Hello! I'm back early :) Couldn't resist after all your reviews. And that was kinda a cliffhanger . . .
Soundtrack: 'Dream' by Imagine Dragons. This song is by far one of my favorites. It will be used more than once in the course of this story, just so you know :)
"No, no, no, no, no . . . no!" Gael stared at the rapidly spreading ice crystals in his palm. The white fragments grew outward, almost to the edges of his hand. He quickly clenched his hand shut, willing the ice to go away. That was probably the freakiest part of all this: he couldn't physically feel the cold. Instead, he could feel every ridge in the ice, the shape of each crystal. This is a dream. Some horrible, twisted dream. I'll wake up any minute now and be at home, with Mom.
Gael didn't realize he had spoken his thoughts until he noticed Fania, who seemed slightly puzzled and groggy, giving him a strange look.
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing. Noth-" he paused as his eyes grew wide.
"What are you looking at?" Fania narrowed her eyes and glared. "Seriously, dude. You're freaking me out."
"Y-Your . . . your hand!" he pointed to her open palm, which held a small bundle of flame.
Immediately, she screamed and attempted to put out the fire by violently shaking her hand. It only added to her panic as her shirt sleeve began to catch fire.
"This . . . this is freaky!" Fania stared as the flame crept up her arm. The light and fear reflected in her green eyes. Despite the fire, she couldn't feel any pain. It just was there, but it caused her no harm. "What do I do?" her eyes wide and beginning to tear up, she glanced at Gael.
"Um, well . . ." Gael frantically thought through their 'options.' Dai and Ever were still down for the count. The nearest civilian was miles away. The one cell phone they had was completely busted-
My dream.
Realization struck. "Did you have a weird dream?"
"I really don't think this is the time-"
"Answer the question!"
"Yes," she looked slightly embarrassed. "it claimed you were . . . we are . . . siblings." Fania spat the last word with utter distaste as her cheeks turned red.
"Okay, then it probably also said that we are bionic super humans?"
"Yes."
"Then that means that we should be able to control our abilities." the flame was nearly to her neck. Gael hurried his explanation along. "Just try to focus! Feel the flame. Imagine you're controlling it."
Since when did I start to sound like Yoda?
"Okay," Fania hesitantly replied. She closed her eyes and began to focus. The only sound was the crackle of the small fire. Moments later, something just clicked for her. The bright orange flames began to slowly recede, disappearing into her hand.
"I did it." she breathed. "Thanks, Gael." Fania smiled at him.
"Mm hm." he was too focused in attempting to control his own cryokinesis to notice her sentimental moment.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you just – is that ice?" Fania gaped as the whitish substance disappeared into his skin.
Gael sighed. "Yes. I guess I'm technically a cryokinetic, and you're a pyrokinetic. Y'know, like in comic books?"
"Actually, I don't know. And pyro-whatic means?"
"That you can control heat and fire."
"Seriously?" Fania looked at her hands in awe. "Sweet!"
Gael's lips twitched. "Yeah, cool."
Fania's gaze moved to the still figures on the floor. "So what do we do with them?"
He shrugged. "Just wait for them to wake up, I guess." There was a lapse. "So, you said you had a dream?"
Her cheeks flamed red once again. "Yeah. So . . . we're sibling lab rats?"
Gael looked away. "Pretty much."
"All these years . . . our parents have been lying to us?"
"Yep." there was a note of bitterness to his voice. Gael sighed before continuing. "I've been some kind of freak, and my mom never even cared to mention. She left me to fend for myself while she was on missions. I guess she never cared enough to tell me – or she didn't trust me. I could've helped her all these years. Maybe . . ." he pressed his eyes shut. "maybe even have kept her from dying."
Fania seemed to share the same emotions. "I know what you mean. To have – be – something like this and not even know it. In a way, it's not fair. Our parent had all the time in the world to train and all. I'll bet they even knew martial arts and everything."
"Well, so do you." Gael reasoned. "You're a black belt."
"No," she sighed, looking at her brother. "I'm a yellow belt. And the last time I even practiced was way back in fifth grade."
Gael appeared surprised for a moment before nodding. "Makes sense. You didn't seem like the, um, violent type." he inwardly grimaced as he thought back to the iPhone incident.
