Coronation: A Kid Sensation Novel (Kid Sensation #5) (16 page)

I popped up outside the building, only to find myself moving against the flow of traffic as I stepped away from – rather than towards – the entrance. People were rushing to the doors, and after a moment I overheard why: apparently the
dofuncon
, Prince J’h’dgo, was inside showcasing his powers. If only they knew…

After a few moments, I was practically the only person outdoors, looking out over the extensive grounds. Closing my eyes for a moment, I let out a sigh of relief. The mental strain of what I’d just endured – losing control of my powers – was such that a few minutes of solitude was like a divine gift. Focusing on what had happened, I simply began to walk, without paying particular attention to my surroundings. Thankfully, although it was night, the grounds seemed fairly well-lit.

To say I was shaken by what had happened would be putting it mildly. Up until now, what I’d had to tolerate in terms of my powers fluctuating was simply having them fail when I tried to use them. Now we were a step beyond that point, with my abilities becoming active without me consciously desiring it. That was exponentially more serious, like a tactical nuke in your living room that could go off at any time. In short, this last incident might mean that I was a danger to myself as well as others. I needed to se–

“Hey,” someone said, cutting into my train of thought. “You forgot something.”

I looked up and saw Myshtal approaching me. Also, for the first time, I took conscious note of my surroundings. My aimless wandering had taken me away from the main building and to a place on the grounds near what appeared to be a garden full of sweet-smelling exotic flowers.

When she got close, I saw that Myshtal was holding something out to me: my crown.

“It came off when you and Vicra fell,” she said, handing the coronet back to me.

“Uh, thanks,” I mumbled, giving the crown a venomous look before placing it back on my head. It was the source of my problems, but now I was afraid of what might happen if I didn’t keep it on until it finished its job of rerouting my synapses.

“So what happened back there?” she asked. “For a few seconds, you and Vicra just vanished.”

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine. A little embarrassed for some reason, but fine.”

“That’s good.”

“So what happened?”

I gave her an appraising glance. She seemed to be a willing listener, and on an emotional level she was projecting sincere concern, but was she really someone I wanted to open up to? As if reading my mind, she reached out and gave my hand a friendly, compassionate squeeze. I decided to throw caution to the wind.

“I seem to have lost control of my teleportation ability,” I said, and then gave her the details of what had happened.

“Has that ever happened before?” she asked when I’d finished.

I sighed. “Yes. I’ve teleported people in anger before, not knowing exactly where I sent them. But that was when I was younger, and each time in a highly emotional state.”

“So you weren’t emotional tonight?”

“I was angry,” I admitted. “I don’t like that I was set up for your friends’ amusement.”

“They’re not
my
friends,” she countered. “And I had nothing to do with making you the main attraction back there.”

“And what happened to this just being a
little
get-together?”

“Once Vicra spread the word that you were attending, this became the social event of the season. Basically, this was his party, so if you’re upset about the guest list, maybe you should complain to him – especially if it’s making you out of control.”

“To be clear, I wasn’t
out of
control; I merely seemed to
lose
control. There’s a difference.”

“Which is…?”

I rolled my eyes. “I think it will be difficult to understand for someone who isn’t a super.”

“You mean someone who doesn’t have special abilities?”

“Yes.”

“Try me.”

I stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out why she was adamantly pursuing this subject.

“Look,” I finally said, “the main issue isn’t that I lost control of my powers – it’s that I didn’t realize it was happening.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

I bent down and picked up a petal that had fallen to the ground from one of the flowers.

“Take this, for instance,” I said, holding the petal in my palm. “It’s very light, but I can still feel it in my palm when I lift it.”

To demonstrate, I raised my hand up and down.

“In that same way,” I continued, “I can usually feel in my head when my powers are operating, even when I do something unintended.”

“Like accidentally teleporting someone in anger,” she surmised.

“Yes. However, let’s imagine that my hand is numb for some reason – say from cold. The petal is still there and I can still lift it, but because of the numbness in my hand I can’t
feel
it.”

“And that’s what happened when you ran into Vicra.”

I shrugged. “I suppose. Even though I was angry, I didn’t get any sensation that my power was in effect. In short, I should have known that I’d done something, even if I didn’t know exactly what it was I’d done.”

“And you didn’t get that feeling?”

“No, and that’s something that’s never happened before. Even more, it didn’t feel exactly like teleportation.”

“What do you mean?”

I concentrated, trying to think of a good way to explain this to someone who wasn’t a teleporter.

“When I teleport,” I said after a few seconds, “I usually have an image of the place where I’m going in my head and there’s a kind of shift – a sense of movement that only occurs mentally – when I go from one place to another.”

“And you didn’t get that feeling this time?”

“Not at all. It was odd – more like the location came to us rather than the other way around. It’s hard to explain.”

“No, I think I understand,” she said.

“Well, thanks for bringing me my crown. And for listening,” I said. “I’m sure you want to get back to the party. Vicra will be looking for you.”

Her eyes glazed over for a second at the mention of Vicra’s name. “Vicra is a little confused about the nature of our relationship.”

“Oh?”

“From my point of view it’s platonic, and I’ve told him that. He doesn’t seem to understand.”

“Some girls like it when a guy is persistent. Maybe he thinks he can win you over.”

“You mean win me
back
.”

I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“There was a time,” she went on, “when I guess you could say we were a couple. But he’s not who I thought he was initially. So I ended it – practically before it began, if I’m being honest.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s over as far as he’s concerned.”

“He just needs to forget about me. The problem is that it’s difficult when we move in a lot of the same social circles. You see, our family blocs are close allies.”

With that, the light bulb came on. “That’s why you’re out here. You didn’t just come to bring me my crown; you came to get away from him.”

She smiled. “Yes, but that’s not the only reason. I wanted to show you something.”

