Chrysalis and me finally got home after a crazy, but interesting day. We finally took our items inside and placed them up my room. It was when I got a call from my mother.
“Hello mom. What is it?” I said.
“Dear, I just got a call from Ms. Shimmer. She was hoping that she could bring her daughter over to our house for dinner. She said that you and Sunset were working on a project together this week.”
“That’s right. And they only have one car, which makes it a problem for us to find more time to work together.”
“Then I’ll let her know that they can come over. Do we have enough spaghetti for six?”
“Hold on. Chrysalis, can you check the kitchen if we have enough thin spaghetti and meat sauce?”
“On it,” Chrysalis replied.
“Mom, did she say when they could get here?”
“I think she said it could be around 5:30, but I’ll check to make sure.”
I heard Chrysalis from the kitchen. “We have an unopened jar of meat sauce, but we’re low on the thin spaghetti.”
“Might as well pick up some thin spaghetti, mom.”
“I’ll run by the store to pick some up when I close up shop.”
“OK. Text me when you get a time from her.”
“I will. Bye.”
I went downstairs to talk to Chrysalis. “It looks like Celestia was able to pull it off. Sunset and her mother are coming by for dinner.”
“Looks like things are looking up for you,” she said.
“I know. Now I need to do one more thing, and that’s a call from an old friend.”
I went back up to my room and sent a text to Braeburn that I needed to talk to Strongheart soon. While waiting to hear from them, I got a text from my mother, saying that they will be here before around 5:30. That was enough time to get things set for my help with Sunset. That’s when I got a call back from Braeburn.
“Hello,” I said as I answered the call.
“Jack, that’s you?”
“Little Strongheart. Glad you were able to call back.”
“I know. I was with Braeburn as we were leaving the school when he got your text. What do you want to talk about?”
“Need you to refresh my memory from the fair that we went together. Did you say that you met someone who was there and later ran off while you were waiting for me to show up?”
“That’s right. While I was waiting for you, I saw a girl who was a bit down. She let me see what to look for in her future, just like I did to you before you moved away. It wasn’t good, but she ran away before I could finish telling her what she needed to know. It’s still been in my mind all this time, hoping I would come across her once again.”
“She had fiery red hair, right?”
-Gasp- “Did you find her?”
“If it’s the same girl, then yes. She’s in the same school with me. And I think she needs help.”
“I know what to tell her to look for, if I could just talk to her.”
“Would it help if I record this conversation for her.”
“If you can do it, then that would be great.”
“Hang on. Let me get set up here.”
It was coming up on 5:30, and we decided to get the table ready for six people. We could have used the dinning room, but mother felt like the eating table next to the kitchen would do, as long as we added the sleeve to it. We were used to the old style, small area whenever we ate. I heard the doorbell and went to check. It was Sunset and her mother who showed up.
“Good evening, Ms. Shimmer. Why don’t you both come in.”
“We’re not early, are we?” Ms. Shimmer said.
“Oh, mom had to pick up some pasta for spaghetti. I hope that’s OK?”
“That would be fine, Jack. If you and Sunset want to get some work done until dinner time, you can go on ahead,” she said.
“Thanks,” I replied. “Chrysalis is in the kitchen, getting the table ready.”
“OK. I can spend some time with her until your parents get home.”
Sunset and me went up to our room to get to work on our assignment. Sunset was stunned when she saw my room. She saw that I finally got my blades on display in my room, and saw some of the dragon posters and figures that I have.
“OK, should I start calling you a geek with all the dragons that you have?”
“Don’t push it, Sunset.”
“It was a joke, Jack. I’m just impressed with the type of dragons that you have; both medieval and oriental. Do you believe in them?”
“More like what they represent. Power. Wisdom. Courage.”
“That sounds like it comes from a classic video game,” she replied with a laugh.
“And who should be called a geek in here?” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“Now don’t get me started.”
I sat down next to my laptop and invited her to sit on the bed next to me. We got out the books that we checked out from the library and decided to get to work on the project. I heard my parents walk in a little after six o’clock, and by the time it was close to seven, we were called to dinner. After we finished dinner, Sunset and me went back up to our room, so we can get some more work done. It was coming up to nine o’clock when we decided to call it a day.
