Shadow sighed, seeing he would have to make him relax first. Still poking at his mind, he headed back upstairs and gingerly, aware of his injuries, helped Angelo back onto the bed. He quickly restrained him, and then a sense of complete calm washed over Angelo.

"Please. I'm quite aware you don't believe me when I say you have potential. Let me prove it to you." Insistently, he provoked that part of his mind more, urging it to awaken.

Part of Angelo’s mind lashed out trying to protect him. the calm that shadow had given to Angelo was lost the moment he poked at the gifts. Pulling away he tried to get as far as he could from Shadow. His mind screaming out in fear.

Chewing his lip for a moment, Shadow quit poking at his mind and stopped. He waited for him to calm down slightly before speaking. "Angelo. Whatever is inside of your mind is not going to hurt you. It will help you. There is no reason to be afraid of something that is a part of you." He tried to calm him down completely again.

Slowly Angelo come out of being so scared, whatever shadow was doing was helping. Looking down at his ankle he saw that it too was now bloody. The pain which until now had not been there doubled. He whimpered.

Shadow eyed the chain, then patted his shoulder, still keeping him restrained. "Would you like me to take the chain off?" he asked, softly. "If you allow me to try to access that part of your mind, I can teach you how to dull pain...how to heal yourself. Many things. Nothing that will harm you."

"yes I would like it off." his voice was slow and cold. he did not like this man and the way he was treating him was even worse. he wanted out of here he wanted to go home.

Shadow removed the chain, then held his hands over that wound and the wounds on his back. Slowly, they began to heal, and the pain vanished. "All I want is some degree of respect. If I am given that, you will get the same in return. I will help you find your family one day, but only if that respect is given and you at least try to understand or access your powers."

“I don’t have any powers you crazy roman.” He had wanted to have any type of powers when he had been younger. His grandmother had tested him and he had not had any. There was no way this roman was going to get him to believe that he had any if his gram could not find any. The lying toad was only trying to get him to accept that he did so that he could ‘train’ him. and in that training he would do things that he never would have before to gain those powers.

"If you are so sure, then remain calm and let me access your mind. It is your own mind...you will be able to feel if I am telling the truth or not. It's infallible proof..." Shadow was attempting to use logic to make Angelo understand, since opinions and promises weren't working.

“its not true, you can make the mind think it has gifts as well.” Angelo said remembering his younger sister driving one of the other girls mad trying to make her power work. It had turned out that his younger sister had plated a thought in the girls mind that made it seem like she had gifts. Angelo pulled his legs up to his chest trying to be as far as he could from this man.

"...What if I let you run free in my mind?"

Shadow's tone was hesitant. This the boy couldn't deny would yield the truth. A completely open mind on Shadow's part would mean that once the power was flung forward a bit, Angelo would be able to sense Shadow's thoughts, and tell if he was telling the truth or not.

"non gifted can not go in others minds." Angelo said matter of factly. "your just trying to get me to allow you to plant thoughts in my mind." suddenly he bolted for the door.

Shadow grabbed his arm. There was a strange look on his face. "Angelo. Please." He sounded soft, solemn...and was there a hint of pleading in his voice? "I have been searching for someone with potential for many, many years. Why on earth would I choose you if I wasn't sure you had potential?" Then, he frowned. "Are you afraid of having powers? If so, why?"

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF HAVING POWERS!" Angelo pulled away from Shadow trying to escape. "why would I be afraid of having powers?" small stream of tears fell as he yelled at Shadow.

Shadow put a barrier up against the door. "I don't know. You tell me." His voice was perfectly calm, and sympathetic...but why?

"I am not afraid of powers. I wanted them all my life, but I don't have them so stop pushing me to say that I do. I am not going to do whatever you want to try to gain them."

"You cannot gain powers. Unless, you have the power to steal powers, or are very well-learned. How can you know for sure unless you've had more than one professional check your mind?"

“she would have known, she was the best, she would have.” He yelled it at Shadow not wanting to think that his gram could have been wrong. There was no way that she could have. No way,

Shadow saw the problem, at once. "...Ah...you do not want to doubt your grandmother? She had powers, then...you are aware these powers are, for the most part, hereditary? And...I am not here to prove her wrong. I just want you to see for yourself, once and for all. The opinions of two different professionals...is better than the opinion of just one."

untrained mental shields went up as shadow spoke of showing him. he did not even know that he had done it. "yah I know that they go from family member to family member. my sister got them so." he spit the words out at Shadow, as if they tasted bad to say. "she was the gifted one not me."

"Just because a sibling has powers doesn't mean you don't. I had a sister who was just as gifted as I..." Shadow paused, then blinked. "...I would check your mind if I were you. Are those mental blocks I feel?" He knew Angelo would be able to sense them, but not control them.

"stop it stop it stop it, stop lying to me. stop taking my dreams and dangling them like that." grabbing the nearest thing he throw it at Shadow. the next item fallowed the first.

Shadow let the two pillows hit him, and then gently laid a hand on his arm, staring directly into his eyes. He was attempting to tip this in his favor...slight persuasive spell. "Angelo. What if those dreams are true, and your powers have been hiding from you all this time? How would that make you feel? Happy, correct? There is nothing to lose. Please let me prove this to you."

“NO YOU’RE LYING!!” lashing out he tried to claw shadows eyes out. How could this man even think that it was true? He was sick, sicker then what the slaves at the pens had said masters could be.

Once again, Shadow gently restrained him and held him close to him, unleashing a few more small abilities to calm him down. "Calm down. How can you know I'm lying unless I check first? I can let you into my mind if I try hard enough, even if you don't have abilities. Here..." Shadow closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. It was quite difficult to let someone without powers or whose powers hadn't awakened yet into his mind. But, after a moment, he established a connection using the dormant magic in Angelo's mind and invited it into his.