Zander was awake, with no alarm at 5:30 am and went into his soul to talk to Zintan.
"What'd you think of the girls, be honest," Zander asked.
"They were both very sweet and genuine. The fact they didn't treat you like a celebrity shows they're good people," Zintan said.
"Can you try to convince my parents not to go today? I swear I just have a terrible feeling about this mission. It came so suddenly and feels like a trap." Zander pleaded.
"Sure, switch me in after breakfast, I'm still bad with a fork," Zintan said with a laugh.
Zander went for his routine 6 am run and showered when returning home. He put on a polo and a nice pair of jeans with some new, barely worn all white sneakers. As he came down from breakfast, his mother said, "wow, look at how handsome my son is," giving him a big kiss on the cheek.
Zander and his dad ate breakfast and talked about Harmonias match coming up with SilverCrest and if he had any interest in trying out for a University team. Zander told him he felt like it was cheating and he wanted to focus on working on his powers with Zintan.
"That's my son, dedicated to Solace like his parents," Sebastian said with a great smile.
"Switch with me," Zander thought.
Just then Zander's eyes turned golden and Zintan politely asked, "Mother, Father, Zander has been worried sick about you two since you were offered this mission. He said he has a terrible feeling, which is something we've never experienced before a mission. I ask you two to please reconsider. It's so close to Phantoms Keep and could be a trap."
"What kind of people would we be if we said no to those in need? It's the reason we were blessed to be chosen by the Father of Solace and given not only one son, but two in one, when all the doctors and world said we could never have a baby. There are much worse things in life than death, and I hope both you and Zander know that if something were to happen, we would peacefully rest in Eden, watching over you and spending time with the rest of your family but don't worry, that won't happen and you and Zander can take care of yourselves better than Sebastian and I could at this point," Savannah said while holding Zintan's hand.
"Zander was crying, but told Zintan thank you and that he understood. Give me a minute, I don't want them to see me sad," Zander stated.
"You two are the best human parents any Phoenix can ask for and I'm lucky to be intertwined with such a great kid," Zintan stated and Zander took over smiling.
"You're right, I'm probably worried for nothing, it's just I love you both so much," Zander said.
Sebastian and Savannah both stood up and gave him a big hug and said, "then you won't be upset that we have to leave earlier than expected," Sebastian asked.
"Wait, when?" Sebastian panicked.
The back doorbell rang and Mr Woo, Mrs Lydia, 10 guards and four buses and three cars were staged out back, in their enclosed back yard.
"Now?! But why," Zander pleaded.
"With the amount of kids that need rescuing, we can only teleport all of this so far, so we need to leave now. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner but we just found out this morning. We love you and we'll see you in five days. We will stay in contact when we can sweetie, we love you and stay strong," Savannah said and with a whisper in Zander's ear, 'Zintan we love you, stay strong."
"My son, always remember your unbreakable bond to stay good. You're a great kid who will do great things. We'll see you in five days and I love you two," Sebastian said with a big smile.
The three of them hugged and Mr. Woo and Mrs Lydia told Zander not to slack on training with Cyrus and they'd be back in five days and after the weekend they'd be right back to training.
With that, and a wave, Zander watched Mrs Lydia teleport his parents, in a car, then the buses, the other cars and finally Mr Woo.
She turned to Zander with a smile, "it's just five days, for Solace," she said with a smile. Then she too was gone.
A wide range of emotions flooded Zander. He checked his phone and to his surprise, he had a text from Sophie, "morning sunshine, how was your run and breakfast with your family? You don't have to respond now, I know you're busy with your family. She left it with a kissy face emoji."
He didn't want to leave her on read, but texted Cyrus first, "my parents left early you wanna come by?"
"Sorry bro, I'm out to eat with Claire and then we were going to go out in Central Harmonia. Why did they leave so soon? You alright?" Cyrus immediately responded.
"No worries I'll catch you later, you still coming by tonight?" Zander texted back.
"Of course, I'd never ghost you. Not even for my new girlfriend," Cyrus texted with a smiley face.
"Well that was quick," Zander thought as he went back to Sophie's message.
"Hey sorry, I was actually just saying goodbye. They had to leave earlier than usual. What are you up to?" Zander chose to leave out the kissy face, feeling embarrassed.
As Zander paced, he decided to go to the guest room to do some online ranked matches. He was already world rank 140 under the name "Shadow Fighter," a name he picked that he had zero doubt could ever be linked to him. The only person who knew was Cyrus, who was close to cracking the top 100 under the name "Cyeriously?," Which Zander always got a kick out of.
