Lightning Strike ((Nicholai ; PG-13))

The clouds were nearly black, and heavy with rain in the late afternoon sky above Tanya Merrit. She stood in the center of her favorite garden, detached from the rest of the gardens and filled with metal statues from the students in the metal-working class. Whirligigs that spun in the wind that raced past, cool and bringing the warning scent of rain, statues of birds, people, hands, and almost anything, covered in bits of colored glass, all stood in the circular garden around Tany. A clear, circular patch of grass was where Tany’s feet were resting now as she stood, her arms fully extended and her head tilted back, eyes closed as she listened to the wind rush through the near wild growing plants around the garden. Rain lilies, ferns, clumps of white and blue star-shaped flowers, ivy, and several various wild plants all surrounded Tanya. She loved the wildness of this place, the way it was barely contained. It felt how she did – free, and yet, not quite. Her powers and her insecurity restricted her, yet she was free to fight it, if she so chose. So she stood here, feeling like someone or something related to her, feeling her burden lighten as thunder rolled and lightning streaked across the sky.

Then it began to rain.

Tanya smiled, and bolts of electricity began sprouting from her arms. And this time, instead of holding it back, she let it go wherever it wanted for just a moment. It lunged at the whirligigs, eagerly dancing upon their metal surfaces. Four bolts were coming from her body, grasping at anything metal eagerly, tasting its rare freedom. She smiled more broadly, and her eyes shut tightly as she sought to try and bring in the lightning, controlling it, pulling it in. She knew this garden so well, she knew the direction to send the bolts. They were reluctant, and didn’t to leave their metal mates that they had found, but two of the four relinquished their hold and returned to her, spiraling up her body. She felt no pain, just a faint tingle of happiness and freedom. She closed her eyes tighter and wrenched her arms upward, reaching toward the sky with a mighty yell. The two remaining bolts flew upward with the others, a powerful white bolt soaring up into the sky and hit the clouds. The clouds absorbed it and for a moment, there was deadly silence except for the rain pattering against the plants and the ground. Then there was an almighty crash of thunder and a huge lightning bolt struck Tany.

She screamed with a fierce and mighty joy at the feeling of power coursing through her body, and when that feeling faded, she found herself on her knees, laughing lightly, almost wheezing. Then she smiled, a truly joyful smile, one that rarely graced her features, and she ran her hands through her hair to bring down the frizzy red beast upon her skull. She sat back on her legs and opened her eyes. Her smile faded when she saw someone, a figure, standing in her garden, their identity shielded by the rain. It might have been a guy, but she didn’t care who it was. Her joy was replaced with anger, and lightning jumped from her skin angrily to match her mood.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here? No one…” She faltered, but only briefly. She stood up, her hands in tight fists as she yelled at the person standing there insolently, in her garden, her getaway, her safe place. This place was hers alone. No one was supposed to be here. She yelled challengingly over the rain and the faint thunder overhead. “No one is supposed to be here! No one is supposed to see that! Who the hell do you think you are?”

Nicholai had to get out. The small room that served as his dorm room was stuffy and empty and he couldn't focus on anything. Not on his runes, not on the small ring aruond his neck. Not on reading the few italian possesions he owned. Nicholai was stuck. Here he was, the new kid, the lone nephilim against the overbearing school, were so many people underestimated him, or completely overestimated him. He was only half angel, it wasn't like he could fix everything. Sometimes, Nicholai thought that being what he was, it was more of a burden than gift sometimes. But then he always remembered the so-called burden, and how his people kept the underworld peace. Even the Nephilim were special in themselves. He was a jack of all trades, someone who could harness the power of runes. Yet he felt trapped by what peopel expected him to be. Like the lone nephilim needed to make up for all of the missing ones. Like his parents.

Nicholai stood up, his ears ringing out of the solace of the room. He was an impulsive, yet calm creature, but the room seemed to be closing in on him. Reminded him of the small attic in his adoptive parent's house. Too bad he burned it to the ground. Nicholai frowned slightly, as he grabbed a dark blue jacket, and threw it on over his black, plain shirt. He pulled the hood up, the wind howling outside making him suddenly miss the warm italian sun on the hay where he lounged. He opened the door quietly and quickly snuck a book underneath his jacket, hoping for the chance to find a quiet place where he could escape his biggest fear. Himself.

