Hidden Magic

Chapter Twenty-One

"Though I suppose it isn't in person is it. Well, face to face then." I stumble back in shock, I could feel the power coming off of her, she was so strong, I couldn't understand how anything could keep her caged. "I know you must have a lot of questions, but I cannot maintain this connection long, so we'll have to speak quickly." She waited me to ask a question, but all I could do there was stand there and stare at her stupidly, she raises an eyebrow at me, and I blush.

"Why me?" I cover my mouth in horror, not sure if that was really what I wanted to say, but I suppose it was too late now, I had already said it now, surprisingly enough she doesn't seem angry by my question, she wasn't even trying to act like I should be honored to have been chosen by her, she simply laughed at me.

It wasn't cruel, in truth it was a beautiful sound, one that made me smile at her goofily, like the mere sound of her laugh filled me with happiness. "Don't be so nervous, Karinna. I'm not like my siblings, I don't view myself as this all powerful being, whose importance is above everyone, I lived the beginning of my life as a human, and even after all these years, with these powers surging through me, that is still how I view myself. Now as to why I chose you, I believe my consorts have likely already told you that I prefer choosing the people whose character suits the shadows better than just picking any person. During a choosing ceremony, when one is bound to my element, I experience a bond with them, every aspect of them is revealed to me, it is only for a few moments as my element secures its bond with them, too quickly for a human mind to grasp, but I haven't been human for a long time. Out of all those my consorts have chosen while I've been locked away there are very few who meet the standards of who I would have chosen if I was still around.

There are quite a few at your academy currently, surprising really given how few there have been over the years, not to say there aren't some bad ones, I know my consorts have been focused on increasing the number of chosen for my element to see if it will help me get enough strength to be free of this prison, I know they only want to help, but I've always been different from my siblings, different in more ways than we are similar in truth. To have a strong bond with an element, you have to suit that element, now ones innate elemental aptitude can have an immense effect on that, whether that element truly suits you or not, but even if you have a mere fraction of the elemental aptitude of someone strong in that element, if that element suits you and not the other person, while you may not be able to make the same show of brute force as they can, you will always be able to manipulate that element better, use it for things they never could.

My siblings have never worried about that, merely focused on gaining more power, they don't truly care whether someone suits their element or not, for their strength it never mattered, they gain strength either way, but for me, the difference in strength I get from one suited for my element and one not, is immense, much larger than the difference is for them, which is why I always attended the choosing ceremony, not visible to the other consorts of course, as that would only lead them to bringing my siblings into the mix, and a war between gods is not something we need during the choosing ceremony, I would merely hide in one of my consorts shadows, whispering to them who was good or not.

Now that I am trapped in this prison, my connection to them is fragile, I only get glimpse of their thoughts now, when before it was as if we could speak telepathically, at least on my side. Now even though there efforts have helped, the fact that they are running low on the magic I gave them, means they take whoever they can get, even if they know that person doesn't suit my element, in truth even when they know someone suits my element, they can't fight off the other consorts long enough to claim them, you are one of their last chances, in all the years since I've been captive, I don't think any one else has suited my element so completely as you do, you were made for the shadows Karinna."  In truth I didn't fully understand all of what she said, I think it was all a little beyond me, but I believe that I did understand the gist of it, of course one thing bothered me since she began talking about the selection process.