Chapter 7
Fires
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, except Phoenix and my story line. I wish I owned this, or that they were paying me as I am a poor college student and need the money, but alas, I am not allowed to profit from this and so I am not. I am just using these characters for my own flights of fancy.
Feedback: Is a must if I am to keep writing as my muses demand gratification for their hard work to justify the need to be slave drivers so that their work does not falter and so making it that mine cannot either.
That is all you may now read the actual tale l.o.l.
Gabe studied the planes of Nikki's face. There was so much pain and sadness held within those strangely colored orbs. He was not quite sure of what he was supposed to do now, but then when had his life ever been simple? He dealt in strange, rare, and even powerful objects. Some members of his clientele were probably not the kind of people you wanted to admit that you knew. But this was his work, and he enjoyed it. He had known something was up the day that he met Sara Pezinni and saw the witch's glove upon her wrist. He had never imagined that it would come this far, that it would involve so much. He had never guessed that he was a part of it all. How could he have, only women could wield it, and nothing was ever said about the accompanying pieces to the puzzle. He had a feeling that was in part due to the young woman before him.
Nikki began to get nervous. Gabe was suddenly quiet and there was something about him just now. He was lost in thought again. Nikki contemplated leaving but when she saw Ian and Sara in her living room talking, she thought she'd be better off out here on the fire escape with Gabe. As much as she wanted the blade knight to join them once again, she did not want to deal with him at present. She looked back to Gabe who was still lost in his own mind. As she looked up to the starry night sky, she began to feel cold. and dizzy. Soon she was pitching forward into Gabe, her vision masked by the dark cloak of unconsciousness.
Gabe came out of his thoughts just in the nick of time. A moment longer and Nikki's unconscious form would have thrown them both into the railing painfully. Gabe was confused and quite scared. From what Sara had told him, Nikki was a very strong young woman, so something like this was bound to be way out of the ordinary for her. Gabe got to his feet, leaning her limp form against his own body so that he could let Sara and. Ian Nottingham? In on the development. He knocked on the window and soon Sara and Ian were both there helping him get Nikki back inside.
"Gabe what happened?"
"I don't know Chief, she just pitched forward out of the blue."
"Were there any warning signs, did she seem faint?" Nottingham inquired his training kicking in.
"I have to admit I couldn't tell you. I was lost in thought and when I came out of my mind to ask her something I was greeted with her nearly knocking me into the railing out there."
"I think perhaps this has all been a bit too much for her. I do not think that even the soul of the blade knew what was in store for her."
"Do you know something we don't Nott. Ian?"
"Well I do know who she is and what she is. I assume that with this comes a great deal of ability. However I do not think that she was trained to be human. She was not ready for the sudden humanity of her situation and it has over taken her."
"Spoken like someone who knows." Gabriel said slightly under his breath. He surprised himself a little, standing up for Nikki like that - especially against the man that had threatened him on more than one occasion. Ian just stood there for a moment, a stricken look ghosting in his eyes for the briefest of moments.
"Somehow I think it's more than that." Gabe said softly.
"What makes you say that?" Sara asked.
"She put on the Witchblade and showed me the past. She was visibly affected after we came out of it, but yet we allowed her to let us brush it off. She said it herself that she had not done that in a very long time. How are we to know just how deeply that this has affected her? We've all just met her, and true we may have known her in times gone by, but we've all just met her in this one. We all have to get to know her all over again. So you tell me what made me sat that it's more than her not being 'trained' to be 'human'." Gabriel ranted. Sara and Ian both stood there in awe for a few moments.
"Well how do we help her?" Sara inquired.
"Something tells me that the answers lie within us."
"Gabe?"
"We are each in some fashion a facet of the blade. She is the living extension of it. Come on was I the only one paying attention to anything that she's said since calling us all here?" Gabe was getting frustrated. He wanted to help Nikki and they were standing around like idiots.
"We have each been given artifacts of power. You Sara, have the Witchblade itself. Ian and myself possess rings - each forged by the blade. There has to be something that we can do for her." Suddenly the trio was thrown out of their ponderings by a blood-curdling scream. Nikki, still unconscious was clawing at her chest as if there was something inside of her on fire. As soon as Gabe got close to her, he collapsed in pain.
"Gabe! Are you okay?" Sara asked as she ran over to him. She could feel the pain radiating from both Gabe and Nikki, but she herself was not affected. Gabe was clutching his chest just like Nikki. Ian pulled Gabe back away from the fallen girl. He almost instantly began to relax.
"It's the crystal."
"What?"
"The crystal that the Witchblade created within her. that's what's hurting her."
"How do you know?" Ian inquired.
"I saw it. it's like the crystal is upset with her. It looked like it was cracking or something."
"What can we do?" Sara asked.
"I don't know. I don't know how to fix it. I can't even go near her. It hurts too much. As if the crystal was trying to keep me from her."
"Perhaps that's it." Sara said softly.
"What?" Gabe and Ian both looked to Sara.
"Gabe, did she tell you anything about the last time she knew you?" Sara asked.
" A little." He still looked puzzled.
