10. ~Ariana~
~Ariana~
Excitement bubbled up inside me as I took in the beautiful shimmering silver palatial estate before me.
The home to Grandfather and Gramps.
Grandfather had called me here today to spend time with him, and to make up for being unable to attend my birthday party.
Whatever business he’d been on was obviously a major deal, given that it had kept him away and off-realm for so long. Grandfather hated being away from Gramps and the family.
It was apparently a Guardian Movement matter, so discussing it had been off the table. Matters of that nature were kept secret and highly-confidential, and with me not being a member, I wasn’t privy to any of the details.
Maybe it had something to do with those sick bastards, Chimera Circle.
I shook my head to myself.
Either way, it wasn’t my concern. I knew the rules, and I was very good at following them. That one spell during my birthday party notwithstanding.
Jeez, that spell.
It had certainly caused me a load of grief. The whole thing with Kai… I didn’t know how to wrap my head around it.
And I didn’t want to think about it right now.
I needed a breather.
Seeing Grandfather today would definitely provide that.
He and I were close. We had been my whole life. We even had the same exact shade of magic, something we’d bonded over. Just one of the things, actually. We had a very special connection. Not having him at my party had been hard to stomach.
But that would all be okay now, once I laid eyes on him again, and we got to spend some time together. It would be better, actually, because there would be no crowds or judgmental interlopers around to sully the interaction and our quality time with each other.
I breathed in a peaceful sigh.
It would be perfect.
I just hoped he didn’t put together the fact that I did actually have classes to attend this week, unlike what I’d claimed when Gramps had called me on his behalf telling me he’d be back today and he really wanted to see me and make up for missing my party.
Gramps had suggested the weekend, but I’d been too excited to wait, so I’d ended up telling him that I didn’t start my classes until the following week, that this first week as a fourth year was just acclimating to the environment of Maven Academy again and mostly full of parties and the like.
Hopefully, Grandpa would be too busy with his first week back teaching to notice I wasn’t around at the Academy today.
I wasn’t in his class until next week, so that would be easier to pull off at least.
I mean, it might have been about something more than just excitement.
I never liked the first few days of classes starting up.
It made me uneasy and it was always an uncomfortable adjustment getting back into it all and being around all the students and professors.
My recent interactions with Kai had only served to exacerbate all of that.
Especially the last one inside the Ruminat hut.
“I wanted to experience those things, to explore that, and I wanted to get lost in the intensity. I wanted to feel.”
“And?”
“And that’s it.”
“No, it’s not. It’s far from it. Fucking admit it. Be honest.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
“Ari—”
“No. I can’t give you more than this. I can’t. My life… my existence… it isn’t built for that.”
“You’re wrong.”
To say he’d come on strong had been an utter understatement.
And none of that awkwardness had been helped by the pain I’d seen all over him that he hadn’t been able to hide in the midst of that heated discussion.
A discussion I hadn’t wanted to have, one that I’d known could only go to a bad place, but one that he’d fucking pushed for in his usual relentless way.
Urgh.
I sucked in a breath and pushed it all down.
I just wanted to focus on the here and now, and spending time with Grandfather.
I stepped up to the door, about to knock, when it opened with a vibrant-green glow.
Not Grandfather’s magical signature, nor Gramps’ either.
What was going on?
Pops stood there in the doorway in the next second, smiling lovingly out at me.
He was wearing his signature white silk shirt and black leather pants combo, his black shimmering Guardian robe sweeping behind him, the hood down.
“Hey, sweetie,” he greeted me. “Come on in,” he said, stepping back from the doorway and gesturing inside with one of his usual bold, sweeping hand flourishes.
“Pops? I don’t understand… what are you doing here?” I asked, as I stepped inside the mammoth foyer with the ornate double staircase. “Is Grandfather late?” He was never late. This really didn’t add up.
Pops closed the door with a flick of his magic. “In a sense.”
Disappointment settled over me. “He’s not coming, is he?”
“I’m sorry, Ari. He was delayed returning from his off-realm mission.”
“Gramps said he’d be back today. It’s why I was invited here.”
