"Of course it would work," Trigger said, standing on one foot with the other up. Using the counter to look at the foot that Lotte had stepped on. "But it's not going to fix anything, only prevents it."
"I don't care," Lotte said, leaning against the same counter with Fitz beside her. "I don't want to hurt anyone else again."
"You didn't even break my pinky toe," Trigger put his foot down. "I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I think what Fitz is suggesting is worth a try."
Lotte didn't hesitate to shake her head. Without leaving room for discussion she rolled up both of her sleeves, "I want to do this."
Trigger hid his disappointment as he nodded. His eyes darted once more between Lotte and Fitz before he turned away to go upstairs. Fitz followed him with his eyes, waiting till Trigger was out of earshot. Without realizing it he pushed Lotte up against the counter. Hits hands on top of hers with his weight pinning her.
"Lotte please, don't do this. I did the same thing and all it did was push things back until they hit a wall. Once they hit that wall they are the strongest they'll be and you'll have no alternative method. It's better to try and control them because they're still weak."
"I'm not going to hit the wall," said Lotte, leaning forward to push herself into Fitz. "I just need it for now. One more day to be normal."
"Lotte, you lost being normal the second you got here."
"Am I interrupting something?" Trigger's voice broke the tension as he entered the kitchen. The two quickly pushed apart, Fitz cleared his throat, "No."
"I can come back—"
"No."
Trigger shrugged but proceeded hesitantly. In his hand were a vial and needle, which didn't sit right with Lotte's newfound fear of needles. She eyed Trigger carefully as he wiped her arm down with alcohol. Disappointment radiated off of Fitz, but Lotte ignored it. Closing her eyes to ignore both Fitz and the needle.
"You might feel sick at first," Trigger said as he pricked Lotte's skin. "But it will pass."
Lotte didn't feel any different as the liquid entered her body. Her eyes shifted to Fitz who was standing to the side with his arms crossed. He refused to look at her directly. Lotte groaned at his stubbornness. It's not like she couldn't handle herself. She would know when to stop. Trigger pulled the needle out of Lotte's and pushed a cotton puff up to the incision. "Fitz hold this."
Fitz uncrossed his arms as he walked over, making no effort to hide his disappointment. Lotte ignored his gaze as he walked in front of her. His fingers pushed against her arm and stayed there.
"How do you feel?"
"Fine," Lotte said, still looking in the opposite direction.
Fitz continued to push the cotton puff for another few seconds before releasing it. Trigger pulled out the white medical tape and wrapped it once around Lotte's arm. "Unless anyone has any objections, I've got some pirate spying to do. Let me know if she starts to froth at the mouth or has blood seeping from her eyes." Both Lotte's and Fitz's eyes widen, mouths gaping. Trigger laughed, "I'm kidding. You guys tell jokes in Germany, right?"
Fitz shoved Trigger in the shoulder, "Go do your pirate spying."
Trigger put his arms up in surrender as he walked away. Fitz let out an audible groan.
"Come on," Lotte felt Fitz grab her by the other arm before pulling her away. She pulled back, but enough to break free of Fitz's grip.
"Where are we going?"
"Training you to use your powers. What else?" Fitz grabbed a sword off the counter and pulled Lotte to the backyard. "Sit." A bit reluctantly, Lotte sat down crossed-legged in the grass. Fitz sat about five feet in front of her with the sword pointed towards Lotte in the grass. Lotte watched as Fitz lifted the sword without touching it. By the time Lotte blinked the tip of the sword was at the tip of her forehead. Fitz's hand was pushed towards her with his hand open, keeping the sword at a steady level.
"Push it back."
"How?"
"I can't tell you. You need to figure it out."
Lotte rolled her eyes. She shifted her weight around before raising her hand to meet Fitz's. Nothing happened. Lotte pushed her hand harder, but the sword didn't move. "It's not working."
"Try harder."
"Try harder in what? I don't know what I'm doing."
"Try harder."
Lotte resisted the urge to flip Fitz off. She flexed her arm, but it didn't work.
"Try harder."
Lotte clenched her fist, it didn't work.
"Try harder."
Lotte let out a low growl, she shut her eyes and pushed out her arm the farthest it could go, flexed her arm and clenched her fist. It didn't move."
"Try harder."
Lotte's arm swung down as she opened her eyes in a furry, "Stop fucking saying that!"
The sword was flying backwards into a nearby tree at a rapid rate. Fitz was somersaulting backwards through the air, landing in a thud ten feet from where he was sitting. Lotte let out a wince as she pulled her arms into her chest, "shit!"
Fitz didn't move for a second. Everything was quiet until he let out a loud groan of pain. Lotte stayed still in her spot, her hands clenched in fists.
"That was fucking awesome."
Lotte let out a sigh of relief as Fitz stumbled to his feet, "serves you right for being irritating. Why didn't you just tell me how to do it?"
Fitz rubbed his sore head with his hand, "It's different for everyone. If I just told you to be angry, it might not have worked. Am I bleeding?"
Lotte ignored Fitz as she walked past him to get the sword that was stuck in the tree.
"I wasn't even sure you would be able to do it when sedated. Could you imagine how powerful that would have been if—"
Before Fitz had finished his sentence, Lotte had yanked the sword out of the tree and pushed it to Fitz's chest. "You're telling me it might have not worked and you were still going to keep pushing me?"
All of the confidence Lotte had gained was stripped away when the sword went flying out of her hand. It hovered in front of Fitz's hand before he tossed it somewhere unimportant. Fitz stepped forward, closing the space between him and Lotte, his fingers gracing her jaw. "I wouldn't go pointing swords at my chest Lotte. I can do lots of things you don't know about."
Lotte nearly scoffed, "Are you threatening me?"
Fitz's arm pulled Lotte into him so they were completely touching, "not in the way you think I am."
Lotte grabbed Fitz by the shirt, "Enlighten me."
"You couldn't handle it, sweetheart."
Lotte's breath caught in her throat. Both from anger and something else. Her mind ran through a list of options like a slot machine. Fitz's power over her wasn't wavering. Making her unsteady.
"You're going to be powerful Lotte," Fitz whispered into her ear. "The most powerful anyone has ever seen. And if you trust me, I'll teach you how to be unstoppable."
Fitz pulled away, leaving Lotte with her breath still stuck in her throat. He had a smirk plastered across his face, not bothering to hide his strong ego.
"We'll see who shows who what." The words spilled out of Lotte's mouth by accident. She nearly clasped her hand over her mouth, feeling a sense of regret.
Fitz laughed at excitement and surprise, "I guess we'll see." Fitz turned away, taking a step forward before his feet left the ground. Lotte stood still as he lifted into the air until she could no longer see him. After a few seconds, Lotte looked back down at the sword in the grass a few feet away. She reached her arm out and tried to make herself feel the same way she had before.
"Anything exciting?" Fitz asked as he landed next to Trigger on top of a thick tree branch.
Trigger hummed, a pair of binoculars pushed up to his face, "They're doing something alright."
Fitz snatched the binoculars out of Trigger's hands and pushed them up to his eyes, "what the hell?"
It wasn't like anything either of the boys had ever seen. BlackJack's ship was fairly far out in the sea. But beside it, being lifted was BlackJack's worst fear, the shark; all bloody and gutted.
"There's no way," Fitz lowered the binoculars. "He refuses to even be on the same side of the ocean as that thing. Unless—"
"Unless he found out where the treasure was," Trigger said. "We're so fucked."
Fitz looked pale, like he was on the edge of puking, "If he knows where the treasure is, then he has the maps. And if he has the maps—"
"He knows where we are."