"She pushed herself too hard" said Eddie as he watched Astrea asleep on the sofa.
"How old is she" his wife asked. "Surely she can't be more than 17 or 18 years old."
It was mid-afternoon at this point, Astrea had only arrived back at the house early in the morning. The blood was drained from her face; sweat dripped down her forehead.
Suddenly the heard a knock on the door. Eddie's wife walked to open the door. She cautiously opened the door and peaked at the person outside.
It was a boy. Eddie's wife shook looking at him. Nothing about his appearance stood out to her. He had unkempt jet-black hair and wore a plain black t-shirt with grey cargo trousers. A single silver chain hung around his neck and wore black and white shoes.
There were two things that shook Eddie's wife to her core. The first was his eyes. They shone with a golden light, almost blinding her. The second was the pressure she felt exuding from him.
"Who are you" Eddie's wife said her voice shaking.
"My name's Nero," he said nervously, "can I come in?"
Eddie's wife couldn't speak, she stood frozen in place.
"I forgot to ask, what's your name again," said Nero.
Eddie's wife still did not say a word.
"Excuse me…" said Nero while pushing past her to enter the house.
Nero upon entering the house found the person he was looking for. Astrea asleep on the couch.
"Found you" he said, a look void of emotion graced his face.
Eddie tried to stand to confront Nero. As much as tried he couldn't stand, as Nero walked closer Eddie felt his heart drop. He felt his desire, his will, forcefully shattered from within. Looking at Nero now he understood what was happening, Eddie could see the mirage behind Nero, and it terrified him.
A flawless disk of white-gold light hung behind Nero, too perfect to be fire. Long, thin rays spilled outward from its edge, each one ending in a delicate human hand. The light did not burn or glare; it pressed, steady and inescapable, as if reality itself were being held in place. Where the rays touched, shadows thinned, doubt faded, and everything simply continued. An inevitable force of nature, bound only by the physical body of Nero.
At this point Nero stood next to Astrea, who had not woken up yet. He shook her, demanding that she woke up. Eventually she awoke, rubbing her eyes.
"Who the hell are you" Astrea demanded. Then she looked around realising that both Eddie and his wife had seemingly been frozen in time. "What the hell did you do to them!"
Nero looked around noticing for the first time that Eddie and his wife had been left immobilised.
"I'm sorry, I…" Nero's voice trailed off. Suddenly Eddie and his wife were able to move again. Eddie could see that the mirage behind Nero had dissipated like something out of a bad dream.
"You still haven't answered my questions?" Astrea said.
"My name is Nero and I want to help you." Nero said.
Help me? What the hell is he talking about...wait I could use this. He seems really strong. What was that power just now. Thought Astrea.
"Sure, you can help me," said Astrea "In fact you're going to help us get rid of a nasty problem."
"Sure. Let's deal with it."
Astrea almost wanted to burst out laughing. With Nero's abilities it should be easy to take Sodom out and find out where Holt was. Astrea knew that the chance she had at defeating Sodom, even with Eddie's help, would be very low. She knew she could not become one of the touched in three days. This presented the perfected opportunity. In her desperation, she took it.
"First off, tell me all about your power,"
Nero looking nervous, started to explain anyway.
"I'm an avatar," he started.
Those three words told Eddie everything he needed to know. A look of terror mixed with wonder was plastered on his face.
"I'm one of the touched, specifically by the god Aten. Right now, all I can do is suppress the will of others which stops them from moving. They become husks of themselves."
Oh, I see, this guy might be the key to removing Sodom. Thought Astrea
"Nero, listen close. I have a plan to take down a pretty shitty guy. I'll give you the run-down".
Astrea started to explain her new plan. The plan was pretty simple now that Nero was on the team. When Sodom came to collect the money, he was owed, Eddie and Nero would fight back from inside the house drawing all the attention. Astrea would hide outside across the street until she saw the fight starting to take place. Then Astrea would attack from behind with her knife hoping to take them down.
"My power," Nero started "I can't control it completely, it's unreliable. Also, people don't always walk away afterwards."
"Doesn't matter, we need you all the same." said Astrea
Then Astrea left the house with Eddie and Nero to start the second part of her training.
"Why did Astrea trust him so easily, something has to be up here…" thought Eddie