And finally the big reveal… Thank you to all those of you who have been patient and stuck around to see this chapter. I hope it lives up to all your expectations. I put in a few non-Storm Hawk references in this chapter, I'll be really interested to see if you can pick them up :)

oOoOo

I stood at Piper's door, the sun barely visible over the mountains to the east. I had barely managed to get an hour or two's sleep last night and once I woke up I immediately found myself getting ready to leave before I had realized it was only 3am and Piper, let alone the rest of the town wouldn't even be up yet.

I spent the rest of the early morning pacing through the house with Radarr whining uncertainly after me as he watched. As soon as it was sunrise I had made my way to Piper's, unable to wait any longer. I could only be grateful that it was Saturday, I don't think I could've lasted a whole day at school before getting answers.

Having chosen to leave Radarr behind, despite his protests, I had felt myself getting more nervous the closer I got to Pipers house, without his usual reassuring presence and antics to distract me. Now as I stood at her door I realised I was practically hyperventilating. Who knew what I was about to be told? What I'd seen had already been mind-blowing, I had no idea if I could actually handle the explanation I had planned on getting, but I'd never run from something before and I wasn't about to start now. I mentally went over my breathing exercises for the gym and within a few moments I already felt both my breathing and heart rate start to decrease.

'Answers, that's what I'm here for' I reminded myself.

Once I felt that I had regained my composure, I briskly walked forward and knocked on the door before I could think twice. As soon as I lowered my hand though I realized I could've gone about this a better way as the one most likely to answer the door at this time, due to his working hours, was Drake.

I heard footsteps approaching and said a silent prayer hoping that it wasn't him. Hey, I didn't have anything against the guy but that apparently wasn't reciprocated, as whenever we ran into each other previously he'd always watched me as if waiting for me to do something, and gave off the vibe that he couldn't wait to get rid of me.

Which I wouldn't put past him to do if he opened the door and found me on his doorstep at sunrise, wanting to see his baby sister. But I had to have answers, otherwise I'd go crazy.

Thankfully something must have been listening or my uncanny good luck had kicked in, because the face that greeted me as the door swung open was Piper.

But it wasn't the Piper I recognized. Her long blue-black hair was down but braided back from her face on the sides. She wore denim shorts and a sky blue tank top that enhanced all the natural highlights in her hair, making it seem even more blue than usual. Her wrists were covered with what looked like ancient pieces of metal due to their beaten up appearance but still held a certain shine, which when I looked closer revealed symbols etched into the metal that I still couldn't quite make out.

Suddenly realizing how I must look standing there, staring at her, I opened my mouth to say something but Piper raised a finger to her lips, signing for me to keep quiet. Seeing me comply, she lowered her hand and stepped outside shutting the door behind her.

"My brother is asleep but we have to stay quiet and go somewhere else. He doesn't approve with what I want to do and if we wake him up, he'll make you leave." She whispered.

I nodded to show that I understood and gestured for her to lead the way. She wordlessly stepped past me and began to make her way around the side of the house; I silently followed still slightly awe-struck at how different Piper looked. To my surprise as my gaze reached her feet I saw she wasn't wearing any shoes, just like the last time I had dropped by unexpectedly.

I managed to stop myself from asking the obvious question as I wasn't sure if we were far enough away yet to break our silence. We crossed her backyard and reached the back fence that separated the property from the forest behind. Piper opened a gate I hadn't noticed in the paneling before and held it open whilst motioning for me to come through. I complied, not yet seeing a reason not to.

Piper silently shut the gate behind me and then noiselessly made her way into the forest, making my footsteps sound deafening in comparison. What I once would have brushed off as another uncanny skill of hers I now saw in a different light. All the weird things going on lately, her uncanny speed and strength, the weird feelings I've been having when I'm around her, all the signs that pointed to Piper being…different, that I ignored. All of it was pointing to the truth, but I just didn't know what it was, which frustrated me greatly.

"All right this is far enough. Tell me what's going on." I stated planting my feet firmly on the ground and crossing my arms over my chest.

