As One Door Closes, Another One Opens

Rainey was rather surprised when Jered turned up at the asylum. She hadn't been expecting visits—usually, it was her that visited, "What are you doing here?"

Jered opened his mouth, thinking of a good excuse, but nothing came up so he shrugged, "Honestly? I'm bored. I've been bored for the past week," he sat down on the chair across from her, spinning the wheels around as he stared at her, "I don't even know why. I've been through a lot recently, I should have had enough excitement to last me for a lifetime... but now that my life has gone back to norm—to how it used to be, I don't know what to do."

"Aww, my poor baby..." Rainey sidled over to him and held his face in her hands, "... I'm glad that you thought of me as the first person to go to relieve your boredom. You need mommy Rainey to make your life exciting again?"

He pulled back from her invasive grasp, "I work for you, don't I? I thought you'd have something for me to do."

"I'm surprised you're so desperate," she sat on the lip of her office desk, "What, are you not going to work your veins out anymore?"

"That's all I've been doing lately," he groaned, "Hell, I even started going to the gym. I'm getting sick of this... predictable... lifestyle."

"What about the Arcane Underground Combat?"

"I've defeated three opponents last week, and killed one yesterday. Last I checked, I'm 23rd in the State Ranking."

Rainey huffed a chuckle, "And isn't that enough to satiate your thirst for excitement?"

He scoffed, "I've yet to get paired against an Elder Magician. The so-called 'powerful' Adept Magicians barely qualify as target practice. To make things more challenging, I decided to use only Neophyte Tier spells against them. But the result is the same. Actually, many people now think that I was making fun of them. Fools. All of them. The only positive shit about this is that I'm making so much money that I could potentially see myself getting a place in the Forbes list before I turn 18."

"You're basically living a successful life, Jered. You've got money, the looks, the talent, and a heap of women willing to have raw anal sex with you. What else could you possibly want?"

"That's exactly the problem. I don't know what I want, I just know that I want something," Jered ran a hand through his hair, struggling to put an abstract concept into words, "It's not about the fights or violence. It's not about fucking beautiful women. It's not even about becoming filthy rich. Don't get me wrong, those are all nice things to have. And I want them. But..." he trailed off, frustrated.

She nodded thoughtfully, "You want to explore the Other Side, right?"

"I think so..." he bit his lip, "... I want something new. And that could be it."

"You know, there's a reason why I'm waiting for you to become a Royal Magician."

Jered tilted one eyebrow up.

"It's because there's something we have to do, together. Me, you, and Jerry. And it's something we can pull off only if all of us are at least Royal Magicians," Rainey continued, "Not to mention, you have to be a Royal Tier to open a portal. And you aren't. Surely, you should know how dangerous that place is if you don't have enough power. You might think I'm being dramatic and needlessly overprotective, but I don't want you to cross the wrong people, and die because of it. Heed my words, Jered. Wait. Just wait. The day will come, and depending on how fast you are, it might come soon."

"Then..." he looked up at her, "What am I supposed to do in the meanwhile?"

She rolled her eyes, "Hellooo? Ashy Petals? Don't tell me you forgot."

"The situation in Ashy Petals is more complicated than I thought. Ambrose, for some reason, wanted me to become a member of Artemis. Wasn't he supposed to 'suck my cock' to make me stay or something?"

"Of course, it's complicated. Ashy Petals' executives are planning a coup. They not only want Evelyn dead. But they want Ambrose too."

"Isn't that ridiculous? I'm not saying the executives are weak, but would they be able to kill a Royal Magician?"

Rainey crossed her arms, "Yes, on the condition that they're well-prepared and willing to risk their lives. The outcome is not certain. But I doubt Ambrose is not aware of it, much less prepared. Which makes me question why the executives would plan something so dangerous," she tapped her chin in thought, "I wonder if someone is puppeteering their actions—someone powerful. That would surely give them the confidence to go against their leader."

"And in the middle of this mess, there are us, also planning a coup," Jered laughed at that, "I will relay what you just said to Evelyn. Maybe she'll find out something. Hopefully."

"Ha, no she won't. And if she does end up finding something, it's probably because they wanted her to. For now, it would be best to take a wait-and-see approach. If my assumption is correct, then you don't want them to know that we know. Once we have some intel on who these people might be, we can act accordingly."

"You make it sound as if you're helpless. I'm sure you can find out what's really going on with Ashy Petals," Jered tilted his head to the side, one leg over the other.

