Ghost of the Past

[Olivia Chance]

Was it wrong that Olivia had brought a vase from her room for the express purpose of smashing it on the training room floor?  Probably, but damn it was satisfying.  Everything she saw reminded her in some way of Connor Chance.  Her brother.  And it taunted her.  She saw the punching bag in the corner, and was reminded of the time Connor offered to teach her to box.  She didn't get padding, and she didn't get to learn how to box.  And he hadn't had boxing gloves really either.  Okay, they weren't boxing lessons.

"DAMN YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"  She took a sword off the training weapons wall and sliced the head clean off one of the dummies, pretending it was her brother.  Then she chopped the dummy into millions of tiny pieces.

"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!"  Finally, when the dummy was decimated, she sunk to the floor on her knees, tears streaming down her face as she shook with residual fear.  She didn't want to remember.  But she did.  And damn if he wouldn't haunt her for a very long time, if not forever.

Selina Taylor

[Selina Taylor]

Selina was tired after a long day, but she needed to get some stretching and training in before she went to sleep. She'd do her routine push-ups, crunches and go through a few sets of practice maneuvers to keep up her speed in aikido. As she approached the room, she paused hearing yelling from the inside. Selina opened the door slowly, so as not to startle the lone occupant of the room and her eyes widened in both surprise and recognition as she saw a girl chopping her way through a practice dummy and screaming about how much she hated someone.

Selina's recognition came not from knowing the girl, but from knowing her anger and her fear. She knew intimately the frustration she saw playing out before her, and she gently let herself into the room, silently closing the door behind her. She didn't want anyone else to walk in on the girl, but she wouldn't lock the door either, as she had no idea whether or not that would make the girl panic.

As the girl crumbled to the floor, Selina cleared her throat so that the girl could be aware of her presence. Selina didn't want to startle her. Every move she made was slow, obvious, and as non-threatening as she could make it. “It would be silly of me to ask if you’re alright, so I won’t. But…”Selina hesitated before finally making up her mind, as she wasn’t one who typically helped those she didn’t know, “I’m here and I’ll do what I can for you, if you’ll let me.” Despite her hesitation, Selina's offer was genuine and sincere, and she only hoped that her true intentions were clear. “If you need to be alone, I understand that too,” she suggested gently. She would never force her presence on someone, as she knew how invasive that could be from first hand experience.

[Olivia Chance]

She was surprised when she heard the voice and a nearby water fountain blew up as a direct result of her uncontrollable powers. She looked at it and shook her head, wiping the tears away as best she could with her sleeve.

"S-sorry. I...I'm in the way of your training or whatever. I'll...I'll go off to the side." She began standing up, but she got a flashback of when she'd tried the same movement around her brother. How she'd tried to get up to get away from him. That hadn't ended well. Olivia's legs shook as she sat back down and bit her lip.

"That's not happening. Sorry. And...no. I...no. I don't need to be alone. I...that's the last thing I need. But...I don't want to run the risk of hurting you either. I...I'm unpredictable. My...my powers..." She glanced at the water fountain and sighed, hitting the training mat she was sitting on with her fist in extreme frustration. She couldn't help but growl under her breath.

"I hate him. He comes near me again and I'll dice him." Yeah right. Like she'd ever have the guts to do that when just the thought of him made her shake like she was currently, and made her legs turn to jello.

[Selina Taylor]

Selina ignored the water fountain completely as the whole of her attention was focused on the girl in front of her. “No need to apologize,” she assured the brunette with a kind smile that no one else at this school had ever seen. Selina was about to let the girl know that she didn’t have to move, when the brunette’s legs shook and she sat back down. Selina’s brow creased with worry, but she stayed silent while the girl spoke. “Don’t worry about hurting me,” Selina offered with another smile as she froze the water in place and sat down across from the brunette. “I can take care of myself just fine,” she promised with a wry grin. Freezing that much water at once had certainly taken its toll, but Selina was more than able to shrug off the exhaustion that hit her.

As the brunette’s anger came to the forefront once again, Selina’s expression turned somber, “He deserves every bit of it,” she responded softly. She had no idea who this man was or what it was he had done, but she would probably be willing to kill him herself after witnessing the results of his actions. To have had this much of an effect on the girl, he’d clearly crossed a line, and probably more than once. “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked quietly.

[Olivia Chance]

The other girl said she could take of herself and not to worry and Olivia's bottom lip quivered. The girl was focusing on her, and that took Olivia off guard. She was used to just blending into the background. This felt weird. Besides, this girl was acting like she knew or something. And instead of recoiling at the rage rolling off of Olivia, she was being kinder. So instead of closing up tight, when the other girl asked if she wanted to talk about it, Olivia felt like her throat was closing up in preparation for tears. She blinked and suddenly there were tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I...I don't know you. But...I...why are you being so nice?  I...I-I don't understand."  She was being all angry.  She was a mess.  She was in the middle of a breakdown and she was a total mess.  Why was this girl being so understanding?  Why wasn't she just running the other way like Olivia expected?  Olivia generally wasn't surprised by behaviour.  Why would this perfect stranger care?  No-one in her past had.  Why should that change now?

[Selina Taylor]

    When tears started rolling down the other girl's face, Selina immediately felt a combination of unease and empathy. Unease, because she wasn't entirely sure how to react to this situation. Sure she'd been through hell herself, but dealing with your own emotions and dealing with somebody else's were two different things entirely. She didn't know this girl at all, but her empathetic side won out over her unease with surprising strength. When she'd been suffering alone... sometimes it had been what she wanted, but more often than not it was the exact opposite of what she needed.

    Selina took a deep breath when the girl asked "why". Part of her didn't want to reveal anything to a stranger. Part of her wanted to get up and leave... or lie. She could merely give out a simplistic platitude and everything would be fine... Except it wouldn't. Selina closed her eyes and took another deep breath before answering, calming herself and steeling herself for what she was about to admit. "Honestly? You remind me of myself," she answered quietly. "And I know that when I'm like you are now, most of the time, the last thing I want is to be left alone."  

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia's face clearly showed her confusion.

"You breakdown because you had a brother who...who..." She gritted her teeth remembering.

"He...he beat me. When I found out Bellefonte doesn't teach us to use our powers for fighting, I was disappointed. I don't want to know what I'll do when I graduate. He's a low-life." She looked down at her hands on the training mat. This girl knew how she felt. Most of the time, Olivia tried to lock her emotions away. To just ignore the feelings. Or to not bring them up because people would look at her with pity, or they wouldn't know what to do. This girl was just...just taking it right in stride and it surprised the hell out of Olivia. She was still crying, and still angry. But...this girl understood how she was feeling. One could never overestimate the effect it had on someone when they realized they weren't alone.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina shook her head in answer to the girl’s first stutter, “No. I’m an only child. But I have memories of my own that cause a similar emotional reaction regardless of their content,” she admitted, her body tensing at the mere mention of them, but she was fully capable of brushing off her own reaction for now.


    Selina listened with absolute silence as the girl spoke and paused before answering. “… They may not teach you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn,” she offered softly. “There a few things a fuller understanding of anatomy and the properties of water could provide that might be helpful should you need them.” Selina had killed with her power once already. It was only too easy to take a human life, and she was well aware of the possible consequences of what she was offering. If the girl were to be irresponsible with such knowledge and skill… Selina paused and thought of how easily accessible guns were in this country and suddenly cared a lot less about the morality of her decision. “I have time if you do.”


    Training could also help take the girls mind off of her brother, or perhaps, if not that, focus her rage into something productive.  

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia heard the response. Similar experiences that made her act similarly. Olivia slowly stopped crying. She wasn't alone. Yes, it was awful. But that did make her feel better. To know that. Then the girl made the offer to teach her, and Olivia's eyes opened wider.

"Umm...yeah...I guess so." She wiped her eyes.

"That would be...kind of...good. I just...I don't want to kill anyone. I just want the option so that...well so that I don't have to be afraid. So that the fear doesn't hold me back anymore." She sighed, standing up slowly. Just thinking about being able to defend herself against her brother made her feel stronger.

"I'm Olivia. And...thank you." For helping her. For offering kindness. For letting her know that she wasn't alone. For so long, Olivia had thought she was alone. She'd known the statistics, but that didn't change the fact that if you hadn't actually physically met someone going through similar trials, it didn't cement it in your mind that you weren't alone.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina smiled when the offer was accepted. She had never truly been in a position to help teach others academically, but she’d helped out at the dojo with teaching younger girls all the time, so this shouldn’t be too different. Selina was slightly relieved to hear that the girl didn’t want to kill anyone, but she’d already decided that even if the girl did want someone dead… well, who was she to judge? Selina nodded her understanding and stood with the girl, “You already show courage and strength for making this decision and for surviving as long as you have. I have no doubt you’ll be able to manage your fear… and your brother,” she added with a smirk.


