When Heroes Rise

Kirsten

I frowned as I sat up.

I can't take it in here anymore, I thought to myself as I jumped out of bed. I stumbled slightly but quickly caught myself, then quietly padded towards the door. I stopped when I heard Fawn murmuring from her bed.

"Kirsti? Where are you going?" She propped herself up on her shoulder, squinting at me through sleepy eyes.

"I can't sleep." I mumbled. "Gonna go downstairs."

"Are you sure? Let me go with you." She sat up, getting ready to follow me.

I half smiled and shook my head. "Nah, you don't need to."

"No really," She ruffled her hair as she walked towards me. "I can't sleep either. Come on." She reached for the

doorknob, but I stopped her.

"Wait, before you go." I pulled her away from the door a bit and turned her around to face me. "Test."

Fawn groaned quietly. "But Kirsti! I tested already before bed."

"I know, now do it again." I gestured for her to hurry.

Ever since our last battle with ERR, I had felt weaker a lot more often. Everyone knew that already, and so I was put under close supervision from anyone, especially Fawn and the boys, who was stable with their powers.

But ever since earlier this week, there had been something wrong with me that I'm pretty sure everyone knows about by now. I had noticed that my powers had been somewhat... fading? Would that be the word? They were pretty weak, until earlier tonight when I had 'flung Zen all the way to California,' as Angel would say. I guess that just a surge from anger towards that twat.

Then after that, I felt kind of drained and my powers were... well, gone. A lot of them thought I suddenly got powersucked out of nowhere, and I've come to believe that myself. So from then on, I had gotten really worried and got some others to 'test' their powers to see if they were still there. I checked mostly with Fawn and Xander. I really hate that this is happening just the night before battle.

Fawn sighed then stepped back. A sharp snap came from her fingers and for a very short moment, a small spark lit up. She then snapped again, this time causing a bigger spark which lit up her face, quickly disappearing.

After one last snap, she opened her palm, and a flame floated above it. The light flickered and shone, showing our faces in the dark room.

After a silent moment, Fawn balled her hand into a fist, making the flame disappear. "Okay," I nodded. "it's good. Now let's go."

We tiptoed down the stairs to the living room, and I took a quick glance at the clock. 4.37... it's most likely empty downstairs by now. I bet.

But I was wrong. At first glance, I noticed Xander sitting in a couch in the dim light. His back was to us, but I could tell by the slight, almost glowing of his highlights.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked, his back still to us.

"Uhuh." I mumbled.

"C'mere?" He turned to look at us and gave a small smile.

We walked over to couch, sitting next to him. Now that I could see him, I noticed that his hair was cut back to its normal length, but he still had to hold his bangs back with those red bobby pins because he particularly didn't like them in his eyes, especially when he was wearing his glasses.

I gave a kiss on the cheek and looked back up at his highlights. "They're glowing. You're playing with electricity again?"

"Mhm." He nodded, holding his hands up for us to see. He slowly moved his fingers as small bolts snaked through them. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, he launched a few bolts towards the fireplace, which was nearest to me, causing sparks to explode from the logs, quickly becoming a soft flame.