[h1][center]Collaboration with [@Almalthia] & [@c3p-0h][/center][/h1]

[hider=Part 1]Uná walked into her dorm room and sat down at her desk. Pulling out the card she turned it over in her hands. Opening the drawer she pulled out the device that Sena had given her. She was going to see Jasper to see if, by some fluke, Jasper could get into it. Tilting her head back Uná blowing out her breath in a sigh.

Meanwhile, Aya walked down from the other end of the hallway. She rubbed at her neck, stiff from hours spent bent over, writing in her notebook. She flexed her hand, wincing slightly at the cramp. No one had seen much of Aya the past few days, other than class time. Any break she had was spent in the library, researching, writing, fretting over the knowledge she had been unwillingly made responsible for. 

But knowledge was useless if she did nothing with it. 

Aya bit at her lip as she approached her door. She was tired, barely eating, and in over her head. And still, the world around her spun on its axis, as if nothing was amiss. No one seemed to care about the AD’s disappearance. Sena Yüksel still walked the grounds like she belonged. Uná hadn’t had any more incidents. And shame still filled Aya whenever she caught sight of the security guard, Mr. St. John. 

The only thing different seemed to be the abrupt end to her one on one tutoring sessions with Professor Everose. This, at least, she understood. 

Aya opened the door to her room to see Uná already there. She made her way to her bed and collapsed in it. 

Uná looked over as the door opened and Aya flopped down on her bed.[color=green][i] She looks really pale and I think she's lost weight. I promised this was a safe space and that I wouldn't press her, but I'm worried.[/i][/color]

Turning all the way around to face her friend Uná gave Aya a worried look.[color=green] "I know I said I wouldn't push but something feels like it's bothering you? Maybe? I mean I notice things and you look paler and thinner. Are you eating and getting outside for more than five minutes a week? I'm just worried. We could have Dr. Sena take a look and see if she recommends some over the counter vitamins or something. She's pretty cool."[/color]

Aya breathed a sigh, ready to wave her roommate off with a tired excuse and a guilty conscience. Her eyes snapped open though when she heard the doctor’s name. Suddenly awake, Aya sat up in bed and looked at Unà. 

[color=aquamarine]“Dr. Sena?”[/color]

Uná nodded.[color=green] "Yeah. Her last name is complicated and actually pretty cool sounding when she says it. I haven’t yet mastered it. It's better than Dr. Y. That sounds silly. I officially met her on Wednesday. She works with the Dean. Speaking of the Dean, Professor Everose got into some sort of trouble. Rumor has it that she was unprofessional with a student. I don't believe that drivel for a minute. What do you think actually happened?"[/color] Uná tilted her head thinking and tapped her chin with the card Sena had given her.

Aya’s mind spun as she spoke. She pressed her lips together, not knowing where to even begin.[/hider]

[hider=Part 2][color=aquamarine]“Uná,”[/color] she started, voice low and serious. [color=aquamarine]“I… I need you to trust me. Dr. Sena is dangerous.”[/color]

Uná took in the serious gaze of her best friend.[color=green] "I trust you. Is something going on that I should know about Aya?"[/color] Uná looked concerned and serious. 

[color=aquamarine][i]So much.[/i][/color] Aya rubbed at her eyes. She took in a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again to look across the room at Uná, she was still torn. [color=aquamarine]“My-”[/color] She cut herself off. Tried again. 

[color=aquamarine]“I’ve… never fully explained what I can do, yet. It’s complicated. And it keeps… [i]evolving[/i] in ways I don’t know how to predict. But essentially, it’s…”[/color] Aya’s heart rate spiked, the words precarious on her tongue. It was small and petty, and she was well past the point of denial.

But saying it - explaining it - [i]admitting it[/i] - only made it all the more real. It was a threshold she’d never had the guts to cross. 

[color=green]"Freaking terrifying?"[/color] Uná nodded.[color=green] "I mean it must be if you don't talk about it. Don't talk about it and it's not there. Like when you were little and scared of monsters under the bed. Don't talk about them and they're not real. If the world was that simple."[/color]

Uná smiled sadly.[color=green] "Trust me I get it. I don't want to be a mutant. I want to be some long lost princess. But what girl doesn't? But I'm a mutant. Orphan mutant that was adopted by a great couple but I'm still a mutant. I accept that. You did too. Neither of us really wants to use our powers but we have to learn to control them, or they control us. I'm not happy with that outcome."[/color]

Aya looked at Uná, long and quiet. 

