A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and the follows! I hope you guys are liking the story. Next chapter is going to be a ton of Paily, have no fear ;) I'm writing this late, so if there are errors, I apologize! Again, I don't own anything from the Pretty Little Liars! But if I did I'd know who A was! Please let me know what you guys think and if you have any suggestions!
Chapter 3-
The girls had decided to head to Emily's house, since her mom was at work. Paige sat down on Emily's window seat and felt the group stare at her expectantly.
"Before I say anything, there are some things I need to figure out about you guys. Information for Information, deal?" The girls looked at each other, agreeing silently.
"So, Aria can read minds, and it appears Hanna have what is called matter manipulation."
"What does that even mean." the blonde girl looked at her quizzically, Paige simply smiled and walked over to Emily's desk. She picked up the thick Webster dictionary and handed it to Hanna.
"Try to bend this, but instead of using your physical strength, think really hard about bending it." Hanna looked completely confused. She glanced down at the dictionary.
"Is this like the Jedi force Lucas was trying to explain to me?" Paige laughed.
"Not quite. Just focus." The girls all stared at Hanna intently. She focused as hard as she could and slowly the cover began to warp. She squealed with excitement as the cover and it's pages looked as if they were turning into gel.
"Okay, don't want to create a mess." Paige took the now warped book out of Hanna's hand.
"Okay, you asked and we answered. It's your turn now." Spencer leaned on Emily's bed frame staring at Paige. The redhead pulled out Emily's desk chair and sat down, casually moving the hair out of her face.
"What do you want to know specifically?"
"What is happening to Aria and Hanna, this isn't a normal illness?" Paige smiled.
"It's not just Aria and Hanna. It's everyone who drank the liquid." The girls looked at each other in disbelief. They had no idea what Paige was talking about.
"What liquid? We don't remember anything after getting to the locker room." Emily searched Paige's eyes for answers, but she couldn't read the other woman.
"You don't remember Alison showing up?" The girls froze at the mention of her name. They all tried to search their memories for the event Paige was talking about. "I'll take those looks to mean no. It will come back to you eventually. Spencer, come here." Spencer looked at Paige, confused. "It's okay, I don't bite." The brunette stood up and crossed the room, meeting Paige in the middle. "Give me your hand." Spencer nervously presented Paige her hand. The other woman placed hers ceremoniously over the top of it.
"What are you doing?"
"Hold still, just testing."
"How is it that you just know what's happening?" Paige looked at Spencer, never letting go of her palm.
"I'll explain later. Aren't you curious what you can do?" Spencer nodded shyly and waiting. Paige removed her hand. "Do you feel anything?" Spencer looked around the room and shook her head. Paige circled her, as if inspecting a scientific specimen. "Jump up and touch the ceiling."
"I can't, it's like five feet taller than me."
"Just try please, and when you jump really imagine that you can touch it." Spencer jumped but came nowhere near reaching the ceiling. Paige motioned for her to try again and still nothing happened.
"Humm…" Paige paused examining her again. "Oh… right." She looked over at Emily making eye contact with her, almost as if apologizing for doing something. Before Emily could interpret the glance Paige had turned away and was walking towards Spencer. "Don't think too much of this, okay…" Spencer didn't even have time to respond before Paige's lips were on her own. The minute their lips made contact, Paige crippled over in pain. Spencer immediately pushed her away, confused as to what was going on. Emily leaped from the bed and ran to Paige's side.
"What was that for? I thought you hated gay people." Paige looked up at Emily with those apologetic eyes again. Aria piped up before anyone else could speak.
"Don't worry Paige, she forgives you." Emily shot Aria an angry glare. "What, you weren't going to say it." Paige shifted on the floor and looked back at Spencer.
"Jump now." Spencer looked around the room and sighed. She jumped, however this time her hand ran straight into the ceiling.
"What the FUCK is going on!" Spencer looked down and could see her feet dangling in midair.
"I can fly?!" Paige laughed.
"Not quite…"
"Get me down Paige or I swear…."
"Just think about being on the ground." Hanna was couldn't hold it in any longer. Helpless Spencer was just too entertaining. She burst into laughter.
