“That’s a great idea. How’s it done?” I asked.
“Hemlock said intuition can be accessed in a lot of different ways, but meditation is the easiest. Let’s go down to the Elementai Arboretum and meditate by the waterfall. I bet we’ll get somewhere.”
“Brilliant. Come on.”
Kallie and I hurried to the special Elementai room, and Oberi followed. Alette remained hidden in Kallie’s hair, so no one would notice her. When we entered the greenhouse, I took a deep breath of fresh air. The Arboretum was beautiful, full of all kinds of incredible plants, a waterfall, and a trickling stream. It reminded me of nature, and of home. Inwardly, I ached for Kinpago. We’d trained for the Darke Games here, but I hadn’t returned since. Looks like they’d fixed the broken window my friends and I had smashed when we’d collapsed a flaming, walking tree during our training.
We sat by the waterfall. Oberi leapt, and changed into a narwhal mid-jump. She landed in the pool below the waterfall and swam around, splashing water upward with her tail.
I perched on a rock. “Any instructions?”
“Just… ask your intuition a question, and maybe it’ll give us the answer,” Kallie said. “I don’t know how long it’s supposed to take.”
This seemed really open-ended, but we didn’t have any other ideas. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound of the rushing waterfall, taking deep breaths in order to clear my mind.
At first, it was really hard to concentrate. The voices in my head were really loud, and they were demanding that I hear them.
This is pointless, Ava.
It’s so boring.
This isn’t working. You might as well quit.
I didn’t give up. I remained sitting, allowing the voices to wash over me until they faded into background noise alongside the rushing of the waterfall. All I could hear was the sound of Alette’s tiny wings as she fluttered around, and Oberi’s splashes as she swam in the pool.
I need to know where to go next with my prophecy,I thought.What should I do?
There came no immediate response. I felt slightly frustrated, but knew this could take time, so I didn’t push for an answer. Instead, I remembered what I could of Hemlock’s lecture. She’d said a supernatural’s intuition was a light inside of them, the same color as their aura… the energy field around one’s spirit.
A black orb came into my mind’s eye. The light appeared like it was dying, flickering out bit by bit. It felt damaging to see.
I knew a person’s aura color could change, so it didn’t unsettle me as much as it should. I prodded at the ball of light and asked again, but didn’t get an answer. It nearly withered at my touch.
By this point, I’d been sitting there for twenty minutes and my ass was getting sore. I shifted on the rock and thought,Please. I need an answer.
The orb in my mind faded away, and I heard a soft voice whisper,You must discover your power to achieve your goal.
What power was it talking about? We already knew we had more power than most supernaturals. Charlie and I were both dual-casters, and Marcus had the mark of every Cast in his coven. Kallie was the only female fae who could shift. What other powers had we yet to uncover—
I gasped, and almost fell off the rock. My eyes shot open as I exclaimed, “I got it!”
“Got what?” Kallie opened her eyes, perching her chin on her hand.
“We’re demigods, but demigods have powers beyond those of regular supernaturals,” I explained. “We talked about this in class last semester. In Professor Mazur’s lecture on demigods, she said that they could do thingsbeyondwhat other supernaturals could do— stuff like change reality, create energy out of nothing, and build new worlds.”
“So what are you getting at?” Kallie asked.
“Since we’re demigods, each of us has undiscovered powers that we aren’t sure of yet, powers that aren’t related to what our races can do,” I said. “What if we could find out what those powers were, and harness them? I bet that would help us locate the keys.”
“That’s excellent. I bet you’re right,” Kallie said, getting to her feet. “Let’s find the boys. It’s time to put these powers to the test.”
* * *
Kallie ran off to find the others while I waited in the Arboretum for them to arrive. She found Marcus first and sent him to the waterfall. He perched on a rock and scowled. A book sat on his lap while Rishi batted at fish in the water.
Kallie was still searching for Charlie. With every moment that passed, I got more and more nervous. I didn’t want to see him. It made my stomach churn whenever he was in my line of sight.
I had to settle my anxiety, so I tried distracting myself by talking to Marcus.
