A/N - Okay, this chapter is a juicy one (can you tell by the title)? 😜 So, I just had to give it some extra special care, and thus the slight delay in posting. But I think you'll like it. At least I hope you do! 🤷🏽‍♀️ 

✳️ Also, don't forget, if the chapter seems really short or cuts off awkwardly, the site is not loading pages correctly. Just refresh your page, and you should see the whole chapter then. ✳️

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Previously on The Otherworlders: After returning from a mission, Farid has a tense reunion with his brother Sebastian, and they delve into unresolved conflicts. Sebastian's attempt at reconciliation is met with skepticism, at first, with Farid pushing him to attempt some personal growth and embrace a sense of accountability.

On the training field, Farid, Aidan, and Patrick discuss their recent mission, and Patrick's ties to Stephen.

The training session takes a dramatic turn when Sebastian's brash instruction style tests Patrick's patience, but Farid intervenes

Finally, Inez manages to stabs Jake during a demonstration of her sword fighting technique, or lack thereof, leading to her hasty retreat from the gym.

**********

Cameron, Ava, and Fiona are working with the katana swords when Master Achebe approaches with a cellphone in his hand. He taps Ava on the shoulder, then hands her the phone.

"It's your mother," he informs her. "She says she tried to call your phone but got voicemail, so she tried me instead. I guess it's a matter of some urgency?"

Ava rolls her eyes, "This is the third time she's called today. It's not an emergency. Trust me."

Ava takes the phone and excuses herself, going into the hallway to take the call.

Cameron and Fiona continue to work together as Fiona tries to show Cameron how to stand when using a katana sword.

"So, when you hold this kind of sword," Fiona says, "you want to make sure your wrists are straight, like this."

She demonstrates the proper stance.

"Like this?" Cameron asks playfully as he mimics her stance, but then slowly and intentionally lets his sword dip to below his waist.

"No, like this," Fiona repeats her demonstration again, and when she sees that Cameron's sword is still lilting, she tosses her sword onto the grass and goes over to correct him.

Standing right next to him, she spreads her legs and bends her knees, getting into the proper position and repeats her demonstration.

"Oh, like this?" Cameron, again, mimics her stance, but repeats his sorry technique.

"No! Ugh!" Fiona lets out an exasperated groan and moves behind Cameron, reaching around his torso and planting her hands over his, strengthening his grip.

She kicks his feet wider apart and raises his arm up to the proper level. Then once she's satisfied, she steps back to assess the position of his hands and the angle of his shoulders. "Yes. Yes, just like that." she says, throwing her hands up and exhaling in relief. "Finally!" she murmurs.

Cameron straightens, and with a chuckle, leans in close to her, his voice dropping to a whisper. With his mouth tantalizingly close to her ear, he says, "You realize I'm just giving you a hard time, right?" His voice is low, sultry, intimate, and Fiona closes her eyes as she feels his feather-light breath tickle her neck.

She swallows hard.

And when Cameron sees this, he takes a step back and with a sly smile, lifts his sword, and resumes his fighting stance.

He thrusts the katana sword forward exactly as she'd shown him earlier and says, "I actually got it the first time. But I couldn't help myself." He swings the sword in front of him in a figure eight as his mouth turns up into a wry grin. "The perpetual look of annoyance on your face is actually kinda cute."

Fiona is stunned. She blinks and stares at Cameron, for a long time, not at all amused.

When he looks back at her over his shoulder and their gazes lock, Fiona arches a brow. "You can't be serious," she says flatly.

"I sure am..." Cameron shrugs, giving her a casual smile in return.

Crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes, Fiona can't help but think What the hell is this dude up to? What game is he playing at? Because, seriously, he's starting to piss her off!

She opens her mouth to speak, but before she can say anything, Cameron interjects, "Now, I know you won't believe me and think I'm just giving you a line but..." His smirk widens. "...as much as you rock the cranky look, you're even prettier when you smile."

Fiona's brows shoot up as her anger suddenly dissipates. Did he just say prettier? Which then implies that he thinks she's pretty? Okay, well this is interesting...

Wait! No! Blinking rapidly, Fiona shakes her head, refocusing her attention. No, it's not interesting! It's not interesting at all! It's irrelevant and distracting! Focus, Fiona! FOCUS! Blue-blood, pretty boy here has player written all over him. So, stay away! Stay far away!

