Valeriana was a little dazed as she descended the mountain with the beast. The onslaught of new information she got today was a little bit too much for her to handle, add in the fact that she might die if this little purification thing going on continued and that what she had known the entire time had been a lie! If the Twelve was not twelve and actually thirteen, what was she going to make of it? If there were actually thirteen people, who in the world was the thirteenth?

"Alright, so I made a few tweaks from Corvan's suggestions, but fact is, I need to tell you lot that if you aren't telling me anything yet, this will be the best time to tell it." Charles started, crossing his arms as everyone sat like Indians, forming a circle around the fire.

"Um . . . has anyone seen Gen?" Zevlin inquired, leaning over slightly and raising his hand as he looked around to search for his twin sister.

"I sent Brindon to find her and that blue-haired mongrel." Charles impatiently answered. "Now we don't have time for this. We're running out of daylight and I'm sure all of you are itching for the action, so speak up."

"Geez! You're in an awfully bad mood today. Don't act like you have a stick shoved up you—"

"Don't dare finish that sentence, Tamara." The fourth said warningly, glaring at her that it burned holes through her head. The third only rolled her eyes at this and threw back her hands to lean on them as she reclined backwards.

"This conversation again." Aneeka sighed. "Those two, really."

"You can't help it." Rowe said, smiling like always. "Charles and Tamara will be Charles and Tamara like it will be Valeriana and Corvan, Zevlin and Genevieve, and you and me."

"Ew. Stop it you two." Elfre gagged. "This is supposed to be a group meeting, don't forget everybody else exists."

They all laughed at the seventh's humorous declaration, filling the entire area with a jubilant atmosphere while they waited for the other three to arrive.

"Oh but I must disagree." Raziel quipped. "What's more splendid than showing your romantic involvement publicly?"

It wasn't more than a second later when they saw Genevieve and the two other boys treading through the snow and entering their makeshift home.

"Sorry for taking long." Genevieve told them, her expression nonchalant as she squeezed between Zevlin and Keelan. Brindon sat back on the spot left vacant for him while Zion chose to occupy the space against the wall, a bit more isolated from the rest.

"Alright. I'll repeat what I said a while ago." Charles was a little impatient. "I—"

"Let me do the talking." Corvan took the initiative. Automatically, all eyes turned to him. "We have the roughest outline of the whole thing planned, but there are still a few factors we need to consider. Cifaro, do you really require to have your entire pack purified?"

'Yes, but I will do so myself. As the only survivor of this wretched mess, it is my responsibility. I do not require for the girl to do it for me. Also, I do not wish to take a direct part in this fight. I do not wish to harm my brothers.'

"How exactly are you going to do that?"

The beast threw its head back to its full height and eyed each of the Twelve, including Zion. 'I may not have been strong enough to become the leader of this pack, but I was strong enough to play the role of the cleric. If you can keep the ice from sealing the lake, I might tap into its spiritual facet, helping purify them.'

"What about the spring stuff?" Keelan quipped. "Didn't you need say so yourself?"

'That will be my problem to mind, young one.' Cifaro answered, giving him a small sideway glance. 'Do not worry thyself over it.'

"Yes, we do already have the plan laid out for the opening of the lake. However, we only have one shot at it and it will require a lot of strength from Charles and Tamara." Corvan paused. "Our only problem is how we are going to lure them out."

'Let me take care of that as well.'

"Well, then, with those issues set aside . . ." Charles interjected suddenly, having calmed down after a short break. "Let's get this plan started."

"Do we get to do those walkie-talkie things?" Valeriana cheerfully inquired.

When the Twelve turned to look at her with questioning gazes, her mood faltered almost instantly and she gave out a huge sigh, flicking her wrist at them dismissively.

"Never mind."

-*-

Valeriana tried to preoccupy herself with the mission at hand, but, since they did not ask her to do much, she had to sit back and watch everyone else move around. This made her feel somewhat useless, not to mention her sight was turning a bit blurry for some reason. She took this as feeling sleepy, so she decided to lay down for a bit and close her eyes.

Behind her lids, she was trying to discern what sort of thing the new blessing unlocked this time. Unlike the instant moment she heard dolphins talk, this was taking a bit too long to take effect. A bit impatient, she hid under the makeshift blanket she managed to hack off from someone's bag and started grumbling. Really. She wanted to help out as well. She wasn't that useless for god's sake. Here they go again—underestimating her. Just because she got into trouble again didn't mean she would in this one.

"Valeriana," Genevieve's concerned voice called from above. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." She childishly answered back, keeping her face under the covers.

"Come on, it's not that we aren't allowing you to help out." This time, it was Elfre who spoke up.

"We just want you to rest for the meantime, alright?" Aneeka told her. "You helped out enough. You brought back Cifaro, remember?"

"You guys always say that." Valeriana said. "But you just don't want me on the way."

"Stop being childish already!" Tamara harshly nudged her side with her foot and teasingly kicked her.

