Downhill From Here ((OPEN))

[argent]

Horatio Alexander "Alex" Steed was a rather ordinary boy. He'd had a normal childhood, had moderately good grades in high school, and even participated in some sports. He had friends and enemies, but there was one main thing that detracted from his life. One thing that he always thought, if it wasn't true, his life would never have changed:

He was different.

There was no basis for this, but he never thought that he fit in with any of the people in his school. He couldn't really place the reason, per sé, but he felt so nonetheless. His friends could barely be considered friends, and the enemies seemed to harbor a reason-free hate for Alex. So why was he weird? He'd learn very shortly- as a matter of fact, a week or so after his sixteenth birthday.

It was a blue-sky day in the "Big Apple," where Alex had been born and raised. Snow was on the ground, as exected toward the end of winter, in the beginning of February. Footprints were clearly visible in the snow, and it was obvious that many had been out and about since the last snow, which had been the previous night.

Alex himself left his home bound for school, clad in blue jeans, a black T-shirt, hiking boots and a thick coat. Though many wandered the streets with several layers, Alex never felt as affected by the cold as many others. It was curious, to him.

Needless to say, the school day was long and unnecessarily boring to Alex, having learned a lot of nothing, as usual. He was usually ahead of the curriculum on his reading; he had nothing better to do than work ahead. Because of this, he had great grades. As his parents and teachers expected of him. Toward the end of the day, he encountered one of the aforementioned enemies, one of those who hated him for no reason other than to spread malice in the world. The encounter in question happened to be key in Alex's future, but there was no way to know that. As far as anyone was concerned, Alex was simply being bothered, as usual. A routine.

The way it happened was that the student, who was a full year older than Alex and was backed by two "friends," if they could be called that, the same age. The student ran into Alex, quite on purpose, after the last bell of the day rang. Alex had been carrying two textbooks to put in his locker, and the sudden impact forced him to lurch forward, releasing the books into a large puddle of mixed slush. Alex whirled around angrily toward the assailant. He actually didn't plan on doing anything, so his reaction was quite on accident. Having not known how close the student was, he couldn't know what extending his arms to adjust his sleeves without actually touching them was a bad idea at the moment. As it happened, the timing was exact so it seemed to be more like a shove- especially when his palms contacted the chest of the student, and forced him back two feet.

There was a moment of confusion to all the concerned parties. No one expected Alex to react, ever, including Alex. It was weird how it happened, really. After senses were regained, the student shoved Alex back. Again, something unlikely happened. Alex stepped back and brought his arms down, allowing his backpack to slide down them into the packed snow. To any witness, it would seem that he discarded his bag in favor of the inevitable fight. Again, there was a moment of confusion, but the recovery was quicker this time. The student brought up his fists as a form of a street-fighting stance, as did his "homies," or "brothers." Alex did too, understanding that it was customary in a fight.

In all honesty, Alex had no clue how to fight. He'd never done it, he never worked out, and never honestly considered fighting. It wasn't something for him. So, needless to say, he was about to be pummeled- and there was nothing he could do about it. The main enemy, the bully, threw the first punch, quickly followed up by hits by his friends. Alex tried in futility to defend himself, but, as expected, he experienced his very first true "epic fail." One which was actually recorded by a passing student on his cellular phone. Not good for Alex's reputation, for sure.

It wasn't long before Alex was getting desperate to end the onslaught, so he started to get wild- and tapped into his power. Something snapped in his mind, very much like the pain barrier, but for his mind. He sent out something or other with his mind, which was a very odd sensation, and the attacks stopped. The bully and his fiends were clutching their heads when Alex looked up, obviously with pounding migraines.

"What the-- What'd you do, freak?!" exclaimed the bully. "He must--!" The boy gasped. "He's a dirty mutant!" he realized, gathering his friends and running away. The bystanders too escaped what was apparently to be Alex's wrath. As it happened, no fiery tornado filled the scene, so Alex figured it was over.

In a sort of daze, Alex got his now-wet book bag and his soggy books, and walked home. His mind was racing, but it had yet to catch up with something he could comprehend. It was when he got through his front door when he realized that he'd caused the headaches. This made him call for his parents from the foyer. The note of worry and fear in his voice made them come quite rapidly. When they calmed him out of babbling, they got him to explain.