[color=aquamarine]“Uná, the monsters aren’t under the bed anymore. I’ve seen them. Dr. Sena is one of them. Don’t trust her, and [i]please[/i] don’t be alone with her.”[/color]

[color=green][i]Aya knows something. Something really frightening.[/i][/color] Uná swallowed.[color=darkgreen][i] But why isn't she telling you what she knows?[/i][/color] She blinked.[color=green][i] What was that?[/i][/color] 

A little panicked at the waring thoughts in her head Uná pushed it to the side for now.[color=green] "I'll be careful. I mean it'd be weird if you don't like her and you say she's dangerous. It's just… well she agreed with me about the meds that the Dean had me on. Said not to take them, that I can learn to control my powers myself. Maybe that was a ruse? I'm confused but if you say she's dangerous then I trust you."[/color]

Aya opened her mouth to respond, but then she froze. Her mind caught up to what Uná said.

[color=aquamarine]“The dean’s been making you take medication? For your powers?”[/color]

Uná nodded.[color=green] "It was before Sally got transferred just after that fight with Isaac and meeting Nathan. Almost right after that. Pretty close to when I first started school here. It helped me control them while awake. It was fine until..."[/color] She shrugged after thinking for a few seconds.[color=green] "Well I can't entirely remember but something went wrong and they didn't seem to be as effective."[/color]

Aya’s heartbeat seemed to be the only thing she could hear.

[color=aquamarine]“They haven’t worked since that night at the club. Since Avalon. Right?”[/color] The night was still a misty blur, but [i]still[/i], Aya knew that it’d been a starting point for this new danger that slowly crept its way around them. The Sluagh. Her vision. The climbing buzz of tension she felt between the realms.

Uná looked surprised.[color=green] "Was I that obvious? Oh no! Did I have a dream about something personal?!"[/color] She was bright red and a bit horrified if that was the case.[color=green] "Please don't tell me I dreamt about Nik and you were ringside seat for the fantasy!"[/color]

Aya blinked, then let out a sharp, startled laugh. She clapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders still trembling, and eyes full of light for the first time in days. She shook her head, quickly calming. [color=aquamarine]“No, nothing like that.”[/color] Her smile started to fade. [color=aquamarine]“It’s… the club [i]changed[/i] things, and-”[/color] Aya pressed her lips together. [color=aquamarine]“I… I don’t even know where to start.”[/color] She dropped her face to her hands to rub at her tired eyes. 

[color=aquamarine]“Uná, I have so many secrets that aren’t mine to carry. I don’t know who to go to, or if it’s even [i]safe[/i] -”[/color] She looked back up at her roommate. [color=aquamarine]“I know things that are dangerous in ways I don’t even understand yet. And if I tell someone - if I tell [i]you[/i] - I don’t know what will happen.”[/color] Her voice started to tremble. Heat pooled behind her eyes. [color=aquamarine]“But I don’t think I can go to Professor Everose, or the dean, because it’s - I’ve [i]tried[/i]. And I-”[/color] The burn of her ‘test’ still ate at her, a consuming ache at being used and hurt and failed by her teachers. Tears were hot as they ran down Aya’s face.

[color=aquamarine]“I don’t know what to do.”[/color][/hider]

[hider=Part 3]As Aya’s words started to falter then she started to cry, Uná sat on her best friend's bed and hugged her.[color=green] "I'm not sure what's going on but if you can't tell Everose or the Dean or me then maybe you can tell Nik or … no Cleo is scared of me. Mr. St. John? Or even one of the new people? Heidi is a good listener. Just don't pick Veronica. She's mean. That girl needs to get laid and chill out. Or have a good cry and get over it.”[/color]

Uná reached over for a few tissues and handed them to Aya. Wiping Aya’s face free of hair and cuddling.[color=green] "I don't know what is wrong but I think we can fix it. There's no problem with no solution."[/color]

The familiar swell of shame rose in Aya’s chest at the security guard’s name. Aya didn’t know that she’d be able to face him after intruding into his past. But… maybe he was an idea.

Leaning into Uná’s hug, Aya sniffled. She was a good friend - maybe the best Aya’d ever had. She’d never really had more than acquaintances her entire life, consumed as it was with taking care of her father. 

[color=aquamarine]“Thank you,”[/color] she said, so soft it was almost a whisper. They sat like that for a long moment. Then, Aya found the courage to speak again. [color=aquamarine]“There are… monsters out there. People. Agendas. I don’t know how much is safe to tell you. But there are things coming after you. I need you to be careful with who you trust… and what you think you know. The dean… I think he has some kind of power over our memories. I had nightmares after the club - vivid ones. The night after I woke up crying. But now there’s - it’s like I can only get flashes of what happened, nothing solid. I thought it was just trauma, but I don’t think it is anymore. Dr. Sena is dangerous… but I don’t know if we’re safe with the dean, either.”[/color]

Uná had a shiver run down her spine and a sense of foreboding filled her thoughts.[color=green] "Yeah I'm scared now. If it's this dangerous you should tell St. John. He's security so he should probably know. I won't ask what the issue is with Everose but if you think we can't trust her either that doesn't leave many options. I think Tabby has connections to the X-Men. The tech guy… what's his name? Surge? No. But he works on the danger room programs. Maybe Tabby can see if he can … I don't know, talk to someone? I'm reaching here. Whatever. I support you all the way."[/color]

Aya stared at the carpet as she listened to Uná list options. She remembered the burning, inhuman rage she’d felt in St. John. It had consumed him. For all Aya knew, he was one of the monsters, too. Professor Everose wasn’t dangerous, but Aya didn’t trust her to protect them - not anymore. The rest…

She sighed, still leaning into the warmth of Uná’s hug. She wiped at a stray tear.

[color=aquamarine][i]I want to tell you.[/i][/color]

But something stopped her - it hissed threats behind the white mist of her memories. Her eyebrows pulled together, as her frustration spiked. [i]What had it been?[/i] If she could just [i]remember[/i] why she couldn’t tell Uná, then maybe… 

Aya slumped in defeat. She had to do [i]something[/i]. Who knew how much time she’d already wasted, fretting and researching? Maybe telling someone else really was the answer. But the last time she’d done that, it’d lead to her ‘test’. Her only other option was…

Going back to the Astral Plane herself.

Aya hadn’t used her power since Wednesday. She’d been too much of a coward. She pressed her lips together again, warring with herself.

[color=aquamarine]“I want to tell you what I can do.”[/color] She was terrified, actually. But she wanted to give her friend [i]something[/i].

Uná nodded and waited.[color=green][i] No pushing Aya has to tell in her own time.[/i][/color]

Aya took in a deep breath, trying to figure out how to even start.

[color=aquamarine]“It’s… similar to Professor Everose’s, actually. It’s why I had tutoring with her instead of going to the Danger Room.”[/color] Aya swallowed, her throat dry. [color=aquamarine]“Ours isn’t the only plane of existence. I thought there were only two, but I’m… I’m not really sure. It feels like there are more, and there’s a realm that runs between planes, like a boundary. We call it the Astral Plane. I’m… I guess you could say I’m attuned to it. I can go back and forth to it, or sense activity from it… even get visions from it, if I concentrate.”[/color] Aya pushed down the memories of the ‘test’, trying to breathe. [color=aquamarine]“It’s how I entered your dreams, the night of the club. I didn’t know I could do that until just then, actually.”[/color]

Uná blinked.[color=green] "Sounds like surfing only cooler and way more complicated. I don’t remember you being in my dreams but I know you told me about it. That's way cooler than just dream walking."[/color] 

Uná looked concerned.[color=green] "Is it safe? Can you get lost in someone's dreams? If they wake up do you stay in their head? Dream walking and Astral surfing. That is really something."[/color] 

Aya stared at the plain carpet of their tiny room, eyes distant.

[color=aquamarine]“I don’t understand much about dreams yet,”[/color] she said softly. [color=aquamarine]“But my power has risks. If I take someone with me, they could be left there. Or when I have visions… it’s like the boundaries between souls there are less exact. Permeable. It’s easy to lose myself. And then there are the other realms.”[/color] The only clear memory she had of that night was of the Sluagh plunging its clawed hand deep into her chest. [color=aquamarine]“Things that know how to go back and forth like I do - they can hurt me.”[/color]

[color=green]"Wow. That is… wow. That's a lot. I bet the Astral Plane has different rules than here too. Is there like - I don’t know - a rulebook? Or a set of laws maybe?"[/color] At first Uná was speechless. Then in true Uná form she started asking questions. 

Aya shrugged. [color=aquamarine]“We never really got that far in our lessons.”[/color] There was a wry bend to her voice. [color=aquamarine]“I’m lucky I can even manage to stay standing when I go there. I used to just go limp.”[/color]

Uná bit her lip.[color=green] "How are you going to exercise your abilities if you don't have the rulebook? Think we can get into Everose's office and search it?"[/color] 

Aya let out a quiet huff that might’ve been a laugh. [color=aquamarine]“I don’t think we need to resort to B&E just yet.”[/color] 

How [i]was[/i] she going to figure out her powers, though? Did she even [i]want[/i] to? But even as she questioned it, Aya knew she didn’t have a choice anymore. For her friend’s sake. 

[color=aquamarine]“I’ll… I’ll figure it out. Somehow.”[/color]

[color=green]"Yeah and I'll be right there with you. Just try and stop me."[/color] Uná smirked.[color=green] "I think you should talk to someone you can tell everything to without fear of their safety. Besides that you know what I heard? I heard that Jasper can charge your phone and this I have to see. I forgot to bring my adapter for my iPod so I was going to see if she could. My parents are sending it but I want to use it in between now and then. It gives you the perfect reason to be away."[/color]

Aya smiled at Uná’s rambling, taking comfort in it. For a while, they were just two friends at boarding school together, chatting and laughing. The girls sat on the bed together until it was time to go. [/hider]