Perennial

Chapter 15 -- Perennial

It's evening again, and I have finished my homework for all of my classes except Telepathy. Instead of reading up on mind-scapes like I am supposed to, though, I've been reading a comprehensive study on chlorokinesis through the ages.

It's while I'm doing this that Psaqua interrupts me by sitting down on the edge of my bed.

She has to duck her head to fit underneath the upper bunk. Somehow, even in her awkward position, she manages to give me an almost motherly (or perhaps sisterly, since we are the same age) 'you're-in-so-much-trouble' look.

"Perennial, we need to talk."

"Okay..." I drag out the word as I slowly set down my book. It's quite fascinating, but I don't mind the interruption. I just really hope this isn't about my study habits. I mean, come on, I did almost finish everything.

"I... was listening to your thoughts during class today," she mumbles, having the decency to look ashamed.

Good. She should be.

"How much did you hear?" I hope she didn't listen to the part about Aether knowing about my telekinesis. She doesn't need to know that.

"You were curious about what happened last year." She sounds deflated.

That doesn't answer my question, but I elect to go along with it. "I am."

Psaqua slowly pulls up her legs and hugs them tightly, giving her chin a place to rest. It makes her position a lot less awkward and a little more vulnerable.

She begins. "You know how it's just you and me in class? Up until last year, there used to be two other telepaths. Not only that, but the telepaths and empaths used to take the same class together. It was late last year when it happened. We were studying mind-scapes. We, the telepaths, had been practicing on each other. At first it was just for practice, to get some experience under our belts, but as we got better and better at it, we started using mind-scapes for jokes and pranks and things. We thought we could handle it, that we were in control. But... telepathy is dangerous. It can drive you - or someone else - insane if you're not careful.

"A friend of mine - Aether's old roommate, his name was Zed - he thought it would be funny to use a mind-scape on the whole class. Did you know that empaths can amplify and project emotions, not just sense them? Zed created a monster so real... Once one of them was terrified, all of them were, and it got out of control pretty quickly, especially since most of the kids last year had other powers besides the M powers they were in class for. My old roommate was stabbed in the stomach six times. Four kids are still... they haven't come back from the hospital yet. The others ended up traumatized. One kid died. The empaths were moved to another class, and now you and I are the only telepaths in the school."

My lips part, but I have no idea what to say. "I'm sorry" doesn't seem to cut it in situations like these.

So I do what I always do when things start getting too emotional for comfort: I view the situation objectively.

It had never occurred to me that Psaqua had another roommate before I came into her life. If the incident last year never happened, chances are I'd be bunked with another girl from Midas. (Maybe even Maria, who knows?)

I wonder about Aether. He lost a roommate, too. Knowing him and how likable he is, they were probably friends. Losing a friend always hurts.

I wonder how it affected him.

"What happened to Aether's roommate? Zed?"

"Last I heard he was in a coma."

"How did you get through it? Survive without getting hurt, that is?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I knew it wasn't real. I hid under the teacher's desk and kept sending out a message telling everyone not to come to the side of the room I was hidden in." Her voice cracks a little. "If I hadn't done that, some of the others might have found shelter too, but no, I was selfish and used mental suggestions - basically mind control - on the others to get them to stay away."

I blink. "It sounds like you were acting on instinct. You didn't intentionally hurt those other kids."

Psaqua looks away.

I glance down at the cover of the book I was contentedly reading just a few minutes ago. I guess ignorance really is bliss. I don't think I'll be able to focus enough to read for the rest of the night.

The kind of induced hallucination required to create the events Psaqua described would have taken a very powerful telepath. It would have taken an even more powerful telepath to be able to recognize the hallucination for what it was.

It's clear my roommate has a lot of talent. Like, protégé kind of talent. Then again, I kind of already knew about that.

"Psaqua," I ask carefully, "exactly where are you on the Philips' Scale?"

She refuses to look back at me. She's biting her lower lip.

"Psaqua..."

"Sixty," she whispers.

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I've never heard of a score that high. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently," she mutters, mostly to herself.

My mouth slips. "That's more powerful than The Overlord."

"Yeah. He's about a fifty-five." She sniffles. "How did you know that?"

"I read a lot." That's a fact, but not the answer to her question.

She takes a shaky breath. "Phix is a level fifty."

"I'm only a seven, you know, since it's inversed." I give a small smile, hoping to distract her from reliving her traumatic experience again.

"I estimate that if it weren't inverse, you'd be somewhere around forty-nine." Psaqua returns my smile with a weak and watery one of her own.

I nod. Forty-nine isn't that bad. It isn't bad at all. It's even around Jason's score. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." My roommate says. "If... if you ever have any more questions about the school... You can just ask me. I'll do my best to answer them, I promise. I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me."

"Helping someone else is the best way to help yourself?"

"Something like that."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, long enough for Psaqua to dry her tears and wipe her nose on her sleeve. I would hug her, but I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do. I was never taught how to comfort someone before, all I know is what I've seen in movies, and they're not always the best source of life advice.

After a couple more minutes, I finally pipe up. "I do have another question. Not about the school, but another student."

"Okay...? What is it?" Psaqua asks, her voice sounding weak.

"Is... Aether an empath?"

Psaqua frowns and shakes her head. "No. I... don't know what's wrong with him. It's so strange; I can't get into his head. It's locked. I only know one other person like that. It's somewhere between relieving and unsettling."

"Who's the other person?"

"You've met Megan Werner, right? It's her."