"It's not funny Hanna!" In her rage Spencer managed to propel herself at the blonde sitting on the bed. She slammed into the girl with so much force, Hanna flew off the bed and into the dresser. A normal person would've broken something hitting a solid object with so much speed, but Hanna's panicked reaction to a flying Spencer had basically turned the dresser into a foam cushion. The girls ran over to see if Hanna was okay, and when the blonde started laughing they realized she was fine.
"At least that put you back on two feet." Hanna let out another giggle and removed herself from the dresser, leaving a Hanna shaped imprint in the drawers.
"So I can fly."
"No. I can. You have what's called Power mimicry. Normally you could mimic people's powers after touching them, but for some reason you have to kiss them." Spencer's jaw dropped slightly.
"Wait what? You're saying that I can take other people's powers if I kiss them! That's ridiculous."
"Face it Spence, this whole thing is pretty ridiculous, but you can't deny what you can see with your own eyes. That's science or something." Hanna sat back down on the bed.
"What about me… What can I do?" Paige turned towards Emily and smiled at her. 'Steal my heart'. Aria let out a gasp. 'Oops. Didn't mean for you to hear that.' Aria's eyes met Paige's. 'Don't tell. Not yet.' Aria nodded and the other women looked confused.
"Talking in your minds isn't fair to the rest of us." Spencer folded her arms looking sternly at both women.
"Sorry. Let's see." Paige offered Emily to pull the other woman to her feet. Emily placed her hand in Paige's and when Paige slightly tugged her up she was amazed at how strong the other girl felt. It was as if she had practically lifted her off the ground with one finger.
"You'll like this one." Paige winked at Emily, and the brunette felt her cheeks grow red. "We need more space to test it out. Let's head into your backyard."
"Wait, couldn't people see us?"
"They won't see Emily, don't worry."
"Aww She can be invisible! That's not fair." Hanna pouted as the girls walked down the stairs and out Emily's backdoor.
"Not quite." Paige stood to face Emily. "Alright, if you can beat me in a race to that tree," She pointed to a large Oak across the yard. "Then I will fill you guys in on what happened that night."
"I think I know what my power is then…" She flashed a beautiful smile at Paige and turned to look at the tree.
"Ready. Set. Go." They began to sprint towards the tree. Emily had figured out that maybe speed was her power, but she had no idea that she'd move so fast she'd practically teleport. It was almost as if she blinked once and was touching the tree. She didn't even have to catch her breath.
"Holy Shit." She looked at Paige as the girl walked up beside her.
"Quite the rush isn't it?" Paige smiled at Emily, both girls quickly looking away as the blush rose up on their cheeks.
"Yeah, guess we won't have to fight over anchor anymore…" They laughed as Hanna ran up to them.
"That was incredible Em! I didn't even see you run!" Spencer and Aria came up behind them, Spencer less excited about their new found powers than the others.
"So what's the catch? Anything this good has to have a catch." Paige leaned casually against the tree. "More importantly, how do you know everything?" Spencer was getting angered. Paige sighed and pushed off from the tree. "Stay right here, I'll be back in five minutes."
"Wait where are you…" Before Spencer could finish her sentence Paige had lifted herself high into the air and flown out of sight.
"Wow…" 'She's amazing…' Emily couldn't help but watch as Paige magically disappeared. All of this was happening so fast, but she felt comforted know that at least someone had answers for them.
"She is quite amazing, Em." Emily gave Aria an angry stare.
"Sorry… I haven't quite gotten the hang of this yet." Aria shrugged.
"I hope she comes back, I have so many questions." Hanna looked like a kid at candy store wit the widest smile on her face. "When do you not have questions Spencer?"
"Guys, we thought the A thing was crazy… this takes the cake." They made their way over to a patio set in Emily's yard.
"Do you think what she said about Ali being back is true? And that we saw her last night?"
"It may explain the weird dreams about her we all had. At this point, I'm willing to believe anything." They heard a noise in the yard and turned to see Paige landing gracefully on her feet. She had changed clothes as well, out of her casual athletic attire into a pair of grey skinny jeans, tall laced up boots, and a white t-shirt and vest on the top. She had her long hair pulled back but a few stands fell out, framing her face. 'How did I not notice her before, she's… wow.' Emily's eyes were completely fixed on Paige as she made her way over the girls carrying what looked like a prop book from a movie. Aria nudged Emily out of her daydream, having heard it all in her head.
