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Not many people knew this, but ‘The Huntsman’ was more than just a pretty face. Under the mask, both figurative and literal, he was intelligent, compassionate, and fucking amazing at mediating between a group of hysterical, and apparently starving teenage girls.
Together you, Abe, Cindy, Pei, Wanda and Nature Girl all sat in a circle, enjoying your food and contemplating who should bring up the elephant in the park.
Okay…Nature Girl wasn’t eating. She was the only one in the group who was content to sit there and “photosynthesize”–-or whatever the hell she did for sustenance. Which, considering how fast the sky had darkened, wouldn’t be nearly enough to fill her up.
Or maybe she actually was hungry. You couldn’t tell with the dirty look she was giving you, as if you were the <span class="mu-i">only one</span> enjoying a bite of fried, crispy chicken on a toasted roll.
Mercifully, Abe was the one to break the awkward silence.
<span class="mu-b">“Does…anyone wanna talk about what happened while we were away?”</span>
Pei, Cindy and Nature Girl all remained silent. Wanda, despite being the natural chatterbox that she was, seemed reluctant to speak up.
<span class="mu-r">“Well…Cindy and Pei were doing these exercises to ‘cultivate chi’ and unclog their meridians, or whatever,”</span> she began. <span class="mu-r">“And Pei started getting mad because Cindy couldn’t get the hang of it right away.”</span>
The girl cast an accusatory look at the petite Asian girl. Pei was almost entirely unphased by everyone’s scrutiny.
<span class="mu-r">“It isn’t a matter of ineptitude that prevents Cindy from cultivating her chi.”</span> Pei explained, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. <span class="mu-r">“Her spirit is strong, but I sense great turmoil within her. Her mind is holding her back.”</span>
Pei tapped a finger to her temple meaningfully.
<span class="mu-r">“What, like a mental block?”</span> you asked, leaning forward a bit.
Pei shook her head.
<span class="mu-r">“I’m no expert at reading the flow of energies. A mind healer might be required for her to truly start healing.”</span>
Cindy’s head whipped around so that she could stare at Pei.
<span class="mu-s">“A ‘mind healer’? Seriously?”</span> she asked, her tone being one of incredulity. <span class="mu-s">“So what if I can’t cultivate chi. It’s not the end of the world.”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“Maybe you really should see someone, Cindy. What if you’ve got some sort of alien brain worm taking over your mind?”</span> Wanda proposed with a straight face, tracing a circle beside her head with her index finger.
Cindy rolled her eyes.
<span class="mu-s">“You’re both overreacting.”</span> she claimed.
<span class="mu-b">“She might have a point, Cindy.”</span> Abe added. <span class="mu-b">“You’ve been through a lot lately. You lost your parents, and you’ve been getting hurt pretty often these days.”</span>
Wanda frowned at him, before turning to address Cindy with a confused look on her face.
<span class="mu-r">“What does he mean ‘lately’? I thought you lost your parents a long time ago.”</span>
Cindy shifted uncomfortably.
<span class="mu-s">“I never said that it was ‘a long time ago’...”</span> she muttered.
(Cont.)
