Chapter 2

Weeks later and somehow, Ivy's life got a little bit more interesting than usual. Isaac, Ivy and Luke had become a quite good trio. They did most things together, and the best part is that Jack and Aiden had decided to grow up and stop bothering them. Ivy was still very fascinated by Isaac, there was something special about him, but she couldn't figure out what. A part of her thought that it was just some silly crush, but her mind told her that it was something more but not necessarily love. She just got this feeling that she could trust him even if she had only known him for a couple of weeks. It did frighten her a bit, how safe she could feel around a boy she barely knew anything about.

When Ivy came home one day, she found Jason thinking in the kitchen as he stared out of the window. Usually, at this time of the day, he would be working with some potions or some spells to the Prostátis. The Prostátis is a group of warriors whose purpose is to make sure that the humans never find out about their existence and that no one starts a rebellion against anyone, simply so that everyone can remain in peace. To become a Prostátis, you have to sacrifice your powers and abilities and learn their rules. Jason was offered to join them, but he declined. Instead, they are his customers. Every time they need anything that contains magic, they come to Jason for a spell or a potion. That's why Ivy got surprised when she saw Jason doing nothing because the Prostátis constantly needs his help.

"Jason?" She asked carefully as she slowly approached him. "Is everything okay?"

"Huh, oh, of course. It's just much going on right now," Jason said as he continued looking out of the window. It was raining outside, Ivy's favourite kind of weather, the rain was pouring down, and it gave Ivy a relaxing feeling. What she loved most was the sound of it, the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground worked as a distraction, a distraction from everything else.

"Ivy?" Jason said as he turned his attention to Ivy. "Do you remember that Prostátis party? The one I and Catrine always attended to?"

Ivy nodded as an answer. It was a party to honour the fallen angels. It was always the first Saturday in November, the day the last angel fell. The others were murdered the day Jason and Catrine found Ivy, but one angel survived till November, their guessing was that it was that angel that left her there. The party was a way for most creatures to gather together, to celebrate their differences. Ivy had personally never attended the party, she preferred to be home and play with toys when she was younger, but it was something Jason and Catrine did every year until Catrine died. Since then Jason barely stepped a foot on any of the magical events, he said that he didn't like going alone, but Ivy knew that it reminded him of Catrine.

"I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the party this year?" Jason asked and it caught Ivy off guard. "I know that you don't want to get too involved in our world, especially not when people always look at you as if you were a caged animal. I just thought that it would be interesting for you, our traditions and how different we all are, there is so much to learn. I want you to be a part of it all and I know it might be a lot to ask for. It might mean that you have to sacrifice a moment of privacy but I just thought that it would be a great experience and..."

"I'll do it," Ivy interrupted him before he could continue. "You're probably right. It might be time for me to meet other nonhumans. The humans are getting boring anyway, and I should probably try to meet more people. Besides, it's just for one night. How much can happen during one night?"

Jason laughed. It made Ivy relieved, seeing Jason nervous usually wasn't a good sign, seeing him stressed is even worse. She's only seen him sad once, at Catrine's funeral. Otherwise, he's more of a person that gets irritated or mad than sad or depressed.

"You know, this means that you have to get a new dress," Jason said. "Or you can take one of your old dresses, but that's boring. I think that it's better to get a new one. A lot of people are going to be interested in you because of your angelic DNA."

"So it's not only attending the party, I'm going to be the main attraction too," Ivy joked. "Well, then I better look good while doing it."

"So about the dress, do you want to do it the old fashion way or with magic?" Jason asked while he watched Ivy thinking about the options. What she didn't know was that Jason was thinking of how grateful he was, having his daughter by his side.

"I think I'll start with the old fashioned way," Ivy said after some thinking. "It makes it all more fun, and I might find something I like, the magic option is going to be my plan B."

"And will you bring your friend on this shopping tour or do I have to follow you on your search after a dress for at least three painful and slow hours?" Jason asked and Ivy chuckled.

"I think I'll ask Luke," Ivy answered. "He may suffer some hours on my search after a dress. I'll tell him that I'm going to a birthday party or something like that and then force him to help me find a dress. Afterwards, I might reward him with ice cream or something."

"Sounds like a good plan to me, and if you need help to force him, I would gladly help you," Jason joked which made Ivy laugh. Now when Jason finally got it off his chest, he could continue his work. Meanwhile, Ivy stared out of the window. She thought about the party, being in the centre of the attention made her feel uncomfortable, but she was going to do it for Jason. If it meant much to him, she would gladly apply. Who knows, the party might even be fun.

*****

Ivy was talking to Isaac and Luke when Jack and Aiden walked by. Ivy could see that Jack looked towards their direction, and by accident, her brown eyes met his blue ones. That made Ivy immediately activate her defence mode, but they just walked by, as usual, these past weeks. It made Ivy wonder why they'd suddenly decided to ignore her, nothing had stopped them before, so this why sudden change? Not that she minds. Of course, it could be because of Isaac, but Ivy refused to believe that one student could make Jack want to back off so easily.

"Earth to Ivy!" Luke called. When she finally came back from the clouds, she saw both Isaac and Luke staring at her. She blinked some times while trying to come up with an explanation. They both were staring at her as if she was crazy, perhaps she was.

"I was just thinking," Ivy finally said. "I'm sorry. I didn't pay any attention."

"You know that they're not going to do anything," Isaac said when he understood that Ivy was looking at Jack and Aiden. "You can try to relax a little. I promise you that he won't be doing anything against you while I'm here."

"How can you be so sure?" Ivy asked. She started suspecting that Isaac was hiding something from them. Something that had to do with Jack and Aiden, something that had to do with their strange behaviour.

"Just my instincts," Isaac shrugged, that answer made Ivy even more suspicious. "They haven't disturbed you these last weeks, and I'm pretty sure that they're going to continue that way, no need to be paranoid."

Ivy didn't say anything more after that. She knew that Isaac was different from the others, he was glowing of power. Ivy wasn't sure what kind of power, but he was not human. It took Ivy weeks to figure that out, Isaac was good at hiding his magic, but Ivy was living with a warlock. In the end, she always recognised magic. It frightened her even more that he wasn't human, the day she started suspecting him as a magical creature, she started to search everywhere for creatures that could lure people in plain sight.

Later that day, Ivy and Luke went shopping as planned. Ivy was actually happy that she finally got some time alone with Luke, even if Ivy was glad to have Isaac by her side, she hated the feeling that Isaac made her feel. She was too relaxed around him, but at the same time, she knew that there was something odd about him. Who knows he might even be dangerous? Whatever he was, Ivy decided to let it go for a moment. She was attending a nonhuman party this weekend, besides she needed to stop worrying about things, it only made her stressed.

So here she was, hanging around with her human best friend trying to find a dress for a nonhuman party. She wanted her dress to be elegant, but not to fancy. She was still sceptical if this was a good idea, middle of the attention meant more chances of embarrassing yourself, but it seemed like she didn't have any choice this time. Without noticing her mind drifted away, something that had happened a lot nowadays. She tried to pay attention to what Luke said, but she got

"Ivy, are you okay?" Luke asked, but Ivy couldn't answer him. She immediately tried to find a chair or anything because she was too dizzy to stand up. Suddenly everything was blurry, everything was confusing. It was hard to explain, it was like knowing exactly what's happening around you, but being confused by your own mind. She could hear Luke call her name several times, but she was never able to respond to him. She tried to continue standing, but her legs failed her. Gravity did its thing and Ivy felt how Luke caught her before she hit the floor. Black dots were dancing in front of her eyes, and the last thing Ivy remembered was the sound of people surrounding them and Luke speaking on his phone.

*****

When Ivy woke up later with the sun in her eyes. She found herself in her bedroom, the familiar pastel blue butterflies on the night sky covered the walls. She looked out of the window and saw that it was near sunset, which means that she had been unconscious in at least four hours. Her head still hurt, but it was better than before. She suddenly felt a hand on her forehead, it wasn't until now that she realised that there was someone else in the room. A pair of violet eyes were staring at her.

"How are you feeling?" Jason asked. Beside him was a tray with a glass water and a sandwich. Her throat felt like sandpaper and not a single sound was able to leave her mouth. She made an attempt to take the water by herself, but Jason made sure that she only had to go halfway.

"Better," She finally answered with a cracky voice. "Where's Luke?"

"I sent the poor fellow home. He was insisting so I had to promise him that you would call back when you woke up. What happened back there? Why did you suddenly fain..."¨ His voice disappeared as he was talking. He stared at her for a very long time, studying something on her face. Ivy was confused and felt uncomfortable because of the sudden silence and how intense he stared at her.

"Oh dear sun and moons, your eyes," He said suddenly. "They've changed."

The first thing she did was to look into the mirror. At first, she didn't see anything unusual, but then she saw it, a little difference. Her eyes were usually chocolate brown, both of them, and one of them still was, but the other one had changed colour. It wasn't the familiar brown colour that was staring back at her. Instead, it was a unique grey colour in her left eye. She stood up and walked towards the mirror to get a closer look. It wasn't a hallucination. Her eyes were in two different colours.

"Jason?" She said slowly, terrified of his answer to her next question. "What is this? What happened to me?"

He didn't respond, he just stared at her in confusion. She didn't like it, she looked back at the mirror just to make sure that it was still there, and it was. It was storm grey, a storm grey eye where her chocolate brown left eye used to be. In any other situation, she would have admired how unique it looked, but now she was mainly freaked out.

"Jason?" She asked again, carefully. She tried to catch his attention, but he just continued staring at her. "You're freaking me out."

If you live in the nonhuman world, you know that a change like this could lead to unpleasant consequences. That's what scared Ivy at this moment, what this all meant. Jason's reaction didn't make Ivy calmer. It made her terrified. Some of the worst thinkable things came up in her head, like death or mental torture in different ways. The clock seemed to have slowed down and every breath felt too heavy.

"I'm not sure," Jason finally answered after something that seemed like forever."I think I've read of it somewhere, but I don't remember where. Don't worry, it's probably nothing. I'll spend the rest of my day trying to figure out what's going on with you. We'll hide it until we know better, stay calm until then. Oh, don't forget to call Luke."

He continued muttering things on his way out. Calming right?

Ivy took a deep breath before she pulled out her phone. She searched for Luke on her contact list. He had named himself "The strongest Avenger" on her phone. When she found his number, she hesitated, wondering if this was a good idea. What was she supposed to say to him? She felt guilty for lying to him after all this. Without him, she would probably still be at the mall.

After pressing the call button she waited, one tone, then another tone. When he suddenly picked up, Ivy's heart took an extra skip.

"Ivy?" Luke immediately asked. "Is this you? Are you okay?"

"Hey Luke, I'm fine," Ivy replied, half lying. "I'm sorry about what happened, and I wanted to thank you for bringing me home."

"Sorry? Why the heck are you sorry? I mean you fainted, but it's not exactly something you planned," Luke said before he started to imitate Ivy. "Oh wait, the clock is already 5 pm. I am supposed to faint now!"

Ivy just laughed at his dorkiness. That's why she loved Luke, as a friend. He always made her feel better. They talked for a while before Luke had to go, his mother was calling his name. Ivy put away her phone before she went down to check on Jason, who had his head in a pile of spell books and old scrolls. The room was quite dark, even if there were candles in every corner. It reminded Ivy of the Wizardry movies she used to watch when she was younger.

"Jason?" She asked carefully. "How is it going?"

"Fast thanks to the magic," Jason replied. "At least now I know where the information can be and have a clue where to start."

"Oh, may I ask you something?" Ivy asked, and Jason turned his attention to her. "This might not be the right time, but I still need a dress for tomorrow. Would you like to make some?"

Ivy had always loved Jason's dresses. When he wasn't a warlock, he was a fashion designer. It was something Catrine and Jason had in common, that's how they meet in the first place. With some movements of his hands, three beautiful dresses appeared. They were all unique, made to impress with beautiful patterns.

The first one looked like a gold ball gown, made of glittery fabric and painting details at the bottom. The second one was a mermaid dress with an emerald colour and long lace arms. The last one was magical, a red off-shoulder silk dress with a skirt of an elegant ball gown that went down to her knees. Ivy was amazed by the options in front of her.

"They're beautiful!" Ivy squealed, and Jason joined her by her side. "I can't possibly choose between these."

"I've been working on them during my spare time, but I never got the chance to give them to you," Jason explained as he studied each one of them. "Pick one and then tell me if you want any changes, I'll start with it as soon as possible while searching for answers."

Ivy looked through the dresses one more time then she took the red dress. Out of all the dresses, that one was her favourite. It was stunning and light at the same time. The fabric felt heavenly under her fingers and she knew that this was the one she needed.

"This," She said as she took it. "I would like to have this one."

"Wonderful choice," Jason said happily, as the other dresses disappeared. "It'll fit you perfectly, just tell me if you need anything."

Ivy was about to say anything when suddenly she felt pain on her wrist. She looked down and saw how her skin got irritated, and suddenly there was a burn mark. Jason had also noticed it and slowly walked up to her in confusion. He prepared his magic to heal the burn mark when he suddenly stopped and just stared at it with wide eyes. As quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. Now Jason's mouth was wide open, and Ivy was about to freak out.

"Sol et luna..." Jason said in Latin. "Could it be..."

Without finishing the sentence, he started to search through his books again. Ivy was still standing there completely stunned, then she tried to get Jason's attention, but he didn't listen. She called his name repeatedly, but she never got any answers. Instead, she had to listen to him murmur things she didn't understand. He continued looking through pages and pages of information. Suddenly he looked up to her with wide eyes.

"Soulmate," He said, and Ivy looked at him shocked. "You have a soulmate."

"A soulmate?" She repeated while trying to figure out a fitting reaction. "What exactly does that even mean? That I've met my other half? That I've met my true love or what?"

"That's what the humans think it is," Jason said sharply and Ivy got even more confused than before. "In this world, it means so much more, Soulmates are bound by souls, if one gets hurt the other does too. You'll make each other happy, but it doesn't necessarily involve love. It's just a person who makes you feel complete, but what your relationship will look like is up to you. We can survive a lifetime without a lover, but it's hard to survive a lifetime without a friend."

"So I have a soulmate somewhere in this world, that I'm connected to?" Ivy asked for more confirmation, or just to hear it again to make sure that she's not hallucinating. "What if he or she is a murderer or a rapist?"

"Since he or she is your soulmate I highly doubt that. It's a unique connection and the only way to break your connection is if one of you kills the other or yourself," Jason said. "Ivy, I know that this is a huge thing, but you need to calm down. Listen, I'll help you find your soulmate, and then we take step by step until we figure this out. Okay?"

Ivy nodded, it wasn't like she could do anything else. She knew that her life would turn upside down after this. A soulmate was supposed to complete her, but she already had a person who made her complete, Luke. Sure, he didn't know everything about Ivy, and it would remain that way, but for her, Jason and Luke were enough. She feared that more people in her life would lead to more misery, therefore she was happy with the way it was, but apparently, fate had other plans for her.