A/N: Hello, yes I know it's been a while and even longer if you are reading my other stories, but let me just let you guys know that I am alive and I am writing things for all of my 3 main stories right now just give me some time. Anyway I hope you enjoy,
Chapter 3: Just Call On It
[Flashback]
"The Order has temples on every planet. They help center us and keep us connected to the energy flowing through us. Each temple also serves a special purpose. Some are used as meeting spaces for the counsels, some are for meditation and spiritual journeys. Some are used for training, like the one I'm taking you all to and some are shelters for those whose connection has been damaged or lost." Hunter explained to the four girls traveling slowly behind him, "Who can name me the four most powerful temples within the order?"
"Aileen, the temple of light. That's on Xonia, the planet farthest from the sun." Charlotte said quickly. The tall blonde, even at 10, stood first in line behind their trainer. Her blonde hair stopped just below her shoulders and she wore a woven white shirt and tan pants, similar to the outfit the three girls behind her wore as well.
"Correct. What are the other three?"
"Uh...pa-pan...pantheo?" Bayley tried causing Sasha to snicker at her error while Becky elbowed her quietly.
Hunter gave a small chuckle, no sense of malice or mockery behind it, "Panthea little one. Panthea is the other one. That is the temple of the Gods, it is on Sulvion our neighboring planet. What else? Sasha?"
"Raimo! The counsel's temple. That's on Dinora, the biggest planet which is the second from the sun." Sasha said with a knowing smile causing Becky and Charlotte to roll their eyes.
"Correct. Well done Sasha" Hunter looked back at the group, letting his eyes stop on Becky, "And the last one? Rebecca?"
"Mnason. The temple of connection where Order members went to reconnect with their energy. It's on the planet Cormier, the third smallest planet." Rebecca said after a few seconds of thought, "There are stories that powerful Order members went into this temple and never left. They just disappeared inside, leaving powerful artifacts inside with them."
Hunter raised an eyebrow at the story and gave an amused smile, "And who told you that?"
Rebecca shrugged and looked down at her feet as she walked, "I read about it in one of our books"
"Is it true Master Hunter?" Bayley asked with bright eyes
"Of course it's not" Sasha said quickly
Hunter shrugged, "There are many stories about such a thing happening, but it is nothing you all need to worry yourselves about. Now come on. Just a little bit more. We're almost there!"
"I'm tired. I don't want to walk anymore" Rebecca whined as her body slumped a little, "We've been walking for over an hour"
"You're just lazy," Charlotte joked, giving her friend a small smirk.
"I am not!" The redhead argued
"Yeah if anyone is lazy it's Bayley. She's all the way in the back" Sasha said as she pointed behind her to where Bayley was trying to take big steps to keep up with the girls in front of her.
"It's not my fault I'm short. You guys just have longer legs than me" Bayley mumbled in between breaths.
Hunter smiled back at the smallest girl before he walked back to her and held out his hand for her to take. Bayley looked at the man for a second before taking his hand and walking alongside him, eventually making it to the front of the line.
"No need to make jokes. We all need a little help sometimes and that's okay. Being a member of the Order means that you have help at all times. You just have to be able to call on it."
"So this is Mnason Temple." Rebecca said as she took a good look around before pausing to stare at Bayley who looked around in awe, "I'm guessing we like it"
Bayley nodded and stared at the symbols which seemed to line all the walls leading down a straight path into a dome-like room. The door slowly shut behind the young girl, plunging the room into darkness except for the blue light that emitted from the vision of Rebecca. Bayley watched as the redhead stepped forward to provide more light before Bayley moved to the walls, "What do these mean?"
Rebecca squinted her eyes at the wall, "It is just talking about the history of the temple, mentioning those who helped build it and paved the way. There's some stuff about the Council and its members too"
Bayley nodded and placed a shaky hand on the right wall causing the symbols to light up, providing a pathway down the hall signaling for the girl to continue walking. Bayley slowly looked over the symbols, relishing in the history of it all.
Bayley took a deep breath before she continued to walk forward, moving towards the open room at the end of the hall. The room was a large dome with a high ceiling and it all seemed to center around a simple cylinder structure that went from the middle of the floor up to the ceiling. The structure had a split down the middle and a circle pattern on its side, "That must be the door to the artifact"
"Or to something else" Becky suggested causing Bayley to pause and look at her curiously
"What do you mean?" Bayley questioned
"There is more than just that artifact in there, you know that. Who knows what you'll see in there. This temple is meant to make you look inside yourself and make you question your purpose and true intentions." Becky said seriously as she stepped forward, approaching Bayley with her arms crossed, "Are you sure you wanna go in there?"
