Chapter 16 - The Dream and the Meeting.
I didn't even realize I was dreaming for a minute. I had to take in my surroundings, and realize the place I was sitting in wasn't my duplicate home in Canada, but the one in Virginia.
My family, minus myself, was sitting around a table, talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying, then I saw a police vehicle pulling in our driveway.
The scene changed, and now they were sitting in some gray room, with different features from the last time I saw them. My two brothers, being twins, had identical changes, taking the form of a streak of light blue in their hair. My mother had blue eyes, when before they were hazel, the same as mine.
My father wasn't there. I watched for a few minutes as they talked, and eventually, Michael, the taller of the two, summoned a ball of blue energy in his hands, tossing it around. The shorter one, Fletcher, had blue lightning coursing up his arms.
Fletcher stood, his chair creaking as he did, and he blasted lightning at the wall. "I'm tired of waiting. How much longer should he be?" He demands. "The process is nearly done, according to the interface next door." My mom said nonchalantly.
Fletcher made a noise, and started pacing. Minutes later, my father walked in, and he froze, staring directly at me. "We're being watched. Leave, Cyrus." He demands, his fist clenching as I feel my dream-self getting crushed.
I jolt awake, flying forward out of the couch, and onto the floor. I scramble to sit up, and I start breathing heavily. Kara and Hazel made distressed noises as they woke up because of the loud noise. "Kara, Hazel, I have bad news." I start grimly. At their half-awake mumbles, I decided to wait a moment before I told them.
After they became fully conscious, I took a deep breath. "My family's Empowered, and they know I know. They might come after me." I announce. I started to tell them everything in the dream, from their powers, to their surroundings, so on.
When we were finished debating about it, it was lunchtime. We agreed to eat, train, and tell everyone at the meeting about this later. We went up to the VIP floor, and got a quick lunch from McDonald's.
"Gods, it's been so long since I've had fast food." I groaned as I took a bite of my food. Hazel gives me a look, and picks at her food. Kara, however, was on the same page as me. "What, Haze? Fast food is good!" She says, in an attempt to defend me.
Hazel smiles, and shakes her head. "You two are like two peas in a pod, you know?" We both nod, and I start to speak, but I never get the opportunity. "Pardon me for sliding in. I'd imagine it's from Cyrus' influence over Kara here, and the fact they've been bonding together for going on two months now, right?" Mana says as she slides into the bench next to Hazel, across from Kara.
"You read my mind for that. That's almost word for word what I wanted to say." I accused her. She shrugged. "You can stop me anytime. You can bring your mental guards back up any moment. I just think you like someone being on the same page as you, personally." She responds.
"I can't say you're wrong." I say, as a smile flickers across my face. She laughs, and we all start talking about anything and everything that comes to mind.
Hours later, we were sitting at the benches in the arena, waiting for everyone to show up.
"Well, looks like the new kids are punctual." I heard suddenly. I turn to find the origin of the surprisingly deep voice, and find a pale, lanky dude, with shoulder-length red hair and chocolate brown eyes. "I'm Elijah. A pleasure." He said, extending his hand to me. I stood, shaking his hand.
"I'm Cyrus. It's a pleasure to meet you as well." He shook hands with the other two, and they got acquainted as I tried to get a read on Elijah with an Observe. Just like with Mana, I found nothing, just question marks. I glanced over at Mana, and locked eyes with her. "Empowered?" I think. She nods discreetly.
"Power?" I try asking. She shakes her head, indicating she has no idea. I found that a little unsettling, but I ignored it for now. The next person to walk in is Calo, and he grinned at me as he walked in, to which I responded in kind. He introduced himself to Kara and Hazel, and I noticed when I used Observe that he was completely normal. He's just some guy, who's very passionate about his stock, which I already knew.
The next person who walked in surprised me, though. As soon as she walked in, I felt a heavy pressure immediately crush down on me, and I got a ping from the System telling me a mental intrusion was blocked, and the pressure got released. Nobody else seemed to be spared, aside from Elijah.
Elijah seemed to be relaxed, so I figured she was no threat. While the others were grimacing in pain, I stood, and sized her up. Long, black hair, a dark complexion, and she has violet eyes. "Way to make an entrance. I'm Cyrus." I greeted, extending my hand to shake. She nodded in acknowledgment, and the pressure on everyone seemed to lift. Y'know, I'm hurt she didn't shake my hand. Hurt me right here. In the heart.
Her voice surprised me further, though. "I'm Medea." She introduced herself, her voice strangely smooth. I glanced at Mana, repeating the process I did for Elijah, and I received no different results. "That should be everyone, unless Mana suddenly brought in any more outsiders." Medea stated, a little coldly.
"Hey, they've earned their places here just as much as all of you. Let's all try to work together, and not split us all up, alright?" Mana tried, barely concealed nervousness in her voice. That only really meant one thing to me, though. It looked like Mana was pretty new, too, though not as new as us, which means she wasn't fully trusted yet.
This theory was supported by Calo earlier, when he'd said that Mana kept impressing him, as if even he wasn't quite sure of her yet, though clearly thinking favorably of her to some degree.