I asked her, “So, try to pick up where we left off tomorrow at school?”
“That would be nice. I’m…glad that we got some of this done.”
“Sunset, ever since Twilight gave you another chance, you’ve made an improvement towards others, even if some of your methods are a bit odd.”
“Maybe you’re starting to rub off of me.” Her tone changed as she started to rub her arm in the same spot as before. “Speaking of which, I never thanked you for saving me earlier. I though…that she…”
I placed my hands on her shoulders and said, “You came to help us out. If you weren’t around, it could have been a different story for us. We just have to keep fighting.”
“You weren’t going to cut that girl that held on to me, were you?”
“How can I when it was the blunt side towards her neck.”
She punched me in the shoulder. “Damn, you were bluffing to her, and she fell for it.”
“Well, she didn’t have to know.”
Both of us laughed before we left my room. When we came downstairs, both our parents were talking for a moment before they saw us. Ms. Shimmer spoke first.
“Sunset, I was talking to Jack’s mother about this week. I’m going to be very busy and might need the car. Would it be OK if you stayed here until Friday? This will help you work on your project with Jack more than before.”
Sunset looked at me for a moment, then turned back to her mother and nodded.
My mother responded. “Great. I’ll make sure you have a place to sleep in tomorrow.”
“I’ll make sure she has everything packed and brought with her to school,” Ms. Shimmer.
“If she needs to, she can leave it with Principal Celestia until after school,” I said.
Sunset replied, “I can do that. Thanks.”
“Well, we better head on home so she can start packing,” Ms. Shimmer said. As they made their way to the car, Ms. Shimmer told her daughter to head to the car while she wanted to talk to me for a moment.
“Jack, I’m glad you’re making an effort on helping my daughter with her problems. I hope that things would be better for her after what she has gone through.”
I asked, “Ms. Shimmer, I was talking to Applejack about what could be bothering her, and we think we might know the reason. And I can guess it’s something you don’t even want to talk about as well.”
“Her father,” she responded. She let out a sigh before she continued. “I figured that was the reason she’s been that way. And it’s something I don’t want to relive again. I’m sorry, Jack, but that’s something even I don’t want to talk about. I hope you can understand.”
“I see. I’ll do what I can to help her then,” I said.
“So she’s going to stay with your family for the rest of the week?” Celestia asked me.
“Yep. Her mother might be working late this week, so I can be able to spend more time with her on our project together.”
“Look’s like luck must be on your side this time,” she responded with a grin.
Just seeing that grin tells me that she had something to do with this. I just glared at her, trying to get her to confess.
“OK., you win. I talked to her about the project the two of you have to do, and that you are also trying to help her out with her problems as best as you can. She felt like if she could stay with your family, she can see what she’s been missing out in her life.”
“A family that cares,” I said. “And her mother can’t be there all the time to help.”
“I’m guessing you have a plan in place?”
“Yes, but not tonight. My parents have to meet with the boss and his wife for dinner somewhere. And I asked Chrysalis that I’ll need time with her alone, so she plans to stay with Coco to work on some ‘designs’ while over there. And I have what I need from my friend for her to listen. Let’s just hope it all plays out as I want it to be.”
“I’m sure it will be, Jack.” Celestia leaned back in her chair with her hands clasped together. “Now for something else that we need to talk about.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “I should have seen this coming. How did you know about it?”
“Heard it from Luna, who heard it from Chrysalis. I’m surprised that some students of Crystal Prep would make a bold and dangerous move. But that’s beside the point. Chrysalis said that she saw what couldn’t be possible to do.”
“Well, since you brought it up, something happened that felt odd. I knew Sunset was in danger when the girls plan to physically harm her, and I was too far away to make it there in time. That’s when it happened. One second I’m far away from them, the next I’m right behind them with my weapon drawn. Any idea what happened?”
“Luna knows what you just experience, and it’s one that she wished you didn’t learn at this time.” Celestia brought out the book and opened it to another page to show me.
“Soul Shift”
Desperate times call for desperate measures. When danger is present, and time is short, a person can shift time and space to get from one area to another, but only in short distances. This can allow the person to get to its target, or escape the target attacking it.
