With the weekend quickly approaching, Zander woke up on Thursday morning and turned to where Sophie would normally be sleeping. "I suppose I shouldn't be used to that, it's only been a few days," Zander thought as he got up and filled up his two 32 ounce water bottles for his morning run. He drank one in one go, refilled it and was off for his normal run.
Ever since he got the system, he knew things like running and training came easier, but he hadn't truly worked on his magic or his new skills lately. While he was running, he was basically on auto-pilot, so he decided to have a talk with Zintan while he ran.
"Zintan, can you tell me more about the Eye of the Phoenix skill. What do phoenixes see that humans can't?" Zander asked.
"Have you ever done research on how bird's see?" Zintan asked.
"A little, I know they have 4 cones compared to our three which allows them to see magnetic fields and ultraviolet lights and some have 2 fovea in each eye compared to one in humans," Zander said.
"That's correct, but you see the Phoenix's eyes have even more benefits. We can see the lifeforce, known as Chi, within every living being. Green is for the humans who are good in nature, yellow is a bit complicated, as it can be someone who used to be green, or used to be violet. Yellow is for those who are in a sort of flocculation of sorts or can remain yellow their entire lives. They aren't directly evil or dangerous but can also be moving toward green and have changed their ways. Then there's violet, for the thieves, murders, evil people in life. Then, for human's, there's black, which is for the truly evil souls whose lifeforce thrives on evil and doing whatever is in their best interest in any way they can. Animals are blue, beasts are black, and beings from other worlds are also black, and there's a special category, for those like your parents, who would give off a Golden Aura. This Aura of chi is very rare and shows is hard to achieve. You are of the Golden Aura, and it's known as the Holy Aura," Zintan explained.
"So you're saying it's like an enhanced version of what human's see and because I'm part phoenix, well, I think I am as you exist within me, I'm able to see as you would see," Zander stated.
"Exactly," would you like to switch with me so I can show you or would you like to try it for yourself?" Zintan asked.
As his run was already about halfway done, where he would turn around and go through the park, he decided to let Zintan take control as he paid attention from the white space.
To Zander's amazement, not only his eyesight was improved, but his hearing and other senses seemed to improve as well. He could see humans, they just looked, well, different. Many of them showed a green aura, or chi, the life-force all humans had, and there were several blue outlines, which he couldn't see physically, but he could tell where they were going to move, before they moved. A squirrel, which was on top of the tree, Zander noticed he could see the lifeforce moving to the bottom of the tree about 1-2 seconds before the squirrel moved to the bottom of the tree.
"Woah, so you can see 1-2 seconds ahead of what others see?" Zander asked Zintan.
"For you, that will take lots of practice, but yes, as a phoenix, were are able to see the lifeforce move slightly before it actually moves, which is pretty useful in any types of dangerous situations you may come in contact with. Beware though, some of the strongest magic users and chi users have studied and can adapt their chi to do something similar, though not as accurate," Zintan explained.
With his run done, he had finished two more bottles of water, one of which he refilled before switching with Zintan, completing both of his daily quests, awarding him 25 experience points.
"Congratulations, daily quests completed. 25 of 400 experience," the system reminded Zander.
"Maybe I should take the day and stop by some of the business's my parents' ran, such as the hospital, orphanage, apartments, my Father's church, and I need to stop by the bank today," Zander thought.
After a quick shower, Zander got dressed, looking nicer than he usually would, as he put on a dress shirt and dress slacks with a pair of nice shoes.
"I suppose I should head to the bank first," and with that Zander teleported just outside the bank, in an alleyway no one would see him teleport.
Luckily, no one was in the alley and for the first time, Zander cast, "Eye of the Phoenix," as he would need to get used to using this skill.
It took him a few minutes before someone politely asked him if he was doing alright, to which Zander smiled and said, "I just got lost in thought," as the man's aura was a dark green, which made Zander think even more."
"Zintan, does the shade of the color have anything to do with the person's chi?" Zander asked.