Bayley looked over at the door, glancing at its structure and taking in the mystic and sense of uncertainty that surrounded it. She wasn't sure what would be waiting for her on the other side but this was where she needed to go. Bayley quickly scanned the room once more and saw no other path but through this center door, "Yeah...yeah I'm sure. This is where I need to go. Whatever is behind that door is the key to getting the Order back, to getting you guys back."
She took a deep breath and stepped towards the door only for Becky to reappear in front of her.
"AHH! Bayley yelped, jumping back a little, startled by the sudden appearance, "What is with you and Charlotte scaring me like that?"
Becky just stared at Bayley causing the taller girl to raise an eyebrow at her former training mate. Bayley inspected the girl for a second, internally smiling at all the memories of the redhead that passed through her mind as she looked at her, but Becky didn't seem to return the favor. The redhead seemed to be analyzing the brunette, taking in every inch of her as if trying to read her mind. This continued in silence for a few more seconds before Becky disappeared.
Bayley looked around confused, holding her hands up to her chest slightly in fear, prepared for her old friend to reappear and scare her at any moment, "Ar-are...are you gonna pop out at me again?"
Silence.
"Hello? Becky?"
Silence.
Bayley sighed and relaxed her hands, cursing to herself that if Becky or Charlotte jumped out at her again she would punch something. Bayley slowly made her way up to the door in the center of the room, watching her surroundings for any movement or sudden appearance, but she saw nothing. Bayley looked up and down at the structure, taking note of the circular pattern that sat on the front of the door. It was positioned where a door handle would be and had lines that connected from it that wrapped around the cylinder structure all the way up and down to the floor. Bayley followed one of the lines back to see it went under her feet and back towards 3 feet away from her causing Bayley to notice that the cylinder structure was not perfectly centered but pushed back a few feet.
The tall girl stepped away from the structure, walking back towards the entrance only to see the structure seemed to move with her. The brunette cocked her head to the side and began to walk sideways around the room, watching as the structure, while rooted in the floor, seemed to move with distance.
Bayley shook her head and walked back up to the door. She looked around before saying, "Hey Becky? Do I just...put my hand on the door?"
Silence.
Bayley nodded to herself and muttered, "I'll take that as a yes"
Bayley slowly raised her hand and placed it on the circular pattern, closing her eyes, waiting for a reaction. However, nothing came. Bayley slowly opened one eye and saw nothing happening. She rolled her eyes and focused on the energy flowing through her causing the symbols on her arm to light up. The door seemed to match the blue light that filled her symbols. The circle lit up and that light filled the lines that sprouted from the circle until the whole structure was lit up and Bayley looked back as the sound of earth and stone began to rattle behind her.
There a few feet back where she traced the lines on the floor to there was now a pedestal made of rock. Bayley carefully examined the room as the lights that filled it now illuminated previously unseen images and writing. Bayley stared in awe once more of the history and stories that seemed to be carved into the walls. Many stories of great Order Masters like Master Steamboat, or Master Warrior.
Bayley seemed to freeze slightly as she saw an image of Master Hunter on the far right curved wall. It was him when he was younger, a recently appointed Master. He had long, stringy hair, and his beard had barely started to grow in. Bayley smiled at the image, finding herself slowly walking towards it.
He had shown it to them once when they were training, causing the girls to immediately laugh at how silly he looked compared to the buff, short-haired man they knew. It was always a way to lighten the mood after a hard session or an incentive as the girls were sometimes rewarded with embarrassing images of their training master in his youth.
Bayley felt as if she had been standing there for an eternity reminiscing when there was a small beeping noise that brought her back to her senses. The brunette looked around before noticing the sound was coming from the communicator on her wrist. Bayley quickly brought it up to her face and clicked a button.
"Bayley? You alright?" Trish's voice came out through the device
"Yeah...yeah I'm fine" Bayley answered as she slowly forced herself away from the wall, fearing that if she didn't she would be stuck there for years just remembering the man who raised her.
"Are you in the temple?" Lita asked
"Yeah I am"
"Did you find the artifact?"
"I just got in here. I'm still looking at stuff. I'll let you know when I'm heading back to you" Bayley rushed out, slightly embarrassed that she had been gone for so long already and had only just barely made it inside.
The two women signed off with agreeing statements, telling her to hurry and be safe before Bayley was left to her silence once more. She carefully made her way over to the rock pedestal and examined it to see a similar circular pattern on the top of it which was lit up like the symbol on the door.
