I'M LATE! The trend continues (I've been late to several important events the past couple of days, haha). To make up for it, this chapter is a little bit longer, and I have some pretty exciting news afterwards!
I got so many favorites and follows while I was away! Gosh, you guys are seriously the best. Especially all y'all awesome reviewers! Thanks for the love 3
*~*~ToL~*~*
It is the third time Persephone has visited Barry at S.T.A.R. Labs in the past week. Most of the time, she spends it at his bedside, reading to him, or playing his favorite music, or simply just being in his presence. Other times she gets to know Cisco and Dr. Snow, who insists on being "just Caitlyn", whom are both more friendly than she could have ever imagined, which makes Persephone feel incredibly guilty for blaming them for Barry's condition.
Although she has been at S.T.A.R Labs four times since she has been awake, she still hasn't met the elusive Dr. Harrison Wells, which, to be honest, she is perfectly fine with. Although she may not blame Cisco or Caitlyn anymore, she still doesn't know how she feels about the scientist, even though from what she heard, he did not come out unscathed from the accident either.
Most of the time, she is very excited to see Barry, and enjoys spending her time with the unconscious man, but today, Caitlyn and Cisco can tell something is worrying her. She is not interacting with their patient, but simply holding his hand, watching his still face with furrowed eyebrows and rubbing her thumb across his pale hand.
Cisco is the first to reach out to her, as it comes easier to him, "Is everything alright, Persephone?" he asks gently. "You seem…out of it."
The dark-skinned woman pulls her gaze away from Barry's face and to the worried-looking duo. "It's nothing," she begins to reassure them with a small smile, but it quickly slips away. "Actually," she concedes, pulling herself away from Barry completely and turns to face them fully, "since the accident, have you guys heard of anything…strange…happening to people that were hit directly? You said quite a bit of people died, but you also said there were people like Barry and I that got hit and survived…"
Caitlyn and Cisco are alert in an instant. "When you say strange…" Cisco's obvious question trails off.
With a heavy sigh, Persi stands from her seat and walks up to them, bringing along her cup of water. "I don't know how else to explain it but to show you," she warns them, "please just don't freak out."
Eyes wide, the pair nod their heads in silent agreement, watching her attentively. With a big breath, Persephone takes the cup of water in one hand and proceeds to pour it out, onto her other outstretched hand. For a second, nothing happens.
And then her skin begins to change, slowly at first as the blue pigment travels from the palm of her hand to her wrist with the speed of molasses, but faster as it reaches her elbow, and faster still as it transforms her face and her hair, passing from one side of her body to the other until Persephone West is completely gone and in her place stands a blue, translucent and reflective alien-looking being.
"Holy fuck!" Cisco can't stop himself from cursing as he watches her, taking a half a step back instinctively.
Caitlyn is silent, but her face gives away her surprise as well, but unlike Cisco, she takes a step forward, slowly reaching forward to touch Persephone's still outstretched hand.
"I've been like this since I woke up," Persi says, her strangely-toned voice echoing across the room, startling Caitlyn. "No, it's fine, you can touch," she says, beckoning the scientist forward. "I just figured, y'know, since what happened to me was because of the particle accelerator, you guys may have come across something like this happening to someone else…" she hesitated, but continued on with her question, "maybe even Barry's shown some signs…?"
"This is completely incredible," Caitlyn says, her eyes surveying every inch of aqueous skin. Her hand reaches out for Persephone's and a small, awed gasp exits her lips as her fingers push straight through Persephone's skin.
The newly-revealed metahuman makes an odd sound at the back of her throat, and moves away from the doctor. "It feels very…strange," she explains, keeping some distance between herself and the S.T.A.R. Labs workers.
With a small shudder, Persephone begins to transform once more as her blue skin retracts and her original caramel tone reappears. Both Cisco and Caitlyn are still staring in awe when the transformation is complete, and so she breaks the silence awkwardly.
"So…" she clears her throat quietly, "am I the first…?"
Her soft, insecure question seems to break them out of their trance. "No! Well, yes, but no," Cisco answers in classic Cisco fashion. "It's complicated."
Caitlyn rolls her eyes, as is penchant whenever she is around Cisco, and elaborates, "What he's trying to say is that we've had our suspicions. We've been keeping track of as many people as we could, but it's really hard to without the resources we used to have. Our only real proof that the particle accelerator explosion changed something in some people that were hit was Barry…and now there's you."
Persephone's heart seemed to want to jump out of her chest, "So he was affected, then?"
"Well, his cells for one are always in a regenerative state, and one of the fastest I've ever seen. His heartbeat is also superhumanly fast…that's all we can really tell while he's asleep. When he wakes up, we're ninety percent sure he's going to show signs of…something," she replies, shrugging helplessly.
