"Mommy! Daddy! I'm going to go read bedtime stories with Logan. Bye!" I exclaimed. We walked out, and I glanced up at Gabriel with a wide grin. "Hi, Gabriel. Bye, Gabriel."
"Uh...hi and bye. Don't stay up too late you, two and don't excite Alice too much either. I don't want to hear her hooting all night." Gabriel shot us a stern look.
"She's a kitty!" I pointed out.
Gabriel sighed. "You keep changing her."
"I'll come to tuck you two into to bed later," Mother announced.
"Okay!" Logan and I said together. We turned around and walked down the hall towards my room.
"Mom? How...she was...." Gabriel asked.
"We'll explain later," Mom replied.
We reached my room and I grinned, looking at Logan who had a pleased smile on his face. "Let's read lots about fairytales and magic!" he exclaimed.
"Yes!" I cheered, excited to have a night playdate with Logan.
I don't need to be in the scary machine, and now I get to play with Logan. Mommy and Daddy said to keep my secret. I won't tell anyone I'm a key. No one will know.
I gasped and began to cough, my lungs burning like I hadn't filled them with oxygen in a long time.
"It's okay Jewel, just breathe."
My eyes opened slightly to see someone's face above mine, water dripping from their purple locks. Zane?
I wanted to say something, but I continued to cough, and he turned my head to the side as I spit out bits of water.
"What happened? Why did it take so long to get her out?" I heard Savannah ask. She sounded worried, but Father's words came to my mind.
* * *
"Don't let anyone but those boys and the headmaster know what you did. Not even the nurse. Please. I can't lose you too."
* * *
No. Don't tell them, Zane. Please. I discreetly grabbed his arm and squeezed, hoping he would understand.
"She...that's not the issue right now. At least she's breathing. We need to see the headmaster and get Jewel to the hospital," Zane argued.
"Jewel hates hospitals. She won't recover well there." I heard Logan's weak voice.
"Logan?! How the..." Savannah's shrill voice asked, sounding spooked.
"Logan, you shouldn't be using magic to teleport," Maxi scolded.
"I'm not going to rest until I know Jewel's safe and those three lowlifes are fucking put in custody!" Logan snapped.
"We don't know if they-" Savannah began, but was cut off by Kage.
"Nixon's RIGHT there. He saw everything, and there are three cameras that clearly caught them throwing Nixon in the pool AND them trying to escape."
"Why are we even defending ourselves? You're not the headmaster. You're a nurse," Zane snapped. "Get us the headmaster, or we'll take this to the higher-ups. I know Brighten doesn't like their business all over the place, but I'll make sure every damn person knows about this incident before the sun rises!"
There was a moment of silence, and I heard a door open. "What's going on?"
I recognized the voice, the image of the headmaster coming to my mind. "Is Jewel breathing now?" Brax asked, sounding out of breath.
"Ya. Zane did CPR. She's breathing, but she needs medical attention. So does Nixon," Kage explained.
"I'm fine. It's nothing big. Headmaster, Jewel needs to be seen by a specialist ASAP. She may have had a seizure."
Something about Nixon’s tone was off, like he was trying to say something more. Savannah is right there. Why are they being so hostile to her? Is she bad?
"I can take care of her of her ma'am. I've been doing it all last semester and this semester," Savannah argued.
"No, I need you to call the patrol guards. I’m gone for one week on business, and there are no guards on duty at ALL. It's only eight at night, Savannah, and I left you in charge of security. Would you like to explain now, or fix that issue before I get extremely upset?" Hardness entered the headmaster’s voice as she snapped at the nurse.
"I'll look into it now, Headmaster. I'm terribly sorry," Savannah quickly apologized. I heard the quick taps of heels leading further away and the door closing shut. There was a moment of silence before Nixon spoke.
"She's not good."
"What do you mean?" Logan asked, still sounding exhausted.
"Jeez, Logan, sit down at least," Maxi huffed.
"Fine."
