by Emma DaSilva
I looked at him up and down.
Ezrah is a man?
6
Another Emere
Dominic, Percy, and Ezrah stared at each other for a good five minutes before finally one of them spoke.
“Are you really Ezrah? From The Union?” Dominic asked, in disbelief.
The four of us were sitting in my living room. I gave Percy a call, telling him I found Ezrah. He advised me to bring him home.
“I kept receiving signals the other night, someone was calling me,” Ezrah said, looking at one boy then the other.
Dominic and I both looked at Percy. He was the one doing that.
“Come on, Ezrah was supposed to be hottie,” Dominic complained.
I raised a brow while looking at him.
“I-I mean, not that it mattered to me,” he said, trying to make up for his words.
“But I am a hottie, is there a doubt in that?” Ezrah answered in self praise.
There was a doubt in that but we decided not to talk about it. The fact that Dominic and Percy both had been searching for a girl and Ezrah turned out to be a balding middle-aged man?
“So Ezrah, how did we exchange auras? Certainly, we have never met,” I asked, out of genuine curiosity.
“Now which one of these idiots told you we had an aura exchange?”
“This one,” Dominic pointed at Percy, quickly responding to Ezrah’s question. Percy, for the first time looked disappointed in himself. He took out the device which still kept pointing at me.
“This device does not detect specific auras. It detects Emere Auras. Watch…”
Ezrah reached out and grabbed the device out of Percy’s hands. He turned the device towards Percy and it started pointing at him. He did the same towards himself, and it started pointing towards himself. “See?”
I looked at Percy, confused.
Then he turned the device towards me and the device pointed directly at my chest. “This girl right here,” Ezrah pointed at me, “has Emere blood running through her veins.”
There was absolutely no way, I stood up out of pure shock. Dominic and Percy seemed just as confused as I was. How was such a thing possible? I had been a human my whole life. I nodded my head, no.
“You mean she is also an Emere?” Dominic asked.
Ezrah nodded his head, yes.
I shifted in my seat, still as shocked.
“One of your parents was an Emere,” Ezrah confessed, simply.
From what my grandfather had told me about my parents, my father grew up under his care, he would tell me normal stories related to my father, nothing mythical. Also, my mother was a smart kid my father met during school. They got married, had me but unexpectedly passed away due to an accident. I doubt they could have died like that if they had special powers. “So do I have any magic powers?” I asked, rolling my eyes, still in disbelief.
The two boys raised their eyebrows.
“Who knows, maybe?” Ezrah relayed, raising his shoulders while saying so.
Now to clear things up, Dominic and Percy used that device in order to find Ezrah. The device detected Emere Aura, Ezrah was not the only Emere on the planet. So the device led them to the nearest one—which happened to be me. The whole aura exchange idea was a misinterpretation.
I felt a warm hand nudge over mine from under the table. It was Dominic, I looked at him. He seemed worried about me, I entangled my fingers between his without letting anyone know. I really needed someone to hold onto me at this point, everything had gotten so messed up.
“We are here to take the demon child, do you know his whereabouts?” Percy asked next.
Ezrah peeped at me surreptitiously before looking at Percy.
“She knows everything,” Dominic clarified, “besides, she is also an Emere like us, it should not be a problem.”
“I have spent many years here on Earth, searching for clues,” Ezrah helped himself with water in his glass before taking a sip. He was ready to tell a story, one he had kept to himself for a long time. “The two of you were probably toddlers when the Union sent me.” He shot looks to both Dominic and Percy. “They sent many like me to other realms, in hopes that one of us would succeed in locating the demon child.”
So Ezrah was not the only one sent to search for The Demon King’s son?
“After using numerous tracking tricks and devices, I finally located a darkness, same as that of Diabolos.”
Darkness like Diabolos probably meant he located someone related to Diabolos which was obviously the demon child.
“You located him? Where is he?” Percy questioned.
“Right here.”
We looked at each other confused, I looked around me as well. There was no one other than the four of us.
“Oh, I mean right here, in this town,” Ezrah spat out, clarifying.
I sighed in peace, realizing what he meant.
“But he is protected by a strong Enchantress' spell. It is very hard to specify him from within thousands of people.”
An Enchantress? Something new.
“Damn, how did he get an Enchantress on his side,” Dominic looked concerned as he said those words.
“Enchantress? Like a mage?” I asked.
“Most Emeres are normal people like humans, some of them, one in a thousand are born fighters. Just like us, who have specific Providence weapons.”
Providence weapons rung a bell in my head but I decided to remain quiet about it for now. Even if I was destined with a Providence weapon, there was no way I would be able to use it.
“But very rarely, one in a million are born as enchanters, mostly females. They can make spells and create gadgets—like these,” Ezrah explained, while looking at the aura device.
“But why would an Enchantress side with Diabolos? Shouldn’t they be with The Union?” Dominic expressed his unease. “Maybe she is one of the dark Emeres. But that is also very rare.”
