Before anyone knew it, Zander was already preparing for his first day at Harmonia Central's school of the Gifted, under 10 classes. He excelled through those quickly, graduating at the top of his class, by a wide margin. Despite the recruitment from other schools, Zander wanted to stay where he had made some friends, and quickly graduated from the 11-14 portion of the school of the Gifted.
He was now 16, 6 foot 4 and a chiseled 185 pounds. He had kind, silver eyes and spiky Golden hair. His golden hair always naturally spiked, even without product, and it was in an anime-esque style, just not as tall. He could easily talk to Zintan now and could even switch on command. He quickly found out his magical capability, through training with the best Magical Trainer for hire, Master Lydia. The training was pretty much endless and aside from dark magic, he had complete control over every type of magic. Water, Ice, Wind, Earth, Fire, Light, Healing, and even his own special class, which was unique and one of a kind and kept a secret: The Golden Magic.
His chiseled physique came from his hard work and dedication to Chi, which he quickly mastered and only strengthened his magic resolve. His parents trusted Master Yen, who recommended Nalthis' top Chi instructor's apprentice, Mr Woo, as a highly recommended personal trainer, to which the Elrods' made a large donation to the Military school, anonymously of course.
"Do you ever slow down bro," Zander's best friend Cyrus asked. "I need a water break man let's go grab some lunch and find some girls to sit with or something,"
Zander smiled and joked, "if all you focus on is girls, you'll never pass me as the top student, although I wouldn't mind some food so let me go get cleaned up and we'll head downtown."
"Psh, like I'm going to pass the Golden Boy anyway," Cyrus joked as he ruffled Zander's perfect Golden hair.
Cyrus and Zander became very close at a young age as Cyrus also showed a lot of promise at Harmonia's school of the Gifted. He always graduated second in class, but never really got bent out of shape about it. He was well rounded, not a master of magic, but a strong Chi user and very technologically savvy, the one area Zander lacked expertise in.
Cyrus was busy making himself look good for any girls when Zander walked down in a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers.
"Dude you could pretend to try so I have a chance with one of these ladies, I swear, I love you man but in comparison to you I'm a ghost when it comes to the ladies and you're too oblivious to even care," Cyrus said with a sigh.
Zander said, "At least I'm a good wingman, am I right?"
Cyrus laughed and patted his friend on the back, and they were off, walking to downtown Central Harmonia.
It was the weekend so there were plenty of people out. Cyrus was pretending to window shop when he spotted two girls and waved them over toward a coffee shop the two of them were near.
The teenage girls looked around 16 or 17, essentially the same age as Zander and Cyrus, who both looked at least 18 as Cyrus was also a handsome young adult. He was 6 foot, also very muscular and had black hair that he always kept in a neat bald fade style. The girls looked at each other and decided to cross the street.
Zander, who was staring at one of the hovering drones with the news on it, was completely unaware what was going on. He was too busy worrying about what the TV was saying, which is exactly why Cyrus tried to get him to come out in the first place.
"Bro, are you ok? Look at these beauties coming our way," Cyrus nudged Zander, who nodded and stayed glued to the TV.
"Hello ladies, my name is Cyrus and this here is my best friend Zander. What school do you lovely ladies go to? We haven't had the pleasure of meeting," Cyrus turned on his charm, to which one of the girls blushed.
"We go to Harmonia North, and what about you? Also, how old are you, you look, well, let's just say you don't look like high schoolers," one of the girls said.
Zander, who was completely glued to the TV screen, eventually floated into his soul, which he could do while conscious now, and asked Zintan if he was worried about his parents upcoming trip.
"I wouldn't be too worried Zander, your parents don't take many jobs and when they do they have Master Lydia and Mr. Woo, go have fun with your friend. These girls are pretty," Zintan teased as he phased away.
"We just look older than we are, I'm 17 and Zander's 16. We attend the Harmonia Central School of the Gifted," Cyrus proudly stated.
"Is that true?" the other girl asked, staring up and down at Zander, who just looked lost.
"Ignore my friend's rudeness, he's just worried you see, on that news drone there? Those are his parents and they're taking a mission to North SilverCrest to help rescue some orphans the magical academy abandoned. They leave tomorrow night, which is why he's a bit out of it. He always gets like this when his parents have to go on a mission," Cyrus said with a polite bow.
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Yes we do go to the School of the Gifted, what's Harmonia North like? I heard it's really nice," Zander asked the girls.
"It's pretty chill, but my parents make me take all my lessons extra seriously because they say, 'if you can't get into the Gifted schools, you'll have to work extra hard to get to University. It's annoying, but they mean well so I can't complain. I'm actually competing to be the top student this year," the girl who was looking at Zander stated.
"Why don't we grab some coffee? It's on us of course, maybe we can catch one of the four kingdom matches on TV," Cyrus suggested.
