The Final Exam

Jasper frowned a little as he debated what to tell Rhys...should he tell her the truth in full detail? Should he simply lie up front and hope that she doesn't catch on? Neither of these options seemed attractive to him; therefore, he decided to tell only a little bit of the truth. "Well...I basically come here simply because it's fun being with the children. Plus, I feel like I need to help this orphanage out a bit - after all, it did so much for me...." Jasper reminisced as he looked at a group of boys and girls playing zombie tag, with the "zombies" seemingly outnumbering the other people.
 
"I see....so you got adopted from here too, eh?" Rhys asked, assuming the 'did so much' meant what it did for most kids who left it's walls. Leaning forward, she tucked her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, as she glanced at Jasper, though her shades hid that fact.
 
It was hard to say goodbye to Stratos for a number of reasons. Not only did Lydia find herself without a home once more but she also felt more alone in the mortal realm than she had when she'd arrived. Leaving him behind was like leaving a part of herself and while she tried to brush it off like dust on her coat it still lingered like a cold. Shaking her head Lydia reminded herself that she was on a mission and had no time to sulk. She was starting to see how quickly the mortal realm ate up at her funds and knew that if she did not find a job soon she would find herself in hot water that would scald her before she could fight back.


Lydia was not sure whether or not she should go for something as simple and common a job as Stratos's or go for something tacky and ironic like Foster had. While she was int he mortal realm was it possible for her to have fun despite the high stakes between her and her fellow examinees? Her chest felt heavy as she thought back to the one heart she possessed, small and orange from Ty. It was if it were hot and burning a hole through her purse against her thigh. She refused to piggy back on her classmates and for the first time was able to see some good in leaving Stratos. All of her successes needed to be her own, without the help of others.


Leaning against a store building Lydia tapped her chin, trying to think back to the criteria of a diamond heart. A diamond heart belonged to one who was pure- where in the mortal realm could she find an overwhelming amount of purity and innocence? The answer came to her slowly and yet directly as well- children. Nodding her head Lydia went back to walking, deciding then that whatever her job would be it would be around plenty of children. Her feet ached in her heels but she kept walking until she was almost out of the city. As she stopped for a breather she saw a building not too far away. A building with a sign that it as a an orphanage.
 
"Heheheh, I guess you hit the nail on the head!" Jasper said to Rhys with a laugh as he stared up at the clear blue sky, wondering about whether he did the right thing in only telling a little bit of the truth... "No...if I tell her...she'll hate me..." he thought as he looked at the children playing around. "What about you? Were you in this orphanage as well?" he asked.
 
"Yeah....I was one of the unlucky drifters, rather than get adopted, I was fostered. I have awful luck with good people, but the ones who have me now don't really seem to mind me too much..." Rhys said, shrugging a little, figuring a fellow orphan would understand. "..though I don't remember a kid named Jasper here when I was....But I'm glad you got some nice loving parents. " Looking over at him fully, she quirked an eyebrow, before the sound of crying made her snap back to the kids.


Darting up, she moved towards the child that had fallen, scraping their knee up pretty good in the process. Looking at the kid, she bit her lip before patting their head. "Hey...look at me..." When she got the kids attention, she smiled widely, "I'm going to show you a little magic trick, watch..." Kissing their knee, she wiggled her hands above their head, dropping some grass shards over them. "There, all better. Hurt anymore?" The kid shook their head, laughing a little. "Good, now take it a little bit easier and it'll be all gone in three days..."
 
Kimberly gently took the ice pack from Tristan's hand and put it on her forehead. It was cold, but she didn't mind. Her eyes kept watering, but she just couldn't cry. She had a feeling inside of her that she could probably never get rid of. "Thank you. You two are very nice people. I... I think I should get going now." And with that, she ran out of the room, towards the door, and out of it, wiping tears out of her eyes. She started to slow down, but tried to run as fast as her little legs could take her. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and sat down behind some bushes, crying.
 
