For the next few hours, they played various games, talked about everything and anything, and laughed their heads off. Léon and Desta hardly spoke to each other, probably because the transfer of power was occupying their minds. As the day wore on, Desta began to lose her sense of integration with the group she'd returned to, and huddled her bag with the box containing the syringe against her. No doubt fatigue had forced her to reflect on this rather than enjoy the moment. But unfortunately, it was getting late, and time to leave. The group took the elevator together except for Kata, who took the stairs for a run which she eventually lost, despite the fact that she was sweating. She also gained a small mark on her cheek, claiming to have hit the wall by going too fast. Léon had a slight doubt. Kata looked at him and laughed out loud.
- "Anyway, that's not all, but I'm still working tomorrow. I hope we can do this again sometime, I don't understand why we couldn't do it earlier.
- In any case, I'm staying here, I'm the one with the most permissible schedule, so if I have to, I'll be the one to move next time.
- You've really got your heart in the right place, Fred..." says Léa.
- "If I ever move, it means I won't have to clean up afterwards or pay for food, that's all.
- I was hoping for a better reason than that...
- Well, come on, I'm no good at goodbyes, but we'll all see each other again soon. And by soon, I don't mean in three years again!"
Léon and Léa went right, and Kata left, to reach their cars. Once far enough away, Fred shouted to Léon:
- "It's only been two years, liar!" Anyway, I really hope we can see each other again... He then spoke to Desta. "How are you feeling Desta? I know it's hard for you to say but... you had fun I hope."
Desta took a moment to think. Yes, of course she'd had fun, but all she did was think about the syringe for the second half of the evening. As a result, she only saw herself stuck, answering blow after blow, and didn't enjoy it any more than that. At one point she was happy and would probably remember the moments she laughed at. After all, she felt like laughing tonight. The blue of her hair turned brighter for a moment.
- "Don't force yourself to answer. It was fun and we'll see each other again sometime. Don't forget that. A recovery is always complicated, we didn't know if the others had changed or not. Keep living with these memories until the next time. Keep the good times to improve them and look for the next ones.
- That's beautiful what you just said, and yes that's my goal." Desta clutched the bag to her. "A goal that's certainly moving in reverse, but I'll do my best to get better and enjoy it with you.
- If you need to talk, I'm here. I'm repeating myself, but it's necessary. There's always a way-"
Before Fred could finish his sentence, a huge explosion was heard a few hundred yards from Desta and Fred. Léon and Léa were about to leave the parking lot and were back in front of the other two. Everyone was shocked to see an explosion here at this time and began to think the worst. Léon called the police and Léa got the other two friends into the car to head for the scene of the explosion.
Two other people caught in the explosion barely escaped from their car with minor injuries. Desta took fright at their burns and Léa stopped to treat them.
- "What the hell is this? What the hell happened? Did you see it?
- No... The car in front of us just exploded with a bang... Ouch... Thank you, young lady.
- No, my regeneration is only a level one, there's nothing more I can do."
For their part, Léon, Fred and Desta quickly realized that the car that exploded was Kata's. There was no doubt about it, the timing was too perfect. Léon had sensed something with Kata before he left. No, she'd been weird from the start... The explosion destroyed everything in an area of about ten meters.
With the black smoke and glowing fire emanating from Kata's car, the outcome was certain for the group of friends. Kata was dead. Desta was stunned, her legs falling to the concrete floor, but the pain wasn't what made her cry. Léa rushed to Desta's side to heal her, just as she had done with the others. She hadn't used her healing for a while and the force of this scenario made her nose bleed just a little. Lea's regeneration power is only rated level one. This means she can only relieve and heal small burns or close small wounds, and this can take up to a minute. Lea needs physical contact on the wound to heal a person. Using her too much or going too hard can cause side effects, which was the case at the moment. Léa uses her power very little, although she is sometimes invited to come and help in a hospital emergency room, but she doesn't really like going there.
Desta watched the car gradually burn down and stayed to watch Fred and Léon move the vehicles away or help the other victims caught in the explosion. Léon called the fire department and the police. Desta began to hit the floor, crying. She snatched at her bag and pulled out the box with the syringe, which drew Léon's attention. Her car keys fell to the floor.
- "Hey, don't do that just under the pressure of the moment, it won't even work instantly!
- But Kata...
- As Léon shouted, everyone looked at him. The latter calmed down and took on a sadder tone. "There's nothing we can do. No one can help us.
- So what's the point? What are these powers and heroes for?
- Heroes are not gods!
- SO WHAT'S THE POINT?"
Léon was afraid of Desta. He saw Desta in an extremely dark purple, something he had never seen before.
- "Look, I understand, I was looking at her too, but I didn't even see her wanting to end it.
- Why are you so calm?
- Why am I calm?" Leon hesitated for two seconds. "I've... I've just lost a friend and all this..." Léon took another two seconds. "Because I don't want to lose anyone else, that's... That's all." Desta began to cry. Léon followed.
Fred found a burned arm in the middle of the fire, and spotted Kata's black bracelet with "Life" written next to it. Fred approached Desta with the bracelet as the first police cars arrived.
- "Here Desta. Keep this. She liked you the most.
- I'll come and see you on Tuesday. Let your tears guide you to tomorrow. The police will take you home."
Desta clutched Kata's bracelet tightly in her hands before tucking it away in her satchel.
