The Chosen - 9. Legacies

[Chapter 9]

Okay.

So Kilian was a Chosen. I could deal with that. I hope.

I stared around the living room refusing to meet Nathaniel or Ryan’s eyes. It had only been an hour since we had cryptically told Killian to meet us at Nathaniel’s address and “all would be explained”. Ryan wanted to just bring him with us but truthfully I needed some time to get my thoughts together.

One: Killian is Chosen.

Two: We used to be best friends in our past lives.

Three: I despised him.

I hung my head and resisted the urge to just cry but didn’t want Nathaniel or Ryan to think I was mentally unstable. I wasn’t. I just had issues. Hell, I had subscriptions. I mean anyone would if they found out they had to be teammates with the person their mortal enemy. This was going to be a long night.

The doorbell rang. We all made eye contact coming to a silent agreement. We would stay here and Nathaniel would answer the door. The chances of Killian turning tail and bolting if I greeted him were pretty high. I was still trying to decide if that would be a good thing or not.

Voices echoed in the foyer and I glanced at Ryan. He sent me a timid smile. Great. At least the both of us wasn’t getting all teen agnst over this. I swallowed as the footsteps grew closer toward the living room. There was a gasp and I looked up meeting the green eyed stare of Killian. Emotions flashed across his face so quickly that I couldn’t catch them all. The most prominent one that stuck around and made its presence clear was disbelief.

“What the fu-” he said disbelievingly. "Are you fucking serious! It's impossible.” Killian's eyes darted to Ryan and he shook his head, his confusion visibly doubling. “Both of you are Chosen?”

I smirked. Seeing him so rattled was putting me back on familiar ground. “I think we broke his brain.”

“Chad!” Nathaniel barked, leveling me with a disapproving glare.

I ducked my head, properly chastised, but the grin didn’t waver. We watched Nathaniel lead Killian toward an armchair near the coffee table. And wasn’t this just cozy. I took another glance at Killian. Guilt washed over me seeing the expression clouding his face. He was honestly confused. Poor guy. Here we go. We had to explain it to him at some point.

“I’m Warlock,” I began, looking directly at Killian. “I'm the champion of magic. Then and now. I used to be called Emrys. I think we used to be friends. Best friends.”

Killian grabbed his head tugging at his hair in an anxious gesture. “There are all these memories in my head now that weren’t there before. I can see flashes, images, but I don’t know what they are. I recognize you guys in them. It's you, but at the same time not.”

Nathaniel laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. “It’s the memories from your past life trying to find a settlement in your consciousness. Soon they'll assimilate fully and there won't be a distinction from your previous incarnation and your current self.”

Killian studied Ryan, his eyes squinting as if he was trying to see him properly. “I remember Aurek, the Executioner.” He shook his head. “You look different. Younger, less intimidating.”

I snorted. He obviously hadn’t really observed Ryan when he transformed. His shy persona went out the window replaced by the warrior that could shatter concrete with his care hands.

“Why are we here?” Killian asked. He turned to Nathaniel. “I've always had this strange feeling. Something was telling me that I was different. Sometimes it came in flashes of visions and weird dreams.”

I thought back to Killian’s diary that I accidentally read. His words mirrored the entry I read. His response back at the club at my question of releasing his powers made more sense show. 'Show me who I am. I’ve been waiting for you'. He must have been having the same experiences I once had before I was awoken by Nathaniel months ago.

“I know you don’t remember much,” Ryan assured him. “But it will all make sense later after you’ve had some rest. What do you remember so far?”

Killian shrugged. “Mostly, it’s like looking at pictures. Then also there are vague memories and I can remember something clearly. Like I know that Emrys was Warlock, and he was the closest thing to a brother I had.”

We met eyes and turned away.

“...For the most part random flashes is all there is,” Killian continued, after a long thoughtful pause. “I remember we were some type of soldiers. Warriors, who protected people from...monsters?” He let out a small chuckle and ran his hand through his hair. “Man this sounds fucking nuts.”

Tell me about it.

“I'll fill you in on the parts that you may not remember completely,” Nathaniel said. He took a seat on the sofa to face us.

He crossed his legs and looked very sophisticated like a model scholar. Someone must have had etiquette classes growing up. I regarded my own slouched form and straightened up suddenly, earning a strange look from Killian and an eye roll from Ryan. Busted. I felt my cheeks flush and looked down at the floor. I let Nathaniel’s storyteller voice wash over me. He then gave Killian the run down of the same story he gave Ryan about the demons, Earth's early history and Atlantis.

“We were reincarnated to finish what we started,” Killian concluded before Nathaniel even got to that part.

