Nova's Dawning
Chapter 17

I gave him a kiss goodbye, and practically skipped up to Michy’s door. I felt giddy that night, like a schoolgirl. Osiris and I were really pulling through, and not only that but I had been eavesdropping like a child on Jack’s past. I felt bad, but it made a lot of sense, and I think it helped Thea to understand the truth.

When Michy let me in she didn’t seem like her usually bubbly self. She was tired and stumbling into things. It was comical to me. “Michy, it’s like you’re turning into me.” I laughed, but she grimaced, which at the time made me laugh even more.

Michy made her way to her couch, which was uncluttered for the first time and laid down. I sat on the coffee table next to it, and she yawned. “Yur lesson today is going to start with the present basics. This is the most reliable form of yur’ gift... have you heard of scrying?”

I closed my eyes, trying to remember the familiar word. “I think my mom mentioned it once or twice, but I know it’s also a witch thing in movies, right?”

Michy covered her eyes and chuckled. “Yeah, witch thing. It’s used for like findin’ things. Or people even. A lot of times it’s used for missin’ people.”

“That’s interesting, but how does it tie into my gift? And don’t you have to be a witch to use scrying?” I asked, confused.

She growled, obviously frustrated already. “No. Just stop talking for a little while. Let me explain. Please.”

I scooted back a little bit, trying not to anger her anymore. “Seeing the Present is like scrying. Ya can see what someone is doing, in any part of world. Ya would think more people would get found, but there aren’t many of us talented enough to do it proper. So. Anyway, it’s pretty simple, but it takes a lotta stamina, which is why I said we should take a day off tween yur’ sessions. Trust me you’ll need it after one go. I was down for a while after my first time, but I got faith in ya.”

I chuckled nervously and she smiled.

“Now the setup is pretty different for the present. We start off by collecting as many of the person’s things as we can, the more ya got the stronger the connection is, like Past Sharing. It’s best to git five things. One for each of the senses. If you add one, ya might end up channeling spirits and trust me ya don’t wanna open up that can of tuna.”

I thought about Thea, and the pain she must go through every day. “Oh, and ya can’t git distracted. It takes a lot of concentratin’ that’s why it’s so hard. Ya must be completely focused, and I don’t know if ya can manage that, but it would be nice to try.”

“Well do you have anything I can use, or...?”

She sat up slowly and laughed.

“We aren’t doin’ much today. You’ll just need one thing of someone’s, or maybe it’s something someone gave you.”

I fumbled through my things, and I found a pair of earrings Bee had given me for a lunch date with Osiris. “Would this work?” She glanced at them ever so quickly and nodded.

“Sure, but you’ll have to be wearing them.” I slid them in my ears and she laid back down, covering her eyes again. “Now, take some deep breaths, and focus on how those earrings feel. Are they cold, warm, whatever it is just concentrate on it. Take some more deep breaths while ya do it. Now think about the person. Just focus the best ya can. It’s going to take a few tries, but don’t give up.”

I did my best to focus, and at first, I didn’t get anything, nor the second or third time. I was thinking that maybe Michy had made everything up, and I was just doing this for her amusement. On the fourth attempt I got a warm feeling in my hands, and I could sense Bee’s healing blue light through my fingertips, but in an instant, it vanished. I tried again to make it last longer, but each time I got even a tiny bit of sensation it drained me in a way that felt unreal.

I remember Michy told me to stop, but I couldn’t. I stopped at nothing to reach the top, so I pushed myself, and I focused so hard that for seconds I was in the hospital, watching my hands heal an older man’s foot, and then I was out. It took so much energy out of me that my entire world went black.

While I slept, I saw my friends drinking and laughing. I was sure it was a dream, because Thea and Jack were cuddling, her face the color of roses and his head rested on top of hers. Mowgli and Sam battled each other in Smash Brothers and I could feel love emanating from Thea.

Suddenly I got up and I walked into a room where I saw myself sleeping, which further made me believe that I was dreaming. I laid down next to myself and then my face faded away.

I could barely remember waking up for school the next day. The first memory is drinking coffee and sitting down in my normal seat for class. I loved this class, because my friends were there, but also the room was soothing. The soft carpet, the comfortable chairs, and even the dumb inspirational posters. We were studying the first Valedictorian of the school. She had been strong and smart, and she reminded me of Bee. Not to my surprise, but she was a healer, which meant Bee was a direct descendant. Bee glowed with pride, and we all noted how the paintings we were looking at, even resembled her in a lot of ways.

For the last part of our lesson we were able to work on our papers, which most of us hadn’t started yet. We had two hours to work on an outline for our paper, that way we wouldn’t be left empty handed. She was letting us do what we needed, some people sat outside the class, and others just left, but I took to the corner and closed my eyes.

I said the chant in my head and I thought about moonlight, and the year it opened as I softly landed in front of my school. Except everything was different, the brick seemed brighter, the layout was smaller, and the sky was dark. The air was thick, as if something ominous was happening. I could hear loud voices coming from inside the small building.

