Juka could see the sorrow deep within Erick's soul and wished desperately that he could do something about it, make his smile reach his eyes. Almost everything that Juka did he did to make people happy, whether it was getting on stage and performing in front of a crowd or it was floating above the city streets and dealing with pickpockets and those other bad humans that tried to hurt innocents. Sure he loved the attention, he would never deny that, but what he loved even more was the knowledge that he had actually made some small difference in someone's life.

"You said earlier your powers have something to do with bubbles, correct?"

Juka grinned, tearing his mind away from his own melancholic thoughts. Sometimes he needed to realize that he couldn't' help everyone as much as he might want to. Still, the least he could do was to show Erick his bubbles and maybe even bring him on a float through the park? That always seemed to make people happy, especially his darling little Jewelly, but one step at a time.

"I am indeed the amazing bubble master," Juka agreed. With the merest thought he upped his bubble, which had an uncanny resemblance to a soap bubble (a fact which Juka was only just beginning to reluctantly accept as truth). In typical dramatic fashion he decided to put on a little bit of a show, floating into the air a few feet above Erick's head and doing a series of spins and flips. He then floated back to the ground and bowed, waving to a couple of people standing and gaping at him in open mouthed awe. He blew the pair a kiss and they quickly averted their gaze though he could still see them whispering frantically and giggling, complete with the occasional finger point in their direction. One advantage to having a power with a keen resemblance to soap bubbles was that most people didn't see it as particularly threatening. Soap bubbles combined with boys in dresses just didn't scream danger, he supposed.

Juka unbubbled, landing back on the ground. "See, we both have our gifts."

>>>"I am indeed the amazing bubble master,"

Erick looked in awe and a bit of jealousy at Juka's display of ability and acrobatic skills. His gift was interesting to say the least, and looked like a lot of fun. He watched as Juka waved, and turned around to see a few people looking and pointing. Though Erick did not see anything akin to rage or anger on their faces or in their body language, he still did not like the attention. He was quite happy when Juka finally landed.

>>>"See, we both have our gifts."

Erick scoffed at this, his hand returning to the obsidian mirror that dangled at his neck rubbing his thumb around the cool stone for comfort. "If you say so" he said sullenly. "Let me ask you something Juka. Have you never thought that your ability wasn't a mutation. Maybe it comes from another source, like a...Divine source perhaps?" Erick asked seriously.

Who was to say Juka wasn't blessed by some god too, like Aphrodite or Poseidon. Or maybe it is just that Aphrodite and Poseidon and every other god from any pantheon were just the exalted mutants of their day and age? The devil's advocate side of Erick thought.

The reaction that Erick had offered Juka seemed to be a combination of being impressed and being discomorted by the attention that the display attracted which was, all in all, about what he had expected. Not everyone was as comfortable around the stares as others as Juka was and he was beginning to have more respect for that fact.

"Let me ask you something Juka. Have you never thought that your ability wasn't a mutation. Maybe it comes from another source, like a...Divine source perhaps?"

Juka gave the question serious thought, thinking back to his encounter with Van not so long ago at the church. He also thought of of the crazy mutant preacher Aras who seemed quite devout in his faith, to say the least. "I don't know," he finally answered. It was the only truth to such a question that he could offer. "I don't really know much about gods or divine powers or anything like that. All I know is that I was given a gift and many other people were given gifts too. I can't say that it didn't come from a divine source any more than I can say that the universe didn't come from a divine source. I simply don't know."

Juka lapsed into a moment of silence. Was it important to have some kind of faith? Was that something that he was missing in his life? He had met others whose faith seemed to strengthen and maintain them but it wasn't something he had ever understood himself. His reality was routed in the material and the present day not in some otherworldy being. It was something to consider though and, given how much free time someone who didnt' sleep had, he figured maybe he should look into it sometime.

"Is that what you believe?" he asked. There was nothing malicous or judgemental in the question, only pure curiosity.

>>>"Is that what you believe?"

Erick looked down, though his eyes were not looking at the ground, they had a far away look as if he were looking past the grass, into his own past.

"I used to believe that. I think I still do, I am not sure of anything anymore." Erick began, already the tears forming. "I used to think I was blessed by Apollo and the old gods. I am...was...Wiccan. I thought my gift came from a source not of this world, but of a divine nature. Now...now I am a mutant with this gift...this gods forsaken gift!" he said in anger, ripping the chain that held the black charm from his neck in a moment of loosed anger.

Her held the charm up, looking deeply into the mirror as if searching for some answer to all life's problems. "But the gods aren't real are they? Or if they are, they are not the benevolent parents and guardians we think they are. They are cruel tricksters and liars." he said as he placed the obsidian mirror in his pocket and wiped the tears from his eyes. "And I suppose with these gifts we are suppose to what...save the planet or some such nonsense eh? Protect the innocents as they say on Charmed hmm?" he laughed a nasty and harsh sound as he looked with disdain at the ever retreating sun.

"And what is it you plan to do with your...gift Juka? Swim to the bottom of the ocean and meet the mer-folk? Or entertain the masses with your tricks as they secretly hate you and everything you are?" Erick asked, coming off much more harsh then he intended, but his fear and anger were finally beginning to spill over.

