Holy shit.
It didn’t change anything, this confirmation, but I felt like it should. I felt like my entire world had flipped upside down, and I only now learned how to walk on the ceiling. This place could be my home. I could stay here. I could stay with Sin, Jenni, and everyone else.
Then the roller coaster of excitement came crashing to an end when Jenn's face popped into my mind. The reality was that I still needed to go home because gaining magic didn’t change who I was, and I was not someone who abandoned her sister.
“You seem distressed.”
My head shot up at the sound of Jo’s voice, and I searched the Sylvarium. Pushing a few vines aside, she walked over and sat down across from me, a small cloud of dust settling onto her light blue leggings as she took a cross-legged position.
“I did not see you here at first and nearly left, but your mind is so tumultuous I could sense you from across the room. What is wrong, Rain?”
I opened my mouth to tell her about Jenni being in the planter behind me then hesitated. Sin had been very clear that I shouldn’t tell anyone about my new ability. But Jo was… she was Jo. She would keep it quiet if I asked.
“You can keep a secret, right?”I projected into her mind.
She perked up a little at that. “Of course, Rain. What has you so troubled?”
“I’m just a little sad because I was thinking about my decision to go home when this is all over.”
“Have you changed your mind about staying?”she asked with uncontrolled excitement.
The hope in her eyes was a knife in my heart.“I’m sorry,”I said, looking away.“I can’t leave my sister. It’s not an option.But…”I tried to find the words to tell her what I was feeling, but thankfully she saved me.
“You feel bad about leaving now. Is that it?”When I nodded, she asked,“What has you questioning your decision?”
I gulped. It was now or never. I either trusted Jo or I didn’t.
Pulling back my sleeve, I showed her the intricate ramentum that now covered my arm.
The squeal inside my head was deafening, and I wiggled a finger in my ear absently despite knowing the damage had been purely mental.
Jo grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to her. She gasped as she ran her fingers over my shiny new tattoos.
“Red,”she said softly into my head.“You have red in them.”
“Yeah, I wanted to ask… is that normal? I haven’t seen any colored ramentum before, but it's only a few accents so maybe I missed it on others?”
I kicked myself for not asking Sin earlier, but we’d had larger issues to discuss at the time.
“It is beautiful, but no. I have never seen anyone with color before.”Her round eyes swam with adoration.“I knew you were special, Rain.”
I shifted uncomfortably at the adoration. Sin had also said my ability was unique, but the problem was that different didn’t always mean special. Sometimes it just meant you were a weirdo, and that was more likely when it came to me.
“So what power did you get first? Did it happen last night? Oh dear, I hope you were not by yourself when it hit. Manifesting is such a beautiful process that it would be a shame to go through it alone.”
My cheeks blushed at the reminder of what Sin and I had been doing when my power hit.“Um, not exactly. Sin was there.”
Her brow furrowed.“You were with Cennux Dreisin? Interesting.”
Something about the way she said 'interesting' made me think she had another word she would have rather used.
“Yeah, he just sort of happened to be around by coincidence.”It wasn’t a lie, so I hoped she wouldn’t sense any deceit. I still felt the need to hold back the new development between Sin and I. If she didn’t like that he was there at the time, then she really wouldn’t like knowing what triggered it.
“So what is your new power?”Jo asked.“Most Rivellans get healing first but not always.”
“I—”
I started to tell her about my fire magic but stopped. I kept snagging on the way she had said 'interesting.' It was a single word. So innocuous and completely understandable. And yet…
