update, 1/12/2016, explained in the A/N of Chapter 8 of Prometheus: Arya, originally from Carlsbad, California, is now from Glen Island, New Rochelle, NY.

Chapter 10

DAY 3

Arya watched from a window as Erik lifted several metal objects into the air with his mind, with Charles instructing (or distracting) him in the background. They hadn't done much other than that, and most of the time it wasn't very interesting; but now, Erik was working with several tons of iron.

They floated around his head, and then dropped, and then spread into a wide arc before closing in around the mutant once more. The cycle would repeat and Arya would feel like she was watching a circus started by mutants.

In a sense, they could actually start one after the war. Arya didn't know what they all did for a living, but Arya didn't have a job. It was actually a miracle her family fund had been loaned to her, but after that… what was she going to do? She couldn't actually rely on Chloe for the money. Her friend barely got by. Maybe she could get a job as a volleyball trainer.

Thoughts such as these flew by as Arya stared on. Each time feelings about the previous night edged into her mind, she would push them away. She'd let herself drown in her distractions already; she didn't need to anymore. She had to focus on her training and on the war.

When she was feeling in the mood for it, and if the mutants outside didn't seem to be doing anything important, she'd try using her powers. Of course, they worked. She'd been practicing all night.

The weights floating around Erik would lose altitude for only a second before Arya let go and they'd come right back up again. The metal-mover didn't seem to mind, but occasionally he would send her a look that basically meant his head was starting to hurt. The same had happened with Charles. Arya had no idea why her powers could do that. Maybe she was gripping them too tightly?

She experimented for a while and found that it was normal, considering both Charles' and Erik's powers manifested in their minds. Earlier that day, she'd used her powers several times with Sean, but his throat didn't hurt afterwards. Perhaps the brain was both the strongest and the most sensitive part of the human body after all.

When Charles finally excused Erik—or, more likely, Erik told Charles that he was finished—Arya watched on in curiosity as both mutants walked towards the house. She could see their mouths moving as they talked in hushed tones, and as they reached the door, Charles frowned.

Arya's interest was piqued.

She pushed herself off the sofa she had been sitting on and made her way out into the hall. Once she walked out of the living room, she found Charles, Hank, and Erik. They went out the door, and a smirk crept up her lips when she saw Sean trailing behind them, wearing his makeshift wings. Arya rushed up to meet him before flicking his ear.

"Ow," he complained, though Arya noticed the half-heartedness in his voice.

Her playfulness died down, replaced by concern. "What's up?"

"Well, I'm gonna fly again," he grumbled, scratching at the spot on his ear where she had flicked him.

Arya couldn't help but to smile as she remembered the last time he tried. Biting her cheek, she asked, "And you're worried? You've been practicing 24/7 with your powers. I'm sure you'll get it this time."

He shrugged but didn't answer, and that was when she realized that he wasn't going to jump out from just a window. They were way past the backdoor to the mansion already. She frowned. "Where exactly are you jumping from this time?"

Again, he didn't answer. Instead, he rubbed his neck with his hand and raised his head, staring at something in the distance. Arya turned her gaze to where he was looking and her stomach dropped.

"Well, shit."

Sean uneasily rocked from foot to foot beside Charles. "And you truly believe I'll fly this time?"

"Unreservedly," the telepath replied.

They all looked down from the extreme height they were in, including Arya, who wasn't very fond of heights. But she was determined to keep her stomach in so she could be there for her friend. They stood at the top of the satellite dish (Arya was curious as to why Charles had one just a few hundred miles from his family mansion), and Sean kept his gaze on the ground.

"I trust you," he said, motioning to Charles.

"I'm touched."

"I don't trust him," Sean added as he motioned to Hank. Arya smirked slightly when the prodigy looked taken aback.

"Say nothing," Charles said, holding a silencing hand out to Hank but not taking his eyes off Sean.

Arya gripped the railings tight, completely aware of the long fall that loomed in front of her, but she kept her eyes on Banshee. "You'll do fine," she said, though even her voice was shaking.

"I'm gonne die!"

Her input hadn't really helped much.

Charles put his hand on Sean's shoulder in a gesture of placidity. But behind him, Arya could see the glint in Erik's eye. She took a step forward. "Alright, look, we're not gonna make you do anything you don't want to—"

"Here, let me help." Before Arya—or any of them, really—could do anything else, Erik had already pushed Sean over the edge and the wailing mutant was flying through the air below them.

Charles started. "Erik!" Arya wasn't looking at him, though.

She stared over the railing while Sean screamed, but it wasn't the supersonic kind. "SCREAM, BANSHEE! SCREAM!" she catcalled, cupping her mouth so her yell could reach him. She watched as the teenager seemed to compose himself. He balanced his body against the raging winds below him and spread his arms.

