Kya Carter
Shortly after I helped Elektra and the other two arrived, I ran to help Ren, who was battling Xavier and his monstrous sword. I hardly make it five steps before my body spontaneously overheats and I grow dizzy. I collapse on one of the first steps, steadying myself on all fours. For a dreadful moment, I wonder if taking life from the grass is also considered using my dark strand of my power, and I'm about to accept my fourth marking during the worst time possible.
However, slow and menacing footsteps behind me give me reason to believe this is something else. "Some people would recommend sweating a fever out," a surely female's voice sardonically sneers behind me. "But I think the best remedy is to cool the body down." Before I have the chance to turn, everything in my body feels like solid ice. All feeling in my ligaments disappears, going numb. Soon, I feel like a giant block of led. "Ought a girl. Isn't that much better?" A hand careens the back of my head, petting my hair like a dog. Humiliation fills my being, and as much as I'd love to slap that hand away then slap its owner, I'm so cold I can't bring myself to move.
The hand gently caressing me suddenly grips a fistful of my hair and yanks it back, tilting my face upwards to see my attacker's face. She's older than most of us, maybe just a couple years over Ren's age, 19. Her eyes are a vivid red and her hair is voluminous. Tentatively, she taps her chin. Each of her fingernails are colored, not by paint, but by mutation, alternating between red and blue. Body temperature control, I register. "What to do with you..."
"Make my t-t-temperature normal so we can f-fight this out," I snarl, glaring at her.
She barks out a laugh, clutching her stomach even though nothing about this is funny whatsoever. "Wow, you're a bit different than our files have you down as...perhaps Reaper is really insufficient, after all. We've got you pinned as someone who wouldn't harm a fly, but I admire someone with a bit of spunk."
My body temperature returns to normal, but I don't move. Instead, I sit on the wet stairs, leaning on my hands, discretely letting water pool at my fingertips. "What's your reward for killing me?" I inquire.
"Pay raise," the woman smirks, pumping her fist at her side.
"Look...I don't want to hurt you. I really don't. But I've got people who need me, so would you mind just walking away from this one?" I politely ask, not expecting an answer, but stalling for time. Really, I'm feeling out the pace of the rain and the size of the droplets, connecting to the droplets as the fall. My body reaches for the puddles on the steps, ready to use them if I have to.
"Well, that's disappointing," she grouches, placing her hands on her hips. Her eyes wander up the steps, and a smirk etches into her face. "Looks like we have company..." I glance up the stairs, where a shaken Leo descends, gun held close to his chest. Once he sees us, he pauses.
"Dammit," he sighs, fumbling with his weapon for defense. But he's not fast enough.
As soon as the temperature woman throws her hands at Leo, I throw mine at her. Water surrounds her body as Leo shrivels up like a grape left in the sun. Curling my fingers into fists, I freeze her body and run to Leo. Grabbing him by the shoulders and hauling him up, I let him lean against me, his body ice-cold. "This is it," he grumbles. "No more chili-cheese dogs for me."
Downstairs, the woman begins to steam like a sauna, increasing her own body temperature to get out of my iceberg. "You're thinking about chili-cheese dogs right now?" As the girl melts my creation completely, I shrug. "Well, it's a nice refresher."
"Sarah's in the dojo healing, so it's just us. What's the game plan?" Leo inquires, shivering as I hold him close, trying to deliver him some of my body warmth, though my natural temperature has always been a bit frigid.
"Umm..." Nervously, I size up my opponent as another one appears next to her, appearing out of nowhere, this one a male with black hair and blue eyes that shimmer. "Not die?"
"What's the backup plan?" Leo chatters, aiming his gun.
"You shoot, I...do water stuff?" I weakly suggest.
"Are you getting psycho girl or emo-phase boy?" he questions, finally regaining his normal temperature.
Both of us glance down, the boy and girl both standing with their arms crossed. I realize they're waiting for us. "Want to rock-paper-scissors it? Winner gets the emo?" I shrug, holding out a hand.
"Good idea," Leo compliments, holding his hand out. We ignore the background, where Elektra and Reaper both try to break through Cerberus to get to each other, two SD agents await, and just upstairs, Xavier and Ren fight it out. And properly, we deal our hands. "Rock, paper scissors..." Below, the woman and man splay their hands out, fervently talking and pointing at us in disbelief.
"Choose!" I shout in unison with Leo. I deal scissors and he gets paper. "Well...good luck."
Leo readjusts his gun and we click down the steps together. "Gee, thanks..."
