First Lesson

Two days later...

Catherine was pacing back and forth in the living room, occasionally muttering to herself, unsure what she should do. She had spent the whole of Tuesday at home, unable to decide to go see Silvester for some Spirit lessons and too troubled by the dilemma to focus on studying her normal school subjects. Every time she had thought about going, Melany's words came creeping in her mind and she became too self-conscious to take a step outside. What did she think or feel about him? Or, even more disconcerting, what did he think or feel about her? Then, depending on those answers, how was she supposed to act, talk and dress? There were so many unknown factors, but she couldn't linger too long on them because it was already afternoon and that wasn't counting the time it takes to go there and the time to get back before her mom came home. The one thing that was certain for Catherine though, was that if she stayed home again today she would never find the nerve to go see Silvester. She brought her hand up to her left ear and felt her Core; her fingers tracing the claw shape of the light green jade earring. It didn't really match her current outfit, a white tank-top with varying blue ring patterns all over it and a navy-blue skirt, but she wasn't going to make that mistake again. I need to know how to use my Spirit properly... I don't want to be so helpless again. Finally, with her resolve strengthened, she nodded into thin air, grabbed her things and left the house in the direction of the train station.

Forty minutes later, Catherine was knocking on Silvester's strange metal door basked in the warm sunlight of the cloudless afternoon. She was finding it hard to catch her breath while she was waiting. Was it nervousness? Excitement? Before she could figure out which one it was, the door suddenly swung inward to reveal her mysterious one-eyed savior.

"Oh, didn't expect you to come so early." He said with his eyebrows raised. He wore a slightly loose white t-shirt and some black sports pants with a spiral pattern around the right leg.

Catherine was a little thrown off from his comment, but also because she wasn't used to seeing a facial expression with only one eye. "Early? It's almost 3 pm."

"I'm not talking about the time; I thought it'd take you at least a week to get over the shock."

"Well, as you can see..." She gestured to herself from top to bottom. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm not so fragile as to let something like that bother me for too long."

"You know we can keep talking about your durability inside." He said pointing his thumb behind him.

Catherine looked left and right, but there seemed to be nothing unusual. "Are the neighbors watching or something?"

His eye was squinting. "No, it's just a little too bright outside."

"Don't mind if I do then." She told him as she nudged her way inside. She heard the metal door close behind her and the first thing she noticed was how somber the interior of the house was. Having just been outside the contrast was even more striking; with the drapes closed barely any light was getting in. The next thing she noticed was it all seemed a little more... messy. A few garments and shoes lying about here and there, dishes left on the counter and furniture slightly displaced from their original position. But out of all these she was more curious about another matter. "So how does your door actually work? Something like fingerprint recognition?"

He walked past her towards the living room. "Along that line. Someone else than me would have a hard time opening it." Pulling himself a chair in front of the sofa he showed it with his hand. "Make yourself at home."

"Alright." As she sat on the sofa she felt a slight tingle in her right knee; a tiny prickle as if her body expected it to still be hurt.

"Let's start with what you know." He said, resting his hands on his legs.

"Umm..." Catherine didn't quite know where to start.

"Do you know how to summon your Spirit?" Silvester tried nudging her thoughts.

"I know that there are 4 ways to summon a Spirit, but I don't know how to do any of them."

His eye remained fixed on her, unfazed. "Go on."

She swallowed nervously, unable to figure out what he was thinking behind his gaze. "You need to have your Core close to your body... and you can't use someone else's Spirit." She continued enumerating what she remembered from the documentary. "A Spirit's power varies from one to another. Any type of Morphing is very dangerous."

Silvester raised his hand, stopping her in her tracks. "That's enough. I don't need to hear any more."

"Sorry; I told you I didn't know much." She said, disappointed. She had been hoping to impress him with what she learned from the documentary.

"You don't know anything at all, in fact." He replied.

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Sure she was a newbie, but it wasn't that bad.

"No, it's simply that everything you know is wrong." His right hand waved off to the side in a dismissive sign. "You have to forget everything and start from scratch."

As far as Catherine knew, what she had told him was all common, collective knowledge. "How can it be all wrong?"

"If you want to learn from me, you have to trust me." He told her. "I want to teach you the proper way to interact with your Spirit."

She thought about the way Melany and her school were using their Spirits; building a hierarchy and ranking all the students, how wrong it all felt to her. It wasn't a system that she ever wanted to be a part of. If there really was a better way, she would gladly take it. She nodded to Silvester. "Alright. It won't be hard; I barely have anything to forget."

"Good." He said, smiling. "Let's begin with a simple question: what is a Spirit?"

Simple my ass, it's definitely a trick question. "No one really knows; it's still a mystery."

"That's just what everybody else knows, which I just told you to forget about. The question is simple because the answer is simple. Just say what you think is the best answer."

Catherine held her chin with her hand, deep in thought. "I think... my Spirit is something like a better version of me?"

Silvester nodded slowly. "Close. Your Spirit isn't just a version of you; it's all of you." He gestured to all of her. "It's all the good and all the bad."

"I don't really understand..." She told him, still confused.

"Think of it like this: if you were to put every fundamental part of you in a lens..." His fingers formed a small circle. "...and used a projector to expand the result on a screen, it would show your Spirit. It's an image where every inch means something important."

Catherine leaned back in the sofa, analyzing the concept in her head. It was difficult for her to grasp it. How could a beast be a representation of her?

"Describe it to me."

"Huh?" She came back to her senses.

"Describe your Spirit to me." He asked her again, folding his arms.

She shrugged. "Sure, but I saw it 5 years ago, so I don't think I'll be able to give you an accurate description..."

"Our mind imprints the memory permanently when we see our Spirit. Just close your eyes and think back to that time."

"Alright." She said, unconvinced. Her mind went back to that day, 5 years ago, which she didn't really want to remember. For the other kids it was a highly anticipated day, but for her it was the moment that marked her separation from all her school friends. Although it was a day that she had once cast aside in her memory, now there was an even worse one for which she had to do everything she could to not let it be repeated. For an instant the emotions of sadness and abandonment washed over her, but she quickly shook it off. No. I'm not going to feel sorry for myself. I've had enough of that. Everything was a bit foggy, such as the waiting room, or the doctor's features and what he had said, but to her surprise the screen showing her Spirit was particularly clear. With her eyes closed, gazing inward, the words flowed out as she beheld the sight: "It's a tiger, with light-orange fur and black stripes, in a leaping motion as if it's trying to jump out of the screen. The front paws are outstretched, but I don't see any claws."

Silvester leaned forward a bit and rested his elbows on his thighs. "Don't leave anything out, tell me the finer details."

"The mouth is open, roaring." She continued, following his guidance. "I can see its sharp teeth... and a sort of ripple distortion in front, like a soundwave?"

"Anything else? What about the eyes, the ears or the body's condition?"

Catherine increased her concentration. "The eyes are green, but they're not scowling. It's more of a focused, emotional look. The ears are standing up and alert. The body is slender, yet fierce. The fur coat itself is unblemished and clean... That's all I can see." She opened her eyes and was a little surprised to find Silvester leaning closer than before.

"That's all you can see for now." He said, leaning back to his previous position. "We can visualize our Spirit a thousand times and find a new detail or a new meaning each time."

"What kind of meaning-" She was abruptly cut off by a loud banging on the door. Her head swung reflexively in the direction it came from, and then shifted back to Silvester. "Are you expecting someone else?"

His eyes searched for the right answer for a moment. "Sort of?"

The harsh sound of struck metal filled the room again and someone called from outside: "Come on Silver, open up!" It was a woman's voice.