Piper blinked. She had never heard anything so convincing in her whole life. Did Awen practice saying this? Maybe this was a Luma thing—she wasn’t sure. All Piper knew was that Awen’s speech was really important and that she was supposed to say something in reply. But it needed to sound equally important.
Piper took a deep breath then said, “I will always hope and try to listen to you and do the best in all the things that you tell me about honor… and observation with important things. And I won’t disappoint you. I mean, but I probably will, so I can’t promise that. But I don’t mean to, honest. And to serve you and use my inside voice and my listening skills. And I’ll try not to get upset. But sometimes I get overtired and hungry. And more things like that. And faster and far. And I want your success too. That’s my oath.”
To Piper’s relief, Awen seemed really happy. It looked like she was trying not to laugh. Piper had tried to be sincere. Maybe she’d made a mistake with her speech.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Awen shook her head, holding a fist to her mouth and making a funny face. “No, Piper. It was perfect.”
“Oh, okay. Good.”
“So you’ll be my student?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Then, from now on, you will call me teacher.”
“Okay, teacher Awen.”
“Shhh.”
Piper’s eyes got wide. This is hard work!
“And I will call you student.”
Piper nodded.
“Now, take my hands.”
Piper reached across the gap between the boulders and took Awen’s hands.
“Ready?” Awen asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Good. Here we go.”
23
The thing that caught Awen off guard the most was just how much she was coming to love this little girl. Piper was unlike any other child Awen had ever met. She was sincere yet playful. Powerful yet naive. Precocious yet fragile. And above all, the child was endearing. Her return pledge of fidelity had been too sweet for words. It was hard not to adore her.
The suit seemed to be working as intended. Awen hadn’t even taken Piper into the Unity yet, and already, the girl’s suit was glowing. That was unexpected. Awen thought the suit would only glow when Piper had learned to maintain a link with the Unity while still being conscious in the natural realm. At least, that was what Azelon had assured her. Instead, the suit had powered on moments after the little girl had touched it. Apparently, Piper was more powerful than Awen had guessed.
As they held hands across the boulders and prepared to begin, Awen took a deep breath, remembering the first time she’d made the leap into her second sight. The serendipity of Awen doing with Piper what Piper’s grandmother had done with Awen was not lost on her. But despite the joy of the moment, Awen wished Willowood was here instead of her. Shouldn’t she be taking her own granddaughter into the Luma legacy?
She had almost decided against the whole endeavor, but Valerie had changed her mind. Awen had gone up to the Spire and was continuing power-suit preparations, two days prior, when Valerie caught her in a corridor outside the engineering research lab.
“I need you to do this,” Valerie said.
“Whoa. Hello, Valerie,” Awen said in surprise. “You need me to do what?”
“To train Piper. I need you to train her like you’re planning to do.” She paused. “I know about the suits too.”
“You do?” Awen said. How did she know?
“Yeah, Azelon told me. Listen…” Valerie stepped closer to Awen. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“Earlier?”
“You know, when we were all talking, when you came up with the plan. I was…” Valerie touched her temple, seeming to search for the right words. “I was upset that you and my mother had… that you both were…”
“That she was my teacher?”
Valerie nodded. “Yeah.”
“And that she’s not here now to train Piper herself?”
“That too.”
“Honestly, Valerie, I get why you’re upset, but neither of those things is in your control.”
“I know. And that’s why I’m apologizing. Mom was lucky to have an apprentice like you. And you are lucky to have a student like Piper. I get it. But that’s not everything. It’s just…” Valerie let out a long sigh.
Awen thought of interrupting her but felt like she’d already been a little too direct. Valerie needed the time to explain herself, so Awen let her search for the right words even though it was taking a while.
“It’s just that I always wanted to be a Luma too,” Valerie confessed at last. “To protect the galaxy from injustice. To fight in some sort spectacular battle against the dark Unity users—even though I know those were just bedtime stories. But I think that mostly, I just wanted to have the connection to my mother.”
That was not what Awen was expecting to hear. She tilted her head. “So why didn’t you?”
Did Valerie and her mother have a fight? Maybe they’d had a difference of opinion over a career path, much as Awen had with her own parents. Or maybe…
“Wait a second,” Awen said, piecing the story together on her own. “Do you mean to tell me that you didn’t inherit any of your mother’s blood abilities?”
Valerie shook her head. For some reason‚ in that fleeting moment of brutal honesty, Awen thought Valerie looked like a small child. Like Piper.
“I inherited my dad’s blood,” Valerie said softly.
“You didn’t get anything at all?”
Valerie shook her head, a despondent and distant look in her eyes.
Awen couldn’t believe it. Willowood was one of the most potent Luma she’d ever known—one of the most powerful elders in the council. The very idea that her daughter wouldn’t inherit any true-blood abilities was… well, it was possible, admittedly, but highly improbable. Even more shocking was the fact that the latent powers in Valerie’s line expressed themselves so demonstratively in her daughter. Perhaps in jumping a generation, Piper’s abilities had been magnified.