Medea opened her mouth, and I promptly decided that I didn't want to hear an argument, and used Stasis on her tongue, raising my hand. "Hold your tongue, lady. Mana might not have been here for very long in comparison to some of you, but surely you all have heard about the nationwide hunt for my head in the States. She's right about one thing. We've earned a place here, and we want change more than anyone." I interrupted, a sudden confidence filling my voice.
Medea narrowed her eyes at me, but said nothing, because her tongue was stuck. "Wonderful. Mana found a mute button for the witch." Elijah chuckled. "He also has spatial magic, which may prove an asset." Calo supplied. Elijah seemed to consider this for a moment, and he seemed to reach some kind of silent conclusion.
He, however, didn't elaborate. But I was tired of nothing serious being discussed, so I unfroze Medea's tongue, and started talking. "Well, this may be of some relevance, perhaps not as much to Canada, but if we can handle the bigger threat of America first, that'd be better off." I started.
"Then, it'd be much easier to focus in on this rather than risk a threat from America." I launched into a detailed explanation of my dream, and explained what that meant.
"So they know that you somehow got powers, and one of them can see varying projections of the consciousness. That could be problematic." Calo muttered. "How so?" Kara asked, frowning. "You see, when you project your consciousness out when dreaming, you leave a footprint of sorts. If Cyrus' father learns more of his powers, he can track us to here." Mana explains.
"And as such, it was a mistake to bring these children here. They are risking our safety, and risking our operation just by being here." Medea says coldly. "Not if we play this right. But first, if we're to operate as a team to preserve the safety of everyone, we should know each other's abilities, for those of us who have them, right?" I reason.
We all seem to come to a sort of agreement, and Medea starts. "I have this strange interface allowing myself to interact with varying branches of magic." I managed to note that down in my head, and Elijah spoke next. "I have an immunity to all abilities and magic, as well as the ability to temporarily take the powers of one given person at a time." I raise a brow at that, and Mana stands next.
Medea looks at her critically, Calo looks on with curiosity, and Elijah wears a neutral expression. I don't think any of them know her power yet. "I have the ability to read the minds of non-Empowered people, the only exception being if I'm provided permission to read the Empowered's mind." She finishes nervously, her eyes flickering to me.
Elijah maintained a neutral expression, Calo seemed interested, and Medea wrinkled her nose, seemingly in disgust.
I stood, and took a breath, launching into an explanation of my powers, skipping over the Echo title, and skipping over the party system. I wasn't quite sure I trusted Medea with the knowledge of that just yet. Kara and Hazel shared a look, and said nothing of it, thankfully.
"Medea, judging by your dramatic entrance, I'd assume you have access to mental magic? If you do, you can just make them forget where we are, and forget my intrusion in the dream, right?" I clarified. She makes eye contact for a moment, considering whether to give me an answer or not. I got a ping from the System once again to indicate an attempt at mental intrusion was blocked.
"I'll take your attempt at infiltrating my mind as a yes, you have access to mental magics. So, can you do as I proposed, in theory?" I addressed her, maybe a little coldly. "I may be able to do it, but I would need to be in close enough proximity with them to do it, and it would be imperfect. Also consider, child, that mental intrusion is blocked by whatever makes someone Empowered." She replied sharply.
"I believe that the dream was the only thing me and my companions brought to the table for today's meeting, though I won't speak for them. Though Medea, I would like to speak with you in private after this meeting in regards to this." I stated. She nodded, and the meeting continued. Most of it consisted of arrangements for us currently, whether we should be trusted (thanks, Medea,) and about Mana.
When they started talking about Mana, though, I started paying a little more attention. They probably knew more than I did. "I know you don't trust me, Medea. You don't trust anyone. Elijah, I appreciate your neutrality, and Calo, thanks for your support. Medea, I ask you at least try and have a smidgen of faith in me. Okay?" Mana rambles.
"You may act like you're so high and mighty because of who you are, but you don't carry that authority over us. We were brought together in order to fight this, and your family history doesn't speak favorably of you in this department." Medea argues. I raise a brow. So she does know more than I do. That's for sure.
But before I could think much of it, Calo shoots up like a Whack-A-Mole, making a strangled yelp. "I need to go! I have an important meeting with a customer around this time, and I forgot. I'm so sorry, I didn't think we would run this late today." He hurriedly says, rushing to the elevator.
I don't know about you, but I personally think that's an attempt to get away from the arguing. I wish I could do the same, but I already arranged to speak with Medea after this, and I can't use training as an excuse, as we're sitting where said training would take place.
Fortunately, people seemed to take that as an excuse to leave, as Mana wrapped up the meeting, and she left, and I waved off Kara and Hazel, convincing them to leave. Elijah stood, and looked me in the eyes for a moment. "I would speak with you later, if that's not a problem." He requested. "That's not a problem. Meet me at my home, just the next floor up. It shouldn't have any lights on, and there'll be a bench outside. Just wait there, if it's not a problem." I replied.
He nodded, and left. I then turned to Medea. "Let's get to business, then."