"Yeah,"
Silence reigned for a few moments before he looked back down at his hands. No trace of the ice remained. I wonder if I could control it . . .
Gael focused on the thought, imagining the ice slowly growing into sharp shards out of his open palm. Nothing happened, much to his dismay.
"Well," he sighed, pulling himself to his feet. "let's look around. I'm sure there's something of interest around here – besides us, anyways."
OOO
Dai awoke with a dull thud in her head. Her face was pressed so hard into the floor she couldn't feel her cheek. And gosh did she feel sore. She groggily brushed her hair out of her face, blinking her eyes open to see the brightly lit laboratory. Groaning, she pulled herself to an upright position, ignoring the pain in her skull.
There was bright light – natural light. Unlike when she and the other three had entered, this light was warm and inviting. Slowly, she comprehended the light was coming from the other side of the rock wall. The size of the orange halo grew in width the more she glanced at it.
Groggily, she stood up on wobbly legs and stepped around the corner to see Gael focusing on an unfrozen ice cube tray, and Fania on a large set of tea light candles. Flames licked from her fingertips as she lit each wick with her bare fingers.
Dai screamed for the second time that day. Gael leaped up, disturbing his tray and sloshing water all over the gray floor.
"Dai! Calm down! It's not what it looks like!"
"Really?" She panted, hand clutched to her chest. Her other hand pointed at Fania. "Because it sure looks like she's lighting candles with her hands! THAT is not natural!"
"Not for the rest of them, but for us, well, it is."
"What do you mean us? Don't tell me I'm freak like you two!"
"Hey! We're not freaks!" Fania yelped indignantly. "And if you really want proof, look at your own hand for crying out loud!"
So Dai did. Blue electricity crackled and flickered between her fingers, running over her palms and constantly moving. "No, no, no, no, no . . . "
Fania glanced at Gael and snickered. "We know for sure you two are related."
Gael shot her a look that simply stated 'shut up,' before turning back to Dai. "Listen, it's a lot to take in, but-"
"No, you're right," she closed her eyes and took a breath to calm her pounding heart. "this is normal. It's like my dad said. In my dream." her cheeks lit up when she realized what she had just said.
Fania rolled her eyes as she lit yet another candle. "Chillax. We all had the dream."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Really?"
"Yes," all the candles were lit by now, and Fania instead focused on transferring the fire from one hand to another. Her hands moved in a circular shape, the intensity of the flame never wavering.
Gael scowled at her success. "Why is it so easy for you? I can't even freeze a measly ice cube!"
Fania shrugged. "I don't know. But it looks like even Dai is beating you, and you had a twenty minute head start." she gestured offhandedly to Dai, whose electricity had disappeared, save for a crackle when she moved her hand to look at it.
"No fair!" Gael exclaimed.
"What's not fair?" Ever appeared at the corner, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"That they're beating me at controlling my bionics!"
Ever was instantly awake, glancing between the three. "Bionics? As in, abilities?"
Dai nodded before quietly speaking. "Like you, when Gael and Fania found you. Only we seem to have different powers."
"Then that means . . . "Ever stepped forward to run, his body blurring as his speed kicked in. A split second later, there was a crash as he slammed into the wall.
"Ow . . ." he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. After the initial shock wore off, he stood up and walked normally back to his siblings. "Heh . . . I'll test out my vision later." he smiled guiltily. "So, I had this dr-"
"Dream that stated that we're lab experiment siblings who have freaky abilities and are meant to save the world, like our parents." Fania finished, bored. "Now, I want to see what else I can do. Who's with me?"
Ever's eyes grew wide before he and the others nodded, sitting down in a circle. Fania blew out the candles and pushed them to the side while Gael pushed his ice cube tray into the center of the group.
"I'm guessing that I can boil this water if I focus," Fania murmured, laying her palm out and focusing. A few seconds happened with no changes. Dai was just beginning to think nothing was going to happen when the water started bubbling and the flimsy plastic tray began to warp and melt.
"Fania!" Gael went to slap her hand away when ice sparked out of his palm, striking the tray and instantly cooling the boiling water.
"Finally!" Gael pumped his arm while Fania rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Good for you." she muttered, poking the melted tray for a moment before deeming it useless. "Well, let's look around this place for more containers or something for us to practice on."
