"Hey, Tanner," one of our classmates approaches him as we start to make our way out of the school. "They opened up that hangout place they were constructing, and a group of us were planning on going. We can have up to twenty in a room if we rent a bigger room, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come. It'll be the perfect way to kick off the weekend before finals."

She looks at me for a moment, then back to Tanner.

"And Nick can come, too, if he wants," she tells him. "Though we're trying to get a headcount so that we don't go over the limit, so we kind of need to know now."

You probably should have planned this more than at the end of the school day that it opened. It was announced a week ago they were opening today, and Tanner had already been attending classes for a few days by that point.

"We already had plans," Tanner gives me a glance for a moment, probably wondering what the emotion other than contempt I'm feeling in regards to the hangout place is. "But-"

"We can go," I state. "The plans were mostly just me keeping the wolves away from you while you were doing your thing."

"Wolves?" The classmate asks.

"I think he's joking," Tanner hesitates for a moment. "Then again, I did see a wolf once."

"We can go to the hangout place," I state. "She's right, it's a good way to relax before the hell that is finals week."

"Alright," Tanner looks at her. "Then we'll go, but we'll stop by the dorms first, drop off our bags."

"That's fine," she says. "The official start time is three-thirty, but we've got it booked from quarter-after until five-thirty. The group is under the name Mindy Reynolds, I'll make sure they put you two on the guests register."

"Got it," Tanner says. "See you there."

Tanner and I make our way back to my apartment, where we drop off our bags before beginning the walk to the hangout area, which isn't too far from the apartments. It's intended as a place for students and young adults to hang out at. There are rooms of two sizes, holding up to ten or twenty people. We can do karaoke, play trivia games, and a few other things in the rooms, as well as order drinks, snacks, and desserts.

"So," Tanner says on our way to the center. "What's got you so giddy about the hangout place?"

"Some of their desserts," I answer. "They have a banana cheesecake on their menu, along with a couple of massive parfaits, sundaes, and other things I want to try."

He laughs at my simple response, but it's true. I've never had a banana cheesecake before and want to try it, and fruit parfaits and sundaes with lots of fruit toppings are delicious.

"I guess I can understand that," Tanner tells me. "I've never had a banana cheesecake before. Wonder if it still has that strong cheesecake taste to it, or if they figured out how to make the banana actually override that."

"I'm curious, too."

"Excuse me," a woman approaches us, dressed in a white polo and black slacks, black and white earrings in her ears. She looks at me. "Sorry to interrupt, but are you Casimir Wade?"

Great, another one of these cases. Reporter or Klen? She doesn't have a clipboard on her, but she did come out of a car and approached in a slight hurry. Her tone is more friendly than most of the Klen members' tones when they approach me, and her stance is much less militaristic. It could go either way.

She seems nervous, though, her body trembling only slightly as she fidgets a little, her eyes continuously moving. Is she being threatened? Or something else?

"I prefer Nick," I tell her.

"Nick?" She asks. "For your middle name?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Who are you?"

"My name is Lizzie Brol," she introduces herself. "I work for the Weekly Signs. I'm sorry to take up some of your time, but I was recently hired, and my boss wants me to do a big article. I was looking into various topics, and-"

"Sorry," I say. "But if you want to interview me about my parents, you'll need to do something for me in return."

"I'm sorry," a slight expression of surprise, a small pause in her fidgeting. "But we don't provide compensation for interviews, so that our readers can be assured that the responses weren't something that we bribed for."

Is that what she's actually here for? Most reporters know by now that I have what seems to be an impossible requirement, so they've given up, and others generally research enough to find out about it, which deters all but the most stubborn of reporters and journalists, and even then, I usually manage to deal with them inside of a week.

The way she responded, I'm guessing she really is an amateur reporter here hoping for a big article. I do know of the Weekly Signs, they're a major news site that does articles about Sigil-Bearers.

"It's nothing like money," I tell her. "I have a single condition for doing an interview regarding my parents. The first person to introduce me to the empathic healer will be the one and only person for whom I will do an interview."

"The empathic healer?" She asks as Tanner gives me a bewildered look. "What do you mean?"

"A Duality," I say. "A Sigil-Bearer with two powers. One of empathy, one of healing. Even the Federation doesn't know who they are. They know of three empaths, and of them, not one possesses a second ability. Outside of the Federation, I've only been able to learn of two empaths, both of which are single-ability as well."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

There are Sigil-Bearers who possess the ability to 'know' someone's ability, or to locate people with specific abilities, localized to an area. I know of three, and the Federation has had them attempt to locate the empathic healer.

To no avail, because their abilities all have limitations to them that require things that they can't have without already knowing the empathic healer.

But those who know of this quest of the Federation's know that they either exist or will exist.

"You want me to locate something that doesn't exist?" She looks just as bewildered as Tanner.

It's not that Dualities don't exist – they are known. It's the claim that I've been looking for one with a specific combination and haven't found one, and that implies they don't exist.

"Are you sure the empathic healer doesn't exist?" I ask. "Perhaps they've hidden themselves well? That's my requirement to an interview about my parents. If you're able to locate them and introduce them to me before anyone else introduces them to me, then I'll do an interview. Otherwise, your site's not going to get an interview. That's my condition, and I've given it to every reporter who's come to ask in the last ten years."

The reporter thinks about that for a few moments, then nods in acceptance.

"Very well, then," she says. "I'll… pursue this hunt of yours while trying to keep my job. Is there a way I can get in touch with you?"

I pull out my wallet, then pull out a business card from inside of it and hand it to her.

