Energy of the Universe (Raf)

[Delta]

The great hall was dark. Not a single source of light, except for one. The only thing that could be discerned from the crackling light source was that it's generator was sitting on the floor, his light brown face illuminated by pure blue-white energy. His eyes were closed and he sat cross-legged, as if meditating. His palms were pointed up and the bolt made a nearly perfect arch in front of him between his two index fingers. His breathing was even and calm, and his control over the beam of energy flawless.

Raf was sitting in the simulator with the simplest program imaginable on... the moment he lost control of the bolt, the sim would sense it, the lights would come on, and the session would be over. At the moment, he had already been here an hour, which was about half way through his usual session. He allowed his mind to wander and think while at the same time still maintain control over the arching bolt.

Today, he was thinking about the upcoming tournament. It had obviously been on his mind the entire year, but now that time was drawing to a close, he admitted to himself that there wasn't much time left. He had already resigned himself to the results long ago. Either himself or Antonio was going into that arena, and there was a strong possibility that they wouldn't come out. The odds were not in their favor. But Rafael had made a conscious decision. He would not prevent Antonio from going, but he was going to give him the chance he deserved to get out.

The only thing was that if he succeeded too well, then it would be Raf in there instead of his brother. He had known and accepted the risks, believing in his naive youth that he would be able to succeed. But he knew now that there was no guarantee. It wasn't something that he could dwell on, but the operator was afraid. Afraid for his family, for his team, for his Blake... the man who he only recently admitted his love to. No, he wasn't afraid for himself. He was even afraid of his competitors. How many of them would be trained fighters? How many would even be able to master the basics of self defense? How many would die in the first 24 hours? He was afraid for everyone except for himself.

The darkness enveloped him. The lightning was starting to fade from his sight. That didn't mean it wasn't there, and in fact, it had grown even more brilliant, but Raf could not, or would not see it. What he saw instead was a great flame, a tongue of fire, stronger and brighter than his bold. More intense than the sun. On rare occasions, he would have these moments of pure introspection, but it hadn't been for a while. And from within the wild flame, a heavy, thick voice sounded in the demigod's mind. ~Rafael... You have the power within you to accomplish what you need to do...~ Zeus called out to him from afar and slowly, evenly Raf replied. "It's stronger. I can't control it. Not yet." ~What are you doing then?~ Zeus sounded somewhat... impatient. "Learning to control it," Raf replied evenly, not allowing even the king of the Gods to disturb his focus. ~You must learn it before the tournament. It's your only chance of making it out alive. The power I gave you can take down...~ "I'm not killing anyone," Raf cut off sternly, his eyes opening wide to show a brilliant white glow, something he once only achieved when he was particularly emotional, but it was something he could now control, like the blue-white bolt, nearly flawlessly. Zeus let out a little growl of annoyance in the back of his throat. ~You hold within you the power of the universe and you choose not to use it?~ "Correction. I choose not to use it to attack another. No one deserves that fate." ~We'll see, Rafael. The arena... it changes people. And... as you say... you can't control it...~

Suddenly, Raf's vision was blocked out and a green-white fog filled the air. There, in front of him, was Oscar, and Rosie, and Marcos... his youngest siblings. They were nothing more than fog until a loud scream was heard. Someone charged through the three of them, sickle extended outward to slice across their bellies. "Nooooooooooooo!" Raf screamed, the pain in his heart ripping at him watching his siblings fall to their knees, dying. He tried to reach them, but he couldn't. Everything moved slowly, as though time stood still. It happened in an instant. He felt the charge casting through him, arcing from his eyes down to his palms. He fell backwards writhing in pain as the energy turned green. He tried to control it, but it was too powerful. It took hold of him and within seconds, an enormous explosion rocked the house so violently and so charged that the lights throughout the house flickered for several seconds.

When the simulator finally rebooted and the lights were on, Rafael lay in the center of the floor on the bare concrete, breathing heavily, his heart racing. And anyone who might have been able to see what he saw would know that Rafael Aguliara had a weak spot.