9.88 – Day One (Part 2)

In no way necessary for this chapter, but it’s the song I kept listening to on repeat for it

No one’s POV

It is a repetition of ancient history.

Those who ignore dine and exchange pleasantries.

Those who have tasted it before can sense it coming.

Hopelessness smells the same, no matter what time it is.

“This place is COOL!” Jesse grinned as he followed the group.

“Right? They’ve got all sorts of things here, and Terrance says this place could probably survive a bomb.” Nikolas replied.

“Just the one bomb. Anymore and it’ll crumble.” Terrance said as he rounded the corner.

“Speak of the devil!” Oscar exclaimed. “A good devil, of course.”

“Terrance! This is Zac and Jesse.” Nikolas introduced.

“You’re the teleporting boy right?” Terrance asked, shaking Zac’s hand. The latter nodded. “I also heard a rumor about it being because of a tattoo?”

Zac had a little trouble with the reminder but he nodded. “I quite literally woke up with it one day.”

“I specialize in tattoos, and their origins, when you have time you should come see me. I can help you figure out the whys and the hows.” Terrance beamed.

Zac gaped a bit. “Really? I mean, you do this on a constant basis? You specialize in this?”

“I doubt I’ll have all the answers to your questions, but I have quite a few.” Terrance nodded, before turning to Jesse.  “And you…look familiar. Have I met your parents?”

“Probably. Annaliese and Traz?” Jesse kicked the floor.

“Yes! I’ve heard of them.”

“Well they did go out and get known a lot so…” Jesse shrugged.

“I also heard a lot about their fancy son.”

“You did?”

“Mhm, heard they kept him hidden away because he was almost too powerful. Had the same power as his father, ah what was it again…”

“Lie-detector! I can detect lies from miles away!” Jesse grinned.

“Wow, that’s really useful!”

“It is, but I have to admit, it tends to get a little annoying. People lie a lot in a day. It’s exhausting.”

“All superheroes need a weakness.”

“You think I’m a superhero?”

Terrance grinned at him. “I have to go now boys, but it was great meeting you. I hope Nikolas brings you around more often.”

“He will!” Jesse replied, waving enthusiastically. “I like the Dragons Niko!”

“Heh, yeah, come on. I want to see if Masak’s mom is here.”

“That sounds boring can I go explore?” Jesse asked.

Nikolas hesitated.

“Ooh that sounds like a great idea!” Oscar chipped in. “I can give you my own personal tour!”

Niko smiled. “Alright, we’ll come find you guys after.”

***

Arahelel moved swiftly down the corridors.

Oh she was unhappy. Her back hurt, her tattoo ached, and her ego was damaged. Some people were rude for a living. Some people were rude through violence.

Her hand went to her shoulder, as she remembered her lack of luck this morning. She’d gone out to help people. To let more know that a safe haven does exist and to comfort others over the meet-up coming. She’d received racist insults in return.

“Oh, hey Ara!” Nikolas called out. Yes, beating an arrogant boy’s behind in the ground could help cheer her up.

She spotted him walking the halls with his dog and a new red head friend.

“Ara hi, I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Zac.” Nikolas said.

She eyed his friend, who extended a hand. Assuming he wanted to shake it she extended hers as well. In a swift movement, Zac flipped her hand and kissed it.

Niko raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He smirked a bit, waiting on the inevitable hit Arahelel was going to deal his friend.

To his surprise, she didn’t.

They stared at the other instead as if sizing each other up. No words were exchanged yet a complicity was already forming between the two.

Just as Nikolas was starting to think this silence was lasting way longer than necessary, Arahelel flipped their hands and dragged Zac towards her.

She tapped his nose and smirked.

“Cute.” Was the only thing she said before she turned around and left.

Nikolas watched her leave, extremely unsure of what had just happened. Zac slung his arm around Niko’s neck.

 

He slumped against him dramatically.

“Help me Niko, I’m done for!”

