our minds off the topic.” After Ravan calmed down. She was originally going to go with the arcade with a chance that Theo may be there. Then there was teaching Leo about meditation and how good it would be for dealing with his temper. Then this whole debacle she thought something simpler is in order.

Trinity lead the three to a movie theater in Valhalla. Normally the latest movies are not shown here. There were 3 movies out this week, “Back to the Future”, “Jurassic Park” and “Clueless”. She thought it would be best to go with “Clueless”, considering “Back to the Future” has a similar situation that she was trying to get the minds off of. “Jurassic Park” may be a bit close to the stress of bio-beasts. “We’ll start with something simple. A romantic comedy that takes place in a high school in the 90s.”

Usually, rom-coms or chick flicks weren’t Trinity’s thing she’d usually go for action movies. Clueless was an exception it really resonated with her with the commentary of 90s high school guys and their failed attempts at wooing with a backward cap and greasy hair. She got the 3 their own bags of popcorn.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Going to the movies was a new experience for them. Ravan immediately drove her face into the bucket of popcorn. Dawn took an immediate liking to Cola, and Leo got as many hotdogs as they would allow. They had seen ruined cinemas, and they had heard recollections of the stories told in them. They served as a nice distraction before lights out. They were excited.

Dawn was immediately drawn into the bright colors and bubbly attitudes that were commonplace in 90's teen movies. She started to ask Trinity a lot of questions about the fashion, why they spoke the way they do, and about the songs she heard in the background.

Ravan made an immediate loud stink about how selfish and stupid she thought many of the characters were. This, of course, prompted a cavalcade of shushes from the audience. Leo told her to eat the popcorn, watch the movie, and shut up. Dawn kept up her power cancelation around Ravan to keep the gravity meta from acting up.

Leo, for his credit, kept mostly silent except for the odd time he had to silence Ravan. He had a bit of difficulty following the plot, but once he realized the breaks in the plot were like chapters in a book, it went a bit easier. He liked the charitable nature of Josh in particular.

When the film was over, Dawn had teared up from the happy ending, Ravan was asleep, covered in bits of popcorn, and splayed out over her seat. Leo, who had paced how quickly he ate, finished his third hot dog while he read the credits like they were an essential part of the movie.

"That's what a wedding is? It's so bright and pretty."

*SNRRRRK*

"So many people. How am I supposed to remember them all?"

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

Lokelonni domicile was empty since she was on a trip with Liv. But Kerana would not be alone for long.

The tip of a blade appeared from nowhere and sliced open a tear that hovered over the ground. Out hopped a cloaked figure carrying an all too familiar scythe that quickly sealed the tear behind him. He wasted no time in dismissing the weapon and pulling back his hood.

"Kay!" Alec Yates blurted out with a broad smile on his face. He looked just the same as he did when he left. Normally, he would respect Kerana's personal space, but he had not seen her in years. One for every hour that he was away. He ran up, wrapped his arms under Kerana's, and spun her around.

"I missed you so much!"  

[PixelMuse]

Trinity smiled at their reactions. “Don’t worry Leo if you ever want to watch it again to figure it out I happen to have a copy of it back at my place. It seemed everyone enjoyed the movie regardless, huh?”

She took a moment to check for the latest texts. She furrowed her brow as she found that Fenris started training. She thought for sure she wouldn't start today after all they went through in her mindscape. She had even let Theo and Gidget know that it wouldn't start today because of the shape she was in when she found her. She sent a couple of texts commenting on that. Then exchanged some texts with Theo avoiding telling him what happened with her and Leo.

Something caught her attention. Kerana seemed to not finish her last text. Like she was interrupted. “I need to look into something. I’ll catch up with you later.”

She dropped into her shadow and then emerged from Kerana’s finding her phone on the floor and her in Alec’s arms happy and that there was a green girl on the couch. “Looks like everything is in order here.” She stepped back into her shadow and out into the gym near the Gforce training facility. After warming up in the previous levels she continued working on level 201.  

[Nova Blancke]

"Yeah that's smart to keep in mind."

Theo's phone vibrated...a lot. Group chat seemed to have gotten more active out of the blue. Fenris bothering people again? But no. He responded before turning his activity to Widget again.

"Hammer of Dawn style huh. Think Orbital weapons are being worked on by various countries. For...different reasons obviously. Forward what might be useful to Gidget. She's better at this stuff than I am."

He was hit by a thought regarding the ancients. If by some off chance one of the kids were to be a host to one....that would give them an advantage Eclipse could never expect.

"Did your group come into contact with other ancients?"

"Oh trust me, I HAVE indulged. She's hot. Not just because of her Boon." Liv responded after she took them to her Realm.

"Tadaaaaa, there's no beating this shine.All of this golden threads and waves are rays of light than I can connect to and ride towards their destination."

