POWER MANIACS (girlxgirlxgirl)

50. Acidic ice and fire

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"Irie I'm here but I don't know what to do, how can I break you out?"

"Dahlia? But the- the explosion. You're-"

"I got out, Irie. I got out before it happened. We don't have time for this, just tell me what to do"

Sometimes it's easier to take someone else's advice and do what they tell you to do. Sometimes it's easier to follow than it is to forge your own path. In moments of sadness and fear, when she is still unfamiliar with everything that she is doing, it is hard to take the initiative. When Dahlia knows that she is in a room full of people who have fought so many times before, who have lived this life for years- it's hard to lead her own way in the sight of such power.

"Irie"

Dahlia feels sheer anxiousness rise up in her throat. It tastes acidic.

"Dahlia I don't think-"

"Tell me what to do Irie"

But even though it is sometimes easier to follow, there will always come a time when there are no leaders around you. Nobody can take that role and tell you what to do. Irie and the rest of them, they're locked up and tied down right now. There is no way they know how to break free from this better than her. Dahlia keeps trying to contact Irie even after she realises this. She just wishes she could act helpless now, fall back and let them do what they can. Being a deadweight or a small pretty girl by their sides is the role where she felt the safest, where she didn't have to face anything that could ever hurt her again.

At some point she's going to have to face the fact that she's a Powered now, too. And that there is a reason why Irie and Enya kept encouraging her to practice her powers, even when they themselves only seemed to suffer from theirs. There is always something to gain from strength. It's always better to be confident in yourself more than to be confident in others.

Dahlia won't ask Irie what to do anymore.

She will tell her what to do, instead.

And the first problem at hand, is what Dahlia can only guess is whatever this company is doing to stop the Powered from using their powers. Whatever poison they are putting into them.

"Irie, is there a needle attached to you?"

"N-no, it's a chip. Back of the neck. I can feel it when it's refilled"

Dahlia kind of hates how hesitant Irie sounds. Almost like she still can't believe that Dahlia is actually alive. The Powered feels bad for her, and the others. She didn't even think that they could have thought-... she didn't realize that they thought she was dead. Sure, the house exploded. But after it happened Dahlia was only thinking of how to get back here, if not mourning what had happened. She didn't think of the fact that they could be mourning her death too, by mistake.

But there is no time to think of such things. Dahlia closes her eyes and starts moving forwards in the darkness. She is amazed at the capabilities of her powers, despite having known how beautiful they are. The connections of all living things form a spider web of some sorts, and using that spider web she can map out the room without having to see it. The figures are a bit unclear, but Dahlia looks around herself with her eyes still closed and notices how big this basement room is. And right there in the middle, connected to a whole system of cables and tubes hanging from the ceiling, are the five Powered.

Dahlia has no time to wonder where and who the sixth missing Powered is. But what she does know is that the more she walks, the closer she gets to the rest of them.