ARCANE

032

"She won't wake up."

Cara turns to see Percy entering the room. She drops the cloth which she had been using to dab at Lee's head. Not that it is doing anything, but Cara doesn't like sitting with idle hands. "Sorry?"

"I can hear her speaking to me," Percy tells Cara, looking down at Lee. " I figure that it's because I was closest to her when she died. Erik got all cagey when I asked if he could hear Thea. Anyway, Lee has told me that she's not alive."

Well, I would appreciate it if you still had hope for me, even if I'm sure I'm dead.

Cara furrows her brow, scanning Lee's face. Though the girl's skin is cold and pale, it isn't dead. After all, Lee is still breathing.

"I think I've figured it out," Percy tells Cara, sitting down on the bed next to her. She curses herself internally as she watches Cara deflate. Even though Cara is a try-hard and a know-it-all, she still is a person. Like it or not, they are friends.

Cara puts her hands in her lap. She lowers her eyes, listening. "We died that night, right?"

"What?" Percy asks, lifting a hand up to her hair. She buries it in curls, tugging too hard. "That's not what I was getting at. Have you heard of the lightning ball phenomenon?"

When Cara shakes her head, Percy continues. "It's this probably mythological meteorological event, where a ball of lightning comes down to Earth. Nobody has ever seen one, except people like us, I'm guessing. I think that whatever special space-electricity is in them is in our bodies. It's what is healing us. And, the other branches are capable of stealing it from us. That's why touching them drains us of our energy, and that's why Hope collapsed when I touched her in the hospital. Her body hadn't been able to recuperate the energy, and I had practically drained her again."

Cara doesn't answer. Instead, she stares out the window. Percy can feel her chest huffing from breathing just a bit too heavily. None of this seems to phase Cara, who is too busy living in her own world. Even if she wanted to, Percy wouldn't get it. In fact, she can feel her cheeks heating up. She has finally cracked the puzzle, and Cara doesn't even care!

Percy doesn't add that she suspects the electricity explains why she, generally, feels like she could be involved with nearly everyone here. The power draws itself together, and so it draws them. In fact, does she really like Hope? Did she ever feel anything for Erik? Has all of this been forced upon them?

"The heart beats due to electromagnetic impulses," Cara stares at Lee, watching her chest rise and fall. "I suspect that when the ball of lightning exploded, it stopped and restarted our hearts in the second we fell. So, we died. It is the power that keeps our hearts beating, not us anymore."

Slowly, Percy stands. The blankets shuffle beneath her, all too loudly. What does it matter that they are dead if they feel alive? It doesn't. Percy resolves that, because it doesn't change anything, nobody needs to know.

"Would we be able to put the power back in Lee?" Percy asks, peering over Cara's shoulder. "I mean, she is still breathing."

Cara shrugs. "I don't know."

~~~

Erik sees him coming between the branches of the tree. He hopes that he is hidden by the deep crimson leaves from Wesley. As always, what Erik doesn't know is detrimental. After all, Wesley followed him here.

Beneath Erik, Wesley realizes that he hasn't actually thought through what he is about to say. Not that it matters, because it probably won't make a difference. "I shouldn't have threatened to curb-stomp you."

"Yeah," Erik answers. He lets the palms of his hands trace the coarse bark of the tree. It almost burns his skin. "No shit."

Behind the trees, Wesley can't read Erik. Not that he would be easy to read otherwise. "Well, that's all I wanted to get at."

The other boy jumps down. He lands on the ground just in front of Wesley. When he stands up, their chests are nearly touching. They two boys are practically the same height. Erik measures himself against Wesley, before deciding the difference doesn't matter.

"What does he see in you that he doesn't see in me?" Erik asks, trying to keep his voice steady. His lips quiver, betraying him.

Wesley tucks his ever-growing hair behind his ears. "To be honest, I couldn't fucking tell you. I don't think he sees much in me anymore. Besides, you're a catch."

Eventually, Erik leans back against the tree behind him. It doesn't matter what Jamie thinks at all, at least, no more than anything else matters. Fuck, he's only known them for 12 days. Screw the Branch. They all belong to each other equally, but it is important to remember that they exist outside of each other.

"Who gives a fucking shit what he sees in you?" Erik begins to ramble. He leans off the tree. He is a stark contrast between the dark of the forest. "Who gives a damn what any of these assholes think? We are stuck together, and we've got to deal with it."

Wesley would tell Erik that no one is judging him for killing his Dad, but he doesn't want to interrupt his ramble. After all, when Erik explodes, Wesley is normally collateral. For the first time, he finds himself concerned for Erik. There is a connection between them he can't explain.

It feels like the embrace of a lover during a violent rainstorm.

The thought flashes through Erik's mind. He ignores Thea trying to tell him to breathe and instead looks at Wesley.

"Are we good?" Erik asks.

Wesley asks. "I can't believe you're asking me, like I'm not the one here apologizing. However we move forward, it's on your terms."

~~~

June slips down beneath the water. There is nothing like the ice of the lake to wake her up. She can feel her heartbeat slowing down with every passing second. The panic of freezing sets in. June decides to get out soon, because she doesn't care to discover if she will freeze to death.

She feels the water ripple beside her. Her eyes flicker to Hope. The taller of the two girls stands in the water, which is up to her neck, while June floats.

Hope can't help but think about the goosebumps on June's skin, as numerous as her freckles. She wonders how often June comes here to enjoy the calms of the lake. Hope decides she enjoys the water. Without gravity, every problem seems to rise to her level, rather than dragging her down. They bubble up in her face, easy to pop.

"I've never swum before," Hope tells June. She bobs down beneath the water, soaking herself. She is surprised to find that she cannot see in the murky depths of the lake. Nothing is crystal clear, it seems.

June waits for Hope to surface again before she tips upwards. Her ginger hair drags behind her. She cocks her head at Hope, a bit of her grin on her face. "Doing a lot of things for the first time now, I take it?"

Hope nods her head slowly, not daring to hide her smile. For the first time in a long time, it isn't shy.

"You and I aren't so different," June shakes her head back and forth. "I mean, you're a bit quirky I'll give you that. But we are quite the same."

Hope agrees. "Both aching to breathe."

~~~~~

Let me just say, AHHHHHH. Like, this chapter is a lot. Like, it's got theories about their power and its electricity. It's got another one of Eden's secrets bubbling to the surface. It's got Erik and Wesley. It's got everything.

Ahhhh