Chapter Seven

Abilities

"If normally you are angry about hearing people, why are you looking so happy right now?" I asked, evilly satisfied to have not been interrupted this time.

"Well, here, it's different, because I know what is going to happen – Brian had told me enough about that (so Brian was this markis who trained her), and it's pretty natural for you to go and talk more to these dead hallucinations when you know that they'll be amazed by the one-and-only beauty from earth who has some sort of this psychological contact with them.

"Also, it's so much more easier directly learning about the ancient kings and queens from their own mouths than read texts about them, and part time even wait for Tove or Finn to translate that ancient stuff."

"If you're talking about Tryllic, its medieval stuff." I said, not adding that I too agreed with her that the script of Tryllic was annoyingly tricky to decipher. "And so, you speak to ghosts?"

"That's what Brian had said, that I am kind of like a communication means from both the sides, though I myself belong to the live side. I'm kinda wondering what the consequences would be when I die, because then maybe every one of you living people on earth can hear my voice, or wait, more logical and a further pain in the ass that I'll be hearing all your voices. I mean, that's totally loony. And it's even more painfully annoying to go walking around the entire palace in search of ghost bodies whom I can't even see, but would be able to hear once I'm close enough to them. Though Brian tells me often to just move into my ghost hallucinations mode, where I can both see and hear whatever ghosts are lingering around in the house."

"You know what, I think there are places where the ghost as a living person has been before and probably had good memories, where it will arrive again after death. Maybe that's why you had Julia Caesar in Athens, and you're hearing Elora right now. I don't know about the grandmother though."

"Well, she must have been dying to go to her grave then. Oh my god, people must have got so annoyed with me that they started dreams about beautiful gold-plated coffins and crystal gravestones. Though, I'm not very sure if you can have actual crystal gravestones; I mean, it's a gravestone, not very likely to be made up of something so glassy and breakable. Or maybe, since we're talking about dreams, my host grandma must have found it wonderful, dreaming even about the shittiest graves ever just to get out of the house."

I just shrugged her babbles off, and said "whatever, is Elora still there?"

"Of course, she can read my mind, and now that she knows you're here, she's not gonna move from here. I mean, of course you haven't talked to her for ages, and this might actually be a very good time that you both interact, especially now that you have got the source – that of course appears to be me – to even communicate. I mean, dead people would obviously enjoy the heavenly bliss up there, but there is still some small pleasure in being in contact with a live person, even if that person is some stupid, silly little troll who keeps chattering the shit out of the troll queen and word vomiting stuff without thinking."

"Is there any way I could talk to the people you can talk to?" I asked, wondering some chat with Elora.

"Yes, of course there is. Nothing is impossible, and where there's a fucking will, there's got to be a fucking way too. Oh sorry, no swearing in front of the queen, right. I mean, I kind of forget the rules here. You know, you see a teen king and queen, and even if they were gowns and a crown and go around with a scepter, you would expect them to drink and do drugs and swear and –"

"Iris" I tried unsuccessfully to be as calm as possible. "Let's not drift from the topic; is there any way I could talk to Elora? And by the way, I don't go around carrying a scepter."

"Sorry, whatever. I'll act like a translator – an interpreter, whatever you desire. Take information from this side to that side. Sounds cool, right? You know, I began to feel like my brain is much more effective when it comes to using my abilities, other than when I get to do all that experiments with pH paper and concave lenses."

"Okay, great idea." I hurriedly agreed to her plan, without much thought. "So, what do I do?"

"Well, Queen Elora Dahl – ex-queen, whatever – is right here in this room, and you can say whatever you want to. I mean, not anything, since she'd like polite manners and no-swearing, and I guess it would probably do with a nice 'hello' or something like that. Anyway, I can't advise very well about what she would like, since I know shit about her except that she was your biological mother and the former queen, before you set out ruling Forening. So it's completely your choice."

I felt foolish doing so, but anywyas said to thin air "Elora, are you there?" and then said to Iris "don't babble, just directly say whatever I'm saying to her."

Iris whispered something that sounded like "she's there; Wendy, and she's not yet sure if you're actually there or not." She remained silent for a while, and then said louder "she's there, right here talking to me directly and also to you in a pretty indirect process, though she herself isn't very sure if it is actually possible that the dead can ever have a connection to the live souls. But then she's maybe not all that surprised as a human would have been since she's a Trylle and knows much about our insane Trylle abilities. And then, she's asking how you're doing."

"Well, it's hard to . . . um, explain. Tell her that I'm trying my best, and . . ." it was hard to tell Iris about how things were going on between us. Maybe since Elora was dead and couldn't be brought alive on earth anymore, I could trust her with all the things that had wrecked up my life, but not the immature, talkative girl who had recently arrived to Forening.

"She's saying that it's kind of hard to explain, though don't ask me why, since I'm just as much as confused as you are. Though maybe since you're her mom so you've got somewhat more like a maternal fear, while I'm just dealing with a mere eyebrow-raise type of confusion as to what she means by that." said Iris, and heard for a long time, before whispering back "it's not possible. I mean, of course it must be, but I don't know how to. It's kinda advanced and I'm not yet taught how to do that till now –"

I cleared my throat loudly for her to get her attention back on me. "I guess even I deserve to know what conversation is going on between you and my mother."

