Across Worlds - Chapter 31 Part 2

A/N: I don't know what I was thinking in Chapter 29. Aiden is obviously not here with everyone else. He's back at Akia's place with Falyn. So, he was never in the meeting room with them. I'm not sure if I mentioned him in this chapter or not, but you never know. If you see him just ignore him.

They had known about the vision for years. Akia didn’t know it was George who saw it until she returned to Lightport. It hadn’t been that important up to then. From what she had been told about the moonstar, she figured she was just a girl who was super powerful who would do anything to stop Rhys. But after meeting Falyn, she realized that there was a girl there. Falyn didn’t know anything about her fate or who she really was; she was just a kid wanting to live life.

It was then that Akia started looking at the vision in a completely different way. George had seen Falyn and Rhys and that was all. The area around them was blurry in the vision. What George had said about the visions were true; they could be blurry or clear. But he failed to mention that they could be a mixture of both too. So they had no idea where Falyn would be when Rhys killed her. The easy out was to keep the two of them away from each other. That could only last so long though. They needed a fool proof plan.

“Sam,” Phillip started, his voice noticeably softer. “I know that you didn’t take the news too well, but the vision is clear. We are going to try everything we can to keep Falyn safe. But in the meantime there are more pressing matters.”

Sam grunted. “More pressing than keeping someone alive?” Phillip’ glare was so intense that Sam shrunk back into his chair. He knew that Phillip had won. Keeping Falyn alive was important, but not as important as keeping the worlds together.

Philip glared for a moment longer before diverting his gaze. “Falyn needs to be involved. She’s the only one with enough powers to even go up against Rhys.”

“What about Akia?” Layna asked. “Her magic’s strong.”

Akia had to fight back a smile. Who wouldn’t be happy for a compliment like that? “I only have one magic. Falyn comes from a shapeshifter and a magician. Both those magics combined are much stronger than mine.”

“Akia’s right,” Phillip said. “Falyn is strong enough to overpower anyone at this moment even though she hasn’t been trained. She has enough instinct to create trouble. What we need form her is constant magical ability. So while we sit around and plan our attack, someone needs to train her.”

Zeke, who had been relatively quiet for a while, staring at the table, slammed his hand down on the hard surface. “I’ll do it. You don’t need me for anything else.”

Phillip nodded. “Well that’s settled. You can start once we’re finished here. I think she’s still off with her parents, right Akia?”

Akia nodded, but didn’t respond. Why did Zeke want to train Falyn so bad? She had noticed them growing closer as of late, but Zeke didn’t seem like a person to want to do something behind the scenes. He’d want to be on the frontlines, fighting against whatever terror they might face. Now he didn’t want to be there anymore.

It had to be something about Falyn. There was no other reason for him to give up the offer to fight. Akia hadn’t known him for long, but she knew enough to know what kind of person he was. She’d be suspicious, but she was done being suspicious. Zeke wasn’t on their side no matter what the others said. She knew it.

“I can go get her,” Sam volunteered.

Phillip shook his head. “I need you here. And trust me, when you hear what I need Akia to do you’re not going to want to turn it down.” Akia didn’t like the sound of that. Phillip gave her jobs all the time, but he never warned the ones around her about it.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I need you to go to Vertfay.”

Akia didn’t know how to respond. Never would she have guessed that he’d send her back to Vertfay. Or any world for that matter. It just didn’t seem safe.

“Why?” she asked. She tried to keep her high hopes in check. Vertfay would always be her home. There were enough memories left there that it had a grip around her heart. Maybe going back one final time would help give some closure.

George was the one who answered. “Rhys is there with that boy – Seth is his name, right? If someone doesn’t go in the next two hours, who knows what Rhys is going to do.”

“You know a time frame?” Sam asked. George nodded, making Sam scoff. “Your powers just keep getting more advanced, don’t they?” Akia could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice. Both he and Akia knew enough about seer magic to know that visions were primarily of events that happened weeks ahead. Never had she heard of a vision of something that was happening at that very moment.

Then again, mages had developed their magic to become magicians. It was possible that the seers – the little of them that were left – had learned how to develop their magic as well. These short timed visions must’ve been a part of that.

George glared at Sam. “You know nothing of seer magic. You just keep sitting there and thinking of things and do your little magic trick.”

Sam was fuming. “We’re in this together. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like you. I don’t expect you to admit the same because that would only hurt your pride—"

“Watch it, Sam.” Akia warned. If she had to pick sides, she’d be on Sam’s. But George was her friend too. Her job was to keep them off of each other’s backs. But Sam didn’t seem to be listening.