“I know. Warlow thought he’d return in time, too. I can assure you that the delay can’t be helped. You know he would have been here if he could. There’s nothing he loves more than spending time with you.”
“I know, yeah,” I murmured. “It’s just… disappointing.” I brightened as I looked out at him. “Although, getting to see you is no small thing, especially with how busy you’ve been lately. I didn’t think we’d be able to carve out any one-on-one time for weeks yet.”
“It has been chock-a-block lately, no doubt. But I needed a break, and learning that your grandfather wouldn’t be able to make it at least pushed me to finally take it and spend a day off from the Guardian Movement. Bonus points because I get to spend it with my daughter.”
I smiled out at him. He really was the sweetest.
It was what Dad, Papa, and Mom always said about him. And it didn’t even really cover it. He was the heart of our family and of the supernatural world.
“So, what do you want to do?”
He rubbed his hands together, excitement brimming. “First, Cornelius asked me to give you the present that he had made for you. He obviously wanted to present it to you in person, but he also doesn’t want you to have to wait any longer. So today is the day.”
“Wow, okay. What is it?”
He smiled and crooked his finger, then turned on his heel and I followed him into one of the fancy salons with all the antiques and special items that Grandfather had collected from his travels, explorations, and interactions with kings, queens, and numerous powerful rulers over the years.
He’d also used the special items to teach Gramps about the parts of the world that he’d still yet to explore.
Gramps had spent a great deal of time in hiding years ago, both because of his hybrid nature, which hadn’t been accepted back then like it was now—for the most part—and because he’d been hunted by those who’d experimented on him in their bid to create more hybrids from his blood, because he was one of the very rare supernatural beings who’d actually been born a hybrid naturally.
Thanks to Pops, Gramps had been spared and protected.
And then things had shifted. It also didn’t hurt that Gramps was the ultimate true love of Grandfather who was one of the most powerful supernatural figures in the world, and someone who was feared by many. Only fools would dare to cross him and, by extension, Gramps.
I pulled from my thoughts as Pops walked to the center of the salon and swept a hand glowing with his power down in a wide arc.
A moment later, a mannequin covered in a sheet materialized.
He smiled and stepped back, gesturing at it. “Have at it, Ari.”
Curious and excited, I moved forward and pulled the sheet off.
Then I was gasping in surprise as I took in the birthday present from Grandfather beneath.
It was some sort of specialized armor.
It consisted of a silver and black armored corset with a pair of gold, shimmering pants, and an asymmetrical black hooded cloak with silver sigils that glowed proudly with what appeared to be my power.
I didn’t know what to make of it. It was stunning, no doubt. It was definitely my style. But the functionality of it… that was a very worrying aspect.
“It’s beautiful. But why would I need something like this? Battle armor, essentially, right?”
“It’s more than that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s what we’ll spend a good portion of our time together today doing. Helping you to reach an understanding, Ari.”
I took an uneasy step back. “This is about my power.”
He folded his arms across his chest and settled in. “Now you’ve reached magical maturity, things have shifted. Haven’t you felt it?”
“Felt what? A power increase, or something?”
“A disruption to the balance.”
“No. I don’t feel anything different. I don’t feel different,” I told him adamantly.
Too adamantly, I realized, as soon as the words had left me.
“You’re more disconnected from your power than any of us fully realized then.” He sighed. “Fortunately, at this point, the only beings on this plane aware of this shift are within our family. But it won’t stay that way. So you need to be ready.”
“Doing what I’m doing ensures it won’t come to be an issue.”
“It’s not sustainable. That’s the issue.”
“I’ve been sustaining it all this time, Pops.”
“You’ve fooled us all, Ari. We wanted to believe it, I suppose. But you haven’t been controlling it during your last three years at Maven Academy. Instead, you’ve been employing repression techniques. Even putting parts of your magic away, separating it and sealing it off.”
Oh, shit. “How do you know that?”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “During your party, choice members of the Unity Council used the rare chance at close proximity and the distraction of the joyous event itself when all our guards were down, as an opportunity to test you—your stability and current magical prowess. That was when they noticed that you weren’t as you should be, that something wasn’t right. ”
“They did what?”