Chapter Thirteen: Better Than a Thousand Days of Diligent Study Is One Day With a Great Teacher

~A Japanese proverb (shut up, brain, I can use a proverb as a quote)

Welcome to the thirteenth chapter of When Wishes Come True!

In other words, where Jamie meets her ability mentors...

Reviews!

writinficsandbreakinhearts: okay, to be honest, I kinda do, too. Now that I'm rereading the series (again), I guess Fitz isn't as bad as the Team Foster-Keefe shippers (including me, of course) make him seem. Yeah, he is a perfectionist, and he does have anger issues, but I think he's able to improve. I still ship Team Foster-Keefe, though :). Also... you're right about the prank war thing! Just... maybe not in the way you expect?

Anonymous: aw, thanks! Here's this chapter!

Whoa... thirty reviews? I can't believe it! Thank you guys so much!

Recap: so, we've left Atlantis, and... Actually, that's it. Really boring chapter.

Wait, did I just waste 838 words on such boring minutia?

Uh... hehe... sorry?

Word count: 1,316

ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!


A flash of light, and...

"You've got some nerve summoning me! I'd sooner be exiled than train anyone in your family!"

This man was at least a couple of inches shorter than Alden, but he didn't seem very intimidated when he got up in his personal space.

Whoa, someone hated the Vackers? Who was this guy?

Actually, who cared who he was? Jamie immediately liked him.

Alden barely blinked at this, though. However, when Jamie glanced at Fitz, she saw that he was clenching his fists.

So, it was either that Fitz was more hotheaded than Alden (that sounded likely), Alden was used to this treatment (also likely... poor Alden), or a mixture of both (okay, definitely most likely).

Then, an oily, patronizing voice: "Always so dramatic; aren't you, Tiergan?"

There were three people, Jamie realized: Tiergan, who had pale blond hair and olive skin, the other man, who also had blond hair, but ice blue eyes (why did that make Jamie feel like she recognized him?), and a woman with a bright smile and dark skin.

"Tiergan! How are you?" the woman greeted cheerfully, like Tiergan wasn't just yelling at Alden.

"Fine," Tiergan snapped back.

"Yes, Tiergan—I'm well aware of your opinion of me. I can assure you, I wouldn't have summoned you if I wasn't convinced that it would be what Prentice would want."

Although Alden spoke calmly, Tiergan's fierce expression crumbled as he backed away, crossing his arms over his chest. "Since when are you the expert on anything Prentice wanted?"

"Who's Prentice?" Sophie asked the question Jamie wondered.

Although Jamie noticed the woman's smile falter at the question, Tiergan's reaction was much more dramatic; he spun towards the two girls, and his eyes widened when he took the colors of theirs. He gasped.

"Yes." Alden confirmed, even though he hadn't actually said anything. "Whatever you're thinking, yes. Tiergan, I'd like you to meet Sophie Foster; Foxfire's newest prodigy, who happens to need a telepathy mentor. And Cassius—"

"Lord Cassius." he corrected in a high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou manner that Jamie instantly hated.

"Ah, sorry," Alden apologized. "And Lady Willa E—Lady Willa."

Why did Alden cut himself off when he was about to say her last name? Also, what was her last name? Was she important to the series?

Alden cast "Lady Willa" a worried look, but she just laughed. "Just "Willa" is fine," she spoke warmly.

"If you insist. Anyway, as I was saying—" Alden cleared his throat. "—this is Jamie Blair, and you both will be mentoring her in Psionipathy and Empathy."

"Just Willa" looked at Jamie with a sort of soft interest—the type of interest that she'd expect from a child. Kind of naïve, but curious and harmless. "You're a Psionipath?" When Jamie nodded, she clapped her hands together excitedly. "I promise; together, we'll make you a master!"

Jamie smiled back awkwardly. Okay... So, Willa was kind of childish—but in an endearing way, of course.

Okay, was it just Jamie, or did that sentence sound very patronizing?

But even though Lord Cassius was watching her (meaning Jamie, not Willa; he didn't look like he gave two curdleroots about Willa) with some sort of amused expression, Tiergan's reaction was the weirdest:

He swallowed multiple times before saying, "Two? I thought Prentice was only hiding one?"

Alden shrugged. "They're both elves, and they've both been living with humans for the past twelve years."

"Humans?" Lord Cassius asked eagerly, but Alden waved him off—although, after noting how focused he was on Tiergan, Jamie felt like it was on accident.

Speaking of Tiergan... He was looking at Jamie strangely, like tickets to a sold-out concert from a band he felt neutrally about; confused and shocked, but—thankfully—not disgusted. And then, after a few seconds, he'd look at Sophie with an expression that would make more sense if Sophie was killing his favorite puppy.

Put simply, Tiergan was a weird dude.

"Okay, seriously," Sophie interrupted. "Who is Prentice, and what does he have to do with us?"

Even though Jamie wasn't the one who asked the question originally, she still wanted to know the answer. She knew he was important—but, of course, she didn't know why.

Yeah, nothing like some retrograde amnesia to infuriate someone!

Anyway, since they wanted answers, Alden said, "I'm sorry, that's classified information, Sophie." He then glanced at Lord Cassius and Willa. "Well, that is all I have to say. You two are free to go."

In other words, he was telling them to leave

They both complied easily—although, Lord Cassius looked annoyed. Probably because he didn't hear the tea.

Once Jamie's mentors left the property, Sophie continued to argue, "But it's about us."

Jamie glanced at Fitz for—well, not for help (she'd never ask Fitz for help), but something similar. But he just shrugged, like it was out of his hands.

Wow. Very not-helpful.

"If it becomes important for you to know, I will tell you." Alden promised. "For now, all anyone needs to know is that you are the most incredible Telepath, Psionipath, and Empath that I've ever seen—" Wow, he sure didn't hold back on the flattery... "—and you need a Mentor. Which is why I summoned you." he added to Tiergan. "Sophie has already broken through Fitz's and Bronte's blocking without training. And Jamie... I'll explain to Willa and Cassius later. But Sophie needs the best Mentor we can provide. I know you're retired, but I thought—given the circumstances—youmight be persuaded to return to Foxfire."

Anger and resentment danced across Tiergan's features, so he—as Jamie expected—nodded.

Wait. What?


Yeah, I know it's a really short chapter. But it's been over a week since I've last updated, and I'm doing my best to update quickly, so... I'm sorry/you're welcome? At the same time?

Okay, now Chapter Thirteen's questions!

1. Favorite quote of the chapter?

2. Who do you ship Jamie with? Obviously/as usual, all ships are welcome!

3. What are your theories about, well, anything?

Also, Lady Willa E-something is an OCand my OC, at that. If you see a Willa E (really, just guess; I think it's kind of obvious. But then again, I'm the one who's writing this, so...) anywhere else, it's most likely a coincidence.

Anyway, again, thanks for thirty reviews! You guys are great!

~Sarcasticsnark13

P.S. also: the next chapter is going to be longer.