Arya, still worried but considerably excited, held her hand out and used her Third Eye—that was what she called the symbols on her palm now.

As usual, her vision turned into a slight grey hue. She didn't use her mutation but instead stared at Sean's. She watched as the pulsing orb in his throat ebbed once, then twice, before she finally heard him scream.

She grinned when the sound waves touched the ground. Sean's descent stopped, and soon enough he was soaring high above them. Arya dropped her hand and started laughing as the flying mutant whizzed past them, falling downwards before he wailed again. This time, the sound waves caught on the curve of the satellite dish and carried him in a circular flight.

Arya cheered from where she stood, and turned her head just in time to catch Charles glaring at Erik, but even she could see the slight smile on his face.

And she, being too gleeful to contain herself, slipped off her beanie and tangled it into a ball, sealing it with her bracelet. "Hey, Banshee!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. The wailing mutant turned his head just enough to look at her. He was considerably far, but the call echoed across the clearing. "Catch!" She threw the beanie as high as she could.

Almost immediately, Sean adjusted so that he flew in a 180 degree angle. Soon enough he was high in the sky and plummeting downwards. His eyes were set on the rolled-up beanie that was quickly being pulled down. Arya cheered when he caught it, but her stomach dropped when she noticed a small figure running out of a silver car that hadn't been there when they parked.

"Hey!" she heard Raven yell. "Is that Sean?!"

Sean replied by raising his fist in triumph, the beanie still in it. Then his form wavered and he had to spread his arm again in order to balance himself. He dropped the beanie and it landed right in front of Raven. When she let out a girly shriek, Arya had to steady herself on the railing to keep from doubling over and falling over the edge in laughter. Vaguely, she noticed the others laughing as well.

"Well, what did you think it was?"

"I thought it was a rock or something!"

Arya sniggered. "It must have been a very stylish rock." Beside her, she heard Raven scoff. But then she cleared her throat and pointed her Third Eye on that one spot on her friend's arm, frowning in concentration.

She held her hand out and smiled when she finally got a grip. Instantly, the blue color on Raven's forearm turned into a pale flesh tone. From there on, Arya's mutation branched outwards, like a drop of blood into water.

When it reached her friend's shoulder, she let go. The blue tinge returned; Arya noted the crease in Raven's forehead when this happened but otherwise turned to Charles, who was casually sitting on a chair beside her. "I'm done with Raven," she said in a bored tone. "Now can I please work with Alex?"

"No," the professor's stern reply came. His head was still bowed as he read a book by Charles Darwin (Arya was starting to think that every book in the house was by the old bloke). "You know how unstable his mutation is—"

"And mine isn't?"

"No, it isn't—and Hank's almost finished with the prototype he's been working on. It might help steady Alex's energy beams, and when it does I'll make sure that you'll be the first to know, yes?"

Arya glared at him, but she was the first to back down. She could never stay angry with him. Part of her was scared with that fact, and yet part of her was excited.

Raven got off of her chair beside her. "Well," she said, sighing. "I'm gonna go get a drink. Arya, you wanna come?"

"No, thank you," she replied, throwing a smile over her shoulder. "I'm just gonna sit here for a while." From the corner of her eye, she saw Raven smirk. It was all she could do not to throw her the finger.

Once Raven was out the door, Charles flipped his book shut with a dull thud before looking up to meet Arya's eyes.

"You're getting better," he said, regarding her. She still couldn't get over how blue his eyes were.

"I really would like to see how I'd handle Alex's mutation," she said, frowning in genuine inquisitiveness. "I've never dealt with something so corporeal, you know?"

Charles chuckled. "I did mean what I said, Arya," he said, leaning closer to her. "Hank should be done with the prototype by tomorrow, and I plan on letting you know what happens before anyone else." Arya couldn't help the smile that crept up her lips at his propriety. When their moment was over, he leaned back on his seat once more and put his legs up, adding, "Once Alex learns how to aim, that is."

Arya laughed, before raising her hand up slightly. "Do you mind if I…?"

The telepath shook his head. "Not at all."

For the next few minutes, she made Charles' power turn on and off. The pulsing light in his brain kept flickering as Arya forced herself to get used to the tugging at the back of her head. The professor didn't seem at all fazed, not like he'd been the previous day. He didn't have to tell her to stop because of the headaches, either. Arya took that as a good sign.

Practicing with Charles was always very enjoyable, as he did all he could to make conversation. He asked her about her life in Glen Island, her friends, her hobbies, playing volleyball…

… But every time he asked about her family, she would keep her mouth shut and concentrate harder than she needed to.

