Amanda and Amara - Saturday, New York
Sep. 2nd, 2006 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAmanda takes the new student under her wing during the New York trip, although she does have ulterior motives for doing so given their mutual experience with Selene's works. There's closure for both of them of an unusual kind.
"... and don't forget to be back by five or you'll have Remy after your arses!" Amanda called after the last of the students piling out of the van, grinning despite her words. She was actually enjoying this whole thing - Pete would either be laughing his head off or horribly smug. Movement in the rear vision mirror caught her eye and she spotted the new girl - Amara - still sitting in her seat. "Don't tell me they ran off and abandoned you?" she asked, twisting in her seat to face the girl.
Amara turned from where she was looking out the window to smile at the other girl. "I told them to go. I was invited along to the record store, but I feel so out of the loop that I don't even know how to get back in the loop. At home, we listened to Beethoven and Vivaldi. Here they listen to..." She stuggled to come up with a name of any band she had heard of since coming to America. "Oh, whatever it is, it's loud and obnoxious. Besides, I wanted to see the city, not shop."
Amanda gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I can understand where you're coming from there. I didn't have a clue when I first got here and I was just from England. Must seem like a whole other world to you sometimes." She tilted her head a little, considering. "I don't have any plans for the rest of the day - would you like a bit of a tour around? If you can handle the company of an old fogey like me, that is," she added with a chuckle. At nineteen she sometimes felt like an old lady around the new guard of the school.
Amara laughed, guessing Amanda was not too much older than she was. "I would like a tour. It would be nice to have a guide, and some good company as well. This city is mind-boggling. My papa would be beside himself if he could see these buildings. They're so tall." She tried to see to the tops of the buildings from her window seat, but the window frame cut them short. "It is a whole other world."
The older girl looked pleased to hear herself described as 'good company'. "Right, let's get this beast parked then," she said, starting up the van to do just that. She'd use the parking garage at the Snow Valley building. "And if you're really good, I'll spare you Kyle's usual 'welcome to New York' hotdog experience," she added, grinning at Amara in the rear view mirror.
***
True to her word, Amanda had spared Amara the New York hotdog experience, although Amara had picked up a salted pretzel from a street vendor, more for the novelty of having pocket money to spend than from hunger. She tore it apart slowly and savored the sourdough taste and chewy texture as they walked. "Are there any green spaces? Places with trees and grass?" It seemed to her that New York was all concrete and glass, sharp edges and straight lines, without a hint of green anywhere.
"There's Central Park," Amanda told her, swallowing her own chunk of pretzel. Doug had introduced her to the food, and she had to agree with him that they were the best snack food to be bought. "It covers a good chunk of the middle of the city. It's a good place to go to, get a break from the crowds and the rest." Amanda's power tended to react to it as a calming sort of place, and she often went there on her lunch breaks to power down. "If you're not used to big cities, then yeah, this place can seem a bit soulless. 'S a matter of getting used to it, I suppose. London's a lot bigger and a lot older - New York's almost like a mini version of it."
"I never had the chance to travel, so Nova Roma is the only town I know. There was always work to do, children to watch, fields to harvest, trees to sit under. New York is so different, yet beautiful. Photographs don't do it justice." Amara finished her pretzel and deposited her napkin in a convenient trash can. A whole new world, indeed, with amenities like garbage collectors and restaurants. "How
far is Central Park from here? Is it walkable?" Amara wanted to avoid taxi cabs if she could; they frightened her.
"Maybe twenty minutes. I don't mind walking - 's too nice a day to be inside." Amanda grinned. "Which is what I'd be doing if I hadn't signed up for this mini-van thing. I've got a bad habit of locking myself up and studying whenever I'm home. Wanda sometimes has to pry me away from the books and force me outside for fresh air." Amara's world was as alien to Amanda as New York was to the girl. "How're you settling in at the school?" she asked as she led them towards the park. "Things not too crazy for you?"