"...And I realized, it was me who caused the headaches," he finished to his parents. Their faces were unreadable, but the meaning was delivered in the next words.

"So... You're one of them? The mutants who kill people in the streets, steal, and think they own the world? Well, I won't have one of them in my house. Go. Now," said his father. Alex was naturally shocked at his normally-sympathetic father's callous words, and looked at his mother in shock. To his horror, she had the same look. "Don't look at me, you filthy mutant. I never want to see your face again," she said cruelly.

Alex wasn't one to cry, but he teared up at this blatant disregard of his humanity. Despite his efforts, he garnered no support. "Well, let me get my--" he started.

"I'm not letting you any further into this house. Leave now, or we'll shoot you and call the cops. And we'd've done that already, but you're unfortunately our son. So go or else."

So, with nothing else to do, Alex fled his home. The safest place he knew. And his parents abandoned him. All of their pride of their smart son, winner of numerous awards, vanished when they discovered the thing which wasn't even really his fault.

---

Alex wandered the streets for hours, not knowing what to do. It was long after dark when he realized what was going on. He collapsed on a bench in Central Park, helpless and feeling more alone in the world than ever. He felt that he was the only one on his side as he sat, obviously depressed, in the dark park.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

New York. One of the largest cities in the world….. And Freya held little love for it. It held the most stereotypical mutants, giving the rest of them a bad name. That happened to be her reason for being here today, wandering the streets, following the directions on the map she was given. With Cain being so…. Quiet lately, it made tracking down these other troublemakers much easier. And seeing as Freya had been unusually restless the past few weeks, she jumped at the chance to track the buggers down.

It was nearing midnight, the sun having set many, many, hours before, and the streets empty of any respectable person. You couldn’t imagine how many times she’d had drunken fools approach her, hoping she’d accompany them for the time. Thankfully the look she gave them was enough to scare them off. It’d be bad if she was forced to physically persuade them to leave! But after dealing with the American drunks for over an hour…. Well Freya was beyond frustrated and ventured into the park to keep away from them before she tried to kill one!

The walk was peaceful and quiet. Sure, it was a bone cold night, but Freya didn’t even seem to notice in her light jacket and jean pants. She definitely wasn’t dressed for the weather, but she didn’t even shiver! If you happened to get close to her you’d understand why, she was using her power to keep herself warm. It was such a natural reaction from her, she didn’t even realize she was doing it most the time.

A few minutes of walking, and Freya suddenly stopped, her gaze catching the still form one a bench. The body language was obvious, intense depression. When she took a few steps closer, she instantly noticed it was a teenager. Both her eyebrows rose. What the hell was he doing out here?

“Are you lost?” Her thick French accent wasn’t a common one in these parts, but American TV enjoyed giving characters in shows and movies French accents, it would be far too easy to recognize it.

((Sorry. XD Not the best post I’ve done, but it works XD))

[argent]

Alex barely heared the words from the woman's mouth, but he was intrigued by the accent in spite of the situation. Even if he was from New York City, he'd never heard someone speak with a French accent in person. To be frank, he always thought that French accents belonged to hot, seductive women. As it happened, the one with the accent was still attractive, but he didn't really care at the moment.

After turning his head to look at her, he looked back down at the ground. "I'm fine. I've just had a long day," he said. While she seemed nice enough, as she at least had the decency to ask unlike the at least twenty people who had already passed him. Needless to say, there were surprisingly few nice people in the world- and even less in Alex's opinion.

He absently wondered why she cared. He was literally shaking at the moment, and he wondered what she would do if he unloaded his feelings on her right then and there. She inevitably would find out about his being a mutant, and would shun him like everyone else would.

Alex actually had no clue what he was going to do. Suicide was first to come to mind, but he didn't believe in it. But what could he do- become one of the evil, destructive mutants whom his parents were referring to? He couldn't at the moment think of any good groups of mutants. As far as he knew, he would be frowned upon anywhere he want.

