Katherine’s damp hair clung to her shoulders as she walked out of the hall. The apartment was nice, but not very large. Other than the bedrooms and bathrooms, there was only one real room. It consisted of the living room, dining area, and open kitchen. The living room was carpeted, and its shift to wood marked the border of the two other areas.

  The kitchen and dining areas were near the apartment’s large windows, which took up the entirety of the east wall. The window, which was nearly the entire wall, was currently covered by blinds. Usually at this time they’d be open, letting in the warm setting sun’s light, but with the current rainstorm there was no light to let in.

  She grabbed silverware and napkins from the kitchen and began setting them up at the dinner table. Her father was already sitting there. He was still in his work clothes and reading some news article on his tablet. He didn’t look up from the screen even when he spoke to her.

  He often did that: talk while focusing on something else. If it wasn’t his tablet it was a book, and if it wasn’t a book it was a jewelry catalogue or magazine. It was one of the reasons she felt more comfortable talking to him instead of her mother. Whenever her mother talked to someone, she gave them her full attention. It made Katherine feel scrutinized.

  “How was school today, kiddo?” he asked as she set down his silverware.

  “Fine. Nothing special,” she said. She looked back to the kitchen and gave her mother a look. She knew if she didn’t, her mom would tell him about the boy she met, and of course she would make it seem like a bigger deal than it was. Her mom rolled her eyes, but didn’t chime in.

  “Ah, well, better than a bad day, right?” her father said.

  “Yeah, guess so. How did work go?” Katherine asked. She paused as she finished setting her own silverware. She’d grabbed a fourth set. An old habit.

  A swell of emotions came rising up inside her. She shoved them down, not letting them take any purchase in her mind. She walked calmly to the kitchen to put the utensils away. Her mother noticed, but politely ignored the slip-up.

  “Same old, same old,” her father answered. He hadn’t noticed her mistake. “Sold a nice pair of rings to an older gentleman. He seemed familiar. I’m pretty sure I sold him another pair of wedding rings about a decade ago too. Guess things didn’t work out then. This pair were much nicer than the last though, so things can’t be going too bad for him, I hope.”

  Katherine sat at the table across from her father after setting down plates. She’d been wanting to talk to him since she found that emerald, but now she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t an ordinary gem. Its size alone let her know it was special, and that was before it beamed magic knowledge into her head.

  “Hey Dad, how much are emeralds worth?” she asked, deciding to dip her toes in the subject before jumping in.

  He glanced up from his tablet with a curious expression, before looking back down. “An emerald? Eh… Depends on the quality and cut, like any other precious stone. Typically, though, they’re not as valuable as rubies or diamonds, but a bit more pricey than sapphires. Like I said, it depends mostly on quality though. Some sell for a few hundred a carat, and others well over a few grand.”

  “What’s a carat?”

  “Fifth of an ounce. It’s how we weigh them.”

  “How much would one weigh that’s about this big around?” Katherine held out her hand, indicating with her thumb and index finger the rough size of the emerald the stranger had dropped.

  Her father glanced up, looked back down, then did a double take, his brow furrowed. He let out a small chuckle of amusement and looked back to his tablet.

  “I wouldn’t know, sweetie. Gems that size don’t exist. Maybe some do, but you won’t see them in a jewelry shop like mine. Stones like that are in museums and maybe billionaire’s mansions. Why the interest in gems all of a sudden?”

  Her mother came over with a dish of lasagna and set it on the middle of the table.

  “Honey, could you grab the sides?” she asked her husband.

  Katherine’s father nodded and set aside his tablet. He got up and walked to the kitchen. Her eyes fell on the tablet. It was a news article about the recent seismic activity off the coast.

  Her father came back holding a plate of garlic bread and a bowl of salad, which he placed on the table.

  “Was there an emerald in a book you were reading?” he asked Katherine as he sat back into his seat.

  “Um, no, some guy at school said his parents had one that big. He said it was crystal clear and deep green.”

  “It’s a fake,” her father said. “If they had something like that they wouldn’t be sending their son to your school.”

  Her mother shot him a dirty look, which he didn’t notice. She must have kicked him under the table, because he jolted and looked up. When he caught her expression he cleared his throat and continued. “Not that it’s a bad school, Kathy, but something like that would cost millions if it were real. I don’t really know much about that side of jewels, but at some point prices become whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay. It’s probably green tinted glass or quartz, if the boy wasn’t blowing smoke.”

  “Was this that same boy who asked you for help?” her mother asked.

  “No, it wasn’t,” Katherine said flatly. “I told you I barely talked to him.”

  “What’s this about a boy?” her father asked as he put a slice of lasagna onto his plate.

  Katherine groaned and dropped her fork on her plate. “It was just some guy that asked me for some help, and I didn’t recognize him, which is weird. That’s literally it. Mom’s making a big deal out of nothing.”

  “Alright, alright. No need to get mad. It was just a question,” he said. Her parents shared a look.

  Katherine’s mother looked at her, and opened her mouth to speak. Before she got a word out, she was interrupted. The chandelier above the table rocked as the entire building shook slightly, casting dancing shadows across the dinner table.

  “Earthquake,” her father said.

  The three of them waited with bated breath as the shaking continued for a few seconds longer, then settled down.

