"I believe I have finally figured out what kind of supernatural you are," Dave told Spencer some months after he had come to live with them. "You don't fit the normal parameters, because while we have portal mages that can open portals they can't do it to other dimensions.
"So what do you believe I am?" Spencer asked, as he sat in one of Dave's comfortable chairs in front of the desk in his study, with Liana on Dave's lap. This was an ordinary position for them, so Spencer thought nothing of it.
"A very long time ago, well over a 1000 years, there were those known as magi or magus in singular form," Dave began to explain. "Magi much like dragons were very powerful and their blood could be used in numerous potions both light and dark. Magi were said to be immortal or at least very long lived, because of the power they possessed. The difference between then and dragons was they had one special talent and that talent was to be able to open a portal much more easily then other supernaturals could. We didn't have portal mages back then that could open a portal to any place in the world, no, we had magi who could not only open the portal across the ocean with little effect, but could also open one to another dimension. Magi just instinctively knew how to open a portal to whatever dimension they chose and they didn't need to go through the proper ritual. Other dimensions were known about more back then, then they are today and many people fled from prosecution by abandoning their own dimension if they could find a magus to help them cross over. Times were much more dangerous back so long ago, then they are now. Every time a Magus was discovered they were immediately thrown in prison or even killed by the government of the day and sometimes by people who tried to control their immense power. While dragons existed they weren't hunted as intensely back then, as they were a few hundred years ago, but once magi had died out, well, that's when dragons started to be really hunted."
"People can only have one obsession at a time after all," Liana snorted, her opinion of such people loud and clear in her tone.
"That does tend to be true at least for most people," Dave sighed in agreement.
"So you think I am a magus," Spencer said and they nodded. "But didn't they die out?"
"While that's true that doesn't mean that some families didn't still have the gene for it in their blood, one that was inactive," Dave said. "Sometimes all it takes is certain circumstances to reactivate that gene. It's even possible that Magi have existed for all this time, but they've been very careful not to reveal themselves, because they knew what was likely to happen if they did. If the bad guys didn't force them to work for them the government would've forced them or thrown them in prison or even killed them. While supernaturals have much more freedom today so long as there're not breaking the law, that doesn't mean the government couldn't bring pressure to bear if a magus was ever discovered. They could make life very difficult if they chose to and not everybody in the government is honest. There're many ways to force somebody to do exactly what they want as they could threaten their families, their children their best friends."
"There's also the always popular blackmail," Liana said her expression sour. "Everyone has some sort of secret in their past that they don't want revealed and sometimes that secret can be very damaging to that person in particular or at least embarrassing. For example, if anybody but Dave, Brigid and Aaron ever found out I was a thief for a lot of years they would probably hold it over my head and make me do things I didn't want to, just to stop them from revealing it. Many people don't really know what it takes to survive when you're on your own, especially from a young age.
"They don't truly understand the way the world works and that it is often unfair, even to the young. Many people grow up in the bosom of their family and have never experienced true tragedy. If most people found out what I did in order to support myself before I was even a teenager they would likely still turn me into the authorities.
"The authorities probably wouldn't understand, as they would be to focused that I broke the law, likely not caring why I broke it or that I was not even a teenager at the time. Even if I found a cop that was understanding of what I had to do to survive and that I didn't dare go to anybody in charge, doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't punish me for crimes that happened years ago, or even care that I was a kid at the time. Luckily, there is a statute of limitations on stealing."
Liana sounded very cynical, but then, she had a right too.
"Both Aaron and Dave have had enough experience in real life to understand why I had to do what I did and as for Brigid, Dave raised her to be understanding of people, of their foibles and to understand that sometimes breaking the law is necessary depending on circumstances. There's no way a 12 nearly 13-year-old girl could have survived by legal means, especially when she didn't dare go to anyone in authority that would have found her a foster family. Templar's network may have been relatively small compared to some criminal bosses, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a long reach. For all I knew he could have been paying people off to keep their eye out for me, because while he wasn't really the biggest criminal boss that doesn't mean that he didn't have plenty of money to bribe people for information."
