Irene was angry. She was very, very angry, and Xavier was a little unsure of what to do. Scratch that. He had absolutely no clue what he was supposed to do.
Everything had been so carefully planned out. Even when Irene had to speed up her plans by a few more years in her desperation to retire, everything was still going according to plan.
Irene training Xavier. Teaching him everything he needed to know about spirits, about the "unreal" and the divide between that and the "real." Showing him how to actually fight and not wildly throw punches every time a situation called for one. Take care of him until he was ready to take her position, and even though that last part was maybe a little rushed, Xavier was relatively confident he could do his new job well.
Xavier Kauffmann, sixteen years old, and the brand new Keeper of the German region.
Irene wanted to wait until he was eighteen, but the circumstances changed out of her control. Xavier was sixteen, and the wristguard he always wore on his right hand had a habit of tightening every time Xavier found himself at a crossroads.
Florien, the spirit's name was.
Xavier had a wrist-guard on his left hand, too. Up until the day before, that wrist-guard did nothing but make sure Xavier's hands were steady and he didn't break anything trying to punch someone. Right now, though, the wrist-guard was hot to the touch, just barely short of being too much for him to bear.
Sofia, the spirit's name was.
He was just trying to visit his mother in Spain. This was not supposed to happen.
"I can do what Irene did," Xavier said, speaking up. "I can nullify the bond and pass the spirit off to someone else."
The three adults in the room turned to him. Irene, whose stare did not scare him like it used to. Zhang Lan, who Xavier couldn't help but be nervous of. Lev Azarov, who Xavier decided he liked based on the softness of his aura alone.
Irene opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly, the left wrist-guard grew hotter. It squeezed tightly, and for a moment, Xavier thought his hand was going to be burnt off.
"Ow!" he cried out, scrabbling for the straps of the wristguard. But the wristguard tightened even more, and he couldn't get it off. Xavier had only been burned once in his life, and it was a pain he did not like at all.
Someone grabbed his hand. Xavier shot his gaze up to see Lan kneeling before him. Lan narrowed his eyes at the wrist-guard, and Xavier could feel the uptick of energy in the room.
"Sofia," he said calmly. "Calm down, or else I will make you. Xavier is safe, but you're hurting him."
Xavier kind of wanted to scoot away from Lan at that moment. The energy along with how intimidating he found Lan was not a good combination for him. But Lan had a grip on his hand, and he really wanted the burning to stop.
The wrist-guard squeezed again one more time before suddenly loosening entirely. The heat dissipated, and Xavier slid the wrist-guard off with a breath of relief. There were no signs of the heat on his hand, which he was glad for.
Lan sighed and stood off the ground. "Well, Xavier, it doesn't look like that spirit is going to leave you anytime soon."
Xavier stared. "But why?"
This time, Lev spoke. "Well, from what I've heard from Aaron, his spirit was always a protective one. She loved her humans very fiercely, and whenever she lost one, she clung to the next one even more fiercely. And she did not leave Aaron willingly."
Right. Because Aaron Castellano, the man who was the Keeper of the Spanish region, was murdered.
"Looks like you're going to be keeping that spirit for a while," Lan said, nodding to the wrist guard. "I'm sorry I can't do anything more to help you, but that's just how it is. Xavier, you're now the Keeper of two regions. German and Spanish."
Florien huffed. I do not like this situation.
Sofia growled. I will not leave him.
Xavier was only sixteen.
