Awakening Gifts are part of what makes each of us unique. When we Awaken we manifest abilities our own abilities, quirks of our Energy that allow us to do things others cannot learn. Every Awakened has 3 such Gifts, even if sometimes it takes years before we understand them all.

  ~ * ~

  Seb listened as Lisa told him about her childhood. He could tell she was skipping over some details and avoiding others but didn't interrupt. He'd hardly told her everything about his life after all.

  Childhood in the Holding sounded both normal and unusual at the same time. The fact that she was the Princess and Heir meant she always had guards or servants around, and yet for all that she was still a child. The martial arts training she started as a pre-teen sounded intense but considering what he'd learned of Awakened culture it made sense, it seemed like everyone who was important knew how to fight and had gone Diving to defeat monsters and grow stronger. He still kept comparing his new life to the various Fantasy stories he'd read throughout his life, nothing ever quite lined up but there were too many overlaps to dismiss.

  Her time in High School honestly sounded dreadful. Being the outcast and new girl that no one really knew, forced to avoid making friends since none of them would ever be allowed over to hang out sounded lonely. Having to still do all the physical combat training on top of that sounded like something only a future pro-athlete would have enjoyed. And yet it was clear she did enjoy some parts. The martial arts were something she enjoyed and seemed to miss? He wasn't sure but it sounded like she didn't train anymore. And she definitely made it sound like she preferred being outside the holding rather than in, even with the isolation.

  Finally her story came to a close with her explaining how she finally fully Awakened at 19, a year later than average, even though she had gone through the first half of the process at age 11.

  "If you Awakened at 11 how did you finish Awakening at 19? Am I going to wait years for some additional change?" he asked.

  "No," she replied. "Adult Awakening is rare but it happens all at once. Children who live in Holdings and are exposed to Energy throughout their life usually start awakening as a pre-teen. Our body recognizes the Energy flow and our gifts first manifest, but we don't gain any control over it until we reach full physical maturity." For a moment he thought he saw a blush but if so she recovered quickly. "You go through both stages at once, it sounds as though it was a lot more intense and brutal that way."

  "It wasn't fun, that's for sure." He winced at the remembered pain. "It made a migraine feel pleasant and took a day or two before I fully adjusted to seeing the Energy patterns everywhere."

  "You see Energy patterns?" Once again she seemed either confused or stunned. If he hadn't gotten similar reactions in the Holding when they were testing him he might have been offended.

  "Yes, all the time, at least when I'm near Awakened or in the Holding." He gestured towards her. "I had to get them to explain why you all look so strange all the time. I wasn't expecting to find out you all wander around wearing an Energy body."

  "Oh," she nodded in understanding. "I'm guessing that means you can see our Husks. From your point of view it probably would seem weird. We have a fake body that can wear clothing, interact with the world and get hurt. It lets us be superhuman while looking normal, even if we do our best not to show it in public. And all the while our True Self is safe and sound hidden away behind it. Have to get hit pretty badly for it to leave a mark through the Husk, even if it ends up pretty beat up."

  "Exactly," he smiled. "And when I told them I could sometimes see they were wearing two sets of clothing it caused a separate uproar."

  "Two sets of clothing?"

  "That's what we tested. If I focus just right I can see past the Husk to the True Self. Almost feels like looking at those weird 3d pictures that you need to cross your eyes just right to see what they hid."

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  "I don't believe you. I know some Seers can do that but they need your permission and to be touching you, there's no way you can just look at an Awakened and see." It was clear she thought he was making this up.

  "If the Awakened doesn't resist I can. I was able to with some of the guards even when they were told to resist, but it was a lot harder."

  "Really? Prove it." The competitive look was back in her eyes, reminding him of when she talked about sparring with the guards.

  Taking a deep breath he nodded, his grey eyes locking onto hers before he focused just past them. For a moment all he saw were her blue eyes before he felt his Energy slip past her Husk and he found himself looking into green ones instead. "Why would you hide those eyes?" he found himself whispering before he noticed her hair was black and not blonde. A moment after that he was blushing and blinking furiously as he broke his own concentration. "Sorry! I wasn't trying to peek," he continued as he tried to regain his composure. "The table covers most of you."

  ~ * ~

  One moment Lisa felt Energy press against her, probing at her Husk without feeling like a threat. Then he was asking about her eyes and she had no idea what to think. She couldn't remember anyone ever commenting on them without telling her they were wrong. She caught herself wondering just what he thought when his blushing and blurted apology.

  It took her longer than she would have liked to understand his meaning. There was nothing to apologize for, she was wearing… At that moment her cheeks turned as red as his when she remembered she had left the house with her True Self dressed for bed. Which meant he had seen… "You-, I-"

  At a loss for words she buried her face in her hands, breathing deeply as she tried to decide who she was mad at.

  "I saw more of a couple guards than I ever want to see of them again." He whispered with a shudder after they had both sat in silence for a few long minutes. "They got in trouble, but I got stuck with the memories."

  "Your hair and eyes are a much better memory, I'm not sure I've seen green eyes that were quite so intense before." He reached out to touch her hand, just firmly enough that she looked up. She'd managed to get her heart rate back under control and hoped she wasn't still blushing as she met his eyes. "I'm guessing some of the bits you didn't explain have to do with why your Husk looks so different?"

  Unable to trust her words she simply nodded. He'd seen her and actually seemed to like what he'd seen, well at least her eyes and hair. She wasn't going to ask what he thought of… So much for not blushing she thought with a sigh.

  "I don't know what they said or did," he spoke without commenting on her renewed blush. "And I'm not asking."

  "Thank you," she managed after swallowing. "I didn't look like my mother, or as I'm sure you noticed like the majority of the Holding." By the end her words were barely a whisper, a far cry from the confident young woman who bragged about outfighting the guards.

  Hesitantly she looked up, unexpectedly nervous that she would see pity in Seb's eyes. Instead, she found sadness and a hint of what had to be anger.

  "They made your life so miserable you essentially ran away from home just because you didn't look like your mother and sister?" Realizing how he had just phrased things he took a moment to breathe before continuing. "The Sovereign allowed her daughter to be treated this way?"

  "She-" Lisa paused, put that way it did sound ridiculous and not in a funny way. "She told me that a Sovereign's first duty is to their Holding and that even the strongest needs her Household, Court and Affiliated Awakened's support, and to be the ruler they expect." Sighing she stared down at the dregs of her coffee before finishing. "She never said anything about my looks, always treated me well, but she never-" In that moment Lisa found herself again, the anger and pain from her most recent court visit resurfacing with a vengeance. "She never stopped them, she never told them their actions were inappropriate. But I had to be perfect."

  Lisa found herself sitting in stunned silence, she hadn't meant to say any of that. She had never even fully said it to herself and here she was telling a stranger of all people. A stranger who was listening to her.

  "That-" Seb paused, hesitation clear on his face before the hint of anger returned. "Forgive me Princess but that's utter bullshit. Not the part about a Holding being more than the ruler, but that Her Majesty let her daughter be treated that way."

  That wasn't what she'd expected as an answer Lisa thought to herself. And then, despite the situation she found herself laughing as she actually considered his words. "Bullshit!? Forgive you?" She couldn't stop, for a few moments she wasn't sure she'd be able to catch her breath before she finally looked over at Seb and found him fighting his own laugh. Unable to help herself she answered, channeling as much of her mother's attitude as she could. "Princess Lysanya, Heir of Holding Lys does not forgive such crass vocabulary in reference to her family." She managed to hold on for a beat before finishing with a smile. "But I do. Bullshit indeed."