Iridescent

19| Someone Fancies Me. Maybe.

This chapter is dedicated to EmNightscar. Thank you for your thoughtful words and comments!

I remember the first time nan showed me her sword. Before the sword chose me, her name was Gardenia, my nan's favourite flower. I didn't know if it was my imagination or an instinctive spirit of the sword, I always could smell the waft of gardenia whenever I was around nan. When nan passed away, Gardenia chose the only one not in possession of a sword.

That was me.

So, I wasn't really special. Gardenia had no choice but to bond itself with another master, but I didn't care. It was nan's treasure, and it was mine too. Gardenia allowed me to give it a new name and seeing the blade's reflection, all I could think about was Reflecta. The bond was easy and Reflecta didn't cause any trouble. It sounds pretty good, right? Except, I was worried that Reflecta simply didn't care who her master is anymore. Reflecta thought differently, though. My powers grew stronger everyday, as well as my confidence. And I knew, from that moment, that Reflecta was with me.

Nan was with me.

Being able to have a special and beautiful bond like this shouldn't be used for evil... shouldn't be seen as evil... but when Vel told me it was people like us who had hurt her, all I could do was stare.

"I don't know what you can do, Cass."

Stunned to silence, I simply uttered "what?"

"Yeah," Vel whispered, unsure of what she said, "can we even say it out loud around here? You know how dangerous they are?"

It was as though I was struck hard on the back of my head, and I didn't know what to do or what to say. I should defend my kind, I should-

"I know" was all I managed. I know, how cowardly I am... "Why are they doing this to you, Vel?"

"They know where Robin is," Vel continued, slumping onto a nearby chair, "and they forced me to come to this school so they could monitor me. They use me to threaten Robin and they use Robin and Jaxton to threaten me."

"God..." I muttered, "I have to tell Jaxton about this."

"You cannot tell Jaxton about this," Vel pleaded; her grip tight on my sleeve. "You might not know how he's like but... he's the type of person that won't stop until he gets to the end. He'll never stop searching for Robin but I bet it's all a trap and I'm at a loss at what I should do."

"But they'll hurt you," I shook my head, still a bit blank to the situation. "What do they want from you? What do they want from Robin?"

"I don't know," Vel shivered, "they want to contain me here. I bet they're watching us now. They know you're in my room."

"Well," my tone deepened, "come what may, Vel, I'm not going to let them hurt you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Clearly not," I retorted. "I have an idea. Come sleep at my room tonight. I don't want you to stay here alone."

"But-"

"I insist," I grabbed her shoulder and looked into her eyes, "your brothers can look after themselves."

"I'm not so sure..." Vel looked torn and I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision anymore, but I needed to get Vel out of that situation – if at all possible.

"Jaxton and Robin wouldn't want to see you like this. Jaxton would blame me if he knew that I walked out of this room without doing anything," I sat her down and spoke gently, "do this for your brothers. They want you to be safe."