Piper came to a halt ahead of me and slowly turned her head back toward me. "Aerrow...can we keep walking? It'll make this easier for me…Please." Her eyes implored me.

I involuntarily felt myself soften, but managed to maintain my resolve enough to try and reason with her, "How do we know those psycho siblings aren't out there? We could run straight into them if they're out there waiting for us."

Piper tilted her head, the way I've seen her do countless times when she was thoughtful, "The trees would tell me if they were." She stated.

The way she said it as it were a known fact shocked me speechless. She really wasn't going to hold anything back, which whilst was a relief also made me feel slightly uneasy. Seemingly recognizing this Piper turned to fully face me, "You said you wanted the truth but are you sure you're ready to handle it?"

I steeled myself and walked toward her, as soon as I reached her I paused and stared levelly into her eyes to show her my resolve.

After a few seconds she lowered eyes, "Alright." She conceded. Wordlessly we both started walking, this time side by side, instead of her leading the way.

Her voice broke the momentary silence, "You were critically injured."

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, immediately knowing she was talking about what happened yesterday. I'm sure she could tell from how tense I was, that I was uncomfortable reliving what had happened but I kept quiet so that she'd continue.

Without looking at me she continued, "Along with some minor scrapes and extensive bruising you had four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a fractured skull, which happened when you hit the ground head first."

I felt my eyes widen, it seemed almost unbelievable that I had been in such a state. But I knew what the pain of dislocations and cracked ribs felt like from past experience, and those didn't even measure up to the pain I was in yesterday.

"How do you know?" I ask when she pauses in her explanation, in order to encourage her to continue.

Piper took a deep breath, "I'm not like you Aerrow, though I'm sure you've figured that part out. But you don't know just how different I am."

"You have powers." I stated that being the undeniable conclusion I had come to.

Piper stopped walking mid-step and turned to face me, bringing me to a stop. "I don't just have powers Aerrow, I can manipulate all life energy."

'Life energy?' I was so confused, what she was telling me was just giving me more questions rather than answers.
"Your gonna have to be more specific, because I have no idea what you're talking about." I finally said.

Piper held her hand out to the side and splayed her fingers, as reaching for something. "It's easier if I show you."

Apprehensively, I watched as she then shut her eyes in concentration. For a few moments nothing happened but then the sound of creaking reached my ears, I swiveled my head to see what was making the sound. Though there was absolutely no wind, the trees surrounding us were groaning as they do when their caught in a storm. The branches of the trees closest to Piper's hand started to move on their own accord, as if instead of the solid wood I knew they were made of, they were made of rubber. I could hear the leaves rustling as the braches rearranged themselves and could only watch in amazement as the branches bent and curled in on themselves, forming a hole in the canopy and allowing a ray of sunlight to shine down onto the forest floor.

Where the sunbeam hit the ground, a shoot suddenly sprung from the ground, before rapidly growing into a long stalk, like they do when you watch raid motion videos of plants growing, except this was happening in real time. When the stalk reached about the height of my knee the bud on the end suddenly burst open to reveal a fully grown stargazer lily, its pollen sparkling in the sunshine.

My eyes hurt from how wide they had become, "Wow…"

Piper opened her eyes at my exclamation and lowered her hand. "Life energy, or Quintessence is the pure concentrated essence of a living thing. My kind has the ability to sense it, as well as direct and influence it to our will."

"That was… amazing." I said whilst feeling a smile spread across my face.

Piper's eyebrows shot up, clearly that was not the reaction she had been expecting.

But before I could comment on that something suddenly clicked in my head, "Wait, your kind?"

Piper nodded, "M-hmm, I'm not the only one. Snipe and Ravess for example." She elaborated. "There are more of us, though I'm not sure how many."

I ran a hand through my hair, needing to do something to cover my uncertainty. "But if they're like you, why were they trying to hurt you? And how did they even know where we were?" I questioned.

