We had moved from the bridge to a small but comfortable room lower decks, it was close quarters with a large leather couch along one wall and thick leather armchairs. I had been settled into one of the armchairs and the captain as well as Alexander sat on the couch. Kirill had stayed on the bridge ostensibly to direct the crew but also to relieve some tension I assumed. Alexander had talked animatedly in Russian as well as another language to Captain Repun the entire walk to the lounge. He seemed much more comfortable and lively without Kirill around and I found that his excitement whether intentional or not lifted my spirits. Even if I couldn't understand what he was saying as he helped me down the halls I could tell it was positive. I could also tell the captain while slightly exasperated looking was receptive to whatever the younger man was saying and listened to him as he spoke. Finally, when we had reached the room they had set me down and poured themselves cups of coffee. They offered me a mug to me which I happily accepted and sipped on as they settled onto the couch. It tasted awful, closer to battery acid than coffee but I savoured every sip like it was my last. They watched me for a few minutes as I sipped my coffee and I tried to ignore their looks and get my thoughts in order. It was a harder task than I expected as Captain Repun remained unreadable and Alexander stared with an open curiosity I found both endearing and terrifying.

It was Alexander who spoke first this time, “Please excuse Kirill, he is uncored and sees you being aboard as a direct threat to the crew, he is a good man though.”

I was taken slightly aback as Alexander spoke, he seemed confident as he spoke and his accent seemed to shrink until I almost didn't notice it. As surprising as this was though what I latched onto was the word that Alexander had used “uncored”. It was, I assumed, something lost in translation and I leaned forward to ask for some clarification when Repun spoke.

“Kirill has every right to see you as a threat after your display when we drug you out of the water.”

Repun replied to Alexander and looked at him reproachfully.

“This is not to mention the display in the hall when you lost control, both times you have put the ship and its crew in danger. I do not take this lightly.”

Captain Repun looked at me harshly and I was taken aback by his gaze, his eyes seemed to sparkle with a thinly veiled power behind him. I was confused though as to what he meant, it seemed both he and as explained by Alexander, Kirill, saw me as a legitimate threat. I understood that there would likely be some sort of political ramifications to this but this seemed like a more immediate worry. The way that he had described my rescue and my breakdown made it seem as if I had attacked the ship or put it in danger somehow.

Before I could voice my questions though Alexander spoke again.

“Repun is too cautious, although you are quite strong, what are you? Pyre, Sunfire?”

Alexander spoke animatedly and leaned forward looking at me intently, I realized that maybe he wasn't as old as I assumed and he was perhaps closer to my age.

The look on my face though was clear, a deep confusion as I had no clue as to what his question meant, sure the words made sense individually but in this context I was clueless.

Repun looked at Alexander and said a few harsh words in Russian before turning to me and speaking.

“We cannot force you to reveal your cores but we already know you possess at least one fire core, a fire which you either cannot control or are pretending to be unable to. Either option puts the ship in danger and we must come to an understanding that you must not use your cores while on board.”

Repun was stern but the look on his face made me think that he was beginning to understand that I was not any kind of threat, at least not in any intentional way. However, I was still confused and it was seeming less and less likely that something was being lost in translation. My face must have given away my feelings as I watched both Alexander's and the Captain's expressions change. Alexander seemed even more excited and began speaking to Repun rapidly in a language that definitely wasn't Russian. Repun for his part seemed to finally fully understand the depths of my confusion and sympathy shown on his face even as he paled slightly.

“You have no idea what's going on do you?” Repun seemed to be more speaking to himself than me as he pulled his cap off and ran his hand through surprisingly long silver hair.

I couldn't help but smile and start laughing in a way that surely looked like I had lost my mind, again. It really was funny though, I had been awake for less than two hours and in that span, I had not stopped being absolutely ignorant the entire time. Repun and Alexander tensed as I started to laugh, my head in my hands I held up one hand to hold them off. As the laughter petered up I looked back up at them with tears in my eyes,

“I have absolutely no idea what's going on.”