Amara considered her response. "No, not too crazy. At least not as crazy as they were." She shuddered a bit as the memory of her near-sacrifice surfaced. "The school is wonderful and everyone is very kind. I'm looking forward to taking classes once Fall starts. Nova Roma didn't have a school. My father, and books, taught me everything I know." The thought of her father brought a wistful smile to her lips. "What is it you study that keeps you so well occupied?"
The older girl chuckled wryly. "Perspective, yeah. The school looks a lot less crazy if you've come from something worse. When I turned up, I thought it was a bloody holiday farm after what I'd been through." At least until the addiction and the love potion and the demon invasions. Which brought her to Amara's question. Tricky, but if the girl backread the journals at all, she'd find out soon enough. "Magic," she said, watching Amara's reaction carefully. "That's my power, you see. I had a bit of a setback at the end of the year, so I'm having to start all over again, which is why all the study. I want to make sure I do things properly." She left off the 'this time'.
Amara only nodded at Amanda's mutation. There had been rumors that their dark goddess was a powerful sorceress, not a deity, but the distinction meant little to Amara; goddess or not, they killed in her name. Goddess or not, they killed her mother for power, and Amara closed her eyes to keep from crying. "In Nova Roma, they used magical rituals to murder innocents, all in the name of their dark goddess." But Amanda was not like their dark goddess. "I've never experienced a different side, but I am glad you're trying to do things properly. Maybe you can show me how it can be different."
Bloody cow of a vampire bitch, Amanda thought, jaw clenching a little at the sight of Amara's obvious distress. "There's a lot of different types of magic," she said, not knowing the girl well enough to do the reassuring pat thing. "And not all of them are dark. But I have a bit of an idea of what it's like, having the darker side in your life.." She paused, biting her lip. In for a penny, and it might help her to know she wasn't alone, especially given the school's general reluctance to even mention anything Selene-related. "I sort of grew up with someone a bit like these followers. He tried to use demon magic to bind me to him permanently when I was eleven. Lucky for me, someone got me out."
Before Amara could stop herself, she admited quietly, "I was going to be sacrificed before I manifested, because they wanted to bring her back, and they needed virgin blood to do it. I was one of the girls chosen for the ritual. There was a lava pit. It triggered my mutation. A lot of people got hurt." She stopped, then, unable to continue. "Ororo was the one who convinced me to come here. I want to try to do things properly, too." And she smiled a small, but genuine smile. "Still wish I could have saved everyone."
Amanda nodded. "It's hard, but sometimes you can't save everyone. All you can do is your best, and you're in the best place to learn how to do that." This time she did reach out and touch Amara's arm briefly. "And there's a lot of people out there, working to stop what happened to you from happening to anyone else." She paused again, trying to think of a subtle way to put this. Bloody top secret plans - it made it that much harder to reassure Amara Selene's works were being taken down and the vampire bitch herself wasn't a threat any more. "Like last year. Some... people I know, they worked together to take down a woman called Selene. And they succeeded."
Amara appreciated the touch; she had gone too long without friends. Most parents advised their daughters to avoid Amara, as she was smart and inquisitive and independent, and they didn't want their children to follow in her path. "That's good, that there are people out there trying to stop people like them. If only it didn't feel like the bad ones outnumbered the good. And I know I can't save everyone. But it always seems like the bad ones win in the end, no matter what is done." Something tickled in the back of her mind, a memory of a name, a face. It came and went like a flash, but it was enough. "Selene....why does that sound familiar?"
"I know it seems that way, but sometimes the good guys get a break." Amanda's mind was racing as she realised Amara didn't know the 'dark goddess' had a name. Bugger it, it wasn't like Amara was going to go out and shout it from the rooftops. Hopefully. "Look, there's some stuff I'm not telling you. I want to, but it's important that you don't make this general knowledge, yeah? It could get people hurt if it gets out."