Jasper listened closely as Rhys talked about how she was basically fostered throughout her life, moving from house to house until she finally had found a place to call home... "She almost reminds me of my own situation..." he thought as he silently prayed to himself that Rhys had a good family that truly loved and respected her more. As Rhys told him that she was glad that he had a loving family, he smiled somewhat sadly. "Yeah, thanks Rhys..." Jasper replied before watching you run to a child that was injured. Following Rhys, Jasper was impressed by how quickly she managed to calm the child down. Smiling, Jasper started to take out his mini first-aid kit from his pocket. "You know, I'm sure you'll be a great mother someday Rhys!" he praised as he stooped down and lowered himself so that he was facing the child's face directly. "Now then, can you stretch your leg so that I can apply something that will make your wound heal faster?" he asked of the child as it stretched its leg. "Thanks!" Jasper said as he took out some antibacterial cream before rubbing it on the scrape, applying a smiley band-aid to it afterwards. "All done! Be sure to listen to what mama Rhys told you to do now!" he said as he waved at the child before watching it run back to the others.
 
Rhys blushed a little, at Jasper's comment. Truthfully, she'd always thought she'd be a horrible mother, if one at all. Straightening up as he took over, before he sent the kid off, she gave a weak laugh. "That's a long time off, dear Jasper..., people change in that amount of time." Glancing at the kid as he left, she nodded her head, "Though, you wouldn't make a bad parent either..." Putting her hands on her hips, she gazed back over the kids, watching them all having fun. And for a moment, she kind of wanted to be their age again.
 
Jasper smiled at Rhys as he saw her blush a little bit, he ruffled his hair a bit before grinning a little bit. "I don't think you'll ever stop being nice to children." Jasper honestly replied as he watched the children play around, reminding him of better days. "You're just too good of a person to do that...as for me, I don't think I can honestly be father material....I tend to be a bit over the top sometimes..."
 
"I don't know, you don't seem so bad to me. I mean, you carry stuff for common injuries in your pocket, kids love you, you seem really nice, and you kind of act like one yourself...so you'd be perfect for one." Rhys said, chuckling a little. "And well, yeah....children always need at least one nice person in their life, right?"


Cracking a grin up at him, she leaned against the fence surrounding the field that connecting to the orphanage. "And hey, all you really need to do as a parent, is be there for them when they need it...." Nodding her head, she looked at the kids again, sighing happily. "It's sad to think that out of all of these, the chances of them all finding a good family, are pretty slim...."
 
Jasper blushed a little bit as Rhys listed the qualities of himself that would make a good father figure. "Well, if you put it that way..." he said softly as Rhys mentioned how unfortunate it was that the children's chances of finding a good family were slim. "Well, when we become parents, we can adopt as many children as we can from this orphanage...that way, they can be assured a loving family from either one of us..." Jasper said as he wondered how many children were being raised by awful parents...the thought of it made him cringe a little bit.
 
The question came as a surprise to Hope, not really sure how to answer what pain killers were without scaring her off. From her experience, which included children’s books and mortal documentaries; younglings didn’t like medicine. Luckily, Tristan had come back carrying the ice instead of medication and instructed the girl to place it on the wound.


Hope waved off his apology, knowing he was trying his best to deal with the wound…from as far as he could get. It was that fact that caught Hope’s interest; he could have stopped the bleeding just as much as she could, but didn’t. The question was why?


It seems she would never know, as Kimberly interrupted her thought train with some gratitude, which Hope smiled at. The feature would change as Kim continued her sentence; turning it upside down as she got up to leave. Hope reached out, but there was nothing she could do to stop the girl….


After she had gone, Hope turned towards Tristan in her standing position; bafflement overtaking her features, with a hint of hurt. Maybe she had scared her away? The girl was fine with Tristan but then Hope had to resort to magic…


“Did I scare her away?” she asked, seriously.
 
"Yeah." Rhys said, nodding her head. "Though, these guys will all be grown up by the time that happens...." She giggled a little, trying to picture what Alice or even Jared would be like when their older. She had faith they would be good people, and hoped that maybe they would come back here too one day.


