Page 44 of Exordium

“Not so unbelievable. She is special and called to me before ever entering Emberhold.”Pantar spoke to me and Grumpy.

Grumpy nodded in agreement, then looked at me, “Don’t let anyone but Nathan see it. There are too many things stacking up, if the Council finds out about this, I’m scared of what their reaction will be.”

Hearing Grumpy sound so worried was freaking me the hell out. Pantar prowled over to me and nuzzled my hair in comfort. It was becoming our thing.

“Finish your food, Tator Tot, we’ll figure this all out in time.” Pop smiled. “Back to what you were saying before—"

Grumpy interrupted, “Who did you punch in the face?”

“A girl who had a thing with the twins last year. She had it coming, though.” I grinned. Trying to hide the worry I still felt.

“Why did you punch her?” Pop asked, looking inappropriately proud. Mom was watching him with a disapproving look on her face.

“She insulted y’all, and it pissed me off. Unfortunately, her brother is my fighting instructor, so you can imagine how that went. His name is Oren ShitStorm…. It’s Storm, but my name fits him better.” I continued stuffing my face. After eating my last enchilada, I realized my parents had gone completely quiet. Looking up, I saw grim expressions on their faces. “What? Why are y’all so quiet?”

“There are a few things we never told you for the safety of you and our Faction. You know about the testing that was done on embryos.” Grumpy sighed.

“Yes,” I murmured.

“Every Aurathion was excited to see what would come of it, and with our technology, we were able to test on synthetic embryos, not live subjects. What isn’t widely known is that the experiments Rue conducted weren’t just on the embryos. Most Aurathions have no idea that there were older test subjects.”

“I remember hearing a little about that.” It was a fascinating subject but obviously painful for my family.

“The testing involving the embryos was very successful, and Rue was so excited. Then, the Council became involved. Some members had siblings and children who had never found a Nexus. They wanted Rue to begin giving them the same serum he had given to the embryos.” Grumpy frowned.

“We knew so many wonderful Passives who deserved to experience what it means to be Faction. Rue was wary of giving the serum to real subjects.” Mom said quietly. “I think he was skeptical of it working, but he wanted all Aurathions to experience what we had: longer lifespans, fantastic abilities, the connection to each other.”

Grumpy rose from his chair, took Mom from Pop, and sat back down with her on his lap. I knew how much talking about the past could upset her.

“The suicide rate had skyrocketed over the years for Passives who hadn’t found their Faction. Even though we’re hard to kill, there were plants in our world that were highly lethal and would do the job. Many saw them as inferior, and Rue hoped to find a solution. We found out later that the only Passives that had been given the opportunity to try the serum were related to the Council or upper-class Aurathions that the Council chose.” Grumpy spoke in a sad voice.

“The Storm Faction’s Nexus, Remus, was on the Council then and campaigned heavily to start experimenting on adult Passives. He had a younger brother, Trent, who’d remained Passive, they didn’t like the stigma attached to that. Rue said that Trent was one of his most successful test subjects. Several Passives had gained abilities and seemed completely normal, but Trent’s abilities appeared quicker and were stronger. Oddly, he disappeared a few weeks before the war. No one has heard from him since.” Pop explained.

“So other subjects had side effects from the serum?” I asked.

“Rue came home many nights and barely spoke, even to me. Then, one night, he came in late. He was upset and woke us up. He said several of his Passive subjects had gained abilities over the last few weeks but showed weird behavioral changes. Some test subjects initially had mild, easygoing personalities, but after a few weeks, that changed. Extreme aggression, moody, indifferent emotionally. It seemed to be getting progressively worse.” Grumpy rubbed Mom’s back as she talked. “Earlier that night, one of his subjects murdered his wife. The Council enforcers brought him into the lab. They didn’t want the public to know. When confronted, the subject kept screaming that his wife wasn’t Nexus. He had to kill her so his Nexus would come. Rue concluded that not having a Nexus to center the power drove many older subjects insane. Rue wanted to stop the testing immediately, but Remus Storm wouldn’t hear it.”

“Were the Storm Faction ever questioned about him? Why weren’t they ever investigated?” I scrunched up my face in confusion.

“The other Council members did inquire several times, but Remus said that the Dark Factions must have captured him. He sponsored several missions to look for and retrieve him. We could never prove Remus was involved, and even though he isn’t on the Council anymore, his Faction is still powerful.” Grumpy grimaced.

“I’m confused. The test subjects started gaining abilities without a Nexus? Didn’t other Aurathions become suspicious? And why did they assume Trent had been captured when he disappeared before the war?” I frowned.

“Trent disappearing before the war was a sticking point for Sly. He always felt that Remus was hiding something.” Grumpy kissed the top of Mom’s head.

“People see what they want to see, and they had no idea that the serum had been given to adults. It’s still believed that the warwas caused by power hungry Factions that wanted total control, and that’s not completely wrong. The power-hungry Factions just happened to have been brought into their abilities by Rue’s serum. After Rue and Sly were killed, we tried bringing the experiments to the public's attention. Things got dicey between the Storm Faction and ours. We would have carried it further, but not long after, we found out we were going to have a baby, and we couldn’t risk it.” Pop said in apology.

“You must understand, Reverie, you were all we had left of Rue and Sly. I couldn’t take the chance of losing you.” Mom started sobbing. Pop got up, kneeling in front of Grumpy’s chair. He put his arms around them both. Pantar went around the table to rub his cheek against the top of Mom’s head. Pop held out an arm for me, and I joined the group hug.

“We’ll figure it all out, Tator Tot. Together, we’re unstoppable.”

After helping my parents clear the table Mom walked with me and Pantar back to the barn. It was almost time for the portal to appear. As we walked arm in arm, I thought about how lucky I was and how very much I loved my parents. They had always supported me and been there no matter what.

“How are you and Nathan doing?” Mom asked.

“We’re amazing. It’s truly unbelievable how our relationship has changed since we bonded. There were times over the years when I thought I hated him. Now, the thought of being without him is unbearable.” I couldn’t keep a smile off my face just thinking about the Psycho. Looking over at Mom and seeing the agony on her face, I immediately apologized, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t thinking.” Turning, I pulled her into a fierce hug.

Mom rubbed my back, “It’s alright, sweet girl. I’ll miss Rue and Sly until my dying breath but seeing them in you gives me comfort.”

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