It wasn't until after they were all back in the Mayweather's living room that the group realized they didn't know how to contact Elora. All of the times they've come into contact with her she's appeared by herself.
"Do we just like...call her?" asked Asher to the group. "Elora?"
Jayden wasn't sure what he expected. Half of him wanted it to be that easy, and the other half knew that it wouldn't. He bit his lip and looked around the group. It wasn't until this moment he realized how tired he was. Using all the power they did today took a lot out of him, and he wondered if he was the only one that felt that.
"Has anyone even checked on the school?" questioned Selena.
Jayden pulled out his phone and opened up his Twitter. People were in disarray over the state of the gym. Pictures of the glossy wooden floor split open, random trees that sprouted out of seemingly nowhere, not to mention the scorch marks on the ground from where Ander was almost burned to death scattered across his feed. An announcement from the principal was on the official school's Twitter page.
Due to unforeseen and confusing circumstances, it is with great disappointment that we have to cancel school while we repair the damages done to the building. We will resume classes as soon as the building can be repaired. We thank you for your patience and understanding at this time.
"Yeah," said Jayden. "School is closed until further notice due to the damages to the building."
Jayden's phone began to ring and he saw his father's contact appear on the screen. He answered the phone and heard the relief fall over his father's voice that his meal ticket was perfectly safe.
"Jayden are you okay?!" his father asked. "I saw pictures of the school. It looks like a disaster hit there. Do you know anything that happened?"
"No," stated Jayden instantly. "I'm okay, and I don't know what happened."
"I need you home, son," said his father. "Your mother and I need to see you and then we can go train. We can restructure the whole time that you're off school to make for optimum performance when it opens back up"
Jayden verbally groaned and looked at the others in the room. "Dad, I'm dealing with something important. I'm not coming home yet."
"Don't you dare talk back to me-"
"Bye, dad!"
Jayden hung up the phone and gave the others an apologetic look. He quickly held down the power button and watched as the phone shut down. He was embarrassed. His father just saw the school that his son went to in shambles and was only able to pretend for two seconds that he cared.
"I better call my parents too," said Selena.
The rest of the group stepped out of the room to call their parents. Jayden moved over to the couch and leaned his head back against the cushion. He closed his eyes.
Jayden knew one thing for sure. They couldn't just train anywhere. Their powers are amazing but destructive. They can't keep having random trees pop out of nowhere and random tornados that seemingly appear out of nowhere continue to happen without knowing exactly what they are doing.
It reminded Jayden of those superhero movies where the final fight destroys the entire city. You never see the aftermath, but Jayden always imagined the city having to repair the damages every time. They couldn't avoid the fight today, but there had to be more than their powers could do other than destroy everything in their paths.
Eventually, someone was going to catch on.
The others filtered back in slowly after talking to their parents. Selena was the last to join them still on the phone with her mom.
"Mom, I can't come home right now. I need you to trust me. I'll see you later today. I love you a lot." She hung up the phone before her mother had a chance to respond and threw her phone on the couch next to Jayden. She huffed as she came and joined him on the couch, and was followed by the others.
"We need a place to practice," Jayden declared. "We can't just keep going the way it is. We are destructive."
"He's right," said Elle. "We need a place where it's okay to essentially wreak havoc."
"There's a field out toward the outskirts of town?" Asher said. "I used to go there and partake in...extracurriculars."
Jayden sighed. There was no way he was training to save the world in the weed field, not to mention if he was ever caught there his father would have a complete meltdown. That might not be the worst thing. He thought to himself resisting the urge to laugh.
"We will not train in the druggie circle," Elle voiced definitively. "I have a reputation for my parents to semi-uphold and if I start hanging around in the trouble parts of town it's sure to cause issues for my father."
Jayden related to what Elle was saying. He didn't care as much as she did obviously, but it makes sense that she wouldn't want to reflect poorly on her parents. He wracked his brain searching for an answer in the small town of Saffron, and then it hit him.
Jayden has access to a whole world that he controls entirely. Not only can he control it, but he just learned that he could bring others to it if he wanted. His eyes shot open and he looked at the group excitedly. "I think I have a solution."
He stood in the center of the two couches and closed his eyes. He lifted his hands and extended them toward both of the groups sitting and closed his eyes. The next thing he knew he was smelling the sweet flowers and hearing the sounds of the river that ran through the golden meadow.
Jayden had brought them to the Dead World.
"Why don't we practice here?" said Jayden smirking. "We have plenty of room. No destruction that is not reversible, and we can completely let loose of anything that we need to practice. Say, making random tornados that we ride on to appear out of nowhere?"
Jayden shot a teasing look at Selena who glared daggers back at him. She then chuckled to herself and shrugged. "It was pretty badass if you ask me."
The others nodded and before long they were all practicing the basic skills of their powers. It was weird, Jayden had vivid memories of making things turn to dust when he touched them. He recalled bringing monsters the size of cliffs back from the dead, but he couldn't recall how to do it.
No one told them how to use their powers. The ones they can do now are entirely based on self-discovery and luck.
Jayden raised his hand and watched as three zombie warriors appeared in front of him. They saluted as he stood before them and Jayden grinned from ear to ear. "Can you guys feel pain?" he asked.