  “That’s the third one this month…” her father said, shaking his head.

  “At least they’ve all been small ones,” her mother said.

  Her father nodded. Conversation died as they all waited in silence to see if there were any aftershocks to come. The topic of Katherine’s school life was left behind, thankfully

  During the silence, her mind turned back to the emerald. The thing called itself a guidance stone. She looked to her upper right, where a small timer told her that there was still some seventeen hours before she could use the system again.

  It said her spirit channels were stressed, whatever that meant. What she found interesting about that was it implied she had spirit channels. She’d never heard of those, let alone knew how to use them enough to stress them out. But she’d also never heard of neurons and veins at one point in her life, and that hadn’t stopped her from using them.

  She itched to ask the system more about everything it seemed to know. Even if the emerald was some crazy advanced alien technology that could project stuff into her head, spirit channels didn’t sound like a tech thing. It sounded like something mystical.

  Whatever spirit channels were, the side effect of them being stressed felt similar to a headache all over her body. Until they healed, or rested, or whatever, she wouldn’t be able to get any answers.

  It wouldn’t be until school ended tomorrow that she would be able to use the stone again. Until then she was making a mental list of things she wanted to ask it. One of which was about the spirit channels. The other big one was advancement.

  Her curiosity was gnawing at her. Justus might have answers, but she was nervous about the idea of running into him again. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she feared he could be dangerous. The things the stone did seemed like magic. Should she want to meet him again if he was some kind of magic warrior or superhuman? What if he was angry that she took the stone? She hadn’t stolen it; he’d lost it, and she kept it safe. He’d understand that, right?

  Regardless, she had to find him to give him the stone back. It was the right thing to do, even if she didn’t want to part with the stone. This was the first time in years she felt truly excited about something. Maybe… maybe she could leave the stone here tomorrow. It would be stupid taking it outside, after all. If she lost it, she’d never be able to return it.

  That’s what she’d do. She’d keep it safe, and when she came home after school she’d try to learn more about it and what it could do. That way she might learn how to best go about returning it to its rightful owner. She just needed a little more time.

  ***

  Justus woke up to the sound of those damn car horns in the distance. How did anyone get peaceful sleep in this city? He crawled out from under the small bridge he’d slept under. The rain was still pouring down.

  Deciding to stick to his usual morning routine, he began doing stretches. As he did, he thought more about his situation.

  There was no doubt in his mind now that he was on an alien planet. His first experience of night proved that. So whatever that flash of light had been before he died sent him to another planet.

  It still left the question as to how and why. As much as he wanted those answers, he knew trying to find them was pointless for now. No matter the reasons he was here, it didn’t change his situation.

  The biggest problem was not having his stone. Until he got it back, he could only use the most basic of Spirit Arts: things he understood fundamentally and felt confident his spirit could manage. There were a few spells he knew that might be useful. Ideally, though, he’d avoid a situation where he had to use them. Using spells was dangerous, especially for a Jade like himself.

  He wasn’t sure if the people here knew about Spirit Arts. He hadn’t seen anyone flying around, which was a common sight even in average-sized cities back home. Maybe there were strict laws on using magic, but it was safer to be cautious. For now, he would keep his abilities a secret.

  Part of him wanted to explore, and maybe find a library. The thought of an entire building full of knowledge of an alien culture was exciting. That had to wait, though. His first priority had to be getting his stone back.

  He had an idea, but it was risky. He could use a Spirit Pulse. The concept was similar to tossing a rock in a pond and feeling for the ripples. If his stone was nearby, the pulse would bounce off it and help him locate it. But if there were Spirit Artists hiding about here, it would attract unwanted attention. They’d be able to feel the pulse easily. He wouldn’t dismiss that idea, but he would try to learn more about this world before doing something so risky.

  For now, he decided his next move would be to find clothes that helped him fit in. It was clear from the girl’s reaction that his clothing was odd. Luckily, this city was huge, so he could ask around and find a nearby clothing store without raising suspicion. A weirdly dressed stranger wasn’t too odd in a city this big. He had to imagine that was true, regardless of the planet. If it was anything like Tallon, he could run around naked and people would only shake their heads and avoid eye contact.

  He finished up his stretching. Next in his routine was a jog, but he’d have to skip that this time. His mind could wander during his jogs, and doing that in a city he wasn’t familiar with was a bad idea.

  So he walked, keeping a mental map in his head of where he was in relation to the park. It wasn’t too hard. The many strange, glassy buildings made it easy to recognize where he’d been. All were slightly different, so he noted particularly odd ones as landmarks he could use.

  There was an issue, he was learning. One of the many useful features of a guidance stone was its ability to translate. It could reach out to the minds around it and learn a language nearly instantly. So, before he had even hit the ground here, it had read that girl’s mind and helped him speak her language without him even knowing.

  The guidance stone did more than just translate, thankfully. The stone imparted the language in his Spirit. Technically, it meant he did know this language. He only needed to wait for the information in his Spirit to be processed by his mind. That would be sped up by actually interacting and talking with people.

  He stopped one of the many people on the sidewalk and asked them a question that he was pretty sure translated to, “Hi. Clothes place where at?” It was as elegant as a toddler’s poetry. The man seemed annoyed, but fortunately seemed to understand. He began pointing as he spoke.

