Argent Eye III

43

My mum woke me, and I groaned. At first, I wondered why on Earth I was being woken.

Oh, yeah, I thought, it's Sunday.

I got up, got dressed and had some breakfast before walking down to church with mum. We had to be there early, as she had to help set up and get everything ready for the teas and coffees they served after the service. Of course, whilst she was doing that, I went round the back to find Stella.

She had her back to me when I walked in.

"Hello." I said.

Stella turned, and her face lit up when she saw me. She smiled and came over. "Millie!" She exclaimed, and hugged me. "It's so good to see you! I didn't know you were coming?"

I smiled. "Yeah, some stuff has been happening." I said. "Had to come back for something."

She frowned, concerned. "Is everything okay?" She asked.

I puffed my cheeks. "If only." I said, and laughed. "I have a lot to catch you up on."

She nodded. "Well, perhaps after the service you can pop over to the vicarage? We can have a proper catch up."

"That would be great." I said.

"How are you doing, anyway?" She asked.

"Not too bad, actually." I said. "Despite everything. And yourself?"

"Yeah, good thanks." She said, and handed me two heavy candles. She then grabbed a couple of cloths and we walked out to set the altar up. When that was done, I went back to helping my mum, and then sat through the service.

__________

"Just going on a walk!" I called to my mum.

"Okay!" She called back, and I exited through the back door to make my way to Stella's. I had precisely three hours until I had to be back here to get a lift to the train station- plenty of time to tell Stella all about what had been happening.

I knocked on her door, and Jacob answered.

His face lit up when he saw who it was. "Millie!" He exclaimed, and hugged me.

I hugged him back. "Hey, Jacob." I said. "How you been?"

"Good." He said, and stood aside to let me in. I walked in, and Jacob led me to the kitchen where Stella was.

"Hey, Millie." She said. "I'm just making a pot of tea- you want one?"

"Ooh, yes please." I said.

"Go take a seat in the living room." She said. "I'll be there in a minute."

I nodded, and went to sit on the sofa. As usual, the room was filled with vases of flowers, all in full bloom. The smell was incredible.

Two minutes later, Stella came in with two steaming mugs of tea. She put them both down on the table, and sat in the chair opposite.

"Thanks." I said.

"So." She said. "What have you been up to?"

I thought for a moment, not sure where to begin. "Have you ever heard of a Spirit Warrior?" I then asked, thinking I may as well start there.

Stella frowned in thought. "Can't say I have." She said.

And so there began my explanation of Spirit Warriors, starting from when I first met Adam, to our date, to Fujio, and to the stones.

"So I ended up going to the school yesterday." I continued. "Because it turns out that Miss Jones was involved in my initial exposure to the stone."

I knew Stella went to the school on a weekly basis to run assemblies and various religious workshops, so she knew all the teachers there.

"Ah." She said. "I take it you didn't know she was an Argent?"

I shook my head. "No." I chuckled. "She was my favourite teacher, too. But that's besides the point. Did you know that she can also see the future?"

Stella nodded. "She had mentioned it before. Although she said her visions are often unclear, and aren't always right."

And so I continued to tell Stella about the vision Miss Jones had had all those years ago, about the unknown child and the fact that her friend was a Spirit Warrior who went to find the stone. Then I told her about the exposure to the stone, the memory wipe, and then how she'd been waiting for me all this time.

"So she gave me the stone yesterday." I finished. "Now we have two, and Fujio has the other two."

Stella had been listening to everything carefully, not interrupting at all unless I'd asked her a question.

"Sounds dangerous." She said, and sipped her tea. "Right up your street."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but going by what Miss Jones said, it seems as though this was supposed to happen. Like she saw it all those years ago."

"Retrieving the other two stones hasn't been foretold." Stella pointed out. "Only the fact that you were meant to have this stone. You have a choice as to where you take this. Do you continue pursuing the other stones, or do you just hope that Fujio doesn't get hold of the ones you've got? Do you destroy them? Hide them? It's up to you."

I guess I'd never even thought of it like that. In my head, there was only one course of action that needed to be taken- retrieve the stones and stop Fujio. I hadn't seen it any other way. Could the stones even be destroyed? If not, it was extremely unlikely that we would be able to hide the stones from him. Not for forever, anyway. I'm certain that if we hid them, we would only be delaying the inevitable situation of Fujio obtaining them later on.

"Of course." Stella said. "We both know what you're going to do."

I smiled. "I don't see Fujio giving up on looking for the stones." I said. "If we were to hide them, we'd constantly be worried about him finding them, which is bound to happen sooner or later."

"True." Stella said. "But know that it's okay to say no. It's okay to put your life first, and take a step back. You are an Argent, not a Spirit Warrior. It is not your fight if you don't want it to be."

I wasn't sure what to say. She had a point. But I couldn't just let Adam face Fujio alone. He needed all the help he could get. Besides, in Fujio's eyes, I'd been a huge inconvenience. He'd be after me either way. He'd want his revenge.

I saw Stella smile. "Once again, I know what decision you will make. You are too selfless to even think about stepping back."

"I appreciate the words of wisdom." I said. "I really do. But I've annoyed Fujio. Like, a lot. I've got in his way more than once, and I think he wants me to pay for that. I am involved, whether I want to be or not, and there's no way I can back out now."

She smiled again. "I understand." She said. "Please, be careful. You've nearly died way too many times for someone your age. Even for an Argent."

I laughed. "I've definitely told myself that on more than one occasion." I then checked my watch. "But I better get going, or I will miss my train."

"Okay, Millie." She said. We both stood up, and she showed me to the door.

"Thanks for the chat." I said, and we hugged.

When we pulled apart, Stella held her hands on my shoulders and looked me dead in the eyes. "You better come back home." She smiled, but there was a deadly seriousness behind her eyes.

"I will do my best." I said, realising I was repeating what I'd said to Miss Jones. "I promise."

Stella pulled me into another hug. "You better." She said.

And so I said my goodbyes, and headed home.

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