3.12 – Her mystique
“I’m alright.” Leona clasped her hands in her lap, grinning. She watched raptly.
Mistral nodded and began changing and tossed handfuls of crumbled herbs into the fire. A sweet pungent cloud of smoke and steam started to disperse through the lodge. She moved around the fire in a series of motions that more than resembled a dance. Leona’s eyes followed her girlfriend’s body, more than enjoying it. She was moving lithely and deliberately, and it was clear that her mind and heart was deeply into the ritual. Her attention was drawn from her when the fire seemed to dim and change. Then it brightened and became the only thing one could focus on.
Something like a matrix started to form in the heart of the fire. It exploded with activity and a shape started to take form. It was a shape like an animal and still like a man all at once. It rose from the fire, growing. Mistral stopped moving at that moment and dropped to her knees and rose her hands above her head in a strange salutation.
“Favored daughter, I have responded to your plea … you seek answers to address your new foe … in the past. I will peel back the curtains and will allow you to walk these dangerous paths … but I see you have a … companion,” the figure spoke.
Aurora gulped as Mistral answered in a reverent voice, “Great Manitou, this is a woman I deeply care for. And she has asked to walk by my side in this quest. Please allow her to accompany us.”
The spirit crossed its arms and lowered its head. Emitting a trilling noise which sounded like a thoughtful hum on some vast level, it finally nodded. “Although we are not in the habit of providing succor to those from outside our realm, because there will be danger, and because we sense her benevolence, we will bend these laws for her.”
It turned sharply to Aurora, leaning out from the fire and loomed over her. “But we will brook no resistance from you, daughter from the stars. The events you will see are set, and the powers that have been granted to our favored daughter may not be changed. You come as her beacon, not a proxy. Do you understand?”
Aurora looked up at the beastial god-like being looming over her. “I-I’m not sure that I do … but I want to do what I can to help my Mistral.” She essayed a smile. “I will do exactly as she tells me.” She made her smile as charming as she could with a fluttering of her eyelashes.
The Great Manitou scoffed and withdrew. “Then let the journey begin. Favored Daughter, if you watch, you will find the answers you seek … however these answers may not be to your liking. It will be up to you to choose how to address the problem when it truly becomes clear.”
Mistral nodded and looked to Aurora, smiling, she walked over to her and offered her hand. “Are you ready to go?”
“Definitely.” Aurora grinned broadly, taking her hand and squeezing it in support and love. This was not what she had expected … it was BETTER!
When their hands met, the fire shimmered and the spirit gestured as if actually pulling away a curtain. Tendrils of magic swirled around the two from the fire, from the Great Manitou. She led Leona directly to the fire. With no fear in their hearts, they walked into that blazing fire.
FLASH
On the other side, Aurora found herself in an airplane. She hadn’t been in one ever. She gaped and looked around, disoriented.
“THIS is … !” Mistral exclaimed, gasping.
There was no need for Aurora to stoop, though in truth her wings were touching the seats on either side of the narrow row. The plane did seem small, far smaller than she expected. Lightning flashed outside the windows.
Sensing Aurora’s disorientation, Mistral explained, whispering softly. “It’s a small propeller plane. A passenger plane, true, but not a jet plane like those you’ve seen.”
Aurora nodded wonderingly and leaned to look out the nearest window. There were two propellers on the wing, certainly. There were other passengers on the plane, and not one of them responded to their presence. She tilted her head and looked to Mistral. She was looking directly at a small girl, perhaps the same age Leona was at the moment. She was dark-skinned with the same jet-black hair Mistral had in her civilian form.
Aurora focused a moment and decided to shrink her wings to a chibi-size so she wouldn’t slap the people with them, not that it seemed to make a difference. They’d be a nuisance at best in such a closed space. When she looked closely at the girl, Aurora squeed and bounced. “This is you!” She grinned. “You’ve always been so cute …”
Mistral blushed at her squeeing. “It’s … I mean, I was really young then,” she said. The girl was very skinny, maybe even was a little tall for her age. She read a copy of ‘Stardust’ by Neil Gaiman. Now and again, she looked through the window nearest to her. In fact, every time the thunder rumbled.
