Isha didn’t look back, seeming to ignore the tree. I couldn’t see her face, but I noticed her fists were clenched and her shoulders were taught. So, the tree did hurt to see? Or was it seeing Lunas’ body standing in front of it that hurt?
Isha spun around, shooting me a light smile and nodded. “I’m glad you’re here.”
She showed me a small ball of light in her hand. This was different from the aura stuff Loic was showing me. his looking light wild blue fire, hers looked like a round ball of light. A uniform shape completely the opposite from the other kinds of aura I had seen so far.
Loic’s was like blue fire, Chases looked precise and controlled almost like green lightning and Isha’s was clean and round.
“Why don’t we try this first? Now focus. Try it with the pendant this first time. the stone at its center should enhance the stone you already have.” She took the stone that I normally wore and clicked it in the empty space in the pendent. She put it back around my neck. “Say Ylferif and gather your aura in the center of the pendant and picture the light.”
I closed my eyes and did just that. Just as in my aura training, I focused until I felt the warmth of my aura. This time I pictured what Isha’s aura looked like. The orbs of light appeared in my mind and the warmth left my body and seemed to be floating around me. Isha laughed a bit.
“Well done Rayne. Look.”
I opened my eyes and saw a small floating light flickering in my hands. It was almost alive, bouncing and hovering around the pendant.
“You got that quick! Why don’t we try to make a few more?”
She closed her eyes and the exposed skin on her arms started to glow and the light seemed to lift off of her in the shape of small orbs and became airborne. She was then surrounded by ten different lights of varying colors and sizes.
“Now do the same thing you did before, but this time make as many as you can.”
I closed my eyes and warmth surrounded me. The heat from what felt like tiny spotlights brushed against my skin, making the chill from the air vanish entirely. Isha gasped. I opened my eyes to see the entire room filled with small firefly-like lights. All were changing colors and hovering around the both of us. I turned in awe, not sure if I was really doing this. Tears welled up in my eyes. Overwhelming joy and pride filled my heart and I couldn’t explain why. Everything felt hopeful again.
Maybe I could actually do this.
We spent about 3 weeks training, repeating the same routine. Meanwhile Chase and Isha called on favors, saying they were from old life debts and trades made years ago to different knights and citizens from Mirror Image. Most were normal looking people that stopped by the museum over the few times I wasn’t studying with them. Almost every day I was there I would wake up to see Chase addressing groups of people in his office. They mostly spoke in mirror language, but ‘war’, ‘formless’, and Rakesh’s name came up a lot.
‘its fine Rayne its fine, just focus and do what you can to face him.’ I repeated each time I felt that dread. After the first week I felt like the name didn’t scare me as much.
As much.
As I improved, I grew in confidence. Even the non-translated classes were getting easier to keep up with. Loic had also helped me with my Italian on the side. Juliet noticed my progress and came over to my apartment often. We figured out times where I wasn’t training where we could meet, and I could seem ‘normal’ again.
I was nervous letting her near me. I never knew when a Formless could attack. After nearly a month and a half, I had been studying the legends and lore of Mirror Image and I started getting the hang of creating light on both sides. I was hardly a master of either, but I was gaining momentum.
~
Every other day I went to the park and practiced capoeira with Loic. One day after running out of breath, Loic helped me up.
"Much better. I'm sure you could do some damage if you need too. You just need to place your strikes better; a few inches can make all the difference. Like here."
He put my hand in the center of his chest. the apprehension of touching him had morphed into a tingle in my skin. He wore an athletic shirt this time, but it was just enough that I looked forward to each touch, I looked forward to his kiss instead of being nervous by them.
I curled my fingers around his shirt, and he continued.
"A well-placed strike here could knock the wind out of an opponent and possibly break some ribs. Since you're a bit shorter you could always focus on leg sweeps and knock your enemy to the ground. This works on low-class Formless as well. Like I said, they’re as dumb as rocks so they won’t adapt to you.” His face turned serious. “Although, if you get the chance to strike for the head, do it. That should stop most small Formless easily."