Charles would never push her into telling him, too. And they never lingered on the subject for too long.

An hour passed, and that was when she started hearing voices.

Arya let her hand fall to her lap. "Charles?" He looked up from the book he'd only recently pulled out of the bookshelf. "Did you say something?"

The professor shook his head slowly. "No…?" Arya frowned and rubbed her temples, trying to make the migraine go away. She hadn't had one since the first times she'd used her powers, and she soon grew worried that maybe she'd been overusing them.

"Arya?" Charles pushed himself off his seat, the book long forgotten, and squatted so he was eye-to-eye with her.

"I could have sworn that I… I was hearing voices, and…" She looked into his searching eyes. "Whispers."

"Whispers?"

"Yeah…" She frowned. "Whispers, like…" Suddenly, a crazy thought occurred to her; crazy and farfetched, mostly. Her hand shot up and she immediately cupped Charles' cheek. He looked surprised by the gesture, but Arya was thankful that he didn't move away.

She closed her eyes and found the light in his mind dying down, but the voices were there again.

There were several, maybe four or five. Mostly they were just whispers, but when Arya tried listening in, one would get particularly louder until she could hear exactly what they were saying.

"Damn, flying felt good."

"I wonder what Charles and Arya are doing in there right now…"

"Raven needs to know how beautiful she is, even in her blue form. I plan on telling her myself."

"We seriously shouldn't have tried to play football in here. That hole in the window is huge."

"Shaw's planning something big. I just know it."

Arya recognized the voices. They were her friends' voices. How was she hearing them? Her eyes snapped open and she was immediately met with Charles' wide eyes. "Arya, what's wrong?" Her heart fluttered when she realized that he was more worried about what was happening with her rather than unhappy that she just took away his mutation without his permission.

She blinked as the voices went away the same time she let go of his cheek. "Could you tell me again how your power works when you're not concentrating, please?" She watched as Charles blinked in confusion as well, but otherwise answered her question.

"There are voices in my head, and only when I concentrate on one of them can I really understand what I'm hearing. Arya, what's going on? Did your power act out or something? Is it because I've been pushing you too much? Because if it is, I'd be more tha—"

"I heard them, Charles," Arya interrupted him, a slight laugh in her voice. She watched as an even more confused look make its way onto his face, and then she cupped his cheek once more. Again came the whispers but Arya paid them no heed, instead smiling from cheek to cheek. "Charles, I can hear them! The same way you can! God…"

As she closed her eyes, listening to all of them at once because concentrating on one was relatively harder, she heard Charles mutter something under his breath about newly generated cells and improved mutations. When she opened her eyes again, Charles was beaming at her, laughing.

Once they'd both gotten sober enough to start breathing correctly again, he was the first to speak. His eyes sparkled. "It looks like we've got something new to work with!"

During the hours leading up to dinner time, everyone had gathered in the living room and Arya had tried her newly found powers on each of them—except Alex—and they worked.

Borrowing their mutations wasn't very much different with cancelling them. Arya would have to reach into where they harnessed their powers, but instead of holding them in a tight grip, she would just have to keep contact with the lights. That was when she would feel new energy surge through her.

She tried it with Erik and was able to lift a stapler off the table, but with much trouble. She tried it with Charles and was able to send them all otherwise discrete thoughts, such as "hi" or "how are you today". She tried it with Sean and broke the glass window across from her. Charles only laughed in obvious delight. It was very tricky when she tried it with Raven, however. So Arya only reached out for one of her eyes; soon enough, one eye was hazel—her eye—and one eye was yellow—Raven's.

Of course, she did all these with much distress, and in the end she had a very severe headache.

Arya also found out that when she borrowed their mutations, what she did didn't seem to affect them in any way; not like when she'd cancelled Erik's powers and he would have a migraine. Apart from a slight itchy feeling on her palms, there was nothing.

When they all sat around the dining table, eating, Arya couldn't help but find it funny that her mutation was cancelling and borrowing another person's powers. So, in a way, she really had no powers at all. But then, she would touch a person—a human—and they'd immediately start convulsing on the ground in pain.

It was all quite confusing for her, but not in the disheartening sort of way; like when a child would curl his hand over a cube of ice and it would melt, even though he were in a very, very cold room. She would think back and remember that she'd only been spending three days in the mansion, yet she'd learned more about herself and her mutation than she had in the past seventeen years.

Throughout the dinner, Arya would reach into her fellow mutants' and practice furling and unfurling the imaginary tendrils around different parts of their bodies. One time, she tried it with Alex, but then thought better of it; if he was still yet to control his own powers, how would Arya fare?

To her surprise, that night, no nightmares came. No tears.