16. Reverie
Chapter 16
Reverie
O nce their shock faded, Pop made Pantar a bowl of water, and Mom pulled a roast from the refrigerator she was going to cook the next night. Putting it in a pan, she brought it out for Pantar to eat. When everyone was settled and I had served myself a massive plate of enchiladas, the questions began.
“How did you get here?” Grumpy wanted to know, petting Rubbish who had somehow ended up on his lap.
“The Dean used his ability to create a portal. I think he was accommodating because I’m Nexus. He mentioned introducing his nephew to me after initiation.” I replied with a mouthful of my mom’s delicious enchiladas.
“He always was a self-serving prick,” Mom rolled her eyes.
“Three days, just three days you’ve been gone, and you return with Pantar, an animal most Aurathions believed extinct because of the war. We always knew you would make a splash, but this is a tidal wave.” Pop laughed.
“How did you acquire Pantar?” Mom asked, staring at the Fellat in adoration. Her eyes had barely left him since I walked in the door.
“I was being shown my deepest fear and not dealing very well with it; suddenly, Pantar showed up and snapped me out of it. I have no idea how he got there, and he hasn’t said.” I looked at Pantar as I spoke, but he never stopped eating.
“Other than your wonderful fathers, having my Mira was the greatest part of being Nexus." My Mom said with tears in her eyes. "Our connection was so strong she gave her life defending my loves.” Mom looked at me with tear filled eyes.
Grumpy got up from his chair, pulled her into his arms, and sat back down with her in his lap. The way my fathers loved my mother was something special to behold. They showed it every day in their every action.
“Mira is the reason I’m still here today. The reason all three of us are.” Grumpy’s expression was full of remembered pain.
“I don’t care how he came to be at the Academy, I’m just glad you have him,” Mom sniffled. “Nothing reassures me more than knowing you have his protection."
“Anything else happen that we should know about?” Pop asked.
Mouth full, I winced and mumbled, “I seem to have already developed Nathan’s ability.”
“Did you say you already gained Nathan’s abilities?” Grumpy gasped incredulously.
I nodded my head without looking up, absently rubbing the spot between my breasts that had started stinging again. I noticed Mom watching me intently.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Pop had a look of amazement on his face.
I swallowed and nodded my head again. “If you don’t believe me, I have three eyewitnesses.” I laughed remembering the panic the Moons were in when I returned to the dorm.
“Of course, we believe you, Tator Tot. I’m just in shock.” Pop rushed to say.
“Eyewitnesses? Who are they, and more importantly, will they keep their mouths shut? Tell us exactly what happened.” Grumpy said in rapid succession.
“Take a breath, John." Turning to me, Mom smiled in reassurance. "Explain what happened before your father loses it.”
“I was in my dorm eating pizza with my roommate and her brothers. Suddenly, I felt a tingle in my stomach and was in my Jeep.” I lowered my head peering up at Mom through my lashes." Nathan discovered he could communicate mentally with me. When I teleported, I was so freaked out, I thought I would try to contact him for help. It took a minute, but I could. Have you ever heard of anything like that happening?”
“Not unless your Faction is whole.” Grumpy jumped to his feet and started pacing. “Is there anything else?”
“I might have found two more Faction. My roommate's brothers,” I whispered.
Grumpy sat back down, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes wearily, “Anything else?”
“Let me think. Punching a bit- girl in the face,” I decided Grumpy had just about reached his limit, so I changed my word choice, “teleporting, telepathy, communicating with animals, gaining a Fellat. Yep, I think that’s it.”
“Brat,” Pop laughed despite the situation.
“And yes, my roommate and her brothers can be trusted.” Trying to lighten the mood, I said, “the brothers are identical twins.”
“I highly recommend twins.” Mom wiggled her eyebrows. “Double the trouble, but double the love, if you get my drift.”
“Adelaide Ophelia, that is our daughter you’re talking to!” Grumpy said in a stern voice with a blush rising on his face. Pop died laughing, Mom tried but failed to look innocent.
“She’s almost nineteen and already has one Faction member. She knows what sex is.” For once, it was my Pop and Grumpy making gagging noises. I was laughing too hard to be grossed out. “What are their names?” Mom asked.
“Chloe, Zeke, and Zane Moon, they’re from Ohio, and I think they’re all amazing,” I smiled. “I felt a connection to the twins as soon as I met them.”
Mom smiled at me fondly, “I’m so happy you’re already forming a support system.” She looked at me with caution, “Why are you rubbing your chest?”
“Ever since I bonded with Pantar, it’s been bothering me.” I felt the stinging again and brought my hand back to rub the spot.
