The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



We all watch quietly as Jesse becomes...acclimated to himself, to his new power. And I watch with a great deal of pride as Jesse's breathing evens out, as he settles more comfortably into his chair, and as the shadows themselves become less chaotic clouds and instead more streamlined, flowing around him a bit as they did when he was in bed.

"Okay," Jesse whispers, looking down and observing them as they swirl around him, faster and slower, like he's experimenting with them. "I can...do this."

“Can you shape them at all, baby?" Cora asks quietly, turning her head to the side.

"I don't know,” Jesse murmurs, frowning at them, curious, ignoring or missing the pet name he previously forbade.

I sit forward, desperate to see what he can do.

"You did before," Rafe says, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "You made them fish. It was...very cool."

Jesse glances up at Rafe for a second, a smile on his lips, before he glances down at the shadows again. I gasp as they immediately begin to take shape - fish again in streams. We all lean forward, I think delighted at this change, and then I can tell when Jesse gains confidence, becomes more experimental, changing the shape of the fish and making them chase each other in little schools.

My eyes go wide when some of the shadows begin to clump together behind him, taking the form of a shark and then dashing out, scaring some of the minnows away. But the way Jesse laughs when it happens lets me know that it was all in his control - that he's playing, enjoying seeing what he can do.

And so a little laugh bursts from me as I clap my hands together, beaming at my cousin, delighted.

He glances up at me and then at everyone else, as we all begin to murmur encouragement. And then Jesse's laughing and his shadows change form again, this time gathering into two small cats at his side that begin to walk slowly around him, their dark smokey tails brushing warm against his side. And then, as we watch, Jesse exhales deeply and begins to call the shadows back into himself, apparently finished with his experiment for the day. The cats fade into vague streaks of darkness before that darkness rushes through the air, to Jesse's palms, and then slowly back into himself. "Holy shit," Jesse whispers, and then he looks up at all of us, grinning like it's the coolest thing he's ever seen.

nenoveldrama

"I'm so proud of you, baby," Cora says, her voice choked. I look in surprise when Cora dashes across the room towards her eldest son who quickly stands and wraps her up in a hug as his mom tucks her face against his chest, showing far more emotion than she usually

does.

I grin at both of them before looking up at mom who is, unsurprisingly, crying, one hand pressed to her heart.

"Mom," Jesse murmurs, laughing and stroking her back even as he blushes. "Come on, not in front of my friends."

Cora just laughs and pulls away, wiping at her own eyes a bit. "I'm just really proud of you, kid," she sighs. "Look at you, growing up, all magical with your shadow cats."

"Shadow panthers," Jesse corrects, still blushing a bit as Cora steps away. "Just...little ones. For now."

"This is definitely a different class," Tony murmurs, smiling around at us. And I can't help it – I smile back at him, because it definitely feels like things are getting better around here.

swny

"I had very little control too, in the beginning," Cora says, looking Jesse in the eye for a moment but then addressing us all. "Storms and weather events just...happened in occurrence with my emotions."

“One very particular emotion,” mom says, turning to grin at Cora a little wickedly, “if I remember correctly."

"We're done talking about that," Cora says, her sentimentality wiped from her in a moment as she points a finger at my mom, who just laughs.

"Oh, ew," Jesse sighs, falling back into his chair and putting his head in his hands.

"The point is," Cora says, walking back to the desk with her head held high, "that you're already showing an incredible amount of control, Jesse, and that with more practice...it will be very interesting to see what you can do." Content belongs

won

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