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"The Legendaries: Part Six"
The secluded twilight-lit beach was just as the three young Legendaries had expected. It was December, two days before Christmas, no one in their right mind would really want to be in the chilly waters, and the rush of the holidays had been keeping everyone busy. So, it ended up being just the three of them and the angry Leviathan, plus a few water sprites, to keep them company. They had finally gotten the water demon out from the sea, though he was appearing to be just as dangerous on land. Having the extra water sprites as back up didn't help the situation.
Zane managed to summon an ice storm, effectively freezing a sprite into solid ice, before shattering it into a million pieces. A rippling jet of water caught the Windsweeper in the chest, knocking him several feet backwards. He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the daze as he saw another sprite advancing on him. He swiftly checked the surrounding area for his friends, though they were not as focused on the battle as he was.
"Tori. Heart. You have to be kidding me right now."
"Coop, we've just never really had time... I mean, we obviously celebrate and everything."
"It's hardly celebrating if you haven't decorated yet!!" The other two Legendaries were bickering back and forth on either side of the giant water serpent. They tried to establish a plan of action, when it would turn to one of them, the other would try and attack it. For a water demon, though, this dragon was very well armored. The Leviathan turned towards Coop while Tori's eyes flashed black when she attacked the demon, earning her a pained screech. Through all the commotion, they somehow managed to maintain their conversation.
"I really don't think it's that big of a deal, Coop!" This statement earned a horrendously dramatic gasp from Coop.
"TORI HEART! Decorating for Christmas is one of the best parts!" He started before blasting a jet of water into steam. "You get good bonding time with your family and you get to listen to Christmas music and eat cookies and drink eggnog and laugh when someone messes up the lights and-"
"Coop, dammit, shut up and help me!" Zane shouted as two of the sprites wrapped him in a whirlpool of dark water. The younger teen was lifted twenty feet in the air by what looked miniature tornado on the beach as the two water demons made gargling sounds that Coop knew was laughter.
"Tajeto's Fury!"
The temperature of the immediate vicinity rose exponentially as a blast of pure heat vaporized the remaining sprites and temporarily blinded the Leviathan. Zane began falling from the air, but Coop managed to catch him telekinetically.
"You okay?" He asked Zane. Zane grimaced at him.
"Just finish this up, would you? We have places to be, remember?"
"Ah, right... Okay, yeah, let's do this!"
"Aww, don't you look adorable!"
"Mom, I'm seventeen. I don't look adorable."
"Fine, handsome." Melissa Storm rolled her eyes as her handsomely dressed son stepped down the stairs from his room on the second floor. He wore a very nice pair of jeans with a snug-fitting, deep red sweater that showed from under his navy pea coat.
"Yes, handsome is better." Coop muttered, feeling slightly uneasy as his mother fawned over him.
"Coop, you said we were gonna go ice skating! Does this mean I can come?" His ten-year-old brother rang.
"Evan, this is a date. I can't bring my little brother along."
"But Coop!! You sai-"
"I said we would go, brat. That doesn't mean you can come this time."
"Mooooomm!"
"Alright boys," their mother intervened, "Coop, you do need to take your brother since you promised him." Coop looked incredulous. "Another night." She finished. Coop sighed a breath of relief as he knelt down to look a deflated Evan in the eyes.
"We'll go tomorrow night, alright, bud?" Evan smiled a little and hugged his older brother.
"Promise?"
"Yeah, I promise, squirt."
"Shit, shit, shit. You're sure this looks alright?" Zane asked spinning around. Tori rolled her eyes at her brother. ( "Yes, I promise. You look fine."
"Fine as in alright, or fine as in sexy?" Zane smirked, quickly running his hands through his stylish brown hair. Again, she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not answering that." Although, she had to admit, he did look pretty good, with his Docker khakis and argyle sweater.
"Whatever..."
"So, he'll have you back by ten?" Another voice came, spooking the two teenagers in the room. Charles Heart stood at the door, his eyebrow raised in question.
"Ten? Really, Charles?" Zane whined.
"I'm just kidding! Ten thirty." He chuckled, leaving the room.
"He is kidding, right?" Zane questioned as Tori got up to leave. She just shrugged.
"Never know with him. Listen, I'm going to meditate for a while. Have fun, don't give it up on the first date, it's tacky." Zane snorted. "And I expect details when you get back."
"You look spectacular." Coop noted, getting into his Jeep after opening the door for Nik. The younger teen blushed. When Coop had knocked on the Davenports' door, Nik greeted him in a nicely put together outfit and a toboggan with adorable flaps on the side.
"Thanks. You do too."
"So, ice-skating still sound good?" Coop asked as he raced onto the highway.
"I think what you're asking is, `Does falling on your ass a few time still sound good?'"
"Hey, I won't let you fall on your ass. I'll have you every step of the way.... Besides, your ass is too adorable to let get hurt." Nik was not the only one to blush at this comment. "I'm sorry, that was a little out of line."
"Uhh, it was fine. I mean, yeah, but, no... uhh it was alright?" Nik stammered out.
`Too cute.' Coop thought.
They arrived at the fairly empty skating rink and Coop paid for the pair. Coop watched the brown-haired boy finish strapping his skates first to go and look at the ice tentatively.
"Ready?" Coop asked sliding onto the ice and holding his hand for Nik. Nik took a deep breath and stepped onto the ice. Perhaps his first mistake. Immediately he was gathered into a full body embrace from Coop as he slipped, his feet almost disappearing from under him. He looked into Coop's eyes and smiled.
"See, I told you I would have you." Coop whispered as he held Nik's waist.
"I trust you."
Slowly, the pair began to develop a rhythm as their legs carried them in a circle around the rink. Nik really seemed to have it down even though he wouldn't let go of Coop's hand. Their conversations seemed to go on for hours, though they had skated for about two at this point.
"So, let me get this right. Your favorite subject is art. Your favorite real subject is Spanish. You don't like peanut butter, you despise beets, and your favorite candy is thin mints?" Coop asked, recounting their conversation.
"And I have a thing for taller blond guys." Nik added before blushing again. He wasn't usually that forward.
"Right, how could I forget?" Coop joked, winking.
"What about you? Let's see, you like to run, you don't have a favorite subject because "school is dumb," you don't like relish on your hot dogs, you detest Chinese food, which is going to cost you, and you like mythology."
"And I have a thing for adorable, silver-eyed guys." Coop teased. Again, Nik blushed.
"Right, how could I forget?" Nik mocked as he dropped his voice to match Coop's. They left the rink and waddled over to their real shoes while laughing.
"Well, how does going to get some Moose Tracks ice cream sound?" Coop asked, recalling Nik's favorite flavor.
"I don't know, it's pretty cold out."
"I'll keep you warm." Coop winked.
"Only if you promise."
Zane grumbled as Ethan closed the Dodge Charger door behind him. He'd slipped on the estate's front staircase and had to be caught by Ethan. Not that he wasn't charming, but, really, could he be any lamer? Ethan got into the driver's sear and smiled over to him.
"So, you've never been to the aquarium?" He asked as the engine roared to life.
"I know, you'd think I would have as animal crazy as I am. But, there wasn't one in the podunk little town I used to live in. And my family never travelled much."
"Well, I'm honored to be your first time." Zane may have imagined the innuendo, and Ethan blushing, but ignored it.