“That’s exactly right,” Nathaniel said surprised. He looked immensely pleased. “The city of Centennial is a virtual hotspot for crossover activity. The seal that separates us from the Ever After is extremely weakened in this area. It's why your incarnations were drawn here.”

I blinked. “So you would say... we live at the mouth of hell? Like a real Hellmouth.”

All three looked at me with the most baffled expressions. Obviously, there were no Buffy fans in the audience. Figures.

“Nevermind,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

Damn. Wasted a good joke on these poor mortals ignorant of the true world that was pop culture. Where was Kevin when you needed him? I tuned back into the conversation as Nathaniel filled Killian in on training and our duties of patrolling and responding to preternatural threats.

Killian looked around. “Have you located Admerion? You guys knew I was Chosen so I guess he's next.”

My head snapped up at the mention of Admerion. I didn't know him but my soul did and the mere mention of his name sent a deep pang in my gut and filled my head with white noise and crawled into my heart like it wanted to explode with something I didn't have a name for.

“Technically we didn’t know you were Chosen,” Ryan said sheepishly.

Fuck that. “What do you remember about Admerion?”

Killian smirked at me. Oh, I really didn’t like him sometimes. “I remember...” he paused, relishing this. I could see it in his eyes. “You two were close.”

“Go on,” I urged, practically hanging on the edge of my seat.

He shrugged. “That’s it.”

I slumped down in the chair defeated. “Oh.”

Nathaniel looked sympathetically at me. “I told you Chad that one day your memories will return and you'll remember Admerion on your own. They Above All have a plan and this is it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I muttered, waving my hand. “I know. Everything in its own time. I’ve seen ten seasons of Stargate. They easily could have rushed the Ancient storyline but they...”

I trailed off at being on the receiving end of the baffled expressions again. Could I ever get a break?

“You okay? You’ve been staring at Killian more intensely than usual. Did something happen at his house the other day?”

I shook my head registering Kevin's voice breaking my internal musing. “No worries, man. Just thinking. Nothing big.”

I couldn’t very well tell him I wondered how Killian being Chosen would work with the current team dynamic. Even though the current team only included Ryan and me.

It was Monday and it had been two days since Saturday, the day I awakened Killian and gained a new teammate. After the meeting at Nathaniel’s, we were given strict instructions to return for team coursework. The Training Emperor was back. I’m really starting to believe that with each new Chosen came a revised and more rigorous training schedule.

Midday California sunlight beamed down us from above in the circular courtyard. If my friends noticed the lack of insults between Killian and me today at lunch, they didn't comment. Kevin obviously noticed and already voiced his suspicions. But he was starting to act like Encyclopedia Brown ever since the Barnes & Noble incident. No mystery was going unsolved around him. Or so he liked to think.

Kevin nudged me with his elbow. I looked at him and those light brown eyes of his were sparkling. I didn’t like it when they sparkled. I narrowed my eyes. He wanted to ask me something. The last favor from him left me wearing orange and picking up trash along the highway. Long story.

“Oh, best friend I love in the entire world,” Kevin said in a sickingly sweet voice, blinking quickly, wait, no, he was batting his eyelashes.

I sighed. “What do you want, Montero?”

He gasped. A dramatic wheeze of air that was too loud and just made me roll my eyes. “Really? Resorting to last names. I’m hurt. I just wanted to ask you to go on a double date with me tonight. Natalie has this friend Paul... and she will only go if her friend goes.”

He said it very rapidly in one breath but I caught the gist. “I don’t know... A blind date Kevin?”

“Please, please, please,” he pleaded, pouting. “I’ll love you forever.”

I turned my nose up. “You already have promised to love me forever before. But I will do it if only to get you to stop looking like that. Now fix your face before people start to talk. You look like Simba when you do that.”

Kevin instantly sobered up, his lips turning down into a frown. “I will overlook that. I'll have you know-”

“Hey Ryan!” I called out, interrupting Kevin, waving to Ryan as he exited the foyer carrying his lunch tray.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and suddenly my body was spun around. Kevin glared at me and pointed his finger at my nose, thumping it lightly. Ouch. Bitch.

“Listen here, you bastard,” Kevin growled in what I like to call his Prison Kevin voice. “No one interrupts me. I’ve taught you better than that. Do I have to ball these fingers into a fist and smack you one? Do you want to be my little jailhouse bitch for today?”

I shook my head. “Prison Kevin can you please get out my face before I make you.”

“I guess I should,” he agreed, backing away. “I don’t want to go back to the joint for killing you. I only just now got parole.”

Ryan sat down next to Liam and asked, “Hey guys, any reason why Kevin was manhandling Chad?”

