“Oh my gods, it’s all better!” Kallie said, touching the new skin.
“It’s like a phoenix song,” Charlie said in amazement. “Oberi’s Spirit form fits perfectly.”
“This is wonderful news,” Takahashi said as he stood. “I say we go around the room and see how far we can extend these abilities of yours. Experimentation is paramount.”
Charlie was giddy as he rose from his seat. “I can’t believe it! If you can heal yourself… pidge, you might be able to walk again!”
I didn’t know how I felt about that. I was thrilled at the idea of being able to get out of this chair, but at the same time, I didn’t know if it was truly possible. I’d been able to heal other people from terrible things, but I wasn’t sure if this was something I could fix.
It wasn’t like I didn’t know if Icould.It was more like… I was too afraid to believe it was possible, because the disappointment I’d experience if it wasn’t would be worse than being unable to walk again.
Charlie, mind your own magic, Oberi said calmly.Ava needs to concentrate on hers.
Charlie paused, before he nodded. Marcus led him to the other side of the room, where they began discussing methods they could attempt to draw out special abilities.
“He’s excited. Don’t damper his enthusiasm,” I told Oberi.
Pressuring you at a time like this is far from helpful,Oberi noted.I am here to guide you.
I busied myself with singing songs the rest of the hour, attempting to heal myself with music. I found the magic worked best when I didn’t try to force it, and when I sang songs that were consistent with my mood, rather than forcing me to be in one state or another.
By the end of the lesson, I’d managed to ease the pain in my back. But I was far from being able to get out of this chair.
“Why can’t I heal myself?” I asked Oberi. “My mother told me stories of the Elementai Civil War. She healed herself from terrible things— beams getting rammed through her, nearly bleeding to death. If our theory is true and my ability surpasses even what she could do, I should be able to repair my spine easily.”
Indeed. It is a puzzle,Oberi agreed.As I told you before, you must find the source of your healing. A conduit, as you would say, for your demigod powers.
“But demigods don’t need to draw their magic from an outside source. They can create energy from nothing.”
What I’m saying is you must find the source inside yourself, Oberi explained.Until you find the motivation that is driving your magic, it will remain inaccessible to you at its greatest power. These things take time. There is certainly no rush.
It sure felt like it, what with the war going on and the Warden looking to cleanse the Earth in his tirade of insanity. But Oberi was an immortal being who was beyond the binds of time and space. I was certain she was never in a hurry for anything— save for dinner.
It’s taco night, Oberi complained, and she flapped her wings impatiently.Can we wrap this up?
Oberi was wonderfully helpful about ten percent of the time. The other ninety percent, she was little more than a nearly-omniscient nuisance.
Kallie sat in a chair, wiped out. She hadn’t found any success in experimenting with her time magic, though she’d stopped and sped up time at several moments throughout the hour. She was clearly beat by the end of it. Whatever her access point— herconduitwas— she was far from enabling it to make this easier.
Marcus seemed like he’d made some progress. Takahashi had brought a chest of items for us to practice with, and he’d gone through it, pulling out potion bottles, wands and crystals. He’d been stuck on reanimating a skeleton, which he’d even enabled to talk— something I’d never seen a necromancer do before, because there weren’t any vocal chords left to enable.
“My necromancy abilities are the strongest,” Marcus noted as he allowed the skeleton to drop. “I think I need to start there. Death magic is the way to go.”
Charlie shook his head in frustration as he attempted to cast an Elven illusion and nothing happened. “Something’s not right. I just don’t understand illusions. And if my demigod power is connected to my Elf magic, my illusion magic, which I can’t understand, how am I supposed to access it with any kind of success?”
“You’ve gotta have a key to access, like Ava and Kallie do,” Marcus said. “Just have to figure out what that is.”
“You boys are on the right path,” Takahashi praised. “Let’s call it a night. We don’t want to push ourselves too hard, and this is good progress.”
Despite not making headway with his Elf magic, Charlie was exceptionally cheery during dinner. I knew he was excited about my healing magic and the possibilities it had for us.
I tried not to feel pushed, but I kind of did. We knew the potential to heal me was there. But what if I couldn’t do it? Would he be mad at me?
Oberi changed into a husky and ate his tacos— all twelve of them. Kallie and Marcus had a painting for their art class they needed to finish, so they split off from us to head to the Arts and Crafts room.
There was supposed to be a movie night going on in the Villain’s Den, so we decided to head there. Usually, the TV just had the news on, but the Warden was coming up with excuses not to play it. I didn’t think he wanted us to know what was going on out there. Thus, the guards put on whatever family-friendly film they could get their hands on during weeknights, andapproved, upliftingmedia the rest of the time.
Whatever. So long as I didn’t have to listen to one more horrible headline without being able to do something about it.
