Series One, Epi. 2

Series One, Episode Two - Letters

Awoken to an urgent work call during the night, Maya initially has trouble concentrating. With the alert that the Powers have escaped, the entire station is called in. Rumours fly fast, causing Maya to take charge as a senior officer. A representative from the Asylum displays the Power’s last names on the screen, shock filling Maya’s face, but he reveals that all their photos and names have mysteriously disappeared. She leaves quickly, trying to convince herself that they are not the cousins she once saw as babies. Arriving home to her subpar apartment, Maya removes her bracelet for the first time – and practices the same spell from long ago.

Waking up in an abandoned hotel after a night’s rest, Nickey and Arianna see the bustling city of Novus Somnium at its brightest. The twins move through the streets, trapped among a crowd of people – Nickey pickpocketing. They sit to enjoy a coffee, while talking of their plans. Knowing the ways of the world as taught in the Asylum, Nickey suggests that Ari lay low while he looks for their parents. She initially rejects the idea, but warms to it as the coffee shop is robbed; the robber being Edmund. As they walk more, Ari notices an elementary school. Deciding she will hide there, the twins split – as Nickey is knocked out from behind.

As he works in the secret lab behind the wall he broke, V discovers more & more Power energy. Edmund arrives back to scolding, but the magician praises him for retrieving money. The two talk of plans, V revealing with his deep voice that he needs to “reconnect with all three of them”. A phone call from a blocked number & disguised voice throws V off his game, as the mystery person talks cryptically of magic. Hanging up, the angry disguised man burns the phone, as Edmund watches on in horror. V takes to the streets, hood still drawn. To make his mark, he enters a nearby restaurant, Using make to destroy it, he walks away untouched.

Assuming Ari has run away from home, unmarried school teacher Letitia Cyrus takes her in. She bonds with the fourth graders easily, writing and working alongside them. Lunchtime proves hard for Arianna, who struggles to answer questions in fear of revealing her Powership. After lunch, an uneven number of students sees her partnered with Darcy Hedney. An orphan himself, the two quickly become emotionally attached, leaving Ari feeling loved. Letitia offers to have her stay with her, an offer which Ari accepts – feeling more wanted than ever before.

After a long, romantic phone call with Maya, Tristan visits Charlie at his mansion for drinks. The two men discuss politics, until they are simultaneously alerted to the situation with the Powers. They talk about it, and Tristan learns that the ‘escape’ is a council method to draw a dangerous magician & war criminal out of hiding. As the councilman leaves, the mayor warns him not to inform Maya of the truth behind the event. He drives off, leaving Charlie alone, looking at a picture of a smiling, pregnant woman.

Delivering the post for the Asylum, young driver Julien Anomara sneaks a package addressed to Kara in. The next afternoon, she excitedly opens a package ‘from her parents’ with the other children. Once she realises what it is, she sneaks to her room to avoid being caught – the gift being a camera disguised as a hairpin. She begins recording life inside the Asylum, hoping someone will eventually watch mistreated they are. Elsewhere, Julien watches her video feed with a crime lord of the Aeternam International Crime Union. He expresses horror at using his sister, but the crime boss, also a war criminal, offers him his money to leave. When Julien refuses, he offers information. He accepts, and the crime lord shows him that magic is back.

Days later, Nickey wakes up trapped in a room in Maya’s house. They talk, with her trying to make him reveal his Powership. When the smart teen doesn’t budge, she uses the spell that she showed him as a baby, saying “That’s only possible is a Power is around.” More conversation reveals their relationship, and Maya offers to let her cousin help her as a way of keeping him hidden. Having only one condition, he asks about his parents. The woman reveals that she lost all contact when their fathers had a falling out twenty years before. She only knew of their birth through a one line, unsigned letter, and that she doesn’t even know their names – let alone their fate.

>>Next time on Somnium<<

1.03 - The Pop Princess

With reports of an idol using magic for show, Nickey & Maya are worried of the secret escaping, while Ari & Darcy contemplate running from Novus Somnium together.