⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰
𝑊𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦
𝑊𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦
𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡
𝑂ℎ, 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒
𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐁𝐲 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐚 𝐒𝐨𝐨, 𝐋𝐢𝐧-𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚
⊱ ────── {⋅. ♪ .⋅} ────── ⊰
In the morning at the encampment, Alex who was sleeping outside of the tents opens his eyes after hearing a nearby explosion and people shouting. Alex had only bought three tents, with money he didn't tell anyone how he got. Gert and Molly shared one, Nico and Karolina shared another, Chase and Luna shared the last, leaving Alex without the coverage of a tent.
The teens having woken up from the recognizable sound of the Fistigons firing, unzip their tents and stick their heads out. All except Luna who wanted to do nothing more than ignoring the blasts and go back to sleep but with the bright sun entering the tent from Chase having opened it she groans awake.
"Nothing good makes that sound," Karolina says being the first one to stick her head out of the tent, Nico following
"I know what it is" Chase says getting out of the tent quickly while grabbing his trench coat and backpack
"Do you guys hear that?" Molly asks being the last one to look out of the tent with closed eyes
"Yeah, come on!" Nico commands as she chases after Karolina who ran behind Chase
Luna who was putting her frizzed out hair in a ponytail is last to get out of the tent. Alex extends a hand for her to take so he can help her stand up. Slipping her gym bag over her shoulder Luna runs next to Alex who shouts in annoyance, "Why are we running toward the explosions?"
The teens had reached a part of the encampment where there were many bikes pilled up against a fence only to find the blonde guy on a bike who had previously robbed them.
"Hey!" Chase shouts catching the guys attention as their thief wore the Fistagons, "Don't point those at anything living"
"Especially us!" Molly exclaims
"What the hell are these things?" the bike guy asks as he looked down at the gloves he was slightly afraid of
"It's hard to explain, but we tried to warn you" Alex shouts
"He's scared" Karolina states before taking a step forward and projecting her voice so the guy can hear her "It's okay. We can help you"
"Yeah, just be still. We'll come to you" Nico says only for the guy to point the Fistagons to some empty stacked up cartons allowing for the gloves to emit a blast that if his hands were places an inch to his left the teens would have been hit
The teens go to hid behind some of the bikes and abandoned equipment scared that the guys limited knowledge on the weapons he held would be directed towards him. "Oh, no, I'm keepin' these"
Having more confidence and enjoying the screams coming from the people around him as the gloves emit another blast hitting some lined up bikes, the thief grabs the closest bike next to him and rides past the teens. He was only able to get away so easily because he aimed the gloves towards the teens making them hide behind the nearest items next to them.
"His nickname is 'Mike On A Bike'" Gert says annoyed as she had finished reading the sign that was on the back of the bike the thief had ridden off on
"Yeah? Well, mine is 'Chase'" Chase says with confidence as he grabs a bike committed to getting his Fistagons back
"Oh, he's an idiot" Luna sighs as she places her hand on her forehead, brow furrowed as she watches Chase bike after Mike.
The rest of the teens quickly grab a bike to their liking and hop on them ready to go on an intense bike ride but not before Gert picks up a pink helmet, "Molly! Helmet"
Molly catches the helmet and with only a frown she straps on the helmet being the only one of the teens to wear one. The teens rode through the encampment, under a tunnel that led to going up a hill.
"I can't close in" Chase shouts looking back as he was in the front of the teams
"We gotta find another way," Alex shouts from his seat of an electric scooter
"Come find me. I need you" Gert says under her breath whistling. Luna looks behind giving Gert a smile as the purple head whistling could only lead to her calling for Old Lace
"What is she doing?" Chase asks blankly to anyone who could hear before he stops peddling and keeps an eye on Mike on a bike who playfully waved at the teens with the Fistagons still on his hands
Luna stopped her bike next to Chase looking over at him with flushed cheeks and an uneven breath, "She's whistling, by putting her lips together and blowing. You know how to whistle, don't you?"
"You can educate me later," Chase says without a thought before letting his bike fall to the ground and he runs towards Mike who was still being tacked down by Old Lace. Leaving Luna no time to catch on the innuendo as she was worried for Old Lace who had fired up Fistagons being pointed at her
All of the teens drop their mode of transportation and run up the hill towards Mike and Old Lace.
"Don't shoot her! Old Lace, get back!" Gert shouts making the reptile stop from sniffing Mike and take a few steps back from him. Once Old Lace was off of him, Mike shoots the Fistagons at the teens who duck as the beam hits a pile of dirt behind them
Mike runs away leaving the teens to look around at each other making sure they weren't harmed. Seeing that everyone was okay they stand up and run past some rusted old gates towards Mike.