Glancing over towards the door back inside, she saw the Head Master looking out, watching the kids as well laughing a little. He had always been a nice man, and that made her happy, because she knew, even if the kids didn't get adopted right away, he was there for them. "Hey, can I ask you something serious?"
 
Stratos awake from his sleeps and looked around his room seeing that Lydia had already left and cleared out her things. His pet baby dragon hopped on his lap and held a pack of meat in his mouth. Stratos cut the rapper off and placed it on the ground getting dressed in his new human realm clothes “man its hot today…see you later tonight boy” he patted his pets head and walked out the door placing a large rock in front of the door and walked into town.


“I wonder where Lydia went” he said thinking of everywhere she could have gone. He kept walking until he reached a dead end. The only way he could go was down a ally to the main street. He was halfway threw the ally when someone came up behind him and placed a gun to his back. “ give me all your money right now” the dirty masked man said jabbing stratos with a small revolver. Stratos froze in fear he reached into his and grabbed a small wallet and dropped it on the ground. As the robber went to pickup the wallet stratos tried to grab the gun. The panicked robber pulled the trigger twice and ran away with the wallet. “ yea don’t mess with me” Stratos said with a grin he reached down to grab his wallet. A small steam on blood fell on the ground he looked at his chest and saw two holes in his chest that where gushing blood. He fell on the ground and rolled over to look at the sky. “crap……guess I…I wont be able to help you with that dream Lydia” he said as his vision started to fade and the pain went away
 
"Lydia Mieux?" asked the elderly gentleman, lowering his glasses to get a better look of the young woman. She sat so stiffly on the chair across from his desk and so still that she looked like a statue. "You have quite the credentials," he commented, watching as she nodded her head and quietly thanked you. "How could I ever refuse such a fantastic resume? We will be seeing each other again, Ms. Mieux. Please expect a call from us."


After thanking the old man once more Lydia left the orphanage. She could hear the children laughing in the playground and for a minute smiled, almost excited by the thought of being around such happiness on a daily basis. Adjusting the strap on her purse she walked over to where she had left Sphinx. The lazy cat had rolled into a ball and was resting pleasantly under the sun. As Lydia approached the cat it jerked its head upwards and then got to its feet, although it was quite begrudging for a cat.


The walk back into the city was leisurely for the most part, Lydia enjoying the weather and also feeling accomplished with her job interview, pretty much knowing that she had succeeded, even if it was just something small like being a cleaning lady. It was during her trip back into the city that Lydia lost track of where she was and soon found herself in a back alley. Looking around Lydia sighed and shook her head, Sphinx meowing up at her as if to call her a moron for having got them lost. Lydia sighed and picked the cat up before continuing through the alley, hoping that eventually she would find the light again. In the distance Lydia could make out the shape of something, though she wasn't sure what it was.


It was the scent that came to her first. Her eyes widened and she had to look away for a minute, the metallic scent so strong in her nostrils that she covered her face with her arm. Taking in a shaky breath she forced herself to move forward, though her legs felt like a lead. This was quite a find on her second day in the human realm. Lydia wanted to curse her luck right then at coming across such a scene and was going to try and pass it by without looking when some sun glinted off of the hair, such a bright ginger.


She lost the feeling in her legs and dropped to the ground, Sphinx leaping from her arms and landing delicately on her feet. Had it not been just an hour ago that he had been underneath her fingertips, so warm? Perhaps it was only minutes that separated her from the color in his cheeks and the the kiss on his lips. Her body shook and she hugged her arms around herself, trying to fight back the primitive side of her. The battle was lost as she threw her head back, shrieking. What was she crying for? Crying for stumbling upon him? Crying for the loss? Crying for not staying goodbye? She gasped and took in a sharp breath, gripping her hair tightly, as if trying to hold her mind together. This wasn't real. This wasn't real.