Fiona's lips dip into a frown. "For your final exercise," she says curtly. "I want you to make ten downward cuts with the sword, followed by ten cuts from the right, then ten from the left without pausing or changing your stance. If you can't master these transitions, you'll be demon chow in no time."

And with that, she turns on her heels and leaves.

Cameron tosses the sword from hand to hand and then calls out after her. "Got it, captain! Ten, ten, and ten! I heard you and I'm determined to make you proud!"

"Great! Awesome! Fabulous!" Fiona flings her arm up above her head and snarks back without turning around. Instead, she heads straight for her gym bag to grab a bottle of water. And then she plans to find Master Achebe, pronto, and convince him that she and Cameron are definitely done for the day.

Cameron, on the other hand, plants his sword – tip down – into the ground, and leans on it as he watches Fiona walk away. "Oh, this is gonna be fun," he murmurs to himself as his lips curl up into a self-satisfied smile.

***

Although the class had already been dismissed, Ava – having missed most of it – decides to stay behind and practice. She's deeply annoyed that her mother's repeated non-emergency "emergencies" are increasingly disrupting her training. But she's a good daughter, so she can't even entertain the thought of ignoring her mother's calls, as much as she wants to.

And while she's aware that her mom is super stressed having to take care of her dad on her own, she still resents the fact that her mother's troubles are entirely solvable if she'd only start leaning more on her brothers instead of constantly leaning on her.

Reaching for the rapier sword, Ava's gaze is drawn to the katana sword instead. The sleek, elegantly curved weapon is a work of art, with its slender, single-edged steel blade and meticulous attention to detail. It's said that a katana not only embodies the spirit of the samurai warrior, but also the soul of its maker as well. And...

Oh!

My!

Gosh!

She wants to play with it so bad!

Once Ava's certain she's completely alone, she plucks the katana from its slot in the weapons stand, and smiling, holds it before her, taking in its shape, gauging its weight, trying to get comfortable with the feel of it in her hands.

With glee, she raises the sword before her and slashes the air savagely, spinning around like a whirling dervish and grunting out "Hi-ya!" as she imagines chunks of demon flesh flying around her.

She's having such a great time she doesn't notice she's no longer alone.

"Well done. By the looks of it, you're a natural," Farid encourages.

Ava whips around at the sound of Farid's voice, and her heart skips a beat. "Oh, gods! I didn't see you there." She laughs nervously as she watches Farid scoop up his bag and saunter towards her.

He holds up his phone and says, "I should really get this thing superglued to my hand; I lose it so often." He smiles at her warmly.

Ava smiles back, but she can feel her face flushing beet red because she's so mortified to have been caught showing off her ninja-style "bad-assery."

"You know, your technique is actually quite good," Farid says, "but there's one thing that's off, and if you don't know about it, it will trip you up every time. Would you like me to show you?"

"Ah, yes please!" Ava answers, then she nods silently, trying her best to play it cool.

Farid sets his bag down and steps to her side. He nods silently to get her permission to physically show her what he's talking about and Ava nods back, giving him the go-ahead.

With that, Farid reaches out to cup his hands over hers. Then he raises the sword up in front of her by an inch. "It's a subtle thing," he says, "but it really makes a difference."

Ava turns her head to ask him a question, and with his face now mere inches away from hers, she immediately forgets what she was going to ask him.

Completely distracted by the sight of Farid's smooth caramel skin, his brown eyes – warm like brandy – his long lashes, and his soft, black hair, curled lightly at his shoulders, Ava has to catch her breath. Good gods! She sighs inwardly. He's gorgeous!

"So," Farid says, "you always want to make sure your hips are square with your shoulders before taking a swing." He glides his hands down Ava's torso until they come to rest at her waist where he gently turns her, getting her into the right position.

Ava follows Farid's lead. "Like this?" she asks as she manages to catch his gaze. She notices how breathy her voice is, and how fast her heart is pumping. She feels like she's thirteen again, in the midst of her first pre-teen crush.

She closes her eyes and wills herself to breathe. She's never felt this instantly attracted to a guy before. Ever! And now Farid is standing so close to her, that she can smell the sandalwood soap he used to wash up after practice. And between the intoxicating smell and the warmth of his touch, she swears she's going to pass out, or more likely, just melt.

"Yep. That's it." Farid says softly as he takes a step back, giving her enough room to wield her sword freely.