Nicholai walked empty halls, and eventually emerged outside, his stele softly lighting in his hand against the dark, thunderstorming sky. He took it out, and let the soft blue light light his way against the wind. Nicholai didn't really know why he was doing this, it wasn't like he had to be outside, but he felt compelled to; like maybe if he conquered this weather, he could conquer himself. So he walked against the wind, occasionally time-bending to get to places faster. Only once did he run into a pole. He smacked his head right on it, and stopped for a moment. "No more.." He mumbled as he walked on.

Soon he found himself walking against the rain into what seemed a artist's garden, or, in reality, the center of the storm. he could hardly see, even with his perfect vision. He stumbled on, until he saw a huge lightning bolt, several yards away. He felt compelled to run to it, almost as if seeing the charred ruins could help him figure out himself. So he ran there, or rather fled, with his speed, and stopped a short while away. Only, instead of ruins, he saw a flash of red hair. He stood there, dumbfounded. How could someone survive that? He wondered, a good logical problem for his prowlful mind. Only she didn't give him time to ponder.

“No one is supposed to be here! No one is supposed to see that! Who the hell do you think you are?” She yelled, and Nicholai instantly threw up his hands, stele still in his left one. He figured that he should probably reply before the girl exploded on him more. "Sorry!" He instantly yelled back, before adding more. He didn't need to make more enemies; he had enough already. "I was kind've lost! Saw the lightning, wanted to see where it hit! Didn't mean to bother you!" Nicholai yelled, before slowly walking toward the girl, soaked though with rain. Nicholai pulled his hood off, and revealed his face as he neared the girl, wet blond locks framing a streaked face. "Are you okay?" Nic asked, stele still illuminating his face as he waited for more yelling.

Tanya snarled angrily, a sound that went unheard in the rain that pattered against the ground and the leaves of the wildly growing plants of the secluded garden. The guy – she had determined that it was a guy at this point – was just standing there like a kid who had just gotten in trouble with his parents and was trying to figure out how to explain that it wasn’t what it looked like. But Tany thought she knew exactly what it looked like – he was spying! He may not have followed her intentionally, but he was spying on her now. No one was supposed to see her releasing her powers. She was here at Greenwood partially because she had promised that she would exert control over her dangerous and wild powers. They were undergoing training, and she could control her power better than she could three months ago before she had arrived, but she still had to be careful. Every student at Greenwood had to be careful, of course, since none of them were really normal, but with her temper and the amazing force behind her abilities, Tanya Merritt was considered dangerous.

This place, this storm, this was one of her few escapes from the real world where she was contained. Here she could release the power that churned inside of her. And now this random guy just had to show up and ruin everything! The nerve of him! He stepped forward after a brief pause and he yelled back at her that he had gotten lost and had seen the lightning strike. She winced. He had seen the lightning. If anyone heard about how much she liked to indulge her powers, she would probably end up in quarantine for a week or maybe even longer. He came even closer and she tensed, ready to fight. He lowered his hood and Tany’s mouth dropped open in a quiet gasp. She quickly closed it shut, but that didn’t stop her thought from running through her head. Oh. My. God.

He was gorgeous.

The strange tablet he carried in his hands lit up his face, and her blue eyes gazed into his icy, equally blue ones. He had golden hair that was pressed to his face by rain. She couldn’t stay mad at him. He was really gorgeous, and he asked if she was ok, in a truly sincere voice. She hadn’t heard someone genuinely care about her welfare in a long time, and that feeling felt good. But she quickly coughed and gave him a hard stare. “I’m fine, thanks.” She replied stiffly. “I’m a lightning controller, that’s nothing new.” Maybe if she wrote off the event as something normal of those who could control her element, then he wouldn’t mention it to anyone, assuming they would already know about it. Rumors of the extent of abilites traveled through the academy like wildfire, so it was a reasonable assumption. “Well, you need to learn not to spy on people. It’s kinda rude, ya know.” Tanya chuckled dryly, not daring herself to fully meet his gaze. She was afraid and at the same time in awe of the kind of power he seemed to have over her with his looks and that concerned face. It seemed more powerful than her lightning, but at the same time, she felt just like she did when the lightning bolt from the storm had struck her – pleasantly tingly, with a jolt whenever she looked at him fully.

