Hero ID / Real Name: Kierin
Age: 21
Powers Summary: Storm control, negative energy output
Power Origin: Granted portion of power from magical being, drawn energy from a different creature of magic which dwells within her energy patterns.


Background Summary:

I sat, cross-legged on the grass on Ithaca Island, and she sat across from me in the same position. It was almost like looking into a mirror. A very strange, dark, and possibly evil mirror.

Kiriga's appearance had changed since she had last been a part of me, but not by much. Her hair was a bit less tangled than mine, and her facial features were a bit less sharp than mine, but they were unmistakably mine. Her skin was still jet-black, her hair a dark violet, and her eyes covered by bright tendrils of energy. The clothes she wore were loose-fitting, dark, covered by strange designs. And she was grinning like an idiot. Her teeth looked like amethysts.

Areik walked up beside us and sat down, looking between her and I. The MAGI sorceress appeared to be a woman in her mid-20s, but I'd learned enough about magic from her to recognize the power of the tiara she wore. She had likely been researching artifacts for fifty years or longer. "Are you two sure about this?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Yep!" said Kiriga.

Areik didn't look convinced. "Kiriga, with the spell you've outlined for me, your spirit will be bound to Kierin and completely under her control. She can allow you to control her body, or share her senses whenever she wants, but she can also shut you out from her mind whenever she feels like it. She could also destroy your consciousness with a fair amount of ease."

Kiriga's grin had disappeared, but she didn't seemed worried. She tilted her head, still looking at me. "Aw, you'd never do that, right Kierin?"

"Depends on you," I answered. "You haven't exactly been a positive influence on my life so far."

"I was young! And foolish!" She threw up her hands theatrically. "Alas, there is nothing I could do to atone for such horrid acts but submit myself entirely to the person I wronged so dearly!"

I closed my eyes, trying not to groan, suddenly second-guessing this decision again.

After a moment of silence, Kiriga resumed speaking in a more subdued voice. "But, yeah. I'm sure. I won't… last much longer on my own. Not without doing something stupid, anyway. And Kierin is the only person I trust to use my power well."

It was impossible to tell whether she was lying. I still didn't trust her. But I did trust Areik, and Areik assured me that Kiriga would be completely unable to hurt me if she were bound to me with this spell. Not only that, but I'd have my old powers back. It was so hard not to just go through with it at that point, but even after giving it weeks of thought, I couldn't think of any reason not to accept this creature's spontaneous offer. Still, it was suspicious, mainly because…

"You'll die when I die," I said. Areik raised an eyebrow at me; we'd agreed beforehand not to point this out to Kiriga, but suddenly I knew I couldn't accept her offer without making sure she knew that.

"Yeap." The creature leaned back on her hands, looking bored. Wisps of dark energy curled from her fingers, vanishing like smoke into the air. "So I probably won't be letting you die. You'll thank me eventually."

She was either insane or… Well, I had no idea. She seemed to have changed so much since the last time I saw her, just a few years ago. Of course, back then she had been causing chaos in my mind, turning me away from friends and flooding me with apathy. The idea of starting that all over again was terrifying, and at first I had been ready to get Areik's help in destroying her once and for all.

Far from trying to reclaim control of me, though, Kiriga was in fact offering the opposite. Her body would effectively vanish, and the intense concentration of energy which formed it would effectively become my power. She also claimed that my broken and incomplete storm-control powers would eventually become as potent as they had been at my peak, or stronger.

As it was, I could barely break up a brawl between the Hellions and Skulls. To be able to stand side-by-side with the best of the best again, facing off against Praetorians…

"Let's get started."

Kiriga bounced to her feet and I stood more slowly. Areik sighed and closed her eyes, standing almost directly between us. She raised her hands, and the bracers on her arms began to glow with blue light.

"Still rocking the trench coat, Kier?" Kiriga grinned again as a gust of wind caught the tail of my coat. "Looked kinda ridiculous when you were sixteen, but you're growing into it."

I frowned. "You have a funny way of giving compliments."

"Please be quiet," said Areik. "I need to focus."

Trying to relax, I listened to the whisper of the wind. The sky was overcast, a sheet of mottled gray stretching from the horizon at my right to the distant buildings of Talos to my left. The late afternoon air was frigid and unfriendly. Good storm weather, I thought.

Areik's hands were hidden now underneath a shimmering haze of light. She opened her eyes and took a few steps towards me, walking slowly and deliberately. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she pointed her palms towards me, some of the energy surrounding my own arms. It felt bitterly cold and strong, like the wind.

She turned to Kiriga, who was watching the ceremony with an expression of mild amusement. "For an expert mage, you sure are slow."

Areik ignored the insult. "Are you ready?"

The creature nodded.

Stepping forward with inhuman speed, Areik landed a palm strike straight on her face. Kiriga's body burst into a whirling cloud of negative energy which seemed about to scatter into the air before shifting and flowing through the dimming light surrounding the mage's arms. The bright blue glow turned to dark violet tendrils, and Areik almost vanished under a haze of shadow. She walked back over to me and put the index finger of each hand on my forehead. I felt a cold tingle run through my body. Her eyes were pools of dark violet. "I'm going to fuse her essence with yours. It's probably going to hurt."

"Alright."

It hurt. For a moment I partially lost consciousness. When I could think again, I was on my hands and knees, Areik's hand on my back.

"You alright?" she asked.

"I… think so." I leaned back into a sitting position, and raised one hand, palm up. Negative energy twisted between my fingers, and a curtain of shadows covered my vision, tinting the world in violet.

Hah! Now that's what I'm talking about. Kiriga's voice. In my mind. It's good to be back.

…It's good to have you back. I closed my fist, letting the energy fade away.