The plane began to shake noticeably, and the seatbelt lights came on. The cabin lights overhead went out, and the lights on the floor shone. The young Mistral started to panic and the woman next to her started trying to hush and soothe her. The present Mistral squeezed Aurora’s hand, gasping at the display of her past.
Aurora squeezed her hand in return, and asked, “Is this a bad experience you had?” She stroked her arm softly, having a feeling about this. Was this the very moment she had gotten her powers? She wondered if that asian villain had gotten her powers at the same place, in the same way.
Aurora looked around the cabin, wondering if she’d see an asian girl in the crowd, but she didn’t see any. All she noticed was that everyone was very agitated.
Suddenly, one of the wings was torn from the plane with a loud screeching. The plane crashed and jostled as a hole was ripped in the side of the plane. Several people flew out, seats and all as the cabin decompressed. And the plane dipped sharply towards the ground.
Aurora’s eyes widened and she freaked out, dashing to save the people, but Mistral held her hand firmly, hauling her back. She shook her head negatively. It wouldn’t make any difference. “Mistral …” Aurora’s eyes filled with tears. “Did this really happen to you?” It was a stupid question. She couldn’t believe that this could happen to someone. But how could she have survived? “Is it a vision? Is it true?”
Mistral stood, her own face was consumed with her emotion. “This … is the moment my family died …” she said softly. The chaos and screaming was almost too much to bear as the plane continued to augur down, faster and faster. The winds whipped through the cabin, fairly stealing the breath from its passengers. Another seat tore and flew off into the skies. The scream fading off into the distance couldn’t be drowned out by the uproar of the other more fortunate passengers … for the moment. The oxygen masks finally dropped out from above, but no one was thinking. Everyone was too frightened. Clinging desperately to their seats, the only solid thing in reach.
The young Mistral’s book was sucked out into the void outside as she reached for her own mask and put it on. She fumbled at it, trying to grab a mask for the older woman beside her, but then a flash of lightning blinded everyone, the two superheroes included. The other wing was struck by another powerful bolt of lightning, and it was ripped off. The plane spun as it dove. Another rupture opened on that side of the plane and the woman at Mistral’s side was sucked out, torn through the fuselage. Bloody mist flew through the storm. The jagged hole was too small for the body to fit cleanly through.
Her Mistral reached out for the woman who was gone. Her skin grew colder to the touch. Her muscles tensed. Suddenly the plane stopped. There was not a crash, but a sudden cease of motion. A blizzard flowed into the plane, chilling everyone present. The passengers started to unbuckle their belts and bolted. Despite the fact that the plane was still vertical. Two of the people nearest at the first hole were frozen solid.
Leona held to the nearest seat and held Mistral, using her power to negate the effect of gravity. Her eyes were wide from the horror of Mistral’s past. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to look at flying in an airplane quite in the same way, having seen this firsthand. She wasn’t sure she’d ever ride one. But then, she didn’t need to, thankfully.
She stammered as she pulled Mistral to her side. W-w-w-what… was that woman your…” she managed to get out. How were those other people frozen solid in an instant? Was it really so cold up here in Canada? Where were they? The north pole? Another planet?
Mistral turned her face to Aurora’s, her face ravaged by horror, anger, and her deep sorrow. She opened her mouth to respond, the emotions warring inside. Suddenly, the top of the plane was ripped open and there were great creatures outside. They were humanoid only perceptually. Their malice and violence was tangible. Energies swirled around them, coursing through their very beings, and evil itself flashed in their shimmering eyes.
One, seemingly composed of entirely ice and hail caressed the side, freezing the hapless passengers there. Another roared its head back, its body made from ink-black clouds. Lightning flashed inside its maw when a huge crash of thunder deafened everyone. They all covered their eyes, including the young Mistral.
A fierce wind blew through the cabin, and Mistral let go of Aurora’s hand, rising into the air. “Not again! Not this! I can stop you myself now!” She snapped, crying out. Her voice echoed.
The great creatures ignored her as they slowly started to kill each passenger, working their way towards the young Mistral. As the people in the row behind her were sucked into the air by finger-like tornado tendrils, she put her hands together and started changing in an unknown language.
A golden light pierced through the furiously swirling clouds above.
“I’m not sure you’re supposed to do this, Mistral.” Aurora gasped. It was just a vision of the past. Nothing she did, as she gestured would change anything. She needed it, she wanted it. Closure. She wanted to reach into the past and make everything right. But would it amount to anything? She knew that trying was only asking for trouble.
