Chapter 6

Cisco froze and turned, seeing the same black whirlwind. "What do you want?" Cisco asked, keeping his voice steady.

"Training the girl is smart. But she won't be able to control those powers. I was barely able to," Phantom said. The whirlwind landed and slowly disappeared, revealing a man in a black skull mask and all black clothes. His voice still had a mechanical sound to it.

"Ari's strong You don't know her like I do. She'll be able to control them," Cisco defended. "And if she can't? What then?" Phantom asked.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Cisco asked, growing irritated as he crossed his arms. "Ah, yes. I almost forgot," Phantom said. He raised his hands in the air and thrust them towards Cisco.

At first nothing happened. Then several rocks rose from the ground and flew towards Cisco. It almost happened too quickly for him to do anything, but out of instinct he put his arms in front of his face in an attempt to protect himself but he knew it wouldn't do any good. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

But nothing happened.

"Leave my brother alone! I already lost one, I'm not losing another!"

Cisco put his arms down and looked up, seeing the rocks frozen just inches from his face. Ari was not too far behind Phantom with her arms outstretched. Cisco knew his sister was the one keeping the rocks from hitting him. He also knew she wouldn't be able to hold it much longer so he scrambled out of the way.

Phantom turned and Ari lowered her arms, making the rocks drop into a large pile next to Cisco. "Huh. Stronger than I thought. I see the exhaustion in your eyes though, girl. You're not strong enough. Your powers will destroy you. That is, if I don't do it first," Phantom said, voice low. Anger boiled inside of Ari.

"Why're you targeting me? What'd I do to you?" Ari asked angrily. Phantom froze. "You honestly don't know? You took everything from me!" he spat. Before Ari or Cisco could react or do anything, Phantom raised his hand in the air and Ari flew up with it.

"ARI!" Cisco shouted. Phantom chuckled darkly and lowered his hand. He made the whirlwind reappear and flew off as Ari came flying down. Phantom had thrown her a ways away and Cisco knew he wouldn't make it in time to catch her. But he ran towards her as fast as he could anyway.

A gust of wind and a flash of red flew past Cisco and stopped right under Ari, catching her. The impact and force of the fall knocked both of them over and Cisco ran as fast as he could over. "You guys ok?" he asked as Barry struggled to get up. "I'll be fine. How about you, Ari?" Barry asked.

Said girl sat up and leaned over, throwing up into the grass. "That answers that question. You ok, sis?" Cisco asked.

She began shaking her head after she threw up again. "He's-he's here. I know he's here. He-he's coming for me. I can't escape. I can't escape!" she said. She put her hands on her head and knelt over as her breathing quickened.

"Crap, not again," Cisco muttered, kneeling in front of his sister and avoiding the pile of puke. "Again? This has happened before?" Barry asked. "She's done it off and on since Christmas," Cisco replied.

"Ari. Arianna, listen. It's ok, you're safe. Damien's not here. He's in prison. He's not going to hurt you, I promise. The only people who are here are me and Barry. We're not going to hurt you," Cisco said calmly.

Ari didn't say anything, but gulped and lowered her head more. "Phantom's gone, he can't hurt you now," Cisco added. "He's-he's still here. He's Damien. They're the same, they-they won't leave me alone!" she said quickly, fear rising in each word.

"But he's gone now, he can't hurt you," Barry added, kneeling next to Cisco. Ari's breath hitched before she continued panting. "He's-he's not," she said quietly. "He is, Ari, he's gone. Not for forever, but for now he's gone. Damien's gone and so is Phantom. It's just me and Barry, Ari, we're not going to hurt you," Cisco reassured.

Ari's breathing began to slow and she shakily looked up and around. "See? It's ok, you're safe," Cisco said softly. After a few minutes of tense silence, Ari's breathing slowed to it's normal pace and she nodded. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"You ok?" Barry asked. She nodded. "I'll be fine. Let's get back." Cisco and Barry helped the shaky teen stand, then Barry sped them back to the Cortex.

"You ok?" Tio asked, walking towards his girlfriend. They wrapped their arms around each other as Ari nodded tiredly. He kissed her head and the couple hugged for a minute before separating.

"I want to keep training. I don't want Phantom to be able to get a hold of me like that again," Ari said firmly, "I want to strengthen my powers."

"Alright!" Cisco said happily, high-fiving her. She grinned and high fived her brother. "Let's start tomorrow. You should get some rest," Barry said. Ari nodded. "Walk me home?" she asked Tio, who nodded.

The couple left and it was only Cisco, Barry, Caitlin, and H.R. "Were you guys able to hear any of that through the coms?" Cisco asked. Caitlin and H.R. nodded. "This Phantom thing is really messing with her, isn't it," H.R. said softly.

Cisco nodded. "I don't know what to do. I feel so useless."

"Cisco, what you did for her during that panic attack was perfect. I'm thinking all you can do for her right now is just be there. Sometimes that's all you can do," Caitlin explained and Cisco sighed. "But I feel like it's not enough."

"Well you talked to her, didn't you? What'd she say?" Barry asked."She basically blew me off. I mean, other than saying she wanted to keep training, she wouldn't tell me anything," Cisco said.

"I think we'll just have to be patient. She'll come around," Caitlin said, but she sounded skeptical too. Cisco nodded. "I'm going to grab some food then head home. Call me if you find anything," he said. "Call us if anything happens," Barry said and Cisco nodded as he left.