***

“I know. So far there’s only us, the historians, and the police.” Skyla said. “Everyone else is uncertain. I’m going to try talking to PMS, remind them that supernaturals are still a third of the population. It may not be half but that’s still a significant amount.”

“Good. On our end, we’re at the final preparations.  Terrance is off to see how many of his members are willing to participate.” Annie nodded.

“It’s going to be a tough day, but if we do this right we’ll make it. The Hans won’t last long.”

“There’s no telling if James will really want to help us, so we have to keep that in mind and plan accordingly.” Annie warned.

“What? The man just got kidnapped by the Hans and you’re going to save him. He’ll owe us one.”

“James is a wild card. He won’t do it for the same reasons we do. So we can’t assume he’ll always be there.”

She sighed. “That’s the sad truth. Everyone’s got their own agenda.” Skyla acquiesced.

Kevil chose that moment to nearly barge in, pushing two people in with the threat of his sword.

“That’s my cue to leave.” Skyla said before high tailing it out.

“Your warrior is being ridiculous!” One of the two people said.

“Tell her what I caught you two doing.” Kevil demanded, not yet sheathing his sword.

“We were just goofing around. He assumed the worst.”

“Goofing around with what?” Kevil pushed.

“With…with the clasp on the founder’s box.” They shamefully admitted.

“You what? What were you thinking? Assaria Clavez is dangerous. She’s an immortal that enjoys slaughtering. Kevil is a witness to that.” Annie said.

“That’s his word. We’ve only known our founder, Assaria.  Sure she did some questionable things, like kidnap people, but she kept us afloat. Her only goal was to help us. The kidnapping was a lapse in judgement; she’s never done anything like that before.” He explained. “It’s inhumane to keep her locked in a box, condemned to die over and over again.”

“You’re lucky because she had amnesia.” Kevil cut in as he reattached his sword on his back. “That woman is an obsessed freak. She had even the inkling of suspicion that a family had the key to her memories and she kidnapped them. It was the entire purpose of that kidnapping. She’s a ruthless menace that will do anything for answers that no one has. She may be a natural now, but her immortality makes her more dangerous than most.” Kevil snarled.

Annie had let him talk. “I understand where you come from. It is inhumane, I agree. We’ll think of an alternate way to hold her. One that doesn’t involve this level of cruelty. But we cannot let her loose. Leave this to me.” She said, and the two nodded. “Please tell the others as well, I don’t want more people getting caught by my warrior.” She added with a smirk.

Kevil sheathed his sword as the two scuttled away.  He moved to lean on the pool table.

“I don’t know how receptive James is going to be to that.” Kevil sighed.

“We’ll just have to find a way that satisfies all sides.” Annie said with a smile.

“And you’ll probably find one.” Kevil returned her smile.

“I always appreciate your input though.”

“Hey! Am I interrupting anything?”

***

“Finally over here we’re going to have the chill out area.” Oscar said. “Kept for last so we could chill. There are some video games here.”

“Yes! Great idea!” Jesse grinned.

He was incredibly impressed with the place and he mildly wondered why Nikolas preferred sleeping in the warehouse to here. Though, to be fair, the rooms were tiny.

Jesse looked down yet another hallway that opened up. He finally spotted someone he recognized.

“Purple girl! Um um, Ta-Tat something right?” Jesse pointed out. Tatiana’s eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights.

“Do I know you?”

“I go to your school.” Jesse replied.

“Oh. Ok.”

An awkward silence settled down, before Tatiana gave a half-hearted wave.

“Well, I gotta go.”

“Eh, that was weird.” Jesse said.

“Yes, she usually always has a mask on.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know, but since the explosion she hasn’t worn it.” Oscar said.

“Alright let’s go plllaayyy!” Jesse cheered.

“Right through here,” Oscar clanked as he opened the door for Jesse.

Jesse found himself bumping into someone as he jogged in.

“Ah careful!” Jesse said before looking at who he’d collided with.

“Sorry.” Tristan chuckled.

Jesse’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the new boy.

