The Crystal by Jones M (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

another one to be chosen.

It was the second time for such that was happening.

Every witch in Crystalia was looking forward to the event. It was great and all, but unfortunately for me, the crystal had to be in their teenage years to be selected. There was going to be a party planned by the queen and her sons before the actual ceremony began.

"You completely forgot, didn't you?" my mom asked, copying my thoughts. "I mean, come on, Emery! We are in Crystalia, not at work. That's the thing many witches have been talking about this week!" she stated.

"You know how I am; I postpone stuff that involves parties."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"Well, we've got a party to prepare for. Come along."

Zane's P.O.V

So that was the mother...

The slap I received had probably broken my cheekbone. The skin around the area throbbed with pain. I was surprised to even feel it in my teeth! It must have been some potion that she used to make the slap hurt because I didn't believe a woman's slap could cause more than a mark.

Seeing that I wouldn't be able to talk to Emery, I walked towards another room in the castle while holding my cheek. 

I didn't expect the previous events to happen. Okay, what I meant was I did expect Emery to lash out at me, but I didn't anticipate meeting her mother and receiving a slap as her greeting. It made me realize that she knew. She knew what my friends and I did to her daughter. Not only did I have to apologize to Emery, but I also had to apologize to her mother.

I came to an abrupt halt, realizing that I didn't recognize my surroundings. I sighed, digging for my phone and dialing Liam.

"Hello?" he answered within the first ring. As painful as it was to my pride to say, Liam managed to map the whole castle in his head within a week. I mean, we weren't even around during the past week! I would like to think that he either got a map for the castle or he had a really sharp memory and sense of direction.

"Hey, Liam. I'm lost," I said with an annoyed tone.

"Again?" he asked with a surprised tone. I huffed, still annoyed.

"Okay. Where are you?"

"I don't know! That's why I said I'm lost," I said with a groan.

"Do you see anything around you? Anything that jiggles your memory?"

I took my time to look around. The only thing I saw was the lime-green walls of the hallway and the gray concrete ground.

"Nope," I replied.

"Just picture your room and teleport there."

I ended the call and closed my eyes to do what he said. I felt a sudden blast of air surround and leave my form. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at Liam. 

We were in a room with cyan walls. It was designed to be some kind of small library because there were some bookshelves arranged behind Liam. A wooden table with wooden chairs surrounding it were present. There was also a window on my left that viewed Crystalia's other tower and the other buildings in Crystalia.

"What were you doing that got you lost?" Liam asked with his eyebrows furrowed. I shifted on my feet as I thought about the reply.

"I was looking for Emery," I replied, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"What? Zane! We were all supposed to do it together," he said.

"I know," I said, "but I thought it was better if we all went one by one. If we went together, wouldn't it mean that we don't mean it?"

"What?" he asked with a confused expression.

"We can sometimes depend on each other for support and confidence. What if we all just went as individuals and apologize to her?"

"Maybe you're right, Zane. Tell me. How did your plan work out?"

I winced as I recalled the argument I had with Emery, which was followed by the slap I received from her mother. I turned to show Liam the abused cheek. He gasped when he saw the bruise forming on the skin.

"Who did this to you?" he questioned with his mouth opened.

"Emery's mother."

"What?"

I relayed the recent events to Liam.

"I should stay away from her. I don't want to be her next slap victim."

I would have found it funny if I wasn't the one who was slapped.

"She knows what we did to her, Liam," I said, frightened about what she could do next. I knew for a fact that mothers could do anything to ensure their children's protection. I was afraid that Emery's mother would curse me, or worse, kill me since she was also a witch.

"What did you expect, Zane? We landed her daughter in a hospital. I believe that someone would know. I'm surprised that it's only her mother that knows."

"How can you be sure, Liam? What if someone else knows? What if every witch in Crystalia knows?" I started to panic. We were surrounded by many witches like us. Maybe they were planning to kill us!

"Zane, you're being paranoid over nothing. The witches are friendly people. The queen herself even sent her best guards to protect us while we were on tour. I believe that we are safe with them. Remember high school and how hard it was to embrace our powers?"

I nodded my head as the memories played in my head. After we had beaten up Emery and landed her in a hospital, and after the police investigated the case and came up with nothing, strange things started happening to my friends and me. It started out small, like a small fire in the Chemistry lab or a flying tube breaking on a wall. It got even weirder when at one time Ethan burned his Math book with his own hands.

**** Flashback ****

Harry, Logan, Liam and I burst into Ethan's bedroom.

"Whoa! Ethan!" Harry said with his mouth wide open.

Ethan refused to face us as he huddled against a corner in his room and hid his head in between his legs. 

"It's okay, dude," Harry said as he tried to approach him.

"It's not okay!" Ethan shouted, raising his head to look at us. Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks.

Ethan had accidentally burnt his Math book in class. Just by touching it. Later in the day, he skived school. The guys and I were worried for him, and so we decided to check on him.