    Selina knew the scars would likely never truly fade and that some fear would probably always be present, but she also knew that time and learning how to cope would help the scars to heal enough to enable the girl to move forward without having to constantly be looking over her shoulder. She grinned at learning Olivia’s name and nodded her head in acceptance of Olivia’s gratitude, “My name’s Selina, and you’re most welcome.”


    Selina knew her decision was helping herself as much as it would be helping Olivia, and she was content with the knowledge that maybe her coming here would do some sort of good after all. While teaching Olivia, she would be focusing on someone else’s pain instead of her own, and it might also help her to better understand and work through her own emotions surrounding her past. Besides… it would be nice to finally have a comrade in arms, so to speak.

[Olivia Chance]

"I...I don't know. I can try anyways right?" She bit her lip. She heard the introduction and gave a small weak smile. Selina. Olivia didn't know how well she'd do with this, but she was certainly going to try.

"I...I hope it will help. At least it will help you control my powers better, right? Wait..." She'd realized something.

"You froze the water fountain earlier. It didn't register with me then. But...are you a hydrokinetic just like me?" Interesting that they both came from abusive situations and they'd both ended up hydrokinetics. It made her suddenly feel the urge to research individual situations and their influence on which power manifested. She was sure there were exceptions to it, but it would be interesting to look at.

"Where do we start?" She brushed her hands against her pants and sighed, readying herself.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded in response to Olivia’s first question and smiled. She quickly realized that helping Olivia gain some confidence would be a good focus in their lessons as well. Selina quickly ran over a few ideas, but focused back in on the conversation when Olivia asked about her powers. She was about to answer when Olivia continued. Selina then nodded once more, “Yes, I’m hydrokinetic as well, but I’ve only had this power for the past three years, so perhaps we'll be able to help each other,” she admitted with a grin.



    Selina paused when asked where to start and thought about it for a few moments before asking Olivia, “Where would you like to start? We can start with physical practice like hitting a target accurately and with precision, or focus on the mental front, which would include calming techniques, meditation skills, and learning some science. I can go either way, but both will eventually be necessary.”

[Olivia Chance]

"Well I technically got my powers when I was fifteen. So two years ago. But until a few months ago, I was in a coma." She started shaking again, remembering the baseball bat in her brother's hands at the top of the stairs with her. She couldn't remember anything beyond that. Olivia took some deep breaths and focused her attention back on Selina. Her grip on sanity was slipping, she had to admit.

"I think target and precision would be good. Or...like, knowing how to actually control I guess. I've read so much science about how powers can work. And I don't think I'd be able to focus on a mental front right now even if my life depended on it."

[Selina Taylor]

    “Alright, we can do target practice for now,” Selina agreed before smiling, “But I think you misunderstood me,” she added. “I know you’ve learned about the science of your powers, but have you studied the veins of the human anatomy and which to freeze so the heart explodes in the quickest amount of time? Or perhaps which major artery will cause the quickest death by rupture? Though the last is probably easy to guess,” she added with a grin. “The science you learn with me will likely have nothing to do with what you’ve studied in the classroom.”


    “And the whole point of meditation is learning control and focus so that should your life depend on it, you’ll be able to retain control,” she added as she broke off some splinters of ice from the frozen fountain. “But the physical is also a good way to start so we know where to go with the other things,” she added before sending one of the splinters through the center of the dummy’s forehead with a basic punch she’d learned from karate, the control and aim in her own physical movement affecting her control over the ice. “For right now, we’ll see how accurate you are,” she finished. “See how close you can get to my target.”

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia's eyes widened at the description of learning the human anatomy.

"I don't want to learn anatomy just so I can have the ability to kill someone! I don't want any part of that. I don't even want to know the basics to enable me to do that. I...I don't want that choice available to me. My temper runs too hot for me to trust myself with that knowledge." She shook her head. Then she saw the splinter go into the dummy and heard the direction and her eyes narrowed as she made a ring with her fingers. The Stewart twins had suggested she try it, but it wasn't working for her. She wasn't getting an action from it. Instead, she formed her index finger and thumb into a gun shape and closed her eyes. Olivia pictured it as a gun firing water. When she opened her eyes, there was a splatter of water about six feet from the target. Decent when you considered she hadn't aimed. Not with her eyes anyways. She smiled.

"I don't want to be able to kill anyone with this. I want to be able to defend myself, but manipulating water and being around it gives me this feeling of peace. I wouldn't trade that for the world. I might lose that if I was to misuse the power."