A/N: Thank you Luke Danger for your constructive review! This is why I have restarted this story, so I can give my story a little more oomph. It has the same essential story line, (what I picture would happen in season three) but I'm throwing in more context, like suggested. This will only be 10 chapters at most, so hopefully everyone enjoys this!
Piper recognized the dark, desolate landscape; Cyclonis was invading her mind again. Piper was simply trying to do research on perfect attunement, and what could have triggered it. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor with darkness enveloping her vision. Now, she was here twisting herself, trying to find the very being who entered her mind. She heard mirthless laughter echo from behind her.
Piper turned around to face the other girl who was standing behind her and gave her a piercing glare, "what do you want, Cyclonis?" Piper asked sharply, cutting to the chase.
"I came to give you praise, Piper. I'm impressed, you've achieved Perfect Attunement and quite frankly, it took me by surprise."
Piper folded her arms and ground her teeth, asking her the same previous question, "what do you want?"
"Piper, I'm telling you that you did a good job, and I'm trying to help you," Cyclonis said, "and this is the thanks I get?"
"I don't need your help," Piper snapped stepping closer to her.
Cyclonis stepped closer to Piper, Piper responded by taking a couple steps back, her fists clenched, "you do Piper, you're lost, you don't know what to do," Cyclonis said with mock concern.
"I said I don't want your help," Piper's expression changed from anger into a smug smile although deep inside, she wasn't confident, "besides, I think I've got it under control."
"Do you? I don't think you do. You may think you won, that you've mastered it, but you're wrong," Cyclonis responded darkly, lightning flashed, and Cyclonis was gone.
Piper knew full well that Cyclonis was still around, so she turned around and Cyclonis was right behind her placing a hand on her shoulder that Piper shrugged off, Piper stepping away.
"You just need to keep practicing, Piper and you can be just like me."
"I am nothing like you, I will never be anything like you," Piper said through gritted teeth stepping towards Cyclonis.
"That's where you're wrong, Piper. Why do you think I'm here, it's not because we're opposites. Every day, you come closer to being evil, and if you think you won and everything is easy, you're wrong," Cyclonis gave a mirthless chuckle, "I also have a few surprises in store, so don't say I didn't warn you," Cyclonis motioned her hand towards Piper's left
Piper's eyes widened, what could this possibly mean? She looked over to where Cyclonis was looking, she was something that looked like a piece of broken glass that wasn't there before; it showed Piper, the same Piper that was shown by Cyclonis, the Piper that is just like Cyclonis.
Lightning flashed in the sky, and next thing she knew she was free from Cyclonis' grip. Piper jolted upward, letting out a scream. She felt a warm hand holding hers, she didn't bother to pay attention to who it was,
"Piper,-" the person began, and Piper looked up to see that it was Aerrow; his concern-filled eyes looked glassy, almost as if there were tears that were threatening to make their way up.
She pulled away and hastily backed up against the Condor's wall, quickly rising to standing position. In fact she stood up so quickly her vision hazed for a moment. She heard Cyclonis' laughter echo in her mind, making Piper's heartbeat quicken. Aerrow rose to standing position as well, a cautious hand out in front of him, slowly making his way over to the girl.
"Stay back!" Piper said sharply, pressing herself against the wall even more. She stretched her arm placing her hand directly in front of her almost to defend, "I don't want to hurt you."
"What are you talking about? You're not going to hurt me," Aerrow responded, still cautiously moving towards her his face etched in deep concern.
"I said stay back," she shouted, a stern look on her face. She tried to back away even more even though she was pressed against the wall.
"Piper," Aerrow began, almost mirroring her stern facial expression, "what's going on with you?"
Piper was silent for a moment, looking down as she lowered her arm, "nothing, don't worry about it, i'm okay," she replied rather quickly.
"You're not okay and this doesn't look like nothing," Aerrow said sharply, "the last time that something like this happened you started getting sick, and you almost died," Aerrow looked angry and scared at once, "I don't want that to happen again. I'm not letting you off the hook this time, so I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what in the wastelands is going on with you!"