"Yes, it appears it does. This must be something unique to you, as you saw earlier, all of the shades were the same for me," Zintan answered.
Zander thanked the man and told him, "I was just lost in thought, I thank you very much kind sir," Zander said with a firm handshake.
The man offered to help him, which Zander obliged, and Zander and the man began talking, before Zander realized who the man was.
"Sir, I don't mean to pry or be rude, but with the way you are dressed, you wouldn't happen to work at the Church of Solace here in Central Harmonia, would you?" Zander asked.
With a chuckle, the man smiled greatly and said, "Indeed I do, I am now the head priest at the Church. I have been since Minister Elrod retired and passed that title and responsibility of all the church's charities to me, my name is Father Glen, it's a pleasure to meet you," the man stated.
Shocked, Zander couldn't believe it. He was already planning on visiting the church later, but it's as if fate handed him just the person he was looking for, on the main street of Central Harmonia, right after he used Eye of the Phoenix for the first time.
Disabling the skill, Zander nervously asked the man, "Would you believe me if I told you I'm the son of the Sebastian and Savannah?"
Taking a long pause with his hand on his chin, almost as if deep in thought, Father Glen asked Zander, "When was the last time you saw them, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Sunday, when they unexpectedly left early with their guards and my personal trainers Mrs. Lydia and Mr. Woo," Zander stated.
With that, without warning, Father Glen gave Zander a big hug and began crying, "I am so, so sorry my dear boy. I can't imagine the amount of pain you must be in right now but know they're in Solace, watching over you and I know that seems like a cliche answer, but if I've learned anything from your parents, that was always their goal anyway. After they found out they were having a child, after believing they would never be able too, I've never seen them more happier. I haven't seen you since your first birthday and my have you grown young man," the Father said.
Zander, wiping away a few tears, "Thank you so much, and I'm glad to see my Father left you in charge after he retired. You seem like such an honorable man and I'm happy to have met you. I actually planned on going to the Church today to meet whoever was in charge, so I'll have to plan another visit"
"How about Sunday, mass is at 10 am," the Father suggested.
"Sonds good, I'll bring my girlfriend along, she's also a kind soul who believes in all my parents stood for as well," Zander stated with a smile.
They had reached the bank and Zander thanked Glen for his help and that he was grateful to have met him. They said their goodbyes and with that Zander walked into the "Bank of Central Harmonia," a chain of banks that could be accessed throughout all of Harmonia.
Nervous, Zander turned on eye of the Phoenix and could see the people working there were cast mostly green and darker yellow auras, so he decided to wait for one of the bankers with a green aura before sitting down to talk.
"Hello young man, how many I help you today," a woman with a green aura had walked up to Zander, who was sitting comfortably in one of the chairs in the lobby, doing his best not to stand out.
"I was hoping you could help me out, can we go somewhere more private to talk, my name is Zander Elrod and I'd like to access my account, please," Zander stated.
The woman looked shock, but quickly regained her composure, "Absolutely, let's go to my office, it will be nice and quiet there."
Zander followed the woman to an office near the back of the bank, and she asked Zander if he would like anything to drink, to which he gladly accepted a sports drink, and she pulled the chair out for him and said, "Have a seat, we have much to discuss."
Zander sat there and listened to the woman talk about all the investments his parents' had, and stopped herself and asked, "Have you met with your parents attorney yet?" she asked.
"No, I meet him tomorrow at 2 PM, I'm sorry," Zander stated.
"No need to be sorry Zander, and I should have introduced myself. My name is Ella Marzilli, and I'm actually the head banker in charge of all of your parents accounts. I shouldn't get ahead of myself until you've talked to Jim, I mean Attorney Frankfurt," she quickly corrected herself.
"It's like the universe is looking after me today, first Father Glen and now Ella, I guess I have my parents' looking after me in Solace to thank for that," Zander thought.
"Oh, so your know my parent's attorney on a first name basis as well," Zander smiled.
"Indeed, your parents trusted the people they had known the longest. We actually went to high school together, if you can believe that," Ella said with a smile.
