Dream

"I think I'm ready to leave, Doc," Liam told her.

"You aren't healed yet," Dr. Reyes replied. "Also, you don't have control over your mutant ability. If people from the outside world accidentally found out about your powers, they would ostracize you—or worse," Dr. Reyes said, her voice calm and soft.

"You can stay here a while longer until you can control your powers. Once you do, you'll be moved to my superiors' facility to regain an identity." She smiled warmly, though her intent was very clear to Liam.

Liam nodded. "Sure, but Doctor, did you find a golden ring when I got here? It's a ring for over two fingers."

Dr. Reyes nodded. "Was it something important to you?" she asked, searching for an emotional gap to exploit.

Liam nodded again.

"I'll go to my office to retrieve it later," she said. She made some more small talk with Liam before leaving the room. "Also, I'll send Sam here to bring you to a new room," she added before walking out.

'She's fishing for information,' Liam mused. 'I'll stay here for a few more days anyway. Once I've recovered more, I'll ask Illyana to open a portal and see if I can change Incursio with the energy.'

Liam turned his head as he heard a knock on the door. In walked Sam, sporting a bruised face and a black eye.

"What happened to you?" Liam asked.

"Nothing. Just punishment for myself. Don't mind it," Sam replied, sitting down with a piece of charcoal in his hand.

"What's the charcoal for?" Liam asked.

"It's something my dad gave me, right before he passed," Sam said, his voice heavy.

Liam nodded softly, listening along. 'I remember this. He killed almost the entire crew his father worked with—alongside his father—because the mines gave him claustrophobia that awakened his powers. And these nightmares, that other girl, Dani without control over her powers is causing them.'

"You know, I'd like to say I know how you feel, but I really don't. My mother died giving birth, and my father abandoned me even before that. My grandfather raised me all on his own after that," Liam said.

"Your grandfather, is he still alive?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, he's living his best life on a farm far away from busy cities," Liam said, smiling softly as he remembered the last time he left his grandfather.

After some more small talk, Sam stood up. "I heard from the doc that you're healed enough to walk again," he said. "Come on, I'll show you the room the doc has for you."

Liam nodded and stood up, following behind Sam as he opened the door. They walked through corridors until they reached a hallway lined with what looked like holding cells.

"They didn't really get the memo about this being a hospital, did they?" Liam asked.

"You'll get used to it. These aren't even the actual holding cells here," Sam replied with a smile. "Those ones are in a corridor right beside this one, so far the only person who has used them is Illy.''

"Yeah, I bet she could use some of that," Liam joked, having some fun with Sam.

Sam stopped in front of another door at the end of the hallway. "This is yours from now on. Lights need to be out at 11 p.m., and no more walking around after that," he said.

"Thanks. Anything else I need to know?" Liam asked.

"The doctor wanted me to tell you that training starts in half an hour. We always have training at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.," Sam answered.

"Alright. Can you pick me up later? I have no idea where this classroom is," Liam requested.

"Sure thing," Sam replied before heading off.

Liam stepped into his new room, immediately looking around the cramped and almost prehistoric space with disgust. 'Even the rooms inside the Sanctum are better and larger than this,' he thought. His eyes fell onto a camera hidden in the corner of the room. 'Another camera? Really? Does she not understand the concept of privacy?'

He sat down and began meditating as time passed. Half an hour went by quickly, and Sam knocked on the door to pick him up. Standing beside him was another boy around Liam's age, Roberto.

Liam greeted both of them, though Roberto seemed wary at first. Once it became clear Liam's scars were not visible, Roberto's behaviour improved slightly.

They made their way to the class while making some small talk. Upon arriving, they found the three other girls already there.

"As everyone knows by now, this is our new patient, Liam Hawthorne. Please join us, Liam," Dr. Reyes said, gesturing to an empty spot on the ground.

Liam nodded to them and sat down while Sam and Roberto took their usual places.

"Today's lesson will be about control," Dr. Reyes began. "We will start with meditation. Since it's your first time, Liam, everyone will follow my instructions again."

Liam nodded, keeping up with his act, while Illyana and Roberto rolled their eyes and didn't bother participating.

"Everyone, close your eyes. Cross your legs and take a deep breath in through your nose," Dr. Reyes instructed. "Now slowly release through your mouth."

"Keep repeating this. Try to control yourself as much as possible," she continued.

Liam sighed internally but followed along.

"Control," Dr. Reyes kept repeating, over and over again, as if saying it would magically make it happen. 'If she could just be quiet, people might actually be able to focus,' Liam thought bitterly while he tried to think about some magic related theories.

The lesson passed quickly, and everyone went their separate ways. Liam returned to his room, he still remembered the teenage drama that would happen later from the movie and couldn't be bothered participating in it. 

That night, Liam went to sleep at his usual time. Earlier, while studying the books he had retrieved from the other dimension, he stumbled upon something interesting. 'There's a clear drawing on this page of what looks like the Tyrant I remember from the anime,' he thought.

The illustration showed a massive blue beast with four eyes, four legs, fur covering its back, sharp teeth, and hooks coming from the sides of its face. 'I've deciphered a few words, but it's nowhere near enough to understand anything yet.' He thought as he closed the book and went to sleep.

That night, an unknown energy entered Liam's body. The white energy within him instinctively fought against it while Liam himself fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Liam found himself running over icy landscapes on all fours. His body was enormous, trampling trees as he chased a group of deers. Suddenly, he stopped, sensing danger ahead. A colossal figure appeared in the distance, around it were countless tiny figures that also started appearing from all the other sides, surrounding him completely.

Without hesitation, he attacked, releasing flame breaths from his mouth. He incinerated thousands of people, while adapting to poisons and acids they catapulted on him. The battle went on for hours as he slaughtered countless enemy's, but he started feeling the exhaustion of his energy the longer the battle went on.

Suddenly, a sharp pain went through his chest.

Liam shot up in bed, grasping for his heart.

"What was that dream?" he muttered, still slightly dazed. 'I had no control over my body at all, and the countless humans...'

He recalled the massacre he had done while using the body of the massive beast: the blue body, the fire breath, the adapting to poisons. 'That wasn't just a dream. It must have been a memory from Incursio,' Liam realized.

'Did that girl influence me because she still has no control over her powers?' He thought. 'Maybe staying here is more useful than I originally thought,' he concluded, surprised since he hadn't thought she would be able to influence him, or rather influence Incursio like that.