  The man spoke words which Justus found hard to catch completely. ‘Down’, ‘right’, and ‘see’ were the only ones he really understood. He wasn’t sure why ‘down’ made sense in this context, so he assumed it had another meaning than the one he knew. Unless the man was telling him the stores were subterranean here. Which Justus had to admit would be pretty neat.

  Justus smiled. He brought his arms up and placed one fist atop the other in front of his chest, his palms towards the floor, then bowed. The man looked at him oddly, then muttered to himself as he walked off. So, it seemed bowing wasn’t a usual gesture here. That made sense. The Crestkept people didn’t bow either. He’d met a few, and they did a strange one handed salute. It always seemed awfully silly to him. He’d have to find out what this alien culture did as signs of respect or gratitude.

  Following the man’s only somewhat useful directions, Justus continued walking through the city. After asking a few other strangers for directions, he finally found a clothing store. The store was large inside and very, very bright. The ceiling was tall and filled with lights. They gave the place a very neutral-toned color that seemed sterile. But there were clothes. Lots of clothes.

  Clothing stores like this weren’t common in Tallon. There were some nearly this large that had imported clothing, but they were for the wealthy. Most people bought city-made clothes in markets.

  The variety of clothing here was stunning. There were dozens of unique styles and designs to choose from. Something simple would probably work best for what he wanted: anonymity.

  As strange as this world was, there was something universal he was good at: stealing. You had to learn to take what you could get when growing up on the streets of Tallon. And while his mentor had stomped out most of bad habits, there was a thrill to stealing that always pulled him back in.

  He wasn’t cruel though. Justus stole from people who could afford to lose a thing or two, or who didn’t properly look after their things. He had to assume a place this big wouldn’t miss a few articles of clothes.

  Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he deftly took one of the plain white shirts on the shelf and put it under his own. He folded and tucked it so there were no obvious bulges, and so it wouldn’t fall out.

  With the shirt taken care of, he would need boots and socks. He supposed he would need a different style of trousers, though he wasn’t happy about it. The long pants here looked like they weren’t designed with combat in mind. The shorts he saw on shelves didn’t seem so bad, but he hardly saw anyone wearing those outside. His aim wasn’t comfort or utility, unfortunately.

  He grabbed one of the long blue pants that seemed his size, and quickly stuffed them inside his own. His experience helped him shimmy the legs of the stolen clothes into the legs of his own, helping to mask the extra bulk. His trousers were loose enough that it was hard to notice.

  The shoes would be trickier. He’d walked in here barefoot, which seemed uncommon. But no one had called him out, and there weren’t many people here. Either they didn’t care, or didn’t notice. He’d gotten one strange look from a lady at a counter near the store’s entrance, but that was it.

  There were a lot of shoes, but not many boots. The boots he did find were all strange, and not very well made. The ones that looked like leather didn’t feel like it, and there were other materials he couldn’t name. He couldn’t begin to guess what style was common or popular here for men his age, so he picked ones that didn’t seem too odd.

  He slipped them on, foregoing socks for now. He noticed something as he tested the fit of the shoes. There was a lady, dressed in the same uniform as the one that had looked at him at the entrance. The lady was far away—in the women’s shoe section nearby—but was keeping an eye on him, trying not to be noticed.

  With his experience as a thief, Justus knew when he was caught. He played it cool, not giving away that he knew he was being watched.

  He continued testing the shoes and pretending to adjust them. He covertly kept an eye on the lady. As he finished adjusting the shoe, he looked around, making it obvious. When his head swiveled her way, the lady pretended to be interested in adjusting boxes on the shelf in front of her. At that moment, Justus took off. He didn’t run or dash, but merely stood and began leaving in a smooth fast walk.

  The lady would notice and follow, thinking he was going to another section. In reality he was scoping his exit. As he neared the front of the store, he realized there was no one guarding it. This world must not be too experienced with thieves.

  Seeing the coast was clear, he started sprinting. He heard the lady yell behind him, telling him to stop. Did she expect that to work? He reached the door, and as he did a loud noise blared around him. It was piercing and grating, not unlike the car horns. It must be some kind of alarm. Ignoring the painfully loud sound, he shoved open the door. Thankfully, it hadn’t locked with the alarm’s activation.

  Once on the street, he chose a direction and ran. The new shoes were surprisingly nice for running.

  Half an hour later, Justus was back at the park, sitting under the bridge and examining his new clothes. The shoes were nice, but without socks they weren’t very comfortable. His tough Jade skin wouldn’t get sore from the fabric, but it still felt uncomfortable rubbing against his ankle like it did. It sucked he hadn’t been able to grab a pair of socks.

  He changed under the bridge. He folded his old clothes and left them tucked away under the bridge. The new clothes were more comfortable than expected, though he’d been right to worry about the tightness of the trousers. The thick material seemed sturdy, but limited his movement more than he’d usually tolerate.

  The park was still relatively quiet. There were very few people around, thanks to the rain. He was glad he’d shown up during such a heavy rainstorm, though part of him was curious to see this planet’s sun moving across the sky. He wondered what an alien sun might look like.

