Understanding

Once Theo got his new glasses, he brought his belongings to move in with Chase and Hope. However, before he gets too settled, Chase suggests they test his ability. It’s night time, but that helps even more to determine any limitations it may have.

The trio heads to the Frederick G Todd Lookout a few minutes from their home. The water level of the North Saskatchewan River has risen considerably over the years, having stopped inches below the lookout. As a result, it has been deemed a hazard and is closed off from pedestrians.

On the way, Hope notices Chase is more upbeat compared to recent days, walking with some pep in his step.

“You seem happy.” she says.

Chase is surprised she noticed. “This is one of the last days I’ll be able to walk outside after all. I need to enjoy it.”

So that’s why he was gloomy the other day. Now that Hope thinks about it, Kahler never went outside either. She only saw him at school in the one room he created. Despite that, he always greeted everyone with a smile. She never considered even once that he may have felt lonely.

Hope stops and once again tells herself, It doesn’t matter.

At the top, Theo stands at the fence and looks at the surrounding area. Ever since regaining his vision, he started taking a moment to appreciate everything before him. There’s no telling if this ability is temporary and he may lose his sight again.

Theo removes his glasses and uses his hands to form circles around his eyes as if holding binoculars.

“You…probably don’t need to do that.” Chase says, not understanding his silly action.

“What do you mean? This adds to the experience!” Theo says.

Starting from his right, he activates ‘Eagle Eye’ and slowly shifts in the other direction, going over all he can see. Although the one bridge blocks his view, he can still go beyond that to the James McDonald Bridge, describing each passing car; a white SUV, red sports car, black truck.

Continuing to his left, with the obstacle out of his way, he sees people inside the cars, and it’s not limited to the driver either. Then there’s the trees and sidewalk in the park across the river, and even the small waves floating by seem as if they’re right in front of him.

These results make Chase optimistic. This is more of a support ability, and he’s not sure how often they can utilize it, but it reaches roughly 3 miles at the very least.

Hope couldn’t care less. He probably won’t be able to help her in any way. That’s what she believes until she hears what he says next.

Now fully to his left, he stops, almost afraid to ask about what he sees, “Is it normal for people to glow?”

Theo sees two women laughing while chatting under a wooden roof, and they’re surrounded by a pure white aura. This is different from how he could see people as shadows, or even the sword glowing. It’s closer to when his ability was first awakened.

“They must be people who were given part of Michael’s powers.” Chase says, disgruntled.

Michael doesn’t have an aura despite it being his own power. When it’s given to humans, it changes their body, making them easy to see and sense from a distance. Chase didn’t think they would run into anyone so soon, and is more upset at himself for not surveying the area. He could have easily sensed their presence and suggested a different place to test his ability.

Since the two are merely talking, they probably don’t have anything to worry about. Chase then remembers Hope and quickly turns to her. She’s looking in that direction with widened eyes. He can tell she is about to run off and grabs her arm before she gets far. He was pulled a bit due to her superspeed.

“Wait!!” Chase shouts, “You don’t have to do this on your own, let me help you!”

“I thought your abilities were limited?” Jessica says without turning around.

“That’s true–” Chase grunts. He knows it will be near impossible to stop her, but still tries, “I can at least help protect you! Please!”

Despite noticing the desperation in his voice, his pleads land on deaf ears. She says “wait here” and jumps off the lookout.

Hope doesn’t need to ask for their location. In her free time since meeting Theo, she’s been wandering the area to familiarize herself with it for the upcoming confrontations. From his description, they must be in the large gazebo just ahead. Rushing at top speed, she knows she’ll arrive within seconds.

**********************************

At the lookout, Theo could only watch as the event unfolded. He became acquainted with these people a few days ago and hasn’t had one conversation with Hope. He’s reminded that he knows nothing about them.

Chase clenches his fists to the point of causing them to bleed. This brings up something that has always bothered him. Why are we made to be so powerless that we’re forced to rely on humans?

“Go back to our place while I go after Hope.” Chase says to Theo, “We’ll be there within 2 hours.”

Running after her at normal speed, Chase considers if there was anything he could have done to help Hope and prevent her from becoming so closed off.

He was 9 years old when the last ritual occurred. In Kahler’s final moments, his eyes focused solely on Jessica as if to indicate her importance. Chase’s aging slowed down considerably in his 20s, allowing him to keep his youthful appearance.