A frown appeared on Piper's face. "They lured me into the forest, they must have been watching me for some time and overheard your plans to take me flying. They drained the plane of fuel before takeoff and must have been nearby suppressing the battery charge. They knew being separated from my brother and leaving him unprotected would make me anxious, hence the 'fishing' reference. I played right into their hands!" She looked more frustrated than I had ever seen her, and that's saying something considering how much Finn can wind her up, but as if suddenly realizing I was still here, she shook her head and all the agitation disappeared from her expression, leaving the unemotional façade I was all too familiar with.

"They weren't sent to hurt me though, just to send a message." Piper finished after regaining her composure.

"From who?" I ask, an unknown feeling of dread arising in me.

A dark expression settled on Piper's face. "Cyclonis." She hissed.

The dread intensified when I heard that name, which confused me as I didn't understand why I was having such a strong reaction to just a name but I was snapped out of my thoughts when Piper decided to clarify her answer.

"She's the last descendant of one of our kind's most powerful families. Her grandmother was a great believer in the old ways and was devoted to our sacred duty, but after her daughter's death she turned dark; consumed by the need to avenge her, she become twisted and cruel. She raised Cyclonis to follow in her footsteps, but now Cyclonis plans to take it even further, she wants not only vengeance but the power to dominate and reign over all those she believes she is superior too- which is pretty much everyone."

Piper rubbed her right hand along her left arm as she continued her explanation, "That's why she's after me, the more of our kind she converts to the dark and away from the light, the more powerful she becomes. She already succeeded with Ravess and Snipe, but that's not enough for her. Ravess and Snipe's mother was one of us but wanted a normal life and no part in our culture, she never educated her children about their abilities, so their powers are fairly weak. Cyclonis has taught them just enough so they're useful but not enough so they can challenge her."

"But you're more powerful.." I summarized, filling in the blanks.

Piper hesitantly nodded, "But very inexperienced."

I looked back over at the stargazer lily. It now made sense how Piper always had flowers on hand, even after hours of being in school. I walked over to it, feeling Piper's gaze on me the whole time. I gently picked the flower and twirled it in my fingers, it seemed to be pulsating with life much like the rest of the forest has been of late.

I turned back to Piper, "Are you the reason why the forest is so alive lately? Both animal and plant wise."

Piper sheepishly ducked her head. "Not on purpose, that's just the natural reaction in the presence of someone like me. Everything just starts to thrive, it's something to do with subconsciously exuding my energy into my surroundings. I've been trying to tamp it down, as it starts to attract people's attention when things start blooming in the wrong season, but controlling my conscious abilities is hard enough as it is."

My curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't help but ask. "So what else can you do?"

Piper let out a laugh.
I quirked an eyebrow, "What?" I asked, slightly bewildered by her reaction.

Piper shrugged, "I figured you would've run away by now." she said whilst avoiding eye contact with me.

Wanting to reassure her, I walked over to her and came to a stop right in front of her. I smiled and presented her the flower, "Well I haven't. I can see why what you can do would scare some people, I mean it freaks me out a bit."

Piper's expression dropped a little, so I held the lily out toward her even more, causing her to look between me and the flower confused. Seeing she wasn't going to take the flower I reached up and tucked the lily behind her ear "But it's also very beautiful." I finished, lowering my hand.

Piper's expression lit up and I couldn't help the small blush I felt spread across my cheeks. "So-Any more powers?" I ask again, trying to cover up my embarrassment.

Piper smirked at me, "A few." She replied cryptically and began walking away from me.

I watched her mystified for a few seconds, before I rushed to catch up with her. As soon as I reached her side she began talking again.

"Telekinesis is one, we're able to manipulate the Quintessence within our own bodies and channel it into the physical world. I didn't want Ravess and Snipe to report back that I've learnt that yet which is why I didn't use it in the fight, but then I saw you lying on the ground..." She trailed off as her eyes momentarily clouded over, but before I could bring myself to reassure her of my wellbeing, she shook her head and continued, "I'm still having trouble controlling it though, it can happen uncontrollably when I experience strong emotion."

I mentally put the pieces together, "So the exploding food, the accidents at school and that 'wind' in the car park, that was…"

"Yeah." She confessed.

