Leo Hernandez
The three of us sat in mostly silence. Occasionally, Elektra would speak to tell us how dumb we all were, and that our attachments to each other are the reasons she doesn't like us. I knew she was just playing herself, though. Deep down, Sarah and I both felt her relief of our staying. In the terminal, we didn't see Cerberus or the one who aligns with death. Am I complaining? No.
"It's going to be a long plane ride," I note. "Fourteen hours, actually. So we'll be arriving in Tokyo around afternoon time, and Ren and Kya will be there a few hours before."
Elektra rolls her seafoam eyes as she throws her hair into a tight ponytail. "Don't forget layovers and refueling. It could take a full twenty-four hours before we're there. It just depends."
Sarah frowns. "How will Ren and Kya know when to pick us up, then?"
"They'll figure it out."
"Yeah," I joke. "If they're both still alive by the time we get there. I bet twenty bucks that they're going to be covered in bruises from fighting."
"Now doesn't seem like the time to be – " Sarah gets cut off by Elektra.
"Call it. Raise you fifty," Elektra challenges.
"Yeah!" I cheer, pumping my agonizingly skinny arm in the air. "Now we're talking. You know, I knew there was more to you than an icy attitude and apathetic demeanor...you sly dog, you..."
A group of guys and girls walk by us, all without markings or strange mutations. They laugh together as they tow their carry-on luggage with them, totally unaware of the supernatural dangers that lurk around them. Merely yards away, there are three beings with the ability to read minds, cause unexplained pain, and shoot lightning bolts. Yet, they're totally unaware of it. I'm not jealous of them, though. Everything about me is totally average, and if we're being honest – I might even be a bit subpar. My curly hair is a pain, my suspenders (which I love) don't seem to be a hit around here, and I'm as skinny as I'll get out. Being able to read minds is, although a bit useless, what makes me special.
But when they look over at the three of us – a bit dirty, damp from the drive here, tired, and slouched in our chairs with worry-wrinkles – they wrinkle their noses at us. They scrutinize us one by one. First, Elektra, whose entire body is covered with forks of lightning markings that trace her veins. The blue strands through her dirty blonde hair almost dazzle when they're wet, and the blue slashes in her irises don't add to her not looking normal. To them, she flicks her gaze and shoots them daggers.
To me, they survey my clothes: stained, bizarre, and out-of-style. I can't find the strength in me to stare them in the eye, so I keep my focus trained on the ground.
To Sarah, they smile. How can you not smile at Sarah? On the outside, she's a petite girl who looks sweeter than a devil's cake. She's got this magnanimity about her that just makes you grin. The strangers give her a wary double-take when they see her lavender eyes, but they ignore it. I find myself mentally laughing. If only they knew how strong and capable she was. She's not just some little girl with an adorable face. She could kill you in an instant.
I don't need to read the minds of these strangers as they eventually pass us by. Their thoughts were clearly written all over their faces.
At last, we're called to board our flight. A second wind lifts me off my feet and carries me to the boarding. The three of us stand up as Elektra sizes the crowd, which is full of bustling people. She taps my pointy shoulder. "Any sign of Asylum?"
I reach out through the crowd, tugging on everyone's energy strings. It's normally really easy for me to find someone, but I've never been surrounded by so many people at once. There's a sea of bouncing emotions and thoughts, and before I can stop myself I'm saying them all. "Makeup bag is lost in transition...Ricky is going to be late...I'm starving...I've got to take my medication..." Everything becomes overwhelming and the only thing I want to do is becomes invisible so all the voices surpass me. I crouch down on the ground, covering my ears, even though the voices are booming from within.
"Leo," Sarah calls, voice tiny in the sea of chaos inside my brain. "Leo, it's okay Come back. Leo, it's alright...talk to me." Even her hand caressing my back feels so far away. I've felt an influx of thoughts before, back when I was still getting used to my power, but that was years ago. Even so, I've never experienced anything this voluminous.
"I got it," I hear Elektra's harsh voice in the background of backgrounds. She gets close to my ear. "I can't tell you how much I'm going to enjoy this." Something flat and coarse slaps my face. The sting is small at first, but the pain settles and spreads to the entire half of my face.
Eventually, all of the angry voices and nervous thoughts dissipate and I can slowly crawl to a stand. I rub the side of my face that angrily pulses, and I see Elektra satisfyingly smiling. "Leo?" Sarah tentatively whispers, worrying about me and ignoring the crazed glances from bystanders.
"The hell..." I sigh. "What do you have? Man hands?" I shout at Elektra. "Those things are huge...and why don't you use some lotion or something? Those callouses are killer." I pout and narrow my eyes at her.
"Leo, what happened?" Sarah questions.
Despite my almost-soiled underwear, I wave her off like nothing happened. "Don't worry. I just heard everyone's thoughts at once, so it was really loud in here," I tap my head. "I'm okay, though."
"Next time you use your power, we should try a smaller crowd. Japan has one of the highest population densities in the world, so we need to strengthen your talent once we get somewhere smaller, okay?" she reassures, smiling. Though she manages a grin, I can see the lingering concern behind her purple eyes. I feel bad for making her worry about me, but the selfish side of myself can't help but bask in the fact that she cares for me.
"Sounds good," I acknowledge.
"So, did you get a read on those two who were in the car, or not?" Elektra cuts to the chase, pulling ahead of us and towards our plane.
"I did feel a tinge of darkness like I did in the car chase," I admit, recalling my inexplicable experience. "They're here, but I didn't get the sense that we were...targeted."
"You mean they're just coincidentally flying halfway across the world on the same plane as us and they have no idea we're here?" Elektra barks, growing edgier as we near the boarding section.
"Not necessarily," I assure. "It's just that they don't want to take action this very moment."
Elektra bobs her head up and down before crossing her arms and settling her stare on the airplane. "That makes sense. I'm sure we shocked them with our power. They'll be forming a plan in our vicinity, but waiting to take action. And they wouldn't be dumb enough to pull a stunt on the airplane."
"Because of the public?" Sarah questions, looking at everyone with naïve, curious eyes. I'm sure she's running through her head, figuring out the shades of paint she needs to mix to get the hues of humans just right. I remember how stoked she was when we finally got a new Asylum member mere days before we broke out. I'm sure all these people might be a little overwhelming to her. She must be trying to capture all their faces to store in her memory.
"Well, perhaps," Elektra agrees. "But once that plane takes off, we'll be untouchable...don't forget that I rule the skies," she evilly chuckles, rubbing her hands together.
"Right..." I state, taking a cautious step away from her. In the boarding line, I notice there's a little shop full of gadgets and things like Advil. I tap Sarah's frail shoulder. "I'm going to get away from the crazy woman for a sec. Stay here, okay?"
Turning to Elektra, I hold out my hand. "I need some money."
She narrows her eyes at me. "For what, Skinny?"
"Drugs," I sarcastically retort. "Just give me some cash."
"Whatever," she grumbles, fishing in her pocket for a couple of bills, which she lazily slaps in my hand. "Be back quick. I don't give a damn if we leave you here." Her priority of time over her friends still remains since the café incident, when we were getting rich and Kya left because she didn't like that we were robbing people. Zeus threatened to leave her then, too. Part of me wonders exactly what went down in her past for her to be this way, but part of me knows that me asking will get me killed.
"Don't worry, mamacita," I coolly brush aside, darting away and into the shop. I greet the woman running the counter. "One camera, please."