  He noticed an influx of people his age walking down the sidewalks. Most had been wearing packs, like they were ready for travel. Curious, he decided to follow the crowd.

  His clothing choice seemed fine, since none of the others looked twice at him. His look was, if anything, a bit too plain. Many of the boys his age were wearing jackets or hoodies like the girl he’d met. He wondered how they could stand to do that in this heat.

  The crowds were gathered in groups, mostly, but some were walking alone like himself. His first instinct was they were gathering for some kind of training, but that didn’t seem right given their physical conditions. A lot of these people were fat or thin, or just plain. Few had the build of Spirit Artists.

  While he walked, he listened in on conversations, helping him get a better grip on the language. His mind caught up quickly to his Spirit, and within just a few minutes he was able to understand almost every word.

  One of the oddest things he noticed was how different some of the people here looked. He hadn’t noticed it, since he’d been keeping his head down, but there were strange looking folk on this planet. Some of them even had dark skin. He wondered why that was.

  His planet certainly had different kinds of people. You could tell where someone came from by looking at them, usually. But everyone on his planet was pale in complexion. What would cause someone to have dark skin like that? He stored the observation in the back of his mind, to be investigated later.

  His hope for joining this gathering was that his target would be a part of this crowd. She had also carried a pack like the ones these people did, so his gut told him he was on the right train of thought.

  The crowd of youths reached their destination. Justus walked to the other side of the street and began observing. Hundreds of people around his age or younger were going inside the multi-story building. What drew his attention more than any of it were the words on the building. “Kellend Grant High School.”

  This place was a school? And this many people attended? Schools weren’t unheard of in his kingdom, but they were usually specialized and hard to get in, not to mention the cost of admittance. Usually only nobility or people with connections got into the good ones. Most people who wanted to learn bought books or guidance programs and studied on their own time. Justus had been lucky in that his mentor was able and willing to teach him some of the basics of mathematics.

  While he was studying the crowd for the girl he’d met at the park, he was interrupted by a voice nearby.

  “Hey. Are you new or something?”

  Justus turned to see a young man. He was slightly shorter than most of the others around. He had messy black hair that barely peeked under the hood he wore. The hood was part of a black and red jacket, which he wore over a red shirt with heavily stylized words on it. His pants were dark and even tighter than Justus’s. The stranger was looking at Justus with a friendly smile, but his green eyes had a glint of mischief in them. There was something about his expression that made it seem he was in on a joke no one else was aware of.

  If Justus had to guess, this guy was the type who got in trouble often. Many of the kids he’d grown up around had that kind of look.

  “I’m new to the area, yes,” Justus said.

  The guy laughed. “I figured. You look a little lost. Where are you from?”

  “It’s a small town, really far away. You’ve likely never heard of it.”

  The guy nodded. “Makes sense. I could tell by the accent. Weird one: subtle. I’m Simon, by the way.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Simon reached out his hand. Justus did the same, and Simon grabbed his hand and shook it. It seemed like some kind of greeting. He’d need to remember that.

  “My name is Justus.”

  “Justice? Like, law and order type shit?”

  “Justus,” Justus corrected.

  Simon shrugged. “Close enough. Weird name, man. But whatever. First day? I’ve never seen you around before.”

  “No, I’m not enrolled here. I’m looking for someone. A girl.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Simon said. He laughed. Justus couldn’t tell if it was performative or genuine. “Just messin’, what’s her name?”

  “I don’t know. I met her at the park nearby yesterday.”

  “What’s she look like? I’ve got a pretty good memory for faces. I might be able to help.”

  “She had long straight blonde hair, pale blue eyes, a small nose, and sharp chin. She was short and soft spoken, and thin looking, but she wore a loose hoodie that made it hard to tell for sure. She also had a tiny mole on her right cheek.”

  Simon looked thoughtful. “Oddly specific description, but I think I know who you’re talking about. I’m blanking on the name. Like I said: good memory for faces, but I’m shit with names. I think it was Kathy or Kaitlin, or something. I’m pretty sure it starts with a K. She’s in my math class, but she wasn’t here yesterday, so that tracks. I could help try to spot her. If you don’t mind shootin’ the shit for a bit.”

  Simon relaxed, facing the school next to Justus. He glanced over. “You said you met her at a park? What was she doing there?” he asked.

  Justus shrugged, keeping his eye on the moving crowd. “I don’t know. I only bumped into her. I lost something and I think she might have it.”

  “Ah. So it isn’t a weird stalker thing. That’s good, I guess. What did you lose?”

  “A good luck charm, of sorts.”

  Simon glanced at him with a curious expression.

  “It’s sentimental,” Justus explained. He wanted off that subject, so he changed it. “You learn math here?”

  “Well, duh, dude. It’s a school. You don’t learn math where you come from?”

  “I studied it,” Justus said. “But this is a lot of people. What do you use it for?”

  “Math? Hell if I know. Nothing, really. To count change? I’m in pre-calc and half the time, I don’t even know what I’m doing. Still managing to squeeze through with a C while skipping half the homework though, so that’s a win in my book.”

  “Pre-calc? What kind of math is that?”

  “Just said I don’t know, didn’t I? It’s like shapes and graphs and stuff. That’s all I got for ya, and I swear if you ask me about quadrupedal functions or whatever, I’m going to leave.”