The truth was, this was Zane's first... anything. He'd never dated a boy, never kissed a boy, never really talked to another boy that he liked. He was almost seventeen and had never kissed someone.
Yeah,' Zane thought, just got lamer.'
Despite Zane's reservations about.... well, everything, this had actually gone rather smoothly. Ethan was the perfect gentleman and smiled at the right times and laughed at Zane's awful jokes and put up with Zane's mostly initial, but somewhat lasting, awkwardness.
"Oh, hey, here are the penguins." Zane heard before Ethan grabbed his hand and dragged him over to see the birds.
"I love penguins. Did you know that when nesting, penguins make their nests out of stone and will fight each other for the best rocks?"
"Where'd you read that?" Ethan asked, looking around the exhibit.
"A library book when I was five." Zane answered as he looked back at the flightless birds.
"You're joking. I know you're smart, but, really?"
"Hey, you don't know how smart, mister."( "Really?" Ethan raised his eyebrows.
"Penguins also have exhibited homosexual behavior since first documented in 1911." Zane winked and squeezed Ethan's hand tighter.
"Alright, Mr. Encyclopedia, let's get you out of here and go eat somewhere, huh?"
Coop exhaled a deep breath as he fell back onto his bed. He smiled brightly as he recalled the details of his excellent first date with Nik. They had chosen to leave the rink and instead of getting ice cream, they got pretzels instead and chose to walk in the park as the sun set. Funnily enough, it was the same park that he and Tori had fought the dragon during his first week on Legendary duty. He had smirked at this memory.
The boys had talked much more during their walk through the park where Coop learned much more about Nik. Unfortunately, Coop had unknowingly brought up a particularly painful topic...
"So, have you ever been to a party?"
"Like... with cake and clowns?" It was when the shorter boy started laughing that Coop realized he was joking. "Yeah, I went to a few back home."
"So do you drink?"
"Do you?" Came Nik's reflective response.
"Uhh... well, I mean, I have at parties and stuff, but never made it a habit or anything."
"Yeah, that was me too. But I don't do that any more."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Well... I mean... there was this one party and I had kind of gotten a little drunk. Okay, a lot drunk." He admitted. "Embarrassingly enough, I ended up puking everywhere and one of my friends had to take me outside. I called my parents and had to tell them where I was and then I passed out. They ended up coming to get me and on the way home.... we wrecked. My parents ended up dying that night. The police said they didn't know how I managed to survive. I wasn't even buckled. But another car hit us from head on and my parents were thrown from the car..."
Silence followed.
"I'm sorry, Coop, I totally shouldn't have just laid that on you. I rea-"
"No. Don't apologize. I mean, that sucks, dude. But I'm glad you were comfortable enough to share that with me." He said, smiling. He took Nik into a tight hug and when they separated they looked into each other's eyes. Again, it was green on gray.
Uh-oh,' thought Coop, the kiss moment. Crap! Does he want me to? I mean, it's the first date, should I?'
They continued to stare, but Coop could feel that they were almost out of that window; soon they would pass into that uncomfortable stage.
`Why don't I just...' Coop reached into himself and slowly extended his mind to Nik's. There, on the surface, was what Coop was looking for. Nik was imagining what it would be like for Coop to kiss him, to feel Coop's lips on his.
He found out.
"So, Ethan, I know I probably should've have asked you this sooner, but how old are you?"
The two young men sat at a small cafe in the city. It was a cute little place, one that might go unnoticed by passersby, but quaint enough to have a faithful few attenders. His hunger showing, Ethan had gotten a full meal - and then some- though Zane only ordered a coke.
"What, you haven't looked at my file? I thought you'd have read up on me, Mr. Encyclopedia."
"What? No! I really didn't!" Zane said, his voice jumping an octave while defending himself. In truth, however, the Legendary hadn't thought to do that. He may have had one of the highest IQs in the world, but he hadn't thought to read up on his date.
"I'm nineteen."
"Oh." Zane muttered.
"What? Too young? Too old?"
"I don't know, honestly."
"Well, how old was your last boyfriend?" Ethan questioned before taking a sip of his water. Zane blushed. Ethan caught on quickly. "Oh... oh... I, uh, didn't know that you. I thought you would have.... I mean, a guy like you.... uh..."( "Really, it's okay Ethan. I mean, if anyone should be embarrassed-"
"No! I mean, that's perfectly fine! For a sixteen year old, that's perfectly fine!" Zane smiled at the older man.
"Thank you. I just didn't expect you to be nineteen. I honestly don't know how old I expected you to be. I mean, you're a part of the Company, but you're not... old. I guess I really didn't think about it." Ethan chuckled.
"I guess I didn't either. Well, I mean, I thought about the age difference, and then Mr. Heart came and talked to me and I-"
"What!? Charles talked to you? About me?!" This time Ethan blushed.
"He just warned me to be careful and reminded me of what kind of ground I'm treading on."
"What, that you're dating a sixteen-year-old superhuman whose father is an extremely powerful mage and also your boss?"
"Yeah, something like that..." Ethan muttered. Silence fell between the two for a few moments.
"Why are you a part of the Company? We usually don't start recruitment until prospects turn twenty-one."
"I'm....a special case." Zane gave him a look. "My parents were consultants to the Company. Specialized in botany. Somehow, Mr. Heart got them roped in and they started working in the Center for Extradimensional Life helping research foreign plant life."( "So you grew up around the Company?"
"Not quite. My parents kept me pretty far from all of it, actually. But my dad was always kind of paranoid and put me in all these training sessions. I was homeschooled and then trained. By the time I was twelve, I was proficient in several styles of martial arts and could speak six languages. I could use several different weapons. Obviously I didn't have too many friends, so I just trained more. It's paid off, but you know, it was kind of lonely." Zane gave him a sympathetic smile.
"So your dad was just training you for the Company?"
"Apparently. Once my parents got signed on, they caught Mr. Heart's vision. They wanted to do all they could to contribute to the Company's work."
"So you just got in on special orders." There was another pause between the two of them.
"When I was seventeen, I came home from a ski trip with other homeschoolers. It was one of the only things my parents actually let me do. I came home to find our home in wreckage. It looked like a tornado had swept through the house. We had a pretty sophisticated system in the house, as you could imagine, but apparently it had been overridden. I could hear voices in the house that were not my parents. My instincts took over and I started creeping around. I grabbed an energy pistol from a compartment in the hallway closet. Turned out, two mages had broken into our house and killed my parents." Zane gasped. He could relate to parts of this story from his own experiences, but he couldn't imagine what Ethan had gone through. The captain continued his narration, as though he had told the story a hundred times.
"I don't know what happened, it was like I was on auto-pilot. I was able to draw one of them into a bedroom by making some noise. I grabbed him from behind, shot a blast into his stomach and snapped his neck. The second one must have felt it or something because he came running. We kind of went back and forth for a few minutes. He was pretty powerful. I managed to outsmart him though. He just thought I was some kid, but I managed to take him by surprise and threw a sussex crystal at him. Bound his powers. I threw my weight at him and knocked him out by head butting him." Zane's eyes grew wide at the turns in the story. "I was able to contact the Company and they came to... do what they do. I didn't have anywhere else to go and I was more than qualified, so Mr. Heart told me I could join the Company if I wanted to. And I did."
Once again, a pause was left between them.
