Zander quickly texted Sophie, "How was your day at school babe? Sorry, I've been out meeting my parents' inner circle, it's been an amazing day honestly."
He then texted Cyrus, "We'll get the suits tomorrow bro, I know I keep pushing back buying suits, but I have one more stop I have to make tonight."
Cyrus texted back first, "all good bro, I'm meeting Claire for dinner, she wants to watch me train afterwards. You up for a spar or two?"
Zander texted back with a big grin, "You know I'm not going to go easy on you just because your girlfriend is there, :)."
Cyrus texted him back, "I wouldn't expect you too, does seven work?"
Zander replied, "see you at my place at 7.
Right as he walked up to the hospital, Sophie texted him, "Sorry babe, it's been such a busy day. I had so much work to catch up and everyone was sad Claire and I were leaving. Plus Claire kept going on and on about Cyrus, which I happily listened to because she's genuinely happy. Do you want to do anything tonight or are you too busy? My mom's going out with her friends and my dad's working late."
Zander had a huge smile on his face until he realized, "Sophie's dad works at the hospital as a surgeon, that means I might run into him, maybe I should wait until tomorrow," to which Zintan responded, "No, you have to go in, can't you sense it?"
Zander focused for a second and could definitely sense something was off when he walked into the hospital lobby. He texted back Sophie, "I'll pick you up at 6:30 if that's ok? You staying the night, heart Zander," and he clicked send and asked the lobby if he could please meet whomever was in charge of the hospital on behalf of the Elrods'.
"I'm sorry, but not anyone can walk in and meet that person, name and identification please," the woman at the reception desk responded in a very polite manner.
Zander took out his id and handed it over.
"Oh dear I am so sorry and I am so sorry for your loss Zander, let me call Mr. Erikkson now and see if he's available, he should be he doesn't usually leave until 6," the woman explained.
Zander waited for a few moments before she responded, "He's willing to meet you in his office, on the top floor, in 30 minutes, in the meantime, if you'd like to walk around and meet some of the staff, I'm sure they'd be happy to see you," the woman exclaimed.
"Sure, that would be great, can you show me where my Mom's old office was," Zander asked.
"Certainly, follow me," the woman explained, walking over to the elevator and using a key, turned it in the elevator and went to a private floor."
When the doors opened, Zander couldn't believe how beautiful it was. He asked the woman how he was supposed to get to the top floor, to which she handed him the key.
"I think the heir of the hospital should have one of these, this will give you access to all floors, including the top floor, where Mr. Erikkson will meet you. Please don't be late, he hates when people are late," the woman explained and was off.
"Can you please use the key to let me return to reception, please," she asked embarrassingly. "Certainly," and with that she was off.
Zander walked the floor until he saw two offices, both with the words "Head Surgeon," over it, one having the name, "Doctor Grace," and the other, although clearly unused but well kept, "Doctor and Owner Savannah Elrod," to which he smiled.
As he walked toward her office, Doctor Grace had walked out of his office and said, "oh, hello, we're not used to having visitors up here, who do I have the pleasure of meeting? You must be Zander, not many other people would be walking toward the late Doctor's office so happily."
Surprised at his kindness, Zander immediately used Eye of the Phoenix, as he was sure he found his culprit, but to his surprise, Doctor Grace's aura swirled a beautiful dark green."
"Yes, I am Zander and who do I have the pleasure of meeting," Zander said with a bow.
"No need to bow to me young man, the pleasure is all mine. I am very sorry for your loss, your Mother well, your Mother was certainly one of a kind and trusted me enough to become a head surgeon. She was actually the one who trained me, before her paternity leave," Doctor Grace said with a smile.
Zander certainly didn't want to give away the fact that he was Sophie's boyfriend, although with how happy Doctor Grace was to see him, he did consider revealing it but it didn't feel right.
"That's amazing. What was she like before she had me," Zander asked.
