That was extremely rude.

Aww come on, it wasn't that bad.

You cut me off in the middle of my sentence.

Still not that bad.

You keep thinking that. I'm going to continue now, if you don't mind.

By all means, go on.

"Fate? You speak like Fate is a person."

And your species speaks like Karma is a person. Karma is merely an extension of Fate. Fate is much older, and much, much wiser.

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked, almost desperately.

Because you're here, the world needs you.

"And Raven and Exodus? Why were they here too? What do my friends have to do with anything?"

They have everything to do with it. Ravenna is a descendant of Morgan Le Fay, and Exodus is from a family with great power.

"What kind of power?"

"While your very one-sided conversation is probably needed, not right now." Captain Mantis growled. "You're waking up. We will not see you again, so keep this in mind, Destiny does not like to be messed with."

I sat up in bed, breathing hard.

Y'know, most people don't remember their dreams that well.

May I drag your attention to Colyn, who routinely remembers his dreams perfectly. Or Emma, who does the same. Besides, I can't forget it, it's burned into both mine, and Chihre's memories.

I suppose that makes sense.

I reached up, feeling the dried blood on my face, and the clotted wound right next to my eye. I rolled out of bed, darting straight for the bathroom, as the taste of iron was still in my mouth.

I finished washing the dried blood off my face, touching the angry red scratch.

'Chihre, What is this?' I asked mentally.

Oh good, you didn't think I was just a hallucination. It's a sealing cut, it's an attempt to seal at least some of your powers away. Yes, it will heal, no, it won't go away. You're lucky you woke up before he finished.

'Before he finished? He would've done more?'

Plenty more, most likely would've tried to seal the power into just your torso or something. You'd definitely have more cuts. Most likely, your shoulders would've been next.

'What is the cut supposed to do?' I asked, going ahead and attempting to drag a brush though my very tangled and curly hair. I winced and stopped after a bit though, having not made any progress. My hair never listened anyway.

Contain and seal your powers. The current seal may never fade, but it will lessen enough to make sure you can use the powers I give you.

'What powers will that be?' I wondered, trying to race through my morning routine before my mom got up.

Depends on the person. I can't say for sure. Enhanced senses are with everyone, however.

I paused next to the mirror, noting the cut. 'Hm, think anyone will notice?'

They most certainly will, that's pretty noticeable. A cut that goes from just above your eye, to your cheekbone, is a fairly impressive cut.

'Arg, mom's going to question me extensively about it.'

Tell the truth, she'll understand. And I don't mean in the way you're thinking, I mean she'll actually understand and know what's going on. It's a story, passed down from generation to generation. If you think that this is cliche again, I will turn all your senses up to full, and trust me, that's not comfortable.

'I can't help what I think.' I protested.

But you can control what you think in my direction.

'Which way are you?' I asked innocently, deciding it was time, and walking up the stairs.

Somewhere. I don't know, you're my first host! How would I know!

'What? I'm your first?'

I have no idea what I'm doing. So, we're kinda stuck learning together, sorry.

'It's fine. You seemed to know about Raven and Exodus, well, more then I do, and probably more then they know themselves.'

Well, I have some knowledge. Maybe concentrate on your mom for now. Pick a boring class to let me talk in.

'Boring class, right.'

"Oh, good morning Sabanthia, have a good night?" My mom asked.

"I suppose, had a weird dream though," I replied.

Mom stiffened, turning around slowly. She spotted the cut and sighed. "Darn, I was hoping you'd get away with not being the teen to live with this. Did he get you anywhere else?"

I shook my head. "The only cut is the one on my face."

"Good, not too much sealed. You're permitted to tell your friends Raven and Exodus, but to anyone else, you fell off your bed and cut your head open."

I nodded. Usually, mom wasn't like this. "Got it. What's so special about Raven and Exodus though? You were so happy when I made friends with them."

"Ask your friend. What's its name, by the way?"

"Chihre, yours?"

"Jierhe, they have a penchant for odd names. Isn't that right, Jierhe?" Mom laughed slightly, spooning the last pancake onto the plate. "Here you go, have a nice first day at school dear."

"Love you, mom!" I said, digging into the pancakes and omelet. I finished quickly, grabbing my loaded backpack from its hook next to the door.

"See you. Bring Raven and Exodus over after school if you can, and don't be late for school!"

"I won't!" I shouted, closing the door behind me and darting off.

You walk to school?

You don't?

Nah, I was driven by my mom every morning.

Hm, well, whatever.

Yeah, I'm calling break time, the recorder's gonna run out of battery.

Ugh, fine.