“Have you ever been to prison Ryan?” Kevin said, his voice deepening again. “Well, I have.”

“Oh no,” Killian muttered. He echoed the sentiments of everyone else at the table. “Here he goes again.”

Enough was enough. I cut off Kevin before he got into his little act again. “Basically Ryan, Kevin is fucking nuts. He likes to pretend that he's done time in prison and gets all thuggish if he’s in a certain mood. We have learned to call that mood pretendinitis. The alternate personality is someone we've fondly named Prison Kevin.”

Ryan, after being my friend for three months, took it in stride. Bless his heart. “How did Prison Kevin originate?”

We all looked at each other. “Becky Abrams borrowed one of his crayons one day in class. Kevin told her that borrowing was for pansy’s and that in the joint you didn’t get to borrow anything, you had to steal it. He took all her crayons and made her cry.”

“How old were you guys?” Ryan asked. He looked at Kevin in equal parts pity and awe.

I frowned. “We were nine...”

“And a half!” Kevin added.

I sighed and the sound joined the others made by everyone else.

“You are lucky you're cute,” Kim muttered, stabbing her chicken patty.

The end of the school day felt like it arrived faster than usual. The last bell rang half an hour after three and school officially ended for the day. After saying goodbye to Kevin and promising to meet him later, I drove myself to Nathaniel’s. Killian had already offered to drive Ryan over so that left me riding alone. I don’t know how I felt about that. No one offered me a ride. One car meant one trip, which would have been a great gas saver. I was holding to the belief that Killian hadn’t done that out of spite. It was, of course, a hollow belief.

Speak of the devil. As I pulled into the Ruiz Estate, Killian’s Porsche was parked in front of the garage. In my usual spot. The bastard had beaten me here. I glanced guiltily down at the Slurpee sitting in the cup holder. Maybe I shouldn’t have made that stop at 7-Eleven.

I parked my car next to the Porsche and entered the mansion. I took a quick glance in the sunroom and found the three of them talking. I tried to slip in unnoticed, but I misplaced my foot and stumbled stopping all conversation.

“Nice of you to join us, Chad,” Nathaniel said dryly. His lips were pursed in a thin line.

I decided to take that as a genuine greeting and waved at them over exaggeratedly. I earned an eye roll from Nathaniel, a disdainful sneer from Killian, and a groan from Ryan. Most people would have been bothered by their reactions but for me, it just put a smile on my face.

“Since we're all here now," Nathaniel said. I ignored the looks aimed my way. "We can go down to Command.”

I followed along obediently figuring it was best if I didn’t say anything for a while. It was weird but the thought of going down the sub levels of the building normally filled me with excitement. It was very futuristic and all sci-fi like, you know, my kind of place. But now it was just felt like the same old, same old. Have I really gotten so used to all of this that it no longer satisfied my geekdom? I hoped not. First thing to do when I get home: Watch Battlestar Galactica. My inner geek was getting too complacent.

I sang Under the Sea, in my head of course, as we took the secret elevator down to Command. The sleek, silver reflective hallway greeted us once we disembarked the lift. We went into a nearby room that I liked to refer to as the Power Chamber. It reminded me too much of early Power Rangers with its glowing consoles and multiple monitors with their ever descending scrolling text (which I later learned was Atlantean).

“This is incredible,” Killian said, awed. “All this technology...”

Nathaniel nodded. “It’s Atlantean. Our people built this place. This was once an outpost all those eons ago. When Atlantis fell it remained untouched and hidden far below the surface. As the gods would have it, my family had this house built right over the underground structure. It’s been apart of the Ruiz family for generations. When my memories fully returned I installed the elevator to the sub levels.”

This was news to me. I hadn't thought to ask that before. I had figured Nathaniel somehow recreated all this. Money wasn't an issue for him after all.

“I have a vague feeling of what you’re talking about. This place feels familiar,” Ryan said suddenly, concentrating. He shook his head after a moment as if getting lost at something. “I can’t remember but I just have a feeling of knowing I guess.”

Nathaniel half smiled. “Which is better than nothing.” He lost his smile and got right down to business. “Today I plan on gauging how you do as a team. After the training room scenario is completed Ryan and Chad will be dismissed. I would like Killian to stay behind so I can test his power levels and abilities.”

No intense training today? Hell yeah! “So let’s get started,” I said eagerly.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Nathaniel agreed. He watched me suspiciously, surprised at my overeager outburst.

