Chapter 4
Adjusting
“A genius. Your daughter is too smart for our current curriculum.” Ms. Folk, Misha’s second grade teacher said.
“What? We just pushed her ahead and now you are saying that she is still too smart?” Andrea asked, feeling frustrated by this. Not that hearing that her daughter was brilliant from others was a bad thing, but that others clearly seemed to think this as well was both an amazing feeling and frustrating.
It was great in that Andrea like every other mother knew that their child was brilliant, but it was also frustrating as this was the second day in the last few months where Andrea had to take time away from work in order to visit with her daughter’s teachers.
Just when she thought that everything was starting to go smoothly, something would come up. First there was the issues that Andrea thought came up due to her father leaving. Then came the therapy sessions, and the doctor’s scares.
Even last night, nearly two months after the whole hospital scare, Andrea still has reoccurring nightmares about the event. First there were concerns that her daughter wouldn’t make it. Then there were fears that bills she received would not be covered by the Therapist’s insurance.
For a time, it even looked like she might need to sue to get the insurance to be involved. Then she had the mistake of making a phone call about it during dinner.
Her daughter had been so quiet that Andrea almost forgot she was there, while she worked on hold with a clerk for the doctor’s office.
Flicker.
Then the lights flashed once, causing panic to awaken in Andrea as she was afraid the electricity would be cut off, even though she was in the middle of paying that bill as well.
Then she looked over to see the faint glowing hue of gold within her daughter's eyes.
Andrea was about to ask about the eyes, but then worried that asking about them might be another costly doctor’s visit.
Yet, surprisingly just as the lights came back on, and the glowing lights from Misha’s eyes faded, the clerk came back.
“Ma’am. I just wanted to tell you, that we apparently were ablet o find the correct billing code and everything looks to be good on your end.”
“What?” Andrea asked.
“We apologize for any inconvenience, but there was just a record error. The bill has been paid in full, but was apparently applied to a different account. So you should not receive any more statements from us about an overdue bill.”
Breathing.
At that, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but she couldn’t help but press a little further for more details.
“So what do I do with these bills that are already here?”
“Just keep them. Here I will give you a confirmation code. If you get more that are post marked after today’s date, just call me and I will take care of it.” The receptionist said.
“Thank you, thank you.” Andrea blurted out, joy clearly evident in her voice.
During that time, Misha got up from the table, washed off her plate and utensils and put them in the dishwasher. At this point, Andrea almost expected Misha to go out back and practice her afternoon workouts, but was surprised when she saw Misha heading back to her bedroom.
Quickly covering the mouthpiece, Andrea asked her daughter who appeared to be listing from side to side as she walked down the hallway. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to bed.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, just a little tired.” Misha replied. Then went on, there was something odd about her speech, but before Andrea had time to process the clerk was reading off a confirmation code letting Andrea know that the bill had been paid.
It wasn’t until thirty minutes later, when the pressure of those bills was finally released, that Andrea realized what had been troubling her about her daughter’s speech. She hadn’t nodded.
Normally kids who are that tired would nod first, before answering where they were going. Even those that were cognizant enough to realize they didn’t need to nod before talking, generally nodded while answering. Yet, Misha despite being clearly tired just answered and then stumbled on her way to bed.
With everything going on, Andrea found herself nodding off to go to sleep. Only for sounds coming from the backyard to wake her up almost immediately.
Thump, clink.
Andrea was startled awake, as it was clearly dark out, but then went back to realize that Misha was in the backyard doing her throws, tosses, and agility drills.
That memory right there, that dedication to training and to being competitive in sports was the reason why Andrea now felt conflicted with what to do for her daughter. The fact that her daughter was a genius was clear for almost everyone. Yet, promoting her through the grades would mean she would be forced to graduate faster, making it so both physically and socially she would fall behind her peers.
Normally, such concerns are not a problem, but her daughter was odd. Of that, Andrea was certain. Even now that she no longer wore her helmet to school, a fact that saddened her to no end, now that she had clearly outgrown that phase in her life. A phase that like the rest of her seemed to be growing up and maturing much faster than any parent would want. Now, on top of all of this, the school was trying to push her daughter ahead, but why?
“Can I ask why you all are asking for this? Is she disrupting classes in any way?” Andrea asked.
“No, normally she is quiet, and I can always call on her to have the answer. But the problem is that she is often distant during classes and discussions. My fear is that we will hamper her growth mentally.”
Hearing that Andrea once again felt overwhelmed. This was the problem with genius children, there was never a clear cut path forward. The fact that her child was brilliant was readily apparent.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Let me think about it, and I’ll speak it over with her therapist.” Andrea said, finally completely at a loss.
***
Dr. Grier sat in her chair, while she watched the resting form of Misha sprawled out on her long leather couch.
This was a good sigh, as it had taken months for the little girl to feel comfortable in her room. Honestly, given everything that happened when the girl first started coming, Dr. Grier was surprised that she still had a job, let alone the fact that the girl actively wanted to come back.
