“Huh. And what do you think people wanted?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “My approval. My protection. To impress me indirectly by boasting about stuff they thought I cared about. Most people don’t seem to even know what they want themselves. They just make empty statements about whatever comes to mind and then just stand there, looking at you helplessly, as if it’s your responsibility to help them out.”
Scorio mulled this over. “I guess… sure. You’re not the easiest person to talk to. And that’s coming from someone who befriended the Nightmare Lady.”
Jova glared at him.
“I mean, you aren’t. Weren’t. Due mostly to your wanting to kill me or get me cast out of the Academy. Now? Now you’re great.” He forced a grin. “Feels like we’ve known each other forever.”
“Ha.” Her stare softened. “I know I’m not easy to get along with. I know I’m different from other people. I’m not interested in… friends. Hanging out. Gossiping. I want to work. Get things done. Achieve my goals. If people want to work toward those, then great. If not? I don’t have the time.”
“Well, luckily for me you’re stuck walking through a desert.”
“Nah, things are different now between us. You beat me at the Gauntlet. You figured in my past, and I know you will feature in my future. You’re perhaps the only person I’ve met with the same personal drive as I have to succeed. I can respect that.”
“Good. I mean, great. Seeing as we’re both set on figuring out what this huge lie is and all.”
“Right.”
They walked on in silence again, struggled up the slow and yielding side of a dune whose sand lightened from copper to gray to gold dusted with green at its peak, then half slid, half strode down its far side. When they finally stepped out onto the compact black sand once more he turned to her again.
“So we need to increase the reactivity of our Hearts. Any advice on how to do that?”
“Nothing concrete.” Her dissatisfaction showed. “That would have been covered next year. But I believe we have to integrate our powers into our sense of self, grow confident in their usage, and then marry that confidence into the act of Ignition.”
Scorio worked his way through her words. “So reactivity is tied to our level of confidence.”
“So it seems. The act of Igniting requires our willing it to take place. Do you recall how hard it was to Ignite as an Emberling? When our reservoir was huge?”
“Sure. Felt like trying to push a boulder up a hill.”
“But if we kept at it, our Hearts would Ignite. That was a question of willpower. The same is true now. It’s not a question of desire. Even when I wished my Heart to Ignite with all my…” She trailed off and frowned. “With all my heart, it wouldn’t. So it’s desire plus will. And your will is bolstered by your confidence, your trust in your own strength and integrity, your faith in your ability to accomplish your goals. Integrating our powers into our sense of self bolsters that. When we reach an optimal state of reactivity, when Ignition is wholly subservient to our will, then we ascend to Flame Vault.”
“So the first step is to master our Tomb Vault powers. Makes sense. Especially as I don’t yet fully understand my latest.”
“The outcome of your Tomb Spark trial is determined by your nature. Those who are outgoing, willing to direct events, who are comfortable in a crowd develop abilities that allow them to control others, summon and control minions, those kinds of powers. Those who prefer to work from the shadows, who relish solitude, who prefer to depend only on themselves develop powers of obfuscation, misdirection, confusion.”
Nobody had ever put it so baldly to him before. “So Evelyn…?”
“Controls in some manner those who try to strike her. She’s outgoing, social, and enjoys being with people.”
“But she traveled through her hair away from attacks. Doesn’t that make hers an obfuscation power?”
Jova shook her head with quiet certitude. “Naomi never lost track of where she was. Instead, she was unable to strike despite wanting to. She was influenced, controlled. That and Evelyn’s clearly the outgoing type.”
Scorio thought back to his own Tomb Spark trial. How he’d wrested leadership from his brother, resisting the urge to remain quiet and operate from the shadows any longer. “So my power controls others as well.”
“What does it do?” asked Jova. “I saw you hit Evelyn with it, but she simply retreated.”
“That’s what I don’t know. It caused the butcher guys in that last room to hesitate, grow uncertain. I used that to get past them.”
Jova stopped walking and turned to face him. “Hit me with your power.”
Scorio took a few more steps, then also stopped. “What. Here? Now?”
Jova unslung her pack and dropped it on the ashen ground. “Yes.”
The others noticed what was going on and stopped as well, till Evelyn at last turned and stared down the line at them. “What’s going on?” she called.
“Research,” Jova shouted back without taking her eyes off Scorio. “Won’t take long.”
Scorio knew better than to check if she was really sure. He didn’t bother shucking his pack. Instead, he swept agile wisps of Copper mana into his Heart, collecting everything available, and willed his Heart to Ignite.
This time he paid special attention to the very act of willing. Noticed how there was a minute delay between his desiring Ignition and it happening, as if he were forcing a stuck door open.
Jova squared her shoulders, pursed her lips, then gave him a curt nod.
Scorio activated his Tomb Spark power. He felt the field radiate out around him, a perfect hemisphere that extended five yards in every direction. It washed over Jova, whose eyes widened as she swayed back, as if buffeted by a wave.
“And?” he asked.
“You’re… you’re very prominent all of a sudden.” Her voice had grown taut with effort. “I can’t take my attention off of you. It feels like… it feels like whatever you want is… really important to me.”
“Huh. But I don’t want anything.”
“I can tell. It’s why… it’s why I’m watching you, but not … trying to do anything.”
Scorio frowned, and then willed her to back out of his sphere of influence. Jova took a step back, scowled, and then leaned toward him as if into a headwind.
“You all can play around when we make camp,” Evelyn called. “We need to keep going.”
Scorio dropped the field and Jova exhaled. A fine sheen of sweat had broken out across her brow.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Fine. Just… yeah. Intense.”
The others had spread out to watch. “What did it feel like?” asked Lianshi.
“We’re moving,” called Evelyn, and resumed walking.
The others gathered around Jova and Scorio as they walked.
“It’s a control power for sure.” Jova wiped her sleeve across her forehead. “But it felt undirected. Unfocused. As if… someone had grabbed me by the nape of the neck, but then stopped and done nothing more.”
“Makes sense,” said Scorio, feeling a spike of excitement. “I was just curious about my power. I didn’t want you to do anything in particular until the end, when I willed you to walk back.”
“I felt that.” Jova gave a sharp nod. “A pressure to move away from you.”
“Like mind control?” asked Zala.
“Not quite. My body was still my own. More…” Jova frowned. “A deep awareness for what you desired, and a compulsion to obey.”
Scorio tongued the inside of his cheek. “That’s… weird.”
“Powerful,” said Naomi curtly from ahead. “Think on how you can weaponize that in hand-to-hand combat.”
The whole group pondered Scorio’s sudden edge.