Lana will like this chapter, she's been waiting for it for a while (and she was the inspiration as well).

Frost

Kai

The week we were required to fly the shipment out to Gale was absolutely… strange… After I regained feeling in my feet, Aerrow seemed to disappear. However, Finn… Finn had more interest in me than ever. I wasn't sure which I appreciated more, that Aerrow was worried about screwing up and getting me hurt, or that Finn was so interested in keeping me entertained.

In fact, he was so interested in my boredom, he didn't stop to think about the possible consequences.

"Listen, if we sneak in while she's eating lunch, she will never know we were in there!"

"I don't know about this, Finn…," I sighed. "It seems dangerous. Like… legitimately dangerous."

"What? Come on… Look, it'll be fun, I've done this a million times."

"This? Or other pranks?"

Stuttering, Finn looked away, "Ah… uh… No. No…? Kai, can we just try this? I promise you won't be bored after this is done."

Honestly, as scared as I was, I didn't want to just throw the idea out of the window. I was bored, I hadn't yet figured out what there was to do on the ship and I was willing to do just about anything to keep busy. Finn seemed to know the ropes, so I stuck with him. Not that I had much of a choice…

I knew rejecting his invitation would screw me out of a good time, but accepting it would get me in trouble.

I sighed and continued onward, listening to his instructions. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Well, I managed to swipe the Frost crystal directly after Piper was done doing tests on you, but the other she has locked away. You watched her put it away, maybe you know where she kept it."

"What crystal is it?"

"The unstable chroma crystal."

That's when all hopes for stopping boredom fled my mind. I knew I had to get out of this—whatever Finn had in mind was going to be dangerous. "I want out. I'm not going to have any part of this."

Finn turned around, gripped my arm, and looked me dead in the eye. "Oh, yes you are. You're helping me with this."

I managed to free myself, spinning around. With Finn caught off-guard, I smacked him. "Don't you ever hurt me like that." I rubbed my arm, beginning to walk away.

For a moment he was silent, but then he spoke the exact words that would pull be back into the hell I'd escaped from, "Aren't you curious? Did you ever wonder why we told you to put the crystal down?"

I turned back around and charged toward the boy, facing him directly. "If I get hurt, if there's even a scratch on me when this is all said and done… I won't hesitate to say whatever I have to just to get Aerrow to kill you."

He scoffed, "So he's, like, what, your boyfriend now? Do you run to him every time something goes wrong?"

"Think of it this way. Aerrow is probably the most rational person on the ship. If I can convince him to kill you, there must've been a good reason behind it."

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly Aerrow's favorite person right now. I'm sure if you told him I ate his lunch he would throw me off the ship while we're still flying…" Finn shoved the frost crystal my way. "Hold this, I'll go get the damn Chroma crystal."

I held the frost crystal close, feeling the heat gradually sucked from my veins. This crystal had a mind of its own, and with one wrong intention, I could be dying of hypothermia before anyone could blink. With a pure heart, Elle never had to worry about that. Though she was born of Cyclonian blood, she never wished for any of it.

I could feel her spirit run through the crystal, wishing she hadn't met such a gruesome fate. However, it really was the coup de grâce… They won that battle and we fled with our tails between our legs, even if we had taken out an entire underground Talon hideout.

Finn backed out of the crystal lab, his eyes wide with victory. "Here… She didn't do much to hide it…" As he began to hand it to me, I stepped back. "Finn, I'm not touching that thing so long as I'm holding the frost crystal."

He rolled his eyes. "That's half of the fun! Come on, we'll go to my room."

Hidden behind four walls and a locked door, somehow Finn thought that made this okay. He was determined to perform his own little experiment on me and I was none-too happy. I was honestly afraid of the end result. What if I was safe the first time around? Sure it left no effects behind, but what if something went wrong? What if Finn, being Finn, changed up the variables and I ended up dead?

I wanted no part in this… but afraid or not… I was still curious.

Finn thought he was so smart—he thought he would actually get away with this… And by the time he'd begun planning it out, I was in too deep to pull myself out of it and leave.

"I have my own stash of crystals," he laughed, pulling out an old, flimsy cardboard box. He took a look inside, "Okay, sure they're mostly cooking crystals, but I'm sure there's something useful in here." Eager hands filed through the crystals, reaching the bottom in a fruitless search, until he grabbed a rather odd crystal. "I remember this one…"

I set the frost crystal down, next to the Chroma crystal. "What is it?"

"It's an old Leecher we found in some old ship wreckage. Leech crystals should be extremely dangerous… I don't think this one works anymore, seeing as the other crystals are still fine…" He set down the Leech crystal, searching through the box again.

"Ha ha, Paralyzers!" he smiled, digging out three small blue crystals.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Something interesting, I guess. Ah ha! Dude, look at this!"

I leaned forward, glancing into the box.

