Marco woke up early that morning. Earlier than he normally did to get work. In fact he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to go to work today. Too much happened over the weekend. Too many changes in his life in such a short period of time. And helping random customers with their insurance was the last thing he could handle.
So he told his boss there was a family emergency and he couldn’t get in. He went out before Sarah had a chance to wake up, left her a text and then went to the temple. Ley was there to greet him when he arrived. The celestial closed their eyes in greeting. “Hello Marco. I didn’t expect to see you so early.”
“Hey Ley,” he walked over to them and then walked to the crystal and pressed his hand against it. “I didn’t plan to be here today but here I am. There’s a lot I can’t get ouf of my head.”
“I assume it is the Legion situation?”
“No. Though that is something that bothers me too,” he said. He manifested his gun and stared at it. Rotating it through the chambers he recounted them.
“Yellow is Sarah. The shock bullets. Blue is Kat. The barrier bullets. Purple is Seth. The impact bullets. Red are mine. The teleportation bullets. Pink was Cals. The illusion bullets. But,” He rested the gun on his thigh as he flipped through the settings again. “Something happened when I thought Cal had died. I felt a surge of more power from my stone. I don’t know what it was. But I think it was tied to Cal. But there was more to it. I thought I saw another color on the gun.”
“Your powers got stronger when you worried about your teammates. Like I’ve said before. Your powers are strongest when together. That is even more true now that the powers are built out of each of you instead of just myself.”
“But what are my powers. It feels like I’m just copying my friends’ abilities,” he put his hands on his head and walked over to sit on the ground. “I don’t have the power to helm them.”
Letting his gun fade away he stared at the Celestial and shook his head. Ley floated over and then crouched until they were sitting down at eye level with him. “You are struggling with coming to terms with what happened on the moon and what to do next.”
“Yeah. I mean. My daughter from the future is here and she looks up to me. I’m one of her heroes. And I don’t feel like that. I feel like I’m letting her down, everyone, in some way.”
“Are you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe,” he shook his head and let out a breath. “Sarah would say I’m not. And Jack would beat me up for even suggesting it. “
“Then why do you doubt yourself,” they asked.
“Actions speak for themselves right?”
Ley stared at him and then pressed their hands together and spread them apart. An image appeared in front of them. The planet Earth. He’d seen Earth so many times from the outside that this wasn’t new to him. But Ley turned it around quickly and beacons of light extended from the various countries.
“When I came here, I didn’t choose the keeper of my stones at random.”
“I figured as much,” Marco replied. “You like this planet too much to risk some random people taking care of it.”
“Indeed. But the qualities that I looked for weren’t random. I wanted to find five individuals who were kind, smart, quick on their feet, and above all good. These five would have to go above and beyond to put their lives on the line to stave off an alien invasion. You five are the ones that I picked.”
“But you didn’t pick me Ley. Jack did. After he died,” Marco said. “I wasn’t one of your chosen.”
“No you weren’t. But you were the chosen by them. Jack picked you to replace him. You are in a relationship with Jack and Sarah. And the moment you got the power you used it to help you team. To unite them. You helped them see their potential in ways they themselves could. In a way I have overlooked you as you’ve proven to be a fine leader.”
Marco cracked a small smile and nodded. “Thanks Ley.” He got up and walked to the crystal. He pressed his hand against it and took a slow breath. “You once said that I had some kind of latent psykik power inside me. The earliest of the human race. How do I use it?”
“What?” Ley floated forward. “You wish to become a proper psykik?”
“Yes.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“So is facing off with Legion. I need to be ready so no one else gets taken.”
Ley regarded him calmly and seemed to be smiling. “I did not foresee this request but I am glad to hear it. It is something that fascinates me. What would this side of the galaxies first psykik look like. Though I was not meant to interfere I don’t think that I am the reason you became what you are now. But now I will be the reason you become what you are meant to be.”
“What do we do?”
Ley motioned toward the crystal and then back to him. The celestial didn’t have to explain much to Marco. He was able to put the pieces together on his own more or less. First he called his stone into reality. Instead of changing forms though he squeezed it and closed his eyes tightly. He felt the power in it pulse and react to the crystal. Felt it call out to it. So he touched the crystal and it immediately glowed bright in response.
Ley came forward pressing one of their own hands against the crystal and if the crystal was attuned to Marco it went into overcharge with Ley. It glowed brightly almost blinding Marco. Ley rested their free hand on Marco’s forehead.
His eyes widened considerably and then almost rolled back into his head. He gasped and his legs shook as the raw power just radiated through his body like the strongest high he’d ever had. He could feel the enormous presence of the celestial in front of him and then felt something inside of himself. The small ball of fire that lay dormant within his psyche flared to life.
And then it began to grow, coaxed forward by the warmth in the crystal, guided by Ley’s presence, and influenced by the stone in his hand. The mixing of everything within him melded into something brand new. Something that Ley had never seen before and something that Marco couldn’t even describe.
The Harlequin Library 