Bayley took a deep breath and placed her hand on the circle like she did with the door and was immediately shaken as the room seemed to spin around her. The light was immediately snuffed out and she was plunged into pure darkness as there was no longer a pedestal of cylinder structure. The room she was in was completely dark and seemed larger, more hollow, than the one she was previously in.
Once the room stopped spinning Bayley was almost pushed forward by an unseen force, forcing her into the center of whatever new room she was in. Bayley spun slightly trying to get her bearing before she felt her symbols lighting once more from the tips of her fingers up her shoulder to the back of her neck. She took a second before her senses heightened and her eyes adjusted allowing her to see the outline of a tall figure about ten feet away from on the other side of the room.
"Hello?" Bayley called out, flinching slightly at the echo that rang out and seemed to ring with such an intense sound that it almost hurt to hear back.
The dark room shifted and was taken from darkness to bright white light as the entire room lit up causing Bayley to yell in pain as the light burned her heightened eyesight causing her to be blinded. She jammed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to block out as much light as possible as she bent forward, almost curling away from the light as her body rocked back and forth, stumbling slightly as she took a few steps. However, her body was quickly pushed back into the center of the room when she took one too many steps.
"Focus Bayley, you need to see what is before you"
Bayley paused slightly, her eyes still closed, "Master Hunter?"
"Who else would it be?" Master Hunter joked with a hearty laugh causing Bayley to open her eyes, only for a second but it was just enough to get a glimpse of the man standing ten feet away from her.
He looked like how she knew him, short hair and a long beard. He was dressed in white robes and stood with a big grin on his face as he stood with his arms crossed.
"Where am I?"
"That's for you to find out" Master Hunter said before Bayley was pushed forward again, her eyes still closed causing her to stumble forward once more, falling to the ground.
Bayley opened her eyes just a crack and looked down at herself, she was smaller. She looked like she was about 9 or 10 and her training robes seemed to hang loosely on her small frame. Bayley closed her eyes again, wincing in pain as the bright lights in the all white room still burnt her eyes.
"Come on get up Bayley, let's go. You got five minutes" Master Hunter called out.
Five minutes? Bayley questioned to herself. What the hell was going on? Bayley slowly stood and tried to open her eyes again to look at the room she was in, only to get a short glance at what looked like a training course in front of her. Raised platforms and ladders hung in front of her, blocking different paths that lead to Master Hunter.
The sudden memory seemed to burst in the back of Bayley's mind as she remembered training sessions where Hunter would force the girls to find the path to get to him through different roadblocks and moving platforms, making them use their environment to their advantage, even when they were at a disadvantage like Bayley was now as she could barely open her eyes long enough to see the course in front of her. There were 3 large platforms in front of Bayley, each rising higher than the next, that led to a ladder which led to the next step of the path and then the next and so forth. Each platform seemed to rise and fall at random times, shifting left and right so even when Bayley could get a good glimpse, the path would change in the next 20 seconds.
"I can't see" Bayley called out, her voice sounding years younger, squeaking almost in a high pitched tone.
"You don't need to see to know what's around you" Hunter informed the young girl
Bayley groaned, and stood up tall. She carefully cracked her eyes open for a second to take in the course once more before she slammed them shut and took off. She listened to the vibrating sound of each platform that lifted in front of her. She took a few steps before the ground under her feet seemed to rise causing Bayley to stumble a little as she reached her hand out, managing to just barely grab onto the bottom rung of the ladder before the platform got too high. However, she was now dangling, who knows how many feet, from the metal bar.
Bayley liked training missions, and courses but when they required upper body strength she was no longer a fan. Bayley grumbled and muttered under her breath as she slowly began to pull herself up the ladder, thanking whoever created this thing that the ladders didn't move like everything else in this room did.
"Come on Bayley, let's get a move on. You still have a long way before you get to me" Hunter called out just as Bayley reached the top platform that the ladder stopped at.
The 9 year old squinted again to see the room just as the platforms shifted, causing the ground two platforms away to become the wall. Bayley's stomach felt nauseous just at the sight, but she continued on and ran across the platforms. Jumping over the small space between and using the momentum to run along the metal that had just raised up to become a wall, taking a few sideways steps before she rolled into her landing on the platform a few inches away.
"Very nice Bayley"
The brunette seemed to smile at the praise, remembering what Hunter sounded like and taking in the few moments that she had with him now before she was hit over the head with a rubber like material sending her falling to the ground.
