Origins

End

October 19th, 2020

4:36 p.m.

"Let me out! Why are you doing this?!" I screamed at the guards but the ignored me and pushed me into a metal chair across from a metal table. They handcuffed me and then left.
"Come on Harald! Don't do this!" I said to one of the guards as he slammed the door shut. I didn't even know if Harald was his real name or not but hey this can't get any worse, can it?
Oh no! I did the thing. I asked if it could get any worse. Well, brace yourself because it's about to get a whole lot worse.
I sat in silence for a few moments. It was rather peaceful considering everything that had happened that day. But my peace was interrupted by two teenagers who entered the room loudly slamming the door behind them and each of them taking a seat in the chairs on the other side of the desk. They were lucky. At least they don't have to wear handcuffs.
Wait a second. As I got a closer look at them I realized it was the two teens from the restaurant! Had the ratted me out for my dad or something?
"Do you know why you're here Seth?" The boy asked.
"Um . . . let's see, maybe because you dragged me here against my will?" The boy did not look impressed with that answer. He folded his arms and the girl still remains silent. "It's because of my dad, isn't it? You overheard us in the restaurant." I guessed, deciding to take a more serious approach.
"Yep.," the boy said. "Your dad is a wanted villain Seth."
"Yeah I know, I'm not proud of it."
"You know he's been in hiding for the past few years," said the boy. As I kept looking him I realized he looked somewhat familiar.
"You're the one. The one with the power that tells if someone has the Potential aren't you?" I asked excitedly.
"Would you stop acting like such a geek and listen to me?" he said annoyed. "Your dad has come out of hiding and we need to find him. We found out about the mind-controlled guy you work with and we need you to tell us anything you know about where your dad could be hiding. We have to find him and take him in." The boy sounded really determined. Why?
"You're just a teenager kid. What makes you qualified to bring in a mass villain like my dad?" I asked. Normally the Council didn't approve quests like this to younger heroes. The boy looked a little nervous for a second, then recovered.
"Just trust me ok?"
"Nah, I don't trust you," I said casually leaning back in my chair. "I don't even think you're supposed to be here, 'interrogating' me if you can call it that. You're doing a bad job kid."
"Look," he started angrily, rising a bit from his chair but the girl put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and she used her other hand to sign to him. Odd . . .
"What happened to-" I started to ask.
"She was mind controlled by your father! She fought it and look what it did to her! She can't speak because of your stupid evil-"
"I'll help you."
"What?" he asked in bewilderment sitting back in the chair. The girl looked at me with wide but grateful eyes.
"I want to help you arrest my father. But first, we need to get someone who can help us."
"Who? Is it another hero?" the boy asked in excitement.
"She's not yet, but we can fix that," I said and they stood up to leave. "Um guys," I said holding up my chained hands as far as I could. "Maybe after you free me."
"Oh right." the boy said pulling a key from his pocket and sticking it in the keyhole of the cuffs.
"How did you get that?" I asked after the lock clicked, rubbing my sore wrists and standing up.
The boy grinned. "I have my ways. Now let's go get this other hero, I can sense where she is."
"How? Oh right she doesn't have her powers yet so you can still feel her Potential." I guessed.
"Dude," he said frowning in concern while the girl reached for the door. "You're such a geek."

Once we got out of the interrogation room, the boy and girl lead me into a small janitor closet. Luckily, on our way to the closet, there were no guards. That's weird. When we were inside the girl started rummaging through some of the boxes on the shelves.
"What are we doing in here? And what are your names?" I asked the boy as the girl opened another box and looked through it.
"We need to find a mirror," said the boy as the girl pulled a portrait sized mirror out of the big box she had just opened. "as for our names, well I'm Blaine and this is Guinevere."
"Nice to meet you, Blaine," I said holding out my hand. Blaine shook it and then, "May I ask why we need a mirror?"
"Because Guinevere needs one for her powers to work," Blaine said, helping Guinevere prop the mirror against the wall. Guinevere turned and signed something to Blaine then she looked back at the mirror and closed her eyes, pointing her hand at it. A ripple passed through it like it was really reflective water that had just been touched, and then Guinevere stepped towards it sticking her hand inside the mirror. After her whole arm was inside she signed to Blaine with her other hand and then stepped into the mirror, disappearing. I will admit I let out a slight yelp. (Blaine said that I screamed but I don't think so.)
"Relax dude," Blaine laughed, calmly standing in front of the mirror. "We have to go inside if we want to get to your friend without running into any guards." he looked over at me and indicated to the mirror. "After you."
I gulped. "Are we sure this is safe? I mean what if we get stuck inside?" I asked walking in front of the mirror next to Blaine. It looked like a normal mirror now and I could see my own reflection.
My blonde hair was a mess and my brown jacket was still slightly covered in soot.
"You'll be fine man!" Blaine said clapping me on the back. "I've done it loads of times and I'm still here right?"
"I suppose . . . " I said uneasily. But before I could put my hand in the mirror to test it as Guinevere did, Blaine laughed and pushed me inside.

