The old came to sit at the huge, oval table in the kitchen to eat dinner. Bryan cooked spaghetti with mozzarella cheese and chile peppers. The smell filled the quiet house. Maggie positioned herself at the dinner table and said grace. "I hope you all are hungry," said Bryan sounding enthusiastic. "I really put my foot in this spaghetti." Maggie was too distracted with the old man's announcement to get excited about the meal. Once they started eating, an array of questions popped into Maggie's head. It happened so quickly that she almost fell out of her chair. She looked over at the other two, eliminating the spaghetti.
"Elder, I have some more questions," said Maggie
"I told you you may ask me any question," replied the man.
"How does the Trial learn all of their powers?"
"It usually comes natural to them once they know," said the man in a monotonous voice," however you have Bryan to teach you the basics, if you desire."
Maggie looked back down to her plate and ate a little more of Bryan's masterpiece. "But," said Maggie surprising the others," what if I have already done something like the Trial would do?" The old man and Bryan dropped their forks and looked up at Maggie. "When did you do something?" asked Bryan. Maggie was shocked at the two men's expressions and thought they wouldn't have cared about this as much. "Well," started Maggie,"when Bryan ran out of the house to go get the car, the tall man in the suit grabbed me from behind." The Elder looked over at Bryan menacingly, then turned back to Maggie. She decided to continue when the focus was back on her. "Then, I broke out of his hold and tried to push him away to escape. But when when I went to push him, something blue came out of my hand when I touched his chest. Then, he flew into the kitchen wall and slid to the floor." The old man and Bryan looked like they had seen a ghost. The man then turned to Bryan and slapped him on the back of the head. "Why didn't you make sure she got out of the house!" screeched the man. "She could have been killed." Bryan rubbed the back of his head and opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it.
"Look, I didn't know that would have happened," explained Bryan.
"Well you should have known, you were dealing with Reapers."
"Look, I'm sorry alright."
"This is the exact kind of recklessness that made your mother not stand here before me today!"
Bryan then stomped out of the room, still holding his head. The man turned back to his plate and mumbled to himself. Maggie looked in awe at the old man. I wonder what happened to Bryan's mother thought Maggie. "Sorry for raising my voice," said the man apologizing. "It's just that Bryan doesn't think sometimes and I see so much of his mother in him. He doesn't even realize it." "Who was his mother?" asked Maggie. The old man didn't look up at her. "Her name was Athena, like the Greek god. She was an amateur sorcerer just like Bryan. She was so....beautiful." The old man started sniffling as if he were crying, but he kept his head down so Maggie couldn't see. "What happened to her?" asked Maggie. The old man kept his head down, but it seemed like he had stopped crying. He didn't bother to answer her question. "Look Maggie," explained the man,"there are things you would not comprehend at this decimating time. But, what you should know is that you are more powerful than any of the others. No one has ever showed some kind of power before they were told they were the one, not even those who have been attacked like yourself." Maggie took in the information and her eyes bulged out of her head. She had never been stronger than anyone else, ever. Not in a fight, not in an argument, and not in life. Never. Her mind raced to comprehend the new information, to understand it. "What about my mother?" asked Maggie. The old man finally lifted his head, but looked confused. "What about her?" replied the old man. Maggie got up from the chair and stood up straight. "My mother came back to the house hours ago. What is she supposed to think when I'm not there or what if she's hurt or something?" The man looked back and forth and thought about the situation. "Now you really should go," said the man. "Go get Bryan and you two can head out and go see her." Maggie put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. "But it's in the middle of the night," argued Maggie. "She's probably not up and what if those Reapers are out there just waiting to get us." The man grinned and murmured something to himself. He looked back down again and put his hands together.
"The Prime does not sleep, but you're right about the Reapers," said the man.
"I am?" questioned Maggie.
"Yes, you are."
"You can sleep on the couch until the morning. Reapers are less likely to attack at that time. Thank you for pointing out my mistake Ms. Stutton." Maggie was astonished at the man agreeing to her argument. "Are you sure?" asked Maggie. The old man smiled again and stood up from the table. "Yes, you're the one who didn't want to go," said the man. "You may start on your journey tomorrow." The old man went through the door in the living room and disappeared into another place in the house. Maggie went over to the couch and laid down. Goodnight mommy thought Maggie.
...
Bryan packed the car for their long trip with a silent feeling of disgust. He didn't look up at the man when he got into the car. The man waved his hand at Bryan but he just sat looking forward. Maggie got into the car hesitantly, fearing that the Prime would deliver bad news. "Bye," said the old man, though no one heard him. He waved, but at an instant Bryan jerked the car into gear and drove away. The car made its way to the highway and continued for some hours. Maggie never asked Bryan a single question. Bryan started to sigh really loud and kept glancing over at Maggie. Maggie still did not say a word. "So what did you think about him?" asked Bryan. Maggie looked over in amazement that Bryan was starting a conversation. "About who, the Elder?" replied Maggie. Bryan sighed heavily again and hit the steering wheel.
"Yeah, the Elder. Did you think he knew all or did you think he was an arrogant old man!"
"Well, I thought he was nice and gentle."
"Oh, of course you would think that. You're so naive."
"I don't believe I like your tone."