"Well, Elora was saying that maybe you have something personal things to discuss with her that maybe you won't trust me with. Don't look at me like that; there is a strong chance that it is true that you don't trust me with whatever you've got to tell her. Or maybe you don't trust Elora too, but then she can't do anything with whatever you've got to say about yourself, so maybe you do trust her with that, but not me, because I'm well and alive and have the capability to do every thing about whatever you've probably got to say.

"Yah, so she was asking me for a way where you two – which means you and Elora – can chat in a more direct way. You know, like, face to face, and most preferably without my ears interrupting your mother-to-the-daughter conversation –"

"Well, that's an excellent idea. Can you do something to make it that way?" I cut short in her speech.

"Um – Brian was telling me about some way where we have some physical contact and then we both concentrate a lot and yield some kind of a psychokinetic power that connects you to the dead people that I can see. I mean, it's not just you, but anyone else who can yield mental telekinesis stuff. But well, it's too advanced for me to learn at this stage; maybe it is going to be done after the debutante ball. Well, the way is just brilliant – I mean, you being able to see, hear and communicate with the things that had only been visible to me, and since you also possess psychogenesis stuff, it wouldn't be that difficult for you. But this process won't make the ghost words invisible to my ears, which means that I would be able to hear what you people speak too. But then maybe not too, since I would be far too much in the depth of releasing as much strength and power as possible. And yes, another thing that I'm too immature for; this process requires a lot of psychological strength, and I can't do it. Not now at least and that's why Brian is gonna be teaching me about that when the ball is done with, and we would have ample time to practice on my abilities."

"What are you thinking? I mean, I don't want to sound kinda sneaky – though I do sound sort of like that – but then your expression gives me the biggest of the suspicions as to what naughtiness must a queen like you be up to. Not exactly naughtiness since queens are not supposed to be naughty, but then, I've also never seen that expression on your face before."

I simply shook my head, and then went back to my room. Though I couldn't sleep this time either, at least I didn't keep getting nightmares and was instead awakened by the new plan I had. The next morning, I went to meet Brian, and decided to vaguely talk him into training Iris into whatever the supernatural function she had said she possessed but wasn't strong enough at this age to do so – the one that could allow me private communication with Elora . . . or any other dead person.

Brian was firstly confused as to why I wanted this so desperately and suddenly, and no matter how many valid reasons I tried to make up for getting him to teach Iris all that, he didn't seem to believe me totally, and always seemed to turn out more logical. My points were dully that Iris was a blooming marksinna and to keep her in the good looks of both the Trylle and the Vittra – since she was a beautiful string reuniting the Trylle and the Vittra, she was to be educated and trained more seriously.

However Brian's sayings were that the right age for anyone to be nourishing his/her abilities would be around seventeen or eighteen, and Iris was to wait for more than a year to come to the part where she could use her abilities on their full extents. The 'more than a year' part scared me since I couldn't wait for more than a year to talk to all those people with whom I wanted to.

Losing the argument had left me all physically frustrated, irate and helpless (my drug bracelet was not there with me), and after many days I again went ahead in wrecking another guest room. When I came out finally after some hours and went back to my room – my face all dirty, tear-stained, my clothes all moist and partially torn – it was another surprise to see Iris.

"What have you got to say?" I asked tiredly. "I'm anyways not ready to listen, so get out of my room."

Iris didn't react all surprisedly or innocently to my harshness, and instead said "What are you going to do now?"

"What do mean by that? I'm gonna politely ask you to get out of my room or else I'll move you like this." I used some of my telekinesis to shift Iris off her feet as she went a few feet away from my closet door, landing uncertainly back on her feet.

"Your majesty, I'm trying my best not to be irritable or talkative, and it turns out that you're definitely not cooperative in answering me. Brian told me about whatever you were proposing to him earlier. I understand your feelings and motives, and you'll be surprised to hear that I didn't tell him about your true reasons when he told me whatever shitty reasons you had invented to make him train me into this.

"Well, if I were you, I would have probably used persuasion on Brian. I mean, it's about a thousand times more effective than the so called 'valid' reasons you gave him. And anyways, in a way he's right too; I'm too young to still be coached into all this. I might have the capability, but not the immunity to be able to recover from its psychological side-effects. No offense though; hey, what's on your mind now?"

Suddenly I wasn't all pissed off at every single person in the world anymore, not especially pissed at Iris anymore; after days I was thinking of something this creative. "You said, you are have the capability, right?"

"Um – yeah."

"Well, I have the immunity for you then." When Iris gave me a questioning look, I simply strode towards my dressing table and picked up the drug bracelet. I wouldn't need much of it if I'm able to communicate with the dead side (the communication would be my new drug), so I guessed I didn't mind sharing it occasionally with someone who did me the favor of bringing me to the dead.