Power Swap: Empty

[Jez Steele]

Jez sat in the student lounge after having texted Callie. She had no powers. No powers. She couldn't shift, the half, it was more than half, of her that was feline was absent. It was just gone and Jez felt sick. She had actually stumbled while getting out of bed. She never stumbled. This was ridiculous, what had happened to her powers? She had caved and bought a Dr. Pepper and some chocolate, which was her ultimate comfort food and had tried to read while in the student lounge but she still felt sick, empty.

[Calliope Gallo]

She knew something was up because something was happening to her as well. Maybe it was a universal thing? But nothing was wrong with Eric or Niko. So it was just her. After double checking with Niko via skype that he was alright, Callie got into a small conversation with her Yia Yia and... Well...

Err, "Calliope" had gotten the message.

She went to the student lounge as soon as she had the time. She had been avoiding it for obvious reasons. Whatever had happened, she had no idea how to fix it. She had checked in the mirror before walking out, which was when she finally noticed what had happened to her. Was that what she got for speaking to her Yia Yia just before this?

Callie was her Yia Yia. Circa nineteen-freakin'-forty!

That was why it took her so long to get there. And that was why she looked so awkward as she approached Jez. Furthermore, she hadn't realised that Jez would have no idea who she was.

"Is everything alright?" Woah. Who's voice was that? It sounded nothing like Callie. The Greek accent was so thick it was practically painful. Callie looked obviously confused at her own phrasing... She realised very quickly that this was the sound of her grandmother's voice, only younger. How... Weird.

[Jez Steele]

Jez looked up at the strange woman who looked vaguely familiar and started to shake her head but her curiousity got the better of her, "Who are you? Do I know you?"

Her voice was bland and empty as she looked over the girl. She looked familiar, like someone from a distant dream, or that she had met in a past life.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie tilted her head slightly, unsure of what was going on. It was hard for her to already remember how different she looked. She lifted her hand slightly and stared down at them; even her skin tone was darker than usual. It made her frown harshly. "It's me." She said, though she was unaware about how useless that information was.

"Did something happen? You sound dead, or something." She tried again, pointing to herself. "It's Callie." She had said that much, but there was no real proof to that.

[Jez Steele]

Jez continued to stare confusedly at the woman in front of her until she said it was Callie. She kept watching her until she saw it, it resembled her, "Okay, I can see it, kind of."

She sighed heavily and curled up tighter into a little ball, "I don't have my power. That feline part of me with my power, it's gone. I cna't feel it. It's like I'm empty."

[Calliope Gallo]

Calliope was grateful that she resembled her Yia Yia, at least enough to make her story sound right. She couldn't explain what had happened to herself, it just... Happened. She frowned when Jez mentioned that she didn't have her power any more. This really was getting stranger and stranger.

"I can't explain it either, but-" She raised both arms and pointed to herself, "I don't normally do this. I break my bones apart. It's what I do and I never realised that I actually love that. But I can't any more, and after a small talk with my Yia Yia I suddenly look and sound just like her?" Callie paused to take a deep breath. She had been talking so fast that her sentences had run together.

"Something weird is going on, and it sucks." She wasn't really sure what else she could say apart from that.

[Jez Steele]

When Jez heard the woman start rambling and running her sentences together she smiled softly, yep, definitely Callie. However what she said suddenly sunk in and she looked at her with a confused look on her face, "Your power is now what? Doppleganging? How could this happen? I lost my power, you got a completely different one. I'm sure we can't be the only two who had something happen to their powers."

She thought for a moment, "Hmm, I wonder if Kota is okay."

[Calliope Gallo]

"I don't know, I look like someone else. I sound like someone else. It's like I'm Mystique or something." Callie explained. The best way she had thought to explain it was reference the x-men shapeshifter, so she wasn't really sure how solid it was. All she knew was that she wished she could change it somehow. "I sent a few messages out before. There are some other people who are experiencing weird changes too."

She could feel herself changing again. The conversation with her Yia Yia had long passed, and it seemed the physical change was going along with that. Callie raised her hands slightly to look at them, watching the change in her skin tone fade back to normal. She was somehow herself again.

"What? Who's Kota?" She asked, sure she had never heard that name before.

[Jez Steele]

Jez watched curiously as Callie turned into well, Callie. She finally answered her, "Kota is a younger girl I've taken under my wing, Big Brother Big Sister kinda thing I guess."

Jez tried to smile and kind of succeeded, talking to Callie, or even being with her made her feel a little better, still empty but more herself some how, "You know I always thought Mystique was rather sexy."

[Calliope Gallo]

"That's nice of you." Callie replied. She'd never really met anyone she could have that kind of relationship with, though she did have a lot of strange friendships that looked like they bordered beyond normal friendships. People always thought she and Josh were dating.

Calliope smirked inwardly at her statement, "I know right? I was never really into that kind of thing, but you gotta watch those movies and stuff for Mystique. She's hot." She couldn't help but laugh at her own statement, but eventually the sound died down and she took on a slightly more serious look. "Seriously though, are you okay? This whole thing should go away." She hoped, anyway.

[Jez Steele]

Jez smiled softly at her as they talked about the movies, "I must say as much as I like looking at you as you, you'd be downright sexy as Mystique."

Then Callie turned serious and she sighed softly, "I hope so. It feels like the Goddess reached in with her hand and just yanked my feline self right out and didn't give me anything in return."

[Calliope Gallo]

"Halloween fast approaches, y'know? Maybe you're giving me ideas." Callie replied, chuckling at the idea of that kind of costume. She really did love Halloween; dressing up was pretty awesome. It was a shame it was only a once a year thing.

Calliope's serious side was a venture that she didn't take that often. She preferred the light and carefree side of herself more than the former, but sometimes it was necessary. "That must really be screwing with you, huh. Something so ingrained in your system just gone suddenly." She replied, looking down at her arms for the moment. Things really weren't the same without her powers. It was a direct influence on her system too.

"What Goddess are you talking about?" She asked curiously.

[Jez Steele]

Jez nodded her head, "Yeah, it's unsettling. I got out of bed this morning and tripped over my rug, I never trip. Cat like reflexes and all that."

She already had her idea of a costume for Halloween. It was daring and she had been talking to her trainer about it for months. Halloween was her holiday, she would give up every other holiday if she could have Halloween more often. But when Callie asked she looked up at her and shook her head, "Sorry, I'm Wiccan. Instead of just God, we worship nature, the Goddess and the God."

[Calliope Gallo]

"Dancing's a lot less fun without the flexibility." Callie frowned. Her stupid shapeshifting power wasn't going to help her in that department.

"Ahh," She made the sound as a form of reply, before pointing to herself. "See? Greek Orthodox. Don't ask me a lot about it, since I don't know much. But my Yia Yia and Mama would kill me if they thought I was anything less." She wasn't that into religion really, but it was important to her family so she kind of had to go with it.

[Jez Steele]

Jez smiled softly, "My da is with the Church of Scotland, my oldest brother is with my da, my middle brother has pretty much made his own religion and my youngest brother is going with Buddhisim. Da can't exactly flip out when he has two boys already changing their religions."

She would call Cam later to see if he could help her feel better, Angus might have some idea as to what was going on, and if not he could find it. He was as good as a private ninja spy.