Tagged And Other Fun

Ice, I Did A Thing

It finally responded.

Though shocked at first, it soon twisted into a deep anger and he roared. "NOW? AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED, NOW YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN TO ME? WHEN IT DOESN'T MATTER?"

A voice spoke in his head. "We couldn't connect before. Now, we can."

Leo scoffed, wiping his tears away. "Well whoop de doo! I can finally use my powers to protect my- oh wait- she's gone!" His whole body shook and his tears threatened to fall again.

"I know you're angry,"

"Really? What could POSSIBLY give you THAT idea? Was it the yelling, my tone, my words, or all of the above?" Leo was confused about the Nexus talking, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered. Wait, no, take that back- one thing mattered. But that's gone now.

"But I can help you."

Leo raised an eyebrow. For a moment, he wanted to listen, then he shook his head, sighing. "No. Unless you can bring her back, you can't do anything to help me."

Then, the Nexus laughed. Leo blinked as she continued. "I can do a lot better than that." Her tone was joyful for a moment, then it turned serious. "But it'll take serious sacrifice."

"Anything." Leo blurted out, taking a step forward and feeling some of the Nexus energy brush against his face. "Anything at all."

The Nexus seemed to frown, then told him everything. By the end of it, Leo's mind hadn't changed, and was only strengthened. "I'll do it."

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Cody heard what sounded like screaming when he woke up. Not of terror, but something much different. It was difficult to explain, but it was like hearing someone be tortured, but emotionally. So much anger, and so much sadness. Cody wanted to cover his ears from how much feeling he was getting just from hearing it.

Cody blocked it out, finding himself unable to move when hearing it. When it finally stopped, the king still had to wait to recover, and get up.

He moved for the exit immediately at first, but then stopped at the mirror. His eyes looked like he had aged a thousand years since last night, and Cody felt like he had.

Losing his brother and then the closest person to him was devastating. At least he still had-

Then it struck Cody's heart like a knife. Leo. The screaming. Could it be? He bolted to his room, but only found it empty. His next thought was Ocea's, but upon peering inside, he wasn't there either.

Looking in the room did more to him than he thought, but just seeing it empty and void of the life it once brought... It was unbearable. Ocea's pet seahorses snuggled in her bed, losing their once speedy and joyful movement. It was like they knew.

Snapping himself out of it, thoughts of his son made him speed up his pace as he moved for the stairs. There, at the top, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Leo was floating in the air, Nexus energy surrounding him, but he looked so relax. Cody's startled gasp made him turn his head, showing off pure blue eyes, no whites or the brown, which he found himself missing more than he thought he could ever miss a color.

"Leo?" He said, uncertain if this was really his son. "What are you doing?"

Leo was mostly unresponsive, his gaze moving back to the Nexus and seemingly having a private conversation with it by the way his eyes were flickering.

Eventually, he spoke. "Look away, Dad. I don't want you to see this."

Cody's heart dropped. "What are you doing?" The words left his mouth before he could even think them. Leo only answered with silence. A sudden blast of energy erupted from the Nexus and immediately went for Leo. Cody stepped back in fear but didn't hesitate to scream.