Hirune got out of the car looking as if she just got in a car crash that involved an unnecessary number of trucks. Everyone else on the other hand, looked like they were brand-new cars polished to the point they borderline glowed.
Hirune looked around at the scenery. All of the roads were made of gray bricks, with slight metal indents in them that allowed trolleys to go around the city. The structures were all wood though. Which Hirune found pretty peculiar. Only the more important places like factories, restaurants, and any building that could be used for politics were made out of materials separate from wood. But it certainly did heighten death rates either way. But why were they here?
Ellen turned to them, "Alright guys. According to our insiders, we've brought a noob on an extremely dangerous and important mission."
They all looked at her, then at Hirune, then back at her and expressed visual worry.
Besides Clint. Clint seemed a little too excited to have a noob with them.
"So, Hirune," Ellen took a deep breath, "Oh, I'm so going to regret my next decision if you turn out to be a bad person." She muttered before clearing her throat and saying, "In order for you to unlock your powers you have to focus on your core, then force it to shatter into a million pieces then fix it."
Hirune looked at her with an eyebrow raised, "What's a core?"
"A core is something everyone has, it's basically your life force." Ellen answer matter-of-factly.
They stared at each other for a moment. "Excuse me, wha-" Ellen cut her off.
"You heard that right. That's why I was so worried earlier. If you can't break and fix your core, then you might go mad. You just have to focus." Hirune laughed nervously. Was she seriously about to try this? What if she's lying? "How can I be sure I can trust in you?"
"I mean...I've been the nicest person here to you. You should trust me at least a little." Ellen responded with her eyebrows low.
'Is she guilt tripping me?' Hirune thought as she sighed. She was seriously about to do this. "Well how do I do that? You can't expect me to just know this stuff."
Ellen seemed to take a moment to remember, putting her dumb and pointer finger to either side of her chin, her 3 other fingers in a fist, mildly biting her lip. "You focus on the center of your body and then try to visualize it. Do try to visualize it in a basic shape like a sphere though, it'll be easier that way."
Hirune focused up, trying to imagine her core. Focusing her entire mind to it. What she saw was not what she expected, a dark misty orb with a reverberating wave of red and purple. Not that many colored waves, but just enough to show that she still had emotions, and that Namulenza was lying in there somewhere. She then realized, how would she break this? Wouldn't this kill her?
She desperately tried to exit this little fixation of her imagination, but she couldn't. Well, what now? Does she risk it or not? It's not as if there's a different way of leaving. Hirune thought for a moment, trying to figure out her next move. The only thing she could think of was making a small hole into her core to see inside then patching it up again. That seemed like the only possible loophole that would allow her to get out.
She focused on applying pressure to a tiny spot in her core, then it eviscerated. Just as luck would do her, her core was extremely fragile. She scrambled to fix it, throwing as many pieces as she could at each other and hoping they stuck. Yet nothing seemed to work as the pieces shattered more and more with every strike. Eventually she was just seeing a bunch of dust. Then suddenly she felt as if her head was blown up into a veil of red mist.
***
"What were you trying to do?" a voice laughing sinisterly exclaimed from her left. She sighed while tilting her head left and glancing up at her. "Well, you do get lonely here by yourself, or so I imagine. I just wanted to visit."
Namulenza scoffed, "Well whatever you were doing, you did it the right way."
She stared at her for a moment. She did it the right way? Was she SUPPOSED to "die" to fix her core? She looked puzzled, like a toddler trying to understand taxes.
"Well, I'm sending you back now. This is new to you, but you're going back 10 seconds into the past before you died. So, you can't change events unless you already reached a requirement that death doesn't take away from you." Namulenza said with a snap.
Hirune was back to Ellen yapping about her having to break her core. "you ha-"
"I already did it." Hirune answered bluntly.
Ellen stared at her, "What?"
"I just did it. Right now." Hirune responded again. Ellen seemed baffled, she didn't even finish explaining it what did she mean she already did it?
"Show me. To use your powers just... Well, whatever feels right to you. Using your powers has to do with your own personal way of thinking about things." Ellen answered doubtfully.
Hirune focused up, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. She felt as if something was wrapping around her nails, a freezing sensation covering them. She slowly opened her eyes to see what it was.
As she opened her eyes a small lizard came out of her shadow and something that was coming out of her nails instantly retracted when she opened her eyes. She heard Kala hold in a laugh, Clint looked like he just saw the coolest thing ever, and Tundra and Ellen looked unamused yet curious. Hirune was left disappointed, why didn't it stay when she was about to see it?
"Try again. Don't close your eyes this time. Do the nail thing again." Hirune wasn't sure why. Maybe it was to get her practice in, but maybe, just maybe she should practice somewhere more private. But she was starting to trust Ellen a bit more. After all she didn't trick her into killing herself, so she had a basic peer level of trust with her now.
She focused on her nails, and these cool 3-inch-long, fang-like dark wobbly claws came out from the space between her nails and skin.
"Well now that we know what your powers are. It might seem a bit crazy that the first mission we're taking you on has to do with arson... Yeah, everyone could die it's something light." Ellen brushed it off as if it was nothing and so did the others.
Hirune stared at her for a moment while, her fist covering her mouth with her dumb pushing her cheek up into her eye a little. Then she muttered, "At this point, I'm both concerned yet thinking this makes complete sense and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing."