Retro-cognition

Chapter 18 - Training

Chapter 18 – Training

Unique panted and beads of sweat covered her forehead. She wiped it away with the back of her wrist and sucked in a deep mouthful air. Concentrate. This getting in touch with your powers thingy wasn’t easy. Sion’s words echoed inside her mind. "You literally can’t afford slacking and failing."

She attempted to transport over to the other side of the large grass-covered field. No such luck.

"Promise me, Unique." Sion’s words came back, and true to her words, she recalled the memory of her dumping down in the large park, soiling her Goddess gown. She was aware that he’d only wanted her to remember when she tried to get a vision, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to do it after transporting either.

She’d been at this for hours now. The sun was high up on the sky, signaling that it was already close to noon. Her stomach felt fine though. The only worry about the time of the day came with the fact that Sion hadn’t returned. She shook her head of her ridiculous thoughts. Sion always returned. She smiled at the thought. Sion had yet to abandon her, and she didn’t think he had plans to start.

Vision time. She’d been switching back and forth between fine-tuning and transporting. Somehow, she was pleased that the practicing of her visions seemed to be more responsive than her ability to jump from one place to another. It was liberating to be able to use her powers without her father breathing down her neck with warnings.

Unique plopped down on the grass and crossed her legs. She needed to control her breathing first. What should she look for? If only she knew what would be the best way to start. Normally, you weren’t to use your powers on another God, but they were the same species as her. It would make sense for that to be the safer option rather than concentrate on humans with all the emotion-filled memories.

As she tried to settle her beating heart, she recalled the differences between Gods and humans. She tried both earlier, but only glimpses had been available.

Perhaps…. An idea sprang to the front of her mind. She’d been focusing on strangers. Gods she had no way to reach, and humans she’d never met. Perhaps it would work if she already had been in their mind. The thought—albeit genius—made her pout. The only two Gods whose mind she’d been in was Envy and Sion, and Unique had no desire to go back to either of them.

If she had to choose though, then it would be Envy. Part of it intrigued her a bit, and that was just a bonus. What really sealed the deal was the possibility to avoid finding out more disturbing things about Sion. He’d grown on her lately, and she didn’t want to compromise that by discovering he’d spied on her showering or something along those lines.

A gust of wind caught her hair, and Unique thought of it as a sign. Yes, Envy was undeniably the best choice here. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, she decided to try. With closed eyes, she concentrated on Envy and the earlier memory from her. Time slowed down, and all Unique could hear was the sound of her own heart beating above her controlled breathing. The memory played until the end, and the images in her mind crumbled, but Unique didn’t react. She remained calm and focused. It didn’t take long before her mind opened up to the familiar sensation of another vision.

Retro was towering above her. Envy shrunk under his disappointed stare.

“You will never learn, will you?” Retro whispered. When he looked away, there was a stab of pain through Envy’s heart—he had given up on her. Something moist fell on her cheek, and as her hand came up to wipe it away, she discovered that she was crying.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, but Retro had already left her. She was alone. Envy looked toward the empty sky of Haims.

“They will all get what they deserve,” she said to the sky. It was a vow—all of them would get exactly what they deserved.

The vision switched, and Unique didn’t move in fear of ruining it. 

“Envy, Daughter of Amora, come forth and kneel,” the voice of Lif boomed throughout the whole temple.

Envy rose from her chair and walked up the long aisle with her head bowed. When she reached the end, she kneeled in front of the whole seat of Origins.

She was afraid to look up and meet the eyes of her father and her mother, but most of all she feared to look at the empty chair at the end. She knew that he wasn’t there. He would never be there. Retro had made it clear to her that he never wanted to lay his eyes on her again. In between her anger and jealousy, her heart ached because of the loss of his kind eyes.

“It has been decided,” Lif started. “That any God found guilty of betrayal caused by loss of control of their powers are never to set foot on the soil of Haims again. Envy, Daughter of Amora, you have abused the power within you and caused the death of a sister. I hereby banish you from our midst. Go now. Leave Haims, and face only death if you ever return.”

Silence. The silence was piercing, and Envy wanted to scream. She opened her mouth to let out her protest, when she was hurled throughout space and time. Agony seared through her, and she knew that now she was truly alone.

Unique screamed. So vivid and so heartbreaking. She never wanted to experience something like that again.

"Promise me, Unique."

She obeyed and recalled her first day on earth. Ugly wooden benches, grass tickling her bare feet, Sion being an idiot—it was all clear in her mind. She leaned back and stared at the blue sky.

She’d been in that vision longer than any vision before. The sun had moved to the opposite side of her. Where was Sion? It couldn’t take that long to find food, and drop in at Annelka’s place.

Unique was exhausted. It felt as if her muscles ached, but she hadn’t used them. She sighed; climbing that weak ladder wasn’t something she was looking forward to doing.

She looked towards the three and groaned at the distance. Alright, transportation. One last time. She could do it. She focused, and prayed more than hoped she’d be at the foot of the three when she opened her eyes.

A thump made her open her eyes, and she found that she had moved, albeit not as far as she wanted. She smiled brightly in responses—she was proud of what she had accomplished today. 

The whole thing gave her a bust of energy, and she jumped up with no hesitation. Now she just needed to wait until Sion returned with food.  

A/N - I am so sorry for the unusual long wait for this. Last week, I finally got to the #1 in Action, for almost 24 hours, and it was amazing. I couldn't have done it without you. You commenting, voting and cheering me on truly makes me want to keep on trying. Your support was all that made me decide not to give up on this story. These past days, I'd been struggling with where to take the story, and whether to even continue it. I was dangerously close to simply deleting it all. However, some of you urged me on, and for that I am truly happy. This chapter is dedicated to WrongWayJuliet because she cheered me up yesterday when I was in a horrible mood. Thank you to all of you for all the support. <3 With your help, I might actually get noticed at some point. YAAAY! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 MWAH!