  Justus ignored the odd comment.

  “How much money does an education like that cost?” he asked.

  “Dunno. It’s a public school. Doesn’t cost me anything but taxes.”

  “Public? You don’t pay to learn math?”

  Simon looked at him with an exaggerated expression of confusion. “Hell no! I’d pay not to! Have you never heard of a public school?”

  Justus’s eyes went wide. He’d made one of the mistakes he was hoping to avoid.

  “Things are different where I come from,” he said.

  “No shit. Are you even from the states? I thought even backwater towns need access to public schools. It’s like a law or something, I think. Were you home-schooled?”

  “Yes, I was,” Justus said, glad to have an excuse presented.

  “Damn. You missed out on the rich, character-forming years of trauma and stress. Poor you.”

  “Is it stressful?”

  Simon shrugged. “Nah, not for me. Mostly for the ones that take it seriously.”

  “You don’t?”

  Simon laughed. “Buddy, I don’t take anything seriously. Why do you think my skin is so smooth and healthy?”

  “Because you’re young?” Justus guessed.

  Simon rolled his eyes.

  “That’s the joke, man. They don’t have humor where you're from either? You’d get along great here, you know that?”

  “You think so?” Justus asked. He’d been worried he wasn’t doing a good job of fitting in.

  “No, dude, you’re weird as hell. I’m half convinced I’m talking to an alien right now. I mean, look at you, your shirt is on inside out and backwards!”

  Justus tried not to react to the alien comment. He looked down at his wet shirt. The stitching was facing outward, and there was a small paper sticking out the middle of the neckline.

  “Oh,” he said. He began to take his shirt off to fix the mistake.

  “Okay, you’re just gonna do that in front of every- holy shit, man, did you grow up in a crossfit cult?”

  Justus pulled his shirt down after flipping it inside out and turning it around. “What’s crossfit?”

  “How are you the one asking me that? It’s like a weird workout thing a lot of people make fun of, for some reason. I don’t really know. Anyway, I’d love to keep talking, but your mark is making her way into the building.” He pointed across the street.

  Justus followed where Simon was pointing. Sure enough, a blonde girl with a familiar profile was walking towards the school.

  Simon clapped him on the shoulder. “Go get ‘er, tiger,” he said.

  “Uh, thanks, I guess,” Justus said, before jogging away from the strange young man.

  Finally, he was going to get his guidestone back.

  *****

  “Sorry, girl, you’ll have to stay in my room today.”

  The small dog whined, and spun in a circle before looking up at him. She pawed her front legs on the ground. She did that a lot when she was anxious.

  “I know, I know. You wanna go for a walk, but for now, you stay. Alright?”

  He bent down and scratched the dog behind the ear. Her ears fell despite the attention. She’d been more restless lately. With the freak rainstorm, he hadn’t been able to take her out for a few days.

  “You’ll be alright, Belle. You have food and water, and I left the window cracked so you’ll get some nice fresh air. I’ll only be gone a few hours, okay?” He stood up and headed to the bedroom door. Before he left, he turned back to look at the dog, who watched him from her bed. It pained him to see the dejected look in the animal’s eyes. “See ya, girl. Love you.”

  He shut the door, sighing. He felt bad for the tiny dog. He knew she didn’t like being stuck in his small room all day, but he also noticed the way she’d been avoiding his mom, and flinched anytime he moved a little too quickly. He hadn’t seen anything directly, but he knew animals didn’t start acting skittish like that without a reason.

  He walked through the stuffy apartment. His mom was on the couch, slumped over in an awkward, half-sitting, half-laying-down position. A large bottle of some cheap gas station vodka was on her lap. The thin, balding man on the screen—whose studio was little more than a messy basement—was talking about some fringe conspiracy. Probably warning his viewers about reptilian aliens hiding among them, planning their global takeover. It was the type of weird, unhinged shit she loved to poison her mind with while she poisoned her body.

  He grabbed the spare key from the counter and headed out the door. Like always, it stuck, and he had to pull up a bit and jerk it before it opened.

  When he stepped outside, the smell of even the dingy apartment hallway was like fresh air. He hated how used to the smell of cigarette smoke he was.

  While he walked, Simon took out his silver dollar from his pocket and twirled it through his fingers. The old, scratched coin was heavily tarnished on one side. He’d never bothered to clean it, and didn’t want to.

  The long walk to school was like any other day, up until he actually arrived outside the school. A tall guy around his age was standing nearby, and Simon didn’t recognize him. The stranger was watching the students around the school intensely. Looking for someone?

  There was an air about the guy that didn’t feel natural. He stood halfway between tense and relaxed, and kept an eye on everything. It was like he knew nothing around him could hurt him, yet he was ready for anything to try. A mix of confidence and fear. Simon could relate.

  Simon was interested immediately. He put his coin back in his pocket and approached the guy.

  He quickly learned the guy’s name was Justus. Simon’s suspicion about his oddness was proven right. Justus claimed to be from a small town, but it felt more like he’d been raised isolated from society. Simon’s leading theory was that he was from an Amish community.

