Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

January 27, 2023 - Old Rimes Household, Halcyon City - Aeryn and Randi (aka Mystic Radiance and Revenant)
After a long day of heroing, Randi usually takes some time to decompress: literally and figuratively. She goes to Dr. Nieves’ lab and gets her Frozen Heart tuned; letting off a lot more vapor than usual. She also meditates while recounting the day’s events to her caretaker.
Today was different. She’d lost control of her powers. Again. She’d also failed at keeping her emotions in check and now Tristane knows about all the abandonment issues Randi is dealing with. Worst yet, Aeryn beat her in a fight. So now was as good a time as any to go sulk. Back when Randi was living with her parents, she’d crawl into the attic and slip into a small closet.
It was definitely a lot smaller than she’d remembered.
That Randi had slipped away was another sign that Mystic Radiance was having a bad day. Randi was not an inconspicuous person, and Mystic Radiance generally kept her in sight when they were together. Couldn’t very well protect her if she wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t nearly the worst part of the day, though. Her sister had been poisoned (sort of) right in front of her! And the best she could do to get back at the people who did it was wreck an empty room. And she…she’d lost control and hurt both Sami and Randi. Her little sister. The person she most wanted to protect. And she was the one who hurt her.
Part of Mystic Radiance’s brain tried to remind her that she had also been affected by the drug, and that was why she lost control, but it felt like an excuse so she tried to shut that part of her up.
Finding Randi was her top priority. Ethereal Brilliance would be expecting her mission report, but she’d make up some excuse for it being late. Randi was more important. It took her a little while, but it wasn’t too long before she walked past the “For Sale” sign in the front yard of the house she’d avoided for several months after coming to Halcyon, up the stairs (skipping the fourth step that squeaked horribly on instinct), and again up to the attic. She leaned against the wall next to the closet and slid down to sit with her knees pulled in.
“I feel like I should make a closet joke,” Mystic Radiance said, in a poor attempt at humor.
The cold air coming from the other side of the wall was the only assurance that she was even there. Randi was upset that she wasn’t alone anymore… but elated that Aeryn still remembered her hiding spot.
“You should just come out and say it,” quipped Randi after a moment of silence.
Mystic Radiance snorted. They were far from professional comedians, but she was relieved at her success in breaking the ice between them. Not literal ice, which was also an option where her sister was involved. “I’m surprised it even let you back in. Surely all your swooning over girls was a betrayal to its memory.”
Randi smiled. How many laughs had they missed out on together? Field trips, dances, movie nights… There were so many fun moments that Randi didn’t get to share with Aeryn. Did she even have fun when she was out there being a hero? Randi still didn’t have the courage to ask.
“I have other things to hide nowadays,” replied Randi. “I’m not the same girl you left here 7 years ago.” Yeah… she left her. It’d been 7 years and not much as a postcard arrived at the mailbox. No polaroid of a defeated baddie with “wish you were here” written on the back.
“You know, I didn’t cry for the longest time when you disappeared. It felt like if I did it would be admitting you were gone. I did get angry though. A lot. At Mom and Dad. At teachers. At strangers. At myself. But never with you. I never blamed you… and I’m wondering if I should have.” Randi’s voice had gotten shaky towards the end. She didn’t want to scream out all that she was feeling: she knew she didn’t have the whole story. But when was she going to get the full story? When was Aeryn going to tell her the whole truth?
There was a glimmer of light as Aeryn let her transformation dissipate in a cloud of sparkles. It felt wrong, keeping it active if this was the way the conversation was going. Besides, if there was anyone she actually believed cared more about Aeryn in her old hoodie more than Mystic Radiance in all her sparkly glory, it was Randi.
“I wish I could say I hesitated, or thought about you when I went with Ethereal Brilliance. But I didn’t. Not for a second. Why would I question a superhero descending from the sky to tell me I’m special? I did think about you later. I wrote you a postcard or letter every week for the first few months. Then less, when you never answered. But I don’t think Ethereal Brilliance ever sent them…” Aeryn picked at a hole she’d ripped in her jeans rollerblading a few weeks ago. “Maybe you should blame me. I’m the one who chose to leave. Who never really questioned anything Ethereal Brilliance told me. But I don’t regret it. I mean, I regret parts of it, especially hurting you, but if I could go back I’d still say yes. Still train to be a Guardian. This is what I’m meant to do.”
Aeryn leaned back against the wall, and said quietly enough that Randi could barely hear, “Even if it means you can’t trust me.”
Randi felt her heart sink. She knew she should be angry about all this. She wanted to be. She was even allowed to be. But all she felt was sad. Sad about being abandoned, about being put second, and about Aeryn.
“Did she tell you that?” whispered Randi. “That losing those that cared about you would make you stronger?” Again, Randi’s voice was shaking but this time she let her voice get as loud as she really wanted. “Did she say you wouldn’t amount to anything until you were all alone?! I was alone! I was alone for so long! And look at what it did to me!”
