Precariously, silence hung in the air. Its fragility could be felt as it struggled to maintain the peace. Like the bursting of a dam, it broke. Cries of astonishment and fear melded together with demands for immediate explanation. Cealia raised a hand and silence returned, stronger this time.

"None of that."

A simple command, yet they listened. Liris still kneeled on the stone down below. Though the room was quiet, her mind was not. Those voices would not be smothered so easily. They hurled insults and doubts as if they were poisonous darts. Some landed, others sailed by. In the confusion, she couldn't identify any particular one amongst the deluge.

"Better. We must keep our heads. Safety is of utmost importance and then we can seek out answers."

Peering down from the ledge, Cealia watched Liris with sharp eyes. The half-broken girl staring back was forced to look away first.

"Are you in full control of yourself, child? Are you well?"

Was she? It didn't feel like it. Liris looked at the mouse in its cage again. How simple its life was, she could feel envy rising up. A bitter chuckle broke out, doing nothing to assuage the concerns of those above. She would trade places with a mouse? What had her life become? Oh right, Cealia was still waiting for an answer.

"Maybe."

Cealia paused in consideration. Yarth looked to speak but was halted by a sharp glance.

"Well then. Take a moment to fully collect yourself before we proceed."

Another laugh broke out but Liris forced it down. It wouldn't do for them to believe she was insane as well as weak. Deep breaths should help. What was that place? What had she become? Had it all been a dream? Her stomach flipped causing the circular recess to spin around her. She could hear each beat as her heart attempted to leap out of her chest. This wouldn't do. Gritting her teeth, she pushed it away with every shard of willpower she retained. There it sat in the back of her mind, refusing to be shoved over the edge. The experience was too vivid to be ignored. A shadow from a torch nearby or the feeling of stone beneath her hands would send her back. Not to that place, -she shuddered- but flashes of it would replay without her consent.

"Alright, feeling better?"

There was a lightness in her tone and without looking, Liris knew a kind smile was gracing the room. Likewise, she knew both were fake. Deeper in the tone was fear at the least, possibly disgust. As for the smile, she had experienced far too many to miss the twist along the side of each word. It did make sense, considering the circumstances. If it were her up above staring down at a monster, she would employ the same tactics.

"Yes." A lie. "I won't intentionally harm anyone if that's what you're concerned about." 'Unless I have to' The last part unspoken, still sent a spike of dread Liris felt through her entire body. Stupid again. They wouldn't set up such an elaborate testing procedure without having a Telepath present, at a minimum. She risked a glance up. Cealia was observing calmly, maybe they didn't have one near enough?

"Wonderful. Yarth, you can drop the barrier."

"Are you sure Madame? That's our only protection against whatever she did."

"Yarth." The kindness, forged or not, was gone. Though his figure was blurry, diffracted as it was through the barrier, Liris thought he nodded stiffly. With a suddenness that seemed like it should have been accompanied by a 'pop', the barrier disappeared. The expressions now visible on the many faces staring down didn't soothe her anxiety. All were tight with tension and fright. All but Cealia's. Liris chose to focus on only hers.

"That's better. Liris, was it? Can you describe what happened?"

Though she silently pleaded otherwise, that firm expression forbade any escape. Liris drew in a shaky breath, hands tracing the stones around her. Should she tell them everything? Was her 'gift' defective somehow? Well, of course it was...but would she be punished as a result? Those eyes, they were boring into her skull.

"It's alright, we're here to help."

Ha, Cealia had grossly misjudged the situation if she thought a statement such as that would be a comfort. From the brief crease in her brow, she seemed to be aware. Was she the Telepath? They would extract the details one way or another so it was probably best to volunteer the information. If only that made it easier.

"I followed your directions exactly." Was that even her voice? It sounded so small. "As soon as I squeezed I...had a vision...or something. "

"A vision? Strange. What did you see?"

"There was a void stretching out infinitely. Flickers of light in the distance. I know not how far. Below me was this...pile of stone. It moved or...breathed? Then I returned."

Liris cringed upon mentioning the living stone. Surely she sounded crazy. Recounting the experience, however succinctly, did not help her bury the memory. She slid her hands firmly across the floor, focused on the slight pain in her legs pressed against its hard surface. It helped, marginally.

"I don't believe you."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

What? That was the last response she expected. A lie would have been better then, they clearly didn't know her thoughts. Was it worth trying to convince them? She stared at the mouse gnawing on the wooden bars, they were the same after all. No adequate answer rose to the surface so Liris maintained her silence.

"No response? Then I shall clarify. Whatever you experienced, that was no vision."

It was all real? Imagine that. She should probably feel more surprised, let out a gasp of shock and faint for dramatic effect. Nothing would change, so why bother? Imaginary or concrete, her mind wasn't fully her own any longer. Perhaps she should be enraged at this curse forced upon her. Perhaps...but her stare never wavered.

