Short Tales by Amethyst

* Fallen *

The Hanson apartment, Churchill Manitoba
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007– 10:57 p.m.

Room they appeared in, did they teleport or something? 3 weeks of no contact with their friend Felicia, and the state of the room has me worried. A bolt bag and Felicia never got to use it, red alert! The one trouble with magical items allowing something is relying on the other person to keep the item on their person.

Scouting out future meals is a strange way of putting it. A friend meet through an MMORPG called Ergan's Tears, and it is sounding more like it is someone no longer in their teens who befriended Felicia or at least in her late teens. Like a kid sister to her, okay, so probably only a few years difference. Transgendered, in the closet, and bad home life, arrggggh.

Abusive father, scared her mother might react the same, it is heartbreaking. Whoa, with their powers it seems our unnamed person has powers like or is a succubus.

I had tried resisting it not long after I was first cursed to this existence but it wasn’t that easy. I couldn’t control how much essence I took when I fed, I always drained my victims dry.

Does she mean actually cursed or more that this existence is cursed?

Regeneration and can't even kill herself, yikes. At least she limits her victims to those who deserve it. 3 months in Columbia, surprised she didn't get caught for taking out a corrupt official. John Hanson. And it is sounding more like she is a mutant with powers similar to a succubus than an actual one or someone cursed to be one.

“Ain’t got no kids. Mutie freak probly wasn’t even mine. Shoulda left it wit’ its mother, the lyin’ mutie whore. Fuckin’ thing nearly killed me, an’ got away ‘fore we could finish it off. Disappeared, but no way it survived, not after what we did to it.”

Okay, he deserves to die for this. She may be a pseudo-succubus, but he is the real monster here. True form, what do they look like in their true form?

Oh, classic 'demon' appearance. Danarika, now there is a name you don't forget. Making him suffer slowly or a quick death with your reveal at the end, either way, works. Jessica Knight, Felicia's mother has a badass name like that, dang.

* Hematoma *

Billings, Montana
Thursday, April 12th, 2007 – 9:48 p.m.

A girl late for her curfew by an hour, I hope her foster parents treat her kindly. At least she has a good reason for being late, a project for school. Tries to dash across the street and gets hit by an idiot in a pickup truck speeding around a corner. And the coward fled after seeing what they had done. At least someone seems to have found her and called for help.

Advanced Care Hospital of Montana
Billings, Montana
Friday, April 20th, 2007 – 6:30 a.m.

Wakes up in the hospital in a lot of pain with Nurse Hollins gazing at her. Miss Dawson, we have a last name. She has been in a medically induced coma for over 7 days, I hope they catch the creep who hit her. Dr. Phelps doesn't sugarcoat what he tells her but gets straight to the point. *eyes bug out* That severely injured, if someone hadn't been nearby to call an ambulance immediately I don't think she would have survived.

She is a mutant and has very strange eyes, well that narrows it down. Previous foster parents, the Gibsons, hated mutants, so no place to go as well. Abandoned as a baby like that, is sickening. Mixed ancestry, Native American with bright blue eyes before this. A tingling sensation that stops the pain, but she exhausted herself doing it, what power could this be?

Advanced Care Hospital of Montana
Billings, Montana
Saturday, May 19th, 2007 – 9:13 a.m.

Huh, so either she has a form of regeneration that requires her to concentrate to use it or healer power and has been using it on herself. Skin turning sickly yellow, hair coming in purple at the roots, no way she can hide now.

They were now pitch black with blood-red sclera.

Yup, those count as very strange.

Her GSD for her skin is like a bruise that is healing, bone spikes, it is like being injured without the injuries. So Ms. Beckham, her case worker, is going to take her to powers testing it seems. Ah, she is one of the good social workers, so glad Miss Dawson got her. Ariel Dawson, a pretty name. And the way she is frowning about powers testing, don't tell me Ariel isn't the first mutant kid she has had to do this with, and the local MCO isn't filled with nice agents?

Advanced Care Hospital of Montana
Billings, Montana
Saturday, May 19th, 2007 – 6:55 p.m.