“I can see why she can be concerned about this,” I said as I handed the book back to Celestia.
“We’re still in football season, and if people see you do a soul shift, it could be bad for all of us,” Celestia said.
“Well, I haven’t been desperate about my actions, but it might be wise to let Moon Dancer know about this.”
“My sister already has that covered. And what about the three that were there?”
“Well, I don’t think they’re gifted, and they would have been too distracted to see me do a soul shift. So we can scratch Dust and Suri off the list, not to mention Brick Wall from their team. He didn’t sense Chrysalis coming to knock him down.”
“That still leaves us with the Elite 5,” Celestia added.
“I’m more concerned about the fact that they made this move on me with less than two weeks before we face them.”
“You’re right about that,” Celestia said with a worried look on her face. “I’m aware about the ‘Prank Wars’ that happen between us and them. I can’t get Cinch to fix the issue because she thinks that they’re not capable of doing something like that. Last year, they dressed up the horse statue to look like a clown.”
“I asked Twilight to do some stat comparisons between last year and this year, but she’s still trying to get all the data together. I’m hoping that some major difference in those stats, plus my popularity, could have raised a red flag on their end.”
“Well, you were able to get their attention, like you wanted to,” Celestia said. “But if its just some normal students acting on this, it’s possible that someone is pulling the strings. But that’s just a theory.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Celestia.”
After finishing up with practice and coming home, we took Sunset’s bags to the guest bedroom before going up to my room to work on some homework and our project. After a few hours of work, my mother brought up a small meal for the two of us to eat. That gave us a bit of a break, not to mention that I was able to pull up the national weather show online to help pass the time while seeing what else we needed to cover.
“Question. Have you ever been hooked on the weather?” Sunset asked me.
“Answer. Yes,” I replied. “But in all seriousness, it helps pass the time when there’s nothing better to watch. I always like to watch ‘Storm Watchers’ online, even if it’s an old show. Just seeing how it’s formed is one reason I like to watch it. And then there’s the fact that Mother Nature can have an effect on the homes and buildings that get damaged.”
“I think the only time I got hooked on a weather related event was the flood of Ponyville that happened 7 years ago,” Sunset said. “And I wasn’t even living in the town back then.”
“That was the year Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo lost their parents from an overflowing river,” I said.
“I never knew they lost their parents during that flood. But I’m sure they had their reasons for not telling me, with my past and all.”
“Well, I was living in Appleloosa at the time when I heard about what happened. Around 30 dead, and almost two-dozen homes and buildings flooded. Dad got word about the damage and went down there for a week to see what repair supplies needed to be sent to the town. D.I.Y. has a weather recovery program that gets donations to help out victims of tornadoes and floods. And my dad is one of the few company workers who respond to gather damage assessments in the town.”
“Sounds like your family’s life is like an adventure,” she said. “You always go to a new place and get to see what it has to offer.”
“Well, I haven’t been anywhere to the north or west of here. So there’s still a lot to explore.” I started to lie down on the bed with my legs hanging on the side of the bed, remembering one of my past moments. “I still like living in Manehattan, and it’s not because of the big city lifestyle. It was more of what happened during the nighttime.”
“Well, it is one of the busiest places to live and work,” Sunset added. “What made the nighttime better for you?”
I told her, “We lived in a three story building, when the garage was on the bottom floor. The second and third floors were like a regular house. I had access to the escape stairs outside, which also went up to the rooftop. At night, when I needed to clear my head, I go up to the roof and look at the night sky above while the mixed lights and sounds kept me at ease. Ambient sounds were something that I like to listen to a lot. And when it snowed, the lights look a lot brighter, but not a lot of sound went on, because everyone wanted to stay inside from the cold.”
Sunset started to law down next to me in the same position. “I prefer the winter time myself, when I was younger. When the ground was filled with snow and the moon was out, it made the area look brighter in night.” She turned her head towards me. “It must be great to have everything. A family that gets to go to places, see new things, make new friends, just about everything.”
“Not everything,” I said. “Friends come and go in my life, not to mention I can’t get a girlfriend, knowing that I might have to move again.”