"Ow!" Bayley called out
"You lost focus! Get up and try again" Hunter said calmly causing Bayley to sigh
"What's the point of this? I'm not gonna be blinded in a real fight and I can always turn off my abilities. So why am I practicing like this?" Bayley whined as she pushed herself up to her knees
"You never know what is out there, who you might face, what you might have to do" Hunter said seriously, "You must be ready for anything, now...get up and try again"
Bayley muttered to herself, copying Hunter's words in a small, high pitched whisper as she stood to her full height. She opened her eyes and stared at the platforms that now seemed to rest five feet above her head. She closed her eyes again and let the energy flow through her before she pushed off the ground, seeming to float up as she jumped to the platform. Once on her feet Bayley immediately began running, barely letting her feet touch the ground as she jumped from platform to platform. She made it up a ladder and jumped over two flying platforms before she was knocked to the ground again.
This continued for a while longer and after about six more tries Bayley finally made it to the last platform. The girl groaned as her tired feet hit the steady ground and she took a minute to catch her breath. Eventually, she felt a hand on her shoulder causing her to open her eyes, the lights dimming a little to help her see as she looked up and smiled at Master Hunter towering over her with a warm smile.
"Not bad. It only took you 23 minutes this time instead of 30." Hunter joked, causing Bayley to roll her eyes and groan, "You're getting better, I'm proud. Don't let any amount of mess up or redos change the fact that you are getting better. Each time you get knocked down, you get back up, you learn something new and you try again. Eventually, you'll be running through this course in 2 minutes"
"This course is way harder without your vision" Bayley said softly causing Hunter to smile
"You Bayley are special. It may seem hard now but trust me it will all pay off in the end. This is just a test to push you, see who you are and what you're made of." Bayley looked up at her master a little confused as he continued to speak, "You have to understand who you are inside and out and understand who and what you are fighting for."
"I know" Bayley felt herself say timidly
"Then what are you fighting for?"
Bayley thought for a second. For the first time in the past few minutes, she didn't feel the answer forced from her lips. The young girl looked down at herself watching in a flash her body shifting briefly back and forth between her younger and older self before settling back on her 9-year-old body. Bayley looked up confused at her master but he looked back as if nothing happened, he instead just stared at her waiting for her answer.
"I fight for you...for them" Bayley answered honestly, letting her mind wander to her friends and training mates, people who she considered her family, her sisters.
"You care about them?"
"Yes"
"Would you do anything for them?" Hunter questioned.
"Yes" Bayley answered.
"Even if it jeopardizes the safety of others...of the world?"
Bayley stopped. She thought for a second. She was a future member of the Order. She was taught to put others before her own petty and selfish desires. They were taught to give up their possessions, to live solely dependent on the connection to the energy gifted to them spiritually, and not on the connection or worldly relationships they made physically. It was a concept that confused the young girl but she didn't want to say anything about it. There was no way she could say to her master that she would choose her friends over the world, over all those innocent people out there that she is supposed to be protecting.
"N-no." Bayley answered finally, "I couldn't put others in danger because of them"
Hunter gave Bayley a look like he didn't believe her but he didn't speak for a while. Bayley watched him closely, waiting for his next words but she quickly frowned as she saw a ripple wash over the man. It was quick and she almost missed it but she saw a wave of something flow down his body almost like a hologram glitch. Bayley squinted her eyes at the man before he seemed to frown and look over his shoulder worriedly. There was an explosion far off in the distance.
"What was that?" Bayley asked
Hunter looked back at the small girl and smiled, "Nothing."
Bayley nodded at the answer almost subconsciously. Even though she didn't fully believe it she felt every part in her body accept that answer. She took a look over Hunter's shoulder once before closing her eyes, blinking away the pain of her eyes adjusting to the changing lights and as she fully reopened her eyes she was no longer standing in front of Hunter but instead she was sitting on her bunk.
The four girls shared a room when they were growing up, two bunk beds on either side of the small bed chamber leaving just enough space for the girls to walk around freely in between. There was a large closet and two dressers in the room as well along with a desk and a small shelf that held a few books on it.
Bayley looked around at the dark room, the only light coming from the small, neon blue overhead lights on the two bottom bunks and the desk light that currently illuminated the book that Charlotte was reading. The blonde had her foot up on the chair with her arm wrapped tightly around the lifted leg while she quickly flipped through the book, seemingly reading at a fast pace.
Bayley also noticed that Becky and Sasha were muttering together on the bottom bunk which belonged to Sasha. They were making hushed conversation but every now and again Becky would get passionate about something her voice would raise causing Charlotte to scold the two for being too loud.
