Having taken his time riding his motorbike around town, Theo was the last to arrive at the meeting.
Andrea was brewing coffee for everyone in the kitchen, Eliza and Melissa were sitting at the dining table, chatting in hushed tones, and Rufus was standing by the window, looking at passing cars.
“Morning, everyone,” Theo announced himself as he walked in the living room.
Eliza's large blue eyes immediately trained on him, but she did not greet him back. Melissa submissively replied, “Morning,” while Rufus and Andrea gave him a nod.
Setting the coffee tray down on the table, Andrea started, “I guess we are here again because of Neera...”
“Who else?” Eliza interrupted in a sarcastic tone.
Ignoring her, Theo slowly nodded, “Indeed. As you know, she is in danger, the pawn sensed her magic.” Eliza rolled her eyes, but Theo kept ignoring her. “I would like to formally submit a request to the Order: as she already knows about our world and, as we have seen, the ritual had not been satisfactory, I request that we offer her training and subsequent admission to the Order of Light...”
“NO!” Eliza shouted, jumping from her chair and slamming her hands on the table. A few coffee cups tipped over and spilled the liquid on the wooden surface, but her reaction had been so sudden and violent that no one had noticed. “That will never happen,” she continued, seething with rage. “Also, she has only seen a cloaked figure in an alley, she would not know that was a pawn or what the Veil is...”
“I told her,” Theo calmly rebutted.
“You did what?” Eliza hissed, her eyes merely angry slits now.
“I told her the truth about our world, and the Veil,” Theo explained simply.
“You...” Uncontainable rage shook Eliza’s well-built body. The entire room started to shake, as a small earthquake broke out on the ground floor on the apartment building. Pictures fell from the walls, the doors of a glass cabinet shattered, the remaining coffee cups tipped over and crashed onto the floor.
Theo sat unmoving, used to Eliza’s outbursts. Earth manipulation could be a powerful intimidator, but he knew this was no more than tantrum. Andrea rolled their eyes, and, without bothering raising their voice, told Eliza, “If my mother freaks again about her bloody china cabinet, you’re the one dealing with her this time.”
Eliza closed her eyes, and slowly the room stopped shaking. She sat back in her chair, and opened her eyes again with a deep sigh.
“Now, that wasn’t so hard, right?” Theo teased her.
“You little...” Eliza made a move to rise again, but Melissa grabbed her wrist and interrupted her, “Theo, I think you’re pushing it too far.”
Theo raised his hands in mock surrender, but did not provoke Eliza further.
“Why did you let her in on the existence of the Veil?” It was Andrea who spoke this time, incredulity underlying his tone.
Theo responded with only half the truth. “She has the right to know, Andrea; she is one of us” He did not add that he wanted her to know because he was trying to redeem himself for his past behaviour. He told himself that was his burden to bear, but in fact he was just reluctant to admit that he wanted to win her back.
Andrea pressed their lips together. Theo suspected they had grasped the unspoken part of the reply, but if they did, they did not comment.
“Plus,” Theo continued, “if we trained her, she would be able to defend herself, and perhaps we could subtly force her away without having to worry she might die by accident.”
“Hmpf.” Eliza scoffed, as if to say she could not care less of that hypothetical outcome.
“I agree with Theo,” Rufus interjected. “If she is capable of defending herself, she would not be our responsibility anymore.” Theo did not like the nonchalant tone with which Rufus had concluded his pitch, but was not going to argue with his only supporter so far.
“And, tell me, who would train her?” Eliza asked in a fake sweet voice that made Theo sick.
“I would,” Theo responded, though he knew where Eliza wanted to go with this.
“Right, right... And, tell me, Theo, down the line, when the final battle predicted by the prophecy comes, will you be ready to sacrifice her for the sake of destroying the Dark King?” Her lips now pressed in a thin line, Eliza looked at Theo expectantly. The others were staring at him too, unsure of what he was going to say.
Theo had thought about this obvious problem. The prophecy spoke:
The Shader, holder of light and darkness, will overturn the Dark King, by sacrificing his first love.
The Order of Light believed Theo to be the Shader, which would make Neera his first love, the one to be sacrificed.
Choosing his words carefully, Theo replied, “The prophecy does not explicitly say that I would need to kill, only sacrifice my first love. If I push her away again, we can still beat the Shadow King and Neera will be safe...”
“You don’t know if that will work, Theo; what if it doesn’t? You are asking us to trust her, train her and protect her, but can we trust you to do the right thing when the time comes?” Eliza looked at him dead in the eye, her expression somber.
“It won’t come to it...” Theo paused, a nasty feeling gripping his heart. He stared back at Eliza and promised, “… But I will do what is necessary to bring back peace to our world and to the Veil.”
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