Bryan started to laugh at Maggie. "My apologies Ms. Stutton," said Bryan sarcastically. Maggie stared forward again and crossed her arms. Why is he being such a jerk though Maggie. I never did anything to him. Bryan begun to relax in his seat. Maggie noticed, though, how he kept looking in his rear view mirror. Two cars behind Maggie and Bryan was a black sedan with a rather odd hood ornament. "Hey, they've been behind us for a while," said Bryan. Maggie pursed her lips and pretended to look at her fingernails. "Oh, I guess you want to get on my back for that," retorted Maggie. Bryan noticed that the car drifted into the next lane and pulled up beside them. Suddenly, the rolled down its tinted window, and a familiar face peered out. The tall man that attacked Maggie at her house peered out and out of his hand came a fire like substance that hit into the front-right tire of Bryan's 2004 Ashton Martin. "What's going on?" screamed Maggie unaware of the attack by her previous attacker. Bryan tried to get the car to go, but it wouldn't move without its fourth tire. "That guy at your house just hit us with magic and now my car, my beautiful car, is not starting," exclaimed Bryan. Maggie looked out her passenger window with horror at the man stop the car and get out. Bryan began to get out too.
"What are doing?" asked Maggie.
"I hate to do this in front of people but I have no choice," said Bryan with a slight grin.
"Wait, you'll get yourself killed going up against him."
"You hit him without any Trial-training, I think I can handle myself."
Bryan walked toward the tall man while Maggie was just getting out of the car. She watched in horror. "The last time we saw each other you ran away," said the man. "I recall me hitting you before I left, however, after this you won't be seeing me again," said Bryan with confidence. The two's fists and feet started glowing red and blue and they began to fight. The cars swept by as the two fought in the street. Bryan swung at the tall man's face but he ducked and kicked Bryan in the stomach. At that instant, Bryan flew into the Ashton Martin. Maggie peered from behind the car and saw Bryan getting up. "Just run away," Maggie whispered, "you'll have another chance but now we need to get to the Prime." Bryan looked ahead in disgust. "I can beat him." Bryan ran back towards the man and continued fighting. Bryan threw some punches every which way and he dodged them. The tall man also threw punches and Bryan blocked them. Then, the tall man aimed for Bryan's cheek only to be blocked by his arm and hit in the chest with his glowing blue fist. The man flew back and landed on his back. "This needs to be ended," said the man as he got up from the ground. The tall man ran up to Bryan and before he could do anything to stop him, the man kicked him hard in his lower stomach and he flew into the air. Bryan crashed into the ground with a thump and spit out blood. "Bryan!" screamed Maggie as she watched from the back of the car. The man walked up to where Bryan lay and raised his foot. "You see boy," preached the man,"you can't beat me." But I can thought Maggie as she ran up from behind the car. Maggie stopped when she was right beside the man and punched him in the face. A red light omitted from her hand as she lowered it. The man flew across the wide highway and was hit by a passing mini-van. Bryan looked up at Maggie amazed and disgusted. "You know," explained Bryan," I could have taken that guy out." Maggie grinned and folded her arms. "Oh sure you were, you were just too busy getting off the ground." Bryan got up from the cement paved road and dusted himself off. He went over to the broken car and leaned on it. "Man, I just got this car fixed," said Bryan. "Well nothing a little persuasion spell can't fix. Hey, Maggie, what time do you have on your uh, watch." Maggie looked down at her wrist. "It's nine-thirty," she told Bryan. Bryan put his hand over his head and fell to the ground. He sighed.
"Alright, I didn't want to have to do this but since we have no car, it's my only choice," sighed Bryan.
"What are you going to do?" said Maggie curiously.
"I'm going to use the Warp."
"What's that?"
Bryan didn't answer Maggie. She stood impatiently while he got up and went to the car. "For once, can you stop worrying about your precious car," Maggie said frustrated. Bryan opened the back door and pulled out his backpack. Then, he pulled out a round metal object and placed it on the ground. "Stand over here by me Maggie," ordered Bryan. Maggie walked over to Bryan hesitantly and stood waiting patiently for something to happen. Then, a car headed towards the two at high speed. Maggie tried to move out of the way but Bryan held her back in front of the metal. "What are you crazy?" screamed Maggie. "So I just killed that guy so we could get ourselves killed."
"It just needs some time to load," explained Bryan.
"And by that time we'll be dead," replied Maggie as she tried to break free of his grip.
The car was right in front of them now, not slowing down, and Maggie said a prayer to herself, asking God to forgive her for her crime of killing a man. Then, a mist pulled around them and they disappeared from the impending doom. Maggie only blinked once while they were being transported to the house.
Maggie then looked around and saw a door in front of her and found that Bryan's arms were no longer around her.
"Where are we?" said Maggie in a scared voice.
"We're at the place of the Prime," responded Bryan.
Bryan reached out for the knob and opened the door. There, a woman resembling such a person as Maya Angelou awaited them with some cut sandwiches. "Hello Maggie," said the woman. "I've been expecting you."
...
The woman guided Maggie and Bryan through the small house into a small room with a couch, table, and two other chairs. "I'm so glad you two decided to use that metal machine to get over here," said the woman as she sat on the couch. She acted very poised and polite, like someone would do in the old times. "Because if you two didn't use it, I would have ate all of those sandwiches and the cookies I made sitting on the counter." Bryan smiled at the statement, but Maggie just sat. She stared around at the small house and remembered her two-bedroom apartment her and her mother moved out of when she was eight. It was a small apartment, but after staying in it for some time, she got used to it. She even missed it now. "How rude of me," said the woman,"where are my manners? As you probably have guessed, I am the one and only Prime, who most would argue is a future-teller." Maggie said hello to the lady and introduced herself. "Oh I already know who you are Ms. Stutton," said the Prime. "I foretold you were the new Trial. That's how the Elder was able to send Bryan to your house. But anyway, we have to get our 'hellos' out of the way and get to the real news."
"Oh, sorry," apologized Maggie. The woman sighed and looked down at her feet. "Oh no Ms. Stutton," said the Prime," it should be me who's apologizing." Maggie sat up straight and was concerned about what she would say. "I'm afraid I have some bad news dear," said the Prime in a low voice. "They have your mother."