Do you believe in magic? What about fate? Destiny? Many believe those three things cannot coexist. I do. In fact, I whole-heartedly believe that my destiny is tied to the fate I was given when magic entered my life. That's a weird way of putting it, I suppose. If you don't understand it, don't try to. My mind operates in twisted ways. You can say all minds operate in their own, unique way. It's just, the way I think can't compare with others.
I guess I should start with my name. Jayson. Strange spelling of Jason. Don't ask. I have no idea how my parents came up with it. They tell me it's derived from some word in an ancient language that roughly translates to the word "clarity". I believe it's because they are fucking weirdos. Here's an even stranger last name; Ayers. My parents didn't have an explanation for that. Well, my father did, but he wasn't so inclined to disclose that information. He died, so getting the information out of him wasn't possible.
I'm just a small town kid. Not necessarily 'small town', but compared to cities like Los Angeles and New York City, I'm pretty 'small', especially if you live in the state of Indiana. I like to refer to Indiana as the state that everyone forgets, which is partially true. You never see or hear about Indiana on the news, unless it's the local news of course. Growing up as a small town kid has its benefits I suppose, but it eventually led to me self-diagnosing myself as an introvert. Not full on introvert, because I like the company of some people. I've made some pretty great friends here, though. Life-long friends, not the kind that if I ask for a ride, they make me pay for gas.
Ironically, for the borderline introvert that I am, I'm a raving hopeless romantic too. I'm into all that romantic bullshit that a lot of people find too sweet and too fake. I love it all. Took me 15 years to figure out that I was one. Freshman year of high school, I was going into a school of an average student population of 1500, but I was coming from a small charter, K-8 school that averaged maybe 150. It was then that I realized how big of a hopeless romantic I was, seeing all the couples walking in the hallways. It gave me a sort of happiness. It was in my freshman study hall where I fell in love. Crazy, right. In a study hall class is where I fell in love. Never knew what love felt like, but I knew what it was when I felt it. She was gorgeous. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but she was fucking gorgeous. Light brown eyes, curly oak-brown, shoulder-length hair, soft freckles on her cheeks, and a cute little nose. And it literally took one look, and she had me in.
I was never one for love at first sight, but I was always one for fate. At that moment, fate was sending me signals that we were meant to be. Sounds stupid as I recall it. I was only a freshman, and I was feeling this strongly about someone I never even met before? Granted, my maturity was that of a 40 year old, and many upperclassmen thought I was a junior.
I'm an average guy. Slightly strong body build, mahogany-brown short hair, 6'2", and a defined jaw line with an average nose. The only thing special about my face was my eyes. They were a peculiar green. At the time, I had no idea where I had gotten them. My father's was a peculiar gold color, yet they were somber and soft. My mother's; shit brown. No one else in my family had green eyes. Genetics plays a funny game, sometimes.
We started talking in that study hall. Her name was Johana Rader. We instantly clicked; yet another sign from fate in my opinion. We liked the same music, had the same interests, and we fed off each other's energies. Everything was natural with her. Her smile lit me up like a Christmas tree, and she smiled often when we talked. She gave me her number, and we hit it off from then on. However, she had a boyfriend, a rather douche-y one if you ask me. She would tell me all these stories about him, and how he mentally abused her. She claims that he didn't mean to, but I believe it's just in his nature to do so. She was miserable, and she flat out told me that I make her happy, and that she values our friendship. 'Friendship'. I would take what I could get, and if she wants friendship, I would give it.
It wasn't until second semester of sophomore year when she started calling me, crying, often times in the middle of the night. I soothed her, like it was second nature to me. One night, around 7 p.m., she had called and begged me to come over. At the time, I could drive, and my mother basically gave me free will at this point in my life. I drove to Johana's house, and she practically leaped into my arms when I approached the door. She told me how her boyfriend had cheated on her, multiple times, and she had just found out. We sat on the couch, and she laid her head on my lap, and curled up in a ball and sobbed the whole night. Eventually, we both laid down on the couch. She was in my arms, and eventually fell asleep. I stayed the night there. From then on, Johana and I have been in a relationship. One that was great. A lot of people envied our relationship at school. Fate often works in mysterious ways. Sometimes what's meant to be, takes time. I'm glad for that.
Now, I'm in my senior year. It's very close to graduation, and Johana and I are very anxious to start our college lives at Notre Dame University. We're basically married at this point, our parents even believe so. However, I've been keeping something from Johana and my family. Junior year, I was visited from a girl, my age, and was told a very peculiar tale.