"So you think my mother was one of the Magi?" Spencer said.
"Yes, I really do, because I know of no other supernatural that can open a portal to another dimension without the proper ritual and knowledge and the knowledge is not exactly easy to come by on purpose," Dave said. "You're going to require some training, so that you can control your power whenever you want to open another portal whether that's too some other place in this reality or to another dimension entirely."
"You need to learn to control it so that your power isn't detected every time you use it. You don't want the government or the criminal elements on you every time you dare open a portal, as someone with our type of power can be detected if they're not careful. I'll teach you how to control your power as best I can, so that it's not detected whenever you want to use it."
"I think that can wait at least a year. Give Spencer time to truly settle in," Liana suggested.
"Probably a good idea," Dave agreed. "There's no reason to rush he's not going to go to college for years."
"I don't have the money for college," Spencer protested automatically. "I suppose I could shop around for scholarships though. That's probably what I would've had to do if I had lived with my father, as I can't him paying for it, even though he was hardly poor."
"We do though," Liana told Spencer firmly. "It is a guardian or the parents responsibility to pay for their child to get a higher education if they desire to."
"I have to agree," Dave said. "We'll pay for your college when the time comes and you can save the scholarship for someone who can't afford to go without one."
Spencer shut his mouth at that knowing they were right.
"We can understand that you're very independent, but you're also still a child and while independence is not a bad thing it is still an adults responsibility to look after you until you're old enough to be out on your own," Dave said.
"Since Dave discovered you we feel that that's our responsibility, although I know many wouldn't have taken you in. We didn't necessarily have to take on the responsibility, but who else can train you to use your ability or who can you trust to do so?" Liana asked.
"The only other people I can think of that have ever heard of magi are historians who like to study the past and possibly someone in the government, as I'm sure they have records somewhere," Dave added. "I doubt they would be able to train you in your ability, though I suppose it's possible, but it would have to be some sort of specialist. If they did so though, they would insist you work for them for the rest of your life and wouldn't care if it was what you wanted. It would either be that or prison, which with your power you could break out of, but then you'd be on the run for the rest of your life and eventually they'd catch you."
"Why would they do that to someone though?" Spencer asked. "To someone who had committed no crimes. Having an unknown ability is no reason to throw somebody in prison if they don't want to work for the government. I can understand the government keeping an eye on a person with more power then normal, but just to throw them in prison if they refused the offer to work for them seems a little extreme."
"I have to agree, but you also have to understand how our government thinks," Dave said with a slight smile. "They can't allow normal people to find out about us and therefore, they believe that anybody extremely powerful is more likely to get us noticed. It's been their policy for several hundred years now to just throw anybody with more power then is normal into prison if they refuse the offer to work for the government, where the government can of course, keep a close eye on them. Make sure they don't go rogue. While I can understand that way of thinking it doesn't mean I agree with it. Yes, I agree that rogues should be hunted down as they are a danger to us all, but to only give them those three options for their life is wrong."
"They should be free to choose whatever career they want so long as they cause no trouble," Liana agreed.
"This is one of the main reasons you must be careful how you use your power. Neither I or Liana want you to be forced to work for the supernatural government if that's not what you want, once you are grown," Dave told Spencer who nodded to say he understood.
"You should be able to go to as regular university, as a regular humans and work a regular job if you don't want one within the supernatural community. In order to achieve what you want though you have to be very cautious. Most supernaturals work within our community, but I understand you grew up in the normal world, so that might not be what you want."
"I don't really know what I want to do," Spencer said.
"Of course you don't, you're only seven. Most people don't know what they want to do even once they are in college. It takes awhile to decide on your life's work and you have the option to change your mind," Liana said. "I certainly had no idea what I wanted to be at your age."
"Most people don't," Dave said. "Since you'll likely live a very long time you could even have several careers. That's for later though, as you don't need to worry about what career you're going to choose at least until you're a teenager."
Spencer said nothing, but knew that he'd be thinking about what career he really wanted go into for sometime.
~~~Dave and Liana~~~