"Pretty cool." I admitted.

Piper looked at me slightly startled, even I was surprised by how well I was taking it, but Piper was finally telling me the truth and now that I knew I wasn't going crazy I guess that was more a relief than Piper's confession was a shock.

After a few seconds Piper resumed talking, "We can also heal, as you know, by giving our own energy to speed up the normal healing process."

I was surprised at how much she was confiding in me but I had the sense she had wanted to tell someone for a long time. To have kept something like this a secret for her whole life…

"We can influence the weather as well, my mother told me it can be done consciously but I haven't been able to. I subconsciously alter it with my mood though." Piper continued.

"So that explains the rain." I mused to myself out loud whilst I tucked away the information that she'd inadvertently given about her mother into the back of my mind, before I realised what the most likely emotion was that would trigger rain. "You were sad?" I questioned, looking over at her.

Piper paused for a moment to brush her hand against an ash tree, "It's been awhile since I had something to be happy about." She whispered before she resumed walking.

I felt a knot form in my stomach at the thought of her being so sad. In all my time of knowing her she had always seemed so reserved, hardly ever letting much emotion that she didn't want others to see through. Whilst I wanted to ask her to elaborate, I remembered how well discussing her emotions turned out in the past so I changed the topic in order avoid making her uncomfortable, as I wasn't sure even with all that she was confiding in me, just how much she was willing to tell me.

Coming up with another question I was equally interested in I asked, "You said before the tree's would tell you. How is that related to the Quin- life energy thing?"

I vaguely was aware of Piper changing direction and I had a fleeting thought wondering where she was taking me, but that was quickly forgotten as I focused my attention back on her answer. "The Earth itself is alive in a way, and with our abilities it can speak to us. The same goes for all living things. It's a sacred link that many humans have forgotten."

"So… you're like a super powered hippie?" I asked uncertainly, trying to string my thoughts together.

Piper narrowed her eyes and she placed one hand on her hip. "That's a bit of an oversimplification and slightly offensive."

I held up my hands in surrender, "Hey, I'm just trying to process everything. I find that saying it out loud usually helps." I reasoned.

Piper's disapproving look slightly faded, before she sighed and nodded for me to continue.
"So the crazy things that happened at school are because of your unpracticed telekinesis, the weird weather lately is because of your mood, that time in the shelter where you got hurt but didn't actually have an injury is because you can heal yourself, and you can talk to plants."

I winced after hearing what I said, not only did I probably offend Piper but I couldn't help but think to myself, 'Well that didn't sound any saner out loud'

Piper placed a hand on my shoulder, shocking me. Instantly causing me to come to a standstill and go silent. This had to be one of the first times she had ever touched me willingly.

"I know this is hard for you to hear Aerrow, but it's hard for me to tell you this. You asked me to trust you, and I am. But if you don't think you can handle anymore just tell me, whilst I can't take back what I've said, we can stop here and now." She said gently.

I let her comfort wash over me. I knew this was crazy and that a saner person than me would be running away screaming right now. But then again I've never been known for my common sense.
"I promised I would never hurt you." I stated, startling Piper and causing her to drop her hand. "To walk away now, would be breaking that promise. Besides, I'm the one who's been pushing you to tell me your secrets and I'm going to see it through to the end."

After I finished my statement I found myself gazing into Piper's eyes, which turns out was my undoing as their dazzling colour enthralled me and I found myself struggling to remember my original question.

"So, can you do anything else?" I managed to say without stuttering, to cover my nervousness whilst also wanting to reassure her, I elaborated "Because whilst those things are pretty awesome, if you could fly or something like that- that'd be cool"

Piper let a corner of her mouth quirk upward, "Well.."

"No way!" I blurted, stunned.

Piper let out a laugh, "No, but there is something you might think is equally 'cool', we utilize our own Quintessence in another subconscious way, can I show you?"

I was slightly bemused at the fact that she asked, but then realized she was still trying to let me have some control of the situation and make me feel comfortable as possible. I smiled warmly at her which she took for a sign of consent.

