Iridescent

35| The Truth Is

CASSANDRA

When I woke up, I felt weak. Empty. As though there was something that was missing.

I didn't move. I simply stared at the ceiling and had a moment of deja vú. This ceiling was not the colour of ivory, it was white, purely white and checkered. It made me nervous.

I began to grow aware of my senses. My fingers were cold and my arm was sore. My neck felt heavy and I was scared to move my head, subtly aware of a headache that threatened to resurface. I was, then, aware of a touch that didn't belong to the blankets. I shifted my head and found out what it was.

Jaxton laid his head at the edge of the bed, one hand draped over my leg. He was asleep, asleep with a frown on his face and a concerned furrow in his brow.

I instantly felt safe and adjusted my head back to the centre of the pillow.

And then, I began to cry.

***

My cries were in quiet sobs, shakes that I tried to hold inside me. I didn't want to wake Jaxton, nor did I need him to see me crying. He'd seen it once, embarrassingly, and he didn't need to see it twice.

I knew what I was crying about. The hollowness I felt came from Reflecta. I killed Reflecta with my own hands. I killed the bond we created with my own hands.

People always had an attachment to their own weapons. Like when Alsa got injured during our fight, her first thought when she woke up was her sword. Even though their weapon wasn't as intuitive as weapons like Reflecta.

Besides, there was this unknown dread I had. What about my Iridescent powers? It was always channelled through Reflecta. Then, I realised that, the powers of Iridescent never belonged to me for real. I was just granted the ability to use them. To borrow them from Reflecta. Now that Reflecta was gone...

"Cass."

I was so alarmed to see his face my sobs abruptly stopped. I inhaled sharply, then allowed a grin to blossom. "Nice sleep?"

Jaxton didn't smile, he was staring at my tear-stained face. He pulled the chair closer and sat down. He looked exhausted.

I tried to calm my breathing and my need to cry were temporarily placed to the side. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Some hours..." He muttered. "You were crying. Does something hurt?"

"No."

He bowed his head. "I'm really sorry, Cass."

"Why are you apologising?"

"You did it to save me."

My lips thinned, my voice quiet. "It was the only thing I knew that would overcome a blood wielder's control."

He nodded. "I should've tried harder."

Tried harder? He said it like he didn't want me to hear it but I did, and I wasn't sure what he meant. Try harder at the time? It seemed impossible to overcome Lambert's wielding.

"Lambert, where is he? A-And Randall? "

He shook his head. "I woke up and they were gone."

"And... how did I survive?"

When he heard me say that he stifled a faint chuckle. "You have to thank Marty for that."

I let out a breath. The healing potion. I didn't expect to use it so early. Another tear slipped from the corner of my eyes, my expression was impassive, though, looking oddly mismatched.