"Oh, I could go on for hours about that Zander. She was kind, very kind. As was your Father. She believed in me so much that they actually bought the restaurant my wife runs and is a head chef at on Main street, the 'House of Grace,' have you heard of it?" Doctor Grace asked.
Thinking for a second, Zander did remember his parents talking about how they were going out for a date at that restaurant and they had brought him his own food when he was much younger, and he thoroughly enjoyed it.
"I do, and I know my parents would go on dates there. I remember the food was delicious," Zander said with a polite smile.
"Yes they did, they were great friends of ours, although it was more of a professional friendship, as your Mother liked to keep work and family separate, although she did make exceptions. She invited my wife and I over for dinner a few times before she became pregnant with you. I remember the day she told us she was pregnant, we all couldn't believe it. It was truly a miracle and she truly glowed with a certain confidence and radiance when she was carrying you. She also worked just as hard as she always did, which was concerning for all of us but, what was even more surprising was her decision to retire," Doctor Grace explained.
"How come she didn't leave you in charge, if you don't mind me asking," Zander asked.
"She did, actually, but I turned it down because my wife and I were also expecting a daughter at the time. She went with Doctor Erikkson as a second choice, as he had also been a great surgeon and a very nice man. He's been acting strange though, over the last two or three years. He sticks to himself and only comes out for big surgeries these days. Anyway that's not your worry, it was nice to meet you but I'm off to surgery now," Doctor Grace said and was off.
Zander checked his phone and realized he had 3 minutes to get to the top floor, so he rushed over to the elevator and turned the key, revealing the top floor and the floor he was currently on. He clicked the top floor, and as he entered, he activated Eye of the Phoenix, and that's when he saw it.
Mr. Erikkson turned to greet him, but Zander took a step back as he was swirling with black chi.
"Is there something wrong, Zander, you look like you saw a ghost or something is all right?" Doctor Erikkson asked.
"Switch with me," Zander asked Zintan and Zintan's eyes now glowed Golden, something Mr. Erikkson would not have noticed.
"No, sorry, I wasn't expecting to come out of the elevator to your office directly," Zintan said with a smile.
"Oh, yes, that's something my receptionist should have informed you about when she brought you up here. Her and I are the only ones with keys, you see," Doctor Erikkson said.
"It's not a big deal, she seemed rather busy and she let me off and was down quickly," Zintan lied.
"So what brings you to meet me, Zander? I've never seen you in the hospital before so I was wondering what made you decide to come," Doctor Erikkson said with an evil stare, his eyes so black it even threw Zintan off.
"Ping. Quest completed, you have discovered the thief among your parents' inner circle. Reward. 300 experience points. 325/400 experience points. New quest received. Survive. Reward, 575 experience points. Failure: death," and with that Zintan switched with Zander.
Zander immediately answered, "I've met all of my parents' inner circle today, it seems they were all very close. Did you happen to be at my first birthday?" Zander asked.
"No, unfortunately, I was not your parents first choice to take over for them, which is a shame because I've always been a much better surgeon than that incompetent Doctor Grace," Doctor Eriksson said with hate in his voice.
Rage filled inside Zander, not only had he just insulted Doctor Grace, the Father of her girlfriend, and someone who just greeted him quite warmly and was very friendly. To hear his parents' name slandered in a passive-aggressive manner just set something off in him.
"Oh, so you decided stealing and pocketing for yourself would be a much more honorable thing to do as you said, the best surgeon in the hospital," Zander said with a polite smile, doing his best to hide his rage.
"Hahahahaha," the Doctor laughed, "and what makes a young boy such as yourself so confident I'm a thief? You don't have mommy and daddy to back you up anymore so I suppose I could just force you to sign over the hospital to me."
"I'd never do such a thing, what the heck are you talking about," and as Zander said this, he was glad he still had eye of the phoenix active and he heard the Doctor uttering some magic he had never heard before, so he cast invisibility on himself, and jumped and to his surprise, was able to cling to the ceiling with the strength of his nails.