"What's that?" Spencer stood up questioning the swimmer. Paige placed the heavy tome on the table with ease.
"This is how I know what I know." She looked around at the group. "It was delivered to my doorstep weeks ago…. with a small bottle that read drink me. Straight out of Wonderland. I read the entire tome before I decided to drink the bottle. What did I have to lose?" She looked at Emily when she said those last words, a small bit of hurt in her eyes. "This book explains most of what is happening. There are pages torn out, so not everything is known. " Spencer immediately grabbed the book and opened its cover.
The pages were filled with script that looked thousands of years old, but that was impossible. It was in English.
"What's it say?" Hanna peered over Spencer's shoulder.
"Herein lies the tale shrouded in secrecy, filled with woe. A story of two young women and heirs to a kingdom…" Spencer looked up at Paige. "This is just a fairytale. How is this going to tell us anything?" Paige smiled slyly at Spencer.
"You of all people should know that most stories, even fairytales, sometimes are derived from true events. The authors just tend to embellish a bit." Spencer shook her head.
"I still don't get what this has to do with us."
"If you're so impatient, flip to page 134." Spencer looked back at the tome and began flipping it's old pages. If this was a prop it was a fantastic one. She began to read out loud again.
"He created the nine Sleeping Souls, each possessing their own unique powers. The Mindful one hears all, yet never speaks. The Unmovable stands strong against all odds. The Seer knows its path before it treads. The charger lights up all it touches. The Wise one needs only its knowledge for company. The seductress uses its touch to shift the tides. The bender manipulates to suit its needs. The changeling adapts to its surrounding. And last is the Fleeting one continually running towards and away from its paths. The prophecy demanded that these souls be scattered upon the wind, lest they stir the chaos within. The King being wise and fearing turmoil banished the souls to forever wander, never knowing their true origin…." Spencer looked up at Paige who was smiling. She glanced back the book then up at the girls surrounding her.
"You think we're part of this Nine Sleeping Souls group?" Paige sat in one of the empty chairs.
"Well Ms. Hastings, do you have a better explanation to everything that is happening?"
"Wait so that would make me the… the what… bender I guess?" Hanna smiled, slightly amused at possibly being a character in one of those stories Lucas was always going on about. She picked up the potted plant that sat on the table and began to cause the ceramic to melt.
"Hanna, stop destroying everything at my house." Emily took the now deformed pot away from the blonde and set it on the deck.
"This is a huge book, what does the rest say?" Aria piped in.
"Yeah could you give us a summary?" Hanna leaning on the table, ready for story time. Paige shifted in her seat.
"Would you believe me if I just told you?" She already knew Spencer's answer.
"So how did you learn to do all this? Is it in here?" Aria slid the tome over to her and flipped to a random section.
"Yes. This book was given to me about a month ago. I don't understand it all yet, but I'm starting to." Emily looked at Paige, still in awe that she was comprehending anything about what was happening.
"So what now?" Emily said with a soft voice.
"Now you practice like I did. I assume you'll want to keep the book, Spencer?" She nodded intently and stole the tome back from Aria.
"I know you guys haven't always liked me and I completely understand why." She looked at Emily and gave her a small reassuring smile. "But this is something I can help you with, if you'll let me. I'll be at my house all night if anyone wants to meet up with me. I should probably go and let you all talk. It's a lot of information to take in." Paige stood up and the girls watched her turn to leave.
"Paige. Thanks…. For the help." She never expected Spencer Hastings to thank her, but she was happy about it.
"No problem, we're sort of all in this together. Emily has my number." She bent down slightly and pushed off from the ground. She was gone before the girls could even blink.
"It'd be really helpful if your dirty thoughts weren't so loud Emily." Aria smiled at the brunette. Em threw a pillow from her chair at the other girl.
"I'll go make coffee, I think we'll be here a while." The girls nodded and Emily disappeared into her house. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was glad Paige was there to help them through it.