<03/15/1972 – 12:59 | Cyrus Water Park, Ducan, New York, United States>

  "Isn't he your uncle?" Taylor didn't mean to assume too much about Danny's personal life, but she was never made clear all of the details of his own family. Danny just claimed he hated him.

  "Nyar might be related to me," Danny admitted. "But I'm nothing like him." Why is Taylor looking at him like that? "Hey, you hate your parents too, don't you?"

  With a guilty sinking expression, Taylor decided to drop it, still trying to comfort Jane, who still wasn't saying anything right now.

  Danny wondered what it was like sometimes, actually being Taylor. She must hate her parents, probably doesn't even consider them family anymore. And why should she? But Arias and Jenson hate magic too. They won't condone Danny's recent actions with his involvement in magic. Of course, since it's too late for that, all is forgiven, for now anyway. Danny couldn't bring himself to think he hated his immediate family. Especially for mom and dad, they simply fear magic because they don't know much about it, and that's okay. But uncle Nyar knows more than he lets on about magic, and today he just crossed the line.

  "Danny's right though." Taylor tried to make Jane look her in the eyes, when Jane finally pushed her away softly. "You shouldn't trust a word Nyar says."

  A word Nyar says? Nyar has been saying a lot of the same thing from the beginning of this entire journey into America. He might hate Leray magic, but he must have a reason for it. Magic is dangerous according to him, and Jane had to wonder. What if Nyar was never talking about magic being dangerous physically? Magic makes people think they are strong; that's his line. Jane let it repeat and pulse through her brain over and over. "Magic isn't meaningful out here, is it?"

  Danny slipped closer to Jane, immediately answering her question. "Don't ever say that! Nyar is a coward and a liar!"

  Danny... He seems so tense right now, but he really doesn't care for magic that much, at least as far as she's been told. Weather he embraces it or not, it doesn't change the truth. "I'm not really strong."

  "Yes you are!" Of all the times for Jane to be stubborn...

  "I'm not strong!" Jane was sure enough to shout it above her throat. Despite what Danny might think, he's wrong on this one. "I might be able to do cool things back where I'm from. Everybody uses magic there."

  "It doesn't change how things are out here."

  Jane ignored Danny, but she felt familiar with his feeling. She used to think so too. "In all of the outer worlds, nobody has any real power. Even if magic existed here, that would just be another illusion as well."

  Taylor twitched from what she felt and what she heard. Jane was saying that magic is fake and meaningless; Jane Venn is saying these things. "You..." What about all of the amazing things she did in Sprawn Valley, all of that training and battles? "You don't mean that!"

  "You know I do," Jane responded. She flashed her forehand in front of them both, reminding them of her greatest tragedies and mistakes. "You both remember what happened to me, to all of us. You both know that this crest in my hand is nothing but a curse. As much as it can do, look back at all the harm it's caused. Now I can't ever go back home because everyone still hates this thing. This symbol isn't powerful either. It's just another illusion, especially out here."

  "Jane." Danny sounded defeated; more was he breathing faster from having his heart beat increase. Seeing Jane like this was far scarier than the monsters he had to face in Alpha Zero. What is it you want Jane? Do you really want to lay low out here and make such an ordinary and normal life for yourself? What happened to your honor as a Leray wielder, and your dream of being a Leray master?

  "If you had any fun at all back in that world, you should just go there without me. You're not wanted by the Scarlet Cult, so you'd fit right in."

  "We're not leaving you!"

  Danny glanced at Taylor, then back to Jane, hoping to get through to her. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

  Her voice became further from a persistent tone, Jane noticeably tensing up to fight her tears. "My dream of becoming anything great was shattered the moment I became branded with that spell bomb."

  Why does she keep bringing up her symbol? Danny never really understood it, being marked. Yeah, she's a fugitive in hiding from the General Army, but Jane fixed that already, and even if he could imagine a scenario, the only thing worth having at that point wouldn't be the ability to harness the power of that symbol; it would be to hang tight with as many of his friends as possible. In fact, that's how he remembered getting through this.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Why must I be the one to say it?" Jane knew how they would both feel about hearing this. Might as well get it over with. "There isn't any point. Magic doesn't make anyone strong at all; it's nothing more than some grand simulation."

  "Maybe it is." Danny stepped forward a few paces, while his agreement surprised Taylor into a gasp, and Jane into a more attentive state. "I'm sure I'm not the first person to admit that having the power to shoot cool energy photons from your hands or from those spinning disks doesn't make that person any more powerful than the other."

  "What are you saying?" Taylor panicked, stamping her foot into the concrete as a form of threat to Danny.

  Danny put his arm towards Taylor, signaling her to just stop and let him speak to Jane alone. At least, her way of thinking is familiar to him. He once felt this too, but assumed Jane had already figured it out when he found her in Lennith's medical bay. "Jane? Magic powers aren't what make the three of us strong."

  "Okay?" Jane was right to be confused. Danny sounded like he was about to let loose with years' worth of wisdom, but what would he know any different?

  "You know my story already," Danny reminded. "I never took a liking to magic even after I grew more comfortable using it. And that's because I never once trusted in Leray magic to help defend myself or save someone else's life."

  Jane felt calmer already, but only because of how poorly Danny was doing at trying to make his point. If he never believed in Leray magic, then wouldn't he be proving her point, and not his own?

