(Chapter 1: https://saragawde.com/power-unsealed-chapter-1/)
It had been one week and three days since Jason had last interacted with Lyra, via an email he had sent the night he had returned home.
His nervousness had been enough to imprint the back of his phone with burnt fingerprints. It hadn’t been the first time that year that his anxiety had converted to persistent rising heat at his fingertips. He knew he should have been more careful.
In his email he had specified his identity and of course, recalled their ‘deal’.
She had emailed him a few hours after his introduction that she had in fact been put on the waitlist and assured that it might take a week for the smith family to find time to make this seal she wanted even if they had the composition and tools at hand. Apparently, she had emailed them back on when the seal would be ready and they had said that it would take a week.
So, a week on the waitlist followed by a week of waiting for the seal to be made. After that, they would go to Rome. That had been the decided plan.
It had been a week and three days since that plan jas been declared, and Jason sat by his dining table with his fingertips burning into the back of his phone, again.
She had mentioned that she would tell him a week before to book his ticket, when she would be booking her own ticket too. Jason’s eyes skimmed over the paragraph Lyra had written for the ninth time. Calling would have been so much easier and simpler for him. Quicker, less scrutinizing, and a lot less overthinking tiny words on a screen that hurt his eyes when he stared at it for too long.
What was he thinking? Jason chided himself. He was too old for this, any of this. He should have never planned this Rome trip, that too with someone he didn’t even know. He kept assuring himself that it was better than being alone, with his powers- that it was safer to have someone as a leash, but what if he was wrong? What if his powers were too much to handle for her? What if she couldn’t dissipate him? He still wanted to go with her though. He needed it.
Sure, his divorce had unsettled him, but this, seeking out new ‘opportunities’ as his uncle had described at Christmas last year when the divorce had been fifteen days fresh, was ten times worse. With coarse brown hair, newly sagging skin at his jaw line, and deep permanent wrinkles on his forehead, he was embarrassingly old. The hell was he trying to get out of this trip?
His phone vibrated, and he refocused his attention on it. “Book your ticket” Her message read, making his stomach flip.
***
Jason settled down on his seat in the airplane, apologizing still as he had pushed the two passengers who would be seated next to him for the rest of the flight. An old fussy couple. He sighed, letting out a breath. He hadn’t been able to find Lyra, and had been forced to accept that he would meet her at Rome, if not on the flight. It wasn’t important anyway, right? Jason’s hands sweat, and he rubbed them off on his jeans. No. The key here was to keep his emotions in check. If he did that, he wouldn’t lose control. He rarely lost control when he wasn’t feeling, anything.
He looked out of the window, at the grey ground down below. Jason folded his arms, leaning back into his seat and letting his head rest. “Excuse me.” He heard someone say.
At first he ignored it, but the words repeated and he instantly recognised who it was based off of the chill that sped down his spine. He opened his eyes, turning right to see Lyra in the row adjacent to him, her red hair falling down her back, slightly wavy now. She smiled easily at the people she passed to reach her seat, a handbag slung over her shoulder. She took it off, tucking the bag up onto a railing before turning around, her hands on her hips. Her ears jangled with long earrings of stacked bells. She wore a plain black t shirt and gray sweat pants, and when her blue eyes found his, she gave him a small smile and a nod before sitting down. Jason turned back to the small TV screen in front of him, his flustered self staring back at him from a dark reflection.
***
The sky had changed color from baby blue to a bruised purple by the time the plane landed. Jason was one of the last to leave as he waited to help the old couple in front of him get their luggage from the railing. They thanked him, whispering ‘good luck’ to him as if they knew the struggle he was headed into.
He found Lyra outside by the luggage clearance, her arms folded and an unreadable expression on her face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” Jason said, his hands slipping into his pockets. She shook her head. “The seal, there’s been a delay. Andrea called. She’s the head smith’s daughter. She said that the seal isn’t ready yet. It would take another day.” Lyra sighed. “It’s alright.” Jason quickly interrupted. “We can head to the hotel right now.” He had asked her which hotel she would be booking at since he hadn’t been able to find a good one. She had answered with an address, and he had booked a room right then.
Jason turned to the large transparent wall at the entrance of the airport. He could spot swaying gangly trees, and flower bushes hinting at a garden that ended where the gate to the airport began. He took a deep breath, smiling as he heard people ramble in a language he didn’t understand, he couldn’t wait to explore the city. Lyra nodded. “Yes, I could use a nap.” She said.