Mark sat nervously in his cell, wondering what had just happened. He had been talking with Asha, slapped by her, insulted by her, and then kissed by her. And just seconds after she broke away from him she had received a message and abruptly left the cell with nothing but a simple goodbye, and definitely not an explanation.
Was it something to do with Luma? Mark thought so. It would make sense, really. The girl seemed to have attracted the attention of the Vitae, and whether it was a good or bad thing, he had yet to see.
Indeed, Luma was thinking almost exactly the same thing. But she had already declared herself ready to take the test, and she got the idea that she couldn't back out now.
And besides, Luma really wanted to know. While Cassidie had been the bookworm of the family, Luma had also read a few books for fun, and she clearly remembered that many of them had a similar theme to them: not-quite-normal humans that turned out to possess amazing powers. Not for the last time, Luma couldn't help but hope that relying on fantasy books would be alright.
"Luma? Luma?" she blinked realizing that while she had been spacing out, Kinglyn had been trying to get her attention.
"Oh. I was just thinking, and I got distracted." Luma admitted with slight embarrassment.
"Well, you can sit down now." Asha said, her voice emotionless as always. Luma, cheeks hot with embarrassment, walked to the chair treadmill.
It was raised off the ground, on four legs, like a chair, but larger and the actual seat resembled the old treadmill her father had jogged on, once upon a time. She wondered how it would work. Would she sit on it, or stand, or even run? (That is, if it was a treadmill as she suspected.) But Asha had told her to sit, and so Luma did.
"Alright." Kinglyn's voice was nervous. Luma heard the clicking of buttons being pushed, and then a soft hum coming from the machine.
"Asha?" His voice was quizzical. "Asha, message Finn. We have an issue."
More furious pushing of buttons, this time from Asha's phone. Or at least Luma thought it was a phone, but considering how strange the VItae was, it was probably some sort of magical and technologically advanced item that Luma would have never dreamed of. For once though, it wasn't. It was referred to as a Tek-Disk, and had all the capabilities of a normal phone, plus a few fancy extensions.
Barely a few seconds after Asha finished typing, her phone dinged- once, twice, three times.
"He and Carressa are just finishing up their lunch break." Asha said by way of explanation. "Oh- and Carressa messaged as well. She want's to know if she can come over too." Kinglyn rolled his eyes. "Let's make it party then. Let the whole organization know!" He said sarcastically. He dropped his facade within seconds. "Alright then."
"What about Emersyn?" asked Asha anxiously.
"What about her?" Kinglyn asked in turn, completely oblivious.
"Well, she was just as much of a part of the mission as Carressa. More so, actually." Asha paused. "And besides, she was with you before." Internally, Asha cursed her selfishness, as well as Kinglyn's tendency to be completely oblivious. Emersyn was such a bright, happy, and eager person, exclusion was her greatest fear, something she had confessed to Asha long ago.
Kinglyn thought this over for a moment. "I suppose so. Go ahead and message her."
Asha began typing immediately.
Em- There's a problem with the machine you and Finn designed last year (I don't remember the full name.) Finn and Ressa are coming over to look, and Kinglyn invited you as well. Asha stopped writing her message, suddenly frozen. She had always signed off before with a little heart and her name, but the realization that she might be love with Emersyn overwhelmed her, and she felt as though that little heart meant too much. Asha quickly pressed send before she overwhelmed herself further.
Another ding from the Tek-Disk informed Asha that Emersyn had responded.
MSD_model12_RCV
Say what?
The machine name.
Nevermind. Are you coming?
Already here. Asha blinked in confusion and looked up.
Just seconds after she received Emersyn's last message, the door swung open, and three more people walked into the purely white room.
The first one was Emersyn, whose grin at Asha made the huntress's heart melt. The second one was Finn, a black haired older man and senior mechanic. The third was Carressa Copper, a dark skinned woman with purple dreadlocks and a warm smile.
"So, what's the issue?" the purple-haired lady asked, eyes on Kinglyn.
"The readings are... Misleading." He answered.
Finn walked over to the machine, peering at it curiously. "Everythin' looks in order." he said, his rough voice quiet but confident.
"No, that's not what I mean." Kinglyn said, exasperation leaking into his voice. "Look at the screen!"
"He's right." Emersyn said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What's going on!" Luma half-shouted.
"The computer says that you have immense powers..." The person that Luma guessed must be Carressa answered her. "But they only show up all at once, a few days ago. October 5th."
Luma froze. October 5th. The day she had went to the beach with Cassidie. The day that she had reached Nevermore. The day she had met Mark.
"That's only three days ago." Emersyn frowned. Luma jolted upright. That meant...
"It's October 8th?" she blurted out.
Asha nodded wordlessly.
Oh my gosh. "This isn't relevant, but I'm turning 14 on the 13th." They immediately started talking over each other, and Luma was barely able to pick out what they each said.
Carressa smiled at her. "Happy birthday, sweetie."
"You're 13?" asked Asha.
"Turning 14 this Friday?" frowned Kinglyn.
"That's great! Happy birthday!" bubbled Emersyn.
Luma scowled at them all. She was developing another headache, and she guessed it was from all the noise they were creating, when someone released a remarkably loud and shrill whistle. Luma clapped her hands to her ears immediately, but the whistle ended quickly.
They all turned to see that Finn was casually examining at the machine's screen.
"Look at this." Finn said simply. Kinglyn immediately scrambled back to the screen, his wife following.
Luma sighed impatiently. "What now?" she asked. Carressa turned back to her, and sat down cross-legged on the perfectly white floor by the machine.
"Well, while we were all yelling or congratulating you, Finn was sensible. As usual." The older woman rolled her eyes, but she was smiling all the same. "And he found some unusual things."
"What?" asked Luma, unable to hold back her curiosity. "What is it?"
"Magic, Luma." Emersyn had also sat on the floor by Luma. "You're magic.
"And you had magic traces before October 5th."
Luma froze again, thinking of when she had viewed the city of shadows years before she had been there.
Kinglyn was facing her, a frown on his face. "Luma, we need to seriously talk."
A/N: Okay okay okay! Today's the day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUMA MY YOUNG AND IGNORANT CHILD!
I had picked out her birthday years ago, and I decided I wanted to make her have her birthday during some point during the story. Things lined up, and I decided to publish this on her b-day.
YOU ARE READING
dimensions | original
Adventure[completed] A girl named Luma, only 13 years old, is whisked away in a dangerous shard storm. Barely alive, she lands, exhausted, on Nevermore. On this island she will die- or unknowingly form a powerful alliance with someone who will change her li...