"So, who do we have here?" The man quips, cocking his head to the side. "The useless mind reader and the water girl? I preferred Elektra and the Dragon, but I'll take it."
Next to me, Leo's jaw feathers and the grip on his gun tightens. Furious, he looks to me, as if asking for something without speaking. Somehow, I get the message. Imperceptibly, I nod. "You're right," I say to the man, playing up being weak. "I'm not very experienced with my power. And Leo just reads minds...go easy on us?"
The woman sniggers. "She's right. That girl asked me to let her just walk away earlier."
"Tch," the man sounds, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Pathetic."
I hold my hand at my side, palm up. I conjure raindrops into a small, jagged ball of ice. Pretending to give it all, I lurch my arm out towards our enemies, but purposefully launch it straight into the sky, all the way until it's out of view.
Leo furrows his brows as if to say, What the hell are you doing?
Slightly, I smile at him, knowing he'll figure out what to do when the time comes.
"That's absolutely pitiful," the woman scoffs. "Maybe I should let you go."
Unsure, Leo eyes me, wondering if this is the tactic I'm going for: make ourselves looks so useless that they really do leave us alone. Almost unnoticeably, I shake my head. No, this isn't the plan.
"Then I wouldn't get paid!" the man complains. "And Elektra totally scratched up my new shoes. You know how many cuffs I had to put on people to get these?"
"Ah..." I sigh, looking up as a small block of ice comes into view, crashing back down to ground level. "That's too bad. Things always end up going sideways, huh?"
Leo glances up, finally understanding what I intended. I know Leo can only use his telekinesis to move things only in one direction, but when he does, man do things move fast. "Don't worry," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets, only needing his mind to move something this small. "It gets better. Things have moved sideways all my life."
The woman rolls her eyes and sighs. "This isn't some therapy-!" And before she can even finish her sentence, the small ice rock comes at eye level, and Leo is chucking is her way. She's so close that she didn't even have time to blink before the tiny boulder smashed her in the forehead. The force is so strong that it might be enough to keep her knocked out for a while. Her forehead smears with dark red blood as her body tumbles down the last few stairs.
"The hell?" the man with lively eyes gasps. To me, he remarks, "You didn't even move."
"Oh, that was Leo," I educate, taking a step down, forcing my adversary to take a step down as well. "You see, his primary power is telekinesis, and I can do a lot more than move water around. It seems your information is a bit outdated."
"That's great and all," the man spits, suddenly vanishing from my view. "But it only works if you know where to find me."
In the grass, he leaves no footprints. I can't hear his footsteps amidst the rain, thunder, and shouts from Elektra, Reaper, and Cerberus. "Got him," Leo mutters under his breath, aiming his gun right at Elektra, who uses a gun to deflect Reaper's daggers as Cerberus calls a lightning bolt to split the two up.
"Wait, Leo!" I shout. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. You can hide your skin, but you can hide your brain. It's like I can track him using his thoughts," Leo explains. Then, before another warning, he squeezes the trigger. The bullet sinks into the man's shoulder, spouting a geyser of red before revealing a man with long, black hair. "Mark."
"Now you sound like Elektra..." I note. "It looks like you got him square in the abdomen."
Leo scowls. "Time to finish the job, then?"
"You mean...go over and kill him?" I tentatively question, concealing my shock and mild terror.
"Well, yeah. He's the enemy."
Leo...what happened to you? This isn't who you are, nor who you've ever been. Why are you behaving like this? "No, Leo," I tell him. "He's not going anywhere. Neither is his acquaintance. Do me a favor. Tie them up. We might be able to get some information out of them later."
Eerily, Leo glances at the vicious battles between two old rivals – so he looks both out towards the flat grass, as well as towards the red arch. "If there's even a 'we'...or a 'later,' for that matter..."
"Hey," I firmly call, placing a stern hand on his shoulder, which is trembling. "Don't think that way. I'm sure everyone will be fine. Go ahead and get some rope or something. I'm sure there's some in the dojo. I'll make sure they don't move."
I survey the motionless bodies, but my eyes are drawn to the chaos in the distance. Cerberus uses my power to throw up thick ice walls between his partner and Elektra, doing everything in his power to keep them both alive. However, it's evident that he's going to have a hard time. The amount of hate those two have harbored for each other is so immense that it could fuel a spaceship to the end of the universe. It's impossible for those two to enter the day tomorrow still alive. Undoubtedly, one of them will perish tonight. I feel guilty for hoping Elektra is the one who make it out, because choosing one life over another just feels wrong. But this is a tight circumstance, so I give myself an excuse to think this way, only for a bit.
