The Upside-down (Norminah)

Atmospheric Disturbances

《...Dinah...》

Mani and I walked back to the base hand in hand. Her head was sweetly nuzzled on my shoulder while her free hand held on to my forearm. Her ring hadn't stopped glowing since I gave it to her, the sight making me smile beside myself. It felt like there was nothing that could ruin this beautiful moment. But that's when we saw Solàna. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her lips were slightly parted as they formed a concerned frown, and her pupils were filled with little sparks of fire. Mani brought her head up, worry overtaking her face as her and I made our way over to see if Solàna was alright.

"Hey," Mani said softly, bringing her hands up to caress the Phoenix woman's face, "are you okay love?"

The only response Mani received was the quickening of Solàna's breathing, the glossiness of her eyes, and the slight shaking of her body. I instantly felt what she was feeling, the surges of her energy causing me to exhale windedly before I locked eyes with Solàna's fiery ones.

"Mani...something's wrong..."

"What do you mean?" the ebony asked as she looked to me, her hands still on Solàna's face.

"Whatever she's seeing right now...it's wicked. I'm not able to see what she sees like you can, but I can feel it. And it's not good."

Mani turned back toward our friend, bringing her forehead to Solàna's before taking a deep breath. She slowly took the older woman's hands, guiding them to her shoulder while hers held her waist. 

"Dinah," she said softly without taking her eyes off of Solàna, "I need you to stand behind me. Whatever she's seeing is temporarily paralyzing her entire body, so she can't move. Once we both come to, I need you to catch me okay?"

I came up behind her and kissed her shoulder, seeing a small hint of a smile make its way onto her lips.

"I got you," I whispered to her.

She then closed her eyes, her ring beginning to glow a fiery red color like Solàna's eyes. Mine began to glow as well, the overwhelming feeling of their combined energies slowly making my body strength week. The process wasn't long, but I grew worried nonetheless. Mani's eyebrows began to furrow the longer her eyes remained closed, and her lips parted slightly as she let out a small gasp. I looked to Solàna and her cheeks were wet with her tears. I could feel her hands squeezing Normani's shoulder, telling me that they were soon about to come to.

Just as I braced myself to catch them both, both women let out gasps before Solàna's eyes returned to normal, her body separating from Mani's as I caught her in record time. Mani's eyes shot open, her pupils a furious glow of red before returning back to their normal deep chocolate color. She panted heavily while trying to even out her breathing, and her hand found mine as she looked from me to Solàna.

"What did she see?" I asked quietly.

"Her great grandmother," Normani began. "She..."

"She never left," Solàna uttered, a haunting, terrified tone laced in her voice. "All this time I thought she died after not finding me. But she...she's been hiding away in the very realm she destroyed. And she's more powerful than she was all those years ago..."

"But," I said, still keeping Mani close to me since her body was still a little weak, "I don't understand. How could she find a way to communicate with you if you're not in the Upside-down?"

"Because she's here," came a voice from behind us.

In walked Chaerin and Minzy, Lauren, Ty, Nala and Lealia not too far behind them with worried looks. I looked to Minzy while Mani made her way to Solàna to console her.