Vince turned around to see the smiling face of his Nana. It has been years since he last saw her. If it was a different time, he would have smiled and hugged her immediately but she caught him in a strange situation.
"I...I.." he couldn't come up with an answer and just looked at the ground like a little kid. Who could blame him? In front of his Nana, Vince would always be a little kid.
Vince saw his Nana look at him tenderly and then he noticed her left hand move to smack his head. He can see the hand clearly at if in slow motion. Deciding to let it hit, Vince pretended to not see the left hand move.
And then his head moved to his right as he was hit. It doesn't hurt but he is confused.
Vince was about to move his head to the left so that his Nana's hand wouldn't be hurt by his thick skull. But what happened was different. His head that moved to the right means that he was hit by her Nana's right hand.
How? When? He never even saw her other arm move. Puzzled, he can only look inquiringly at his Nana as he rubbed the left part of his head. It doesn't hurt but he wants to pretend that it does.
"You've had the ability for years now," she stated as she looked at her grandchild, "yet you have yet to understand it. Trauma kept you from understanding your ability."
"We need to talk," she said as she motioned with her hand for Vince to follow her.
Vince looked back but didn't see Alfred or his mother. He could only shrug and follow his Nana.
Winona picked an empty table in a cafe where she could talk to her grandson and not be overhead by anyone. She ordered two iced coffee to the waiter and observed her only grandson.
"Losing your mother and grandfather in the same year is hard. Your father didn't make it easy for you when he decided to focus on work and move. Then you became the target of people's anger. That would mess anyone up."
The waiter arrived with the ice coffee. Winona thanked the waiter and continued only after the waiter walked away.
"Vince, you shouldn't have discovered that ability easily. Your grandfather put a lock on it to keep you away from it while you are young. He set it up so that only when you feel that you want someone dead but don't want to become a murderer, would you be able to trigger the lock. At that time you would remember the eyeglass and use it." Winona stopped talking to drink her iced coffee and let Vince have some time to digest what she said.
After drinking half of the iced coffee, she continued "He thought that the emotional lock that he made would only be triggered after your girlfriend cheated on you. Thinking that it's only at that moment would you discover a person that you would both love and hate."
Winona waved at the waiter. Because they are having a serious conversation, the waiter thought that something might be wrong. Wavering between moving closer to offer help or to stay and not bother the troubled customer is what Winona sees on the waiters face. She waved at the waiter and smiled a bit to somehow convey that everything things fine. Fortunately, the waiter agreed.
"You're a sweetheart Vince. Despite what they did to you, despite your trauma and anger, not once did you wish for their deaths." Winona looked lovingly at her grandson.
"How can you say that?" Vince hadn't fully digested what her Granma had told him but he knows something she didn't. He hated them. More than enyto want them dead. Otherwise, how could he have kept on and on with cursing them.
"Although your not using your ability fully, it wouldn't be hard for you to take a life. But you didn't. No one among those people you hate died from your ability." This time, Winona didn't look at Vince as she said those things. Because she just admitted to Vince that his aviycanbbe used to kill. Something that he hasn't realized himself.
Maybe he did. Maybe Vince realized what his ability can actually do after sending his teacher to the hospital.
Winona kept staring at her iced coffee. She needed to continue speaking and inform Vince of a crucial matter.
"From how you used your ability, you might think that it has something to do with curses. You might have mistaken your ability to give you the power to hurt others. But it's more than that."
Vince waited for his grandmother to continue. He kept his ears open and copied his Nana. He too looked at his iced coffee as he waited for her to speak.
"When Larry locked your ability, he also modified it a bit. Everytime you would use your ability, you had to pay money. That's really not how your ability words. Larry set it up that way just in case you awaken your ability early, lack of money would limit the number of times you can use your ability. This way, you would think long and hard before you use your ability."
Winona paused for a bit and contemplated if she should really tell Vince. In the end she decided to tell him.
"Vince, tour ability isn't about placing a curse on people. It's to choose. To put it in simple terms, people can only toss a coin and wait for it to fall. Either it lands on their chosen side or not. We are different. We can interrupt the coin toss. We can grab the coin in the air, pick what side we want and place it that way. In essence, our ability allows us to give a curse and a blessing to people."
Vince couldn't believe his Nana. He wanted to try it. However, whenever he puts on the eyeglass, all he can see are words that are dark. And when he reads those words, only bad luck happens to people.
Before Vince was able to ask, Winona grabbed the eyeglass from Vince's face. She flipped the right side of the eyeglass. Then she returned it to Vince.
"Woah", he exclaimed. Looking through the eyeglass, he can see words on top of people. This time, there are words written in dark or black color and there are words in white or silver color.
Winona took the eyeglass from Vince because she has more to say. Vince listened for a long time. They moved to a restaurant to order some food while Winona tells Vince about their families legacy.
Apparently during the age of magic (the time when mana fills the earth), their ancestor made a deal with the dragons. In exchange for binding their family's strongest magic into the family line, all members of the the family would kill EMBERS whenever they see one.
Cursing people or giving them blessings would normally involve a large ritual with sacrifices. But with the power of the dragons, it became an innate ability of their family. All they need is to kill EMBERS.
EMBERS can be said as alien DNA. They roam the cosmos and binds with creatures. Sometimes an EMBER will find itself on earth and binds with a human. When that happens, that human would start a cult. When they worship their alien god, it sends a beacon through space. If were unlucky, the aliens can use that to pinpoint our world and come here.
Vampires, trolls, werewolves are but a few that managed to find earth through EMBERS. Thankfully, their numbers are low. They are not very strong. And the local Wizards of earth can still manage them. Although they are unable to exterminate these aliens.
Winona also told Vince that if he is willing, he can visit the seven islands and become a wizard. Upon graduation, Vince would lose his innate ability. However, as a wizard he will be able to do magic. And instead of finding EMBERS which is essentially humans belonging in a cult, he would be part of a greater calling.
Vince had a lot to digest. The truth about his ability, their mission, aliens, Wizards, seven islands, etc. He asked his Nana for some time before he makes it his decision.
"Ill be keeping these", Winona pocketed the eyeglass before she added, "you've been abusing your ability for years now. Not even giving one blessing. You can take it back next week."