Chapter Three: A History Lesson?

Jayden discovers just why he got into this mess.

 

Hearing his name, Elliott looked from the ground he was previously facing. As he looked up, he realized who had yelled his name. “Uh... hi Jayden,” he said nervously.

Stepping out of Master Caldern’s house, Jayden retorted, “Yeah, hi.” His voice sounded harsh and stern, like a mother who was about to ground her child. “What the hell are you doing here!? And don’t try getting out of it, either.”

Jayden had a scowl on his face as he waited expectantly. Then, Echo—who remained inside the house when Master Caldern opened the door—walked in and asked, “What’s going on out there?”

She stood at Master Caldern’s side as Jayden and Elliott turned to face her. Echo spotted Elliott and said, “Oh, it’s you.”

Her face looked somewhat uninterested, and Elliott looked confused and was about to say something to Echo until he saw Jayden giving him a look. One that meant he obviously expected him to explain himself first. He took a deep breath before turning to Jayden.

“Well,” he began. “After you left to see who sent the text, I kinda wanted to see if it was Madison, and if it was, I wanted to see you tell her off. So I followed you. After that I heard the whole thing with the cat, and when the portal thing opened, I jumped into to follow you. I got passed the woods and stuff, but when you came here I had to hide so you wouldn’t see me. When I tried to find a secret way in, I tripped and hit my head on this rock which is when you guys found me.”

Finally, exhausted from the explanation, he exhaled deeply. “Wow. And you said Madison was the stalker,” Jayden teased.

They both burst into laughter as they heard Echo say, “I was only supposed to get Jayden, not the human, but oh well.”

“Human?” Jayden inquired. “But I’m human, too. Why are you only calling Elliott one?”

This time, Master Caldern stepped in. “I’m sure we can explain everything if everyone could just come inside.”

Everyone agreed as they followed him back into the house. Elliott and Jayden sat on a realistically star-patterned sofa that Master Caldern created, while Echo sat on a separate green floral printed armchair she zapped up herself. “Alright then, now that everyone’s comfortable, I shall explain. Let’s start with the situation regarding Echo’s comment,” Caldern proclaimed.

Master Caldern began as everyone nodded in conformity. “What Echo said is true. You are no human. In fact, you are a magical being just like Echo and I.”

“How is that possible?” Jayden questioned.

Master Caldern responded, “Well, I’ll just start at the beginning. You may wonder why there are two separate worlds: a magical one and a mortal one. Long ago, before any human can remember, the mortal and magical beings all lived together in one world. All was fine, but as the world changed, so did we.”

Master Caldern paused and Jayden and Elliott were listening attentively. Then he continued. “Just as there are cruel people now, there were cruel people back then as well. They cause enough trouble now, but back then they caused much more turmoil. Of course mortals and magic’s had different ways of causing it, but when you combine them, the world comes under much more than chaos.”

“That time long ago, those cruel beings, both mortal and magical joined forces against the rest of us, wreaking havoc. The magical beings used whatever ability they were able to use, and humans used their strange inventions such as guns—“

“Weren’t guns invented in the 1300’s or something?” Jayden interrupted. “I thought this happened before that.”

It didn’t seem to bother Master Caldern that he had just been interrupted. “Actually, humans invented them during the time they resided with us,” he replied.

“Okay, I’m pretty confused.”

Master Caldern chuckled and said, “It will be clear to you once I finish.” Jayden nodded and allowed him to continue. “After a long time of trying to endure the attacks of the villainous people, one man decided that the world had enough.”

Jayden was listening intently, waiting for him to continue. Even Elliott and Echo looked fascinated, but Echo in more of the sense that she were listening to her favourite being retold. Master Caldern continued once again, “The man’s name was Elaien. He was a powerful, but very poor wizard. He was a very courageous man to do what he did. Elaien decided that to put a stop to the evil, he would have to use his own power.”

“He believed he needed to divide the mortals and magic’s into separate worlds, away from each other. Elaien was able to do this, seeing as he had once strived to learn to control time and space, if even only a bit. But in doing this, he would have to sacrifice his life. He created the two worlds but only had enough power left to erase the mortals’ memory. They forgot everything that happened before that. Even anything they ever created. From then on, everyone continued life in their own worlds, humans starting anew and magic’s living with the knowledge of Elaien’s bravery.”

Master Caldern ended his story there, leaving Jayden sitting there, intrigued by the story but puzzled as to what the point of telling it was. “Um... that was a really interesting story, but what does it have to do with me?”

“Ah,” Master Caldern began. “Before Elaien died, he and his wife had three children, a son and two daughters. All of them inherited Elaien’s powers, which continued to be passed down through each generation or his descendants.”

“Still don’t get it,” Jayden said flatly.

Master Caldern chuckled. Echo decided to answer this time. “Don’t you get it? You’re one of Elaien’s descendants!” Her face, although appearing impassive showed a series of unreadable expressions.

The words that came out of Echo’s mouth left Jayden dumbfounded. Him, a descendant of an incredibly powerful wizard that created the mortal and magic world? He can’t believe it. “What?” was the first thing that came out of his mouth. “How can that be? Even if I am magic like you guys, how could I be descended from this guy? You said that his descendants inherited his power, and I don’t have any.”

“That is where you are wrong,” Master Caldern responded. “You indeed have inherited his power, you just haven’t unlocked it, nor have you learned to control it.”