"These are so cool! They're especially awesome to use on-stage and freak everyone out during a concert…" He covered up the Rainbow Smoke Crystal in search for any other interesting ones, giving up when the searched proved to be yet again fruitless.

"What are you trying to gain from this?"

"Well, you looked pretty cool holding that Frost crystal and that Chroma crystal, I don't think we should leave those questions unanswered."

I was afraid of the Chroma crystal before I knew it could do any damage. I was still afraid of it…

Finn shoved the Chroma crystal in my hand and asked me 'nicely' to pick up the frost crystal with my other. It took some trying but I finally got my body to respond. Upon grasping the cold crystal, my hands began to burn, a sharp pain running through my veins. This was new, this was something I'd never expected.

"Kai, trust me when I tell you not to look at your hands, okay?" he smiled, a bit afraid, himself. "Just… just look at me, or… or close your eyes." I could hear it in his voice—he wanted desperately to tell me to put the crystal down. He was afraid, but like me, he was also curious.

"Um… H-hold onto this, if you can…"

Having closed my eyes, I had no idea what he was trying to get me to hold. And how could I? My hands were full…

I clenched the hand holding the Chroma crystal, my fear growing when I found that hand to be empty. To my knowledge, Finn hadn't taken the crystal from me, and I hadn't dropped it. He dropped another crystal into my hand, and I took in a sharp breath, my eyes shooting open. I gripped onto Finn's shirt and begged for him to make it stop.

The next thing I remember was opening my eyes slowly, my vision blurry. Mixed chatter flowed around me.

"No one touch her, do you understand me?" I couldn't even distinguish voices…

"Did you say Leech? Where the hell did you get one of those?"

"I might have an idea…"

I groaned, rolling over.

"I'm sorry, if you fall off, I can't catch you…"

"Shut up, Finn!"

What was I lying on? Fall off? "What's going on?" I mumbled, trying my hardest to form intelligent words.

"You're lucky she didn't lose her speech!" Voices were becoming clearer, rationality was still hard to question.

"Aerrow? Aerrow!" I called out, trying to find the redhead.

Someone rushed in front of me. "I'm right here. Kai—Kai… Don't... Don't touch me"

Even his words meant nothing. He was there—he couldn't stop me from doing what I wanted. I touched his face, running my fingers over his eyes, his lips… With my vision still highly impaired, I had to know it was him.

"It's me…," he spoke quietly, smiling. He rested his hand against my own.

"W-what's going on?"

"Aerrow, don't—" That was Piper's voice. The usual protocol-following manner she held was quickly pushed away. With no visible harm being done, Piper kept her words to herself.

Aerrow's smile disappeared, but quickly returned, his lips curling into a smile beneath my hands. "I can't explain what happened… We know Finn messed with some crystals but he says he has absolutely no idea what exactly went wrong. Piper's trying to work it out, but we're definitely going to need your side of the story."

"Can I ask you something?" I whispered to him.

"Sure," he whispered back.

I looked down, though that was a useless action. "Why am I so unlucky?"

He laughed. "You're a Storm Hawk now… These things aren't uncommon when in proximity to Finn."

"Hey! I wasn't trying to get her hurt!"

His brow tugged together.

"Aerrow…," I called, worried. "I… I can't see anything clearly…"

"Piper said you shouldn't be able to. Listen, it won't last long and it will leave suddenly, okay? So try not to worry about it."

"Am I going to be okay?"

The skin around his eyes tugged in the direction he looked—downward. I knew that answer. "I'm… I'm not sure, Kai…"

I removed my hands from his face and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder. I didn't want to cry, but knowing I was safe in his arms, that he was here, I couldn't help but let the tears fall.

Whatever had happened to me, it was bad enough to scare everyone away from me. Piper was making sure no one touched me, for whatever reason. I had a feeling that she knew more than what she was telling everyone… The question was, was she hiding it from me, or hiding it from the others?

When Piper began to shoo everyone from the room, I demanded that Aerrow stay with me. Begrudgingly, she allowed it. She ordered Junko to keep an eye on the prisoner—Finn.

Aerrow pulled himself up, sitting beside me on Piper's lab desk.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"You tell me," she said smugly.

I sighed, growing annoyed with my lack of vision. "Finn conned me into helping him out with an experiment. I tried to leave and he wouldn't let me… Like, physically wouldn't let me." Aerrow grew tense with every passing word. "He locked us up in his room and dug through this… this crystal stash he's got."

Piper muttered something to herself.

Remembering I threatened Finn earlier if I'd gotten hurt, I knew what I said would determine his punishment. So I was careful what I said—I would make sure he got the worst of it. But somehow… I couldn't bring myself to exaggerate the situation. As mad as I was at the boy, I couldn't lie. "I helped him. I didn't want to, but I helped him. I held the Chroma and Frost crystals in my hands and he made me promise not to look at my hands. I remember the Chroma crystal was in my hand and then it was gone. It's like it just… disappeared into thin air."

