SCARLETTE'S POINT OF VIEW
"This sword was once under your father's care and now, it will be passed to you." I gave Mom a confused look. "What? It will be passed to me now? As in 'now'?" Her eyes narrowed into slits, trying to assess why I did react in that way. "Is there any problem with that, Dear?" I bit my lower lip. "Uh, I think, it is too early, Mom. I-I am not yet ready for it," I reasoned out. Mom smiled. "I would not force you. Just tell me if you are ready." My head automatically tilted to the left because she just said it simply like as if it was nothing. She did not force me!
"But I want to see you use this before you go back to Earth." That made my eyebrows meet. "What?" I asked, unbelievably. "Use this before you go back to Earth," she repeated. Did I hear it right? "You. Want. Me. To. Use. This." I pointed at the sword. "Mom, I do not know how to."
"Your dad taught you when you were still a kid." Mom smiled. I was puzzled. I could not remember anything about it. "You cannot remember." What the hell?! How did she know what was inside my mind?! "Have you read my mind, Mom?!" She laughed softly. "No, Dear. It is written on your face." I sighed. "I cannot remember." She stopped and cleared her throat. "It is alright, still natural for you to use it." And what happened that night flashed in my head. My moves, every detail of how I used the sword were very swift.
"Enough talking." I froze. "Crap!" I cussed when I felt Asher behind me, pointing a sharp thing that I guessed was a sword. I stood still and give my mother a meaningful look like I was shouting for help. However, she just smirked and muttered, "You can do it. Defeat him." She has no mercy even though I am her daughter.
"Damn, Asher. Do you want to kill me?" I gritted in annoyance. "Of course, not but I will cut this long hair of yours," he said playfully. "You cannot do that," I pleaded. Just cut anything but not my hair for the gods' sake! "I can. Do not underestimate me." Now, he was serious. His teasing voice was gone.
"In five . . . " He started counting. My sight shifted to the Hetar sword. I gulped as my eyes roamed on its overall figure. " . . . four . . . three . . . " I clenched my jaw as I pressed my eyes closed. " . . . two . . . one . . . zero—" I grabbed the sword as I faced him. I caught his sword with mine. He was smirking as if he was enjoying fighting against me. "It is a pleasure for me to be your first opponent using your precious sword," he whispered as he got closer. His gray eyes made me drown so I pushed him away.
I attacked him but he jumped as he flipped. He landed behind me. I slashed the sword but he caught it. His free hand twisted my right hand to my back as he held me closer, causing my sword to fall on the marble floor. Then he pointed the edge of his sword at my neck.
I could feel his breath on my right ear. "You lose," he uttered. 'He is fast. I admit but I cannot lose. My mom is watching me seriously at the corner. She is standing there waiting for me to defeat my cousin.' I would not accept this. "I am the holder and no one can win against me in a battle of swords." I was shocked upon hearing myself say those words. But I was more shocked when I heard Mom's voice in my mind! She told, 'Your dad also says that in the middle of fights. You got that from him. I am glad.' I looked again in her direction. She smiled at me!
"I can defeat you." I got the courage to smile at my opponent. "Then prove it, Babe."
I hit his face with my head which made him loosen me up. I quickly picked up my sword and attacked him. He caught it again. I tried to push him but he was too strong so I used both of my hands this time.
"How dare you hit my handsome face?" he asked as he touched his jaw. He was pissed but I was not afraid. Instead, I smiled sweetly and stopped myself from laughing! His nose was bleeding! "Damn!" he cursed as he wiped his nose with his hand. "You will pay for it, you brat."
Now, he was the one who pushed our clashed sword. To end it, I jumped backward. He attacked so I attacked too. Our swords clashed and clashed. It was too fast to the point that I did not know how long we were fighting. Until all of sudden, we stopped and stared at each other. We were both breathing heavily and sweating.
"Let us end this." I nodded to what he finally said. We attacked at the same time. He swung his sword but mine, I did not. I have got another plan. I covered his strike using my weapon. While he was focused on trying to push me, I quickly twisted my sword onto his and pulled it up. As I raised my sword, his sword was thrown away. I grabbed the collar of his uniform immediately and pulled him closer. I pointed my sword to his neck.
'Finally, it is done.' Instead of being shocked, he smiled. "Congratulations, Babe," he whispered. My eyebrows furrowed. "Do not call me that. It annoys me." He laughed. I pushed him away. "Hmph."
I heard slow claps from my mom. She walked towards us. "Oh my, Scarlette, you are too strong and you smell danger," she gladly praised. "Aunt Er, your daughter is like a bear. My gosh!" Asher overreacted. I rolled my eyes. 'As if I am!' Mom proudly said. "I know, strong like me!" Err, nonsense talking.
I just stared at the sword. I still could not believe this. "Mom, this is weird. It is like . . . it has been a long time since I am using swords." She laughed softly. "It is natural to every legendary swordsman, Dear."
I smiled. I was giving back to her the sword but she stepped backward suddenly. The curve on my lips faded. "Why, Mom?" I asked, confused. She shook her head. "Only the holders can hold that because that is just meant for them. If other creatures, humans, demigods, and even gods will hold it, they will vanish. We will be gone." I felt chills. This sword . . . is so much . . . powerful. "Mom, this screams death," I uttered. "Yes, so you must be careful." I nodded.
"Where will I put this then?" I questioned. "Return it to the place where you took it." I placed the sword in the center of the room. I positioned it like how it was placed before. It floated again.
"Dear, do you already know how to use your half-goddess power?" Mom asked. "Not yet, Mom. I cannot control it," I answered honestly. "Do you want me to teach you now?" I faced her. "Mom, I would love to but can we do it next time?" She seemed that she did not like my answer but she forced a smile. "All right, but in case you need to use it, just use your mind and please, control your emotions."
After having lunch with Mom, Aunt Wart, and Aunt Heta, Asher and I decided to go back to Earth. By the way, the food there was heaven, very yummy!
Hetarnia is like a kingdom in fairytale stories but the difference is that the people here are souls and they all wear white. There are also animals here and for the gods' sake, they can talk.
"Are you sure that you still do not want to take the Hetar sword?" Mom asked. "I am still not ready to hold a dangerous thing, Mom." Her eyes screamed loneliness even though she was smiling. I avoided her gaze. "Stay safe." After bidding our goodbyes, we went out.
I stared at the whole place from the outside. It had been just two hours since we came here and now, we were going home.
"It is time to go back." Asher faced me after closing the gate. "And you have to sleep." I wanted to argue with him but suddenly, I lost consciousness. 'Crap!' And I just woke up that we were already inside our empty classroom.
"Damn it! They are already creating chaos!" Asher cussed as he locked the wooden door. Many students were trying to get in. Lots of them! They were acting wild, like zombies wanting to eat us! "Crap! What is happening, Asher?!" I panicked "I do not know! But there is only one thing that I know, they started moving." We stepped back when we felt that the door was already breaking. "Who?" Is it them? "Durlen and his minions."