Broken hero

Chapter 12

   Eclipse gulps and takes a deep breath as she reaches up and knocks on the door, earning approval to enter from the other side. She slowly opens the door and calms her nerves before walking in. Warfalcon looks up and gives her a small smile.

"Hey, you're up sooner than I thought. How are you feeling?" The worry in his voice was equally endearing and frustrating.

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm not made of glass Warfalcon. Please don't treat me like I am." She gives him a knowing look, having noticed him starting to get up to help her.

This was one of the things she was worried about. People tend to treat victims like glass, but what she needed right now was a sense of normalcy.

He looks conflicted but nods in understanding, sitting back and motioning towards the other office chair. They sit in silence for a moment, neither knowing where to start.

"How long?" Warfalcon finally breaks the silence.

Leaning her head against her hand, she thinks for a minute before starting, "couple of months into the relationship. I caught her cheating one night and tried to break up, but she wasn't having it. She started throwing objects and trying to attack me. Neighbors called the police but, because of my healing, I didn't have any marks while she did. I was labeled the aggressor and put in jail for the night. The next morning, she came by and dropped the charges. In the car she warned me that she would do worse if I ever tried that again. Not that it stopped her." She mumbles the last sentence.

"I had told her about Charles before all of this began, and she used that to keep me in line, breaking down my self-esteem by reminding me of what I lost. As time went on, she just grew worse, forcing me to have sex with her whenever she wanted and using her poison claws to paralyze me when I refused. Then she started saying we were in a poly relationship and brought back any partners she felt would join in to torture me." She pauses at the look on Warfalcon's face, only continuing when he motions for her to do so. "She started practicing her potions and used me as a test subject whenever she was bored. That's why I started my own research with poisons and antidotes. I realized using the poisons gave me an intolerance to them until I became immune to most of them. I was hoping to find a way to do the same with her poisons but because of her genetic makeup, it wasn't possible. The day you found me... I was trying an antidote to the Viper Vine."

Warfalcon's face softened. In the year before she started dating Lindsey, she had been dating a man named Jesse. Her twin had found and reconnected with her not long after her miscarriage and Jesse was a childhood friend of theirs. He and Eclipse had started dating and the night that he had proposed, he also died.

A plant known as the Viper Vine was native to this island. It was a poisonous blue flower that would attach itself to your mouth and force its poison down your throat. The flower was had a sweet smell that attracted people to it, and it used that to strike. Unfortunately, while Eclipse was dealing with a fire, Jesse had found one and went to pick it. By the time Eclipse found him, it was too late, and he died in her arms.

Her brother, Phoenix, had found an ancient stone and was coming to show them when he saw what had happened. The stone used his grief to influence him, sinking into his palm and giving him power. He blamed Eclipse for Jesse's death, causing her to realize her brother loved Jesse in a way she'd never known before. As she scrambled to get away from his attack, her hand brushed up against something and she suddenly felt a surge of power.

An invisible force slammed into her brother, pushing him back. And that was the last she saw of him that night. She found out later that, just like her brother, she had placed her hand on a stone, and it sunk into her palm. The difference was that her stone wasn't corrupted while his was. It gave her whatever power she needed, if she met the requirements to use them. However it came with a limitation, she could never lie, or her powers would be cut off.

Normally this would be an annoyance at best, but not for her. Being a twin caused her to have a birth defect, one lung was weaker than the other. Growing up it made breathing feel like asthmatics might feel; however her powers had taken over and she was dependent on them to breath normally. So, whenever her powers turned off, she had a lot of difficulty breathing.

She's pulled out of her musing by Warfalcon clearing his throat. She smiles sheepishly.

"Sorry. Anyway, I screwed up that dose and didn't get the antidote in time. Then you sent me to the psych ward and afterwards, Lindsey used it to threaten me if she felt I was pulling away again. Something she followed through a couple of times by convincing you that I was a danger to myself. The day I ran, she had been angry before she left, and I didn't know what to expect when she returned. I decided that I'd had enough and ran, ending up a crossed the river without realizing at first. By the time I realized my mistake, Phoenix had cornered me. " Her voice grew quiet, "I didn't mean to do so but.... I killed him by mistake."

His expression showed his surprise, but he stayed quiet while she gathered her thoughts.

Fighting back the image of his body on the ground, blood mixing with the rain as his red eyes stared at her, she shakes her head and continues, "I couldn't go home so I called the president and got a job undercover."

"I see... so now that it's over..."

"I want to come back. I miss being a hero." She replies, looking into his eyes.

His eyes search hers for a moment before he smiles. "Welcome back, second in command."

She groans, "You're really going to force that on me?"

He laughs, " Of course, you built this place after all."