"Leave me alone! Get away from me!" Mike says as he shouts in fear having seen the teens keep chasing after him
Karolina was running behind Chase when she takes an unknown wrong step and falls down a dark hole.
"Karolina!" Nico shouts as everyone but Chase was able to see the blond disappear
So while the teens were taking careful steps around where Karolina had fallen, Chase had caught up to Mike who was trying his best to take off the Fistagons
"You guys are into some seriously weird shit" Mike whines making Chase pick up the Fistagon and taking the other pair off of Mike's hand
"You don't know the half of it." Chase says as he runs back towards the team only to see them huddling over what seemed to be a broken skylight "I got 'em! What are you guys doin'?"
Karolina appears in the teen's eye line as she glowed and was flying safe and sound, "Guys! I found something"
The teens then search for an entrance to where Karolina was at as falling from the skyline was not an option for every one of them. Walking around the hill, Molly had taken the lead in finding an entrance
"Molly, you find anything?" Gert shouts at the teen to stood a few feet away from them
"Guys!" Molly says calling them over to an iron gate she found
"What is this place?" Chase asks but no one answers
Molly takes a deep breath placing her hands through the iron gates square holes and makes her eyes glow golden gaining the power to pick up the iron door and throw it to the side as if it was a cardboard box
"Come on, girl!" Gert shouts looking up at where Old Lace stood on the hill
The teens enter the place which seemed to be an abandoned secret home where their only source of light was the broken skyline. Entering the place Karolina and Nico make their way towards each other for an embrace. Taking a look around the place was filled with spiderwebs, old colorful flyers, graffiti, used furniture and blankets. Molly walks over to the sofa that held some blankets and pillows, laying on it and pulling a blanket over herself
Chase and Luna walked towards the staircase but before they can take a step up Alex shouts, "Whoa! Careful! OK? It might not be safe"
"Something tells me it is. That we are" Nico says walking around Alex and towards the other side of the room
Chase and Luna look at each other before continuing walking upstairs. Old Lace chirrs making Gert raise her hands from making the reptile from following Luna up the stairs, "Oh-- Girl, stay. It's probably better if they test the stairs without a dinosaur"
Karolina uses her powers to shine a light on the graffiti on the walls taking a read at it with Nico by her side. Alex takes a step up the stairs and picks up a shoe, "Looks like we aren't the first ones to discover this place"
"Hey! Everyone, it is actually pretty amazing up here" Luna says running towards the balcony railing to look down at everyone
Chase walks up to stand next to Luna, "Except for the bathroom, which is pretty gross. There's also no power or water"
"Which would explain the said grossness. Also, we might have raccoons but that doesn't mean this can't be our Jannah" Luna says looking down at everyone and then back at Chase with a smile
"Jannah?" Chase asks pronouncing the word trying his best not to butcher the word
"It means sanctuary in Arabic," Luna explains making Chase look at brunette standing next to him not realizing how much he still had to learn about her
"Sounds great," Karolina says with a chuckle
"Sounds... like home," Nico says taking hold of her blond girlfriends hand
"Well, come on, but I just bought all the tents." Alex exclaims making Nico and Karolina look at him making him break a smile "Kidding, kidding"
"Good one. Where is your tent?" Nico asks Alex as Karolina pulls her upstairs, "Just put it down here if you want"
Night had officially fallen and the teens had agreed that for the first night to sleep downstairs in their sleeping bags. Luna was sleeping across from Chase and instead of next to him as she had explained to Chase before shared a tent with him that she doesn't sleep well while next to another person. One of the main reasons Luna never shared a bed was because Luna couldn't fall asleep as she felt uncomfortable. Specifically, the touch of someone was what made Luna wake up or not be able to fall asleep as it made her mind awake and alert
In deep sleep, the earth started to shake creating various household items to shake and shattering to the floor waking up the teens.
"What is this?" Molly asks still laying in her sleeping bag while the rest of the teens were either sitting up or getting ready to stand up
Taking a look around the room only to see the various items, like the shaking chandelier, Chase calls out "Earthquake!"
Chase takes hold of Luna's hand making them follow Alex and Nico over to a doorway as its to be one of the safest places to be during an earthquake. Under the doorway, Luna faces where they were sleeping to see Gert and Molly standing in the middle of the room had yet to find cover
"Over here. Doorway" Nico shouts at the two, making Molly and Gert walk over to the doorway only for a piece of the ceiling to fall on the table they were walking towards
Seeing as how the ceiling was falling Gert looks around for another place to take cover and finds another table that they can hide under, "Molly! Under here!"