As he entered the capsule, he saw Sophie had texted him, "I'm so sorry they left early, I know you were worried. Would you like me to get ready and come over? My parents are out for the day, they have a date day every Sunday."
"That would be really nice actually, text me when you're ready," and this time Zander plucked up the courage to send a heart emoji.
Sophie read the text and blushed and thought to herself, "I never have been into looking all girly but something about him, I hope I don't take too long. We'll be alone, I'm glad he's such a stand up guy and from a well respected family or I'd think yesterday and today were Claire and I getting taken advantage of," as she smiled and got ready to shower.
Meanwhile, Zander had entered "Will of the Warrior," a global phenomenon where anyone, abilities, chi, magic or not, could create an avatar, an online personality, even some of the top fighters had social media pages, despite hiding their identities.
Fighters could select training mode, 1v1, duos, or trios, unranked or ranked and many of the top fighters had large followings.
Usually, Zander wouldn't showcase much, but today he had pent up frustration and before he knew it, he had over 700 viewers and had cracked the top 100.
He heard a ping on his phone and ran towards it, hoping for it to be Sophie but it was Cyrus, "bro I just got a notification you reached rank 97 in will of the warrior nice job. Maybe now you'll do some duos with me?"
Zander knew they'd probably be a top ten duo but didn't want to draw too much attention to himself.
He decided one more fight, and because of his win streak, he drew rank 20, also known as CyberPunk, a very strong chi and wind user.
Cyberpunk picked the wrong day to que for a ranked match, because he had 5,000 people watching, which was 2,000 over his daily average.
As the match started, he did his usual crowd play and Zander just took his normal stance, almost looking like a ninja in his avatar.
CyberPunk laughed when he saw his rank, and encouraged his fans this would be quick.
Little did he know, he was right. Just not the result he expected. Cyrus told Claire he had to use the restroom as he saw the notification that rank 97 was fighting rank 20.
CyberPunk tossed out two chi bursts, amplified by wind while using the wind to run on toward Zander.
Zander stood there, fearless, and as the chi bursts came, he deflected them at the wind CyberPunk was using to run, causing him to stumble.
At that moment, with one hand, Zander circled flames around his arms and on the other hand, he circled ice and shot them so fast CyberPunk couldn't move quickly enough and was literally impaled and burnt to a crisp.
Both audiences went silent, as Zander bowed and logged out. Fortunately, no one actually ever got hurt, as the VR fights were just a simulation, but the talk of the internet was the Shadow Fighter, who several reported, but all claims were denied stating he was registered to use the abilities he used. They would never go into detail about the abilities people could use for privacy, so they were always very vague.
As he walked out of the VR capsule, he smiled as he saw Sophie texted him, "pick me up in 20, same spot, same method, sound good?"
"Yes, I'll see you then," Zander replied.
Cyrus texted him, "BRUH. UNREAL. WE'LL TALK."
Zander showered quickly and picked out a set of nice clothes and his favorite pair of sneakers, which he had only worn once. He was worried about the time, until he realized he could teleport. He teleported to the local flower shop and got a dozen roses, then teleported and texted Sophie, "I know I'm early but I'm here," failing to see her walking toward him.
He had the roses hidden behind his back but stopped dead in his tracks at how beautiful Sophie looked.
She was wearing a beautiful silver dress, which matched his eyes, more makeup than yesterday, but not too much, and to his surprise, she was wearing a custom pair of sneakers as well, which somehow went with the dress and she carried a beautiful gold hand bag.
The only thing that didn't fit was the backpack, which Zander quickly went over and grabbed for her, while handing her the roses, kissing her on the cheek and whispered, "You look breathtaking, I've never seen someone as pretty as you and I appreciate your taste in sneakers."
Sophie blushed bright red and took back the backpack, "this is only if you say it's ok. It has a picnic packed for us."
"Why would I not be ok with a picnic?" Zander asked.
Zintan popped in his head, "it obviously has a change of clothes. I'm guessing she knows Cyrus will ask Claire to stay at your place so she wants to feel welcome."
Sophie chuckled and said, "you're cute now teleport us somewhere special to you, I feel awkward dressed up like this."
"Ok, but close your eyes," Zander asked.
He grabbed her hand and teleported her to the resort his parents went to the week before he was born, thanks to Zintan's memory of it.
"K, now open them," Zander said happily.
Sophie was too stunned, happy, and amazed to respond until she said, "why is this place special to you?"
"My parents had their final vacation before I was born, a week before I was born, here, at this resort. They eventually bought this resort building and thanks to them, I can come here whenever, no questions asked." Zander said.