Amara sensed Amanda's deadly seriousness and promised with equal seriousness, "I swear that whatever you tell me, I won't tell another soul. But if it has anything to do with what happened in Nova Roma, please, I want to know. I have so many holes, and if you could give me some answers, I beg you to tell me." It was like looking at an unfinished puzzle. She only needed a few more pieces, and she was beginning have her own suspicions about Selene.
They'd reached the fringes of Central Park by now. Spotting an empty bench, Amanda steered Amara towards it. "Let's sit for this. Could take a while," she said with another wry grin. Once they were settled, she stopped to collect her thoughts before going on. "These people I mentioned, the ones that stopped Selene last year... well, they're still working to stop bad things like what happened to you. Actually, that's how Ororo knew to be there: one of these people found out about what was going on and called for help." She paused again. "This cult you mentioned... they didn't worship a goddess. They worshipped... well, she's not exactly human, but she's definitely not a goddess. She's an energy vampire and witch by the name of Selene."
Amara folded in on herself like a broken deck chair left out in a hurricane. "Oh." She hugged her knees as the puzzle pieces fell into place, leaving a horrible, yet complete, picture. "That explains what happened to my mother. She was taken a few years ago. We never saw her again. People, neighbors, said that she probably wandered off into the forest and disappeared. But she wouldn't have done that to us, my papa and me." The ground immediately around the bench began trembling. "And they were going to do the same to me." Tresses of her hair caught fire, the anguish slowly turning to anger. "I wish I killed them when I had the chance."
"I'm really sorry to hear about your mum. They won't be hurting anyone else, I can guarantee that," Amanda said, glancing around to make sure no-one was taking alarm at Amara's slip. So far so good, but she didn't want to push it, not with the magic still unpredictable. "And we'll get the people who kept the whole thing going even after Selene got taken care of. But right now I need you to calm down, all right? Take some deep breaths - I've already had my close encounter of the firey kind this month and I'd hate to get repetitive." There was no panic in her voice, even at the memory of the warehouse fire, just calm and a little humour to ease the tension a little. When in doubt, make a joke, was Amanda's way of dealing with things.
Amara gasped and drew the energy into herself, pushing it through her and back into the earth. She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax. Setting the park bench on fire was not the best plan. After a long moment, the ground quieted and her hair went back to its normal blond. "Oh god, I'm sorry," she said hurriedly upon opening her eyes. "To say I'm having control issues is an understatement." She took another few deep breaths and laughed ruefully. "I don't think this
was what you expected today. Grisly conversation and a near disaster. And all because of that..." Amara didn't cuss usually, but... "fucking bitch!" was the only thing she could call Selene, really.
"Hey, it's all right, you didn't set anything on fire and we don't have a lynch mob happening. You're doing better than a lot of people might in the same conditions." Amanda patted Amara's arm soothingly. "'S a hell of a lot to dump on you, I know, but I figured it'd help, knowing the truth. And that bitch is where she can't do any damage to anyone, ever again. Saw it with my own eyes."
"I feel as though I have been, oh what is the phrase they use on television, 'run over by a mack truck.' And if I do not keep myself together and learn control, I could hurt other people, so I'm determined to stay calm. But what happened to her? Did she die in a long, drawn-out, horrible, painful way?" Amara's eyes glinted briefly at the thought of Selene getting her due.
"Yes and no." Amanda's face was no less hard. "She's not dead, but where she is, she probably wishes she was." Looking out across the park, she continued. "She's magically bound in a concrete box at the bottom of the harbour. I saw her get dumped there myself."
In some ways, that was more fitting, Amara thought. Alive and bound someplace she could never escape from. "Is the harbor close to here? I mean, is it close enough to here that I could go there one day? I would like to see where she is." And if she spat on her watery crypt, well, who could blame her?
"I can take you there," Amanda replied - she'd been sort of expecting it, from Amara's reaction. She needed closure, much as Amanda had that cold night in November last year. "Well, not the exact spot, since that needs a boat, but I can get you to the docks." Looking over at Amara, she smiled a little. "After some lunch, maybe? 'S all gotten a bit serious and you could probably use a break first. I know I could."