Casters. Here is where magic comes into play. This girl that came to me turned out to be my cousin, whose mother was my father's half-sister. My cousin's name is Kasi Moyer, and she has gold eyes, like my father had, except hers were bright, almost with a yellow tone. She told me that I was a very powerful Caster, and that she is too, and that we play a very important role in the Caster community. She explained to me that my eyes are green because I am Light, and her eyes are gold because she is Dark. She also called us 'Naturals', claiming that Naturals are the strongest Casters are the most powerful.
This was a lot to take in. I mean, I always believed in magic, just never knew that I was actually someone that can use magic. It was surreal. It felt like a dream. But once it settled in, Kasi started to tell me on how she found me, where she had come from, and why we are so important. She first started off by saying that most Caster's claim themselves for Light or Dark. When we were born, I was born Light, and she Dark. We had no choice. She then told me of how she spent the last 6 years running away from her mother, who apparently is also a Natural and is very powerful. She couldn't explain, in words, of how powerful she is, but her facial expressions explained it. Kasi told me she had to find me, to warn me about her mother, because her mother had a plan to use both of our powers to turn the Caster world completely Dark. Kasi told me of how she will try to tempt me to turn Dark, and that I must not, because then her plan will already have succeeded.
Kasi and I basically hold the Caster world in balance. That's why we were born Light and Dark, opposite sides of the spectrum. Upon my own research, Caster's who are already claimed cannot change their orientation. Kasi swears up and down that we are a special case, and that we can. She says that if one of us were to change to the opposite orientation, the Caster community will forever be in that orientation. If I turned Dark, the Caster community would turn Dark, and vice versa.
The funny thing is, Kasi is more Light than she is Dark, and I have Dark temptations. A change cannot occur, Kasi says, unless something drastic, traumatic, and unbearable happens. I have a feeling her mother is going to exploit that. In fact, I think it's more than a feeling; I know she will.
Kasi also told me one last thing. She told me that my father was killed by her mother on the basis that he was the only thing in the way of turning me Dark. He was Dark himself, which confused me. But, maybe he was like Kasi. Maybe he wanted to be Light, but was claimed Dark. Rhea, my father's aunt, is a Caster. A Light one. She's on my father's side of the family that I never get to see. I believe it's because my father wanted to shelter me from the Caster life I was inevitably going to live. Kasi and I have been under her guidance ever since Kasi came in town. Rhea is really nice and genuine; the best of the best of Light Casters. Kasi never knew Rhea, even though we were in the same family. Even I know Rhea, just not as good as I would like to know her. Kasi's mother ran off from my family once she was claimed Dark, and was pregnant with Kasi. Rhea took Kasi in as if she were her daughter. She understood why she ran away, and didn't blame her. Rhea could see the Light in Kasi, even though it was deeply buried by Darkness. Rhea was good at that.
Surprisingly, Kasi didn't know her mother's name, but Rhea did. Valeria Moyer. Rhea began to tell us of how powerful she was, and what she was capable of doing. Rhea made her out to be like she was stronger than Sarafine Duchannes and Abraham Ravenwood… put together. After Macon Ravenwood and Lena Duchannes remade the Order of Things, after Lena had broken it, Valeria came out of the shadows she was hiding in. She no longer lived under the great shadow that Abraham and Sarafine casted on the Caster community. As powerful as Valeria is, they had too many connections and minions for her to take them on, on her own. But, since they vanished after the Order of Things was remade, Valeria thought it was her time to take over, but not until she uses Kasi and I to change the Caster world completely Dark, which would essentially rewrite the Order of Things once more. She isn't making her presence known until things go her way.
That's about all that Rhea told us. She wants to protect us, but Kasi and I are our own free spirits, more so Kasi. We know how to protect ourselves, but Rhea just wants to take extra precautions. I don't blame her, but there is no need for them right now. Valeria is nowhere near Mishawaka. We're safe… for now.
I won't let Valeria corrupt me, but I know there is one thing that could cause me to turn Dark, a catalyst. That being; Johana. If Valeria does anything to Johana, I know I'll turn Dark. I don't know why, I just get this weird feeling. Except, she won't get anywhere near my Johana. She'll die in the process, that's for damn sure.
Kasi and Rhea are skeptical of my relationship with Johana. Before the Order of Things was rewritten, it was impossible for Casters and Mortals to be in a relationship. Lena, being in a relationship with a Mortal herself, obviously didn't like that. So, when she was rewriting it, she must have changed that around. But, despite that, Rhea and Kasi still don't like it. They treat her as if she was family, but they don't like how close she is to the Caster world. They basically want to protect her, as do I. But I'm careful. She won't know I'm a Caster, and I'll make sure of that. Rhea and Kasi, however, don't think I'll be able to do it. They don't want Johana introduced to the world because it would be too much. I think the same, but still, I'm being careful.
That's basically my story up until now. Nothing great about Jayson Ayers. Well, not to me. I guess I'm a pretty integral part of the Caster world, but that's not that great.