  When he cracked a joke about Justus seeming like an alien, Justus seemed oddly bothered by the comment. It seemed he knew he was strange, which meant he probably wasn’t crazy. Crazy people didn’t know how strange they acted.

  Justus was looking for a girl who he thought had something of his. He hid it well, but Simon could tell that whatever he’d lost was important to him. He was also strangely fixated on the fact the school taught math. Maybe that kind of thing was heretical in an Amish society?

  The moment he spotted the girl, Justus went after her. Simon watched as he left, then decided to follow.

  Justus grabbed the girl by the arm. She jumped in surprise, but Justus pulled her along, away from the busy entrance of the school. Simon saw them speaking, but wasn’t close enough to hear. The girl seemed scared. Maybe this was some creepy stalker thing after all.

  Justus led her to a stairway to the underground metro system. Simon hurried over once they were out of sight. He ducked near the entrance and peeked down. The two were talking halfway down the stairs. He moved back behind the metal pole fence that surrounded the entrance. He positioned himself over the pair below and focused, trying to catch what was being said.

  It was hard to hear, but he made out a few words. Justus was saying something about a stone. The girl replied in a voice too soft to overhear. Justus’s voice grew louder, and Simon could hear the anger and disbelief in his tone. He was upset she didn't have it. Was that what he was looking for? A rock? That was lame.

  The girl also raised her voice, which Simon was grateful for. She said that she didn’t know what it was and didn’t want to risk losing it. There was a short pause. Quieter, she continued. Simon leaned closer to the edge of the entrance, pressing his face between two bars. He heard two words that made his eyes widen: ‘another planet.’

  “No fucking way,” he said, unable to stop himself from laughing.

  Seconds later, Justus was charging out of the stairwell. He spotted Simon, still crouched outside. He narrowed his eyes, and Simon reevaluated how upset the guy might be.

  “Hey,” Simon greeted, standing up. “I swear I was joking when I called you an alien earlier. I noticed you got a little clammy, but I didn’t actually expect-”

  Simon was cut off when Justus sighed and grabbed him by the shoulder. Simon let himself get dragged down into the stairwell. The girl noticed him. Her eyes went wide, then darted away. For some reason, that was when the name clicked.

  “Hey Katherine,” he said with a casual wave. It helped him not feel like he was a child being sent to the corner for time-out.

  Justus let go of his shoulder. “What did you hear?” he asked, turning on Simon.

  “Not much,” Simon admitted, leaning back against the concrete wall. “Something about you two getting stoned at her place, and you doing something that made her feel like she was on another planet, I think? Kudos man. I’m not one to preach, but make sure you two crazy kids use protection, alright? Don’t wanna shoot any krypto-babies in the Fortress of Solitude, if you know what I mean.”

  Justus stared at him, his anger slipping into a look of bewilderment. Kate turned away. She put her face in one of her hands and shook her head. She muttered something under her breath.

  “Okay, so maybe you don’t know what I mean,” Simon said. He decided to be straightforward. “The thing you’re looking for is a stone. Kate, here, left it back home, and you might be an alien? I was thinking Amish, but they’re basically aliens, so it wasn’t a huge leap from there when Kate said something about another planet. Honestly, I didn’t really think you were an alien, but the way you reacted and how you’re looking at me right now is making me reconsider.”

  “Monarchs above…” Justus said, rubbing his eyes. “I’m bad at this.”

  Simon pushed off the wall and put a hand on Justus’s shoulder. “Hey, come on, Clark, you did pretty good. I’ll admit the shirt thing wasn’t great, and you sorta have a general air about you that screams ‘I’m not normal!’ but besides that you did alright.”

  Justus shrugged his hand away. He looked from Simon to Kate. Kate still had her head down in her hand. Was she blushing? He supposed she had always been pretty shy, especially since high school. Maybe Simon shouldn’t have made that joke about the two of them. Unless…

  “Wait, you two aren’t actually…” he started.

  Kate’s head snapped up. “No!” she snapped, at the same time Justus said the same.

  Simon took a step back and lifted his hands. “Alright, alright, just had to ask. There was some awkward tension.” He looked at Justus. “Hey, you’re not a reptile, are you?”

  “What?” Justus said, looking confused. “No, I’m a human.”

  “That actually makes things weirder. You’re saying you’re a human from another planet?”

  “I never—” Justus began. He cut himself off and looked up. A woman entered the stairwell and began walking down. They stood in silence as they waited for the passerby to move out of earshot.

  “We need somewhere more private to talk,” Justus said. “We’re going to the park.”

  “But I already missed school twice this week. If I keep…” she trailed off, then sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Justus looked at Simon. “You’re coming too.”

  “I better be, Starman! You think I’m gonna go back to school after hearing this shit? Unless you threaten me with laser vision, I’m not leaving.”

  “Right... Stay close. I’ll know if you try to run off,” Justus said. He began climbing up the stairs, leaving Kate and Simon alone. He turned to look at her, and shrugged. She left without a word. He followed.

  The short walk to the park was spent in silence. Simon was more freaked out than he was letting on. He’d mostly been joking about the alien thing, but the two had never corrected him. Kate didn’t seem the type to go along with a joke like that, and Justus didn’t seem the type to make up stories. Granted, Simon barely knew the guy, but he’d been nothing but blunt and straightforward so far.

