All the Stars Between Us

Power

Nyx felt... mighty. Like nobody could stop her. She felt the raw energy given to her by the weapon coursing through her veins. She looked at her hands in awe, watching the power crackle between them.

She let it sink back into her hands and pressed them to the glass separating Nyx from what was rightfully hers. She felt it melting... almost there... just a little bit further... and then she was pulled back by Thalia's strong arms, restraining her.

She tried to yank free, but the brunette was too strong. She twisted and turned, wriggled and writhed, but no matter how hard she tried, Thalia didn't let go. She even tried to bite her.

She's keeping you from your prize, whispered a voice in her head. Burn her with your powers. You know you want to. Nyx felt conflicted. She knew Thalia was on her side. She had taken Nyx in, looked after her, nursed her back to health. But only because you saved her life, the voice laughed maliciously.

Thalia was her only friend. She had taken care of her for months. Nyx cared about her... a lot. Thalia had come into her life and dusted away the cobwebs of her sorry existence. She... liked Thalia. Burn her! Hissed the voice. It's human nature. She's going to leave you all alone. Once she's finished toying with your feelings, she's going to toss you out like garbage. You're nothing to her. You'll see.

"NO!" Nyx screamed, thrashing about in Thalia's arms. "I WON'T!"

Meanwhile, Thalia was at her wit's end. She had tried shaking Nyx, pressing her face against the cold metal floor, and tossing water onto her, but she was completely unresponsive. It looked like she was having a seizure.

The smaller girl's body was convulsing violently, even after her violent outburst had shaken the entire table. She had had to tie Nyx to a chair to prevent the smaller, more fragile girl from hurting herself.

Eventually, Thalia decided that she couldn't stand the sight of Nyx looking so helpless, and she turned away, burying her head in her hands. She was extremely close to crying when she heard a small voice calling her from the chair opposite her. "Thalia," Nyx whispered. She sounded completely drained of energy, beaten down to the core.

Thalia was despairing. She needed to find a way to snap Nyx out of the weapon's influence. The weapon wanted bloodshed. War. Death. She needed to do the opposite in order to get Nyx back. But how the was she supposed to do that?

She couldn't do something peaceful, because that was stupid, it wouldn't work. She couldn't exactly do the opposite of bloodshed either, so she would have to try for the opposite of war. Love, probably, she thought. How clichèd. She wrapped her arms gently around the smaller girl, burying her head in her shoulder while trying not to jostle her even more.

"Come on, Nyx," she muttered between gritted teeth. "Get up!" Nyx whispered again. "T-Thalia... quickly," she whispered. Thalia didn't know what to do.

She was at her wit's end. She didn't know how to show Nyx any more love than she already had. She leaned closer to Nyx, caressing the smaller girl's face. "I care about you," she said softly, her voice breaking. "Let me help you."

And, all of a sudden, Nyx had cupped Thalia's face and pulled her down for a kiss. Thalia's eyes shot open in surprise, but as the kiss deepened, they fluttered shut and she let herself melt into the embrace. She slowly undid Nyx's bonds, aware that she had snapped out of her convulsions.

Their movements were synchronized, each girl drowning in the other. Thalia's lips were full and thick, while Nyx's were small and soft. They fitted together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle they didn't even know existed.