Chapter 11

       Going to Auric wasn't going to be easy. That was only because we didn't know how long we were going to be and Martha still had the strict rules about anyone going on for a long period of time.

       Especially since they tested everyone with the Certitude Rod and couldn't get the results they wanted. I hoped the thought that they got the HQ wrong and the Protector in a relationship with Jerome was in a different HQ, but they seemed so certain it was this one.

       There definitely was more to it, and we had to find out what.

       I was a tiny bit happy Ryder knew about me and Jerome since he, along with Orchid, was an excellent liar, but I was also worried because the more people that knew, there was a higher chance that it would slip out.

       Right now, Ryder was talking to Martha to see if we could leave the HQ, since he said he knew the perfect lie for her to allow us to leave. In the meantime, Orchid and I were waiting in the training room for him.

        And of course, Orchid wanted to spar with me, but I told her to take a long walk off a short pier.

       She was now mad at me.

       My siblings really had to learn that the only way I was going to spar with someone was if we did it with a bow, but they were all too afraid to because they knew that I would win.

       Ryder waled into the training room and since nobody else was there, he was able to tell us directly what Martha said. "We are allowed to leave, and I told her we might be gone for a few hours."

       "What exactly did you tell her?" Orchid asked.

       "That since you two are the weaklings in the family, I want to take you outside of the HQ to train since you're way too comfortable training in here," Ryder said.

       "You know what? I am going to grab one of those swords and shove it up your..." Orchid began, but I quickly interrupted her.

       "Whoa, calm down," I said. "It literally doesn't matter what he said to Martha. She's letting us leave the HQ for a few hours. Let's take it."

       "Thank you, Nolan," Ryder said. "I'm glad someone isn't offended."

       "Oh, I am, and I'll probably draw a mustache on your face when you're sleeping," I said. "I just rather not argue about it right now."

        "Just grab your weapons and let's leave," Ryder said.

        "We don't need our weapons," Orchid said.

        "Uh, we do since Martha thinks we're going to be using them," Ryder said. "If she sees them still here, she's going to know something's up. 

       "Just say we were doing hand-to-hand combat," I said. "That's what I actually need help in the most, and saying that's what we were doing would be better than carrying our weapons and keeping them concealed the whole time."

       "Fair enough," Ryder said. 

       We headed towards the front door of the HQ but before we could leave, Alan stopped us. "Alright, where are you going that I wasn't invited?" he asked.

       "Nowhere," Ryder said.

       "I want to come."

       "No."

       "Well, I've never felt so insulted in my life. You can at least tell me where you're going."

       "I'm taking these two to train outside of the HQ so they're not too comfortable since they're the weaklings."

       "Okay, Ryder, if you say that one more time, I will probably kill you in your sleep," Orchid said. "You and I both know that I can kick Alan's ass. If anyone has to be trained, it should be him."

       "Exactly," Alan said. "So I should join along."

       As much as I didn't want a third person knowing, I would feel so guilty leaving Alan out. Orchid, Alan, and I were triplets and to leave one of us out was basically betraying the Triplet Code.

       "Just let him," I said. "Knowing him, he's just end up following us anyway."

       "I'm so glad my fellow triplet knows me so well," Alan said.

       The four of us left the HQ and once we were out of side, Ryder stopped in his tracks and we did the same. "Alright, now that we're outside," he said, "we need to figure out how the hell we're going to get to Auric."

       "Whoa, why are we going to Auric?" Alan asked. "Do we really need to go that far for training?"

       "We're not training," Ryder said. "I only told Martha that so she would let us out of the HQ for a few hours, and we're definitely going to need the time to figure out how to get there. It's, like, a fourteen hour plane ride."

       "I have an idea," I said as I started walking down the sidewalk.

       My three siblings started following me. "You know, it would be nice to know what your idea is," Alan said. "Actually, it would be nice to know exactly why we're going to Auric in the first place. Wouldn't we just ask Martha if we want to go there?"