"Ethan, I'm so sorry." Zane lamented and took the captain's hand into his own.
"Hey, no worries." Ethan mustered. "I wouldn't have met you if all that wouldn't have happened."
The unlikely couple held hands across the table and smiled at one another, their bond, somewhat strengthened. Zane only imagined what else this man, not much older than himself, had experienced. How much had he been forced into adulthood? How much had he missed out on? Just like Zane. Maybe, just maybe, they could help each other through hell...
A warm feeling washed over Coop as he watched the people he loved bustle around the Heart Estate. He had finally convinced (more like forced) Charles and Tori to decorate and now he couldn't help but smile at the Christmas wonderland it had turned out to be. Even though he had done most of the decorating. The day before Christmas Eve had become the day Coop gave presents to his friends from school, and then spent the rest with family. Except today, after giving Sean and Rose their presents, he had come to Heart Estate to spend some time with his friends and give details about his date to Tori and Zane. And to get details from Zane.
"You guys kissed?"
"You guys didn't?"
The two teenage boys evaluated each other.
"Of course I thought about it, Coop. But, it was a little soon, and that's not really what we had on our minds."
"Well, it's all he could think about." Coop muttered before Tori slapped his arm.
"Cooper Storm, you did not read his mind." Coop gave her a sheepish grin.
"Well, I'm glad that it went well." Zane said with a small smile. "When do you get to see him again?"
"We're meeting up tomorrow night."
"Christmas Eve? Isn't that a little close to Christmas for you? You go into ultra-Christmas mode on Christmas Eve don't you." Tori questioned. ( "It's true. If I decide to give you my time on Christmas Eve or Christmas, you're pretty damn important."
"Ethan is on patrol until the twenty-seventh." Zane pouted.
"Well, I have something to keep all of your minds busy..."
"Well hey, Chuck!" Coop greeted as the mage stepped into the room. "Even though I don't like that tone of voice, I appreciate your presence!" Charles looked the Legendary over before continuing.
"I'm sorry to break through the holiday spirit, but there is something that requires your attention."
"That doesn't sound good," Zane began.
"I'm sorry, but it looks like we have a little recon to do."
"What? No! No Legendary shit until after Christmas!" Coop whined. Tori gave him a severe look.
"Is this about Tyros?" She asked. Charles nodded.
"You know we've been getting closer to locating his power signals. We may have found a general area."
"That's great, Charles!" Zane smiled. "With the three of us doing recon, we could very possibly find him and awaken him before Christmas!"
"My thoughts exactly. You leave in thirty minutes."
"To go where?" Coop groaned.
"You're going to Yosemite National Park. We're picking up power waves from the mountain range."
"We're leaving for the freaking mountains. I mean, I know it's December, but it still only gets like, forty degrees here. We're going to the freaking mountains." Coop whined.
"Coop, you have an internal temperature of like, a thousand degrees. Shut up." Zane snapped.
"Boys, boys. Come on, we'll be fine. We can only spend a few hours anyway. Legendaries or not, we should not be up there in the dark."
"How can Tyros be in the mountain range with the weather being so cold?"
"Coop, Tyros is the Legendary of Earth. His powers allow him to be impervious to cold, heat, wind. He'll be rugged, not afraid to rough it. Even if his avatar hasn't been awakened, he'll enjoy the challenge of nature."
Coop happened to be correct. The mountains were cold. Immediately, their resident barometer, Zane, registered the mountains at thirteen degrees below zero. Wind and snow whipped around them, and Coop knew if it weren't for his Legendary senses, he wouldn't be able to make out his surroundings. Coop wanted to start blazing the Phoenix's power immediately. Luckily, their armor had transformed into an extremely well insulated eskimo suit. Well, not really. The armor itself was white to blend in with the surroundings, plated for protection, and insulated with warmth. Something else accompanied their armor, however: a white hooded... poncho? Parka? Coop didn't know. But it looked kind of like a hooded cape and they looked badass so he wasn't complaining.
"Alright, I'm going to mark this spot," Tori bellowed over the wind. "In one hour, we'll meet back here. Good?" Zane and Coop both gave her the thumbs up. With that, Tori scorched the earth with purple light and nodded to her friends. She magically bounded off the landing and down into a valley. Zane gave another thumbs up to Coop before freeing his scanner from his suit and taking to the skies.
`Flame on...' Coop thought as he activated his powers so a thin layer of heat surrounded him. He also took flight, opposite of Zane, and began scanning telepathically. This could be a long hour...
Zane's scanner was picking up nothing, and he was having trouble controlling the wind and the snow to avoid him. Weather-controlling or not, he wouldn't be able to fully control the earth's natural storms for a while. At least until he was fully-Awakened. Gah. His suit did provide him warmth, for the most part, so that was good. He jumped as his scanner picked up a blip, but dismissed it as another Yeti. They loved the mountains. Besides, for something to actually survive up here, they'd have to be a Legendary. Or a mountain man. Zane's scanner reminded him that forty-five minutes was up and it was time to head back.
Coop hadn't been having much luck finding anything, but he'd enjoyed pushing his heat wave to melt the snow. He hadn't picked up much more telepathic signal than a few coyotes. And something preternatural. Not human, so he didn't care. He'd have to ask Zane, but maybe it was an Abominable Snowman? His scanner went off, notifying him of the time, but just as he was ready to turn back, he felt something in a valley about a mile and a half below him. He couldn't turn back on this now. He began descending as he telepathically scanned the area again. Somewhere out there, a cave, maybe? Coop found the entrance as the identifiable thoughts of a human became coherent. As soon as he stepped into the cave's mouth, he knew he'd made a mistake.
`Where is Coop?' Tori mentally asked Zane, getting sick of waiting. It was five minutes past their meeting time and the sun was beginning to set. Zane only shrugged as he stepped into the circle of protection Tori had drawn. He felt the cold melt away with the extra heat she had spelled into the circle.
Last I could track him, he was about ten miles to the north.' Zane answered. Can you do a locating spell?'
`It'll take a sec...'
"Cooper Storm, we meet again." Coop couldn't speak. The moment he stepped inside the cave it had sealed itself. At the same time, the source of Coop's inquiry revealed himself. The white-haired mage.
"I know you're trying to find Tyros, but he's not here. Trust me, I've looked."
"I swear to whatever gods there are, I will incinerate your ass again, and this time it will take." Coop threatened, his eyes already flaming and the cave's internal temperature rising steadily.
"Tisk, tisk, such a temper. Relax, I'm here to talk." The mage whispered. Coop felt some of his power slip away when the mage waved his hand. "This chamber is lined with symbols that will bind your power. I could kill you, but that would be too easy." When Coop spoke again, his voice carried with it a power beyond himself. His voice was still his own, but the Phoenix accompanied it.
"Mage, you use borrowed power. It shall not hold against me."
"Calm yourself, Phoenix. I come to give you a warning." The cave illuminated with light as a jet of flame raced towards the mage. The flame dissipated, but the mage was on edge now.
"Speak your peace, mage, but know I am not powerless."
"You Legendaries grow stronger, it is true, but we are stronger yet. Soon, the Demon Kings will devour this world and you can do nothing to stop it. If you, Cooper Storm, surrender, you and your family will be spared." The temperature in the cave spiked and both Coop and the mage had begun to sweat.
"You can threaten me with your fake invitations and your borrowed power. But stay the fuck away from my family!"