Awen suddenly felt her jealousy of Valerie begin to fade. Where before she’d been envious of the woman’s beauty, status, and—if she was being honest—attention from Magnus, she felt those triggers begging to lessen. They didn’t disappear entirely, of course. But it seemed that Valerie had wanted to be a Luma—that she’d dreamed of it—and the fact that she couldn’t gave Awen something that Valerie would never have. Surely, if Willowood had been Awen’s birth mother, she’d want to be a Luma too. Mystics, Willowood was like a surrogate mother for Awen, and she still wanted to be like her—a Luma of high regard. But without any true-blood traces in Valerie’s DNA, there was no hope of her ever being selected for observances no matter how well respected her mother was. There was no cheating biology.
“I’m so sorry, Valerie.”
“Don’t be. I’ve had a good life—lived my own adventures, made my own way in the galaxy. Now it seems Piper got what I didn’t, and I need you to do for her what my mother can’t… and what I can’t.”
“I will do my best.” Awen placed a hand on Valerie’s shoulder. “I promise.”
“I know. And she’s counting on you whether she knows it or not. She needs you.”
“And we need her.”
Valerie nodded, staring off into the distance again. “Yeah. We do.”
* * *
The first thing that Awen noticed when she pulled Piper into the Unity was just how bright the child was. So bright, in fact, that Awen had to raise a barrier between them. Piper wouldn’t be able to see it—at least Awen didn’t think she would—but it would bring some relief to Awen’s second sight.
“Can you hear me?” Awen asked.
“Yup,” Piper replied. “I can totally hear you! Wow, this place is totally awesome!”
“You don’t need to shout, Piper.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. And yes, it is totally awesome, but I need
you to do your best to abide by the rules. Only talk when I ask you something or give you a command. Understand?”
“I understand. Sorry, teacher Awen.”
“Just teacher.”
“Sorry, teacher.”
“It’s okay. Now, I want you to tell me what you see.”
“I see you. You’re glowing. Your eyes look amazing.”
“What else do you see? Look around.”
Piper blinked, and her eyes settled on the two boulders. “I see the rocks we’re sitting on.”
“Good. What do you notice about them?”
“It’s like… they’re vibrating, maybe?”
“Very good. That’s exactly right.”
“I think they’re moving together. At the same time. Maybe like a song or something. Sysnser… sysnsergist… gistic…”
“Synergistic.”
Piper repeated the word.
“It is. Well done,” Awen said. Piper was more perceptive than she’d expected. Already, the girl was able to notice the synergy in matter. Exceptional, Awen thought.
“You can see them, but can you also hear them?”
“Yes.” Piper nodded.
Then the girl did something that caught Awen entirely off guard. Piper reached down and touched the boulder beneath her. As soon as she did so, the rock’s vibrations changed. Instead of moving in the same pattern as Awen’s boulder, Piper’s rock began to move in harmony. The two rocks started producing complementary notes. She was altering the boulder’s frequency! And it sounded beautiful.
“Piper, what are you doing?”
“I’m sorry.” As soon as Piper pulled her hand into her lap, the boulder shuddered and snapped back to its previous state.
“What did you just do?”
“I’m so sorry, teacher. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, no.” Awen waved her off. “It’s okay. But… how did you do that? I mean, how did you know how to do that?”
Piper shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just wanted them to sing together but not the same note. Sometimes that’s boring.”
“Yes,” Awen said with a chuckle, “sometimes it is boring. So, what did you think about them?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just pictured them. In my head maybe? Or in my heart? Then I saw the note I wanted my rock to sing instead of the one it was singing.”
“So you touched it.”
“Uh-huh. And I asked it to sing my note instead.”
“Amazing,” Awen whispered to herself.
“Would you like me to do it again?”
“Only speak when I ask you, remember?”
“Oops.” Piper covered her mouth with her hand.
Awen knew she should take Piper out of the Unity and let her rest and talk about what she’d just experienced. But Awen had never seen someone do what Piper had done—not during the first time on the other side of the veil. Piper didn’t look tired. She could handle more—Awen just knew it.
“What else can you see, Piper?”
The girl looked at the tree beside them and followed it skyward. “I see the tree.”
“And can you see its branches?”
“Yes.”
“How about its leaves?” Awen asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“And what about the flowers between the leaves?”
Piper didn’t say anything right away. Awen looked to where the girl was staring. She seemed fixated on a particular branch and a specific flower. This was good.
“Piper? Can you see a flower?”
“Yes, teacher.”
“What does it smell like?”
“It smells like… paladial lavender.”
“Good.”
All of a sudden, Awen’s head filled with the smell of paladial lavender. In fact, it was so strong that she could taste it. Awen jerked at the overpowering scent. She hadn’t been focused on the flowers overhead—she’d been focused on what Piper was experiencing. But somehow, Piper had brought the smell down to her. In fact, Piper had summoned the scent from all the flowers.