“And how will I do that?” This whole situation had Jayden utterly perplexed.

Master Caldern paused thoughtfully for a moment. “You will train under the instruction of a mentor.”

“Like who? You?” Jayden inquired.

“No. Echo shall be your mentor.” Master Caldern replied, smiling brightly as if his idea were absolutely brilliant. Jayden registered what he had just said. Echo had the same expression on her face from earlier, what he said didn’t appear to affect her in any way. It did, however, affect Jayden. Echo had seemed to be an impatient, uncaring, lazy girl since he met her, and now she was going to be his mentor? He couldn’t believe it.

Jayden was about to protest, but decided against it. If he was to learn how to control his so-called powers, he needed to suck it up and let Echo teach him whatever he needed to know. Master Caldern smiled, as if he knew exactly what Jayden was thinking. Suddenly, it occured to Jayden that they were leaving something out.

"If I'm really descended from this guy . . . does that mean that one of my parents was too?" His voice sounded cautious, if not a bit shaky, as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know.

Master Caldern's smile unexpectedly became quite solemn as he replied, "Yes. That is true."

"Who?" For some reason it took quite a bit of willpower just to say that word clearly. The response that Jayden recieved from Master Caldern was one that caused his eyes to widen and his mind to fill with questions.

"Your father."

Jayden was at a loss of words. His father was a descendant if Elaien? Why didn't he tell him? Did that fact have anything to do with his disappearance? His mind was swirling with thoughts that confused him so. Master Caldern noticed this and decided to explain.

"As I said, your father was a descendant of Elaien. He was just as powerful as you are, and even learned to control his powers. The two of you descended from his son and therefore are pure descendants of Elaien. He didn't tell you this because he wanted to tell you at the right time. Unfortunately he did not get the chance to do so . . ."

Still quite shocked at the fact presented to him, Jayden asked a single question he'd been wondering since that day four years ago. "How did my dad die?"

Master Caldern looked unsure of whether or not to tell him, but said, "Four years ago, an evil power was attempting to steal from Elaien's shrine, where his soul was kept. You may think that is a bit odd, but when Elaien died, his soul remained in the form of a beautiful jewel that keeps the balance of the Magic and Mortal worlds. A group of people stood up to the challenge of stopping that from happening, and your father was among them, in fact on of the first to volunteer."

"He died destroying the leader of the group trying to steal the Soul stone. He killed the leader and forced the rest to flee, but he was too badly injured battling that he died shortly afterwards . . ." Master Caldern trailed off.

"Oh. I see," Jayden said, sorrow clouding his eyes. Master Caldern opened his mouth to comfort him but Jayden's next words silenced him.

"It's fine. I'm proud that my dad did something like that and I hope I can be as brave as he was. Knowing what you just told me will make me more determined, it won't make me go into a depression."

He grinned, a true grin, proving his words as Master Caldern couldn't help but smile as well, bowing his head shortly afterwards.

Echo however, looked upset, though Jayden couldn't imagine why. Why would she cry over an issue involving his dad? It didn't have anything to do with her. Nonetheless, Echo quickly spoke up, “I’m going to be at the field by the Elmore house.” She turned to Jayden, “Meet me there for training. Master will show you the way.”

Calmly, she left, the door slamming behind her. Jayden slumped down slightly. “Ugh,” he groaned. Master Caldern walked over to him with his usual smile in place and said, “I sense you hold some hostility towards Echo.”

Jayden looked down, not in a nod, but merely to avert his gaze. “Echo is not a bad person you know. She has been through a lot,” Master Caldern tried to assure.

“Like what?” Jayden questioned, turning to face him.

“That, my boy, is something that you should hear from her, not me. Some things are best if told from
another person.”

Jayden listened attentively, a quiet “alright” escaping his lips. “As you might know, Echo is a witch. To be precise, she is a mêlée witch. You may have heard this term somewhere, as its meaning is much like a fight. Her title implies what she does. She is very advanced in her work and no longer attends school, as she finds it much too dull. Especially since she’s learned it already from me. I’m not saying she is an academic genius, though she is rather bright, just a master at casting magic and battling.”

The more he said, the more disbelief Jayden felt. He never thought that a girl like Echo would be anything like that. “Since she’s so great at her . . . work, is that why she’s so arrogant?”

Master Caldern seemed to think that he was joking. “Echo, arrogant? She may seem very offensive, irresponsible and act like she doesn’t care about anything, but she is really none of those things, especially not arrogant.”

Jayden shot a look of doubt at him. “It is true. When you get a chance to get to know her better, you will see,” Master Caldern said as Jayden sighed. He quickly added, “Speaking of which, I think it’s about time you begin training. I may accidentally say too much, and it’s best you hear from Echo.”

Jayden nodded and was about to ask where the Elmore house was before Master Caldern said, “You do not have to worry about getting to your destination. I will transport you to the Elmore house and from there you will venture east. The field she wishes to meet you at is at the other side of an old forest. People no longer visit it. Now go!”

Before he knew it, Jayden was being transported by Master Caldern.

 

 

Author's Note

I think I kinda rushed things in my story . . .
Is that a bad thing?
Sorry if it is . . .

I don't know when guns were even invented. Help?
This chapter was also somewhat short..
disregard please!