Chapter 124 - He’d Have Your Head!

"Yeah," Madeline agreed, handing the shoes over to Briar and subtly trying to hide her right hand from both Briar and Indiana.

Speaking of Indiana…

"Indiana fell right back asleep the minute after you left," Briar explained.

"Ah," Madeline said, looking like she had seen a ghost. 

"I'd try waking her but she's dead asleep. Well, not literally, but you get what I mean," Briar said to her. 

Madeline chuckled, "I do."

Albeit she had just discovered she had powers, she felt strange knowing there was something inside her that was capable of making energy blasts.

She still felt like herself, but there was something else to it. 

Did she really inherit powers? 

Or was this a temporary thing? 

Madeline frowned thinking it was temporary. 

If she had powers, that would hugely benefit her and those around her. Not only could she actually have some way to protect herself around any imminent danger, she wouldn't have to be saved. 

As much as she said she wasn't a fragile, delicate vase, that was exactly what she was, even if no one wanted to admit it. 

They were simply being polite, they never meant any harm. 

So, if she did get powers, and if she learnt to properly use them, she'd appreciate it. And, she would finally be able to protect those she cared out.

Then again, powers were a responsibility. They weren't just something to show off and think selfishly about. 

Madeline knew Briar would have to know about her powers eventually. She'd crack under pressure soon, or break and tell Briar everything that happened. 

Looking at her right hand, Madeline wondered how would her father react. 

'I called him my father,' she realized. 

Inhaling, Madeline wondered if she was finally beginning to see Emilio as a fatherly figure now. That, or she had called him her father by accident. 

Madeline shook her head. She didn't want to hide it from Briar.

"Briar," she called softly. 

"Hmm?" Briar asked, walking out of the restroom. 

"I need to show you something," Madeline said to her, determined to get it out of the way before anything else happened and she found out the news from someone else. 

Briar deserved to know from her, and her alone. They were  friends, not strangers. 

Her voice was soft as she whispered to her, "Let's go outside so we don't disturb Indiana."

Tilting her head, Briar wondered what this could be about. Did Madeline really find the need to have to bring her outside to talk about this? Briar wouldn't eavesdrop on their conversation, she had tried many times to wake her up, to no avail. 

Heck, she'd even tried tickling Indiana! She was exhausted. That poor girl. And after all that, Briar finally decided to let her get some well-deserved sleep. 

Once they were out of Briar's room, Briar demanded, "Now what are you on about?"

Speaking in a hushed voice, Madeline said to Briar, "You know how I took a longer time to return back from my quarters?" 

Briar nodded, "Yeah, we heard Xavier outside, he walked you back here, no?"

Now, it was Madeline's turn to nod. 

"Yeah, he did. But something else happened."

With how nervous Madeline was about it, and not in the butterfly in the stomach type of nervous, Briar was left to believe this was not about Xavier. 

"You don't have to talk about whatever this is now," Briar said.

"No no, I brought you out here for a reason. I intend to tell you now," Madeline insisted.

"It's nothing too important," she said, adding, "It's nothing worth me overreacting, at least."

"Are you undermining your situation again? Madeline, come on," Briar said, becoming even more concerned.

It was when Madeline was reluctant and hesitant to speak and trying to dismiss her issues were things more serious. 

Who knew what Madeline was hiding?

Was Madeline hiding something that she had encountered?

Something she had known for a long time but only got reminded of during her short trip to her quarters?

'Gah! I should stop thinking about it too much,' Briar said, wanting to smack herself on the head with how much thought she was putting into this. 

Madeline said it wasn't important. If she really wasn't undermining her situation and making it seem less important as it actually was... Then there wasn't anything to overthink or overreact about. 

Staring at her right hand, Madeline knew if there was any better time to shoot an energy blast, it would be now to demonstrate it to Briar. 

She'd shoot it somewhere it wouldn't break anything, of course. Xavier would have her head if he knew she did so.

Alright, that was an exaggeration, he wouldn't do such a thing. 

"So... I..."

"You what?" Briar asked, coaxing her to speak and spit it out already. 

It had to be this way, if Briar didn't encourage Madeline to speak, Madeline would spend an entire hour just stuttering and mumbling whilst never telling Briar a damn thing. 

Inhaling sharply, Madeline explained the situation to Briar as quickly as she could. 

"So basically, I was walking towards my quarters and felt this hand on my shoulder. I turned around and it was Xavier and I almost shot him."

Briar looked confused, her brows knitted. 

"How--"

"How I almost shot him?" Madeline asked, a look of nervousness on her face. 

She extended her hand, before a literal energy blast shot through the woods, right where she had been aiming. 

Briar's jaw dropped to the floor.

Madeline's eyes were wide; she had not expected to have been able to shoot an energy blast at will. It had taken sheer willpower, and Madeline was beginning to feel woozy, but otherwise, she felt fine. 

"You just--"

"You just blast--"

Briar couldn't process what she just saw. 

On her face was a look of shock and wonder. 

"That is so cool!" She exclaimed. 

Madeline chuckled, "Yeah."

"It's cool," she said, looking at her right hand once more. 

Hmm, Briar seemed to have reacted better than she had imagined. 

Briar paused. 

"Hold on."

"Why were you so nervous to tell me you had powers?"

"Oh, that."

Madeline scratched the back of her neck nervously. 

"Err."