"I wonder why my parents never told me about any of you. Let me guess, the last time you saw me was at my first birthday?" Zander asked.
With a laugh, "Someone has quite the memory," Ella said.
"No, it's not that, I met Father Glen today and he had stated he last saw me at my first birthday, so if you're someone my parents' entrusted with all of their financial accounts, and you went to high school with, I just figured you would also be at the party," Zander stated.
"Your parents always stated how smart you were, and to answer your question about why you didn't know anything about us, well, that should be obvious. Your parents' didn't want to worry you or put you in any type of jeopardy and would rather you not know about all of their business ventures and such. They wanted you to grow up as a normal child, as much as they could, to the very end," Ella said with sadness in her eyes.
"Yes, they were great people but from what I've seen so far, they put extraordinary people in their 'inner circle,' and I suppose you are no different. Anyway, so how do I access my account and can I get a debit card?" Zander asked, trying not to break the good mood the two had, as he could see the thought of his parents' death made her upset.
"Ah, yes, I have plenty of options for you to choose from," as she handed him a lamented pamphlet showing plenty of different options to choose from. He particularly liked the black card with a white phoenix on it, which could only be a tribute to Tej, but felt it would be too obvious for him to take that card. In the end, he chose a basic, aquamarine card, which was his and Sophie's birthstone.
With a smile, Ella stated, "your birthstone, I like your choice. I'll just print this out, I'll be right back," and within two minutes, she was back with a freshly printed, debit card with Zander Elrod, an expiration date and on the back a security code to which she asked him to sign above, which Zander happily obliged.
"Now, because you are only 16, you have access to only your personal account, which you are free to use at anytime. I'm sure Attorney Frankfurt informed you about your account and told you not to splurge, but there's nothing wrong with spending a little bit on yourself. I'm sure you'll need a suit, food expenses, etc," Ella stated. "What did Attorney Frankfurt tell you about your personal account, if you don't mind me asking?"
"He indeed told me not to splurg and told me that I should probably have around,' Zander looked both around and whispered, "fifty thousand dollars,"
With the biggest smile he had seen yet, Zander saw Ella turn her computer screen around, to which Zander saw the figure, "$2,050,000," and his jaw almost dropped.
"I recommend you transfer some of this money to a higher interest savings account, which I can setup for you right now. I see the shocked look on your face, but your parent's life insurance company made it their top priority to pay out your parents, as your parents' had paid for life insurance for several people in their lives. Orphans, people they had rescued with pure hearts and well, if I'm being honest, the inner circle as well," Ella said with a big smile.
Zander turned on his Eye of the Phoenix skill again and could see Ella's chi swirling a shade bit darker green then he originally met her, and knew she meant to help him and was telling the truth. "She must have also received a nice payout, but the sadness in her eyes tells me she would rather have my parents' around than the payout she received," Zander thought.
"Yes, I trust you to make those accounts for me," Zander said with a smile.
"Great, I'll leave you around $200,000 in your checking so you have plenty of money for now and we'll talk after you turn 17 and I explain in detail, your parents' accounts. I believe they listed Mr. Hart as a trusted adult to help you out with all of this, so I would talk to your Attorney tomorrow and seek his opinion," Ella said with a smile.
"Thank you so much, I can see my parents' death has affected you. I don't mean to be rude, but behind your smile every time you talked about them, or the insurance company, I could see the sadness in your eyes. All I can say is I tried to convince them to not go on that mission. I had a bad feeling about it, but you know my parents', anything they could do to help people, they would," Zander stated, and went in for a handshake.
Instead he received a nice, warm hug, from Ella who couldn't contain her happy demeanor anymore. She was only tall enough to reach into his chest, but she began crying and Zander just stood there, rubbing her back gently and let her get the pain out.
"They were far too young to go, they were the best people I've ever met and had the pleasure of working with. It seems they've raised a wonderful son and I wish we met far later in life," Ella said while finally collecting herself.
