All-Powerfull and Brazen - Chapter 3

Despite their efforts to enjoy their trip, the family's plans are not panning out as well as they had hoped.

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Rob reclined on a deck chair, standing on the cruise ship they were enjoying their vacation on, feeling the warmth of the salty breeze on his face. He glanced over at his wife and daughter, who stood by the railing, and took in the panoramic view of the vast blue sea glittering under the scorching sun.

"Here," Therion shoved a beer bottle toward Rob's face. He eagerly took it and took a long gulp, feeling the ice-cold liquid soothe his dry throat. The deck chair next to him creaked as Therion settled into it with a bottle of Coke in hand.

Rob looked around, his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. "Where is the rest?" he asked, scratching his head.

Therion nonchalantly gestured with his thumb towards the ground where two drinks sat: a glass filled with sparkling Crystal Clear for Mel and a bottle of Fanta for Joy.

"Bring it to them, please, will ya?" Rob said.

Therion shrugged, taking a sip of his Coke.

"Hey!" Rob snapped, trying to grab Therion's attention.

Therion sighed, frustration seeping through his lips. "Why don't you do it?"

Rob shifted in his seat and sat up straight, his expression becoming serious. "Listen, son. You either bring those drinks to your mother and sister or hand over that Coke to me."

"Sheesh, Dad, you too? I might as well drown myself." Therion reluctantly got up from his seat, grabbed the drinks, and went to where his sister and mother stood. After handing them their drinks, he plopped back onto his deck chair and put on his sunglasses.

"Was it so bad?" Rob asked, referring to his spat with Joy the day before over a tennis game.

Therion sipped on his Coke.

"You can always confide in me, son. You know that, right?"

"She has powers," Therion said.

Rob's gaze fell upon his wife, who stood at the taffrail with their daughter in her arms, gazing out over the ocean. "Yes, she has, but you knew that already."

"I wasn't talking about mom," Therion said.

Rob's eyes turned towards Joy, their 13-year-old daughter. The wind whipped her white dress and chestnut hair around as she stood in her mother's arms.

"Your sister?"

Therion nodded, his face contorting with disgust as he gazed at his sister.

"How are you so sure?"

"During that last serving."

Rob raised an eyebrow. "You mean the one where you angrily smashed your racket to smithereens against the wall when Joy won?"

"She cheated!" Therion's anger flared. "I could see it in her eyes. She used her abilities to manipulate the ball's path."

"Sorry to say this, champ," Rob said with a sympathetic smile, "but it seems to me that there was nothing wrong with that ball. You just missed it. It happens to the best of us."

Therion scowl sank deeper as he glanced at his sister. "I'm sure it appeared that way to you from your perspective, Dad. But believe me, I noticed the ball slightly veering off course right as my racket was about to make contact, causing me to miss by a hair's breadth."

Rob sighed, leaning back in his chair, his eyes in thought as he glanced at his wife and daughter who were laughing with each other near the taffrail. "No. Joy doesn't have any powers." he finally spoke, breaking the silence. "I'm certain of it. Its even doubtful that she will ever get them."

            "Then it was, mom," Therion said.

Rob turned to his son with a skeptical expression. "Unlikely. Your mother would never use her powers to make one of her kids triumph over the other."

"What makes you so certain?" Therion asked, casting an askance look at his dad.

"For Christ's sake, Therion! Just because your mother can do virtually anything doesn't mean she cheats at every possible opportunity!"

Therion scoffed. "She does it all the time. How do you think we arrived on time to catch this ship?"

Rob's mind wandered back to a few days earlier when they had driven through traffic and people like phantoms, as if they weren't there, just to make it to their ship on time.

"She does it even now. Look."

            Rob followed his son's glance as the latter nodded toward his wife and daughter. He saw Joy giggling while holding something in her hand. Upon closer examination, he realized it was a tiny fishing ship. Where did she even get that from?

“I swear, If there's even the slightest sign that Joy begins to gain powers, I will kill her." Therion spoke through gritted teeth. "I refuse to live under the tyranny of a sister who possesses god-like abilities."

            "Hey!" Rob jabbed a finger at his son. "Don't say these things!"

            Rob stood up and walked over to his wife and daughter.

