Reflecta's cracked parts caught the light and they burst into different colours, sprouting from the blade like colourful ribbons. A different type of energy surged through my veins, something that brought strength. They soar through my blood without reluctance, waiting for my command. The colours pursued Blayze with deadly precision. She had no other choice but to dodge to the side. Marty almost didn't leap to the side in time. I saw one of the ribbons cut past his arm.

A gust of wind shot past my cheeks and forced everyone to the floor except me. I held Reflecta tightly with both hands and felt Reflecta hold my legs to the floor, keeping me straight. The wind sliced past the iridescent bubble around me and stilled with a raise of my hand.

Professor May moved through the mist and threw her katana down with full force. I let out a yelp, my arms shook against her attack, a sudden drain of energy.

I stumbled two steps back and felt a familiar hand on my back, holding me still.

"I got you," Jaxton said, staring straight ahead at Professor May. With another step, he went into action. First, throwing his sheath to divert Professor May's katana to the side and next, piercing Professor May's abdomen with the tip of his sword. Professor May drew back before Jaxton could go further but I wasn't going to let Professor May escape. I shot out next to Jaxton, pushing Reflecta with both hands as the iridescent glow followed. May raised her hand to block the impact but still flew back metres. She scrambled to her feet, but there was a limpness in her gait. She was signalling their retreat.

I took the chance to look at Alsa and James, who were both staring at me with goldfish eyes.

"You guys okay?"

James slowly nodded, looking pale, "Yeah, yeah..."

"Cass!"

I side-stepped as a blaze separated us two. I pivoted on my toes, swinging Reflecta in the air as my ice powers danced around my figure. I could hear the water hissing every time the water drowned the fire.

Blayze swung her anklet in the air, a red trail following it. At the corner of my eyes, I saw Marty in close proximity and had a spark of idea. I diverted Blayze's kick and watched as she raised her other leg for another round. I took one step back and went up into the air, only to reveal Marty behind me. Blayze already minimised part of her attack by losing the flames but she still managed to scrap her kick on Marty's head.

"The hell, Blayze!"

I moved to Jaxton's side, "Give me a boost!"

He kneeled and I landed on his shoulder, shooting myself higher. I aimed my kick at Blayze's chest, an icy chill running down my body to my toes. A blue glow expanded in the shape of a snowflake on Blayze's skin. She closed her eyes, a pained look as she bumped into Marty and both of them crashed to the ground in a heap.

Jaxton's dark shadows didn't take form, but they loomed over the two of them like a thunderstorm. It pushed them back another few metres before they stopped sliding. Marty leaned on both elbows and pushed himself up with heavy breaths. He landed his tiring look on me for a brief moment before he took Blayze in his arms and began to run.

Jaxton and I stood still, in the sudden silence that rained upon us, catching our breaths. There were sizzling pains in my wound but they were aching in the background; my attention was slowly shifting to Jaxton's. His eyes were set on Yoan in the far corner. I didn't know if it was the lighting but Yoan seemed paler than before and it only confirmed, again and again, that he was gone. A futile struggle against my hopeful doubts — for once, my self-doubt was more of a positive thing than a negative one.

I put a hand on Jaxton's arm, sensing him flinch and relax. He didn't look at me, I guess he really couldn't meet my eyes when he said this, "I know why he never comes into my room."

I swallowed, giving him rubs on the arm.

"Everything I've said about Iridescent in the past... only an idiot would trust me."

I wanted to hold him and tell him things will be okay. I could physically feel this urge in my chest, a magnetic pull, but I resisted against it. Letting out a breath, I forced my glance away from Yoan's body to James and Alsa.

Alsa had pulled James to sit against a pillar and was wrapping up his wound for temporary measures.

"Where's Vel?"

Jaxton sniffed, wiping his cheek. He still refused to meet my eyes. "Destroying their helicopters."

"Right," I turned to James and Alsa. "Stay in cover till we get back."

Alsa stood up, "it's dangerous-"

"Don't worry, we won't be long."

"You should go with them," I heard James say as I moved away from them.

"What about you?"

Jaxton and I got out of the warehouse into an open platform just when I heard an explosion on the side. I bent down to shield myself.

"It's Vel."

My eyes took in the environment quickly. Vel was clicking her fingers and destroying the metal birds into pieces, all the while throwing two men off the platform for a death fall. There was one helicopter left and they were all rushing aboard. The long blades were already turning, almost reading it's full speed. Marty was seen at the edge of the door, pulling an unconscious Blayze into the helicopter. The pilot was already shouting impatiently and I saw the landing skids already leaving the platform.