"And all I did was pack a picnic," Sophie said with a frown
.
Zander immediately picked her chin up and smiled, "your picnic is more thoughtful than me being able to teleport to something my parents own, besides, what else would we eat with this view?" Zander smiled.
They spent a few hours talking about life, school and Zander remembered to keep the focus on Sophie this time.
Her parents worked hard and did well for themselves. It turns out her Father was a surgeon in the Northern Solace Medical Complex and her Mother worked as a chef at one of the restaurants in North Harmonia. She was the oldest of three siblings, all boys, who despite being 15, 13 and 11, were all very protective of her.
They enjoyed the picnic and Zander asked if she wanted to stay here or go back home.
"How about your place, if that's ok?" she said nervously.
"Sure, hold on tight," and with that they were outside his house.
Sophie asked, "why do you always teleport outside your house?"
Zander laughed, "that's a funny story, apparently when I was six months old I missed my mom so much I teleported to her office and cried for her to come home. After that, they had someone setup a magical barrier around the house so I couldn't teleport in or out and supposedly there's a protection spell on me until I turn 18."
"That's so cute, do you mind if I get changed when we go in?" Sophie asked politely.
"Sure, use the master bathroom on the third floor if you want. You can even take a nice bath if you want. I'll start dinner if you're hungry," Zander offered.
Sophie felt bad turning down the offer, so she went up with her backpack and immediately texted Claire.
"How's it going with Cyrus?"
"Great, actually, he said he has to drop me off in an hour to go over to Zander's. How was your date with him?" Claire texted back.
"Great. No words how great actually. Have Cyrus text Zander and ask if Claire can come tonight, I have to go I'll be back soon."
While Zander was preparing dinner, he was happy to hear the bath running upstairs. His phone pinged and he saw it was Cyrus.
"Hey bro, Claire is kinda worried about you too and she asked if she and Sophie could stay the night. I know it's our bro night and I want to ask you about that insane fight so if not, no worries we can double date another time," Cyrus had texted Zander.
Zander thought, "this is why he's a good friend. He offered to ditch his day two girlfriend for me."
"Sounds good, are you still coming around 7," Zander texted back.
"Yup, we'll see you in two hours," Cyrus texted.
"Why did you have me ask Clairebear?" Cyrus smiled.
"Sophie texted me asking to suggest it, I'm guessing she's already with him and if he's really worried about his parents, I think it's good he has company to distract him, don't you?"
Cyrus couldn't agree more.
As Sophie finished her bath, she changed into a shirt she found folded up neatly in the master bathroom that was left out with a note.
"I designed these for your Father and we printed them off and donated them to tons and tons of people. You wouldn't even guess who two were donated too. If you're ever worried about us, just remember, we do this for you and for humankind," love, Mom.
After reading the note, Sophie carefully sent a picture to Zander, who had just finished cooking dinner, and Sophie bravely put on the pink version of "Find Solace in the Father," which matched perfectly with her black sweats.
She looked in the mirror and gave herself a pep talk, "it's just a boy, he's kind, he's sweet, he's not going to try to even make a move, I want him to see me for who I am, so no make up and let's do this."
"Sophie, dinners ready, I just set the table with everything out," Zander yelled from the kitchen.
"Ok on my way but don't be mad," Sophie said nervously.
As she walked down the stairs, Zander accidentally dropped his plate, which made Sophie jump, but he was right by her and grabbed both her hands, "remember when I said you looked breathtaking, I stand by it, but right now I'm looking at the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Zander said with a bright red face.
"You don't mind I'm wearing the shirt?" Sophie embarrassingly asked.
"Of course not. My mom, I love that woman. She must have left it out for you, I'm sorry for scaring you I'll clean up the mess but come, sit," and Zander held her hand, walked her to the table and pulled her chair out, she thanked him and pushed it back in.
Zander quickly used some magic to clean up the mess and apologized, "I'm not trying to show off I just don't want to keep you waiting," he said nervously.
Sophie laughed and said, "you're so cute it's ok and did you really make all of this yourself?"
"No, I teleported a top secret chef," Zander said in a dead serious tone.
"You're kidding, that's so unnecessary, I'm sure your cooking would have been great," Sophie insisted.
Zander laughed and said, "do you really think I'm that spoiled? I mean I kind of am but no, I cooked everything myself that's why I was glad you took a nice long bath."
Sophie couldn't help but laugh as she looked over all the food. There was pasta salad, a steak, vegetables, mashed potatoes, a vegetarian and a vegan option, mostaccioli, and salmon. It was if he tried to make sure she'd enjoy anything he made.
