Nayantara

Chapter Two: The Mighty Have Fallen

Ever since the robbery and meeting Asteria for the first time, my annoying dreams have gone away like magic. I still have my powers, which is whatever. They're acting as usual with the limited knowledge I understand. Sometimes I wonder how strong I can be. How fast can I go? What temperature on a Kelvin scale can I make with the fire? What is the lowest freezing point of my power?

There is so much stuff I want to explore. I don't want to accidentally hurt someone that doesn't deserve it. That's my biggest worry. I'll need to find something that can help me see my potential, but not just anyone. Whoever I find must keep what I have a closely guarded secret. Eddie comes to mind, but he works for that super agency. I'm torn on what to do. I'll have to talk about my dilemma with Sam before going anywhere else.

The thoughts of who to tell, bug me even after finishing my veterinary part-time nurse shift. Sam drives into the parking lane ahead of me. She usually is waiting, so I'm a bit surprised to see her arrive late.

"Was there traffic?" I say, sitting in Sam's car. The smell of coffee fills my nostrils. I take a deep breath to suck in the godly smell. There are two cups of coffee in the cup holder and a big of big cookies on the dash. "You didn't."

"I sure did," Sam giggles. I slip my sunglasses down my collar and then sip a mouth full of warm French vanilla.

"That's good," I say, shivering with pleasure from its godly taste.

"Don't my wet my seats. I don't want my car smelling like sex and piss."

"No promises." I drink about half, then snack on the cookie. "Ah, these are warm to? Sam, I'm going to explode." She cracks out laughing, which makes me laugh. I have to stop chewing just to prevent from choking.

"Calm your pussy till we get home." Our dirty innuendoes leave me giggling with thoughts of sex. I have to push those tendencies to the side, so I can discuss with her the issue that is bothering me.

"Hey, I need your opinion on something."

"Yeah? What do you need?" She says as we set for home.

"I want to explore my powers more. I thought of asking Eddie to help me find my limit of how far I can go, but I'm hesitant since he's working with that agency."

"You're still scared of them?"

"Mhmm," I say after taking another chuck out of my cookie.

"You could just find out yourself."

"I don't want to hurt anybody trying to figure it out." She momentarily scrunches her face with her mouth tightly shifted to the right side.

"What about going off somewhere where no one is around and testing them there."

"Examples please."

"A desert, ocean, island, far in the sky," she lists as she counts them out with her fingers. "You got tons of places, babe, where you can see how great you are."

"Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Thank you, Sam. This was bothering me all day."

"You're welcome." My phone pings in an incoming message twice. I check the screen to find it's Eddie.

"Fuck."

"What is it?"

"It's Eddie."

"Speak of the devil," she chuckles. "What does he want?"

"He wants me to join a parade." Eddie sends me another message in the form of a video. I tap the screen to play it.

"Yo, Nikki! How's it hanging?" Eddie yells as a marching band walks behind him. He says he and his friends are out celebrating the heroes who sacrificed their blood, sweat, and tears to protect our city. He's inviting me to join in on the celebration. The video ends abruptly, cutting off the last word in his sentence.