Old habits die hard and new ones can hurt you

[Oracle]

“Why are they after you?” she almost tripped over her own feet as Nina forced her to turn left. When Oracle heard the door lock and Nina turned the light on before she could stop herself she went over to a nearby gurney and flipped it in anger. “Every time! Every fu…” she stopped herself before she finished her sentence and kicked the gurney.

“I can’t control this,” Nina said, looking frustrated. “On land, it was my imagination. But down here... I think it’s yours.” Oracle moved over, against a wall and slide down it so she was sitting down on the floor. She couldn’t do what she did the last time she was in a place like this, to many people died, mostly innocent people and this time she didn’t know if she’d be able to stop herself.

Taking a deep breathe to hold back her tears of fear she propped her elbow on her knee and placed her cheek into her hand “Then Nina, we may be in a little over our heads.”

[Deleted]

Nina jumped, startled as Oracle knocked the gurney over. She took a few tentative steps closer to the frightened woman curiously. She didn’t know where they were or why Oracle was reacting the way she was. Nina bit her thumb, watching her with a canted head. Oracle seemed upset over the gurneys – which apparently weren’t for seizures despite her experience with them. “Every time?” Nina asked, confused. What happened every time? “What do those gurneys do?” she pressed.

As Oracle slid to the floor, Nina crouched in front of her, holding her knees. “Miss Oracle?” she asked, frowning. “What’s wrong? Is it something I did?” As Oracle propped her elbows on her knees and held her face, Nina felt a bad feeling stir in her stomach. “What’s wrong?” she repeated anxiously, dropping down to her knees to stare at Oracle closer.

“A little over our heads?” she repeated, biting her lip. That didn’t sound good. Not at all.

[Oracle]

“What do those gurneys do?” Oracle smirked a little “It’s not so much what the gurneys do as to what the people who strap people to them do.” she rolled up her sleeves a little, unashamed now of the scars that covered her arms that she’d gotten from a place like this when she was younger, and let the electricity climb up her arm till she was able to form it into a ball and started moving it around like one of those fushigi balls she’d seen on an infomercial in a window one day. “And the mutations the things can cause.”

“Miss Oracle? What’s wrong? Is it something I did? What’s wrong?” A small jerk of her head brought Oracle back to the present “No, it’s nothing you did..” she ran her hand over her face a little and sighed “I just, honestly don’t know what to do.”

[Deleted]

Nina stared at the scars on her arms curiously. Sébastien didn’t have scarred arms even though he had been strapped to one before. Nina could remember feeling terrified the first time she had made him have a seizure, but that did nothing to prepare her for the unease of the scarred arms. “They did that to you?” she asked, her voice trembling from anger. “How dare they! We ought to get back out there and hurt them!” she declared, her pale eyes narrowed with fury, but as the little electricity ball caught her eye, Nina clapped, full of delight, her anger wiped immediately.

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Oracle!” Nina chirped, taking her by the hand and tugging on her towards the exit at the other side. “Come on, just follow me! I’ll get us out of this.” Welll… she hoped she could get them out of it, anyway. She wasn’t actually sure, or confident in her abilities. But as long as Oracle kept calm, then the rest of this should be smooth sailing, right? And the door to reality had to be around here somewhere.

[Oracle]

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Oracle!” Nina chirped, taking her by the hand and tugging on her towards the exit at the other side. “Come on, just follow me! I’ll get us out of this.” Watching Nina take charge for some reason gave Oracle the confidence to stand beside the woman and take on whatever was on the other side of that door. Standing as Nina pulled her to her towards the door Oracle started to draw energy from any electric fixtures around them causing them to dim some.

“You know what the door looks like run on ahead and,” she paused looking at Nina “I’ll find a way to redirect my anger.”

[Deleted]

“Are you sure?” Nina asked, biting her bottom lip. She didn’t know Oracle very well, but she felt guilty for getting her in this mess. If it hadn’t been for her clumsiness, she and Oracle wouldn’t be in this mess. It had started out fun, but now it was just scary. “Okay. The door should take us both to where we were, even if you aren’t with me when you find it.” Nina began to jog in the other direction before pausing, turning back to Oracle.

She cleared her throat lightly. “And… Miss Oracle,” she said. “Just remember not to die here. I won’t be able to bring you back.”

[Oracle]

“Are you sure?”” softly of flexed her hands “Yes.” She looked over at Nina and patted her back to let her know there were no hard feelings for what had happened “We all make mistakes.”

“Okay. The door should take us both to where we were, even if you aren’t with me when you find it.” She nodded as Nina started to jog off “Ok, I understand.” she started to pull more of the power for the light fixtures were they were making the area darker.

“And… Miss Oracle,” she said. “Just remember not to die here. I won’t be able to bring you back.” Oracle smiled a little “Mistress Nina, I will try to stay alive during this but if for some reason the fates do not see it fit do not mourn me.” she looked at Nina and winked before heading off to draw the people attentions away from Nina.