“Tristan! This is Jesse, Niko’s cousin.” Oscar introduced.

“Oh hi, welcome!” Tristan extended his hand which Jesse hesitated to touch.

“Hi.” Jesse managed to say, his eyes glued on Tristan’s face.

Tristan stood, smiling, for a bit, as if waiting for something. When nothing happened he laughed again. “Well I have to head somewhere, hope I see you around Jesse.” He said with a wave.

“Yeah.” Jesse said in a small voice and a hesitant wave.

Oscar put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Jesse shook his head. “Oh god really not.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Oscar suggested, as Jesse collided with the sofa with a series of ah ah ahs.

***

“I won’t comment on what you did yesterday, you’ll probably hear enough about it as it spreads, but I am going to scold you on your use of these katanas.” Tiffany said.

“Yeah I know-”

“No, I’m not quite sure you do. These are not baseball bats. These are brittle weapons. You don’t go whacking trees with these.”

“Come on, these are katanas.” Nikolas countered.

“Yes and they dull easy if you keep racking them against harsh surfaces. It’s not that bad, it’s an easy fix, but you have to be more careful.”  Tiffany insisted.

“Alright, I will.”  Nikolas slightly grumbled.

“Where to next guide master?” Zac asked once Tiffany had left with both of Niko’s katanas.

“Master, sure like the sound of that.” Nikolas grinned.

“Noted. Will not be using it again.”

“I’m actually not sure. Where do you want to go? I didn’t really have anything else planned here.” Nikolas said.

“Oh? I was sure we were coming here so you could pick up some more clothes.”

“That is a good idea though.” Niko said, already heading for his room. “Wait a second, why did you assume that?” Nikolas asked, turning to Zac who had an expectant smile.

“Oh you know. Your date. You want to look presentable don’t you?”

Nikolas looked down at his clothes. “I look fine! Nothing wrong with jeans and a t-shirt. What are you expecting me to wear, a tuxedo?” He rolled his eyes as he opened the door to his room.

“I’m loving this lack of denial.” Zac smirked.

Nikolas grabbed a backpack and started shoving in some clothes. “Okay first off, it’s not a date.”

Zac laughed.

“It needs to be stated that it’s a date for a date to be a date and it never got said so it’s not a date.” Nikolas continued amidst Zac’s snorting.

“Fair enough. Though I’m sure it’s not too late to ask if it can be labeled a date. Just to make everything clear for everyone.” Zac added, which got him a pillow in the face.

“Will you stop?” Nikolas asked with an uncontrollable smile on his face at Zac’s persistent laughing.  “My grandpa’s held up in some psycho place and you’re talking about dates.”

“Man, what else are we going to do?”

***

Bianca wiped her face as she filled the bag. She’d tried her best not to cry, but it was almost too much to handle. The guilt as well as the sorrow. Masak would never be able to walk again, and that was her fault.

She’d been beside the windows when they’d burst. He had shielded her from the brunt of it and his back had gotten shredded because of it.

She took in a deep breath and grabbed her bag. Masak wasn’t sad – he hadn’t cried. He was doing his best to be positive and she had to do the same. Until he was ready to mourn his legs properly she had to put on a happy face. And that meant bringing a laptop, movies, games and books.

She exited her room with a determined skip.

“Bianca hey!” Niko intercepted her.

“Oh hi!”

“We went to see Masak and we heard about…well you know.” Niko said with a sympathetic smile.

“It’s a cruel twist of fate. The tallest of us all! But we never know, miracles do still happen these days.” Bianca said.

“I think there might actually be a way. With spells. I’ll have to look into it, but if it can be done we’ll definitely do it.” Niko assured.

Nikolas suddenly seemed to shine brighter to Bianca. “Really? That would be perfect. Anything you need Niko, you tell me.”

“I will.” Niko said. The conversation would have ended there, but a thought crossed the dark red head’s mind. “Actually, um, do you have perfume I can borrow?”