"Right." I huffed.
He smiled. “That's enough for today. Let’s get some food."
"Okay, that sounds great." I smiled at him and instinctively latched onto his hand, only to turn pink after realizing how forceful I was taking his hand. He just smiled and squeezed my hand firmly.
Food was a great break after all the excitement. It was more common for us to get coffee after a workout, much to the distaste of my already racing heart.
On the way to a small open-air restaurant near the docks we normally left the museum from we saw Juliet. She waved us down and ran over.
"Hey, lovebirds!" She yelled from the crowd. Her red brown hair made up in one large braid that spanned the full length of her hair. The light purple she chose to wear brightened her dark olive skin harmonizing almost perfectly.
"Hey, Juliet." I laughed.
"What are you two up to?" she studied me with her chocolate brown eyes.
"Going to get some food. We just had a great workout."
"Oh, is that what you kids call it now?" Her cheeky smile made me grow tense.
I was speechless, and Loic laughed. "Nothing like that. I've been teaching little Rayne here some dance moves."
"Dance moves. Oh please, you can't fool me with your secret code. I can interpret that too, you know." Her smile just got bigger. I held my breath, trying so hard not to yell at her.
Her look got more mischievous.
"Juliet! It's not like that." I rubbed the back of my neck, horrified at the assumption.
Loic smirked, and his eyes almost seemed to say, 'not yet’. I ignored him, holding back the deep desire in my heart to kick him, and went back to Juliet.
"Hey Juliet, want to join us?"
"Sure, I'd love too."
Loic looked at me. he took his arm and wrapped around the top of my chest and pulled me back closer to him.
"Rayne, is that wise?" He whispered into my ear.
"I haven't spent much time with her, just a few hours here and there. She's my only friend here." I nudged him and laughed. "Besides, if I need to, I can protect her, unless you're secretly a bad teacher."
He smiled and soon that smile turned into a smirk.
"Alright. That's fine.” He turned to Juliet. “We'd be honored if you joined us, Miss Juliet."
After supper, we ended at my apartment, having a wonderful time just exploring the city. Venice was beautiful. The water lining each street, the smell of freshly made bread, and people chatting in Italian. Even the buzzing of the mopeds was beautiful in a way. Loic seemed to enjoy the sights as well. I began to wonder how often he actually got to have fun like this. He seemed to be always fighting, or always on edge. It was nice to see him relaxed, even if it was just a little. Juliet showed us her favorite places she hadn’t shown me, mostly coffee shops. She seemed to test Loic in his own knowledge of the city or his opinions on treats she bought and insisted we tried. Seeing both of them smile warmed me and made me feel truly happy for once in what felt like a long time.
At the end of the night, Loic jumped up. His eyes narrowing and shifting all around us.
"Loic, is something wrong?" the happiness in the atmosphere faded instantly as I watched him. H
is muscles tightened, and he seemed to tremble slightly.
"No, I guess not." Then he sat back down.
Juliet looked at the clock and stood. I followed her gaze and saw it was nearly midnight.
"I should get going. It was a wonderful night. Oh, and Rayne." She added spinning back on her heel. “Professor Caro said you left something at your desk. I forgot about it, and I brought it to my house. I can drop it off tomorrow for you."
"Um sure! Just give it to the landlady if I'm not here. I have some things I have to do tomorrow so I'm not sure when I'll be back."
"All right will do. Have a good night you two!" She smiled slyly.
She left, and Loic looked at me. His eyebrows raising inquiringly.
"You're getting better at that."
"At what?" I turned to clean up the rest of the coffee cups and plates from the last of the sweets Juliet bought.
"Lying. I kind of like it."
I shoved him. "Stop it. I just don't want Juliet involved in this. I don't know if I've already put her in danger."
"Even if Formless have seen you two, they’re not smart enough to go for her."
