Burning Slow

What if?

"It's been a week! They consumed too much of their power that day. What if... What if they don't wake up?" Astraea croaked.

"Hey," Kenneth placed a hand on her shoulder. "they'll wake up. Can't you feel their power building up? They're slowly recharging." He reassured.

"But Nick... He consumed too much of his power in the cold and he'd been bleeding and-" She couldn't continue her sentence further, sobs escaping her lips, breaking down completely.

She had been holding in her emotions for the past week, trying to stay positive. She didn't know if her boyfriend or her friends would wake up. She didn't know what she would do if they didn't. She didn't know how to cope with all of this, especially since these people had been the first group of friends that put up with her annoying attitude, provided that they had to but as days passed by they had grown into a family. And she couldn't bear to lose one of her family. Not this time.

"The other three had also been bleeding, Astraea. You need to believe in them." This time it was Rocco who reassured her.

"Yeah, you don't want your Icky to see you crying when he wakes up, right?" James teased which made Astraea stop sobbing.

"You're right," she hiccupped, wiping away her tears. "I don't need his ego boosted any further."

"They'll wake up." Rocco repeated as if he was trying to reassure himself. He gripped Ember's hand tightly as he stared at her, having the same doubts that everybody did.

"Please wake up." He whispered to her. "Please."

"You guys do know that we can't just be moping around here, waiting for them to wake up?" Kenneth pushed himself off the wall.

"Well, these four are the only ones that know what to do." James argued.

"I am curious though," Astraea sniffled. "When did Ember use her power? She has the power to see time, right? More specifically, her lifespan. And it doesn't consume any of her power. She even said and I quote, my power is f*****g useless." She then paused, staring at Ember's unconscious body. "It doesn't make any sense."

The room was enveloped in silence, all of them pondering over Astraea's words.

"Do you guys think that the two downstairs know what to do?" James suggested.

"Probably. I'll go get them." Kenneth volunteered, limping out of the room.

"We can feel how much power the other consumes, right? When we're within range of each other?" Rocco started, facing James and Astraea who both nodded. "But I felt Ember consuming her power and we were miles away from each other. And again, it doesn't make sense what she's using her power for."

"It's probably your blood that's making you feel her and Grace did mention that you two are a match; relationship and power wise." James wiggled his eyebrows at Rocco, making him blush.

Rocco was about to say something again but Greyson, Kenneth and Alex entered the room.

"You guys wanted to know something?" Greyson sat down beside Ember, staring at all of the teens.

"Yeah." Astraea responded. "Why did Ember use her power?"

And nobody in the room missed the way Alex and Greyson tensed at the question.

"Ember used... her power?" Greyson drawled out.

"Yes and you two obviously know something we don't." Kenneth suspiciously stated.

A few moments of silence passed, the teens staring down their superiors.

"It's ironic actually," Greyson cleared his throat, finally starting. "Ember's name fits her situation too f*****g perfectly." His voice thick with emotion, fists clenching.

"What do you mean?" Rocco asked.

"An ember is the coal that you see when the fire is dying, right? It's hot and glowing and slowly dies." Greyson choked, unable to form his next words.

Alex placed a hand on his shoulder, sighing. The conscious teenagers looked at each other, wondering where this was going.

"I'm going to give it to you guys straight." The teenagers nodded in anticipation. "Ember is Daughter Nature. She doesn't just have one power, she has two. Admittedly, her first power really does suck but it's so much safer than her second."

"Two powers... How is that possible?" James thought aloud.

"We don't know either but it seems that she's the only child that possessed two powers."

"What is it?" Rocco's voice shook as he spoke. He was unable to remove his gaze on Ember's peaceful face, multiple emotions swirling in his green eyes. He felt an overwhelming amount of fear burst within him. Alex's words echoing in his mind.

So much safer than her second.

He couldn't help but to think of the worst. His mind being swarmed with awful images of Ember and blood and spirits. He was usually pretty good at ignoring his thoughts but when it came to Ember, he was just so afraid of what would happen to their little flame.

"Apart from seeing her lifespan, she has the power to control nature and everything else on Earth. To put it simply... she's basically Mother Nature's... daughter." Alex tested the word out, unsure if it's the right word to use. "Yeah, daughter." He nodded to himself, looking like he was proud of choosing that word.

"Oh my god." Astraea gasped. "A power that strong..."

"What do you mean by her name fitting her situation perfectly?" Kenneth wondered.

"There is a reason why we didn't tell you about Ember's second power. It's because it's so dangerous to her but completely beneficial to us. Every time she uses that power, every time she brings back life to the Earth, she subtracts time from her lifespan."

"The silent conversation that Grace and her had that one meeting... They were talking about that." Astraea spoke to herself but everybody heard her.

-

Grace sighed, narrowing her eyes at Ember. The two once again had another silent conversation.

"Promise me first that you're not going to use it." Ember just shrugged with a mischievous smirk on her face. At this, Grace groaned, massaging her forehead. "If you die, I can't heal you." She muttered to herself.

-

The room was silent, everybody trying to complete the puzzle.

"If Grace was trying to save Ember even if she was part of the other side, there must be some reason, right?" Rocco pondered.

"f**k. My head is hurting from all of this." Kenneth glanced at the wall clock. "And it's already two in the morning. How nice."

Greyson sighed, standing up. "You kids need to rest. For now, I need you all to relax and heal. Just be normal kids, at least until all of you have healed from your injuries. No more talk about saving the world, for now. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir." They all responded, going to their beds. Except for Astraea who insisted on sleeping beside Nick.

"Goodnight, kids."

"Goodnight." They chorused, sleep overtaking the immediately.