Bianca cast him a confused glance, but shrugged. “Sure, right in my room, let me get it for you.” Bianca placed the perfume in his hand. “Just put it back when you’re done and don’t waste it.”

With that she left Zac to look at Nikolas strangely.

“You know if you needed cologne you just needed to ask.”

Nikolas read the label and smirked. “Nah, this is perfect.”

***

“Heard you were staging a coup against the Hans. I want in, offer my assistance and such.” Aleccas Keeper, perched on the pool table, declared. He’d wasted no time in getting to the point.

“We could definitely use and appreciate your help.” Annie said.

“What’s the catch?” Kevil added.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with them. And who doesn’t want to help save the famous James Whitelight? I’ve heard more about him than anything else in the last few days.” Aleccas shrugged.

“We don’t know much about you. You’re awful active for someone who didn’t exist until a week or so ago.” Kevil said, crossing his arms skeptically. He started to pace, almost as if he was circling Aleccas.

Annie put her hand on Kevil’s arm. “We know more than we probably should.” She told him. She’d learned something new, and if she hadn’t told him yet it probably meant Skyla had just shared the information before he’d arrived.

“Perfect then I don’t need to do introductions, so I can move on to my next point. You have a dragon egg in your possession.” He said, his face growing serious.

“Yes.”

“How did you know?” Kevil asked.

“Had a feeling it was still alive. Some birds told me, the ones you stole it from.” Aleccas said.

“We didn’t steal it.” Annie corrected.

“Whatever I don’t actually care. I want to see it. Just to confirm it’s safe.”

“Having a dragon doesn’t give you claim to it.” Kevil pointed out, assuming a defensive stance.

“Maybe not, but my family name does. Keeper don’t you get it?” Aleccas laughed at his joke. Kevil didn’t find it as amusing. “Look, while it is in my power and capacity to, I’m not here to take it away. I’d like to avoid touching it. Just want to make the rumors real and then I can entrust the care of it to you. For now. In exchange for your protection of it I’ll help you out with the big stuff.” He explained.

Annie cast Kevil a glance, who nodded his consent. While the witch urked him, nothing so far led him to the certainty that this was a bad idea.

“Sounds like a deal.” Annie said, extending her hand.

“Let’s make it official.” Aleccas grinned.

He extended his staff for her to take and he cast a spell. A magical binding agreement circled their hands. Kevil visibly tensed. “Don’t worry white-eyed, breaking it has no consequence. All it does is alert if it’s ever broken.”

“Looking forwards to working with you.” Annie smiled, bringing attention back to her.

“Definitely, now the egg-”

“Ho shit Aleccas Keeper?” Nikolas suddenly popped his head in, followed by Zac.

“Oh hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” Aleccas grinned. He looked back to the two people he’d been speaking with. “The egg can wait I’ll come see you.”

Kevil looked positively annoyed, but Annie led him out with the intention of filling him in on missing details. Right before leaving, she turned back and gave Zac a quick friendly wave. Slightly confused since he’d never met the woman, Zac returned the wave.

“You have? Well so have I.” Nikolas said.

“It’s a fancy coincidence. Now-” Aleccas began, but Nikolas jumped on the chance to get rid of his nagging question.

“I’d like to know where you took my dad.”

“You know it’s incredibly rude to interrupt someone.” Aleccas said, tapping Niko’s head with his staff. “Especially someone who can send your ass flying with a small snap of a finger. Alright more of a tap of my staff, but you get the idea.”

“Sorry, first off thank you for your help during the bombing.” Nikolas corrected, sincerely.

“You’re welcome for saving your ass. I’d love to say it was a pleasure, but turns out you’re a bit of a brat. By the way you still haven’t let me speak.” Aleccas repeated.

Nikolas bit the inside of his cheek. “Sorry.”

“Yeah that’s better. Be docile. So I was gonna say, remember how I took your dad?” Aleccas picked up. He laughed at Nikolas’ expression.

“Right yes, I remember that event.”

“Yes well, don’t worry, cause apparently you’re worrying, but he’s not dead.” He clarified.

