Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 10

"Umm... how exactly are you going to train me?" Keefe asked. 

It was far past noon. Sophie didn't know exactly when it was, due to the sun being completely obscured by the dark clouds. 

They were all seated in the living room in chairs that Elysian conjured. 

"I'm not sure," Elysian said. "But we'll figure it out. First, let's come up with names for your abilities. What should we call your ability to control emotions?" 

"It uses your tone," Fitz said. "And it's kind of a combination of your Polyglot and Empath ability, so how about a... Polypath?" 

"That isn't a horrible idea," Maruca said. "But it's kind of like inflicting, isn't it? So we could combine the names somehow as Fitz did." 

"I was thinking of something cooler," Keefe said. "How about an Evoker? Evoke means to bring or summon to minds, and that's what I do with emotions." 

"I like that," Elysian said. "Now... how about the one that can detect abilities and make them manifest?" 

"We could make it simple and just call it a Manifester," Marella suggested.

"Hmm... this one is tricky... wait, an Evincer!" Keefe exclaimed triumphantly. "Evince means to reveal the presence of something, so this one definitely fits."

Elysian nodded in approval. "These are good names. You're now officially an Evincer and Evoker."

"Where are you coming up with all of these fancy terms?" Fitz asked, his tone filled with something. Was it jealousy?

"Oh, I read a dictionary," Keefe said casually. "My photographic memory got everything."

"Do you know of any other abilities that can control abilities?" Maruca asked Elysian. "I know you and Sophie are Enhancers. You're a Purger as well. Keefe's an Evincer."

"I don't know," Elysian said. "As far as I know, stellarlune has been used twice. And esylune has been used once. The chance of there being more abilities is very high."

"If my evil mom used esylune on me, would I manifest more abilities?" Keefe said, turning pale.

Elysian shrugged. "Perhaps. Your current abilities would definitely be strengthened, though. More abilities... I don't know, but I hope that doesn't happen."

"I hope we're strong enough to stop that from happening," Sophie said quietly.

"Do you really want me to try my ability as an Evincer?" Keefe said. "Or my evoking ability?"

"Actually... that's up to you," Elysian said. "But for your evoking, try not to turn everyone into statues."

Sophie shuddered as she recalled when Keefe numbed everyone in Foxfire's Healing Center.

"I guess I'll give it a try," Keefe said, biting his lip. "Everyone, brace yourselves."

Sophie saw he was concentrating as hard as he could.

Everyone tensed and held their breath, but nothing happened.

Keefe frowned. Then, he sighed.

"Don't you need to use commands?" Marella asked.

Keefe shook his head. "Well... yes. The command... just didn't come."

"I think your experiences with this ability have been in situations where you panicked and it was used upon instinct," Elysian said. "Also, try to manipulate your tone."

"I'll try again," Keefe said. He started gripping his chair so hard in concentration and whispered, "Laugh."

Nothing happened.