"Lunch would be good. I think my stomach would mutiny elsewise." Amara's stomach rumbled on cue, causing an embarrassed giggle. She sobered after a moment and added, "And then the docks." And then maybe she could put all of this behind her.
"Sounds like we've got another Bottomless Pit on our hands," Amanda joked. "Come on, then. There's a cafe near here a friend of mine showed me. Best sandwiches in New York, but that's mostly because they're the size of a dinner plate and after a day of magic tutoring, I used to need it, believe me..." Continuing the stream of non-consequential chatter, Amanda steered Amara across the green expanse of Central Park.
***
The docks were largely not for public access, but there was a small pier off to the side that locals would fish off and it was here Amanda took Amara, after some entertaining cursing at traffic on her part and the Quest for Parking - the waterfront was a short drive but a long walk. The Statue of Liberty was visible from where they were, staring sightlessly into the distance with her torch held aloft, reminding Amanda of the stories Marie told of her experience of Magneto. It seemed Buckethead was making a habit of taking Xavier's students and she wondered for a moment if those kids would ever get closure themselves.
"The spot we dumped her's a lot further out in the bay," Amanda said, pointing out the direction to the other girl. "Out of the way of the usual water traffic. But like I said, you really need a boat to get out there and even then I don't think I could find the exact place. It had been a hell of a night and I wasn't really with it by the end."
"I don't think the exact spot is necessary for me. Just knowing she's out there is enough." Amara then spit into the water and began hurling insults. "' You are as much use to me as a hole in the head,
an affliction with which you must be familiar, never having had a brain.'" She racked her brain for another British television show quotation. "' Your brain's so minute, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open, there wouldn't be enough to cover a small water biscuit.'"
Despite the seriouness of the situation, Amanda guffawed. Loudly. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth and gave Amara an apologetic look. "Sorry. Where on earth did you find out about Blackadder?"
Amara grinned and looked vaguely abashed. "I can't sleep at night, so I watch television. I've developed a great fondness for BBC comedies." She turned toward the water and shouted, "'We live in an age where illness and deformity are commonplace and yet you are without a doubt the most repulsive individual I have ever met.'"
"I think I may just have to keep you," Amanda grinned, before turning to the water and shouting: "Your face is so ugly I bet the cornflakes try to crawl out of the bowl!"
Through her laughter, Amara yelled, "'If you bother me again I shall visit you in the small hours of the night and put a bat up your nightdress.'"
"You'd lose a battle of wits with a stuffed iguana! " Amanda was having trouble yelling through the giggles, but she kept at it. "You're so unpopular you had to organise your own surprise birthday parties!"
"'I've seen more intelligent creatures than you swimming at the bottom of ponds! I've seen better organised creatures than you running 'round farm yards with their heads cut off!'" Amara was nearly doubled over, tears trickling down her cheeks. "'Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, toffy-nosed, malodorous pervert!'"
"You dress like a mad parrot and talk like a plate of beans negotiating their way out of a cow's digestive system!" Amanda continued, almost breathless from laughter. "Your mother was a hamster..."
"And your father smelled of elderberries!" Amara clutched at her sides, lungs aching for oxygen. Dimly, she realized this was what she needed. She needed to laugh, or else she would never find closure. She chuckled and hiccuped for a little while longer before calming down. Turning to the girl next to her, Amara said, "Thank you. For bringing me here. I think I'll be okay now."
"I think I should be thanking you, but... you're welcome." Amanda's sides hurt and her cheeks ached from laughing, but it was a good ache. And she'd needed it too. So much about last year had been bloody awful, and she had a tendency to focus too much on her own failings in the whole affair and forget who the real villain was. "And hey, if it means someone else who understands my jokes, I'm bloody glad I did bring you down." Reaching over, she gave Amara's shoulder a brief, reassuring squeeze. "Time to be moving on, I think. I need to get back to the meeting spot before afternoon traffic hits. But if you like, we might have time to squeeze in a little shopping." Her grin turned wicked. "I know the best store for cheap British comedy..."
