Chapter 7

  Over the next few days, I went to school, did my basic physical and trance training, and not much else. I did not try to gather threads, create them, touch them, or anything of the sort. Mother kept a close eye on me, so even had I wanted to, I doubt I would have been able to. As she started feeling more confident that I had learned my lesson, she slowly went back to letting me do my thing, and eventually, I had the time to try again. I didn't, though. The pain just before I passed out had been intense, and I really wasn't prepared to go through that again.

  School still wasn't teaching me much I didn't know, and even the Governance classes weren't teaching me much that I didn't know from being middle management back on Earth. History, as we all know, has a habit of repeating itself, but having a more than 2000 year old Emperor meant that the last 2000 years, at least, had been pretty stable. Since no one really knew the date of the founding, though, we could only guess as to the timeline. History back then wasn't recorded the way it is now. Without the Emperor, it may never have been recorded in books to begin with.

  Finances, again, was not much different than back on Earth. You had money, you paid a certain percentage in taxes, no matter how you made the money. They didn't have tax returns here, so that was a load off my plate. From what I gathered, taxes have been ten percent since the beginning of the Emperor's reign. Without war, there was no reason to increase them. No standing army was needed as there was only the Empire. There was a policing force, but the current taxes was more than capable of paying for it.

  One thing I did learn in Governance is that this was pretty much a total authoritarian state. There was no parliament. There was no House of Lords or Representatives, or Senate. The Emperor's word was law. Landowners could make laws for their lands, but Empire Law superseded when relevant. Same for City Lords.

  My fifth birthday came and went, before I tried to touch the Spool again. My mother had just left me alone to go take care of some issues at one of the store fronts, and father was in his office. I sat down on my bed, and entered the trance-like state I came to call the Black Hole. Surrounding the Black Hole was the full power of the Spool. I reached out with my senses and lightly touched it and let some of the power enter me. I didn't try to do anything with it, just observed it. The energy was pure, dense, difficult to dissect, but eventually, I was able to break it down. Threads, of every color. Like yarn, they were attached to the Spool still, but also within me. I guided a gaseous thread up, just one, and tried to let a small piece out. I breeze blew in my room, shuffling papers on my desk, messing up my bed, and changing pages in my open books. I let go of the power so as not to create more issues, and just sat there, in awe. I hadn't tried to Weave anything using the Loom, I still wasn't sure what that meant, but knowing the threads could do stuff like that sent chills down my spine. What could they do when Woven, I couldn't help but wonder.

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  The next day at school, I attempted to listen in on the Threads class. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear anything, no matter how much I strained my ears. I did, however, notice a kind of glow around the teacher and a couple of the students. It came and went, and I wasn't able to pinpoint when it would show, but I suspected it had something to do with touching the Spool, or with Weaving the Threads, but I couldn't say that for sure. I didn't have enough information, and no one wrote that sort of stuff down. At least, not where a curious five year old could reach it.

  During lunch, I tried to listen in on the Threads students, hoping they would tank about class, but unfortunately, they weren't. Instead, I walked up to the Threads teacher and asked "Why is Threads limited to thirteen year olds? My mother didn't know, and I was curious, as I've been able to see them since I was born."

  "You can see them? You shouldn't be able to see them, only feel them, and when the power awakens, if it does, at thirteen, Weave them. How can you see them"

  "I don't know, sir. I've just always been able to."

  "I need to research this and talk with some people. Now, I believe I've answered your question, young man, please excuse me," he said, rushing off into the rows of books.

  "Rude," I muttered.

  "Jorth! Hey, kid, come eat with me." I looked over and saw Seresh sitting by himself. I walked over and finished lunch with him, but my mind was on what I had just learned. No one could see them, huh? Except me. The power can't be awakened until thirteen... Again, except me. Why was I different? Why did I remember my prior life, and my time in the void between lives? Was I meant to be a hero like so many of those stories? I sure hoped not. They rarely got to live life and experience it fully. I just wanted a life I could enjoy to the fullest, without having the weight of the world(s?) on my shoulders.

  The rest of the day past in a daze. I barely listened to my teachers, and almost stumbled into my mother when leaving school.

  "Whoa, there, Jorth, why are you not paying attention?"

  "Sorry, Mom, just talked to the Threads Teacher today, and learned something I wasn't expecting to learn."

  "Oh? What's that?"

  "Apparently, I'm the only one who sees them," I admitted.

  "Wait, you can see...Never mind, you didn't demonstrate this, did you?"

  "No, mother, I figured I could play it off as imagination if I needed to, but I had to know, and neither you nor dad know, nor is any of it written anywhere."

  "Good thinking, let's hope they don't try anything, then. I'm not sure how they will react. Let's go home."

  The rest of the walk home was quiet, as both my mother and I were deep in thought. I could just hope that I didn't make a mistake by telling the Threads teacher what I had told him. Luckily, I hadn't told him about awakening the power. Or about creating threads. I'm not sure what they would do if they found those out.