Her eyes held mine as she took a few steps back from me, but suddenly I was looking at nothing, just the empty space where she had been standing.
A rush of wind suddenly blew past behind me and I glimpsed a movement out of the corner of my eye. I whirled around, at first all I could see was a blur moving through the trees but when my eyes finally focused on the blur I felt them widen to the point where I should have been worried they were about to fall out of my head.

It was Piper running, faster than I ever thought possible, causing the edges of her shape to blur.

Abruptly she turned in my direction, she became more defined as she considerably slowed her speed but still I thought I might have to jump out of her way, before she came to a complete sudden stop no more than a foot away from me. She innocently held her hands behind her back, looking no worse for wear, she wasn't even out of breath! The only proof of what just happened; the trenches of dirt her bare feet were in due to her having to dig them in to come to a sudden stop.

"We're all more physically enhanced than regular humans, however it varies in which aspects and to what degree. For example Ravess' sight is her most enhanced sense which makes her deadly with a bow and arrow whilst Snipe's superior ability is his strength." Piper explained seeing I was currently unable to speak due to her display.

"And yours?" I couldn't help but ask once I managed to string my words together, unsure how I'd feel if the ability she had just shown me wasn't even her most heightened, I could already feel the slight pang of envy.

"My mother always said I had superior agility and at first she thought I'd inherited her super-speed, but we later discovered that whilst I am faster than most of our kind, all my physical reflexes and mental responses were heightened due to my brain have a higher processing potential. Even though it's not 'technically' a physical enhancement, at least not in the usual way- it does impact and extend to my physical capabilities." Piper clarified.

"Piper, you know me-I love details, but when there are too many details…" I shrug helplessly.

Piper rolled her eyes but the effect was diminished by the playful glint in them. "I'm very, very smart. Due to my brain being more highly developed." The playful glint then vanished and was replaced with her pursed lips, making it seem as if she had just tasted something sour, "Unfortunately though, Cyclonis has the same enhancement."

Finally, I felt it was time to confront that which I had so far avoided for the entire conversation so far, "Ravess called me human, as if you weren't one." I glanced away, due to my uncomfortableness with the subject before returning my gaze to Piper's face, "Throughout this whole conversation you've been saying 'my kind' and just now you said, more enhanced than regular humans." I stated, unable to explicitly ask.

Piper started fiddling with her necklace, a sign that I recognized of her feeling nervous. But I saw the resolve in her eyes as she levelly stared at me, and I could almost see her thinking that if I wasn't going to run away, neither was she.

"We're more a subspecies of human. Though technically we came first." She said at last.

The moment of truth had finally arrived. "So what are you?"

"We have gone by many names, changing over the ages. We have been known as; Inari, Anemoi, Sylph, Diwata, Aos Sí, Vættir, Nephilim and Seelie. But our oldest and true name is 'the Ancients'." Piper placed her hands on her hips transforming her previous defensive posture, into a stance of pride.

"And what does that mean?" I asked, as that didn't quite answer my question.

Piper surprised me by simply shrugging, but before I could become too bewildered Piper continued, "Nothing that I haven't already told you. We utilize our abilities in order to fulfill our sacred duty of guarding nature's balance and guiding humanity, as we have done over the centuries. We've been mistaken for many things; Angels, Demons, Shape shifters, Genies, Witches, Sorcerers, Nymphs, Dryads, Faeries, Elves, Changelings and Nixies. But we're not creatures or mystic beings. We're basically just like you, only we have a deep spiritual connection with the planet. All humans were once Ancients but the connection has been lost for many over time."

"How?" I question, unable to stop myself from being curious regardless of the fact my entire reality was shattering around me as we spoke.

"The unique ability to commune with the Planet either fades naturally due to rejection of what we are; by forgoing our connection with nature… Or it is revoked."

I felt my eyebrows shoot up, "Revoked? By who?"
I couldn't help but be alarmed now that Piper was potentially telling me that there was something out there more powerful than even her kind.

