Chapter 26

Nolan

       I hated being a really light sleeper. People always thought I was a heavy sleeper because I slept in for hours but in reality, the slightest noise would wake me up. I was just lucky it was never too loud at home so I could sleep in.

       It was a lot quieter at Jerome's apartment, one of the many reasons I loved living here.

       Unfortunately, the quietness didn't stop Jerome's cell phone from ringing suddenly in the middle of the night.

       It woke Jerome up to, and he sighed as he reached for his cell phone. He looked at the caller id before answering it. "Why are you calling at two in the morning?" he asked in a groggy voice. "...R-right now? Are you serious?... Yeah, we'll be right over."

       Jerome hung up his cell phone and sat up, which caused me to sat up as well since my head was laying on his chest. "What's wrong?" I asked.

       "Dirk is attacking the HQ right now," Jerome said. "I should have known he would have done it at such an odd time. We have to go."

       "Do... do I have to go?" I asked as Jerome got off of the bed.

       He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at me. "What do you mean? Nolan, Dirk and his team are attacking the HQ. They can find at all your secrets and completely destroy the place."

       "I know, but..." I didn't even finish the sentence.

       "Nolan, why don't you want to go?" he asked. "It's your duty as a Protector, isn't it? To stop rogue supernaturals and to keep everyone safe?"

       "It is, but... Last time we were up against Dirk, I..."

       I didn't have to finish for Jerome to know exactly why I was hesitant to head there. "Oh, right," Jerome said. "If you don't want to go, I won't force you. One Protector staying back isn't going to affect us. But..."

       He grabbed my hands and pulled me out of the bed before leading me out of the bedroom and to where all of his spellbooks and potions were. He looked at the potions before grabbing on and handing it to me. "What's this?" I asked.

       "An emergency portal," Jerome said. "I created it just in case I need to go somewhere but I'm out of energy, or for someone else to use if I'm not nearby. If you change your mind, use it. You just have to place three drops on the floor and it will create a portal."

       "Okay," I said, taking the bottle from his hand. I still didn't know for sure if I wanted to go, but at least I had a quick way of getting there if I changed my mind.

       Jerome went to go wake up Mae so they could head to the HQ together to stop Dirk's team. I really hoped they would be able to at least capture Dirk. That way, this rebellion should die down.

       Hopefully.

       After Jerome and Mae left through a portal, I sat down on the couch. I did feel guilty staying back, especially with all the training I had down recently. I thought I was ready for the attack, but once Dirk's name was mentioned, those memories came back. All that pain, and blood, and fear that I wouldn't make it.

       While I was waiting for them to return, or at least receive some news about the attack, my side suddenly began to hurt as if someone was punching it really hard. I lifted up my shirt, seeing that area begin the redden. 

       The hurt feeling in my side suddenly got a lot more sharp, causing me to cry out in pain. It slowly began to fade, but the red mark stayed there. 

       I didn't know what was happening, or why, but I knew something was wrong at the HQ. I didn't even hesitate to grab my bow and quiver, which I kept in the living room. I placed the quiver on my back before opening the bottle Jerome gave me. I placed three drops on the ground and watched as it transformed into a portal.

       I took a deep breath before stepping into it, seeing that chaos that was happening. Every single person was at battle with someone else, and there were a few people laying on the floor unconscious, both of Protector and supernatural.

       I turned myself invisible before looking around the HQ for Jerome, but I couldn't find him.

       Something inside of me told me to go check out the training labyrinth to see if he was there. If he really was there, I had no idea how I was going to find him with all the twists and turns. At least the traps and obstacles weren't generated, so it was just an endless amount of walls I had to navigate through.

       Nearby, I saw a green ball of magic suddenly soar through the air and hit something. Dirk suddenly came into view, green energy flowing from his hands as he had a smirk on his face, and I immediately knew he had Jerome in a bind.

       I reached for an arrow in my quiver, placing it into the bow before walking closer to Dirk. I wasn't going to fire it until I knew I was close enough to reach Jerome after Dirk was distracted.

       "You're never going to beat me, Jerome," Dirk said. "When are you going to get that into your head? Now, I think it's about time you join my side." He used one hand to keep the bind around Jerome, and used the other to create a ball of magic.

       Before he could even throw it, I turned visible again before firing the arrow right into his hand that was creating the ball. He cried out in pain and had to stop using magic all together.

       I grabbed another arrow from my quiver and placed it in the bow, this time firing it at his leg. Afterwards, I hurried to where Jerome was trying to stand up, so I helped him. "You okay?" I asked.

       "Yeah," he said. "I'm so glad to see you."

       "What the hell?" Dirk said. "He's alive?!"

       "Of course he's alive," Jerome said. "I wasn't going to leave him to die."

       "You shouldn't have been able to heal him," Dirk said. "I made sure of that. Unless..." His eyes widened as if realization of something just struck him. "No way. It can't be you two."

       "What can't be us?" I asked.

       Dirk didn't reply, mainly because Jerome took the advantage of Dirk looking shocked to trap him in a bind. However, instead of Jerome's magic being blue like always, it was orange.

       Jerome pushed his hands forward, causing a blast of energy and knocking Dirk to his feet, unconscious.

       Or dead.

       "Did you...?" I asked.

       "Kill him? I wish," Jerome said, walking over to Dirk and kneeling down beside him. "We're going to need this guy alive, unfortunately, if we're going to stop this rebellion going on. You guys have cells here, right?"