“But look at you. Your family has now settled down, so you can finish up high school at its prime. Plus, you’ve become popular at the school and got most of the girls interested in you, so finding a girlfriend shouldn’t be a problem for you.”
“I though you would still be jealous of me being popular, thanks to you,” I said.
“I was, but I can’t compete with that anymore,” she said. “Besides, you got all those girls out there waiting for you to ask one of them out.”
I just let out a huff and sighed.
She got back up and said, “Oh come on. You haven’t even bothered to ask one of them out, have you?”
“That’s the least of my worries,” I said.
Looking straight into my eyes, she said, “And what’s holding you back in doing so?”
“I’m staring at it.”
She pulled back and started to look away. “What…what’s so important about me?”
I sat back up and said, “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Jack, you should know everything about me from everyone else, remember?”
“Unless there’s something you’re not telling us.”
She got up and walked to another window in my room, rubbing the same upper arm as before. “The last thing I want to talk about is my past, so just…”
“Zip it. I know, I know. But at some point you going to have to tell me. You can’t keep it bottled up inside you. Or would you rather keep the title of fire demon with you?”
Sunset started to ball up her fist, wanting to just lash out, but she then put it aside. “Please, just…give me some time, OK? I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready to relive my past.”
I got back up and grabbed the empty plates and glasses. “You want some more fruit punch?”
“If you will, please.”
I left my room for a moment to put away the dishes and refill our glasses. When I got back up to my room with our drinks, I saw that she was reading some of the newsletters from Crystal Prep.
“Still can’t believe he writes this crap,” she said to herself.
“What, Tenderhoof?” I said, startling her.
“Gosh, you scared me there,” she responded. “How did you get your hands on these newsletters?”
“You can thank the two rich girls in our club. Met some of the students while they were still in junior high.”
“Well, I can see why Tenderhoof is a creep. His poems suck.”
“You came across him?” I asked.
“Came across and brought him to his knees. The creep just wants to stalk any girls that catches his eye.”
“And how did you handle him before?”
“You really want to know?” I nodded. “Goes back to my freshman year. I was pissed after my fight with Flash. So I decided to just chill out at Sugarcube Corner, and guess who walks in. Tenderhoof himself. And just so you know, I didn’t know that he was a student at Crystal Prep when he showed up. Decides to sit next to me and flirt with me. So my response was a knee below the belt, causing him to fall down in pain. I left after that and never crossed paths with him again.”
“Maybe that’s what AJ needs to do.” I said.
“You mean he’s been stalking on her as well?”
“Came across each other at Sugarcube Corner after Saturday’s meeting. And she did not like it one bit.”
“Well, if he shows up to AJ again, I’ll be happy to give him a boot to the head,” she responded.
“I’ll hold you to that, Sunset.”
“So what’s the point in having these newsletters?” she asked.
“You’ve heard about Crystal Prep’s perfect record?” She nodded. “I don’t buy it one bit. I mean, being the best is fine, but perfect is hard to pull off. Even Mane Coast Academy can’t be perfect all the time.”
“I have always though they were a bunch of spoiled rich kids and really didn’t want to bother about it. But when you think about it now, it does seem odd to maintain a perfect record.”
“I thought the same thing.” We heard the voice coming from the doorway and noticed that it was Chrysalis. “Thought I check up on you two. Your towels are in the guest bathroom whenever you are ready, Sunset.”
“Thanks, Chrysalis. Must be hard not having a family of your own.”
“I can understand. But this is my family now, and I make sure I embrace every day of it. And I can see you found the newsletters that we had.”
“Jack told me how you got them,” Sunset responded.
“So far, she’s learned more about Tenderhoof,” I added.
“Oh, you have yet to see the real treasure.” Chrysalis went and grabbed the issue that had Fleur on it and showed it to Sunset.
Sunset looked at the name and had a hard time pronouncing the girl’s name. “How do you even say this girl’s name?”
“Fleur de Lis,” Chrysalis responded with an accent. “I know it’s a foreign name. Why they like those names is beyond me. And I’ve been meaning to tell you this, Jack, but she’s Suri’s own personal model to her fashions.”