The brunette smiled at this memory. This was how a lot of their nights ended, with Charlotte reading while the others gossiped or traded stories. Becky always had the best stories from books she had read about the Order or just legends that she had been told in passing.
"That's NOT what I said!" Becky insisted loudly causing Charlotte to sigh and close her book.
"Uh oh...see you went and angered the Queen" Sasha said mockingly as Charlotte stood from the desk, flipping the light out as she went and moved towards her bunk on the bottom, under Bayley.
"I'm not angry" Charlotte corrected as she placed her book under her bed in a small cubby, "But now I'm interested. You two have been talking nonstop since dinner so what gives? What are you two so adamant about?"
Becky and Sasha looked at each other before Sasha turned forward to the older blonde, "Becky thinks-"
"No I don't!" Becky nearly shouted, cutting Sasha off before she could even begin to finish causing the girl to glare at Becky before rolling her eyes.
"WE think that tomorrow Master Hunter is going to take us to meet other Order kids" Sasha said, causing Bayley and Charlotte's eyes to widen at the information.
The girls had never met any other kids in the Order. They had met some young adults and even a few members of the council but never any kids their age. They were 10 and 11 now and a few years away from becoming official members of the Order, meaning they would start meeting other people who had been in the Order for years already, but hearing that they could possibly meet other people training like them was exciting.
"How do you know?" Charlotte asked
"We overheard Master Hunter talking while he was in his office" Becky answered quickly
"He talked about meeting up with one of the other Masters that he was training mates with. He said that they haven't seen each other in a long time and the Master said they would have to bring along some of the kids they were training and Master Hunter said he would think about bringing us" Sasha added
Charlotte seemed to contemplate this while Bayley moved forward on her top bunk so she could get a better look at Becky and Sasha, "Did you hear how old they were?"
Becky scratched her head as she thought before suggesting, "I think around our age. Maybe a little older. I don't remember"
Sasha shrugged, not knowing either. Charlotte nodded at this and said, "We must be doing well if Master Hunter is thinking about taking us anywhere with him."
Sasha nodded, "Yeah. He never lets us go on outings with him unless it's for an educational purpose like those temples we visited."
"I liked seeing the temples" Bayley muttered to herself
The others seemed to ignore the comment as they continued talking each in hushed tones while Bayley watched on. She felt a rush of emotions as her feelings from being a child and being older mixed together. She remembered how it felt sitting on the bunks with her training mates, her friends, her sisters. She enjoyed nights like this, nights when they were all up together gossiping and talking. It brought them closer compared to the days they spent competing for Hunter's attention during training. They seemed to always be competing. It was never a bad competition, even though sometimes Sasha and Charlotte went too far and caused one another to bleed, but Hunter always secretly assured the girls that as long as they always had each other's back against outsiders then that was what mattered.
"You okay Bay?"
Bayley looked up to see Charlotte standing at the edge of their bunk, her hand resting gently on the bed beside Bayley's leg. The younger girl gave a weak smile and nodded, it was weird seeing the blonde as a child again. Bayley paused for a second, wait why was it weird. Why wouldn't she see Charlotte as a child, that's what she is...wait what?
"Bayley?"
"Yeah, I'm fine"
"What's on your mind?" The blonde asked softly, moving her hand to touch the brunette's knee
Bayley focused on the touch, it was soft and airy, almost as if she wasn't really touching her, but it for some reason seemed to still hold the same warmth and comfort that it always had. "You think when we're older we'll be sent far away from each other?"
There was a pause as the room went silent. It was an anxious pause as Sasha and Becky seemed to stop and think about this as well, waiting patiently for Charlotte's answer. The blonde seemed to bite her lip subtly and think before responding with a well-placed smile, "Why would you think that?"
"Well Master Hunter was sent away from the people he trained with and he hasn't seen them in a really long time like the Master that Sasha and Becky overheard him talking to" Bayley said, suddenly feeling smaller than she was as she explained herself. Her insecurities slowly seeped out as she talked, "What if we get sent away once we join the Order like to far away planets on different assignments and then we never see each other again?"
"That's not gonna happen" Becky said carefully filling in the silence as Charlotte seemed to think over her answer. This was something she did often, she usually thought before speaking, always making sure the words she said next were the right ones.
"It might," Sasha said suddenly, "We're not like everyone else. Master Hunter said so himself. We might be too powerful to keep together."
Bayley frowned at this. She didn't want to be powerful if that meant she was going to be separated from the rest of her friends. She always imagined helping people and changing the world with these girls at her side, but if she couldn't do that because of the supposed power inside them then she didn't want it. The young brunette felt a sharp pain in her heart as tears began to well up in her eyes subconsciously.