  "So instead," he paraphrased, "I put that trust into myself." Danny saw Jane's teeth close slightly. Finally, he was striking a nerve. Of course, he knew all of this was true. Sorry about this Taylor. "I decided that I wanted to protect Taylor. And so I adopted a new attitude. What if I try by learning magic? Maybe it will work, and maybe it won't. Either way, I had to solve my problems with my own abilities. If magic wasn't going to work against someone who might have used dark magic to attack us, then I would have at least made sure to take down as many assholes with me as possible before I'd let anyone take Taylor away."

  Who was he expecting to take her? Taylor didn't recall having any complications on the way over to Lennith city. Jane had more of that to deal with.

  "And then I got to meet you. Even if you did manage to piss me off at first, when you offered to train us out to fight, I thought - thank god! Finally! Somebody who is an expert in this stuff."

  "What about Kain?"

  "Creep." Jane and Danny both answered Taylor's short question at the same time with the same description. Kain Abel is a Leray agent, but he isn't really a good people person.

  "My point is," Danny continued, "it was never your impressive skills I trusted in. It was the way you chose to live your life. You saw magic as some amazing thing everyone could use, but you also saw the two of us as people you could hang out with, on any occasion."

  "Is this about to turn into some cheesy, we're all friends monologue?"

  Jane best shut up, or she would miss the point entirely. "We're friends Jane. I knew you would never do anything to attack us, harm us, or use us for some sort of personal gain. Even after you ran off by yourself doing something stupid, we made it all the way to Eldora Tower together, as a team. We fought together, watched each other's backs. We're team JDT!" Jane held her breath, while Taylor just crossed her arms with a weird smile. "Yes, it may sound cheesy, but sticking together as friends and working together as a team is our real strength. And if you don't believe me, I'd remind you of how far you actually got on your own, even with your symbol and your incredible power shield trick you do."

  Leave it to Danny to always find just what to say. Taylor could never have put it any better herself. And to that Jane should be...? She's crying?!

  Jane cupped her face into her hands again, assuming sob position, but even when a few more tears ran down the sides of her wrists again, she began laughing, more hysterically than she usually does. While that continued, Danny and Taylor were both totally confused. How can Jane be crying and laughing? Has she actually gone insane already? "Are, you okay?" Danny spoke slowly, trying not to get too close.

  "Hahahahaha!" Finally lifting her face from her hands, Jane let them both see her embarrassing reaction to everything she just heard. "You're both such idiots!" Jane's tone didn't defect from the joy or playfulness, practically laughing while talking, drifting further into her euphoria. Out of all that, Danny wanted to say that friendship is their strength, their magic? He could have just said that by itself, but nothing prepared Jane for such elaborate paraphrasing. When Jane finally calmed down, she tried to make sure they weren't totally clueless to what she meant earlier. "But maybe you're right about that."

  Danny descended slightly, relaxing almost every nerve in his body. Jane is just teasing and being herself as usual. Helpless against an embarrassing grin, he shifted away slightly holding the back of his head. "I know I said this sounded cringy, but you don't have to rub it in."

  Taylor felt relieved too. Jane was finally smiling and laughing again. Danny really went all out though, not that anything he said was wrong. Taylor was reminded again, after nearly forgetting that his earlier disposition towards learning Leray magic had all to do with being careful by not trusting strangers like Kain or Bella, and all with the intent to protect her from harm. That probably included the whole Banshee thing too later on.

  "Still, we should—" Danny was about to further elaborate what Jane should think of her special home, but he stopped himself after noticing a figure approaching them from his side, out towards the streets. It was Nyar of course, finally coming around to locate and pick them up, but Danny felt totally different about this. This unsettling sensation, it isn't right. "That's far enough Nyar!" Danny didn't even want to look at him anymore, thus the need to get closer was nonexistent.

  "I came down this way to find the three of you, but I'm not here to apologize."

  "Big surprise," Danny tested.

  "Maybe it is. I'm taking you three home to discuss this."

  "Like hell you are." Danny's fears all melted away, and he began taking aggressive steps towards his uncle. If it were anyone else, Nyar would have prepared to be punched in the eyes. "You're going to have a lot to answer for, you coward! The hell did Leray magic ever do to you?"

  Nyar wasn't as surprised as before. He expected Danny to begin acting irrational right now, since he's angry about Nyar upsetting Jane. But arguing about it our here isn't going to accomplish anything. "Get in the car..." Danny wasn't moving, but Nyar's request did shut him up. Is he testing the authority of his uncle right now? "Now!"

  If this situation were any different, Danny wouldn't be caught dead or alive going back home with Nyar. The obvious choice would be to run away, as far away as possible... But then what about Jane, and Taylor? They aren't legal children under Nyar's authority, and if the police here discover that, it's all over. Danny didn't speak, but he eventually shifted his body where it didn't want to go, and complied with Nyar's orders. Knowing how to get back to the water park, and backtracking to the car was easy enough for Danny, while the other two followed Nyar, who followed Danny.

  Nyar felt he would soon regret a few past things he let slip by. These teens are all hitting their rebellious stage, a bit too soon for comfort, but that is to be expected. The boy has been through enough, him and Taylor both. If that weren't bad enough, they're both soon to hit their next number, sixteen.

  As everyone made it back to the car, Nyar drove them all the way home, with everybody in a tense or quietly violent mood. Nobody said a word, or hummed a single sound. The radio might as well have been disabled or dismantled, because it wasn't to be touched by anyone. As awkward as the ride home was going to be, Nyar knew it was only going to get worse from here. There is no more holding back from now on. These kids think they're invincible, all because they spent time in that cursed place. They think the world works so easily and automatically, but there is a structure to this country, to any country you go to. It's time they learn some responsibility.