Fate decides who comes into your life; your heart decides who stays.
"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐼𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑."
[X-Men: First Class - X-Men Apo...
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Energy can be defined as the power required for physical and mental activity. People sometimes see it as souls or auras surrounding a person, feeding them the strength they need to continue.
Energy is life itself in all its imperfections.
It is heat and fire, growing with the winds. It is cold and ice, spreading across the waters. It is an ever-flowing breath. It is infinite and power in its purest form. Energy is life.
Even as the sun beats down on Ria's blanket-covered back, she can't help but miss it. Such an explosion of power—of energy—has left her freezing, her body shivering to find some semblance of warmth despite the heat around her. As if her body cannot fathom more energy, it actively pushes it away, an aura of danger surrounding her that the others may not recognize but obey, no one approaching her. The only one brave enough was a human CIA agent who had reported that Darwin was rushed to the hospital. That she had saved his life, but no one knew when he would wake.
After that, they let her be.
Though she saved him, though she took Alex's energy that became Shaw's weapon and flung it outward, destroying the facility in all its concrete walls, it shakes her to her core. It had been centuries since she used her power to this degree, and it absolutely terrified her. Every piece of her soul recoils from the pit in her gut as if it could burn.
It is not the mutants she fears. No, they each understand what it is like to be afraid. It is not even the humans who cast her wary looks from time to time as she stares at the chunks of concrete sticking up from the ground. They may fear the mutants, they may even lock her away, but she will always escape mortal binds.
She fears who else might have been waiting for her to explode.
Not even the loud rumble of displaced gravel makes her look away as a car pulls to a stop before the destroyed facility. She can hear three people step out, but she cannot bear to look over. It's her fault. She was supposed to be qualified and ready to shield the mutants, and she failed catastrophically.
Managing to lift her gaze, she watches Charles embrace his foster-sister while Erik looks around, his eyes narrowed on what is left of the building. Moira rushes towards the other humans to distract them or get a report, Ria cannot tell. When she looks up into Erik's eyes, her fists tighten against the woolen blanket, pulling it closer to her skin.
"We've made arrangements for you all to be taken home immediately," Charles says, eyeing the young mutants.
"We're not going home," Sean replies before motioning to Alex. "He's not going back to prison."
Alex slowly looks up from his hands. "They almost killed Darwin." His eyes dance over to her. Ria pulls her knees closer to her chest and looks back at the building.