Lydia forced herself to look down at him, at his pale face wrenched on his final words. He was cold underneath her touch, even his blood. She brought her fingers to her face without thinking about it, smearing his blood to her cheek. Another shriek passed her lips followed by a body wracking sob. "S-stratos...!" she finally cried, balling up his shirt into her fists. "No, no...!" She had wanted to see him again in the future, even if it would have been a long time. She wanted to see him with black hair, with silver hair, with blonde hair, with his stupid cheeky grin. Lydia cried out once more, holding his body to her chest. It had just been the night before that they shared ice cream together just like they had all of those years again when he had foolishly proposed to her. How she hated herself for turning him down!


"I hate this... I-I hate you for leaving me...!" she cried, though she already regretted her words. He was so much more than just a classmate, or just someone who she had grown up with. He had been the one thing that had been keeping her from completely going to the dark side, from being as ruthless as Foster in her quest for the Crystal Heart. Lydia was realizing what she hadn't wanted to before, accepting what was too late to be relevant. "I-I..." she gasped, her breath shaky as she buried her face against his neck. "I love you! I love you damnit! This wasn't supposed to happen...!" She gasped at this realization and released him, sitting back against the brick wall of the building. She stared up at the sky, the tears streaming down her face as she grit her teeth, trying to stop herself from being so weak.


"This wasn't how it was supposed to be...!"


Lydia stayed in the alley for much longer than she would have thought when she had first entered it. Stratos's blood stained her finger tips and even her cheeks. Her arms felt empty and she hugged herself once more, her whole body shaking. Her eyes ached from the tears that she shed and she wanted to find the strength to get to her feet again and to walk back to the shack. Lydia wanted to throw open the door and find Stratos there, find out that it had been a sick joke of his. It would play out with her yelling at him and possibly slapping him before kissing him and crying, holding him close to her body and never letting him. This wasn't what happened. Forcing herself to move towards him, she looked down at his face one last time before closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Stratos," she whispered. "I should have stayed home with you. I should have forgotten all about the exam and made breakfast." A tear fell from her face and dropped on to his cheek and she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. Opening her eyes with a shaky breath she moved down and kissed him for the last time.


Even as she walked away she could not forget how cold he felt and how only an hour or so ago she could hold him awake, could have seen his eyes sparkle with laughter as he teased her. She sent his body back to the magical realm where it belonged, far away from her. Her heart did not beat erratically anymore and she wondered if she had gone soft like mortals and it had actually broken. Picking up Sphinx she left the alley and eventually made her way back to their home and did not leave for the rest of the day.
 
When she received the urgent message to get through the waiting portal, if she had been mortal Pele was pretty sure her heart would have gone from blue to white so fast it would have shattered. Yipping quietly with joy she dashed about, shoving things back into a half-unpacked bag and then decided she didn't want to push it. All she ended up grabbing was the money that was to start a temporary life in the human world and the hand-crafted satchel that could support her familiar. "Come on, Pratap!" she yelled, leaning out the window and glaring towards the roof. "If you're not here in the next moment I'm leaving without you."


"If this weren't so important, I'd make you wait just to remind you of your place." Graceful and speedy, the miniature griffin glided into the window and for once didn't fight being pushed into the bag, although he did squawk at her handling. "You better not fail this time! I'm tired of living with the students."


"You and me both," Pele muttered, and then ran out, making for the portal that had been opened to return the body of the first failed examinee.


It didn't sink in that death was the cause of failure until she stumbled, stubbing her toe and almost landing on her face into a splash of blood. She jerked back, shocked and crashed into a garbage dumpster, the smell of which jolted her back to her senses and into bad temper. "Oh, gross."


"I think it smells interesting." Pratap just couldn't keep his opinions to himself, working his beak out from under the flap to get a better whiff.


"Oh no you don't." Risking a savage bite, she shoved his head back in and secured the clasp. "People freak out when they see you, and they REALLY don't like it when they think I'm abusing a bird."


Although he knew all too well the materials of this magic-ed bag would not give, he slashed and thrashed anyway, venting his temper. Pele ignored him and faced the stream of pedestrians passing the alley, unaware of the crime that had been committed, the opportunity that had been given to her for the last time. She would kill herself in shame rather than return a seventh time. The only upshot was she had established herself before and knew how this world worked.