"What do you mean Savannah isn't good, Nixon? What am I missing?" the Headmaster asked.
"I can't explain it here, and Jewel needs to be monitored. We can't stay on campus either. I'm only telling you this, Headmaster, because you knew my parents. You knew what they really were."
"Wait...you mean Jewel’s…" She lowered her voice so only we could hear. "She's a key?"
"Huh?" some of the guys asked.
"Yes, and no one say that word out loud. We need to take her somewhere safe. At least until I can explain this to you properly. It'll explain why, since the beginning of school, a specific group of people have been interested in Jewel, or I should say Jinn," Nixon replied with urgency.
"I will take you all to a safe location," The headmaster announced.
"Wait. Brax, get Alice and Koa. They're waiting outside," Kage instructed.
"On it," Brax replied. I heard the door open and the others sighed.
"How can we trust you then, Headmaster? Your nurse may be the reason why Jewel's hurt, or why Logan was knocked out and Nixon was thrown into the pool. He could have died, by the way," Zane pointed out, defensively.
"Exactly. We could be walking into a trap," Kage added.
"Why should we trust you?" Maxi inquired.
"If you don't question if I'm loyal to the good or bad side of all magic, I'd question if the path of becoming a Mage Warrior is right for you. I have no ill intentions towards my students, which includes yourselves. I'm on the good side of what's been occurring in the magic world," the headmaster replied.
"What you mean by ‘occurring in the magic world’?" Kage asked.
"There's a lot to this world you won't see or understand until you become a Mage Warrior. We're wasting time, and I don't want to repeat myself. The place I'm taking you is safe. Nixon, I'm assigning you to stay with Jewel when the others have to go back to classes."
"Wait, why Nixon? And we have to go back to class?" Zane asked.
"Nixon has perfect scores. The rest of you, including Braxton, are lacking in a few areas and I simply can't grant permission for you to miss class. Especially when your exams are in less than two and a half weeks. I will make a way for you to portal through to this safe place at your dorm if you're worried about Jewel. However, you cannot tell a soul about the place I'm taking you, or there'll be extreme consequences," the headmaster explained.
Everyone was silent, and I heard the door quietly close.
"HOOT!" Alice announced. In seconds, I felt something soft rub against my cheek. "Jewel? Jewel....are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay?"
Alice...so loud. My mind wasn't having too much trouble keeping up with the conversation, even though my body felt lethargic and I was beginning to doze off from my tiredness.
"Hoot," Alice replied. "Sorry. Are you okay?"
Ya....but I'm gonna go to sleep. I think.
"What's Alice saying?" Zane asked.
"She's talking to Jewel," Kage replied.
"Is Jewel still conscious?" Brax asked.
"What Jewel did takes a large amount of magic and effects the person physically more than mentally. She should be alert, but unable to speak or open her eyes. If you're listening, Jewel, you should rest. It'll take her body a couple of days to recover from what she accomplished without proper training," the headmaster explained.
"Maybe we should go," Logan mumbled.
"Not with you barely keeping your eyes open," Brax commented. "I'll carry Logan. Maxi, help Nixon. Zane, carry Jewel. Kage, hold onto Alice. I don't want her flying around or exerting energy with Jewel in the state she’s in."
Everyone said their form o
f agreement and I felt my body being lifted up. "Just rest, Jewel. We're going somewhere safe, and we won't leave you alone," Zane whispered.
His words were comforting, and I decided to trust in them. I knew when we met the headmaster and she willingly agreed to clear Zane's name, that she wasn't a bad person. I just had to trust my gut, or I'd delay the time it would take to find out about everything that just happened.
Dad. The headmaster is helping us. I hope we're making the right decision. Please, wait a bit longer. Please don't lose hope.
"Jewel?"
I was so deep in my thoughts, thinking about everything that had occurred in the past week, that it almost felt like a blur.
We'd been brought to a small cottage at the outskirts of Natala. It was privately owned by the headmaster, whose real name was Meredith. It had level three security during her stays.