Immediately missing the comfort of his touch, Ava finds herself daydreaming – imagining she had the nerve to take full advantage of this rare moment alone with Farid so she could find the courage to just turn around and kiss him.

"Argh..! You're entering dhārma-yati, Ava! You have to stop thinking like this!" she mutters under her breath.

"What? What was that?" Farid asks her with a gentle laugh. "Were you talking to me?"

"Oh, no!" Eyes wide, Ava shakes her head wildly. "No, it's nothing... It's just I was... No, really. I wasn't saying anything important!"

"Okaaay..." Farid replies, confused but intrigued. He's pretty sure he heard her mumbling. Then curious, he asks her, "Do you always mutter to yourself like that when you practice? Is it some sort of ritual Shifters do to help you better concentrate?"

"Um, yeah... sure! That's it! Hmm-mmm. It's a ritual!" Ava responds eagerly, grateful for the cover of providing cultural education. "It really helps me focus," she says.

Farid shrugs, "Okay, well. Good to know. Whatever works for you." He smiles, asking, "So, do you feel comfortable with the sword?"

Ava swings the katana sword in front of her, unsteadily at first, but then she gets the hang of it. "Yeah, I think so," she says.

"Awesome!" Farid bends down to grab his gym bag. "I've gotta go, but you know, with a little more training, we'll have you slaying demons in no time." He winks at her. "I'm happy to practice with you anytime. Just let me know."

Ava smiles. More practice? Meaning more time, alone, with Farid? Yes, please!

"That would be wonderful," she says on a long sigh.

***

Inez is curled up on her bed, studying. Even though it's only nine o'clock at night, she's already in her pink plaid pajamas and baby blue bunny slippers. She's playing with the many pencils holding together the messy, haphazard bun she always makes on nights when she's ready to get some serious studying done.

She looks up when there's a knock at the door. When she opens it, she's shocked to see Jake standing before her.

Jake's eyes pop open, giving off the impression that he's just as surprised to see her standing in front of him as she is to see him standing in front of her!

"Uh... sorry to bother you so late," he blurts out. "I thought maybe I could um... maybe I could come by and borrow a book?"

"Oh, wow..." Inez murmurs, standing perfectly still, trying to figure out if this moment is real, or if she'd fallen asleep again while studying and is now having a surprising, but highly gratifying, dream.

She pinches the back of her thigh. Nope! It's real!

"Um, sure... come on in," she says as she steps aside to let Jake in.

Having not been expecting any visitors this late at night (much less, Jake!), she frantically tries to straighten up as she makes room for him. Unfortunately, her room is flooded, wall to wall, with study materials as well as a few contraband copies of People magazine.

Oh, crap!

"A book, huh?" Inez says as she stuffs papers haphazardly into any and all available drawers. "I didn't get the sense, from our previous conversation in the courtyard, that you liked reading all that much," she ventures.

"Yeah... about that..." Jake stands in the middle of Inez's room, hands shoved deep into his pockets, marveling at the outrageously long bookshelf she's put up which sits about two-thirds of the way up her walls and runs around the entire perimeter of the room.

"I think I owe you an apology," he says as he begins to walk around, perusing the various book titles on the shelf while conveniently avoiding making any eye contact with Inez whatsoever.

"For what?" she asks.

"I was... um..." Jake struggles to find the right words to say. He was about to say I was a real dick to you. I'm sorry, but instead says, "I wasn't so nice to you, back in the courtyard, when you asked me if I wanted to check out your library. Sorry about that."

"Oh, that." Inez waves the apology away, like it had been no big deal. She steps up next to him and peruses her own book titles, not knowing what else to do with herself. She shrugs. "So, reading's not really your thing. That's okay."

He shakes his head, "No, it's not that," he says, then pauses in front of the historical romance section of Inez's library, struggling with his growing discomfort.

To deflect, he pulls down a book from the shelf he has absolutely no interest in and begins to idly flip through it. "It's really not okay," he says quietly as he continues to flip pages, none of the words managing to make it into his brain. "It's just that reading is... well, it's sort of difficult for me," he finally confesses.

"Oh..." Inez replies quietly.

"Yeah," Jake continues. "The words, I mean the letters, they..." He closes the book with a stifled sigh and sets it back on the bookshelf, "Let's just say I struggle with reading a bit."

Inez tilts her head sympathetically. "Are you possibly dyslexic?" she asks.

