Living History

Breaking the lock

Leh's have a lil' looksie here, shall we? The woman says cheerfully. Her energy glides smoothly over my memories to the back of my mind, where six tall black walls of energy sit. Her energy perks up a bit when she sees them. Council energy! Oh ih's been too long!

She hums to herself as she begins to poke and prod at the energy. After a few hits, it lashes back at her, sending a pulse of pain through my head. I cringe, putting my free hand to my temple in an attempt to soothe it. She pauses her search, but only for a moment.

What've you got in here, girlie? Her voice is light and airy. She keeps poking at the walls of black energy with enthusiasm. The shocks of pain quickly morph into a lasting headache. Rhenyan's energy offers a bit of relief, but not much. Not enough to keep up with the woman's persistent prodding.

Here we are! The walls of the larger black box peel away to reveal a small black orb. The woman's energy hums in delight. Another one! She begins to poke at the small orb, and a few seconds later, it too peels off and falls to the floor. Her energy slams into the orb once, twice, three times. Then, on the fifth time, it shatters with a resounding bang! and a bundle of memories flies out to the surface.

The woman gasps in joy as she reaches up for the memories. C'mere ya lil' rascal!

Rhenyan's energy snaps up the memories, absorbing them entirely in his mind. He hesitates when the woman physically smiles and shakes her head slowly.

That one had the council written all over it. I need to know if it'll get me in any trouble!

It won't. He says quickly. 

She shakes her head again with a small smile. With an exasperated sigh, he releases the memories back to her, holding onto just a part of it for himself. The woman opens them up in her hands, expertly moving and rewinding it to make the most sense. Then with a small gasp she flings them up into the air, controlled by her energy, and plays their contents for everyone in my mind.

But there's nothing concrete about these memories. It's a long-term memory, not a short-term one. Short-term memories are ones that have a definite beginning and end. This one is just a jumbled mess of a bunch of memories tied together. Sometimes I'm at home; sometimes I'm at a park; a couple times I'm at work. All of them have the same 4 words repeating within. 

I'm a Soul Mage.

These are all times that I've thought about that fact. All the different aspects of my life that this thought has affected is bundled up here, behind this black energy. Every time I've thought it, thought about what it would mean if it got out, about what others would think; every time I've thought about using it, mostly on my mother and family members, especially Dai, but also a few times on some unrelated, downright vicious people. Every time I've looked up laws, rules, anything to help me understand what it meant to be what I am.

Every time I've been tested.

That's how I've managed to dodge their tests. Any remnant of these memories has been locked up, sealed away from them, until now. No matter how hard they tried, unless they had a Mind Mage that specialized in these kinds of blocks, they never would have found it or been able to access it. 

The woman disappeared from my mind, and I only now register the fact that she'd been screaming for several moments. Rhenyan's energy in my mind is even more tense than it already had been before she'd opened that box. I glance up a him, then back to the door that slammed shut in the back of the room. Auroya is in front of it even before it's shut, but she doesn't stop it.