Tori had just pinpointed Coop's location when she and Zane felt a powerful pulse followed by an explosion.
`Coop.' They thought simultaneously.
"Hey, Coop, how are you feeling?" Tori's voice came in from the other side of the line.
Christmas Day. Coop's favorite holiday. Being at home with his family was always the highlight of his holiday season. However, Coop smiled a tired when he answered Tori.
"Hey. I'm good, I think. I'm glad I was able to recoup before today. Have you and Zane found anything?"
"Well, we've not really looked for anything since you left last night. Dad wanted us to take a break so we could actually take place in Christmas festivities. Thanks for helping with the research though, I'm sure we'll find something."
"We just need to find a way to keep him away from our families, first, and then find a way to kick his ass out of this dimension."
"Coop, don't worry, we'll find...something." Coop sighed wearily.
"I know. It just needs to happen soon."
"It will. Anyway, I'll let you go back to your family."
"Okay. Hey, I'm taking Evan ice skating later if you and Zane want to come."
"Hmm, alright, just text me."
"Will do, ma'am." Coop said, his voice taking a southern accent. "Merry Christmas, Tori."
"You too, Coop."
"Are you sure it's alright for me to come?" Nik asked worriedly. Coop mock rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Nik. It is perfectly fine for you to come. Sean and Rose want to meet you and it'll be a fun time. I want you to be there."
"You're not going to try and seduce me while we're in the mountains?" Nik teased. Coop smile and waggled his eyebrows while he closed the space between the two of them to hold Nik in his arms.
"Don't tempt me." He whispered, leaning in to kiss the shorter boy.
So, the next day, the couple was off. Coop had to admit that the small group of people was going to be a really good time. Sean and Rose led the caravan up the to the mountain range (which Coop was oh-so-excited to see again), followed by another few of their friends, Emily, Jay, and and David. Coop and Nik brought up the rear in the ever reliable Jeep.
Even though Coop was a little anxious to leave home, Tori had, surprisingly, convinced him to go.
"You need the break," she had told him, even though he was pretty sure the last break she'd had was in the third grade. Still, he did like the thought of his friends in the mountains, and the time he would have with Nik. He really liked that thought. Plus, Tori and Zane both said they'd check on his family and Coop would be able to defend himself in case anything happened at the cabin.
"Oh my dear sweet lord..." Nik whispered, clutching the handle above him for support. "I didn't know the roads were going to be this rough. Or icy."
"Don't worry, the good ol' Jeep can handle it. It's made a mountain trip many a times." He smiled encouragingly as his hand found Nik's. This seemed to comfort the boy a little, though his knuckles were still white on the handle. Honestly, the roads were extremely bad, and Coop had been keeping all three cars of the caravan in check at different times with his telekinesis. The sooner they could get off the road, the better.
After another frustrating thirty minutes later and the group of teenagers were frantically running into the cabin with their luggage in tow. Coop automatically did a quick telepathic scan of the cabin as he brushed snow from his jacket and hair. Clear as far as he could tell. The teens immediately began flinging themselves onto couches and into chairs as Sean announced he had turned the heat on.
"Alright guys... for the next three days, this is home."
Tori and Zane were exhausted from the rush of the past few days, but even though they were trying to relax, they were, once again, in the library doing research. Coop left two days ago for the cabin, leaving Zane and Tori to research, but once he left, they realized they didn't know what they were supposed to be researching. Finally, after Tori returned from a psychic powwow with the Darkening, the group had been working to develop a plan to strip the white-haired mage of his powers. If they could do this, Zane deducted, they could then use magic to locate him and his super-secret hide-out, and then, with the mage's powers gone, it would be easier to destroy his stronghold, and the threat. At least temporarily. It sounded like a good plan to all of them, but it was proving to be a lot harder than they thought. They had almost no information about him and they only had suspicions of the origin of his powers. Still, it was better than no plan, so they were back at the books and the databases.
Zane was sitting cross-legged on a leather couch, a book in his lap and a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. He skimmed the pages, looking for keywords. Draco, the newest addition to the family, sat on his left side with his head nestled against his pajama-clad leg. Zane wished he could take a nap like Draco, even though he and Tori were still in their sleepwear. Tori opposite Zane in an armchair reading a tablet connected to a database in Millennium Hall. It seemed the easiest way to access the files without being cooped up in a room full of monitors all day. When Charles entered the room, he raised his eyebrow at the two comfortably dressed teens who hadn't even bothered to look up.
"While this is admirable," he began, finally eliciting eye contact from the two, "you do still need your rest. You've been in the library for six hours now. Why don't you at least take a break. I've left some analysts picking up the research where I've left off." Tori sighed.
"Dad, we really need to get this done-"
"Victoria Heart, do not lecture me. We are not abandoning our search, we are pausing it for some rest. It's six o'clock and you didn't have lunch."
"I don't know, Tori, why don't we just take an hour or two?" Zane asked, rubbing his tired eyes.
"Alright, alright. We can take a break and get dinner."
"When was the last time you checked on Coop's mom?" Charles asked as he opened the library door for his children.
"Hmm...yesterday morning?" Tori thought. Charles rubbed his daughter's back as she sank into a dining room chair.
"Why don't you take a trip to see her then, check on her and Evan?" Zane looked between his father and sister and smiled.
"I'll go. It'll be good to get out of the house and you look like you could use a nap." He started, gazing at Tori. "Besides, I told her I'd bring her more of that chai tea she likes." Charles turned to his daughter as Zane walked to the kitchen.
"He's right, why don't you rest. You've been working very hard." She sighed.
"Fine... wake me up in a few hours?" Charles nodded, watching her leave the table and walk up the stairs.
"Found the tea, I'll just fly over and check on everything." Zane told his father as he walked towards the door. Charles smiled when he saw Draco following his son around.
"It looks like your shadow wants to go too." He said, smirking. Zane looked down at Draco, frowning.
"Aww, I'm sorry, boy. We'll go flying again, real soon." The dragon made a crooning noise and slowly marched away from the front door, its tail drooping.
"Mom, Dom is here!" Evan screeched when he opened the front door. The young boy practically attacked the teenager, taking Dom by surprise. The snuggly-dressed Dom jumped as Evan hugged him around the waist.
"Hey, bud. How's it going?" He asked, stiffly attempting to walk into the house with Evan still attached to him. Melissa Storm came into the den from her office, following the noise of the struggling boys.
"I like your hugs. You're almost as tall as Coop, but short enough to give back really good hugs." Evan explained.
"Dom! It's so good to see you! How have things been?" She asked, leaning in to hug her son's friend.
"Everything's been pretty swell. I came over to bring you the standard holiday goodie platter from mom." He presented the aluminum wrapped plate to Evan, who greedily ran to the kitchen. "Hey, pace yourself this time! I don't you want you getting sick like last year!" He called after the boy. Melissa watched him go, shaking her head.
"So, come on in. Why don't you unwrap yourself and come on to the study, let's catch up!" He smiled and began to shimmy out of his Michael Kors Jacket. The slim teen finally ran his fingers through his brown hair after taking his toboggan off.
"Coop wouldn't happen to be home, would he?" He asked, sitting after Melissa motioned to a lounge chair. She shook her head.
"He and a few friends went up to the mountains for a few days. How come you're not up there? Doesn't your family usually go up to your lodge for a few days around Christmas?" He grimaced.