       "Trust us, Martha can't know we're going there," Orchid said. "Long story short, the Tribunal is hiding things from the other Protectors, so we need to figure out what it is."

       "You know, they always seemed like shady people," Alan said. "I'm not even going to question what you think they're hiding from us, but they're definitely hiding something from us."

        As soon as we got to the place that I knew would get us to Auric, both Ryder and Alan were very confused. Either because they were stupid and didn't realize that someone could actually help us, or because they didn't really remember this place since last time there were here, they were both charmed by a siren.

       I kind of hoped Mae was home and wasn't wearing her necklace so it could happen again because it was funny.

       "Why are we here exactly?" Ryder asked as we made our way to the top floor.

       "Because I'm going to get us to Auric," I said. "Well, not me. Someone else."

       I knocked on the apartment door, and was very disappointed when it opened. "Aw, dang, you're wearing your necklace," I said.

       "I am, and why are you disappointed?" she asked.

       "Because my brothers are here and it was funny last time," I said. "Is Jerome home?"

       "He is," Mae said before opening the door wider and letting us come on.

       Alan, of course, hesitated since he was the most confused. In retrospect, it probably would have been better to actually tell him everything that was going on, but him being confused was amusing.

       Mae called Jerome's name and he soon walked out of his bedroom, stopping in his tracks when he noticed my brothers behind me. "What's going on?" he asked. "Am I in trouble?"

       "What? No," I said. "We're here because we need help getting to Auric. It's where the Tribunal lives, and it's the main HQ of the Protector Circle. The only problem is it's in Nunavut, so the only way we can get there and back in no time is through a portal, especially since we can't be gone for too long."

       "Ah, you're sneaking there," Jerome said as he headed to the bookshelf that had the potion he gave Orchid and I last time we were here. "Lucky for you, I have what can help. I could just create a portal right now, but you'll have no way of getting back so..." He grabbed a small flask with a blue liquid inside before walking over and handing it to me. "When you place three drops on the floor, it will create a portal. Simple."

       "Thanks," I said. "I knew you could help."

       "So, mind if I ask exactly why you're sneaking there?" Jerome asked.

       "To see what they're hiding from us because they're definitely hiding something," Orchid said. "Oh, and while we're there, we should look into the Two Souls Prophecy and see if there is some way they know it's being fulfilled, which would explain all of this. And their overreactions."

       "What's the Two Souls Prophecy?" Ryder asked.

       "Basically, a sorcerer and a Protector are, like, bound together," I said. 

       "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ryder asked.

       "Both," Jerome said. "Together, they can be a powerful source but apart, they can be very weak and if one dies... Let's just say there will be total chaos."

       "Okay, if I didn't know better..." Alan said as he looked back and forth between me and Jerome. "Oh, come on! How come I'm always the last person to know everything?"

       "If it makes you feel any better, Ryder just found out a few hours ago," Orchid said. "And I've known for weeks because Nolan trusts me the most."

       "No, that actually makes me feel worse because he shared a womb with you and me, not just you," Alan said.

       "Yeah, whatever," I said before looking back at Jerome. "One more thing. We can't be caught  at all, so is there anyway you have something that can make these three invisible? They're inferior beings because they don't have that as their special ability."

        They were about to protest, but they didn't because invisibility was really going to help us when we were in Auric.

       "I don't right now," Jerome said. "But I do have all the ingredients to make a potion. Give me about twenty minutes. Is that fine?"

       "Yeah, that's fine," I said. "Martha just thinks Ryder is training us out of the HQ, so we have a lot of time. Well, not a lot, but enough."

       While Jerome was making the potion, I watched him since he was a very attractive human being and I no longer had to feel guilty about ogling him.

       Not that I felt guilty in the first place.

       Orchid and Alan sat down on the couch while they waited and Ryder decided to be Ryder.

       And flirt with Mae.

       And honestly, seeing that was making me a bit angry since Ryder probably wasn't going to pursue a relationship with her. All because of the Tribunal's rules.

