Nick and Nyana in New Delhi

[flora_segunda]

It was Flynn that licked me awake. Again. He bounded onto my bed and shoved his cold nose into my face and after beating him off, I looked around and saw that it was sunrise. I sighed. But I scratched Flynn behind the ears and sat up. "Let me get my boots, Flynn. Then just a quick walk."

After walking the dog, I headed to my bathroom for a shower. As I passed his aquarium, I saw Octohands climbing out towards his flying machine, but I paid him no heed. The water was lovely and I lingered a little before stepping back to my bedroom again, towelling myself off and pulling on my clothes for the day. Stockings. Kilt. Blouse. Jacket. Belt. I twisted my long hair up into a somewhat more manageable bun.

I paused a minute at the window, looking out at the forest. This was my day. Later, I would spend time with the ITF, probably do something related to the new causeway that had just appeared. I wondered what was happening back home. Assuming there was a version of me still there, did I get Mamma's message to the Kuhlani Envoy? Was the rebellion against the Huitzil Empire happening? Had I found my real mother?

It was strange that, for all these questions, I could still fall into a routine. But I had.

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[darkest_hunter]

Nick didn't so much walk to Nyana's hut as he stalked there, long legs eating up the distance like it was nothing. He'd spent hours earlier, sitting in the middle of the causeway leading to the second island. He'd been trying to get up the nerve to try a second foray over into the new city across the water.

His test run the day before had been both a success and a failure. He'd decided, while talking to Luke, that the only way to find out for sure was to cross to the city in full daylight. If he fried, he fried. No great loss. If he didn't, that would mean whatever powers it unlocked for Luke left his unchanged.

Of course, he was wrong.

He didn't fry, but he did get his powers back. In the five seconds he'd allowed himself to be within the city limits alone, he'd felt his vision sharpen, heard sounds he hadn't heard in years...including the thoughts of those around him and a dozen people speaking Hindustani nearby. A language he'd never heard before, but understood immediately.

He'd broken free of the city's influence before anything more destructive unlocked.

It was almost like an obsession now, his need to know if what would happen if he allowed himself to stay, to take more than a few steps into the other world. Was his theory correct in that his immortality trumped Apollo's curse and allowed him to be in the sunlight? Had two years atrophied his control over the Malachai to such a degree that he had to start seriously worrying about when he went back home?

Whatever the answers, he needed to figure them out; and he could think of only one other person he'd trust to go with him.

[flora_segunda]

It was later in the morning, and I was stepping out of my hut to head out on ITF duty, when I heard someone coming up the pathway. Looking, I was surprised to see it was Nick. And he seemed to be coming here.

"Nick?" i called. "Is something the matter?"

[darkest_hunter]

The question floored him after an entire walk of playing mental racquetball with himself. He actually stopped moving to think about what she'd said.

"Yes. No. I'm not sure," Nick said, then to really finish with a flourish he added, "I don't think so."

[flora_segunda]

Something was the matter. He seemed preoccupied. But even if nothing was the matter, I felt strangely happier to have him there. "Well, how can I help-- Flynn!"

Flynn trotted out to greet the newcomer, sniffing at Nick's leg.

[darkest_hunter]

The reaction was automatic after so much time around Dairine and Ponch. He crouched and held out a hand to the dog to sniff. Oddly, the action grounded him and he was able to corral his thoughts a little better.

"It's about the causeway," he said at last. It wasn't a question. She was on the ITF, he didn't doubt they were already investigating it.

[flora_segunda]

"I was heading there later today," I said. "There may be some Islanders stuck over there; we're putting together a search party." But I didn't understand Nick's interest. "What about the causeway? Are you missing someone as well?"

[darkest_hunter]

"No. Well, not exactly. Aphrodite's over there and Luke's about to completely lose his shit about that, but that's not what's got me here. I offered to help him look for him but apparently there's a little more that's different about the new city than it just appearing out of nowhere."

[flora_segunda]

I wasn't following. I appreciated and was flattered that Luke had come to me, but I had no idea why he would. His comment on the city being more different than just appearing out of nowhere intrigued me. "How so?" I asked.

[darkest_hunter]

He took a breath, exhaled it. "Powers. Our powers work over there, apparently. Whatever this island does to us to revert us to completely human doesn't work on the other side of that causeway."

[flora_segunda]

That made me freeze. Behind me, in the hut, I heard something crash, and I wonder if Octohands had overheard. Powers. Magic. Working once more. If I went over there, would I...

I had to go over and see. But something still didn't make sense. "This is interesting but... why did you need to see me?"

[darkest_hunter]

"I need your help, Nyana," he said, keeping it simple. "I went over alone. Yesterday. To test a theory of sorts and I felt my powers returning. I could see things, hear things, understand things in a way I haven't since I came here two years ago."

Nick took another breath. And this is where she'll lock me up or run screaming, he thought.