Jake meets her gaze. "Yeah," he says after a beat. "I am. But I wasn't diagnosed until I was about twelve. Up until then, I guess I just thought I was dumb." He finally lets out that stifled sigh he'd been holding. "School was always a bit of a struggle for me, well, except for the physical part." He gives her a small smile.

Then he realizes that he's staring at Inez staring back at him and this all feels really, really weird. He doesn't normally talk about his disability... with anyone. He blushes. Whoa! Okay, this just got way too personal way too fast!

Jake clears his throat. "Anyway," he continues. "I really did want to finish that Harry Potter book you read to me while I was in the infirmary. "I just didn't..." he clears his throat again, "I didn't want you to know that I couldn't." He bows his head, then looks away.

Inez smiles warmly at him and rests a reassuring hand on his arm. "It's okay, Jake. I understand. I get it. I really do. I had trouble reading at first too. It was in class, and it wasn't until my teacher figured out that I needed glasses that things finally got better. Most Enchanteds can get their vision fixed with a spell that's a bit like laser eye surgery. But my eyes were too sensitive. I could probably have the procedure done now that I'm older, but I'm sort of used to my glasses."

"Oh, cool... cool..." Jake says, then he quickly adds, "Not that you can't see well!" He chuckles awkwardly. "But that your reading eventually got better." He looks over at her and smiles. And he looks down and notices her hand, resting on his arm, and his breath stills.

He suddenly freezes up, vowing not to move, not a bit, not even an iota, determined not to react this time so he doesn't spook her or scare her off like he did last time in the gym.

"Um..." Jake stutters. "I really did like that Harry Potter story," he says carefully. "So now I think I need to know how it all ends." He chuckles. "I thought maybe I'd go ahead and give it another go, you know? Even if it takes me all year," he cracks a bigger smile.

Inez smiles back at him, and then covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh, dear..." she whispers.

"What?" Jake's smile falters.

"Well," Inez says. "There's actually six more books in the series, so finding out how it all ends is... well, let's just say that might take you a while."

Jake laughs and then his face falls, "Oh well, in that case--"

"No! Wait a minute!" Inez exclaims. "I have an idea!" She goes over and pulls a copy of Harry Potter down from her shelf, then sits down on her bed.

Opening the book up, she pats the spot next to her, indicating that Jake should join her.

He hesitates, then after a second, slides aside a mound of papers from the bed and takes a seat.

"Okay, let's see if there's something we can do to make it easier for you," Inez says, biting her thumbnail as she flips through the pages.

"Look, Inez," Jake says, skeptically. "I doubt that you could possibly—"

"Shh!" Inez raises her finger and gently places it on Jake's lips as she pushes her glasses up her nose with her other hand, hunched over, carefully studying a particular spell.

Jake freezes, his eyes darting back and forth, not sure what he should do next. He squints. Should he just sit here with her finger pressed against his mouth while she figures this all out? Or maybe he should try to say something? As much as he really, really likes the feel of her touch, this is starting to get a bit awkward.

"A-ha!" Inez exclaims as she removes her hand from Jake's lips and levels the book on her lap. Then without saying a word, she closes her eyes.

Straightening her back, Inez passes her hand over the book, then begins to quietly chant something in Latin.

Suddenly, tiny sparks fly from her fingertips and shower down onto the book; and as they do, the letters begin to swim and swirl on the page.

Jake's eyes go wide as he watches Inez's magic in action. He's in awe. He's never seen anything like it before!

After a moment, Inez rests her hand gently on the book and the letters settle back into place.

"Oh, wow!" Jake exclaims. "What just happened?"

"Well," Inez says as she turns to him. "I cast a somewhat modified translation spell. So now, whenever you look at the book, you can manipulate the letters with your mind, using the anticipation of what the next word should be to help you comprehend what you're reading a bit better." She taps her chin then says, "Think of it like type-ahead on your phone but with much better auto-correct!" Her smile widens. "Go ahead. Give it a try!"

Jake's brows crease as he takes the book from Inez. He looks down at it and flips to a random page. Then he begins to read out loud — a bit haltingly at first, but definitely better than he'd ever read before.

"Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, Yes — yes, you're right, of course."

Jake reads the text carefully, tripping over Professor McGonagall's name, but soldiering on.

"But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?"

He stumbles over the grand wizard's name too, but determined, continues.

