Chapter 6

Preston was feeling better a few days later. His dad had taken some time off from his company to spend some time with his son. Preston was happy about that. He hasn't spent this much time with his father for a long time. The circumstances might not be the best, but it is something. Even though he was feeling better, his dad insisted on keeping him home an extra day. Preston had protested until his dad agreed to do some light training with him.

"Your mother always said that anything was possible with magic," Marcus Tien said. "Anything you can imagine is possible. Close your eyes and imagine a small object and then use your powers to create it."

Preston wanted to question what his father said, but decided against it and did as told. He closed his eyes and the object that popped up in his head was a small ball. He cupped his hands together and focused on creating it. When he opened his cupped hands, there was what he pictured there. "Wow," he said. He didn't realize he could just create something out of thin air.

"That's good," Marcus said. "There is a lot more to magic than you know. Your mother told me that there is a mystical creature that represents each person with magic. She was a phoenix, which is one of the most powerful creatures. The serpent is another powerful one. The most powerful is the dragon. She told me that whoever possesses the power of the dragon will be the most powerful wizard or witch."

"What is Asher's magical creature?" Preston asked.

Marcus sighed. "I don't know. He left before he reached his full potential with his powers. That's when you find out which magical creature you possess."

Preston nodded. "Asher said something about mom having a vision of Asher being evil and that's why he left."

"She did," Marcus confirmed. "She wasn't going to tell him, but he was sadly listening. He was gone before we realized he heard. She spent the rest of her life trying to find him and stop her vision from coming true. She thought she had found a way to change what she saw, but she never came back. I told you she died from being really sick because I thought I could protect you if I didn't tell you about magic. You were so young at the time she died."

"I can understand why you didn't tell me. It was just a lot when I first found out and I can admit that I didn't act the way I should've."

"Actually, your reaction was better than I thought it would be. I thought that you would never talk to me again."

"I might've been mad, but at the end of the day, you're still my dad and it's been nice spending some time together."

"Well, how about we go do something this weekend just us?"

"Are you serious?" Preston asked with both surprise and excitement. "Don't you have to go back to work? I'm sure you're behind on a lot."

"I can catch up later. I think it's more important to have some father son time. Why don't we head inside and watch a movie? We can do some more training later."

"Ok."

Summer Cove High School

Brody, Calvin, and Hayley barely talked to Levi and Sarah all week. It actually got on Levi and Brody's dad's nerves a few times the way the two brothers were acting towards each other. Brody, Calvin, and Hayley weren't really trying to be rude necessarily. It's just that they were kept in the dark for something that affected the whole team. They're all a team and something like that affects everyone on the team. They hadn't gone over to Preston's house either because they don't really know what to say. They had no idea about anything Preston was going through until his brother just showed up and they don't want to say the wrong thing to him. Brody has figured out in the few moments he has talked to Levi that Preston is trying to mend his relationship with his father, and he has been getting better. They were all relieved about that because they were still worried. Preston was unconscious when they brought him to his house. It hadn't looked good.

Brody was sitting at one of the tables outside for lunch when he heard someone sit down across from him. He was waiting for Calvin and Hayley, but when he looked up, he saw his brother. "Are you going to talk to me this time?" Levi asked.

"I don't know," Brody said. "Are you keeping anymore secrets?"

"I told you. I'm sorry. Preston asked me not to tell. I even told him to consider telling you guys."

"This was something important to tell us-"

Levi interrupted Brody. "But it wasn't mine or Sarah's secret to tell. Preston was still trying to wrap his head around everything. His father lied to him all his life. How would you feel if you found out there was something big our father was keeping from us? Would you tell people right away or would you want to keep it a secret until we could figure out how we felt about it?"

Brody thought about it for a moment. "I guess it would depend on what the secret was."

"Exactly. Preston needed time. He's starting to accept why his father kept it from him, but it's a work in progress."

"I can't imagine what that's like. I lived as a prisoner in space for ten years, but I can't imagine what it would be like for a parent to keep a secret that big."

"Well, now we have another problem. Asher. What do we do if he shows up again?"

Calvin, Sarah, and Hayley all showed up at that moment. "Hey, what's going on?" Calvin asked.

"I can see that you guys made up," Sarah said.

"Yeah," Brody responded.

"That's good," Hayley said. "We talked it out with Sarah already."

"I was just asking Brody what we're going to do when Asher shows up again," Levi said.

All eyes turned to Brody. "We protect Preston. We saw what happened last time. Right now, Asher's magic is clearly stronger. Preston is one of us, so we protect him." The others all nodded in agreement. They knew that Preston would be in danger next time Asher shows up, but they won't let anything happen to their teammate and friend.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!