-A/N- FINAL CHAPTER. At least, for this book. Sequel out soon. Watch for it.
-Sky's POV-
I remember when I first found Ty, stumbling in the meadow, totally lost and confused. I look at him now, and he's totally at ease with his surroundings. Brice and Seto were shy, and didn't like to speak often, and hide their magic. Now they openly use their magic, but they've stayed sort of quiet, and aren't coming out of their shells like I'd hoped. Mitch was the suspicious, but laid back one. He's still laid back, but he's grown used to suspicious people and things, so he's not so touchy with it.
Jerome was always excitable, and still is, but he's older now, and he's more relaxed. Rob was the kid that wanted friends, not power. He wanted someone to care for him, not dwell on who he is. He achieved that, but got stuck with the power anyway. Now Preston is his queen, and Preston enjoys it just as much as Rob.
Presto is still young, two years old, but he started, in human life, as a six year old to me. For me, I never met him until he was six years old. I only met him because he shot me with a dart, and knocked me out. He's exposed himself, as one of or possibly the very last, of his kind. He's drawn back, and keeps secrets, but he's patient about everything.
Soon after, Ty and I discovered Vikk and Lachlan, carrying their weight quickly through the forest, horrified. We found them, Vikk was injured, and Lachlan had grown used to caring for him medically and carrying him instead of helping him do it on his own. They had grown pretty much on the streets, and were forced to steal to survive. Vikk's health rose and fell over time, but Lachlan was strong like a bull. He never seemed to get sick. Not once did I see him sick. Ever.
-Seto's POV-
(#throwbackthursday/flashback warning!)
I remember my childhood, even though it's fuzzy, I can remember my mom, and seeing my dad from time to time. This was before the reset, before I was set back to a new family. My dad, Devin, would always be away at work, and never spent much time with me. My mom though, stayed home, and drew a lot. She was an architect, so it was her job to draw the drafts for buildings.
I enjoyed sitting in her drawing room and watching her sketch. She'd always mutter and erase, move her rolling ruler all around the drafting table, and shift the paper or brush off eraser bits. Her face would scrunch up on small details, and she'd erase again, mumbling angrily. My dad would come home, and I was ecstatic. He would play for about 10 minutes, rest, and head to bed after dinner.
That ten minutes a day was all I got for two years. Ten minutes a day, every day for two years straight. That's barely enough time for a two year old. He rarely looked at me when he was home, and he only did when he was really energetic in that ten minute period. Although, one day scared me, and I couldn't react.
A new man came home with my dad, and he was huge. He was maybe 6-7 foot tall, and had huge muscled arms. He scared me, and Dad was panicking to grab a book, open it, and pull a wad of money out. He handed it to the guy, and he looked at me instead, ignoring the cash. He lifted me off the floor, and I cried in fear. My dad begged him to let me go, and my mom came scrambling in, snatched me away, and took me to my playpen in her drawing room.
She closed the door and resumed drawing. The last day of my childhood I can remember, we had gone to New York City, and my dad had given me a copy of the photograph he'd had a stranger take for us. He also gave me a copy of the father-son photograph. I had put them in my pocket, and that's when this whole mess started. The portals opened, everyone stepped through, and I was set back. Two years of my life- gone.
I was reborn into a family of sorcerers, not quite sure how my life had begun again. I met Brice early on, and my family was murdered only days later. Brice was still cheery, not understanding the situation I was in. I never had gotten a handle on my magic, so Brice took his time and taught me spells only light users can cast. It frustrated me to no end, because I always felt I'd done something wrong. But I never did.
I did it correctly every time, but I wasn't allowed to cast it, being a dark user, not light. But Brice never let that interfere. It never made him back away and rethink himself for being with me. He stole a book from his parents' own library to get me a dark user's spell book to practice with. Spells are always opposing within the types of magic.
The light users are the only ones who can use the Life spell- Eliminus, and dark users are the only ones who can use the Death spell- Elimonus. Both can use the neutral pain spell, but one cannot use the opposing life changing/threatening spell. Now you may ask, how did the Solace clan kill then? They used swords, bows, daggers, and pain spells, but not Elimonus. Because they can't.
So I was constantly in danger, but didn't care. Neither did Brice. But this mess started because of that one big dude that tried to take me away.
-Brice's POV-
I don't think he'll explain it right, so I'll take it as he told me. When that man had come and tried to take him, they'd had an argument of some kind- Devin and the man. Seto hadn't made sense of it at the time, but later realized it was planned that his life would be reset two years back. Devin could be heard screaming, "why take my child when you can have another payment?!" And the man had clearly given refusal to every offer Devin set in front of him.
He simply didn't care. No one did, apparently... His mother could do nothing about it, and Devin was given no choice. Seto was reset, and Devin took him for dead. End of story. But his story is twice as bad as mine.
Mine is just full of betrayal and disgust. I couldn't kill Seto, and was severely punished. Banished and betrayed. My family is just twisted and deranged. They think death is good. It's a horrible thing, and they love it.
My family is fucked up, man. Not pretty. Never spend a holiday with them. You'll leave feeling sick because they'd beheaded a dark user. Trust me, it happened every holiday, no matter what it was. Holidays sucked as a kid.
But Sky changed the plans on everyone. "Guys, we take up too much space. I can move everyone, but only to the pocket close by." "can we build up my mom and dad's house?" Mitch asked. "We'll need to, Mitch. We don't have space in that house either. Then while that's getting done, I'll make a super highway in-between the castle and the house in the pocket. Got it guys?"
A few weeks, and the home was all built up to house everyone. Sky set up a small pressure plate system outside the house, and another in the castle's main hall. I stepped on the pad in the main hall, and was suddenly standing in the house's front yard.
A teleport station! Everyone had finished their room decorating, and it just so happened that we hadn't changed our rooms. I was still with Seto, Mitch was still with Jerome, and Ty and Anthony really didn't care either way. Sky still had his own room, and Preston and Rob stayed in the same room. Rob and Preston would alternate between both places to call a home.
Jason and Ian had taken the basement of the house, and the younger 5 took upstairs. Vikk and Lachlan shared a room, and Pete, Mat, and Kara all shared another room. Jason and Ian had slowly become separated from the group, so we weren't surprised when they shied away from the rest of us. But Jason looked different. A very bad different.
His outfit had a steady ring stain of blood. His hair was sprinkled with red, and there were streaks of blood dying his hair red. But it didn't look to be his own blood. And his hands were a deep Crimson color, still shining with fresh blood. His gloves were off, and his visors were on. Starlight sat very regally and patiently next to his left foot.
Sky looked happier now that we weren't crowding the castle, and he's seemed more laid back ever since his 20th birthday. It just seems easier for him now that everyone is older. But my eyes constantly drifted to Jason. His gloves were off, so his blackened hands stood out. The ribs around his body and head looked cool, but they seemed to be crushing Jason's skull without him noticing.
A few months later, and everything plummets downhill. Sky disappears. Then the twins, suddenly, all five of the younger kids are gone. Mitch and Jerome disappear into thin air, and finally, Seto is gone. But I'm only alone for an hour before a black bag was pulled down over my face, forcing me asleep due to suffocation.
What the hell?!?!?!
-A/N-
Yes, it's shorter than you're used to by now. But I wanted to end it on a cliffhanger. Gotcha. Watch for the sequel. By the end of this week, it should be out with chapter 1. If it's not, comment on this AN, and tell me off. Lol Love you guys!
~Percabeth1Jackson