More rumbling continues to happen but mainly from the concrete disembedding itself loosening a pillar that everyone's eyes were following except Gert who couldn't see it. The pillar starts to fall and from the looks of it would hit Gert and the wooden table she was under wouldn't save her
"Gert!" both Molly and Luna shout but only one is able to run towards the pillar and use their powers to save Gert by raising up their pillar.
Seeing how Molly was able to raise and place the pillar back in its place, the teens at the doorway run towards the center of the room and Luna runs over to embrace Gert tightly.
"Did you guys see that?" Molly says turning around still with her golden eyes shinning
"We're safe. We survived" Alex sighs the earthquake being over, but just as the teens were settling a chandelier by the stairs falls making them all shout and jump back. Everyone walks towards the fallen chandelier while also looking up the stairs to see if there was fallen items that caused damage
"This place held, though," Chase says just as Old Lace walks in between Gert and Luna
"For now," Gert says pessimistically as she was overthinking of all the ways that everything could go wrong from another earthquake to more broken items or even more pillars falling
"Wait, guys... where's Karolina?" Nico says looking around at to see if her eyes had deceived her but it was right, Karolina was nowhere in sight
The teens start to search around the house, downstairs and upstairs in the room. Luna quickly makes herself down the first set of stairs meeting Chase halfway
"There's no sign of her up here" Luna announces
"Although, pretty sure I saw, like, rat-sized cockroaches back there" Chase says making Old Lace growl from her spot downstairs next to Molly
"Bite-sized Old Lace snacks," Molly thinks of making Luna make a face of disgust
"No. Gross." Gert says only for Old Lace to complain by growling making her rethink it "Fine. Who am I to judge the dietary habits of a homeless dinosaur?"
Old Lace roars and hisses happily as she quickly makes her way upstairs so ecstatic that she bumps into a chandelier
"Guys!" Nico shouts grabbing everyone's attention "Focus. Karolina"
"Look. She's not in here injured, OK, which means she's out there, probably totally fine" Alex says trying to reassure and calm Nico but it doesn't help
"Except it might be worse out there. We need to partner up, comb the area nearby" Nico says as Chase and Luna walk down the stairs
"Or maybe we don't need to go anywhere," Molly says having heard footsteps looks back seeing Karolina walking in
"Hey. Is everyone OK?" Karolina asks walking over to stand next to Nico
"Where were you? We were worried" Nico says stoically making Luna look over at her worried
"Sorry. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk in the woods. I really didn't mean to worry anyone" Karolina lies looking around at everyone, but no one could tell she was telling a lie. Nico turns to hug her girlfriend, all her worry disappearing with the simple act
"How bad is it out there?" Gert asks from her seat on the stair step
"It's definitely way worse down here. The rest of the world is still intact" Karolina reassures everyone
"OK. So this isn't the one that Molly's parents warned us about" Alex states
"Or it's the pre-shock to that one. We don't know if we permanently shut down that construction site" Gert says starting to let her anxiety start to flare up
"You think they restarted the drill?" Nico asks
"That Jonah guy seemed pretty determined. I'm not sure one cement truck is gonna stop him for long" Chase says making Karolina start to worry
"Sometimes an earthquake is just an earthquake especially here," Karolina says with a tight smile
"And sometimes it's an evil PRIDE plot to frack LA into the ocean" Alex says from his seat on the ground
"We have to make sure the dig site's destroyed. Permanently this time. We need to power up, which means I need the staff" Nico plans out
"You realize your mom has it, right? I mean, why don't we start off by stealing something easy like the Elder Scrolls in Skyrim?" Alex says making everyone look at him not understanding his reference to a video game that none of them knew "Obviously a joke. Everyone knows how hard those are to steal"
"suurree..." Luna uncertainly says with furrowed eyebrows as no one understood his video game reference
"No." Nico states shaking her head, "Everyone does not know that"
"It's risky going back into the belly of the beast. What if you get caught?" Chase asks the room but mainly Nico
"Yeah, or worse" Alex states making Molly think about it all
"That's why I'm going with her" Molly declares
"Me, too" Karolina states
"I'm not much good without the Fistigons, and I can't fix those until I steal some power and get this place back on the grid" Chase says having a plan to get the power back on
"I'll- i'll stay, too. I need to make sure this place isn't a structural death trap now" Gert decides, making Luna look around the room as it seemed to be her time to decide what to do
"I guess you can count me in to join," Luna says as she believed that she would have more use in joining the girls rather than saying at the house not knowing what to do to help out as she was either going to be stepping on Gert's toes or be no help to helping Chase
"I gotta get to my job," Alex says making everyone in the room look at him confused and surprised
"What? You never said you had a job. What are you talking about?" Nico asks the questions everyone was thinking
"I never said I didn't have a job," Alex says not giving it a second thought as he didn't want to answer their questions
"You know what, Wilder? I'm sick of this secretive shit." Chase says walking towards Alex "What job?"
