“He opens up holes in spacetime,” said Hermia. “He links one place with another, regardless of distance. He makes them adjacent.”

“Do you think you’ve actually explained something?” asked Pat.

“I’ve explained it like gravity,” said Hermia. “I described the results. I have no idea of the process. That’s all that Newton ever did.”

“And Danny can do this,” said Hal. “Connect things with each other.”

“He may be the greatest Gatefather that ever lived,” said Hermia. “But so far, he’s mostly used his power to create little gates at your high school.”

“What do gates have to do with his healing people?” said Pat.

“Danny doesn’t heal anybody, but the gates do,” said Hermia. “If you pass through a gate alive, your body arrives in optimal condition.”

“No zits,” said Pat.

“No piercings,” said Sin.

“So why did he lie about it and pretend he wasn’t doing it?” asked Xena. “It’s way cool.”

“Because it’s too way cool,” said Hermia. “There are a lot of people who want him dead. By making gates at your school, he ran the risk of being discovered. That business with the rope climb? The worst thing happened. His family showed up and tried to kill him.”

Silence.

Then, in a smaller voice, Laurette said, “His own family?”

“I thought his parents were dead,” said Hal.

“A lie,” said Hermia. “His parents are actually very powerful mages. To their credit, they didn’t try to kill him. It was his grandfather and uncle who attempted his assassination.”

“Sick,” said Wheeler.

“There’s a lot of history that you don’t know,” said Hermia. “And most of it is unbelievable to people like you.”

“What do you mean, ‘people like us’?” asked Pat.

“Normal people,” said Hermia.

Wheeler laughed. “Did you hear that? She called us normal.”

“Let me help you understand this,” said Hermia. “Danny’s father is named Odin. He was born with the name Alf, but when he became head of the North family, he took the name Odin.”

“Wow,” said Wheeler. “You’re talking, like, a god.”

“I’m telling you that the gods of mythology are real people. Only each name has been recycled again and again. We’re not immortal. But the names are.”

“So who is Danny?” asked Hal. “Is he a god?”

“If his family stops trying to kill him and accepts him for who he is, then the name he would be given is Loki.”

“Thor’s nasty brother in The Avengers,” said Wheeler.

“There’s no magic hammer,” said Hermia. “But yes. There’s a Thor in the family, but he doesn’t amount to much. None of them do.” And then she explained how the Great Gates work. Danny sat outside, listening. Hermia was good at explanations. Why shouldn’t she be? Gatemages had the gift of language.