The last few days for Jason had been so memorable he had now forgotten the argument ever happened. After he returned home, he was treated to a sumptuous made by Jill. He ate to utmost satisfaction after which, he had a long talk with Kyle before he left. The next day, things had returned back to normal in the family and ultimately, he no longer had to miss breakfasts or dinner.
Although he had let go of his resents towards his parents, they were those he hasn't forgotten. Dashan tried on the occasions that permitted him, to try and get close to Jason. Jason although he knew that Dashan was doing this for the sake of making connections originally welcomed the idea after their first meeting. But now, things were different.
He pushed Dashan away from him refusing on all attempts to be a friend. There was no way he was going to forgive Dashan after what he did to him, reporting him to his father. Jason didn't blame Parvati much for what she did, but didn't mean he forgave her. He intentionally made her her work hard. He did it so subtly that Parvati had no proof he was doing it even though she knew. She had to clean up a place over and over again just because it dirty few minutes after.
On one occasion, she trimmed and cleared the garden to the best of her ability. She passed by it with Ginevra four minutes after and leaves littered the whole place forcing her to redo it. It was to say in the very least.. stressful.
Jason visited Narla three times after he went back home, however, his real intentions was to see Davis. As Davis had said, the pathway to the secret room conveniently was the library shelf where the book was located. Turning the book upside down, the shelf opened a pathway to a tunnel linking another shelf in the secret room. His encounter the first evening was anything but exciting. Davis laughed so hard when he explained what had occurred with the grey fire that he thought Davis was mocking him. He went on to explain the term power up.
" Just like a tap, putting it on causes water to gush out, turning it off holds back the water. Allowing your energy to flow out of your internal body outside is like turning on the tap and all the water flows out. However, during these moments before it expires you will feel stronger than before, double, triple times your original power probably even more depending on your energy." Davis said.
He went on to joke on his wife " I remember those times, Melissa would tell me of all the troubles she experienced with her teachers in knight school teaching power up and charge ".
Over the next days Davis taught Jason how to control the flow of energy but refused to teach him charge yet. Jason loved this ' grey power ' he called it. He felt stronger each time he powered up, it was infact put to good use when he fought Fawkes.
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" Hey, reading for another beating " Fawkes taunted Jason who has just gotten into the ring to fight. Fawkes was in his usual, shirtless and doing warm up jumps
" That depends " Jason replied. Only the thought of knowing that he had the grey power pumped so much adrenaline into his blood.
Fawkes made his first move by swinging his arm at Jason then swiped at Jason with his first leg. Jason ducked, but was hit by the kick. Fawkes followed up with a stomp on Jason's belly, Jason rolled, pivoted himself up doing a flip in the air and landed on his feet just on the line.
" Uh oh, birdy boy has learnt some moves " Fawkes mocked. Jason went in for a punch, but Fawkes was still stronger and faster. He blocked Jason's punch with his palm and closed it on Jason's fist. Using his free arm, he grabbed Jason's arm and flipped him over his shoulder.
With a great thud, Jason landed on his bottom heavily. The next thing he saw was a foot to his face sending him to the other end of the line. He massaged his face painfully, and the next, Fawkes ran towards him, butted him in the stomach with his knee, bashed his elbow on Jason's back and.....
BOOM!! Jason powered up. The force that came with the power pushed Fawkes back.
" What the hell " Fawkes gawked. His mouth opened wide in shock. " Be can do that? " he asked as if a satisfactory answer would come from the crowd.Mummurings erupted from the people surrounding them. The Jason they were now looking at was completely enveloped in a grey coloured aura which was very outlined. One notable feature was the mass that was added to him. Body and muscle mass now made his body more defined than normal.
Jason grinned.
" It doesn't matter what you do, I'll put your face to the floor " Fawkes sped towards Jason, jumped and twisted his leg like a rotating can and shot his leg with such force that it felt like the air bent. Jason caught his foot and pushed causing Fawkes to spin the same way he came backwards.Be followed up with a kick to Fawkes ribs, jab to his face a kick to his knee and an uppercut to his chin.
