pyrokinesis • z nation (discontinued)

△ chapter 5 - zunami △

- nebraska -

the sun's scorching rays beat down mercilessly on the dying group of survivors, who's only current plan was to give up their lives on the even hotter pavement.

the youngest ambrosia sibling sat cross-legged next to her boyfriend as he tried to wring sweat out of his bandana.
the girl actually wasn't feeling as bad as the others were. in fact, she wasn't even craving water. sure, the unusually blazing sun was definitely starting to take it's toll on her, but she usually preferred hotter temperatures. that's one of the perks of her pyrokinesis; dependence on water for survival isn't exactly as crucial for her as it might be for other people. it was life-threatening moments like these when phoenix felt truly thankful for her power.

but she had sympathy towards her siblings; mostly gaea. one of the woman's powers was the manipulation of water, so she was the closest to death than any of the others. apollo was doing okay with the help of his weaker fire powers, but still worse than phoenix. and their loyal companions looked dead already. if it weren't for the slow rise and fall of their stomachs, phoenix would've assumed them to be corpses a while ago.

"i read once that you could drink your own urine." doc's raspy voice wheezed. "but all i'm pissing is dust."

"well, water isn't gonna find you just sitting there." murphy chirped with a smile. something about his zombie-tainted blood seemed to allow him to be as dependent on water as phoenix was, but it also put two times more pep in his step. phoenix wasn't really a fan of that.

"why are you so freaking chipper?" warren snapped at him, a glare on her face.

"i've been wondering that myself. maybe it's because i conserve my precious bodily fluids." he shrugged, then motioned over at the normal-looking phoenix. "she's fine too. so i don't see how the rest of you can be so lazy."

"i thrive in this weather." phoenix stated. "but if it weren't for pyrokinesis, i'd be damn near close to death."

"well what about gaea?" cassandra snapped, and she seemed to loathe saying the twenty-two year old's name. "can't she do something with water? she's probably keeping it all to herself."

the girl's words made phoenix's blood boil about as much as the concrete, but before she could snap back in defense for her sister, gaea spoke up.

"i don't create water, i manipulate it." the woman spoke, and phoenix was surprised at the subtle anger within her words. "god...think before you speak you ignorant fool."

the pyrokinetic resisted the urge to give her sister a high-five, but instead, she looked towards cassandra with an amused smirk. the girl, along with everyone else was surprised at gaea's sudden outburst as well, but she tried to hide her shock.

"well, that settles it then. your whole family is completely and utterly useless." cassandra scoffed.

"aw, fantastic, it looks like we finally have something in common." phoenix sent a sickly sweet smile towards her nemesis as she brought herself to her feet and began sauntering towards the girl. it didn't look like it to the plain eye, but the ambrosia girl was fuming. no one would dare to insult or speak badly about phoenix's family, because they knew it would only end in disaster.

cassandra stood up also, and she tried to ooze confidence, but it wasn't working out too well.

"what are you gonna do, burn me?" she scoffed, trying to play it cool. "ah, please do. maybe it'll show everyone who you really are. an egotistical bitch who can't control her mouth or her temper."

everyone watched the two in anticipation and worry, but they all either seemed to be too fatigued to put an end to the pair's arguing, or they genuinely wanted to see what would happen. tommy had an urge to stop phoenix from doing something she might regret in the future, but half of him still wanted to continue laying on the burning cement and allow the Reaper's embrace to envelop over him, and the other half thought phoenix's rage was quite attractive.
gaea didn't want a fight - or something worse - to break out, of course, but she was too water deficient to move or barely speak.
apollo simply watched the two girls from his laying position and silently rooted for his sister, knowing deep down that phoenix would always come out as the victor.