Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 22

Master Ventis and Miranda were sitting up front with the Coachman while Naudia and Hazel sat side by side facing me and Ryder as we all looked out the window at the civilians of Amaryllis and Lucerne who excitedly celebrated the Guardian Ball with one of the biggest festivals I've ever seen.

"So where is the Ball anyway?" Naudia's voice brought me out of my thoughts for a moment.

"It's at the Estate."

"What?!" all three of them exclaimed, making me pull myself away from the window to glance at each of them.

"Didn't I mention that part? I mean, where else would it be?"

"You knew this and you still agreed to go?" Ryder narrowed his eyes at me.

"Only after you were all like do what you feel is right, Tara! We'll support you no matter what, Tara!" I mocked them a little, wanting to lighten the mood but I'm pretty sure it did the complete opposite.

"T, you tried so hard just to get out of that place. And now you're just going back...?" Hazel wondered.

"Should I not? I thought it would be a good idea to let the people know I was still an active Guardian. When I first left I made the impression that I didn't want to be Guardian anymore because it's what I wanted. Or what I thought I wanted. Then again, maybe I'm not even suitable enough to continue as Guardian..." I babbled, unsure and worried that this was a terrible idea before we even arrived.

"Ace, look at me," Ryder's voice interrupted my thoughts and forced my eyes to meet his. "This was your choice, was it not?"

I just nodded my head.

"So then just sit back, relax, and enjoy the party. In facing your fears by heading back to the place you ran away from you're giving people hope again and in my book that means you are more than suitable enough to be a Guardian."

What he was saying was everything that I wanted to hear, but I couldn't tell if he was saying those words to just make me feel better or if he actually believed them himself. I wanted to know if he actually believed I was making the right choice in giving hope to people or if he thought differently. Not knowing if he was being honest with me was really getting under my skin.

Doubt in myself as a Guardian and doubt in my Handler was not a good combination whatsoever. Doubt clouds judgment and forces distrust between both parties and I wish it was easy to get rid of. But doubt is a dark emotion and Darkness isn't that easy to vanquish.

Before I could think anymore about Ryder's words Miranda turned around and slid the window to the side so that she could communicate with us.

"We're about to hit the outskirts of the city where Council Knights are waiting to escort us the rest of the way with transportation crystals. Are you all ready?" she wondered as everyone's eyes landed on me, waiting for my answer.

I took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

She smiled at me before turning back around to show proof of identification to the Knights. They pulled up a translucent party invitation list to look up everyone's names and then they placed a fist up against their palms as they centered their gesture over their chests, greeting me as they opened up the portal for us to pass through.

When we made it to the other side we were met with bright lights illuminating the entire Guardian Estate which took up about ten acres of land give or take. The carriage rolled past multiple smaller buildings which were where class sessions would be held for all types of lessons ranging from your common mathematics to the history of the Zodiac and the "proper" way to complete Guardianship as well as everything else in between.