"This is so much and thank you, I think I'll have the steak with some veggies, mashed potatoes and pasta salad," Sophie said blushing.
"Do you mind if we pray?" Zander asked.
"Of course not, do you mind if I lead it?" Sophie asked.
Zander smiled so hard and said, "of course not."
"Thank you Father and the blessed four for this amazing meal cooked by an amazing young man. Please give him the strength to get through this time of worry and watch over his parents, as they strive to make the world a better place. In solace we pray," Sophie said.
Zander had tears forming, "thank you, it was beautiful."
Well, don't be shy, dig in, what would you like to drink?
"Whatever you have is fine," Sophie said as Zander grabbed a bottle of non alcoholic champagne, which he popped the cork perfectly.
After a beautiful dinner, they decided to head for a tour. Sophie marveled at how large and beautiful the house was, and couldn't help but be drawn to a certain room. Zander insisted they had to get to know each other first, which she didn't mind. She saw the indoor pool, hot tub, training room, Zander's room, to which she laid on the bed and said, "comfy."
Just then the doorbell rang and Cyrus and Claire showed up.
"Oh hey, you're already here and look nice and relaxed," Claire said.
She also had a backpack Cyrus was carrying for her. She was wearing a beautiful white sundress and heels, to which she quickly took off and said "finally!"
They caught up about their day and went to the converted guest room, to which Zander's parents added two love seats to go with the sofa and Cyrus joked, "it's like your parents are mind readers or something."
Claire and Sophie laughed and said, "you know, we don't normally walk up to random boys who just wave at us, heck, we haven't even dated anyone at our school but Zander's kind eyes and Cyrus' bright smile made us take a risk. Little did we know it wasn't a risk at all."
"Even after Cyrus tried to sound as creepy as possible and Claire still couldn't say no," Zander said with a laugh. "Probably the first yes he's ever received."
"You're one to talk Mr sha…," and Zander cut him off, "what movie do y'all want to watch tonight," he asked and gave Cyrus a death stare. Claire stole the remote and chose a Romantic comedy, and cuddled up to Cyrus on the love seat.
Zander and Sophie spent the movie joking about how bad the movie was but how into it Cyrus was for Claire.
"Well, I'm beat, I think I'm definitely taking a rest day tomorrow," Zander stretched with a yawn.
"Never thought I'd see the day bro, how about we all leave our phones downstairs tonight with them on silent," Cyrus suggested.
"You know, if it was anyone other than you two, we'd be screaming and running for our lives," Sophie teased and Claire joked, "ya what are you going to do steal our phones and lock us up?"
Zander gently threw a pillow at Cyrus and said, "you're lucky you found a good one because you really, really are terrible at talking to girls," making them all laugh.
"Our parents think we're spending the night at our friend Stacy's, and Stacy's mom was nice enough to call them and confirm. I told my parents I'd text them good night and to have a good day tomorrow," Claire stated.
"K, it's settled then, for the first time in Zander's life, he's going to have a cheat day and rest day. He grabbed everyone's phones after they texted their parents good night." Cyrus said and waited for Zander to hand his phone over, which he was showing Sophie.
"Aw they look so happy and look at all those kids they're feeding and helping! They love you so much Zander, you are truly blessed," Sophie said.
Cyrus, Claire, Sophie feel free to sleep anywhere but my childhood bedroom. It's locked with magic anyway. I'll see you all in the morning. Sophie came over, grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a big kiss. Zander enjoyed every second as warmth enveloped his entire body. He had never felt this way about a girl before and before he knew it, Claire jokingly said, "who are the love birds now?" and they all laughed.
Claire and Cyrus headed to the guest room, which surprised Sophie and Zander, but Cyrus had already told Zander, "don't worry we're just gonna watch a movie, cuddle and sleep we won't do anything."
Zander nodded, showed Sophie to the most eloquent guest room they had and gave her a kiss good night.
Five minutes later, as he was kneeling and praying, Sophie peaked in his room and overheard the sadness in Zander's voice as she heard the end of his prayer.
"Uncle Tej, I know in my heart something isn't right with my parents job and I miss you dearly. It's been 15 years since I've seen you but know I met a beautiful girl and she's absolutely fantastic. She even led prayer before food. I hope Soraya and the babies are doing well and if you can, please look after my Mother and Father, in the name of Solace and the Father we pray." Zander prayed.
Sophie quickly stepped back, waited until she heard Zander get in bed and knocked on his door.
"Come in," Zander said, surprised to see Sophie walking towards him.
She got on his bed, got under the covers and pulled him so close and just hugged and held him.
