Descending from Ordinary

Chapter 13

Ace may have believed he was fooling everyone else, but Jacob knew. He knew what kind of person he really was. He knew better than to say anything, but at least Jacob knew he had one of the most difficult people he knew drawn out—and the results are actually amazing.

It wasn't long before the five of boys had wandered in front of the entrance of...a maze. They stopped at the large opening and observed the towering, green, bush-like walls that were around, Cole assumed, 25 meters high.

"Definitely a trap..." Ace sighed. "It's a hedge maze."

"What?" Jacob looked to him, startled. "Then let's go back!"

Cole shook his head, stepping between the two. "We can't. I noted a magic barrier that was triggered once we travelled so far down the path...I guess it was important that we thought this through before coming in."

"Well, sucks for us, since we basically gave it two minutes of thought and said 'to hell with it'." Ace said.

"Hey," Mateus chimed. "We don't know if it's the wrong way or not yet. It's just a maze, Ace, it could just be another test of wits!"

"Well, we won't know until we actually go in, so..." Jason pushed.

With that, they took their first steps onto the flat, dirt path between the maze walls. The group walked cautiously, not venturing too far in as they took a few turns every now and then. Discovering a small dead-end that branched off on their right, they let themselves settle down for a moment to take a moment to breathe.

"This can be our campsite," Cole said, setting his things down. He began taking off some armour as well, which Jacob noticed he hadn't ever taken off before. Not even to sleep the night before. And as hard as that armour looked, Jacob cringed at the thought of how uncomfortable his night must have been.

Everyone else began putting their belongings down, letting out relieved sighs as they slid their heavy bags onto the ground, taking a moment to get a drink and relax. Jacob sat down with his back against one of the walls and let out a deep breath as he watched everyone else settle down. Cole finished removing his armour, and underneath he wore a simple black, long sleeve shirt with some regular pants, which made his shiny, silver weapon belt stick out a lot. Still, he looked good, and even more like a normal person. And even without the large armour, his shoulders still seemed extraordinarily broad.

Jace made his way by Jacob's side and took a seat next to him. He gave Jacob a smile. "You okay?"

"Mhm. Why?" Jacob wondered. Was he acting upset without knowing?

Jace shrugged and ruffled his hair sheepishly. "Just making sure! We sure have been walking a lot and all. Plus, all this decision making is a lot of pressure."

Jacob's heart warmed at his thoughtfulness. He smiled, feeling grateful to have someone like Jason along with him on this journey. "Ah, yeah. I'm okay, though, the walking doesn't bother me much. How about you, are you good?"

"Haha, of course! I'm always good~."

No one's always good, Jacob thought but kept it to himself. Jason was the last person who's bubble he wanted to burst.

"Good." Jacob smiled.

"Oh! Also, I was wondering! The wouldn't be any chance you'd want to learn some magic, would there?"

Jacob raised his eyebrows. "Wait, what? I can do that??"

He nodded with his deep giggle. "Yeah! Anyone can do magic."

"But...I'm not from here, remember?"

"I know, but things work differently here," Jace explained. "This entire world emits energy that bodies can, in your case, consume, but in our case, since we've lived here our entire lives, maintain. It's like...our atmosphere grants you the ability to consume magic power, kind of. You know?"

"R-really...?" Jacob couldn't help but let his jaw hang with disbelief.

Jace nodded. "Mhm! And you've been here for a while, so...I think it won't be too long before you'll completely adjusted and your body will be able to take in energy."

"What will I be able to do?"

"Hm... that depends on what your aura attracts. Basically, whatever your power will be, it'll reflect on your personality. You don't really get to choose."

That explained a lot, Jacob thought. Ace and fire, Jason and light. It made him wonder what his would be. "What about people like Cole and Mateus? They don't have powers, right?"

"Well, no, but not everyone has to have a power. You can still be eligible to have magic without actually having it. Unless you go through a process to open your aura so the actual magic can be consumed, you can't actually use any magic."

It was odd to Jacob, how easily he understood the information, but it was an interesting topic nonetheless. Absorbing Jace's words one by one, his adrenaline was pumped up a notch bit by bit. Like, was he really going to be able to do magic?!

"This is going to be great," Jacob laughed, unable to hide his excitement.

Jacob heard another laugh, but it wasn't Jace's. Actually, it wasn't Ace's, Mateus's, or Cole's either. The boys jerked their heads towards the entrance of the dead-end they were in to find a young, beautiful woman floating in the air before them all—her hands on her hips, looking down at the five of them with a sly grin, slightly enlarged canines protruding from her upper lip- vampire.

Ace, Cole, and Mateus immediately pulled out their sharp weapons, standing together in front of Jacob and Jace who'd quickly made their way by the rest. They cautiously watched the lady, who was hypnotising and absolutely perfect—ice blue eyes and pale skin that matched her snow-white hair. She looked like a goddess, honestly, but her way-too-bright red lipstick, Jacob hoped, gave the feeling of otherwise.

"Who are you?" Cole shouted up. The woman hovered down a bit, but logically stayed where she couldn't be touched.

She chuckled deeply. "My, my. I've never had a group this large before. And nothing but good-looking men, too? Must be my lucky day."

"Fuck off, lady," said by none other than the Ace. "We're not up for a fight."

She sighed. "How unfortunate it is that you don't get to make that decision."

"Just tell us what you want!" Jacob heard Mateus yell for the first time. It was actually quite surprising because he definitely didn't seem the type to ever yell at anyone. Although, it was more of a so-you-can-hear-me shout.

"I don't want anything with you. I'm here to help you, poor souls. All just with a riddle."

"Don't do it," Jacob heard Ace whisper to Cole. "She'll probably kill us if we get it wrong."

"We don't accept!" Cole called back.

"You're making a huge mistake," she glared sharply. "Are you sure?"

"We're sure." Ace glared back.

"Well, it's every man for himself, now," she shrugged, and with the snap of her fingers, the ground began to shake violently. Jacob and Jace grabbed on to each other for support before the shaking suddenly ceased. "Listen closely, hard-heads: you'll never escape unless you reach the sky, the heart is where the exit lies."

"What...?" Mateus looked to Cole and Ace.

"Oh, by the way," she grinned. "Have fun with the others."

With a small spin and a sudden poof, the mysterious woman disappeared, leaving the five boys frozen with terror.

"Other vampires!?" Jacob barely managed to spit out through his restless nerves.

"We'll be...fine," Ace pushed past the others to take a quick peek around the corner. It was clear. "But we definitely can't stay cornered in a dead end, so we need to head out."