"Sure, I'm Claire and this is Sophie. We're also both 16 and we don't really get into that whole four kingdom stuff, but coffee would be nice," Claire told Cyrus.
Sophie and Claire would both be considered beauties, as Sophie stood around 5`8, had brunette hair, was quite petite but very pretty, with just a slight bit of make-up on. Claire was around 5`4, had blonde hair and was slim despite her very curvy figure and also just had a slight bit of make-up on.
With a big smile, Cyrus smacked Zander on the back and whispered, "Get your head in the game bro, Sophie can't stop staring at you," Cyrus encouraged Zander as he led them all into the coffee shop.
The coffee shop was a common hangout spot for high schoolers, but it wasn't as busy as it normally would be on a weekend due to the match between Phantom's Keep and Nalthis.
The four kingdom cup was a mixture of competitions between magical ability, fighting, building things from scratch to show off technical and computer skills, as well as track races, among some other games like dodgeball or "last man standing," which had the two teams square off in a game of endurance, where everyone would have two flags tied around their sides, and the object was to obtain all the other teams flags, returning them to the opposite sides bin, and the team with a person with one flag or more flags left was declared the winner. All of the points would be added up and tallied and a score would be given at the end.
In the current season, Phantom's keep dominated almost every event, and they seemed to be cruising by Nalthis so Cyrus started making small talk with the girls.
Zander tried his best to stay engaged, but he couldn't ignore this horrible feeling in his gut. He really, really tried to dissuade his parents from taking this particular job, or at least having him come with them for protection.
They reassured them it was a routine mission that they used to take all the time, and now that he was older, they could take a few more now and then.
Sophie asked Zander, "So what's it like being the son of two very, very rich and famous people," and although the question was direct, it seemed genuine and not fake so Zander happily responded.
"Busy," with a laugh.
"Oh don't be so modest bro, tell Sophie and Claire about our daily routine and what you do once you get home, the least you can do is answer someone who asked so genuinely," Cyrus said.
With this, Claire actually scooted her chair closer to Cyrus, which didn't go unnoticed by Sophie, who let out a smile.
"Well, I'm up at 6 am every day and go for a run. After that, I pray, eat a homemade breakfast my Mother cooks, and then it's off to school with this knucklehead. He usually picks me up around 7:30, and our classes start at about 8. School is a giant bore, but if I don't graduate at the top of my class, I feel like I'm disappointing my parents. Cyrus and I are on a strict diet, so we usually eat together at Lunch, and share every class, so it's easy enough to get through the day. I just can't let Cyrus pass me for best in class, that would be, well, embarrassing," Zander said with a chuckle.
"That's a lot, and you two are really the top students at Harmonia Central's School of the Gifted? No offense, you both don't, well, look the type," Claire said while looking at both of them in awe.
"That's not all he does, he and I train with Mr. Woo, a hand-picked Chi trainer from Nalthis, selected by Master Yen to train us in Chi, which we do at his house. You two should come by next weekend and check it out. After that, I go home and stick to my studies, spend time with my family. While I'm doing all that, this guy, pointing at Zander, has magic training with Master Lydia then tutoring with his Mother," Cyrus said with a big grin.
"That's amazing, that seems like a really long day. Do you two don't participate in the school's version of the 4 Kingdom cup?" Sophie asked.
"Nah, not worth our time. Kind of like your parents, both our parents take our schooling very seriously," Cyrus said to Sophie, noticing that Claire was basically sitting right next to him at this point.
"What are you two boys doing tonight," Claire looked at Cyrus and asked with a blushed face.
"We were thinking of just hanging at Zander's and doing some extra training, but if Zander doesn't mind, and his parents don't mind, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we had some guests," Cyrus hinted to Zander.
Zander, who finally looked away from the news drone, as the story ended, said, "I can ask my Mom if you two do want to come over, they're usually pretty good about me having company as long as they're respectful."
Claire looked at Sophie, and Zander noticed she mouthed the words, "Please, for me," to her friend, which made Zander happy.
"That would be great, let me give you my number so you can get a hold of us later," Sophie asked Zander.
Meanwhile, Claire had asked for Cyrus' phone and put her name in it with a heart emoji, to which Cyrus had the biggest smile on his face.
Zander then called his mom, who gladly accepted the request, and told her husband, "Sebastian, Zander is finally bringing a girl over with Cyrus and another girl! What should we do? This is so exciting," Savannah exclaimed.
"Wow, someone must have really caught his eye to actually ask to have guests. Usually Cyrus is the one chasing down girls, I wonder what changed today? Either way let's leave them be and let them use the remodeled guest room to eat some snacks and watch some movies. It sure has been a long time since Luna or Leo used that room, it's amazing how quickly time flies," Sebastian said with a smile.