“Ugh, can’t believe she works for that bitch,” Sunset said.
“Depends on which bitch is working for who,” Chrysalis added with a laugh. “Wouldn’t mind getting back at her for what she did yesterday.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Sunset added.
“Well, I need to go back down and finish up on some remaining homework. I’ll let you get back on your project.” And that’s when Chrysalis let my room.
We decided that we had enough of our break time and went back to work. Well, after she saw the video about how a fire tornado was created, which she felt like we should add to our project details. For some reason, she started to create an interest in the subject as it went on. As it was getting late, we decided to call it a day so she can go wash up before getting some rest downstairs. I went to my bathroom to get myself ready for bed. At that time, I could hear Sunset yelling.
“Can you at least knock before entering?”
I heard Chrysalis respond. “Sorry, but it sounded quiet in there. I thought you were done in there.”
“Well I’m not, OK?” Followed by a slamming of the door.
“Looks like Chrysalis caught Sunset in a bad moment,” I thought.
As I came out of the bathroom, I saw Chrysalis nearby.
“Not used to having another guest in the house at night?” I said.
“Maybe. But something didn’t look right on her.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, it’s the first time that I, or even anyone, have seen her bare arms, since she wears that jacket all the time. And I though I noticed scars on her lower arms, as if she was trying to cut herself in the past.”
“Suicide or just harming herself?”
“Well, I can noticed what looks like a true suicide, and with several markings, it looks like she wants to harm herself instead.”
“But she was scared when Dust wanted to cut her up with her knife. Something’s not right about this,” I said.
“Well, I’m going to stay with Coco tomorrow after school. And with your parents out on dinner, this could be the only chance to find out what’s she’s doing to herself.”
“I’m done with the bathroom,” Sunset yelled from downstairs.
Chrysalis told me, “Better get some rest, Jack. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
Twilight was still working on compiling the data from last year and this year. She said that it’s been harder to work on than expected. She was also looking into other ideas that Crystal Prep could have gotten their info about me. Until then, it was business as usual.
I told Celestia about the possible scar marks on Sunset’s arms that Chrysalis saw, which was new to her. She hasn’t heard anything like this from her mother before, which raises more questions about her past. And I haven’t sense any change with that wall of hers.
After practice, I took Sunset back to my place, while Chrysalis planned to stay with Coco tonight. My dad got home early before heading out to pick up mom for dinner with his boss. This left me with Sunset for the evening, working on our project some more.
“So if the forest lacks rain water for days, maybe weeks, then it will be dry enough to become a wildfire waiting to happen?” Sunset asked me.
“Yep. And if that were to happen, then they would have to fight fire with fire, so to speak. And high winds can make it harder to stop.”
“Mother Nature can be brutal at times. Good thing Appleloosa and Dodge City don’t have to deal with that issue. Most of it is open land anyway.”
“I have to ask you this. Back in the 4th grade, you weren’t living in Ponyville, and I know you didn’t live in Appleloosa when you went to the fair. So where did you live at that time?”
“Would you believe Las Pegasus? Mother wanted to take the long trip to Appleloosa when she heard about the fair at that time. Got everything planned out in advanced. She felt like I needed a change of scenery to make me feel better.”
“But something happened that you wished didn’t happen, right?” Sunset had this confused look on her face. I figure it was time she knew. “I’m aware that you came across an Indian girl about your age at the fair, and something she said scared you away.”
“Let me guess. Little Strongheart.” She sighed for a moment. “Look, I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“No need to,” I said. “I just want you to listen to this.” I went to my laptop and started to play an audio file on there.
“OK., I’m recording. Now tell me what happened that day.”
“Well, I came across this girl who felt down, so I decided to talk to her and maybe lift her spirits. She was dealing with some past issues that she felt like she didn’t want to talk about. It wasn’t my place to ask in the first place, so I asked her if she would let me look into her spirit and see what her future holds. It’s like the time I did this to you before you had to move again. She went along, feeling that it would hurt to try. And it was my first attempt in this task. When I looked into her spirit, I felt pain and suffering. I told her that her journey would take her down a dark path, and that she would have to face what’s to come.”