"You were her first and only love. She has never loved anyone else. Not even in the time that she had been unable to find you."
"So that's what she wouldn't say. I could feel that there was something more, but she wouldn't elaborate. But it clears some things up a bit."
"What things."
"Things that she and I talked about. It also clears up why neither you nor Nottingham were affected by her pain as I was."
"She said that the angel made her feel. She also said that the Blade Phoenix doesn't like her being human. It wants her to be the pure embodiment of what she was created for. If The Angel can make her feel, make her human, well it would make sense that the Phoenix Crystal which is the embodiment of her mystical nature would rebel against the Angel or rather me." Gabe explained. Understanding began to dawn on the faces of the other two conscious people in the room.
"That still does not tell us how to help her." Ian pointed out.
"On the contrary, it does."
"Mind clueing us in on this revelation there Gabe?" Sara said with a slightly amused chuckle. She was amused because she knew she had been right about Gabe. He was coming around and Nikki would not have to worry about him rejecting her.
"If I can get to her, I can heal her. It's a part of my abilities as The Blade Angel."
"What the boy says does make sense. But if he is stricken with intense pain any time that he draws near her, how is he to get to her?" Ian inquired. He already had an idea, but he did not want to seem too bold just yet. He hadn't been fully accepted by the group yet, and didn't quite feel like he deserved it. So for now, he would remain as quiet and unobtrusive as possible.
"That's easy, we help him." Sara said almost cheerfully. They quickly worked out a little plan. Gabe only hoped that he wouldn't pass out if he got so close to Nikki as to touch her. Sara and Ian each took one of Gabe's arms and led him to Nikki. When they reached the point where he had collapsed before he winced in pain again.
"Keep going." Gabe said his voice full of the pain that he was feeling. Sara and Ian pressed on. As soon as they were to the couch on which Nikki had been placed, Sara and Ian winced in pain as well. though they weren't in nearly as much pain as the girl or Gabe. Sara held Gabe up while Ian dragged a chair to the couch so that Gabe could sit at a somewhat even level with Nikki. They sat him in the chair and then withdrew.
Gabe gathered up every last bit of strength that he could muster within himself and willed himself to sit up. He placed both of his hands upon Nikki's, which were still clutching her chest where her heart would be. He was suddenly overcome with more pain than he had ever imagined. He collapsed, falling forward over his outstretched arms. Sara was alarmed. She was afraid for Gabe, especially when she had seen him pass out. Ian held her back, shaking his head.
"This is something they must work through together. We cannot interfere."
"But - Gabe."
"Will be fine."
"How do you know?"
"I am the Knight, I know more than you think."
Fires
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, except Phoenix and my story line. I wish I owned this, or that they were paying me as I am a poor college student and need the money, but alas, I am not allowed to profit from this and so I am not. I am just using these characters for my own flights of fancy.
Feedback: Is a must if I am to keep writing as my muses demand gratification for their hard work to justify the need to be slave drivers so that their work does not falter and so making it that mine cannot either.
That is all you may now read the actual tale l.o.l.
Gabe studied the planes of Nikki's face. There was so much pain and sadness held within those strangely colored orbs. He was not quite sure of what he was supposed to do now, but then when had his life ever been simple? He dealt in strange, rare, and even powerful objects. Some members of his clientele were probably not the kind of people you wanted to admit that you knew. But this was his work, and he enjoyed it. He had known something was up the day that he met Sara Pezinni and saw the witch's glove upon her wrist. He had never imagined that it would come this far, that it would involve so much. He had never guessed that he was a part of it all. How could he have, only women could wield it, and nothing was ever said about the accompanying pieces to the puzzle. He had a feeling that was in part due to the young woman before him.
Nikki began to get nervous. Gabe was suddenly quiet and there was something about him just now. He was lost in thought again. Nikki contemplated leaving but when she saw Ian and Sara in her living room talking, she thought she'd be better off out here on the fire escape with Gabe. As much as she wanted the blade knight to join them once again, she did not want to deal with him at present. She looked back to Gabe who was still lost in his own mind. As she looked up to the starry night sky, she began to feel cold. and dizzy. Soon she was pitching forward into Gabe, her vision masked by the dark cloak of unconsciousness.
Gabe came out of his thoughts just in the nick of time. A moment longer and Nikki's unconscious form would have thrown them both into the railing painfully. Gabe was confused and quite scared. From what Sara had told him, Nikki was a very strong young woman, so something like this was bound to be way out of the ordinary for her. Gabe got to his feet, leaning her limp form against his own body so that he could let Sara and. Ian Nottingham? In on the development. He knocked on the window and soon Sara and Ian were both there helping him get Nikki back inside.
"Gabe what happened?"
"I don't know Chief, she just pitched forward out of the blue."
"Were there any warning signs, did she seem faint?" Nottingham inquired his training kicking in.
"I have to admit I couldn't tell you. I was lost in thought and when I came out of my mind to ask her something I was greeted with her nearly knocking me into the railing out there."
"I think perhaps this has all been a bit too much for her. I do not think that even the soul of the blade knew what was in store for her."
"Do you know something we don't Nott. Ian?"