Great, I’m falling for a stranger. Awesome, Tany, just awesome. She thought scathingly. Her conscious could be rather mean, but she knew it was right. This was too fast, and too soon. She did her best to crush the feeling, and mostly succeeded. Mostly.

((I wrote this whole post out, only had like a few more sentences when my internet started acting funny, after about a hlaf-hour of pestering, it worked, then the laptop died. I'm going to try again, but the post will be shorter/less awesome.. Sorry!))


He gave the blue-eyed girl a look as she quickly coughed and gave him a look back. Something felt...different, like she was covering up her thoughts. As if I could read them... Nicholai thought, then immediately searched the mental rune database inside his mind, scouring for a rune, or rune combination that might allow that, but his attention was quickly drawn away when the girl spoke. American. He immediately noticed. As if there was actually going to be another full-blooded italian. Well, he was raised there, God only knew where he was actually born. “I’m fine, thanks.” She replied stiffly. “I’m a lightning controller, that’s nothing new.” Nicholai instantly met her gaze. A lightning controller? that made sense, because a bolt that big would have fried anything else. He was in awe, so much raw power in a slight frame, os different than halflings like himself. Sure he was full nephilim, but he was only half angel, the other half was human, and completely teenager. To have that much power coursing through you, it would have been an incredible rush. Something Nicholai only hoped to experience. Nephilim rushes were catching demons, but there weren't much of those around here.

Nicholai saw her gaze turn away, as if the soft blue glow emanating from his stele was hurting her eyes. Maybe it was him, though it was highly unlikely, considering the fact that everywhere he went, girls fell over him like a fly to trash. none of it was his fault, he was born to look like an angel, as sort of a trap for demons. They love to take beautiful humans astray. But girls threw themselves at him, and he hated to be the one to take them off, one by one, and tell them that he was not interested in any relationship. Besides, how can you call it a relationship, if they only cared about his accent or his looks. No, what Nic wanted most was to find someone independant. Someone strong. He looked back at the blue-eyed mystery before him.

Something was telling Nicholai to talk, lest he be the one hit by a lightning bolt next. The girl's face was relentless, whenever she looked at him, he got the strangest feeling as if he were in danger. All prickly, and his stomach started to act weird. Great, now you're getting homesick. Nicholai concluded as he opened his mouth to speak. "Lightning? The power must make you feel so alive, so on top of the world. I wish I had something like that." Nicholai wondered out loud, not really realizing, while he was looking up at the sky, that the girl was there at all. Then he remembered the stele, growing brighter as he lost himself in a dream, so he snapped back down to reality, and controlled it a bit better. Once it dimmed a little bit, to match how Nicholai was feeling, the girl spoke.

“Well, you need to learn not to spy on people. It’s kinda rude, ya know.” The girl joked, but at first Nicholai had just met her gaze, and forgot to laugh with her, something that would usually be natural to him. so he spoke back to the girl, after wiping some hair out of his face, and matching his mixed blue eyes with hers. "Ci dispiace, davvero non volevo disturbarla. Sono Ocello Nicholai." He said, then instantly remembered that he was in America, with english speaking people. "Sorry!" he blurted out, and quickly translated it to english. "Sorry, I truthfully didn't mean to bother you. I got a bit lost, seeing as thoguh I'm new here, and I was actually seeking a good place to escape. Looks like I wondered to far." He added some details, not once taking his soft, yet concerned gaze of the teen in front of him. Switching the stele to his other hand, Nicholai offered his left one to the girl and introduced himself. After all, sooner or later, they needed to know each other's names. "My name is Nicholai Ocello, Nephilim." He exclaimed, sticking his hand out there, hoping that maybe the girl didn't hate him too much to take it,