"Yeah, we were supposed to go a few days ago. We got everything packed up and we were halfway up the mountain when a really bad storm came through. We ended up turning around halfway up the mountain, but our car ended up getting stuck and we had to hike down to the ranger station. It was a pretty crazy time."
"Wow, well, I hope nothing like that happens while Coop is up there."
"I was kind of hoping he'd be here. I've not seen him since this party a few weeks ago and I kind of wanted to talk to him..." He trailed off.
"You and me both. I haven't seen much of him the past two weeks. He's either with Tori and Zane or he's with Nik. It's crazy how he's taken to all these new kids." Dom just chuckled, trying to shield his own reservations about the group of teens from the woman.
"You know how it is, we just get busy." He offered. Melissa nodded grimly before taking another sip of her tea. Yes, she knew how her son operated. She opened her mouth to ask Dom what he thought about her son's friends when the doorbell rang. She looked up in confusion. "Excuse me, one second." She rose from her chair and made her way to the front door. "Well, Zane, this is a surprise. You know Coop is still in the mountains, right?" The teen smiled.
"I know, Mrs. Storm. I just decided I'd drop by. I brought some of that new chai tea you like." He explained, presenting the box of teabags. Melissa smiled and welcomed another teenager into her home.
"Well, come on in. You know Dominic, right?" She asked over her shoulder when he came from the study. Zane nodded.
"Hey, Dom. How's it going?" He asked, trying to hide his uneasiness. Something about the guy had always unnerved him. The taller teenager replied with a nod.
"Do you guys see a lot of each other at school?" She asked cluelessly from the kitchen.
Zane and Dom had retained their eye contact. What was this feeling Zane had? Apprehension? Anxiety? This was somewhat similar to the feeling he had before he went into battle. Was Zephyr trying to tell him something? Zane's reverie was interrupted when Evan, once again, came barreling into the kitchen.
"Zane! When did you get here?" He asked, hugging the teenager much like the other. Zane smiled at the boy.
"Just got here, Ev. But I'm leaving here in just a sec. I just had to drop something off to your mom. And make sure you were safe." He winked at the boy. "With Coop gone, you never know what you might need protecting from!" He said before growling and swooping after Evan who had begun to laugh and run down the hallway. Melissa rolled her eyes and called after them.
"Be careful! I don't want another broken picture frame like last time." She turned to Dom. "And I'd like to see Coop protect us from something. That'd be the day. " She snorted. Dom smiled weakly while evaluating a feeling he'd had during the duel of eye contact he'd just had with Zane. What was that about? Sure, he'd admit the kid was cute, but that wasn't it. Something about what just happened made him feel uneasy. Dom decided to shake these thoughts when the sound of glass shattering came from Melissa. She fell to the floor as he turned to her. Rushing to her side, Dom noticed the shattered pieces of a wine glass around the unconscious woman. Footsteps came from the hallway and Zane and Evan appeared.
"What happened to mommy?" Evan whimpered from the doorway.
"Dom, what happened?" Zane asked before snapping his head towards the far part of the house. A menacing screech came from the far hallway, piercing the ears of the boys. "Dom, take Evan and get out." He ordered, taking the older boy by the hand and pushing him and Evan towards the front door. Zane felt a pulse of energy milliseconds before he raised his hands to create a barrier. Blue energy struck the solidified air and the three boys were nudged back by the force.
`Shit...' Zane thought as a dark-skinned woman clad in blue robes came from the hallway, several demons in tow.
"Zane, what the hell?" Dom accused, looking between Zane and the woman who looked like something straight out of The Lord of the Rings and then past her to the several snake-like creatures.
"Dom, you really just need to get out of here." He whispered looking again at the intimidating group of otherworldly houseguests. "I'll distract them. You get Evan and leave." Dom started to protest before Zane stepped out to address them.
"You have trespassed on protected ground. You are not welcome here. Leave before I am forced to banish you." His voice rang out, much more mature and much more confident than he actually was. The woman in the robes smirked.
"I am Zafrina, high priestess of the old religion. I've come for the boy. If you won't give him to me, I shall take him." She threatened, her voice heavy with accent. Zane's knowledge immediately identified her as an Egyptian priestess, a dangerous magician who studied the path of the gods and drew their power from the auras of people and things around them. Zane, again, stepped forward with confidence that did not match what he felt.
"I am Zephyr, the Windsweeper and Stormbringer. You'll want to leave now."
Music blared at the mountain cabin and laughter could be heard from the small group of teenagers. Coop looked around the lounge area where the group had congregated, but he couldn't find Nik. He frowned and decided to search the cabin for his boyfriend. Not like he could go too far.
As Coop walked, he let the word sink in. Boyfriend. It seemed so foreign to Coop, for so many different reasons. Even though he was only seventeen, he'd never had a serious relationship before. Or really any relationship, lasting for longer than three weeks. Another reason lay with the fact that he harbored an all-powerful being of fire that constantly demanded he save the world. Could a relationship handle that kind of strain? What would happen when the couple was on a date and some nasty demon came blasting towards them? Or what if Nik ever got hurt?
Luckily, Coop didn't get much further in this stream of thought before he found Nik in one of the guys' bedrooms. The younger boy lay on his bed, his eyes closed, even though Coop knew he wasn't asleep.
"Hey, babe," Coop started as he sat on the edge of the bed next to Nik. "Everything okay?" Nik started at the sound of Coop's voice, but relaxed when he saw the older teen's shining smile.
"Yeah, everything's peachy. Why wouldn't it be peachy?" He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
"I don't know. Maybe because everyone else is out there having a good time and you're in here. By yourself. In the dark." Nik sighed.
"I don't know, Coop. It's just a weird feeling."
"What is, Nik?" There was a pause before Nik lifted his eyes to match Coop's. Coop sighed when the younger boy met his eyes. He could stare into them forever.
"I... I don't know. There's just...people are drinking."
"Really, that's it? No one's gonna make you do anything, babe. You don't have to drink if you don't want to." Nik smiled.
"I know. It's just, this is really the first time I've been around anything like a party since then, you know?" Coop nodded and hugged Nik to his chest.
"I know. You're fine." Coop held the boy tighter when he began to shiver. "You okay? Cold?" Nik nodded into Coop's chest.
"I hate the cold. And snow. Water, I can handle. I like water. But when it gets all cold and icy..." he shivered again. "I hate it."
"Well, I'll always be here to warm you up." Coop whispered, leaning in to kiss Nik with a smile on his face.
Dom pushed Evan's head down to avoid another picture frame flying their direction as he watched the unbelievable sight. As soon as Zane had finished his little monologue, the kid pulled two daggers out of nowhere and stabbed two of the green-snake things standing beside the robed woman before she was blasted off her feet and through a wall. It had looked like Zane made her do that, even though he couldn't see how. The kid was tiny.
Now, he watched in disbelief as Zane floated around the room, sending fucking lightning bolts at these things. Dom knew he should be a whole lot more freaked out, but he felt surprisingly calm about the whole thing. And another feeling that he wasn't sure he liked was beginning to stir in him. He wanted to help. That couldn't end well.
"Evan, stay here." He whispered, grabbing a dismantled leg of a table and slowly creeping forward. Evan watched in dumbfounded amazement as Dom crept towards one of the snake-women, hoping to catch one of them by surprise. Immediately, one hissed and turned on Dom.
