~ Reverie ~

That Greater Depth

"What a steaming dump."

Felony agreed with Ren, but she didn't say anything. Better not to encourage him, she thought. Yeah, he's been behaving since that one night, but still ... just a matter of time with boys like him.

"We won't be spending much time here, so be grateful for that, at least," said Talise. She looked around at the lifeless Pyrian fields. "Very grateful."

"We're just grabbing the package and going, right?" said Felony. Talise nodded.

"Something like that," she said. "It's not a complicated assignment."

Ren had dismounted and tied his horse to one of the scraggly little trees that grew beside the road. He shot a grin at Felony.

"Speaking of steaming dumps..."

Felony rolled her eyes as Ren sauntered off behind a rock, then looked over at Talise.

"Uh, Talise," she said, before glancing at Kyle—he was resting with his back against one of the many dark volcanic rocks that littered the Pyrian landscape, the battered straw hat he'd 'found' earlier that day over his eyes.

"Yes? What is it?"

"About last night," Felony said, her voice low. "Just wanted to—"

"I don't think this is necessary," Talise interrupted. "You tried to bait me and it failed spectacularly. Further discussion seems pointless."

"Uh, yeah, exactly. Glad you understand things. I got you, you got me, right?"

"Yes, something like that."

"Okay, good."

Talise cocked her head just a little as she looked at Felony.

"Was there anything else?"

"Just a question. When are we gonna get this damn carriage? I'm sick of riding behind Ren, and not just because of my sore arse."

"Endure his little idiosyncrasies for a little while longer," said Talise. "We're close to Sufferance now."

"Yeah, okay." Felony sighed, then grinned at Talise. "Just been a long week, is all."

----------------------------------------

It was late in the day, and Sophia was getting annoyed at Lina.

"How long has it been since she joined with you?" she asked Ada.

"Since who joined with us?" Ada replied, irritated to be jostled from her thoughts.

"Lina, of course. It wasn't long before you rescued me, was it?"

"No, not long."

"I thought so. And yet since then she's barely said two words to me—to any of us!"

"She's been through a lot, Sophia. I think she needs time—"

"Well I think she needs someone to break her out of that gloomy mood she's in. I'm surprised Ashley hasn't said something to her already, to be perfectly honest."

Ada almost went to stop Sophia, then sighed and returned to her thoughts.

"Lina!" Sophia said brightly, walking up to her—Lina was sitting, as usual, on her own, listlessly sewing patches to a green dress. "How are you feeling tonight?"

Lina barely shrugged.

"I know, this landscape is fairly dreary, isn't it? Aren't these rocks awful, the way they kind of punch up through the ground, I can't stand them—anyway, let's not talk about gloomy things. Oh, where do you come from? I don't even know that! I'm from Unity, of course, but—"

"I don't want to talk."

"Come on, you've got to talk SOMEtime—"

"I don't want to talk."

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"Well," said Sophia, "maybe that's EXACTLY your problem. I think the reason you're always so gloomy is because you're NOT talking. It's unhealthy for people to be on their own all the time, did you know that? They did a study in Rosanth, where they put different numbers of people in different rooms for certain lengths of time, and do you know what they found out?"

"That you're very annoying?"

Sophia gaped at Lina, then she forced a laugh.

"Well that's better than nothing," she said, pushing down the sting she felt. "The point I'm making is that—"

"Please," Lina said wearily, looking up from her sewing. "I don't want—"

"Look," said Sophia, "I know you went through something horrible, but you can't let that change who you are. I mean, I was almost ravaged and killed, but have I let that change who I am? No! Of course I haven't!"

"Maybe you should have."

Sophia gaped again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded. Lina didn't reply, already returned to her sewing. Sophia took a small breath in through her nose, and forced her expression to brighten. "Maybe you're right, actually, and in fact I believe I have changed because of what happened to me. I've become stronger, and wiser, and tougher—and a lot less naive, I think." Lina seemed to sag. Sophia looked at her helplessly. "I mean ... it can't have been THAT bad! I was almost murdered, for goodness sake, whatever happened to you can't be much worse than that!"

"I killed someone I cared about," said Lina. "And I hurt my sister. Badly. Probably other people too. My family. I don't remember well."

Sophia stared at Lina for a long moment.

