Author's Note- I can't help it. I draw big purple-and-pink hearts around Pemma. And after finally figuring out that Lydia's empathic power is that she reads DESIRE (huh, no wonder she's kinda slutty), this just popped into my head. It didn't come out quite the way I intended it to, but I had a point I needed to make, and this is it.
"Claire, you have to come back with me," Peter said. "Now."
"Peter, no!" the blonde insisted. "I'm happy here. I'm accepted; I can be who I really am, and no one will judge me. They've taken good care of me."
The empath sighed. "These people are dangerous. You can't stay here."
Claire snorted. "Everyone says that, my father, Angela. But I never thought I'd hear it from you! You're supposed to be the loving one, aren't you? You're supposed to be the one who trusts people! Why can't you trust Samuel?"
"Because he's been lying to you, Claire!" Peter exclaimed. "I'm not sure what, but I just... I get a bad feeling from him."
The ex-cheerleader bit her lip, frowning in deep thought. Then she grinned. "I've got it!" she said. "I know somebody who'll make you understand. Come on!" She seized her uncle by the hand and dragged him through the crowded lanes between carnival attractions.
"Uh... where exactly are we going?" Peter asked.
"You'll see!"
She lead him up to a blue-and-silver striped tent. Next to the slit in the fabric that served as a doorway hung a sign in large curvy lettering: See Madame Lydia, Teller of Fortunes! Beautiful Exotic Temptress. Below the words was a picture of a woman's face, staring out at them with sultry eyes.
Peter glanced dubiously at the sign. "This is who you want me to see?"
"Trust me," Claire said. "I know it's a little strange at first, but that's just the veneer of the carnival. Lydia's fine. She's really amazing." He hesitated a little longer, but Claire shooed him inside the tent. As they stepped into the warm darkness beneath the canvas, Claire called, "Lydia, are you here? It's Claire."
A tall blonde woman came into view, hips swaying seductively. "Ah," she said. "You must be Peter."
"H-how did you--?" Peter asked.
Lydia smiled warmly. "I'm very good at what I do," she said. She glanced at Claire. "I'm assuming Claire wouldn't have brought you here if you weren't... unsure of what you want."
"I know exactly what I want!" Peter said indignantly.
"Are you sure about that?" Lydia asked, her smile changing from welcoming to taunting.
He nodded decisively. "Yes. I want to take Claire and get out of her. She's eighteen and she should be in school. That's what I want."
Lydia smirked coyly. "At the moment, perhaps," she said enigmatically. "But deep down, there's something else that you want, isn't there, Peter?" She turned her back to him and slipped her loose homespun blouse off one shoulder. Then she raised her hand over the other shoulder. "Take my hand," she challenged. "I'll show you what it is you desire."
After a brief hesitation, Peter placed his hand in Lydia's. He heard her soft intake of breathe, a little "oh" of surprise.
"Lydia?" Claire asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"
The soul-reader opened her eyes and smiled at Claire. "Nothing," she said. "It seems that Peter is very sure of what he wants after all. Not that he's admitted that to himself yet. But... maybe I can help." She met Peter's eyes in the mirror hanging on the tent wall, then jerked her head at the tattoo that was forming on her right shoulder.
Peter stared as the shifting lines shivered into a familiar face. The ink woman was smiling faintly, staring off into the distance with a wistful expression in her eyes. "Emma?" he asked softly.
"If she's what you want," Lydia said, "You'd better do something about it before it's too late and she finds someone else."
A whisper of golden light passed between their connected hands, and then Peter jerked away. He stared at the tattoo for a moment longer, then looked up at Claire. "I have to go," he said. "There's someone I have to see." With that he turned and raced out of the tent.
Claire looked at Lydia. "What was that about?"
Lydia smiled serenely. "That's for Peter to tell you, if he wants. And I think he will, eventually." She appeared satisfied with that, and left. As Claire walked away, Lydia sincerely hoped that she had been successful in preventing her fellow empath from remaining at the carnival. Having Claire here was bad enough, but someone with as much potential for power swelling up inside him, waiting for just the right moment to show itself... She shook her head. Someone like Peter gave off huge amounts of energy, enough that Samuel wouldn't even need the rest of them.
She closed her eyes, following the link she had formed with him, and smiled to see him haggling with one of her fellow carnival "freaks" over a beaten-up old pickup. The idiot had taken her power and couldn't fly anymore. He wasn't going to get back to his love any quicker for it.
Delving deeper, she pushed past the bounds of time and caught snatched glimpses of the future. Peter, striding through the doors of what seemed to be a hospital... she'd seen him there before... And a blonde woman she vaguely recognized...
Lydia couldn't clearly see past that. But she could get a sense of radiant happiness sometime in the very near future. She grinned. Yes, Peter would be fine. He'd be far too distracted to return to the carnival.