Piper glared at Aerrow with a raised eyebrow, "you think that this was what made me sick?"
"What else am I supposed to think, Piper?"
"That's not what made me sick, this is completely different," Piper said quietly, but coldly she knew she wasn't able to get out of this one. She never told Aerrow what had happened that evening on the landing strip on the Condor, the last time Cyclonis invaded her mind. Taking in a breath, she continued walking away from the wall but away from Aerrow, her back to him.
"You want to know what's going on? Cyclonis is contacting me," Piper said rather sharply, she softened her voice as she continued, turning around to look at Aerrow, "she does it through the power of the Binding. She goes into my head and tells me things..." Piper trailed off, unsure of what to say next.
"What does she tell you?" Aerrow asked, looking attentively at the girl.
"She tells me that… that the Binding is evil, that it's dark, but to keep practicing, and that when I master it… it will make me just like… her," Piper whispered, looking away.
Aerrow was silent for a moment, "why didn't you say anything?"
"Because Aerrow," Piper whirled around to face him, with the same anger from before, "I didn't want to distract you. There has been so much more going on that you need to worried about than this… this stupid little problem."
"Piper, this is very serious. You could have died for all I know," Aerrow said, his voice softening a bit, but still stern.
"I should have told you," Piper confirmed, breathed in and initiated in taking a few steps, hoping to calm herself, "but what if I'm like Cyclonis? What if I turn evil, into something like her?"
"You are nothing like Cyclonis," Aerrow responded.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Piper mumbled still walking back and forth.
"You're not. She's probably just using this as a scare tactic to keep you from using the Binding."
Piper stopped dead in her tracks, giving Aerrow yet another glare, similar to the one she gave him when he told her that they can beat Cyclonis another way, "and how do you know? What if I do end up turning evil? What if I completely turn on you guys?" Piper began to raise her voice, a million emotions flooding through her mind as she felt tears threatening to make their way up, "what if I end up killing you? Just like Cyclonis did with the Dark Ace! Do you want that?"
"No! Of course I don't want that," Aerrow retorted, he was silent for a moment and his expression softened, "Piper, do you really think that the Binding will make you evil?"
Piper was now turned away from Aerrow, looking at the floor; she remained silent for a moment before answering, her voice shaking, "I don't know."
Tears began to blur her vision; she ground her teeth and began to shake, holding in her flood of emotions. Aerrow noticed her shaking but unmoving state and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around to see tears slowly trailing down her cheeks.
"Hey," Aerrow said softly, soothingly while placing his other hand on Piper's other shoulder so he was holding her by her shoulders, "it's okay."
Piper sniffled and shook her head, "it's not okay, it's never been okay."
She broke down, her shoulders shaking with gentle sobs. Aerrow wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her into an embrace so that she was crying on his shoulder. Aerrow rubbed soothing circles on her upper back, hoping to calm her down. His face was drawn into a frown because he hated seeing her like this; he hated seeing the girl who he admired and knew as such a strong girl break down like this.
Aerrow turned his head to whisper into her ear, "hey, we're in this together alright? This isn't something you should bear alone."
Piper sniffled and nodded, backing up a bit so her face wasn't buried in his shoulder, but stared at the floor, "if I hadn't used the Binding, none of this would have happened," she whispered.
"And we would have been dead," Aerrow added. Piper didn't respond, she was still looking at the floor, sniffling with tears streaming out of her eyes at a semi-constant flow, "hey, look at me."
She obeyed, raising her tear-stained face to look at Aerrow, and he continued, "nothing that has happened is your fault, it's not your fault that Cyclonis is evil, it's not your fault that the Dark Ace died. None of that is your fault, alright?"
Piper nodded, wiping away her tears from her cheeks, "but, what if I turn evil?"
"That won't be your fault either, I know you don't want to be evil. If that's true, I'm gonna do everything that I can to keep that from happening because I care about you," Aerrow said softly.
That took Piper by surprise, but she gave Aerrow a sad smile nonetheless.
"Look, I know I don't understand, Piper. I will probably never understand what you're going through, but at least let me try."