POWER MANIACS (girlxgirlxgirl)

10. Water

🎆

⚠mentions of death threats, mentions of bruises and violence and death ⚠

"I'm Alda, what's your name?"

The name that sits on his tongue is not something that he wants to say. So, with a moment of hesitance, the boy looks down at the girl.

"Spirit. It's a weird name, I know. But it suits my powers"

Powers are so complicated. They are hard to understand and hard to control, not to mention how much they ruin lives.

In the beginning Spirit thought that it was normal to have weird powers, to be able to move things with your mind, to be able to move a little faster than others. Spirit remembers sitting in the hallway of the apartment complex, highest up on the staircase to the fifth floor. That was his favorite spot to sit. There was this paper there, on the floor. An old newspaper. He would move it with his mind, without lifting a finger the paper would shift from one step to the other, down the staircase. Every day, one step. And when the last step came around, there was this black van parked outside their building.

Spirit quickly found out that he couldn't, in fact, move things with his mind. Such powers don't really exist, not even telepaths can do it. No, his powers lie in controlling the air and wind. And with that wind he could then undoubtedly move things, like that old newspaper on the edge of the staircase. But by that point he had already been given a nickname by the younger boy living next door. Spirit, like a ghost. Because he could run faster than others, almost silently, like a ghost, and move things with his mind.

Despite his powers being about air now, Spirit hasn't bothered to change his name. It suits him. Sometimes he does feel like that. Like a ghost.

He was brought to the facility the same week as Alda. They've been close ever since, like sister and brother. Alda is water and speed powered, and Spirit is Air and speed powered. They make a good team, so the facility has been pushing for them to work together ever since the beginning. Through pair exercises in the death field to working together in the outside world since day one, Spirit can't remember when last he was apart from Alda for more than a day.

They met about five years ago, now. Two months later than everybody else. It was hard to fit in with the other Powered when coming in later than them, but together with Alda everything worked out fine. Spirit likes to think of them as soulmates, best friends. Like how the wind causes waves in the water or tropical storms to spin, they have mastered several difficult combo attacks together simply because they are that compatible.

"Wait up, I've got a message"

Or maybe not that compatible. They actually have less in common than they have differences. Spirit is well... a spirit. He is a little bit dull sometimes, kind of serious and quiet. Like Irie, but without the emotions. It's not a part of his personality, or at least it wasn't. It just kind of developed with time, a way for him to cope with the world around him. Alda, on the other hand, has found a different way to cope. Her happiness is nearly poisonous, that's how happy she is. In the beginning it was just naive positivity, but nowadays it's something more. She has constant energy and a good mindset, a true sunny outlook on life. She is very emotional, in a happy way, and she isn't afraid to express things either. But to be honest, all Powered have toned down with time. The higher their powers become, the stronger they become, the less they find themselves speaking and expressing themselves. Spirit has observed it all from his quiet point of view, and he can see it happening in front of his very own eyes. The way they develop over time.

Alda turns around, seeing Spirit engrossed in the watch around his hand. She watches his eyes widen with every second that passes.

"What is it?"