Leo still isn't back, so I glance up at the top of the stairs. He stands stock-still under the arch, his arms out at his sides like metal rods. "Leo?" I call up. Though he flinches, he doesn't look back here. "Leo!" I shout louder, hurriedly ascending the steps. When I meet my side, I also find myself frozen in a heart-racing, deciding moment between Ren and Xavier.
In the dark and behind Xavier's massive figure, I can't make out much. However, there's something glowing in front of Ren's brother, giving me the outlines of a pair of fighters. Xavier presses his sword against Ren's, forcing him farther and farther from the cliff. Every being in my body itches to run out, grab something heavy, and clobber Xavier over the head with it. Even my power reaches out, the water in the koi fish pond grabbing at the sky like octopus tentacles. However, I gave Xavier my word back at Reaper and Cerberus's apartment. I won't interfere. It isn't my fight, and I have to give you both an equal opportunity to end it.
Though I despise that promise now, I have to stick to it and trust Ren is strong enough to best his brother, as he once did years ago. Besides, if I cut in and Ren wins, he won't be able to move on knowing that it wasn't him who ended his fight. Sure, he was born in America, but he was raised in Japan. Things like fighting your own fight and upholding family values is crucial in this society, which probably didn't help Ren when his own father convinced him he was a revulsive stain to not only the Walker name, but the world.
It's all I can do to watch, body frozen in fear. What if Ren isn't strong enough? What if Xavier wins? Will he reclaim the dojo? Kick us all out? Find the source of our powers, cut it down, then cut us down?
Ren will be fine, I assure myself. But because Ren's adrenaline must be sky-high, the Swap and my own nerves make me impossibly shaky. Not one to hide when I'm weak in moments like this, I lean on Leo, who supportively wraps an arm around me, just as worried. He, too, understands that this is something Ren has to do on his own, just like only Elektra can be the one to end the reign of Reaper.
Then the unimaginable happens. Ren flails, millimeters to falling over the edge. I open my mouth to call out to him to say...say what? Don't fall? I can't lose you? I need you? But before I can, Xavier gives him the slightest push back, and mute, Ren falls into the deep unknown. "Ren!" Leo shouts, running to the chasm and stopping at its lip next to Xavier's feet. Xavier, who peers down, steps away, and meets my eyes.
I'm unable to run forwards, nor retreat anywhere to sob. My knees give way and I sink to the ground, soaking in the rain that seems to fall heavier, the puddles that feel like pools that could drown me, the darkness that matches what I feel on the inside – silent rage, invisible brokenness, undifferentiated mixes of sorrow and emptiness. Hollow. How can someone like Ren just...die? Especially under these conditions? Someone who had put everything into becoming a better person, and had come so far, should not be the one to die.
But then again...isn't that how the world usually works? We die when we're meant to? When we've finally realized the beauty of life, and have experienced it, aren't we typically content with our own death? I'll have to pray to whoever decides that, that Ren is okay with who he was by the time he tumbled over the edge, because if I can't even convince myself of that, then I don't know how I'm supposed to get myself to work with Xavier later. Or how I'm supposed to do much of anything.
Your friends still need you, Kya. Sort this out later. I needed to worry about the people I still had, no matter how improbable that seemed. I stand, but nearly slip and fall on my butt. An enormous radius of thin ice, made from the collective rain resting on the pavilion, has formed around me, my power just as affected as my heart.
I take a moment, pushing thoughts of Ren away, wondering if there was anything I could've done to help. I could've thrown out my promises to help him, even if it would've angered Ren in the long run. And the things I considered my strength: trustworthiness, honesty, and indifference, have aided in the downfall of Ren. I should've abandoned my morals. No, Ren wouldn't have wanted that from me, either.
A calloused hand presents itself in front of my face, the skin too hard to be Leo's and too large to be Sarah's. Eyes trailing from the hand, up the arm, to the face, I've never felt angrier and more repulsed in my entire life. Aggressively, I backhand Xavier's extension with all my might, which isn't much right now. "I don't ever want your help," I spit, scrambling up on my own. "I hate you."
Xavier drinks in my face for a painstakingly long extension of time. I don't think he, or anyone else for that matter, has ever seen me so angry. Even Leo, who has retrieved rope from the dojo by now and reemerged, stops to stare at me. Lowly, Xavier says, "Don't hate me because I won. Hate yourself because you agreed to the deal. You're the one who proposed that this is the last day I can kill Ren."
