We were finally back at the house.
The moment we got inside, Freya started demanding answers.
"What happened?"
She looked at all of us, waiting.
A television was playing quietly in the background, it was in the news channel. A news report was showing footage of a building engulfed in flames.
The reporter spoke over the footage.
"Authorities are currently investigating multiple fires reported across the city within the last hour. While no official cause has been confirmed, several civilians have begun speculating that rogue Elementalists may be responsible."
The footage changed to another fire.
"Can someone tell me what the fuck happened?" she asked again.
Arielle couldn't sit still. She was pacing moments ago now she sat down but she kept fidgeting with her hands, her eyes moving between everyone.
Henry finally sighed.
"Fine."
He began explaining.
He filled Freya in on everything that had happened at the academy. The fight with Dennis, the strange changes in his strength and Qi. The man who appeared afterward. The attack. The program. Everything we had discovered.
Freya listened with all ears.
When Henry finished, she looked at me.
"This was why you dragged me?"
"Yes" and then i filled her in some more.
The voice, the ring. What happened when I took it off. The spatial awareness, the shadow walking.
Everything I had discovered since then.
Freya stared at me for a moment.
"I did feel something different about you," she said quietly. "But I never would have imagined this."
Neither would I.
She looked around the room.
"So what do we do now?"
Henry replied.
"The demon will probably be hunted down. If the academy handles it properly, nobody will ever know what actually happened."
Arielle was still fidgeting.
She suddenly looked up.
"But what happens if the demon makes it back to the demon realm?"
Everyone looked at her.
"Won't the demon king be furious? Won't a war happen?"
The room went silent, no one answered. We all knew she was right.
I walked over to where Arielle was sitting and put my arm around her.
"Nothing bad is going to happen, Ari."
She looked up at me. Our eyes locked.
For a second, neither of us said anything.
There was something between us.
The tension, it was quick.
Something neither Henry nor Freya noticed.
But we both felt it.
Then I pulled away.
"Everyone should settle in," I said. "We should all stick together until this passes."
Arielle agreed.
"but what about our parents?"
Henry shook his head.
"Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to your parents, i'll call my dad to go over to your place so they can all be together"
That seemed to calm her down a little.
Then there was a knock at the door. Everyone froze.
Me and Henry walked up o check.
A delivery guy stood outside.
He handed Henry a brown package.
There was no return address.
Henry brought it inside and placed it on the table.
He opened it, inside was a letter.
It had two names written on it.
James and Freya.
Henry handed it to me.
I unfolded the paper.
There were only a few lines.
James, I'm glad your powers are here.
Freya,I'm proud of you, the woman you've become.
If you want to know more about yourselves, meet me at the Capitol.
The Ensemble Diner.
We all stared at each other.
The Capitol was a day and a half away.
Even if we wanted to go, there was no way we could leave right now.
But the bigger question was who had sent it. Who at the Capitol knew about us? Could it be connected to the person who had given Calcam his orders?
Just more questions. Everything was a mess right now.
I couldn't deal with it anymore.
I went upstairs. Needed space.
Someone broke away from the group talking at the table. It was arielle, she was watching James walk up the step.
She looked like she didn't want to leave his side.
Once I got into my room, I closed the door behind me.
I sat down, trying to relax. It didn't work, couldn't work.
My mind wouldn't slow down.
Eventually, I decided to sit up.
"Hello."
"Answer me."
Total silence ensued, the voice didn't respond.
I waited, still nothing.
I couldn't wait around for it to respond whenever it felt like it.
I decided to test what I had.
Spatial awareness.
I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.
Then I activated it.
The world around me changed.
I could feel them, my friends and my sister. All downstairs. I could sense their Qi.
Then something caught my attention.
Arielle.
Her trace of Mana was stronger than Henry's.
That was new and odd.
I didn't think much about it.
I focused again.
Then I started expanding. The range kept growing.
Seventy meters. Ninety. One hundred.
Holy shit, i was doing it.
One hundred and thirty meters.
Still going. This shouldn't be possible but here i was breaking the boundaries.
Then I locked onto something.
Something moving but somehow felt stationary.
I focused on it, my heart was pacing unusually almost like i was scared.
Don't.
The voice was back, it was firm.
"Why?"
Then I felt a chill.
I knew what it was.
It was a demon. Could it be the same demon? The one that escaped? It had to be.
The thing I had locked onto suddenly stopped.
Then it turned its head.
The voice spoke again.
Because he can sense you back.