Broken

Chapter 22: Tea Time (KL)

Sitting at a large, rectangular, cherry wood table, Bartholomew had sat and made small talk while Augustine prepared us tea. I was never really a huge fan of super hot beverages so when Augustine poured the steaming hot tea into the little porcelain cup that sat before me, I couldn't help but just sit and stare at it. I didn't mean to be rude, but I didn't have any intention of burning my tongue either.

Another thing that began to bother me was that I was sitting at a table drinking tea with the most elite people of my species in jeans and a hoodie. I was way underdressed and it was really starting to bug me as I noticed The League constantly staring in my direction.

As Augustine and Marcel-Oliver took their seats, we all sat and just stared blankly at each other. Kratos and Shadow looked around anxiously which made me think that maybe The League had never done this for them before.

As Shadow finished taking a sip of his coffee, he managed to plaster a smile on his face. " We would like to thank you all for your hospitality. We don't deserve any of this, but this was a very kind gesture."

"Yes, thank you all," I said.

" Thank you," echoed Kratos.

Augustine deeply chuckled, laughter rupturing from his chest. "It's our pleasure. Not often do we have company such as this."

Marcel-Oliver stared blankly in my direction.

"So," I spoke up, " why exactly am I so important? I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it."

Augustine sipped his tea and smiled, his teeth so bright that they nearly blinded me, " Ah deary, you are a rare treat to our species. So rare that you're potentially dangerous."

"Which means?" A sudden knot began to squeeze in my stomach. What did he mean?

"Well has Shadow explained to you how your power works? How you can change mindsets?"

"Yes, he has," I nodded.

" But has he explained that you need a Balance and a Guardian?"

"What?"

Augustine looked over at Shadow, "Tsk. You haven't told her about that? Yet you call yourself a Master." He shook his head back and forth.

Shadow's cheeks turned a rosy color and I couldn't make out whether it was because he was angry or just upright embarrassed. He spoke up, " I wasn't sure if that counted for all Breakers or just the Ultimate Breaker. I thought only the one with the highest power recieved a Balance and a Guardian."

Augustine shook his head and stated in a reprimanding way, " No, Shadow. Every Breaker gets them."

I looked over at Kratos to which he just confusedly shrugged.

Shadow looked ashamed, " I'm sorry I didn't inform her. I was not aware of this myself."

Augustine then averted his attention back to me. "Every Breaker gets their own Balance and Guardian. Since Breakers have such extraordinary powers, these two people are basically made as built in security for the Breaker. The Balance is someone who will literally balance your powers. As a Breaker, you possess the highest ranking of power within our species. This means that it is very, very easy to lose control of it. Thus, there is need for someone to balance it. The Balance will help keep you calm, and some of your excess power may even be transferred to him or her when you have an overflow of it."

" So The Balance is an actual person?"

Augustine nodded his head, "Correct and so is The Guardian."