"... and don't forget to be back by five or you'll have Remy after your arses!" Amanda called after the last of the students piling out of the van, grinning despite her words. She was actually enjoying this whole thing - Pete would either be laughing his head off or horribly smug. Movement in the rear vision mirror caught her eye and she spotted the new girl - Amara - still sitting in her seat. "Don't tell me they ran off and abandoned you?" she asked, twisting in her seat to face the girl.
Amara turned from where she was looking out the window to smile at the other girl. "I told them to go. I was invited along to the record store, but I feel so out of the loop that I don't even know how to get back in the loop. At home, we listened to Beethoven and Vivaldi. Here they listen to..." She stuggled to come up with a name of any band she had heard of since coming to America. "Oh, whatever it is, it's loud and obnoxious. Besides, I wanted to see the city, not shop."
Amanda gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I can understand where you're coming from there. I didn't have a clue when I first got here and I was just from England. Must seem like a whole other world to you sometimes." She tilted her head a little, considering. "I don't have any plans for the rest of the day - would you like a bit of a tour around? If you can handle the company of an old fogey like me, that is," she added with a chuckle. At nineteen she sometimes felt like an old lady around the new guard of the school.
Amara laughed, guessing Amanda was not too much older than she was. "I would like a tour. It would be nice to have a guide, and some good company as well. This city is mind-boggling. My papa would be beside himself if he could see these buildings. They're so tall." She tried to see to the tops of the buildings from her window seat, but the window frame cut them short. "It is a whole other world."
The older girl looked pleased to hear herself described as 'good company'. "Right, let's get this beast parked then," she said, starting up the van to do just that. She'd use the parking garage at the Snow Valley building. "And if you're really good, I'll spare you Kyle's usual 'welcome to New York' hotdog experience," she added, grinning at Amara in the rear view mirror.
***
True to her word, Amanda had spared Amara the New York hotdog experience, although Amara had picked up a salted pretzel from a street vendor, more for the novelty of having pocket money to spend than from hunger. She tore it apart slowly and savored the sourdough taste and chewy texture as they walked. "Are there any green spaces? Places with trees and grass?" It seemed to her that New York was all concrete and glass, sharp edges and straight lines, without a hint of green anywhere.
"There's Central Park," Amanda told her, swallowing her own chunk of pretzel. Doug had introduced her to the food, and she had to agree with him that they were the best snack food to be bought. "It covers a good chunk of the middle of the city. It's a good place to go to, get a break from the crowds and the rest." Amanda's power tended to react to it as a calming sort of place, and she often went there on her lunch breaks to power down. "If you're not used to big cities, then yeah, this place can seem a bit soulless. 'S a matter of getting used to it, I suppose. London's a lot bigger and a lot older - New York's almost like a mini version of it."
"I never had the chance to travel, so Nova Roma is the only town I know. There was always work to do, children to watch, fields to harvest, trees to sit under. New York is so different, yet beautiful. Photographs don't do it justice." Amara finished her pretzel and deposited her napkin in a convenient trash can. A whole new world, indeed, with amenities like garbage collectors and restaurants. "How
far is Central Park from here? Is it walkable?" Amara wanted to avoid taxi cabs if she could; they frightened her.
"Maybe twenty minutes. I don't mind walking - 's too nice a day to be inside." Amanda grinned. "Which is what I'd be doing if I hadn't signed up for this mini-van thing. I've got a bad habit of locking myself up and studying whenever I'm home. Wanda sometimes has to pry me away from the books and force me outside for fresh air." Amara's world was as alien to Amanda as New York was to the girl. "How're you settling in at the school?" she asked as she led them towards the park. "Things not too crazy for you?"
