Lunch with the Keeper...

CHAPTER 4

All the classes were over before lunch to Lauren's surprise. The trio headed to the cafeteria to eat. They fixed their plates and were told to take them to the Keeper's room because she wanted to eat with them.

When they got to the Keeper's room a scream of pain was heard. They rushed to the door and found the keeper being treated by the healers. "Are you okay? Lauren asked.

"No. My dear. It's not a fluke that you are here. I must go back to heaven and receive heavenly healing, or I will die. As Edmon told you, I am ill, and the only cure is in heaven. I cannot leave until I have an heir in place until you are ready and in place." Evandalyn replied. "I am not rushing you, of course. You seem to be doing very well and according to your teachers, you are more than they expected in many ways. You are having a good time. I will be able to visit heaven soon."

"I hate that you are sick. I will do my best to get prepared as quickly as possible."

"It's fine. I can handle my pain and will be alright until you are ready. So, we need to get you ready for the rest of your test."

"The rest of the test."

"Yes. Today has all been a test for you. We needed to know where you were starting. You received great praise from all your teachers except Valentine. That's to be expected though because you are just coming into your magic. May I see the bracelet she gave you?" Lauren held out her wrist. Evandalyn removed the bracelet and exchanged it with a gold band that had a chain connected to a ring she slipped on her index finger. The ring had three large diamonds that were encircled by seven aquamarine gems. The gold band had Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Topaz, Opal, Jade, and Onyx stones spaced evenly on it. It was beautiful and Lauren felt different wearing it. "The bracelet she gave you dampened your powers so the wisps didn't find you as interesting and stopped trying to entice you so they could drain your life force. My bracelet and ring will enhance your powers so that you will be too powerful for them to try. There is power in your locket as well and you must learn to use it and not just wear it around your neck. We are going to practice meditation and mindfulness today. When you calm and center your mind, you will feel your power and the power in the jewelry. Never take any jewelry I give you off and never take off your necklace. While it is on, the power inside it will become accustomed to your aura and begin to infuse you with it. If one of your teachers put jewelry on you, let me be the one to take it off. The jewelry is used to balance things and make you safe while you are learning to use your powers. Valentine will give you jewelry the most out of all your teachers. Ezra might give you a ring to wear on your pinky, in case you get separated from all of your entourage. I've never known Professor Gavin to give out jewelry, and The Gemini Twins only give out weapons."

The power rushing through Lauren was sharp. She clearly felt different. "So, I was being sized up all day today. I felt like I was. I understand though. I wondered why it felt like the teachers were only focusing on me. It was a bit unnerving." They leisurely ate their lunches.

"It won't be like that every day," Edmon said.

"And none of my classmates approached me. I think that it's your fault though. Lauren said to Edmon and Demeatral. "I did get to speak to a unicorn though."

"Don't let it bother you. These two are just following directions. You will get to meet a group of your classmates tonight at dinner. I don't want you to be overwhelmed. Meeting your classmates slowly allows me to monitor how you react to each creature and what I need to do to make sure you can handle their magical effects. Precautions are necessary.

Lauren hadn't even thought about that. What if she had a weird reaction to one of them? The keeper was watching out for her. "I'm glad you have my back. What about the unicorn? Was that okay?"

"You do seem to be talking about it a lot. I will have Edmon monitor things. If it was a male, he could feel drawn or mated to you. If it was a female, she might feel threatened by you, in which case she would have to be removed from the palace."

"It was male. His name was Davis. He had an aquamarine stone on his forehead."

"Very interesting. He carries your stone. He might be one of your mates."

"Mates?' Lauren stammered. "Plural?"

"Yes." Evandalyn laughed. "You are going to have several creatures claim you as their mates. It is common and they will balance your power. What you do with them is between you and them. I have enjoyed my mates throughout my years."

Lauren was still shocked but didn't want to dwell on the topic. "So, let's get into this meditation and mindfulness lesson."

Evandalyn laughed again. "Fine. If you have tried meditation before you know it's all about releasing your mind from conscious thought and digging into your subconscious mind. As you do, you must bring back to the surface the magic you find. I like to picture walking through a flower garden and gathering a bouquet. I mix in new flowers as I find them. Now, do you want to lay down or sit cross-legged?"

Lauren laid down with her head on the Keeper's thigh. The keeper stroked her hair. "Now relax. Don't be afraid to fall asleep. Many times, deep meditation takes us to a state of sleep so we can see the things we are looking for. I will be here with you and can bring you back. You are safe and in a safe place." Evandalyn's words were soothing and calming and Lauren soon found herself in a room full of books in her mind. Evandalyn shimmered into view and looked around. "I should have known that a library would be your mind's world of power."

"I love books. I even write down bad dreams and store them in a book in the real world, so I don't dwell on them. I have a book of scary things and things I don't like." They moved around the library and found those books on a high shelf. Evandalyn pulled them down off the shelf.

"I will teach you a better way to store these. If your enemies ever got hold of these, they would use the information to torture and control you. They are better in a safe locked box, in a private room of your mind library. She taught Lauren how to create the box and room and the books were locked up. She handed Lauren the key and showed her how to add it to the set of keys she had given her.