“What’s going on?!”

“What’s hast thou done?!”

“Who are thee really?!”

As I approached, I noticed the disarray of the students, and their anger was evident. It was the first generation of gifted individuals, and it was clear that even the staff was confused.

“I’m sorry we don’t have any answers at the moment. We are all just as confused as thee, so please, please, be calm and let us talk to the dean.”

“WE WANT THE DEAN! WE WANT THE DEAN!”

They began to chant and their anger was making the clouds get darker and darker. The wind blew everything around and some of the students began to cry. Then in an instant the sky became so blue everyone had to shield their eyes. A woman walked out, and her skin was so white it was as if she was glowing. Her voice filled the main entrance and it soothed the negative energy.

“Welcome students. It’s an honor to meet thee! I know thee are surprised, shocked, and even angry or scared, but I’m here to reassure thee. This is natural. Thou hath been chosen, selected, and it is not something to fear. It is something to take pride in. Thou... are special. Thee are all so gifted and together, as a group, we will undergo thine destinies. I, Nova, thy Dean, can see it.”

I saw a couple girls drop to their knees and they bowed their head. Some students still were giving her that look of suspicion, but the entire atmosphere had shifted. Her blue eyes and light hair reminded me of my mom, but then I found myself feeling like I was being pricked, until all of my skin was crawling, as if my entire body was waking up.

Something was wrong.

“Thea?!”

I heard Sam’s voice first as she tried to hold onto Thea, but when I opened my eyes, I realized that it was pointless. I jumped off the floor and noticed that mostly everyone was gone, except for Thea, Sam, Jack, Mo, and myself.

“Thea please!” Jack’s desperation made Thea snap her head towards him, but the eyes that were looking at me weren’t Thea’s.

The voice that came from her mouth wasn’t hers either. Jack went to grab her arms and he flew back. Sam tried to shock her, but her bolt of energy didn’t even graze Thea.

“SOMEONE FIND BEE.” I yelled, as Thea’s distorted laughed filled the room. Mowgli dashed out of the classroom, and I tried to get as close as possible.

My possessed friend looked at me with a hatred that felt like it had been brewing for hundreds of years. “Yooouuuuu…” it growled.

“Thea... I know you’re in there. It’s me, Star. Remember??” Thea shook her head. I could tell she was waging a war more often than we had all anticipated, but I knew that she was strong. “You can fight this. Whoever it is, whatever is happening, YOU are stronger than all of it. Please don’t stop fighting. We need you. You’re the project manager for the talent show.” My voice was thick as I watched my friend scream in pain.

Jack looked defeated at that point, and for the first time I was seeing Sam sob. Her tears disturbed the spirit in Thea more than anything and for a few moments, I thought we were going to win without Bee’s healing light.

However, I was not conscious for what happened next.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the school’s makeshift infirmary, which was some benches and a food pyramid chart. Sam was there by my side and she told me that the spirit had attacked me in my moment of hope, literally grabbing my hair and throwing me to the ground. In fear Jack had left, and Bee had entered with Mowgli and Osiris close behind. Osiris tried to get to me, but the spirit wouldn’t hand me over. Bee couldn’t get close enough to heal her directly, so she had to use all of her strength to access a new ability, which knocked her and Thea out as well. All three of us had been out for a minute until help could arrive and then we were brought to our own infirmary rooms.

“I guess it wasn’t that bad considering we didn’t have to take anyone to an actual hospital.” Sam shook her head, a sad look in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Sam. Everything will be fine.” I smiled at her, but her face told me there was more going on than meets the eye. I didn’t want to intrude, because I could barely keep myself awake.

“Where’s Osiris?” I mumbled.

“Grabbing some things for you.” she was close by, but her words sounded very far away. I tried to say thank you, and I might have succeeded, but I was asleep again (a reaction of my body trying to heal) by the time I was going to get a response.

I felt the world spinning as I laid there in darkness. “I’m so sorry.” I heard a girl’s voice say.

“Please don’t apologize... You couldn’t help it... It wasn’t you.” a male voice replied.

I heard the girl start to cry and she took a couple deep breaths. “I thought I was going to die...”

“Well you didn’t. You’ll be okay, I promise.” the guy’s tone was starting to become short, almost rude.

“I think it would be best if you left.” another voice (female) chimed in and I heard a confirmation grunt from another male nearby.

“Whatever. Here.” I couldn’t see anything, but I could sense that the room was very tense.

“We need to be on our way.” one of the voices said, and it was then I opened my eyes for good. The windows were dark, and I couldn’t find a clock at all. Osiris entered this makeshift room, and I slowly sat my stiff body upright. “I’m sorry I left you.”

I shook my head at him. “You have no reason to apologize. You couldn’t have known...” I looked at his watch. “If we’ve got some time, I’d like to speak to Thea.” He nodded, probably expecting my answer and then he helped me up, and we started down the quick, yet ever so long feeling hallway.

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