Zander told the three his parents said yes and Cyrus suggested they spent the rest of the day together, and if the girls wanted to leave at any time, he could drive them home or he would call a driver for them.
The girls agreed, as Zander's parents reputation was more than enough of a reason to trust the two boys and they spent the day having fun downtown, window shopping, and Zander even loaned Cyrus $40 so he could buy something for Claire.
"Doesn't that look a little desperate though," Zander said with a chuckle.
"No, it's not, just wait until you see," Cyrus smiled with a huge grin on his face.
Cyrus excused himself to go to the bathroom, and instead of coming back from the bathroom, he came out of the flower shop with two beautiful bouquets of flowers, handing Zander one to give to Sophie as he handed one to Claire.
"Wow, these are truly beautiful," Claire said and gave Cyrus a kiss on the cheek, to which he immediately turned beat red.
Zander handed Sophie the flowers with a smile and she politely thanked him, and they both whispered about Cyrus' red face, sharing a good laugh.
"What's he really like, Cyrus? He seems very outgoing but is he this way with all girls? You two are very handsome and both look older, so I'm sure you both don't struggle with the ladies," Sophie said, blushing a little.
"Cyrus is one of a kind and has one of the most genuine hearts I know. He acts like a true ladies man but I don't think he's ever kissed a girl before. His parents are super strict. They keep pushing him to pass me in school, but in all honesty, I'm playing with an unfair advantage," Zander said with a kind smile.
"And have you ever kissed a girl," Sophie asked Zander, who turned more beat red than Cyrus.
"I guess if you don't count my Mom when I was a kid, then no, I haven't. I guess I've never really thought about dating or anything like that. My schedule is jam packed every day and on the weekends I usually just hang out with Cyrus or my folks," Zander chuckled.
"How do I even know you're telling the truth," Sophie said with a goofy smile, as she was obviously being sarcastic, "you know, you being the son of a minister and a surgeon who have multiple charities and such."
"They're the best parents I could ever ask for, you'll see, actually, it's probably time we head over to my place, it's not too far from here," Zander said.
Sophie ran over to Claire and whispered something to her, which Zander could only guess was what they had just talked about and Cyrus walked over to Zander and said, "Can we please do that cool teleport thing man, I really like this Claire girl. She's sweet, smart, and doesn't think I'm a total tool like most of the other girls."
"You mean ALL of the other girls," Zander bent over with laughter, to which the girls looked over and said, "how far do you live from here, our parents said it was ok, we just have to be home by 11 PM," Claire said.
"Well that depends, do you want to do something you've probably never done or seen before, or would you like to walk back? The flowers could use some water, after all," Cyrus smiled.
"What do you mean something we've probably never done or seen before, that sounds really creepy," Sophie teased.
"Forgive Cyrus, it's really not anything creepy at all. It's just something that I can do that most people can't," Zander stated.
"Well, why not," the girls agreed.
"Alright, everyone hold hands please,"
Zander said with a big grin. "This might feel a little weird the first time."
Before the girls could be afraid, Zander teleported them all to the sidewalk in front of Zander's house and said, "home sweet home."
"Did we just teleport?!" The girls emphatically and excitedly came around after the initial shock.
"I told you it was cool, didn't I?" Cyrus bragged.
With that, they walked in and Zander said, "Mom, Dad, I'm home and we have guests."
Savannah and Sebastian casually walked out and introduced themselves, Zander's father gave him a thumbs up, which made the girls laugh, and before the two girls were starstruck.
"It's actually the Elrods, what an honor it is to meet you. You've done so much for so many people, I can't believe we're actually in your home and meeting you," Claire said with a big smile.
"The pleasure is ours, please make yourselves at home, I wasn't sure what you'd like for dinner so I ordered Pizza, it should be here soon, otherwise Zander, I setup the old guest room for you four to play games or watch a movie or do whatever," Savannah stated.
With that, the doorbell rang, and Zander ran and paid for the pizza, "thanks Mom and Dad," and ran upstairs with the girls and Cyrus, shutting the door behind him.
"This is your old guest room," Sophie said in amazement.
"Yeah, my parents remodeled it when Cyrus started coming over to train, she figured it'd be a good area for us to hang out and decompress," Zander stated.
"Are those what I think they are?" Claire asked, turning to Cyrus.
"They sure are. They were a gift from some of their investors. They're fully functional VR pods that allow you to fully dive into a variety of virtual reality games, worlds, etc," Cyrus said with a smile.
"Can we try them?" Sophie nervously asked.
"Sure, they fit two people per machine so we can show you if you'd like," Zander explained.
After playing in the VR capsules for an hour or so, they stepped out and agreed on a movie.
After the movie, the girls thanked the boys and the parents for a wonderful night, and the boys walked the girls outside.
