DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Alternate Reality PHX: Phoenix Reform Academy Girls common room.

Peri

She re-entered the room, and immediately set to making a pot of tea.

“I like you exactly as you are, broken bits and all. Think everyone here’s broken in one way or another, counting the staff. Least that’s the impression I get, and I’m a pretty good judge of character...” she trailed off a bit, considering the case of her father before adding a hesitant, “mostly.”

Growing up dirt poor, as essentially her father’s full-time caregiver, she’d had to find a way to survive and navigate a world full of bullies, gossips, busybodies, and people looking to take advantage. It was a crash course in learning to be hyper-aware of everyone’s moods, reading them, identifying threats, working out how to avoid conflict.

“We’re all broken, specially the ones that think they aren’t.”

Cadence shifted her attention the Peri when the door opened. She watched her head for the kitchen to make more tea. Cadence fidgeted with the pad in her lap while Peri spoke some reassurance to Dash. Odd group to be sure, and damaged was probably true. Weird dynamic layered on top, each of them able to lend support at different times, and then receive it at others.

In a way, it reminded her of the Youth Group Afterglows right after the Pastor's altar call. Confess your brokenness and cry out for help, and ultimately find community in just how broken everyone around you is, and know you aren't alone. In a way... this wasn't Salvation in Jesus Christ by any stretch of the imagination. Cadence didn't really know what it was... yet.

Dash tilts her head at Peri

“You s... you, well, are nice.”

She pauses.

“Good having friends.”

A little Smile.

Cadence

Cadence looked between the two. She thought that a smile might be good, but there were so many competing thoughts. Dask was right in that regard, she was a thinker. Dash hinted at being bigger than she should be and that was potential problem that simply added to Cadence's concerns for the Girl with the Glitch.

"How old are you Hadasha?"

Dash

She thinks for a little.

“Well, Blake is one more than fifteen I think. And ... I think I’m five younger? They gave me a ten year exam to tell if I was st... yet broken. Gave Blake a fifteen as well together, I got picked up not long after. Ten? Eleven? Don’t know my birthday, never told me. Not great with math.”

Cadence

Cadence closed her eyes. She wished she couldn't care. She wanted to keep the walls up between herself and everyone else. With eyes closed, head bowed a little, Cadence sighed. The kid was 10 or 11, in the body of a 15 year old. She was living a life in a state of pain, at some varying level, every second of the day. Being Evil wasn't enough of an excuse to do this to a kid. Why was he doing it? But another question was... How? She had already picked up on what was causing do much of Dash's troubles and it wasn't something you could just experiment with unless you had help from someone who could touch it. Dash had no chance of making it through that experiment. She was broken from the moment they started on her.

"Come here," she said as she offered a hug. Hadasha could be one of the kids in her youth group. She could be one of the girls that Cadence used to baby-sit for. "I'm sorry ya'll have to go through this... Are the doctors here helping you? What are they saying?"

Peri

“Doubt ‘Kidu cared a lot about a normal education, and you had to think of survival rather than homework. Then your body skipped a few years, so people expect you to be further along than you are. You’re climbing a mountain, but you haven’t been given any tools or training, and you have the weight of all those expectations on your back. But you’re still climbing, and you haven’t fallen yet. Know what that says to me? It says you’re smart, and got good instincts. You’re strong. You’re a survivor.”

Dash:

She leans in resting her head.

“Well. Mariel think she knows what make the glitch but is trying to figure out how to make it go away, she told me. Can’t find ... piece of puzzle. Trying to find way to make me grow less.”

She leans up and looks over at Peri.

“No, no teachers. Blake, some teachers. Others, many teachers. Blake is good. Doesn’t like people much tho. Her words ... ‘People usually aren’t worth much...”

She looks back over at both of them.

“... but there are a few.”

Cadence Marie Weathers

She didn't plan on caring. Not about this place, or her future, or even for herself. And certainly not for anyone else around her. She had surrendered because she had done a terrible thing to stop a terrible thing. And she had done the kind of amoral math that her Mother... her biological mother... was so fixated upon. That made her a villain, right? That made her a killer for sure. Cadence didn't even know how many people died because of her decision, her choice. She didn't know the fullness of Alchemy's plans. She knew her part and she knew enough about the trap Alchemy was setting at the building with those hostages. She never understood why or for what purpose. But she knew enough, probably more than these heroes knew. She didn't know much, but they obviously knew next to nothing about what was really happening last night.

She didn't want to care... She wanted to be put out of her misery. She was the monster and hated the monster. Two separate people who were the same. Her decision proved to herself that she was this person and that she was capable of doing things, terrible things, to chase after some better solution.

Always plans within plans. And what if Alchemy planned for a betrayal? What if she calculated that it might happen, could happen, would happen?

