~3rd POV~

“You cannot possibly believe that I believe you did not purposefully put Nova White with that demon child!” Headmaster Nikoli Fritz shouted at Lisa Zinke, his jaw tight.

Headmistress Nikolette Fritz, Nikoli twin sister, sat on her black oak desk, arms crossed as her icy white glare bore into both coaches.

“Headmaster, I … I didn’t think…” Coach Zinke stuttered as she struggled to speak, feeling the immense pressure of the headmaster’s aura.

Coach Wright took a deep breath before he spoke, his voice thick with guilt. “Headmaster, Headmistress, it was my fault. Lisa had nothing to do with it. I was fully aware of how Ryker treated Nova and I was the one who made sure they were paired together for the testing. I did it because I thought it would help Ryker see that he needed to get better at working with a partner. We cannot work alone. I thought it would help.”

“Well, you thought wrong, Nicholas.” Headmistress Nikolette’s voice was smooth and cold like ice.

The headmistress stood up and stalked towards the two coaches. Lisa’s face was pale as if she was facing a ghost and Nicholas was trying to seem calm and tough, but sweat dripped down the side of his face, showing his anxiety.

“You will both deal with the Restricted ones. Until I say you are done. You put a student, a child, in danger. He could have died. Blaze Royal will be his wielder. They seem to be close and they are roommates, so it works.” Headmistress Nikolette whispered as her gaze stared at the two coaches. “Now, leave my fucking office. And no more fuck ups.”

The two coaches nodded and left immediately.

“Nikki, you were so harsh.” Nikoli sarcastically chuckled as he sat down at his own desk.

“Please, those two were in line for hurting one of the students. I will notify Blaze of his new holder. I’m sure he will be quite pleased.”

~~

~Blaze’s POV~

Classes were suspended today, due to the events from the Test yesterday. Nova was hiding in his room. Yawning, I stretched as I laid on my own comfy bed. It has been so long since I’ve had a break. Maybe, I should ask Nova to hang out today.

Ding.

I glanced at my phone and saw a text message from a family friend, the headmistress Nikolette.

‘Congrats. Nova is assigned as your holder. Stay safe and protect him at all costs. Eyes are everywhere.’

My chest swelled with warmth at the text. Ever since I laid eyes on Nova, I knew I wanted him as my holder, but it doesn’t really work that way. Holders have to agree with being with a wielder. The control and the bond is all on the holder, the wielder has no say really.

Opening my door, I took the short walk towards Nova’s door. I’ve never been into his room before. Trying to relax my beating heart, I lightly knocked on the door.

“Hey, Nova? You awake?” I called out, hoping I wasn’t too loud.

I could hear soft steps before the door cracked open, revealing Nova with his hair in a french braid and in very short shorts with an oversized sweater. All in pastel colors, which I thought was adorable.

“Hi.” His voice was hoarse and quiet. It was always hoarse, though I have wanted to try and have him talk a bit more.

I smiled lightly before I saw his gaze glance down at my bare chest, as I was shirtless, before looking back up at me. His cheeks became a rosy red. “Hey, I just wanted to ask if you had plans today. Maybe I can show you around the nearby town.”

Nova’s gaze seemed to glaze over, which I knew meant he was thinking on the words I said. Before long, Nova’s head nodded just the slightest before his door shut and I could hear him rummaging around his room.

Soon we were leaving the campus, following the cobblestone path leading out to the barrier that revealed a bus stop and a highway. This was where normal people drove and could see, the campus was hidden behind a barrier that made normal people see only a continuation of the nearby forest area and made them not want to venture into that area of forest.

“We will wait for a bus to come. It normally arrives when people are waiting. It’s run by”

I was interrupted by a bus braking so hard, the air filled with a loud screeching noise. The bus was full of strange people and driven by two extremely short people.

“By gnomes, is what I was trying to say.” I couldn’t help but chuckle before the doors opened and I stepped on. “Hello Frye and Lyre, good to see you both as always.”

The gnomes responded in a strange language. To a human, it would sound like walking on gravel in different ways. To me, it sounded normal, as I knew the Gnome tongue fluently.

