Potential Potentials

Happy Christmas!

Neriah's POV

We've fallen into a little routine of sorts, I've noticed, and it's almost nice. It brings some sense of normalcy, although nothing could ever really be normal with us.

But I still hate that nagging feeling I get that we really aren't accomplishing what we're supposed to do. Arkarian tries not to let it show – and it Arkarian doesn't want someone knowing something, then they really won't – but if I were him, I'd be slightly disappointed that we haven't yet been able to locate the Potential. We're up against a clock, and as much as being in this bubble of schoolwork and prom dress is a nice change, time is running out.

I shook my head, dispelling those thoughts. It wasn't an easy task we had to accomplish by any means. Maybe I should cut us some slack.

Grabbing my lunch tray, I grinned at Matt from across the lunch hall and went over to him. In a moment, Ethan and Dillon joined us, arguing over something quite vociferously.

"I swear that Miranda girl's seems fishy," insisted Ethan. "Just the other day, I swear she gave me the strangest look…"

"God, Ethan!" I retorted with a grin. "That's the fifth person you've sworn is a potential this week"

Matt chuckled and Ethan frowned as Isabel plopped down with Rochelle on the seat beside me.

"So Rochelle and I were going out for the track team," she announced, a frown set put between her brown eyes. "That is, of course, until I found out that we'd have co-ed practices and our captain is none other than - wait for it - bastard extraordinaire, Jared I'm-the-king-of-the-world-because-Daddy-can-afford-to-buy-me-a-Lambhorghini Stirling." She ended with a scowl, stabbing a piece of potato on her plate viciously.

"Isabel, we're still trying out for the track team" insisted Rochelle with a stubborn toss of her dark hair. "Bastard or no bastard, I think it'll be fun."

"Do you know what he did to me in Math today?" continued Isabel incredulously, eyes wide, completely ignoring Rochelle. "He pretty much called me a plebeian oaf! Can you believe the gall?"

I laughed in between bites at her expression of pure horror.

"Isabel I'm sure he didn't call you a plebeian-" started Matt patiently.

"Well maybe in not so many words no, but he did imply it." insisted Isabel, convinced, and Rochelle rolled her eyes, poking Isabel from under the table. Isabel frowned at her. "No really, I made this stupid, careless, stupid mistake in math, I mean it was so trivial it shouldn't even be counted as a mistake, and the look he gave me. I swear that smarmy little brat makes me want to…"

She trailed off there, probably envisaging a long list of ways to kill the poor thing. Ethan laughed, stifling it into a cough at Isabel's murderous expression.

We ate in comfortable silence, when Rochelle suddenly looked up right at me.

"What about the Potentials?" she broached seriously, eyes darting to the side to make sure nobody was listening.

"He's still out there," said Matt, stealing one of my fries with a winning wink. "I just know it."

"But honestly, I don't see anyone who could possibly fill the shoes." said Rochelle, eyes slightly worried. "Are you sure he, or she, is even here? There could be a million other places... "

"I'm positive" I nodded and Rochelle sighed in frustration, fidgeting with her hands. "Like Matt said. I can just feel it."

Rochelle nodded, and I could see even her frustration building.

"Why is it this hard though?" she said through gritted teeth. "We need to find this person soon… Arkarian's counting on us!"

"Calm down Roh," said Dillon patiently, patting her back. "I'm sure we will…eventually."

"No, she's right," agreed Matt, with a thoughtful look on his face. "Eventually is just not soon enough. We need to get to this person before Marduke does."

I could see tempers flaring.

"Look, worrying over this isn't going to help us," I said calmly, putting my fork down in finality. "We need a plan."

"No shit, Sherlock" muttered Ethan sarcastically, eyes sparking and I kicked him under the table. And missed.

"Neriah's right, let's think this through logically." rationalized Isabel, and Matt and Ethan exchanged amused looks. "Our Potential can't possibly be able to completely hide his or her escalating powers – there have to be certain signs. What did each of us do when we first started coming into our powers?"

"Well I don't count", said Ethan, shrugging slightly, just a hint of pride in his voice. "I'd been anticipating mine for years. I knew exactly what was going to happen."

Rochelle rolled her eyes and kicked Ethan under the table. She didn't miss, and Ethan laughed warmly, swinging his arm around her waist.

"Show off" she muttered.

"Ah, you know you love me," replied Ethan arrogantly.