7
Unsaid Words
I entered class along with Dominic in tow. Our plan for now was to continue about our normal lives until a demon showed up again. Ezrah came up with a method of reading the demon's mind, since he could not break the Enchantress’ spell, he came up with an alternative method.
For now, we could only depend upon that plan. Also, Ezrah rented a place near my house. Percy and Dominic shifted with him, Amber got worried about me living alone under the given conditions, so I decided to stay over her house for a few days.
I went to my seat while removing my headphones. I had been listening to music all the way despite knowing Dominic had joined me. I did not want to talk about anything related to demons or magic spells. My mind was entrapped in an incessant chaos—demons, magic powers, Providences, blue eyes—I needed to think about something else for a while.
I did not look Dominic’s way, instead I kept looking out the window. Making it more obvious that I was ignoring him.
“Astrid.”
He was not taking the hint, I turned to face him.
“Look, I know it has been hard on you,” Dominic expressed, looking every bit as handsome.
The serene look in his blue eyes, I knew damn well I would fall for it. Maybe this was the solace that I needed. If only he stayed this way for the rest of the day, it would pass in peace. He got up.
“What?”
I almost thought he was going to walk away instead he held my hand.
“Come with me.”
I stood up from my seat and followed him while he still held my hand. The teacher had not arrived yet so it was not difficult to leave class.
“Where are we going?”
The sweet taste of ice cream melted in my mouth. Of all the places he brought me to—ice cream had been my weakness. How did he know? A slight tint of red besprinkled around his cheeks.
“I heard this is what they do on a—,” he looked the other way, “date.”
He was embarrassed of admitting that he brought me on a date, I giggled at the cuteness. I could tell
he was trying to get my mind off things for a while, which I appreciated. Today was a working day and the chairs were mostly empty. I looked up at the sky, beautiful shades of blue covered moving fluffs of white clouds.
“December is ending soon, let’s have dinner together on New Years,” I suggested, something finally normal.
“Really, the two of us?”
He got excited. I could not tell what he felt for me but yet, I knew what I felt for him. That was bad. “No, me, you, Percy, Amber and Ezrah.” I counted all the names on my fingers, as I stopped onto the fifth one, which was my thumb, I noticed his disappointed expression.
“Once all of this is over, we can hang out all we want.”
I knew damn well that was not possible. Truth is, once they get done with their mission, they will return to Wildmere right away and help The Union deal with the situation there. In reality, we were never going to meet again once that happens. Even if I was an Emere, I had lived on Earth my whole life. I could not adapt to a new lifestyle and a new place, this was my home.
“You know, if you want to learn more about your heritage, you could always come—”
“Come to Wildmere with you? I can’t do that,” I stuttered. Dominic looked like he wanted to ask me to reconsider but he stayed quiet.
“I turned eighteen not too long ago,” he spoke in a gentle tone. “I was taken into training at five. I started missions at fifteen. That was all my life until now.”
His eyes met mine.
“Up until now?”
He took a deep breath as he got lost in my eyes.
“I met you.”
I could see the direction of his talk, I quickly got up. “Sorry!” I said and turned around. I stood still for a couple of seconds before finally walking away. I liked him a lot, I actually did. But we just didn’t have a future together—and I was still too weak, and scared. I was not brave enough to take a new step. I did not want anymore complications.
“You look very down.”
Percy commented on my expression as I entered the coffee shop. Amber also noticed me from across the room and waved. I waved back while talking to Percy.
“I did not get much sleep last night.”
Percy was a very sharp person, he could surely tell I was lying.
“Any progress?” I asked related to the plan.
Percy shook his head, no.
It was expected as I would have known otherwise. “Percy, what is a Providence again?”
“Providence is a weapon, something each fighter Emere has. Our magic comes from it.”
“How does one know they are a fighter Emere?”
“The Providence chooses you when you are very young.”
So the gun kept in the storage room, which I thought for the longest time belonged to my grandfather, was actually my Providence? I decided to tell Percy. “My grandfather told me about mine.”
Percy’s mouth dropped open out of shock.
“The feeling shall come to you eventually.”
Under the luminous moonlight, in the middle of the night, with a gun in front of me, I sat with crossed legs in an empty garden while Percy and Ezrah continued to guide me.
“Okay, now I am not sure if this is my Providence,” I said, while looking at the old rusted gun.
“Focus, the Providence will eventually bond with your body,” Ezrah explained.
I was supposed to think deeply about the gun, and balance it with my inner energy. But it wasn’t working, I felt nothing. All I felt was a blank slate.
“So do you want to join The Union?” Ezrah asked out of nowhere.
I opened my eyes. “Where did that come from?”
“If this works, you do have a potential of joining The Union. They need more people to fight by their side anyway.”
Did I? “For now, I just want to help you guys with this plan. That’s all.”
Ezrah seemed pretty understanding.
I currently did not have the confidence of making such a decision. I looked at Percy. “Why didn’t Dominic come?”
Dominic would always roam around me, lately he skipped school and did not join me in these little training sessions.
“Dominic hasn’t been in the mood lately,” Percy explained.
I realized it was because of what I had done the other day. Rejected him before he even confessed. My mind diverted to Dominic instead of the gun.
“You are not supposed to think about him,” Ezrah mocked.
“How can you tell what I’m thinking about?” I quickly got up, leaving the yoga position they put me in. The fact that Ezrah could read my mind was embarrassing.
Ezrah pulled out a circular device. “This helps me read minds,” he looked around and whispered, “this is what I’m going to use on the demons in order to read their mind.”
“And get the information on the demon child, great,” I crossed my arms while saying so. “But don’t use it on me! I am not a demon.”
“You are a little demon for breaking that young boy’s heart. He was really sincere, you know.”
Seemed like he also read Dominic’s mind. Percy just observed the whole situation while standing blankly.
I picked up the gun. “I think that is enough training for today,” I said while walking away from them.
Once again, it was a fail.
8
Revelations
“Wake up Astrid!”
Amber removed the warm covers off my body while instructing me to wake up. I had spent the whole night doing homework. I had been missing it for more than a week due to everything that was going on. The principal threatened to file a petition about handing me over to a foster family if I could not balance work and school together. Little did he know, there was more going on in my life. But as a result, I promised to complete everything. Winter holidays were to start from today, but I still needed to submit my assignments informally to the teachers, or else I was at risk of potentially failing the academic year.
“Just five more minutes.”
Because of all the work, I slept through the entire morning as if I had been given hypnotherapy. But it was time to start preparing for New Year’s Eve as I had invited Ezrah and the guys over. I opened my eyes at the thought of meeting them, it would be nice to have a peaceful dinner with them before we parted ways.
“Dominic will also be here, you need to look good.” Amber winked while going through my closet. “Do not look at me like that. Percy told me everything,” she clarified.
“What did he tell you about us? We were nothing to begin with.”
“Do you guys talk at school?”
“No,” I got up anyway, and started to tidy up my room. Amber knew me too well, she also knew how I was feeling at the moment. Very confused. Maybe I do have feelings for Dominic, but he is not normal. His loyalty to The Union will eventually drag him back to his chaotic life in Wildmere. I choose to hurt less right now, so I don’t hurt more later on.
I was done setting up the table, Amber insisted we cook black eyed pees, they bring luck, she said. I baked a cake for dessert and some side dishes for dinner. The doorbell rang, and Amber went and opened the door. Percy and Ezrah entered, I simply stared at them for a couple of seconds.
“W-Where is Dominic?” As I asked, the third guy entered the house. His eyes met mine, he smiled and soon he looked down.
“Welcome!”
“Man I’m starving.”
Amber closed the door for them while Percy complained. Ezrah looked at the gun on the side table.
“You cannot stay away from it right? That is a good sign.”
Ezrah was talking about my Providence weapon. It was actually true, I always wanted it around me. Although I never used it, I found it as a source of protection, as if it was my guardian. A normal person would find me obsessed with it. But then again, nothing was normal about me now, or the current situation I was in.
I opened the curtains, a clear night view was visible. The dining table was placed right next to it
, everyone started to settle. Coincidently, my place was right in front of Dominic.
“How is training going?” He asked, it was unexpected.
“Good—”
“Bad,” Ezrah said, interrupting.
I was trying to finally have a polite conversation with Dominic. I was very annoyed that Ezrah could tell.
“What? It is the bitter truth,” Ezrah said, matter-of-factly.
“Eat while you still have your remaining teeth,” I barked back, clearly displaying my annoyance.
Amber and Percy started laughing at my comeback.
“Damn, is this really Astrid?” Dominic replied, while trying not to laugh.
As Ezrah seemed offended he finally removed his sunglasses that he wore regardless day or night. He had bright green eyes, but they did not change the fact that he was older than everyone else at the table.
“Let’s eat before the clock turns to midnight,” Amber blurted out, while looking at the clock.
All of us were eating, I stopped and started looking outside. I had always wished to see a sky full of stars, they were never visible in my city. Maybe because of the pollution expelled from the factories and industries.
I remembered my grandfather’s stories about the other realm, he said the night sky was always filled with luminous beads there. I was convinced he was taking about Wildmere. I wondered how things were in the other realm.
“Happy New Year!” Percy yelled along with Amber, I could tell she had forced him to do so.
Just as the clock hit twelve, radiant fireworks lit up the whole dark sky. I used to see the exact same view every year with grandfather, and each time it would astonish me. For the first time, grandfather was not present with me. I felt a tap on my feet, my eyes moved towards Dominic. He was looking at me as I was gazing outside, as if I was more beautiful to him compared to the fireworks.
I smiled.
The edge of his lips also curled into a grin.