I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to gather my thoughts, which was rather difficult now that Seraphine was here to distract me. I desperately wanted to talk to her about how her powers got sealed, but I had to deal with Claire first.

“Ladies, let’s have a seat,” I said with a sigh. “Joe, I’m going to talk to them alone. Could you go out and get these two something to wear, please?” Joe was usually the one who went with me to buy groceries and clothes, so he was no stranger to this. He looked reluctant though, eyeing Claire and Sera suspiciously.

“Honestly, if an assassin comes in while you’re gone I think he’s the one in for a surprise, Joe.” I would hate to be that assassin. Joe nodded and headed outside. “Ok, we should have about an hour before he gets back. Who wants to start?”

“I will!” Claire chirped, practically bouncing in her seat. What she was so excited about, I had no idea. “My name is Claire, I’m eighteen years old, and I stole the Elementorium from my brother the night he was awarded it after the Ceremony of Elements.” Ok that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I guess it’s as good as any place to start.

“Ok, I’m Jayden, as you both know. Bearer of the Uniflux, and currently the only person in the house who isn’t a criminal,” I said, immediately regretting adding the last part. Seraphine winced at my words, while Claire just rolled her eyes. Well done, Jayden.

Seraphine sighed and crossed her arms before saying, “I’m Seraphine, I’m the Elysium bearer. Last night I killed the Tamani along with dozens of innocent people because I can’t control my powers. Happy now?” She glared first at me, then at Claire before settling on staring out the window. She was definitely not a morning person. I sighed. This wasn’t going very well so far.

“Claire, you said you wanted my help. What do you need my help with, exactly?” I asked, turning my attention to the young blonde.

“Well I need your help clearing my name, obviously.”

“Clearing your name? You stole the Elementorium, the whole planet wants to see you behind bars, Claire.”

“I know, I know, but you don’t understand! I did compete for the Elementorium. I made it through the first tests with flying colors, but they kicked me out because I was too young. I could have won it, fair and square.”

“But you didn’t. Wouldn’t it be easier to just turn yourself in and hope your brother keeps you out of jail?”

“I’m not turning myself in. I’m supposed to be the bearer, I know it. I just need somewhere safe to stay so that I can clear my name,” she replied indignantly. I thought about this for a minute. Restricting the Elementorium bearer strictly by age didn’t really make sense, and I didn’t want another death on my hands if I turned her in.

“I suppose you can stay here for a few days, then. We can talk later about how to show everyone you’re the right person for the job.” Claire beamed. “Out of curiosity, will you shake my hand? There’s something I need to see.” I extended my left hand out to her, revealing the Uniflux buried in my wrist. She eyed me suspiciously, but reached out and met my hand. Sure enough, the Uniflux in my wrist buzzed painfully, burning my skin.

“Ouch!” Claire pulled away, studying the Elementorium at her chest, it had burned two small holes through her shirt, and left dark red marks on her skin underneath. It must not have triggered when I touched her shoulder earlier because I was touching her through her shirt. Interesting. “Are you done burning me? I’m starving,” she said, eyeing the kitchen.

“Help yourself,” I replied, happy to be rid of her for now. She bounded into the kitchen and I moved closer to Seraphine, who was still glaring out the window.

“Sera?” I reached out and rested my hand on her knee, and she seemed to melt at my touch. She sighed and turned to me, her eyes full of pain again. My heart twisted.

“I’m sorry, she just reminds me of Michael,” Sera explained.

“She doesn’t look anything like him,” I said, unable to stop myself. My curiosity was insatiable today.

“She acts like him, though. Probably a teenager thing.” She stared into the kitchen where Claire had apparently emptied the contents of the fridge onto the countertops.

“Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.” I furrowed my brow. She said she hadn’t eaten for days, but why? Had she not eaten since her powers were sealed? If so, was it the act of sealing her powers or the traumatic event that triggered the sealing that was causing her anorexia?

“I think it’s the latter,” Seraphine’s voice spoke in my mind. I looked up at her, startled.

“What—”

“A trick I’ve been able to do since I was a kid,” she explained, smiling.

“You can read my thoughts?”

“And project my own into your mind. Just think what you want to say, I’ll hear it.”