The energy swirled around the boulders and weaved between Piper and Awen in a fine pink mist. More amazingly, the flowers continued to produce their ethereal scent long after they should have. Something like a blossom had only so much pollen in it. But what Piper was doing—at least so far as Awen could figure out—was causing the flowers to produce more and more energy, as if she was summoning them beyond their capacity.
“Piper… what are you doing?”
“They smell so lovely, don’t they?”
“Yes, they do. However, you must answer my question.”
“Oh, I just wanted to smell them more.”
“So you made them create more scent?” Awen asked.
“Oh, no. I asked them if I could have more. Mama says I like smells maybe a little too much.”
Again, Piper was doing things that only advanced students were able to do. Awen was beside herself. How is this possible?
“How are you feeling, Piper?”
“Fine, teacher.”
“You’re not… tired or anything?”
“Tired?” Piper giggled. “Of course not.”
Awen raised her eyebrows. Such feats would have drained the resources of any first-year student on Worru. They really needed to go back into the natural realm again. Right, Awen? But the girl seemed like she was just getting started, and her powers were… outstanding!
“Would you like to keep exploring?” Awen asked her.
“Yes, please!”
“I want you to close your second sight.”
“And open my natural eyes?”
“No. I don’t want you to see anything.”
“Ah, I understand.” Piper shut her eyes so that wrinkles formed across the bridge of her nose. “Ready.”
“What can you feel?”
“Feel?”
“Yes. Against your body here in the Unity. Anything?”
Piper paused, turning her head. “The air. It’s warm.”
“Good.”
“And it’s coming from over there—” She pointed to the southwest.
“Yes, very good.”
“And I can feel…”
“Go on,” Awen said.
“I can feel layers… many layers.”
This was good. Since all atmospheres were made up of molecular layers, each pressing against the next, Piper’s ability to sense such a composition meant that—
“There are so many, teacher… too many.”
“Too many?”
“I can feel them all.” Anxiety was beginning to rise in Piper’s voice.
“All?” Awen asked.
“I feel—I feel all the layers.”
This concerned Awen. Piper shouldn’t be feeling all the layers of the atmosphere, just those immediately around her. “You mean, just the air around you.”
“No,” Piper said, her voice frantic. “From far away. From… everywhere.”
“I just want you focused on the layers around you, Piper. Where are you going?”
Awen noticed the Unity link in Piper’s chest beginning to glow more brightly. The battens also absorbed more energy, working to dissipate the buildup. If Piper was really feeling all of the molecular energy of the atmosphere, that was not good. It would overload her senses… and her brain.
“Go ahead and open your eyes, Piper.”
“I can feel the vibrations…”
“Piper.”
“From the other side of the planet…”
“Piper, open your eyes!”
The girl squeezed Awen’s hands until it was painful. “But it’s too much. I can’t… I don’t know where to look. I… I…”
“Piper! Open your eyes now!”
“Oh, Miss Awen! I feel so lost!”
That’s it, Awen told herself. At once, she let go of Piper’s hands and severed their connection to the Unity. Piper gasped, clutching the boulder beneath her. Awen steadied the girl’s shoulders.
“Loo
k at me,” Awen demanded.
Piper was delirious, her eyes flicking around in all directions. She was crying but without tears or sound.
Awen slid over onto Piper’s boulder and put her arms around the girl. “I’ve got you, Piper. I’ve got you.”
Piper inhaled in ragged gasps, sucking air as if she’d just surfaced from too long a time underwater.
“I’ve got you. Breathe. Just breathe.”
When Piper finally did make a sound, it was the wail of a small child who’d just broken something in her body. Awen cringed, flooded with a sense of guilt so deep it threatened to make her cry too. And cry she did.
The exercise had been too much for Piper. Awen should have stopped the lesson after the boulders. But she wanted to see what else the girl was capable of. She’d been selfish. They were not one lesson in, and already, Awen had hurt her student.
“I’m so sorry, Piper.” Awen gently rocked the girl. “I’m so, so sorry. I will never do that again. I won’t let that harm come to you like that again,” she said, though deep inside, Awen felt she was making a promise she couldn’t keep.
But Piper’s abilities weren’t the only thing in play here. Awen felt as if this island—this temple—wanted Piper to explore her powers and was calling her. Awen couldn’t be sure, but something had aided Piper. In fact, now that she thought about it, Piper’s suit should have kept an overload like that from happening—that was the whole reason for the power suit that Awen and Azelon had designed.
Azelon. Awen needed to speak with Azelon right away. Something was going on here that needed explaining. She felt it in her bones. Before Awen took Piper back into the Unity, she needed to know what Azelon was not telling her. She needed to know everything.
But until then, she had a soul to console. So she sat on the boulder, weeping with Piper into the late afternoon. She watched the sun sink slowly toward the horizon while the seabirds called out high overhead. It wasn’t until after dark that Awen carried a sleeping Piper back to her tent and explained everything to her mother. When she was through, Awen roused Nolan from his sleep and ordered him to take her back to the Spire. She had a robot to interrogate.
24
Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 87