"I don't want to be powerful if that means I'm going to be sent away from you guys" Bayley said stubbornly as tears began to fall. Becky and Sasha slowly stood from the bunk they were sitting on and stepped closer to Bayley as the young girl angrily wiped tears from her eyes. The flood of emotion she felt seemed to practically overwhelm her body as she felt overly sad and angry at the same time, "it's not fair"
"Bayley...it's alright" Charlotte said softly as she reached up and wiped a stray tear from the young girl's eye, "We were given a gift. We were given great power...if we are called to use it wouldn't you want to do that?"
Bayley shook her head, "I don't want power...I just want you guys"
There was silence again as Bayley heard her words repeat, sounding older and younger at the same time. The brunette wiped her eyes again, looking out at her friends in front of her, barely catching the small ripple that washed over them as the sounds of far off explosions could be just barely made out in the distance.
Bayley shook her head and closed her eyes before opening them again, this time free of tears as she stared at only Sasha through the dark surroundings. Bayley looked around confused slightly as her abilities kicked in instantly allowing her to see the 14 year old in front of her. Sasha stared back at her with a smirk as she placed her hands on the wall that Bayley suddenly felt against her back.
"You just want me?" Sasha asked, her voice deeper than it was before as the sudden emotions Bayley felt shifted quickly to catch up to her new environment. The sadness and anger she felt was replaced by embarrassment and...love? Infatuation? Bayley wasn't quite sure, but whatever she felt was greatly overshadowed but the closeness of the girl in front of her in this...Supply closet?
"I-I don't think we should be doing this" Bayley felt herself say in a small, timid voice as her body seemed to move on its own, looking around the room.
"Why? You're the one who started it" Sasha said playfully as she ran her hand up Bayley's side, "I'm just finishing it"
"C-can you.." Bayley felt her words catch in her throat as if fighting between what to say and what not to say. Her body hurt, physically and mentally, and maybe emotionally too. It felt like she had just run a marathon and her body was exhausted from the range of emotions she just went through.
"Can I do what?" Sasha asked at Bayley's silence.
"Stop" Bayley finished after much debate.
Sasha frowned but immediately pulled away, keeping a close enough distance to be able to be right back on top of the girl but also enough to give space so that they were no longer touching. Bayley slightly smiled at the motion. With Bayley having heightened senses sometimes every sight, smell, sound, or even touch was too much. It was something all of the girls were very understanding of, especially Sasha. Especially when they were like this. Sasha never pushed Bayley when she asked her not to. She had seen the toll it takes on Bayley when she is overstimulated physically, it leaves her raw and drained.
"Are you okay?" Sasha asked in a quiet tone, letting her eyes roam every part of Bayley for any unspoken signs of being overstimulated.
"I-I...I'm fine" Bayley said eventually, "I'm tired."
"That's okay" Sasha said slowly, letting Bayley take a minute to catch her breath and think before she slowly reached her hand out, letting it hang just inches away from Bayley's shoulder, "Can I...Is this okay?"
Bayley looked at the hand before nodding, "Yes"
Sasha slowly placed her right hand on Bayley's shoulder, not putting enough pressure to grab her but enough to let her know she was there. The older girl watched carefully to make sure nothing was too much before she spoke, "Are you okay to answer our questions?"
Bayley nodded, letting her eyes close as she tried to reign in her emotions and senses, focusing only on Sasha's hand and her voice. Whenever she was overstimulated Sasha would ask her a few questions to get her to focus on other things instead of everything going on around her.
"Where are we?"
"I do-I don't know...a supply closet?"
Sasha gave a small snort of a laugh but nodded, "Yes we are. Not the best place for this but hey what are you gonna do."
Bayley gave a small chuckle, "You're a dork"
"Next question. Who's in this room?"
"You and me"
"That's right. Just you and me...always just you...and me" Sasha said slowly, applying a little more pressure on Bayley's shoulder to affirm this, "what can you feel right now?"
"You" Bayley breathed with a small smile
"What's my name?"
Bayley paused for a second, not remembering this as one of their usual questions but answered none-the-less, "Sasha"
"Who am I to you?"
Bayley went to open her eyes but she felt something holding them shut. There was nothing physically there but there was a weight behind her eyelids that kept them from opening and seeing Sasha before her, leaving her only to hear her voice and feel the slightly growing pressure of the hand on her shoulder, "What...I-I don't know. You're my friend"
"Who am I to you?" Sasha asked again, this time sounding older and sharper in her tone.