"He's right Alex, you have to tell us," Luna says standing behind Chase wanting to know Alex's secret
"Shocking that you agree with Chase" Alex replies making Luna's eyes widen in shock not liking his attitude making her remember what he tried to keep buried for the sake of their friendship
Luna walks towards Alex and past Chase with her nostrils flaring "I'm agreeing with him because I am sick of you lying to everyone, especially me"
"I haven't lied to you," Alex quickly replies making Luna scoff
"Other than the fact you lied to me about the most important thing to me! You don't get to dictate how I would feel about my mom or how I get to remember her just because you found out that she was a part of the homicidal side of PRIDE just like the rest of your parents" Luna bursts out making Alex look away not being able to handle her cold blue eyes looking at him. She was right, he did lie to her when she asked if Zari had been a part of the teen sacrifices PRIDE had done, but that didnt mean he wanted to talk about it.
"You know what? I'm leaving" Alex says picking up his bad ready to turn around but Chase stops him by placing a hand on his shoulder
"No, you're not. Not until you tell us where"
"What are you gonna do, Chase? Beat it out of me?" Alex asks looking at Chase not backing down
"Oh, don't you think I couldn't," Chase says making everyone start to argue all at once only catching on to various phrases that led to more arguing
"Everyone, stop!" Molly shouts making everyone shut up and look at the youngest giving her all of their attention "Alex, you have to tell us. Our parents lied to us every day of our lives. If we're gonna be different, we gotta trust each other, and that means no more secrets. Otherwise, we're just like them"
Everyone looks around the room and with no arguments Alex gives in knowing Molly was right, "Fine. I'm working for Darius"
"The guy who kidnapped and almost shot you?" Luna asks worried for Alex safety and sanity
Chase sarcastically laughs before saying, "That's a great plan. Good thing you don't need an IQ test to stay here"
"Yeah, 'cause then where would you stay?" Alex quickly shoots back at Chase before addressing everyone else "Look, you guys asked me to tell you, and I did, so now I'm leaving"
"Alex" Nico calls out but Alex ignores her and continues to walk out of their new home
"At least he told us the truth," Molly says looking on the bright side of everything
Since Alex set out to do what he had planned out, Nico and the girls got ready to leave to her old home. The girls travel light leaving Nico to be the only one to carry a purse and Luna to proudly wear her totem
Standing across the street of Nico's gated home Karolina places her arm on her girlfriend's shoulder while asking her, "You OK?"
"Yeah, it's just...it already feels like a lifetime ago" Nico says with a breathy sigh
"Cool house. Looks deserted." Molly says with her pink hoddie on as she takes a step forward "Do you want me to rip off the front gate?"
"No. Nope. Come around this way. The surveillance cameras start at the driveway, but there's a blind spot. We can override Wizey from there" Nico says pointing at the side of the gate having everything planned out to do minimal damage
"You want to kill your mom's smart house? How do we do that?" Karolina asks not understanding how they were supposed to kill Tina's technology, especially since she is known for her tech being impenetrable
"Not we. You" Nico says with a smile and raises her eyebrows before turning back to face the house and take the first step to cross the street. At the side of the gate the teens take turns jumping the fence and arriving at where there was a locked black box. Molly takes hold of the lock and uses her powers to rip it off of the box allowing her to open it and see inside
"This controls Wizey's nerve center inside" Nico says taking a look at the inside of the box that contained their way in
"You think my powers can somehow shut it off?" Karolina asks uncertain
"Light is energy, right?" Nico asks making Luna look at the box seeming as the answer to Nico's question was a solid yes
"Yeah. I've just never tried anything like this before" Karolina says skeptical but with a supportive hand on her arm, Karolina takes off her bracelet and let her hand glow. Shooting light at the pannel the screen on the box door starts to get staticky and start to glitch
Hearing the sound of the garage door open Molly couldn't help but widen a smile "Oh, my God, you're doing it!"
