Naomi wandered throughout the mansion. Since learning of Michael's fate, she and the others had been trying to think of ways to keep Michael safe, like keeping him there, while Michael chose to avoid them all.
She couldn't wrap her head around it. After so long, it was hard to imagine...he was always so...untouchable... practically invincible. Could he really be killed? It just didn't seem real.
She wondered how he felt about it all. It had to be eating away at him. Maybe she could help him like she helped Alissia–perhaps she could distract him with joy so he wouldn't be depressed.
You can't help him, Naomi's other voice rang in her head. He's not depressed, he's angry. Probably humiliated, too. He's not used to needing to be saved or protected. He's always been among the strongest–able to withstand anything thrown at him, but like he said earlier, for the first time, he's mortal. He probably wants to tell us not to bother protecting him, but he knows if he dies, so does everything else, most likely...eventually, anyway.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Naomi asked aloud. She was pacing near a window, looking at the evening sky as she grew more anxious. She hated tense situations—the pressure always got to her. The windows nearby began to fog and frost over in response to her anxiety.
First, calm down; we don't need you to cause a blizzard or freeze everything. Second, I'm sure the others will all try to keep Michael away from the fighting. He may try to resist, in which case, he'll have to be restrained here, so you'll need to be ready to help with that. Your ice could prove exactly what we'd need to slow him down.
"I can't do that..."
Yes, you can. The sooner you realize what I can do, you can, the better off you'll be.
"nghhh," Naomi groaned uncomfortably. Suddenly, her ears picked up on something high-pitched as the background noises faded. She concentrated on the sound until an unpleasant chuckle was discernable.
"What's this? Talking to yourself? Always the odd one, aren't you?" Naomi heard Avarice's voice speak. She could tell he was far away, yet his voice was crystal clear, as if he were speaking through a tunnel next to her ears.
Naomi's other personality took over immediately.
"How is this possible," she asked incredibly. It felt as if he'd somehow used something to reign in her hearing, but that wouldn't allow him to hear her too.
Avarice's chuckle echoed in her ears.
"You mean, how can I hear you? How do I possess the same power you do? There's not much of a story there; it was an accident from when I was much younger," he replied smugly, reflecting on the incident as if it were a pleasant memory. "At the time, you were the only one weaker than me, so I tried to steal your energy before deciding to take Tymon or Michael's, but, like the little fox you are, you managed to escape. Of course, back then, I wasn't aware of our cintracies, so I thought I needed all your energy to get what I wanted. Until recently, I never understood how you survived even though I successfully gained your power..."
"So, you tried to kill me," Naomi reiterated.
"Yes, but I was ignorant of everything about our kind and our influences on life here. Now, I'm well aware and have a proposition for you. See, if we go head-to-head, many of you will likely die, which will affect the planet. Why risk it? We all live here. It's the only world we have. We don't need to destroy it over such a small dispute, wouldn't you agree?" he replied smoothly.
"Get to the point," Naomi said coldly. She knew not to trust him, but she was curious about what offer he would make. Perhaps it could benefit them.
"Join me. Convince the others to join us. Each of you has only experienced a fraction of our power firsthand. Meanwhile, we are well aware of each of your limits. You put up those icy walls of yours, but I know that you don't want anything to happen to the others, and honestly, neither do I. I'd rather we prevent needless death by coming together."
"What about the humans? You plan to kill billions."
"But not all. Just like I didn't plan to kill all of the Watchers. Leaving them to their own free will...they've had millennia to show us exactly why they need our ruling. They destroy the only world they have to live in to pursue their ambitions. They use and betray each other for anything they find desirable. They segregate themselves, causing their lack of power to defend themselves–if they were united, they'd be a threat to even us, but they can't see that for themselves. Besides, I'm sure you, of all people, understand why they should be governed...remember your mother? Remember Detroit?"
Naomi's body reflexively tensed in response to the memory as she released a pulse of frigid air, covering the entire upper hall in frost.
"Why care if a few die for order? Plus, under our collective rule, there won't be any fighting amongst themselves; they'll all live peacefully and by the new world order. Think about that. You all seem to want to protect and gravitate toward the human, so convince her this is the best for you all. I'm sure you can see that..." Avarice said before his presence faded, and Naomi's senses snapped back to her surroundings.
Naomi inhaled deeply, trying to calm her nerves. She hadn't expected any of that. Not Avarice having her ability to manipulate sound waves or him trying to recruit her. Then he just had to bring up her past...
I don't like him, Naomi's younger self spoke from within.
"Neither do I," Naomi remarked. She leaned against a wall covered in thin ice, the ice cracking beneath her weight.
Are you gonna do it?
"Of course not," She replied, shaking her head. Still, Naomi had to admit that some of the things he pointed out were sound, but killing billions was insane even for them.
For now, though, she needed to focus on their new problem–Avarice could use her power to listen in on them. She wanted to tell the others, but since her interaction with the cannibal twins, Naomi had felt useless. She may be the least powerful among them, but she still wanted to contribute somehow instead of introducing yet another problem to the others.
But how? How could she fix it? What solution could she offer? Avarice could spy on them because of the power he stole from her...
Suddenly, with Detroit still on her mind, an idea popped into her head. She used it a couple of times when she was younger after leaving Detroit–when she didn't want anyone to hear or find her.
That could work, she thought.
Naomi closed her eyes and concentrated. She heightened her senses to detect even the slightest vibrations within the air—vibrations from the lights in the manor, the ones that reverberated through the floors as the others moved around downstairs, their voices as they spoke to each other, and the light snow falling outside. She focused on it all. Then, using Seismic Reign, she replicated them into a mass of vibrations held between her hands before slowly expanding it outward.
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