Alex's POV
The magical compass in my pocket started spinning wildly, nearly burning through my jeans.
I stumbled backward, bumping into a locker as waves of old power crashed over me like ocean waves. My carefully made disguise spell flickered for a moment, and I had to grip the wall to keep from falling over. What kind of power was this strong?
"You okay, dude?" asked a student walking past.
"Yeah, just... tired," I managed, faking a smile while my heart hammered against my ribs.
But I wasn't okay. The Phoenix Detector my father had given me was going crazy, which meant only one thing: the famous Phoenix Mage was somewhere in this school. Right now. Close enough to make the old compass nearly explode.
I pulled out my phone and pretended to check texts while actually trying to calm my racing pulse. Prince Alexander of Aethermoor was meant to be calm and collected. Prince Alexander was meant to be the best tracker in the kingdom. Prince Alexander was definitely not meant to nearly faint in a high school hallway because of some magical energy.
But Alex Rivera, regular transfer student, could be swamped. Alex Rivera could be confused and scared. And right now, being Alex Rivera felt a lot more honest than being a prince.
I'd been looking for the Phoenix Mage for three months. My father, King Aldric, had sent me to the human world with one mission: find the girl who would either save or destroy all magical lands. The prophecy was clear - she would be young, powerful, and totally unaware of her true nature. She would be hidden among ordinary magic users, her power dormant until the right time.
What the prophecy didn't say was how terrifying it would be to actually feel that power up close.
The compass in my pocket was still warm, but the spinning had slowed down. Whatever had caused it was moving away. I pushed off from the wall and tried to look casual as I scanned the hallway for anyone who might be radiating old magic.
A group of laughing girls walked past - nothing. Two boys fighting about homework - nothing. A janitor cleaning the floor - definitely nothing.
Then I saw her.
A girl with dark hair was walking away from me, her shoulders hunched like she was trying to make herself unnoticeable. She was moving fast, almost running, and students were stepping out of her way. But it wasn't fear that made them move - it was something else. Curiosity? Pity?
As she turned the corner, I caught a glimpse of her face. She looked like she'd been crying.
The compass gave another sharp beat.
My breath caught in my throat. Could it be her? The girl who looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders?
I followed her at a distance, trying to look like I was just going to class. She went straight to the cafeteria and sat at an empty table in the corner, totally alone. Students at other tables kept looking at her and whispering.
This wasn't just any lonely kid. This was someone people were talking about. Someone who had a story.
I grabbed a lunch tray and got in line, listening to the talks around me.
"...can't believe she showed up here..."
"...heard she was kicked out of Starfall Academy..."
"...my sister said she failed her Assessment in front of everyone..." Starfall Academy. That was the top magical school in this area. If this girl had been kicked out of there, it meant she'd had powerful magic once. Magic that was now gone.
Or magic that was hidden.
I paid for my food and walked over to her table. She looked up when my shadow fell across her tray, and I saw pain in her eyes that made my chest hurt. This wasn't the face of someone who was evil or scary. This was the face of someone who was hurting.
"This seat taken?" I asked.
She looked surprised that anyone would want to sit with her. "No, but you probably don't want to sit here."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm Maya Chen. The girl everyone's talking about. The failure from Starfall Academy."
Maya Chen. The name didn't ring any bells, but as I sat down, the compass in my pocket grew warmer. She was definitely the source of the amazing energy I'd felt.
"I'm Alex Rivera. And I don't care what anyone says about you."
It was true. Looking at her sad, defeated face, I realized I didn't care what she'd done or what had happened to her. I just wanted to help her feel less alone.
"You're new too, right?" she asked. "I haven't seen you around."
"Just moved here today, actually. Same as you."
"From where?"
I paused. I couldn't tell her about Aethermoor. I couldn't tell her I was a prince on a mission to find a famous mage. "A school far away. You probably haven't heard of it."
That's when Marcus and his gang showed up. I'd been warned about bullies like him - boys who used their strength to make others feel small. In Aethermoor, we had a name for people like that: cowards.
Marcus started abusing Maya, calling her a liar and a cheat. I watched her shrink back in her chair, and something inside me snapped. This girl - this possibly world-changing, incredibly powerful girl - was being bullied by some nobody who couldn't even sense the magic coming from her.
I stood up, letting just a tiny bit of my royal training show through. "Then maybe you should leave."
Marcus tried to intimidate me, but I'd been dealing with real threats since I was five years old. A high school bully was nothing compared to the shadow demons that guarded our kingdom's limits.
I let a small pulse of my power escape - not enough to hurt anyone, but enough to make Marcus understand he was out of his league. He backed down, as I knew he would.
When Maya asked what I'd done, I almost told her the truth. I almost talked about magic and kingdoms and prophecies. But then I looked at her face and realized she wasn't ready for that yet. She was barely holding herself together as it was.
"Your magic isn't weak," I said instead. "It's just... sleeping."
Her eyes went wide. "What did you mean by that?"
"I mean that someone has been lying to you about what happened during your Assessment. Your powers didn't fail, Maya. They were taken from you."
It was a guess, but as soon as I said it, I knew I was right. The compass in my pocket was nearly vibrating now, responding to her emotional state. Her magic was there - I could feel it like a storm trapped in a bottle. Someone had put walls around it, locked it away.
But who? And why?
"Meet me after school by the old oak tree behind the building," I said. "There are things you need to know about what really happened to you. And Maya? You're in more danger than you know. The people who took your magic aren't done with you yet."
I left her sitting there, my mind running. I'd found the Phoenix Mage, but she didn't know what she was. Someone had knowingly weakened her and made her doubt herself. Someone had sent her to this school, away from everyone who might help her.
This wasn't just about finding a powerful mage anymore. This was about saving a girl who was being hunted by people she trusted.
I was halfway to my next class when my phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number: "Stay away from the Chen girl, Prince. Your father's life depends on it."
My blood turned to ice. Nobody in the human world knew who I really was. Nobody knew about my father or my kingdom.
Which meant whoever sent this message was from Aethermoor.
Someone in my own kingdom was working against me. Someone had threatened my father to keep me away from Maya.
But the worst part wasn't the threat. The worst part was the realization that if enemies from my world were involved, then Maya's position was even more dangerous than I'd thought.
And I might have just made it worse by showing myself to her.
I looked back toward the cafeteria, where Maya was probably still sitting alone, thinking if she could trust me.
The truth was, I wasn't sure she could. Because I was starting to understand that I didn't know who I could trust either.