ZACHARY'S POV:

I couldn't believe that of all places, it just had to be at school that I ran across her. I haven't seen her in over four years and if I was being honest, I totally missed our time together but then again, she has grown up to be quite the looker.

I hadn't recognized her at first as I walked down the hallway but it was those mesmerizing emerald green eyes of hers that jolted my memory. She had just stood there unshaking even as I stood before her. It had taken her seconds to realize this before she started blabbing, she was definitely the same Phoebe.

"Zach, why are you smiling?" Elaine's voice jolted me out of my head and back to reality.

"Mmmh? What  do you mean?" I asked trying to put up my most impassive expression. We were back at home after school and I and my younger sister, Elaine Ellicott were having dinner on our own as we often did.

"You had this smile on your face, what's it about?" she gestured.

I shrugged and frowned. "Nothing. Just uh sth that went down with Xavier." I said.

She studied me for a while and when she decided that everything was all good, she went back to eating her meal.

"Zach, it almost slipped my mind but um... I got a new partner." she said and I stopped half-way of lifting my fork to my mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me you wanted another partner?" I asked her taking a napkin and dabbing at the sides of my mouth.

She shrugged. "I didn't want you to get involved. I know you think that apart from Michaela and Alvina, I have very poor choice of friends and partners, but am asking you to give me a chance just this once." she pleaded.

I shut my eyes and balled up my fists. People in general weren't exactly thrilled with working with Royals. Us Royals had come to be over some five decades ago. When abilities had first come to be, there was no order. People lived in fear and terror especially those who weren't 'gifted'.

At the time, my grandfather James Ellicott was a scientist as well as  owner of J.E.D labs, the biggest laboratory across the nation. After the ruckus, he had discovered he had been gifted by whatever happened and with this realization, he formed a new team to research, experiment and understand how these abilities worked and how they only affected certain people.

It was discovered that one's DNA played a major role and in further research, had discovered that some DNAs were stronger than the others. My grandfather didn't stop here. With the aid of his mechanical engineers and his advanced newly found intelligence, he was able to come up with new inventions and technology capable of harming and containing these people with abilities. Using these new tools of his, he tracked down as much as possible, contained them and carried out experiments. His first experiments were carried out on criminals who were 'enabled' while the other ones he carried out on high society members and volunteers who were also 'enabled'.

The result of his experiments proved his early theory that people with a certain kind of DNA had more advanced abilities compared to other DNA. He discovered he was one of the special people with the certain DNA but realizing that it couldn't just be him, he had searched for others like himself across the nation and indeed found six other families.

These six families plus ours had come into an understanding and established this class known as 'The Royals' devoted to re-organizing the nation and re-establishing order and equity. It had been difficult at first, but with the support of the "normal" government, some of the citizens and other foreign nations, they had achieved this goal and made our world a better place to be.

But despite all this, some people are still prejudiced against the Royals and see our cause as a means for our own luxury and thus, tend to clash with us. Some of us have been able to hold up and gain our own respect and regard among the normal and enabled alike while the rest of us just got by and somehow still held our heads high up, Elaine belonged to the latter.

My baby sister had never been particularly lucky with people. She's had her own share of heartbreaks and traumas despite being young and sheltered all her life. At 10, her favorite pet fish passed away; at 11, she got her braces and was ridiculed at school; at 12, she was said to be too dependent on me and craved her own independence. I let her have it and it didn't turn out well. At 13, she had witnessed a murder and was shaken up quite badly; at 14, she had gotten herself who she thought was a friend and partner but turned out to be a backstabber and someone intent on getting revenge over a matter so trifling. She had been hospitalized two weeks after an incident happened where the girl sabotaged her bicycle and she had survived narrowly thanks to her teleportation which she was still developing at the time, and had been hurt badly. The girl and her family were punished severely but that didn't quite pacify any of our family members especially myself.

