Jia had stuck to her promise and gone to the party at the Resort Restaurant but she had spent the entire time just drinking and eating while her friends partied. The atmosphere was filled with laughter, music and excitement. The band was playing a sort of funky but upbeat song that both entertained and excited the group. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
Even Dylan seemed to have bounced back today and was being cornered by some girls who had come to the resort as well. Honesty, she couldn't believe that just a few hours ago, he was kissing her and now he was fresh meat! Realizing the direction of her thoughts, Jia frowned before she mentally slapped herself for even thinking that. Her protector deserved to have some fun after all that he did for her today. Besides the kiss wasn`t even real, their mental selves had kissed and it wasn't even physical so it doesn`t count as a kiss. Right?
Shaking her head, she then turned to the dance floor where Cole and Zoey were dancing with Mike and Kyra. Something that made Jia smile because it showed progress in their relationship.
When she turned to the bar, she shook her head as she caught sight of Fiona, Rose, Chase, Tristan and Roy getting drunk on Chillers, Tequila and other potent stuff. So much for not getting drunk tonight, Fiona was going to be useless tonight.
Jia sat on her chair at their reserved table with her legs on the chair that Zoey once occupied, eating a plate of fried chicken. Other guests had walked past and frowned at the unladylike behavior she was showing but she just simply smiled and waved at them cheerful. Sue her if they wanted but she had a very bad morning and she was entitled to her peace.
When she was done with the chicken plate, she put it down and picked up a bowl of greens and onion salad. She started to dig in when someone laughed and told her to slow down.
She glanced to left to see Rose walking towards her with a Chiller in hand. Roy had an arm around Fiona`s waist, helping her up the stairs leading to the tables out under the patio where other guests sat, eating and drinking. Chase was balancing three drinks as Dylan and Tristan tried to tell him to give them one.
Somehow, Dylan had managed to slip past the crowd of hungry girls who were all probably dying to spend the night with him.
"I`m hungry," Jia explained as her friends took their seats and watched her shove another forkful of lettuce into her mouth before taking a long drag of her soda.
Roy winced and reached to stop her when Fiona patted his hand and shook his head.
"Leave her be," Fiona advised him gently.
"Yeah, leave me be!" Jia exclaimed after she swallowed. She then put down the plate and scanned the other plates of food on their table," Now where was that sushi plater?"
"You`re going to get yourself sick," Chase warned her.
Jia picked up the sushi plate when she found it and gave him a smirk, "Says the Knight who might be hangover tomorrow morning."
"No we won`t, we know how to drink just enough to relax and not get a hangover," Chase retuned as he watched Jia bite into a seaweed roll.
The girl swallowed her meal before smiling at him impishly, "Well good for you."
The other chuckled as Chase playfully glared at her. When the others were trying to start their own conversations, Rose leaned toward her white haired friend and crooked a finger at her, "Hey, can we talk?"
Jia nodded at her, "About what?"
Rose glanced uneasily at the others around the table and Tristan caught on.
"Something you want to share?" Tristan asked them.
Jia put down her sushi plate and watched as the others tore their attention back to the two sorceress.
"I…well...," Rose said uneasily. She and Jia haven`t really discussed the issue of the dagger with anyone else yet and she wasn`t sure if Jia was okay with sharing the information with the rest of the group.
Jia waved a dismissive hand and pick up her soda to drink from it, "It`s fine Rose, tell them. It`ll come out eventually and they should know."
Rose bit her lip, "Okay, I sort of found a little piece of information about the dagger."
Roy and Jia stiffened slightly as Fiona looked between them," What dagger?"
"The dagger that was used against my mother," Jia answered her.
"I was hoping you could prove me right by…"
"By what?" Fiona asked on behalf of Jia.
"By telling me what happened that day with your mother," Rose said in a rush and instantly the table erupted.
"Are you insane?!" Dylan and Tristan first yelled.
"She can`t do that," Chase pointed out.
"Rose, that`s asking too much of her!" Fiona exclaimed.
"Jia, you don`t have to talk about it," Roy said directly to his cousin.
Jia stared at her friend over her glass of soda before she put it down and leaned back in her seat. The others watched her stew over her thoughts before she looked up at the sky," Will this help you, Rose?"
"Yes. And I wouldn`t ask unless it wasn`t important."
The white haired sorceress closed her eyes and let the sound of people laughing take over her mind. She had been doing that from the very moment she had left her bathroom today after the tour. Listening to something, anything to get that awful sound out of her head. She then slowly opened her eyes and faced her friends," It`s not a day I like to remember. Most of time, I try to think of other happy things so I don`t revert back to that scared little six-year-old."
"It wasn`t your fault," Dylan reminded her and she smiled as it reminded her of today when he was protecting her.
"I know," Jia assured him and she took a deep breath and began her story,"It was about a month after sixth birthday. Aunt Camilla had reached out to my mama saying that she wanted to make up with her. They hadn`t spoken to each other since mama and papa got engaged. Anyway, Papa was away on a mission and Aunt Camilla wanted us to go and visit her. She wanted to meet me. So we did."
Roy nodded, "I remember, mum was kind of surprised when Aunt Marina called her and told her the news."
"We were just planning to spend the weekend at her summer estate before coming over to see you and the Triplets,"Jia said with a smile.
"Did you tell your father?" Tristan asked.
Jia shook her head, "We couldn`t, he was on radio silence for the entire mission. He was gone for three weeks then and so were my uncles."
"So it was just you and your mother?"