The siblings split up, scouring the laboratory for something of use. Gael discovered a treadmill for Ever in a back room. Dai uncovered an old box of light bulbs that she could use to test her electricity on. Fania and Ever both found a large pantry stocked with bottles of water and various foods. A few parcels were past their expiration date, but there was still a sufficient supply to last them a few days.
Gael couldn't help but wonder how long they really were going to be here.
"What do you want for dinner?" Ever grinned proudly as he showed Gael and Dai their findings.
"Whatever." Dai shrugged, her focus on the glass bulb in her hand. The siblings had wound up sitting on the ground in front of the glowing panels they had first seen. Boxes were strewn across the concrete, contents being dug through.
"Well, if you put it that way . . ." Fania poured water from a bottle into a cup of instant ramen before heating it with her hand. "Sweet! I never knew cooking could be this much fun!"
Dai rubbed her temples. "Because heating up Cup of Noodles is really cooking."
Fania glared at her sister. Watching the exchange, Gael knew in that moment who was going to butt heads the most.
"Alright, well, if you wouldn't mind cooking for the rest of us, Fania." he tossed her another plastic wrapped Styrofoam container and water bottle. "I'll be checking out our, ahem, sleeping arrangements."
She answered by tearing off the plastic.
"Okay then." Gael turned and stepped over and around the boxes and their contents, arriving at the glowing blue capsules.
He didn't really know quite how to describe the structures. The steel tops and bottoms glowed in some places with small red lights. Upon closer inspection of the bottom piece, he was able to make out a small letter. D.
Gael ran his finger over the imprint. It was a reminder that all the family he had left in the world was in the lab. The lab. They were experiments. Accidents. According to what he knew, they even weren't supposed to have been created in the first place.
Their parents were gone, save for Janelle and Sabrina. Life as they knew it was never going to be the same. They were going to have to fight to live and have rights for the rest of their lives. Constantly looking over their shoulder. And they didn't even get a choice.
He couldn't help but ask himself: Is this really what I want? To put my life on the line for the humans, most of whom probably won't ever accept me? Us? Do I really want this, these . . . powers? Are they a curse or a blessing? A beginning or an ending? Do they represent me or my parents?
Gael really didn't know if he wanted this. The bionics were amazing, no doubt. It was just about every child's dream to have abilities. But now, they were quite literally sitting in the palm of his hand, and he didn't know whether to reject the opportunity or embrace it. He didn't want to be a freak. He wanted to have friends without putting them in danger, or even worse, having them rat him out.
He just wanted life to continue as it was, with his new found siblings by his side. Was it really that much to ask? To be a normal teenager, graduate, maybe go to college and get married? Or were they all destined to walk their parent's path, filled with loneliness and secrets?
Fania broke him out of his thoughts, calling for all of them that the 'meal' was ready. And so over the foam cups of ramen, the teens exchanged stories of their parents, laughing as it all made sense to them now.
It was only later that Gael realized they had shared their first meal as a family, sitting cross-legged with cups of ramen on the cement floor of an abandoned laboratory.
And there you have it! I think this has been my favorite chapter to write so far :) Especially Fania. I don't quite know why, though.
So, shout outs! Finally! I'm not rushing :)
Choco56: Thank you! Don't worry; this is really going to drag out XD And to your second comment, sorry but I'm not looking for any OC's. But anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Daphrose: Thanks! And I teared up when I read your comment – you guys are the best! Seriously XD Thank you so much! And no, denial didn't last long XD To reply to your comment before: you are asking all the right questions at all the wrong times! :D I'm not revealing my cheesy ol' tricks just yet ;) But I'm hoping the answer will make you laugh :)
ereader12: Thank you! And yes XD Be prepared for some jokes on that later on down the road :D Hope this provided some answers!
PurpleNicole531: Yep :D Thanks! And I believe this chapter cleared that up XD Thanks for the comment!
And that's everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
So, just to bore you guys even further, I'm busy writing a thank you fic for my one year anniversary. Unfortunately, it won't be done for another few days. I really need to stop procrastinating . . . anyway, just keep your eyes out in case it miraculously gets done within the next day or so :3
See you next update! :)