       It wasn't our fault if we fell for a supernatural. Nobody could help who they fell in love with, and it wasn't fair to be reprimanded because of it.

       When Jerome finished the potion, he poured them into three separate flasks before giving them to my siblings. "When you drink these, you'll be invisible for about half an hour," Jerome said. "And don't worry, it's tasteless. Possibly. Depending on your taste buds, it might also taste like dead fish."

       "Are you serious?" Alan asked.

       "Hey, it's either that or not turn invisible and possibly get caught," I said. "If only your abilities weren't lame."

       "We get it, you can turn invisible on command," Ryder said. "Let's just go."

       "I'll create a portal for you so you save the potion I gave you," Jerome said. "You have it, right?"

       "Yeah, it's in my pocket," I said, patting it to make sure it really was in there.

       Jerome created a portal in the middle of the room. Before I headed in there with my siblings, I gave Jerome a hug. "Thanks for the help," I said.

       "Of course," Jerome said. "I'll do anything for you."

       I smiled and gave him a quick kiss before following my siblings through the portal. When it closed behind us, Alan said, "I can't believe you're the one who was dating Jerome the whole time."

       I just shrugged in reply as Orchid said, "Yeah, and if you tell anyone, you'll regret it."

       "Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone," Alan said. "He's my brother and obviously he's happy with Jerome if he's willing to defy the rule just to date him."

       "Blah blah, I'm happy, who cares?" I said as I looked around. We landed right in front of Auric's HQ and thankfully, nobody was around us. To make sure nobody saw us while we were discussing everything, we had behind a large shrub.

       "Okay, since we won't see each other while we're invisible, I say we all just split up and explore the HQ on our own," Ryder said. "And then we meet back here right before thirty minutes so we turn visible while we're in this spot and not in the building."

       "That works," I said, getting another glance of the building. "It looks like there's three floors, so two of us can look on one floor and the other two will look on their own floor."

       "You should take the library," Orchid said. "That will definitely be the place where there's anything about prophecies and it will be best if you look for it.

       "True," I said.

       After deciding each of the floors everyone should go on, they all took the flasks out of the pockets to drink the potion. Orchid was the first one to do it, wincing at the taste before she turned invisible. Ryder was second, and Alan didn't do it.

       I literally had to force him to drink it before I turned invisible myself.

       The hardest part was getting into the building without opening any doors. All the windows were closed, so I couldn't climb through any of them. I had to wait until someone finally opened a door for me to quickly sneak through. On the bright side, I didn't have a time limit on my ability, so I could take a little longer if I had to.

       The HQ was huge, so it did take me a while to find the library but when I did, I definitely felt like anything on a Prophecy would be here.

       Some people were inside, either reading a book or sorting through the books. On the far wall, bunch of glowing symbols were plastered there. As I walked closer, I noticed each symbol had a large piece of paper hanging underneath it.

       The symbol that was shining the brightest caught my attention the most, so that was the one I went to and I couldn't believe my luck when I looked at the paper hanging underneath it.

       Two Souls Prophecy.

       Underneath the title was everything there was to know about the Prophecy. Most of it was things Benoit told me and Jerome, but there were some other things he didn't tell us. 

       There was going to be no way I could remember all of this, and I couldn't take a picture of it with my phone. Anything in my pockets were invisible but if I ever held something in my hand, it would no longer be invisible.

       I continued reading the Prophecy until I noticed something at the bottom, and it was clear why the Tribunal was so adamant to finding out who was dating Jerome.

       Sorcerer: Jerome Amaris Roy

       Protector: Unknown

       I didn't know how they knew Jerome was the sorcerer part of it, but it definitely made me more determined to make sure they didn't find out I was the Protector.

       I looked around, trying to find a way I can get all the information about the Two Souls Prophecy down without revealing myself, but I had no idea how.

       I could always just do it as fast as I could to make sure nobody noticed the floating cell phone appearing for a few seconds.

       Screw it, that was the plan. I just had to make sure I did it at the right time when nobody was for sure looking.

