Heather's Adventures: The Search for Maxamus

Chapter 81. Destiney

So here we go again.

New day, new school. Same old me.

And this time in the real world.

No powers, no fun. Just me and a bunch of normal people in the real normal world. My new name - Destiney Moranne. I was no longer Princess Destiney Lavinia Mor of Protiena. I was just Destiney Moranne. Not a lightning mage, not a teleportation mage not even a princess. Just Destiney Moranne. Thirteen year old normal human.

Just Destiney.

Was I wrong, giving up my family to help Max? I don't know. Back when I first got in this stupid 'hide the princess-protection-program-designed-by-mother-dearest' thing, him and his sister were my only friends. Now I've moved so much I've never really bothered to make new friends.

Brutus drove me to my new school today. This was his last day as my guard, starting tonight after he picked me up from school I'd have a new guard, Norbert. Brutus still wore his helmet, and now was going to begin his new job as my brother Owen's guard. He said he'd still wear his helmet for my protection. At least he was still here for me for the next few minutes. He was there for me more than my parents were--and my siblings. So much for caring older brothers. Daniel was the only one, and he was gone.

And so my mother went insane. Batshit crazy. Hired a fraud oracle to guide her through these 'tough times' we were facing. But little did I know you have one argument with the oracle because you want to wear a purple dress not some stupid robes for a 'cleansing of the soul' and all the sudden I'm the plague and soon to the downfall of Protiena.

For this being my first time leaving Thera, the world of our magic, to the real world earth, now experiencing this real world, I should've been terrified. Scared. Worried. My powers were limited here, if I could use them at all. I haven't even attempted to use them out here yet.

Yet here I was, not scared. Just...irritated.

I should've asked Max if he'd come visit me-if he'd come find me. Maybe that's just the damsel--princess in me speaking, wanting to be saved, rescued if you will. Because this isn't the princess story you want to hear. No one wants to hear it. There's no handsome prince, no magical beautiful castle I get to live in -- nor a magical kingdom. No evil step mothers, talking animal companions. No cool fights or magical powers.

Just me.

Destiney.

Just me. A banished princess from her own kingdom. By her own mother.

The uniform was stuffy, the hallways seemed cramped as usual. This was just another new school, another 'new me' or however that saying goes. Except I wasn't starting over. I wasn't moving on.

Not this time.

By day the world got to experience the perfect little "Destiney", and at night I'd train.

It began as a slow progress, I'd simply teleport me and my guard to somewhere in Thera every night. And my guard told Brutus to meet me, so I began to train with Brutus once again.

"You can do this, use your powers to call a thunderstorm. You feel the wind. You just need the electricity." Brutus told me as I stood there in my training outfit in the rain. My dirty blonde hair was now soggy, along with my magenta high-tops. And my training cloak didn't even bother to keep my shoulders dry at this point. "I've seen Daniel do it. You're just as strong a mage as he was."

I stood there and shook my head at him, out of breath from running and trying, "Daniel is gone. He's been gone since I was six. That's why I was banished by my mother!"

"He's not gone, you believe that. I know you do! You're convinced he's out there somewhere. Part of you still believes because he never came home and told you that he'd come home that he'd come back to you! So when he comes back do you want to be some lost princess or do you want to be Princess Destiney Mor, a strong powerful lightning mage?! You also told me you wanted to prove to the Merrywell son that you're strong too, are you going to let him think that you followed through and sacrificed it for him? Or are you going to prove him wrong that you're much more than a political pawn?"

"Daniel and Max both had trainers, you're just a body guard how am I supposed to figure this stuff out? I can teleport, I can run, and now I'm all soggy in the rain!" I shouted back over the wind.

"Are you Princess Destiney Mor or are you Destiney Moranne?" Brutus shouted back at me, "You told me you wanted to be stronger, so now you've gotta put the work in. Are you going to meet up with the Merrywell heir, or are you going to be just a lost princess with a crush?"

I shook my head, "I don't have a crush on him, and I'm going to be Destiney. Not princess, not Mor, and definitely not Moranne. I'll be Destiney of Protiena, lightning mage. I don't need a last name to be a mage, I just need something to call myself. And that's Destiney."

"Prove it! Then Prove it!" Brutus shouted back at me. "To me it looks like you're just a wannabe princess but too lost to see it!"

"I'll prove it when I want to prove it!" I screamed back at him.

Brutus took out a glass sphere that had a fushia hue to hit and threw it at me. I nearly missed it, it danced along my fingertips as I fumbled to catch it. He then threw what appeared to be a small fragment of a crystal at me. I was unable to catch that since I was holding the sphere, so the crystal just hit my shoulder. It then bounced off and began to levitate and revolve around me. "That small crystal is an inhibitor item. It'll act as a catalyst to strengthen your power in exchange for your energy and strength. You can recover your strength and energy, the item will just allow you to use it up more quickly. That sphere should prove worthy to your liking as long as you remember your abilities."

I flicked the crystal up so it would revolve around the top of my head, "right. You said you wanted a lightning storm right?" I held the sphere up, closed my eyes and did my best to focus, "Well, have a lightning storm!"

A single bolt of lightning came down from the clouds, striking the sphere in my hands. I was in shock. I haven't ever done this before.

A loud roar of thunder followed the strike, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the muddy ground. I had done it. I caught the lightning. No, I made the lightning. I made it!

"Brutus! Did you see that? I did it! I made the lightning!" I shouted as I stood back up.

"Now do it again. One strike isn't a storm! A mage with your power capacity can do way more than that. You've gotta compete with Miss. Heather Mellissa of Issola if you want to see the young Merrywell son again. Remember? He was after her. She's a child prodigy with fire. I heard her power in battle was at the strength of a fully trained battle sorceress, the only reason she was ranked so low was because she needs skill trainings and to learn how to wield her power. You want to have friends? You have to earn them!"

"I'm strong too! If she doesn't need royal blood to be strong, well neither do I! I can train and learn things too!" I shouted as I attempted to make more lightning appear. I was able to make two bolts appear this time.

Brutus simply smiled from below his armored helm, "See Dest? You're a natural mage. You just need to believe in yourself. Now make it bigger. Make this the biggest storm you can. Make everyone who didn't believe in you see that they were wrong. You are a brilliant mage!"

And so I did. I made the biggest storm I could. So much so the lightning and the thunder was generating on its own.

Once Brutus was satisfied, he had me create a huge portal and send it through somewhere in Thera. I wasn't sure exactly where and why, but he said that was the place to release it so no one got hurt. Thera mages thought of a storm as nothing more than a training exercise, that's what he said.

Prove them wrong.

Be a brilliant mage. That's what he told me at night.

And that's just who I was going to be.

Destiney. A brilliant lightning mage.