“Ok?”

“I wanted to trial him for his stupid use of magic in a public place filled with naturals, but-”

“Well that’s dumb. You took him from a trial to go to take him to another one?” Nikolas rolled his eyes.

“You’re interrupting me again? Look my trial was more important than your trial. That’s just how it is.” Aleccas said.

“Yeah well our trial went badly, how’d yours go?”

“It didn’t. I don’t have the magic power or authority yet. I know you’re surprised, me? Not enough power? Isn’t he the most powerful witch alive right now?”

“I genuinely am surprised.”

“I could try, but it probably wouldn’t go well. Irony would have it that I need your father to trial himself. But that’s like scratching your own back. It works, but it doesn’t always yield the best results.” Aleccas explained. “But hey! There’s always his son. At first glance, I didn’t see much power in you to be honest, but the more I see you….there’s potential at least.”

“To be honest, I’m having trouble following. Sounds like a bunch of gibberish. Especially that last part. I’m nothing in terms of magic compared to my dad. Nikita has more than I do.”

“That’s your sister right? I’m just assuming. She’s got magic hands right? Yeah no, I checked that.  Magic hands are all nice and flashy but they’ve got no space for growth. Your father’s strong, but that’s about all the power he gets. Granted he’s pretty lucky and got himself a big dose of it. You and I, we’re wand users.” Aleccas grinned. “That’s how you use magic. It’s precise, it’s controlled and depending on how good you make your wand you can get really powerful.”

“Make your wand? I didn’t even know you could do that. My dad just got me a reused one.” Nikolas said.

“Where is your wand, speaking of? Let’s see it.”

“It broke during the explosion.  It was a cheap wooden one.”

“You even got a generic one? Oh sweet mercy.” Aleccas looked deeply offended.

“I was going to ask. I didn’t know you could have wands not in the shape of wands.”

“Generic wands are wands you give young witches who need to learn the difference between a normal wand and a tailored wand. No WONDER you feel you’re not worth anything on the magic scale.”

“No I really can’t. It takes me weeks to get a spell to work, let alone get it to work correctly. I can barely do the simplest of spells.” Nikolas said.

“That just means you have real specific requirements in a wand. I made mine when I was 14 and it hasn’t failed me yet. Hasn’t broken once and it’s given me a ton of space to grow in magic.” Aleccas beamed.

“How old are you?” Nikolas asks with a hint of a sly smirk.

Aleccas gave him a bit of a stink eye. “I’ve had this for 5 years do the math. So here’s what I propose Whitelight. Your dad right now is with the Talent Troupe. A witch trial has three components. A Keeper, a Whitelight and the neutral party, the Talent Troupe. Depending on the judgement we may need to do some complicated spells. Locking down someone’s power isn’t easy.  I’d train you, get you a wand tailored to you specifically, and you’d in exchange, help me during this trial.” Aleccas offered, extending his hand.

Nikolas hesitated. “You’ll need to explain to me this witch trial in a lot more detail. I’ll need help fixing Masak’s legs. And uh…”

“You do realize me training you is already worth a lot?”

“That’s it.”

Aleccas smiled. “Deal. Just grab my staff.”

The Keeper witch recast the same binding spell he’d cast with Annie.

“Your dragon is super cute by the way.” Nikolas said as the magic dissipated.

Aleccas grinned. “I know right? Atris is a real baby.”

***

Cloverfield, Hans Laboratory cafeteria

 

Nathan Hans slumped on the table, groaning in pain.

The scientist rolled her eyes as she kept eating.

“Why are they so demanding of me?” He moaned.

“Might have something to do with you being the heir of an empire.” She shrugged.

“The sarcasm doesn’t help me.”

“How is finding the kids going?”

“It’s not I have no motivation. I went to ask for extra help on it and I got lectured on my behavior during the tattoo experiment.” He sighed.

“To be fair you were late out drinking, and you slept throughout the whole experiment. You also made some horrible judgement calls and told me to review the data on my own.”