Normally a girl getting electrocuted and then going into cardiac arrest right away was a death sentence for any therapist’s career. Let alone the blossoming career of a recently graduated therapist trying to start off their career.
While it took time to get the insurance company to cover the damages, eventually everything miraculously settled.
Then before that even happened, Andrea called, asking if she had any slots available to speak with her and her daughter.
There would need to be two times, the first had been with the mother alone to discuss a few things. At the time, Dr. Grier had figured they would be about changes or ways to safeguard her child. Instead, they were just about topics and subjects that Andrea could have asked directly, but somehow felt that Dr. Grier would get an accurate answer.
So now, Dr. Grier was going through a way to list of things to ask about, while also wondering how the girl felt about being here. That was why she began with a little opener.
“How are you feeling?” Dr. Grier asked.
“Satisfactory.” Misha said, her tone devoid of emotions.
“Nothing going on that is of interest?”
“You mean did I achieve enlightenment the last time I was here? If so, then the answer is yes.” Misha said.
“Enlightenment?” Dr. Grier asked, then inwardly grimaced as she wondered if that was a poorly worded joke about being electrocuted.
“Yes, I managed as per your instructions and guidance to fully meld with the Lightning property. Though I do have a question?” The girl began.
At the word of melding with the Lightning property, both Dr. Grier and Andrea leaned forward trying to understand exactly what the girl was talking about. But before Dr. Grier could stop the girl, she felt it easier to let the patient speak, and thus give more information that she could work with.
“Oh, and what is your question?” Dr. Grier asked.
“I still have my original affinity for Fire, so I was wondering if this was standard for your training regimen. I also wondered if you had any combination exercises I could use to work both.” Misha said.
“Fire and Lightning?” Andrea asked, a note of confusion in her voice. Honestly, Dr. Grier also had similar questions, it was just that her mother formulated them earlier.
“Yes, I am aware that you are a blank, but figured this was why you had me with Dr. Grier. As she clearly has awakened some of her base abilities. Also, she knew exactly how to help me achieve my second awakening, something I was completely unaware of until now.” Misha said.
“Can you explain exactly what it is you are talking about?” Dr. Grier asked, her mind spinning with the girl’s fantastical trail of logic and trying to keep up with her. There was the part about calling her mother a blank, something that Dr. Grier planned to go back to later, but for now she needed to understand exactly what the girl meant.
“It will be easier to just show you.” Misha said, then getting to a sitting position, she crossed her legs and holding out her hands palm up, she did the impossible.
Fire.
Sparks.
In the palm of her left hand was a glowing ball of flames. The flames were an intense bright blue at the center that slowly petered out to orange, and then red tips.
Then in the palm of her right hand was a glowing ball of bright blue sparks that was blue at the center and then sparked out into glowing bands of golden light.
Silence.
Crackle.
Everyone was silent as they watched the new source of heat and light appear seemingly out of nowhere.
To describe the scene in one word, Dr. Grier would likely go on calling the whole scene beautiful. It was a little girl lit by ambient energy that all but radiated an odd power that Dr. Grier could feel from within her core, seemingly from her very soul.
“You, are magi?” Dr. Grier finally asked, looking first at the girl, then to her very confused mother.
“What? Don’t tell me you believe in that mumbo-jumbo?” Andrea asked, speaking to life the response that was almost pre-programmed into her at this point. But then she cut herself off as she looked once again at her daughter.
Dr. Grier, seeing this, began acting on reflex. By simply pushing a button, she enacted the safety features of the room, something her overprotective father had insisted upon installing, before letting her take on this new and challenging career field.
Click, clop.
Chu-cha-cha-chink.
The door bolted itself, followed quickly by the window seal closing and locking in place. The room now looked like a safe room, as the auxiliary power supply came alive.
“What? What is going on?” Andrea asked, suddenly frightened and going towards her daughter, using her body to try to smother her daughter and provide a maternal layer of protection around her child.
“Ouch.” Andrea cried out, apparently getting too close to her daughter’s flame, not expecting the flames to be real.
Misha of course quickly dismissed the flames, but the damage had been done.
There Dr. Grier had the second major piece of evidence, a physical manifestation of the craft. Something that was nearly impossible, especially for one who wielded not one but two different elements.
“Now that we are safe. I need to ask you, Andrea, a few personal questions.” Dr. Grier began, making sure to stay away, as she did not want to scare awake any latent powers in the mother, or get her daughter to lash out.
There were already several odd occurrences that surrounded the little girl, the least of which being the way she seemingly had control over electronic equipment before her awakening. Even going so far as to indirectly claim that she had been responsible for the treasure-trove of data sent by her soon to be ex-husband’s alternate account. Something that even the best investigators and diviners had a hard time finding.
Yet, one meeting with this girl, a girl who apparently seemed to like her for whatever reason, and suddenly Dr. Grier had her life cleared and more importantly had an excuse to end the joining of two major mage families.
