After a week of being teased by the other girls at boot camp, Mari finally caved in and told them what had happened and how she got stuck on the roof. It did not end the playful teasing like she thought it would, but instead made it weirder.

They were packing up their things for their week off and talking amongst each other in their barracks when Mari told them about how she met Eric. She mistakenly used the words "amazing body" and all the girls wanted to know more about that night.

"So is he an asshole like I heard he is," Tiffany asked.

"No, no. Kind of bad with pranks...but no!"

"Did you kiss," Seraphina asked.

"NO!"

"Are you gonna?"

"NO! Why would we?"

"I was right guys," Seraphina announced. "She's of a different persuasion."

Some of the girls laughed and Tiffany scowled.

"You keep making those jokes and I'm starting to think that about you," Tiffany accused her.

"Hey, hey, just jokes. Harmless," Seraphina replied.

Tiffany had become more protective of Mari as the days went on and Mari was grateful yet a little embarrassed by her new guardian. But Tiffany had shown her many things and explained to her what she could never understand, like what a bank account is and where to buy a holo-phone. With her new military stipend, she was soaring over the three moons of what she could do when she returned to see her family.

"He said he wanted to go somewhere with me," Mari said. "To the park, I think?"

All the girls, except Mari, silently communicated to each other with only their eyes what they thought was happening. Mari had no idea what was happening, her friends misconstrued the bad retelling of an innocent story, and now there was a new mission.

To get Mari a boyfriend.

"Mari. When are you meeting him," Tiffany asked.

"He said he'd be in Parking Lot A around now if I wanted to go," she said. "Why?"

"Are you wearing that when you go?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Mari was wearing her good tennis shoes, the old black skirt she kept from her previous school, and a boot camp shirt that said "Be The Change!", in bold red letters and a horrible yellow background.

"It's okay," Seraphina said cautiously. "Could be better. What size are you?"

Mari shrugged.

"Oh this bad," Tiffany said. "We need to call for help. Like we learned in training."

Seraphina cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled as loud as she could.

"A comrade is in trouble, A COMRADE IS IN TROUBLE!"

Everyone stood in place, instinctually waiting for the next command, their training already instilled into their bones.

"Mari has a DATE and no good CLOTHES!"

Panic ensued in the barracks.

Everyone was quickly trying to find a good outfit before Mari would be late for her "date". Mari tried telling them many times that it was not a date but no one listened. The insanity started to turn into order when Tiffany took charge and started delegating orders.

"Sera! Get a measuring tape from the infirmary! Josie! Find a bra that fits."

Mari was scared and confused as two people pushed her onto the bed, two others took her shoes off, and one of them tried to find her shoe size. They inspected her left shoe as if she were looking for the secrets of life inside of it and shouted in victory when she found it.

"Eight!"

The word eight was repeated over and over to each of the girls in the room like a warped game of telephone and Mari was given a new pair of stylish sandals once the right person got the message.

Seraphina returned soon with the measuring tape and soon they replaced her clothes with something presentable. They kept her skirt, gave her a halter top with a light jacket, fixed her short hair and put a little flower pin it.

"The gods would be proud of the art we have created today ladies," Seraphina proclaimed when they were finished. "Well done."

They all started giving Mari advice about a date that was not happening and Mari, for the first time in a month, was happy to not be at the barracks anymore.

----------------------------------------

Mari arrived in Parking Lot A with a few gifts from her comrades inside her backpack. She stood in front of the fountain at the front of the parking lot and was a bit sad. She assumed Eric had already left. She was about to make her way back to the transit center when Eric made his way toward her.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. "Was tuning my uh....wrist..."

"Really," she asked.

"No," he snorted. "I just couldn't find something."

Eric stuck out his left thumb and pinkie finger, spoke out a sequence of numbers, and bent his pinkie twice. It glowed green and a ringing noise came from his wrist. Mari watched in amazement as Eric made a phone call from his hand. He told the other person on the end of the line that they were ready to be picked up, said some pleasantries, and then hung up by clicking his tongue twice.

"What else can you do," Mari asked.

"I can see into the future with my left eye."

"Very funny".

Eric made up fake talents he could do while sprinkling in the real things he could to tease Mari, making her even more confused and questioning if she should really go to the park with him. She was to meet her parents at the transit station later on that day and was anxious to see them more than what was about to happen with him.

They took the shuttle to the same transit center where their "kidnapping" occurred, and then rode the metro from there to the center of Fadeno in five minutes. When they arrived at the park, Mari was surprised at how liberal this part of Fadeno was compared to the military base.

Weavers were all over the entirety of Viridis Park.

A group of teenage Weavers were playing volleyball in the park. All of them were using wind to blow the volleyball up into the air, a special rule set of course. No one could use their hands. A baby sat next in its mothers lap and giggled as her mother made giant bubbles in her mouth, of different shapes and animals, entertaining her baby while her husband bought dessert from a nearby food stall.