We left the room and went down the hall to the training room. Without words, our clothes shifted to our Chosen suits. I dropped the hood that now covered my head and glanced at the others. Ryan was adjusting his long black duster, his glasses gone, and gray eyes piercing without the frames. Killian, Solaris now, ran his hands over the black body armor and the hip-length jacket that went over it. He removed the visor that materialized with his transformation and rested it on the top of his head, revealing his amazed eyes.

“I didn’t notice when I transformed before,” Killian said, eyeing his garments with a critical eye. “But didn’t our suits use to be different. I remember silver armor and white tunics? Now our armor looks like the getup the X-Men wore in the movies...”

I nodded. “That’s right. I asked Nathaniel once. He said our uniforms are enchanted. They’ll change with the times so that we’ll blend in with the humans. In a thousand years, our uniforms will appear different again I guess.”

He shrugged dismissing me. Why did I even bother? “I’m sure there’s a better reason than that.”

“You really love to argue with me?” I asked, already knowing he would answer the clearly rhetorical question.

Killian smirked. “Are your magical attacks just parlor tricks.”

I stepped closer to him and my fists crackled with blue electricity. “You want to go, nightlight?” I said mockingly, hoping he would attack me so I would have a reason to shove a fireball so far down his throat it would vaporize his ass.

Killian glared, his eyes glowing hot, white, the color of a dwarf star. “All you had to do was ask, Glinda.”

There was a sudden whoosh of air and the Executioner was standing between us. Ryan’s whole stance was tense and coiled like an unmovable wall of power. I could sense the spirit energy swell inside his body filling him with the strength to knock us flat on our asses with only his pinkie finger. Those gray eyes looked at Killian and then me, unreadable, but challenging.

“You two want to fight each other?” His voice hard and intimidating. “You’ll have to get through me first. There's no way I'm letting two of my teammates, my friends, just go at each other like this.”

Fuck. I hated when Ryan got all Terminator on my ass. “Fine,” I said, releasing the magic gathered in my palms so that it fizzled away. “Let’s just get this training session over with.”

“If you two are quite done,” Nathaniel said, his voice floating through the speakers from the observation room above. “I’m ready to initiate the program.”

The room came to life in a shock of energy that left the hairs on my arm standing on end. At once, our surroundings rippled like the waves of the ocean. The lighted room vanished leaving us in a dark, dreary swamp surrounded by towering trees and smelly bayous. I made a face as my feet were now ankle deep in murky, decidedly green looking swamp water. Gross.

I gathered magic in my palm and whispered, “Fireball.”

A fireball appeared in my open hand shining its flickering light into the shadows, providing us some light to move by. I heard a snort and turned to Killian, my eyebrow raised.

“Yes, Solaris?” I questioned, putting emphasis on his name.

He shrugged. It was meant to annoy me and it did. “I think I can do a little better in the light department is all.” I gave him a look and Killian held out his hand, his fingertips charging with white light. “Celestial light.”

Killian snapped his glowing fingers and the light jumped into the air, creating a flare so bright that I had to cover my eyes. I blinked back the spots and my jaw dropped at the large globe of bright, white, pure light that shined above Killian’s index finger. I looked down at my fireball and it faded away. The light had caused the shadows to fall, leaving us with a better light to move by than my fireball. I rolled my eyes.

Killian smirked. “Where do we go?”

“Maybe this way.”

We looked ahead and there was the Executioner leaning against a tree, his arms folded and watching us with a bored expression. He pushed himself off the trunk and jerked a thumb in the direction behind him.

“While you two were busy playing who had the bigger flashlight, I scouted ahead. There is a clearing almost a click away. There’s actually enough moonlight to see by once we get past the shade of trees.”

Solaris frowned. “How could you see? It was pitch black.”

“Heightened senses,” Executioner replied.

We moved toward him and I shook my head at Killian. “He can see in the dark.”

We moved as one and not talking as we trudged through the swampy water, our movements quiet and light. Well, the Executioner’s movements were. Ours were probably loud and filled with heavy breathing. Being stealthy was definitely not as easy as it looks on television. The line of trees ended leaving us in an open space, filled with fallen logs and tree stumps. I stared around looking for our target. They usually never played hide and seek. It was normally hard and fast, you know, like a gangbang. Or an episode of Game of Thrones. Solaris dissipated his light since the moonlight was enough to see by.

“Are all training programs this creepy?” questioned Solaris, gazing around.

The Executioner nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.” He suddenly stilled. His whole body froze and it was kind of unnerving to see. He could have given a mannequin a run for its money. He slowly placed his finger against his lips signaling us to keep quiet and then he pointed to his ears.

“There!” The Executioner shouted, pointing.