"You may have guessed it by now, but I am an Empath."

Ah, that explained things. A jolt of fear struck her heart. The old 'eggs, flour, and salt' wouldn't work here. There had been few times when an Empath had been around. Fewer still, where she had to thwart their ability, or attempt to. Success had been rare, but was possible. Liris reached deep inside for emptiness. It didn't clear her mind completely, but the tide of emotions was angled to the side. Where they ran to, none could dredge the abyss. She sat in that empty riverbed, empty but not dull. Thoughts still flowed the same as ever. Each one carried a drop of emotion which threatened the makeshift blockade. It would hold for now. Could Cealia sense the change?

"As such, I can attest before all these witnesses that you physically left and then returned after a short time. I do not doubt your claims of what you saw, you believe the sights were true, but you must be careful to view the situation objectively, no matter how outrageous it may seem."

Liris hated to admit it, but Cealia was right. It was foolish of her to jump to conclusions. On the other hand, how often did an ability cause someone to cease existing? Minutes ago she would have bet her life savings...ok, a banker's vault...that the answer was 'never'. Was it actually rather common and just a closely kept secret?

"With that cleared up and documented..." Cealia paused as three quills started frantically scratching. "...all of you are excused."

"Even I, Madame? I'm sure I could assist in showing her arou-"

"Even you."

"Of course."

With a half bow, Yarth hurried to leave. A bit more scratching and rustling of papers echoed in the chamber before the four witnesses followed him, Elbert bringing up the rear. The low tone of the door slamming shut reverberated in the recessed cylinder. Liris could feel it in her bones. The swishing of Cealia's dress was the only other sound, besides the mouse of course. Soft footfalls soon joined the rubbish orchestra as Cealia walked down the curved stairs. The air stirred as she sat down, presumably near the bottom, then stilled.

"That's better, isn't it?"

"Sure."

"Hopefully it's not too unsettling, but I can feel you are withdrawn. Though my awakening wasn't as extreme as yours, it was still quite the shock. What questions can I answer to help put you at ease?"

"Questions? How about, why was I dragged from my home into the burning Brume? Why am I here instead of joining the miners as a Telekinetic? Is this change permanent? Will I suddenly be...somewhere else? Oh, and most importantly, why do you care? What do you gain from me standing on a rock in some void?"

"That's enough of a list to keep us busy for a while, if I could answer them all. Surely your parents told you about awakening?"

Liris broke her stare just long enough to turn and give Cealia a sardonic glance.

"Ah, my apologies. I shouldn't have assumed."

Cealia had the decency to let the silence sweep the moment away.

"Awakening usually happens when you're a couple years older, about twenty."

"I'm not a complete idiot."

Cealia continued, unperturbed.

"That's when your mental talent becomes usable, or...awake. Most common are-"

"Telepathy and Telekinesis, I'm well aware. That doesn't answer a single one of my questions."

"Patience dear. Rarely you'll get an Empath like myself, even rarer are Uniques. According to our records, the numbers skew towards Uniques when the awakening is forced. Still extremely rare, but one in five hundred is vastly different than one in a thousand. So, with skipping a few details I'm not at liberty to divulge, that's why you were 'torn from your home' as you phrased it."

Huh, that made an upsettingly decent amount of common sense. It changed nothing of course, she was still the one sitting here in shock.

"You should have just asked. There are plenty of us street folk who would jump at the chance."

Then it would be someone else sitting here. Should she feel sorry for them? If they could, would they switch places with her right now?

"Perhaps, but we also don't want to create riots and panic. Imagine if the entire city knew that they had a chance at real power just by running into the Brume. How many would die leaving the rest of us to pick up the slack? The city would fall to ruin faster than a sunset."

How could she forget...the bodies. Were they dissolved by now? Joined in with the rest of the Brume making it that much denser?

"You don't die from a natural awakening."

"True, though there are occasional complications."

Really? No further explanation? No apology?

"Am I allowed to leave?"

"Allowed to- have you not been informed of your situation?"

Liris gently shook her head.

"How does protocol worsen every time? Congratulations are in order! You are a Unique, one of a very small group. As such, your every need will be taken care of. Why, you'll even live right here in the center spire! On top of all the other benefits, you'll also receive a stipend of two hundred iron marks. Your days of merely surviving will soon be but a faint memory."

Two hundred...in a year she could buy a small house near the wall for that much. One near the center for triple that. She could picture it now, a quiet corner of a clean street, flowers about the windows. Looking out at the shops as she sipped a glass of some wine or another.

"That's quite a lot, but what if I want to return home before the yearly payment?"

The humor was evident in Cealia's voice.

"My dear, that's two hundred per week."

Liris sprung to her feet, fists clenched. Whirling around, she stared daggers into Cealia's perfect face. There was no diverting this torrent. Her upper lip contorted in disgust, she forced the true question out through gritted teeth.

"What...do you...want...from me?"