Destined: 2 Be Continued

4. Alex Proves His Worth

Jeremiah and Heather stepped out of the room they had been arguing in. Alex watched August whisper something to Belle, and both of them snickered. Alex wondered what they were snickering about. Jeremiah cleared his throat. "We're heading to the Rose Palace, am I not correct?" he asked August. August nodded, and left the room. That left a moment of silence between everyone.

"So...how about the weather?" Alex tried. No one responded. Jeremiah tried to, but Heather elbowed him in the gut before he could respond. "What are we even supposed to do?" Was Penny's attempt at a conversation starter, and her attempt was successful.

"Well, once we get to the Rose Palace, which is just an hour or two away, Eden and Portcullis will talk to you, and they'll evaluate your ability with your powers," Heather explained.

"Unless I do that right now," Jeremiah excepted, staring into space. Heather frowned at him, but he just waved it off. He looked at Alex, then turned his face from a blank expression to an excited grin. "Want to see how sw'ood you are?" he asked.

"Sw'ood?" asked everyone else.

"Don't question it. Do you?" Alex considered the question for a moment. What else was he going to do? He didn't see any video games, televisions, or books around, and he didn't just want to sit and talk to two girls. Alex, choosing the obvious decision, nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that'll be cool." Jeremiah stepped out behind Alex and opened another door to another room. Alex followed him through two more rooms before finding an empty room with no windows or anything, and a singular light.

"What do you know you can do?" asked Jeremiah, cracking his knuckles. Alex thought about the question. What did he know? He could fly, act like he was using the Force, increase his speed quite a bit, create a shield...Alex told Jeremiah all the things he knew he could do, just as the young man had asked. Jeremiah seemed reasonably impressed.

Then, Jeremiah punched him in the stomach.

The master of shadow wound up his fist, and Alex assumed he was going to punch him normally. However, a giant fist, made of shadow and the size of Alex, appeared in the air and rocketed towards him. One direct hit later, Alex was lying on the floor, groaning and clutching his stomach. At that moment, Heather came in. She must have heard the wham and Alex crying out in pain. Heather saw Alex on the ground and hid her face in her hands.

"Jeremiah, seriously?" she chastised, thrusting her hands out. Trails of golden dust came from her mouth and fingers, aiming for Alex's stomach. On contact, Alex felt immediately better. He stood up again. "Thanks," he gratified to Heather. She made a small salute that said no problem and leaned against the wall. Alex and Jeremiah just stared at her, so she gestured that they continue.

"Next time, softer," Alex recommended. Jeremiah gave a thumbs-up and did the exact same punch on Alex. This time, Alex summoned wind to form a dome around him, and the shadow fist dispersed once it touched the shield. Cool, Alex couldn't help thinking. "Hold that," Jeremiah requested, and Alex followed his order. Jeremiah then punched the shield with more than six times the force, and that time, it was the shield that dispersed. 

Alex decided to go for an attack, knowing it was a stupid decision. He made a whirlwind and shot it towards Jeremiah. When the whirlwind should have touched the master of shadow, however, it just went right through. Alex was confused. "How did you do that?" he asked. Jeremiah shrugged and created nine swords, all made of shadow. He made them collectively go for a slash, and Alex blocked it with his wind shield.

"That's the ticket!" Jeremiah cheered. He seemed pleased that Alex blocked his attack. Jeremiah spun, clockwise, and the swords all stabbed for Alex. Alex blocked them again, then went for another attack. Jeremiah still somehow evaded the whirlwind attack.

"What the nelly? How are you doing that?" Alex asked. Jeremiah shrugged again, then made a clapping motion. Two giant shadow hands clapped Alex in a vice grip. Alex grunted and struggled in the grip, but Jeremiah's shadow hands refused to let go. "Let him go," Heather commanded. Jeremiah did what she commanded, and Alex started taking deep breaths.

"You'll be fine," Jeremiah told him, then left without another word. Heather tended to Alex, making sure he was as all right as Jeremiah said he was. After confirming that Jeremiah spoke the truth, Heather left Alex with his thoughts in that empty room. Eventually, after working out how they got peanuts into the shells, Alex left and started looking for everyone else. They were a couple rooms closer to the engine, all sitting in comfortable chairs.

"Where's Jeremiah?" Belle asked. Jeremiah walked in from behind Alex. "Oh."

"How much farther than the Rose Palace?" Jeremiah asked.

"You can see it from the window."

"Excellent. What time is it?"

"Seven thirty."

"Good." The conversation ended there, and Alex and Jeremiah sat in chairs themselves. Alex took turns looking at Penny, then at the seat, then Penny again, and so on. Jeremiah Looked like he wanted to say something, but each time he opened his mouth, he would close it again, as if anything he said wouldn't be that funny or worthy of saying.

Suddenly, startling the pants off of Alex, a voice came in from the ceiling, "ROSE PALACE, HO!" Alex stood up and looked out the window. A completely normal-looking building was outside, covering the view. "That looks like a normal building," Alex doubted.

"If it didn't look like a normal building, people would want to go see what it was," Jeremiah shot back, winning any argument against his point. Alex sat back down. A few moments later, there was a loud CLACK! and everyone was elevated a little off their chairs. Jeremiah stood and opened the wall, letting everyone else walk out before taking up the back.

"Well, Alex and Penny, this is the Rose Palace," Jeremiah reminded them, pointing to the ordinary-looking building. "Is it everything you hoped and dreamed?"

"Not in the slightest," they both answered bluntly.

"Well, I appreciate your honesty. Come on, I'll introduce you to Eden and Portcullis."