Killian and Ryan were both blurs as they rolled away, but alas I was always the weakest link. I stood there dumbly as a large tail cut through the air and caught me in the stomach. The air left my lungs and I fell backward, water splashing upward as I landed on a sheet of floating moss.

I sat up with a groan and shook my head. Hissing in front of us was a creature I had never in my life seen before. Her hair was black as night, long, going past her waist. Lips were the color of scarlet that peeled back revealing glistening fangs. Her slitted yellow eyes darted left and right, watching us carefully. Her pale upper body held a pair of high and prominent breasts, the nipples the same color as her lips. From the waist down she was far from woman. Scales of ivory and black speckled her waist and continued down, adorning the long, hard tail that she reared on. I gulped and her forked tongue flickered out of her mouth to hiss at me.

The Executioner looked at me. “She can smell fear.”

“How do you know what that thing is?” I asked, getting to my feet all the while keeping my eyes trained on the creature.

“It was my job to know these things,” he replied easily, reminding me why he had the name the Executioner. “She’s a lamia. Immortal and ferociously strong. They were always a bitch to kill.”

Solaris made a move to get closer to us and the snake dived toward him. He called upon his Dawn Bringer attack and shot light beams at her but she evaded each one. Damn it. I had to do something quick. Killian scrambled back keeping his beams going.

“Elios, keeper of dreams,” I incanted quickly, calling on the power of a lower deity to help me. Gold light gathered in my raised palms pointing toward the sky as if in benediction. “Help me defeat this enemy. Twilight Ray!”

The light left my hands at the speed of sound, cutting through the air and catching the lamia in the side full on. The attack knocked her off course and hurtling into a tree trunk with a loud boom. Score one for the home team. We raced to Killian’s side to regroup.

“You okay?” the Executioner asked.

Solaris nodded, disoriented, slowly catching his bearings. “I’m fine, man. Just winded. I didn’t know this shit was going to be so intense.”

I nodded. “It goes there. Like Degrassi.”

Confused looks. Blank faces. The blink. The dismissal. It happened in that order. I’ve gotten so used to it that I could now step by step their reactions to my randomness. It was a becoming a little hobby of mine. I shook my head. This was not the time for this. Had to get back on track. There is a crazy, half naked snake lady out to kill us.

There was loud splash to our right. I pivoted and missed the tail that almost hacked off my head. Fuck. That was too close. I caught the glint of metal and watched as the Executioner’s Spirit Staff slammed against her arm. They went back and forth as we scurried out of their way. The Executioner would swing and swipe and the lamia would bat away or dodge his staff. The force of the blows he landed had to be hard enough to bend steel, yet she took the force and dealt the same back. This creature was hella strong.

“Executioner, watch out!” Killian yelled. He aimed his closed fist at the lamia and the whole hand brightly glowed white with a tinge of yellow. “Spectral Cannon!”

The beam split the air and the Executioner made to move, but the lamia grabbed his arms and threw his struggling body into the path of the beam. There was an explosion of light as the beam struck. I screamed.

“Goddess made you, me and hound,” I said quickly running toward Ryan’s fallen form. “Force this creature-”

I didn’t see the lamia dart forward until the tail swung at my back and sent me off my feet. My chest hit the ground first and I cried out as my sternum took the full brunt of the fall. I looked up just as Solaris blinded her by throwing a light flare directly into her face. She hissed and clawed at the air, her eyes closed in pain. Killian ran to me, after checking on the Executioner.

“He’s recovering,” said Solaris, helping me to my feet. “He just needs a minute. Ryan’s armor and the safeties built in the room took away the full brunt of my attack.”

That sent a wave of relief through me. “We have to overload her with something powerful. Something that will completely liquefy her ass...” I trailed off as an idea came to me. I knew how to win. “I have an idea. I can use my magic to boost your power. If we combine the two it should be enough to nuke her ass.”

“Let’s get this scaly bitch then,” he agreed, determined.

I went to my knees and brought my hands together, clasped before me as if in prayer.

“Split the heavens and open to me the Power!”

I raised my hands upward and the sky opened with light. There was a sound like thunder and the smell of ozone. Wind whipped around me as I called upon the ley lines of power that crisscrossed through the Earth's surface. Churning energy gathered above in a contained globe of swirling silver light that hovered in the air. I contained the power and manipulated it into a huge disk of energy. With my eyes closed in concentration, I called out to Killian.

“Now! Do it now!”

He thankfully got the hint. Solaris aimed his fist at the energy. “Spectral Cannon!”