  For now, he’d play it by ear and see where things went. It couldn’t be worse than school.

  ****

  Katherine didn’t think things could get much worse. Not only was Justus upset at her, but of all people, Simon had overheard. Why did it have to be him?

  He was loud, annoying, and took almost nothing seriously. If he wasn’t disrupting class he was slacking off. In other words: he was a class clown. And she’d had a crush on him since sophomore year.

  It was because he was so Simon. When other kids laughed at him or poked fun at him, he rolled with it and was unphased. Sometimes, he even leaned into the jibes, just for laughs. As much as she thought he was annoying and irresponsible, she couldn’t help but admire him too. He was confident, self-assured, and outgoing. Everything Katherine wished she could be.

  It didn’t help that he was cute, too. He wasn’t the typical hot jock, or the cool skater bad-boy, or even the pretty-boy type of attractive. With his sharp features, thick-but-narrow eyebrows, and a mouth that was a little too thin for its width, he probably wouldn’t get many second glances. But there was something about him that made him more than the sum of his parts. All those things that were slightly off from what she’d consider conventionally attractive came together to form something that just worked.

  If only he wasn’t so annoying all the time.

  Katherine could only ignore him for now. She feared looking at him for more than a second—or even talking to him—would cause her to start blushing again. She looked down instead, focusing on the wet sidewalk as they made their way to the park.

  Occasionally, she felt a shiver inside of her. At first she thought it was nerves, but after a few times she recognized the sensation. It felt a lot like what the stone had done when it scanned her.

  “Are you doing that?” she asked Justus the next time it happened.

  Justus paused and looked at her, surprise clear on his face. “How did…?” He shook his head. “We’ll talk at the park.”

  He turned back and continued walking, faster than before. She sensed Simon turn his head to look at her, and by reflex she met his gaze. His green eyes met hers, and, even in the dim light of the rainy day, they seemed bright. She quickly looked back to the ground and began walking faster. It wasn’t fair: a guy like him shouldn’t have eyes that pretty.

  When the three of them finally reached the park, Justus led them to a familiar bench. The park was nearly empty, with no one anywhere close to them. He turned around,looking her up and down. Studying her. It was uncomfortable.

  “Who trained you?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “You said you used the stone. Then you felt my Spirit. I’ll admit, I’m not great at aura control, but an unranked shouldn’t be able to sense even mine without training.”

  “I- I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” she said.

  “The stone. You know I’m from another planet. You used it to find that out. That takes Spirit training.”

  “I didn’t try. It popped up this screen in front of me, and then started reading my thoughts and telling me about some other planet! It freaked me out!”

  “Guidance stones don’t just activate by themselves! You have to open your Spirit to them. You don’t do that by accident.”

  “Well I did!” Katherine snapped. “I don’t know what the hell this spirit stuff is about! All I know is some creep fell in a bush and dropped something that crawled into my head! Clearly, I don’t know anything, so maybe you could try to explain what you're talking about instead of accusing me of things I don’t understand!”

  Katherine could feel the heat creeping up her neck. Part of it was embarrassment at her outburst, but part of it was because she was pissed. This guy had scared the crap out of her, and she’d helped him. Then, she kept something important he dropped safe and it had invaded her head. Now she was getting interrogated like she was some kind of criminal? It was bullshit.

  Justus turned away and groaned. He looked out to the lake, and ran a hand through his sandy-brown hair. After about a minute, he sat down on the bench and leaned forward.

  “Alright,” he said. “I’ll assume you're telling the truth then. Maybe you’re naturally gifted at Spirit control. It’s not unheard of.”

  “Thanks,” she replied, her voice still a little sharp. She made a conscious effort to push down her anger. “So, what is this spirit stuff? The stone mentioned it, but I have no clue what it is.”

  “First, you give it back to me,” Justus said.

  “I told you, I left it back home. It’s safe there.”

  “I still need it. Until I get it back, I won’t tell you anything.”

  “No.” Katherine said.

  “What?” Justus asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “You don’t know where it is. I do. That thing got into my head. I think I deserve a few answers in good faith. For all I know, you could take off the second you have it. It did something to me, and I want to know what.”

  Justus leaned back into the bench, looked up at the cloudy sky, and shut his eyes. After a few seconds, his body relaxed as he let out a deep breath. “Okay. Fair enough. If you want to know, I'll tell you. But don’t tell this to anyone else. And pay attention. I’m not a teacher, so I don’t want to repeat myself.”

  Katherine nodded. She walked up to the bench and sat on the opposite side, far from Justus. It got her pants wet, but she didn’t really care. She had a feeling she’d want to sit down for this. Justus began explaining.

  “Spirit is a part of every human. No one knows for sure what it is. Some think it’s the soul, others say it’s cosmic energy, and others say it's an interdimensional extension of our body. Maybe it’s none of that, maybe it’s a mix of all three. But Spirit is what we call it.

  “What we do know is that humans can cultivate their spirit. It’s like a muscle. The more you use it, the more powerful it becomes. We also know that with training, you can use your spirit to alter the rules of reality. You can use it to do nearly anything. You can fly, transmute matter, control the elements, heal wounds, stop aging, move as fast as light, and a million other things.”