"I don't know what I'm doing" Karolina says with a chuckle amazed it was working
"Just don't stop," Nico says as the garage doors weren't even halfway up and inside the house anything that was technological started to fire up. Seeing the garage door open all the way Karolina stops using her powers and puts her bracelet back on. "All right. We gotta move, OK?"
"Yeah, we'll stand guard out here just in case your mom shows" Luna says turning to Molly who nods in agreement making Nico and Karolina storm into the house heading straight for Tinas office
Taking a glance at the empty framed case Nico says, "The staff isn't here"
"Change of plans. We need to leave, like, now" Karolina replies urgently
"No. She might've hid it in the house. I know where to search" Nico says not wanting to leave her old home without getting the staff
"No. Your parents are already on their way" Karolina says not wanting to get caught
"There's still time," Nico says as she looks at her mother's desk to see if it could be hidden there but she misses out on seeing Robert standing at the doorway of the room
"No, there's not," Karolina says raising a hand in front of Nico
"Welcome home, Nico," Robert says in Japanese making Nico keep a straight face as she walks out of the room and past her father.
Karolina follows behind Nico and while passing Rober she tells him, "Stay back"
"Hurting either of you is the last thing I'd do. Nico!" Robert exclaims as he walks behind the girls only to stop when Karolina turns back and raises her hand threatening to take off her bracelet "We've lost so much already. Please, just come home"
"It's too late for that" Nico says not even glancing back to face her father
"It's never too late to be a family. I'll find a way to make everything OK again, I promise" Robert truthfully says
"Yeah..." Nico says turning around to finally look at Robert, "You know, when I was a little girl, hearing you say those words made me feel so safe. Now I know they're a lie"
"No, they're not--"
Nico cuts her father off by speaking up "This family can't be put back together again"
"Nico-" Robert tries to say his piece but once again is interrupted by his daughter
"So... emotional good cop didn't work, and we all know what comes next. Let's just cut to the chase." Nico says picking up a wooden stick from a table to substitute as the staff and walks over to her father "Where is she?"
Robert doesn't say anything but he does look outside at their backyard making Nico look at where his eyes were and walks outside only to see her mother standing outside with her back to them and the staff in her hand, "I know this is what you came for"
"And I'm not leaving without it" Nico tells her mother who turns around with a smile
"Thought I heard voices." Molly says as she and Luna walk into the backyard to stand next to Nico "Four against one. I like those odds"
"This is between me and my daughter" Tina announces which doesn't sit well with Nico
"I haven't been your daughter for a long time" Nico replies
"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way" Tina says glancing at the magical staff in her hand
"Let's go hard." Molly says making the first move by grabbing the nearest chair and throwing it at Tina only for her to deflect it with a point of her staff making the chair nock down Molly "Aaah!"
Karolina takes off her bracelet shooting a beam of light towards Tina who deflects it again by creating a magical shield in front of her making Karolina be thrown back by her own light. As Tina drops her shield Luna quickly sends a blast of wind sending Tina backward but she quickly stands up and making the staff pull on Lunas totem necklace brings to her hand.
Luna touches her bare neck as it felt naked without the weight of the necklace. With Tina holding on to Lunas necklace Nico decided it was the best time to attack her mother with the wooden stick she held. Tina having more practice fighting with a staff nocks her daughter down in one swift move.
Seeing her friends all on the floor Luna raises her head looking up at Tina with a clenched jaw Luna holds out her hand mindlessly reaching for the totem. Tina feels the pull of the necklace trying to escape her hold when it starts glowing the pull was too strong that it flys out of Tina's hand and into Lunas. At the sight of the totem in her hand, Luna's eyes widen and mouth gaping in shock
Molly, Nico, and Karolina stand back up ready to fight together rather than alone but with every hit Tina had a block.
With the necklace's clasp in the back broken Luna didn't know what to do with it and since everything was moving quickly Luna puts her the necklace in her jeans back pocket. Luna felt useless as all she could do was stand to the side as her friends fought even if it meant getting thrown back down.
Nico had lost her patience and decided to take a hold of the staff her mother held out and tried to pull it towards her. Tina still having the advantage of strength doesn't break a sweat fighting with her daughter, "Stop this, Nico!"
Tina kicks Nico in the stomach making her daughter fall the ground and for Robert to shouts his daughter's name walking towards her but Tina threatens him with the staff, "Stay back!"
Seeing how Tina was distracted with Robert Molly stands up and uses her strength to punch Tina in the chest sending her to the ground as she lets go of the staff.