"Here is my personal card, with my personal cell phone number, personal email and my address. If you need anything, please, please don't hesitate to reach out, ok," Ella almost demanded.
"Absolutely, and let's setup an appointment on Friday, March 31st to discuss the other financial details," Zander suggested.
"I'll put it on the books, it was great to meet you Zander, again, please call me if you need anything," she said and with that, she showed Zander to the door.
"How am I supposed to find a traitor when it seems like all the people my parents' had in their 'inner circle,' seem to be the nicest, kind hearted people I've ever met," Zander thought.
After thinking of where he should go next, he decided to stop by the orphanage, where he met all the children and the two people who ran the place, a couple in their 40s, the Johnson family, who also beamed of green chi. Zander got the grand tour and to no surprise, the last time they saw Zander was when he turned one. They explained how the orphans there were often adopted and sent to the apartment's, with their new foster parents, his parents owned. If the foster parents did not have a home suitable to adopt the child or children, they would sell their house, keep the money and move into the apartments. Any extra cost was covered by Zander's parents.
Zander noticed there weren't many children at the orphanage, which according to the Johnsons' was because of the amazing program his parents had setup to get potential foster parents to adopt the children. The orphans each had their own rooms, which had a personal bathroom and shower. The Johnsons' took great care of them, and they had a swimming pool, park, and all the toys kids could ask for. Zander noticed there was one older child, probably around 15, and asked why he hadn't been adopted yet.
"He's always wanted to stay here with us. He makes all the new orphans feel at home and welcomes them in and makes them feel comfortable," Mrs. Johnson explained.
Zander turned on his eyes of the phoenix and noticed a very, very faint golden aura over a green aura forming from the young man, to which made Zintan say, "must be a great kid, you should go formally introduce yourself and thank the young man," and with that Zander asked if he could meet him.
Mrs. Johnson, whose aura was also dark green, like her husbands, went over to the boy and asked him to follow her out back, as Zander insisted they went somewhere private.
Zander, from some reason, felt nervous meeting this boy, realizing this boy had to have helped hundreds, if not thousands, of orphans to have a faint golden aura.
Mrs. Johnson led the boy out there, who also seemed nervous and quite shy, to which Mrs. Johnson joked, "I don't think I've ever seen you so quiet Jackson," and with that she introduced Jackson to Zander for him.
Starstruck, Jackson stared at Zander in awe as if he was looking at some sort of celebrity.
"Relax Jackson, my name is Zander and I'm just here to say hi and meet all the great people my parents have running their businesses, charities, etc. Mr. And Mrs. Johnson said you never accepted an adoption, even to a very wealthy family, because you wanted to look out for the other orphans. I'd say that's one of the most admirable things I've ever heard of, and I wanted to meet you," Zander said in a calm, polite tone.
"It's nice to meet you sir," Jackson said and Zander corrected him, "I'm only a year older than you, no need for you to call me sir, unless you think I'm that old," Zander said with a laugh, which made Jackson finally relax.
"Ok, so why did you want to meet me? I'm nothing special, I'm just an orphan who never even knew his parents because they left me here right after leaving the hospital with me. I've been here ever since, and after how great the Johnsons' have been to me, I've always thought of them as my parents and all of the other orphans as my brother and sisters. It just feels wrong to leave, plus school is close and I can look after the other orphans," Jackson said with a big smile.
"That's great, I think you should form your own path in life, that's something my parents' always told me to do," Zander said with a sad smile.
"I'm really sorry about your parents', they often visited here and always made us feel so loved. If they didn't have Mr and Mrs Johnson running the place, I don't know where any of us would be and especially with how many are housed and adopted, I can't even imagine how you feel right now," Jackson said politely.
"I appreciate that, but my parents' passed doing what they loved, and had they not taken some dangerous missions, they wouldn't have been able to give you all these great brothers and sisters," Zander said, with a smile.
Zander was finally starting to understand why his parents couldn't tell him no when their mission was called and asked. Seeing all the happy children, the Johnsons and especially Jackson, he couldn't help but smile.