“Questions for me?” Andrea asked.
“Yes, I know we just had a meeting, but now I need to ask. Did you know about your daughter’s abilities?” Dr. Grier asked.
“NO!” Andrea snapped, suddenly irate at the question. “How could you think that?”
“Did anyone in your family show any signs of being too aware? An uncle who always seemed to luck out? Grandmother always able to foretell the weather? Anything that might seem odd given the volume and quantity of times it happened?”
“What? No, we are normal. All of us.” Andrea began, clearly feeling flustered at the line of questioning.
Andrea was about to get angry, when she felt a small comforting hand on her arm. Looking down, she felt the warmth, and then realized it was her daughter's hand. With just a calm patient glance, her mother felt the fire within her subside.
“Sorry about that, but no.” Andrea said, locking eyes with her daughter, before calming down and going back to answering the questions.
“Did her father seem to be exceedingly lucky?” Dr. Grier asked.
“No, he was also a blank.” Misha commented, adding her note before Andrea could even think about talking.
“What?” Andrea and Dr. Grier asked at the same time.
“My father was also a blank, someone who was unawakened. Also, I should point out that what I am is not what you are. I am a Psycher.” Misha noted.
Hearing that, Dr. Grier remembered back to some of the earlier comments made by the girl. Comments about a past life in an alternate universe. Suddenly the words made sense, but didn’t. Now Dr. Grier was certain that somehow this girl had gone through the process of reincarnation. Not entirely unheard of for a true mage, but there were also differences.
First, the awakening she claimed, that was not an awakening. First she was far too young for such a joining. Also, the typical awakenings of magic users she had seen were spiritual awakening, rather than physical.
No, there was something odd about this girl, maybe she had alternate methods of awakening that had been passed down.
“Can I do a quick scan on you?” Dr. Grier asked.
“Yes.” Misha said, speaking and not using her head to nod in agreement. Something that was odd, but by now being odd was just par for the course with her.
“Okay.” With that Dr. Grier stood up, walked over to her desk, and pulling out the top left drawer, she slid the fake bottom away to reveal a power rod.
Pulling it out, Dr. Grier began charging it with power as she walked closer. As she did, a faint glow began at the tip of the rod.
“Is that a Harry Potter wand?” Andrea asked.
Chuckling.
“Yes, well, if it helps you can think of it that way, but it is actually slightly different. This is a foci, which we can use when trying to change the focus of our affinities. Me, I have no natural affinity for divination, but I was granted this, to help identify special children just like your daughter.” Dr. Grier said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible, all while inwardly brimming with energy as this was going to be amazing if she could prove that this girl did in fact have some form of magical potential to her.
“Can I?” Dr. Grier asked, holding up the glowing foci towards Misha.
“Yes.”
With that, Dr. Grier began channeling the last energy into the rod.
“I have just sent a slight pulse of my mana into your daughter. If she is a mage, her mana should either absorb, reflect, or reject the pulse.” Dr. Grier began. “If it does any of those, we will see a slight glow from within her…”
Dr. Grier trailed off as there was clearly no reaction from Misha. At least not the way Dr. Grier had originally detailed.
“Okay, let’s try that again…”
The second time went just as the first had. The power went into Misha, and then disappeared.
“I told you, I am a Psycher, not a magi, like you.” Misha said.
“Okay?” Dr. Grier said, now truly confused. “One second, I have two more test that I need to try out, before this goes too far.”
With that Dr. Grier hurried back behind her desk. This time pulling out the two other focis that were there.
“These two will check for Vampirism, or Lykanthropy. People who awaken early could also be suffering from one of these diseases, and that too would explain why the energy disappeared as the viruses would completely diffuse the innate mana and convert it to enzymes that would help the conversion process.”
“Diseases?” Andrea asked.
Grimace.
Realizing what she said, and to whom she said it to, Dr. Grier mentally kicked herself, as that was not what she meant to say at all. At least not until she had more proof.
“This is just a precaution.” Dr. Grier said, and this time she truly hoped that there would not be any reaction, as losing a wild mage to one of the two diseased tribes would be a waste.
“First for Vampirism.” Dr. Grier said, holding up the glowing wand, then she held her breath as she waited for the energy to disappear within the little girl. This time just like when checking for the components of being a magi, the energy entered and then disappeared.
“Good.” Dr. Grier said, and she was truly happy for that. Being a werewolf was far better in her mind than being a vampire. Especially with the fact that Misha would be forced to be a seven-year-old vampire until the day she was ultimately slain.
“Now to check for Lykanthropy.” Dr. Grier said, holding up the wand, she paused. This was logically the only option left, a positive result here was nearly guaranteed. That is why, Dr. Grier reached out with a trembling hand, then with a light tap of the carefully crafted foci, she released a pulse of energy into the little girl.
Then they all waited for the results of the test to run their course, as a glowing white ball left the tip of the foci, entered the girl.