"Not exactly," she corrected me. "Your body absorbed the crystal. Unlike a stable Chroma crystal that would've turned to dust after you used it at the Academy… This one was highly unstable. The extra power in the crystal allowed it to stay together. It had one last use in it. Combining that crystal with the Frost crystal screwed with the integrity entirely. Chroma crystals are grown with the intent to bond with your genetic make-up—that crystal went overboard and entered your system entirely. You are basically a walking crystal-powered human being at the moment.

"However, when Finn introduced the Leech crystal, no matter how drained he thought it was, it got sucked into your system as well. Knowing Leech crystals, they're grown to drain or suck out the power from other crystals. However, it had something of an odd effect. With the instability of the Chroma crystal combined with its powers, everything you touch has the potential to be absorbed into your body."

Suddenly, my vision returned. A visible effect must've worn off as well, seeing Piper was startled. "Contrary to what Finn has told you, you can look at your hands. You can look at your arms. Kai, you're not going to like what you see."

I knew better than to look when I wasn't prepared for the result.

Seeing the hesitation, she continued. "You trust me, right?" When I agreed, she stood up in search of something. "Listen, I know what I'm doing, and unlike Finn I know this won't hurt you. Do you still trust me?"

"I don't think anything worse could happen."

"Aerrow, you trust me, right?"

He nodded.

"Hold onto this." She handed me a familiar crystal, something Finn called a 'Paralyzer.'

I reached out for the crystal, seeing foreign color on my skin. I decided not to question it (to save myself the extra stress) and gripped onto the crystal.

"Huh… Okay… Try to make the crystal disappear."

I laughed, "Piper—"

"Don't laugh, just do it. I'm being serious."

I looked at the crystal, trying my hardest. Still, nothing happened. "What are you trying to—"

"I'm trying to get you to absorb the crystal."

"I'm sick of all these tests!" I growled, gripping onto the crystal tighter. "I'm sick of all this bull shit. None of this was ever supposed to happen to me! My hand is still in stitches from smashing a mirror. I'm still emotionally disturbed from the Academy. I'm afraid. I just—"

"Kai… Kai!" Piper called, trying to grasp my attention. "The crystal's gone…"

"Anger," Aerrow stated.

Piper was quick to agree. "That's Leech related… Aerrow, look at her eyes… All of this is connected to the Leech crystal. Her eyes, her skin, her hands… That glowing effect? When a Leech crystal threatens to explode, it glows white… Kai's rage triggered the absorption of the Paralyzer crystal. I'll have to monitor this to find out the connection between the two…"

"I'm right here…," I reminded her.

Piper looked up. "Kai, somehow… somehow you have the ability to absorb crystals into your skin. Do you still trust me?" she asked, looking at Aerrow.

He nodded.

"Kai… try to transfer that crystal to Aerrow."

"But—"

"Don't question it! Just do it."

I whined, reaching for Aerrow's hand. Intertwining our fingers, he gripped tightly onto my hand, concerned. I closed my eyes and sighed, awaiting a result.

Aerrow's hand grew limp, and Piper cheered.

"This is incredible!"

"What just happened?" I pushed myself off of the desk, frantically searching for an answer. Aerrow was currently immobile, and it seemed to be my doing. I grabbed his hand and lifted it up—no resistance was found. I'd somehow paralyzed Aerrow.

"Try to take it back." Piper was now entirely ecstatic.

Desperately, I wished for nothing more than to have Aerrow back. He was so lifeless—I felt so guilty.

Suddenly, the boy moved, wrapping his arms around me. "It's okay, I'm fine."

Piper laughed triumphantly. "This… this is absolutely incredible…"

Freeing myself from Aerrow, I turned around and charged toward Piper, pinning her against the wall by her neck. "You better tell me what the hell is going on…" I looked deep into her tawny eyes for an answer. Suddenly, the odd black markings on my hand and forearm began to glow, and Piper began to plea, begging for me to let go.

Aerrow shot up from the desk. He began to pry me away from Piper, but the instant his hand touched my skin, he backed off, in pain.

Markings identical to the ones on my hand gradually began to appear on Piper's skin, crawling up from the sides of her neck, up toward her face. She scratched at my hand around her neck, begging for me to stop. The grip I had around her neck wasn't enough to stop her breathing, but whatever was causing the markings to glow was no doubt causing her pain.

Realizing just exactly what I was doing, I let go of Piper. She quickly slid to the floor, limp and unresponsive. I looked at my hands, examining the markings. The glow quickly faded, returning the markings to a tattoo-black. I looked at Aerrow, backing up. "What the hell is going on…?"

"Kai, listen to me… you have to calm down, okay?"

"I… I can't…" I continued to back out of the room away from Aerrow. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I didn't want to be like this… I just wanted to be home where I was safe… I ran away as fast as I could, climbing onto the nearest Skimmer. I left.

I didn't want to be there.