Every Second

01

Ch.1

Qetsiyah

Denver, Colorado 📍

Sleep's cloak slowly untangles itself from me as I pry my eyes open, get up, and sit on the side of my bed. The left side of course because the other side is occupied by my pet Naelah who is currently in her leopard form. She is a member of the Devinian species, so she can turn into any animal that she wants; magical or normal and by normal I mean ones native to Human Earth.

I stay sitting on my bed for a good 45 minutes 23 seconds and counting just thinking about what I should do while I wait. Honestly I am a bit apprehensive that my first mission is coming up so soon. Don't get me wrong I know that I can definitely do this; I'm just a little worried because it's my first actual mission and it's with complete strangers.

The Headmistress didn't give me a date for my mission or anything. All she said was to be on guard. I've been on guard for weeks now...To be summoned for a mission and then put on stand by is weird and slightly annoying, but Headmistress Khan is a strange woman. I decide that visiting my mom while I have time can't hurt.

I yawn one last time before I force myself up from my bed. I step into the bathroom and wince at the cold tile floor. I take a look at myself in the mirror and frown. I look way too much like him. I wish I looked more like my mother.

Instead I got my father's eyes and his black hair. I'm thankful to have my mom's long lashes and sharp cheekbones. I have a mixture of my moms dark skin and my father's ivory skin. My mom loved my hair. She taught me a lot about how to keep my curls protected. It was a learning process for the both of us. Although, I have to admit I sometimes find myself wishing I was born with straight thin hair when it's wash day.

I brushed my teeth and changed out of my pajamas. I walked to my closet and pulled on some jeans, a long sleeved crop top, and socks. I put some products in my locs.

Naelah brushed by my leg. "Is it food time?" she asked me. I smiled and said yes. Devinians typically choose someone to bond to for life. When this happens you can communicate with them using telepathy. All you have to do is agree to the choosing, vow to lay your lives for each other and do a soul binding bloody handshake. Fun huh?

I met Naelah when I was 10. It was the day of my birthday and I spent the whole day crying. I got a massive headache from all of the tears I had lost. It was only a year after my mom's death and it was still hitting hard.

It was even worse since my father had completely changed. Gone was the dad who checked my room for monsters and asked me to be careful when ever I climbed trees. He was replaced by this man who pushed at me to become like him: soldier.

My mom was his soft, brave heart while he the rib cage that protected it's heart. My mom made everything function, so it was no wonder that we all stopped performing properly when my mom got sick and died. Lorena tries hard to mask the pain that we went through when my mom died, but no mask of a smile can ever hide the loss of someone so dear to us.

Anyways, Naelah was young and weak at the time, so she was limited to one form. She appeared at of no where to comfort me as a bear cub. I immediately fell in love with her and took her as my pet. Imagine the look of surprise when my father opened the door to little old me with a bear by her side. Naelah has been with me since. I quietly walked downstairs to try and not wake up Lorena. I got some food out for Naelah and got started on breakfast.

( ✌︎'ω')✌︎

I sit in front of my mom's gravestone and practice making fire darts. As I'd seen some random kid doing just yesterday. One of my abilities that I find myself frequently using is my copying ability. Which essentially means I can copy and ability I see and use it to my advantage. This ability is a rare one and rightfully so. The thing is I can only keep up to 5 copied, so stealing a new one isn't always a risk I want to take when it makes the oldest ability disappear.

I don't visit my mom's grave quite often because I feel that her necklace makes it seem like she's always with me. Whenever I do come and see her I absolutely relish in it. Seeing her makes the things stressing me out disappear. I really do miss her.

I sigh and turn around to lie on my back. Almost like I'm lying with her. I talk to my mom about how everything has been. Which was short since life's been pretty uneventful. The only thing that stuck out was that mom and I's favorite café had shut down. It had really gotten me down.

My neck hair rises and Naelah's ears twitch as if she's heard something. All of a sudden she shoots up and growls into the distance. I get up and square my shoulders and tilt my chin up with a guarded expression. I knew that whatever or whoever it was wasn't going to hurt me. If they were going to, then my combat clairvoyance would have picked up on it.

"A message for Qetsiyah." I face a little boy in a cape.

"Yes?"

"You are to Head to Ronsq, Mandisya. Check in at Kraslow's Inn and your team will get its task at 7:05 am on Tuesday." The boy disappeared and I made my way back into my house with Naelah following close behind me.

I grabbed a go bag that was already set up for travel and I added a couple of extra things. I didn't bother saying goodbye to my father or my sister, Lorena, because we have a custom of not saying goodbye.

In 2 days I would start my first mission. I couldn't wait.

The tricky part was finding a realm door.

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Did you drink some water today? If not, then you know what you need to do

Thank you for reading this chapter! It means a lot to me and don't forget to vote.