       This was basically all I came here for anyway, so I could take as long as I needed waiting.

       And I did have to wait for a while before it was the right time. Most of the people left the library. There was only two left, but there were putting books back on the bookshelves, so I had to wait until they were in between some where they couldn't see me.

       I quickly took my cell phone out of my pocket and took a clear picture of the symbol, and then one of the Prophecy. Afterwards, I placed it back in my pocket before heading out of the HQ and back to the meeting place.

       Apparently, I took the longest because Ryder, Orchid, and Alan were already there. 

       "What took you so long?" Ryder asked when I turned visible again as I crouched down behind the shrub.

       "I found the Prophecy," I said. "There was a symbol that was glowing really brightly and below it was a paper stating the Two Souls Prophecy. That's probably how they knew it was being fulfilled. They already knew Jerome was the sorcerer apart of it, and the symbol was probably glowing a bit when we first met. Then when we kissed for the first time, it started growing really bright."

       "And that's why they want to find the Protector," Orchid said. "The question now is what they're going to do when they find out."

       "I have no idea, and I don't want to find out," I said. "Did you guys find anything?"

       "Not really, no," Alan said. "But at least we found out about the Prophecy and now know why they're basically overreacting about someone dating Jerome. They're going to find out soon and when they do..."

       "What can they do, though?" Orchid asked. "They won't force Jerome and Nolan to stay apart from each other. It will literally kill them. Remember when Nolan was very weak and sick?" Ryder and Alan nodded. "Yeah, that's because Jerome and Nolan tried staying away from each other."

       "Trust us, we're going to do whatever it takes to make sure they don't find that it's Nolan," Ryder said. "We should head back to the HQ now."

       I took the flask out of my pocket, opening the lid and placing three drops on the ground. When a portal was created, I said, "Remember to appear right outside of the HQ and not in it."

       We all went in one by one, appearing outside of the HQ. I made sure the portal was closed before we walked into the building. "I want to know why the Tribunal is keeping the Prophecy a secret from us," Alan said. "If it's an important one, we should know about it."

       "Jerome's dad said it was one not many people think would actually be fulfilled," I said. "There's more to it, which is why I took a picture of it. I'm going to read it over when I'm in my bedroom. And one more thing. I know you two said you'll keep it a secret, but you really can't tell anyone, not even Mom and Dad."

       "The more people that know, the higher chance there will be of it slipping up," Orchid said. "And even though there are a lot of people that we can trust, we might not know how they will actually react to it."

       "Don't worry, this is one secret we're definitely going to keep," Ryder said. "Especially because I just might have to start seeing Mae a bit more. She's gorgeous."

       "She charmed you the first time you met her when she knew we were coming over," Orchid said.

       "Yeah? And the past is in the past," Ryder said. "Let it go."

       The HQ started flashing green, signalling everyone to gather in the Op Centre. The four of us headed there, and I was really hoping this new meeting had nothing to do with the Protector dating Jerome.

       It did.

       Once everyone was there, I saw something I never wanted to see.

       The Tribunal members forcefully leading Jerome in the Op Centre and to the platform at the front of the room. He had handcuffs glowing white holding his arms behind his back, and I knew it was to prevent him from using magic.

       Jerome didn't even look worried.

       He looked annoyed.

       Martha got the attention of everyone before saying, "For those who don't know, this is Jerome Roy, the..."

       "World's most powerful sorcerer," Jerome decided to say.

       "No," Martha said. "The sorcerer that's in a secret relationship with one of the Protectors in this very room."

       "I'm sure if it was a secret relationship, you wouldn't know about it," Jerome said. "And do you want to tell everyone the real reason you care so much, or should I?"

       "Not another word," Martha ordered. "This is very serious business. There are law preventing a supernatural from dating a Protector for reasons, and you and your little significant other can ruin a whole lot. Which is why..."

       She gestured towards someone and the handed her the Certitude Rod.

       Dang.

       "This is..." she began, but Jerome cut her off once again.

