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

in the air, fighting the erboon.

“A woman was reportedly seen with the creature, right here in Chicago. Witnesses say it had grabbed her off a street in New York. The woman and the creature’s whereabouts are unknown, but the police are investigating on the matter. Back to you, Rob,” the reporter on the TV said. The video of the erboon swapping Emery away was a bit unclear. We could only see the erboon but not Emery. That was a good thing.

The boys and I shared curious and worried looks. We silently agreed on what we had to do.

Emery’s P.O.V

“I heard what Elizabeth said,” my mom spoke as she entered the room. It was the same room I woke up in after I was chosen the crystal. I was sitting on the bed as I stared at the open window. The sky was clear, and the moon on that night appeared large, illuminating objects in its path.

After the Queen had left Justin, Erick, Selena and I alone, a heated conversation took place. Selena and I agreed with what the Queen said. Her sons, however, did not. They were concerned about my security. I had to repeatedly state that I was a crystal and that I could take care of myself. I expected to fight with my mother on the issue.

“I don’t want to argue,” I said.

“Me too,” she replied. “That’s why I agree with the Queen that you should deal with the problem.”

I turned to face her with a shocked look. She looked unsatisfied with the decision, and that removed any doubts about her lying. I could not believe her. My mother had been overprotective ever since she knew I was bullied. She took out time out of work to escort me to school and back home. Moreover, she attended the school meetings and regularly asked the teachers to look after me. It was embarrassing. That was why I was shocked when my mom muttered her words.

The shocked look I gave her forced her to explain, “Before I came here, I had a talk with the Queen. In fact, she was the one who looked for me. She explained to me what had happened in Chicago and the small discussion you had with her and your friends. As you may know, I complained to her about you going to Eva’s castle. It went on and on. In the end, she reminded me that you are growing up and that you are a crystal, which means that I have to back off. Also, the witches might get mad and might force you themselves to figure out what it is.”

I did not like the sound of the last sentence.

“But they don’t know what happened,” I said, earning a hopeful look from my mother. Before any of us said anything, Erick suddenly came into the room.

“There is a problem,” he said. My mother followed him out of the chamber and to the study room. The room had been darkened, and a projected screen was placed with some news being shown. On the video being shown, two erboons were circling around a skyscraper. Below the screen was the title ‘MYSTERIOUS CREATURES FLYING AROUND NEW YORK.’

My eyes widened as the newscaster voiced that the animals were seen in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago among other cities. They must have been in those other cities before they zoomed past my workplace.

“So the wiping out people’s memories spell won’t work,” Selena said. “There goes the hope of this mess not reaching the media.”

“On the bright side, they don’t know about witches,” someone said, shocking me. I turned to find the source of the voice, only to find the members of the Ordinary Brothers in the room. I hoped they were not there because of the conversation we had.

Why the hell were they there?

Before I spoke, the Queen said to them, “Thank you for showing this to us. We were planning to wipe people’s memories of this incident, but having video footage of this would make it impossible.”

I almost breathed out a sigh of relief. The boys were in Crystalia for a whole different reason!

“There’s more,” Ethan said, pointing at the screen. We turned to the projected screen, only to be astonished by what we saw. I was in the recorded footage, being grabbed from the ground by one of the erboons. Below the screen was the title, ‘WOMAN KIDNAPPED BY CREATURE IS STILL BEING SEARCHED.'

“Oh crap,” I muttered.

“So, what are we going to do?” my mother asked. I looked towards the boys.

“Before we continue, I would like to ask you guys to leave,” the Queen said as she pointed at my ex-bullies. The boys looked hesitant at first, but they left the room, closing the door behind them. Once they were out, the discussion resumed.

“The only thing we can do is go to Eva’s domain and get rid of what’s causing the problem,” the Queen said before facing me. Then the conversation continued with plans of going to Eva’s castle. The day was first discussed. I was to go after the following day. Before then, the Queen would announce the plan to her guards, and they would decide on who would accompany the crystal to Eva’s castle.

Once the conversation ended, everyone decided to retire to bed. I stayed in the room for a while, switching off the projector. Once I was done, I exited the chamber, closing the door behind me.

My mind went through the plans, and I realized that there would be erboons. I was so not looking forward to that, especially when the last erboon I killed had tried to claw me to death.

“Emery!” Zane shouted as a couple of feet ran after me. I stopped walking in the hallway as I turned to face him. He wasn’t alone.

“What is it?” I asked with a bored look and a tilt of the head. Once Zane and his friends were a foot away from me, they started getting nervous. Zane scratched the back of his head as he considered what he wanted to say. It was not helping my mood. It was night, I was tired and irritable. 

They just had to speak with me before I went to sleep...

“We wanted to know how you’re doing, you know, after the whole erboon attack thing,” Zane said. I blinked at him, feeling anger threatening to cloud my vision.

That was it?

I told myself to cool my anger. It wouldn’t help my pride to have to apologize to them just because they were asking about my well-being.

