The Next Generation Of Heroes | 1 ✓

James ~ 47

Rose's face is suspended in shock. "Wh-What?" she stammers.

Confused, I turn towards her and Reyna. "What's wrong?" I ask.

Reyna looks at me with her gorgeous, kaleidoscope eyes, and says, "Who are you?"

Everybody's jaw drops.

"Reyna- its us! Remember?" asks Mari, waving a hand in front of her face.

Reyna frowns. "The only people I know here are Loïc, Saydi, and Pandora," she says.

"We just met them two minutes ago- including you!" exclaims Asher in disbelief.

Loïc's eyes flash blue, and he smiles almost wickedly. "You've all known us forever," he says, but this time I can sense magic in his words. Bianca, Rose, and Zoë freeze up, and their eyes adopt a glazed expression. I look over at Cyprian, Mari, and Asher, and see that they're equally confused.

Then, Loïc snaps his fingers. Immediately, the glazed look leaves their eyes, and they relax.

"What was that?" Asher asks.

"Lets go somewhere," suggests Saydi shyly.

Cyprian nods. "The Palace," he says.

Bianca wrinkles her nose. "The palace is so ew. Let's go to the mall," she giggles.

"I'm sorry, Bianca Solace-di Angelo wants to go to the mall?" asks Asher in disbelief.

"How do you know my name? And who are you?" Bianca asks.

"Yeah," adds Rose. "Who are you people?"

"They're strangers. Let's go to the mall," says Pandora, although her expression is conflicted.

"Strangers? Guys!" exclaims Mari.

"I want to go to the mall," volunteers Saydi.

"Yay!" squeals Zoë.

Then, Zoë, Rose, Reyna, Bianca, Saydi, and Loïc swam down the tunnel and towards the Sea Realm. Pandora stayed behind though, a guilty expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly, looking at her fins.

"What happened? What was that? Why don't they remember us?" asks Cyprian, clearly agitated.

Pandora bit her lip. "I-I promised not to tell-"

"Tell us," Asher snaps.

Pandora hung her head. "They'll kill me if they find out," she says.

"Tell. Us," I growl.

"F-Fine. Your friends are under a curse. They don't remember anything, and they won't try to stop the curse you came here for," admits Pandora.

"Who put them under this curse?" Mari asks.

"Loïc," replies Pandora.

"I knew he was up to no good," I spat.

Asher rolls his eyes. "You just didn't like him because he was flirting with Reyna," he snorts.

"Shut up," I grumble.

"Why aren't we affected?" asks Mari.

"Anyone who isn't romantically drawn towards a siren isn't influenced by his or her curse. That's why you four aren't under the spell. None of you are interested in Loïc as a romantic partner, therefore you are unaffected," explains Pandora.

"So the rest of them are?" asks Cyprian, frowning slightly.

"No no no no no," Pandora assures him. "Basically any straight girl or any...queer boy are drawn to Loïc's powers."