Inheritance

She began by explaining a bit about how my mind works. Apparently an average person uses only about 10% of their brain. The difference with a psychic is that the chemistry in our minds works differently. The percentage of brain power used by a psychic varies greatly but must be over 20% to be considered a psychic, otherwise the person is just a bit intuitive. Being classified as a psychic means the difference is more dramatic. The normal brain has enough electrical power to power a light bulb. A psychic could power your house for a year with their brain. Maybe that will give you an idea of the contrast. There is so much energy crammed into the brain it actually gives off a glow. Most people can’t see it but someone can train themselves to. This glow is often called an aura but contrary to popular thought auras are specific to people who use “magic”. The thing about magic was that it couldn’t quite be explained. People don’t know how the regular mind works, so why would we have even the slightest idea how the chemically enhanced “magical brain” works. There’s a whole study on the theory of magic that is a much respected field in the magical community.

Oh, and that’s the other thing. Psychics aren’t the only magic users. There are shape shifters, were-people, elementals, sorcerers, and another hundred obscure little subgroups of magic users. The thing is, not all magic is of the same nature as the psychic’s brand of magic. In truth the word “magic” is such a broad term it should be more rarely used. Magic users are about 0.05% of the total population of the world. So if you think about it of the 8 billion people on the planet only 4 million of them are magical. There were more of us but whenever humans find out about us they make it their top priority to exterminate us like vermin. Most of the magic users have migrated to a little island in the Pacific Ocean. For thousands of years we had it to ourselves then the Polynesians came followed by the Europeans. They called our islands Hawaii and claimed them as their own. We’d seen how the normal person dealt with our kind so we chose the largest island at the time and claimed it as our own. No nonmagical person can take a step onto that island or even see it. It’s now the Mecca of the magical world. There’s a ridiculous concentration of the supernatural there because of how isolated and safe the island is. We were able to claim several smaller islands alongside the growing islands of Hawaii. It’s the largest concentration of magic in the world though there are other places similar to it on other parts of the world.

“Now that you know a bit about magic, though what I’ve taught you is very little we need to start on your control.” She said finally breaking off from her seemingly endless lecture. She herself seemed more than willing to continue talking but seemed to be jolted by her son’s coughing.

“Aaron told me that you are incredibly powerful yet seem totally unaware of how to properly wield your power. I suggest that what we do is to teach you to meditate. It will calm your restless powers and probably lend a hand to teaching you control” she followed up more benevolently. She led me outside past James still looking through the garden for the elusive mongoose. He didn’t even seem to notice us as we walked past. I noticed that when we first came here the sun was rising over the mountains but now it was approaching the water line. Ms. Nagato led the three of us to a cliff edge over looking the endless ocean. She came up to the very edge and sat down. She patted the ground on either side of her inviting me and Aaron to sit next to her. I made my way cautiously to the edge and settled myself next to her. She looked over at me examining my position. She reached over and arranged my legs into a pretzel that resembled sitting criss-cross. She pointed out to the waves and said “pick a spot on the horizon. Concentrate on it. Empty your mind of everything but two things, that spot, and the rhythm of your breath. Slow down your breath, breath in for 7 counts then breath out for 7 counts. Make it steady. Calm yourself and your mind. Let everything go. Let the breaks of the waves count your breaths for you. Fall into the nothingness and don’t think. Feel.” She continued to coach me as I slowly sank into myself while at the same time somehow becoming more aware of the world. My mind seemed to have split into two parts. There was the part of me that was intensely concentrating on everything around me, the smells, the sounds, The way the sun fell into the water. I saw everything. But then there was the other part of me that wasn’t fully there. It was like an out of body experience except I was very much in my body. It more seemed that my mindscape had taken on the look of my surroundings and I was looking at the inside of my mind without closing my eyes. For some reason Ms. Nagato wasn’t sitting next to me and Aaron wasn’t there either. I was alone yet I could still here her voice urging me onwards, And I was very much aware of both there presences. The sensation was strange and I’d never felt something like it. Slowly her voice faded and I delved farther into my mind. I examined everything around me and felt the power thrumming everywhere. As I looked I saw millions of thin strands of light pulsing and moving in a tangled web. They were beautiful but they looked wrong. They were arranged the wrong way. They were supposed to flow as one, instead they were all headed in different directions. I reached for a particularly bad knot that had collected near a flower on the ground. As I touched it I could feel life flowing through it. I’d never felt anything like it. I examined the knot carefully and began unwinding it.

BAM!!!

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!” Ms. Nagato yelled at me frantically as I was forcefully pulled from my trance. She took a few deep breaths then asked the same question in a more restrained voice.

“I was doing what you told me. Why didn’t you tell me about the inner landscape that I found?”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d make one. Most people aren’t able to on their first try. Inner landscapes are simply a way the mind tries to interpret magic and make it a way available for you to manipulate. It’s an instinctual thing but should at least require a little bit of instruction. But apparently you don’t need instruction.”

“Why were you freaking out?”

She took a deep breath then continued. “psychics are known to get lost in their inner landscapes. They delve so deeply into themselves that they’re unable to make their way back. The result is a vegetated state. I saw you slowly retreating more and more into yourself and got scared. So I pulled you out. Though now, I’m curious. What did your inner landscape look like?”

I thought about how to answer her. “My inner landscape looks exactly like what I see. It was basically the same as if I’m sitting here now except you and Aaron were gone.” I then noticed that Aaron was staring at me in disbelieving expression.

“Interesting” said Ms. Nagato as she adjusted her spectacles. I was dying to figure out exactly why I was so interesting.