“Thank you,” I began and she cut me off.
“I knew teaching The Link would be different, but you learn so quickly, it’s amazing.”
“It took me all morning to learn one power.” I said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
She made me look in her eyes. “Morgan, do you hear yourself? Merpeople are lucky to have more than one power each. Each! You will have them all. All! Don’t be so hard on yourself. You have a lot to learn. Do you think Troen learned everything he knew in one day?”
I shook my head, smiling.
“Of course not! It will take time to learn everything. But that is why you will live so long. By the time you know all, it will be time for you to hand your powers over to the new Link.”
Aletheia picked up her bow and sighed, satisfied. “I think we should have lunch, don’t you?” Without waiting for my answer, she walked past me and made her way back to the house. I looked at the pile of wood, moss and stones behind me and suppressed a laugh. Someone could build a fort with all those pieces. I scanned the little clearing and nodded. I’d be okay.
I returned to the tiny clearing on the edge of the lake every morning before meeting Aletheia for my lessons. Somehow, it helped. I felt calmer and ready to face what she had to teach me. After a week of her teachings, I actually started to look forward to them. The agony of depression was releasing its death grip on me, but every now and then it flared up just to remind me it was still there and I was still mostly human.
Aletheia knew everything about everything. Her teachings were comforting - she had all the answers to all my questions and was patient. The words she used helped me pull the powers I needed from within me and use them according to the ways I chose.
During one lesson, Aletheia told me I was completely equipped to do what it was I was supposed to be doing with my life. It sounded nice, but I didn’t have a clue what it was I should be doing, and it didn’t fill me with much confidence.
Mom and Tammer had been right in a way; all I had to do was will the powers and they came to me, but some powers were harder to pull through. Aletheia taught me as many as she could. Some came quickly to me, such as moving currents and learning Mom’s ways of healing. Others, such as speed swimming and moving the earth like Vitahl did, took more time.
We worked on Leaping a lot. To Leap was to be able to go to anywhere in the world I wanted – to be instantly teleported there. Of course, while we practiced, we stayed within the confines of the lake. The farthest I got was a few feet at a time. Aletheia said it was impressive I was able to do it at all on my first try and reminded me, again, to be patient; all powers would eventually come to me.
Naira watched from the shore’s edge, a big smile on her face as the flashes of light in our secluded little cove shone brightly through the water. She waved eagerly each time I surfaced.
During my teachings, the dreaded voice stayed away, and I didn’t feel the pain in my chest again. Aletheia explained it was because I was becoming more centered and aware. Maybe she was right; I did feel stronger. I had certainly gained more powers, but I was nowhere near as powerful as I would be.
I desperately missed Thayde and thought of him every moment of the day. I wanted nothing more than to see his smile again. I had only dreamed of him once in the two weeks we’d been in McCall and I ached for his touch, but neither Mom nor Aletheia had received word from Tammer and the waiting seemed to be getting to Mom. She looked thin and tired. The whole time we had been there, she had dedicated herself to watching Naira, despite the fact that she had Shirley to help her. Without Naira to watch, Shirley kept us well fed and the house immaculate.
I didn’t fully understand why Mom was being so attentive to Naira. She was a happy, well adjusted, bright little girl. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her, apart from the fact that she seemed to be growing awfully fast. Merpeople grew fast anyways, but Naira’s hastened growth didn’t seem to be putting her in any pain and it didn’t seem to bother her. Why was Mom acting as if something was wrong?
I knew Tammer would return soon. I wasn’t so sure about Thayde, but Mom told me to think positive, so that was what I was trying to do. Still, trying not to think about the inevitable was like trying to ignore the giant fanged monster in your closet as a child – you just couldn’t go to sleep.
My lessons lasted all day, every day, and I found myself longing for my bed around three o’clock. Like a child, my bedtime was at eight in the evening and I enthusiastically crept between the goose-down covers every night. There was nothing like getting a good night’s sleep. And just when I was getting used to my schedule, the nightmares returned.