Jaden just smirked as she replied in the affirmative.

With that, he reached behind him, into a portal, and pulled out the sword from it. Once the portal closed, he showed it to her, allowing her to see that the blade was, in fact, real, and seemed to be very sharp.

He then held the sword above his head, before flipping it so that it was point down, like the sword of Damocles, holding it by the tip of the blade.

Then... suddenly, he let go, and the blade fell straight down, seemingly skewering him from the top of his head.

His expression, however, showed that he was completely calm, and completely unhurt.

Jaden just smiled when she clapped, before taking the blade by the hilt, and gently pulling it out of his head. Once he had, he held it up beside him, and horizontally, by his head.

He then nodded at her, snapped his fingers, and pushed the blade into his temple... the blade coming out the temple on the opposite side of his head... clean as a whistle.

"Ah?" he said.

"Whatcha think?" he asked.

"Think they'll like these?"

Jaden smirked, before pulling the sword out, and setting it down on the floor.

"Awesome." he said.

"My fans love this visceral horror stuff, without people actually getting hurt." he said.

"I tell ya, something they really tick me off with their attitudes, but to see them genuinely enjoying the show, and seeing them be entertained, makes it all worthwhile." he went on.

"Doesn't matter how 'fringe' someone's tastes may be, if you can put a smile on faces, it's a good time."

"...." Jaden was silent for a moment, before thinking about something... and then snapping his fingers, like he'd just had an idea.

"Ah!" he exclaimned.

"Tell you what." he said.

"The minimum age to enter my shows is 16." he told her. "When you're 16, I'll make sure you see my next show." he offered. "VIP pass and all." he added with a smirk.

The rest of the time went relatively quickly, with Desiree's life proceeding as normal. Marcus had been discharged from the hospital, and because of his new... DNA additions... he was being transferred to work under the Triad, as he now fell under their jurisdiction. Jaden and the two of them left on good terms, and Desiree and her father could try and move on with their lives.

And move on with their lives, they did. Jaden seemed to have drifted away from them, but Desiree still enjoyed seeing excerpts of his shows, and she could tell in subtle ways that Jaden never forgot about her completely. Small changes in his act seemed to show that, with things being more reminiscent of what made her clap and cheered her up when he was looking after her.

The years passed, and as Desiree grew, so did her mana. And even without a tutor, she was learning to control and use her mana rather efficiently, and was getting the hang of teleporting. However, she was far from perfect at it, as a particularly unintendedly potent teleport caused her to fry her hearing aids. Which did not sit well with her. So much so, she threw them against the closest wall in anger, destroying them even further. She then wrote something on a sheet of paper, and slammed a magnet to it on their fridge, before storming off somewhere else.

Marcus came home later that day, and upon seeing the note, sighed and shook his head slightly. He knew something needed to be done. Something more permanent. They couldn't keep getting her replacement hearing aids.

So... he decided to go and talk to Sydney about it. He showed her the note and told her what the issue was, and Sydney said that she would try whatever she could, but made no promises. Trying everything in her power included talking to Hollie, and Hollie said she might have a solution. So she talked to her brother, Vincent, and Vincent agreed that he knew someone that could help. So he contacted his eldest daughter, Nakia, and explained the situation.

Nakia then talked to the person that was at the core of all this, and a date was arranged for him to make his way to see Desiree... even though this would be a surprise to Desiree.

Sure enough, on that day, while Desiree was in her room, Marcus opened the door, got her attention, and made sure she was looking right at him.

Someone's here to see you. he signed to her, having learned the language to make communicating with his daughter easier. Mind if they come in? he asked.

Desiree was extremely confused, understandably, but nodded. With that, Marcus left view, and a boy that looked to be her age, but with far more tanned skin, came into view, and waved at her shyly.

The boy looked at the pad, before writing something down on it, and handing it back.

My name's Leo. I'm here to help you. it read.

Through a chain of people, it seems I came into the knowledge that your hearing aids can be rather fragile when it comes to mana and teleporting. I can help with that. it continued.

I use mana, myself. Passively. And I'm considered a bit of a tech whiz. So maybe you and I can come up with something that suits your needs, and it quite durable. it went on.

Gimme a chance? he had then written to finish it.

Ear stats are a big one. Leo wrote back.

That's the base for this all. he wrote further, before handing it to her.

'She seems like a nice girl.' he then thought.

'....I really want to be able to do this.'

Leo looked over the paper, and raised an eyebrow.

"......." he was silent, scratching at his chin, and then looked like he had an idea.

He grabbed the notepad and wrote something on it.

I might be able to get you to hear out of both ears. Passive mana is an amazing thing. he wrote.

No promises, but there's a chance I can give you near-perfect hearing.

Leo thought for a moment, wondering how to explain this.

"Ah!" he said snapping his fingers.

He then wrote a bit of a paragraph on the notepad, and handed it to her.

Mana can do a lot of things. A surprising amount. Your hearing is damaged, and while it might not be repairable through human or mortal means, mana can make those connections, and act like surrogate tubes and nerves and such. It won't be absolutely perfect, and it'll only work while the aids are in, but while they are on, your mana can make a connection to them, and simulate a real working hearing system. it read.

Well, input on what you like, and what you think would be useful. Leo wrote back.

I'm serious. Think of whatever you might like it to do, and I'll try to incorporate as much as I can into it. he wrote further, before pausing.

Oh, and any possible designs he continued.

Like, what style you might like them to be.

Leo was silent for a moment, before chuckling.

Egypt. he wrote.

I'm from Egypt, so odds are you're smelling all the spices I'm around on a daily basis. he went on.

And take as much time as you need. he then added.

I need to analyse the data for the ears and map out some internals for the aids, anyway.