Page 137 of Gift from the Stone

Black may suggest feelings of negativity or unsettled emotional issues, like fear, depression, and anxiety,” he informs us very simplistically.

I stop for a moment and think about the colors I saw when I bonded, and I can’t help but think that the colors of our bonds have a lot to do with not only the guys’ personalities but also what they bring out in me.

Draken’s so passionate, intensely so. He’s a ball of energy that’s so freeing, so contagious, you can’t help but feed off it. He makes me want to live every day to the fullest any chance I get. And our bond is red.

Tillman, in my opinion, is the definition of balance. He may have extreme emotions sometimes, but he’s levelheaded ninety percent of the time. He makes me feel like I’ve grown since coming here. He pushes me to be more, to progress. And our bond is green.

“So just now when you were gray, you were feeling both fearful and protective?” I ask Gaster.

“Yes, exactly. The colors will mix and blend depending on the feelings. For example, someone can be a dark red, which could be a mixture of black and red, so they could be feeling a negative passion such as hate,” he explains.

“Okay, so I need to study up on my colors more. When I was focusing on Oakly just now, I didn’t really know what to pinpoint my intentions to, so I just stared at her, thinking about her, and it took forever. So when I want to use this, I need to set my intentions to show me what exactly, what someone’s feeling?” I ask for clarification.

“Set your intentions to understand their feelings or even more so, their intentions in the moment. What is happening around you to bring out their feelings.”

“I need someone else to practice on. And what about sensing their magical signature?” I ask, getting carried away. When the hunger to know something sets in, it’s hard to cut it off.

“That’s more difficult. You’d be able to sense anyone’s elements, I have no doubt since you have three yourself, and if someone had a water element, you’d be able to sense its unfamiliarity and know that it was water, but sensing gifts is much different. You have to know what it is you’re sensing because they must be using it at the time you want to discover it. Like I can pick up when Tillman is reading someone’s thoughts because I sense it and know how to look for it. Or when Caspian tries to hide in the shadows, I can sense him because I know his gift. So you need to become more familiar with the gifts,” he tells me, bursting my damn bubble.

“Okay, well, I’ll add that to my study list, but I’d still like to get some practice in. I’m going to assume it’s a lot like picking up an aura, I need to set my intentions on figuring out what their element and gift is, but how?”

“For an element, focus your intention on seeing their element coat them somehow. When I was just learning, I’d picture their hair blowing if they had an air element, turning to leaves for earth, catching fire, or soaking wet,” he tells me with a smirk.

“Gaster, why in the world did you picture crazy shit happening to their hair?” I laugh.

“Because I had the best hair and I liked mischief.” He snorts, admitting it honestly.

“Elementra. All right then who can I practice on?” I smile, still shaking my head at his nonsense.

“I’ll go get Codi. You know nothing about him like you do Oakly and me, so he will be good practice,” Gaster declares, hustling from the room excitedly.

“How are you feeling? Understanding it all so far?” Oakly asks gently, coming to stand next to me.

“Yeah, I believe so. Is your gift like this too? Set my intentions and push the gift out?” I ask.

“Yes and no. You have to use more than intentions with mine, but what Gaster is about to teach you is going to help learn the second part of mine, so it’ll all flow together when he’s done,” she states.

Blowing out my breath, I run my fingers through my bangs and nod. It’s a lot to take in, and I still don’t know if I’ll get the full range of their gifts, or if my mimicking is limited to something. So far, what Draken can do, I can do. And with Tillman, I’m nowhere near as close to his capabilities, but I can do everything he’s taught me.

Gaster comes trotting back into the room, grinning, and I push my gift out to see if I can decipher what he’s feeling. This time, it takes no time for his aura to reveal itself to me, and I damn near have to cover my eyes he’s so bright. It’s like staring into the rising sun, a mixture of red, orange, and yellow all blending together. To me, that says he’s extremely eager or excited.

Hesitantly making his way in behind Gaster, Codi looks between me and Oakly like we’ve set some sort of trap for him. Following the same thing I just did to Gaster, I try to get a feeling for what he’s, well…feeling. He’s staring at me intently while I search his aura for an answer. The color popped up almost as soon as I commanded my gift out, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what this really dark, deep magenta means.

“Gaster, I can see the color clearly, but I’m lost here on picking it apart,” I announce.

“It seems you girls have Codi here nervous and so he’s a bit apprehensive. There’s a mingling of red, black, and purple in his aura,” Gaster explains and confirms the colors I was seeing as well.

“You told me they summoned me. Of course I’m nervous. I know who their Nexuses are and Ry said they’re trouble,” Codi declares, turning to scowl at Gaster.

“Gaster.” Me and Oakly snicker at the same time, not bothering to hold in our laughter.

“I don’t believe I used the word summoned, but anyhow, Willow, try to sense his element,” he says very unconvincingly, and looking at the tilt of his upper lip, he most certainly said summoned.

Swallowing down my laughter, I focus back on Codi, keeping in my snort when he begins shuffling on his feet. Pushing all jokes aside, I set my intentions to show me his element, and as I send out my gift, I picture his element coming to life before me.

I expected the same sort of results Gaster was explaining, like his hair changing. What I didn’t expect was his entire body to change right before my eyes.

Shimmering, like a mirage, Codi’s porcelain skin changes to match that of the bark on a tree. For a brief moment, it’s like I’m seeing Groot in front of me.

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