"That's for Graciela." Molly says with her eyes still glowing and fists up ready to keep fighting
Nico and Karolina try to reach for the staff but Tina was closer making her stand up with the staff in hand and with a swift move Tina sends Molly flying backward
"Molly!" Nico shouts making Luna touch her back pocket allowing for her hands to feel the cold feeling of the wind making its way underneath Molly so she wouldn't fall into the swimming pool. Quickly Luna walks over to the edge of the pool and with her hands still extended out she moves the wind sending Molly to roll downhill onto the green grass.
Luna lets out a sigh seeing that Molly was safely on the ground and turns around ready to face Tina but before she can the heel of her used boots makes her slip and before she can catch her balance Tina uses the staff sending Luna backward.
Realizing that she was about to fall into the pool Luna takes one big breath as her back hits the water. Thinking she had time to get back up Luna allows herself to fall into the depths of the swimming pool yet Tina had other ideas
"Freeze!" Tina shouts commanding the staff to make the top layer of the swimming poll to freeze trapping Luna inside
"No!" Nico shouts scared for the blue-eyed brunette who soon was going to run out of air
"Luna!" Karolina shouts yet instead of shouting or punching the ice Luna floats in the water keeping her strength but also not knowing if she wanted to fight. She had the choice, Luna could fight for fresh air or allow herself to submit into letting the water enter her lungs, "I'm coming for you, Luna!"
Karolina runs towards the swimming pool where Molly was getting ready to punch the ice. While inside the swimming pool Luna touches her back pocket while letting one hand keep her afloat but when she doesn't feel the necklace her heart starts to race.
Luna quickly looks down only to find the totem at the bottom of the pool, taking a quick glance up at the ice she sees a slight crack from Molly punching it and now the lights Karolina emits shining on top of her. Luna decides to take the chance and swim for her necklace
While Karolina was using her light to break the ice she isn't able to see Tina walking over to her with the staff in hand and since Molly was focused on Lunas well being neither of them saw Tina raise the staff to strike down Karolina.
Both Nico and Robert protest as they run over to the swimming pool but stop seeing how Tina stood over Karolina's body with her staff ready to strike the fallen girl
"This is why Amy's dead--" Nico shouts making Tina look up at her daughter, "The monster you are right now!"
Hearing the words come out of her daughter's mouth Tina unfreezes the pool making Luna swim up with her necklace in hand. With Molly's help, Luna is able to get out of the pool and cough up any water that entered her lungs as she did take an unintentional breath underwater.
"You don't know, Nico" Tina says walking over to her daughter not once glancing over at the damage she had caused to the girls
"I know... that you love that staff's power more than you love any of us" Nico tells her mother
"I don't expect you to understand the things I've done or the reasons that I have done them, but do not ever question whether I love you. Take it. It's not a trick." Tina says extending out the staff for Nico to take which she skeptically does, "You can go. All of you. But if you do, I want to be clear. When you leave here, what you said before will be true. When we see each other again, we will no longer be mother and daughter"
"Tina" Robert says standing behind his daughter not approving of the ultimatum Tina was giving Nico
"It's your choice. Stay and work this out...or leave forever" Tina says looking at her daughter's eyes but all Nico felt was disgust and hatred towards the women standing before her
"Let's go" Nico announces before taking one last look at her mother before walking past her with the staff in hand
Without thinking Luna touches her totem she held tight in her hand and raises her hands out sending a wave of water to hover over Tina. Tina looks over at the blue-eyed girl knowing what was going to happen after dropping the wave on her but not without seeing the cold expression Luna wore.
Walking behind the three girls with Nico taking lead, Luna couldn't help but grab a towel before they exited the house. With a towel draped over her shoulders and the totem in her back pocket, all Luna wanted to do was walk silently back to the house and just sleep everything off
"You should hide it. It might draw unwanted attention out here" Karolina suggests towards Nico making her look down at the staff
"Yeah. We better hurry up" Nico says making the staff shorten and places it in her black bag that rested over her shoulders
"I'm zonked, guys. Just need to sit for a second" Molly says as she lays down on the side of the sidewalk making Luna look at her and then at Nico and Karolina with hollow eyes
"I'm going to keep going," Luna says and before anyone can stop her or call out for her, she was already a few feet away. Luna kept walking and as she walked her clothes and hair slowly dried as she was alone in her thoughts. She could have died, she almost let herself die.
~~
Luna walks into the teen's sanctuary only to find that the rooms were no longer dark like the night sky but rather the power was working. She stops looking around as she hears the sound of a blender working and she follows the sound.
