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thing,” Celeste added.
    “ Max seems to think that
we need to come up with some sort of strategy to protect those of
us who are undecided,” Amor whispered, as if she were telling a
secret.
    I noticed that at the
mention of Max, Celeste straightened up a bit and shifted
uncomfortably.
    “ How would we know who is
undecided?” Celeste asked.
    “ Well, we took a vote
earlier in our clan,” Paz said softly as she looked around, afraid
of being overheard. “We didn’t want to assume anything; we just
wanted to see if we needed to start right here—in our own clan,”
she whispered.
    “ And we did,” finished
Amor. “Eros and Richard are undecided. Max has been talking to
them, but Eros doesn’t seem to see the logic.”
    “ Really?” said Celeste
with a sudden interest. “Richard? That seems odd; he is so
decisive, so sure of himself all the time.”
    Celeste thought much more
of Richard than I did; there was something about him that I didn’t
like. I had mentioned this to Celeste before, but because I was so
vague, she dismissed it as me being anti-social and judgmental.
Still, I was not as surprised to hear that he was
undecided.
    Richard was arrogant and
conceited, but he liked Celeste, so he was always guarded around
her. Eros was worse if possible. He was outright antagonistic,
quick to anger like Russell. But unlike Russell, Eros did not get
over it quickly.
    The odd thing was that the
spirits in his clan liked him, or at least tolerated him. I knew
that Max was very protective of him, and that was another puzzle.
Max was a lot like Dane, patient, gentle, kind, very thoughtful and
quiet. Why he cared so much about Eros was beyond me.
    I was usually like
this—noticing things about spirits that others might not notice—I
believe it’s because I’m a Discerner and that means that I should
be able to read spirit’s natures. Really good Discerners can do all
sorts of things like read minds and even communicate telepathically
like the Eternals can through the Link, but so far I have only
proven to be very inept at it. All I can do is sense the good or
the bad in spirits…and apparently, fall through space.
    The other spirits in my
clan have certain things that make them special too, and over time
we have learned to rely on each others’ hunches, feelings, and
premonitions. Some are really impressive, like Valerie’s
premonitions. She’s always telling us, “Oh I wouldn’t do that if I
were you…” meaning, “I’ve had a premonition and whatever you are
about to do will end badly.” She can be a bit of a doomsayer, but
she can’t help it I suppose. If she senses something, she has to
say it—and she does.
    Dorian is a seer, he can
actually see things in his mind, and he saw Henry coming to join
our clan, before it actually happened. It’s fun to see him
contradict Valerie, just for the fun of it—it drives her
nuts.
    Alex has the gift of wisdom
and the added ability of finding me anywhere I seem to roam. I
often wonder why he can do that as well as having the gift of
wisdom, but such things are so random. Either way, I personally
think that he needs to work on expanding his homing abilities, to
include other spirits.
    Celeste’s gift is more
subtle; it is faith. It manifests itself through her confidence in
everything. Her confidence in the Eternals not only makes her
strong and fearless, but her personality is such that it infects
all those around her. You can always feel like anything is possible
when you are around Celeste, and that is why she is so popular and
loved by everyone.
    Henry has the gift of
knowledge, and he is always reminding us of it. Dane, the gift of
healing along with Nancy, and Russell…well his is the coolest, the
gift of working miracles! Not that he has worked any yet—a sore
subject with him.
    We were told what our gifts
were when we were formed, and some of us have been trying to
develop our gifts. Frankly, I don’t know how to develop mine, but
if I ever sense