Though he has a good point, I'm not letting that chip off my shoulder. In the end, he murdered Ren. There's no changing that. "I have enough room to hate the both of us," I snarl. Then, to Leo, "Hurry up with those! The SD agents should still be unconscious down there. I want you to tie them up and then Xavier will carry them into the dojo, where they'll be watched by the Sages."
"I will?" Xavier pouts.
Glaring up at him while resisting the urge to use this rain to create an impaling icicle, I growl through gritted teeth. "Yes. You will."
Xavier sizes me up, but he remembers he needs me if I'm to help him find the origins of our mutations, and eventually complies, heading down to help Leo. I stand by the archway, observing the powers from Cerberus, Reaper, and Elektra. The fluctuation of powers is mesmerizing and could almost be mistaken for fireworks. No matter how imperative the fight down there is, I can't help but think about Ren. And can you blame me?
There's nothing of his that he's left behind, either. The jacket he always gave me, whether it was a tantalizing gesture or a kind one, was on his body before he fell. The necklace he always wore was returned to Xavier. His gloves! Maybe they're still in the dojo... The dojo, which will be Xavier's now.
In no time, Xavier trudges back up the steps, navy hair dropping raindrops in his eyes. Two bodies are hefted on his immense shoulders. Leo sits on the top step by the exit off the pavilion, purposefully avoiding the giant crack in the earth that swallowed Ren whole. The opening of a door catches my attention, and I whirl around to see Sarah sheepishly exiting the dojo, bending her wrists.
I get up and practically sprint to her, wanting to give her the news of Ren's death now, while I'm the numbest I'll ever be about it. "Sarah..."
"Is it true?" she croaks, lavender eyes filled with tears telling me that, somehow, she already knows. "Ren...Ren is dead?"
I don't have the ability to speak, as if verbally confirming it is the only thing that makes it true. So, I nod. Sarah sniffles as she wraps her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. Maternally, I stroke her cream-colored hair, cooing encouraging words to calm her down. Soon, I don't know if it's her I'm trying to comfort or myself.
Xavier brushes past me, but stops when Ren's main Sage appears, tears staining his cheeks. He frowns at me, then gapes when he sees Xavier. "You're...alive!" he exclaims, more dread in his voice than excitement, stepping away. It's no secret to the Sages how poorly Xavier and his father treated Ren. Why would anybody be excited to see him here?
"Some people should just stay dead," I utter, meaning to say that in my head, but not trying to cover it up with a lie. To my not-so-shock, nobody protests or calls me rude.
"I want these monitored," Xavier demands, taking on his role of master of the dojo. He lets the bodies unceremoniously slide to the floor. Despite them being our enemies, I want to explode at Xavier, shouting how they're people still, and should be handled as so, and not like sacks of flour. But I need to appear sane for Sarah's sake, who still cries next to me.
The Sage looks to me for approval. I shrug. "He has a point," I agree, voice as emotionless as I feel. Everything seems to detached and faraway, as if this is all a dream. "How did you know Ren...?" Still, I'm unable to utter his certain end.
"I felt the lack of fire power," the Sage explains. "It suddenly went out, like a candle flame being blown out in the wind. It's hard to say if his heart stopped on the giant drop down or if the impact is what did it." Shadily, the Sage looks at Xavier with clear disgust. I know what he's thinking, because I think it, too: if only Ren was the Walker who made it out alive. "I'll get some Sages to help move these bodies. Where would you like them kept under control?"
Xavier steps up. "The cafeteria. I want them to be the first things I deal with when this war is over." The cafeteria is the easiest way to enter the dojo, considering it's the first set of double doors you see from the pavilion. However, I can't help but think we should bury them deeper in the compound, seeing as the doors also provide an easy escape should they get free.
"I'm sorry, Xavier," the Sage apologizes. "I wasn't asking you."
The Sages weary eyes travel to me and they stay there. Almost whispering, I place a hand on my chest to gesture to myself and ask, "...me?"
"Her?" Xavier adds in disbelief.
The Sage nods. "Right after you left, Ren's final wishes were passed to me, with all other Sages as my witness. Now, where would you like these two under vigil, Master Carter?"
Ren gave me the dojo. What would he have wanted me to do with it? Live here, knowing I had nowhere to go back to? Burn it to ash, since it's where the worst moments of his life occurred? Did he know he had nothing material to offer, so he gave me this if his passing did take place?
"As deep in the dojo as you can," I answer.
"Right away, Master Carter." Master Carter. Not Master Walker. The tears flowed out of my eyes like Niagara Falls – infinite and relentless. That is, until Leo burst in the dojo with urgent news.
"Elwood!" Leo exclaims, breath ragged. "He's here."