"No, your aura!" Zane shouted in warning while deflecting another bolt from the priestess.
Time seemed to slow. The gorgon's eyes seemed to grow brighter as it turned on Dom, who attempted to shield his face in response. Then, when Zane expected Dom to turn to a frozen statue, Dom peeked from behind his hand. The demon stared, temporarily stunned its powers had not worked on the boy.
"What magic issss thissss?" She shouted before swiping a clawed hand at Dom. Though its powers had not seemed to work, the boy was thrown off his feet and into the wall from her attack.
"Zephyr, you know you can't keep this battle up. As we speak my gorgons and I are draining your aura, using your own powers against you. Give me the sacrifice and I'll let you live." Zafrina muttered, catching one of Zane's wrists as he slashed with his dagger.
"Fuck. You." He whispered before the winds in the room became exponentially more violent. "Skeiron's Cyclone!" The sorceress was launched off her feet and several autonomous twisters had begun to malevolently barrage their enemies. Zane ran to Dom's side as the teen raised his head.
"What happened?"
"That what I'd like to know." Zane muttered, checking the back of Dom's head for blood. "You should be paralyzed. That gorgon should have sucked your aura up. What are you?" Dom gave him a cautious look.
"What do you mean?"
"You've got powers of some kind. How long-"
"What are you talking about?" Dom asked, hurriedly getting to his feet. Zane was starting to creep him out even more. He stood amidst the shaking storms in the living room, which maintained their temporary distraction.
"Don't you-" He started, before his mouth dropped open. "No way. Are you? Could you... Tyros?" As soon as the word left Zane's mouth, a feeling washed over Dom. Zane smiled.
"Excellent." Dom began to back away as Zane raised his hand.
"What are you doing?"
"I've never Awakened anyone before, but I think..." he whispered. Dom jumped when Zane's finger touched his forehead.
Then, the ground began to shake.
Tori had just fallen asleep when she heard a crash from downstairs. She paused before rolling over, choosing to ignore it. She was sure Draco had merely knocked something over again. Even though she felt a little uneasy, everything was probably alright, right? Another crash answered this question.
She leapt from her bed and rushed down the hall. When she reached the grand staircase the sight of her father firing blue bolts of magic at a swarm of locusts met her.
"Tori, it's a demon!" Clearly her father was stating the obvious. She scanned the swarm and tried to think of a spell to apply to this situation. She could see Draco darting through the air attempting to dissolve the fold himself. Tori gathered her magic to perform a spell when the locusts began clustering together, finally forming a broad-shouldered human figure.
"Witches! Cower before Tane-Mahuta!" It bellowed, projecting a deep bass voice. The figure's arms raised and Charles was knocked off his feet. Tori quickly threw her hands forward and spoke.
"Ignus vincete et sectus!" An eruption of fire exploded from within the figure, scattering the insects again. Tori ran to her father as he slowly rose from the floor.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine, but I'll have a pretty bad headache later. Tane-Mahuta?" He asked.
"God of forests and insects."
"From where?"
"It doesn't matter. How the hell did a high profile demon get into our house with all this protection?"
"I may or not have invited it in." Tori gave him a severe look. "I'll explain later." He looked back to the creature which was already reforming. "You should contact Zane, we may need his help." He ordered before stepping forward to confront the demon so Tori would have the space. She quickly placed a few protection charms over her father and herself and began chanting.
"Invenire opus mentaliter."
For a moment, the earth continued to shake and a blinding light shone from Dom. When the light dimmed, Zane looked at Dom in shock. He had changed into the Legendary armor, along with all the physical changes that came with it- another factor of protection. Though he was already muscular, Dom now looked taller, more muscular, and older. A perk of the armor. The house had grown still, even temporarily giving the priestess pause. However, the magician must have shaken the feeling because Zane didn't even have time to prepare a defense when she flung her arms towards the teenagers and a violent red light came barreling towards them in a wave.
Almost in slow motion, Zane saw Dom smile at him, and then he was gone. Milliseconds later, he reappeared in front of Zane, taking the brunt of the attack. Though Zane expected Dom to have dropped to the floor in pain, the new Legendary stood unfazed.
"I am Tyros, the Earth-shaker and the Invulnerable. Your powers are useless against me. Leave now, witch." Dom's voice, though usually lower in register, rang out deeply, exuding authority. Had the situation been more appropriate, Zane probably would have been turned on. Zafina only sneered.
"You may have no aura for me to use, but I can still defeat two little boys with little experience." She smirked and winked at Dom who was thrusted off of his feet and through the sliding glass doors that led to the backyard. Zane made a motion like a whip above his head and the air snapped, cracking with power. Zafrina grabbed at the air, catching the invisible whip of power and space between the two glowed with dark energy. Zane crumpled to his feet when the energy overpowered him. He looked up to the witch, but before he could muster up another attack, he felt another presence in his mind.
`Zane, I need you at the Estate, we have a situation.' He groaned.
`Tori, I have a situation myself-'
`I'm gonna have to warp you to the Estate.'
`What? Tori, no! I have-'
`Just hang on!' Zane looked around frantically but couldn't find any trace of Evan. Zafrina began to walk forward before the ground shook again and the floor began to split. The beautifully finished wood floor caved in the blink of an eye and engulfed the sorceress, sucking her into the ground. Dom appeared from the doorway and smirked, obviously pleased with himself. His expression grew somber when he made eye contact with Zane. He threw himself at the younger boy as lights began forming around him. With a flash of light, the two Legendaries disappeared from the destroyed Storm residence, leaving Evan and Melissa behind.
The cabin had calmed down considerably from earlier in the day when someone had decided to start the party on the wrong side of midnight. Actually, most of the teenagers were in their respective bedrooms, taking naps. Coop laughed inwardly at that. They partied and then they slept. And then they ate, and then they partied. A wonderful cycle.
Coop made his way to the kitchen where Rose was busy getting dinner ready. If you could call it that- she was just making an abundance of chicken quesadillas.
"Hey, need any help?" He asked, sliding his hands under the water from the sink . She nodded.
"Sure. Grab a knife, you can dice some chicken." He followed her orders and began slicing at the chicken, taking pleasure in the comfortable silence that fell between them.
"Sooo... how's Nik?" Comfortable, but apparently only temporary.
"What do you mean?" He shot back. She rolled her eyes at his being annoyed with her.
"He just seemed a little bummed earlier. And then you disappeared...." She trailed off suggestively.
"No, it wasn't like that. We... we took a nap."
"Is that what they're calling it these days..."
"Shut up! We've not done anything we wouldn't do in front of my mother."
"Fine, fine." She muttered. Coop was surprised to find himself blushing. They both looked toward the kitchen door, where Nik had appeared.
"Speak of the devil..." Rose whispered and winked at Coop. He elbowed her violently and walked to Nik.
"Hey, have you seen my phone charger? I can't find it anywhere?" He asked Coop sleepily. Coop chuckled at his boyfriend and ruffled his hair.
"Did you leave it in the car?" He questioned, watching the amusing sight of a groggy Nik attempt to put his jacket on inside-out. "Need help, babe?" Nik smiled sheepishly. After helping him sort his jacket out, Coop put his own jacket on and led Nik to the doorway. "Here, I'll come with you."