The light zipped upward from his body and focused outward from his fist, hitting the disk, and joining the two attacks. The powers mingled and the ray of light continued on through the middle of the disk, like a lens, turning the beam into a focused white death-ray. The ray hit the lamia and her curdling scream reverberated as the attack hit her chest, super-heating her organs and ripping her insides apart until her body vaporized in an explosion of gore.

I watched in amazement as the sky rained blood and mutilated insides. I was going to be sick. Swallowing down my vomit I staggered over to Ryan who was getting to his feet. The landscape wavered and vanished replaced by the domed training room.

All my hurts instantly vanished as the effects of the safety spells the room was woven with went to work. That was more intense than usual. That crazy bitch could have killed us! Or faux killed us since we couldn’t die within the program with the safeties activated.

“Now that was fun,” I said with a sarcastic laugh.

The Executioner half smiled. “I would have gone with grueling.”

“We handled ourselves pretty well,” Solaris said. He crossed his arms and turned away from us. “I think I did damn good.”

My jaw dropped. The little asshole. I was about to lay into him when the doors swished open and Nathaniel briskly walked in. I detransformed followed by Ryan and then Killian.

“Your target was destroyed,” said Nathaniel. I could tell there was a but coming. “But your goal of working like a team was not met. First, you two failed to realize that Ryan held the advantage and could have helped when you found yourselves in the dark. Second, when faced with the lamia there was no plan immediately formed. You all started to just randomly attack. She had you divided and could have easily conquered you if Chad hadn’t come up with that plan at the last moment. Which only worked because you overpowered her with that overkill attack.”

Killian ran a hand through his strawberry blond hair. “I think it’s because we didn’t have any actual leadership. Since we have no leader at this moment...”

I had a feeling what he was about to say.

“...I nominate myself.”

I knew it. “I object!” I snapped instantly. “Why do you nominate yourself?”

Killian looked at me as if it were a dumb question. “It was my attack that killed the lamia. Oh, and I did take out all those vampires at the club by myself.”

Son of a bitch. I spun around toward Nathaniel. “Tell him he’s being an asshole! He can’t be the leader! He’s only been in one fracking fight!”

Nathaniel blinked. “Killian you cannot be the leader.”

What? Well, that was easy... too easy.

“What you don’t remember is you already have a leader,” Nathaniel continued, looking at us patiently. We all perked up at the brand new piece of information. “In our former lives incarnations when you were discovered as being Chosen, you were elevated to noble status, each becoming lords. One of you was already of noble blood, royalty in fact when they were Chosen. So leadership fell to that one naturally.”

“And who is it? I don’t remember.” Ryan frowned. He looked at Killian and then me, both of us shrugging in confusion. “I don’t think none of us remember.”

Nathaniel smiled widely. He was enjoying this just a little too much. “Your leader was second in line for the throne of Atlantis, behind his brother Crown Prince Gaius.”

“Can you please get to the point?” I sighed. He was really playing this up.

“The leader of the Chosen was Prince Emrys.” Nathaniel looked at me seriously, teasing smile wiped away. “Chad, you are the leader. In this life and the last.”

The sound of crickets could probably be heard if somebody cracked a window. It was that silent. I didn’t know what to say. We all stared at one another with amazement washing over our features. Me? LEADER? What kind of sick joke was this? I immediately started looking left and right searching for cameras. I was getting pranked. I had to be. There was no way I was the leader! I could barely get through a fight without tripping over my own feet, but my gut was telling me Nathaniel was right. There was no reason to deny it or try and disagree, then the rest of what Nathaniel said caught up with me. I was the Prince of Atlantis.

I hung my head. “Fuck me.”

I looked nice in my faded jeans and white button down shirt. I jumped over a water puddle. It would suck if I got these new Converse dirty. They were so white and new they practically gleamed. I glanced at the time on my phone. I was right on time. I was sure that training would have made me late. But in light of today’s revelation, Nathaniel didn’t take offense to my getting the hell out of there. Being a reincarnated warrior, now prince and leader was going to take a fucking while to get used to.

I laid a hand across my eyes to block out the bright light of the setting sun. I easily spotted Kevin standing near the entrance to the mall. He was wearing jeans as well and his fitted blue shirt showed off his muscles nicely and contrasted against his sun-kissed skin.

“You looking good, man,” Kevin said happily. He winked at me. “You ready for your date.”

I cleared my throat. “Blind date. Don’t get that confused.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Technicalities. I told them we would meet on the third floor where the theater is.”

I nodded as we entered the mall, dodging a gaggle of giggling preteens. “This Paul guy better not be a jerk,” I said, as we jumped on the escalator. My experiences with gay boys were limited. And the times I had dated were not memorable.

Kevin nudged me with an elbow, shooting me a sly grin. “I know a good icebreaker. Talk to him about that show you watch so much. Queer as Fuck.”