At 15, she was patching herself up and moving on but was set up and slandered for being rambunctious, debauchery and churlish. Our family had sued all the papers that published that news and they've been shut down ever since, but that did little or nothing to mend Elaine's spirits. At 16, she somehow managed to experience her major love story but it ended tragically. Now at 17, she has been working on her own ever since 14 and trying to survive. She is quite the fighter now, isn't she?

Despite that, I'll always protect her. Am not her elder brother for no reason. This time, I wanted to do my job well.

"Who is she?" I asked as quietly as I could so as not to scare her.

She sighed in what I believed to be relief. Perhaps, my reaction was better than she hoped for.

"Her name is Phoebe Abigail Patterson." My eyes flew open at the name, Elaine continued " She is a 'normal'. I met her for the first time today but have researched on her for weeks ever since I realized she 'd be attending Pris Tine. She is... super model beautiful and slender though I don't think I'd ever tell her that. She um... is nerdy but surprisingly very good at defense. I love her eyes the most. They are sincere, stand out and draws you to her. I hope to watch her more this week." Elaine bit on her lower lip. A habit of hers whenever she is nervous. She shut her eyes tight as she anxiously awaited my final verdict.

"She is fine." I answered and Elaine opened an eye, then the other. She seemed to be in denial

"Did you... did you just say its fine?" she asked

I nodded as I chewed on my meal. " That went smoother than I thought." Elaine muttered. "Thank you but don't say anything to mom and Dad just yet."

"I'll try." I replied. She grinned.

I was deep in thought on my bed when a beep went off on the wall. I reached for a remote control on the night stand and pressing a button, my father's face appeared on a hologram like screen on the wall. I sat upright at the edge of my king-size bed.

"Zachary, I need you in my office right now." he simply said and the screen went blank. As usual, there was no urgency in his trained voice but I could tell from the slight breach, barely obvious that sth was up. I got up from my bed and headed towards my dad's home office which was located on the floor of our  mansion. His office doors were transparent but he could make them opaque with a tap on a device on his desk. And so I simply tapped on the door and he looked up from his laptop. He gestured for me to come in and I complied.

After taking a seat, Dad cleared his throat. "What I have called you here for Zachary is a matter of life and death. The fate of our universe rests in this mission" I've never heard father sound so grave before, he pushed the button on his desk and the windows went opaque.

" We found her. The one who can write fate, the one with the power of the pen." father said.

I stared at my father in disbelief. "What is that? The one who can write fate? Isn't that impossible? Isn't that just some myth? How can that even be an ability?"

"Because it's not an ability. The 'myth' of the one with the power to write fate is true. There is sth that has been withheld from the rest of the world concerning this power. Seven decades ago before my father, your grandfather, the late His majesty James began his great cause, he incidentally stumbled upon Maria Von Braun, the one with the power to write fate. At the time he met her, she was a woman of about sixty-sth years old and was living away from civilization." Father paused giving me a moment to process this information.

" She had welcomed him into her humble abode," Father continued "And shown him great hospitality. She was also very wise and spoke of a great deal of things. On father's second day with her, she had come clean to him.

"She told him that from birth, she was sort of a prophet. She heard things and would say them out loud to the hearing of others and they'd happen, and she'd write things she'd seen in her mind's eye and they'd come to past. She'd also pray for things, hope for things and bless or curse and it'd happen. Her parents had realized this and being believers had made her be wary of saying all of the things she'd heard out loud and be careful to cuss or spite. Her power over the fate of others she had kept a secret for as long as possible." he took in a deep breath and exhaled.

"Until she was found out by those who wanted power and authority for themselves. They had tried to coerce her to be on their side but she knew better and wouldn't give in and so, they tried again the hard way but she would not break. She knew she had to stay alive longer to meet my father but also knew she wouldn't if she were dead and so, she tricked. Wrote them the fate they wanted with a loop-hole in it. They let her go without proof-reading and she immediately went into hiding where she began to write the fate of the world afterwards." Father was dead-quiet after the grand revelation. We both stayed that way for a long time.

"So, what now?" I soberly asked breaking the silence. Father regarded me for a while.