Because of this thought, he let out an involuntary sob and almost broke down, but he was able to fight it. He looked at the woman with a bit of hesitation, wondering what she'd do or say in response.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

It took him longer then she thought to even acknowledge her presence. Man, this kid was depressed, unusually. Whatever had happened it seemed to have sapped all his energy. Sadly…. It only intrigued Freya more and more.

She just stared curiously at him as he finally responded, before smirking a little. “I can see that. It takes a lot to make you American teenagers look this miserable.” One of the things she’d noticed quickly in this Country was the tough act teenage boys put up. They wouldn’t let anyone see them cry, masking their despair with anger most the time. This one though…. Whatever happened had left him shattered.

Freya titled her head a little, planting her hands on her hips as she gazed steadily at him. “Aren’t you a little young to be out here at this hour?” She would have added the whole ‘you’re safer indoors at night. All the monsters come out when the sun sets’, but that wasn’t exactly the best idea…. Either the kid would think she was completely insane…. Okay, she wasn’t that ‘sane’ to begin with but still! Or he’d just get angry at her. Either way, both were conversation killers. And Freya was curious. Killing the conversation was a bad idea, especially considering she’d probably follow him if he left in a huff.

His sudden sob made her blink in surprise, then sigh. Without even asking for permission she approached the bench and sat next to him. “You know, sulking like this won’t solve anything. You can only pity yourself for so long. Then you just have to get back on your feet and keep going.” Suddenly she paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. Her next comment was very random. “Come on. You’re cold and miserable, you are in serious need of some Hot chocolate. I’ll pay.” She grinned, rolling back to her feet. “I have one rule though, you need to try and cheer up. At least a little. Deal?” She held out a hand, as if to shake on it, still grinning brightly.

[argent]

Alex wasn't sure how to react. This woman must've had some sort of maternal instincts, else she'd not be so insistent. Well, it was that or she was currently under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Alex suspected that she was too empathetic to be so, however.

So it was that, or... she'd been there before. Emotionally, where he was. The people who she knew better than anyone, who she knew from childhood, suddenly threw something which she had no part of in her face and-- Actually, that was unlikely. As he knew, there were few good mutants, so chances were...

Of course the possibility of someone being a mutant was present everywhere; his parents could secretly be mutants, as far as he knew. But he wouldn't dwell on 'maybes,' since he assumed he'd have a safe, happy home when he in fact was kicked out after getting beat up in school. Speaking of which, his jaw, shoulders and chest were starting to ache where he had been getting hit. He was sure that, when seen in light, he'd have bruises to remind him.

Looking at the woman, he shrugged. "I don't see why not, I guess." He stood, realizing how cramped up he was. He tensed up for a moment, feeling the soreness of his earlier "fight," but he was fine a moment later. He put his hood on and zipped his coat completely. "I'm Al-- er, Horatio," he said. He decided against using his home nickname lest it give him memories of home.

Or rather, what used to be home but was now a lair for bad memories.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya actually did seem to have Maternal instincts, but they weren’t exactly what you might expect. Of course she didn’t have any children, and she didn’t even see how she might have any anytime soon. Still, she was a woman, and she treated everyone in their teens like a child, sometimes it even seemed like she treated them like they were her children. The combination of being female, her over the top personality, and need to get in everyone’s business seemed to create a rather interesting ‘motherly’ like personality.

The thoughtful look on his face made her grin. How she saw it in this light though…. Well he probably wouldn’t find out for a while. When he did, he’d understand why there was rarely such thing as to little light to see in for her. And if there ever was, she could just make her own light…

She let her hand drop to her side, not seeming at all bothered with him not wanting to shake on it. She took a few steps back to give him some room as he stood…. And froze. He didn’t cringe, but something was obviously wrong. After a few moments though it seemed he recovered, at least enough to zip up his coat. “Horatio?” She paused, deep in thought. “Not a common name, sounds a little familiar for some reason though.” Probably a movie she’d seen before with a character having the same name. She finally shrugged, grinning. “Well, Horatio, I’m Freya.” Of course she wouldn’t give him her last name… Just in case he happened to recognize it. Who knew how many humans around here recognized the name Elensar? Most knowledgable mutants would…

"Come on, Kiddo. Before it gets any later." She motioned for him to walk along side her as she heading off in the direction of her favorite cafe.