Piper turned away from me slightly and stared off into the distance, "We Ancients carry a great burden, but in a way we are.. rewarded, with certain things. But should we abuse our powers and use them for nefarious purposes, just like we can be rewarded, we can be punished. The Earth is the mother of all things, and all energy is only borrowed and must someday be given back, each Ancient's abilities are given to us by the Great Mother for a purpose and thus what we do with them whilst we have them can be judged."

"By the planet?" I ask disbelievingly, whilst trying to keep my incredulous expression from showing so that I don't offend her.

Piper glanced back at me, "Why is that so hard to believe? The Earth possess all the energy of those that lived before us and will continue to gift its energy to all those to come long after us. Is it so shocking to discover that it can choose what it gifts and withholds? It was once a well understood relationship but now there are so few of us left, it falls to us to ensure the cycle is not threatened."

I raised a hand to my head and rubbed my temple in order to soothe the headache I could feel forming, "But aren't humans ourselves now a threat? I mean look at what we are doing to the environment. If you're all so powerful why haven't you done anything to stop all the industrialization over the centuries?"

A bitter smile appeared on Piper's face, "We cannot stop progress, we ensure that nature is not forgotten though. If we were to enforce our will upon all mankind, we'd be no better than Cyclonis, no matter our intentions."

Silence descended upon us as I saw the conflicting emotions crossing Piper's face. I still had so many questions, but seeing how talking about all this was affecting her, I hesitated.

However suddenly Piper turned back to face me, a small but genuine smile on her face, "But it's not all bad. There is much good that comes with being an Ancient." She stated, before her gaze flickered down to her feet, when it returned to my face she slowly held out her hand toward me, "Let me show you?"

Unable to quell the irrational fear that unwilling arose in me at what she could possibly want to show me now I stared at her hand hesitantly, seeing this Piper's face fell. As she started to lower her hand, my gaze suddenly landed on the lily still tucked behind her ear.

My hand suddenly reached out and grasped her retracting one, startling Piper.

'What she is can do is daunting… but beautiful too'

As I stared into her vibrant orange eyes I saw her hope and resignation battling for dominance within them. Sad that my momentary hesitation had caused her internal conflict, I squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"Show me." I stated.

Piper placed her other hand over mine, and grasping my hand within both of hers pulled me after her, into the dense bushes behind her. I raised my free hand to shield my face from the branches, but we emerged from the bushes only a few seconds later and into the bright sunlight. I didn't think I could be surprised after all that I'd seen today but I was proven wrong as I took in the clearing that lay before me, the same clearing that Radarr and I had discovered only a few weeks ago.

Piper dropped my hand and I had to push back the pang of loss I felt. She stepped out to the center of the clearing and spread her arms wide. "This is my sanctuary- the one place I can be myself." Whether or not she did it purposely or not to emphasize her statement I noticed the buds on all the climbers wound around the surrounding trees burst into flower, whilst all the other flowers scattered on the ground seemed to grow brighter and lean toward her.
As I watched her close her eyes in bliss, the only word I could describe her as was ethereal; with the sun glinting off her hair cascading down her back and the pollen swirling around her. It was if she was no longer trying to look normal, instead embracing what she was.

I couldn't find it within myself to intrude on such a moment and instead noticed a log near the side of the clearing and made my way over to it and sat down, content to watch Piper in her element. After a few moments she reopened her eyes and lowered her arms but the serene smile stayed on her face. When she settled her gaze on me I couldn't help but smile back. As she walked toward me I noticed the flowers following her movement, and watched as when Piper sat down next to me, the trees and climbers closest to us unfurled their branches toward Piper as if yearning to touch her.

She gently ran her hand over those that managed to reach her and after a few seconds they retracted as if pacified with her touch. A warm feeling spread through my body as I watched the exchange, which was much more welcome then the previous unease and fear I had briefly felt. And I knew it meant I was starting to accept Piper for what she was.

Sensing my intense stare Piper turned her gaze back to me and tilted her head. "What?" she asked softly.

"Just thinking about how amazing all this is…" I gathered my courage, "How amazing you are."