None of this should have ever included her. She was a happy teenage cheerleader from West Texas. This was going to be her senior year. Homecoming, Captain of the varsity Cheer Squad. Finish off this year with that 4.0 and get her scholarship to UT, Hook'em Horns. The dances that led to Prom and then graduation.

All of it gone. Yeah, whatever. Poor little girl. Holding Hadasha in her arms she felt the weight of her own troubles bearing down on her and then imagined how much heavier Hadasha's problems were and she was only 11. Cadence hid her face in the sofa until she could get control of her emotions again.

It all sucked. None of them asked for their lives to be torn apart like this. Several deep breaths. Compartment the emotions. What does Elsa say? Conceal, don't feel.

There was the sound of someone walking through the room without any accompanying visual. The fridge opens, a jug of milk seemingly floats over to a glass, opens then pours, closes itself and floats back Into the fridge.

Peri

To be honest, she didn’t really know what to do with herself. Between school - well, as much school as he could manage to go to - and keeping her dad alive, and the string of short-lived part time jobs and odd jobs to bring in money for the bills, the household chores, and making some attempt at doing homework in the few odd moments she could squeeze in, spare time wasn’t something she’d ever had.

She wasn’t sure she liked it. Too much space to think. So rather than sit there and marinate in her own ruminations, she got up and started tidying.

Dash remained in the hug for a minute longer until Cadence let go. She did say “hey Blake” as the objects started moving around.

Peri

“Nice to meet ya,” she says to the floating objects.

Cadence

It wasn't until Dash acknowledged the presence of whoever it was that came through the door. Cadence hadn't been looking that way, instead focusing on Dash's vulnerability and staving off the realization of her own. The Blonde cheerleader swiveled around in the sofa to look toward the kitchenette to see no one. Oh, someone was there alright. There had to be someone because Cadence didn't believe Ghosts were real and a floating glass and pouring milk didn't happen without reason and purpose. Dash obviously knew her, and Peri greeted her; but Cadence was going to wait a bit to hear or 'see' more.

A face fades into view bit by bit, doing a reverse Cheshire, starting with the teeth and eyes and nose, then the rest swimming into view until there was, in essence, a floating disembodied head, which proceeds to drink from the glass..



“Hey little D.”

She looks over at the other two.

“Heyas there, gals. Name’s Blake. I’d let you see the rest of me, But then I’d have to kill ya. Nah. Actually, it would take enough concentration that it would be hard for me to hold a conversation, ya know.”

Peri

“I’d ask what your power was, but...” a lopsided smile.

“I’m Peri. Whatever’s comfortable for you is fine with me.”

Anne

The door opened and she walked in slowly as if each step were effort. She didn't look any worse than she had earlier in the parlor room, but something was different.

"Hi," she offered generally to the room.

Blake:

“Hey yo, chika.”

Says the disembodied head.

Cadence

Anne entered and Cadence watched her gait but didn't understand what it was she was seeing. She leaned to Hadasha as her attention returned to Blake, "Maybe introduce us all?"

Anne

She stops mid stride and almost falls over. She looks at the head and it takes her a moment before her mouth closes. Finally she says "hi," again. "I don't believe I have seen you before. Following Cadence's suggestion she offers "Anne," though she doesn't say much else. She seems mesmerized by the floating head.

She straightens up and continues to stand there.

Dash

“Blake, no last name. Picked up when I was picked up. From Enkidu. As you can ... tell, she turns invisible. Um. Rather, she is invisible and can kinda go visible. Um. She is the other older girl I was talking abut. Blake this is Cadence, Anne and Peri.”

Blake
“I can go visible, but it’s a strain, makes me tired and gives me a headache. So I try to keep it at a minimum. On the plus side, I could walk around all day in my underwear and no one would even know. On the minus side, well, someone might sit on me.”

Peri

“Nice to meet you. I don’t actually know what I can do. Turns out my dad can block people’s powers, and I guess he was doing it with mine, not sure if on purpose or on accident. Turned 16 last month.”

She didn’t look a day over 13.

Cadence simply nodded when Dash said her name. This whole 'getting to know you' thing was mentally tiring. It felt like there was some overt effort to normalization the 'Guests' of this facility when only just the night before...

Cadence dismissed the thought. The idea of it was good but it just felt forced. Throw the supervillain kids everyone together, see what happens, watch the kabuki theater as they all act out their best impressions of being civilized... or at least trying not to act feral.

Anne

"I can't say you didn't surprise me. For whatever reason in this place of anything goes, I just didn't expect an invisible woman. Really need to make sure your last name is Griffin though," she said with her lips quirked up at the edges of her mouth."

She still hadn't moved,

Blake:

“No last name. At any rate, welcome to the Bates motel. They say breakfast will be available until ten, they’re going to want to start processing some of you and get ya figured out. You might not have noticed them, but each of you has an alarm. Figure you new guys are gonna get the short end first. Questions ask me or little d. I don’t think you look like psychos. No more than I do anyways.”

“Might want bed and a start early tonight.”