Innocence at its Worst

Day Five - 16

Blazing fire erupts across the room, licks of flame dance near the group of friends, threatening to burn them all, but Charlie pulled it back, twirling the flames like a ribbon dancer, in control for only a breath of a second. 

"You almost got it!" Rhea ducked as a column of fire flew over her head. 

Charlie winces, yanking on her fire whip a little too hard. It swings around the room in a smooth arc, barely grazing against the wall. Paint peels at the sheer heat of the solar flare, falling to the floor like autumn leaves. Charlie begins to sweat as she loses control, feeling the mark on her forehead beginning to tingle. She ducks her head, hoping her hair hides the mark of darkness from her friends. 

"Charlie!" Arian yells, "Pull it back in!" he coaches.

She squeezes her eyes shut, her head aches terribly. Charlie meets Rhea's eyes, understanding passed between them. 

"Brookie! Put it out!" Rhea orders. 

Brook raises her arms, a snaking jet of water flies from the kitchen sink, twirling through the air. It wraps itself around Charlie's tornado of flame, closing in around it until it's nothing but a cloud of steam. 

Charlie keels over, panting hard. "S-sorry," she pants. 

Rhea rubs her arm uncomfortably. "It's okay. My house was almost burned down, but I don't think that really matters," she smiles uneasily.

Getting to her feet, Charlie sways to and fro, nearly falling back down. Instead, she limps down the hallway. "I'll be back," she says weakly. 

Everybody turned their eyes to Rhea. "What?" she blinks. "Charlie was having trouble, so I-- wanted to help. Even if it wasn't me--"

"What was that look between you two?" Levi asks, arms crossed.

"Uh... a look?" Rhea smiles. "Sometimes when you're playing with fire, you can't help but look to your friends for help. Your best friend," she emphasizes. "Me."

"I get that, but..." Arian trails off. 

"But what? Charlie's tired, so she's on break. Do you want to be up next?" Rhea gives him a pointed look.

Arian shifts uneasily on his feet. "I don't even know my power."

"Bet you do," Rhea steps up to him, a challenging look in her face. 

Arian is the first to look away.

"That's what I thought," Rhea huffs. "I'm going to check on Charlie," she announces, already disappearing into the hallway. 

Mason smirks, "So who's next?"

Frowning, Levi's gaze lingers on Rhea's disappearing figure. "Is it just me, or is she... acting different?"

Brook meets his eyes, lowering her gaze to the floor. Levi couldn't help but think that everybody is hiding something from one another. His gaze flicks to Mason who was lounging on the counter with a bottle of soda. 

"What?" Mason twirls the cap around his fingers. 

"Why don't you try out your power?"

Raising an eyebrow, Mason flicks the bottle cap across the room. "What's there to test? I'm a ghost. Not very helpful over here," Mason yawns. 

"The least you could do is try," Brook appears at his side, maneuvering a snake of water around him like a dancing ribbon.

Mason pokes the water, his finger sliding right through, almost like jello, but not quite. He smiles to himself, "I don't have an element like you all do."

"Yours may not be an element," Brook says slowly. She glances at Levi, jerking her chin in the general direction of the hallway. Levi shrugs and leaves the two of them alone with Arian at his heels.

"You think being invisible is really going to help?" Mason drums his fingers on the countertop, lost in thought.

"It could. She might not see you."

"Right," Mason drawls, "Like the woman of darkness can't see me using an ability that originates from darkness."

"Arian's been telling me some things," Brook explains. "Every affinity, or-- element have different branches--"

"--Like weather?" Mason interjects.

Brook nods thoughtfully. "Charlie and I have the top link of our elements, but he told me that Maeve was third in the chain. She isn't all-seeing like we may think."

Mason sits up, his attention piqued. "You mean...?" he looks around the kitchen in awe.

"You're basically equals," Brook smiles. "She can only enchant boys. She tried with Levi, but he was already in love with someone else."

Self-consciously, Mason tried to remember if Maeve had ever tried to enchant him.

"Arian said you're a Nightblade. Right? It's a class of darkness. Maybe second on the chain?" Brook gives him a pointed look. 

"That may be true," Mason swings his legs over the edge of the counter so he can face her. "But you, Charlie, Rhea, and that creepy brother of yours are all at the top. Seriously, what use am I here? Oh, I can go invisible and sneak behind the witch? I can see how that would go over well. Maybe stick a knife in her back, but what then? I'll get stained like Rhea."

"None of us know how to use our power well like you do. You use your power all the time without even realizing it. We have to concentrate really hard, and we're probably going to be extremely weak in comparison to Maeve." Brook takes his hand and squeezes it, "Mason, you're the only one here who knows how to use your power effectively. We need that."

"Invisibility," Mason deadpans, pulling his hand out of her grasp. "Right. Like I can shoot invisibility rays at her."

Arian clears his throat, "Ahem. Actually, you can siphon life forces."

"How do you even know all this?" Mason reels back, acutely aware of how close he had been to Brook without even realizing it. He almost kissed her, he realized a moment later. Arian smirks at Mason's flustered behaviour.

"I can see. Sucks, but I can. We would practice with you, but I kind of want to live tonight."

Brook smiles secretly, accidentally catching Mason's eye. "For Charlie, eh?" Mason jokes.

"That too," Arian admits. "Anyway, just thought I should warn you before you take her to bed--" Arian laughs at Mason's resentful look. "I blew a hole through the spare bedroom's ceiling with some lightning and now there's a gaping tunnel under the bed too. So don't rock it too hard, will you?" Arian smirks and dodges out of the way before Mason can throw a knife at him.

Brook giggled, quickly silencing herself before Mason could turn his anger on her. "Sorry," she smiled shyly.

Mason seems taken aback by her odd behavior. "Um, no, it's okay," he says quickly, color rising in his cheeks.

Brook shrugs and makes a move to leave, "I'll go check on Charlie."

Mason's hand was on her wrist before he knew what he was doing, "Wait," he releases her hand and looks her in the eyes. "Thanks for trying to... you know, cheer me up," he says sheepishly. 

"What are friends for?" Brook leans forward and gives him a light peck on the cheek before disappearing around the corner, leaving Mason dumbfounded.