"Ya know, I am not sure. Just been in a good mood I suppose. If you want me to me honest, fixing your eyes was curiosity and seeing if I can use my eyes in combination with my cancellation. This...this was just because I could I suppose? I don't think I'm.....selfless and sunshine as Kerana is."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

"Nope! Only Silhouette and Crosis. Silhouette mentioned a brother, but we never encountered him."

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

Lokelonni chuckled, "I have only known this Kerana for a few hours, and I do not think anyone is capable of matching her level of 'sunshine.'"

She then turned her head to face Liv and said, "I must apologize, but I eavesdropped on your conversation with Fenris for a moment. That being said, I am of the opinion that your mother was a fool to abandon you, and I must warn you to be mindful and not supplant her for me. Call me presumptuous, but it has happened all too often. I was referred to as 'The Queen Mother.' It is an honorary title that not every matriarch is given by her people. I do not think I need to tell you why."

"I am sorry if I have presumed too much or have stepped out of line. I just wish to hurt as few people with my passing as possible."

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

Alec hung onto Kerana's every word as she told him about the last few hours. While she spoke, he helped himself to several glasses of water and whatever hand held fruits and vegetables were in Lokelonni's fridge. He began to ramble at 100 words a minute while he paced around and ate..

"Well, the first week was just awful. Not only did I miss you, but I was still trying to work with Crosis' system. I had another down moment around month two, and that's when I decided to take Lokelonni up on her advice. I was going to make a copy of myself to stay behind and do the work, but then I thought about the ethical implications of that and just decided on the complete overhaul of the afterlife. So what I did was ask some souls that had experience in renovation, planning, and efficiency to help streamline the process. Candelabras and wacky stairs, gone! Oppressive atmosphere, thing of the past! Tombs and scrolls, we're going fully digital!"

He took a long chug of his water and continued.

"I redid the punishment system too. No more fire, brimstone, and torture. Now the damned are conscripted to be corporate stooges in order to pay their debts. Transcribing, copy running, reports, you name it. I do let them watch a movie every 24 fours, but only sequels, and only the bad ones. Did you know the Land Before Time has thirteen sequels? Thirteen! And they're all terrible!"

He took a large bite of a pear and washed it down with the rest of his water.

"But I finally got it all done! I even had a nice web developer redo my tablet interface. Why didn't you tell me it looked like a late 90's Geocities page? Nevermind, I bet you were being nice. You're so sweet. Did I say that I love you yet. Because I do. I love you so ******** much."

He sat down across from her at the table and breathed heavily. Almost as if he was readjusting to having to breath.

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

Dawn nudged Ravan in the ribs to stop the snoring. She looked back to Trinity and smiled. "I did, but I had trouble following what they were saying a lot of the time. It's like, I knew the words, but they didn't quite mean the same thing."

*SNRAK!!!*"Whazzat? Time to eat?"

"It was alright. I agree with Dawn, and I still don't understand why being gay would make you good at buying a lot of things. I'm still not sure I understand what being gay means."

Then Trinity was gone. No doubt to take care of some pressing business.

Leo made a face and looked to Dawn, "Do you know what gay means?"

"Yer gay." Ravan grumbled, still half asleep.

Dawn shrugged at Leo and then turned to pick up their garbage as well as any other garbage left behind. She was quickly joined by Leo and Ravan. They did not stop until the theater employees told them it was not necessary to cover their tracks.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

He flipped his hands over so he could hold hers. "Ah, sorry. In there I don't have a pulse, and since I was technically dead I didn't have to eat, sleep, or breath. I could, but it wasn't necessary. When when I saw how long it would take me, how long I would be away from you..."

That's when the brave façade he had put up started to crumble. His eyes turned red as he fought back the urge to cry. "I wanted to change it, but there has to be a time dilation so that there isn't a buildup of souls in purgatory. This is the first time I've used my lungs, or even had a heartbeat, in three years. For every hour I'm gone here, it's one year in there."

He laid his head down on the table and craned his neck so he could look at Kerana. "I didn't think I could keep doing this Kay. Being Death. My soul and body are in their mid and early twenties respectively, but my mind is still eighteen. How is a kid supposed to stay away from the person he loves for years at a time?"

He picked his head up and sniffed as he kept trying to push back tears. "That's when I had a great idea! There are tons of adults who pass away. A lot of those adults were religious leaders. So what I did was create a proxy system. Depending on the faith of the deceased, they are met by a respective leader that acts in my steady. In the interim, I can follow up on what I need to with my tablet. I still have to go back once a month, but it'll for only a fraction of the time."

He gripped Kerana's hands and looked intensely into her eyes. His hands began to tremble like he was on a sugar rush. "The next time I go I'd like you to come with me; to the one part of the afterlife that's bathed in light and where there's no suffering or pain. Paradise. Our own little corner of heaven."