"They're allowed to do this," Mari asked.

"Being a Weaver isn't illegal. Yet. Until then, have fun. Meet people like you."

"I said I am not-"

"You can deny what others can see. Denying it doesn't make it go away," Eric replied.

"I just don't want more problems. I signed up because I wanted my problems to go away."

"I can't promise to make your problems go away, but I can try to make you forget them while we're here."

Mari knew she made the right choice coming to the park with him that afternoon.

He introduced her to the regulars at the park, like the daily joggers, the old couples, and the street performers. All of them Weavers, using one or many of the paths in public, shocking Mari at how normal it was. Back home it was never anything that was seen or even discussed.

"How are they able to use their powers in the city? Doesn't electricity block it," Mari asked.

"This park is like a small forest. It's big enough for one to connect with nature here," he replied. "Try it."

"How do I do I do that?"

"Remember the other night? With the Three Sisters? Find your space, like how I found mine," he instructed her.

"Are you a Weaver," Mari asked.

"Does it matter?"

"YES!"

He laughed and took her to a wooden bench. He instructed her to close her eyes and concentrate.

"Think of something that makes you feel alone but not lonely. Something that makes you feel small yet important. And if that doesn't work, think of something that hurts," he said.

Mari did not know what could make her feel alone but never lonely, or small yet important. They both sounded paradoxical, impossible to occur at the same time. But she never wanted to only think of painful memories to make herself learn how to use her abilities. She thought about how Eric asked the Three Sister for guidance and she looked up into the sky and saw the star, Optima, shining as bright as it could with half of it concealed by the almost complete Dyson Sphere.

Seeing the star in a shadow of its former glory made her sad.

Little sparks came out of her finger tips and she yelped in surprise. Eric scooted back a little and instinctively covered his left arm. Mari did not know how to turn it off once she turned it on, so little sparks of various colors flew out of her fingers, onto the cobblestone path, and skittered everywhere. An old woman a few benches over them looked over to see what the commotion was. She splayed out her palm, and the small yellow flower next to her bench grew in size and strength. She gave it a little tug, uprooted it from the ground, bent it at the parts she preferred, and turned it into a cane.

She hobbled over and froze in her tracks when she saw Eric and Mari on the bench. Mari was giggling as she was fine tuning the sparks at will, learning how to change the colors, and Eric passing his right hand through them, marveling at the lack of pain. The old woman adjusted her eye sight by tapping the side of her temples and adjusting her optical settings, but what she was seeing was not changing.

"You're here," said the old woman. "You've returned!"

Mari blinked at the old woman rapidly and tried to remember where she had met her.

"I've returned from where? Have we met before," Mari asked.

"No, but my grandfather's grandfather has met you," the old woman said. "You have returned to us."

Eric laughed uncomfortably and tried to think of many ways on how to exit the awkward conversation but didn't want to appear rude to his elders. The old woman did not care about formalities and put her hand on Mari's shoulder. Her eyes turned grey as she saw into the aether and tried to show Mari what she saw. Mari was scared, and Eric tried to protect her by taking her hand, but mistakenly, Eric used his left hand to grab Mari.

His entire body seized and sparks flew as Eric felt pain on the left side of his body for the first time in a decade. He fell to the ground, his heart skipped a beat, and started again. A little ding ding sound came from his wrist and the words SAFE MODE ON, lit up in red on his palm. He groggily sat up, trying to stop an incident but Mari had already lit the fuse. As the panic inside of her increased, so did the intensity of the sparks coming out of her hands.

The old woman's cane lit on fire, and she dropped it to the ground. A concerned jogger came over and poured his water bottle all over it, putting the fire out. Mari shook her hands as if something dirty was all over it, and finally the electric current in her body had come to an end.

"Are you okay," the jogger asked them.

"I am estatic," the old woman replied. "This is The Stormeaver."

She pointed at Mari and Mari pointed at herself, while the jogger just shrugged.

Eric did not make the mistake of touching her with his left hand this time. He grabbed her by the wrist and said that it was time to go.

"You cannot deny what others have seen," the old woman shouted.

Eric flinched at the woman repeating his words from earlier and Mari's eyes widened in fear.

"That is the Stormweaver! He is there inside of her! I can see it!"

"She's been watching too many weird videos online," Eric laughed uncomfortably. "You know old people. Believe whatever they see online. Let's go."

Mari and Eric made a break for it, deeper into the park. Feeling scared and alone, they didn't know what to do next.

"Eric that lady scared me, what do we do?"

"Nothing. Nothing. It's fine. We're fine."

The words SAFE MODE ON were still lit up on his palm.

"We are not fine!"

"Okay , okay I got an idea."

Eric did what any teenager did not want to do when they were in trouble.

He called his parents.