"She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. "Hagrid's bringing him," she says.

"You think it — wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

He looks up at Inez, beaming. "I can't believe it!" he says as Inez beams back at him.

"It worked!" Inez cheers. Still seated on the bed, she pumps her fists above her head and does a little dance of triumph. "We did it! We did it! We diiiid it!"

Jake just shakes his head and laughs at Inez's celebration. He looks at her so endearingly, it's as if he's never seen anything more lovely and delightful in his life.

On a sigh, he whispers, "Gods, you're amazing..."

"Hmmm?" Inez perks up and looks over at him, still doing her little victory dance. "What was that?"

Jake straightens, clears his throat, then clarifies, "I said...," he stammers, "...uh... well, I said... er, what you do... you know, the magic that you do... it's amazing!" He throws his hands awkwardly up in the air, as if spontaneously joining her celebration.

Then he panics and shoots up off of the bed like a rocket. He's got to get out of here -- now! -- before he does something ridiculous like confessing his undying love for her, even though he's only known her for a little over a week!

Jake swallows hard as he feels his heart thumping so incredibly hard, it feels like it's going to beat right out of his chest. "I gotta go!" he exclaims without warning and starts to back away towards the door.

Inez gets up and follows him. "Oh, okay," she replies, a little confused by his sudden need to depart. "Okay, I should warn you, though, the spell only lasts for about a week or two." She makes a sad face and adds, "Unfortunately, outside of my skills as a Seer, my Minor Magic is pretty limited. You'll probably have to come back by here or catch me after class, and I can do it again until you're done."

Not wanting to be a bother, Jake says, "Oh no. That's okay. I don't want to trouble you."

Inez scoffs and waves his concern away. "Please, it's no bother," she says. "I'm more than happy to do it."

"Okay, then," Jake replies as he holds the book up and decides to continue his escape before further embarrassing himself. "You've been really helpful! Thanks again, Inez!" he says with enthusiasm.

Scooting out the door, Jake makes it about ten feet down the hall before Inez waves after him as if seeing him off on a journey. "All right, then! It was good to see you, Jake!" she calls out. "Come by... any time!" Her voice fades as she realizes she's waving like a beauty queen.

She rolls her eyes and drops her arm to her side. Well, even though having Jake drop by her room, unannounced... late at night... while she's studying... in her pajamas... wasn't ideal; overall, his spontaneous visit wasn't a complete disaster.

And although he may not be all that into her much, not as she's into him, she feels really, really good that he opened up to her and that she was able to help him in the end.

Still feeling the thrill of Jake's visit, Inez leans against the doorjamb and sighs, deeply, savoring the moment as she watches him retreat further and further down the hall.

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A/N - Well, I hope the chapter was worth the wait! 

Honestly, I totally forgot that it was sort of critical to have all three scenes in this chapter-- the reason now I'm sure obvious to you all. 😁

And if you're wondering why I can never seem to make my promised deadlines and publish later and later as the story develops, well, like Jake I'm dyslexic too. I've found ways to cope and I never let it hold me back, but I literally have to listen to these chapters, at least fifty times, to get the flow of the writing right and catch any errors.

So, thank y'all for your patience. Feel free to send me an "Update!!!" ping any time (it's nice to know folks are eagerly awaiting the next chapter), but do know that's usually why it takes me a bit longer to publish.

Until next week!

~ Paula ❤️

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Oh! And I figured someone would ask about dhārma-yati. And although I WILL start in on that FAQ eventually, there is a historical inspiration for this one.

As you guessed, Ava is rather special within her tribe. We'll get more into that later. Just know that she's the vessel for a reincarnated god/goddess and when she turns 19, she'll have to start a life of religious service and piety -- think the Dalai Lama.

Anyway, the dhārma-yati was inspired by the Yati Dharma which is a very important aspect of the Jain religion, an ancient religion out of India. Honestly, I tried to better understand the tenets of the religion, out of curiousity, but it's a very complicated one. It's like Hinduism + Buddhism, turned up to 11!

In any event, what caught my eye were the ten virtues (or das-dharmas) that Jain monks must abide by, which are:

Supreme forgiveness

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Supreme humility

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Supreme straightforwardness

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Supreme truthfulness

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Supreme purity

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Supreme self-restraint

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Supreme penance

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Supreme renunciation

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Supreme non-possessiveness

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Supreme celibacy