Imperium: Volume 2

"Till I get it right! Now just stay back there!" I yelled back to him.

It's been a week since Sarah and Kipsky took off, and even though Rowen told me to keep a level head, I couldn't stay on the side lines anymore. Raeve and I were currently deep in the woods far from Lingham so I could train. I wanted more then anything to be able to project my energy surge in one direction, as opposed to all around me.

I knew it was do-able, as Raeve told me I blasted Rowen off of me when he resuscitated me. But how I did it, I don't know. I've been slowly building up small amounts of energy and releasing it in the mean time, ensuring I don't over do it. As long as I could start off slow, I would eventually be able to maximise the blast ratio.

"June!" He yelled again.

I quickly snapped my head around, as if to tell him to shut up. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, and got taken aback by the sudden gesture.

I turned back to the small open space infront of me. I looked around to all the small singed circles I had created previously, quickly counting them.

18....eighteen attempts thus far, and that doesn't count the ones from the last couple days. Was I in over my head?

I shook my head and arms before getting into position. I eyed down the small boulder that lay ahead of me about 40 feet. I took a deep breath and conjured a field around me.

Com'on June....you got this....com'on.

The words replaying in my head. I needed emotion to help me through this. I wanted redemption, I felt vengeance, anger and all sorts of emotions that I tried to use but all failed. All but one.

I closed my eyes and breathed in calmly building up the surge in my belly. I tried to focus the energy into one spot of my person and that was through the entire front my my body.

I felt it currently coursing through my veins and could see the array of colours through the lids of my eyes.

Just breathe.......breathe.....

I concentrated a good amount of energy right where I wanted it, however it wasn't ready yet. It didn't feel.....right. Breathe....just hold it a little longer. Raeve's voice popped into my head sounding like a whisper. I kept calm and held it there. Then I opened my eyes and released it.

The release itself through me back, as if a grenade set off just in front of me, and I was propelled into a tree that stood 10 feet behind me. I could hear Raeve yelling my name before I hit the ground.

Thankfully my shield was up which took the full force of the hit, but the 10 foot drop caught me off gaurd. I landed on both feet but immediately tucked and rolled onto my back. Suddenly Raeve popped in front of me in a panic.

"June! are you ok? Babe!?"

Releasing that definitely knocked the wind out of me, but I was able to sit up and take in a deep breathe.

"Say something June!" Raeve was still panicking.

"Ow!" Was all I said.

He almost fell to his knees and ended up lying on the ground, trying to calm himself.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Your going to be the death of me Juniper." He got up on his elbow and looked at me. "What the hell were you thinking. I thought you said you were just going to do a small one!" He said angrily.

"That was a small one!" I huffed back.

"June....babe...no it wasn't!" He insisted.

"Yes it wa-" I looked towards the boulder, and what lay in front of me stopped me in my tracks.

Raeve's P.O.V

This was day 3 of June trying to hone a new surge. It was harder then hell to stop her, and somehow I ended up being her watch dog while she attempted the impossible.

But knowing June, she wasn't going to stop till she had it down. I just begged that she start it small, since she just died on the table over 3 weeks ago.

We had already been here a few hours, and the longer she worked herself the more failed attempts seemed to pile up. I had every hope in the world she would do it, but I couldn't imagine how she felt.

Useless? Fragile? Weak? Many of them jumped up to mind. I just didn't want to see her lose herself. She had already done so much and almost lost her life because of it.

"June......How long are you going to keep doing this?" I yelled from a distance.

"Till I get it right!" Her voice was faint but I heard it clearly.

I watched as she stood there. She was canvassing the failed attempts that lined up the ground beneath her, and it looked like she was doubting herself. She was torturing herself.

"June!" I yelled again.

She quickly turned her head to me and I got the look. The one where she was going to kick my ass if I didn't shut up, without even having to say it. I stood and watched from where she told me to. It was a safe enough distance for what she had been attempting she thought.

I watched as she shook her arms. Probably shaking out the frustration. I kept my hands in my pocket, to keep me grounded. The last thing she would want me to do was jump in during a surge.

I watched as she got into position. I could only see the back of her as she was facing away, but this time she looked different. She looked.....calmer....and balanced almost. Every other time, her frustration made an appearance, and it always ended in disappointment. This time however felt different.

She remained calm as I watched the energy envelop her in all sorts of colours. She was focused. That much I knew.

You got this babe......even my breathing was starting to quicken. Then I saw what Kipksy had mentioned before. Her body gave off a bright light, but it only covered the front of her.

The wind started picking up and, the leaves on the trees surrounding me were starting to dance. There was even a sound to it. It was then I realised it wasn't wind, but her energy. Twigs and debris started getting tossed around, but none made contact with me. This time I could visibly see the force field around me. It was like being held under a massive soap bubble. It was a small dome that protected me from the elements, and the colours swirling within in.

Fuck! this is to much!

"June!!!!" I yelled, but she couldn't hear me. I tried to teleport, but there was something stopping me from being able to. "June!"

I called her name one last time before I heard the surge fully release. The sound it made, was deafening. Sort of like a really high pitch that quickly dropped to a low pitch. I watched in horror as her body was thrown into the trees behind her.