"Yes. Mama thought she could protect us both. My powers had yet to be awakened she didn`t care. She said, even if they did come late, I could train like her. To fight without magic for the time being. Anyway, when we got there, tears were shed and instructions were made. I met Isabella for the first time and my uncle. "Jia paused and her eyes darken," We stayed the night and the next day, we were planning to go out exploring. But that`s when things went horribly wrong."
"Stop, you don`t have to do this," Chase pleaded with her.
"Jia…" Roy said sadly.
Jia glanced at the two Knights before looking up at the sky in an effort to stop herself form crying, "I was so tried that morning, so sluggish, that I couldn`t move. Mama panicked after she had eaten her breakfast because even then I wasn`t waking up. Then, he came in through the door. The masked man. He was dressed in all black. Mama…she tried to transform but…her magic wouldn`t work and when she tried to fight. She suddenly got dizzy and couldn`t even stand. I tried to roll out bed to help her but I just…," Jia sucked in a deep breath and stopped herself from sobbing," I just fell to the floor. Mama tried to fight but he…he beat her up until she lay bleeding on the floor with me crying."
"Why didn`t anyone come to help? You must have been crying out," Rose asked with tears in her eyes.
"I don`t know. All I know is that, no one came. I laid there watching until finally, he pulled out that dagger and he stabbed her. The sound of it," Jia said as she put her hands to ears and closed her eyes tightly," I can still hear it. It haunts me. I thought it was nightmare but then her body… She just disappear right in front of my eyes leaving only the dagger," Jia then opened her eyes and loosened her hands before she looked down at the food in front of her, "And that`s when I snapped and in doing so my magic was awakened. My magic attacked according to my emotions. It...did what I was too weak to do."
"What did you do?" Dylan asked gently. Jia looked up at her friends faces, "I pulled a lighting bolt and fried the man until he was nothing but dust."
Everyone stared at her with disbelief.
Jia continued, "I was so angry and, and hurt. Why should he live when he took my mama away from me? I made sure he suffered and when it was all over, I finally passed out. By the time I woke up, my mother`s service was over days ago and people were moving on."
"How long were you passed out?" Rose asked.
"About two months," Roy answered as his cousin picked up a knife and studied it," Everyone in the family wanted Jia to wake up but it was taking too long so our grandparents went ahead with the funeral. Uncle Marcellus just stayed near Jia the entire time and by the time she woke up, they had their own small ceremony for just the two of them."
"They buried an empty cassette," Jia muttered.
"After that, Jia was hidden away with the Elites at Castle Paravel, Uncle Marcellus didn`t want a repeat of what happened."
Chase leaned back in his seat, "Man ,that`s horrible."
"Why is he easing up now?" Fiona asked.
"Because everyone felt that I needed to learn how to socialize and be with other teenagers. "Jia answered as she put down the knife," I was getting too out of hand. Causing explosions, sneaking off the grounds and I lacked a lot of basic socializing skills."
"Oh."
"So what does Jia's memories have to do with this dagger?" Dylan asked, getting them back to the main topic at hand.
"Right, so after the museum attack, I went to check the tablets for any reference to the dagger," Rose explained," Now, I didn`t find anything to close but I was able to find a reference a group of Spellcastors that use to make objects imbued with magic that could do anything frmm opening portals to restoring fertility to a land but they all died out long before the time of the Emperor."
"What happened to the objects?" Jia asked.
"They were entrusted to the Fair Folks and the Centaurs."
Fiona arched a brow at the techno sorceress, "Centaurs?"
"Yep."
"Okay," Fiona said with disbelief. Sure, there were stranger things in their world than Centaurs but that surprised Fiona.
"Anyway, I think that the dagger is one of those objects."
"So what could that dagger do?"
Rose shrugged," I don`t know, I`ll need to ask someone who was alive back then to get the answer we need but I have a theory that your mother didn`t die that day. I think, maybe she was teleported somewhere."
"But then why hasn`t she come back?" Jia asked anxiously.
"I don`t know, like I said it`s just a theory."
"At least it`s something," Roy assured his cousin.
Suddenly a phone rang. Everyone turned to watch Tristan put out his phone and mutter an apology before leaving the table.
"What was that about?" Rose asked Chase who leaned close and whispered something to her. Rose expression darkened and she huffed. Jia watched Tristan leave before she heard someone call out her name into a microphone. They all turned to the stage where Clary was standing with a band," This is for you, birthday girl!"
Suddenly a song by Cassie blared out into the speakers and everyone in the restaurant went crazy.
"Oh my goddess!" Fiona exclaimed with laugh.
"So that`s where she was?!" Roy yelled with a grin.
"Let's table this for another time. For now..go and dance everyone!" Jia yelled at her friends as she stood from her chair. Everyone nodded before making their way over to the dance floor where Mike, Kyra, Cole and Zoey were waiting for them.
Dylan was about to go over when he felt someone take his hand. He looked back to see Jia who was avoiding eye contact and slightly pink in the cheeks," Can I dance with you?"
"You don`t want a repeat of what happened at the second Mixer?" Dylan asked with concern.
"I already told Roy and it`s his opinion that matters to me," Jia answered.
"Or because the guy you really want to dance with is busy on the phone," Dylan reasoned out," You could just wait until he`s done then ask him to dance."
"What if he isn`t the guy I want to dance with?" Jia asked him and this time she looked him in the eyes.
Dylan pursed his lips, "I'll dance with you but do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Don`t give up on Tristan and don`t fall in love with me?"
Jia smirked at him," Maybe you should watch out and not fall in love with me. And as for Tristan…I won`t…I`ll talk to him when we get back to school."
The Knight smiled at her before pulling her down to the dance floor. This time, she was pressed up aginst him and was dancing with a laugh.