Saint Joseph School

I glanced around the corner. Arachnos soldiers were looking around nervously, alerted by the presence of the mist I had produced. I knew by now that just because they knew something was wrong didn't mean they'd see me any sooner.

I took a deep breath. I was pretty sure these were the last ones. If not for that, I'd be leaving now, leaving the rest to the police, longbow, or any other heroes who wanted to finish the job.

My head was killing me. It hurt so much I could barely see straight, and it wasn't getting better. It was probably the Fortunata. That's what I kept telling myself.

Looking at the group, I could see the red clothing of another one. I would have to take the psychic out fast.

I looked at my hands. They were shaking, and snowflakes were falling from my fingertips. I really should turn back, I thought. My head throbbed, and I gasped. One of the soldiers stiffened. "Did you hear that?"

I flew straight into them. I pointed both hands forward and black tentacles burst from the ground, wrapping around the legs of the soldiers. I called the thunder and rain, and many of the black-armored Arachnos fell to the ground, dazed. Something metal grazed my shoulder and I stumbled.

As soon as I regained my balance I whirled and fired a blast of negative energy at the soldier who had hit me with his mace. The wind hit one right next to me, right before he fired his gun. He missed, but pain shot through my head from the sound.

The Fortunata's mental assault made me fall to my knees.

My senses suddenly dimmed, and my emotions pushed away the rest of my mind. I couldn't comprehend time or space, and the world seemed nothing more than a blur of colors and power and rage.

A voice cut through the haze of chaos. My Chosen, you cannot let the power run free. It does not know mercy, only destruction. It must be controlled.

Fear flooded through me, drowning out everything else. I desperately tried to bring myself back to reality. Slowly I regained control, and the world came back into focus.

I was panting, exhausted, and gloriously free of the headache. For a moment all I could do was bask in the absence of pain.

Then I looked around. My breath caught in my throat. Arachnos soldiers were strewn across the room. There were many more than I had seen at first. Some must have been hiding where I couldn't see them, before I attacked. None of them were moving. Judging from how quickly I got it back under control, I doubted they were dead, but they wouldn't be waking up for a long while.

"Not again..." I stared around at what I had done, and in fear and confusion I started to cry.

((Note: This is only loosely related to the previous post and takes place a couple weeks afterwords.))


I said goodbye and flew away from the others, trying to focus on holding back my power. I could feel the pressure building in my arm, and my fingers were starting to twitch. The wind was starting to pick up around me as I concentrated more control on the negative energy sparking from my arm.

I left Pocket D through the Talos Island exit, and found myself on a sidewalk just after the Rikti attack. The streets were still largely empty, but people were beginning to show up again. As I lifted off, I heard an odd sound behind me.

Just before the blast hit me, I turned and managed to duck to the side. The energy flew past my right shoulder, and my arm ignited with pain and dark energy. Through the pain and shadow I could see a figure on the roof of an electronics store, about to take another shot. I raised my hand, and before I could even aim, a blast of shadow shot from my hand and slammed into the assailant. It toppled over backwards.

I flew down and landed near the body of the Rikti soldier who had fired at me. My arm was burning with intense, stinging pain. I started rolling up my sleeve, confused and angry. Sometimes the energy built up around the cut and I had to fire off a couple of shots to relieve it, but that kind of power never came out of it.

Looking at my arm, I felt a slight shiver go through me. The black scar that marred it was emanating a dim aura, and a couple sparks of negative energy jumped across it. It still stung horribly, and black snowflakes were falling from my hand.

I stared at the wound, as I had done many times before. And like always, it was extremely frustrating. How did I get this scar, what was it, and why wouldn't it go away? Every time I tried to think about it, I would feel as if the answer was just within my reach, but some part of me refused to look at it. It was as if I had forgotten how to remember.

I knew it was an important part of my powers, something I really needed to know. I could feel that the hole in my memories, of which the cut was a part, would greatly help me discover how to better control my abilities, and maybe make sense of things a little.

My vision went black. Images blasted through my mind. A shape, a shadow, lunging at me, reaching for me. Black walls, covered with the giant red sign from which there was no escape. Mist and snow and blue light, all smothered by the darkness….

As suddenly as it had come it was gone. I was on my knees, panting, grasping the diamond hanging around my neck, gripping it so hard my hand ached. The dark energy that had been swirling around me had scarred the top of the building.

That one hole in my memory, that one short time I didn't remember. Every time I caught a glimpse of it, all I wanted to do was forget. At the same time I knew I needed to remember... So I've been trying, every day. Nothing frightens me as much as those memories, but I'm not complete without them.

I looked again at the rikti soldier. His armor was twisted and blackened by the blast I had fired at him. My negative energy had been steadily growing over the last couple weeks, but this kind of power isn't something I could normally produce.

A voice whispered like wind in my ear. With the memories come shadow, and the shadow calls memories, and with both come pain, and the fury of the storm is yours.

I was finally starting to shake a little less. I ignored the voice of the Sky – it never answered back anyway – and turned on the comm's private channel.

"N-Nova? Where are you?"