Great, the worst kind of MCO agents for this, are bigots who don't even try to hide it. Healing patients and only a 5-year-old girl thanks her, sigh. Using her healing in a different way than she did on herself, interesting. Hematoma with Exemplar 2, Healer 5, she is a powerhouse healer. Oh crap, a temp foster home between placements, and Ariel has a bad feeling about it.

Transition Home
Billings, Montana
Friday, June 1st, 2007 – 5:45 p.m.

The Jamesons, who run the place, don't like her. Great, verbally abusive, and low-key hostility. Zack and John are creeps for assaulting her when no one is looking. A hushed conversation and then insisting that Ariel be the one to go out of the house to run an errand, why do I feel she is being sent into an H1! ambush?

Bribing her with money to go out, is low. A black van, cowards can't even face her as they try to run her down and only clip her. Too dangerous to live, she is a healer, what, the good press makes her a threat to your plans? Agent Gordon and another MCO agent, are corrupt through and through!

Saved by Running Wolf, a Native American mutant superhero speedster from the Crow Indian Reserve, yay! Scared off by mentioning police are on the way, and cowards will get theirs. Interesting PK shell for Running Wolf, speed, and a little strength boost instead of the usual. Ooo goodie, Running Wolf has a lawyer, those two MCO creeps are toast.

Outskirts of Billings, Montana
Monday, June 4th, 2007 – 1:26 p.m.

Great, back in the hospital again for her own safety.

The story that the MCO was trying to feed my social worker was that the two agents had gone rogue and were being disciplined internally.

Arrgggh! This is like letting cops police their own imo. What the heck, her healing causes others to take on GSD similar to hers, weird. Crap! It is like regen cloning only limited to physical as far as we know. This sucks! What kind of mutation gives someone a healer power like this?

Ms. Beckham is taking her to the Crow Indian Reserve, good. A friend she went to school with, don't tell me Ms. Beckham is a mutant and went to school with Running Wolf? Mention of a scholarship for Ariel, yup, Ms. Beckham went to Whateley. Josie, a lovely name. Steph, short for Stephanie I bet, Ms. Beckham has a cute name. Hotstuff, her codename is Hotsuff, priceless. Jocelyn Running Wolf, the real name for the codename, is cool.

The Running Wolf residence
Crow Indian Reserve, Montana
Sunday, August 26th, 2007 – 11:58 p.m.

2 and a half months and they have grown close, getting ready to leave on a flight, and based on the date I'm guessing up to Boston. Being taught about her heritage and Josie wishes to make it official by adopting her, Ariel deserves all the happiness she can get in her life.

Ouch, still thinks of herself as a freak, especially with what is happening to Lucy, there is no way they could have known beforehand. Oh good, criminal charges for the MCO creeps and some of their buddies. And starting on the trip to Whateley, let's hope it is a quiet one. You will make friends at Whateley, Ariel, appearance doesn't matter as much there except to some idiots.

* Gestalt *

San Francisco, California
Sunday, May 6th, 2007 – 9:54 a.m.

Waking up in the office of her uncle Cho's warehouse, a girl got drunk and made some bad decisions. So many piercings... Electric blue eyes and she doesn't wonder if she is a mutant, oh boy. A tattoo like that done by magic and initiated into the Tong of the Black Dragon, shit, this girl is in deeper trouble than she realizes.

She met Mei Lin at school on Friday, a new girl just moved from Beijing, and this girl had been feeling weird all morning. Fast friends or is something else going on? Uncle Cho is making me nervous already. Having a sleepover and not remembering if she asked for permission first, yikes. Why did she feel such a strong connection to Mei Lin so soon after meeting, what is really going on here?

Tattoos to track them in case they betray the organization, this is extremely bad.

Most of the good stuff was ancient swords, armor, or other antiques from mother China but there was some weird stuff in there too; dragon bones, sídhe blood, mermaid flesh, kirin scales, and pickled kappa.

Please say they don't work for that sickening organization that sells sapients and their flesh to others from Domo's stories.