She informed the staff that she had Elite students on site and had given them our names and pictures to ensure we weren’t shot or attacked by them by accident. None of us knew what Elite was referring to, but I didn't want to be shot or assaulted by those seven-foot giant guards.
I'd been going in and out of consciousness throughout the week, feeling like a rag doll of chills and fevers. I finally recovered on Saturday, which was yesterday.
I'd awoken to a note from Nixon saying he was talking to Meredith outside of my room. It was cute that he wrote a message and even drew a smiley face on it. He wrote on the back that the others were doing a night class to make sure they were ready for our exams that were a week and a half away, but Logan would be back in thirty minutes or less.
A part of me was curious to join whatever conversation they were having, but the moment of alone time was helping me sort my thoughts. I rested my arms on the rail of the balcony, watched the sunset on the horizon, and enjoyed the warm breeze that blew by on occasion.
The clear water of the lake was a pleasant sight to see, aiding in my attempt to clear the pile of questions and anxiety that lingered in my mind.
"Jinn?"
I blinked, slowly looking over my shoulder toward Nixon with a worried gaze. He gave me a long glance, scanning me from head to toe before his black eyes locked onto mine once more.
"What? I know I imagined wearing clothes, so I know I'm not naked," I pointed out, lowering my head to make sure I wore the loose black shorts and the unbuttoned Hawaii-inspired shirt. Maybe my abs are distracting him?
"Why are you in your male form? And I called out your name before, but you didn't respond," Nixon said.
"Oh, you did? Sorry. I was just thinking. As for why I'm Jinn and not Jewel...it's kind of a stupid reason," I admitted, glancing back at the sunset.
Nixon walked to stand next to me and rested his arms on the ledge like I had. I could see from the corner of my eye that he was watching me carefully, and even if I was in guy form, my face did a poor job of concealing what was going on in my head.
"I doubt it's stupid," Nixon replied.
"Totally dumb."
"Can I know why?"
"You're going to laugh," I whispered, turning my head to meet his eyes.
"I won't laugh, Jinn," Nixon said in a calm voice. He looked serious, and his eyes held the gentleness he always carried in his expression, especially when he'd just awoken.
"Promise?"
"Promise," he replied, placing his hand on mine.
I gulped and nodded, looking back at the sun that was almost gone. "I feel like if I'm Jinn...like if I'm a guy, maybe I'll feel courageous enough to accept what's going on? It feels unreal, and even though all of you explained the situation over and over again, I still can't seem to wrap my mind around it. I'm trying, I really am."
"That your dad is alive, and you're most likely the key to get him out," Nixon concluded.
I nodded, turning around to lean my back against the rail. Tilting my head back, I gazed at the sky that was a mix of navy blue and orange.
When I'd woken up and was alert enough to understand what was going on, Meredith explained everything.
We all knew Mage Warriors went out to get rid of groups or organizations who used magic to cause destruction and wreak havoc. Even those with evil intent would be watched closely by Mage Warriors to prevent major disasters.
They were a group of Mage Warriors called Elites. Brighten had their own division, one half consisting of alumni chosen by the headmaster herself due to their magic level, grades, and overall performance judged by the rest of the professors.
There was another half that happened once in a while where students who had high potential were allowed to spend one year as a Mage Warrior. It was a major privilege to be a part of, giving those students an understanding of what the requirements would be as a Mage Warrior and the time, power, and how seriously dangerous the role was.
Meredith revealed that she'd been the advisor for the Elite unit for thirty years, which I felt was crazy because she didn't look older than 30. Either it was her dual Asian and African descent, or she took care of her skin since she was a teenager.
Regardless, she had been the advisor in charge of my dad and Nixon's parents’ units for years before disaster struck.
She explained that there were very few individuals who they termed "keys." Those people would have a skill or number of skills that they would be able to do with very little to no magic involved.
