The atmosphere was electric as Eleanor glanced about. Whispers barely nudged at the back of her mind in the dullness her powers brought, but with each step the sensations grew louder. Countless lives passed her by as she forced herself deeper into the greyness, but when Avery took her hand, she halted her descent into the numbing absence of emotions, and she bit her lip to steady herself.

    “Don’t go too deep Ellie,” Avery warned her with fear flickering in his ice blue eyes.

    “Right…” Eleanor nodded slightly before taking a deep breath, and Jamie’s hand fell heavily on her head.

    “I’ve made the arrangements to fast track you three through the Net Port,” Jamie assured her. “So just do your best to bear through it, alright dear?”

    “I will,” Eleanor gave a small smile.

    “You’re terrible at bluffing,” he patted her head before taking the lead, and a soft sigh escaped Eleanor.

    She shook her head clear before focusing her mind on the chilling steadiness of Carrigan’s stoicism that followed beside her. Magic flavored the air as they drew closer to the Net Port, and the metallic coated buildings fed off the resonating energy. The presence of the aether grew as they neared the city’s center, and it threatened to drown Eleanor as she struggled to temper her abilities in the now-visible iridescent waves of the mana that permeated the air.

“Oh gods… don’t mess up, don’t mess up. If I trip everyone will stare.”

“I’m totally going to make a name for myself here!”

“If I can land this story on Killrize… I can do some real good.”

    Eleanor’s eyes flickered in the direction of the thought on Killrise, and she focused on the voices out of habit.

“The world needs to know. Maybe I can get everyone hel-”

“Where’s Cleo-”

“-peanuts are-”

“-helpin’ is a waste- ”

“-report-HELP-killinMe-CUTE-HAFJEUINVADB-”

    The voices screeched through Eleanor’s head in a jumbled mess, abruptly stopping her as she clutched her forehead, and she screwed her eyes shut. She quickly lost herself in the static as tremors of ice and fire tingled over her skin, and her senses fell into chaos. Heat clamped down onto her shoulders, and her eyes flew open, snapping to a gaze of fuschia before her.

    Eleanor was deaf to Jamie’s words, but she watched his lips move, feeling the warmth and weight of his touch, and she began focusing on his every detail; the sweet lulling scent of peaches on his breath, his silken locks of strawberry-blonde swaying in the breeze, the commanding calm he learned to bring forward for her. 

Eleanor slowly started to breathe, finding some semblance of senses that did not overwhelm her, and the static started to calm with the voices growing comprehensible once again.

“-fjehfae- Eleanor -be-eh-Focus-”

“-crap! I forgot-”

“I should try-”

“I’m going to be late...”

    She managed to separate the thoughts.

“Eleanor. Focus on me.”

“Would they just shut up already…”

    She slowly found Jamie’s thoughts among them.

“That’s my girl. Just breathe, El. I’ve got you.”

“Why do I always fail her?”

    Eleanor’s focus flew to Avery, and his eyes widened for a moment.

“Shit! Get out of my head El!”

“We’re fine! Back off!”

    Jamie flicked Eleanor’s forehead, pulling her from the twinsoul’s thoughts as she jumped with a squeak.

    “Next time I’m smacking you,” Jamie sighed, and Eleanor gave a crooked grin, but she cast a worried look at Avery for a moment.

    “Don’t say anything,” he huffed.

    “Alright, let’s get you kids into the port,” Jamie cut in, wrapping his arm around Eleanor’s shoulders before they continued their way.