Why did she think any of this was a good idea, I think Mei Lin either used magic or is a mutant and used some power on her. Uncle Cho has had her enspelled! And they did it just because she is a newly manifested mutant, these scum need to be locked up in a deep, dark dungeon. A control bracelet using mithril to make, monsters, you are monsters!

Now how to get out of their unseen and uncaptured?

The manifest in the crate said that the sword was a Zhanmadao from the Song dynasty.

Why do I feel that she is an avatar and the sword has a spirit inside it? She broke the door and opened it, that sword is sturdy for its age.

Improvised explosive to start a fire and makes a run for it, but Cho gets in her way and tries to manipulate her. Xia, lovely name. A distraction and kick to Cho's groin and she is out of there.

San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco, California
Sunday, May 6th, 2007 – 12:27 p.m.

Smart plan, never head home when they can track you. Public library, a call to Mom, and Mom is a lawyer, I hope she is a really good one. Mention of Mama, Xia has two moms from the sounds of it. A quick message to her Mom, now to hope she isn't walking into a trap when Cho's men show up.

Awww, her moms are cute together. At least after she explains things they don't panic and start planning. Testing by the DPA, Xia is going to get good testers. Staying out of sight with Zhuli might not be enough with the tattoo situation.

Hotel Fairmont
San Francisco, California
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 – 10:54 p.m.

Iron Butterfly, now there is some protection in case Cho's men come after Xia. Trust me, Xia, the loss of the sword and telling them what you know is a small price for the safety of yourself and those you love. Zhuli worried about Xia and wishes she could snuggle and talk with Karrie and wishes to take a cold shower, but the bathroom is in use, rats.

Karrie shows up exhausted and Zhuli has a playful thought to go kiss her. But it is Xia who kissed Karrie! Crap, gestalt telepathy, she picks up others' minds and does so strong enough that she thinks she is them. Xia is freaking out while Karrie tries to assure her they will figure this out. Xia literally cries herself to sleep, this power with no control is a nightmare.

Department of Paranormal Affairs Facility
Somewhere in New Mexico
Friday, May 11th, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.

Xia still feels guilty and scared over the incident.

They were a sect that had broken off from a former cult called the Tong of the Black Madonna.

I knew it was bad, I knew it. And the creeps already fled, the protection rackets a dead end.

Exhausted from testing, having to deal with the fallout of the incident, and her parents giving her space to work it out on her own, this has all the markings of a powderkeg ready to blow. Dr. Huxley seems like a nice woman. With electric blue hair as well, Xia is going to stand out. Devisor 3 and telepath, possibly a 5, crud, with her form of telepathy that is bad.

“Yes, your daughter is a powerful telepath, able to pick up thoughts from anyone nearby without realizing that she’s even doing it, and that’s the problem. She doesn’t seem to have any conscious control over the ability, she doesn't even have enough inherent control to keep a clear line of distinction between 'me' and 'other'. As a result, she is constantly picking up stray thoughts and strong memories of those around her and believing they’re her own.”

I see a lot of training with Louis Gentz in her future. *eyes bug out* Crap, this is bad, she needs to learn how to shield and distinguish between her own thoughts and those of others fast. Xia has a panic attack and is sedated for her own good, thank you, that could have been so much worse.

Department of Paranormal Affairs Facility
Somewhere in New Mexico
Sunday, May 13th, 2007 – 1:53 p.m.

Ouch, they shouldn't have let her choose that codename, it is like a hangman's noose with the floor ready to drop on her imo. DPA scholarship to Whateley is the best place for her right now. A micro voice recorder to record her memories of who she is is a good idea. I just hope she doesn't lose her identity completely. Jiang Xia, her full name is even better. Dang, got me tearing up from her recording her memories for herself.

* Barracuda *

Vancouver, British Columbia – MSA Regional Headquarters Building
Friday, June 15th, 2007 - 2:46 p.m.

Dennis Flaherty, civilian oversight for the west coast branch of T.R.U. North.

As the door implies, Dennis is the regional director for the western division of the Ministry of Supernatural Affairs.

Does that include mutant activities and superhumans as well? Captain Knight, this is Felicia's mother.

