City of Magische Geschöpfe [Complete]

Chapter 21: A Budding... Something

Jacob:

Just as Ally had said a few days ago, once Tay was well enough we would regroup, whatever that meant. We weren't a group in the first place, so I wasn't quite sure how to regroup. But whatever. I would follow Ally's whim. Nothing much else to do anyway.

Thing was we didn't regroup for quite a while. It turns out that Ally wasn't the only important person in the game, but Roman was as well. I attended a few of the meeting and plans with Ally, but stopped quite quickly. It wasn't that I didn't want to go. Oh no. I found them plenty entertaining. It was more the way others saw me.

It was as if I was some sort of new and exotic pet. Or perhaps a young child. It wasn't that I was below them, as such, but rather that I was not at their level. the way one wouldn't regard a toddler at something lesser, but certainly wouldn't give it all the freedoms and responsibilities of an adult. It was as if I was a toddler and no one except Ally or Roman had ever seen a toddler before.

Taylor, of course, charmed everyone the moment he stepped out of the door and yawned. I was the oddity and he was the darling. He still wasn't . . . an adult yet, if I was going to continue with that analogy. He was like a favorite child. He was the favorite of the two of us if my parents were ever forced to choose too, so I suppose it kept with that trend.

I wasn't angry, per-se. Sure I felt a twist of irritation or a pang of jealousy when everyone cooed over him, but I knew deep down I didn't want that. Not truly. Too much attention was tiring and draining and could make me panic. So perhaps it was for the better.

I also felt myself warming up to Roman. The guy worked hard and magically strode into the room just when people got to close to Tay, as if summoned by magical mind waves from the guy. He was always there, without fail, to fish Taylor out of whatever mess he had managed to get himself into, whether it was flirting too much or snarking the wrong person at the wrong time.

I started to suspect that Tay was doing this shit on purpose, sometime even crossing a room to strike up a 'casual' conversation with someone or start a scene out of nothing. Then, when Roman came rushing in to fish him out, he immediately started sassing him. There was really no other word. Acting as if being around him was the worst thing but then he'd do it again. I watched this dance, bemused by the utter ridiculousness of it all.

So now, days later, I was sitting here, listen to Roman explain the dynamics and rules of this place and how it all worked. And I was surprised when I found it rather . . . interesting.

Taylor:

"The six senses," Roman starts to explain.

"Six? There are only five." Jay interjects.

"Well, yes. You deemed the sixth invalid. Emotions or the innate senses. A gut feeling. The ability to sense others feelings and act accordingly." Explains Roman.

"Oh."

"So all these different aspects of the sixth sense were all thrown together. Only the head family at mastered them all." He continues. "Most of that family is dead or scattered into the wind. Alleacia was the only one left with an at least partially known location. That's why we needed her. That, and she was correct so her exile was wrong anyway. We were proven to be fools."

"Huh, so where do you belong? Which Sector?" I ask.

Roman looks at me with a little smile, putting me slightly off balance. "You have not figured it out yet?"

"Well, I know you were some sorta big-shot guy at the Majesty, but you have to presumably been born in a Sector, no?" I half ask, half guess.

"Yes." He looks me dead in the eyes. "Sector Six. Same as Alleacia. Grew up side-by-side."