As we set up the chairs and tables, I was left wondering. Crystal seemed to have no flaws. She seemed perfect, but nobody is perfect. That's impossible, because everyone has flaws. Everyone has done something they regret.
"Crystal, how are you so nice all the time?" I asked. She blinked, and seemed to be thinking.
"It took a lot of work to be the person I am now. I used to be a really bitter person who lashed out on anyone who tried to get close to me. I thought that everyone was just going to use me. I had a tainted outlook on the world. It took a lot of work to be the person I am now. I'm nice because I choose to be. Sometimes it seems impossible for me to be kind, but I persevere."
"I really can't picture you being an asshole to anyone," I responded.
"Well, I was different person back then," She said, a smile forming on her lips.
"I can see that you have a troubled past," I pointed out. She was heavily hinting at it.
"I don't really like talking about my trauma, and today is supposed to be fun," She said, "Let's not ruin the mood."
"Okay. Let's talk about eye color," I suggested.
"Why eye color?"
"Because you and your brother both have extremely rare eye colors, and that's interesting to me."
"Oh, yeah. We inherited this stuff from family. My grandma was albino, too. Both my parents had light eyes. I guess we both got different recessive genes," Crystal said.
"Your eye color is caused by lack if melanin. Alex's eye color is interesting because of his heyerichromia."
"Doesn't that mean his eyes are different colors? Both if his eyes are red."
"Not exactly. The very center of his eye, very close to his pupils are violet, like your eyes. That's incredibly rare."
"That's pretty interesting. Where did you learn about this?"
"Animus Holders are more likely to have certain animus types based on their eye color, so we all had to learn about it."
"Really? What animus would I have if I was an animus holder?" Crystal asked.
"Magic or creation. Those are more powerful types. Alex would have fire or energy. The more rare the eye color, the more powerful, if, of course, the animus holder gets a corresponding animus."
"What about the other eye colors?"
"Amber and gold usually have creation or hypnosis. Grey is storms and wind. Green is nature or healing. Blue is water, or a very subtle hypnosis. It's considered the weakest. The time animus is also a mixture of blue and green, but there's only one time animus. And brown is non-existant in Animus holders," I explained, "And heterochromia means a more powerful animus."
"You're right, that is interesting," She commented, "And I'm assuming that people here thought you were weak when they learned this."
"Pretty much. But let's not talk about my trauma. Today is supposed to be fun," I mimicked.
She smiled. "Well played. Since the topic of discussion is now open, let's talk about my brother."
"Why that specific topic?" I asked, "There's about a million topics to chose from."
"Because I want to know how things are going with you two. I haven't had the chance to talk to Alex yet," She explained.
"Oh, well things are going good so far. We help each other out," I said, "I can tell he's really trying, and that makes me happy."
"Well, that's good to hear. I'm glad things are going well for you," She said, her voice echoing around in my skull.
As soon as we had everything set up, we called the others. I had a moment to admire the beautiful lake. I hadn't visited this place in a long, long time. It was one of the most beautiful natural settings I had ever visited. To be fair, I haven't been to too many beautiful places in my life, but you could never forget this place. The water was so clear, that you could see everything until 9 feet deep. The surrounding nature was lush and beautiful, maintained by those with nature animuses.
I saw Crystal coming back with everyone else.
"Okay, everyone! We've got a few rules here. Don't mess up the plants, and try not to disturb the wild life. And do not anger the fish. Also, it's better to stay in the clearer parts of lake! Also, don't jump from the top of the water fall. Have fun!"