Chapter 957: Veiled Purpose
I waited for it to click, the moment it would start to make sense in my head. That moment never came. My bike died because of my choice of attire? I'm supposed to just take that at face value. Seriously?
I do, don't I?
"But I didn't even… y'know… have it turned on when I have it on," I said to her. "How could it have…?"
"The same way the wiring in a room doesn't just die when you flick off a light switch."
Mom stopped talking upon hearing the heaves and grunts of a few crew members slowly trodding past our table, various film equipment hauled off on their backs and arms for keeping. It took a while for them to fully pass by, felt even longer by the way their eyes lingered on us even as they grew further.
When the coast was clear again, she continued on, keeping her voice in a weaker, discreeter tone.
"Magic as potent as mine—or, sorry—as potent as ours; not many know this, but it does have an effect on our surroundings, even when dormant, latent. Think of it like… radiation. It builds over time. Now if it's just you, there's no harm done. But you put on that cloak then that's when you become quite the safety hazard."
"How bad of a safety hazard?" I asked, a few worries quickly sprouting at the mention. "I did turn it on a few times already, nothing big but, could anything have happened, potentially?"
"Didn't your father explain this to you already? He told me he did."
"Not as much as you are now."
Mom sighed, giving her head a dismal yet slightly affectionate shake. "Aah, that father of yours. Either he simply forgot how much trouble just a piece of my magic could be or he really is that bad at teaching other people. I don't know which is worse, to be frank."
"So?" I asked, getting her back on track. "Have I accidentally triggered a nuclear meltdown or not?"
"No. You haven't actually used it the way it was meant to be used, so no disasters… but small inconveniences, broken bikes… well, you live and you learn. Must have been quite an old bike to be affected so drastically. At least your phone still works."
That was supposed to be my assurance. That, in my ignorance, fortunately, no long-term harm had been done. But all I could focus on was the first part of her sentence. It reverberated in my head. I couldn't hear anything else.
"And what happens if I do use it the way it was meant to be used?"
Mom smiled again, trying to quell my unease. "Unlikely that you'll ever have to."
"What if, then?" I asked again. "What is it exactly meant to do?"
"It amplifies your abilities—magic that is currently beyond you you would suddenly take to like its second nature. It becomes a part of you, it reads your intent. By proxy, through my power, it's your magic made manifest. But that part you already know, don't you?"
I waited for her to continue… her lips still retaining that soft, comforting shape to the point it wraps back around to having the absolute opposite effect that a smile like that should.
"But, if for some reason, that even all that is not enough, if you're ever in that much danger. Hm, what if, right? Maybe you're holding back. Maybe for some reason, you won't want to do what needs to be done. Maybe there's a reason you don't want to take things too far. And knowing you, there's always a reason. At the expense of your safety, your life. In that case, it'll know. And it'll take control."
"Control?"
"Through you, it'll devastate everything in your path. And without the will and influence of its host—friend, foe, it won't know the difference. It'll turn all there is to ruin until there is nothing left to hurt you. Until the problem, the what-if you're dealing with has been resolved. Your life will take priority above all else. No matter what. No matter who."
There she goes again, shattering all perception of the woman I thought I knew. I don't even know what to think anymore.
"I thought you gave me the cloak just to protect me…" I said, feeling the strength and weight absent from my voice. "Now you're telling me it can take just over me whenever it wants to?"
"Only if you ever give it a reason too," she said. "So just don't give it any."
"You gave me that cloak so that it can rob me of my free will as a 'just in case'?"
"I gave you that cloak so that you'll be protected," Mom said earnestly, love and warmth oozing with her words. "And think about it, dear… just who could you ever need more protection from than you yourself?"
I wish I had more to say than I already had. Or that I wasn't so silent, compliant… and worse… understanding of it all. I wanted so badly to be outraged, or upset at the very least. But I just couldn't muster the effort. Couldn't even fake it if I tried.
Because this was all par for the course now. Even when I don't expect it, I still do. There's a precedent now. I know that this was how she was, and I hate that I was getting used to it all.
Her reasoning seemed sound enough. At the end of the day, she just wanted to make sure I was safe. What loving mother wouldn't? Taking my autonomy from me… well, it's as she said, who's to say things would ever even spiral to that point? And should worse come to worse, I still had to put the cloak on first. I still had to willingly choose to give up my choices.
Which begs the question, then…
"Should you be telling me this?" I asked, poking at the seemingly glaring holes in her grand plan. "Now that I know what it might do, what makes you think I'm actually gonna use it to that point?"
"Does it matter?" She just lightheartedly replied. "Are you planning on getting into life-threatening situations? Is there a war looming on the horizon? Are you planning on starting one?"
"Why the hell would I—?"
"Then don't worry about it too much, alright?" She said, reaching over and wiping a speck of salt off my cheek. "I gave you an option… one that'll probably never be needed. For most days, it's just a magic cloak. On rare days, it's a choice. And if you're going to make that choice, then it's there for you… and it'll do exactly as it's supposed to do."
"Then I just won't use it on days like that," I said. "If there's a chance it might take control of me…"
"It's a gamble, true," Mom acknowledged, then blinked at me, wearing a wry smile that was on the verge of laughter. "And you're not really the gambling type, are you now?"
There was nothing I could say to that. Seems she wasn't the only with precedence. She knew how I was, and so did I. Simple and predictable. The shining virtue of paragon always. More like stupidity, really.
"Enough about the cloak now," she said, flipping over to a new page in the conversation, one that she seemed to have been looking forward to by the famished look in her eyes. "Let's talk about what we will be doing for the evening."
Of course. After all that's happened, I almost forgot. It's Amanda's turn to get acquainted with my parents.
"I still have a few questions," I said.
"Save them," Mom told me, her gaze staring through and past me at something else in the distance. "Your girlfriend's here."
I barely had turned behind me when a distinct sweet scent of peaches and roses billowed past me in a flowing braid of bright blonde. I followed the fragrance only to be greeted by Bumblebee once more, his elongated metal mug staring at me in the face.
To the side, I heard Mom quietly chuckling. "Nice shirt, Amanda."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Amanda said, drawing up a chair before promptly taking a seat beside me. "It was a gift."
That's a funny way of saying pilfering, but sure. We'll go with that.
"Um… probably too late to ask this now, but I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She asked, glancing sheepishly between the both of us. "It looked like you were kinda in the middle of something. Want me to come back later?"
"Just small talk," Mom assured her. "Actually, we were waiting on you. Lots to talk about, haven't we?"
"Aah…" Amanda sported a smile on her lips. A cheeriness that was only surface-level. It's all in the eyes. And right then, hers screamed distress. "Dinner is… I haven't actually given it much thought yet. With all that's happened, yeah. Anyway, um… well, for starters, do you have any kind of preference? A place you'd want to visit?"
"Oh, indeed we do," Mom said. "And don't worry, it's nowhere expensive. You don't have to worry about a budget or dressing up for the occasion. It's all very nice and simple."
"Great," Amanda replied, attempting to match her enthusiasm. "What's the place?"
There's that look again on her face. That expression, like she was laughing at some sort of inside joke that the rest of us weren't aware of. I could feel the tingle of something imminent… and then there it was… with a playful smirk, the punchline.
The joke.
"Yours," Mom replied.