My breath shuddered out as I sighed and I felt the hours events weigh on me as I looked at my saviours' faces. I felt more tired than maybe ever had, it wasn't just mental, or just physical, it was a bone cracking weariness that I felt through my body and mind. I held the warm coffee cup close to me, cradling it and hoping some of its warmth would leak into my suddenly cold body. Alexander leaned forward towards me a look of worry and concentration on his face as he looked at me. He also had one out as if to hold Repun back, Repun for his part also looked worried although his look was slightly different. The heat of the mug against the centre of my chest finally started to spread through me as I looked at the two of them. I was done, I was exhausted and I was tired of being treated like a threat when I was clearly a victim. My anger rose in my throat as I looked straight at Alexander and Repun, trying to look determined. The heat in my chest felt good, the anger felt good, it was something to hold onto that wasn't despair. Alexander's face changed until all I could see was concentration on it and his hand holding back Repun waivered as I watched the older man tense up. I was done.

Several things happened then happened at once. I slammed my coffee mug down on the small table beside me. There was a loud bang and the room was filled with the smell of burnt coffee. I felt a bunch of small tugs on my hand and another along my forehead. Alexander moved forward grabbing my knee and Repun stood eyes blazing. Not blazing metaphorically. No. Literally. His eyes glowed like golden spotlights as he looked down at me and I looked up at him open mouthed. I felt a cold spreading out from my knee as I looked down and saw frost forming in the air around his hand as he looked at me intently. His eyes too looked different, illuminated by a colder blue light that seemed to sap the heat out of my chest. I felt something drip down into my eye and I reached up to wipe at it instinctually and both men moved. The lights in the room seemed to warp brighten as the space was filled with blinding white light. I felt a hand on my wrist that was hard and calloused, Repuns I assumed. I felt another on my forehead pressing some sort of cloth above my eyebrow. I could also feel something liquid dripping down my hand now onto the captain’s as he held me fast. The pain, first along my eyebrow then in my hand brought me back to reality and I blinked rapidly trying to regain my vision. I could hear the two men talking rapidly in whatever that not Russian language well before I could I see again. What I saw when I was able to see again though was yet another thing to add to a growing list of things I couldn't understand. The small wooden table to the left of me was half in splinters, and Alexander was now standing directly in front of me leaning forward, touching my face. I looked up at him but his head was turned to look at Repun who stood at my left. Peering around Alexander I saw shards of ceramic littering the floors, walls, ceiling. The air smelled overpoweringly of burnt coffee which I wrinkled my nose at instinctually and felt a grip on my wrist tighten. Looking up I saw Repun looming over me and holding my arm in an iron grip. His eyes were no longer shining and it had been so fast I wasn't sure I’d even see it, maybe the vision had been a product of adrenaline. Looking at my hand though I was able to see it was covered in tiny cuts that all bled and dripped down onto Captain Repuns hand.

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On instinct, I spoke,

“Sorry for…” I coughed at the taste of burnt coffee on my tongue.

I honestly didn't even know how to apologize for this, I was sorry for what? For bleeding on him? Sure that made a lot of sense, he could have just let go of me if he didn't want to be bled on. Sorry, a small bomb just went off and ruined your table? What the fuck actually just happened? Finally, I decided that the last question was probably the most important one and I coughed again before speaking.

“Could someone tell me what the fuck just happened please?” I grinned weakly as Alexander and Repun both looked down at me.

“You vaporized the coffee and blew up the mug,” Alexander turned to look at me as he spoke and I saw the light in his eyes I must have imagined too.

“He could have killed us, or worse damaged the ship,” Repun spoke in English so assumed this was meant more for me than Alexander and sadly it wasn't sinking in.

I was too busy trying to figure out what Alexander had meant when I said I vaporized the coffee. I mean I understood the concept fine. Expanding gasses equals explosion. I'd loved volcanos as a kid and honestly, as an adult, that same concept had caused some of the biggest eruptions.