"But Rakesh is." I bit my lip.
"Yes, but I doubt he actually does the recon. He’s more of a plot from the shadows type of attacker, so Chase says. He only goes into battle when he has an exit strategy.” Loic followed me as I dumped the dishes into my sink.
“Then he had a plan at Isha’s?” I questioned as I heard him follow me to stay in earshot.
“He might have. I’d bet he was certain he would be unopposed. He certainly didn’t expect Chase to be at Isha’s, thinking he’d be at the museum and all. I’ll keep an eye out for Juliet. If I sense anything, I’ll get her to split up with us. She’ll be fine."
"Yeah, you're right." I gave a small sigh and tried to relax. "So, what's next?"
"Well Chase wants to see you in Mirror Image tomorrow, so I'd say just rest for now. I'll keep an eye out." His lips shifted, and he held them firmly shut. Possibly hiding the yawn that still snuck its way from him.
"I'm nowhere near tired yet. Want some tea?" before he answered I already had a small canister of tea bags in my hand.
"No, I'm good, just relax Rayne." He patted my shoulder and headed to couch.
I thought for a moment, things seemed relatively calm now. Was this how it would be after this was over? If we managed to win and survive this coming war is this how we could live? The idea sounded appealing but then I remembered he’s not from this world. I wondered if he would want to go back. I wouldn’t blame him; the first thing I’d do after being exiled would be to go home if I could. Would he go home and leave me here? Take me with him? Either wouldn’t be ideal but I did want to stay with him. I put down the tea canister and turned and looked at him just as he was sitting down.
"Hey Loic, what happens after this is over? After Rakesh is gone, I mean."
"Well, I'd assume that peace gets restored. And life in Venice returns to normal. Isha will take the throne and-"
"You'll go back to Mirror Image?"
"Well. Um, that is my home."
"So, what happens to us? What happens to me? I can only go there as Luna. And this is my home." I pressed my hand to my chest. “But I still have the Mirror Stone.”
"Well." He frowned. “Um.” He got up from the couch, standing to maintain eye contact with me.
"Would you leave me here? I obviously can't go with you. And you said it yourself you can’t date royalty so obviously I can’t be Luna with you in Mirror Image." And I didn’t want to be Luna. I wanted to be Rayne. I wanted to be seen, to be loved as Rayne.
He seemed stunned and backed away, looking at the ground. My heart sank. Way to kill an evening. But I couldn't ask him to leave his home for me. Loic scratched his head, finally looking up.
"I'm not sure, Rayne. I'm really not sure."
I got up from the couch, shrugging. Trying to hide the hurt. "I guess we won’t know. We don't even know who will be left after this."
"Rayne, listen to me.” He reached to me placing his hand on my bicep. “I promise you'll make it out of this."
"But what about you?"
"I told you, I can't guarantee that."
"And why not?” I pulled back and flung his hand off of my arm. “You insist on throwing your life away for me. Did you ever think what kind of life I would have without you, Loic?”
He seemed stunned.
"I'm sorry Rayne. I know that you're afraid and that we don't want to lose what we have now. I don't want to lose you either. I can't promise you that I'll survive or that I won't protect you, but I can promise you I'm not that easy to kill."
"Can you at least promise me you will try to survive. I need more than just a promise, I need you to swear. I need your word Loic!" I gripped his shirt tighter never wanting to let him go. He held me closer and kissed me gently.
"Rayne. After this is over, I swear I will kiss you again. I will do everything in my power to keep this promise."
For some reason hearing him say that made me so happy. I hugged him back and cried into his chest. He held me tighter, and he pulled back and sat on the couch still holding me tight. I felt safe. I shifted to his side and held on to his arm tighter. I didn't realize how much time had passed and I soon fell asleep in Loic’s arms.
~
I woke up in Isha's home as she walked into the room. She had a tray of tea and snacks in her hand as she passed me.
