Electric Blue Rose - Book One. [COMPLETED] Undergoing Edits

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Untapped Potential

Jade's eyes widened as her eyes adjusted to the size of the castle. It stretched for miles, surrounded by mature trees, iron fences, and tall brick buildings with rounded tops that stood higher than some of the mountains Jade had seen. Each window had a different intricate pattern depicting one of the many stories about the Enlightened. A large drawbridge lay at the entrance.

"You've had those wide eyes since you were just a baby," the Enlightened whispered, admiring her expression. "Come on, let's go inside and talk." Speechless, she followed. No wall was left empty, artwork decorated the entire castle, and lush carpets cushioned her feet in every twist and turn of the castle. A few of the staff gave her curious looks, but no one stopped working to acknowledge it. A large staircase split in two, each leading to a different wing. He led her just under the staircase, where large wooden doors led into a giant office. The impressive room was lined with bookshelves filled to the brim. A desk as large as a dining table sat in the middle of the room, and various couches were set up around the room. A large meeting table was off to the side with dozens of chairs. "I'm sure you have a ton of questions, hm?" They sat down on one of the couches. Jade's lips trembled as she tried to process everything. One moment she was a Serf, then she was a healer, and the next moment Jade gets dragged out of class and learns she is the Enlightened's daughter? Jade stood up, her eyes meeting his. All of it seemed too far-fetched to be true. Jade couldn't stand it anymore. She started to cry. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop. Part of her struggled to believe a word he said, the other part feeling like, for the first time, all the pieces started to fit together. "Gem, come sit. Everything's okay."

"Why do you keep calling me that? You have to be mistaken. There is no way I can't be. I." Her eyes met his, the same eyes as she stared back. Her lip quivered, and she shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense. I-. How are you not so disappointed that this is how your daughter turned out."

The Enlightened crossed over to her. "It's taking everything in me not to go smite everyone who made you feel this way. Gem, it's the name I gave you when you were born. I knew I wanted to name you after one of the beautiful gemstones in our land, but I couldn't decide on one, so I settled on Gem, but Jade, it suits you."

"I'm just a Serf," Jade whispered. "No one will ever see me as more than that."

"I see more than that, and soon this kingdom will see more than that." He smiled, looking at her.

"The kingdom?" Jade asked.

"Jade, you're Findere's firstborn royal. Once you're done at Omega 5, we have a whole array of royal training that will have to begin."

"Royal? No, I-." It hadn't clicked until then. If she was the Enlightened's daughter, then, of course, she is the Princess of Findere. "No one will ever respect me as their princess. Even the Serfs of Inanis looked down on me. All I had was my dad-," she froze.

"Don't censor yourself. I know there is no way your mother would have shaped you into this. This girl who spares the emotions of others, who cares so deeply, your dad must be an extraordinary man."

"He is." Jade agreed.

"I'd like to meet him, but maybe first I could get to know you more?" Jade forced a smile and nodded. She couldn't help but want to get to know him more too. "Dad is reserved for him, but call me Topaz."

"Okay, Topaz," she said obediently. "Still, I just. I don't know how to be taken seriously as a Princess. I mean, it's been hard enough gaining the respect of the few friends I have."

"Jade, the moment you step forward beside me as the Princess of Findere, as my daughter, no one will ever look down on you again. Do you understand? If anything, they will look down as you walk by."

'I don't want that either," Jade argued.

"There it is, your father's influence," Topaz smiled. Jade smiled in return. "I know this is a lot. Trust me. It's a lot for me to process, too. I never thought I'd see you again, Jade. Then I worried the day I would, well, would be my last day."

"If my mom took me to make me this weapon, what happened? That's what I don't understand?"

"I'm not sure," Topaz admitted. "Why she kept you in Findere at all makes no sense. If I had to guess, it's because your mother fell in love with you. When you have a child, you see them look back at you, knowing that you created them. It's kind of hard not to want the best for them. I saw your mother look at you when you were born. Either she puts on a great act, or there was great love."

"Well, she had a funny way of showing her love then," Jade frowned. "Especially making me a Serf in Inanis? That hardly seems like the best choice."

"No, but Amorio does."

"You think Amorio is the one who influenced her to keep me here?"

"It's as good of a guess as I have," Topaz said.

"In your vision, she mentioned something about the Solutin's?"

"The Solutin's are a clan. Thousands of years ago, they believed me to be a monster and tried to cast me out. However, with the backing up of my people, the Solutins were met with disdain. They were cast out of Findere, or so we thought. They have manipulated abilities to create one generalized one. We've nicknamed it Darkness. What they named it remains a mystery. They are our only enemy. We went on for centuries thinking we eradicated them until your mother's confession."

Jade looked away, "So, that means I'm part of that clan?"

"You share your mother's blood, but the kindness in your heart brings you as far from the Solutin's as you can be." Topaz looked at her, studying her expression. "Has it happened? Have you seen a black aura merged with your own?" Jade's eyes widened, nodding in bewilderment. "Well, that is the darkness ability. However, Amorio may very well be the one who is keeping you from embracing it. You see that ability comes from a dark place, and after visiting your memories, I can see what stemmed it, but you always return to him."

"It isn't only that ability." Topaz perked at this. "I'm pretty sure I drew an aura from a plant. I saw another shade of green that I removed from the plant. It looked like a dewdrop, but it entered my aura. I." Jade raised her hand and took a deep breath, she turned her hand, and the aura came forward. Topaz approached it, watching it as it twirled around her. His smile brought her some comfort. "Am I mistaken then?" Jade said, relief in her voice.

"No, you're not, and you are, as I suspected. A multi-wielder, like me," Topaz smiled.

"What?" Jade's face dropped. "Multi-Wielder? No, I've only wielded healing, and I noticed some auras."

"Place your hand on the ground, focus that energy back, and focus it on the ground," Topaz directed. Jade nodded. Closing her eyes, she refocused her energy, bringing forth the dewdrop aura from her wrist, and letting it extend out of her fingers and enter the ground underneath her. "Open your eyes, Jade," Topaz directed. Jade did as she was instructed and watched as the tile in his office turned to dirt, sprouting tiny buds of flowers. Jade lifted her hand off the ground and approached the tiny buds. Her heart raced.

"I did this?" She asked.

"Yes, you just created life, the flora wielding Flora?" he teased. Jade chuckled, but her eyes remained. "You have a thing for nature, don't you?"

"Of course, it's remarkable," Jade said, gently brushing the bulb with her finger. "I made this," she said, her voice breathy.

"Would you like to see what else you can do?" Topaz asked. Jade looked up at him and nodded.

"Then let's go see your untapped potential," he said, holding his hand out to her. Jade took it, enjoying the excitement of this discovery.