"Everything alright here, ladies?" Rob wrapped an arm around Mel's waist, which she answered with a smile and a hug. He glanced at the tiny fishing ship resting upon Joy's hand. "What is that you have there, sweetheart?"

Joy examined the miniature vessel with emerald eyes, turning it over in her palm. "It's some kind of fishing boat," she said, her disappointment evident. From far away, I thought it was a grand sailboat. I guess I was hoping for something more."

"From far away?" Rob asked, shifting his eyes to Mel, as he knew what that sentence implied.

Mel smiled back at him. "I didn't shrink the crew if that's what you're thinking."

"But you shrunk the ship and teleported it in your daughter's hand?"

"Mmm." Mel nodded, looking proudly as her daughter was admiring her new toy.

"So where are the crew members then if they are not at minuscule size on that ship? I truly hope you didn't abandon them in the middle of the ocean with nothing but a lifebuoy to survive on."

Mel tilted her head towards the swimming pool, drawing Rob's attention. He noticed a group of four men resembling the rugged workers you would find on a fishing boat, lounging by the pool with cold beers. "And look! They even brought their families along. Isn't that just lovely?" Mel gestured towards a few women and a group of children playing and splashing around in the pool.

Rob looked at Mel, shaking his head in disapproval. "Let me guess, you've altered their memories so they don't even know they were working just minutes ago and think they are enjoying a wonderful vacation?"

"Brilliant deduction!" Mel exclaimed, applauding her husband's sharp insight.

"And what are you going to do to this ship?"

With a loud crunch, the answer became evident.

Rob's eyes widened as Joy crushed the tiny ship in her hand, its wooden hull no match for the strength of her slender fingers. With a gleeful expression, Joy watched as debris from the destroyed ship rained down from her petite fist on her flip-flops. However, when she saw the shocked and disapproving looks from her parents, her smile quickly faded into an expression of guilt. "I'm sorry; I could not help myself," Joy said with a sheepish grin.

"Can we have a quick chat?" Rob asked, pulling his wife aside.

"What? Yeah, sure thing. Be right back, honey." Mel said to her daughter and walked along with her husband.

"Are you going to shrink another ship for me, Mom?" Joy called after her.

Mel glanced at her husband guiltyly before responding, "I think one ship per day is enough. Don't you agree, honey?"

Joy shook her head. "I wish I could have a whole fleet!"

Mel shook her head with a smile. "What a crazy girl, isn't she?" she said to Rob from a safe distance.

Rob didn't return her smile and gazed earnestly at his wife. "Not as crazy as some others around here."

"Alright, alright." Mel raised her hands in surrender. "I know I shouldn't have done it. Shrinking the ship and tampering with the crew's mind."

"Then why did you?" Rob asked.

"Why do you think?" Mel stood with her arms crossed, giving a quick look to her son, who was sulking on his chair deck. "Joy and I just wanted to have some fun for once. All you and Therion ever do is mope around."

"The boy had a tough day yesterday!" Rob defended his son.

"Oh please, because he lost a tennis match?" Mel scoffed, amusement dripping from her voice.

"No, because cheating was involved in that tennis match."

Mel snorted. "That's what the boy told you? And you bought it? It was a fair game. We were both there, and you saw it. Joy won fairly."

"Therion claimed that the final serve from Joy, which determined the match's outcome, was suspicious."

Mel raised an eyebrow. "Suspicious, how?"

"The ball was veering off course right as Therion's racket was about to make contact."

"Why are you giving me that look, Rob? Do you really think I had something to do with this?" Mel said.

"Well, aren't you?"

"Of course not! Why would you even dare to ask? I would never give one of my children an advantage over the other!"

Rob sighed. "That's what I told Therion also."

"So, that either means that Therion is lying or…" Both Mel and Rob turned to look at Joy, who was gazing out at the vast expanse of sea, likely searching for another ship her mother could shrink.

"That girl has no powers, Rob! Trust me, I would know," Mel said.

"Another thing I also said to Therion, but he doesn't believe me. He's convinced that it is Joy's doing. He even said that he would kill her if he found out she had powers, calling it unbearable and all."

Mel gasped in disbelief. 'He said what?"

"Calm down." Rob waved his wife's worry away. "He doesn't mean it. The boy is just confused is all."

"So you keep saying," Mel said dryly.

"Mom! I see another ship, a big one!" Joy called out, pointing at the horizon.