Part 17: A Trip Down Memory Lane

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 Jesse and Romeo approached Ysa, who was sitting next to Amy and Veeva on a bench and drawing something on paper.

Amy was smiling and staring at Ysa's drawing while Veeva stared into her lap with an expression of sorrow on her face.

"Hey Ysa. What are you drawing?" Jesse piped up. Ysa showed Jesse her piece of art- a beautifully shaded pencil drawing of an orchid.

"It's just an orchid. I sketch stuff when I get bored," Ysa responded.

Jesse wasn't sure how to twist the question- "Do you know how to make potion of poison?"- in a way that wouldn't sound extremely accusatory.

Before she could even think of a good way to rephrase it, Romeo did it for her.

"Ysa, I need some help with learning alchemy, so I was wondering how many potions you knew how to make," Romeo said.

Jesse would have definitely given Romeo a fist bump or high five if she didn't have to worry about Ysa seeing it as suspicious.

Ysa raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What's with the sudden interest?" Ysa questioned.

Jesse bit her lip. There was no way Romeo could improvise a cover story that fast. They were doomed.

"Well, I want to learn it to... impress someone," Romeo explained.

"Really? Who?" Ysa asked.

Romeo wanted to answer with "Excuse me, but we're the ones who are supposed to be interrogating you.", but he decided against it.

Instead his reply was the second thing that came to mind: "Jesse. She's my closest friend and I really want to gain an extra skill so I can help her more."

"I know how to make all of the main potions so I can teach you," Ysa offered.

"Me too!" Amy Lee chimed in. Veeva lifted up her head, but her expression didn't change.

"I know all of the main potions and some I've invented. I should be the one helping him," Veeva protested.

"You look really upset," Romeo pointed out. Veeva smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, I said earlier that I wasn't upset about you not being romantically interested in me... but a few seconds after we were done talking I realized I was definitely upset and cried for a couple minutes," Veeva told him.

"Veeva, you should really just find someone else. It'll make you feel a lot better," Romeo advised.

Veeva nodded slowly.

"Can I have a moment alone with you after the party's over?" Veeva asked.

Romeo wasn't sure why she needed a moment alone with him and was even less sure about why it had to be after the party.

"I guess so, but you'll have to make it quick because I have to visit Xara," Romeo sighed.

"That's alright. I have to return something to Erica after the party's over," Veeva told him. Romeo felt a hand squeeze his.

That hand was connected to an arm, and the arm belonged to Jesse.

At first Romeo thought it was a "Good luck with Veeva." squeeze, but then he noticed that Jesse looked distraught.

Romeo gave Jesse a "follow me" gesture and the two of them headed to Lizzie's front yard. Once they made it to a birch tree, they stopped and sat down.

"The potion clue meant nothing. All of them know how to make potion of poison. That's really cruddy because our only other clues are that the accomplice is a YouTuber who's not Cassie, doesn't have a solid alibi for around eleven o'clock PM, and knows how to make potions. Which is almost no clues whatsoever and definitely not enough clues to find out who this freaking accomplice is," Jesse ranted. She let out a sigh. "What if I let everyone down? What if I fail to uncover the identity of the accomplice?" Jesse mumbled. Romeo smiled at her warmly.

"People will understand you did the best you could," Romeo assured. He paused for a moment and his eyes filled with determination. "I have to learn how to use a sword so I'm less reliant on my powers. It'll make me more useful in the fight against Hit the Target," Romeo decided.

"Okay, let's get started." Jesse rose to her feet and then Romeo used his hand for support to stand up. Jesse took a diamond sword out of her inventory and tossed it to Romeo, who caught it. She then drew her own sword. "Fight me," Jesse ordered. Romeo's expression was one of shock and confusion.

"You're serious?" Romeo questioned. Jesse raised an eyebrow.

"Would I have given you a sword if I wasn't serious?" Jesse quipped. Romeo moved his sword into position.

"Don't go easy on me," Romeo told her. Jesse smiled slyly at him and readied her sword.

"I wasn't planning on it," Jesse replied. Jesse took Swordbreaker- a blue, white, and yellow armor set that covered everything except her head- out of her inventory and slipped it on over her clothes.

She ran towards Romeo with her sword in hand and their two swords clashed and locked together.

"Remember when we first met?" Romeo asked.

"Yeah. You were a giant statue and you tried to attack me. Oh, wait. Nevermind. You pretended to be Jack's dead friend and I saved you from that obsidian cage that you could've easily saved yourself from, then you were a giant statue and you tried to attack me," Jesse said nonchalantly. Romeo chuckled at her answer. Jesse attempted to disarm him, but he moved his sword out of the way in time.

Jesse tried to hit Romeo with strong, fluid, and graceful swipes of her sword. It was as if her sword was an extension of her body.

Observing her in combat was like watching a dance... it was truly a beautiful sight. She put so much heart into it and truly enjoyed each battle. Romeo remembered that his breath was taken away the first time he saw her wield a sword and he instantly decided he wanted her to be his champion.

Romeo managed to dodge Jesse's sword and attacked her at several different angles with fast, passionate, and frantic swipes. She avoided all of them except the last one, which knocked the wind out of her stomach.

Jesse then tripped him with her foot and he fell to the ground. Jesse and Romeo slipped their swords back into their inventories.

Jesse held out her hand to Romeo- which he took, helped him up, and grinned at him. 

"I think you know how to fight but you were really nervous during the fight against the Blaze Rods. I mean, you did fight me with a sword during our battle at Terminal Space, so..." Jesse trailed off.

"Thanks for that. It was so epic," Romeo answered.

Jesse smiled at Romeo.

"You're welcome. I think the party's over now, so you have to meet up with Veeva and then Xara... but I can talk to you after you see Xara, okay?" Jesse offered.

"Sounds great," Romeo agreed. Jesse joined Lukas, Petra, Radar, Axel, Olivia, Stella, and Binta as they exited Lizzie's backyard along with the rest of the guests.

Romeo approached Veeva, who was standing alone in Lizzie's backyard. 

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