Avenging Amethyst (Immortal Eyes) (9 page)

"So, it's
like magic?"

"In a
sense, yes. Maybe it truly is. Some people believe it was a gift from Fairies
many years ago. If that was the case, then it really would be magic."

"So Fairies
really do exist?" I had to ask every chance I got. It was still too hard
to believe that mythical creatures were real.

"Absolutely."

I shook my head.
"It's just so hard to believe. Elves and Werewolves are real too?"

"They sure
are."

"Oh so
you’ll believe Rema but not me?" Felix said. I know he was joking
but he looked almost offended.

"I just
want more people to confirm it. I think the more I hear it the easier it gets
to accept. It proves that you're not just some escapee from an insane asylum
and that I'm not going crazy either."

"You
thought I was a crazy person?"

"Well―"
I started, but Rema cut me off.

"Now, now,
no need to argue. I can understand you're reasoning," she told me.
"No one alive today has ever met a Lovac that was raised as a human. It's
happened of course, but it's rare. This is a new experience for all of
us."

"Are there
any records of how well the other human-raised Lovac did during training?"

"I'm not
sure if they did train. I think most of them just lived at headquarters until
the darkness took them. They definitely didn't have the determination you
have."

"Great. So
I'm basically a guinea pig."

"Don't
think of it as a bad thing," Felix told me.

"Exactly.
We're all learning here. And speaking of that. I think we should actually start
the training session soon. I wish I could sit here and answer all of your
questions but we have a bit of a time crunch. I have council meetings after
dinner every day."

"Okay, what
do I need to do?"

"Felix told
me that you can sense when someone is using their magic on you?"

I had completely
forgotten about that but I recalled the strange tingling in my head when Felix
used his power on me. "Yes. I think. He tried to influence me I felt a
tingle in my head."

"Then
you'll probably be able to tell when I'm using my power. Keep that in mind when
we start. I'm going to push some darkness on you and you need to concentrate as
best as you can to block it out. Some people say that they can feel the
darkness moving around in their head. Try to latch on to it and put up a mental
barrier to block it out."

"That
sounds a lot easier than it's probably going to be," I said, dreading the
thought of having so much darkness in my mind.

"It
is." Felix shifted uncomfortably. "Darkness does different things to
different people. It's always morphing into something else and it can be a huge
pain to latch on to. It's possible to block it out but it's mentally exhausting
and takes a lot of concentration. That's why it normally appears during sleep.
We're more vulnerable then."

Rema nodded in
agreement. "Are you ready to give it a try?"

I nodded but I
wasn’t sure if I really would be ready.

Rema and I both
took deep breaths and concentration washed over our faces. I closed my eyes,
thinking it would help. I felt a slight tingle in the back of my mind and I
braced myself. However, no amount of bracing would prepare me for what
happened. I started to feel like I was burning. My eyes shot open and I saw
flames covering every inch of my skin. I could feel the heat and the smell of
burning flesh and hair filled my nostrils. I completely forgot where I had been
or who I had been with. My mind was consumed with fear and concern for my
burning body. I screamed and very faintly heard a male voice tell me to
concentrate.

How the hell was
concentrating supposed to help put the flames out? I couldn't think about
anything other than how badly it hurt. Then I felt the tingling sensation in my
head. What did that tingling sensation mean again?

Concentrate,
I heard that male voice say
again. I knew that voice. Felix! He was using his power to help me concentrate.
To help me concentrate on blocking out the darkness. My mind finally remembered
what I was supposed to be doing. I closed my eyes and tried to block out the
pain first. It was hard but I managed. Then I searched my mind. I could feel
the darkness wrapping around my brain. It felt like there was a slimly snake
curled up in my head.

I fought to
unwrap it to push it out. I kept imagining myself grabbing it and flinging it
across the room. I had no idea if this is what I was supposed to be doing but
it seemed to work. I could feel the fire burning me lessen and then disappear
altogether. I could still feel the darkness in my mind however so I threw up a
visual brick wall around my brain and gave one last shove at the darkness.

Then it was
gone. My eyes shot open the second I felt it disappear and inspected my entire
body. My skin looked the same as it had before we started this process and
there was no scorch marks on any of my clothes. I looked wide-eyed at Felix and
Rema who were looking back at me with nearly the same expression.

"What
happened?" I asked. I was worried that I’d done something wrong.

"You
screamed. A lot," Felix said.

"You were
amazing. No student has ever been able to push me out as fast as you did,"
Rema said.

"Well,
Felix helped a little," I admitted.

He laughed.
"That's why Rema wanted me to stay. I usually help first timers by
influencing them to focus on what they need to do."

"Even with
Felix's help it was still impressive. I have a feeling your mother's strong
mind was passed down to you. You were able to regain control so quickly."

"Do you
think that's because of her ability to sense our powers?" Felix asked
Rema.

"Absolutely,"
she said. "I think it helps you to sense the darkness inside of you
better, too."

"Do you
think that's my special ability then? To be able to sense other powers?" I
asked. I really wanted to know more about my power but I was nervous to ask in
case there wasn't anything else to it. I didn't want it to be so boring.

"I think it
is part of your power but I think there's more to it. I'm very curious to see
it blossom to its full potential, which I can tell, you will have a lot of. Do
you mind if I ask what the darkness made you see?"