"Maria Von Braun had written this world into existence against her will but provided a way out if things don't work out. I want you to understand sth about her. She simply has power to predict fate but doesn't influence it. Its me and you and the universe that play in line to fulfill her prophecies. Its as though she is the playwright and we are the cast. We don't exactly follow the exact pattern she laid down, we make improvisations but at the end, we still get her message passed across.

"Maria had given my father a description of the next fate writer after her. She hadn't specified where she'd be born, how old she'd be or which country she'd come from but just a description. She asked him to find her first for the sake of the universe." Father explained

"And now, sixty-five years later, that fate wielder spoken of has been born." he declared and my breath cut short.

"Don't get scared now. We are indeed blessed and favored because not only did she just move here, she goes to your school too. She's just a teenager at the moment with no idea whatsoever the kind of power she has." Dad paused and opened up a window on his laptop screen and clicking on sth, a clear image on a transparent imaginary screen appeared before my eyes and I gasped.

" She is young, beautiful and at the moment defenseless." Father continued probably mistaking my reaction for shock instead of what it actually is. "I want you to become her shadow. Keep your eyes on her at all times and if you notice anything unusual, bring her in."

I calmed my breathing. "Who else knows?" I asked father

"For now, just me and you. I will inform your mother and the Lockwoods tomorrow. Your mission starts now." Father declared and I gulped. I really hoped I was up for this one.

*******

The next morning at school, I decided to drop by Elaine's homeroom before going to class. I spotted Elaine alone on her seat when I drew closer and stopped at the doorway. Most students were surprised to see me around that part of school but then again, I was on a mission. I ignored the stares and the dreamy sighs I got from the girls passing by and those in the classroom. The males ignored me but gave a curt nod when I glanced their way; in acknowledgement.

The attention I was receiving soon made Elaine look up and meet my gaze. She frowned slightly before rising to her feet and striding towards me.

"What up, big bro? Fancy seeing you here. Did you forget sth, oh you never forget anything, so is it something that you need?" she asked awkwardly. I got it. My presence there at that moment was quite unusual and she wasn't particularly giddy about it.

"Just came by to see my little sis before a big day." I said casually

"Is that? Its weird but nice. Thank you I guess."

"Its fine. So, where is your class partner?" I asked subtly

"Bathroom. She must have eaten sth bad last night. I feel for the poor girl" Elaine grimaced. "Oh, here she comes"

My heart started to race but I got myself in check before turning around and almost colliding with her as she was rubbing her torso distractedly. She took a step back and mumbled 'sorry' without looking up and tried to go the other way but Elaine stopped her, thankfully.

"Hey Phoebe. Meet my big bro, Zachary Ellicott." Elaine said as Phoebe slowly turned to me and I could swear I saw her pupils dilate. She tried to speak but her words were stuck in her throat and so she shut up all together. How disappointing! I loved hearing her talk even if just blabbing.

"Well..." Elaine nudged and Phoebe awkwardly bobbed her head up and down.

"Hi." she finally said as lively as she could but I could tell she was a bundle of nerves. "Am Phoebe. Nice to meet you. Am... sorry about almost bumping into you yesterday and um... just now as well. Am Elaine's class partner and ... and... and..." she winced and shut her eyes as I pressed my lips together to suppress laughter. Elaine was already chuckling.

"And it's nice to meet you too Phoebe. All is forgiven, no grudges. Not that am the type to keep grudges but um..." Just great. I was babbling too.

"Thank you." Phoebe said in relief saving me, not that she ever needs to know that.

"You are welcome." I told her offering her a genuine smile.

"So, see you at lunch then and pretty please, do not bring Denise Demaray along" Elaine said. She waved me as both her and Phoebe went back to the class for their first lesson.

I watched them as they chatted for a while and Elaine started to laugh. I felt happy as a warm feeling grew in my belly. I was glad they were partners.

Content, I headed back to class.

A picture of Hayden Christensen as Zachary Ellicott. Please, do tell me what you think. Thank you for reading. Zachary still narrates in part B.