Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Keoni
Like I'd expected, no one in the Sanctuary had any problem with Zephyr searching for a new resident, though Khush did ask if Zephyr could try to find someone who wouldn't need to live in the Forest area.
It was understandable with how young Aspen and Reign were, and Zephyr had promised to try his best.
I took a step back as Zephyr waved a hand over his desk, disappearing every single object from the surface. It reappeared a moment later in the corner of the room, everything perfectly stacked together to minimize the space occupied.
I always found it hot when Zephyr used his magic so casually, like he didn't even have to think about it. I knew he was strong, and while I hadn't met many magic users in my life, I knew even the best of them struggled to use magic as easily as Zephyr did it.
"Okay, so what's the first step?" I asked, watching as he walked over to a tall bookshelf set against the wall behind his desk and pulled out a roll of thick paper.
Returning to the desk, he rolled it open on the surface with a snap, and I realized it was a world map.
"I have the spell perfected by now, but it doesn't work well with electronics, so we have to use maps. Once we have a general location on this map, we'll find a more detailed map of that area, and then repeat the process all over again."
I'd always known Zephyr searched for people like us, but I'd never realized this was how he did it. It sounded complicated, and I doubted a less powerful sorcerer could do it.
"How exactly does the spell work? Like what do you ask it to do?" I asked as I approached the desk, gazing at the map upside down since I stood on the opposite side from him.
"It veers on the edge of dark magic, but since I use it for good, I like to think it's okay," he said with a wry smile as he pulled out a small brass bowl from a drawer beneath his desk.
He placed it at the edge of the map, then pulled out another long drawer.
I walked around the desk to peek at it, and realized it was full of supplies for spell work.
Herbs, tiny bones, small pieces of rocks, vials of liquid I'd rather not name.
Zephyr added a few herbs to the bowl, one of the rocks, two vials of clear liquid, a vial of... was that sand? And then he snapped his fingers, and dropped a handful of snow into the bowl.
"Oh! I get it! They represent the various areas of the Sanctuary, don't they?"
"They do!" Zephyr agreed. "I skipped the branch I use for Forest. I would've even if Khush hadn't asked, since your area has the largest population among all areas."
"That makes sense. Okay, what now?"
"Now, we do the spell."
I watched as Zephyr lit a match and stuck it into the bowl. Despite the snow and water, the contents lit up almost instantly, the flame getting stronger with every second.
Zephyr murmured a long, complicated spell, then raised his hands over the bowl. He flexed the index finger of his left hand, and my eyes widened as a sharp claw extended from the tip.
Zephyr cut into the palm of his right hand, then spilled two drops of his blood into the bowl, making the fire blaze from blue to purple and then red.
Then he moved his hand over the map, and two drops of his blood fell onto the center. Instead of staining the paper or soaking into it, they pebbled on top of the surface as Zephyr grabbed a scrap of cloth and wiped his hand.
Frowning, I made a mental note to find his First Aid kit as soon as the spell was done.
"What now?"
"Now, we watch," Zephyr said as the pebbles of his blood started moving over the map.
They looked like they were searching as they moved from one continent to the other, then dipped down to the oceans and seas.
"There," Zephyr murmured when the droplets stopped in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It looked like Jacinta might get a new neighbor.
"That's still a big area, isn't it?"
"It is," Zephyr murmured, shooting me a smile as he headed back to his shelf and pulled out another map. "Which is why we need to narrow in further."
Zephyr replaced the old map with the new one, and the droplet seamlessly moved from one map to the other, hovering in the air until the new map was in place.
Zephyr murmured another word, a command of some sort, and the blood started moving again.
It spiraled toward the left of the map, and finally settled in a spot a centimeter away from a tiny speck of an island.
Of course, the real distance would be much bigger, but it was good that there was an island nearby.
"That's it, right?"
"Yeah. We'll need to talk to the Ocean residents first, but then we can go look for them. That is, if you'd like to come with me?"
"Of course I wanna come with you! Now, where's your first aid kit?"
"My... are you hurt?" he asked, pointing toward a cabinet, and I rolled my eyes as I fetched it, then walked over to him.
Taking his hand in mine, I flipped his palm up and eyed the cut. It wasn't long, so it wouldn't need stitches, especially with his faster supe healing.
I grabbed the biggest Band-aid I could find and applied it over the cut, lightly pressing my thumb over it to make sure it stuck properly.
"Thanks," Zephyr whispered, and I glanced up, meeting his soft blue eyes.
"You're welcome."
We gazed at each other for a long moment, and then I slid my fingers into his hair and tugged him closer, pressing my lips to his.
Watching him work his magic—literally—was always fascinating, and I loved how confident he was doing it. It reminded me of the Zephyr I'd met years ago for the very first time.
"Come on," I murmured as I took a step back, smiling when he tried to follow. "Let's go talk to the Ocean peeps."
