The realization of the impossible weighed heavily on me, an anchor tied to my chest as I tried to make sense of everything. Aether pulsed through me—alive, raw, infinite. It felt like the universe itself had taken residence in my veins, whispering truths I couldn't comprehend. And yet, the part of me that longed for order, for reason, rejected it. This couldn't be real.
I paced the room, my breath shallow as Jia and Devon watched in tense silence. Grandfather and Grandmother sat unmoved, their serene expressions betraying none of the chaos unraveling within me. The air was thick with an unspoken weight, a pressure that threatened to crush me.
"This is... this is insane," I muttered, running my hands through my hair.
"How am I supposed to believe any of this? Aether? Shadows? Fire that heals? It's not possible!"
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't change the truth," Devon said quietly, his voice steady but tinged with a weariness that mirrored my own. He flexed his fingers, and the shadows responded, curling and shifting as though they were alive. "Look around, Taryn. This is happening."
I shook my head, my thoughts a whirlwind of denial and doubt. How could I accept something so unreal? The life I had known—the rules I had followed, the reality I had trusted—felt distant, like a fading memory. I wanted to cling to it, to retreat to the safety of normalcy, but it was slipping through my fingers.
Grandmother's voice broke through my spiraling thoughts, calm and resolute. "Taryn, the path before you is not one you chose, but it is one you must walk. The Aether has chosen you. It is a part of you now."
Her words felt like a verdict, a sentence I couldn't escape. I looked at her, my eyes pleading. "But why me? Why any of us? I didn't ask for this! I don't want it!"
Jia stepped forward, her expression a mix of frustration and empathy. "Do you think any of us wanted this?" she demanded, holding up her blistered arm. "I didn't ask to be burned by light or to wield fire that defies everything I know. But here we are. Ignoring it won't make it go away."
Her words stung, but they also held a kernel of truth I couldn't ignore. Denying what was happening wouldn't change it. But accepting it felt like surrendering to something I couldn't control, something that terrified me.
The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating. Grandfather finally spoke, his voice low but firm. "You feel trapped because you are resisting what you are. The Aether is not a curse, Taryn. It is a gift—a gift that can reshape the world, for better or worse. The choice is yours."
The room felt like it was shrinking, the weight of everyone's eyes on me pressing in from all sides. My breath came in shallow gasps, the chaos inside me surging, wild and unrelenting. I clenched my fists, trying to ground myself, to push back the raw, overwhelming energy that coursed through my veins. But it was no use. Aether was alive inside me, thrumming with a rhythm all its own, and I couldn't silence it.
"How can you call this a gift?" I demanded, my voice breaking. I looked at my grandmother, then my grandfather, desperation spilling from me. "How am I supposed to welcome something that feels like it's tearing me apart?"
"Taryn," Grandmother said, her tone calm but firm. "You must—"
"I must what?" I interrupted, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. "Accept it? Embrace it? Pretend that this... this thing inside me isn't destroying everything I thought I knew about myself?"
The room felt suffocating, the air thick with unspoken words and tension that coiled tighter with every passing moment. Jia took a step toward me, concern etched on her face, but I raised a hand to stop her.
"Don't," I said, my voice trembling. "I can't... I can't handle anyone else telling me to calm down or accept this right now."
The Aether pulsed again, sharper this time, and I doubled over, clutching my stomach as if I could physically contain the force threatening to burst out of me. The light in the room dimmed, shadows flickering wildly, and the air grew heavy and charged, like the moments before a storm.
"Taryn, you need to breathe," Grandfather said, his voice low and steady. "You're letting it consume you. You need to—"
"I can't!" I shouted, the words echoing in the small space. "Don't you think I've tried? It's too much! I can't control it, and I can't stop it, and I... I don't want it!"
"Move!" I yelled, staggering back against the wall. "I can't—get away from me!"
But before anyone could react, the Aether erupted, a blinding explosion of energy that radiated outward in a wave. I heard Jia scream, felt the walls tremble, and then—
Light.
Soft, warm, and all-encompassing, it filled the room, pushing back the wild energy with an ease that left me breathless. I blinked, trying to focus, and saw my grandmother standing before me, her hands raised. The light came from her, golden and pure, and it wrapped around me like a protective shield, calming the storm inside me.
But it wasn't just her. My grandfather stood beside her, his eyes closed in concentration. The air shifted around him, a gentle breeze that carried with it a sense of peace and balance. The vibrations in the floor stilled, and the pressure in my chest eased, the Aether retreating into a quiet hum.
I collapsed to my knees, trembling and dazed, and looked up at them in disbelief. "You..." I whispered, my voice hoarse. "You have powers too?"
Grandmother knelt beside me, her light dimming but not disappearing. She placed a hand on my shoulder, her touch steadying. "Yes, Taryn," she said softly. "We do."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Why didn't you prepare me for this?"
"It was not our place," Grandfather said, his voice filled with quiet strength. "The Aether chooses when and how it reveals itself. To interfere would have been to disrupt the balance."
"Balance?" I repeated, a bitter laugh escaping me. "How is any of this balanced? I nearly hurt all of you!"
"But you didn't," Grandmother said gently. "And now you see that you are not alone in this. You are not the first to walk this path, and you will not be the last. We are here to help you, Taryn. But you must let us."