“Can I look at it?” Mom asked, getting up out of Grumpy’s lap.
“Yes.” I dutifully got up and she followed me into the downstairs bathroom. Mom came in behind me and shut the door. I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled down my bra. I heard Mom let out a gasp behind me but was too amazed by the sight in the mirror to turn around.
“What the hell is that?” I finally pried my gaze away from the glowing triquetra now tattooed between my breasts and looked at my mom’s stunned reflection behind me.
“That’s the mark of a Nexus, but I’ve never seen one quite like that.” She had a look of awe on her face.
I turned back to the mirror and admired the silver lines that formed the triquetra, there was a circle interwoven to form six spaces the top space had an oak or ash tree with widespread branches in glowing amber, in the space slightly below it to the right, was a dagger in emerald, green, the remaining four spaces were empty. Between the lines forming the circle were the words, Exordium, Inter, and Exitus.
Mom held up her wrist, so it was reflected in the mirror. I used to trace it with my finger when I was a child. It was a triquetra with an ash tree in the center surrounded by flames. Nowhere near as detailed as mine, no words and no extra symbols like the dagger. The four extra spaces that looked like they were waiting to be filled was unique too.
“Sweet baby girl, I knew you were special the minute you took your first breath.” She turned to me, straightening my clothes. “The mark usually shows up after you’ve bonded with your Fellat. I never told you any of this because I thought all the Fellats had died out. No one has gotten the mark in over twenty years.” Mom pulled me into a tight hug, “Let’s go back out and join your fathers. I’ll try to research this and see what all of it means.”
Grumpy and Pop were looking at us in question when we walked into the dining room.
“She’s gained her Nexus mark, but it has symbols and words that I’ve never seen appear in a mark before.” Mom sat in Pop’s lap this time. Both of my fathers looked at me in amazement.
“This is unbelievable!” Grumpy sounded excited and scared all at the same time.
“Not so unbelievable. She is special and called to me before ever entering Emberhold.” Pantar spoke to me and Grumpy.
Grumpy nodded in agreement, then looked at me, “Don’t let anyone but Nathan see it. There are too many things stacking up, if the Council finds out about this, I’m scared of what their reaction will be.”
Hearing Grumpy sound so worried was freaking me the hell out. Pantar prowled over to me and nuzzled my hair in comfort. It was becoming our thing.
“Finish your food, Tator Tot, we’ll figure this all out in time.” Pop smiled. “Back to what you were saying before—"
Grumpy interrupted, “Who did you punch in the face?”
“A girl who had a thing with the twins last year. She had it coming, though.” I grinned. Trying to hide the worry I still felt.
“Why did you punch her?” Pop asked, looking inappropriately proud. Mom was watching him with a disapproving look on her face.
“She insulted y’all, and it pissed me off. Unfortunately, her brother is my fighting instructor, so you can imagine how that went. His name is Oren ShitStorm…. It’s Storm, but my name fits him better.” I continued stuffing my face. After eating my last enchilada, I realized my parents had gone completely quiet. Looking up, I saw grim expressions on their faces. “What? Why are y’all so quiet?”
“There are a few things we never told you for the safety of you and our Faction. You know about the testing that was done on embryos.” Grumpy sighed.
“Yes,” I murmured.
“Every Aurathion was excited to see what would come of it, and with our technology, we were able to test on synthetic embryos, not live subjects. What isn’t widely known is that the experiments Rue conducted weren’t just on the embryos. Most Aurathions have no idea that there were older test subjects.”
“I remember hearing a little about that.” It was a fascinating subject but obviously painful for my family.
“The testing involving the embryos was very successful, and Rue was so excited. Then, the Council became involved. Some members had siblings and children who had never found a Nexus. They wanted Rue to begin giving them the same serum he had given to the embryos.” Grumpy frowned.
“We knew so many wonderful Passives who deserved to experience what it means to be Faction. Rue was wary of giving the serum to real subjects.” Mom said quietly. “I think he was skeptical of it working, but he wanted all Aurathions to experience what we had: longer lifespans, fantastic abilities, the connection to each other.”
Grumpy rose from his chair, took Mom from Pop, and sat back down with her on his lap. I knew how much talking about the past could upset her.
“The suicide rate had skyrocketed over the years for Passives who hadn’t found their Faction. Even though we’re hard to kill, there were plants in our world that were highly lethal and would do the job. Many saw them as inferior, and Rue hoped to find a solution. We found out later that the only Passives that had been given the opportunity to try the serum were related to the Council or upper-class Aurathions that the Council chose.” Grumpy spoke in a sad voice.