"Ow! Ow! Tamara, I so hate you—" She threw off the blanket and glared up at the girls, only to scream as she saw their appearances. Pushing herself away from them, she backed up against the corner and rubbed her eyes.

"What's wrong? Do we look like monsters now to you?"

"You—you guys are rainbows!"

They stared at her questioningly.

"Oh great, she just went crazy." Tamara stated simply, referring to the girl with a brief wave of her hand. "Somebody knock some sense into this girl's head and tell her unicorns exist."

It wasn't as though they all turned into monsters. It was just that, they were all covered by an array of different colors—sort of like rainbows, but there was one specific shade that was dominant overall. Tamara mostly had blue around her, Elfre's had a lighter shade of blue that was almost translucent, Genevieve had something purplish with a shade of yellow and Courtney, who was standing by idly behind all of them, had a pale, transparent baby blue color. There were many more combinations but the designs were too elaborate to describe accurately. All she could say was that they all came with different shapes and sizes, not to mention activity. The colors moved around and, so far, Tamara's was the wildest.

"Um . . . um . . ." She didn't know what to make of what she was seeing.

Valeriana stood up slowly, eyes wide in total wonder. She approached Tamara first, gazing at the blue fire that seemed to burn around her. Reaching out slowly, she tried to caress one part. Successfully, she came into contact with it, causing Tamara's eyes to shoot wide simultaneously as hers closed.

The girl was given an onslaught of images she could not comprehend. It was terrifying, actually. Wherever this was, the person was running through crowded streets. She kept on looking over her shoulders, watching people chase her holding weapons of some sort.

'Come back here! Thief!'

The point-of-view shifted to a wall up ahead and with a swift jump, crossed over to the other with a huge laugh among with panting breath.

'You'll never catch me! Losers!'

Valeriana was only brought back to reality when she was pushed back. Harshly, she collided with the floor, straight to her butt and the sense knocked straight into her head. She blinked as she slowly registered what happened, then looked up slowly at the third-ranker to find her looking distraught. The colors around her turned into a darker shade, moving more wildly than before.

"What did you just do?" Tamara questioned, panic-stricken.

"I . . . I—I don't know." She whispered. "I just tried to touch your . . . thing and this sort of happened."

"P-please don't do that again—whatever you just did." With that, the third-ranker walked out, leaving all the other girls confused.

"Tamara, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that would happen." She tried to yell to her as she watched her leave. "Now I feel guilty."

"Are you alright?" Genevieve offered her a hand.

She was about to accept, but remembering what happened, she cowered away from the touch and moved to stand up herself.

"What happened?" Elfre was confused as heck. Aneeka, however, remained silent and seemed to be in deep contemplation.

"I can't believe I'm saying this." Courtney started, gazing inquisitively at her former enemy. The awkwardness was incomparable. "But you are unbelievable, alright."

Aneeka gave Valeriana a look that intrusively searched her all over. The girl was apprehensive from all the looks she was getting at that moment and chose to stare into space, trying to register what just occurred. Fact was, she was unfamiliar with the images she saw and how they were connected with Tamara.

"You say we're covered in 'rainbows', right?" The tenth-ranker started. "Could you be referring to our auras?"

Valeriana was clueless. "Your auras . . . ?"

"Listen, Valeriana, what color is mine?"

"Um, mostly pale blue-green." She started. "With a bit of white and some splashes of red?"

"Red?" Elfre looked at the girl beside her with curiosity.

"I'm a fourth Arlandian." Aneeka stated a matter-of-factly. "So that must explain it. However, if you can see auras then that must mean you're not in Indirect Control. You're a direct user. Your soul sensitivity, ability to talk with animals, and the exploitation of another person's aura proves that fact. What did you see when you touched Tamara?"

"A vision." She started, dubious and skeptical. "Of someone being chased."

"That must be her memories. You can't touch anyone directly now if you don't want to invade their personal . . . mind. Quick, Elfre," the tenth turned to the seventh. "Ask Raziel for some of his power-insulating gloves."

"You mean the one he uses to control his electricity thingy?"

"What else am I talking about?"

Elfre rolled her eyes and marched off. "Alright, alright."

"What does this mean, then?" The female twin could not help but examine Valeriana up and down. "If Valeriana's nature of Power Control is direct, then that means she cannot handle any elements, right?"

"Direct Controllers have auras that are . . . inflexible, making them incompatible with the manipulation of elements. However, to make up for it, they make a more personal connection with other auras from any living thing through direct contact. That enables a metaphysical relationship that allows that specific person to see what cannot be seen, and hear what cannot be heard. It is a very rare condition so becoming indirect is a much more likely outcome for ninety-seven percent of the population. The likeliness of a direct user being born is only three percent."

"Are you saying I'm a freak?" The current fifth-ranker was horrified that she started pulling on her hair. "I was already a freak of nature back where I came from and now I'm even more of a freak in here? That's it, please wake me up from this nightmare."