When he reached the age of 26, he thought about confronting Jessica, but, remembering what happened to Kahler and all of his other ancestors, he began to fear his future and kept to himself. Even now, he has yet to come to terms with it. As such, he left Jessica, or Hope, alone for 90 more years.

“If I met her sooner, would she cooperate more?” Chase wonders as he pants, now convinced it wasn’t such a good idea to wait so long. He can only try to make up for lost time.

**********************************

At the building, Hope interrupts the women’s conversation by running between them, kicking up dirt in the process. She turns to face them. The women look at her and then to each other.

“That speed wasn’t normal, right?”

“Definitely not.”

Observing more closely, Hope can see they’re twins, both with long, blonde hair and green eyes. The singular difference is, the one on her left is wearing a purple dress while the other is in white.

Simultaneously, they smile and turn to their mysterious guest. Hope feels uneasy, but stands her ground. This is what she’s been waiting for. She can’t let something like that affect her now.

“You can go first, Linds. I’ll follow behind.”

“Okay, Kels.”

With one holding up their right hand, and the other their left, a long blade glowing of light yellow suddenly appears. It truly is like a mirrored reflection, almost making Hope question what she’s seeing. She sets that thought aside when the battle commences.

The woman in purple lunges forward as if flying through the air and swings her sword at Hope who successfully parries the attack. As Hope pulls her arms in motion to attack in return, the jolly girl jumps up high, practically doing a backflip. It distracts her for a split second until the other girl comes into view. Caught off guard, Hope is barely able to block and is pushed as a result.

Standing there, looking toward the ground, Hope’s hands tremble. These women are so well coordinated she already finds it difficult to follow their movements. It’s also true that she never fought two people at once. She wouldn’t count the souls from before since they disappeared with one hit. In fact, although she claims to have practiced, she never did so against actual people. The one instance was when she attacked Michael.

Her inexperience shows, but the girls are amazed to meet someone who can hold their own against them. Even if all she did was block.

“Wow~ I didn’t expect this.” Linds says.

“Of course, you thought this made us invincible, though Michael said otherwise.” says the other sister.

“I know, I know. It still comes down to our physical strength. Something we have been blessed with as well.”

The girls switch sides, placing their arms around one another’s shoulder, with their swords on opposite sides.

Hearing the name ‘Michael’ quells Hope’s fear. This is another thing that confirms she’s getting closer.

Regaining some confidence, Hope acts first. She rushes toward the girls with her superspeed, intending to slash between them, but the one in white pushes back with her sword and they separate.

Hope’s eyes continue to follow the girl in purple and she swiftly twirls around before striking, successfully cutting her pinky and ring fingers. The severed pieces fall to the ground.

Hope expects her to cry and shout in pain. Instead, the girl calmly picks up her fingers with the same damaged hand, looking disappointed.

“Ah~ now I have to be sure not to lose these, otherwise they can’t be reattached.”

“To think you’d be the one injured first, Linds. That’s what you get for sounding like a know-it-all earlier.” She says with a hum.

Watching the girl’s blood continue to drip, Hope can’t comprehend her reaction. She turns to her with a grin.

“It’s as you may assume, we don’t feel any pain. That sensation was removed to help us focus.” She then glances at her injury. “Though I could still bleed out.”

The twin in white laughs, “We better finish this quick so we can get Michael to fix it.”

Hope is stunned. She thought she was ready for this battle she’s waited over 100 years for and now that it’s happening, she can tell this won’t be as easy as when she fought Michael. Why did she think it would be easy, anyway? Because she was able to push him that one time? She feels like a fool.

The girl in purple places the fingers in her pocket and rips a piece of her dress to tie around the wound. This doesn’t fully stop the bleeding, but should be enough until they defeat this intruder.

The twins get in position for a pincer maneuver and inch closer, enveloping their enemy step by step. Hope could just as easily run away, but dealing with one surprise after another leaves her immobile. With one girl on each side, they jump and swing their weapons in unison. Hope blocks the injured twin and braces herself, expecting to get hit from behind.

However, Chase appears and blocks with a small shield. It only remains active during that moment as the twin breaks through it. In an instant, he steps aside and takes Hope with him to avoid them both getting hit.