Zephyr gazed at me for a beat with hazy eyes, then swallowed hard and straightened up. "Yeah, let's."
Zephyr
Ocean was one of my favorite areas in the Sanctuary, especially after our date yesterday. The bright sun, the warm sand beneath my feet—Keoni had insisted I take my shoes off outside—the sparkling water. All of it filled me with warmth and joy, and made me feel hopeful about what was to come.
I hoped that the person my spell had tracked would feel the same.
"Hey, Headmaster. What brings you here?" Jacinta asked as he ambled up, the ends of his tentacles dipping in and out of the sand.
His long platinum blond hair hung in straight tresses down his back, and he was dressed in a loose white shirt with a 'he/him' pronouns pin attached right above his heart.
Liam had gifted him a set since his pronouns switched often, and he'd switched from his old stickers recently. The pin suited him well.
"Remember Zephyr mentioned finding a new resident last night? Well he did, and the person will most likely belong to the Ocean area, so he wanted to check with everyone first," Keoni answered before I could, and Jacinta's sharp blue eyes softened.
"I don't think anyone will have a problem with it, but you can ask. I'll gather everyone. Give me five."
I nodded as Jacinta took off, and Keoni led me to the edge of the water, where the waves brushed my toes every time they came closer.
"You know, if my hooves didn't keep sinking into this sand, I would've loved living here," Keoni mused, making me chuckle.
"I know what you mean. You could if you wanted to, you know. I can spell your hooves so they don't sink."
Keoni turned to me, his brows raised. "Really?"
I shrugged. "It's an easy spell."
Keoni smiled, then shook his head.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," I murmured, sensing a change in his voice.
"Do you have a spell for finding a specific person?"
"It depends," I said as I thought about the various tracking spells I knew. "I can find someone by DNA, but not if I only have their name. I can find people of a particular species, but not a specific person within that species."
"Okay," he murmured thoughtfully, his gaze stuck on the fake horizon. "The DNA. Does it need to be an exact match? Like what if two siblings got separated and one of them came to you asking if you could find their brother? Could you do it with their DNA?"
I had a feeling I knew what he was actually asking about, but since he hadn't said it, I decided to play along.
"Yes, I can. I can track anyone directly related to someone. A parent or a sibling. Grandparents and grandkids are a hit or miss though."
"That's... cool," Keoni mumbled, and I smiled.
Stepping closer to him, I placed my hand on his cheek. "When you're ready, I'll help you find your father."
Keoni's gaze shot to mine, and he smiled before glancing away.
"All right, we're here!" Jacinta called from the right, and I removed my palm from Keoni's face as I glanced over to see the cecaelia wading through the water with a few people behind him.
Most of the Ocean residents lived exclusively in the water, but some, like Jacinta, ventured outside.
"Everyone, the headmaster had a question for you," Jacinta announced as he made his way to us, water trickling off his tentacles. His shirt, thanks to a spell I'd put on all his clothes ages ago, remained dry.
I glanced behind him at the three other residents of Ocean.
Jake, a hippocampus who only came out of the water for meal times, and Marios, a sea serpent who could shift into a human form but usually preferred not to and was currently poking his head out to talk to me.
He was big, probably the biggest resident we had at the moment, but he was a softie at heart.
Mira, the siren, was standing behind Jacinta, her hands clasped in front of her, half her face hidden behind her bluish-black hair.
"Hey, everyone. How do you feel about getting a new neighbor?" I asked without beating around the bush, since I knew at least two of them were itching to go back into the water.
Mira peered up from between strands of black, her deep blue eyes flickering from me to Jacinta. Her gaze returned to me after a moment, and she nodded, making me smile.
Jake and Marios took a beat longer to decide, but they also agreed without a protest.
"It'll be nice to have someone new around," Jake said, and despite the fact that it'd been close to two years since he moved here, it was still strange to hear a human language come out of his horse-like mouth.
"Looks like we have a consensus," Jacinta said with a grin, and I raised a brow at him.
"Does that mean you're okay with it as well?"
"Of course! Just make sure they know the rules."
"What rules?" Keoni asked, curious, and Jacinta smirked.
Crossing his arms over his chest, with a shrewd look on his face, he tapped one finger, then two fingers, then three fingers against his elbow as he listed, "Don't be a dick, don't be a dick, and finally, don't be a dick."
Keoni broke into a peal of bright, cheerful laughter, and even Jacinta's usually inscrutable face broke into a tiny smile. Keoni was like the sun, warming and lighting up everyone in his orbit.
As Keoni and Jacinta devolved into a discussion about if the Sanctuary needed some actual ground rules, I stood back and watched them as the rest of the Ocean residents retreated to whatever they'd been doing before we got there.
While I adored all the residents of the Sanctuary, there were some whom I was closer to, including Keoni and Jacinta.
Without them, I didn't think the Sanctuary would function as well as it did, especially over the last year.
God, I loved these people.