THE UNLIKELY PAIR: THE PRINCESS AND THE TRAITOR’s SON

JESSE’S POV

It is a windy morning, and I am in my Aunt Ash's sedan. We are driving to ASTRA Academy, but before we can talk about ASTRA Academy, you need to know about my world.

Several decades ago, before my great-great-grandfather's, add a couple of more greats, were born, something celestial happened on Earth.

According to tales that have been passed down from generation to generation, a weird rock, or was it a ship, crashed through Earth's hemisphere, dispersing something like pores, and it changed the genetic makeup of humans who were touched by it, giving them the ability to command the elements. Humans like that are called Gifted.

The crashing of the ship into Earth wasn't the only weird shit to happen then. Apparently, the shock wave from the ship's impact on Earth's hemisphere tore the veil separating our world from the otherworldly. Creatures that are seven times taller than humans, faster, more powerful, and savage.

The coming of the otherworldly led to a battle for Earth. The otherworldly, demons, as humans refer to them, wanted to dominate humans, possess Earth, and make it their home, but humans put up a great fight.

We weren't a match for their super strength and superior agility, and that is where the Gifted came in. They helped tilt the war in human favor. Gifted not only have powers, but also have super speed that almost equals the demons, their quickness, and super vision are seven times better than ordinary humans. Gifted are respected in the world, but also feared.

Now back to Astra. The Ruling Queen created Astra at the time of the incident. Her name was Queen Lysandra. She was a very powerful queen, though not a Gifted herself, and was very brave, leading the human soldiers against the demons.

FYI: Our world is a matriarchy. I don't know if that is a word, but you get what I am trying to say.

Now back to Astra.

It's a school that helps train the Gifted in their powers.

For me, I am a legacy because my mom was a Gifted. My dad, on the other hand, was just an ordinary soldier in the Queen's army.

"Hey, are you all right?"

As this was a long drive from my small hometown, Weeping Valley, I occupied myself by staring out the window and getting lost in my thoughts.

I do that a lot. Probably, because I am always alone, having no friends—not because I am a loser, but because I honestly love to be left alone.

At the sound of my aunt's concerned voice, I turn my face away from the window to look in her direction. I encountered her glassy grey eyes, which betrayed her worry.

My aunt is a worrywart, but for good reason. After my parents died when I was five, she became the guardian of my siblings and me.

Aunt Claire worries that I am still over my parents' death, and that their passing has somehow affected my physical development.

She is probably right.

After losing my parents, I withdrew from the world and barely spoke unless spoken to. A smile is an emotion that has been lost to me for so long that I have forgotten how to do it.

I do not like to worry Aunt Claire. She has done a lot for my siblings and me.

I nod, adding words to my action. "I am fine."

My voice comes out hoarse, not because I smoke, but because of how rarely I use it.

"Scared?"

Now, this question arises because I attend a school for humans with superpowers, and I have none.

Ironic right?

And before you ask why I received the invitation to attend Astra, I will give you a little background.

You remember me telling you earlier about losing my parents when I was five? What I didn't tell you was that I was present when the Black Wolves came for my parents.

Black Wolves are a group of highly trained soldiers who work for the disciplinary committee of our world.

Black Wolves are bad news. Everyone knows that when they come calling, nothing good comes out of it.

The night they stormed into our home, led by no other than the Queen's Consort himself, High Commander Jerome, we were having dinner. They tried to take my parents, and little o'le me wasn't having any of that.

And that, my friends, was the first and the last time my powers manifested.

In our world, Most Gifted are single users; dual users—Gifted able to command two elements—are rare, and even rarer are tri users.

None ever seen since the first Gifted, Roland Ashcroft, that is, until me.

Now, friends, do you understand why I got the invitation to attend Astra?

I am special.

I hope you heard the sarcasm.

Now back to Aunt Claire's question.

Am I scared?

The answer should be either yes or no, but those would be the only options if I feel. Inside of me, I feel nothing. Most would call me apathetic, but I don't know if it is the word that I would use.

Dead.

That is more suitable.

On occasions, I fake emotions to avoid being called a freak— I have been called that a lot—but they are not real.

"No," I answer.

Aunt Claire doesn't react to my toneless voice because she is used to it, but strangers usually flinch when they hear me speak.

"Good," she replies, sounding happy at the notion. She is causally tapping the steering wheel as she drives. I don't know if she is aware of it.

You should know that you are as good as any of them, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.

You are probably what I have to be ashamed of. It is not my lack of power that Aunt Claire refers to, but rather to the fact that I am the offspring of traitors.

My parents didn't die from a natural cause, but were killed by the Queen for treason. They were accused of colliding and helping the demons.

Whether there is any truth to the accusation, I do not know, but it did change my family's life.

My family, once respected in the world, became a pariah in society. Wherever we went, people mocked us, spat on the ground, and treated us like we had leprosy.

I have gotten used to people hating me that it no longer bothers me.

Aunt Claire continues to fill the silence in the car with words she thought I needed to hear.

"I want you to know, baby, that your parents are watching over you, and you best believe that they wouldn't let anything happen to you."

I am not a believer in the afterlife, nor do I believe in God, heaven, or hell.

I said nothing to Aunt Claire's words, and she didn't mind. She was content to talk, while I listened.

After years of living together, Aunt Claire has gotten used to my taciturn nature.

We arrive at Astra Academy, and the huge black gates that bar the school from the outside world are open.

It is arrival day, and the artistically designed courtyard is busy with arriving students.

You could hear the chatter, the laughter among friends, and the scent of fear from the new students.

Astra is like high school anywhere in the world, except that Astra students have powers that make them even more egocentric.

Aunt Claire stops the car, and we step down. I ignore everything happening around me and go to the trunk to get my bag.

Not much. Just a bag that had my essentials.

"This is it," Aunt Claire says when I join her, my duffle bag slung over my shoulder. She moves to hug me, then realizes I am a no-touch person and stops midway, making her action a little awkward.

"I love you," she says, slightly flustered by her earlier blunder.

I don't know why she waited for a response from me. She knows I never say words like that.

I am not sentimental and never say words like "love".

Her expression falls slightly when she gets nothing back, but she quickly covers it. "Take care," she says softly and leaves.

I stared after her car until her taillight disappeared, and then I turned to face the school building.

It is a very huge, Victoria-looking building, and looks very intimidating, at least to those who care.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stir, like I was being watched. I followed the feeling to a small window to the far left of the tall edifice looming over me.

I couldn't see who was watching me, but I felt a stir in my chest.

Weird.