Chapter Seventeen - Part Two: Powers of the First

Leta wanted to lie and say that was it. Simon wasn't here so she could get away with it. Something in her gut though said that Atreus would have her go through this again when Simon was close by, and it would probably end badly for her if her stories didn't match up.

"Uh…" She bit her lip, seeing everyone staring at her with serious looks except for Ismene.

The Priestess smiled, pouring herself another espresso. "Go on, girly. You're totally safe tonight."

Leta gulped, "Okay. Uh… I can… understand any language. I just need to hear a little of the words and see some of the writing and I'll be fluent."

Eriene perked up and started speaking a harsh yet flowing language that sounded Baltic, but Leta had never heard it before. Though she spoke it conversationally, the way the words matched together sounded as if she were reciting song.

As Leta listened, words that were a forigen a heartbeat ago soon became recognizable.

"…blezdinga sugut tas rabbit ir the skylark rasti its home among the medziai, and night has fallen on the river, it is time to dream of mornings honey. Sleep, little bird, safe in your leaves. Mother cradles you close with her love."

Eriene paused, watching her expectantly. Leta swallowed and focused on the new language that had imprinted on her brain, her tongue flexing around the unfamiliar words.

"I'm not sure if what I'm saying sounds correct, but that sounded like a bed time song."

Eriene gasped, blinking back tears as she replied in the same language, "It is a lullaby my mother sang to me as a child when I had trouble sleeping. I have not heard it in so long…"

"What language is this?"

Eriene looked confused, "You do not know."

Leta shook her head.

"It is Old Curonian, and it's been considered an extinct language since at least the 16th century."

"English or Greek, please." Atreus quipped.

"She speaks the Old Curonian of my homeland after only listening to me." The old woman confirmed in English, seemingly pleased at the idea of talking someone in her native tongue.

Atreus grunted, "So, you can speak any language if exposed to it. What else?""Um… I can see really, really well in the dark. If I focus on someone, I can tell if they are human or Arisen. If they're Arisen, I can tell what Class they are and some other general facts about them. But, don't be mad!" Leta held up her hands as if she were expecting someone to jump over the table and smack her, "I have to actually focus on someone to do it and I don't do it willey nilley, cause that's rude."

Atreus pinched the bridge of his nose. "What else?" He groaned.

"I can tell when someone is lying," Leta squeaked sheepishly, "And I can persuade people to see my point of view sometimes. Please don't get angry!" She nearly shouted when she saw Atreus's thunderous expression, "I promise it's not a sure thing. Some people I can and some people I can't. I have to focus like everything else, and there's no way I could force someone to do something terrible. I'm just good at talking my way out of situations when I need to. But I can tell right now that even if I wanted to, there's no way I could talk my way out of this one."

Atreus's nostrils flared in what seemed to be anger. "You can use Persuasion?"Leta was surprised that he knew what the Talent was called and there wasn't some crazy name for it. "Um… yes?" 'Please don't be mad. Please don't be mad. Please don't be mad.' She kept repeating in her head.

The General took a deep breath, held it for what seemed a dramatic effect, and then exhaled before he spoke.

"Anything else?"

The way that he spoke so calmly was almost more terrifying than when he was fuming with rage.

"The only other thing is the absorption that you already know about." Leta squirmed under the scrutiny.

Atreus pinched the bridge of his nose then rubbed his eyes like he was doing everything in his power to keep from absolutely loosing his mind. She heard him muttering Greek under his breath that had a lot of choice words in it.

Everyone let him process through everything on his own, watching him with concern or doing their best to find their tea and coffee as interesting as possible in order to avoid the awkward silence.

"Okay." Atreus sighed, seeming to have work past everything that he'd just been told. "You are… unique. There has not been a Class such as yours before. Understood." He looked to Ismene, who was happily digging into a bowl of leftover pasta without any concern, "What does this mean?"

Ismene looked up and shrugged. "Beats me. Lot of futures in play." She said between bites, "She's our people, so there's no danger from her right now. Despite how much I say not to, you're going to tell the High Tower about her any way. So, I shouldn't bother wasting my breath but I'm going to any way - don't tell the High Tower about her."

Atreus chewed on his tongue as if in contemplation about the decision, "What happens?"

Ismene took another big bite and garbled through the pasta, "You tell them, they take her and… I can't spoil the surprise for you, but basically it ends very, very badly for every single person on this planet."

She swallowed, fixing him with a sharp eye, "Doesn't matter what the prophecies say, you know the higher ups in the High Tower will do something awful, and you know it."

She took another bite, "Now, you wait a little bit, closer to when Leta is supposed to go home to Seattle. Leta gets a hold of her powers, she builds a bit of a track record to show that she's def on our side, and she builds the connections she's going to need to help us."

Ismene took a piece of bread on the table and used it to mop up the rest of the pasta sauce. "I'll be frank with you, boss man, we need her a lot more than you think. My advice? Do what you can to protect her and get her prepared for the Blessed AND the Chosen, or we're all screwed."