"I'm not omniscient, you silly ball of cuteness," he frowned, and she grinned, "But you're not wrong. If I really want to, it would be a cinch to find out who got those shriveled motherfuckers wrapped around their fingers. However, it's not time for me to expose myself yet. Not to mention that little problem I have. I'm afraid you'll have to do this on your own."

"Figures," Jered sighed, "Even if you can't help me, the least you could do is provide me with tomes, right?"

"You didn't visit Ashy Petal's library?"

"Not yet. I was supposed to when I went there to meet Ambrose, but we decided otherwise after our conversation with him. Evelyn wasn't feeling safe. And the whole situation seemed dodgy."

Rainey walked around her desk and slipped a hand inside a drawer, "That's why you should focus all of your energy and frustration into getting stronger," when she pulled her hand out, she was holding a stack of very thin booklets, "Those are spellbooks. No crappy backstory or ramblings of some of old Magician in-between. It shouldn't take you long to learn them."

She levitated them towards Jered.

He took them with a critical eye.

Contrary to the tomes he had been given in the past, those booklets had titles emblazoned across their covers.

'A Hundred Barriers — A Beginner's Guide.'

'Telekinesis — Elevate Your Mind!'

'Moving With the Wind — Turbine Slash.'

'Moving With the Wind — From Floating to Flying.'

"You'll have to master that last one if you want to soar in the air like a bird," Rainey said earnestly, her tone softened by a touch of reminiscence, "I still remember my first time flying. I was very young back then, and oh God, I felt like nothing would stop me. So I flew higher and higher, as if I was transcending. No words can describe what it is like. The chilly breeze on your skin, and that feeling of... weightlessness. As hardened as I was, it still took my breath away. And I'm sure you'll feel the same."

"Didn't know you were so sentimental," Jered commented with an amused smile.

Instead of rebutting him, Rainey shrugged, "Sometimes I am."

----

Alison held her breath as she knocked on the door.

It had been way too long since she last saw her friend, and she was tired of waiting. Of course, their last conversation didn't end well. Jasmine must have been hiding something from her, and Alison had been too pushy at the time. She hoped to make amends by showing up and apologizing, and maybe, convince her to come back home with her.

The light sound of footsteps sounded out, then the door creaked open.

Whatever Alison was expecting, it certainly wasn't such a disinterested Jasmine, "Heey," she broke into a forced smile and stepped forward to hug her.

Jasmine readily hugged back, "Hey yourself."

Something was different.

Very different.

Alison's heightened senses picked up on a copperish tang, but that could have been interpreted in many ways. What truly bothered her was the dangerous glint in Jasmine's eyes. In fact, Alison could swear there was a faint crimson smudge within those emerald greens. And it set her on edge.

Without even realizing it, she had taken a step back.

"Umh... so... how have you been? I haven't seen you a lot at school lately."

Jasmine took a few seconds to churn out an excuse, "I haven't been well, that's why."

"Ohh..." Alison struggled to keep the conversation going, so she decided to be honest, "Actually, I came here to apologize..."

"Why?"

"You know, our last chat. I went over it so many times in my head, and each time I felt more guilty. I haven't been... a great friend... probably because we didn't spend your birthday together, and it... upset me. I'm so silly, and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Jasmine cocked her head to the side, confused, "There's nothing to forgive though. I'm not mad," then she giggled with an exaggerated shake of her head.

Alison finally calmed down, "That's great to hear! I thought you were mad, haha..."

"Oh no, not at all, Ali," she went on, "It's just that I don't care."

"Wait... what..." Alison's heart nearly stopped, "What did you say?"

"Hmm, how do I put it in a way that you can fully understand?" Jasmine hummed in thought, her face scrunched up in a way that denoted she was trying to explain something complicated, "First of all, I care about you, Alison. I really do. But I realized that the sole reason I'm friends with you is that I'm trying—no, sorry, I have been trying to escape from the truth. And you were a comfortable lie. Being with you made everything so much easier. I didn't have to think about my problems."

"J-Jasmine... what's going on?"

"Nothing is going, you dummy. I've just decided to face the truth and embrace it."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Alison was on the verge of yelling, "You're being weird! Are you telling me you don't want to be my friend anymore?"

Jasmine had an easygoing smile on her face as she retreated back inside, her hand moving to close the door, "Let's put it this way. I don't need you anymore."