“Eh, if I die, I’m ready to go,” he replied.
“Liam,” Sophia growled, and he gave a skeptical snort.
Liam seemed anything but bothered. I couldn’t believe him. Did anything shake this guy?
“Death isn’t something you want right now,” I warned. “In case you forgot, nobody’s making it to the Ancestral Lands these days.”
“I’ve lived through everything that’s tried to kill me over the years, Ava included. She’s not gonna hurt me now, believe me,” Liam grumped.
“I’m not going to kill you,” Ava insisted. “Just let me try.”
Ava was stubborn, so Liam begrudgingly held his arm out for her to take. The warmth of her healing magic radiated through the area once again, though Liam didn’t respond.
“Do you feel any better?” Ava asked hopefully.
“Just as spectacular as always, which means no,” Liam replied.
“I need to try harder! Ugh!” Ava made noises of frustration as she worked her healing magic, which clearly wasn’t doing anything.
After a few minutes passed, Sophia drew her hands away. “You’re exerting yourself for nothing, sweetheart. Your father’s illness hasn’t changed.”
“Gee, what a shock,” Liam huffed. “I really appreciate that you tried, peanut, but I’m used to it. Really, it doesn’t bother me that much anymore.”
“I don’t get it!” Ava said angrily. “How can I do so much, but I can’t curethis? I was able to heal Ez from sepsis, I could regrow your guys’ organs…”
“Disabilities and chronic conditions are a little different,” Sophia stated. “Many supernaturals think they’re a result of life contracts we made before we were born, and your magic can’t override that, not unless that person wishes to change the contract they already made. You always need a person’s consent to heal them before you do so; otherwise, the magic doesn’t work. Spirit magic will fail to heal a person who’s lost the will to live, and I’m assuming it doesn’t work to heal conditions that supernaturals have chosen to undergo in order to learn life lessons to carry into the spiritual realm after death.”
“But why would Daddy choose to be sick? That’s so offensive to say,” Ava argued.
“Because I like to live life on extra-hard mode to impress everyone else,” Liam said.
“Daddy, this isn’t the time for jokes,” Ava grumbled.
Liam gave a huff. ”It’s not really a joke.”
“Disabilities don’t have to always be hard. Sometimes, they’re just different,” I pointed out to Ava. “Remember what I talked about when we discussed my blindness? If everyone in this world was the same, it’d be void of variety and life. Some people want to be healed, and some don’t, and that’s just fine. You know as well as I do that people don’t have to be able-bodied to be whole. That’s just the expectation society puts on us.”
“Yes. And Anichi magic knows that.” Ava sighed. “We’ve found the one thing I can’t do, which kinda sucks.”
“You can do everything else, so don’t be disappointed,” Liam said. “It’s probably good you have some limits.”
I got the hidden message there. If Ava had no limits at all, that wasn’t a good thing, because she barely controlled herself as it was, and that was with me guiding her most of the time. If she was limitless, there was no telling what she’d try.
“I have a theory, but no one’s ever done it before,” Sophia said. “But you aren’t like other Anichi. I want to see if it works for you.”
“Ooh. What is it?” Ava gushed.
“Traditionally, the Elementai draw their magic from their Familiars, but talented Elementai like your father and I are able to draw magic from other sources. We call it intrafusion,” Sophia said. “We can draw power from magical creatures that share our element, or from other elemental sources. In my case, I’m able to draw Fire magic from the sun, and your father can draw Water energy from the moon. Nivita and Yapluma should beable to draw power from the earth and the atmosphere, as those powerful forces correlate with their elements.”
“What about Spirit?” Ava asked. “Would I have to pull from people’s souls?”
“No,” Sophia answered. “As you know, within our culture, we believe that everything has a spirit, even the rocks, the rivers, and the mountains. There is a spirit within the planet itself. It’s the planet’s life essence, which gives plants and animals the power to grow and thrive here. It’s different from Charlie’s Earth magic, where his power is tied to dirt, rocks and plants. There is a spirit within the planet itself, as the planet is a living being with her own soul. I believe that if you are strong enough, you can tap into the soul of the Earth and use her power, the way your father and I use other planetary bodies to influence our magic.”
“That sounds incredible!” Ava cried. “I want to try it right now!”
“I thought so.” Sophia laughed. “But to do so, we’ll have to relocate to the gardens.”
“Let’s do it, then,” Ava proclaimed. “There’s no time to lose!”
