Aug 24th, 2019 - late morning, cont'd

Tianna picked at her sausages for a long moment before answering. "Heidi, I don't know. The Martens weren't on our radar, and we miss a lot more Magecrafters than we find." She looked up. "Perhaps their gifts were just never strong enough to really manifest. Or maybe they hid them well. That happens a lot."

"But they could have been found out by these... Unseelie and killed?" Heidi demanded. "I was eight! Erik was only five! We could have died with them! We should have died with them!"

Tianna blinked up at her, and Heidi realized she had stood up and was leaning over the woman. She flushed and dropped back into her seat.

"I used to wonder why they died," she muttered. "Now I wonder why we didn't die with them. I've seen the pictures. The car was an absolute wreck. It was a miracle that where we were didn't crumble like the rest."

Tianna nodded and reached out to lay her hand on Heidi's arm. "I know it doesn't help, but that is perfectly natural thing to think. Though, you probably have your brother to thank for surviving."

Heidi jerked her arm away. "What?"

The woman made a calming motion. "Just hear me out. You were next to each other, right? In the back seat?"

Heidi nodded. "I was actually thrown against Erik in the accident. I remember grabbing onto him."

"Erik is a Golemmer. He can manipulate things, change how they move. Powers can often appear early when the Magecrafter's life is in danger." She watched Heidi closely.

Heidi slowly nodded. "Oh. You think I'll blame Erik." She shook her head. "I get it. I was close and he could save me easily, but he was five. He couldn't have thought ahead and logically enough to have saved our parents." She sighed. "It would have been nice, though."

Tianna nodded and picked up her coffee.

Heidi jabbed her fork at her eggs for a moment before looking up again. "So what does all that mean? Golemmer? Alchemist? Whatever else..."

Tianna smiled. "That would be better explained by example. Finish eating and we'll get dressed and see who's around."

Heidi relaxed as she finished eating, letting the hot coffee and cold fruit sooth her. Returning upstairs, she was pleased to realize she'd remembered which room was hers. She dressed quickly and met Tianna back in the hallway.

"Erik wasn't at breakfast. Should I be worried?"

Tianna shook her head. "There's a couple of younger men and teen boys running around. I'm sure he was taken out to play around in one of the Golemmer workshops. We can start there if you like."

Heidi nodded, and Tianna led her back down the stairs, through what looked like a casual meeting or gathering room, and out onto a walkway seperated from the yard by a series of stylized arches. A network of paving stones and graveled paths cris-crossed through the heavy foliage and trees extending into the yard.

Tianna guided her through a patch of ferns overshadowed by birch trees until they reached a large shed. The huge sliding doors stood open, showing the small group of people inside.

"Erik!"

Erik looked around, his blue eyes landing on her breifly before skittering away again. Heidi smiled. He was behaving normally, for him.
Heidi strode into the shed, glancing around at the various metal bits and random shapes of wood on nearly every available surface. She looked Erik up and down, but he seemed just fine.

"Heidi, let me introduce you to Sevag Grigorian. He lives out here-"

"Like a barbarian," Sevag crowed, reaching out a hand to greet Heidi. His nearly black eyes sparkled with humor. "What can I say? I don't like a lot of people around me always. Too much time in a refugee camp. But aren't you a lovely child?"

Heidi smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mr Grigorian." She glanced around. "Do you do metal work?"

Sevag laughed. "No more than your brother does, eh?"

Heidi felt her smile falter as she tried to make sense of his words.

"Oh, you don't know," Sevag murmured. "No problem. We help you see."

Tianna broke in laughing. "Sevag, please, let me finish introductions before you begin giving her a lecture." She gestured to a pair of boys, near Heidi's age. They were Asian and, after Heidi saw past the different hair styles, identicle twins. "Danny and Davey Cho."

"Well, hello there," Danny grinned. His hair was in long tight braids woven with a deep brown leather that complemented the silver and black bands in his hair. He had gathered the thick mass at the crown. He was giving her bedroom eyes as he smiled down at her until he was jostled aside.

Davey had a military-style cut for his gunmetal colored hair, shaved close at the bottom but nearly an inch long at the top. He glared at his brother. "Don't be mackin' on the new chick, dude. It's creepy."

Danny flushed but shrugged it off. "Sorry."

Heidi suppressed a smile. "It's fine."

Tianna strained to see back into the darkness of the shed. "Is Kyle here?"

"I'm right here," the young man said, appearing out of the shadows to the side. "Here's the box of gears. Didja have to hide it in the corner?"

He held out a wooden slat box one-handed to Sevag, which the older man caught with both hands. It seemed heavy. The younger man had braces along his arms and legs, what looked like a segmented rod against his back, and a series of straps holding it all in place. Heidi narrowed her eyes, noticing odd thin gloves on his hands.

"This is Kyle Degraw," Tianna said. "Kyle, this is Heidi, Erik's sister."

Kyle reached out to shake her hand, and Heidi noticed the odd way he moved. Her thoughts must have showed on her face because his smile fell.

"Um, I'm a Golemmer," he muttered. "Fell off a ledge when I was a toddler. Quadriplegic. I move the brace with my gift, and the brace moves my body. I'm working on smoothing out movements."

Heidi's mouth fell open. "Oh! I didn't know. I mean, I could barely tell. That's really impressive."

Kyle turned red under the light tan on his face. "Thanks." He shuffled back until his back brace hit the table behind him.

Heidi felt her own face warming up. She cleared her throat and turned to the others. "So are all of you Golemmers?"

"I am," Sevag said. "And boyo, there." He pointed at Kyle. "And your brother. These two," he elbowed the twins, "are not."

Danny preened. "I'm a Boomer," he grinned. "I blow stuff up."

Davey rolled his eyes. "And I clean up the mess," he sneered at his brother. "I'm a Mender. My specialty is breaks and tears."

Heidi nodded. "And Golemmers... move stuff?"

Sevag nodded. "Think of it like magic puppets, and we are the puppeteers. We can usually get anything to move a little, but most of us have strengths in certain materials. I specialize in wood and brass. Kyle, there, likes all metals, but steel most of all."

"Okay," she said. "But what about Erik? You think he's a Golemmer?"

"Nah," Danny drawled. "We know he is."

Sevag nodded. "Your little towhead here specializes in electronics. He actually moves things with the electricity."

Heidi frowned. "But, isn't that how those robots move anyways?"

The older man shook his head. "No, no. Usually the electricity powers a motor, which moves the gears. Your boy doesn't need a motor. Here, watch."

Sevag reached back on the table and pulled out a bar with a barrel hinge in the middle. One end was hooked up to a wire, which trailed off to end in a toothed clamp near a car battery.

The man handed the bar to Erik who set it into a bracket on the wall behind him. Then Sevag grabbed the clamp and closed the jaws on the battery terminal.

"Go ahead, Erik," he said softly. "Heidi wants to see how you can move the bar."

Erik glanced at Heidi and she nodded, suppressing her skepticism. He glanced over at the bar and the loose end began to shift.

Heidi frowned at the others, sure they were doing it. Then she noticed the rhythm. Her eyes went wide as she recognized the beat from her favorite song.

"Oh my god, Erik! That's amazing!" She stared at her brother as a thought hit her. "Is this what you kept trying to show me with your robots? And I never really paid attention?"

Erik nodded.

"I am so sorry, Erik. I've been a bad sister."

Erik's head jerked up. "No! No, no. You were just busy with other things. Please, don't say that, Heidi. Please."

"Okay, okay. I just hope I can make it up to you."

Erik frowned. "You already did." His eyes flickered to her face. "You brought me here. Where they understand me."