“There were more than one,” I said, earning a look of shock from him and the rest. “One of them was dealt with by Justin and Selena. I burned the other two with fireballs, and the last one was quite ruthless. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go to bed. I’ll have to skip work again for the next two days.” I said, actually remembering that Selena and I owed Rachel.

I smacked my head with the palm, earning weird looks from the boys. An idea came to mind. I could get Rachel an autograph or something signed by the boys. At least I would know she would owe me for a year. I smiled at the thought.

“I need a favor,” I said, being answered by eager looks.

“What do you need?” Harry said. Before I spoke, Logan pushed his hand towards me.

“We can do whatever it is as long as it does not involve dealing with an erwich or an erboon.”

“It doesn’t include that,” I assured him.

“If it’s a photo with a fan, then okay,” Liam said, taking the words right off my head. I smiled, answering his question.

“Sure! But first, we need information from you.”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I’m listening.”

“Look. We were introduced to the concept of magic about three weeks ago. In that time, we have been too busy to ask about it and Crystalia.”

“So what you want to know is something that may as well be written in a book called ‘Guide in Being a Witch’ .” 

They nodded their heads in reply.

“We’ve already talked to Selena. She said you had a friend you owed, and so I gave her three tickets to come to our signing.”

“Signing?” I gave them a confused look.

“It will be outside a hotel in New York. Our fans will be coming with their stuff to be signed by us,” Liam explained.

“I know what a signing is, but why the tickets?” that confused me even more. It was a signing.

“We have a large fanbase,” Logan stated. “If we were to sign for all of them, it might take a week.”

I nodded my head in understanding.

“Okay. Bye Emery!” Ethan said as they teleported out of Crystalia.

I couldn’t believe I was considering going to that signing just to pay back Rachel for covering my shift. I thought more about it, and I decided it could be fun to go. It wasn’t like it could take a whole day, could it?

CHAPTER 11

Six years ago

Third person's P.O.V

The evening was approaching. Michael, Susan's husband, was playing scrabble with their twelve-year-old daughter, Emery. They were in the living room of their house in Massachusettes. It was where Susan and Mike began their lives as a wedding couple.

They had just finished eating dinner. At the moment, Emery was laughing at something her father said.

"You cheated!" her father repeated with a smile, finding it hard to make a straight face. Emery just laughed at him because she won the game and he would not accept defeat.

With a smile, Emery's mother walked towards her unsuspecting daughter. Emery was too busy laughing to notice her approach. Susan smirked as she got near her and tickled her sides. Taken by surprise, Emery laughed louder. Michael stared at his wife in surprise.

"Daddy, help!" Emery screamed in between laughs. Emery's father pretended not to have heard her. He walked around the two in a slow manner, pretending to be in thought. Then quickly, he wrapped his arms around Susan's waist before carrying her in the air. That forced Susan to let go of her daughter.

Michael walked towards the couch in the room with his daughter behind him. He dropped his wife on the sofa and started to tickle her. She tried hard not to laugh but failed. Her husband knew the spots to hit, so she busted into fits of laughter.

"Stop!" Susan barely said due to the tickling sensation.

"No," her husband protested with a smirk. "Not until you promise not to tickle our daughter without her permission." Susan gave Michael a look of disbelief. With a noncaring shrug, he resumed torturing her. His wife screamed with laughter, struggling to stop her husband's assault.

"Do you promise?" he stopped for a moment to ask with a smirk on his face.

"I promise!" she said and he let go of her sides. Susan wiped the tears that had absently escaped from her eyes.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Emery called out. Susan and Michael both turned to face their daughter. She gave them a serious expression which had the two instantly concerned.

"Yes, darling?"

"Do you promise to never leave me?"

Susan and Michael were startled by the question. It seemed unnatural for her to ask them that. The couple did not answer, pondering on what to tell their daughter.

"Now Emery, you know that I can't respond to such a question," Michael replied in hopes of changing the subject.

"But why?" Emery asked with a pout on her face. It made her look cute, making it impossible for her father to avoid answering her question.

Michael knelt down to his daughter's height while his wife looked anywhere else but at their child. He grabbed Emery's shoulders and stared deep into her eyes.

"There are some things that people are uncertain of, like the future. You are a smart girl, Emery."

"I also know you're trying to change the subject which, by the way, you are failing," his daughter responded with a frown. Mike bowed his head as he silently laughed. He remembered an incident where she asked where babies come from. He told her a story about storks bringing babies, but she was told otherwise by her friends. She was mad that her daddy lied to her, and she cried.

"I can't lie to you about serious stuff," he said. "Not after what happened with the babies thing," he whispered to himself, but Emery heard that. She said nothing in reply.

"To answer your question, I am not sure." Emery began crying. Her dad looked concerned before wrapping his arms around her.

"You know that your mother and I love you. We will always be here for you for as long as the fates allow it. And if