If they were able to do one skill without magic, they would call them "half keys." Being able to use multiple skills and have an enormous amount of leftover mana gained the full title of being a key.
She then broke down why keys were so important or sought out by both good and bad, using the best example—my father. Cedric Starfire excelled in everything. Grades, magic, casting speed. He was the ideal person everyone would want on their team.
Father had chosen to stick with Brighten because he'd met my mother and after they married, it only made sense for him to stick with them since my mother had become a professor there.
Father's key ability was a way of teleportation, but the benefit that made it extra amazing was he could go anywhere. With teleportation spells, they took a significant amount of mana and could render the person useless if they teleported a long distance like between countries.
Father, however, didn't have that issue. He'd been able to travel anywhere around the world with barely any thought, and if it was a place he'd never stepped foot in, all he needed was a picture of the current area. A vision, as Meredith referred to it, was all he needed to take his body from A to B.
Another skill included the ability to teleport out of magical restraints—an item used many times when Mage Warriors were caught or trapped accidentally.
This topic is what leads to what was so special to me and how I'd be able to rescue my father, who Meredith confirmed after my lengthy explanation of what I'd seen, was trapped in a dungeon by an organization that was known to kidnap and kill Mage Warriors.
"Think about it. I'm apparently linked to my father because he's a key too. All I should need to do is think of where he is in that dungeon. That mold filled, cold, smelly dungeon that he's been trapped in for years, and be able to teleport him back here. It sounds so fucking simple. Yet here we are. I've tried and tried...and I can't do it,"
I ran my hands through my black and red locks, feeling frustrated and even angry at myself. My dad was stuck somewhere, with barely food and water, and chained like some type of animal because some organization didn't want to kill him.
Or what Meredith believes is a trap to lure me in.
"You know Meredith doesn't want you going without being prepared, Jinn. These people holding your dad captive aren't just students or weak people. They've been able to hold your dad, a key just like you, for sixteen years," Nixon pointed out.
"I know Nixon. I, ugh!" I groaned, wishing I could just punch something. I pushed off the rail and headed back inside, Nixon followed me without a word.
"Nixon, sixteen fucking years! My poor dad, trapped in a place like
that because some bad people want to use him? Do you think they waited sixteen years to pray that I would hopefully be the one to have my dad's power but strong enough to teleport anywhere in the world to steal or even kill whoever they wanted me to? That's a real fucking risk to take," I emphasized.
"Jinn, they don't care how long they have to wait. If they have enough evidence to believe you may be a key too, they're willing to wait as long as they need to," Nixon argued.
"Nixon, how do you know this?!" I snapped, turning around to glare at him. "How do you know that they would do everything in their power to see if a Mage Warrior's CHILD is a key?!"
"Because I'm a key too, Jinn," Nixon said calmly. I already had tons of comebacks for whatever he was about to say, but my mind went blank at his words, and I stared at him.
"What?"
"My mom had the same ability that your father has. She was able to teleport out of any type of magic restraint, except for the ones these organizations have created...which must have been thanks to their experimentation studies on my mom during her capture. My dad had the ability to memorize anything—any spell, the entire dictionary, anything. He could walk into a library and memorize every single book and carry that knowledge with him for life. He was what some called a walking book of knowledge," Nixon explained.
He walked over to the bed, sat down at the edge, and gestured for me to join him. I took a calming breath and let my temper go, realizing Nixon wasn't the cause of my anger and didn't deserve me shouting at him for my frustration.
"My parents met when my mom accidentally teleported into a library and crashed on top of my dad. I guess they fell in love at first sight, and after a few years they got married and had me. They went on a mission together for the International Organization of Mage Warriors, and I was left with a nanny for that period of time. The problem was, they never came back."
"They never came back? Meaning..." I trailed off.
"The found my dad's body first and brought him home. I guess having tons of knowledge wasn't helpful to the organization that had caught them. My mom, however, they couldn't find. They tried for a year and decided they would have to pull some strings to get the information they needed."
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