A grim smile thinned her lips and she stepped forward into the bright, sunlit day.


 
Tristan had barely sat down to continue eating as the girl had thanked the two of them and ran off. This had come completely out of nowhere and had made him as confused as Hope was. He wanted to at least offer her some food or something, be a good host type of thing. He looked back towards Hope who had posed the obvious question "Did I scare her away?".


Tristan shook his head "If that were the case, it wouldn't just be because of you. I think she's a bit too self conscious. I can't say much since I don't know her past." sighing at the end of his sentence. He looked towards the door. "We can go after her... not sure if that'd be the right thing though." It wasn't a good situation anyway you looked at it, but at least it was still better than a fight. Tristan's gaze became distant with that crossing his mind.
 
Hope shook her head, although she had a curious nature for humans; Kimberly was not one of them. The girl confused her to say the least, she had come to the house for a reason but left without taking anything but clothes. She froze, just as she was about to finish off her plate,


“What about your mom’s clothes?” she questioned.


She didn’t want to imagine how a second encounter would happen between the three;


“…And the note! What’s on it?” she continued.


The question had popped out of her before she realized and her cheeks turned the same color as her hair, it wasn’t her place to ask. Picking up her now empty plate, she stood and made her way to the kitchen, placing the dishes in the sink. Just as she was about to wash her own dishes, Hope stopped herself; why should she care that Tristan had more to wash, or that his moms dress was missing, or what a note said?


Scuttles had tried to warn her in his undistinguished way, but she hadn’t paid any attention, Hope was attached. His heart remained unknown and he seemed more like a friend rather than a jewel barer; gathering her courage, she formed the symbol with her fingers and turned towards the dining room. Hope approached the door slowly, arming her hand to point at where Tristan sat and stopped before she could see him, before taking the final step and locking on.


Doubt was there alright, covering most of the heart along with a blue that correlated to sadness; two other colors shared the heart, confusion which mixed in with every other color but the calm one which remained in it's own small sector. Hope let the breath she was holding in out and dropped her hand...
 
Tristan finished his last few bites, while Hope asked a couple of questions. When she became embarrassed she quickly made a getaway for the kitchen. He heard the water start then stop quickly. Still sitting he answered her first question, "I don't really care, doubt my mom would either. I've never seen that dress in the house before. Let alone my mom wearing it. It also wasn't her style of clothing." Tristan absent mindedly shrugged.


Tristan looked up to see Hope's hand drop. "Something wrong??" he added. He stood up walking towards the kitchen to drop off the plate and to put away the remaining food. "The note just said 'Seiren'." He added while putting away some extra dishes.
 
Foster was waiting. Plotting. He ran numerous plans through his head. He was waiting for a Clear Hearted person to come in,so he could harvest them,on the spot. However,he knew that this would be relying too much on location. On his off time,he prowled the streets,always scrying. However...He needs another person. A mage,preferably. He could use them to his advantage.


But,currently,he was serving a customer. A regular,a goth man calling himself "Moebius". After he bought his shrunken head and walked out,Foster called after him, "Thank you for your patronage! May the spirits guide you." Inside he cringed. This place,for all of it's atmosphere and merchandise,was just a cheap curio shop. Nothing truly dark and mystic,at all. And so,he sat behind the counter,waiting for another customer. Moebius' heart was always the same,green,with a splash of red. Honestly,Foster was surprised he didn't want voodoo dolls. He outright refused them when offered,saying that they're "Too mainstream".
 
After four long years of hard work in school and with her studies Lydia felt her resolve breaking so easily right then. Her ancestors would laugh at her if they could see her right then, or read her inner thoughts. She had only been in the mortal realm for three days and had started to ambitious and was stopped now after the death of a boy who socially speaking was far beneath her and the Mieux. Where had her desire to pass this exam gone? Why did she feel no more capable than a young mortal? Shaking her head she looked over at the clock and saw that it was getting to be late in the afternoon. Sunlight was coming in through gaps in the blinds and she wanted to hide further in the darkness. Even with all of her studies she still had the ridiculous notion in her head that she could save him. She was foolish enough right then to lie to herself, to say that a necro could bring anyone back to life.