Dennis introduces her to Agent Mark Williams, he brings bad news I bet. Oh, a victim of Danarika, a drug and prostitution lord. And they know she is a she, what else do they know? Hehe, making Jessica start to like her because of her donations and taking down criminals. Lost almost a whole team to the last demon they tangled with which is why she had to rebuild the west coast team, demons are serious threats.

Bulwark, Talisman, and the team are stuck at 5 members for an area that size, yikes. And she learns about the demise of her ex-husband, the idiot deserved it. And she is rightfully pissed off at Dennis, 3 months to find out all this. Ugh, so that is why the creep had custody of Nathan, corruption all the way to the top.

Those MCO idiots things Nathan killed his father, ignoring the evidence otherwise. 6 adult men, some with firearms, against one teen who just manifested, a bunch of monsters. Crud, please let Nathan be alive somehow, someway. She and the team are taking care of something, please say they can track down Nathan.

Jessica and Talisman at an outdoor cafe. Wizard and Avatar traits, Talisman has a lot of potential still to tap I bet. Tawnee is an interesting name. Dropzone is in the area and ready to drop portals on Jessica's signal, a good plan for how to use them. PK shell with some interesting traits, and shifter with form underwater like a mermaid out of nightmares, cool. Codename Barracuda certainly makes a lot of sense now.

Mindscape, this team has a nice array of powers between them. Danarika comes over to say hi and she knows who Barracuda is, but Jessica makes a bad guess as to why she is there.

“I’m not a demon, I’m cursed. I’m a faux-demon, a pseudo-succubus, eternal punishment for wanting to save the life of the girl I loved. If you don’t believe me, just have your fine feathered friend there try and banish me. She wouldn’t be the first to try and fail. Banishing sends a demon back to their plane of origin and this is my plane of origin.”

It is so much worse than I previously thought. That is a twisted curse and whoever placed it on her deserves a fate worse than death.

Tells what happened with Felicia, but Jessica thinks it is another woman taken from Danarika. And in anger, she reveals Nathan is Felicia to her mother, oops. To have a stranger know more about her own child than herself, her ex-husband robbed Jessica of being a mother to her child. Danarika believes Felicia is alive because she is a survivor, and because she needs the only true friend she has had since being cursed to be alive, ouch.

An enchanted coin to contact Danarika if Jessica is contacted by Felicia first, a nice magical item. Aww, Tawnee needs a mentor to help develop her spiritual and magical-based abilities, no reason to be embarrassed. And now they have a better chance at finding Felicia before the MCO.

* Bug-Out *

Victoria, British Columbia – Harbourview Skate Park
Thursday, July 19th, 2007 – 2:43 p.m.

A girl skateboarding and pulling off some tricks, her friend Calista bored and wishing to leave already. Her hands itchy the past few days, uh oh. And 3 hours there and didn't even realize it had been that long, talk about zoning out. Great, Calista is an anti-mutant bigot who thinks they all want to cause trouble.

Go to the hospital together to look at the ultrasound, ultrasound for what though? Mom is having a baby, why do they need their daughter there for the ultrasound? Moved to Canada when she was 4, making a fuss about the baby being born there, I would be upset too. Aww, I like her accent. Help taking care of a baby sibling, on some things okay, but the early morning stuff is the parents' job imo.

Are those explosions around her, a lot of cars backfiring, an attack of some kind? A van left running like that just outside a park, this is suspicious. Cats and dogs attacking people, involved in what appears to be a bank robbery, what is going on? Cyborg animals, so it is a supervillain robbing the bank and using them to keep the authorities away.

Scratch one cyborg corgi, nice one. A poodle and 3 cats, now that just isn't fair. A swarm of glowing, purple bugs of various sorts coming out of her hands, manifestor or something else? And they respond to her thoughts, dang.

The cyberpets were fighting back though and each time a bug was swatted, shocked by damaged wiring, ripped apart, or otherwise damaged I felt a pinprick of pain in my head as they vanished with a pop and a puff of purple smoke.

The feedback could be a lot worse, she got lucky.