My brain suddenly caught up with my mouth and horrified I averted my eyes, afraid of her reaction but instead was surprised when I heard her say, "Not nearly as amazing as you."

I turned back to her shocked. My voice came out strangled, "Me?"

'I can't do anything close to what she's capable of and she calls me amazing?'

Piper quirked an eyebrow and gave me a considering look, "You shouldn't sell yourself short Aerrow, it's not every human who could handle this so well." She paused for a moment, "That's why there used to be so many insane asylums, we Ancients usually just let people think they're going crazy rather than try and explain it."

My eyes widened. I stared at her blankly for a few seconds before I noticed the laughter shining in her eyes. Was she joking? As if to confirm my thoughts her laughter escaped her mouth and rang out over the clearing. I let out a deep breath and joined in with her laughter.

As we both quieted down an errant thought drifted to the forefront of my mind. I remained silent for a few seconds as I tried to think of the best way to phrase it into a question, "So how is it you are an Ancient? Can you earn the abilities or does one have to be born one?"

"Why do you ask?" She asked with a slightly wary look on her face.

I scratch the back of my head sheepishly, "Well I just can't imagine how someone as extra ordinary as you, would have normal kids." Piper's eyes widened and astonishingly a blush spread across her face. I mentally groaned, why did it always have to sound as if I was hitting on her? Not that I hadn't actually considered it but- 'Oh my God! What am I thinking! Focus Aerrow!'

"You must be born an Ancient." Her statement snapped me out of my internal monologue.

"Is it random or is it genetic?" I rapidly question, to try and distract myself from my previous thoughts.

"Well it's passed down in families; from parent to child, so in a way its genetic but as I said as they lose their connection to their culture it dies out, however there can be throwbacks in descendants, those are very rare though but these findings vanished after the witch trials."

I considered everything she said, it was kind of creepy how everything she was saying was making sense.

"So who did you get it from?" I already had a good idea, but I asked anyway so I'd know if Piper felt comfortable discussing it.

"My mother." She confirmed. "She rivaled even Cyclonis' grandmother in strength and skill due to her devotion to being an Ancient; to being the link between nature and man, which is why Cyclonis knew she would never be able to turn her…but then set out to turn me."

"Why are you untrained if your mother…" I trailed off.

"When she met my father, she knew he was the one for her but he wasn't one of us. And he already had a young son. In order to protect them she vowed not to draw too much attention to herself- not to shun what she was like Ravess and Snipe's mother, but to be discrete." Piper took a deep breath,

"But then I came along, she taught me everything she knew but because of her vow couldn't show me how to use that knowledge. Cyclonis found out about me and the little experience I had with my powers, making me the perfect target."

Seeing how hard this was for her to talk about, I reached out and grabbed her hand resting on her lap, and intertwined our fingers.

"She killed my parents after I refused her offer to join her, in order to make me hateful and more susceptible to her influence, the only thing that saved me from that fate was Drake. I was only 14." Her voice broke at the end of her sentence. Before I could think, I'd let go of her hand and wound my arms around her and pulled Piper to me. To my surprise she didn't put up any resistance and wound her arms around me and tucked her head into my neck. Despite the situation, like the last time I couldn't help but notice how normal and right it felt to have her in my arms, but this time something was different, I felt anger too, I felt the need to find whoever had made her this unhappy, this Cyclonis and make sure she never got to Piper again. I knew in that moment I would do anything to protect Piper.

We remained like that a few moments before Piper pulled away, still seemingly uncomfortable with physical intimacy of any kind. To allow her a moment to herself and slightly embarrassed at my actions I turned back to face the clearing. Shocked, I immediately noticed all the flowers which only minutes ago had been so full of life, wilted before my eyes.

Following my gaze Piper saw the dying flowers, she gasped and raised her hand up. It took a few moments but the life slowly started to return to the clearing.

"What just happened?" I questioned, slightly disturbed at how the clearing had reacted to Piper's mood.

"Our powers stem from our emotions, but when you're an Ancient- everything's heightened." She explained, "It's why I have trouble controlling it."

I cocked my head, "So you're like a super hormonal, powered-up teenager. What's that like?"