A dark spell shot out very quickly, like a whip, which Zander deduced was meant to tie him up and incapacitate him.
"Oooooh Zander, I know you're in here, you think a measly invisibility spell can hide you," the doctor taunted.
Thankfully due to his phoenix eyes, he had about a second delay to move before a different type of spell destroyed the ceiling, causing the alarms to go off in the hospital.
"Everyone, follow protocol and lock down each floor. Limit all elevator movement to keyholders only. Patients, do not distress, our finest are here to protect you."
Zander had charged up his fire and ice spells around each of his arms, just like in Will of the Warrior, and without hesitation, he cast his ice to impale the doctor, but this time he shot four just to ensure he wouldn't be moving.
"You thought because you could use dark magic I would be afraid?" Zander taunted.
With blood pouring out of his arms and legs, the Doctor simply laughed and spat at Zander.
"What are you going to do, prove I attacked you and how are you going to prove I'm stealing," the doctor laughed.
With his eye of the phoenix, he could see through the safe in the back of the room, which had cash, paperwork, which he could only presume were illegal documents as well as gold and silver stashed in it.
Zander shot a lightning bolt over to the safe, instantly opening it. Walking over, he cast invisibility on himself, to not leave finger prints on the documents and placed them spread out over his desk.
Zander could hear the police coming in and he shouted out of the top floor window, as loud as he could, "he's up here, I have him under control. Be careful, he can use dark magic," Zander shouted.
Within minutes, the police and Doctor Grace were in Dr. Erikkson's office. Zander had healed his injuries after he tied him up using ice magic, completely freezing his hands so he couldn't move.
"Amazing," Doctor Grace thought. "Not only did he survive a dark magic attack but he was able to subdue him without injuring him."
"As you can see officers, he has been stealing from my parents' foundation. He was foolish enough to leave the paperwork out and I was able to open the safe. I think sending him to a prison in SilverCrest that specializes in magical criminals would be best. For the time being, I immediately give control over this hospital to Doctor Grace, so Doctor, if you could please inform the staff, I would appreciate it. I will have my lawyer drop off the paperwork at your house tomorrow, if that's ok with you?" Zander ordered.
Before the police could interject, as some of them laughed at the thought of a teenager ordering everyone around, Doctor Grace calmly bowed and stated, "Yes Mr. Elrod, I would be much obliged to take over as head of this beautiful hospital. I'm ashamed I didn't know this sooner," Doctor grace said as Zander tossed him his key.
"Take this, give the receptionist this back for me and tell her I directly asked you to create one for you and one for me. Also, please have the staff move your office up here," Zander smiled.
"Certainly," and Doctor Grace was off.
With Doctor Grace gone, Zander insisted he transported the criminal to SilverCrest's maximum security prison for the Magical abusers. The police chief asked his men to leave, leaving just the three of them in there.
After they had left, the chief took off his cap, "Zander, I haven't seen you since your first birthday but my you have grown into a wonderful young man. I trust you with the criminal. I'll wait here."
With that Zander teleported Dr. Erikkson to the SilverCrest prison, explained the situation, and someone smiled and said, "Absolutely Mr. Elrod, it was nice to meet you, he will be put in Maximum security."
Zander cast his eye of the phoenix and saw the people all had green auras, agreed and watched them teleport him away to the basement of the facility, where he would remain until trial.
Zander quickly teleported back, thanked the chief, and realized it was 7:30 and he had 10 missed calls and 20 texts.
After scrolling through all of them, he told Cyrus just to let himself in, as Cyrus knew the passcode, and to pick up Sophie and explain he'd be there soon.
After sorting everything out with the staff, Doctor Grace and the police, Doctor Grace thanked him and Zander walked out of the hospital, a good block away, and teleported outside his house.
When he walked in, Sophie, Cyrus and Claire were waiting for him when his system pinged, "Congratulations, quest complete. Survive. 575 Experience granted. Congratulations, you are now level 4, 500/500 experience, congratulations you are now level 5. You will undergo your first evolution," and the three of the teenagers heard Zander say "no, not now," and Zander immediately dropped to the floor, his muscles breaking, his veins bulging and Cyrus and Claire stood stunned as Sophie immediately went to his side.