"You got the power to work!" Luna says excitedly when she sees Chase, but her words are drowned out by the sound of the blender. Chase who was facing the blender looks behind him as he feels someone standing behind him and seeing that Luna was the one standing behind him he couldn't help but smile.
"What?" Chase asks not catching any of the words Luna had said making him pay attention to her lips as she repeats herself
"You got the power to work" Luna repeats having read Chase's lips understanding that he hadn't heard her
Chase still not being able to read Luna's lips turns off the blender and says with a smile "I got the power to work"
Luna couldn't help but smile at how proud he was of his accomplishment on getting the house to have power. After not having to keep walking or worrying about the cameras around her, Luna took a breather that made her think back to what Tina did to her.
"Can I have a hug?" Luna asks looking up at Chase's eyes and seeing that her blue eyes were glossing up he could never say no. So he goes to pull her in an embrace letting Luna to rest her head on his shoulder as she wraps her arms around him holding tight
"Why do you smell like a swimming pool," Chase asks curiously as to why her hair smelled like it had been dipped in a some water with chlorine
Luna loosens her hold on Chase and looks up at him placing her chin on his chest, "uh Tina tried to drown me"
Chase eyes couldn't help but widen and take a closer look at her, "Were you hurt? Are you okay?"
"Would it be too cheesy if I say I am now?"
"Yes it would be not to mention very heteronormative of you," Gert says catching the couples attention by scaring Luna as she thought her and Chase were having a private moment
Turning around with her hand on her heart Luna exclaims, "Stars! Gert!"
Having their moment interrupted the couple joins Gert in the dining room with a cup and the blenders jar. Luna, Chase, and Gert sit on one side of the long table. Luna sat on one side of Chase with one of her legs resting on his lap, while Gert sat on the other side of Chase explaining to Luna where they had gotten the protein powder as they watch Chase pours his protein shake into a cup.
After hearing how Chase had carried a protein powder in his suit jacket to the school dance, Luna couldn't help but laugh as when she thought about it, it didn't seem the least surprising thing Chase would do.
Chase drinks the protein shake with a satisfying sigh, "Nectar of the gods. You want some?"
"That swamp water? No." Gert declines with a shake of her head disgusted by its look
"I'll give it a try," Luna says taking the glass and taking a deep breath before taking a sip. Luna couldn't help to be surprised that the drink actually tasted good, but then again the last liquid she had in her mouth was pool water, "it's actually not bad. Even if it is swamp water"
"Actually, the water from the tap's a little darker than this. Our next project" Chase declares looking over at Gert making her give him a puzzled look
"Let's just... bask in this victory for like ten seconds, OK?" Gert says only to turn hearing the girls silently enter the room and since Luna hadn't told them how it went Gert had to ask them, "Hey, how'd it go? Did you get the staff back?"
"'Cause we got the power on" Chase proudly says looking up at the lights, "as you can see"
"Yep. Great" Molly mumbles as she takes a seat next to Gert with no motivation in her voice
At the girl's disinterest and silence Chase couldn't help but take it personally, "Seriously? There's electric heat in some of the rooms, we got protein shakes, chandeliers lit up-"
"Fantastic." Karolina says sarcastically as she takes a seat next to Luna, "Now we can all see how bad we look"
"Oh please like Chase is familiar with that concept" Luna says without thinking about her words and when they leave her mouth she couldn't help but purse her lips and not looking back at Chase who was smiling proudly at her compliment
"Where's Alex?" Nico as he was nowhere to be found and since they were all sitting shoulders to shoulder in the dining room they look over at Nico and then look down the line to where Karolina sat but no one was there
"Uh, not back yet." Gert analyses
"I'm calling a house meeting." Nico states making everyone look back at her, "Do we wait?"
"Think we have a quorum," Gert says making Luna nod in agreement
"Power's on." Nico starts out her house meeting with, "Thanks to Chase and Gert."
"That's all I wanted," Chase says to finally getting recognition
"We got the Staff of One back." Nico says with a tired sigh as she extends out her arms on the table before looking over at Chase "And the Fistigons?"
