"How are you feeling?" Sage asked, walking back into the transitioning room. Skye was standing in front of the cot, dressed in the clothes she was wearing when Gordon saved her from the S.H.I.E.L.D agents.
"Better," Skye said, donning her black, leather jacket. "I feel more like myself."
"Good," Sage smiled. "We flushed your lymphatic and circulatory systems, so you might feel weak for a few days."
Skye nodded. "I need to give a message to my friends."
"Gordon is the only one who can make contact with the outside world here. You can talk to him about it when he gets back."
"How long will that take?"
Sage shrugged. "I'm not sure, Gordon comes and goes a lot. Tomorrow is pizza night though, so he'll definitely be back by then, the latest."
"Pizza night?"
Sage leaned in conspiratorially. "Gordon brings in deep dish pizzas in from Chicago. They go pretty quickly, but stick with me and I'll show you the secret to being first in line."
The corners of Skye's mouth quirked upward in a small smile at the girl's antics. Maybe I should give this place a try. "Where exactly are we?" Skye asked.
"The official name is Lai Shi in Chinese, but it doesn't really translate." Sage said walking to the exit. She opened the doors and Skye gasped, following Sage out onto a terrace. Beyond the balcony was one of the most beautiful landscapes Skye had ever seen. It consisted of beautiful green foliage harboring colonies of animals she'd only ever read about. Beyond them lie majestic mountains that seemed endless. The sky was bright blue and full of fluffy white clouds.
Sage chuckled at Skye's blatant gawking. "I'll show you to your room."
"I feel like the new kid at school, with all the staring." Skye said with a frown. The duo were walking towards the Afterlife's living quarters.
"Huh," Sage commented, realizing everyone was staring Skye. "Usually, I'm the one getting the weird looks. This is new, can't say I'm not liking it…"
At Skye's unimpressed eyebrow quirk, Sage added, "Well, you jumped the line for sure. We only have someone transition every few years. Since our last scheduled transition was only a few months ago, no one was expecting another for a while. Plus, you transitioned old-school in a Kree Temple with a diviner. No one has done that for thousands of years."
"Wow." Skye said sheepishly. "Wait, someone here transitioned a few months ago?"
Sage nodded, hesitantly.
"Can I met her/him, eventually. It would be cool to talk to someone who's just been through this."
"You're looking at her." Sage gestured at herself.
"You?" Skye stopped walking and held out an arm to halt Sage, as well. "Aren't you a little young?"
"I resent that," Sage replied, shaking her head. "I'm 20, which is two years above the transitioning age requirement of 18."
"So, the Elders, as you call them, stuck me with the newbie?" Skye quipped with a playful smirk.
"Yes. Believe me, I tried to convince my mother…"
"Your mother is Elder?!"
Shoot. Sage thought. She was getting dangerously close to Skye's true origins. "Yeah, look. We're getting off topic…"
"So that's why you're usually the one getting the weird looks, because your mom is an Elder?" Skye questioned as the pair resumed their stroll.
"Yep." Sage conceded, "the Afterlife is usually considered a pit stop. People only stay here while they are being evaluated for their potential to transition or while they actually transition. My mother and I are the exception. We both say here full time."
"It must be pretty cool to live here."
"You'd be surprised." Sage grimaced, her mind wandering. It can get pretty lonely." Before Skye could respond, the girl quickly changed the subject.
"We're here!" She exclaimed, gesticulating at a circle of wooden huts. "These are the rooms where the newly transitioned guests stay. Skye noticed that one of the hovels appeared to be in use. The blinds were all drawn and smoke was coming from the chimney.
"Is someone in there?" Skye inquired.
"No, it's umm.. it's being renovated."
Skye eyed her skeptically. "You know, I didn't mention this, but I wasn't the only Inhuman in that Kree Temple. There was another woman, Raina. I know Gordon took her. If she's here…"
"Gordon is pretty secretive about these things. I was told about you because I'm your transitioner. When he gets back, you can talk to him about it. But until then, can I please show you your room. It's pretty cool."
A part of Skye knew the girl was lying. She didn't need to recall May's people-reading-training to tell Sage was nervous. She was wringing her hands together and shifting back and forth on her feet. Another part of Skye, the part that ultimately won out, felt bad for making Sage so anxious and wanted her usual bubbly, quirky self to return.
"Sorry." Skye apologized, shaking the thoughts from her head. "Yeah. Lead the way."
"You know, this is like my fourth bed in two weeks." Skye sighed, plopping on the queen sized bed in her latest room. She scooted backwards until her head was laying on a pillow. She looked up at Sage and patted the empty area on the bed next to her.
"That's crazy," Sage replied, joining her. "I've only had one bed in 20 years. Excluding my crib, of course."
"Of course." Skye nodded firmly with a smile, nudging Sage with her shoulder.