“Did you tattle on me?”

“I wasn’t helping you to help you.” She grimaced.

He groaned again. “Apparently you weren’t the only one there to evaluate me. They told me not to look for one of the girls. The one we don’t have that is.”

“Well there you go, you already have one of the kids. It’s going well.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, a kid they captured for me because I didn’t see her in the background of those stupid news programs. No, but the other girl too. I don’t need to look for her, cause apparently she was SENT to evaluate me from a ‘subject’s perspective. This is all such bullshit.”

“So you only have the three boys to find.”

“Ugh I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s a lot of work.”

“I’d put a little more effort into it if I were you.”

“My parents told me to suck it up. Can you believe it? You don’t spoil your child for 25 years and then tell him to suck it up. That is NOT good parenting.” He groaned some more.

“I know you’re treating it like we are, but we aren’t friends. You know that right?”

“So how’s your project going? You get to work on THE project don’t you? With the golden-eyed vampires?” He said, ignoring her comment.

“I’ve been working on it for almost two decades now. The only reason it’s getting popularity is that now I have live subjects.”

“Yeah well dead subjects usually don’t give that much info.” Nathan said.

“It’s going really well. The wavelengths coming from my newest subject-”

“You can just call him James Whitelight you know.”

“Don’t try to humanize him.” She rolled her eyes.

“I’m not! It’s just not this big secret.”

She got up with a tray and a sigh.

“Hey wait, aren’t you a little worried though? Sometimes? James is freaky strong and I heard rumors that people might try to break him out.”

“People definitely will if they’ve got any sense. But don’t worry, we’ve got a failsafe.” She smiled before leaving.

Nathan grumbled again. “Of COURSE they do. Everyone has fancy failsafes and I’ve got boring errand jobs.”

***

Nikolas’ POV

It’s in the derivative dreams of a madman, my own, that the most inane truths are revealed.

I let out a slow breath.

I’ve already read this book, but it’s the only book I brought along and Tyzel has no books here for some reason.

I closed the book and dropped it on the floor. Maybe I can take a small nap?

Nope. It’s still there.

For the last 20minutes now there’s this faint…restlessness? Anticipation? Something pulling at me. Distracting me. I tried to play a game with the guys, but I gradually got so distracted that I lost.

I can’t even pinpoint when it started really. It’s almost like…a buzzing. A buzzing that was always there, but now it’s getting progressively louder.

“When is Ashlynn coming over again?” Zac asked as he kicked the soccer ball against the wall.

“She’s on her way over now.” I replied.

“I’m so excited to meet her!” Oscar said. “I really hope she likes cupcakes.”

“Unless she’s allergic, I’m sure she will.” I said.

“You better ask her then.” Jesse said. “Wouldn’t want her bringing everything down because she hates cupcakes.”

“Aw, but I wanted it to be a surprise. If she doesn’t like them, I won’t be sad.” Oscar reassured everyone.

“You’re sure you don’t want to take a shower first?” Zac asked.

“Oh haha, I don’t stink.” I said getting up.

“You do.” Jesse said. “Buuut I guess that’s subjective.”

That constant buzzing, or rumble, distracted me again and I looked at the door. Should I go outside?

Jeez what would I even do outside? Play in the grass as I wait for her?

I went upstairs to uh, I don’t know, put away the book.

…

“Hey Ashe?”  I asked, low enough that the others wouldn’t hear me.

“Niko hi! We’re still on our way.” I heard her voice, amused.

“I know, I know, just wondering if you’re allergic to cupcakes.”

“I can happily say that I’m not.” She replied with a laugh.

I smiled in response. “Okay,” I chuckled. “That-…that was pretty much it.”

“It’s something else to look forwards too, I’ll see you soon!”

My eyes drifted to Tyzel’s dresser. It’s hard to explain, but I was kind of motivated to go digging through the drawers. I don’t know what I expected to find.

I frowned and opted to go back downstairs instead.

This is a day for weird sixth sense things.  Maybe dad really did pass some of that down.