"I don't know!" Bayley said again, sounding older herself, "You're my training partner. My friend...so-someone I care about very much"
"Do you love me?"
"Wha- Sasha I-"
"Do you love me?"
"Of course I do" Bayley answered
"Would you do anything for me?"
Bayley opened her mouth to respond but stopped quickly. She felt a sense of unease that she never felt with Sasha before. There was something different about her tone and grip and Bayley could slowly feel the rise of emotions start to flood her systems again. Bayley tried once more to open her eyes, fighting against the imaginary weight but gave in after a few minutes of failure.
"Would you do anything for me?" The voice asked again
"Anything...like what?" Bayley asked, trying to buy time while she tried to think of a way out of this. Wait. Out of what? Where was she? What was happening? This wasn't real? Was it?
"Would you lie for me?"
"I have lied for you before," Bayley answered honestly. This wasn't real. None of this was real. This never happened. Where is she? Really, where is she, "I would do it again...if you were in trouble. If the others were in trouble. If you guys needed me to"
"Would you cheat for me?"
Bayley tried once more to open her eyes but failed. What is the last thing she remembered? The last thing that was completely new? Not a memory, "Yes...if you needed me to"
"Would you steal for me?"
Bayley frowned. She remembered seeing a girl that she thought was Sasha. Rushing forward into conflict to save the young girl. She remembers running through the streets and being saved by two women. What were their names? "If it meant life or death yes"
The voice paused as if to think over this answer before continuing, "Would you...kill...for me?"
Bayley paused at this. No, she thought immediately. Bayley had done things in the past years while hiding out that she wasn't proud of but she was still a member of the Order. Destroyed or not she had morals and values and she would never kill anyone. Bayley fought once more and slowly felt her eyes opening. There was nothing but darkness around her except for piercing red eyes that stared back at her where Sasha had been.
Bayley went to move but the grip on her shoulder doubled and the darkness around her seemed to wrap around her whole body. Bayley could now see the dark tendrils crawling up her body and licking at the edge of her face as it crept it's way up her neck.
"Would you kill for me?" The bodiless voice asked once more with a deep growl
"No" Bayley snapped, a small flash of white energy leaking out her mouth as she said this, lashing out at the darkness causing it to pull away from her face some, "I will not kill. There is always another way!"
The eyes squinted at Bayley before asking again, "Would you choose me over the world?"
"You are not Sasha!" Bayley snapped harshly at the figure before her. More bright, white energy sparking from her mouth, attacking the darkness around her. Bayley felt her right shoulder free itself from the slowly retreating darkness, "You are darkness. You are evil, I will never help you! I will never kill for you. For you, I will not steal or lie or cheat. I will fight you and make sure you never hurt anyone else ever again"
The dark voice laughs, "So much power trapped inside the head of a woman with morals. How sad. You have so much potential."
There is a rush of memories and thoughts that fill Bayley as if all pretenses have been dropped. She looked around the dark empty space around her knowing who she is, how old she is and where she is and for once in the past few...minutes, hours, days, she knows how she truly feels. This is a test from the temple. Something to see who she really is and what her true intentions are.
"Your loyalty is questionable at best. I can tell some of our darkness found its way into you as well."
Bayley paused, confused. Our darkness. Memories of her final ceremony to become a member of the Order flood her mind. There is loud crashing and bright lights. There is pain and screaming and Bayley remembers seeing a flood of darkness rush over the group, rolling over the unconscious bodies of her friends that lay spread out in between rubble. It washes over Charlotte, then Sasha, then Becky before making it's way over to her as she drifts in and out of consciousness. Bayley opens her eyes once more just before the darkness hits her and watches as a wave of light emits in the room, burning away the darkness before it touches her, then she passes out.
"No. You're wrong." Bayley corrects. There is a spark of white light that emits from her skin, snapping at the darkness until it retreats to just its humanoid outline. The figure seems to tilt its head at an unusual angle and laugh as the back of Bayley's neck pricks up and alarms ring in the back of her head and suddenly she understands, "This isn't a part of the temple's test. This temple is corrupted."
"You say corrupted, I say...enhanced" The voice growls viciously, "I could show you just how powerful I have made it."
The room shifts and a door appears in the nothingness. It opens on its own and emits enough light to show a room full of dead bodies, hundred stacked high. Bayley stares in horror at the sight, "What did you do?"
"Survivors" The voice hissed out, "Victims...weaklings...idiots who were too stuck to their morals to accept my offers. Without them here...we can unlock this temple's true potential. If only they had accepted what I had to offer them"
Bayley felt a shiver run through her spine, these were Order members, their families, civilians who fled from the Legion. How long had these bodies been here? Had these survivors made it for a long time, were they killed recently? Had there been other members out there still alive trying to make a difference? Before Bayley could think anymore the room spun again and Bayley was looking right at the dark figure.