“Because you have such a reputation to uphold,” Sam barreled on. “So I’m just going to accept your silent apology. My magic is just as important as yours. And last time I checked, you can’t do anything but see things that might not even happen.”

A smirk danced across George’s lips. “Without my visions, you’d still be sitting in that lonely dorm of yours wishing that Akia would recognize you. I made you who you are, Samuel. Phillip chose you because you’re a part of what I see.”

“You know damn well that I got this because I deserved it,” Sam retorted. If it were possible, steam would be pouring out of his ears. “None of this has to do with you. In fact, you have nothing to do with this. We can easily get another seer to tell us what’s going to happen in the future.”

George leaped to his feet. Akia could feel every bit of the tension in the room as he said, “Every other seer who can do what I do is dead. Gone. They were wiped out, taken prisoners. There’s no escape from their fate. I’m the only one you have left. I’m valuable. Akia is a strong magician, you can do a few spells, Layna does that creeping mind moving trick, and Phillip keeps us all together. Of course I know that we’re in this together. That doesn’t mean that I now have to stop hating you.”

Sam’s hands were shaking as he pressed them down flat against the table. Akia knew that he was itching to punch George. Ever since they had returned to Lightport, George had been at Sam’s throat. All he wanted now was some payback. But he knew that he couldn’t do anything with Phillip watching.

“Aw, did I leave Samuel mute?”

Sam gritted his teeth as he spoke. “My name… is not… Samuel. Don’t call me that.”

“Oh right. Because that’s what your deranged sister calls you.”

All of the self control Sam had had disappeared. Before anyone could react, he was up and leaning across Zeke so he could get in George’s face. “No one is allowed to speak of my sister! Especially not you. You know nothing about her or what happened. You might hate me, but you could at least show some respect to the dead.”

George’s smug smile never left his face the entire time Sam was yelling at him. If Akia hadn’t noticed before how much George had changed since she last saw him, this sure proved it. The George she was partners with would never have attacked Sam like that. There was definitely something wrong with him.

Great, another thing for me to worry about. Akia thought. She immediately felt bad about it, but what could she do? It seemed that everything was going wrong. Of course George would choose now to bring up his dislike for Sam again.

Akia almost expected Phillip to interfere and stop the argument, but he didn’t. Instead, he was leaning back in his chair ever so slightly, watching it all unfold. It made her mad. Why wasn’t he doing something? Even by a simple snap of his fingers, George and Sam would stop. It was that easy.

Instead, someone else got involved. Layna’s chair scraped across the hard floor, making everyone flinch, as she stood and stalked over to Sam. Hands placed on his shoulders, she pulled him back down into his chair.”

“I can’t stand to see this fighting,” she said, her voice calm as ever. “Arguing isn’t going to solve anything. George, you know more than anyone that anger only leads to pain. Don’t make me start spilling your secrets.”

To Akia’s surprise, the smirk on George’s face disappeared immediately and was replaced with a scowl. Layna had something on him that he didn’t want anyone else knowing. Akia could only wonder what it was. He and Layna were partners now though, so it could be any number of things. Akia had learned so much about him just from the short amount of time they had been working together. Layna had probably been the replacement when Akia left. Layna was closer to George than Akia could’ve ever been.

Layna turned to Sam next. “Don’t think you’re off the hook. George started it, like he always does, but that doesn’t mean you have to egg him on. Just shut up and he’ll get the message.” Without another word, she floated back to her seat and sat.

Akia couldn’t help it; she stared. She hadn’t known Layna before returning to Lightport so she hadn’t known what to expect. Layna was a kind, soft spoken girl when Akia had first met her. There was definitely an air of responsibility and maturity about her, but it hadn’t come out until that moment. She was almost as good at killing a conversation as Phillip was.

“Thank you, Layna,” Phillip said, nodding his head slightly in her direction. She merely blushed and lowered her gaze. “We can’t have arguments just for the sake of arguing. No one should have to interfere, boys. You should be able to break up your own arguments. I’m not a babysitter.”

“Yes, sir,” George said through clenched teeth. Sam didn’t even bother answering. His eyes were locked on the table. The comment about his sister must’ve hit him hard. Akia didn’t blame him. Eleven years later and he still cared deeply for his dead sister. Not that Akia expected him to get over it. How did one get over losing a family member like that?

A/N 2: Sam had a sister. Well, you know that now xD She killed herself when Sam was young. She was fifteen years old. Basically, her magic got too much and took over her body, driving her crazy (I'm still working on the whole how part of that). Eventually she couldn't deal and killed herself. I'm going to work that story into an earlier chapter when I go back and edit, but I had to put it in this chapter or the argument between George and Sam wouldn't have worked.

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For the LMS contest. Word count: 1,889