Despite how deeply she was feeling her own shortcomings, Eva knew they'd come a long way from a few short weeks ago. She and her adoptive brothers had discovered their true roles within each others' lives, and had made strides in embracing their parts.
Jimmy's blood sacrifice during their ritual... it had been directly linked to his spirit's nature... carnality, the hunter, the warrior, animalistic. The bird of prey. His tattoo might have just been a long-ago hint of their fates. The injured Harpy eagle he'd nursed back to health after finding him wounded in the woods now lived in Troy's greenhouse because after trying to set it free, it kept coming back to Jimmy. It was the official rodent patrol of the property, now. The bond between the bird and Jimmy had tripled since the Natives' bonding ritual. Zap's shamanistic abilities had been shared between the three of them and their individual talents had been touched by the otherworldly and the spiritual.
Troy's mutation had lent to their proceedings in obvious ways, binding them to one another and to the earth, and that's what he represented within their trio; the earth, growth, creation, life - the balance to Jimmy's essence of brutality. His passion for flora and gentler animals - even his tattoos themselves, were giveaways, had they known to be on the lookout for them.
And Eva? She provided the link to their father - the biological successor to his shamanism and progressive spirit. They both had made sacrifices in their lives for the betterment of humanity; to help others... Jon's had been more dire, even into the realm of the physical. He'd given from his body to avenge and protect. He'd mended his mistakes. Now Zap needed to make a real sacrifice of herself. The choice was simple but no less difficult to accept. The alternatives weren't possible. In order to achieve her potential in the arena of magic, it was apparent that she had to let go of the scientific. She was stunted; self-proclaimed open mind unable to let the powers that be have their way with her. She needed to see to believe, so to speak. Or rather, feel to believe.
On the night before the newest ritual was to take place, she wandered the hallways of Xavier's, her adolescent home, wondering how much of her ability would remain. Her memories. Her knowledge. Technopathy, cyberpathy... they weren't spiritual by nature. They were cerebral and scientific and distracting. Machines alone were not the answer to their problems. Cosmic entities and galactic, pre-creation forces were responsible for what had happened to the universe, so if her mutant abilities had to be vanquished for her to play even a small part in righting the natural order, so be it. Alone on the main staircase, she snorted a laugh at a passing thought. What if she had to re-learn how to use her cellphone? Or a computer? It didn't matter. And that was the point... Eva was so focused on the physical and her work and technological structure of her life that she hadn't been able to grasp the simplest spellwork or arcane tasks.
Questions still wracked her brain: Would Faolan be affected? Would the loss be worth the gain? There was no guarantee that the ritual would have the truly desired outcome. Would she (and others) be even more at risk with the dark forces that stalked her father, should she become more powerful? That was one of Thor's concerns. Would Jimmy or Troy be harmed? Their connections were strong, empathic, powerful. Could the spell be reversed? If they succeeded, would her father be without his mystical abilities upon his return? If so, would he be glad for it? Zap sat. Then she sighed. She bowed her head.
Troy - creation; the earth.
Jimmy - destruction; animal nature.
Eva - power; the cosmos.
The forces that had been attempted to be explained by science since the first intelligent beings came to exist. But you couldn't explain them. They simply were. And that's what Zap had to do; just be. Dawn was ticking closer, and she was rapidly making peace with her past and her future both at once. Her son was safely tucked in bed and she'd held him longer than usual. Plans for the ritual were in place. Those most helpful to the process were in agreement to take part.