“The Storm Faction’s Nexus, Remus, was on the Council then and campaigned heavily to start experimenting on adult Passives. He had a younger brother, Trent, who’d remained Passive, they didn’t like the stigma attached to that. Rue said that Trent was one of his most successful test subjects. Several Passives had gained abilities and seemed completely normal, but Trent’s abilities appeared quicker and were stronger. Oddly, he disappeared a few weeks before the war. No one has heard from him since.” Pop explained.
“So other subjects had side effects from the serum?” I asked.
“Rue came home many nights and barely spoke, even to me. Then, one night, he came in late. He was upset and woke us up. He said several of his Passive subjects had gained abilities over the last few weeks but showed weird behavioral changes. Some test subjects initially had mild, easygoing personalities, but after a few weeks, that changed. Extreme aggression, moody, indifferent emotionally. It seemed to be getting progressively worse.” Grumpy rubbed Mom’s back as she talked. “Earlier that night, one of his subjects murdered his wife. The Council enforcers brought him into the lab. They didn’t want the public to know. When confronted, the subject kept screaming that his wife wasn’t Nexus. He had to kill her so his Nexus would come. Rue concluded that not having a Nexus to center the power drove many older subjects insane. Rue wanted to stop the testing immediately, but Remus Storm wouldn’t hear it.”
“Were the Storm Faction ever questioned about him? Why weren’t they ever investigated?” I scrunched up my face in confusion.
“The other Council members did inquire several times, but Remus said that the Dark Factions must have captured him. He sponsored several missions to look for and retrieve him. We could never prove Remus was involved, and even though he isn’t on the Council anymore, his Faction is still powerful.” Grumpy grimaced.
“I’m confused. The test subjects started gaining abilities without a Nexus? Didn’t other Aurathions become suspicious? And why did they assume Trent had been captured when he disappeared before the war?” I frowned.
“Trent disappearing before the war was a sticking point for Sly. He always felt that Remus was hiding something.” Grumpy kissed the top of Mom’s head.
“People see what they want to see, and they had no idea that the serum had been given to adults. It’s still believed that the war was caused by power hungry Factions that wanted total control, and that’s not completely wrong. The power-hungry Factions just happened to have been brought into their abilities by Rue’s serum. After Rue and Sly were killed, we tried bringing the experiments to the public's attention. Things got dicey between the Storm Faction and ours. We would have carried it further, but not long after, we found out we were going to have a baby, and we couldn’t risk it.” Pop said in apology.
“You must understand, Reverie, you were all we had left of Rue and Sly. I couldn’t take the chance of losing you.” Mom started sobbing. Pop got up, kneeling in front of Grumpy’s chair. He put his arms around them both. Pantar went around the table to rub his cheek against the top of Mom’s head. Pop held out an arm for me, and I joined the group hug.
“We’ll figure it all out, Tator Tot. Together, we’re unstoppable.”
After helping my parents clear the table Mom walked with me and Pantar back to the barn. It was almost time for the portal to appear. As we walked arm in arm, I thought about how lucky I was and how very much I loved my parents. They had always supported me and been there no matter what.
“How are you and Nathan doing?” Mom asked.
“We’re amazing. It’s truly unbelievable how our relationship has changed since we bonded. There were times over the years when I thought I hated him. Now, the thought of being without him is unbearable.” I couldn’t keep a smile off my face just thinking about the Psycho. Looking over at Mom and seeing the agony on her face, I immediately apologized, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t thinking.” Turning, I pulled her into a fierce hug.
Mom rubbed my back, “It’s alright, sweet girl. I’ll miss Rue and Sly until my dying breath but seeing them in you gives me comfort.”
“I wish I could have known them. Is it weird to miss someone you’ve never met?” I sighed wistfully.
“No, it’s not. They’d have loved you so much. Rue was brilliant. He would’ve loved teaching you about any and everything. My Sly was fierce. Nathan wouldn’t have lived past junior high if he’d been here.” Mom laughed.
“He’s lucky because it was touch and go a few times with Grumpy and Pop.” I laughed in remembrance.
“It was," Mom agreed, laughing with me. “We’ll get this all figured out. You concentrate on getting through initiation." Walking up to Pantar, Mom put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Keep our girl safe and make sure the Passives wanting admittance to her Faction are worthy.”
Pantar gave a regal nod, then leaned down and licked her face from chin to forehead.
“Nexus, tell your mother it will be my privilege,” Pantar growled out in my head.
“He said it would be his privilege,” I told Mom, laughing as she used her shirt to wipe the drool from her face.
Just then, the portal appeared. Pantar extended his tentacle to me. I kissed Mom’s cheek, the one with no drool, and Pantar and I stepped through.