Amara considered her response. "No, not too crazy. At least not as crazy as they were." She shuddered a bit as the memory of her near-sacrifice surfaced. "The school is wonderful and everyone is very kind. I'm looking forward to taking classes once Fall starts. Nova Roma didn't have a school. My father, and books, taught me everything I know." The thought of her father brought a wistful smile to her lips. "What is it you study that keeps you so well occupied?"
The older girl chuckled wryly. "Perspective, yeah. The school looks a lot less crazy if you've come from something worse. When I turned up, I thought it was a bloody holiday farm after what I'd been through." At least until the addiction and the love potion and the demon invasions. Which brought her to Amara's question. Tricky, but if the girl backread the journals at all, she'd find out soon enough. "Magic," she said, watching Amara's reaction carefully. "That's my power, you see. I had a bit of a setback at the end of the year, so I'm having to start all over again, which is why all the study. I want to make sure I do things properly." She left off the 'this time'.
Amara only nodded at Amanda's mutation. There had been rumors that their dark goddess was a powerful sorceress, not a deity, but the distinction meant little to Amara; goddess or not, they killed in her name. Goddess or not, they killed her mother for power, and Amara closed her eyes to keep from crying. "In Nova Roma, they used magical rituals to murder innocents, all in the name of their dark goddess." But Amanda was not like their dark goddess. "I've never experienced a different side, but I am glad you're trying to do things properly. Maybe you can show me how it can be different."
Bloody cow of a vampire bitch, Amanda thought, jaw clenching a little at the sight of Amara's obvious distress. "There's a lot of different types of magic," she said, not knowing the girl well enough to do the reassuring pat thing. "And not all of them are dark. But I have a bit of an idea of what it's like, having the darker side in your life.." She paused, biting her lip. In for a penny, and it might help her to know she wasn't alone, especially given the school's general reluctance to even mention anything Selene-related. "I sort of grew up with someone a bit like these followers. He tried to use demon magic to bind me to him permanently when I was eleven. Lucky for me, someone got me out."
Before Amara could stop herself, she admited quietly, "I was going to be sacrificed before I manifested, because they wanted to bring her back, and they needed virgin blood to do it. I was one of the girls chosen for the ritual. There was a lava pit. It triggered my mutation. A lot of people got hurt." She stopped, then, unable to continue. "Ororo was the one who convinced me to come here. I want to try to do things properly, too." And she smiled a small, but genuine smile. "Still wish I could have saved everyone."
Amanda nodded. "It's hard, but sometimes you can't save everyone. All you can do is your best, and you're in the best place to learn how to do that." This time she did reach out and touch Amara's arm briefly. "And there's a lot of people out there, working to stop what happened to you from happening to anyone else." She paused again, trying to think of a subtle way to put this. Bloody top secret plans - it made it that much harder to reassure Amara Selene's works were being taken down and the vampire bitch herself wasn't a threat any more. "Like last year. Some... people I know, they worked together to take down a woman called Selene. And they succeeded."
Amara appreciated the touch; she had gone too long without friends. Most parents advised their daughters to avoid Amara, as she was smart and inquisitive and independent, and they didn't want their children to follow in her path. "That's good, that there are people out there trying to stop people like them. If only it didn't feel like the bad ones outnumbered the good. And I know I can't save everyone. But it always seems like the bad ones win in the end, no matter what is done." Something tickled in the back of her mind, a memory of a name, a face. It came and went like a flash, but it was enough. "Selene....why does that sound familiar?"
"I know it seems that way, but sometimes the good guys get a break." Amanda's mind was racing as she realised Amara didn't know the 'dark goddess' had a name. Bugger it, it wasn't like Amara was going to go out and shout it from the rooftops. Hopefully. "Look, there's some stuff I'm not telling you. I want to, but it's important that you don't make this general knowledge, yeah? It could get people hurt if it gets out."
Amara sensed Amanda's deadly seriousness and promised with equal seriousness, "I swear that whatever you tell me, I won't tell another soul. But if it has anything to do with what happened in Nova Roma, please, I want to know. I have so many holes, and if you could give me some answers, I beg you to tell me." It was like looking at an unfinished puzzle. She only needed a few more pieces, and she was beginning have her own suspicions about Selene.