Sunset went to stop the recording. “Please Jack, I don’t want to be reminded of all that.”
I said, “Wait. There’s more that you need to know.” I started the recording again.
“That’s when she just ran off in tears, not letting me finish what I saw.”
“And what was else did you see in her?”
“I saw a light in the darkness. It was a light that she couldn’t reach alone. I can see a figure that would take her to that light. Seeing that meant that someone would be there to take her on the path that she needs to go, after having to suffer the pain that she would go through. I wanted her to know that she needed to be strong through this dark path, in hopes that the figure I saw would appear to be at her side and bring her out of the dark. When I told you that you would be special, and was able to find her, I think that figure that I saw might have been you.”
I stopped the recording. “You ran off, not hearing the whole story. She has been hoping to meet you again and tell you what you need to know. And to hear that I might have been that figure that she saw was a bit of a surprise to me.”
Tears started to come on Sunset’s face. “You’re making this up, just to make me feel bad about my actions.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.” I placed my hands of her shoulders and said, “You’ve been living with your demons for a long time and been trying to hide it all this time. And it has to do with what your father did to you.”
She started to rub the same spot on her arm again. “What makes you think it has to do with my father?”
“Because you brought it up during your argument with Mrs. Rich about the cops. And I like to think it comes from this spot here.” I placed my hand on hers that was on her arm. “Can you at least show me what it looks like?”
“OK.” She slid down her jacket, exposing her upper arm. I can barely see a bruise mark that was there. When I placed my hand on it, she flinched.
I started to see the images that I saw from the letter I touched from Ms. Shimmer, but clearer. I saw her mother arguing with a man, maybe Sunset’s father. The arguing gets intense. Then he slaps her in the face hard, causing her to fall down. Then Sunset appears and starts to fight the man. He grabs her on the arm hard, almost breaking it, and tosses her to her mother. The door busts open, revealing a big man. The other man decided to run, but is taken down by the big guy. He tells someone something, but I can’t make out any of the words. All I can hear is Sunset in pain. That’s when the images came to an end.
“Sunset, I know you don’t like to talk about, but the longer you keep it bottled up, the more painful it will be.”
She looked at me and said, “Promise you won’t tell anyone about it?” I nodded. Both of us sat back down on my bed.
“It started back when I was in Kindergarten, up in Vanhoover. That’s where I was born. My parents got into a heated argument. Mom was doing all the work, while dad was lazy and couldn’t keep a job. She felt like he wasn’t doing enough to support the family. That’s when he slapped her in the face, knocking her to the ground. I was mad and started hitting dad, causing him to grab my arm, almost breaking it. I was tossed towards my mother in pain. Next thing that happened was the door busting open. It was our neighbor, who heard it next door. My dad tried to run, but was taken down by our neighbor. He told his wife to call the police and ambulance. Doctor said that it was a fracture, and would have to be in a cast for weeks. With dad locked up for a while, mom wanted to file for a divorce and have full custody of me, which was granted.
“After being laughed at in my class with the cast on me, we decided to move away to Las Pegasus, with our neighbor’s help. She wanted to leave the past behind and move on. With a new job and new home, we thought everything would be fine. But I had a hard time making friends because I felt like an outcast. Mom said to give it time. She even thought the trip to Appleloosa would do some good.
“It wasn’t until the 6th grade that everything started to fall apart. The welfare checks stopped coming in. She made a call to look into my father as to why it stopped. Turns out that he committed suicide. Cops were there to make sure he was still there, only to find him with a gun. He pointed the gun to the cops, causing them to open fire. Turns out than the gun wasn’t even loaded. Suicide by cop, they said. Couldn’t keep a job, and his bank accounts were empty and closed. Guy didn’t even have the guts to pull the trigger. We knew we couldn’t stay in Las Pegasus for long because of rent. The company that my mother worked for said that they were opening a branch in Ponyville. Rent would be easier on us, and they promised to help us move at no cost. She felt like the small town life would be much easier for us. That’s when I met Flash in the 7th grade at my new school.
