Mystic Resonance

The Muscle and the Heart

We won.

We beat the siren and captured her. Xander had a tight grip on her. She struggled as much as possible, but the spider got a tight grip on her elbow. "Thank you, everyone. We were a phenomenal team", Xander praised our teamwork.

"Was this a team credit? According to my memories, you were affected by the siren's song", Donnie pointed out, "You barely did anything that benefit us other than becoming bait."

"I don't recall such an event."

"I hope Merrill and Leo are alright", Lydia said, looking down. Katie wrapped her arm around her. I'm just as worried as she is. Merrill said it was not Leo. So, was he possessed? A ghost possessing my little brother. I don't like it. Not one bit.

"If anyone can bring Leo back, it's Merrill!" Mikey cheered. I hope my baby brother never changes. I hope any of my brothers don't change, regardless of how everything is going so far.

"Nonetheless, I thank you for your assistance", Xander continued, "hopefully, we'll cross paths and join forces once again. My regards to Leonardo. Do tell how courageous and heroic in was in protecting his honor."

"Like that's a fat chance in Hell", April neglected, to which I agree. There's no way we're going to praise his so-called heroic act.

"Bye, Felicia! See you never!" Alex waved him off despite the fact the guy is a yokai!

"Shame", Xander tugged the siren close, "it was nice to meet you all, including your human allies. Let's hope our next encounter will not be on a sour note." He left with the lady in tow. We didn't bother saying goodbye, rather we were focused on our phones. I felt something on my arm. I jerked to see Alex's delicate hand on it. Their bright green eyes searched my eyes.

I saw something I didn't notice before. Alex had dark circles underneath their eyes which reminded me of a cute raccoon. I haven't seen them probably because they were covered in makeup. With all the excitement they must have worn off. I focused on their hand; it was shaking and so were their legs. It's like any minute now they would topple over. Was Alex sleep deprived?

"Are you alright, Raphael?" I stopped looking at the blonde. I saw the others looking my way, witnessing my odd behavior. "You were staring into space", Alex said.

"I'm just worried about Leo", I admitted, somewhat, "We just seen Merrill get possessed. Now Leo is experiencing this, too. Was this also part of that past life thing Merrill told us about? This whole thing is... is..."

"Overwhelming?" I looked at Don. He had that far-off gaze on his face. "I'm still grasping the information we were presented. I can't say for sure I'm on board. Can't say I even believe it myself."

Mikey was already on Donnie's side. "How can you say that? We just witnessed something mystical and you doubt it!"

"Eye roll. Who's to say what Merrill says is true? All for what? A ghost telling him that he and Leo are meant to be? That they're soulmates? How uncanny. Ghosts aren't real, Angelo. Sure, we have seen crazier things lately, but there's still the matter of not all creatures we encounter being as real as the stories we've heard." Donnie being the smartest of us does make a point. Honestly, I do have some doubts, too, especially Goth Boy blurting out the soulmates part and the mind link. Then another part believes it seeing both him and Leo's expressions, including my brother's; Leo looked... shocked. I wanted to punch Goth Boy's pretty face! It was so obvious Leo liked him! You would be blind not to see it! Yet, he laid it out in the open to not let secrets get between them. Okay, it wasn't the best time for it, could've done it at a better time, but I respect what he was trying to do.

"How can you explain how Leo got through to Dark Merrill?" Mikey countered.

"I don't know! A memory trigger or something! That kiss triggered something in Merrill back to reality reverting back to his normal form. Yes! That sounded more plausible!"