  “Can you prove it? Like, make some fire or fly or something?” Katherine asked. “That sounds insane.”

  “It doesn’t work like that. Well, it does, and I could, but I won’t. Using your Spirit without a guidestone,” he looked at her, “the thing you stole, is-”

  “You mean the thing you dropped and I kept safe for you,” she interrupted.

  “Sure, yeah. That was a guidestone. Using your Spirit to cast spells is-”

  “You call them spells? Like magic spells?” Simon interrupted.

  Katherine nearly jumped as he spoke behind her. She turned to see him leaning against the tree. She’d forgotten he was here. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet. She suddenly regretted her outburst earlier. She must have looked like a child throwing a fit.

  “No, not like magic.” Justus corrected through grit teeth. “It’s just the word the translation seems to fit. Your language doesn’t have a word for what it’s actually called. But it’s not magic. It’s rewriting the natural laws using your Spirit. Now let me finish what I was saying.”

  He sighed. “Okay. Using your Spirit without a guidestone, using spells, is extremely difficult and dangerous. To cast a spell, you first have to understand what you’re doing. Not just conceptually, but fundamentally. For example, let’s say you want to create fire. That fire doesn’t appear out of nowhere. You have to know how to make that fire with what’s around you. You need to calculate and comprehend the fuel, the ignition, and the combustion. Not just on a surface level, but on a molecular level.

  “Ignoring that, which you can’t, it’s also hard to predict how much of your Spirit a spell will take. The same spell requires different amounts of Spirit for every person, and different amounts of Spirit depending on how you achieve the effect. Like with fire, if you already have a fuel, you can skip the part of the spell where you have to make the fuel. That cuts out a big part of the Spirit you’d use. And if you use too much you can exhaust your Spirit, which can knock you out, put you in a coma, or even kill you if it’s drained completely.

  “If all that makes it sound like using spells is damn near impossible, even for relatively simple things, you’re right. That’s why most people hardly ever use them, even Spirit Artists with decades of training.

  “What most people do use are skills. That’s what the guidestones are for. They create skills based on what your Spirit is naturally good at. The skills are flexible spells that are made to work in nearly any situation. When you use the skills, the guidestone does all the calculations for you, and limits the spell so it doesn’t exhaust you too much.”

  “So these stones are like computers you offload your magic math onto?” Simon asked. He had walked up behind the bench, and bent over to rest his elbows onto its back. That placed him between herself and Justus, and Katherine had to lean forward a little to see Justus.

  Justus paused, looking surprised. He quickly covered the expression with his usual serious look. “Yes, actually. It’s more complicated than that, and it's not magic, but that’s basically what they do. There’s way more you can use them for, and most people have them just for the utility they provide, but using skills is their main purpose for Spirit Artists. It’s also what they were made to do.”

  “The stone said something about affinities? What are they?” Katherine asked. “How do they tie into all this Spirit stuff? And what are Spirit Channels? The stone said mine were stressed before locking me out.”

  “Affinities are pretty simple,” Justus said with a shrug. “They’re what your Spirit is good at doing. Everyone has at least one, and most people have a few. That doesn’t mean you’re limited to those affinities; it’s just what you're naturally inclined towards. Sticking to spells with your affinity uses less energy and is generally easier. That’s why the guidestones only make skills tailored to them.

  “As for Spirit Channels, those are just the part of your Spirit that connects your body and spirit. When you use your Spirit, it flows through the channels. They’re also like muscles. The more you practice, the more Spirit you can push through them. You’ve never used them before, so even something simple like using the guidestone’s system too much must have strained them.”

  “The stone said you were Jade. Is that related to your affinities?”

  Justus looked a little annoyed, but nodded. “Sort of. Spirit Artists are categorized by rank. The ranks are named after the guidestones that match your power. Opal is the first rank, and Jade, which I am, is the second. As you rank up, you usually gain more affinities, or deepen the ones you have already. Like I said, though, most people only start with two. Usually, you gain or deepen one per rank.”

  “Uh-huh. This is all… it’s a lot,” Katherine said. “But if everyone has these Spirits, and can do this stuff, how come nobody on our planet has ever figured it out?”

  “Who says some people haven’t?” Simon asked.

  Katherine turned to look at him, surprised by his serious and thoughtful expression. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him that serious in school. As her mind processed his words, her eyes widened.

  “You mean…” she said, realizing what he’d meant. It made sense, based on how Justus described it. “You think this is what they’re doing?”

  “I’ve never heard a better explanation before,” he said, “assuming all this stuff is true.”

  “Wait, there are Spirit Artists here?” Justus asked. “And neither of you bothered to tell me?”

  “Because no one calls them that,” Simon said. “They’ve never said anything about this Spirit stuff, or where their powers come from. On Earth, we call them supers.”

  Her mind flashed to the poster in her room: Phoenix, her childhood idol. For the second day in a row, Katherine felt like her world was flipped upside down. Was it possible that she, and every other super on Earth, was hiding the truth about their powers? Why? Why wouldn’t the heroes want people to know about this? How many more people might have survived the disaster in Barcelona if there’d been more heroes with the power to help?

  She didn’t get the chance to process the implications of it all. At that moment, the screaming began.