"You won't make that mistake though. Not with everything that I can give you. Everything that I can show you"
"I don't want anything from you" Bayley snapped
"Really?" The voice laughed, "Not even when I can give you what you want most? Your friends? Your precious Sasha?"
"Don't talk about her" Bayley snapped.
There is a bright flash in the room and the darkness retreats fully from Bayley leaving Bayley standing with a bright aura around her body while a shadowy outline of a figure stands in front of Bayley. The tendrils of darkness move and slink around the air, reaching out for Bayley but they immediately hiss and burn at the light and pull away.
"Bayley?" Sasha's voice calls out from the darkness.
Bayley tilts her head and watches as the darkness pulls away a little to reveal Sasha standing across from her. Older than she remembers, about her age now around 24 or 25. Her hair is a dark blue and her eyes are normal, not matching the sharp red from earlier but the darkness around her remains, matching and fighting the aura of Bayley. She looks confused and seems to look around as if to gauge where they are before looking back to Bayley.
"Sasha?"
The girl in question looks down at her hand before slowly lifting it to Bayley. Bayley goes to reach out but stops as she takes note of the darkness still surrounding Sasha. Bayley lets her hand drop and frowns, "You can't trick me. You're not real. I won't give you what you want."
"What?" Sasha asked confused, "Bayley I-"
Sasha's voice is cut off as darkness envelopes her until she is gone and the red eyes return. A dark laugh fills the room, "Last chance...join me and let me bring you the person you want most...or refuse me and perish"
"I will never join you" Bayley snapped back
"Pity...we could have been good together." The drawls out before the darkness begins to spread out from the humanoid figure and reach out towards Bayley.
Bayley doesn't look at the darkness. She closes her eyes and tries to center herself, focusing only on her energy and the good memories that she had seen before, before they were tainted by the corruption. She remembers Master Hunter. How proud he was of her and all she did and she remembers his warm embrace when he would congratulate the girls by picking them up in a big bear up and lifting them up high. She remembers nights with her friends, huddled together talking, and laughing. She remembers cherishing the moments they all four were together and not fighting, just being normal and enjoying one another's company. She smiles as she remembers Sasha. Her best friend and love. She remembers holding her hand and hugging her close on nights when training was tough. She remembers listening to Sasha's dreams and goals and encouraging every single one of them.
Bayley feels a wave of warmth travel up and down her body as these memories flood. She can practically hear the four voices of the people she loves most in this world surround her. She hears Master Hunter tell her, Being a member of the Order means that you have help at all times. You just have to be able to call on it. Bayley lets the words ring in her ears before her eyes are forced open. There is no longer darkness surrounding her and the humanoid figure is gone, replaced by a small floating orb the size of a baseball hovering in the middle of the pure white room Bayley now finds herself in.
"So the prophecy is true." The voice calls out in the room causing Bayley to look around briefly before she feels her body walk towards the dark orb automatically, "No matter. We've already spread too far. Our reach is too wide. The Legion will never be destroyed. No matter what the prophecy says. No matter what you do we will still have our connections. We will rid the world of every last Legacy and cement the Legion as the rulers of this entire galaxy and then-"
"You talk too much" Bayley said, cutting off the bodiless voice as she reached out and grabbed the dark orb before crushing it tightly in her hand.
There was a quick flash causing Bayley to look away, shielding her eyes from the light, and once she was able to turn back and look she felt something in her hand. Bayley slowly turned her hand over and opened it to see a small device in her hand. It was a green, rectangle drive that was see-through allowing Bayley to see all of the components when she held it up to the light.
Bayley looked around the room and noticed that she was in the temple once more. It looked as it did before, the podium-like structure that she put her hand on was in the center of the room again as the walls that once glowed with information slowly dimmed.
"Hey, Bayley! I don't know if you can hear me but we kind of got a situation out here" Trish's voice called out over the communication device in Bayley's pocket.
"I'm here," Bayley said after a few minutes of fumbling with the device, "What's going on?"
"We-"
"Just get your ass back here now!" Lita yelled, cutting off Trish's explanation and Bayley's eyes widened as she could hear phasers being blasted in the background.
Bayley nodded and pocketed the drive and started heading out the temple, "I'm on my way!"
A/N: Let me know what you think and make sure to follow, favorite, and all that good stuff so you can be updated when I post the next chapter.