Selection (Book 2 of P.O.E. chronicles)

Chapter 6 Crossroads

“The Academy had been in a lock down since then.” Nirmal said after a pause, giving us some times to recover. ”The POE world had been in an upheaval about the incident. No one had come out and claimed responsibility for the action, but the act had encouraged many others in POE trafficking.”

My mind fleet back to the group we ran into earlier in the day and their thoughts. However how would they make it work?

“Surely they can escape.” Casey said with a frown. Nirmal sighed and tapped her fingers on the desk.

“Yes, they can.” She said, and quickly spoke again before Casey could interrupt her. “But there are POEs out there with the power of compulsion who can controls them and force them to do whatever they want them to.”

My eyes bulged and the memory of such an entry in Mr. Andrewson’s notebook came back to me. It was one of the more rare powers in the Mentalist’s section. Only a handful of people have the ability to do so and the extent of this power on people varies. Unless there are a family out there with this legacy power…

The sheer evil and horror of such a thing made me shuddered. It’s such a cruel thing to stripe away someone’s freedom, and to do this to your own kind…

“You have two choices right now.” Nirmal said. “Either forgets about everything, and stays here. I can offer you a job inside the Ganesh family and you will all be well hidden with a new identity. And when everything die down you can go back to your families.”

I bit my lips. This sound safe; but god knows how long things could drag on for with this ‘war’. My family’s face flashed through my mind and I knew they would be worried sick with my lack of e-mails.

“Or…” Nirmal continued, “You can try to make your way back to the Academy. Mr. Andrewson could really use your help right now; and I am sure you still have a lot to learn in terms of your power. There will also be answers that you are looking for, regarding your friends and families, but it won’t be easy.”

“Say we take the second option, what would we have to do?” Oscar asked, surprising everyone. Who would have thought Oscar of all people actually cared about anything other than food.

“Again, you will assume a new identity, and trek west via different missions back to Pax. It’s your safest bet.”

I tried my best to conjured up a map of the world; but to be honest I had little idea of where I was right now let alone how far away we were from Pax. My friends who had more ideas than I do were still in thoughts around me; I knew in my heart which option I would choose. I wanted my friends to stay with me on our next lag of journey, but I also knew that this choice could be life-altering, for all of us.

“I choose the second option.” Oscar said, breaking the dense silence, determination laced in his voice; that was as much emotion as I had ever seen from him. The image of his little sister’s face came up in my mind. Little Olivia. He must be worried about her with the conflicts going on and his family being an ocean away.

“Me too.” I agreed quietly. The faces of my family and friends vivid in my mind; I couldn’t just sit and wait for everything to be over not knowing what was happening to them. I clutched onto Mr. Andrewson’s notes harder. I might not be strong now, but I will practice until I was strong enough to protect the ones that I care about.

“And me.” Tom’s voice rang behind me and I turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. I knew he would choose the more challenging path, the one laden with dangers and adventures. Like a wildfire, this guy can’t be contained.

I could hear Natalie and Fred in a small argument behind me. Fred wanted Natalie to stay, but she wanted to stick with everyone, which obviously is growing in numbers. I actually would rather Natalie and Evanna stay behind. That way we will know that they are safe; especially Evanna, we owe her too much already.