“Can you hear my thoughts all the time?”

“No, only when I focus on it,” she thought back to me. What a relief. Hopefully she wasn’t listening earlier when—I stopped myself.

“What was it that triggered your powers, Sera?”

She hesitated. “You’re not going to give up until I tell you, aren’t you?”

“Probably not.” It was several moments before her voice echoed in my mind again.

“My cousins, Hector and Ty. They always resented me for being born with this power, which their father always said was meant to be Hector’s. They always picked on me as kids, but teasing eventually turned into violence. I fought back for a while, but once they hit puberty I was no match for them. Seraphine paused, the memories obviously hurting her.

“You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to,” I thought to her.

“No, I’m fine. They would catch me on my way to and from the Sanctuary every day, beating me and abusing me. My parents never cared because I just healed everything right away anyway, but Michael cared. He started coming to my rescue, and once he was a little older he could stand up to them himself. He always told me to fight back, but I didn’t see the point.”

“After years of enduring that abuse, I’m not surprised you lost the will to fight.”

“I suppose. One day last week, I decided to heed his advice and try fighting back, but when I did it only made them angry. They pushed me down and…” Sera closed her eyes and her entire body tensed up.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me,” I thought to her. She was in so much pain, my heart was breaking for her. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her into my arms.

“I need to talk about it. It might help me get through it.” She paused for a while, her body still tense. Finally, her voice entered my mind again saying, “they pushed me down and Ty kept watch while Hector raped me.” Holy shit. My head spun, strangely going back to my list I had made of possible triggers. I hadn’t even considered that she might have been raped, let alone by her own cousin.

“That isn’t all,” she thought to me. “They tied me up so that I couldn’t struggle, then left me there once they were done with me. I couldn’t move or think… I was just lying there for hours before Michael found me. He covered me up and took me home…” Sera’s thoughts stopped echoing in my mind. I looked at her, and she looked up to meet my gaze. Her eyes were full of pain, and a sob escaped her lips as tears rolled down her cheeks. My heart twisted again and I reached out, wrapping her in my arms and holding her close to my chest.

Everything made sense now. She went through so much; she was lucky her powers didn’t unlock a long time ago. They sealed her powers because they thought she wasn’t ready for them, which in her emotional state she probably wasn’t. She was suicidal because she blamed herself for everything that had happened, which was only adding to her grief. When she broke the seal on her powers, she lost control because she wasn’t ready for them. Elysium then channeled her years of being hated into pure anger, taking down anyone and everyone in her path. She only let me live because she recognized me as Usarium. When I knocked her out, she was probably unconsciously battling for control of her body, and woke up once she had won that battle.

“I hate myself,” she thought to me, still wrapped in my arms.

“None of it was your fault, Sera. You didn’t have control over any of it.”

“I let Michael get wrapped up in all of it. I took away his chance of having a normal life, and made him go through more than any nineteen-year-old should ever have to.” I held her tighter, willing her to let it all go. This was probably the first time she had let her emotions out since it all happened, since the only person she had to talk to was the one person she wanted to protect most in the world.

“He’s out there now, living his life,” I thought to her. I felt her take a deep breath, then exhale as her muscles relaxed a little. “I am a scholar who believes in fate, Sera. I believe that even though we don’t understand it, everything happens for a reason. If that isn’t true, what else is there for us in this life? Your brother is out there now, alive and well, because the two of you have gone through so much. He learned everything he needed to know to take care of himself, including a spectacular sense of right and wrong. He’s telling the world about the Tamani, so that families can sleep soundly at night. He wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for you, Sera.” She took a moment to process this before melting into my chest, her muscles relaxing.

“Thank you, Jayden.” I held her closer and she wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder. After a couple more minutes she pulled away, her eyes swollen from the tears but quickly healing. I wiped away a stray tear from her cheek, smiling at her.

“Thank you for telling me,” I said aloud. She smiled back—a small, apologetic smile.

“Curiosity satisfied?”

“Curiosity satisfied,” I replied, laughing.

“Hey, you two!” Claire called from the dining room. She was arranging plates at the table, dishing some delicious-smelling food onto them. “Lunch is ready,” She said with a grin.