"Zander, you promised me you wouldn't die, what did you do this time? Cyrus, Claire get over here and start praying for him," as Sophie kept hold of his hand and watched Zander go through even more pain than he did the first time.
Zander was fully conscious and could feel every fiber of his being torn apart and being rebuilt, piece by piece. His bones were breaking and rebuilding, his head was pounding and after about 10 minutes of suffering, he uttered the words "cool flames," as he burst into flames and laid naked, unconscious in a pile of ashes.
Sophie went to cover him with a blanket until she noticed a pair of Golden Wings coming from Zanders' back that were emitting a faint white glow from them. She quickly covered him with the blanket and ordered Cyrus and Claire to get ice, ice packs, whatever they could get to cool Zander down. He was burning up when she felt his forehead.
Before the blanket covered him, she blushed a deep red as she saw him naked, but noticed his sneakers had burned off and his feet were small talons. She was glad only she noticed this detail.
"Congratulations, your evolution was a success. You are now an infant phoenix. level 5. Rank: Infant Phoenix, Strength 7, mana 7, endurance, 7, agility 7, stamina, 7, 150/150 health, 200/200 energy. As a phoenix, you will not consume energy when using certain skills or to restore your health. You are now able to heal injuries using your health. New skill tab opened: Chosen-one skills. New skill acquired: protective barrier, cost, 20 energy. Cast a protective barrier that prevents all magical attacks from penetrating the barrier. Duration, 30 seconds. New skill acquired, magical wall. This wall applies to all elements of your magic. Cost, 5 energy. Cast a temporary wall to block all incoming attacks. New skill acquired, partial transformation, you are able to transform parts of your body at will."
Claire and Cyrus had just returned with ice packs and ice, to which Zander gladly accepted and put over his head and body, "thanks guys,"
Cyrus said, "Bro, what did you mean by 'no, not again?' We heard you say it before you dropped on the floor in agony and Sophie immediately ran over there like this wasn't the first time. Why didn't you tell me something like this has happened before? You know I would have helped out in any way I could."
Claire stood there, clinging onto Cyrus and said, "Zander, not to be rude, and I don't really know how to say this but, uh, you have wings."
Zander finally noticed the wings on his back, tucked the blanket around like a towel and also noticed his feet felt different. He gave them a few waves and he started to move up a little bit but quickly dropped back to his feet and quickly thought, "please retract and please let me feet go back to normal," and he heard a ping "Partial transformation deactivated. Partial transformation was a success. You also managed to fly on your first attempt, reward, 100 experience. 100/600 experience. Quest received: Learn to fly. Reward, 100 experience."
Zander quickly teleported to his room, threw on clothes and teleported back to the room, during which Sophie reassured them he'd be right back.
When Zander returned, he said, "well, I guess the cat is out of the bag as they say, I guess I have some explaining to do. Are you all staying the night?"
Cyrus was the first to respond, "You can't really tell us no at this point, you scared us all when you weren't here at 7, you're always on time," Cyrus said.
Sophie ran up to Zander and excused her and Zander for a moment and took him into the other room where she, with tears in her eyes, gave him a very passionate kiss and said, "I was certain I lost you this time, Zander, I don't know how else to say this, but, well," and before she could speak Zander gave her another kiss, and said, "I love you Sophie, thank you so much for being by my side both times I burst into flames," to which Sophie gave him a polite nudge, kissed him back, and said "I guess that's what I get for hesitating, but that's what I was going to tell you, I love you Zander. I don't know what I'd do without you," Sophie said with a smile.
They walked back into the room to Claire in Cyrus's arms, staring at him with lovestruck eyes and giving him several kisses and when Zander and Sophie returned Zander said, "I guess we should head to the guest room, I have a lot to explain."