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The Gift

Daniel's Storyline, Chapter 3.2

copyright comidacomida 2018

The Elk turned to look at me, elaborating for my benefit. "Spirits with blue eyes-- they have a special connection to Humans. If that Hound has blue eyes then he is attuned to his Human."

Kon nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the bus stop shelter. "Exactly, and it's how I knew he wouldn't cause a problem. He's so obsessed with the old guy he wouldn't try anything to take you from us."

I sighed, turning to address the spirits around me. "I still don't understand the whole blue eye thing. Is eye color that big a deal with spirits?"

Aiden's comment wasn't very helpful. "I always thought that Sapphire Inner Light was just a myth."

Talpaus shook his head, taking a seat on the bus stop bench next to me. "Nope... it's no myth, Bat. Then again, it's rare enough that not even one in ten spirits ever end up with blue eyes. We're just not made to be that way."

Kon sat down on the other side of me but, rather than speaking to Aiden, he addressed me. "Less than ten, actually. Spirits with Blue eyes have a deep connection with a specific Human. It's kinda like an obsession, actually."

Herne snorted, remaining standing behind the bench. "Only in the way that love is an obsession-- in the way that the concept of family and belonging is an obsession-- in the way that welcome intimacy is an obsession."

Kon's two tails flicked through the bench, swishing back and forth. "Well... yeah-- I could go for some 'intimacy' as often as possible."

Without missing a beat Herne corrected his earlier statement. "Emotional intimacy."

Their round-about discussion really didn't do a lot to answer my question. "So... what's with the 'Inner Light' thing?"

An older woman, maybe late sixties or early seventies sat right down where Talapus was. She glanced my way. "Pardon, hon?"

Thinking quickly, I noticed she had a hearing aid so she probably hadn't heard me clearly. "Oh... I was asking about the light in your ear... there's a red light from your... uh... right there."

I pointed to her left ear and she paused, reaching up to take out her hearing aid. "Oh. Thank you, young man. It means I need to change the battery."

Talapus, who was almost occupying the same space as the woman leaned forward so he could address me. "Wow-- talk about a poor design decision. How are you supposed to see the low battery indicator if you're wearing them?"

Right before I answered the Coyote I realized that the woman was still sitting next to me and, for all she knew, it was only the two of us. Thankfully Aiden piped up "I think the point is to have a visual cue for when a user takes them out at night. That way they can replace the battery in the morning when they--"

Talapus had already stood up and began pacing. "You completely missed the humor of it, Bat. That question wasn't supposed to be answered."

Aiden flicked one ear as he adjusted his shades. "Oh... so... it was rhetorical."

Herne interrupted whatever the Coyote was about to say in response, addressing me directly. At least ONE of the spirits was willing to answer my question. "Inner Light is a measure of a Spirit in how we interact with the world. Different kinds of interactions create different kinds of spiritual energy and each energy has a color that adds to our essence. The more of one kind of energy we consume the more closely our Inner Light matches the color of that energy source."

There were so many questions I wanted to ask but, with the old woman sitting next to me I was pretty much left without a chance to say anything. Thankfully, Aiden kept the conversation going by volunteering information about himself. "My eyes are purple because that's the color of my Inner Light. I live alongside Humans and get my spirit energy by inspiring them and encouraging them to follow their bliss."

Talapus snorted. "I never liked that term-- 'following your bliss'... it has a feeling that says that as long as you're trying to be happy you'll succeed."

Personally, ever since I heard the term I'd always liked it, but I said nothing as the spirits continued talking amongst themselves. Kon, interestingly enough, agreed with me. "There's reasons enough to follow your bliss, Coyote. Just the act of having a chance to work toward your goals or follow your desires is almost as good for spirits as it is for Humans. Maybe you just need better goals."

As if feeling my interest in learning more rather than dealing with arguments, Herne spoke up before Talapus had a chance for a rebuttal. "I am a spirit of the world, known as a Naturae Spirit. My energy goes from the world around me and, in the rare event of interacting with Humans I draw energy off of helping Humans to become the best they can be."

Kon took his turn to snort. "You're no Spirit Guide, Elk... you use Humans for your own purposes the same as any other spirit. Don't start lying to the poor boy."

I'd NEVER liked being called that and I spoke without thinking. "I'm not a boy."

The old woman, who had been looking at an eBook reader glanced up at me. "Hmmm?"

Wincing inwardly I came up with a thought quickly. I didn't want to come off like an ass, but I also didn't want people to start thinking I was crazy. "You called me 'hon'. That's a little patronizing, don't you think?"

She gave me one of 'those' kinds of looks and scooted further away from me on the bench, mumbling something to herself about 'the rude youth of today'. Having sufficiently alienated my bench partner I sighed, looking down at my cell phone in the hopes that it wasn't as late in the day as it felt. Talapus, still next to me on the bench piped up "Hey... nice recovery there, Danny. Real smooth."

I glanced his way and saw that he was wearing a wide smile. On one hand it felt a little insulting but, at the same time it was a little infectious and I had to fight to avoid smiling. At that point the bus arrived and, after the woman stood up first to get on I spoke under my breath "What about red eyes?"

Kon, who was just starting to stand up, froze in place. It was Herne who responded, following after me as I got into line behind the old lady. "A Red Inner Light is the sign of a hostile spirit. They mean harm, or at least trouble for Humans and often other spirits as well. If you believe in the term 'evil', that would be a fair way to describe a spirit with a red Inner Light."

Talapus let out a 'ha' as he got into line behind Herne. "Yeah? Well, Red Inner Light isn't THAT easy to get, Elk. I've caused trouble for plenty of Humans but my Inner Light is still a very healthy Amethyst. The whole point is not that we cause problems, but that our reasons behind causing problems is to cause harm."

Aiden, who was behind the Coyote asked "What's the difference?"

Kon stepped past everyone and got onto the bus, walking through the old lady to beat the rest of us. He turned around to face me while she counted out change for faire. "Some Spirits, like Yokai, can hide our inner light, or change its color."

The lady had just started to move along so I made to follow her but I froze in place when Kon's eyes flashed a baleful red. Remaining there for several seconds I felt my heart start pounding, as if I was staring down the barrel of a gun. A second later his eyes returned to green and the sensation left me. It was strange, to say the least.

Showing my day pass, I went to the back of the bus and took a seat; I was joined by all of the spirits except Kon, who remained in the aisle, facing me. "Even though Humans don't see spirits anymore there's still an instinct in your kind... I bet you're scared of me now, huh?"

Truth be told, I--