"No," Aeryn said, trying her very best not to let herself sound like she was about to cry. "She told me that being alone was the only way to keep you safe. That's why I didn't try to find you when I got back. Because staying away kept you safe from the Dire and being around you would distract me. She was right, you know. Every time I'm in a fight and you or Hal are around, keeping you safe is my priority because now that I have you back, I can't think of something worse than losing you again. You're my little sister and I," Aeryn’s voice cracked but she kept going, "I'm supposed to protect you and I wasn't here to do that. But I'll do it now. When I question what I'd do if the choice was between protecting you and stopping the Dire, I don't have an answer. I don't know what I'd do. How do I pick between the world and fulfilling what I've trained to do for seven years, or my sister?"
Aeryn shrugged hopelessly, even though Randi couldn't see her. And despite knowing she couldn't actually pretend she wasn't half crying already, she wiped her eyes on her hoodie to try and hide them. She kept her arms up, eyes pressed into the sleeves of her hoodie.
"I'm sorry," Aeryn whispered. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone, I didn't mean to."
A part of Randi felt guilty about making her sister cry… but another part - a small but vocal part - was proud. This was something to cry about. This was an awful thing to have done to Randi. Aeryn understands now how much it hurts.
Randi opened her mouth to speak. However, only gasps came out. She tried and tried to say something but couldn’t get the words to leave her throat. She was sobbing instead…
She took a shaky deep breath and let it back out. Finally, she said “I don’t want to lose you again either…” The waterworks started up again, drowning all the things Randi wanted to say. All the ways she was hurt and angry and resentful… Only one thing managed to rise up from it all.
“I just want my sister back.”
Aeryn rested her hand on the door frame of the closet and quietly said, “You can. Neither of us is the same as we used to be, but we can still be sisters. No one can take that away from us. Not unless we let them.”
Randi closed her eyes and rested her head back. Unless they let them… She figured it’d be best to start with herself.
"I'm… sorry for how mean I was earlier today. I was afraid you'd get hurt out there cause like… y'know… you seemed pretty specialized in a certain way of fighting and- and well, I was mostly lashing out about all this stuff."
“It’s a little impressive, actually,” Aeryn said after a moment. Accepting apologies without saying “it’s okay” had not been part of her training. “I don’t remember the last time I’ve been that angry. But I like this, talking, a lot better.”
Aeryn sighed, leaning her head back against the wall in an unwitting mirror of Randi. “I…I’m actually pretty insecure about how people perceive the Guardians. That because we’re sparkly and they think our spells sound silly, we’re not capable. Like we haven’t been saving the world for at least decades. I might be the only one left, but I’ve been doing this since I was twelve. I’m not weak. But I’m sorry. For letting my anger get the better of me and attacking you. And letting those stupid drugged bracelets get both of us…”
Aeryn clenched her jaw, remembering how helpless she’d felt with Randi unconscious, and the people who’d engineered it already long gone. That office she’d destroyed wouldn’t recover, but it wasn’t the same.
Randi rocked her head a bit on the wall, upset that she pushed on such a sensitive subject for Aeryn. But that meant Randi wasn’t that angry anymore, which was good. “Well, if we got along all the time, could we even call each other siblings?” mused Randi. “And I heard about what you did to the offices… I appreciate it.”
Randi stands up - only to bump her head on a wooden beam. “Ow! This closet really isn’t meant to hide a grown body. Do you think you can magic the door open? I don’t want to scramble back out of here.”
Aeryn stood, smiling. She wasn’t very practiced in using her magic while not transformed, but small things were doable. And Randi asking her to do magic felt significant in a way. Especially since Aeryn could probably open it without the use of mystical powers. Stretching out her hands, Aeryn focused her magic on the door. In a burst of glitter, the door flung open and crashed against the wall. Aeryn flinched.
“Um, ta-da?”
Randi smirked. “This is the part where I’d say ‘I’m telling Mom!’.” She immediately rushed over to Aeryn and put an arm around her. Randi rested her head on Aeryn’s shoulder and sighed. “Do you think we should look for them? I don’t want to make the same mistakes with them that I did with you.”
Aeryn was very glad for her hoodie as Randi touched her. She pulled her hands into her sleeves before putting an arm around Randi as well. It wasn’t comfortable, and she’d probably need to pull away soon, but if your sister wants a hug you give her a hug even if she's a literal ice cube.
"Yeah, I think we should," Aeryn answered softly. "Even if it's not good, I want to know what happened to them."
“Yeah…” Randi lingered on Aeryn’s shoulder for a moment more before she squeezed her closer. She nuzzled into her, knowing full well that the cold was definitely getting to Aeryn now.
Aeryn squeaked at the cold and shoved Randi away. “You did that on purpose! You brat! And I can’t even shove snow down your back as revenge!”
“Hehehe,” mocked Randi with a smug smirk. Randi began to form first on her hands as she approached Aeryn with playful menace.
They were back in their old home, horsing around just like they did back in the old days… it almost felt like nothing had changed at all. 
Category:B-Verse Category:Scenes