This guy calls them ani-drones, pretentious imo. And he has a force field generator, rats. Rat grenades, he is a twisted monster. Furrminator, oh great, now I can't take him even a little bit seriously. A gerbil too, someone lock up this nutbar. And he is completely delusional, good grief. A cat, he had an exploding cat, and now he has to die!

Poor kid is on the run, banged up, and has no way to fight back with the force field active, she needs a hero. Crap! He got her with an exploding hamster, please say she has regeneration or this is bad. Okay, it could be bad even with it.

Victoria General Hospital
Saturday, July 21st, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.

Bandages covering what was left of her eyes, Furrminator needs to be locked up for everyone's safety. She lost her eyesight because of him. One of his ani-drones caused an accident that killed her parents and unborn sibling, okay, Furrminator needs much worse than being locked up. And Calista abandons her for being a mutant, I won't say what she is.

And she blames herself for the 'accident' happening that killed them because if they left on time they would have been okay. Nope, it might have simply happened a different way, no way to tell after the fact. And she plans to destroy the Furrminator for taking everything she cared about from her, uh oh. She can see through the bugs' eyes but in shades of purple.

Victoria General Hospital
Sunday, August 12th, 2007 – 3:52 p.m.

Adjust to being blind, she is in for a rough time in the immediate future.

During my sessions, I was starting to learn to read braille, to ‘see’ with a cane while walking, and to rely more on my other senses.

Progress is nice to see. Oh great, she is afraid of dogs now because of what happened. A custom-made phone from Clockwork, a gadgeteer, and it is tricked out.

ADA sounds like an early VI, a nice thing for her to have.

Dakota Olsen is a psychologist that works for the Ministry of Supernatural Affairs.

The government really cares over there for children in need, at least from what we've seen. All the things she is going through are normal after what she has been through.

It hurts reading some of this, she is in so much pain and you just wish you could help her somehow. Manifestor 3 and Psi 2, with a limit of 15 lbs. total of various types of bugs at once, are still very impressive.

He said that when I use one of them to see for me, I’m focusing my psychic link on a specific bug to take direct control of it and use its senses in addition to my own. My range to control the bugs maxed out at roughly 200 yards.

Limits that can improve with time and training, she is going to be powerful whether she knows it or not.

Aww, limitations on using her bugs to see, migraines, and too much after 3 hours. Dakota shows up to get Casidi [interesting way to spell that name] and takes her to Vancouver. Ouch, at Burger King, and can't even visualize the last one she'd eaten at. A superhero called Sigil until Halloween is taking in Casidi, and she has a son, eep.

“Liz Armstrong has something in common with you; she’s familiar with loss and coming to terms with suddenly being disabled. She was paralyzed from the waist down while her team was fighting a demon and most of her team were killed during that fight,”

Being a superhero in the Whateley Academy Universe is dangerous business. The Ride-Along program sounds great, more students who wish to be superheroes should have to go through such a program.

Wise words from Dakota, I hope Casidi listens to them. At the airport and Ada is so helpful, if only such a program existed in our world to aid those who need it. Eep, with how Casidi is thinking she plans to take out the Furrminator even if she dies in the process.

* Anesthesia *

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 – 8:13 a.m.

Oof, poor girl having to deal with a perv on an airplane just because she is attractive. Good grief, she is from a well-off family and her mother seems to have sent her whole wardrobe with the girl to Whateley, and she is embarrassed by it. Mom is a trophy wife and her parents want the same for her just because she is pretty. *hits head on desk in frustration at idiot parents*

Taffy Candy [short for Candace] Sweet, her parents are cruel. Exemplar 4, projective empath 3, poor girl can't catch a break. *winces at the description of her figure* Even for an Exemplar that sounds painful. *growls in anger* Her parents need some sense knocked into them hard!

“I stood out enough at my last school but how many unnaturally beautiful blonde girls could there possibly be in New Hampshire, of all places?”

So of course Tansy comes out to greet her, irony is abundant right now. And Lanie is there to help, yay.

Venus, Inc. and Taffy want nothing to do with modeling. Tansy has changed since getting to know Lanie. Taffy has more in common with Tansy than she realizes, down to the controlling father. A career in psychology or medicine, we need more like her. Lanie has enough advice-giving for her charges in Poe as it is.