"A major pain in the ass." She said bluntly, "Sadness becomes despair, joy becomes euphoria, annoyance becomes rage. If I lose control for a moment I feel everything…I feel too much."

Even though I knew I should be feeling scared that she had confessed that she could possibly lose it and attack at the slightest provocation, instead I felt the need to protect her arise in me again.

Piper let out bitter laugh, startling me out of my thoughts. "I'm supposed to be showing you the better side to being an Ancient- look how that turned out. I just give you more reasons to run in the other direction. That's what happened with Lark."

All the pieces suddenly clicked together in my mind, "Lark? She's the girl you told me about before, the one you trusted that betrayed you."
Piper winced.

Not wanting to upset her I tried to phrase my next question as gently as possible, "You told her about all this didn't you?"
"I tried." The pain in her voice made me want to wrap my arms around her again, but I managed to refrain. Instead asking, "What happened?"

"She was in danger, we were walking home from school and a driver passed out at the wheel as we were crossing the road. I sped in front of her, taking the brunt of the hit and it pinned me to the ground, I then pushed the car off me. She saw the whole thing, I tried to explain but she was so scared. The way she looked at me…" Piper's voice started to waver but before I could say anything she continued,

"The next day at school everyone stared at me but no one would talk to me except to yell out things that I'd rather not repeat." Tears formed in her eyes, "My parents found out after people started calling our house, they withdrew me from school because they thought I couldn't control myself. They were afraid I'd snap and unintentionally hurt someone."

I felt my ire raise at the thought that her parents had been more concerned about concealing her powers, then how she was feeling. As if she somehow read my mind I felt a hand on my arm and I looked up to see Piper looking at me beseechingly. "It's not their fault, they were just trying to protect me the best way they knew how. It's not easy raising a child, especially when their an Ancient."

I placed my hand over her own and instantly felt myself calm down, I knew that I couldn't blame that on a special power though, that's just the effect she's always had on me.

We sat for a while in the sun, my questions eventually trailed off and we found ourselves talking about mundane things like due schoolwork and the inane things Finn had done, in an effort to act normal after all the revelations she had just delivered. However one thing still plagued my mind and whilst I didn't want to break the comfortable mood we were in, in a break in the conversation I asked, "Are there any more Ancients I need to worry about?"

Piper paused for a moment, before saying, "Just one- Ace."

I quirked my eyebrow at Piper.

Seeing this Piper elaborated, "Cyclonis' right hand man. His enhancement is his superior hearing, rendering him the perfect stealth warrior. No one can ever surprise him; he can hear people coming from leagues away and he can listen to you from yards away. He can track anyone with his ability and prefers to strike in the dark, where he has the advantage."

"How will I be able to tell if it's him?" I questioned, wanting to be as prepared as possible. He did not sound like someone you want to mess with.

Piper gestured to her face, "Our eyes. The one way you can always tell an Ancient from a human is our eyes, all Ancients have unusually coloured eyes. Something to do with the extra energy pulsating through our bodies. His are crimson red."

"Wait.. I've seen those- in my dream." I say shocked, "How is that possible?"

I noticed Piper suddenly get very tense, "Because they're not your dreams." She whispered.

"Go on." I said when she didn't continue. I couldn't let her leave it at that, these nightmares had been plaguing me for weeks.

Piper lowered her eyes, "They're not your dreams you're having, but mine. And they're not just dreams either, they're memories. Somehow you've been sharing my dreams, I don't know why or how."

I somehow doubted that. As she still wouldn't meet my eyes, I could tell she was hiding something but I would wait until she was ready to tell me. I would trust her and let her decide when the time was right, it was about time someone did.

The sun was starting to make its way overhead and I knew soon I'd have to head home, so that Morgane wouldn't worry as whilst I'd been so scattered this morning I'd forgot to leave her a note but as I looked over at Piper again, I was reminded at all that had transpired these past few hours. She'd been through more than someone ever should and still had a lot to overcome, so I silently vowed that I would be there for her, whenever and however she needed me.