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"Probably one of those CSI shows. Everyone at school made- makes a big deal out of it," he said. He hoped his slip wasn't too obvious. Especially now that he realized that he could never go back to school. Chances were that his episode got around the school kids, and God knew that Alex knew their opinions on the matter.

Quite frankly, Alex wasn't one to be up-to-date about the goings-on of mutants, seeings as though he was hardly one at this point. Even if he had the opportunity to learn about them, which he had a few times, he wouldn't have bothered. Really, he'd doubted it was his responsibility to learn about those sorts of things. Ironically, he was quite wrong.

Alex walked alongside the woman, not sure what to say. Of course he could tell her his whole story, but he still didn't know how she'd react. Of course, he didn't know she wasn't a mutant as well. He knew that he needed to talk to another mutant, possibly get some guidance on the matter. He wondered if he could get her to direct him somewhere without knowing it.

"So, a lot of stuff going on with mutants, you know," he started. He had decent skill at this at school, but he wasn't sure about adults. He supposed either it'd work and he'd simply seem curious, or she'd see through it immediately. "What exactly is going on with them? I never really paid attention too much before..." he said. He put emphasis on 'them,' as though to demonstrate that he wasn't one of them.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya’s expression went from curious to complete and total confusion. “CSI?” She blinked, having no idea what he’d meant. “I’ve never heard of it…” A sheepish smile touched her lips. She didn’t watch much TV, here or in France, so it was no surprise she had no idea what ‘CSI’ was. The woman was so focused on trying to figure out what CSI was, she didn’t even notice the slip up.

It wasn’t a horrible night, and the silence between them wasn’t unusually awkward… Horatio though seemed to have something on his mind. Whatever had happened to him must have been pretty bad. It wasn’t often you came across a teenager this depressed. She opened her mouth to speak… When she heard him speaking.

“Hm?” She quickly turned her gaze to stare at him as they walked, both her eyebrows lifted high. Of course her interest instantly peaked. Mutants weren’t really a subject you heard people bring up on a normal day to day conversation. Still… He could just be a nosey teenager who had to much interest in them…. Or there was some alternative motive… "Before? Before what?" Her eyebrows were still raised, almost in suspicion this time. What would make him be curious in them now if he hadn't been before?

Freya shrugged. “A war.” She spoke bluntly, as if it were common knowledge. “Between a man named Cain and basically all the mutants brave enough to stand against him. He’s been building himself an army, by persuasion and force, to try and control, or destroy, humanity. Did you hear about what happened to Moscow, Paris, and Tokyo? All his doing. The more destruction he makes though, the more enemies he makes, so much that he’s basically turned the whole mutant world against him.” She smiled a little as she continued to look at him. She spoke as if she knew from experience. “It’s not something you’d hear about on the news, so I’m not surprised you don’t know.”

[argent]

Alex shrugged. "Before now," he said simply. He didn't realize before what he had meant, but he knew now that he was subconsciously referring to the earlier events. He realized, with an almost visible start, how he now saw his gaining of his mutant abilities as a new part of his life. From now on, his parents, school, and normality would be 'before,' and the time of his mutancy would be 'now.' It wasn't good.

They stopped before a road as she finished speaking. Cain... He knew about Paris, Moscow and Tokyo, but a mutant... His news sources must've been somehow tampered with. So this Cain was another mutant- more than likely an evil one. He made a mental note of the name, and added 'bad guy' to it. He didn't want to accidentally get into something he wouldn't be able to get out of. Like some sort of mutant gang or cult. He shuddered at the thought.

They started walking again, and Alex looked at her for a moment. He considered what she said, then spoke. "So this Cain guy- what's his deal?" he asked curiously. He wanted to learn as much as he could about mutants while he could. "Wait," he then said. "You said it's not on the news. How'd you hear about it?" he asked suspiciously. Could she be- No. Alex shook the thought out of his mind. He wouldn't dwell on 'maybes,' he had established that.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

“Ah. I see.” Freya didn’t push the subject. Why? Well she actually seemed to lose interest in it. He might not realize it, but that was a normal, day to day, occurrence for Freya. Sadly, she’d seem a little rude, until he got to know her better at least.

