"I'm going to miss that," he admitted as he picked up my hand and wrapped his fingers around mine. "Sure, we made new reputations and all, but we somehow made our new personas famous."
"We should be double agents," I suggested.
"Didn't we know a double agent?" he pondered.
"Hmmm. I don't know." I shrugged. "Maybe we did. It's hard with our lifestyle to keep track of everyone."
"I'm more excited to meet the others. Didn't Aurora say we have to see Rubin to touch up our tattoos?”
"Yes. Have to unlock something. I forget what she said."
"Because you were wasted."
"Well, ya." I laughed. "That graduation party was so lit that even after a year, I still can't remember half of what happened."
"If that pink dye didn't last a year, you'd say it didn't happen."
"You loved my pink hair as much as I loved your black strands."
"You hated my hair."
"Fair point." I winked. "You kept calling me bubble gum!"
"You like when I call you that in bed," he acknowledged, which made me huff and elbow him in the side.
"T-That's different! You say it with that sexy, deep voice that does stupid shit to me. You could say poop in a different language and I'd think it's hot as fuck!"
He laughed and bobbed his head. "Truth."
"Ugh. You're silly."
"But you love me."
"Sadly," I replied but moved over to kiss him. "It's nice to be back at Witchling."
"Let's figure out what this gold invite is all about."
The plane landed soon after. We made our way to the VIP room with the directions Starlight had given us. We'd received a golden invitation with an orange seal that projected the letters WAE. It looked like all five of us had gotten the invitation, but the inside letter was completely blank.
We needed to be together to read it, and I guess that room was designated for whatever surprise awaited us.
We entered the first private room to see Finnick, Kaito, and Connor.
"We're here!" I cheered to grab their attention. The three of them beamed at our arrival. They each carried their own small luggage. We only needed our carry-on and smaller bag for the essentials since this trip was only for this invite.
With the apprentice program, we got to fly basically wherever we wished, so it came to the point where flying light was only logical.
"Red," Finnick greeted as he skipped over to me. I laughed at his playful banter, remembering old times as he picked me right up and swung me around.
"Where's the pink hair?! I thought we'd match!"
"Jax hated it! Look what a happy sucker he is now that it's orange again."
"No more black hair? Wow. Is today the apocalypse?" Connor teased as Jax reached where he stood and accepted the bear hug.
"I told you I was changing it back. You were praising the gods!"
"Obviously. You look good with black hair. You look like a billionaire bachelor.”
"Ohhh. Connor’s jelly someone’s gonna take his man away," I teased as Finnick let go of me so I could hug Kaito.
"More like he'd throw a fit and get a few people fired if someone tried," Kaito declared as if that was what would happen.
"Stop predicting shit," Connor huffed. "Though that's exactly what would happen."
"You're horrible." Jax laughed.
"That's old news," Kaito acknowledged. "We all got here on time."
"Yup," Finnick replied as I hugged Connor. "Got your golden envelopes?"
"Yup," we all replied.
We finished hugging before we headed into the final room as a unit. Once the doors closed, we noticed the tall man sitting at the desk. He seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it as we headed to the front to present our gold invitations.
"Good afternoon. My name is Marianna Blaze," I introduced, only to remember we weren't going by aliases anymore. "I may be under my other name. We weren't informed what this invitation we received was about. Only that we must attend in this room to unlock the message it holds."
The man bobbed his head in understanding. "Please wait right there in a line with your invitations in your left hands.”
"Thank you." I bobbed my head before returning to stand between Connor and Jax, the five of us holding onto the golden envelopes.
"He looks familiar," Jax muttered.
"Real familiar," Connor added. "Was he a professor at Witchling or something?"
"Not sure," I admitted. "I don't recall seeing him."
"Me neither," Finnick whispered.
"Could have been a substitute or something." Kaito offered.
"Probably," we agreed and kept quiet as he returned into the room with a cloaked individual. It was a little spooky, but I wasn't getting any odd vibes. It didn't mean I wouldn't be cautious, but I'd remain calm in my stance.
"Please retrieve your letters and I will unlock the spell to reveal what message it has for you," he instructed.
"Alright," we replied and awaited his move as he lifted up his left hand that began to glow a striking purple with hints of silver and gold.
All of this felt like deja vu, but when he snapped his fingers and our vision was washed with bright light, it all suddenly came rushing back.
Wait...what?
When the light dimmed, I knew who the man was. He stood there with a proud smile.
"Sebastian? Wait...why did we forget you to begin with? No...hold on...we forgot more than that, didn't we?"
"We forgot all about Elijah and Eliyahu," Jax acknowledged.
"What about Eliza? Or better yet, what happened with Mia and Miya, the twins?"
"How did we go from saving the world from a catastrophe to being apprentices when we were never really given a proper career path?" Connor questioned.
We were baffled by our memory loss and circumstances. Just moments ago, everything that happened in the last year made sense, and yet now that we remembered how we graduated to begin with and the events that led to us walking off the stage and confronting Sebastian, it became clear we'd forgotten far more about our school life than we'd realized.
"The payment I received from you all was to allow you to live a year without your demigod powers."
We gawked at the realization as he smiled and nodded his head.
"When I snapped my fingers, I retrieved your demigod powers. That includes your familiars, memories of those who are demigods, and any incidences that the Shadow Kingdom contributed to. You all left this room knowing you graduated from the prestigious Witchling Academy with a year apprenticeship that allowed you to strive towards whatever endeavors you had."
The revelation left us speechless as he continued.
"Since the Shadow Kingdom placed a target on your heads, you never got a break to simply live. At every corner, something would go wrong, and though I'm not necessarily a part of Witchling Academy, I couldn't continue to see another set of prestigious students fall to the hands of shattered mental health. I know what was planned next for the five of you, and I negotiated with Professor Phoenix, Ms. Electra, and the remaining magic council to give you the privilege to live life for a full year without the constraints of money or lack of opportunity. We wanted you all to flourish further into who you wanted to become before being given the official invitations in your grasps.”