"Well I do know who she is and what she is. I assume that with this comes a great deal of ability. However I do not think that she was trained to be human. She was not ready for the sudden humanity of her situation and it has over taken her."
"Spoken like someone who knows." Gabriel said slightly under his breath. He surprised himself a little, standing up for Nikki like that - especially against the man that had threatened him on more than one occasion. Ian just stood there for a moment, a stricken look ghosting in his eyes for the briefest of moments.
"Somehow I think it's more than that." Gabe said softly.
"What makes you say that?" Sara asked.
"She put on the Witchblade and showed me the past. She was visibly affected after we came out of it, but yet we allowed her to let us brush it off. She said it herself that she had not done that in a very long time. How are we to know just how deeply that this has affected her? We've all just met her, and true we may have known her in times gone by, but we've all just met her in this one. We all have to get to know her all over again. So you tell me what made me sat that it's more than her not being 'trained' to be 'human'." Gabriel ranted. Sara and Ian both stood there in awe for a few moments.
"Well how do we help her?" Sara inquired.
"Something tells me that the answers lie within us."
"Gabe?"
"We are each in some fashion a facet of the blade. She is the living extension of it. Come on was I the only one paying attention to anything that she's said since calling us all here?" Gabe was getting frustrated. He wanted to help Nikki and they were standing around like idiots.
"We have each been given artifacts of power. You Sara, have the Witchblade itself. Ian and myself possess rings - each forged by the blade. There has to be something that we can do for her." Suddenly the trio was thrown out of their ponderings by a blood-curdling scream. Nikki, still unconscious was clawing at her chest as if there was something inside of her on fire. As soon as Gabe got close to her, he collapsed in pain.
"Gabe! Are you okay?" Sara asked as she ran over to him. She could feel the pain radiating from both Gabe and Nikki, but she herself was not affected. Gabe was clutching his chest just like Nikki. Ian pulled Gabe back away from the fallen girl. He almost instantly began to relax.
"It's the crystal."
"What?"
"The crystal that the Witchblade created within her. that's what's hurting her."
"How do you know?" Ian inquired.
"I saw it. it's like the crystal is upset with her. It looked like it was cracking or something."
"What can we do?" Sara asked.
"I don't know. I don't know how to fix it. I can't even go near her. It hurts too much. As if the crystal was trying to keep me from her."
"Perhaps that's it." Sara said softly.
"What?" Gabe and Ian both looked to Sara.
"Gabe, did she tell you anything about the last time she knew you?" Sara asked.
" A little." He still looked puzzled.
"You were her first and only love. She has never loved anyone else. Not even in the time that she had been unable to find you."
"So that's what she wouldn't say. I could feel that there was something more, but she wouldn't elaborate. But it clears some things up a bit."
"What things."
"Things that she and I talked about. It also clears up why neither you nor Nottingham were affected by her pain as I was."
"She said that the angel made her feel. She also said that the Blade Phoenix doesn't like her being human. It wants her to be the pure embodiment of what she was created for. If The Angel can make her feel, make her human, well it would make sense that the Phoenix Crystal which is the embodiment of her mystical nature would rebel against the Angel or rather me." Gabe explained. Understanding began to dawn on the faces of the other two conscious people in the room.
"That still does not tell us how to help her." Ian pointed out.
"On the contrary, it does."
"Mind clueing us in on this revelation there Gabe?" Sara said with a slightly amused chuckle. She was amused because she knew she had been right about Gabe. He was coming around and Nikki would not have to worry about him rejecting her.
"If I can get to her, I can heal her. It's a part of my abilities as The Blade Angel."
"What the boy says does make sense. But if he is stricken with intense pain any time that he draws near her, how is he to get to her?" Ian inquired. He already had an idea, but he did not want to seem too bold just yet. He hadn't been fully accepted by the group yet, and didn't quite feel like he deserved it. So for now, he would remain as quiet and unobtrusive as possible.
"That's easy, we help him." Sara said almost cheerfully. They quickly worked out a little plan. Gabe only hoped that he wouldn't pass out if he got so close to Nikki as to touch her. Sara and Ian each took one of Gabe's arms and led him to Nikki. When they reached the point where he had collapsed before he winced in pain again.
"Keep going." Gabe said his voice full of the pain that he was feeling. Sara and Ian pressed on. As soon as they were to the couch on which Nikki had been placed, Sara and Ian winced in pain as well. though they weren't in nearly as much pain as the girl or Gabe. Sara held Gabe up while Ian dragged a chair to the couch so that Gabe could sit at a somewhat even level with Nikki. They sat him in the chair and then withdrew.
Gabe gathered up every last bit of strength that he could muster within himself and willed himself to sit up. He placed both of his hands upon Nikki's, which were still clutching her chest where her heart would be. He was suddenly overcome with more pain than he had ever imagined. He collapsed, falling forward over his outstretched arms. Sara was alarmed. She was afraid for Gabe, especially when she had seen him pass out. Ian held her back, shaking his head.
"This is something they must work through together. We cannot interfere."
"But - Gabe."
"Will be fine."
"How do you know?"
"I am the Knight, I know more than you think."