Chapter 1

This is a continuation of The Power of Magic. I would recommend you read that one first.

Preston hadn't been feeling great for the past few days. It started the night of the dance, after he danced with Sarah in the base. It started with a pounding headache. At first, he thought that it was from Madame Odius's monster's attack that left him unconscious, but he woke up the next morning with a fever and was extremely tired. Luckily, it was the weekend, so he just stayed in bed all day for both Saturday and Sunday days. The next day, he managed to leave his house without his father noticing (not that it was that hard) and went to school. He hasn't asked his father about his mother yet either and has been trying to avoid that conversation and just avoid his father in general. He was also trying to hide how he was feeling from the other rangers. He managed to make it to Wednesday in school. He didn't want them to know that he wasn't feeling great because they would probably worry about him. Although, he's pretty sure they've started picking up that something was wrong, especially since Calvin had to nudge him yesterday when he was falling asleep during class. Luckily, his fever broke this morning, and he was starting to feel better. It didn't feel like a normal sickness, but he didn't know why he had been feeling so awful the last couple of days.

"Hey, new boyfriend," Sarah said as she came up to Preston.

"Hey," Preston said as he turned towards Sarah and hugged her. "How are you doing?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Sarah wasn't an idiot. She could tell something was wrong with her boyfriend and had been trying to get a moment alone with him to ask if he was ok. It was surprisingly hard for them to get a moment away from the others.

"I'm fine," he lied and hoped his girlfriend wouldn't press him. Of course, he wasn't that lucky.

"Preston, it's obvious that you haven't been yourself for the last few days, in more ways than one. When I kissed you on the cheek yesterday, my hand brushed against your forehead, and I could tell that you were running a fever. Please tell me what's going on."

"Fine. I haven't been feeling great the past few days."

"Do you think that Madame Odius might have done something to you when she had attacked you a few days ago?"

"I actually don't think it was her, but it might have something to do with something she told me."

"What did she say?"

"She told me that my magical powers weren't granted by my power star. She said that my power star actually activated my powers and that my mom was some sort of powerful witch."

"Wow. That's...uh."

"Crazy."

"Do you believe her?"

"A part of me knows that she's evil and shouldn't be trusted, but another part of me knows that she had no reason to lie in that moment. She wanted to get me out of the way because she thought that I could undo her spell."

"But you did."

"With a spell that I shouldn't have been able to use in the first place. That spell is meant for someone whose magic is powerful. I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe getting sick is a side effect of using that spell since I shouldn't have been able to."

"Or maybe you were meant to use it. Maybe Madame Odius actually did tell the truth. I think you should talk to your dad."

"Yeah right. If that information is wrong, I'll just seem crazy to him. If it's right, that just means that my dad has been lying to me all my life. Strangely, I think I would like to seem crazy in this scenario."

"But wouldn't knowing the truth be better than finding out when you can't get the answers you want anymore."

"I don't know." Preston sighed. "Please don't tell the others. I don't want them to know about all of this."

"Your secret is safe with me. How are you feeling now?"

"Better. I'm not running a fever anymore."

"That's good. Next time you're sick, please don't keep it from me or the others. We were all really starting to worry about you."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

Preston grabbed Sarah's hand. "Promise." They started walking to go meet up with the others. When they got to over to their usual table, the other four rangers were already there. "Hey guys."

"Hey Presto," Brody greeted. "You feeling ok?"

"Yeah. I wasn't feeling great for the past few days, but I'm feeling better now," Preston said as he and Sarah sat down.

"You probably should've stayed home the last couple of days," Hayley said.

"Yeah dude," Calvin said. "You looked wiped."

"I just didn't want to have to catch up on any work," Preston lied.

"We would've helped you out," Levi said.

"It's ok. I'm feeling a lot better now," Preston reassured them.

Ninja Steel Base

Mick had been trying to figure something out for the last few days. He had questioned Preston in his head when he said that he could undo the spell Madame Odius had put on the other rangers. He may not be an expert on magic, but he does know a few things like how Preston shouldn't have been able to use that spell. The power star had given Preston his magic, or so he believed, which meant that his powers wouldn't have been that strong. The only way he would've been able to use that spell was if he actually had magical ancestry, but there was no way he could have magical ancestry, could he?

"What is it, Mick?" Redbot asked which shook Mick out of his thoughts.

"It's just the spell that Preston used to save the others a few days ago," Mick said. "How could he have used it?"

Redbot had been trying to help Mick learn more about that spell because Mick knew Preston shouldn't have been able to use it. "I don't know. Maybe there's more to Preston than we realized."

"Maybe. Let's try to talk to him later without the others."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!