"Calm down. Freak is not the word I'll choose for you, really. Your kind is rare. Only about thirty of you appear in a century. I'll say extra-special is a better word." Aneeka smiled reassuringly.

"You're not comforting."

"Look, what happened with Tamara—that wasn't your fault, alright? You didn't know. Don't hate yourself for an accident."

"Is there even anyone else with this condition?"

"Lord Lienhard. Don't you remember?"

"Oh." She realized. "Oh . . ."

"Aren't you glad? You said you wanted cool 'powers' before and now you're freaking out like it's the end of the world? Didn't you want this?"

"But I wanted anything like water or! Or! Fire! I really wanted to be spirit though . . ."

"This is a bit difficult. That makes you also indeterminate." Genevieve looked problematic as she said that aloud. "Direct users don't really fully belong to any of the seven continents. They are closest to Aetheria, since Aetherians really can't manipulate any physical elements, but they focus more on their inner element."

"What's the difference between spirit and direct users?" Valeriana asked.

"People with the spirit element have limited range of abilities to themselves and their souls only—that includes astral projection, extreme meditating abilities, increased physical talent, maybe precognition to some point, and expertise in the areas of inner peace or ability to peek through the other side."

"Didn't Valeriana cut through those strings back in Loquin?" Courtney pointed out.

"Oh . . ." Aneeka was more than confused. "I guess you are, somewhat, Aetherian. Wait, now this is confusing. You cannot be direct and indirect at the same time, the two are exactly opposites. The structural differences—it's impossible."

"Auras are connected to souls, right?" Genevieve started. "Maybe that's what enabled Valeriana to cut those strings?"

"Yes, that explains it. If direct users and spirit-elementals have something in common, it's that connection with the souls. Only that Direct Users have an indirect connection with souls, compared to us."

"That makes it sort of . . . ironic, don't you think?"

"Power Control is a complicated subject." Aneeka blew out a sigh. "I've spent the past four years studying it but I don't come close to understanding it well."

"But being in Direct Control has a lot of perks, much like in Indirect. For example, in fire, you can have a lot of creative innovations. Like Corvan's plasma coating, fire-wielding, molten fires, flares . . . torches."

"And his aureoles?"

The ninth-ranker nodded enthusiastically. "There are thousands and thousands of possibilities with just one element. Mastering your ability takes more than half of your lifetime with all the things you can do with it." Genevieve's smile was big.

Courtney decided to offer her insight as well. "Take wind as well. The thin structure of air molecules makes the sharpest blades, different forms and different shapes give a different speed and a different cut. Tornadoes, current-diversion, dispersion and other things are possible."

"Wow." Valeriana turned dreamy. "What about mine?"

Aneeka paused. "Well, a few of the perks have already shown, right? Talking to animals, soul sensitivity, cutting . . . strings, and for now, your ability to delve into another person's memories. Remember, thousands and thousands of possibilities—just by being able to connect with the auras of different things gives you a different kind of access. It's wonderful right?"

It turned out the Power Control was a much more interesting subject than what it first came to her as. Who knew that different things could be done with just one, simple ability? If fire can be molded into balls, what sort of balls could be made? Or if wind can turn into blades, how sharp, what shape, how fast could it be? And if Valeriana could connect with auras, that explained her capability of sensing presences. And since auras were connected with the soul . . . she was breathless. Millions of possibilities with just one element. These gifts were unparalleled.

She started wondering what more she could do.

Elfre arrived with a pair of black gloves and handed them to Aneeka, a little irked. "Here. I had to do something disgusting because of that stupid pair. You've got to thank me."

"Thank you so much, Elfre." Valeriana was somewhat shy for having made the seventh do something she obviously did not like.

She reached for the pair of gloves handed over to her and slipped them on. Raziel's hands were expected to be big, so they did obviously fit her perfectly. However, putting them on made her feel a bit strange. She could not risk bringing up bad memories—quite literally—again, though. Maybe she had to deal with this for the mean time. Perhaps until she could control it properly.

"Damn." She whispered. "How long has it been already since we left the academy?"

"Over a month." Genevieve quipped.

"To think I'll discover these things about myself. I've no chance of going back to what I used to be now, right?"

"You don't say." Aneeka declared.

"Oh, and I forgot to say something." Elfre started.

"What is it?"

"Charles is calling over all of those who have familiars. We're summoning them now."

"I wanna watch!" Valeriana's excitement was childish. "Where are they now?"

"Just over there."

The girls could not help but watch Valeriana as she speedily rushed out of their makeshift home and ran off. It wasn't more than a few minutes later that the girl tripped over a nonexistent rock and fell face first into the snow.

"At least she's not sad anymore."

"Give her a break." The ninth-ranker told them all as she urged everyone out. "She's going through a lot right now. You should even wonder how she's keeping herself together like that."