Dillon smacked his head down on the table. "Seriously, how long are we going to have to put up with this…this…" he looked at the rest of us, a pained expression on his face, waving his fork at the two of them. "this…disgusting lovey-dovey-ness? When exactly can I start hitting them over their heads for the public display of sappiness and not be given grief for it by you, Neriah?"

What? I wasn't giving him grief? Besides, Ethan and Rochelle were cute?

I frowned at him and he raised a sardonic brow in response, putting his hands on his hips and mimicking me rather terribly, if I may say so.

"Seriously Dillon", his voice was painfullyhigh pitched, and he had adopted a matronly expression that looked nothing like me. "Ethan thought she was dead, for Heaven's sakes. And he rescued her, and brought her back. From the dead! They're destined to be together! It's so romantic! Just let them be!"

Okay, I don't emphasize my words so much. Or sound so exclamatory. The prat!

"Moving on…" Isabel interrupted, with a disapproving look. "When I first got into my healing skills, I didn't really have any time to mull over it." She frowned in reminiscence. "In fact, I thought I had hallucinated cutting my finger. Luckily, Ethan revealed his powers to me that very same day so I'm a bad source of information on this. Who else?"

"I always knew about what was to come too" I chipped in nonchalantly. "I mean, with Da- Marduke being who he was, Mum had pretty much told me enough for it not to come as a huge surprise."

I pretended I hadn't slipped up there, a stony expression on my face. It would always feel weird calling him by his real name, but it was bloody time I accepted things the way they were. Marduke had stopped being Dad a long time ago.

Playing with the edge of my bad, I smiled as Matt grabbed my hand under the table and I squeezed it. Thank God for him.

"I'm out too," he continued. "Everybody knows that my powers had to practically be beaten out of me."

"One of Lathenia's soldiers… Boris his name was, showed up two days after I came into my abilities," said Dillon with a blasé shrug. "I didn't really believe I had powers, per say. I just thought all that football was really paying off. It was only after he made me break through a wall of concrete that I even believed him."

Everyone laughed. I patted the top of his head in mock patronization and he grinned and pushed it away.

That left Rochelle. Everyone looked at her expectantly. She had an odd expression on her face.

"Marduke found me six weeks after I came into my abilities," she said softly.

I gasped. "That long? It can really take that long to-"

"Not usually." she shrugged, and I could see her forehead crease at whatever memory was flitting through her head. "I was told it happens sooner, but he probably had a hard time finding me. My dad had been having a really… violent time, and we had been moving around a lot."

"So you're our best guide. How was that whole phase?" asked Matt, ignoring Ethan's grimace.

"Terrible." said Rochelle honestly, green eyes thoughtful. "Both my abilities developed at the same time. My hands… that would have pretty cool, but I was going through a really tough time so I didn't need any added trouble. I would touch my locker and the world would swim and all I would feel were metals and alloys and their concentrations. It, honestly, freaked me the shit out."

We were all listening to her intently, and she stared down at her tray.

"But the truthseeing… that was the worst." she continued. "I could hear everything people were saying. I couldn't control it or tune it out. I would these constant headaches and I would feel nauseous and claustrophobic all the time. I could sleep or do anything, let alone be around people. School became this giant ordeal. I would spend all my time in some deserted corridor or the library listening to my music, trying to drown the world out. Home was even more terrifying. I could hear everything my father wanted to do me before he actually did it. I could hear all his ghastly thoughts. It was terrifying."

She stopped then and looked up at us all. I felt positively sick and Ethan had a pained look on his face as he simply her hand, actions saying everything his words could not. Dillon looked pensive, almost nervous. Balling and unballing his fists, he scanned the lunch hall, brow furrowed. Odd.

But Rochelle seemed fine, thankfully.

"All in the past" she said with a wry smile. "What I'm trying to say is that these are the signs of our potential. They'll be confused and will be acting out of ordinary. They'll probably be avoiding people, and might even be... frightened?"

Dillon seemed to be hanging on to her every word. Something was evidently, evidently, on his mind.

"What is it Dillon?" asked Matt curiously, glancing at me for a moment.

Dillon looked all around again, before his gaze settled back at us.

"I'm not sure…I dunno…I mean..." he started hesitantly, before collecting his thoughts and continuing, voice stronger. "I think I know who our Potential is."

Next chapter up soon!

Dedicated to: Guepe. And being in the same continent after a year! 3

Till next time.