Panting heavily, Chase stands and scowls at the two women with Hope behind him. The girls walk up to each other and whisper before flashing another smile.

“We’ll be going on our way now.”

“It was nice meeting you, Mr Shapeshifter~”

The girls disappear in a flash of light.

Still trying to catch his breath, Chase’s shoulders heave up and down. Hope looks away, having relaxed somewhat now that they’re gone.

Why is he here? Hope admits she would have been in trouble if he didn’t appear, but she doesn’t understand why he risked himself for her. The shield only lasted seconds at best. If he wasn’t able to dodge, he would have been severely injured before their mission really began.

“Why did you do that?” she asks.

Chase’s body twitches and his breathing steadies. He turns around, grabs Hope by the collar and pushes her against the wooden pillar. He then proceeds to let out his frustration.

“I should be asking you that! Why are you so reckless?! I didn’t seek you out to watch you get killed!”

“It was so you could use me, right?”

“That’s how you see this?” Chase asks, astonished, “Then why did you agree to come with me?!”

Hope averts her gaze and says nothing. In a huff, Chase releases her and steps aside.

“Can’t say anything, huh? We’ve been able to locate allies without the sword just fine. I don’t need you for that. Go focus on your revenge or whatever.” He then gives her a sharp glare, “But I refuse to call you by your name. It doesn’t suit you.”

As Chase walks away, he suddenly wobbles and stumbles until he falls flat on his back. Hope moves as if to jump to his aid, but withdraws, holding herself to words.

“Are you alright?”

“I may have overexerted myself.” Chase lets out a deep breath, “Here I was trying to prove I can help and this happens. I’m ridiculously weak.”

Would Kahler have said the same thing? This is yet another thing she didn’t think to inquire about. No one should be able to keep up with Hope’s speed, yet Chase was able to follow her so quickly. That in itself is impressive. Though their current vulnerability is worrisome.

“Shouldn’t we leave right away?”

“Nah, they won’t come back. My life adds a lot of years to the ritual, but it’s too early to act upon it. He’ll want me to stay alive for now. I’m gonna lay here for a bit and then you won’t have to see me ever again.” Chase says, feeling some comfort on the cold ground.

To be left alone, is that what she actually wants? Then, just like he questioned, why did she go with him? Deep down, it wasn’t only for revenge. What she actually wanted—

Hope walks over and sits beside him.

“I’ll wait too.”

Chase glances at her usual, emotionless face and places his right arm over his eyes to rest.

**********************************

The twins have since returned to Michael’s residence and he healed the injured fingers. Filled with joy, the girls proceeded to jump up and down to cheer. Michael can’t help sighing at their limitless energy.

“Stay still and close your eyes. Please.” he tries to ask politely.

“Yessir.” they say simultaneously and stand up straight.

Michael places one hand on their foreheads to gain access to their memories. A report is one thing, but he wants to see what happened himself. Once the process is complete, he tells them to relax.

“You did well tonight.”

Being praised by Michael raises their excitement level even more and they turn to one another,

“Did you hear that, Kels?”

“We are the best, Linds!”

Holding each other’s hand, the girls teleport home for the night with their grand smiles. Despite their child-like behavior, both women, Lindsay and Kelsay Blackshire, are 25 years old. They come from a well to do family, never having to work a day in their life. Grateful for all they continued to receive, the girls pray each night, which is what drew Michael to them. Their devotion made them deserving of his power.

Though he preferred if they were less noisy. Just being in their presence is exhausting and he sighs once more.

A man with short brown hair then enters the room, “Is something wrong?” he asks.

“Your tranquility helps me keep my sanity, Jacob.”

“If they bother you so much, why did you pick them?”

“I don’t get to choose my followers.”

Jacob is confused by his answer, but doesn’t seek clarification.

Michael proceeds to view the twin’s memories. He sees a woman with a sword run past them, recognizing her as the survivor from the last ritual, though her name escapes him.

He isn’t surprised nor upset to see she still has the sword. Michael admits it was lazy to assume she got rid of it instead of checking the room, but at the time, he was tired. He more so prefers cycles where he has his own followers and can delegate the work accordingly. Last time, he did everything himself and found it incredibly difficult to locate the opposing force. Mostly due to the teleportation ability.