"The problem is, when I'm my real self, some of the powers I have access to aren't...they don't mesh well with other humans. I can be dangerous, really dangerous. I had that part under control before I came here but now? I'm two years out of practice and I could use a little backup in case I'm really rusty at it now."

[flora_segunda]

My mouth dropped open at this. I should have realized. Nick had powers to. But the implications were staggering: not only did he have powers, he was afraid of them. So he'd turned to me. That still flabbergasted me. Did he know that I had powers? I hadn't told him, and I wasn't sure if I should (I didn't know if the returning powers rule applied to me). But he did know I was ITF, and he seemed to think he could trust me.

"You want me to come with you, to make sure you don't get out of control," I said.

[darkest_hunter]

"Yes," Nick agreed with a nod then looked right into her eyes, "do you think you can do that? I know the smartest thing would be to just stay away, to not go near the place and continue to live my human life over here. But the not knowing is starting to feel like an itch right between my shoulder blades, you know? One I can feel, but can't quite get rid of alone."

[flora_segunda]

I hesitated a moment but, in the end, I nodded. Honestly, I had no idea if I could hold Nick back if he was as afraid of who he was as he seemed to be. But I had military training, and I had faced the Loliga. I'd even died, once. But over all of that was the fact that I knew exactly why Nick needed to go across the crossway. It was the same reason why I needed to go across myself.

"I'll go with you," I said.

[darkest_hunter]

His shoulders relaxed at once and he nodded. He reached out a hand to grip her shoulder in a light squeeze. "Thank you, Nyana. I don't know if you have things you need to do right now, I mean I just busted over here. But I can meet you there later...?"

[flora_segunda]

I nodded. "Ayah, so. Name the time, and I will be there."

[darkest_hunter]

"How about an hour from now? Right at the edge of the causeway?" Nick suggested, already thinking about what he needed to do in the meantime.

[flora_segunda]

"I will be there," I said. And because Nick seemed to like touching -- maybe it was something about where he came from -- I patted his shoulder in turn. "One hour. This will give me time to prepare."

I had notes to leave. If Sieur Coulson or Sieur Barnes came calling, they would want to know why I wasn't here. I might get into trouble, but I knew it had to be this way.

[darkest_hunter]

The debate on whether or not to take his shortsword was a swift one. In the end, though, he kept it at the hut. The odds were good that there wasn't anything over there they'd need to defend against.

Except, maybe, himself.

So he was in his regular clothes, hands in his pockets, with dread and excitement fighting a skirmish in his stomach as he waited for Nyana.

[flora_segunda]

It didn't take me long to write up the note which I tacked onto my door. It took longer deciding whether to take Flynn with me or not. After all, Flynn had saved me in the past. At the same time, I didn't want Flynn to be hurt, if it came to that. But Flynn decided things for me by slipping past me and bolting out the door. I knew, then, that he would not be going back inside without a fight. "Fine, you snapperhead," I shouted. "Come on!" Leaving Octohands behind (I didn't have to bring him!), I headed to the meeting place.

The ITF search parties hadn't arrived yet, so it was just Flynn and me as I saw Nick standing at the causeway. "I'm ready," I called.

[darkest_hunter]

Nick was standing, hands in pockets, staring out over the water before turning to face Nyana. "As ready as I'll ever be," he said with a calm voice that hid every bit of the apprehension filling him.

[flora_segunda]

The causeway was wide enough for both of us to walk side by side. I smiled at Nick and touched his arm gently, offering comfort, but mostly to hide my own nerves. I wondered what it would be like if I suddenly got my magical skills back. I wondered how disappointed I'd be if I didn't.

[darkest_hunter]

Nick felt the warmth of her touch on his arm and it chased away a lot of the anxiety coursing through him. He'd gone years after his life had gone to hell without ever feeling that comfort; Zell had been the first to break that barrier. And even though he hadn't been in a drought of it since coming here, he never ceased to appreciate the connection.

"We're close," he said after a long silence, more warning her, and himself, than simply stating the obvious. "I can feel my senses getting sharper."

When he crossed the threshold from island to city, he slipped his old sunglasses onto his face, shielding his now-light sensitive eyes.

[flora_segunda]

I wasn't feeling anything yet. Then again, I usually did not feel grammatical or the current until it swept through me. But as we walked on, something did feel... strange. There was a tingling in my stomach which could have been anything, but my heart beat faster.

I looked over at Nick. "Are you all right?"

[darkest_hunter]

"Fine," Nick responded, mostly meaning it. Fine was sort of a relative term. He felt all right, but he didn't feel human anymore. "I have my powers back. I can feel them."

He walked them into what looked like an abandoned shop front. Once out of the sun's harsh light, Nick took his glasses down and looked at her. "My eyes aren't blue anymore, are they?"

If he was right, his eyes would now appear gray from a distance, but at closer inspection, they'd look like swirling silver mercury. A little gift from his deal with the devil.