"Do you have a cell phone Jackson?" Zander asked.
"No, I don't. I give my allowance to the other kids in case they're adopted or they need a new toy or something," Jackson stated.
"I'll be right back, and keep this a secret," Zander said with a wink.
Zander teleported to the nearest cell phone facility, and bought the newest and best cell phone on the market, which he also had, the "Harmonia Shark 34," to which the woman behind the counter was surprised he paid in full and put under the name Jackson Johnson.
He quickly teleported to the bank and took out $500, which was the daily limit, and walked in the bank and asked Ella if he could take out another $1500 for the orphanage, and without any questions, even though she knew the orphanage got a great budget every month, she couldn't help but see the genuine happiness in Zander. He quickly thanked her and teleported back to Jackson, who was still sitting out back.
"Woah, you scared me," Jackson said with a laugh.
"Er, sorry about that, Zander said, do you think you could go ask Mr and Mrs. Johnson to come out back with us for a moment, I want to make sure something is ok with them before I go."
With that, Jackson agreed and Mr. And Mrs. Johnson walked out back. He handed them the bag and asked if it would be ok if he gave these items to Jackson as a thank you for all he's done.
"Zander, we can't accept these things, but if Jackson would like them we'd be happy to let him have them. He's very selfless, but we already receive all the funds we need from your parents' foundation," the Johnsons stated.
"Jackson, this is my gift to you, for all 15 of your birthdays I missed. Please accept them. I've programmed my number into it and if you ever want to give me a call, or go out and see the city with me, just text or give me a call," Zander said while practically forcing the bag into Jackson's hands.
Jackson's eyes lit up at the cell phone, which Zander had put in one of the top cases, with a phoenix logo on the back of it. "Is this the Harmonia Shark 34?!?! This is too much, I can't accept this," Jackson said.
Zander pulled out his phone, which had the same case, and said, "it's not like I need two, and besides, they gave me a free line for adding another line to my plan," Zander said. "Take it, and before you tell me no about the envelope, you have to promise me to keep it for yourself and not give it to the kids. You already give your allowance away, this is for you," Zander said with an intense stare.
Mr. And Mrs. Johnson were nearly in tears as they saw Jackson's eyes light up as his phone turned on, and then he grabbed the envelope and saw the $2000 in cash and was literally speechless."
Mr. And Mrs. Johnson, I hope this is ok, but from everything I've learned from talking to Jackson, he's very selfless and doesn't take anything for himself. I want to make my own path in life, but my parents' taught me to do right by those who do right by the Kingdom of Solace.
Jackson texted Zander, "thank you so much, I'll keep in touch, I promise," and with that, Zander was off, saying goodbye to the kids.
Zander looked down at his watch and saw it was only 3 pm, which was around the time Cyrus and Sophie would be getting out of school.
He asked Mr. and Mrs. Johnson where the people who ran the apartments were, and they stated, "you're looking at them," which made Zander quite happy.
"You not only see the orphanage but ensure all the parents' raise the children correctly and are taken care of at the apartment complex, that's amazing," Zander stated.
"Yes, we have our two biological children working there, Zach and Kyle, and they do routine checks and interviews with the parents until they're sure that the parents' are taking great care of the child. It's been years since we've had an incident with any of the children having problems, but the last time there was, the parents' were thrown in jail and the child was given a new family after coming back here for a bit," the Johnson's explained.
"That's amazing, I'll have to visit there another day, thank you for all you do I won't be a stranger. I'll stop by from time to time and try to get Jackson to come out with Cyrus and myself sometime, he could use the extra friends would you agree," Zander asked.
The Johnson's agreed and Zander texted Jackson, "make sure not to mention the whole teleporting thing please," to which Jackson replied, "Absolutely, talk to you soon."
Zander quickly teleported to the apartments, simply walked into the front desk, cast eye of the Phoenix, and could see the two men, Zach and Kyle, behind the desk, had green chi auras, which meant he had one more stop for the day.
He needed to go to the hospital his Mother worked at.