The Fighters

Unreliable Witnesses

"Owner," I question. "I thought you hated being called that?"

I hear a low sob from Swishy. Blake pulls himself together and answers lowly "It was different with her"
It's a pain filled, gut-wrenching answer. The depth of which I had yet to uncover.

I look at my knives in a mix of amazement and confusion.

"How long did you work with her?"

"She came to the last trials. We became her weapons. Chloe, you have to understand that while we've been involved with the fighters for years, we will always, first and foremost, be loyal to our wielder" Swishy's voice is shaky full of tiny indelible scars of painful memories.

I can fill in the rest;
"When she lost the trials, you went with her. And when she died, you returned here" I'm surprised at the utter softness in my tone.

Neither of them confirm nor deny this but their silence is enough of an affirmation.

Ameliora was involved with everyone, like a piece of stubborn chewing gum that was stuck to so many people and kept them in place.

But, when it came down to it, the part of me that cared about my scarlet aunt was practically minuscule, negligible, unimportant.

I wanted, no needed, to find more about my mother. Where she was, who she was and what she was like.
It was like a plague seeping through my body and mind, overtaking all sensible thoughts with a desperate search for information.

It wasn't anything new. Ever since I can remember, I've been begging for small scraps of details about mom. It's hard being the only one in the family. Dad never spoke of her. The twins hated her. The pack forgot her.

I was desperate for her.

It wasn't a very good combination.

Obviously.

"What was she like?"

It's Blake that answers, his tone's lighter but the undercurrents of misery hadn't faded.

"In the beginning, she was a lot like you. Clumsy, funny and a complete novice at what she was doing. She picked us because she preferred to be invisible. Not a lot of people know of our, uh, talents. To most of the world, we're an unimpressive pair"

I try to break in. To say that I knew of their power. To comfort the break in his voice. But it's Swishy who speaks next,

"Maybe she was innocent, maybe she was just good at manipulating. Either way, she had us eating out of the palm of her hand. For a second, we forgot our own power, our strength. We were too focused on her"

"She went through a lot for a 18 year old though. She left the trials ashamed and ridiculed. She went away and we followed her. We had no sensible thought in our heads. I know that I probably don't most of the time, but I at least have an idea of what I'm doing. However faint" Blake continues.

"But with her, up was down and left was right." Swishy whispers.

"It wasn't fair. Everything that happened to her. But life is so rarely good for the good. She changed, she had to. She was angry and that anger turned her into something feared. She was out for vengeance and didn't stop until she got it. And a little ammunition can push people into darker pits."

"She found love. True love. A great one. One that would have survived for ages. We hoped, he was her redemption. That she's go back to herself. The charming, sweet girl we'd first met. He was handsome, you know, attractive in a supernatural way, had his hair slicked back a certain way. If I had hair, I'd want to do it that way too." Blake pauses.