She reached with both hands towards her right ear, and for the first time I realized that she was wearing earrings – dangling metal spirals with a dark, oval gem at the end. She removed the earring and held it out to me.

“Take it,” she said as she put the earring in my hand. Then she turned and faced the opposite way, saying, “Now throw it as far away as you can.”

Thinking it an odd request, I nevertheless complied, throwing the earring into a small copse of trees just beyond the garden of flowers.

“Done,” I said, and she turned back around.

Closing her eyes, Myshtal cupped her hands together in front of her and then frowned in concentration. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then – much to my surprise – a small spark, milky white in color, seemed to form in the middle of her hands. As I watched, it grew in size and the intensity of its illumination swelled until it was a pearl-colored flame about the size of her palm.

At this point, Myshtal opened her eyes. Noting my interest, she smiled before tossing the white flame into the air. Almost immediately, it went zooming away towards the area where I had tossed the earring. Once there, it seemed to fade.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

Rather than answer, she laughingly took my hand and said, “Come on.”

With that, she basically dragged me in the direction that the light had gone. Once in the trees, I noticed a faint white light, throbbing softly on the ground. Needless to say, it was the earring. Myshtal bent to pick it up, and as she did so, the light imbuing it faded completely.

“It’s a trick,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “It has to be.”

She laughed and handed the earring to me once more, saying, “Try it again, if you like.”

She turned away from me, this time putting a hand up to cover her eyes as well. Again, I threw the earring away – this time out among the garden flowers.

“Okay,” I said. “Time for round two.”

Myshtal turned back around, grinning. She held up a hand and the white flame appeared again. As before, it headed straight to the place where the earring had landed, allowing us to find it with ease.

“One more time,” I said with a smile, enjoying this new challenge.

“If you want,” Myshtal said before turning to face the opposite direction.

This time, I came up with a different plan. Rather than tossing the earring away, I merely made a throwing motion but instead dropped it on the ground and then stepped on it.

“Okay,” I said. “Third time’s the charm.”

Myshtal turned back around. She spent maybe two seconds glancing around and then gave me a playful shove that sent me staggering away a few steps. She then bent down and picked up the earring.

“You
fxijij
!” she said, using a term I interpreted as meaning prankster as she playfully pinched me.

“You’re a super!” I said, laughing.

“I suppose,” she agreed. “Although I’m not sure what’s so ‘super’ about finding things.”

“I can think of about a million ways that it’s great. How long have you been able to do that?”

“It started a few years ago. I’d been looking for a ring that I’d misplaced awhile earlier and couldn’t locate it. Then, one day – without thinking about it, without remembering anything, without searching for it – I simply knew where it was.”

“Which was…?”

“One of my cousins had it. I’d loaned it to her and simply forgotten. But again, I didn’t suddenly remember that she had it; I actually knew where it was, right down to the location in her jewelry box.”

“Wait a minute,” I said, as something occurred to me. “That’s how you found me at the party. It’s how you tracked me down out here.”

She gave me a playful wink. “Pretty much.”

“But that light you used earlier. I certainly don’t recall being hit with that at the party, and you didn’t use it just now when I was standing on your earring.”

“That was really for your benefit. I don’t really need it to know where things are, but I can use it to show other people where items are located.”

“So, are you able to find anything you want?”

“No, it usually has to be something I have a connection with in some way. Something I own, someone I’ve met, and so on.”

“Interesting,” I said. “How many people know about this?”

“Only a handful. You’re the first I’ve told outside of close relatives.”

That was surprising. “Why me? I mean, we’ve only just met.”

“Because abilities like this are common where you come from.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d call them ‘common.’ It’s probably more accurate to say that they aren’t
un
common.”

“Regardless, people on Earth know how to develop these skills and put them to good use.”

Her words brought to mind my grandmother’s statement about how powers that supers have back home are even rarer among Caelesians. Then it hit me.

I looked at Myshtal, both in surprise and understanding. “You want to go there. To Earth.”

“I’ve certainly been thinking about it.”

Now I understood why she had been asking questions about Earth at lunch. Vicra and Nylerin may have just been rooting around for more gossip they could spread, but Myshtal’s interest had been genuine – something I had picked up on at the time but not truly evaluated. Maybe it wasn’t too late to remedy that.

“Well, if there are any questions I can answer for you,” I said, “please don’t hesitate to ask.”

She gave me a dazzling smile. “Now that you mention it…”

*****

We spent the next few hours simply walking and talking for the most part, sharing more of ourselves than either of us probably intended: thoughts, hopes, dreams... She really was a great listener. (She was also smart, insightful, and witty.)

Myshtal, it turned out, was from a wealthy and powerful bloc of the First Patrilineal. She wasn’t in line to inherit a spot among the Mectun, but she was being groomed to handle some of her family’s larger business interests. Also, among other things, she faced the possibility of an alliance with another royal faction through marriage (something I was familiar with myself).

On my part, I talked a lot about my life on Earth – my friends, my family, and so on. Since Myshtal had a vested interest in supers, I spent a lot of time talking about the Alpha League and what it was like to be part of their team. Last but not least, I also remarked that I had a girlfriend, but it was mentioned more in passing than as a topic of conversation.

Once or twice the subject of my powers came up, and I really couldn’t help showing off just a little (despite being nervous about doing so). I teleported us to the lake where we’d had lunch, and we spent a little time walking the shore before I brought us back. Shortly thereafter, acting on a crazy impulse when she asked what it was like to fly, I scooped her up and then went floating above the treetops for a few minutes. She giggled like a schoolgirl the entire time, and it was one of the loveliest sounds I’d ever heard.

If given our druthers, we probably would have talked throughout the night. Unfortunately, as they say, all good things must come to an end.