"Zander, I know it's crazy, but I'm already falling for you. If that scares you that's fine, I know you're going through a lot right now," but before she could finish, Zander had started kissing her gently, and for the first time, he actually made out with a girl. She pulled away, looked deep into his eyes and could see a hint of sadness through the happiness.
"Promise me that if you ever change your mind about me to just be honest. I feel the same, but I don't want to put pressure on you." Zander said.
"Same goes for you Zander, promise the same," and he promised her and they began kissing again.
They finally cuddled, Sophie fell asleep first and Zintan told Zander to sleep well, and he drifted off to sleep.
Around 4 am he could hear his phone ringing with an emergency ringtone, repeatedly. It was Mrs Lydia.
"Zander, I don't have much time but we've been ambushed by Theo and Phantoms keep. We're all going to die. Your parents told me to call you to tell you they'll always be watching and there's a secret fund set up for you. Go to your childhood bedroom, there's a special phone there. Call Attorney Frankfurt in the morning. It's the only number on the phone. You're so loved. You have two years until Theo will know of your existence," and with that, he could hear the phone break.
Sophie, at the same time the call ended, woke up and wondered where Zander went.
She checked the bathroom, then went downstairs and saw Zander burst into flames, burned to ash, but the fire wasn't hot at all.
He then was on the floor, in so much pain, more pain than he had ever felt before. She quickly ran to him, crying and screaming, "Zander wake up you have to wake up" and held his hand and prayed. After what seemed like several hours, but was really only 10 minutes, Zander finally stopped screaming in pain.
"Hello Zander, your Phoenix system has been activated. Level 1. Rank: Human 0/100 experience 5 strength, 5 mana, 5 endurance, 5 agility, 5 stamina. 100/100 health. Quest reward: Awaken your system. New skill acquired, passive skill, cool flames. When active, you can produce flames that will not be harmful to people you care for and only harmful to enemies. Quest Reward: Survive the transformation. Skill gained, eye of the Phoenix. When active, you will have the vision of a Phoenix and all the perks that come with it," the system popped all these messages on a screen in front of Zander.
Still in tears, "Zintan what is this?" Zander asked.
"I'm not sure, but Sophie watched the whole thing. She stayed by your side, held your hand, laid with you crying and saying 'you have to wake up, you have to wake up' she's someone I believe you should trust to tell the truth. Maybe it's a sign from Solace, but tomorrow I'd recommend showing her that room of yours.
Standing up, Zander reached out his hand to Sophie, to which she ignored and jumped up on him. "You scared me, I thought you were dying. Are you ok?" she asked, still full of tears. She was too shocked to notice he was naked and not even Zander himself realized that fact.
"My… parents… Mr Woo… Mrs Lydia… they're all, they're all dead. When I found out I was so angry and so sad and the next thing I knew I burst into flames, turned to ash and went through so much pain." Zander said while starting to sob hysterically.
Little to his knowledge, when it happened, Nixie teleported to the room Cyrus and Claire were in and cast a deeper sleeping spell to not wake them.
Zander then realized he was standing in front of Sophie, so he set her down gently, covered himself with his hands and said, "sorry I'll be right back," and teleported to his room and found clothes to toss on and teleported right back to her.
Because she had jumped on him, she only noticed the top half of his body and how muscular and fit he truly was. She wasn't sure if she was seeing things, but Zander almost looked more defined than before and even more handsome. She shook her head and told herself she was imagining things due to stress and when he returned, she teased and said, "don't worry I wasn't peeking," to which Zander blushed and laughed.
"I didn't think you were," Zander awkwardly said.
Sophie grabbed Zander's hand, and pulled him back to his room and laid down with him, which he didn't resist. She hugged him tightly and asked him to pray with her. He did and she said a beautiful prayer, asking Solace to accept the kind souls that were lost doing what they loved most, which made Zander feel a bit better.
"Don't you think I'm a monster? I know you saw and I heard you encouraging me to wake up. Thank you so much. It's been two days and I don't know what would happen if you weren't here," Zander looked at Sophie, who had tears in her eyes.
"I don't care what you are, I care who you are. Tell me when you're ready, just know if you don't tell me I'll still stay by your side until you don't want me there," Sophie reassured Zander.
Sophie gently rubbed through Zander's hair, and began kissing him again. Zander appreciated the distraction and eventually pulled away.
"Let's get some sleep, I will tell you everything tomorrow," Zander promised.
With that, Leo teleported invisibly and cast a sleeping spell on Zander and Sophie, as they laid beautifully, cuddling up with Sophie being the little spoon.
Leo shed some tears and returned to Solace, awaiting the souls of the fallen.