“Oh, Rayne you’re awake.” She smiled at me. “I’ll be right back around, and I’ll make you some snacks.” She kept moving and I sat up to take in what was happening.
The makeshift bedroom was still in place while Chase repaired her floorboards. From what I understood, the damage was so bad that it was threatening other areas of the house and some of the boards from her main bedroom had been damaged as well. So, to keep everyone safe he closed off the room and we set up some beds in the back of the living room.
I sat up and followed behind her but stopped before getting to the living room seeing Isha waving to three other men at the door. I stood, frozen by nervousness, and Isha turned to me. The three men in ornate uniforms, covered in mirror like metals all looked at me like they had seen a ghost.
"Luna, is that you?" The tallest man in the back commented.
I said nothing and looked at Isha.
"It's all right, Rayne. These are friends. They were part of Loic’s squad." Isha smiled and looked passed me. “speaking of which.” She said addressing someone, the owner of the new footsteps I heard behind me.
Loic then arrived from behind me, presumably through Isha’s floor mirror, and looked at the men.
"Oh hey, you guys showed up! Ah and Rayne you're awake.” He gently patted my shoulder. “Come on, it’s okay."
"Rayne? Isn't that Princess Luna?" the shortest boy pointed to me accompanying raised brows.
"Oh, Isha hasn't filled you in yet?" Loic glared Isha’s way with a sly smile.
"I was just about to, Loic.” She returned his sly smile with narrowed eyes. “They only just arrived here."
"Alright,” Loic rolled his eyes and got in front of me. “Before we get into the explanations, some updates. Any word on Rakesh? Has he appeared at all?"
"No, we haven't even seen any Formless around the kingdom." The center man commented.
"I've only seen a few on the other side as well. It seems he's lying low. I fear he's planning something." The tall one added to his comrades’ statement.
“Alright so nothing’s changed from last patrol.” Loic muttered, rubbing his chin as he thought.
Loic reached his arm over to me. He lightly grabbed my arm and urged me in front of him. The men’s eyes widened in surprise all before glaring at Loic. I suppose it made sense since to them I looked like their princess and Loic was a bit forceful with that action. He caught their glances and rose his other hand to calm them down somewhat. He turned to me and must ha
ve seen I was nervous because he smiled and nudged me gently with his shoulder.
"It's okay Rayne. These guys are friends. The tall blonde one is Oliver, the one behind him is Kasem, and beside him is Kasem’s brother West. They were in my squad when we went on patrols."
“It’s a pleasure to meet you miss…” Kasem spoke with an unsure tone, again I looked like Luna and so far, there haven’t been any actual explanations yet.
“Same.” I blurted. “Sorry this is odd…” I added.
I looked at Kasem, taking in any details I could. He was a little taller than Loic, with a slightly larger frame and was much darker than Juliet was, but a bit lighter than the bouncer of the shattered glass bar, Jibril. His eyes seemed fairly normal compared to the others being a light shade of blue, almost grey. The one Loic introduced as his brother shared his skin tone but his hair was jet black, a drastic change from his older brothers rust red hair. West, he was shorter than the other two and even shorter than Loic. If I got closer, I could see if he was closer to my height or not. The stare he gave me with his emerald green eyes shot right through me like daggers. It was only right he was cautious.
“I’ll say,” Oliver sighed. “Loic you said you’d explain. So, this is Rayne? Not princess Luna?”
This man, Oliver seemed to be between the ages of the other two and taller than both of the other two. His bright blonde hair almost seemed to have a glow to it. his eyes were just as striking as loic’s, yet a bit less inviting. His left eye being a bright orange and his right being almost a mint green. He was fair skinned and had some freckles on his face as well.
“Yeah she is Luna’s original… long story short she can take over Luna’s form. Chase can fill you in on the technical side of it. That’s not why we are here at the moment.” Loic played it off. Waving his hand around to hurry the conversation along.
West spoke first. His long, black hair was pulled back and he shifted it sideways against his head as he spoke.
Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1) Page 37