I shuddered.
"I was burning. It was so vivid and so real. I could feel the flames all
over my body. I could even smell burning flesh. When I opened my eyes you two
were completely gone. All I could see were the flames."

"That would
explain the foggy look in your eyes," Felix said.

"I've seen
it happen a few times before," Rema said. "Darkness takes over so
fully that it consumes every sense in the mind. It's rare for that to happen on
the first try though. Especially with someone so young. You really are a
special case."

I blushed. Rema
and Felix were both staring at me with awe and I felt awkward under their gaze.
I didn't know what to say to that either. All of this excitement really made me
curious to know what the full potential of my power was.

"Is there
anything we can do to help figure out what my power really is?"

"Have you
always been so impatient?" Felix laughed.

I glared at him.
"Yes."

"The only
thing we can do is wait. There was a Lovac many years ago who could predict
what other Lovac powers were but he's been gone for a while," Rema said.

 I sighed.
Even though Rema and Felix were both hopeful that my power had more to it, I
was worried there wouldn't be. Then another thought hit me.

"Do you
think I can sense when anyone uses a power around me or is it only when it's
being used on me?"

"I don't
know," Rema said. "Felix, do you want to use your power on me and see
what happens?"

He shifted
uncomfortably. "Uh, what do you want me to influence you to do?"

"Something
simple," Rema said. "Like stand up or scratch my nose. Anything
that will give off enough power to see if she can feel it."

 "Right.
Okay." He stared at Rema with an intense look and sure enough I felt a
little tingle. Only I wasn't feeling it in just my head. I could faintly feel
it in my entire body. Rema suddenly jumped out of her seat and started
laughing.

"You've
gotten very good at that. I even tried to fight it to give Avery enough time to
try to sense something. So, did you?"

I nodded.
"It was very strange. When someone uses their power on me I can feel a
strange tingle in my head but when you were using it on Rema I could feel that
tingle very faintly in my whole body. The tingle is stronger when I can just
feel it in my head, though."

"I think
you need to really pay attention anytime you feel that sensation. If you don't
know where it's coming from make sure you observe your surroundings and see if
you can follow the sensation to the source. I wish there was some way we could
find out if this works with other creatures powers but that's too dangerous
right now. I'll get Carson to do some research on powers to see if we can find
anything similar in our records. For now, I think we're done for the day. We'll
meet again tomorrow."

Even though we
hadn't done much training today I was relieved that it was over. It had been
exciting but I didn't want to be on fire again anytime soon. Felix and I stood
up to leave but Rema had one more thing to say.

"Felix, I
think you should take Avery on tours around the building. I think the more
opportunities you have to try to sense powers the better. Maybe you could even
talk to some Lovac and Nesmyr you know and get them to use their powers more.
I'll send a word out to some people, too. I want a full report of anything that
happens."

"Of
course," Felix said, bowing his head a little bit and then he escorted me
out of the room.

"Are you
really going to walk me around this whole building? It looked huge from the
outside. I feel like we'll get lost."

He gave a half
smile and shook his head. "I practically grew up here. I know where
everything is at. There are only six stories and each of them is large enough
that they'll take an hour or so to tour. We can tour after dinner every day if
you're not too tired."

It was a good
thing I didn't have anything better to do. My whole day just got booked with
activities. Physical training in the morning, mental training in the afternoon
and now touring the facility in the evening.

"Are you
sure you don't mind spending your whole day with me?"

"Well, I
could be out hunting down some Zhulik or doing other small tasks for Nesmyr but
I actually enjoy spending time with you."

I giggled
nervously again and quickly changed the subject.    
"Are we just going to stand in this hallway all night or are you going to
take me on a tour? Unless we're not starting that yet."

"How about
we go get some dinner and then go on a tour if you're not too sore?"

"I feel
like I'll be sore for the rest of my life but I think I can handle it."

We headed down
to the main level where the cafeteria was. We had picked up some lunch from
there earlier but ate in the gym. This time we actually ate there and it felt
like a five star restaurant as opposed to a cafeteria. There were waiters at
our table every five minutes to check on us and the food was astounding.
Everyone that worked there were Nesmyr.

"Why are
Nesmyr working here?" I asked. "I thought they were all rich."

"There are
a lot more Nesmyr families than the ones you saw at the adoption. Those were
the rich families. There are lower class Nesmyr too. The only way to be part of
the upper class is to be born into it or fight your way up the ranks."

"How is it
that Nesmyr are able to have children when all the myths about Vampires say
they can't?"

"Nesmyr are
only descendants of the Vampire. All of the myths that you hear about Vampires
hardly apply to Nesmyr. Zhulik are the ones who ended up with most of the bad
qualities that the Nosferatu had, with a few exceptions. Neither race can go
out in the sun. Nesmyr won't immediately burst into flames but it does a lot of
damage. Zhulik can't even see sunlight without some kind of damage."

"What about
religious symbols and garlic?"

"Those are
both complete myths. Neither affect Nesmyr or Zhulik. The religious symbol myth
was started by humans that thought both races were related to demons. Demons
will burn if they touch religious symbols but it's not powerful enough to
destroy them."

"What about
the garlic myth? How did that start?"

"My
suspicion is that Nesmyr have a heightened sense of smell and garlic can
sometimes be too strong so they avoid it but they can still eat it. Zhulik can
eat it just fine, too."