Duality

part twenty-four

Nothing. He had literally pushed power into her, and she couldn't feel any remnants of it to use. She looked down to find smooth skin on her previously ragged legs.

"Do you feel okay?" she asked, worried he might drain all of his powers, like Elaine said, and die for a century instead of her.

He brushed her concern away with a laugh. "I'm great." He rocked onto his heels to stand and noticed her bad wrist. "Almost forgot." Between his fingers, Mila's wrist bone drifted into place. She was grateful not to feel it, because the audible pop made it sound like it would have hurt. "How do you feel?" he asked, standing to his full height.

"Fine?" He probably wanted her to say she didn't want to regenerate, now, but the world hadn't fallen into chaos yet. At Ashton's urging she stood, admittedly finding it easier. "I feel normal."

"Powers?" he asked.

She'd known they were gone, but she tried again, thinking with everything fixed it might return. Unfortunately, she was hollow, abandoned. Elaine was right, her life force was drained, and her spiritual being would continue to reflect that.

Mila shook her head.

"We can work on that," Ashton dismissed. His grin was infectious, and he swooped in for a kiss. "I'm glad you're better."

She accepted the kiss, but her worries couldn't be dismissed. What good was she to the world without her powers? How could she perform the duties she'd been born with when she was practically a human now?

"Should we tell Elaine?" Mila asked when the kiss ended.

Smiling with his teeth, Ashton went and opened the door she'd walked through, revealing a tiny bedroom. Ashton stepped aside, so that Mila was essentially framed in the doorway. If she lived, she would have to talk to him about how he presented her to his guardian: she felt awkward, studied, the natural opposite to Ashton on display.

The thin smile Elaine gave in return was not reassuring. "I don't know how long this will last, but believe me when I say it won't."

"Elaine," Ashton reprimanded.

Guardians always seemed to know more about balance than the two of them, so Mila believed her. When Elaine strode to the largest window in the room, Mila waited for her to make a stronger point and convince Ashton.

Drawing the thick, patterned curtains back, Elaine said, "Look at the woods."

Both immortals moved forward. Ashton let Mila peer out first, as he could see well enough from behind her. Mila spotted the disturbance immediately: an entire section of the woods looked dead, the trees gnarled and lifeless.

"That's probably from where we trained," Ashton dismissed. At Elaine's solemn look, he added, "We can fix it."

"As long as you have my powers," Mila pointed out softly. And how long could he run around the woods, fixing the damage, until it became too much? Mila turned away, not needing to see anything else. She had a feeling the view outside would only get worse.

Nodding to the street below them, Elaine pointed out, "The pavement's already cracking."

"I didn't do that," Ashton said, staring at his hands like he'd find answers there.

"The earth is rebelling," Elaine said, throwing up her hands. "How many times do I have to tell you that?" She glanced to Mila and then glared at Ashton. "You're making me look bad. I raised you to act smarter than this."

Instantly he turned repentant. "I'm sorry, Elaine."

"I'll go tell everyone you chose to save the girl instead of the world, so they should say their goodbyes," she continued, smoothing out her long cotton dress. She stalked away from the window as though to do just that; even stranger, Ashton let her go.