The Seer Rune

In our room we had three little heads pop inside while I was grabbing my shoes so I wasn’t running around the Night Life building without them. Ant got upset when he saw me doing it outside of the apartment floor. I shouldn’t have gone downstairs to the vault like that but it was part of home now too – at least for now. I had a feeling we’d all be moving someplace else – someplace neutral.

I waggled a finger at them and squatted down on the floor to be at their level. The three kids were all Cesari – or all nether-born which meant they could do what I did and I was teaching them from the get go how to conjure and manipulate the elements – and when to and not to use their power.

As they walked to me I conjured an eyeliner stick to my fingers. It was a lesson in making things. “Hunter roll up your sleeves.”

I started drawing the rune on my hand. It was warm and it felt strange but thankfully it didn’t hurt or burn. But I felt the magic. “I’m going to draw this on your arm, it’s supposed to help.” I drew the last line and the magic snapped into place and I fell backwards on to my ass. “Holy fuck!” I said.

Alex was pulling his shoes on next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

“I see nothing.”

“You mean it blinded you?” Alex was on his feet and kneeling next to me and about to wipe the rune off.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t see the elements anymore. I have to focus really hard to see them. Like really hard.” I pulled my hand from Alex’s and waved for Hunter to come sit in my lap. “It won’t hurt, but it might be jarring.”

Hunter sat down on my lap but he was shaking like a leaf. I pressed a kiss to his cheek and whispered, “I promise you it won’t hurt. I got you okay, and we can wash it off if it is too bad okay?”

Hunter nodded and I started drawing the rune on Hunters upper left arm just above his elbow. He sat still even though he was trembling. Alex was in front of him calming him with a soothing song. It made me smile to think Alex was singing to him. I loved listening to Alex sing even though he rarely did it.

The last line was in place and Hunter gasped. He stopped trembling and stood up and looked at his hands turned them over and over and looked at everyone. His smile was wide and bright and he wrapped his arms around me so tightly I thought he might strangle me. I pried him off me. “We need to do it everyday okay. And I’m going to have someone make you a bracelet with magical properties and you’ll have to wear it all the time okay?”

“Poppi has this tattoo.” I nodded. “I think a lot of kids back at the AU building do.” I sighed, it explained a lot. I had a feeling Dae’lin had one as well. I think every Magnus in the building had this rune tattooed on their body early so they weren’t overwhelmed with their ability – a parental decision and since I didn’t have parents and Dorian was using me as an experiment I was left unmarred.

Another secret. I sighed. I have more secrets for you. Alex said in my head and I turned to look at him. He added out loud, “I’ll show you later today. I’ve had it for a while, but I kept it because I didn’t think it mattered, but maybe it might explain more that we need to help Hunter.”

“What is it?” I said as I tried to keep my anger in check. I couldn’t see the patterns around me so when the fire leapt around me everyone squawked and I immediately dosed it with water and air before I started scrubbing the rune off my hand. I had lost control. Fuck! Fuck!

Alex was in front of me and he lifted my chin to meet his eyes. “Nox. Calm down. Look at me,” he commanded and I followed his instructions. My eyes never left his as he rubbed the rune off with the inside of his shirt “It’s okay,” Alex soothed me until the elements snapped back into place but my heart was racing. It wasn’t a far step from feeling like I was five again, waiting for my mother to scream at me and throw a fire extinguisher at my head. Call me a monster. I could see it in my head. I felt the fear in my body.

“Breathe, pretty boy.” Alex made me look at him again. But I wasn’t seeing him. “No one got hurt baby, come back to me.” He pressed a simple kiss to my lips and the mere reminder that I was loved brought me back to him and I wrapped an arm around him and the other around Hunter who sat in my lap.

It was only the warmth of Alex and Hunter’s bodies that brought me back to the reality of it. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Alex chuckled. “It’s alright. You okay now?”

I nodded as the elements around me felt normal, I saw them. I hadn’t realized how much I relied on seeing them to keep my powers in check. I still had the ability to manipulate them, but I couldn’t see it, couldn’t see I was losing control. I sighed and kissed Hunter on the cheek. “You can go play now. Be careful please.” I called out, “Cass.”

She skipped over to me and smiled. “Yes, sir?”

“You’re brother doesn’t see the patterns right now. Please watch his as well as your own and let Hunter know if he’s losing control. We don’t want to anymore scares.”

Cass nodded. “Okay.”

I wrapped my other arm around Alex and he pulled me closer to him. “Hunter can’t stay like that forever. We have to find a way to manipulate the rune so it doesn’t talke all his sight away.”

Alex nodded, “We’ll figure it out.” He smiled and held me while I regained my senses.