Sophie, and the tiniest bit to Ang. Then I opened my eyes and trained on their expressions as Aunt Dorothy began to talk. Drifting into a focused state, I let her words pass over me without really trying to hear them.
When I noticed Sophie’s expression begin to twitch with apprehension, I pushed a touch more green to her, and added a wash of yellow. Her face relaxed back to neutral. Aunt Dorothy began to explain the convergence and the hypercosmic realm, or dream world, and I sensed growing unease in both Ang and Sophie. I pushed a little more green to them. When my great-aunt described my role as the principal in the pyramidal union, I pushed a bit of yellow to Sophie.
As I kept my mind attuned to the girls’ shifting moods and feelings, I sank deeper into a meditation. As my mind seemed to settle into a peaceful lull, my heart lifted. The satisfaction and rightness of the three of us here, with my great-aunt, took me by surprise. I never expected that anything involving Sophie could feel this way, but I wanted to immerse myself in it, absorb it into every cell of my body, like a lizard soaking up the heat of the sun. I felt lighter, buoyed by hope that we would figure this out, and maybe the rift between me and Sophie wouldn’t be impossible to overcome.
After what could have been minutes or an hour, Aunt Dorothy nodded to me. “Reduce all the influences just a bit now.”
Lifting myself from the depths of my meditation, I did as she asked, gathering a faint wash of white influence in my mind and then allowing it to spill over both girls.
“It’s time for Angeline and Sophie to link in syndesmo ,” she said, and she rose from her chair. “Follow me.”
I let the three of them go ahead as we filed upstairs to the guest room. The pyxis box was back on the dresser, where it had been when I’d linked with Mason. Vibrations waved from it in rhythmic bursts, and I stared at the box. A melody whispered through my mind, and for a second, I wondered if it was Mason, singing through our link again. But when the song swelled in my ears, I recognized a multitude of instruments playing many melodies that chased each other, weaving a song so beautiful it made my chest ache. I closed my eyes, lost in the sound, and I inhaled as a breeze carrying something green and lovely—maybe fresh-cut grass mixed with crushed lavender—enveloped me.
Then without warning, the melody dissolved into dissonance and disappeared altogether. I strained, trying to catch a note or two, to will it to return.
“Are you all right, my dear?” Aunt Dorothy’s voice broke my trance. I looked into her eyes, my lips parted, on the verge of asking her if she’d heard the beautiful song. But her eyes held only slight concern. No way she could stay so composed in the presence of something so beautiful.
I cleared my throat. Maybe I was losing it.
“Yeah, just a little dizzy, but I’m okay now.” I forced a smile.
“Even though you’re able to affect the influences, I will use the liquids as I did with you and Mason,” she said, turning to the pyxis . “It’s very important to get the balance just so, and we must not take the chance of an error. Go ahead and rectify the influences.”
With every passing second, I became more convinced I’d imagined the song and the smell of fresh greenery. The bedroom window wasn’t even open.
With a push of white, I washed away all of the influences I’d imparted. Now that Sophie was left completely to her own will and thoughts, would she flip out and start hollering at everyone? I waited, and she just watched me with a curious near-frown. I was so accustomed to her guarded, hostile glare, I couldn’t help but stare back.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her. The question sounded lame, but I really wanted to know what was going through her head, even at the risk of shattering her calm.
She met my eyes in silence for a moment. “I knew this was coming,” she said, seeming to understand the real
When I noticed Sophie’s expression begin to twitch with apprehension, I pushed a touch more green to her, and added a wash of yellow. Her face relaxed back to neutral. Aunt Dorothy began to explain the convergence and the hypercosmic realm, or dream world, and I sensed growing unease in both Ang and Sophie. I pushed a little more green to them. When my great-aunt described my role as the principal in the pyramidal union, I pushed a bit of yellow to Sophie.
As I kept my mind attuned to the girls’ shifting moods and feelings, I sank deeper into a meditation. As my mind seemed to settle into a peaceful lull, my heart lifted. The satisfaction and rightness of the three of us here, with my great-aunt, took me by surprise. I never expected that anything involving Sophie could feel this way, but I wanted to immerse myself in it, absorb it into every cell of my body, like a lizard soaking up the heat of the sun. I felt lighter, buoyed by hope that we would figure this out, and maybe the rift between me and Sophie wouldn’t be impossible to overcome.
After what could have been minutes or an hour, Aunt Dorothy nodded to me. “Reduce all the influences just a bit now.”
Lifting myself from the depths of my meditation, I did as she asked, gathering a faint wash of white influence in my mind and then allowing it to spill over both girls.
“It’s time for Angeline and Sophie to link in syndesmo ,” she said, and she rose from her chair. “Follow me.”
I let the three of them go ahead as we filed upstairs to the guest room. The pyxis box was back on the dresser, where it had been when I’d linked with Mason. Vibrations waved from it in rhythmic bursts, and I stared at the box. A melody whispered through my mind, and for a second, I wondered if it was Mason, singing through our link again. But when the song swelled in my ears, I recognized a multitude of instruments playing many melodies that chased each other, weaving a song so beautiful it made my chest ache. I closed my eyes, lost in the sound, and I inhaled as a breeze carrying something green and lovely—maybe fresh-cut grass mixed with crushed lavender—enveloped me.
Then without warning, the melody dissolved into dissonance and disappeared altogether. I strained, trying to catch a note or two, to will it to return.
“Are you all right, my dear?” Aunt Dorothy’s voice broke my trance. I looked into her eyes, my lips parted, on the verge of asking her if she’d heard the beautiful song. But her eyes held only slight concern. No way she could stay so composed in the presence of something so beautiful.
I cleared my throat. Maybe I was losing it.
“Yeah, just a little dizzy, but I’m okay now.” I forced a smile.
“Even though you’re able to affect the influences, I will use the liquids as I did with you and Mason,” she said, turning to the pyxis . “It’s very important to get the balance just so, and we must not take the chance of an error. Go ahead and rectify the influences.”
With every passing second, I became more convinced I’d imagined the song and the smell of fresh greenery. The bedroom window wasn’t even open.
With a push of white, I washed away all of the influences I’d imparted. Now that Sophie was left completely to her own will and thoughts, would she flip out and start hollering at everyone? I waited, and she just watched me with a curious near-frown. I was so accustomed to her guarded, hostile glare, I couldn’t help but stare back.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her. The question sounded lame, but I really wanted to know what was going through her head, even at the risk of shattering her calm.
She met my eyes in silence for a moment. “I knew this was coming,” she said, seeming to understand the real
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