Mentioning Paris had been a… sore subject for Freya. Seeing as she’d been the one to stop most of it’s destruction and just near lost her life in the process. Mentioning it only reminded her how much she hated that man, and if she ever got a chance to get revenge she would put him through Hell.

Freya just stared ahead of them as they continued on their way to the café, a thoughtful look on her face as she thought over his question. “I wish I knew. I think he’s just causing problems cause he can. He’s a psychopath after all.” He wasn’t always. It was only started when his previous master let him off his leash…

She blinked in surprise when he suddenly asked her how she knew. Oh, oops…. That was a pretty stupid slip up. Well, thankfully she had a black up plan… A wide grin spread across her red lips. “My home country is much looser about information. And even if the Government won’t tell us, the Elensar sisters will share whatever they think society needs to know.” She paused. Most normal Americans wouldn’t recognize the name Elensar. “They’re mutants, if it wasn’t obvious. You’ll have a hard time finding another mutant stronger than them, especially if they are together.” She shrugged. Of course she wasn’t that modest. She didn’t want him knowing she was one of the Elensar sisters though… At least not yet.

[argent]

Alex nodded. He knew people like Cain. Not mutants, of course, but students at his old school. People who were mean just for the sake of being mean. Trying to ruin someone else's life to make theirs better. How what worked out, Alex would never know. He had taken a vow not too long ago: Horatio Steed would never offend or hurt anyone for his own amusement, nor that of another party.

Alex nodded again, to the mention of the Elensar sisters. He didn't recognise the name, of course, but he was interested. He nonchalently asked, "Tell me about them, the Elensar sisters. What can they do?" He wanted to try to find someone to teach him how to use his power effectively. Maybe he'd be a superhero, or an anti-evil mutant person... or something...

Now that he thought about it, he realized that he always wanted to be a vigilante. Though it was rather ridiculous to think about, his mutancy opened new doors. It was exciting to think about- but he still didn't understand his power. He made them have headaches or something. Could he do it again? He looked at the woman, Freya. He didn't want to abuse her friendliness, but he was curious.

Alex stared hard at the woman and pushed out with his mind in ways he'd never done before, wondering what would happen in response. Would anything happen, or would she get a headache? Would it be stronger or weaker than before? He watched for a reaction.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

It wasn't often you met a teenage boy, especially a human teenage boy, that was at all interested in the Mutant world. Still, Freya didn't put any thought into it. She personally didn't care why he might be curious, whether it was for curiosity's sake or he had some ulterior motive.

And it was often Freya got to talk about herself in third person.... It almost made her grin. It was fun, to say the least, talking about her sister and her as if she'd never met the two and only knew about them from reputation. If this boy ever did find out she happened to be the more.... destructive sister, he might go into shock! Instead, she kept her face void of her amusement, only letting a soft smile touch her lips. "Well, there's a lot to say..." It was a good thing he gave a specific subject to start with. "They are polar opposites, and I don't mean personality wise. From what I know about them, the older sister is a master of heat and anything associated with it, fire, lightning, temperatures. If it's hot, she can do it. " Including magma.... But Freya left that part out. "The younger sister is exact opposite. If it's cold, it's at her command. Just water, rain, snow, ice, anything like that."

If Freya had known she would be used as a guinea pig she might had hit the boy over the head for even thinking that. As it was, she wasn't a telepath, and she wasn't always.... aware when her head was being messed with. "There it is now." She pointed out towards the small, homely lit cafe on the corner ahead of them. It was right in that moment her head felt.... well not funny but it was definitely the beginnings of a headache. She paused for only a half a moment, before deciding to completely ignore the throbbing. She could always take something for it if it grew into a Migraine... If the headache progressed faster then she thought though she'd have to get clear of this kid, just in case....

Forcing another smile, she opened the door for them, ushering him in with her usual charm. "Come on, anything you're allergic to, or hate that they might put in it I should know about? I'd hate to send you to the hospital for an allergic reaction." Not really... It didn't seem like there were many things in Hot Chocolate to begin with, so what were the chances of him being allergic to one of those things? Still, it was just the polite thing to do.