What stumped me was that in my humble experience slamming a mug doesn't usually vaporize the contents.

As the gears in my brain whirred trying to understand what had just happened I heard a crackle like an intercom and some spoken Russian that sounded like Kirill to me. Repun started to reply before Alexander whispered something harshly and Repun stopped. They argued in hushed voices for a few seconds before it looked like Repun relented and he replied to Kirill.

“Hold this,” Alexander grabbed my free hand and pressed it to the handkerchief pressed against my forehead.

I watched him move across the room and grab some cloth napkins and a glass which he filled with water from a small sink. Repun silently watched him still holding my arm tightly as the blood now started to drip off his hand and down my forearm. I wasn't usually very squeamish but it did really look like a lot of blood at this point and turned away from it to watch Alexander. He moved back towards us and squatted down next to me where he motioned for Repun to lower my arm. Repun did so begrudgingly and stood by my side like a sentry and Alexander took my hand and started to clean the blood off of it with a napkin. He was gentle as he wiped the blood from the dozens of little cuts across the back of my hand and fingers. It was silent in the room as he did this, and I registered somewhere in the back of my head that I was almost definitely in shock. Finally Alexander to another clean napkin and tied it around my hand before sinking to the ground with his back against the couch. His hands were covered in my blood and he wiped them with his napkin and looked up at me wearily.

“You have absolutely no idea what you're doing do you?” Alexander asked me.

“I think it's been pretty well established I don't,” I replied flatly. Even in shock, I'm funny.

I was galled though at my ignorance, right now by my own admission I held none of the cards in this exchange. Even in my state, I realized that unless I started being careful about what I said and admitted to not knowing I could put myself in real danger.

“Then I was right,” Alexander smiled weakly at Repun. “He is- I mean you are- were, uncored, ungifted, unblessed.”

Repun scoffed slightly as I looked between him and Alexander.

“I think that much would be obvious to anyone at this point,” Repun replied. “doesn't make him any less dangerous, just changes the danger”

I opened my mouth to speak but swallowed instead, clearly whatever uncored was it meant something that I should know considering it had been mentioned a few times now. I needed to be careful to not reveal that I had absolutely no idea what the term meant. I was dimly aware somewhere that the shock was definitely playing some part in how was taking this situation. If it was shock keeping me this calm I was very appreciative as I tried to formulate what to say next. I was saved however by Alexander who continued speaking as he watched me process what he had just said to me.

“I'm sure this is all a lot to take in since I'm guessing you don't come from a cored family from reaction to all this.” His tone was gentle as he explained to me.

“Cored, uncored, family or not, it doesn't explain where we found him.” Repuns words were clipped but I could tell it wasn't from anger, instead, he seemed anxious.

“No, it doesn't,” Alexander moved his hand up as if to run it through a beard which wasn't there.

“Clearly though, our friend doesn't know either so for now it remains a mystery to both of us.”

Turning back to me he continued.

“One mystery that we can help with though is what just happened, what has happened three times now.”

I swallowed as I gripped the edges of the chair I was in as if holding it tighter could somehow anchor me for what was about to come.

“Lucian, you are cored, as you know this is not uncommon, I am cored, and so is Repun. As I'm sure you also know it is rare but not unheard of for uncored people to gain cores although you are slightly older than usual.” As Alexander spoke it felt like my entire vision narrowed.

All I could see as he spoke were his eyes, the way the corners of them crinkled as he spoke, his mouth and how a tired smile seemed to sit in the corners of his lips. Most people can point at a few moments in their lives and say “right there, that's where everything changed.” Usually were able to do this through the gift of hindsight letting us look through our lives. It was therefore an entirely unique feeling to know in the moment that nothing would ever be the same. This feeling condensed into reality as Alexander spoke.

“You vaporized the coffee, melted the deck, boiled the seawater, it can be put a variety of different ways most commonly what you did is called, magic.”