"I'll fix 'em tonight now that we have light." Chase states with a nod
"OK. Everyone find bedrooms. Get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we're gonna figure out how to use our powers together as a team. Yeah." Nico says finishing the house meeting with no protests
~~
Luna knocks on an open door that led to a room Gert seemed to have claimed. "Hey"
"Hey, I thought you'd be sleeping by now" Gert responds knowing that after having found actual beds with pillows and everything Luna would be the first to sleep. Yet there she was, standing outside Gert's new room with her wavy frizzed hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail having yet to wash off the chloroform from the pool water
"First I wanted to see if you would be okay tonight, sleeping alone and all" Luna says as she plays with the strap of her duffle bag. Molly had chosen her own room and was in no mood to talk to Gert about having to see Luna almost die
"Yeah um i-ill be fine," Gert says not wanting to stop Luna from rooming with her boyfriend. She had thought about what would happen if she asked Luna to stay the night which most likely would extend for longer than just one night leading to Luna hating Gert down the road or Luna and Chase breaking up leading to Luna resenting her.
"I want you to be better than fine Gert, especially since you don't have your pills to help you with your anxiety being on the fritz," Luna says whispering the last part of her sentence immediately regretting the last word she said
"I will be okay, you go and share a room with Chase but uh Luna, have you told him?" Gert asks having also thought about what would happen if without her meds she would let Luna secret out
"Told him who, what?" Luna asks not understanding Gert's vague question
"Chase, about your sexuality" Gert says catching Luna off guard not having expected that to leave her mouth
"Oh, that." Luna says her mouth pursed in thought "Well um considering our relationship is very new and being as you and Molls are the only two that I've officially come out to. I'm so terrified to tell him... Deep down I know he won't react badly but I just- there is this fear in me that when I tell someone their reaction will be bad, especially when I care a lot about them. The fear is just there and sadly I just can't make that fear disappear"
"Luna, that won't happen Chase is smarter than I give him credit for. If he is the actual idiot that I say he is then Old Lace is always there to take care of the problem that is if she wants" Gert says with a smile making Luna shake her head trying to hide her smile
"Good night Gert," Luna says fixing the strap of her duffle bag walking out of the room and towards the room where she saw Chase walk into.
Having finished fixing the Fistagons, Chase chose a room with the idea that him and Luna were going to be sharing it but knew she needed to make sure Gert would be good for the night. In the room, he was fixing the bed by trying to find the best pillows out of the very skeptical looking ones. Luna couldn't help but admire Chase's arms as the shirt he wore had chopped up sleeves that just made her want to make out with him. At the sound of the door opening Chase looks up seeing Luna walk into the room and closed the door behind her
"Hey" Luna says walking into the bedroom Chase had chosen where there was a mattress on the ground in the middle of the room. There was a large window that had thin torn up curtains and the rest of the room was messy, some graffiti and various items just laying around the room
"How's Gert?" Chase asks not knowing if walking into the room and closing the door behind her meant she was staying with him or not
"Good, decided she's okay spending the nights alone" Luna says dropping her duffle bag at the end of the mattress
"Are you okay?" Chase asks not forgetting the fact that Luna was drowned and had just walked it off
"Yeah, or I will be, but I do want to talk to you about something. I-its not about what happened to me earlier, I'm not yet ready to talk about that just yet...This... thing that I want to say might be a deal-breaker to you wanting to be in a relationship with me, but it is important I tell you because it is a part of who I am" Luna says trying to find the courage to come out to Chase, but didn't know how to start her confession, "So um you know how in television shows they sometimes have a new couple tell each other how many people they have been with-"
"You want to know how many people I've been with?" Chase asks skeptically to what Luna wanted or he was interpreting her wrong
"No! No, no definitely do not want to know that" Luna says quickly as she did not want her insecurities to take over the conversation, "um we are in a relationship and it's one where I don't want to keep any secrets. So um I-I'm bisexual and my only experience in being in a relationship has been with a girl"
"Why would you being bisexual be a dealbreaker?" Chase asks knowing that it wasn't easy for Luna to share that part of herself and he wanted her to know that he did care about her sexuality because it was a part of her, but he also didn't see it as a reason to not be with her.
"It's not?" Luna says with a smile as her eyes start to water, not trying to hide how she was feeling as Chase's response was better than she could have ever imagined
Chase walks towards Luna looking at her feeling his world going under at seeing tears pool at her blue eyes, "No, were you afraid to tell me?"
"Yeah" Luna says her voice wavering as she raised her hand to wipe her eyes before her tears can fall "mainly because your opinion really matters to me"
"My opinion matters to you?" Chase asks with a hint of a smile making Luna chuckle while wiping her eye once again
"Yes, very much," Luna says looking Chase in the eyes and it was almost as if she could feel the warmth in his light brown eyes
"Your opinion matter to me too"
A/N: what do yall think...