Drone

XX

XX

It was far later than Phoebe intended when she returned home to her room. In her eagerness to make friends with the people of the town she had inadvertently spent a great deal more time than she had planned in the square just laughing and dancing with them. When some workers invited her back to their house to continue their party as it was getting dark Phoebe had agreed without hesitation.

It was past midnight now and she was sneaking through the palace as best she could. She wasn't worried about Wasp being mad about her staying out late. She just didn't want to wake him up if he was sleeping.

Which was why, when the door to her room opened, she was surprised to see him lounging against her reflecting pool, staring at the translucent fish that swam inside.

“You're awake.” she said in surprise as she walked in towards him.

He smiled and waited until she sat next down beside him before responding. “I told you that I wanted to speak to you later.”

Phoebe flinched in guilt. “You didn't have to stay up all night. You could have told me tomorrow. Today. You know what I mean.”

“I wanted to tell you now.” Wasp reached forward and began playing with her hair. Phoebe scooted in closer, happy to let him do so.

Since he was up anyway, he might as well tell her. “So, you said you might have found out what Jean and I are?”

“I think I did. The descriptions in the scrolls match your power so I'm relatively confident.”

“Okay.” Phoebe brought her knees to her chest to prepare herself to listen.

For some absurd reason, she felt suddenly apprehensive about the news of her true nature. She had wanted to know since Jean's ceremony. It had been frightening to think that she could simply steal the energy around her that powered the entirety of Nest. So knowing what she was would be a good thing. She and Wasp could figure out what to do about her, figure out if she was a real threat or if the energy she took was minimal. She wanted to know.

At the same time, for no reason she could point to, she felt uncertain about knowing. What if her power was really dangerous? What if she had to be kicked out of Nest for everyone's protection? That would put her back in the world where Ratel waited for her. She didn't want that at all.

She didn't want to leave. She liked these people. She loved this place. Wasp was quickly becoming the most important person in her life and she didn't want to abandon any of if because some freak accident with her genetics.

Some of that must have shown on her face because Wasp looked at her, concerned.

“What's wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing. So, um, what am I?”

Wasp looked at her, uncertain himself for the moment about continuing based on her reaction. But she had asked and he wasn't about to deny her information she had a right to having.

“I've been calling you a vacuum and that's not entirely inaccurate. In Chinese what you are, roughly translated, is called 'one with no limits' and it's a very rare person that can do what you do. Your personal energy can never be drained because you are constantly replacing it by the energy around you. If it ever is absorbed, you automatically take in the deficit from anything close to you so you never actually lose energy.”

“We knew that already.”

“There was more.” He smiled and pulled her into his side, resting her head on her shoulder while keeping his fingers busy playing with her hair. “The trait to do that isn't exactly one that makes a mage but it's related. You can't manipulate energy like I can but you are constantly absorbing it. The amount you gain at any one time is minimal. However, when you add it all together over an entire lifetime, it means that you will eventually be more powerful than a mage energy wise. You just keep building up more and more of it.”