I stumbled and fell inside on my face. Guinevere was waiting sitting cross-legged, concentrating on keeping the mirror portal opened. Inside the mirror was . . . interesting. It looked like nothing had changed except for the fact that everything was backward like you were well, on the other side of a mirror. I stood up and turned around to see the mirror I had fallen through (thanks to Blaine). Blaine was standing on the other side but he didn't look like he could see us. He stepped through and a look of relief passed over Guinevere's face and she stood up walking over to Blaine. She signed something to him again and he nodded.
"What did she say?" I asked because I didn't know sign language.
"We need to hurry," Blaine said as he and Guinevere started walking out of the closet and back into the hallway. "Your friend is on the other side of the atrium and let's hope there's a mirror nearby or else we can't get out."
"Are you kidding me? You're telling me this now?" I exclaimed, following them.
"Nope," Blaine said simply, practically running with Guinevere down the hall and into the atrium. I ran to keep up. Blaine stopped in the middle of the atrium and put his fingers to his temples, concentrating on finding Alessandra. I looked over at Guinevere.
"So you have mirror portal powers? Or can you make a portal out of anything?" I asked. Guinevere nodded. "Wait is that a yes to the first one or the second one?"
She looked at me in confusion like, really you're asking me two questions at once and can't read sign language. How do you expect me to answer?
"Oh, I see the problem. Can you only make portals with mirrors?" I asked. She shrugged and then nodded. I guess she hasn't tried to make a portal out of anything else.
"Ok this way!" Blaine said, and then jogging down a hallway slightly to the left. Guinevere and I jogged after him. "Ok the only mirror close by is in the room across from the room she's in. So we'll help you through the mirror and wait for you to get her," he said to me, turning a corner in the hall and then stopping in front of a middle door on the right.
"She's in this room?" I asked pointing to the room across from the one Blaine was opening.
"Yes, but we need to get off here first," he said walking into the room followed by Guinevere.
Sure enough, there was a giant mirror on the opposite wall. But other than that the square room was bare.
"What is this room even for?" I asked.
"This was Guinevere's training room when they trained her to use her portal powers, they started with using mirrors," said Blaine.
Guinevere did her portal thing and the giant mirror was big enough for all three of us to jump through together.
"Ok now you need to hurry, I don't know why but I saw one of the Council members with Alessandra," said Blaine quickly, shoving me out the door.
"Wait, who?" I asked in shock. But Blaine acted like he didn't hear me and slammed the door behind me, leaving me in the hallway alone.
I walked over to the door where he said Alessandra was. What was she doing on this side of the building? This is normally where you go when you have powers or are getting powers. Did she choose to get some? Why didn't she tell me?
Well, you were kind of busy being arrested, I thought. Wait, what if we do leave here and go after my dad? I could be labeled as a fugitive . . . or worse. I hesitated to open the door for a second.
Then I opened it right as a gunshot sounded.
What I saw was a blur I wasn't sure what to make of. I saw Mia Sterlings, from the Council, pointing a gun at Alessandra who was tied to a chair in the dark room. Sterlings had just shot Alessandra.
"NO!" I wanted to scream, but I couldn't get my voice to work. I held out my hand and a flame sat inside, not even warming my hand, and before I knew what I was doing I had thrown a fireball at the Council member who had just shot my best friend.