Auctioned off to a School for Magic

Chapter Thirteen: Bonds

I walked out of the office with Alice. They called us in about sneaking out in the middle of the night and I let Alice do most of the talking. “They weren’t as mad as I thought they’d be. Do you think Officer Winer is going to be mad at you?” I asked.

Alice rolled her eyes. “Well Obviously Ruth but my Dad isn’t going to overreact. Sometimes I wish he’d have higher expectations for me but he’s pretty realistic.” She didn’t want it easy because she wanted to be pushed to be something great. “I guess it’s cool not to have the pressure but maybe the pressure would push me more.” I never met anyone who thought the way Alice does. I do think if she becomes something great it’s going to be because she’s pushing herself, she doesn’t need anyone else to push her.

I chuckled. “You’re a mage in the advanced track which is filled with hybrids. Hybrids have an advantage but you’re still overly talented.” Hybrids were always powerful because of the combination of abilities and magic of two species instead of just one. Being able to keep up with them and even be more powerful than a lot of them was impressive. Alice acted like she gave herself so much credit but really she doesn’t give herself enough. I think she needed to be better than even the best of them.

Alice shrugged. “I think that’s why he doesn’t expect me to be the best but I still want to be. I still think I can be but right now I’m not, not yet. I know I’m great but if I start patting myself on the back then I’m not going to try as hard as I would if I felt like I wasn’t reaching my expectations yet.” I hoped Alice would be the best one day, she deserved it with how hard she works. It's not exactly something me or Jezebeth wanted for the most part, we just wanted to be strong enough to get out of here. I’m actually not all that sure what Jezebeth wants in regards to her magic ability. I know she loves magic and will always want to improve but I don’t think she cares about being better than others.

We walked to the classroom since we were called out to talk to officers in the middle of class. I opened the door for Alice then I walked in behind her and sat next to Zander. “How’d that go?” He asked. "You look pretty happy for someone who was just busted again." He joked.

I blushed. “Oh it went fine.” I looked so happy because the conversation me and Alice had walking back to class was the most insightful one we’ve ever had. I want to have more conversations like that with her. “We just got detention but she’ll have it for longer than me.” Alice told the officers that I tried to stop her when she wanted to sneak out. It was sweet of her really so I wouldn't have to get in as much trouble but I wouldn't had minded. Zander laughed but didn’t say anything. “What? What’s funny??” I smiled.

“Look at you.” He laughed. "You're a mess Ruth."

I ignored him and didn’t think very hard about what he said then I turned around to Jezebeth who was sitting on the other side of me. “What happened?” She asked worried.

“I got detention like we thought.” When Jezebeth woke up this morning I told her what happened and she said she wouldn’t say anything. She understands why I lied for Alice and she’s supporting of my choice but I feel like it somewhat bothered her. She said she'd help in any way she can so we could figure out what's going on with us. I have a feeling Alice isn't really going to want to take Jezebeth's help so I didn't mention it to Alice. Jezebeth was already going to help me figure out what was going on when it was just me so I'm still going to take her help. I'm hoping Jezebeth and Alice could maybe be friends too but I'm not even sure if I'm friends with Alice. That was definitely the direction I wanted to go with her but if she didn’t feel the same then it obviously wouldn’t happen.

When the bell rang I gathered all my stuff and left with Jezebeth. I watched Grace and Alice who were walking ahead of us. I took my attention off them and talked to Jezebeth. “Ruth, I can’t stop thinking about my mom. I know you said we have each other but I just want closure from my parents and I might get that closure from my mom since she’s not in hiding like my Father.” If my mom was alive and I hadn’t seen her in eleven years I wondered if I’d want closure the way Jezebeth does.

I wasn't sure if looking for her mom was the best thing to do but I wasn't going to let her look alone or even try to get her not to look. “Okay, let’s look for your mom. Actually there might be a file on her in Natalie’s office. There were files when I was there and if the order has anything on your mom then it’s there.” I explained.

Jezebeth nodded. “It’d be hard to get those files. They might not even have much information on her yet.” Anything important here is magically sealed. I know they might not having anything now but they see her mom as a possible threat so I know The Order is going to keep searching. “Let’s only do that if we have no other leads okay? I think I want to just try a location spell since she’s not in hiding.” A location spell wouldn’t work on someone who’s in hiding because they’re usually using a magical items or a barrier to block out their location. Some of those spells were easy to break but you have to have an idea of where they are first to try to break it. Her father could have been anywhere in any realm. Even if they did have an idea sometimes the spells to block their location are too strong to be easily broken. You’d have to have time to break away at it.

I hoped I wasn’t taking on too much with the extra training, finding out what’s going on with me and Alice and now trying to find Jezebeth’s mom. “That's a good idea.” I needed the extra training so I couldn’t just blow off that. Finding out what’s going on with me and Alice is important because who knows what could happen if we let these trances happen. I care about Jezebeth’s feelings and her need for closure so none of these things were worth dropping to me. I’m just going to have to be busy for a while.

We went to our room and she started looking through her stuff. “I have nothing that belonged to my mother… I don’t even think I’ve ever had anything of hers to begin with with. Not while living in the demon realm or while living here.” Location spells work the best with objects that belonged to the person. “We’re going to have to ask around and think of other spells.”

I sat down on my bed. “Isn’t there a location spell that you could use your blood to locate someone you’re related to?”

Jezebeth nodded slowly. “Yes but it’s advanced and we haven’t been taught blood based magic at all.” They don’t teach blood based magic here or any school because they say it’s a gateway to dark magic which uses other people’s blood. “We could try to learn it but it would take a while.” I don’t think she wanted to wait that long. We could even get in trouble for trying to learn blood based magic.

I watched her and she looked like she was giving up. “Then we’ll go to someone. We’re going to find your mom Jezebeth and you’re going to be able to get your closure. I promise.” I got up and hugged her.

“Thanks Ruth…” She pulled away and pulled her bag to her as she started going through it. “I got something for you.” She pulled out a crystal. “I know it’s not as powerful as a dragon scale but it’s for siphoning. It’s different from your dragon scale because it’s magic is better for different spells.”

I was surprised by the random gift and I’d be lying if it didn’t make me blush. I grabbed it and siphoned some magic from it. “Wow, it feels good, how did you get it?” I asked.

“When you were meeting with Natalie yesterday I went with Julie to the mountains and found a cave of crystals...” She explained. “We were collecting things for potions and enchantments and I thought of you.”

Jezebeth is always thinking of me and doing kind things for me. I guess a part of me wonders why but another part of me thinks the answer might lead to a change I’m not ready for.