The two sisters lay on the steel bed in a comfortable silence looking up at the translucent ceiling.
Sage was the first to interrupt. She sat up, legs crossed Indian style, and picked up a white and gray luggage bag from off the floor. "I just remembered, Gordon picked up some of your things from the cabin."
"Cool." Skye opened the bag and began to sift through its contents. "Hey," she said suddenly, looking at Sage. "When do I get to see those powers of yours?"
"They're not all that interesting…" Sage started.
"Come on! Considering that I've only ever seen Gordon's powers and my own. Any powers are cool at this point."
"Fine." Sage relented. "My powers are psychic so it all goes on in here," she pointed towards her head. At Skye's excited nod, she continued. "I don't exactly have it under control yet, but basically I can trace the history of objects by touching them. I can see their past users and experience events involving the objects through the user's eyes. The Elders call it psychometry. According to them, the last person who hand this power hundreds of years ago, eventually could connect to people and see their past experiences, without the need of an object… they think I'll be able to do it. But I'm doubtful."
"Woah!" Skye enthused. "Can I get a demonstration? If it's not too taxing," she amended.
"Yeah, I haven't practiced yet today." Sage replied closing her eyes in concentration. "Could you pass me the gloves in that bag?"
Skye's eyes bulged, as she fished out the gloves. "How'd you know these were in here?"
"They're practically screaming at me." Sage shrugged, hesitantly taking the gloves into her hands. "Okay, here goes nothing." She held the stiff, black gloves tightly and closed her eyes. Sage gasped as she was pulled into a memory:
She was running fast through a heavily wooded area. Sage looked down at her arms and saw the gloves. "Skye," she thought. "I must be her." Just as Sage reached some sort of control box, hidden behind a few trees, a man wielding a gun appeared behind her. Before Sage had time to process what was happening, her hands grabbed the man by his wrists and pointed his gun up towards the sky. A shot reverberated through the woods.
Sage and the man seemed equally matched in the hand-to-hand combat fight that followed, before she finally got the upperhand and flipped him to the ground, knocking him out soon after. She picked up the gun he discarded in the fight and aimed it at him.
The sound of feet hitting the ground caught her attention and she turned to see two more agents approaching her. A man with a short buzz-cut lifted his gun, pointed it at her, and fired. The blonde woman next to her screamed "Skye, no!"
Sage felt something stir within her. She dropped the gun and lifted her hands out in front of her. Immediately, a shockwave burst forth from them decimating a nearby tree, sending the agents flying…
The memory shifted.
Sage was in some sort of lab, seated on a bench. She felt sad, but determined. That if she could just do this one thing correctly, things would return to normal. Sage looked down and saw the gloves on the table in front of her. She was working on them. She watched her right hand pick up a delicate tool and rearrange a group of wires in one of the gloves. Her hands had a pale complexion, unlike that belonging to Skye.
Skye jumped as Sage jolted from her unmoving zen-like position on the bed, dropping the gloves. The girl's breathing was hitched. Skye slid closer to her on the bed, trying not to hover, but failing. "Sage, are you okay?"
"Yeah," Sage breathed.
"What did you see?"
"First, I saw you running from those agents."
"Oh… I'm…" Skye cleared her throat. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
Sage shook her head. "I'm sorry you had to experience it." She pointed at the gloves. "Skye, I was literally in your skin for a bit there and I felt what the gloves were doing to you. They're probably the reason why you were out for so long when you first got here."
Skye looked away. "My friend, she…"
"I know." Sage reassured. "One of the memories I saw was of her making the gloves. She cares about you a lot. Her only flaw was the fact that she thought she was dealing with human biology. You graduated from that class."
"Wow, you saw that too?" Skye's awe was apparent. "Your powers are very cool."
"Mine?" Sage replied, incredulous. "Yours are awesome."
Skye shrugged. "For now."
"What do you mean?"
"That's why I called Gordon. To get rid of these powers. I thought he could fix me."
"Skye…" Sage rested a tentative hand on her sister's wrist. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the transition is irreversible." Sage tried and failed to read the myriad of emotions that flashed across Skye's face at the news. She wracked her brain trying to think of something, anything, to say to ease the uncomfortable silence that developed in the room.
"But, umm. Trust me," Sage blurted out. "it may not seem like it now, but you're really one of the luckier ones Terrigenesis wise. The other woman Gordon brought had a total physical transformation, and no one has a clue what her gift is yet."
Sage's heart dropped to her feet at her error. She swallowed deeply as Skye frowned, quickly shifting to a standing position.
"What woman?"
Author's Note
Hey, guys. Lots of Skye/Sage bonding this chapter. They are so fun to write together. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites :)
What do you guys think of Lincoln? Should I include him in the story?
Up Next: Jiaying makes an appearance, Skye is confused, and Sage grows more anxious.
