The Others

Chapter 6: Gifts and Powers

Michelle could hardly believe her eyes. The inner antechamber of the Cylendrium was beautiful. Light shone in from above through a glassy skylight. The huge circular room was filled with a surprising amount of plant life, from tropical shrubs to holly bushes, but the true centerpiece of the room was the Center of the Cylendrium itself. It was a large circular platform in the middle of the antechamber. Its surface looked to be encrusted with gold and jewels, and portrayed some kind of story. Queen Lilith, Desiree, and what Michelle assumed was the Seer of Gifts stood in front of the platform. Two guards stood farther away from them on either side. How did they get here so fast? Michelle thought. It must be some sort of perk of being the Queen of Anderes. The walls must've let her right through to the center... I wonder how that works with us being inside and all. She shrugged. Magic. "Congratulations on your successful completion of the Trials of the Cylendrium," said the Queen. "I was poisoned and dying for a good portion of it," Andy complained. "That is why they are called 'Trials' and not 'Playtime'. I'd like to introduce you to the Seer of Gifts. She will identify your Gifts for each of you before you gain your abilities." The Seer of Gifts was young, tall, and beautiful. She was wearing a brownish robe of some sort. Her long, mouse brown hair was coiled in a bun against her head, but a few stray hairs framed her face. She looked to be in her twenties, but her eyes held wisdom. "Hello, I am Jessa, the Seer of Gifts. Many Andereans have Gifts, but sometimes it's hard to use them if you don't know that they're there or what they are. My Gift is to see and identify the Gifts and inner qualities of others. I must warn you though, not all people have Gifts, and some of them are not the most ideal to have. You are born with Gifts; they cannot go away. Please stand in front of me, side by side." The five friends stood side by side as Jessa approached them. Michelle's heart pounded. She looked to her right and saw Andy, first in the group. She looked left and saw Elizabeth, then Sam, then Nicole. Jessa stopped in front of Andy, placed her hands on his shoulders, and closed her eyes. After a second, she smiled and said, "Andrew, your Gift is quite unique and quite useful. If you stand still enough, you can become partially invisible to the naked eye. If you are in shade, and with a lot of practice, you can become completely invisible. It also helps if people don't know where you are before you turn. It makes you harder to find." Andy did a mini fist-pump as Jessa moved on to Michelle. She withdrew a small notepad from her robe and wrote down something that looked like 'full-blood'. Jessa put it back in her robe and turned to Michelle, who was extremely nervous now. Jessa put her hands on Michelle's shoulders. After a second she said, "Why so jittery? You're going to love your Gift. You can speak the languages of the animals, all of the animals, and they will listen and like you. This is extremely useful when you need help, or to calm an animal down." Her jitters gone, Michelle smiled. Jessa withdrew her notebook again, and wrote down the same thing she did for Andy. Full-blood. Full-blooded what? Jessa approached Elizabeth and placed her hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. "You have a Gift quite similar to Michelle's, yet also very different, and somewhat more annoying. You have the potential to speak and understand all the languages of the universe, including computer languages, which I'm guessing you already know." It was true. Elizabeth could use most of the major computing languages, whose names Michelle didn't care to remember, and Lizzy had also started to create one of her own. "A downside to your Gift is that, unlike Michelle, not all creatures, or people, will listen to or like you," Jessa said. She wrote "full-blood" in her notebook and moved on to Sam. Jessa put her hands on his shoulders and immediately gasped. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't see your pain before. Your Gift can be very useful at times, but it haunts you. You are a Seer of Dreams. You have the Gift to dream the future, and sometimes to read the dreams and thoughts of others. Not all the dreams you see will come to pass, but unfortunately, all of them are possible." Sam put his head in his hands, sighed, and shook his head. "I'm so sorry," Jessa said sympathetically. This time she wrote "half-blood" in the notebook. Jessa walked up to Nicole. She placed her hands on Nicole's shoulder's, but immediately withdrew them, muttering something like "strange creature". "Nicole," she said in short bursts, "you are silvertongued; you have extremely influential control over people." Jessa wrote "full-blood" in her notebook for Nicole, but wrote something else that Michelle couldn't make out, since Jessa was walking briskly away from them. "I thought maybe two, or perhaps three of you would have Gifts, but all five?This is quite rare. Who should approach the Cylendrium first? How about Andy?" Jessa asked. "That sounds wonderful," Lilith replied.