Chapter 3: Safe and Sound?

She limply put her hand in mine and I activated my Aura. It was hard to tell because my Aura didn't shine bright like everyone else's. It was a very dull gray color. I closed my eyes and focused on her and after a few minutes I heard a gasp. I opened my eyes to see that Ariel was glowing a bright sky blue and I let go of her hand.

"Success!" I shouted and stood. My legs wobbled and I felt dizzy. My legs gave out on me and I hit the edge of the table and fell back into the wall. I groaned and held the sides of my head. It took me a while to get back to normal. I opened my eyes and everything was had a slight red hue around it. I was surrounded by all of my family and Ariel held my hand and she looked like she was concentrating really hard.

I felt my Aura activate and I started to feel a lot better and the red hue cleared up. Gasps filled the room and I shook myself once more before putting my hand in Ariel's shoulder. She opened her eyes and threw her arms around me.

"Oww hey not so tight." I laughed. "I just lost my balance and fell it's not a big deal."

"It was worse than that Ikki. You hit the edge of the table and busted your forehead wide open and you put a large hole in my wall." I looked up at Sun who tapped his shoulder.

"So is it bad?" I grimaced as I reached up for it but I felt nothing I pulled my hand down and it was covered in blood. I reached up again and felt everywhere on my head but there wasn't any wounds. "OK jokes on me guys, make me think I got hurt and put ketchup on me to make it look real. Ha ha ha so funny."

"Uh Ikki you really did gash your head but somehow Ariel managed to heal the wound." Blair brought a cloth to my head and wiped off all the blood.

"Wicked!" The twins shouted in unison. "Our little cousin is a healer!"

"Me? A healer? What does that mean? How the hell did you unlock my Aura and semblance?" Ariel was starting to hyperventilate and before anyone could calm her down she passed out. She hit the floor with a thud and I cringed.

"It's a good thing her Aura is still activated or else she could have hurt herself." I heard Yang from the back of the group and Neptune picked up his daughter and took her into the living room.

"Icarrus how did you do that? I thought that skill was only known by highly skilled Aura users and take an enormous amount of energy and concentration." Sun scratched his head. "Jaune told me about how much energy Pyrrha used when she did his."

"I have seen it done a few time and I figured if my dad could do it I could too." I smiled thinking back on the first time I saw my dad do it. I looked at the stunned faces of my mother and the rest of the group. "What you guys didn't know my dad could unlock someone's Aura and semblance?"

"Not even I knew Junior." My mom sat down and stared at the table.

"Ikki when did your father tell you?" Ruby moved in front of me quickly and kneeled down. I felt a wave of pain hit me and I kept my composure as not to worry anyone. "When did he first show you?"

"He never told me, I saw him one day during a mission to provide back up for a training school way out west. He told me to wait at camp but I got bored and started walking around. After a while I got to the school and I saw dad sitting in front of a really long line of kids." I shivered to think about the amount of power and energy he had used and the amount of pain multiplied by that many people. "One by one I saw him unlock their Aura and during the few weeks we stayed around the school I heard people talking about how they got their semblances."

I felt a twinge of pain and coughed. A small amount of blood landed on the table and some trickled out of my mouth. Ruby grabbed the already bloody cloth and wiped it up and wiped my face clean.

"What people don't tell you about it's the pain it causes you if you manage to do it." I grunted. "Dad never let the kids see him hurting but back at camp he would scream into his hands a lot."

The faces of Ruby, Sun, Blake, Yang and my mother all changed into ones of concern. I stood quickly and walked away from everyone without saying a word. I walked to the living room just as Ariel started to sit up. She looked at me and I smiled before walking out the door. I had made my way around the house and I collapsed on the side.

I felt the pain in my stomach and I hunched over before throwing up. It was bloody and it soaked the ground. It felt like my head was about to exploded but after a few minutes it calmed down and I wiped the bloody vomit from my lips.

"I can't believe I actually managed to do it. Are you proud of me dad? Were you ever proud to call me your son?" I sat against the house and looked up to the sky smiling. "It's all my fault that you died dad. All because I was too stubborn and I thought I could make you smile and tell me that I did well."

The wind blew gently as clouds rolled over the sky. The few birds flying around quickly landed and I felt a drop of rain hit my face.

"It's beginning to look like that night dad. Is it a blessing or a curse that I am everything that made you who you were? Your name, your looks, your power, your suffering." I raised my hand up and the rain fell harder. "Your anger, all this rage and hatred inside of me. Wanting to be accepted by people."

I sat silently in the rain listening to the almost rhythmic thunder. The wind picked up and the air became chilly. My mind drifted to memories of the past.

{"Icarrus, listen to me. One day you'll come face to face with a decision that will affect your life. You will run at first, trust me I did the same thing, but eventually when you are strong enough you will come to terms with it." My father sat opposite of me across the campfire.

"What does that mean dad?" I asked while pulling my burnt marshmallow from the fire. "I won't run, you told me to never run from anything. I will stand my ground and face it!"

I shouted and jumped up causing my marshmallow to fly off somewhere behind me. I turned slowly to look at my dad and he had a small smile forming on his lips. I grinned and ran around to him, tackling him off his chair.

"See dad I'm really strong I can take you down. Isn't that so cool?" I clutched onto him as tight as I could.

"You're going to be a lot stronger than me one day son." He wrapped his arms around me. "I'm so proud of you."}