[argent]

Alex nodded. His teenage mind reacted automatically to "if it's hot," but he suppressed the grin. He berated himself, noting that he had to be mature now. Immaturity had no place in the hobo world. After Freya concluded her information, Alex said, "Wow. Sounds like they're really strong. I think it'd be kinda cool to be able to do one of those things- I mean, if I were a mutant." He noticed the horrible save, and hoped Freya wouldn't notice anything.

What Alex noted, however, was something which made him quite glad. Evidently, using his powers the first time opened a gate, since his first willing attempt worked. He doubted it was a weird coincidence, but to be sure, he'd try it on someone inside the shop... if anyone decided to have a cup of coffee so late at night. He grinned in happiness, but hoped the timing wasn't too weird for him to pass it off as a reaction to what Freya had said immediately afterwards.

As he walked in, he answered the woman. "No, I don't think I'm allergic to anything. I'm not lactose intolerant, either. I don't have any diseases that I know of that affect what I can eat. No others, either," he said. Well, besides being a Mutant. "And I don't hate anything, either. I'm a pretty open person when it comes to food. I even like sushi, and- most people don't believe me- octopus. It's quite interesting, but I don't like too much of it."

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

This wasn't the first time Freya's words had been taken in a more... romantic manner. Thankfully this time it wasn't that bad of a interpretation. What was it with people and thinking that everything you said was related to romance or sex when you had a French accent?

"I suppose it would be 'cool'." Freya was smirking a little, finding this whole conversation interesting. "If you had to choose though, I'd recommend you learn how to control water." She was grinning now. "It'd be easier to control. Fire is destructive by nature, you don't control it, you only manipulate it. Half of the damage to Paris was by the older sister, after all, when she tried to stop Cain." Sure, the Government hadn't blamed her for the damage... But they hadn't been to happy with her....

Again, she really didn't care enough to notice his slip up. It was amazing he hadn't even seemed to notice her lack of interest in his speech problems...

No allergies and no real food hatreds. That was rare, but made Freya happy. Why? Well, she was just easy to please sometimes! "Octopus? I've never tried it. Never been that much of a fan of seafood. I don't hate it, just don't care for the way most people serve it." A short pause as she ordered two cups of Carmel salted Hot Chocolate. "It tastes better then it sounds, trust me." That comment was meant for her young 'friend', as she reached into her back pocket and pulled her wallet out. She didn't bother trying to hide her last name on her I.D. as she pulled out the few dollars the hot beverages cost. If he was curious, he'd look and see she was one of the two she'd been telling him about. If he wasn't then there was no need to hide the I.D., if only because it would only make him even more curious and then he'd want to look.

[argent]

Alex noted how she was talking about these skills as if she knew. Of course, it was very possible that she had given a lot of thought to the matter or she even knew the Elensar sisters or at least someone who did. But Alex was naturally skeptical, and was never sure what to expect from people. He knew, anyway, that she cared enough about mutants, whether positively or negatively. He hoped that it was positively, really. If it turned out that she was strongly anti-mutant, he'd have to use his powers on her. Not that he wanted to, really- he hated causing people too much pain.

Quite naturally, Alex glanced at Freya's identification card when she pulled it out, if only for the sake of it grabbing his attention. He was a quick reader, so he skimmed it out of habit, and noticed a name he'd never seen before, but recently learned from the very woman who it belonged to. It read, "Freya Elensar." Plainly, it seemed that she was indeed speaking from experience. Then again, it could be a coincidence, but it was also something someone would say something about when speaking of the name.

He looked at her for a moment, then raked his mind for the tiny bit of French he knew. He had taken it for almost literally five seconds in his Freshman year of high school. Screwing his face up, he asked her, "Vous êtes l'une des sœurs?" You are one of the sisters? This wasn't to show off his bad pronunciation of foreign languages, as the words he spoke were quite mangled, but to be sure that no one around could guess what he was talking about after hearing her speak of powers. It was more for her than him, really.