Mistral, ignoring the warning of her love, created a massive bolt of lighting, striking at the mass of clouds. It passed harmlessly through them, but her lack of impact caused her to draw even more power. Things were getting colder, so very cold. The plane was frigid. Mistral was creating a storm of her own.
Meanwhile, the light shone on the three creatures, and they started to shy away from it.
“Mistral! It’s not going to work!” Aurora yelled. “Calm down! I know it’s pure agony… I know you’re suffering, my love. Please bear it!”
Mistral was crying and her face was red with fury. Aurora floated up slowly and put her arms around her, her body was cold like winter stone. Mistral gasped when she squeezed her and her body started to warm slightly. She looked into the eyes of Aurora. “A-Aurora …” she sobbed, “Leona … I … f-forgot … why … why did I … ?” She lost control.
“Beasts of the North,” the light spoke, “I have turned a blind eye to your depredations so long as they plagued those who destroyed the people who lived in our care … but you have attacked one who is of the people this day … and I have heard her words.”
“Manitou! How can we tell who this one is?!” One hissed. “Have none ever cried out to you in the old words? Do not trouble us over this insignificance!” the one of ice and snow boomed like glacial ice cracking.
“We must flee, brothers!” the one with the tornado tendrils exhaled heavily, proclaiming as he started to leave. The light shone on him, holding him in place.
“I am the great spirit of the people, and my ways are my own. This girl cries out for protection against the wicked beasts, and I am honor bound to provide such.”
The golden light condensed into a male form, a very attractive American Indian man dressed in traditional leathers. He knelt down in front of young Mistral, and as he did, his aspect changed to that of a beautiful woman. “Favored daughter,” the spirit called Manitou said, “I have too long been indolent … so I ask you, what should be done? How should these terrors be punished?”
“I want you to destroy them,” the young and modern Mistral said in unison.
Aurora watched on sadly. She could not judge for her pronunciation. She would not. She had never experienced this kind of horror. This was pure loss. How would she think or feel when everyone she cared about was wrenched away from her in an attack? And still Mistral was a great hero.
Mistral turned to Aurora and hugged her strongly, and they continued to watch the events below unfold.
“I may banish them for an age … but they will eventually return. Creatures such as they … do not die. Certainly not easily.”
“Then jail them! They’re criminals! Monsters!” little Mistral cried.
“There is a way … and it is a way that may be difficult. It is both a reward and a curse … One day, however, you will make a choice. For now … I think a fitting punishment is to see their power turned to good. Your power, now …” She put a hand on Mistral’s head and raised her other hand.
The three beasts, howling in fear and pain were inexorably drawn to Manitou’s hand. Their very essences were being pumped into the young Mistral’s spirit. Each one was forced into her. The web of their essences were tied to her own by the Manitou spirit and when she had completed the task, she rose, her hand still on young Mistral’s head.
“You have suffered much, Favored Daughter … rest now, and when you awaken, you shall be with others who will care for you. This will remain enshrouded in shadow until you have matured enough to understand the burden you now carry …”
“But … I’m not … sleeeeeeeepy …” the young Mistral whimpered as her head lolled back. Fight as she may to try and stay awake, she eventually dropped to sleep.
The Mistral in Aurora’s arms had stopped sobbing and she started pulling back from her. “I’m sorry … I … don’t know why … but it’s not important.”
“Don’t know why what?” Aurora squoze her gently. “It’s important. Everything you’re feeling now is. Any of it can be a clue to solving this mystery.” She was both pleased and horrified to have experienced this moment where Mistral had received her powers. It was more than she thought, far, far, sadder. Mistral had wrapped herself in mystery.
As they held to each other, the days sped by, time itself raced ahead. The sun rose and set five times above within a minute. Rescue crews arrived, finding only young Mistral alive. They took her for treatment. Investigators remarked at the carnage, saying that it was like the storm was vengeful in the way people had died.
After a time, Aurora’s hair began to stand straight up and the humanoid figure of clouds started to descend once again from the sky. Mistral, sensing his presence spun, pushing out from her grasp.
The humanoid raised his hands. “Now, now, ‘favored daughter,’” he said mockingly, “surely, this is no way to treat one of your guests.”