"Megan has it too?" I ask, dumbfounded.

Psaqua nods again. "I just can't figure it out."

"It bothers me," I admit. "It feels wrong."

I lean back against a bed post. The mattress creaks under me.

Psaqua slowly unfolds herself and moves to stand up, carefully making sure she doesn't hit her head. She glances up at the clock and sighs.

"Time for bed?"

She shakes her head. "I have to go."

I raise an eyebrow, but nod understandingly. She's done this enough times that it's not unusual anymore.

Every Wednesday night, she leaves for several hours, coming back some time close to midnight. It's strange, but she never even acknowledges her disappearances except for when she's about to leave.

"Ever going to tell me what's going on?" I ask her.

She looks me in the eye. "I hope not."

She slips on her shoes and dashes out the door, still in her pajamas. Something always holds me back from following her, so I don't even try.

Besides, I have somewhere else I need to be.

After a few minutes have passed, I slowly get up and make my way out of our room, into the hall, and eventually outside.

It takes me a while to find my way to where I was guarding the flag earlier. It looks pretty much the same, but darker. The air is much cooler now and I wrap my arms around myself to keep warm.

Dew has already settled on the grass and has seeped into my pant legs. It is very uncomfortable.

Just like last time, I don't sense his approach. Just like last time, I don't know he's here until it's too late.

"I wasn't sure I'd find you here." His voice is deep and soft. It almost sounds like he's afraid that if he talks too loud I might disappear.

"It feels like this isn't something I can procrastinate my way out of." I turn around to face him.

The moon illuminates his face in a way that's almost otherworldly.

"So..." He begins awkwardly. "Are we going to talk about what I saw you do?"

"You mean the hovering rock?"

"Yeah," he sighs, "sorry that came so close to your head. I didn't see you there."

"Nobody was hurt. It's fine." I dismiss. I don't say anything else. I don't know where to start.

"Telekinesis?" He offers for me.

I hesitate. Every instinct tells me to deny it. But I can't. Denying it now will only cause more trouble in the future.

I nod. "Telekinesis."

"Did you know you had it?"

I shrug. It's not a confirmation, but it's not a denial either.

"Do the teachers know about it?"

"No."

"I thought DSHA has technology to genetically test for whatever your powers are."

"They don't." That's just a rumor that DSHA likes to spread, probably to get people to just confess their powers because they assume DSHA knows them anyway. (At least, that's what I assume, because they didn't deduce my telekinesis while I was in Midas.)

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

I take a breath that catches in my throat when I realize that my reasons for keeping my telekinesis a secret are so petty it's embarrassing.

"I did it out of spite. They took me away from my family and the life I've always known. It was the closest thing to revenge I could afford," I explain.

Aether doesn't say anything. He only steps forward as if to get a better look at me. His head is tilted, his eyes are searching, but for what I don't know.

"Are you going to report me?" I ask.

"No."

His answer surprises me. I would have thought that out of all the people in this school, likable personalities aside, Valor's son would have been the first to tell on me.

"If anyone's going to tell, it's you," he says.

My brows shoot up. He must not know me very well if he thinks that is ever going to happen.

"I think you'll come around to it in your own time," he continues.

His faith in me is a little startling, but I doubt he's right. I'm the most stubborn person I know.

"Were you close with your family?" he asks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

I stare at him curiously for a moment.

He doesn't want to go. He still wants to talk.

Why?

Who knows?

In any case, I'm too tired to evade his questions.

I take a step back and walk over to where the flag was earlier today. I sit down on a particularly large rock and gesture for Aether to sit next to me. He slowly walks over; like he's not sure I'm serious.

He sits close enough for me to see his face clearly, but far enough away that we both have plenty of space.

And then I start talking, and once I start, I find it hard to stop. I tell him how close knit my family is, how we all rely on each other. I tell him I have an older brother and four cousins, all boys.

I tell him all these things without mentioning The Overlords or anything about the family business. He can tell I'm holding back, but he doesn't say anything about it. He seems to understand that it takes time before someone completely opens up.

When I'm done talking, he takes his turn and tells me about his relationship with his dad. They're closer than people assume. Apparently, Valor is a great dad. He's busy, but always makes time for Aether and his sister, whom he also gets along with well.

He glazes over the topic of his sister, similar to how I glazed over why I was arrested. I return his kindness and don't pry.

He tells me about his mom, who disappeared eight years ago without any warning. He refuses to believe that she just walked out on him and his father and sister. He thinks DSHA sent her on some top secret mission where she went MIA.

His cheeks darken a little when he admits that, like he thinks I might scoff at his idealism. But I won't, because it's only natural to think the best of the people we love.

Besides that, I can sympathize with him. My uncle - Digit's father - officially went missing about eight years ago, too. (Though he actually got into a really bad fight as one of the Overlords and was seriously injured. He died a few days later.) It was a rough time for my entire family. This unexpected coincidence makes me feel a little closer to Aether.

And it also piques my interest. The Overlord taught me not to believe in coincidences.

So I ask Aether what time of year she disappeared.

He says it was in mid-August, which only strengthens my suspicions.

I downplay my curiosity by saying that August must be a hard time of year for him. He shrugs and replies that it doesn't bother him that much anymore.

We wrap up our conversation as we hear a guard coming our way. After he passes by, we both decide it's time to get back to our rooms. We do have school tomorrow, after all.

To my surprise, Psaqua still isn't back by the time I return.

I settle into bed, and as I drift off to sleep, I'm content for the first time since coming here.