Moments later, the police evacuated Desta and Fred in separate cars while Léon and Léa stayed behind to explain the situation. Desta was finally taken to the emergency room on seeing her psychological state and was recommended to stay overnight at the nearest hospital. When she was alone, she searched in her bag for Léon's syringe and injected it into her neck without thinking. During the night, Léon would have gone with Léa to give Desta's car keys to the reception desk, but he wouldn't have dared see Desta, as she needed to be alone. He sensed that Desta was still sad in the next room, as indicated by an orange aura. However, he slipped a photo of the five of them taken that night under the door. When Desta woke up, she saw the photo left by Léon and her first remark was: How did he manage to print that? Turning the photo over, she read: "Keep the good times. Always. We're staying right here, we won't lose you." After a quick review with the doctors, they handed over her car key given by Léon and Desta drove home slowly.
The police will have described that night's incident the following day as a suicide, as assumed by the friend group, but no gas was detected, so the source of the explosion remains unknown. But why would she commit suicide? Kata was only laughing at this party... She was far from having such an unhappy life that it had come to this. It didn't make sense for everyone. After reading this article, Desta noticed a few missed calls from Dan, her work colleague.
- "Hey... I heard about what happened. It's Sunday but since you must be out of sorts I'll try to see if our boss will give you a day or two off, I don't think I'll be able to negotiate more. I'll take care of the work myself, don't worry if you're worried about that, it's normal, we've done it before, well not in the middle of summer but, anyway, I hope everything's okay... Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." Desta had no reaction to this message. She began to listen to the second message. "Really, call me if you need anything. I insist."
Desta smiled.
The next day, at home, Desta woke up tired. She couldn't really sleep because all she could think about was Kata, leaving Dan alone at work and, above all, the effect of his syringe
Did I get it right? How do I know if I really got it? I don't even know what she's going to do to me... Should I really have taken it... Didn't I have papers to fill out beforehand?
Desta dressed in a basic white T-shirt and dark blue shorts without combing her hair. Desta then tried to touch her head and concentrate on the power Leon had told her, but nothing happened. She then decided to go outside to do some shopping.
It should be less crowded on a Monday morning... And it will do me good to get out...
She only took a small plastic bag with her; there was a grocery store not far from her home and she had enough room to put in a few groceries for the next three days and a few sweets.
On her way, she passed two people, a man and a woman. They seemed to be laughing. Their names were Hajio Takukki and Ayame Kasumi. These two had been married for a short time. Desta heard them talking. Seeing and hearing them laugh only made her sadder. They were happy, and why shouldn't she be? Why was it always like this? Desta began to cry just as they passed each other. The man stopped talking to his wife and turned around, placing his hand gently on Desta's elbow.
- "Are you all right?" he said comfortingly.
His white hair and angelic face only made Desta angrier. She looked him straight in the eye and continued on her way without saying a word. She thought she'd seen this person somewhere before. A little later, the woman approached Hajio, who had remained watching Desta leave.
- "Do you know her? Problem?"
Hajio had taken fright for a brief moment when he put his hand on her. He looked down at his right hand, which was missing its index finger.
- "None at all. You just forgot to completely remove your invisibility.
- Oops! Ah yes, I hope she didn't notice. At least she doesn't seem to have recognized you.
- No worries, Ayame. But I had a funny feeling when I touched it. But let's stay focused on the Skydancer. I don't really like these rumors..."
When Desta returned home, she lay down again on her bed. She tried again to test her power on her head, and this time she saw a faint blue aura emanating from her hand.
Maybe it's too weak to see any effect. After all, Leon wouldn't have given me anything powerful to save me from further trouble. It's probably the most useless power I could have had. He said I could touch memory, maybe I could erase Kata from my memory, that would make me less sad...
Desta stood up:
- "No, that would have the opposite effect. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of this world. Why am I here? Why am I alive? What am I supposed to be good for?"
Desta dropped onto his bed and fell asleep at only four o'clock. Without noticing it, her arm had become invisible for a brief moment.
On Tuesday July 26, 2039, Desta woke up at eleven o'clock with a slight headache and decided to go outside again at lake level to breathe. She had received messages from Léon and Dan. She wore the same clothes as yesterday and didn't even bother with breakfast. The wind guided her towards the lake. It had been a while since she'd been out without a clear objective.
She didn't feel like talking to Leon, let alone about the fact that she'd used the syringe. The sky was beginning to darken rapidly and a human figure was visible above her. The moment she looked up, her headache increased dramatically in intensity. She was in pain, terrible pain, and began to scream in pain, moving her body all over the place. Her screams could be heard far away and were shrill. The few people in the vicinity took fright and fled the park. She clutched a wooden bench and held her head. She couldn't stop screaming, the pain was horrible. The Skydancer heard her screams and descended from the sky to Desta, asking her the same question Hajio had asked the day before:
- "Are you all right?"
Continuing to scream, Desta placed both hands on the hero's heart and in less than a second, blue energy manifested itself and a stream of compressed air pierced the Skydancer's body at that very spot. The surrounding trees began to tremble, and Skydancer's blood was projected over a distance of almost a hundred meters.
- "What-"
The Skydancer's body fell to the ground and the blood continued to flow. As the blood began to reach Desta's legs, her headaches stopped. She felt no emotion. No disgust, regret, or joy.