Telestic (The Transcendent File_002)

22. This is me

"Lost princess will rise again. She defeated him once. She will defeat him again. The fallen prince won't see her coming. He defeated her once too. Don't forget that small detail. His weakness is her. He's her greatest strength – the one that kept pushing her to be better. Her weakness is family. Together they form the lost prophecy. No such thing as a dark prophecy. They say that if you can transcend and battle together – the darkness can be defeated once and for all – and possibly both of them come back alive. A lost princess she may be but she has always been the warrior breaking out of her chains. A dark prince he has always been."

- Transcendent Book of Life

A pack was made last night.

An unbreakable bond formed.

Stars aligned.

Prophecies discovered

Seems like a typical day in Willoughby – except it is far from typical.

"Ms. Kolding, thank you for joining us for class. Thought you were throwing away your life. And I see you brought Ms. Chambers and Mr. Vincent along for the ride? What did I do right as a teacher?" ridicules Mr. Abernathy as he directs us to our seats with a stern frown etched in his face; along with his furrowing brows.

Knowing it was a rhetorical question, I sarcastically reply with, "I thought our appearance would be a treat. Did you miss us? Surely life was pretty bland without us in it, am I right? How did you all manage to survive without us? So are we going to learn or what? We can gladly leave if all you care about is our personal lives." Kids' jaws drop all around me. Mr. Abernathy looks at me as if he just got the air knocked out of his lungs. "Ms. Kolding...I do not know what you aim to accomplish her, but some students would surely like to learn and graduate with their class in May; and go to either a community college here in Willoughby or an out-of-state university. So, without further ado, have a seat and keep your mouth shut for the remainder of class."

"I'm trying to maintain a normal life on top of a supernatural-crime-fighting-war-igniting life. Is that too much to ask for, Mr. Abernathy? I just found out that my not-so-dead brother is alive and is quite literally the colossal pain in the ass that has caused me all my issues in the last two years. Try swallowing that pill. Hard, right? I have to fight and take down my brother in order to survive. To be quite frank, I thought that if I came back to school for a split second that I could forget the crazy, sinister chaos running amuck in Willoughby – but you ruined that. All a girl wanted was to learn a little history." I say as I lounge back in my seat with my arms crossed firmly across my chest.

His bottom lip quivers for a momentary lapse of judgement before repositioning himself and clearing his throat. Students all glue their eyes on the teacher and me waiting for the next remark. Confidently, I assumed that he'd write me up like a normal teenager with hormone issues and send me to the principal's office – but here we are – at a silent standstill. "Class...open your books to page 333 and read until page 335. We will discuss it once you have all completed it." A smug look registered on Poppy's face when she mouth's nice job, Kolding. Didn't think you had it in you?!

I smile while mouthing, have you met me, Chambers? I'm quite extraordinary. Magical if you must know. He had it coming. One normal day. Is that too much to ask for?

She shakes her head before jotting down some notes that our teacher wrote on the board. Mikey copies the notes down before leaning in and asking, "Did you have to take it that far, Em?"

"He asked, I answered."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I say as I unfold my arms. "He shouldn't ask questions knowing someone will be a smart-ass and answer them."