The couple walked into the snow towards Coop's Jeep, splitting the driver's and passenger's sides to search for the lost charger. Coop could hear Nik's frustrated huffs at his lack of success. Coop himself was getting a little frustrated, but after a few moments, he felt under the driver's seat and procured the lost item and called over to Nik.
"I found it!" Nik smiled and closed the car's door.
"How will I ever repay you?" He chided, walking over to Coop who held the electronic high in the air, out of Nik's reach.
"I can think of a few ways..." Coop teased, leaning in for another kiss. A very chapped, cold kiss. Nik shied away, grimacing.
"Chapstick. Then we can try that again." Coop rolled his eyes and made a show of furiously licking his lips before pulling Nik into another kiss.
Coop could never tire of kisses from the younger teen. They were euphoria, taking him to a place of pure happiness. He never wanted to stop.
Realistically, though, they would need to stop, especially in order to not get stuck to each other. However, when Coop began to pull back, he gasped. His gasp was quickly echoed by Nik when he saw what Coop saw.
The couple was being surrounded by white lights.
`Shit, this can't be good.' Coop thought, before the familiar, yet still unpleasant feeling of teleportation tugged at his gut.
When Zane and Dom rematerialized, they found themselves in the midst of a very confusing battle in the Heart Estate's foyer. Tori opened her eyes from her chanting and ran to Zane, briefly looking at Dom in confusion.
"I found him, Tori. It's Tyros." She smiled before Charles was blasted into a wall, bringing them all back to the situation at hand.
"It's a good thing. Dad let a demon into the house. Locusts." She explained as the three of them immediately leapt to action. Tori created a bubble of green energy around her that seemed to singe the locusts attacking her. She threw her hands out at the bubble and small darts of the same energy would dash from the bubble at the locusts. Zane, too, took flight, and after a moment's concentration, had covered his skin in electricity. He looked like he was wearing armor of white fluid. The two Legendaries looked down at Dom who was darting around the floor at blinding speed, attempting to scatter the locusts from forming into one body again.
`Shouldn't we get Coop? Fire would help a lot in this situation.?' Zane asked telepathically.
`I really don't even know how to kill this thing. We can't banish it since it's not from the higher order. But it seems like more of the locusts keep coming.' Zane looked around, confirming her suspicions. Though there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of the locusts they had exterminated on the floor, the swarm seemed inevitably consistent. Tori sighed. They did need Coop.
"Uh, Tori?" Came Dom's voice from the floor. She looked down to see him pointing to the landing on the stairs, white lights gathering.
Seconds later, Coop appeared. Their eyes all widened with shock. Nik was with him.
Coop didn't know what he should do first. They were obviously in the middle of a battle. Why was this happening at the Estate again? Tori always said it was protected, but that seemed to be a load of shit recently. Then, there was some guy on the floor Coop had never seen before, looking like the fucking Flash, darting around. He looked like he was wearing their armor. And then there was Nik who seemed to be going into some sort of shock. Coop released a small amount of psychic energy, safely pushing his boyfriend into unconsciousness. He caught him and carefully guided him to the floor before transforming into his own armor. Bright flashes of fire immediately burned through the air.
"Someone wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?" He screamed.
"Locust demon. We don't know how to kill it!" Zane answered back.
"I'm sorry, Coop! It must have been an accident!" Tori's voice came.
"An accident? How do you grab me from hundreds of miles away by accident?" Tori gave him a pleading look.
"The magic was already there. I just-"
"Coop, now's not the time! We have to get rid of this thing!" Zane reminded them.
`Alright, to me!' Coop thought to the group, including the foreign mind who had joined the Legendaries. Coop created a thick telekinetic wall, temporarily blocking them from attack. He looked to his teammates who each had small injuries or large welts from the insects.
"They're not overtly harmful until they start forming into one being. The demon should be able to form really easily, it must have been scattered recently for it to be like this." Tori explained.
"Alright, you have to go."
"Fools! You think a barrier can shut me out?" The demon had fully formed again, this time taking on human characteristics. A shirtless, tanned male met their gazes as he attacked Coop's wall relentlessly. Coop's telekinesis had grown exponentially, but the attacks were putting a huge strain on his mind. He turned to look at the demon, feigning confidence in his abilities.
"I am the Phoenix, Champion of the Mind and the Fire-bringer. You were foolish to attack this place. Any one of us could have defeated you, but now four of the Legendaries have appeared to seal your fate."
"Where are the others, then, Phoenix?" Coop looked around in surprise. The others had disappeared. He was alone in the foyer. The demon smiled, having watched the others teleport away. Another blast from the demon brought his psychic barrier crumbling down and Coop slumped to the floor. The demon sauntered over to look at the teenager, smiling brightly.
"This world is ours, now. We will gather and we will conquer. And we will kill you and everyone who is dear to you. One by one." He whispered, kneeling over Coop. Coop grimaced.
"You think you can defeat us so easily. Even if you kill one of us, the others will grow stronger and the defeated Legendary will being gathering its energy again immediately." The demon rose from kneeling and snarled.
"Let us test that theory." He raised an arm to strike Coop, but a blade of air cut through the appendage, immediately scattering into locusts again. The demon looked up in surprise to see Zane standing there, the air whipping around him. The demon made to move towards the youngest Legendary, but his feet were melded into the floor, the ground having come up and engulfing him up to his calves. Coop rose from the ground smiling.
"Just like in Biblical times," he started. Dom rubbed his hands together and then blew onto them, sand appearing. The sand began to pick up in the wind, swirling around the foyer. The free locusts began to face opposition as a sandstorm brewed. "There will be a pillar of cloud!" He spoke and a giant column of air began to form, blowing any remaining loose articles away from the foyer. "There will be a pillar of fire!" He said as his eyes came alive with flame. Another column formed, this one blazing with orange flames, small strands whipping out at a locust here and there. The two columns circled the demon as they began to revolve quicker.
"And you shall meet your end!" Tori's voice came from the staircase. She held a book and began to weaving magic into her words. "Ego signates et virtute! I seal you into the dark dimension by the power of the Darkening!"
The two pillars and the sandstorm began to converge on the demon and a wail of pain came before the three elements met each other and collapsed into nothingness. A silence fell over the teenagers until another voice came.
"Holy. Shit."
The quartet of Legendaries met Nik's gaze from where he had risen on the stairs.
"We should talk." Coop muttered, transforming out of his armor.
"Legendaries." Nik started. Coop nodded. "You have powers?" Coop nodded again. "Demons?" Coop laughed this time at Nik's incredulous look.
"I know it's really hard to take in. And you shouldn't have found any of this out anyway. Apparently Tori's powers got a little out of hand and she warped me here. With you."
"Coop, this is just really... I mean, how am I supposed to react?"
"Babe, I don't know. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again." He admitted, lowering his head.
"Coop, how could you think that?" Coop turned to look at Nik in surprise. "Coop, I've been through hell. There's been a ton of shit in my life that I can't explain and I know that I probably shouldn't be alive. But I know I have you. You make me feel okay again. You make me feel like I have something to live for again."
"Nik, this whole thing... it's dangerous for you."
"You don't think I haven't gathered that. I mean, today alone is a good indication." Coop began to say something and then stopped. There was a pause before he started again.