They'd reached the fringes of Central Park by now. Spotting an empty bench, Amanda steered Amara towards it. "Let's sit for this. Could take a while," she said with another wry grin. Once they were settled, she stopped to collect her thoughts before going on. "These people I mentioned, the ones that stopped Selene last year... well, they're still working to stop bad things like what happened to you. Actually, that's how Ororo knew to be there: one of these people found out about what was going on and called for help." She paused again. "This cult you mentioned... they didn't worship a goddess. They worshipped... well, she's not exactly human, but she's definitely not a goddess. She's an energy vampire and witch by the name of Selene."
Amara folded in on herself like a broken deck chair left out in a hurricane. "Oh." She hugged her knees as the puzzle pieces fell into place, leaving a horrible, yet complete, picture. "That explains what happened to my mother. She was taken a few years ago. We never saw her again. People, neighbors, said that she probably wandered off into the forest and disappeared. But she wouldn't have done that to us, my papa and me." The ground immediately around the bench began trembling. "And they were going to do the same to me." Tresses of her hair caught fire, the anguish slowly turning to anger. "I wish I killed them when I had the chance."
"I'm really sorry to hear about your mum. They won't be hurting anyone else, I can guarantee that," Amanda said, glancing around to make sure no-one was taking alarm at Amara's slip. So far so good, but she didn't want to push it, not with the magic still unpredictable. "And we'll get the people who kept the whole thing going even after Selene got taken care of. But right now I need you to calm down, all right? Take some deep breaths - I've already had my close encounter of the firey kind this month and I'd hate to get repetitive." There was no panic in her voice, even at the memory of the warehouse fire, just calm and a little humour to ease the tension a little. When in doubt, make a joke, was Amanda's way of dealing with things.
Amara gasped and drew the energy into herself, pushing it through her and back into the earth. She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax. Setting the park bench on fire was not the best plan. After a long moment, the ground quieted and her hair went back to its normal blond. "Oh god, I'm sorry," she said hurriedly upon opening her eyes. "To say I'm having control issues is an understatement." She took another few deep breaths and laughed ruefully. "I don't think this
was what you expected today. Grisly conversation and a near disaster. And all because of that..." Amara didn't cuss usually, but... "fucking bitch!" was the only thing she could call Selene, really.
"Hey, it's all right, you didn't set anything on fire and we don't have a lynch mob happening. You're doing better than a lot of people might in the same conditions." Amanda patted Amara's arm soothingly. "'S a hell of a lot to dump on you, I know, but I figured it'd help, knowing the truth. And that bitch is where she can't do any damage to anyone, ever again. Saw it with my own eyes."
"I feel as though I have been, oh what is the phrase they use on television, 'run over by a mack truck.' And if I do not keep myself together and learn control, I could hurt other people, so I'm determined to stay calm. But what happened to her? Did she die in a long, drawn-out, horrible, painful way?" Amara's eyes glinted briefly at the thought of Selene getting her due.
"Yes and no." Amanda's face was no less hard. "She's not dead, but where she is, she probably wishes she was." Looking out across the park, she continued. "She's magically bound in a concrete box at the bottom of the harbour. I saw her get dumped there myself."
In some ways, that was more fitting, Amara thought. Alive and bound someplace she could never escape from. "Is the harbor close to here? I mean, is it close enough to here that I could go there one day? I would like to see where she is." And if she spat on her watery crypt, well, who could blame her?
"I can take you there," Amanda replied - she'd been sort of expecting it, from Amara's reaction. She needed closure, much as Amanda had that cold night in November last year. "Well, not the exact spot, since that needs a boat, but I can get you to the docks." Looking over at Amara, she smiled a little. "After some lunch, maybe? 'S all gotten a bit serious and you could probably use a break first. I know I could."
