regnavitque iter rex, yamiojo

10th.

Ciaran took a seat.

After a beat, Sebastian sighed, "You have such a love for drama, Kit; I hate to imagine what would happen now with Gwilym here."

"Hey! You don't even know-"

"You? Yes, I do not. Look who is ready to argue with you, though. Is it worth your time and energy? Besides," He leaned forward and retrieved a book while giving a flat look to Ciaran, "I meant you as fodder for their dramatic actions. Now, calm down, and listen."

Initially, the anger flared up, but then he figured there was some magic assuaging him, as it drained out in a moment. He looked at Sebastian's hands, but they were ordinary with no glow or sparks flying from them. He turned his attention to his face and was taken aback. He had thought his eyes were blue, but they were not. They were brown, green, blue all at the same time. They were the most stunning hazel he had ever seen.

"You-wha.." He shook his head, "Isn't this, technically, manipulation? You could control my emotions, and, well, why do you need my consent if you have your magic to coerce me into doing whatever you want?

Alexandra smiles, "He is smart," she looked at Ciaran, You are smart."

"But you do not know the ways of this world. Yes, we can, as you put it, manipulate your emotions, but you still have free will. Your thoughts cannot be stolen, as is the case with your feelings. We can only quell them, but underneath it, you can discern where the magic ends. This is why, in our world, we exercise our focus, and other practices the people from your world render nonsense." Sebastian explains while flipping through a book, looking up with a small smile as he finishes.

"Meditation, as you call it, is a much-appreciated science here. We call it dhyai. Children from a very young age are trained to learn the powers of the mind. You will find that there are not many who can be manipulated in such a way," Cletus explained as he started drawing lines across the map, some in grey, some in black, and some even in white. It did not make any sense to Ciaran.

He wanted to reach out and look at the books, gather information, focus this turbulent energy coiled within him to a point, "So, how does it work? Everyone gets superpowers?"

All three of them shared a look, smiling at some inside joke. Ciaran was still clueless.

" We believe everyone has the ability to do something great--"

"Quite frankly, that sounds like a load of bullshit spouted by the privileged."

"Well, you should be comfortable with it then," Sebastian leveled him with a stare, "As Cletus was saying, we all have the potential, but not all of us can reach it easily. With Dhyai, there is other training to help people realize their direction. If it does not work..." He let his sentence hang.

"It gets ugly?" It wasn't that hard a guess for Ciaran. He knew a little about not fitting in and what it could bring. Most wars were borne of differences.

Cletus, the brave one, laughed sheepishly, "Basically."

"Did it? Is that the problem right now?"

"No, fortunately not. It is more of a classic clash of powers."

Ah. He nodded, "Dark versus light?"

The three shared a glance. Cletus spoke, "Why, yes, Mister Gwilym. However, due to our vanity or desire to come out victorious, we identify ourselves as warriors of the light."

Sebastian snorted. Alexandra winked, "Not literally."

"I'm not a warrior, though. I'm...well, I'm not much of anything." He looked down at the table, perfectly still.