29. P O W E R : Lost

PROLOGUE

"Thanks for coming on such short notice."

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The pendulum in the grandfather clock swung from one side to the other, keeping perfect time with the hands on the clock face. Two women were present in the room: one small, gray-haired, and wrinkled; the other of average height, with red hair and freckles.

"Of course, dearie," the elder woman replied, settling into a chair as the younger lay down on a couch. "You know I'm always available when you need me."

"I'm sorry you had to make the trip all the way up here," the redhead apologized. "I would've come down to you if I could, but—"

"Nonsense!" the first woman interrupted. "I enjoyed the trip, Cameron. And I've been wanting to visit Safe Haven for some time now! All I really needed was the money for the trip."

"Well, you know we were happy to provide it, Mrs. Winkler," Cameron responded with a smile.

"And I am ever so grateful for that." Mrs. Winkler crossed her legs and opened her notepad, holding her pen in the air. "Now, what's this all about, Cameron?"

Cameron sighed, staring at the ceiling as she folded her hands over her chest. "I had that dream again," she said quietly.

"Oh?" Mrs. Winkler's eyebrows rose in surprise. "The same one from before?"

"Yes. It... it came back."

"Oh, no," Mrs. Winkler fretted, shaking her head and clucking her tongue. "I'm sorry to hear that, dear. Do you know what triggered it?"

"I think so. There was this guy—my father, it turned out—and when he awakened my Wonder, I saw the dream again. Since then, I've had it a lot, and I recently started hearing this—"

Cameron stopped, blinking and turning to face the perplexed Mrs. Winkler. "I'm sorry—this is a really bad explanation, isn't it?" she realized, wincing.

"...W-Well... there's no such thing as a bad explanation, dear," Mrs. Winkler said, flustered. "But why don't you just start from the beginning?"

"Are you sure?" Cameron asked uncertainly. "It's a really long story."

"We've missed quite a lot of therapy time, Cameron," Mrs. Winkler pointed out. "Now's as good a time as any to catch up."

"Alright," Cameron replied. "You might wanna get comfortable, then..."

With that, she began to regale her therapist with the fantastical tale of her life since arriving in Safe Haven. Cameron told Mrs. Winkler of the Holy War, her bonding with the Phoenix, the Giants and Cthulhu, the Convergence, and the 2023 META Incident. Mrs. Winkler listened patiently throughout the entirety of Cameron's recollection, asking infrequent questions and dutifully taking notes.

"...and now, when I have the dream, it keeps going," Cameron concluded. "I keep flying, keep getting higher, and then... I catch on fire, and I... I fall." Her voice grew softer as she finished her story. "And there's this voice," she whispered. "This cruel, mocking voice. One I've heard more times than I can count. It says, 'Icarus, you flew too close to the sun'."

"And whose voice is it, Cameron?" Mrs. Winkler asked.

Cameron scowled darkly. "Fisi's," she muttered.

"Mm." Mrs. Winkler frowned. "Well, dear, I think this is a mixture of two things," she announced. "Your stress, and your—what did you call it? You Wonder awakening?"