FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

An hour and a half long drive to the outskirts of the city and Sasuga found herself in the rural side of Burgstein, where mountain forests and nature overcame urban buildings and streets. She still had no idea what Seif had in mind taking them here, but stayed patient and sat silently until Seif parked his car by a river bank in the middle of the forest.

"This looks like a good spot. Let's get off here," Seif said and climbed off the SUV.

"Okay..." Sasuga followed suit timidly, still a bit confused. He wasn't taking her to a picnic date, was he? She then saw him take off the dark blue suit he was wearing and putting it neatly in the backseats, undoing his sleeves button and the pulling them up, revealing his strapping strong forearms. He didn't stop at that and unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt, as if trying to loosen up his clothes a bit.

"Sorry for keeping you in the dark so far. I just figured that the sooner you control your power, the better. I'll help you achieve that," Seif said.

"H-How?"

"Well, that mostly depends on you. But I'll help you understand it. Control it. Own it. Like this." The lion held up his right hand and a red, fiery flame surrounded it. Sasuga flinched when she saw how his hand emitted fire, her eyes widened in amazement, as he put it out as instantly as he lit it up when he closed his fist.

"Wow... Seif... you can control fire?" Sasuga muttered in astonishment.

"Yes. Just like how Panja has ice power, I have fire. And you have electrical power, generated by the Heart of Abaddon inside of you."

"But I... I can't do something like that..."

"Yes you can. You just have to feel it inside of you and accept it. Everything else will come out naturally."

"Accept it?"

"Yes. If you keep denying its existence, you'll never gain control of it and it'll instead control you. It'll put you and whoever around you in danger. Do you want that?" Seif bluntly said to her and Sasuga was stunned by that fact.

"No! No, I don't want that at all!" she shook her head, the scene of accidentally electrocuting Katherine flashing through her mind.

"Good. You're an Abaddon's curse bearer now; you can't escape that no matter what you try. You are bestowed by this power, destined to carry it for the rest of your life. No turning back now. But like any kind of power, it's neither good nor bad. It depends on who posses it. You have the key, the key to gain control of it and decide what you want to use it for. To protect, or to harm."

"Protect..." She remembered, back then, when Onyx tried to kill Kyle. She was able to zap him, because she wanted to save Kyle. To protect him.

"Sasuga, search deep, deep inside of your heart. Inside of your soul. Find your inner strength. Don't be afraid of it. Embrace it, then reach out your hand, and grab it," Seif kept instructing her and his words reached her very being. Gradually, Sasuga closed her eyes, searching deeply within herself, within her heart and soul, trying to find it. She was having an out of body experience and felt herself falling down a black hole. A pitch black hole, endless and dark. She was getting scared, but she remembered Seif's words. She wasn't supposed to be afraid. This was her inner being. Her power. She had to claim it as her own. She has to accept it. And right then, she saw a blinking light at the end. It was faint, but it was there. She reached out for it, and it was getting clearer and brighter. Soon, she was close enough, close enough to touch it. She mustered up her courage, and grabbed it with her bare hand.

"Eyaaah!!" Sasuga suddenly screamed out and her whole body shook violently.

"Sasuga!" Seif shouted and rushed over to her, holding her up in his arms before she dropped on her back. "Sasuga! Sasuga, wake up!" he called out for her, shaking her gently, and she was slowly coming to, much to his relief. "Are you... all right?"

She squinted and opened her eyes gradually, with the lion handsome face being the first thing she saw. "Umm... Y-Yeah... I think so..." she uttered wearily as she was fully regaining her conscious, then blushed brightly when she saw how he was holding her closely between his strong arms. Seif noticed her getting flustered and helped her up on her hooves.

"What happened?"

"I'm... not sure. There was a bright light. Then I touched it and... I felt a surge of energy running through every fiber in my body. It was quite a rush, it took me by surprise," Sasuga explained.

"I see..." Seif murmured. "I'm sorry if I pushed you too hard. That was insensitive of me."

"No, Seif. Don't be sorry. You're trying to help me, and I appreciate that," Sasuga replied with a gentle smile, and Seif felt a tad better to see she was indeed fine.

"I can sense that something has changed in you... sorry to ask you this, but can you try something for me?"

"Um, yes, what is it?"

He looked around him and then pointed at a tree a few feet away from them. "I want you to strike that branch with your electrical bolt," he said as he pointed at one of the tree's branches. Sasuga hesitated slightly, not exactly sure how was she supposed to do that. "You can do it. Just reach your hand forward towards the target. Don't over think it. Just want it," Seif calmly instructed. The kirin nodded and focused her sight at the tree branch, reaching her right hand up towards it. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, searching for that powering light inside of her. This time, she found it much faster than before, and the moment she touched it, she opened her eyes and shot a red lightning bolt from the palm of her hand, striking the base branch and breaking it as it fell down with a trail of smoke.

"I... I did it!" Sasuga exclaimed keenly.

"Try it again," Seif told her and she nodded and aimed at another branch. She closed her eyes again and it only took her a second before she opened them again and unleashed another electrical bolt, repeating her success. "Excellent. Now do it without closing your eyes," Seif said and upped the ante a little for the kirin, but she was up for it and this time choose a much higher branch. Without closing her eyes this time, she held her hand up, concentrating at her target, and just by willing it, she saw her hand sparkle, charging it for a lightning shot. When she felt that she charged it enough, she let it go and unleashed it upon the branch, hitting it pretty accurately. She was actually doing it on her own, not being emotional or scared, and it felt normal.

"I did it! I really did it, Seif! I'm controlling it!" Sasuga chirped in joy and threw herself at Seif, hugging him happily.

"Uhm, yeah, that's great. I knew you could do it," the lion murmured coyly, feeling a little bashful by her sudden hug. It took her a few seconds to realize what she was doing, feeling herself blushing hot when she felt her face pressing against his bulging torso. She immediately pulled herself away, shying her eyes.

"Umm... I-It's all thanks to you. I couldn't have done it... without your help, Seif," she shyly but gratefully said to him, holding her own arms warily, still feeling the faint warmth she felt when she hugged him.

"It's... no worries. It's been, urm, my pleasure," Seif was just as awkward, hem and hawing while holding back a tiny blush, scraping his blond leonine beard. "This is just the first step. You still have some learning to do to fully control and understand your power. But it's still good to see that you're off to a good start, Sasuga," he then smiled softly.

"Yes. Thanks," she smiled back at him and couldn't sway her eyes from his charming blue ones. However, their tender moment was abruptly interrupted by a violent booming sound accompanied by a tremor, the ground shaking under their feet.

To be continued...