Tansy makes very good points, Taffy is still stuck dealing with her parents for now. Tansy is so devious for good, I love it. Poe Cottage, I wonder why. Boy, her parents are dense.

Room 113 on the ground floor, dang, that is one of the best rooms. Introduction to Mrs. Horton and now time to chat. Trust your instincts here, Mrs. Horton is one of the best people at Whateley. Ah, she sounds asexual and agender to me. Dang, her explanation makes it more complex than that it seems. Huh, almost sounds like demisexual, asexual, and her views on gender I don't know.

Meditation, finally another student who sees the benefit of it.

People have told me that while I’m using my empathic ability to calm them down or influence their emotions that the emotional state that I put them in is so mentally and emotionally encompassing that they feel physically numb, almost detached from their bodies.

I had wondered about the reason for her codename.

I hope the lesbians and aggressive bi guys and girls don't drive her from Poe. Oh, so that is where the junior high rooms are in the cottages. Robin is being asked to give Taffy the cottage and school tour, perfect. Robin Armstrong aka Evenstar, curious about what their powers are. Taffy knows not to push people to talk about stuff when it makes them uncomfortable. Girl changing into a boy and Sidhe don't wish to be a boy, poor kid.

Robin got hit in all the wrong ways by his manifesting, sometimes it is cruel. Heading to Crystal Hall for lunch, Taffy is introduced to Robin's group of friends. Bug-Out, Gestalt, and Hematoma, who Taffy stares at and gets called a bimbo for. Taffy is jealous of her and Robin says she can understand them better than she thinks.

Oh boy, this isn't going well between Taffy and Ariel. Dang, Taffy can stand up for herself. Being told about Xia's situation, please tell me she has been introduced to Fubar already. Robin can manifest small crystals and has a wizard trait, nice. Introductions and power explanations for everyone.

Oh no, an idiot comes over to hit on Taffy, not good. Satyricon aka Rick, the way he flirts is horrible. What he is saying to her, I would slap him full force, dam the consequences! He is trying to pull that card, what a sleeze. Crushes her lunch tray and then threatens him, he finally takes the hint. Then he hits on Robin and freaks out when he finds out they are a guy, at least he didn't attack Robin.

Projected terror, he deserved it, what a creep. Boy, Taffy got a good read on Miss Everheart. Off with a warning, good. Tolkien male his idea on advice from his therapist to help Robin cope. Glad it was his own idea.

So much unwanted attention, Taffy is only on her first day there, at this rate she is going to beat some moron who won't take no into Doyle. Mrs. Horton needs to have a house meeting and tell everyone that Taffy is not to be hit on or flirted with in any way, explain why, and anyone who refuses to respect her boundaries and identity will be punished. Ah, I need to just read ahead, Taffy already had the same idea basically, at least about the house meeting.

* Evenstar *

Poe Cottage
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 – 7:21 p.m.

Robin needs some peace and quiet after the day he had. Why do I have a feeling that if Taffy dates anyone it will be Robin, he respects her and could become a close friend first. Ouch, so this is how the group knows him, Sigil is his mom.

Crap, how many bad things happened on Halloween of 2006 in the Whateley Academy Universe? Casidi is like a sister to Robin, I wonder how much like a sister. Jumpy from loud noises, understandable, and afraid of all animals, also understandable, the Furrminator has a lot to answer for. GEO, no, get away from that game as fast as you can.

Primus server, oh boy. Spellblade, if you have to plan the game choose a fun class for you. Interrupted right as he is about to log into the game by Shawn showing up and mention of the house meeting, talking about Taffy like that better stop after the meeting.

A lot of great origins with varying degrees of tragedy and heartbreak throughout them. I loved every single one, though Gestalt was the hardest due to potential identity death, and Bug-Out due to the loss of her family and eyesight, two of my greatest fears. Though I have to say Taffy was my favorite, playing against typecasting so well and it works perfectly. I hope her fellow Poesies listen to what she has to say and respect her boundaries in the future.

And I hope we see more of all these characters in the future, even if not as main characters as background characters at least.