“That’s not the name of the show, Kevin. It’s Queer as Folk.”

He scratched his head, baffled. “What did I say?”

I exhaled noisily giving him a look. I had to listen to him exclaim, “What? What did I say” repeatedly as we finally ascended to the third floor. There was never a big crowd for the theater. Many people preferred to go to the bigger theater up the street, but the mall theater was more secluded and less crowded. Better for dates. I peered around looking for a guy and girl around our age.

“Natalie, hey!” Kevin said, waving suddenly, looking like a total fool in my opinion.

A pretty, Hispanic brunette jogged up to us, straight brown hair bouncing and a beaming smile. “Hi!” They hugged and then she smiled at me. “Hey, Chad. Look I brought my friend, Paul.”

She moved and a small girl of Middle Eastern descent, maybe 5’3 stood there, with curly black hair and pretty brown eyes. Those eyes looked me up and down as if I was the next course on the menu. I gulped.

“Why Paul...” I started, my voice coming out scratchy and almost squeaky. I cleared my throat, this time sounding normal. “...Paul is an unusual name for a girl.” I directed the statement more to Kevin, who I glared at with so much fire I was shocked he didn’t explode.

“It’s short for Paulette,” she said, licking her lips... seductively.

I was about to vomit.

I forced a smile, it was empty and false, and grabbed Kevin by the shirt. “Excuse us, ladies.” I jerked him away where they wouldn’t be able to hear us. “This is how it’s going to go down,” I told Kevin before he could even start speaking. “I’m going downstairs to wait in the arcade. When you finish the movie, find me and I’ll take you home.”

Kevin pouted. “What about, Paul?”

“Paulette,” I corrected him. “...will be fine. Tell them I’m gay, I don’t care. Tell them whatever you want. That girl has been eye fucking me since she laid eyes on me. There's no way I’m sitting through a movie with her giving me that come fuck me look.”

Kevin gave me a teasing smirk. “I guess this means there's more for me.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be at the arcade, Tenchi Muyo.”

I should have known something crazy like that was going to happen. It was a plan that Kevin came up with. And those never went accordingly. This was like a bad Fox sitcom or even worse a CW sitcom. I jumped off the escalator and headed to Galactic Games, the arcade, pizza place, smoothie bar, and hang out all rolled into one. It was a large area with about a dozen tables clustered near the door. Off to the side was a bar and further back were the glowing and beeping game machines. I spotted a kid getting too into a game of Dance Dance Revolution, his tongue was out, and his eyes were all focused and intense.

It was pretty full today. Hmm... there was even barely enough room at the bar top. I slid onto the last empty stool beside a guy with dark glasses. Shades, in doors and at night? Someone was just too cool for school. I studied the huge menu tacked to the wall above the smoothie machine. Strawberry smoothies were my favorite. My eyes strayed from the menu and fell on the moving person behind the bar. I literally did a double take.

It probably would have been funny if I hadn’t drooled on my hand. I hurriedly wiped it off all the while staring at the eye candy before me. He was my age, maybe a year older. He had long hair tied back in a ponytail. It was a light brown, mahogany. Hazel eyes were the lightest shade of golden brown mixed with green. His triangular face and dainty nose gave him an almost feminine appearance but his towering six foot height and muscular physique was anything but girly. The swelling in my pants told me he was all man as well.

He approached me beaming, his smile lighting up his entire face. “What can I get you?”

I let that deep, smooth voice wash over me and I sighed dreamily.

“Wasawasa.”

He blinked, confused at my incoherent response. I could have kicked myself. I blushed to the roots of my hair feeling like a total schoolgirl. I stared down at the counter and hoped that I didn’t just embarrass myself into an ass kicking. This was the twenty first century but homophobia was alive and well.

“I don’t know what that is, cutie,” he responded back easily.

My head snapped up and I flushed at the term of endearment. Please, please, please let this dream of a man be bi or gay. Or at least gay for me.

“Could I have a strawberry smoothie,” I asked shyly.

He gave me that bright smile again. It made his eyes all crinkly at the corners. “Sure. I’m Danny by the way. Why haven’t I seen you before? I’m sure I would remember that face.”

He was flirting. He was gay! I felt my pulse race and fireworks went off in my brain. At least I like to think that was the reason why I mumbled something unintelligible and nodded stupidly.

“I don’t come here a lot,” I tried again, this time making sense.

Danny laughed. “You are just too cute. Give me just a minute and I’ll be back with that smoothie.”

I sighed happily, smiling like a dope. “Okay.”