"Why not just destroy the books?"

"It's important to have an outlet for your fears and nightmares. If we destroy books, they will become free in our minds again. With them, in the locked room, you should feel even safer from those fears and nightmares."

That made sense to Lauren, and they moved to another area of her mind library. There was a shelf that contained her life story, mom's books, dad's books, adventure stories, and romances from her life had spaces on her shelves.

Evandalyn skimmed the titles and smiled at a few and moved on. "You have a great library here. Grab that book down there." She pointed at a leather-bound book at the bottom of her love shelf. This shelf had books about all her favorite things. She got the book and read the title "Discernment: The power of evaluating people, places, and things." Lauren began to read the pages as Evandalyn said, "I knew you had the power of discernment. You will know how to handle different creatures, places and forces naturally. After you learn more, you will know that you know it. This is a great gift. This is just wonderful."

"Professor Garvin said I had natural instincts for different species, so it is one of my powers."

"Yes. I wish I had it. It was hard for me to learn how to greet and handle them. I shook hands with a vampire and had to hide from him for two months. That's how long it takes for the scent bond to wear off. He was a pain."

"Did he try to kill you?"

"No. He kept trying to kiss me and suck my blood. If that had happened, I would never have gotten rid of him.' Evandalyn went silent for a minute and then moved on. "Now, let's see if we can find other books like this one. They are your magic books. They will be scattered around because you didn't know you had powers and mentally put them on related shelves. As you find them, you will develop the power. I love that your powers are in books. You can read how to use and develop them. I wish I would have thought to put mine in books instead of flowers." They laughed and continued their search.

Lauren moved to the fitness shelves and saw a leather-bound book on the top shelf. She took it down. It was a chapter book entitled "Empowerment, endurance, and accuracy". She turned to the table of contents and read the chapter titles. Chapter one: strength, Chapter two: flexibility, Chapter three: speed, Chapter four: accuracy. The last chapter was entitled Empowerment. Lauren showed the book to Evandalyn. "Cheat codes for Gym." Evandalyn said with a giggle. "Wonderful. I bet you have always been athletic and healthy."

They kept searching. Evandalyn said they would check one more set of shelves and then come back to reality. Lauren moved to a set of shelves marked as skills. There they found ten leather bound books. "Jackpot!" Evandalyn said. "Let's move these to the table. At the table they read the titles: "Now You See Me", "I Know What You Are Thinking", "Levitation for Dummies", "Artistry and Design", "Family Spell book", "Creation and Invention", "Astronomy and Astrology: The Magic of The Stars", "Telekinesis for Dummies", "Apportation for Dummies", and "Formation of Peace".

"Man, you master these, and no one will challenge you. Just choose one at a time and master that one. Go ahead and choose one now. When you finish reading that book, we will come out of our sleep."

Lauren looked at the titles and chose "Apportation for Dummies".

"Why did you choose that one?"

"Because I have no idea what it is." She sat down and read. Apportation is the ability to teleport inanimate objects and/or beings from one location to another. Commonly, the most basic and fundamental trait is to move or otherwise interact with objects both from a distance and without physical contact.

As the ability is connected to the mind of the user, it can either be activated and controlled through conscious effort and concentration, through willpower and emotions of a particular level of intensity, or through achieving a state of discipline and serenity. In some cases, the ability can respond to the user's thoughts, ideas and whims, making it far easier to activate but potentially more difficult to control. Moreover, these aspects of the user's mind and mental capacity at large can affect the accuracy, precision, range, arc, radius, and strength of their ability, as well as the subsequent limitations of its intuitiveness, usability, functionality, and reliability in various situations. It would be best to master Telekinesis first.

That's good to know. Lauren thought. She then went back to the shelf and picked up: "Telekinesis for Dummies" and started reading it.

"Why did you change books?"

"Because the Appotation book said it would be best to know Telekinesis first and who am I to argue with a book?"

Evandalyn giggled and let Lauren read the book.

Telekinesis is one of the bases of many powers that are based on "controlling/manipulating," and may evolve to the point that a Telekinetic can control anything at a subatomic, particle, and universal level. She decided to stick to that book since all the rest of her magic seemed to relate to it as the basic skills.

When Lauren finished reading the book, she woke up with a shot. She was breathing fast and had to take several cleansing breaths just to slow her heart. "You must have learned something very cool. I haven't seen anyone wake up like that unless they did." Edmon said.

"Yes. Cool indeed. Now I need to learn to use this power."

"Be careful and don't share what you learn in your mind with everyone," Evandayln warned. "Only those you truly trust. I hope in time that will be Edmon and Demeatral, but you have to build that trust. Don't just give your trust. Make it be earned. Take caution. I was betrayed by one of my guardians. Not to say these two will do the same thing, but don't just trust them because I chose them for you. Get your own reasons."

"I understand and I will."

"We will work to earn your trust. We are your chosen guards, and we will not fail you" Edmon declared.

"That's right. I want to be more than your guard. I want us to become friends." Demeatral said.