That is all Persephone needs however. To know that she will not be alone in trying to figure out what the particle accelerator has done to her body is the most comforting thought she's had since she woke up from her coma. The fact that it's Barry who will be sharing this burden with her makes her feel a thousand times better.
She shoves away the ugly feeling of nervousness, that Barry won't want to share this with her, and will keep this all to himself. Her best friend can be secretive when he wants to be, especially when he feels like being open makes him a burden. She will just have to prove to him that he could never be a burden to her.
"So…do you guys want to run some tests?"
Persephone is almost dizzy from how fast the duo moves in response to her question.
For the next few months, Persephone becomes a sort of lab rat of S.T.A.R. Labs. She is constantly in their presence, being poked, prodded, and put into several situations so that they can understand her abilities more.
Despite being scrutinized constantly, Persephone doesn't mind being S.T.A.R. Labs' pet rat at the moment, because they can help her right now more than anyone else possibly can. In a week, they've helped her train her body to not react automatically when it touches water – which is a huge relief, seeing as her main job is teaching people how to swim – and within two weeks, she can transform at will, which is kind of amazing.
She always feels at home with the duo; they're so very easy for her to relate with, and they share her anxiousness for Barry to wake soon. It's unfair of her to say that neither her sister nor her father care about Barry as much as she does, but she feels that it's the truth. Neither of them have an inkling, much more so an anticipation, of what may have happened to Barry, and the amazing skills he may have when he's finally up.
Although she, Caitlyn and Cisco have become fast friends and she feels completely at ease with them, the same cannot be said for her and Dr. Harrison Wells. He is…well, for lack of a better word, intense. His disability does nothing to hurt the presence he carries when he is in a room, and his eyes are so piercing; sometimes she feels like he's looking straight through her (well, when she's transformed, he is, but that's besides the point), and it makes her feel…well, she can't explain it.
She tries not to think about it too often, but she always feels like she can feel his electric blue eyes following her around. She is always sure not to be in a room alone with him, following Cisco as he does runs around the enormous facility without complaint. Naturally, Caitlyn is the only one she allows to do physical tests with her, although Persephone suspects Dr. Wells takes extra interest in her physicals checks and the results of her tests.
Shuddering (in what she's not too sure is purely disgust, but doesn't think about it too much), she finishes her 500 laps in S.T.A.R. Labs' football field-sized underground pool – it's amazing the sort of things you can do with your body when you just become a part of your surroundings – with ease and pushes herself out of the water with a huge leap from the tiled floor of the pool. Pesephone shows off a little as she somersaults in the air and lands perfectly on her feet, her arms stretched out in a dramatic pose.
She expects some eager, over-dramatic applause or at least a mutter of "Show-off" from Cisco, but all she receives is silence.
"Guys?" her oddly reverberating voice doesn't freak her out much at all, as a matter of fact, she has grown to love the strange warbling. It comforts her in some odd way. "Hey, how did I do?"
"Fantastically, as always," the response doesn't come from the large speakers in the ceiling like she expects it to, but from the doorway. Dr. Wells sits in wheelchair, staring at her with an odd glint in his eye.
"D-Dr. Wells," she stammers, taking an involuntary step back. During the last month and a half of training, she has made sure to never be alone in his presence. "What are you doing down here?"
"Witnessing the beginnings of something amazing," he replies honestly. "Your gift…it will change the world."
She chuckles nervously, and resists the urge to jump back into the pool, where she is invisible. "I don't know about, Dr. Wells. I think it's cool, but…I don't think it's going to make a difference in the world."
"That is where you're wrong, Persephone." He says her name with such conviction, it makes her feel bare and exposed to this man. "You may not see it now, but what you can do – it will change the very course of this earth. You will shape the future. It sounds very dramatic and overwhelming, but you don't have to worry. I will be there to help you every step of the way."
"That's what scares me the most."
*~*~ToL~*~*
Sooooo, guess who's back in the next chapter? It's Barry! Ahhhh, I'm so excited guys, you have no idea.
Some of you may find that I was really vague when writing about what exactly happened in her training and what her abilities are exactly, and that's because it's going to addressed in the next chapter with Barry, and I didn't want to repeat myself. So worry not, you'll get some more detail about what Persephone can do exactly; she's actually the coolest freaking person ever and I'm not just saying that because I created her.
I want to say next chapter will be tomorrow, but I'm gonna play it safe and go for Sunday instead, but keep your eyes peeled! Maybe some reviews will motivate me, huh? *winkwink*