Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 5

"Even if you don't mean for it, it will still happen," Zackary responded to the woman. "Say, you're not spending as much time with her, or spending quite a bit of time with Joey. But, this is something I wouldn't know. Would you like me to keep an eye on her? And by the way, how's Simon doing?"

"I want to spend more time with her... but I also want her to start thinking more maturely. The Storm royally screwed us all up but she's fourteen and I have to treat her like she's still nine." Erika replied. "If you would, thanks. And Simon's doing pretty well. He's gotten... stronger I think, since Heidi's been away."

"I'll be her body guard then," Zackary said, giving the woman a slight smile before then looking forwards. "You're right, it did screw us up...Three years ago, I saw my sister...somewhat...And he got stronger? That's good to hear, has he ever asked about me?"

"Sometimes. He was worried about a lot of you since you didn't stay in the village, but I think he tries to hide how sad he can get from Heidi." Erika rubbed the back of her head weakly. "But this is me just inferring things. Simon is pretty self-sufficient when he wants to be and is a good friend to Elena."

"Well, I was still around, on the mountain. This time, I'll try to stay in the village, and try to control my emotions." Zackary said to her.

Erika gave Zackary a smile. "I'm glad that your staying."

"If anything, I'll just change into my weaker personas, but I've got a few ideas to help protect your crops, just in case I get annoyed," Zackary then said, returning the smile.

"Always a plus." Erika joked weakly.

"Well then," Zackary chuckled and continued to walk

"Did a good job, too. Nice village you've got here. Much better than the one I made a while back, or any of the others I've been in. Better architecture, if not defense," Tom replied, observing as best he could.

Ari snorted. "You think I'm the leader? Nah, that's the older kids jobs. We have a couple earth manipulators around, so it wasn't that hard to build things up. And we've had six years to learn from our mistakes," she nodded.

Heidi and Benji sat down on the fountain, speaking quietly. "Listen, Benji, I have other friends that I need to go back to," she sighed. "I feel bad for holding Tom up here."

"But you just got here! I...I thought you were dead, you can't leave just yet!" Benji protested, holding on tightly to his sister's arm.

At this Heidi sighed. "I'm sorry, but there's another boy your age waiting for me to come home, too... I got on with my life, I didn't think I was going to see you again..."

"I just meant it as a general complement. And earth-manipulators, eh? Any of 'en blind?" Tom asked interestedly. His acute hearing could pick up most of what Heidi and Benji were saying.

"So, Erika, how much farther until the village?" Zackary asked of the woman, since he was unfamiliar with the land scape.

(~)

As soon as the group set Paul down, Sage walked up, feeling a little queasy from seeing the stick sticking out from his leg. "Can...one of you remove that as soon as you see me have a circle underneath me? I...can heal him then."

"Five minutes tops." Erika replied. "I can carry her if you want."

"I'll be good," Zackary said. "Just wondering, since I don't know the landscape."

"Um, well one of them is colorblind, but he was before the Storm," Ari frowned. "Sorry."

Benji frowned. "So? I'm your brother, can't you just stay here?" he asked.

"Benji, I promised him I'd be coming home. Plus, I have things to take care of there. I helped found the village, and you know me, I'm not much of a people person," Heidi tried to explain, without having to go into detail of her conquest to kill Joey or the tournament.

"Well, can't I come with you, then?"

Simon was waitign otuside the house once they got back, looking worried. "Is Elena alright?"

OOC: Leaving soon.

"She's alright, just passed out from hunger," Zackary responded to the kid.

"Tch," Tom replied, listening interestedly to Heidi's response. "Surprised that there are so many people with the same power."

Ari shrugged. "I don't think Flows were handed out randomly. I mean, before the Storm, I took karate and the kick boxing, and my Flow boosts my agility. This was an pretty rural area even before the Storm, so a lot of people were probably already used to working with the ground."

Heidi blinked, in shock for a second. Why would he want to come with her? It definitely was a more stable lifestyle here. As far as she knew, there weren't bipolar maniacs knocking their gates over every other day. "Um, are you sure? I mean, y-you're probably better off staying here... Where I live is a lot less developed, and there's a couple crazy people, and there are about two kids your age..."

"You're my big sister, aren't you?" Benji frowned. "Why can't I come with you?"

"Whoever hands them out must've ran out of original ideas then," Tom remarked dryly.

"There's lots of people in the world. If y' think about it, pro'lly what, seven billion kids survived? I doubt there's seven billion different Flows. The people who control the ground just got lucky and haven't died off yet," Ari stated, peering over at Heidi. "So what's her Flow? It didn't show when she was around. More importantly, I guess, you have any idea where she's been these last couple years? I dunno how long you've known her."

Heidi sighed, giving in. She was getting to be a big pushover, a marshmallow. "Fine, do what you want. But Nathan's gonna get angry at me if you slow us down, if he hasn't ditched us already."

Benji grinned, hugging Heidi.

"Yeah, you're right there. Her Flow is blood manipulation. Pretty morbid, it occasionally messes with her head. And where she's been for the last few years is a small village. Where she was, maybe five years ago, is a much longer and more depressing story. I don't know the specifics of the last few years, I never saw her. I was trying to find myself," Tom explained lengthily. He never liked those small speeches.

Ari's frown deepened. "Well that's not good... She used to be pretty handy with a first aid kit, so we had her on running the medical station, but after what happened with Mary, y'know, her sister, she got pretty queasy around blood," she explained, deciding not to pry into the depressing story. "What do you mean 'find yourself'?"

"It's also a long and depressing story, tied to depression. Safe to say it had a happy ending," Tom replied wearily, not wanting to explain what happened with Shima.