"Lunch would be good. I think my stomach would mutiny elsewise." Amara's stomach rumbled on cue, causing an embarrassed giggle. She sobered after a moment and added, "And then the docks." And then maybe she could put all of this behind her.
"Sounds like we've got another Bottomless Pit on our hands," Amanda joked. "Come on, then. There's a cafe near here a friend of mine showed me. Best sandwiches in New York, but that's mostly because they're the size of a dinner plate and after a day of magic tutoring, I used to need it, believe me..." Continuing the stream of non-consequential chatter, Amanda steered Amara across the green expanse of Central Park.
***
The docks were largely not for public access, but there was a small pier off to the side that locals would fish off and it was here Amanda took Amara, after some entertaining cursing at traffic on her part and the Quest for Parking - the waterfront was a short drive but a long walk. The Statue of Liberty was visible from where they were, staring sightlessly into the distance with her torch held aloft, reminding Amanda of the stories Marie told of her experience of Magneto. It seemed Buckethead was making a habit of taking Xavier's students and she wondered for a moment if those kids would ever get closure themselves.
"The spot we dumped her's a lot further out in the bay," Amanda said, pointing out the direction to the other girl. "Out of the way of the usual water traffic. But like I said, you really need a boat to get out there and even then I don't think I could find the exact place. It had been a hell of a night and I wasn't really with it by the end."
"I don't think the exact spot is necessary for me. Just knowing she's out there is enough." Amara then spit into the water and began hurling insults. "' You are as much use to me as a hole in the head,
an affliction with which you must be familiar, never having had a brain.'" She racked her brain for another British television show quotation. "' Your brain's so minute, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open, there wouldn't be enough to cover a small water biscuit.'"
Despite the seriouness of the situation, Amanda guffawed. Loudly. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth and gave Amara an apologetic look. "Sorry. Where on earth did you find out about Blackadder?"
Amara grinned and looked vaguely abashed. "I can't sleep at night, so I watch television. I've developed a great fondness for BBC comedies." She turned toward the water and shouted, "'We live in an age where illness and deformity are commonplace and yet you are without a doubt the most repulsive individual I have ever met.'"
"I think I may just have to keep you," Amanda grinned, before turning to the water and shouting: "Your face is so ugly I bet the cornflakes try to crawl out of the bowl!"
Through her laughter, Amara yelled, "'If you bother me again I shall visit you in the small hours of the night and put a bat up your nightdress.'"
"You'd lose a battle of wits with a stuffed iguana! " Amanda was having trouble yelling through the giggles, but she kept at it. "You're so unpopular you had to organise your own surprise birthday parties!"
"'I've seen more intelligent creatures than you swimming at the bottom of ponds! I've seen better organised creatures than you running 'round farm yards with their heads cut off!'" Amara was nearly doubled over, tears trickling down her cheeks. "'Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, toffy-nosed, malodorous pervert!'"
"You dress like a mad parrot and talk like a plate of beans negotiating their way out of a cow's digestive system!" Amanda continued, almost breathless from laughter. "Your mother was a hamster..."
"And your father smelled of elderberries!" Amara clutched at her sides, lungs aching for oxygen. Dimly, she realized this was what she needed. She needed to laugh, or else she would never find closure. She chuckled and hiccuped for a little while longer before calming down. Turning to the girl next to her, Amara said, "Thank you. For bringing me here. I think I'll be okay now."
"I think I should be thanking you, but... you're welcome." Amanda's sides hurt and her cheeks ached from laughing, but it was a good ache. And she'd needed it too. So much about last year had been bloody awful, and she had a tendency to focus too much on her own failings in the whole affair and forget who the real villain was. "And hey, if it means someone else who understands my jokes, I'm bloody glad I did bring you down." Reaching over, she gave Amara's shoulder a brief, reassuring squeeze. "Time to be moving on, I think. I need to get back to the meeting spot before afternoon traffic hits. But if you like, we might have time to squeeze in a little shopping." Her grin turned wicked. "I know the best store for cheap British comedy..."