I watched that perfect ass swish away and I giggled insanely inside my head. This was turning into a good fucking day after all.

“Do you always come off so dumb?” said a voice next to me. It had a southern Texas drawl to it, not pronounced but it was there all the same.

I spun around in my stood and faced the mysterious speaker. It was the guy with shades that I noticed earlier. He couldn’t have been more than a year older than me. His hair was brown and in the light the strands gleamed gold with hints of copper. I couldn’t see his eyes but he had high sculpted cheekbones and a firm jaw. Dimples on his cheeks softened the lines of his face. His brown hair fell in a wavy mass around his shoulders. He was handsome and could easily give Danny a run for his money.

“Were you talking to me?” I asked politely.

The guy smirked at me. I narrowed my eyes. I was getting really tired of people smirking at me lately. When they smirked they never had anything nice to say. I had a feeling this wasn’t any different.

“Nevermind. You just answered the question.”

What the hell. I frowned. “Do I like owe you money or something, because I could have sworn I don’t fucking know you.”

“I was just making an observation,” he said casually as if talking about the weather and not my intelligence. “No need to throw the f word around, Nancy.”

I saw red. Anger hummed underneath my skin and I clenched my hands into fists. “You may want to shut the fuck up. I’m really resisting the urge to take this chair and slap it across your face.”

“Oh, you've got some balls!” the guy laughed. “I was just messing with you. No hard feelings. My name’s Adam. Adam Caine.”

Wow. Can we say split personality disorder? “I’m Chad Summers,” I said begrudgingly, after debating a moment. “Any particular reason for the jerk improv?”

Adam shrugged. “You seemed like a good kid. I respect a person who can stand up for themselves. I wanted to see if you would be good for Danny.”

“What? You know Danny?” I couldn’t help it, but I think I said his name a little breathy. If the snort Adam let out was a clue, I think he picked up on my awed tone.

Danny appeared in front us, the same bright smile on his face. His hazel eyes flicked between us. “My cousin isn’t filling your head with bad things about me is he?”

Cousin? I looked at Adam and then Danny and then repeated it several times. I guess I could see the resemblance. Almost. They both had long hair. That was the only similarity I could see. I was staring to figure out why I was always the person picked last when pairing up for teams at Pictionary.

“I didn’t know you two were cousins.” I decided to settle with. Be cool, Soda Pop. I had to be suave than my dorky persona of earlier.

Danny nodded, winking at me. “I know we don’t look much alike but I promise we’re blood.

“Danny, you might as well throw yourself at him,” Adam said tiredly. His southern drawl was more pronounced the slower he spoke, “You're doing some major flirting.”

I blushed. Danny merely laughed and wiggled his eyebrows at me making me just blush harder. I shrugged at Danny and my bashful smile was a touch embarrassed.

“Well, what do you say?" Danny asked. I couldn't look away from his grin. “Will you go on a date with me sometime?”

I stared at him dumbly. It took me two tries to talk. “Yeah. I would like that a lot.”

“Great,” Danny replied with a little breathless laugh. “I know a great place we can grab a bite to eat. How about Friday night I meet you at your house around seven?”

I nodded quickly. Too quickly. I slowed down the movement mid nod and almost gave myself a crick. I jotted down my address on the coaster my smoothie sat on and slid it across the bar top. Someone flagged Danny for a refill and he promised to be right back.

“I think I’ve had enough of Dawson’s Arcade for today,” Adam said, slipping off his stool. He towered over me, easily standing almost six foot. “You stay tough, fireball.”

I rolled my eyes. “And you leave the asshole attitude where you found it. And here’s a tip, sunglasses at night is so 80’s.”

There was a quick flicker of white and a loud snap and a cane was held at Adam’s side. The cane extended out and I paused. I looked at his sunglasses, the cane, the scowl on his face. Oh shit. I hung my head and mentally kicked myself.

Adam scowled. “I’m sorry if my being blind is not trendy enough for you."

I didn’t know what to say. “Sorry,” I squeaked out, feeling like the biggest asshole in the world.

Adam suddenly smiled. He shook his head and his wavy hair slid fluidly across his shoulders. “You really are kind of cute.”

With that he walked out, cane extended before him, moving with more ease than I would have initially guessed when learning his condition. I sighed. At least he didn’t hold a grudge.

“I’m baaack,” sing song Danny, appearing again, slinging a towel over his shoulder.

All thoughts immediately left my head. He licked his lips and my eyes traced the movement like the answers to life would be revealed by that one simple motion. I was crushing hard. Now I knew how Bella Swan felt when she couldn't resist Edward's cold hard body.

This day had turned out pretty great after all.