Cards Of Power

Chapter Three

I approach the open window to ask the driver if my friend can come along. He has no problem with it and Nickolas and I both get in. We grab some of the boxes and bring them in the store which was likely unlocked by the lady or our roommate. Luckily it's Sunday so the store is closed today. Once we get everything out of the truck we bring things upstairs. Nickolas grabs his stuff and picks a random room so I pick the other. It doesn't take long for either of us to unpack our clothes so I plug my charger into the wall and put my bathroom stuff in the bathroom before heading to the kitchen. Nickolas is already there starting to put things away. "Here let me help," the blonde says walking in after me. "Thanks," Nickolas replies. We talk a little bit and all we get is his name is Zaire and he seems so nervous that I can't help but wonder what he's thinking. I remember that thinking like that allowed me to read Nickolas' mind and I imagine the jack of diamonds. The card appears and glows a bit then disappears. How am I going to keep my powers hidden from both of them? This was supposed to be a good place for me to become a superhero but now what? My eyes widen a little bit and I speak. "We're just like you. We also have powers."

"What?!" Zaire turns to look at me with wide eyes. "Allow us to introduce ourselves and explain some things," Nickolas says looking surprised but then calming down. "My name is Nickolas but both of you can call me Nick if you'd like." After Nickolas or rather Nick explains what happened yesterday Zaire visibly relaxes and I tell them what happened to me which led to me getting my powers and meeting them. "I can't believe those heroes would just throw you under the bus like that." "Well they are hotshots with money and power to back up the reputation they have. For most of my old group it was about fame and glory." Nick smiles and speaks again, "clearly they weren't really my friends and if it weren't for them trying to ditch me I wouldn't be here now with real friends. So we've told you a lot about our powers what are yours?" "Well it's a bit hard to explain. The people who taught me about the world of heroes and everyone else in my life calls my powers astral visions." We finish putting everything away so we head to the living room.

Once we sit down Zaire continues speaking, "I can constantly see stars. In the daytime it's usually vague impressions of where someone or something is. Obviously it's better at night and clearest when the stars are visible." "So basically you see stars on things kind of like a radar," I ask. "Pretty much, for example I can see the two of you but there's also light from the star on you." "You said it worked on objects, could you find what was stolen?" "I can only see things I've really seen. I should also mention that since my powers aren't all that useful I've taken boxing." "How exactly do people find out about the hero stuff?" "There's multiple ways. I was born into the world of superheroes. There is people everywhere involved to help find people with powers," Nick responds. "I'm one of the latter. A few years ago I developed my powers and told my parents. They didn't believe me and when my powers got stronger they sent me to a therapist. Luckily the therapist knew about the hero world and told me and my parents about it. Heroes like us register with the government or something and they pay us for doing hero work. Although I only registered a couple weeks ago so I'm being paid just for registering."

"Now that Alyssa is all caught up and I now know I can trust you there's no need for me to use this illusion." "Wait what," I ask looking at Nick confused seeing his normal brown skin, incredibly short black curly hair, and dark brown eyes. "I can control who sees the illusion I create. Before I didn't know I could trust Zaire so I made him see me differently. By the way this has nothing to do with superheroes or anything but Zaire I find you incredibly attractive." Zaire blushes bright red. "W-well I'm straight but you seem nice and I'm willing to try." "You have no idea how happy that makes me," Nick says with a grin. The three of us spend the next couple of hours getting to know each other and playing some random card games we found that are likely from the lady who used to live here. After we have enough of games we decide to go downstairs so Zaire can explain what we do for work here. "I'm pretty sure you guys already know what to do so all I have to say is we hardly have customers and we have some weird hours. All I ever really do is dust or I'm on my phone."

We both nod and I speak, "so it's probably pretty boring around here right?" Zaire smiles and replies, "yup. Come to think of it Alyssa hasn't registered at all and we might be able to convince some of the people there of Nick's innocence. Also I have a question." "That's a good idea but it could be risky if it doesn't work," Nick replies. "What's your question," I ask. "You both said Alyssa can change people's appearance and Nick said he can make himself look different so I wanted to know what the difference is." "Well my powers are illusions which means none of it is real. Making myself look different in someone's eyes is just one of the many things my illusions can do." Nick snaps his fingers and another Zaire appears. "Wow," Zaire exclaims as he reaches out putting his hand through his doppelganger. Nick smiles before becoming serious again, "it's already afternoon and I'd wager it's best we put our plan into action as soon as possible. It sounds like you have some sort of plan?" "There's a building where we can register to be superheroes. I found out about it through the therapist." I glance at Nick to see him looking surprised.

"Did you not know that buildings like that exist," Zaire asks his blue eyes wide. "The last time I had to let the government or whoever is in charge of that know I exist and what my powers are I was eight and my parents did it for me," Nick says looking away like he's embarrassed. "Zaire can we go to this place now since Nick thinks the sooner we do this the better?" "Yeah it should still be open. Get your shoes on and meet me outside. I'll drive." "You can drive," I ask. Zaire nods before speaking, "my family runs a car dealership so I learned a lot about vehicles when I was younger including how to drive them. The second I was able to take the driver's test I did and aced it." "I see." I go into my room and put on some sneakers then head outside. I see Nick and Zaire waiting by a dark grey car. "It's not the biggest vehicle by any means but it drives well and it's got heat and air conditioning. I'd also say it's pretty comfortable," Zaire says looking at the car. "I call shotgun," Nick says. I roll my eyes as he opens the back door and I get in. "I will admit it is pretty comfortable in here," I say as I buckle up. In about fifteen minutes we arrive at a building that looks like some sort of office building.