Her lips curved up in a sickening smile and she let out a frightening laugh. She knew what would happen to Stratos if she tried to bring him back. The thought of seeing his eyes emotionless and clouded, no more knowing than a toy earned a ripping scream from her lips, muffled as she bit into her knuckle to stop herself. Even if she weren't a necro she probably couldn't bring him back, her skills in healing magic were abysmal. Getting up from her bed right then all she could think about was her element, of the true darkness that she possessed within her body. What would happen if she were to add more darkness, would the black turn to white? Her eyes widened and she left the house then, leaving Sphinx with Stratos's baby wyvern.


Lydia was quiet as she walked through the city, her legs carrying her and moving without much thought from her brain. She reached the town again though this time she passed the orphanage with the laughing children and didn't stop until she reached a shop. The garish sign read "We Do Voodo" and without a second thought she knew that he would be there. Opening the door and walking in she looked over to the man at the counter.


"Hello."


 
“Seiren!?” Hope asked incredulously,


“Like, S-e-i-r-e-n?” she spelled to make sure, striding after him on his journey to the sink.


Panic overtook her, his parents’ could’ve been searching for the magic world; maybe they had been offed when it was truly discovered? Hope didn’t know what happened to humans who found their world…as it was possible with mistake or malpractice. In her imagination it was that their memory was wiped and they were forced back into the human world. That, in itself, was shady; some still retained flashes of memories and believed in magic and other worlds.


“Tristan…” she started, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around from the sink;


“W-What happened to your parents?” she stuttered, it took some courage to get the question out.


There wasn’t a case of a human born to magical ancestors before, but the note in his mom’s dress pocket seemed sketchy. It wasn’t usually brought up in conversation; it was something like the moon or what the dots beside it were.


The name on the paper…was the name of her world…
 
Foster put a smirk on his face as he saw a shadow stop at the door. He still wore his skull mask. When the person entered,and greeted him,his smile widened. "Lydia." He put his hands together,and said, "How may I help you,today?" He quickly scryed her,and saw she was in turmoil...Very interesting. And PERFECT for what he had in mind. He subtly made the room darken,deepening her mood. "What manner of dark curio can I interest you in,this fine evening?" He swept his arm at the shelf behind him,which held shrunken heads,and polished skulls.
 
Tristan was busy with one of the dishes as Hope shouted. "Ye-" he was cut off by Hope's continuing of the question, by spelling the word. Tristan noticed she was freaking out, more so when she grabbed his shoulder and turned him completely around. He wasn't feeling so good himself now. He stared her directly in the eyes "The left on a trip and never came back." He didn't mind people asking questions, but this one was a bit close o home with the way she was acting. "Why..." His voice was a bit harder than usual.
 
"Spare me the theatrics, Foster." Lydia growled, stepping into the store. She didn't note his darkening of the ambiance in the store, although it did help to darken her mood even more. "You know as well as do that this is nothing more than an insult to what we are capable of." When she said "we" she was referring to him as a fellow necro. Even after being born from the Mieux bloodline her magical loyalties did not lie to the element of fire and for the first time she giving in to the darker side of her. "What I want from you is not from those shelves."


She approached him at the counter and stared up into his eyes unflinching despite her previous discomfort around him. "There has been an accident," she said, her voice getting choked up for only a moment as she thought back to Stratos's dead body. She caught a hold of herself before she really gave in to her inner sorrows, refusing to give Foster any more power over her than she was about to offer. Stratos had been a mage of the light element and had she died he could have saved her. How weak was she that could not do the same for him? Looking into Foster's eyes she bit back a shiver. "I am curious to see what would happen if two necros were to attempt put their powers together, to see whether or not adding more darkness to the dark could create light." What she said was vague but at the same time she didn't want to catch the attention of any mortals in the shop so she was trying to guard her words.
 
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