       "The Certitude Rod, I'm aware," Jerome said. "Alright, let's get this done and over with. Ask a question."

       "Three questions," Martha said. "The Rod was designed so Protectors can only be asked one question. Supernaturals, on the other hand, can be asked three."

       "Aw, shit," Jerome said.

       Martha unlocked the handcuffs on Jerome. "Don't even try anything," Martha said. "We've got a room full of highly trained Protectors."

       "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," Jerome said.

       Martha ordered Jerome to hold out his right hand and once he did, she placed the Rod in his hand. "There's a reason why I wanted everyone in this room," she said. "Some Protectors in this HQ are on missions, so this will narrow it down. Are you in a relationship with any of the Protectors in this very room?"

       "Just for clarification, how much will this hurt if I lie?" Jerome asked.

       "Severely," Martha said.

       "Great," Jerome said with a sigh.

       "So, the answer is..."

       Jerome hesitated before saying, "Yes."

       "That's odd," Martha said, looking at everyone in the room. "I could have sworn I tested every single person in this room, and nobody lied."

       "Maybe the Rod is faulty," Jerome said. "Maybe I just lied and it thought I didn't."

       Martha ignored Jerome and went to the next question. "Are you dating a female?" she asked.

       "Ew, gross, no," Jerome said.

       I relate.

       "That narrows it down a whole lot," Martha said as she looked at everyone here. "Can all the females leave the room?"

       After doing so, she took a careful look at everyone and I was trying my hardest not to look nervous or worried.

       Martha finally looked back at Jerome to ask the last question. "How old are you?"

       "Is that the final question?" Jerome asked.

       "No," Martha said. "They can only be yes or no questions."

       "Damn," Jerome said. "Well, to answer that, I am possibly a year and a half in dog years."

       "If you want to leave after you're questioned and not stay here in a cell, I suggest you answer the question properly," Martha said.

       "Twenty," Jerome said. "I'm surprised you didn't know that since you seem to know everything else about my life."

       "Final question," Martha said. "Is your boyfriend... one to four years younger than you."

       "I would answer that but unfortunately, I don't know my boyfriend's age," Jerome said, though shortly after he dropped the Rod in pain. "What the hell? I thought it only burns me if I lie when I answer yes or no."

       "No, it burns you when you lie regardless," Martha said, picking up the Rod and placing it back in Jerome's hand. "That was nothing, though. It will burn a lot more if you lie answering yes or no. So, to ask you again, is your boyfriend one to four years younger than you?"

       "Yes," Jerome said. "Happy?"

       "Quite," Martha said, taking the Rod out of his hand and giving it to one of the Tribunal members. She put the handcuffs back on Jerome and told him to stay put before looking back at the rest of us. "I need only the sixteen to nineteen year olds to stay. Everyone else can leave."

       After they did, Martha got off of the platform and walked over since there was only nine of us left. "You nine will be under close surveillance," she said. "You will not be allowed to go out on your own and once we find out which one of you it is, there will be severe consequences."

       Great. I couldn't wait.

       "Can I actually go home now and not be bombarded again like that?" Jerome asked.

       "Yes, the Tribunal members will escort you home," Martha said.

       "Oh, how thoughtful," Jerome said. "But before, can I tell everyone about the Two Souls Prophecy?"

       "You will not utter a single word about that," Martha said, gesturing for the Tribunal members to escort Jerome home.

       Once they were gone, Martha spoke to us again. "Whoever you are should speak up sooner than later."

       Not going to happen.

       Too bad Martha would never let me go out on my own.

       If only I had some sort of potion that would allow me to create a portal. 

       Oh, wait. I did.

       Martha was going to have a tough time figuring out who was dating Jerome.

       I hope.

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4186 WORDS OMG THAT'S SO MUCH. THAT'S MORE THAN MY SHORT STORY HAS TO BE FOR SCHOOL AND I NEVER FINISHED THAT YET AHAHAHAHHAH

I love life.

It's 1:30 am so I have to go to sleeps byeeeeee