Lia opened her eyes to the morning light. The warm sunlight beamed through her window, and the scent of cinnamon and bacon wafted through the air. She slid out of bed and stretched, wearing a man's formal button-up shirt. It was several sizes too big, but she didn't care.
She could hear movement in the kitchen—the source of the heavenly smell luring her down the passage of her home.
Standing in front of the stove was a handsome man, his blonde hair glowing in the sunlight. He turned his head to look at Lia over his muscular, bare shoulder. "Morning, hun! You slept well."
"Aiden! Put a shirt on... You know I can't think straight when you're like... that..." Lia snapped back shyly.
"I can't, you're wearing it," he replied with a knowing smirk. "How about you go have a shower and get dressed? I'll get done with breakfast and grab a shirt."
Aiden suggested it with a wink as he proceeded to roll up his cinnamon pancakes. Lia obliged happily.
At the breakfast table, Lia was gobbling up her bacon and eggs. She noted that the atmosphere was quiet and serene, but Aiden seemed tense. He was fumbling with the food on his plate, not really eating. Usually, he had a voracious appetite.
"What's wrong, my love?" Lia inquired.
"You do realise the Table Mountain mission later today will probably mark the end of the war, right?" Aiden replied, his voice rumbling low like an earth tremor.
"I thought that's a good thing." Lia was completely puzzled by his tone.
"After the treaty is signed, there will be no more need for Ascendants like me."
"Do you remember how my powers work?" Aiden grumbled.
"Firstly, I really dislike that word, Aiden. Secondly, of course there would be use for you!" Lia insisted. "All your abilities get amplified depending on your popularity, and it's not like you're lacking in that department!"
Lia couldn't believe her ears. Aiden had always seemed so forthright and enthusiastic about their cause. Why the sudden change of heart? Did his bloodlust get the better of him?
The rest of their meal was spent in an awkward, silent standoff that felt like it stretched on forever. All Lia could hear was the sound of Aiden's fork crashing against the porcelain plate. It seemed... violent somehow.
"I'm going to go train," Aiden growled as he picked up his bag of gear. "I'll see you in Cape Town."
He stormed out the gate and leapt away over the neighbourhood, causing a shockwave that blew dust and gravel over the shocked Lia.
"Is this how Jax feels all the time?" Lia couldn't help but wonder.
Several hours later...
Lia stood at the edge of Table Mountain, watching as the forces of the revolution subdued the last few soldiers of the Allied Forces. The scent of cinnamon and bacon seemed a lifetime away. Here, the air was literally burning from energy blasts, and the metallic scent of fresh blood hung thick in the air.
Between the explosions, she could make out the hum of TV helicopters and drones circling above them.
"Genius move making Table Mountain their fortress," she muttered. "A plateau with sheer cliffs would be difficult to reach... for normal people."
She scoffed at the thought. In her mind, it just acted as a trap; they now had no quick escape route.
Just then, she saw that Aiden had captured the last of the presidents, Mr Jackson Kennedy of the former United States of America. Aiden was holding him in the air like a bag of potatoes, but it looked like they were having a conversation.
Suspicious, Lia decided to listen in using the microphone on Aiden's helmet.
"Mr Kennedy, how's about we make ourselves a little deal?" Aiden began with a hint of glee in his voice. "I don't want this war to end. I want you to be my puppet."
"I want you to rally more forces for me to kill. You make me look good to the sheep watching on the TV, and I'll chase you all over the world, but never really kill you," Aiden added with a chuckle, clearly thrilled at his own genius.
A loud clap echoed from a distance. Before anyone could react, Jackson Kennedy was dead, and Aiden was covered in blood and brain matter. He tossed the corpse aside like trash and looked to the sky, seeing six black crows circling above.
"Wildwhisper, you bastard!" Aiden snapped, venom and fury evident in his voice.
Lia's heart sank. Her worst fears from the morning were being realised. Aiden turned towards Kez and coiled his legs to perform his trademark leap.
Lia knew she had to act. "Mental override!"
She felt a familiar, yet unbearably painful pressure build behind her eyes as she linked her consciousness with her team. Their reactions were instantaneous. Before Aiden could leap, the ground beneath him vibrated, sucking him in. Vines shot from the earth and wrapped around his granite-like body, looking as thick and woody as tree trunks.
Aiden turned his gaze upon Lia, then to Jax and Aisha who were now beside her. His eyes looked dead, devoid of all emotion.
"Let me talk to him," Lia commanded. She approached him. "Please stop, darling. You don't need to do this."
"I'm a killing machine, Oracle. This is what I'm born to do."
As the words left his mouth, Aiden broke free. In an instant, he had Jax by the throat, moving faster than anyone had ever seen. Aisha was already unconscious on the ground.
"He's out of control and way too strong, Lia," Kez commented via their neural-link.
"Don't worry. I have a trump card I've been hiding in case something like this ever happened." Lia's tone was cold, her eyes glowing with a purple hue.
Aiden dropped Jax, who was coughing and gasping for mouthfuls of air. Aiden's skin began flickering, becoming translucent before snapping back to granite. For a moment, you could see the beating heart of the man who became a monster.
"What have you done, Lia?!" he shouted, his voice booming.
"Not me. Him," she said, pointing to the sky.
Hovering above them was a teenage boy in a purple hoodie and baggy jeans, floating on a thin, grey cloud.
"I hacked all the TV cameras and showed the world who you really are, Apex," Levi said in an unusually flat tone. "I'm Glitch, by the way."
Levi landed as the grey cloud split into millions of tiny, ant-like nanobots that crawled into Aiden's body, delivering sharp shocks. Aiden dropped to one knee.
"I'll kill all of you!" he roared.
Apex punched the ground, creating a shockwave so immense it knocked everyone off their feet. A massive dust cloud rose to obscure the vision of the TV cameras.
Lia was expecting this. She deployed her portable warp gate and stepped through, appearing behind him. She drew her energy-blade, tears streaming down her face and blood dripping from her nose. For a moment, time stood still. There was no Oracle or Apex. Just Lia and Aiden but, as Lia looked into the eyes of the man she loved, she knew that he wasn't there anymore... If he was ever really there in the first place. She knew what had to be done.
Aiden turned to block, but he was weakened and moving slower than he had done a few minutes prior. In an instant, it was over. Lia delivered a deep slash across his chest.
They both dropped to the floor, lying side by side. Lia fought to stay conscious; Aiden fought for every breath.
"Your idea of peace will never last," Aiden whispered.
As the words left his mouth, he stopped breathing. Lia let out a sombre scream, and then faded out of consciousness.