Fawkes spurted out blood as he was lifted off the ground by the blow.Jason grabbed his leg abruptly and swept the sand with Fawkes head. Fawkes stabilized himself rubbing his head in pain, Jason stood panting. " I should not do that again ".
He ran towards Fawkes, somersaulted and landed his foot on Fawkes's head. Luckily, Fawkes crossed his two hands on his head before the hit. His knees buckled due to the force and he fell on his knees . Jason executed a flip backwards.
Fawkes enraged, ran towards Jason and using full force, punched. Jason picked pace towards him and pushed Fawkes's hand up. He went under him and to his back and hammered his back sending him out of the ring.
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Unlike those three days, today was a suspenseful one. Today, they arrived.
" Alright, I'll be taking my leave " Lucius said. He stood up from the dining chair he was sitting on, wiped his mouth with the table cloth alongside Ginevra.
" Safe journey dad " Jill wished him. Lucius and Ginevra dressed in the same attire they wore always to work walked out through the door and exited the manor.
" Good morning sir " the maids greeted as they passed them. A brief nod from Lucius indicated he acknowledged their greeting. They walked towards the large gate and took a left bend towards a large yard. Parked there were three carriages, White brown and black in color. The horses leading them, a pair of two for each had matching colours.
Lucius got into the black carriage leaving Ginevra to choose another. The interior of the carriage emanated a red hue and spacious enough to seat four comfortably.
" Ministry " commanded Lucius. The carriage rider immediately moved into action. The horses neighed and the carriage jerked. The Ministry also known as the council state house was located in the most prominent place in Benign, Jacda. Having fifteen major link roads, it was a city hub.
The carriage took off towards city road at a slow pace, but picked up speed along the way. City road was so busy and crowded that Lucius was happy as usual he decided to go early. Carriages and people cramped the road all in a hurry to get to their destinations. Sellers shove their way through carriages showing their wares, along the side of the road, a carpenter hammered wood showing off a passion, few men dragged chains hooked to a large carriage exuding the hustle and bustle accompanied with this road.
Finally, they arrived at Jacda. Beyond the ministry's gate, was the structure. In front of it there was a fountain acting as a roundabout for the carriages coming into the ministry. They rode around the large fountain and parked in the carriage park along with hundreds of other carriages.
Built of blue limestone, the ministry was a four storey building having a 300 foot front with colonnaded portico in the center and two 75 foot wings facing east. A large open stair way of seventy five steps led up to the portico. A large central rotunda with a glass domed ceiling connected the two wings. Flowering trees and shrubs as well as historic markers and monuments adorned the council state house grounds.
Just before the stairs was a large statue of Sir Williams Deate, the man who formed Benign as an independent town. Going inside, the interiors were marked by a stained glass dome, marble floors and steps. Also present were granite columns, two three storey atriums and period walls.
The first floor housed the executive offices of the administration, offices for Benign house of representatives were on the second floor's east side while those for the senate were on the second floor's west side. The councillors offices were located on both the east and west side of the second floor. On the second floor west side was the supreme court.
The large volume library was located on the third floor. The third floor also held the house senate and supreme court chambers and the fourth floor held the Benign court of appeals and offices of the twenty five judges.
Most surprisingly, the glass domed ceiling housed the council hall. Though very small, upon entry the room was large than any of the other halls clearly the work of a magic engineer. The eight members of the upper council were in charge of deliberating laws and final notes passed to them by reps and senates. Each of the eight had eight sub upper councillors to speed work up.
Lucius stepped into his office on the second floor. It was a very large office. In front of the floor to ceiling windows was his executive chair and table. The entire room was brown, ceiling, floor and walls. There were also paintings hung around the room, some just random, others paintings of councillors that occupied this office before him which included his dad.
Lying also in the office were series of mundane artifacts, it seemed unusual for a man like Lucius but something usual was a portrait of the entire Jaliel family on his table. He took his seat, looked out the window..... blue and red marching knights....
" They should be arriving now...." .