"My email is on there," I tell her. "Contact me if you've found them. Know that I'll require them to prove that they are the empathic healer before I do the interview."

"Understood," she says. "Hopefully, I will be in touch."

She leaves, entering her car again, and I resume walking, Tanner following me after a moment. Strange that she didn't ask about Ali, but it's possible that she did find out about her and how no one's managed to get me to lead them to her. An intelligent person would assume that either I never would or that I truly don't know where Ali went.

It's funny how what are considered the two biggest pieces of news regarding Sigil-Bearers have no articles with the full details. The first deaths caused by a Sigil-Bearer and the first and only Sigil-Bearer to ever lose their Sigil.

And the same person stands in the way of both.

"The empathic healer?" Tanner asks.

"Hm?" I look at him.

"You mentioned an empathic healer," he says. "It seems you're looking for them? I guess that's why you asked me if I had another ability? Since I'm empathic?"

"Oh, yeah," I nod. "The Federation is looking for them, though it's supposed to be kept secret. Someone leaked it to the Klen, though, which has caused some problems. It's actually linked to why some people spread that there's a Sigil God of Destruction."

"A healer? Linked to the Sigil God of Destruction?" He gives me an even more confused look, this one full of worry. "So they actually do exist?"

"No," I shake my head. "As I said, the Sigil Gods have verified that there's no such being. Seriously, Tanner, don't worry too much."

"I'm confused," he says. "Why do people believe there's a Sigil God of Destruction because of an empathic healer? Those abilities don't compliment each other, and the way you said that and your emotions-"

Dualities usually have powers which compliment each other well, such as order and chaos, life and death, or light and dark.

"I'm sure you'll find the amusement I'm feeling confusing," I tell him. "Basically, ten years ago, a six-year-old girl gave a prophecy that caused the Federation to panic. That's her ability – prophetic knowledge. The thing is, her ability wasn't trained very well, and couldn't give very accurate prophecies. There were always at least two key elements."

"How does that work?" He asks. "She could see the future, but only wrongly?"

"Sort of," I stop walking and turn to face Tanner, who stops as well. Better to say this while no one else is within earshot. "That's actually akin to what happens. She receives a series of images in her mind, and then they're translated into words. The problem is, the words of the prophecy aren't always accurate to what she saw, and she has no control over that. Ten years ago, her power was so erratic that you could only count on the keywords. Now, she's trained it a bit more and can give a little more accurate of prophecies."

"Couldn't she just describe what she saw after?" He asks.

"The images fade from her memory as soon as she gives the prophecy," I shake my head. "She herself wasn't sure certain why her prophecies were what they were until about a year ago, because of this. She consented to having a mentalist who could view someone else's thoughts and senses be in her mind while she gave a prophecy, and that's how they found out."

"Oh," he says. "So what's the prophecy? How does the mythical God of Destruction fit into it?"

"'At the side of the empathic healer, the fourth god will destroy everything'."

Tanner visibly pales at that news.

"That's also," I say. "Part of why some people believe the Sigil God of Destruction is the one who actually caused the world's current state. Also, keep in mind that the prophecy's inaccurate. The only things to be taken from it are the empathic healer and a god. Literally everything else should be ignored. The Federation and the Sigil-Bearer who gave the prophecy both acknowledge this, though the Federation still wants to find this empathic healer because they know that they're somehow linked to the god."

"Those are the keys?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer, then resume walking.

"So there's a fourth god?" He asks. "If not of destruction, what? But wait, didn't you say-"

"That's part of why they know to ignore the part about the fourth god," I say. "The Sigil Gods confirmed there are only three Sigil Gods. The current theory is that one of the three of them falls in love with the empathic healer, then someone kills them, then the Sigil God goes on a rampage."

"Can prophecies be averted?" He asks.

"Sometimes," I shrug. "But the prophecy isn't complete in the first place, so it doesn't really matter. Without knowing the actual prophecy, no one can prepare for what might happen. It could literally be something as simple as one of the gods saving the empathic healer."

"Oh," he responds. "Makes sense. So they mostly want to try to find out who the empathic healer is in an attempt to figure out what the prophecy might actually be?"

"Yeah."

We walk in silence for another minute, then Tanner seems to think of something.

"Wait," he says. "If the Federation is keeping it a secret, and it was leaked to groups like the Klen, then how do you know? Did your boyfriend tell you? Do they know? Wouldn't he have gotten into trouble? Or will he?"

"The Sigil-Bearer herself told me," I inform him. "She's Tabitha's daughter, and she was visiting me ten years ago, when she gave the prophecy. I was there to hear it myself."

Tabitha still hasn't figured out why I cracked up laughing when I heard it, rather than being freaked out. I wonder if I'll ever let her know.

Another thing I wonder is if the Federation ever found out that the Sigil Gods know the correct prophecy. The Sigil Goddess of Chaos figured it out using her powers over order and chaos. It's supposed to be the youngest god, not the fourth.

"Oh, okay," Tanner says. "Wait, who's Tabitha?"

"My aunt," I answer. "Aunt Tabby, as I used to call her when I was little. She visits from time to time, to make sure I'm doing okay. She'll probably be here for graduation."

"Wouldn't that make the Sigil-Bearer your cousin?" He asks.

"I suppose?" I shrug. "Though a common belief is that Sigil-Bearers don't have family that isn't another Sigil-Bearer, so if you ask those people, she's not."

"Does she see it that way?"

"Who knows?" I ask. "Anyway, we're almost there. I hope they have enough food that they don't run out and we can get our desserts."