The gnomes both said, “Hello Royal, to the city we go. Sit, sit.”

Nova followed me closely as we walked down the bus aisle, passing by strange men and women with frizzy hair or burnt faces or any other weird anomalies. Soon we reached the back two seats and sat down. Nova sat beside, staring in awe and possibly fear at the other holders, wielders and creatures on the bus. Before I could ask Nova if he was okay, the doors slammed shut and the bus sped quickly towards the neighboring town Hawketon.

In almost no time passing, the bus screeched to a halt. Frye’s gravelly voice spoke in English, stating the town’s name. Nova and I quickly got off, Nova moving quickly to get off and myself knowing the gnomes were not patient at all.

Hawketon was a large college town. It was full of normal people that were different and eccentric on their own. And adding people with magical abilities and magical creatures definitely added to the uniqueness the town had. The inner square, where we were currently, was lined with cobblestone roads and alleyways. Shops flooded the square, filling the air with color, vibrancy, art, and music. People played guitars or saxophones or their own voice on corners of the square or in front of stores. There were artists selling their art or making art to sell right in front of your eyes. A fresh farmers market bustled on the outskirts of one side of the square, while a busy cafe and library claimed another side. There were people in groups, filling the air with laughter and excitement.

The excitement was for the upcoming Lunar Stargazing Night that was held every year. The Stargazing was to shut off all electricity and turn on the low red lights and allow everyone to just see the night sky for its natural beauty. It was always a huge turnout every year and became what Hawketon was known for.

“So, Nova, do you just want to look around?” The small boy nodded as he placed the headphones over his ears. It was kind of adorable how he acted sometimes.

Shaking the thought from my mind, I grabbed his hand and began to show him around. Each store we went to, I learned a pattern Nova had. He would always go to the pastel colored items, or anything that looked soft and comfy to him. He would touch everything, even if it was something he knew he would hate, his fingers would filter across the article of clothing, only to scrunch his nose up in disgust at the texture of the article. I began to watch him as he moved around a store, touching everything, and watching his face light up in content or scrunch up in distaste.

At least an hour had passed, we were in a store called Stella’s Galaxy. The store lived up to its name as the walls were painted as different galaxies NASA had identified. All of the clothing or accessories were galaxy or star themed, though there were normal items. Nova was currently staring and touching a very soft and oversized sweater. It was a faint lavender color and had shooting stars on the sleeves. I could tell he wanted it, but I didn’t know if it would be okay for me to pay for it. That was until Nova turned his soft blue gaze to my own. Without words needing to be said, I nodded and waited as Nova grabbed the sweater in his size and handed it to me. I couldn’t help the small chuckle slipping from my mouth as Nova’s eyes danced with happiness. It took no time to pay and before long, Nova had the galaxy colored shopping bag clutched in his small grip.

We continued walking around, looking at the street vendors and farmer’s market.

~~~

~3rd POV~

It was never difficult to find a person that had magical abilities as long as they weren’t trying to hide. Most of the time, it is easy to find any magical wielder or holder, but there was one that always disappeared.

The dark room was home to five bodies that observed the small pings on the hologram of the Earth. Each ping represents the location of a wielder or holder. They were constant, but one would always disappear. So, a few years ago, the wielder of the hologram put a spell to sound an alarm when this person appeared on the Earth again. It would pop up, only to disappear a split second later. Tracking this person became hard and led to the master of the observers to issue a need for this person to be brought to him. Many tried and failed to find this person and returned with only bad news, year after year. It was driving the master mad.

And yet, after years of failure, the hologram let out a small siren, alerting the observers of the location of the one they sought after for so long. It took no time for the message to reach the master. Seconds after, he sent out his best trackers to bring this person to him as soon as possible.

“Find and bring the boy to me. Bring him!” The master yelled, his voice echoing in the antechamber of the observation room.

“Understood, Dominus.” The trackers left immediately, wasting no time.

Dominus stared at the alert ping lit up on the Earth hologram.

“You will be mine soon.” His voice snarled as his dark gaze stared at the single ping.