Something More, Something Unique Chapter 6.1

Attention! I will start every chapter with a quote and whoever perspective it is in!

“Power over a man’s subsistence is power over his will” - Alexander Hamilton

Nayleth - Chapter 6.1

The pain from my ears was gone. The girl. When she had rested her hands over mine, all of the pain disappeared. She numbed it.

We walked along the cobble road, but my brain was elsewhere. J was something else while Sully… Sully was a treat. Griffin had parents that were soldiers. He was an orphan, per say. I had told him a bit about my background but... I don't trust anyone with it. Even if they were fictional characters or people reading this in a book.

I ran my hands through my hair, my eyes still bothered by how bright everything was. There were colors that I had never seen before. It was like, it was like dusk and dawn were leaking into the real world, the colors more defined than ever before.

All of us stood in front of the door to Scale and Hail, not really saying anything until I decided to open the door.

The smell of ale, cigarettes and sweat washed over us. Me and Griffin both covered our noses immediately. My nostrils felt like they were on fire. Although the place had a sense of joy to it. Like these people would help, not harm.

I looked around the place, there was a counter with a bunch of barstools, tables and oak chairs speckled around the room. People filled the place. All of them were dancing, laughing and singing. In the middle of it all was Gram, sitting at a table. She was drinking something sweet and was made of grapes.

She looked over at us and smiled widely, waving us over with her key-like hand.

We all shuffled over sat Griffin sat right beside me while J and Sully sat opposite of us.

Gram looked at me, then looked at Griffin. Then, she smiled.

"So, welcome to Intermundos, Nayleth. Griffin, good to see you again, my dear. Those nasty people won't be bothering you for a long while now. You start classes in two days, night or day. Whichever you prefer. Oh, I forgot! Nayleth, this is-" Gram started to babble on but was interrupted by another voice that sliced through the pub like a knife through butter. To my ears at least.

"She knows who they are already, Zex. She's her father's daughter, she can figure things out for herself. Sup, kiddo? How you been?" His voice wasn't too loud to me, unlike the others in the room. All of the voices in the room sounded like yelling but his… his sounded normal.

"Stop mumbling and get over here Auggie," Gram retorted.

Wait, he was mumbling? Ah well. Maybe I just have better hearing than Gram.

I shot up out of my chair and without looking, without needing to, really. I ran head first into my uncle. He smelled the same, like licorice and foreign spices. But I could smell something else, something

Auggie stifled a surprised chuckle, like he wasn't expecting me to tackle him. But he hugged back, just as tightly.

"The same as you were ten years ago, Dragon. But... huh," he told me while I buried my head into his shoulder.

"Huh, what?" I muffled into his shoulder. I knew why he was surprised now. He radiated power, like Griffin did. He must've thought that I would have shied away, instead of launching toward him like a fangirl who was meeting their favorite actor or author.

He hugged me tighter, sighing into my shoulder. "Oh, you just seem... like you radiated power. Like I do. Most would cower in my wake but you acted like you were equal to it. Like you knew, that if you needed too, you could take me on in a fight. The both of you. Just interesting, is all." he told me and we finally ended our embrace.

I couldn't stop smiling. It was like the sun had finally begun to rise. But fighting? Gram did say something about soldiers. Maybe there was a war going on? Maybe there was more to this world then just superpowers and drunken metas. 

But looking at my uncle, he seemed so much like my father in that moment. Like when he had come home on that fateful day where I knew something was wrong. 

--

My father. We spent a lot of our time swinging on the old swingset back at the house. The one day, my mother was weeding out the garden, planting snapdragons. I was about eight at the time. My father had just returned home and gave me the ring that I now wear. The one that was the last thing he ever gave to me. I remembered him, how he behaved that night. He wasn’t himself. He wasn’t chipper. He wasn’t as wise. He had bags under his eyes and he had this stressed look.

He had smelled of fresh leather and melted lead that day. A sharp smell was there as well but I am not sure what it was. Jittering and jumpy was how he had come home and then… a week later…

A week later I was bored. It was a saturday. The rain was steady that day. Clouds covered the sky and I had been drinking honeyed tea.

My father was on the swing set when I went out to go swing. It was still raining then-a slight drizzle. He was just sitting there when I went out. Then his knees hit the ground and… and...

--

Auggie slid a chair up beside the table, the back of it facing the table. The noise had disrupted my thoughts. His arms rested lazily along the brim and his head rested upon his hands.

“So kiddo,” he began, biting into an apple he had stolen from a man’s grasp. “You know what you can do yet? Your form? No one radiates power like that unless they are one of the celestials. Time, Space, Abis and Holy. Unless you just got lucky.”

“Sup Claric? Doing well, huh?”

Griffin waved shyly, his hands taking apart the table cloth.

“I dunno,” was all I said, truly giving myself time to think what mine was.

“Well, lucky for you, you start classes with history and-”

“You teach it?!” I blurted out, somehow knowing that he did, in fact, teach history here. Auggie was always the history junkie in my family. My father preferred the art of jewelery making, fortune-telling and anything with time.

He looked at me surprised once more but then smiled my father’s smile. My heart went to my throat again at the sight.

“Yes. I do teach history. The others teachers would be Miss Shawn, Mr. Fuller, Miss Carve, Miss Ally, Mr. Mac and Mark. Yes, he is a teacher,” he told us as he finished the apple, throwing it directly into the trash can behind him without looking.

For the rest of the time we got small parts of information about this world. Like how Full Metas, no matter the age, can drink alcohol and not be affected. Another thing is that they explained was the celestials. Me and Griffin were both confused at first until they explained the basics.

So, the celestials were like the gods in this world. But they actually existed. No one has seen any of them in about ten years though. Not really keeping to the fact that they are real.

Space dealt with territory, where wars would wage. It was one of the lesser ones, per say. Time could see the the future and take others there. Show them glimpses. Abis and Holy, those two were special. They dealt with the dead.

These celestials were known as the Keepers. They protected the good and dominated the bad.

“You guys got that? Don’t worry about it. J and Sully know the ins and outs of this world so you got questions, ask them.” Auggie said and left, his bare feet slapping against the ground.

“Hey, wh-” J began to say but I reacted on instinct.

“7:32pm. Why?” I told them as I munched on a drumstick Gram had handed me. The flavor was spectacular.

They all looked at me, stunned. I shrugged my shoulders in return. Why were they stunned?

No one said anything about it, they just kept walking.

I ducked my head, my cheeks warm.

“We need to go now guys. Curfew is 9:00 pm and you both need to learn your way around the building.” Sully said, ignoring my question and with my good-bye to Gram, we headed out.