"You're human. If anything ever happened to you, I don-"
"Nothing's going to happen to me. I mean, sure, this might be a little... unconventional. You have fucking powers. But, I can't imagine living without you. Even if it means I have to live with this side of you too. I know it'll take some time to get...used to the idea. But, I think I can live with this."
"I'll protect you." Coop whispered, tears growing in his eyes.
"I know you will." Nik whispered back, a small smile forming on his lips.
And then they were kissing again.
Coop took Nik home and... gave him something to sleep. He practically just knocked him out again. With Nik's permission, of course. Then, Coop had to fly back up to the mountains (an experience he would not recommend to anyone), mindwipe everyone there, and then drive his Jeep back down. So, hours later, a meeting was called in Millennium Hall.
"First of all, what the fuck?" Coop asked motioning to Dom. Charles cleared his throat in regards to Coop's language, but Coop didn't appear fazed. "How did you get on board?"
"Coop, there's a lot of ground we need to cover, alright? We'll get around to it." Tori explained, attempting to calm him. He sighed dramatically and slumped into a chair.
"First of all, your family was attacked at your home." Tori tried easing into it casually. Naturally, Coop exploded.
"What the hell? You wait til now to tell me this? Are they okay? Has anyon-"
"Coop, they're fine! We sent a team over to check on them. Everything's okay and damage control is fixing your house. Luckily, Zane and Dom were there when it was broken into."
"What happened to the enchantments on the house?" Coop asked suspiciously.
"We don't know." Zane started. When Coop rolled his eyes, he began again. "We do know, that this magician," waved his hand and a holographic image appeared on the table before them, "was able to break through the barriers and almost got the best of us." The table grew quiet for a moment while they evaluated the image of the magician. "Her name is Zafrina. The only thing we know about her is that she is a magician from the Egyptian House of Life. A branch of magic that is very rare in today's world of magic. She specializes in what they would call "magic of Set." Chaos magic. She drains the auras of people for her power, much like gorgons do."
"Where is she now?" Coop asked. He was unknowingly gripping the table extremely hard.
"We don't know." Zane admitted regretfully.
"What about the locust demon?" Coop asked.
"That was my fault." Charles spoke up. "I invited it in." The Legendaries all looked at him in disbelief. "It was... strange. A cloud came over my mind. When I opened the door, I knew something was not right, but it looked like a child. I couldn't really control myself. It just happened."
"This really isn't good." Zane blurted out. "I mean, guys look at it. They attacked Coop's house, not even caring who was there or what could have happened. They attacked our house. They took over Charles' mind. They're getting stronger and they're getting bolder. These can't be good omens."
"Are there such things as good omens?" Dom spoke for the first time. Coop turned his attention back to Dom.
"Would someone like to explain what he's all about, please?"
"He was at your house when I dropped by." Zane explained and recounted the story from the battle at Coop's house.
"So you're Tyros..." Coop muttered and looked him up and down.
"Listen, I don't really know what to think, you guys. I just know things." Dom started. "Like, I know what you guys are talking about, gorgons, and magicians, and demons. I know that I have powers and that I used them to help get rid of those things. I know I should be freaked out, but I'm not."
"It happened to all of us." Tori explained. "It'll get better with time. Now, you just train and get better."
"What can he do?" Coop asked. Tori grimaced.
"Well, unfortunately, our records on Tyros are the most incomplete. We know that in his human form, but more-so when he is transformed, he can move at ten times the speed of a normal human and has the strength of ten men. He is practically invulnerable and can control the earth. We just don't know to what extent."
"What does that mean?" Dom asked. Zane answered this time.
"Terrakinesis has never been a clearly defined power. We know you can control the earth, we just don't now exactly how. Can you lift boulders? Can you make a rockslide? Earthquakes, volcanoes, quicksand. These are the things we'll have to monitor."
"What about Nik?" Charles asked. The change of subject and the one who had changed it brought all the Legendaries to look at him. Immediately, Coop got defensive.
"What about Nik?" He asked, folding his arms.
"Did you wipe his memory?" Tori asked. Coop scoffed.
"No, what is that procedure or something?"
"Yes, it is, Coop! That's what we do to every other human that might know anything about this world."
"Nik isn't just any other human, Tori."
"Coop, humans don't tend to do well when it comes to our world."
"Uh, isn't Zane's boyfriend human?" Zane blushed, but Tori rolled her eyes, .her voice escalating to match Coop's
"You know that isn't a good comparison. Ethan has had years and years of training to deal with the monsters we fight. Nik is fifteen, has no experience, and could easily get hurt."
"I won't let anything happen to him, Tori." They were yelling across the table now.
"What about you, Coop? What happens when something goes wrong with your powers and you lose control?"
"That's great to hear from the witch who lost control of her powers and brought him into this mess!" Silence fell. Coop knew he had gone too far, but they would not talk about wiping Nik's memory. Coop rose from the table so quickly his chair fell over. They three Legendaries and their mentor watched as Coop left Millennium Hall in a fury. Coop tore back into the human and dimension and slammed the door to the Heart Estate behind him. He bolted into the air and then he was gone.
It was late that night when Coop returned to his own home. He walked through the front door and hung his jacket in the closet. He was tired.
He knew what he said to Tori was out of line, but he was too angry at the time, and too prideful to apologize. Some leader he was.
He had flown south until he finally landed on some beach in Mexico. He had stayed there for a while, telepathically manipulated someone into giving him a drink from a bar. He knew it was getting late, though and he should at least return home to check on his mother and Evan.
Coop walked into the kitchen and took a cookie from the goodie tray sent from Dom's mother. He chewed on a piece of the delicious sugar cookie and walked to his room to change into something more comfortable- he donned a pair of gym shorts and comfortable v-neck. He stopped by to look at himself in the mirror and ran a hand through his blond hair. He sighed when he saw a bruise forming on his jaw. He looked rough. He walked to the bathroom and flipped on the light. He jumped at the sight that met him.
Six bodies lay in the floor of the bathroom, bloodied and ripped. He recognized one of them as an agent from the Company. Shit.
Coop ran down the stairs to his mother's study, which at first seemed empty. Coop walked further into the room and caught glimpse of a pair of feet protruding from under the desk. He ran to his mother who appeared unconscious. She had no signs of physical injury, but he could tell from a swift scan of her mind something was wrong. She was alive, at least. A sole picture on Melissa's desk caught Coop's eye and he reached for it. It was a picture of Evan at his tenth birthday party, smiling at the camera. A red marker had scribbled over the face and the words that Coop read chilled his blood. He dropped his mother and ran to Evan's bedroom, bursting open the door. He conjured a fireball, ready to attack.
But no one was there. The room had been torn apart and the window had been shattered. And Evan was not there. The words appeared in Coop's mind again before he slumped to the floor.
A damning sacrifice of the highest degree shall raise our Kings and set us free.
What a chapter! I hope you guys liked it! I really enjoyed all the feedback I got from the last chapter! You guys rock! So, even though I knew where I was going with this chapter, it was still like pulling teeth to write it and I don't know why! Haha I thought it was a pretty good chapter, but I want to hear what you guys thought about it! Also, I wrote this in a little different format and I'm not sure what it's going to look like when I convert it to plaintext, so should something go wrong, email me and I'll send you a .pdf version! And a .pdf version is available of every chapter thus far, too! So, if you'd like one (they're prettier, too), email me!
Thanks guys!( Nick notoriouslynick90@yahoo.com