The shells nodded no, and Jayden looked at the others in the group and nodded his head toward Asher. "Give it all you got until I tell you to stop or he defeats you."
The zombie nodded and ran toward Asher. It had a sword made of bone that was raised above its head. Its skeletal frame was something he'd expect to see in a Halloween store, and it was dawned in a spartan armor suit.
When Asher saw the skeleton coming the way he tensed up before he gathered himself and drew a whip made of water out of the air. He slashed it at the zombie, who blocked the impact with his sword, but Asher continued his attack. The water whip slashed toward the skeleton's feet, toward his head, and soon, the warrior was unsure of where to defend because Asher moved so quickly. It was a simple skill Asher found, but it could be effective in hand-to-hand combat.
He turned his attention to Selena and Judah. Selena was shooting weak lightning bolts toward Judah, and he was catching them in forcefields. Jayden watched as their banter turned from friendship to almost flirty. He wondered if something was going on between them.
"Don't send one of those toward me, please," said Elle. "With my luck, you'd accidentally resurrect Goliath and he'd squash me."
Jayden touched the remaining two skulls and they nodded before turning to dust at his feet. He looked at Elle and smiled. "So what is it that you discovered today?"
Elle sat down on the ground and didn't take her eyes off Judah and Selena. The two were getting closer with each shot that Selena sent his way, and she pushed his shoulder flirtatiously. "Or was there a different discovery that you had today?"
Elle looked at him innocently. Jayden raised his eyebrows and she rolled hers defeated. "I did a bad thing, Jayden."
Jayden sat next to her and she brought her knees up to her chest. "I lied to Selena. I didn't want to, but she put me in such an awkward position. We can't be at odds right now. Especially over something silly like a boy."
"Are these feelings something that Elle had or...what was your old name? Rosemary?"
Elle shrugged. "Who can tell anymore, Jayden?" she said. "We are all who we were, but we are also who we are now. I haven't been able to wrap my brain around what this life is we live currently. Was this the life that we would have lived had we never been picked for the Dominions? Are my parents even really my parents? It would make a lot of sense if they weren't. I am nothing that they think I should be. Maybe that's why I never quite fit in with them."
Jayden was taken aback by the amount of depth Elle had in this conversation. He had talked to Elle a few times, but never heart to heart like this. "So you like Judah. Selena likes Judah. I'm assuming Judah doesn't know of your feelings then?"
"He doesn't," Elle reassured. "Or at least he didn't. Who knows if there's a memory I can't recall with Titus? It's weird. It's like there's only so much room my head can take. Like I either need to be Elle one hundred percent and leave Rosemary in the past or vice versa. I can't remember everything. Can you?"
Jayden shook his head. He hadn't thought about the fact his memories didn't come flooding back. "I'd like to think that the younger versions we met don't want to overwhelm us," Jayden said. "There's a lot of life between the two that we've lived. I would imagine that it would be overwhelming to experience it all at once."
Elle nodded. "I never thought of it that way." She frowned as Judah was now chasing Selena and putting forcefields up to catch her. "I just want today to be over. There's been so much that happened in a few hours and I can't process things until I am home in my bed. I want to shower and just sleep."
"You're not wrong for lying," Jayden decided. "I think keeping the peace is the smartest move," Elle looked at Jayden wearily and he nodded his head reassuringly. "I promise that your secret is safe with me. There's nothing I have to gain by upsetting Selena and you."
Elle reached out her hand and squeezed Jayden's arm. "I appreciate it."
"Think you can do me a favor?" asked Jayden. Dread filled his head as he thought about going home to his parent's house. There was no way with the school being closed his father was going to let him get a minute of free time. All he would do is sleep and train for baseball.
"What's up?"
"Think I could crash at your place for a few days?"
"I think you could crash here for a while," Elle laughed. "My parents are out of town for the time being. I'd appreciate the company. Especially after today and the monsters."
"Thanks, Elle," said Jayden with a smile.
Jayden stood up and was getting ready to close the day when he noticed Elora standing on a hill not too far away from them. When she saw them she walked over and greeted them. "I used to watch you kids play all the time back in Glorianna. It is nice to see you guys enjoying yourselves for a change."
Jayden looked back in the field just in time to see Asher decapitate the zombie monster. He raised his fist in the air and cheered as Judah and Selena applauded from the sides. "You're powers are not just your holding over the Dominions. Your witches and wizards in your own rights. Your group will grow stronger as you learn to work your magic in tune with one another. Tomorrow will be a day of rest for you all, but after that day you will meet me back here and you will start your magic training."
Jayden looked at Elle who looked intrigued. The day that had worn her down suddenly disappeared behind her eyes as she processed what Elora was saying. "So I'm...?"
"Yes," said Elora with a chuckle. "You're a wizard. All holders of the Dominions are magically inclined. Speaking of magic," said Elora. "Mine is draining. There's been a lot of work to do today and my foot in these words is dependent on how much energy I have. I need to recover. I will see you in a day."
Before Jayden or Elle could say anything else Elora disappeared. Jayden motioned for the others to gather around and waited as they ran over. "So, as if having a Dominion wasn't crazy enough, there's more we need to discuss. Elora wants us back in two days to start magic training. We rest tomorrow. You better enjoy it because it sounded like we will be busy for a while."