***

Several moments later Ashlynn contacted me again to let me know she wouldn’t be able to stop by after all.

Her and Sebastien had decided to walk to come visit us and they’d walked right into the middle of a riot. A group of supernaturals had taken residence on the bridge. Or more they’d blocked the area and climbed on their cars to yell their unrest.

Traffic was starting to accumulate on the bridge and the group refused to move, determined to let people know how fucked this whole political situation was.

People got annoyed and somebody pulled out a gun.

Before that, everything had been reserved to a lot of verbal violence, but things quickly dived into chaos.

People started to use magic and others guns and bats. The police got there in record time thanks to Sebastien. Nevertheless the only bridge connecting our part of the city to the rest of Ridgevalley is now on temporary lockdown. The others and I had heard the gun shots and we’d seen some light shows from far away. Everything derailed so quickly, I’m not surprised Sebastien opted to bring Ashlynn home instead.

The tension in this town is palpable.

***

Ashlynn’s POV

Getting back home was horror.

The ride back wasn’t bad. I’m sad my dad felt so bad about what happened. None of it was his fault and neither of us had gotten hurt. It might be weird to say, but I actually appreciated this experience?

Not that I’m becoming an adrenaline junkie or anything, but I think I needed to be on the other side of the tv screen for once. I needed to live and see the chaos and the violence up close. I’m getting more and more the desire to do something about it.

Candice, obviously, thought this was the perfect opportunity to support her hatred of Sebastien. What had happened was proof that Ridgevalley was unsafe and that Sebastien had horrible judgement – etc etc. He didn’t retaliate or anything, he just took it and left. But I didn’t just take it. I had a fantastic day with my father and now Candice was well on her way to ruining any chance of it happening again. All this talk of lack of judgement and horrible parenting. I bet if we took this domestic squirmish to court they’d state what’s already been obvious. Sebastien’s been a better parent in the last two months then Candice has been for as long as I can remember.

I told her as much. She didn’t take kindly to it, but it just motivated me to keep pushing until I told her that if I had to choose, I’d choose him. She promptly grounded me for who knows how long. I wasn’t thinking when I said it, but I pondered it again as I got ready for bed. I’m 15, as I keep being reminded, how crazy would it be if I went to live with my father instead?

Not that crazy.

Anyway, I was still kind of fuming from my conversation with Candice when Nikolas astral called. It was a nice distraction, we chatted about what had happened today.

“I think everyone’s sensing that there might not be a possible ideal result for the meet-up.” I said.

“I guess?”  I heard him sigh.

“Most of the political powers meeting up aren’t a fan of supernaturals.”

“Sounds like a real shitfest.”

“It’s already started. How do you even go about fixing that?”

“I don’t think it can be. This discord between naturals and supernaturals has been a thing since before we were born and it just keeps getting worse.”

“Maybe if we could even out the political power? Everyone at the summit is a natural. You can’t be a supernatural and work for the government, that’s unheard of. Maybe if we started there?”

“I don’t know…”

“What is this? Have you lost all hope for humanity already?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t you have also with what I’ve seen?”

“That’s a loaded question. I think it’s our job as the next generation to try and make things right.”

“We shouldn’t have to…but I do agree. They’re stuck in their endless cycles, but…”

“A new generation means a new set of eyes and a new set of solutions. We can’t lose hope before we’ve even tried.”

“I like that view.” I could almost see him smile. “Too bad we couldn’t meet today. I put on perfume and everything.”

“Hahaha! Are you serious?” I laughed.

“Completely. I got Bianca to lend me hers. Unfortunately I couldn’t make my joke.”

“Thanks for sharing though,” I chuckled. “I’m sad too, I would’ve liked to show you the curse book.”

“Well… we still can. Do you have it nearby?”

“Oh, yes I do-”

“Awesome, we both can’t sleep anyway-”

It took me a fraction of a second too late to remember why that was a bad idea.

“Wait!”

There was a reason I went to visit him in astral and not the other way around.