"I'm afraid of what you're thinking of me," he said in a whisper as he looked down at the floor. "You could tell anyone for all I know!"

"Why would we do that?" Liam asked, mirroring the same shocked expression that everyone in the room had.

"We are friends, Ethan. We promise we won't tell anyone if that's what you want."

We all nodded in agreement to Liam's words. Ethan sighed in relief.

"When did this start?" I asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "It started about three months ago." He got up and extended his left arm. A small fireball began to form on the palm. He twirled it around his fingers before clicking them, diminishing the fireball.

"That explains the fire at the Chemistry lab!" Logan exclaimed, making every eye turn to him with a patronizing look.

"What? Oh," he said before shutting up for the entire conversation.

"It's alright, Ethan. To be honest, I have something to share with you guys," Harry said, having everyone turn their attention to him.

He stared at the burnt Math book on the table. He narrowed his eyebrows, making the book move forward. We all exclaimed in shock at what he did. The rest of us came clean and demonstrated our powers. Logan and I had telekinesis like Harry did. Liam and Ethan were the ones who were able to summon fireballs.

"I thought I was alone," Ethan said as we all embraced in a group hug.

"What do we do?" Harry asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Should we tell someone?" Logan asked.

"We can't!" Liam stated. "What if we end up being like lab rats? Or a dissected frog ?"

We all shuddered at the thought. We continued talking and we all agreed to keep the powers talk to ourselves. It was easy at first, but we managed to hide our secret without anyone finding out.

The mystery of how we got our powers still remained a mystery. Since we knew of Crystalia, we could go ask around about how a person became a witch.

Seeing Emery after high school was both a good and bad thing. She found out who we were and told us that we were witches, like her and her cousin. We were quite relieved that we weren't alone. It was bad because we shared a bad history with her, and we didn't know how to get on her good side.

My thoughts were interrupted when the ground suddenly shook. There was also a thunderous sound that frightened me. Liam and I instantly lost our footing. We collapsed on the floor, thankfully on our behinds. The shaking continued, making everything in the room vibrate. Some books even fell off the bookshelves. We crawled towards the wooden table where we stayed.

"What's going on?" I questioned as fear clenched around my heart. The shaking persisted for about a minute before it stopped. Liam and I slowly crawled out of the table before standing up.

The damage in the room was huge. Some bookshelves had collapsed onto the walls and onto other bookshelves. Books lay unceremoniously on the floor with some open and some closed. Before we could do anything, we heard many moving feet. We turned to the door to see people move towards one direction.

I did not want to be alone in that room after what had just occurred. Liam and I shared a look before quickly moving towards the crowd. We went along with them, going towards the direction they were heading. I soon came to realize that we were heading outside the castle.

The sight of the weird starry day sky greeted me. I looked around and spotted many people around the garden, waiting for something to happen. Liam and I moved towards them.

"Hello, fellow witches," someone said as they stood in front of us. Everyone faced the person. It was a woman, and with the way she spoke, I thought she was a leader to the people.

"We have heard and witnessed what had just happened. I am happy to report that none of us were killed or injured during the earthquake. However, it has brought my attention to inform you of what has been happening around us. I believe that the erwiches have something to do with the earthquake."

Sounds of shock and disbelief filled the air before people murmured.

"We are certain that they are trying to disrupt tonight's activities. We will let them know that nothing will ruin this night for us!"
Sounds of agreement and shouts rang through the air.

"Your Majesty, what are the erwiches planning?" someone asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "We will not be looking into it because that is what they want. We will carry on with this day like nothing has happened."

Sounds of agreement rang through the air.

I just had one question.

What was happening on that night?

CHAPTER 07

Zane's P.O.V

A party. 

That was what was going to happen during the night. 

A freaking party.

Why would the erwiches try to disrupt peace in Crystalia because of a party? 

Sometimes I felt like I was in a childish fantasy movie. 

Well, better that than being a character in Lord of the Rings, am I right?

"Zane!" Harry shouted my name as he, Logan and Ethan moved through the crowd. Liam and I walked towards them and met in the middle of the dispersing crowd.

"Where were you guys?" Liam asked. Harry, Ethan and Logan looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders.

"We were just looking around. Did you know the Queen has two sons?"

"The Queen?" I asked in confusion. "Wait. Crystalia has a queen?"

"Yes, Zane," Liam responded. "Who do you think that woman telling us about the erwiches' plan was?"

"By the way, what is the deal with erwiches?" Logan asked with a frown. "According to Martin, their attacks have been more progressive in the last few weeks."

"If anything, it isn't good," Ethan added. "Guys, this talk about erwiches is making me uncomfortable. Could we talk about it some other time?"

Just like that, the subject was changed to the tour that we had around the US. Nobody wanted to talk more about the revelation we had been told on the previous week. It would certainly take some time for us to accept that we were witches. Luckily, we could push the subject until then.

Emery's P.O.V

"Stand still, Emery!" my mother scolded me as she helped