       "Yeah, but it would probably be best to hand him over to the Tribunal," I said. "They'll keep a better eye on him than we will. What was he talking about, by the way? About us being something?"

       "Some kind of prophecy," Jerome said. "I'll explain later. Right now, we should get Dirk out of here so we could deal with the others. Do you know where the Tribunal is?"

       "I do," I said. "Why?"

       "It will be better to portal Dirk there, so I'll need you to think about it," Jerome said as he created a portal. He then picked up the unconscious Dirk before I led us through the portal with the Tribunal on my mind.

       We ended up right outside the building, so I knocked loudly on the door. Shortly after, it opened, revealing Martha. "What brings you two here so early in the morning?"

       "We brought Dirk," Jerome said, dropping him to the ground. "Oops. He slipped."

       "His team attacked the HQ," I said. "They're still attacking, but we at least got Dirk, so we thought we'd bring him here for surveillance."

       Martha called two guards over. "Take Dirk to a cell," she ordered. They nodded and did so. "Thank you two for immediately bringing him here. And thank you, Jerome, for all your help with the Protector Circle. I'm sorry I ever thought otherwise with supernaturals."

       "Don't worry, I understand why," Jerome said. "You just want what's best. Actually, I do have a way you can make it up to me though. Do you know anything about the Two Souls Prophecy? I only know a minimal amount about it."

       Martha nodded, then gestured for us to follow her. "Is now a good time?" I asked. "The HQ is still under attack."

       "Dirk is the biggest threat, and he's captured," Martha said. "I have faith in the rest of the Protectors that they'll handle it. Besides, I'm sure there's a reason Jerome wants to know about the Two Souls Prophecy, and that is crucial to know."

       "Why?" I asked.

       "You'll see," Martha said, opening two large doors to lead us to a library. I looked around, amazed at all the shelves and books there were. I had never seen a library so big.

       Martha walked over to a shelf before pulling out a leather-bind book. She set it on a table and we gathered around it as she opened it up and flipped to a page. "This book is full of prophecies," she said. "Each time one is fulfilled, we check it off since it can only be fulfilled once. There's still a lot to go, but I'm guessing we'll be checking off another one soon."

       "I'm still so confused," I said.

       "What brought your attention to the prophecy?" Martha asked Jerome.

       "Last time we got into a battle with Dirk, Nolan almost died," Jerome said. "Dirk stabbed him and his team left afterwards, but I was able to heal Nolan. It took a while, and a lot of my energy, but I did it. Then during the attack on the HQ, Dirk seemed really shocked to see Nolan, and he said I shouldn't have been able to heal him, so I guessed he put some sort of spell on the sword he used to stab Nolan so I wouldn't have been able to heal him."

       "Ah, so I'm guessing you remembered the sorcerer and Protector part of this prophecy," Martha said and Jerome nodded in reply.

       "You know what I love?" I asked. "Being ignored. Seriously, can someone explain to me what's going on and what's up with this Prophecy?"

       "The Two Souls Prophecy claims that there will be a sorcerer and a Protector whose souls are kind of bound together," Martha said. "Like soulmates, but a lot more powerful and a lot more important. Together, they can be an unstoppable force, and the sorcerer can become even more powerful."

       "I don't know much about the prophecy, but I do know that the sorcerer should be able to heal the Protector without fail," Jerome said. "Meaning if something were to happen to the Protector that normally no other sorcerer would be able to heal, the one in the prophecy should be able to."

       "So... You think it's... you and me?" I asked.

       "It could be," Martha said. "There can be other explanations as to why Jerome was able to heal you when Dirk did something to make sure he wouldn't have, but this prophecy could be a huge chance. But..."

       "There's always a but," I said with a sigh.

       "It can be dangerous," Martha said. "If either the sorcerer or the Protector dies, it can cause immense pain for the other, pain that can cause them to only see red."

       "That's odd," Jerome said. "Only seeing a certain colour."

       "I think she means that they'll only be angry all the time," I said.

       "That makes more sense," Jerome said. 

       "Not only that, but seeing the other in pain can cause it as well," Martha said. "If it's the Protector in pain, the sorcerer can do things unimaginable. I have to admit, this is one of the reasons the Tribunal tried banning Protector and supernatural relationships. This is a dangerous prophecy and if it is of you two, no one can know."

       "Is there anything more about it?" Jerome asked. "I'm sure that can't be the only reason why it would want the Tribunal to make sure it doesn't happen."

       Martha sighed. "Mass destruction. If they're too far from each other for too long after meeting, so many disasters can happen."

       "Is there a way to know for sure if it's me and Jerome?" I asked.

       "Probably not until any of those things happen," Martha said. "That, or you'll feel each other's pain."

       "Feel each other's pain as in... He gets hurt and I-I feel it?" I asked. Please no.

       "Yes, precisely that," Martha said.

       "Jerome, how badly were you hurt today?" I asked.

       "Why?" Jerome asked, but then he realized why I asked it. "Don't tell me..."

       I sighed and slightly lifted up my shirt, revealing the red mark on my side. "I felt this when I was at home and you were at the HQ. That's what made me change my mind and go there. And when I got there, I had a feeling you were in the labyrinth."

       "Looks like we'll be checking off another prophecy," Martha said. "The one we didn't want to happen."

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lol dirk is captured hahaha.

It's 1:15 am but my dad doesn't have Wattpad blocked SO I CAN WRITE PAST MIDNIGHT HAHAHA. I really hope he takes the limit off NOW THAT I HAVE A JOB. I MISS TALKING TO PEOPLE AND BEING ON INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE.