The Results of a Parting Gift

All it took was twenty seconds for the yard to turn into an overgrown wildland. Kaden could not believe his eyes. The world before him had changed so drastically. "Haha, I see it works. I'll take care of the yard." Chad said in his happy voice. He quickly opened his book and summoned a small herd of goats.

To his son's dismay look he could only say "What these goats are the same breed as the goats that pull Thor's chariot. They will make fast work of that grass. Grandma Ma can you help Lisa pluck some of those fruits before my herd gets to them." True to his word his father herd took care of the yard returning it to its prior state. The ripe vegetables and some of the fruits were the only things the ravenous goats spared. Not because they wanted to but because of the two ladies' efforts.

Gigi and his mother made quick work of the ripe food, storing them away in their own storage devices. "I'm glad we put that barrier up, if not I think we would have made the six o'clock news," Lisa said with a grin. Granda Ma, Kadens Gigi also nodded in agreement before she asked "So, Brat what special summons did you get from that compressed star gem? Before you ask your silly questions, yes it was a star. If that gem cracked we would have to say goodbye to all of us here and this planet to boot."

Gigi truly scary was the only thing that Kaden could think of before he opened his grimoire. His book did have a new entry on the 102nd page. A picture of a woman with long golden hair touched the floor. In one hand, she had a watering can, and in the other a gardening spade. She looked like an exotic European model with emerald green eyes. She was dressed in a white spring dress. Her feet were bare and seemed to sink to the earth as if she had taken root. Green plants filled the background. Under the picture was some text that read:

Guardian Summons: The Gardener

Name: None

Approval Rating: Dislike Summoner (If not for the blessing she would flat out hate the summoner.) 0%, (+20%)

Rank: 102nd Stars of Destiny.

Chant: Bound by the earth, grounded in fate. Star of life, The Gardener I summon thy.

Abilities:

Nature's Call: Able to command all plant life to obey orders.

Regenerate Life: A consistent ability to heal oneself or others at the cost of sprite energy.

Rapid Growth: Able to accelerate plant growth at the cost of spirit energy.

???: Locked

???: Locked

The True Story: Born an orphan during a warring era. She had to struggle for survival at a young age. The Gardener learned to befriend plant life as a means to escape the cruelty of the world. It was after all plants that sustained her life. Once she had a friend but that friend stole from her and brought ruin to her garden. The power of life was so strong in her that the next day after her friend ran away she awoke to find that no harm had been done to her garden. Grief-stricken at the loss of her only friend, this poor girl forgot how to use her voice. Untrusting of strangers, unwilling to befriend anyone other than mother nature herself.

As Kaden read the description he was troubled by what he found. "Gigi should the star follow the mythos of the Water-Margin Chronicles," he asked. Grandma Ma quickly went to Kaden's side to review his new contract.

"That's quite interesting, Kaden, it looks like you have an alter mythos. who knows when it changed to this but in the realm of infinite possibilities this is one. At least, your summons is not that old cannibal thief and her abilities are strong. Even better is that you don't even need to summon that poor girl to use them. I'm guessing you have to gain her favor to unlock the last two skills. I recommend you wait till you're in school. Have the teachers there to guide you before you attempt to summon her. Besides, the Mythos teachers probably have a better idea than I. Yes, you should wait till then to summon her." Gigi said in a stern voice.

Kaden notices she repeated herself three times about not summoning his guardian spirit. It shot up a red flag in his head faster than anything his parents could do. As much as he feared his Gigi he respected her the most.

At his Grandma Ma's direction, Kaden quickly learned how to use his new skills. Rose bushes and ivies seem to be the easiest to control and the fastest for him to grow. Trees could wallop the ground with their branches but they were rooted. So they could not move that much. His mother quickly ran to the store and bought him some seeds for the roses and different ivy.

"Brat, I'm going to head back home. If you need me, have your mother fetch me. OK," Grandma Ma said before being engulfed in a light that signaled she had just jumped. He had become accustomed to the grown-ups around him jumping to and fro. It was one of the abilities he was looking forward to learning.

Funny enough though, to go to school Kaden had to travel by ship. He was excited since his parents told him it was a luxury liner. He had never gone on such a big boat before. His parents told him that the school was protected against jumping. Even if it was not, they could not jump there. It raises more questions in Kaden's head but since he had never traveled alone before his excitement overrides his logic.

The week went by fast and Kaden found himself at a port in San Francisco. The largest ship he had ever seen sat before him. It made the boats at Navy Pier in Chicago look like dinghies. "Well, there she is the Romanoff, one of a kind that ship is." Chad could not help telling his son. His mom and friends came to see him off. Grandma Ma was missing in the action but he did not blame her. She did not like long goodbyes and Kaden knew it.

"Ok everybody I'm off. Tell Gigi bye for me," Kaden said as he headed down the ramp to the boarding section. Hundreds of kids were all in line getting ready to board. There were a total of sixteen lines. As the ship would drop off the kids at different schools. Kaden quickly found his spot which was for freshmen going to Edensburg. Every new freshman was either too excited at the prospects of the journey or nervous about what was to come next. Only a handful of kids like Kaden kept their cool.

Kaden quickly introduced himself to the group of kids that were next to him. Kaden wanted to break the ice and maybe help his fellow freshmen relax. In a quick moment, he made friends with three boys and a girl. One of the boys was actually from Africa and had a heavy British accent. His skin was as dark as it could get and he was a fairly tall kid named Bisma. He was a polite and kind kid. He loved the NBA just as much as Kaden did. It did not take long before the two were in their own world talking sports.

Jason the second of the boys was from Austria and spoke slowly since English was still fairly new to him. Kaden being the genius that he was, knew how to speak German so the two bonded pretty fast. The last boy was an Asian that came from the Philippines. He could speak perfect English as his family also lived in the states and he also likes sports. His name was Daniel and he was the more hyper one in the group.

The only girl in the group was a raven-haired, red-eyed lass no taller than Kaden's chin. She was still very boyish in her figure. Her name was Ash. And yes it was just Ash as she had painfully explained to Kaden. She hated when people called her Ashley since it was not her name. The boy laughed when he got scolded for his slip. Once the subject of NBA players got started. Kaden found that Ash was a pretty cool girl. She liked all his favorite players. She also had a sharp mind as she could remember player stats as if she was reading them off a card.

Jason was the only one that did not care too much about basketball but that was more because of where he was from. With them chatting the time passed by fast. Before they knew it they had boarded the ship. It turned out everybody had been preassigned room according to their mythos so both Daniel and Kaden found themselves in the same room along with six other Asian descent kids.