“I’m sure you know the rest of the story from the others. The reason I dated Flash when he started getting popular in the 8th grade was to just cover up my past. I felt happy at the time, until we took a break from dating. I thought I would get by on my own.” Her tone changed from sorrow to anger. “But Twilight and Cadence both stole the show from me. I didn’t want to fall back in that same hole that I was able to crawl out of. I…I WANTED THEM TO PAY!!!”
I intervened. “Sunset, look at me.” She turned towards me. “I know you felt mad, but did you ever thought about talking to them about the pain you were feeling?”
“I thought that if I told them, that they would laugh at me. I can still hear it; the laughing, the taunting. I just wanted it to end.” She covered her face with her hands, crying.
“Sunset, I need you to do me a favor.” She looked at me with sadness and fear. “I need you to take off your jacket.”
She looked away, crying some more. “Please…please, don’t make me go through this.”
“Look, if you want me to help you, you have to trust me in this,” I said to her. She finally took off her leather jacket. And on her lower arms were knife marks all over, just like Chrysalis said. “When have you been doing this?”
“Over the summer,” she replied. “I just wanted it all to go away. It’s not like anyone ever cares about me anymore.”
“That’s a load of bull, and you know it. There’s always someone out there who still cares for you.”
“Name one person who does. I dare you,” she said still crying.
“You mother.” She froze right there after I said that. “You may not know it, but she cares for you deeply. And yes, I know she can’t be there all the time. But you still don’t have to be alone. Why do you think I’m trying to help in the first place?”
“So you’re doing this for her?”
I’m doing this for all of us,” as I placed my hand on hers, “because I care for you as well. I know we had a rough start on the first day, but when I saw the letter that your mother wrote, I knew she wanted me to help. And during that time, I felt like you needed someone at your side when times are rough.”
With tears still in her eyes, she started to stare at the stand of blades that I had displayed. As she was staring at them, I had a feeling what was going through her mind. I placed my hand on her cheek and turned her gaze towards me. “Don’t you even dare think about doing it. You’ve done enough damage to yourself.”
“Jack, you said that if the blade of Muramasa was drawn, blood must be spilled. Does the bearer of the blade have to do so to itself as well?”
“What are you getting at, Sunset.”
“Just let me draw the blade myself. I want to ease the pain in me again.”
I knew that she wouldn’t stop if I tried, and I needed to find a way to make her stop doing this to herself. Then something came to mind that I remember hearing about in past ancient stories. “Then do me one thing.”
“What?” she said.
“Come with me.” I grabbed both blades, grabbed a first aid box from my bathroom, and took her to the sink in the kitchen. “I want you to make a promise to me, and I plan to make a promise with you. If you promise you will stop harming yourself in any way, I’ll promise to be by your side through the good times and the bad.”
“And how do you plan to keep this promise?” she said to me.
I turned the water on, then gave her Muramasa, and took Masamune in my hand. “Draw your blade.” Both of us drew our blades. “Now, slowly slide the blade on your left hand.” Both of us took the blade side to our hand until a bit of blood was shown. Sunset flinched as she did this. I set my blade down on the counter, and she did the same. “Now, give me your wounded hand.” When she brought it to me, I grabbed it with my wounded hand and placed our hands over the running water. “This is my promise to you, that I will be there at your side at all times, no matter what happens.”
“And I promise to you, that I will never harm myself ever again, and be at your side, no matter what happens to us.” She looked at our hands and realized what just happened. “Did we just make…a blood pact?”
“In a way, yes. Do you feel better?” She nodded. “Now lets get these patched up before we go back to work.”
So I went and used rubbing alcohol on her cut before covering it up with some gauze. She flinched again like before. “You’ve been scared of having to deal with physical pain, have you?”
“Depends. But maybe this is the start of the healing process for me.”
She decided to use rubbing alcohol on my cut and covered it up with some gauze as well. I went and cleaned the blood off the blades before sheathing them. After going back to my room, I placed the blades back on the stand. As we started to get back to work, she gave me a big hug and said into my ear, “I sorry I put you through this, but thanks for listening to me.” It was that point that I started to feel a crack in the wall around her soul. It felt like worrying, but I wasn’t sure. I just knew I’ve finally got her on the right path that she needed to be on.