"It was really nice meeting you, maybe we can get together again soon," Zander suggested, as Sophie took his phone and texted herself, in case Zander got cold feet.
"Absolutely, can you teleport us back near our homes so we can walk home together, we're neighbors you see," Sophie asked embarrassingly.
"Sure, but don't you think we should give the new love birds a few minutes," Zander said with a laugh.
They couldn't hear what Claire and Cyrus were talking about, but Claire was holding both his hands and looked very happy, as did Cyrus. Cyrus leaned in for a kiss, and to his surprise, he felt the warm lips of Claire meet his lips. Both their eyes were closed but Zander and Sophie were both quietly laughing amongst themselves because both of them were beaten red as it was clearly both of their first kisses.
"Hey what are you two laughing about?" Cyrus asked with the biggest smile on his face.
"Oh, you know, nothing. It wasn't totally obvious you two have never kissed someone before so it looked kinda funny that's all," Sophie said, laughing harder than before.
"Like Zander over there can talk, I finally beat him at something," Cyrus explained, and got a polite nudge from Claire with a "hey was this some sort of competition," and Cyrus failed to realize she was joking.
Zander and Sophie laughed even harder as Cyrus fumbled his way around trying to answer Claire. Eventually, Claire admitted she was just teasing and insisted that those two walk home together.
"Cyrus, you can see her tomorrow, it's already 10:55, the last thing we want is the girls to be late," Zander said.
With that, Sophie gave Zander a big hug and said, "I'd love to hang out again, maybe just you and I next time," Sophie said with a blush.
Zander scratched his head and said, "Yeah, that'd be nice, text me tomorrow, I want to spend time with my parents because they leave tomorrow night, but I'm sure Cyrus will be over. He usually spends the day with me to make sure I don't get too depressed. I always get worried something will happen to them. It's dangerous sometimes for them."
Sophie gave Zander a kiss on the cheek and said, "I will text you and if you want to wait until this week or next weekend, that would be fine too."
Claire walked over to Cyrus and gave him another kiss and said, "you better text me tomorrow,"
Cyrus reassured her he'd text her tonight, and that tomorrow he'd be spending the night at Zander's as his parents were leaving and he didn't want his friend depressed about his parents being on a mission.
"Maybe we can both come by then, we don't have school Monday after all," Claire said with a wink.
Cyrus had a huge smile on his face and said, "alright Zander, time to do your thing."
With that, Zander had them all hold hands and Sophie told him the area to teleport too. With that, they were about a block from their houses. Zander noticed the neighborhood was quite nice. He made a mental note to ask Sophie more about herself tomorrow before saying their goodbyes and teleporting back to Zander's house.
Upon returning, Cyrus had a huge smile on his face, "you finally were a great wingman bro, thank you so much. I'll have the $40 for you tomorrow, don't worry."
"Keep it buddy, I'm just glad we had fun. It was nice not to be so serious for once. Are you staying here or going home," Zander asked.
"Actually can you teleport me home quickly, I don't want to worry my parents and I'll be here tomorrow to stay the night, just like old times," Cyrus asked.
With that, Zander teleported Cyrus home and then teleported back outside his house.
He walked inside and his parents were there to give him a hug and asked how the big dates went.
He reassured them they just met and Sophie was very nice and that Cyrus finally got his first kiss, to which the three of them laughed.
"Mom, Dad, I really don't want you to go tomorrow. I keep having this feeling in my gut something is going to go terribly wrong," Sebastian begged.
"Honey, we will have Mr. Woo and Mrs. Lydia with us and our normal guards. I know you worry about us, but you have to remember, your Father and I used to do this thing all the time. The call we got was very urgent and from a member of the SilverCrest board of all places. They need us and you're a great son. We'll be back before you know it," Savannah said while giving her son a giant hug.
"Think of it as we're on vacation, like when you were little. Don't forget you have Zintan with you and you are quite the skilled one, Sebastian reassured his son.
"I love you guys, please be safe, sleep good," Zander said goodnight.
Zander prayed, like he always did, before going to sleep, but this time, added a thank you for the great day and for a blessing to look over his parents on their journey tomorrow.
Zander received a text, "Sweet dreams, with a heart emoji," from Sophie, to which he responded, "you too and the same emoji."
Cyrus and Claire spent over an hour on the phone before they went to bed, planning to meet up early the next day.
Cyrus' parents weren't home when he got home, which was a common thing. They worked a lot.
"I should have just stayed at Zander's, oh well." Cyrus said as he said his prayers, thanking Solace for his first kiss, an amazing date and having an amazing friend in Zander.
Everyone went to sleep that night, awaiting the big day tomorrow, where Sebastian and Savannah would be teleported to SilverCrest to begin their mission to retrieve several orphans who were kicked out of the academy for lack of magical talent.