Andria Andromeda Rivera and The Chalice of Belief

A New Factor

"Winners never quit, and quitters never win."
- Vince Lombardi

The place was...non-existent. He had no idea how they did it. The onlooker would see nothing, because there was nothing; Until you demonstrated some magic. It took Jace Wilson a while to figure this out.

Until then, he'd racked his brain so hard because it just had to be there. He had already exhausted himself by teleporting everywhere he could, and then, all of a sudden, a forceful feeling of surrender had crept into his mind, and he had felt this place radiating so much power, almost as though it had been wearing an impenetrable mask for so long and somebody had decided to remove it just for him. It was suspicious, yes, but suspicious was actually what he was looking for.

Even though he felt the power, there was absolutely nothing here, and he tried reaching with his hand forward in hopes of a portal or something, but to no avail. He waited.

He hid in some corner of the warehouse and continued to wait for hours. Nobody came. He was about to growl in frustration when the idea struck him. He tenderly walked out of the warehouse and visited its door from the outside, a jet of water shooting out of his palm straight onto door.

It opened even though Jace had closed it when he came outside. And as it did so, Jace felt his heart rate increase. This was his last chance. He could still run away. His legs had only started to move, unsure of what to do, when he was pulled in.

••••••••••

Roy Morris had a bad habit of getting into trouble. Well, they all did, but he always found that tight spots of which he had no idea how to come out of had become part of his routine. And each time, someone else had to come and help him out. None of his powers helped him out at all. In fact, every time he tried to use them, the problem got worse.

"Please, Roy." Everyone would say, "Stay out of trouble."

Except Olivia and Lee.

To Lee, atleast the way he showed it, Roy's daily flow of tricky situations brought a lot of amusement to him. And so, he usually got a "Nice one! Have you ever thought of this one-?" from him.

Olivia, on the other hand, would go about in a systematic manner, first analyzing why the problem occurred, then how matters got worse, then what he could've done to avoid the problem in the first place, and finally, how, even to the last minute, he could have helped himself out.

He absolutely loved this process. Unfortunately, it only seemed to work when she was around, explaining things patiently to him. The usual Roy Morris could never stop and think straight other wise.

Which was exactly why, he would maintain for the rest of his life, the following incidents occurred.

••••••••••

Voices were echoing across the cavern, heedless to the original level of sound. Eava's head was pounding harder and harder, a painful throb occasionally sending a shiver across her body.

"It was not wise to bring her here!" Someone whisper-shouted, "You put us all in danger!"

"Danger?" A girl said with a soft, melodic, and yet mocking voice, "You claim that this- child can endanger us all?"

"Oh cut the argument, you two. It will bring us no good." Someone else interrupted sharply.

Despite this, the only thought Eava's head could form was Mhmm uhmmm uhhhhmmm. She felt a familiar smell press against her nose; the kind of scent rain left behind. Her body was aching, but most of all: her head felt as though it'd hit something hard, like a rock. She was lying on the ground, or atleast, a really really hard surface; that was for sure. Her mouth tasted sour. Her hands were tied.

Should she open her eyes? That would give them a chance to know she was awake. But then... she needed to do it sometime. She peeked one eye open, and relaxed when she saw no one was around. The voices were coming from deeper within the cavern.

She opened her other eye, and to her horror found someone looming over her: She barely had time to register the cold, dull eyes and scowl before she was pulled upright, still dizzy and shaken.

"The girl is awake!" He said loudly. The sound echoed longer than Eava would've liked.

More people came into view, though Eava didn't know from where: Men and women of all ages, lining up shoulder to shoulder at what she assumed was an acceptable distance from her and the grumpy guard. She noticed there were no children.

"Take her to the Domina!" Said the girl with that melodic voice.

This couldn't be good.

The gaurd pushed her ahead, deeper into the caven, and Eava almost considered making a run for it. Her legs had only started to move, unsure of what to do, when she was pulled in.