Suddenly the debris dropped around me and I was able to teleport over to her.

"June!" I saw her lying on her back. "Are you okay? Babe?"

She didn't say anything at first and I was in full panic mode. "June..say something!!"

"Ow!" She said.

Ow!? She fucking said Ow! I practically crumbled to the ground, where I laid on my back and tried to calm my breathing.

"What's wrong?" She asked calmly.

"Your going to be the death of me Juniper." I propped myself up to look up at her. "What the hell were you thinking? I thought you said you were just going to do a small one!" I was angry but mainly greatful. She seemed to look okay.

"That was a small one!" She snapped back.

"June....babe...no it wasn't!" I pressed.

"Yes it wa-"

I watched as she cut herself off. She was now in full view of the damage she laid infront of her. She was silent at first, but the next words that came out of her mouth were the exact ones I said when I first saw it.

"Holy fuck."

I stood up along side her and we both took in the sites.

There had to have been a straight beam line shot about 50 feet wide that stretched as far as atleast a kilometer. I glanced to her then back to the desolation she left on the forest floor. It literally looked like something crash landed and left a massive long ditch in the earth. I looked back to her....waiting for her to say something.

"Not bad eh?" She concluded.

She's been hanging out with me way to much. I was dumbfounded. I just shook my head and started walking back to base. She quickly ran up beside me and was able to keep up with my pace, which was a very good sign that her body wasn't straining.

"Raeve." She could tell I was upset, but it was for all the wrong reasons. She terrified me in the sense, that I thought I almost lost her again.

She grabbed my arm, which essentially pulled my hand out of my pocket. She took my hand in hers, and pulled me to stop me in my tracks.

"Please say something. I......Im sorry." She said with concern.

She was so strong, but her worry was quickly turning to heartache. I grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and pulled her into me placing my lips to hers.

"I wasn't mad. I....I was scared." I told her.

"I'm sorry." She said one more time.

I wasn't sure if she understood where I came from, but I could feel the dog tags under my shirt, and it was like the moment was telling me it was time to tell her.

I led her to an open spot on the forest floor and had her sit down with me. She wasn't sure what was happening but she followed, and without asking she knew to just listen.

I pulled out the dog tags and took them in my hand and rubbed the two pieces of metal together. I felt her hand reach out for mine.

"These are my mom's." I didn't dare look at her. I knew I would break if I had. "When the movement was first forming, my mother, Bowdie and I first met Harry when he intercepted the Dom Squad. At the time they were only specifically targeting Imperiums, and my mom had already been branded at that point." She moved closer to me.

I coughed to fight the knot that was forming in my throat.

"Harry saved us, before they put a bullet in her chest. Denver seems like a pretty stupid name, but it was a long time joke between her and her dad. Denny is what everyone knew her by." I finally looked up to her. Her eyes were starting to water, and that only made it much more harder to fight mine off.

"She was a teleporter like myself, but she never used it in front of The Dominion. Back then kids weren't a threat, but having an Imperium parent, sent you to your death. That's why she never fought back. She was scared for me and Bowdies safety, and at the time, I hadn't been able to practise using it. Bowdie didn't have any abilities, and I couldn't just blip anywhere without her. That was until Harry showed up. Him and his team wiped out the lot saving us in the end."

"It was a debt June. My mother felt indebted to him and the cause because he stopped that bullet from ending her life." I could feel anger seep into my words and the tears started flowing down my cheeks.

"He used her. He used her till she no longer felt like a mother to us. She was just another one of his dogs that did whatever he needed. She felt obligated since he saved us." My nose was running and I took my sleeve to wipe the tears and mucus off my face.

"She put me in training to be another one of his lap dogs. She said it was the least we could do, and I knew my future was set for me the night she forced me into it.

Bowdie, craved for our mothers love, and that's where I filled in. If anything good came out of our situation, it only brought us closer together. One night Harry and the rest of the fighters went to raid a Dominion Camp. However our intel, forgot to mention they had numerous MG42's. We didn't even pass the fenceline." I laughed at the fact, but I was trying hard to hide the pain my heart felt. "She fucking died protecting that asshole."

"She..she might aswell have gotten shot the day he rescued us, knowing that she would be suffering under the same fate." I broke down, and I hid my face in my hands as I let out a cry that had been built up for so many years. I barely even noticed when June pulled me into her and she just let me cry into her.

When I let it all out of me I continued while still in her arms.

"He was in the line of fire, and she teleported in front of him and took the barrage of bullets to the back. He called a retreat, and I had to watch as she layed there reaching out to him. He fucking left her there to die. Bowdie and I were left without a mother, an...and he was left without another soldier. We only stayed because Bowdie was safe. Safe out of the reach of The Dominion. As long as I did his bidding, she wasn't touched. That's the only reason...I'm so sorry....I should have never brought you here."

She pushed me off her chest and had my face cupped in her hands.

"Look at me Raeve. Nothing...and I mean nothing would have stopped me from finding you. Whether you found me first or not, it was inevitable. There's only one thing I regret in this world....and that's not having found you sooner." She said before planting her lips on mine.

"I love you." She said as she brought me back into her arms.

I love you.