Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-44544645-20191211195811/@comment-44544645-20200110051916

Twenty-Three

'''Luzia Vacker stood in the center of the room, grasping the wrists of a man in a dark cloak. '''

“This will make you stronger,” she whispered, shooting light around him.

Her voice was a little deeper, a little hoarser—not the mimicry of Linh that had been going on previously.

“I can’t!” the voice cried out.

Ruy.

'''“Shadows made you weak. Light will make you strong. You can fix your ability—or do you want to show that you’re just as worthless as that idiot Vanisher? Embrace the pain.”'''

Ruy shrieked as the light wrapped around him.

They’re…trying to fix Ruy’s ability, Maruca transmitted.

'''Make a force field, Jax told her. If Ruy’s ability is broken, we can’t let it get fixed. We need to break their concentration.'''

'''Maruca snapped her fingers, encasing the two dark-cloaked figures in a dome of shining white light. '''

“What’s going on?” Ruy shrieked.

“We decided it was time to pay you a visit for a change,” Keefe grinned.

'''Luzia glared at him. “Keep making those jokes for as long as you can. When the stellarlune activates for real, it’ll be game over. You’ll finally start seeing the glory of our side.”'''

'''“Oh, funny story?” Keefe grinned. “Turns out a Flasher and a Shade can deactivate stellarlune as well. Guess I get to keep my sense of humor—and my hair looks just as awesome as ever.”'''

“You think you’re so clever—you do realize that there are more of us, don’t you?” Ruy sneered.

'''Tam snorted. “As if we don’t know that your Technopath is working with Vespera on some new illusion in the other hideout. I’m guessing Keefe’s mom is there, too, because she only hangs out with the important members now, and clearly you two—” he looked at Luzia “—don’t like each other very much, given the whole betraying her in Loamnore thing. Gethen always preferred the elite villain crew, too, not the rejects who come over to our side or whose abilities fail.”'''

'''Clearly, Tam had picked up on some things from his time with the Neverseen. It was a gamble—but a lucky one.'''

Ruy gasped in shock.

Luzia started to stomp her foot in a distinct pattern, but nothing happened.

'''“I guess Mommy Dearest has full dwarf control, too,” Keefe teased. “Scared now?”'''

“You wish,” a voice behind them muttered.

Then a blast of wind shot through the room, knocking Sophie and her friends off their feet.

'''It hit her in the back, and she fell straight down, trying to use her hands to break her fall. She was almost successful—a second gust of wind made her right hand slip away, and her head crashed into the floor, causing her nose to gush with blood. '''

The pain made her woozy, and she tried to sit up but ended up collapsing on Keefe, who had pulled himself into a sitting position as he gasped for breath.

'''The rest of her friends looked little better. Jax didn’t seem hurt—maybe his ability as a Phaser had helped keep him steady—but Maruca had hit the stone floor hard, and seemed just as dazed as Sophie. Tam was sitting up, but he looked winded, and he was leaning heavily against the wall. Dex was curled up on the stone floor, his breathing quick and panicked, muttering to his panic switch. '''

'''Sophie focused on passing around Panakes blossoms to her friends, hoping that the healing flowers would get them ready to take the Neverseen on. She shoved a few of the flowers in her mouth, and they mostly worked—although a thin trickle of blood still stemmed from her nose, the petals dulled her headache.'''

'''It looked like Jax was pounding the floor with his blurred foot, summoning the Black Swan’s dwarves to help them out. They were going to need it. '''

'''“You really thought there were only two of us in this hideout?” Trix snorted as he walked into the room, dragging his feet. “Gullible indeed.”'''

He raised his hand as if to cause another brutal blast of wind—but Tam got there first, shooting a bolt of shadowflux at the exposed Neverseen member.

Shadowflux?

'''Clearly, Tam had been training. '''

Trix dodged with a snarl, but it held him off long enough for Maruca to surround him in a dome of glowing white light.

'''The force also knocked his hood back—and although the room was dark, Sophie saw that he had brownish-blond hair, slicked back with copious amounts of gel, thick eyebrows, and wide ice-blue eyes. She made a mental image.'''

“I’d say you’re the gullible ones,” Keefe smirked.

'''“Really? Because although those two don’t know the power codes—I do.”'''

It was too late when Sophie realized what was happening.

Dwarves shot out of the ground, looking larger.

Angrier.

Like they were ready to crack the ground into tiny pieces and let Sophie and her friends fall into oblivion.

Several of them grabbed the Neverseen members and tunneled them out of their force fields, leaving Sophie and her friends facing down eight angry dwarves and three elves with murderous glares.

'''“Amazing what stellarlune can do, isn’t it?” Trix asked. “This was where we’ve been experimenting on them—it seems that they’re finally ready. And when I give the command….” '''

He let the threat draw out, waiting to see what they would do.

Sophie knew one thing—she had to act.

She felt for a fragile nerve, reaching out for Keefe’s hand as her enhancing flickered on.

'''I’m ready, Keefe told her. '''

'''She knew running would be the smart thing to do. '''

'''Grab all of her friends. '''

Channel energy to her legs.

Teleport away.

But she was done running.

She grasped Keefe’s hand as she felt for a knot of emotions, feeling her anger and rage and terror melt until it felt red-hot, like fire.

Glowing purple, the melting amethyst walls of the tower.

Crystallizing into white, the crumbling stones of Lumenaria.

Enraged.

Scared.

Protective.

Livid.

Brave.

And so many more.

Everything and anything.

Acting as one.

Ready to spill out of her mind and fly out in chaos.

But a calm blue breeze swept through her head, keeping her emotions focused.

Centered.

Ready.

And she spilled the emotions out of her mind, directing them at three very specific targets.

Luzia.

Ruy.

Trix.

The frenzy spilled out of her, going and going, until she felt drained and overwhelmed—but also energized.

It felt good to let go.

The three Neverseen members fell—and then Sophie realized that the dwarves were still there.

Ready to fight.

Ready to destroy.

'''Jax shouted “LEVITATE!” as the dwarves stomped their feet, creating cracks in the rockly ground. The Black Swan’s dwarves came out, too, and soon the fight was raging in the dark room. '''

'''“GO!” one of the dwarves called. “We can handle this, but the floor’s about to fall in!”'''

The floor was cracking and crumbling as they raced to the staircase.

Raced to escape.