"I used to believe that. I think I still do, I am not sure of anything anymore. I used to think I was blessed by Apollo and the old gods. I am...was...Wiccan. I thought my gift came from a source not of this world, but of a divine nature. Now...now I am a mutant with this gift...this gods forsaken gift!"

Juka reached over to put a comforting hand on the other man's shoulder. Some people didn't much like physical contact and usually he was inclined to follow their lead but in this case Erick really seemed to need a friendly hand. "Hey, who's to say that your gift isn't from Apollo or any of the other old gods? Gods are divine for a reason, they're so far above and beyond us. Who's to say that it isn't Apollo himself who gave you the mutant gene so that you could do his will? Doesn't everyone say that the gods work in mysterious ways?" He tried his best to be supportive and encouraging. Juka had never given the gods much thought, monotheistic, new age or otherwise, but it seemed just as plausable as not that they could work though science to achieve their own ends if they did exist.

"But the gods aren't real are they? Or if they are, they are not the benevolent parents and guardians we think they are. They are cruel tricksters and liars. And I suppose with these gifts we are suppose to what...save the planet or some such nonsense eh? Protect the innocents as they say on Charmed hmm?"

"I don't know if they're real or not," Juka answered. He looked away, indecisive. "I've never seen them but who am I to make a judgement like that? And what makes you say they are cruel like that? Maybe they just want to test you. Good things never come easily, there's always a price for them, always. The trick is to work past that price in order to achieve their full potential and your own potential. Life isn't meant to be easy." There was a time when Juka had avoided such serious thoughts but in recent months that had been steadily changing; ever since he had discovered that he actually had a purpose in life.

"And what is it you plan to do with your...gift Juka? Swim to the bottom of the ocean and meet the mer-folk? Or entertain the masses with your tricks as they secretly hate you and everything you are?"

Juka heard the bitterness in Erick's voice but didn't take it seriously because he knew it wasn't personal and wasn't even really directed at him. "Don't underestimate the benefit of entertaining the masses, Erick." His voice was very serious. "Sometimes a few hours of entertainment can serve to get them through their day and give them a bright spot in an otherwise dreary and dark life. But to answer your question, no that's not all I intend to do with my gift. I want to make a real difference in the world, protect those that need protecting and help to change the minds of humans towards mutants. There's still a lot of hatred towards our kind, but there are a lot of tolerant people to. There are people on both sides that want mutants and humans to coexist peacefully, just like there are those on both sides who perpetuate the hatred that exists. We can only do our best, right?"

Erick stood and listened to everything Juka had to say. It seemed to him, that Juka was the type of person to try and heal the world and right every wrong. And in Erick's mind, those people either got a quick dose of reality, or didnt live very long.

What a sweet child, but a fool anyway to want to help a world where half of the people hate him for something he cannot help. Erick thought

"But what if the world does not want your help my dear sir? What if, as you go out of your way, protecting those who need protecting as you put it, the ones you think need your help, are the ones who would just as soon turn on you?" Erick asked seriously.

He went and stood under a nearby tree, pulling leaves from the lower branches and watching them float to the ground. "I dont see myself using my gift to the best of my ability, if my best means trying to save people who would rather I didnt exist. I am better than that, and better than them. You are too Juka, but I fear your black and white vision of the world will burn you out eventually." Erick said still seemingly fascinated by the falling leaves.

"But what if the world does not want your help my dear sir? What if, as you go out of your way, protecting those who need protecting as you put it, the ones you think need your help, are the ones who would just as soon turn on you?"

Juka remained serious. How did one explain an epiphany to someone else? He only barely understood his motivation himself so it wasn't easy to clarify it into words for the understanding of another. "Maybe I can just protect those that appreciate it then. I want to help people but only if they actually want my help. If they say 'no you're a mutant and I don't want a filthy mutie helping me' then fine, I'll leave them to fend for themselves. There are enough people out there that will actually appreciate what I do that I don't need to worry about those that don't."

Juka wondered why people were so jaded. Erick couldn't be much older than Juka himself was; what had happened to him to cause him to be so bitter? His own life hadn't exactly been ideal, despite the fact that he had never wanted for anything material, and yet he still managed to maintain his hope in the world. Maybe it was because he was so sheltered in his youth, but even now that he was beginning to see the darkness in the world it only reinforced his motivation to try and offer a little bit of light in that darkness. He couldn't' just give up because things were difficult or because some people hated him for what he was; it was all the more reason to try even harder.

"I dont see myself using my gift to the best of my ability, if my best means trying to save people who would rather I didnt exist. I am better than that, and better than them. You are too Juka, but I fear your black and white vision of the world will burn you out eventually."

"Maybe," Juka agree, uncomfortably. Uncomfortable because it struck a little to close to home. Between Abyss and Van and a handful of other recent events in his life that didn't seem as unrealistic as he would like it to be. "I don't have anyone to guide my actions. I never believed in a higher powers so I don't have a god to fall back on to tell me what to do. I can only do what I think is right and so can you. If you don't want to help people that's fine and I won't think any less of you. Do what you think is right, whatever that might be, but just try to be happy. If you spend the rest of your life being depressed about the fact that you're a mutant then what's the point of even being alive? Find a passion, any passion, and live your life." The passion in his own voice was evident.