"Oh," she said.

There was another long moment.

"Maybe that's enough talking for one night," Sophia said. "I'll leave you alone now. Do you want anything?"

Lina was silent, staring down at the dress she held.

Sophia left her alone.

"Well done."

Sophia turned to glare at Fin.

"I'm not in the mood for sarcasm," she said.

"Neither am I in the mood to dispense it," Fin replied. "That's the first time Lina has said anything about what happened to her."

"But ... but she's still—"

"The road to recovery is long and difficult. Especially for someone like Lina."

Sophia was silent. Fin patted her shoulder.

"Keep trying," he said. "Lina needs someone to pull her up from the depths of despair."

"But she ... I mean, it's obvious she doesn't like me—"

"I wouldn't say that." Fin paused, then smiled at Sophia. "Sophia," he said. "I wonder if you've ever suspected ... no, that's not quite the way to ... let me start again. I explained to you once before, about Lina's unconscious use of her abilities?"

"You said she's been using them her entire life, to make herself stronger." Sophia frowned. "Wait, are you saying that I ... have I been doing something like that, too? Is that why I can't do anything consciously?"

"Certainly there exist individuals whose abilities are purely unconscious. Many of them may not even know that they have powers. However, I don't think that's why you have not yet been able to unlock your abilities. Pure energy users have the hardest road to travel. Use of their powers is immensely draining and difficult, especially at first."

Sophia sighed. "I just want to be useful."

"Don't be so hasty in assuming that you are not. I think that, unconsciously, you subtly and positively alter the energies of those around you."

"Like ... what, like mind control?"

"Nothing so dramatic, more a kind of magnetism, I suppose. I believe that you make yourself ... how to put it ... difficult to ignore."

"If that's true then I'm happy I can do SOMETHING, even if I don't completely understand what it is, but on the other hand I'm kind of disappointed that it was just a trick that made Lina talk to me."

"It was you, Sophia. Your abilities are part of who you are ... but only a part."

Fin patted Sophia on the shoulder again, then left her alone to reflect on things. After just a few steps he was approached by a hesitant Ada, who'd been waiting for him to finish talking with Sophia:

"Mr Fin?"

"Yes, Miss Hasard?"

"I've ... I've been thinking."

"Admirable."

Ada didn't smile. "Are they really killing people in Pyre? People like us?"

Fin nodded, his face suddenly serious. "Yes," he said. "I'm afraid that they are."

"And in Rosanth, too ... they're not killing them, they're taking them away to experiment on them..." Ada's voice shook and her face suddenly became pinched, and she pulled her glasses off, her hand against her eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I thought ... I thought I could talk about ... without..."

"Take your time, Ada. I'm in no hurry."

Ada nodded as she recovered. Fin stood silently, waiting for her to compose herself. After a minute she wiped her eyes with a determined finality, and she took a deep breath, and she put her glasses back on.

"Thank you for waiting," she said, her voice small but calm. She took another breath, then looked straight at Fin. "Terrible things are happening. In Pyre, in Rosanth ... I guess everywhere, really."

"People attack what they fear, and they fear what they don't understand," said Fin. "This wouldn't be so bad, except that, sadly, people don't want to understand."

"No," Ada said, sharply. "On Lumière Island they're doing horrible things to people like us. Do you know why? Exactly because they 'want to understand'." Her voice was shaking again, this time with anger. "My father told me about some of the things they're doing. He probably shouldn't have, but he did. It's disgusting, and horrible, and wrong. I can't even believe..." Ada trailed off, then drew herself up, her small face serious. "Mr Fin. I want you to know ... I'm going to do whatever I can to stop this. To stop anyone who thinks they can hurt or torture or experiment on people like us. I want to help you create your home, your school, and of course I'm coming with you to help find this statue. But as soon as I'm strong enough—"

"I understand," said Fin. He smiled at Ada. "You know," he said, his voice a little lighter, "it's quite clear to anyone who spends any amount of time with you that you've inherited your father's analytical, curious mind. But beyond that there exists something deeper, something even more central to who you are. I greatly admire your spirit, Ada Hasard. Even more so than your intellect."

"Thank you," Ada said, her cheeks flushed. "Uh, I'll just ... I think I'll go practise some more."

Fin watched her go with thoughtful eyes.