I brought out Reflecta and took aim at the turning blades. The frost sparked into different ribbons, freezing the centre of the turning blade. It slowed it down, made a nasty and ear-piercing noise before the helicopter broke through the ice and continued.

Professor May was the last to climb, given the injury she had and Jaxton's shadows dragging her down. She swiped up her katana and a strike of lightning made the shadows whistle away. Jaxton let out a curse, opening his palms to try and hold the shadows.

"They're reluctant!"

I raised Reflecta again, feeling even more desperate to take down the helicopter now that it was already lifting further off the ground. Professor May's legs dangled out the side and the shadows were not willing to follow them into the sunlight.

Suddenly, Professor May was falling. A zap of grey light threw her from the helicopter and back down to the ground. As Professor May was groaning, holding her — probably — broken arm, all Jaxton and I could do was stare at Professor Allistar with surprise.

Professor Allistar didn't return our gaze but he reserved a softness in his tone when he addressed us, "It's alright. It's over. I'll deal with this." He sounded so calm, so confident. I instantly felt the heaviness on my chest leave me and I took the chance to release a quiet breath.

Professor Allistar didn't wear his glasses, in fact, I didn't know where his glasses were. His orbs were in an intense colour of moon-grey and his palms looked like a broken vase moulted together with silver and lines of grey shone vividly through the cracks.

"He was so young... too young," Professor Allistar's voice was edged with a quiver. "How dare you?" Behind him, the helicopter grew smaller, adjusting its directions for escape — Vel's purple bomb didn't manage to reach it.

"Vel!" I hissed. Vel saw the two professors and edged carefully to my side. I grabbed onto her tightly as though I would lose her in the madness.

Professor May staggered to a stand, laughing, "And how dare you all rip my family apart? We were happy. My daughters used to have a father-"

"Shut up!" Professor Allistar threw a bolt of light at her shoulder and it struck her fully, cracking a rib. Professor May began moaning like a dying animal but she still remained standing. "You stay blind to the truth. You blame your suffering on the innocent crowd. You're not changing the world, you just selfishly want everyone to go through the same pain you've been through! To you, it doesn't matter if someone else loses a son or daughter."

"Of course it doesn't matter!"

Professor Allistar was getting closer and closer to Professor May and Professor May was too weak to fight back. I heard Professor Allistar's chuckle and it sounded off.

"Everything has its price, Catlin."

I could sense Jaxton's nervousness — a subtle shuffle in his feet and a tense in his shoulder — but I was too foolish to guess what Professor Allistar's plan was.

How could I have not seen it?

One moment, Allistar and May were still on the platform and the next?

Allistar threw himself at May and they both tipped off the edge. Jaxton leapt forward last minute. Vel screamed for her brother to come back. She tore away from my grasp, holding out her gloved hands but her fingers slipped past his vest, the fabric flowed away from her grip. Jaxton threw himself forward, sliding to the edge. He reached out, snapping his hands shut and trapping a portion of Allistar's shirt in his fist but it still went away.

I was at the edge by then, staring down. There was nothing below except trees and a massive drop. Allistar made the jump looked so easy. Just a hop, a wrap of his arms around May's waist and they were off the deck.

"No..." Jaxton's breath sounded like a shake in the wind, "this can't happen. I made... I made a promise."

Vel drew Jaxton away from the edge with a rough pull of his jacket, she wrapped her arms around him, but Jaxton's focus was distanced, as though he wasn't even there.

The aches in my wound grew from a sizzle to a burn. I stared at the edge, ignoring the sunlight hitting the edge of my eyes, and hoped everything I saw was a trick of the light.

Except it wasn't.

***

Sometimes, you want a story to be told to the world. It should be told. There were criminals that should be punished, there were deaths that should be remembered and there were truths that should be seen. But none of it happened. For people of the Iridescent no longer held the favour of the society and people were more comfortable with living blindly than stirring things up.

The media did not report what happened in the warehouse and the authorities did their usual procedures but nothing could be done. They wanted to hide incident and so did we — I didn't need people to know that I held a Blade of Iridescent.

James spent the next few weeks in the hospital, having taken a rather serious hit this time but he'll live. Alsa told us everything — on how they became part of a group of 'trackers' who secretly tracked the movement of Iridescent crystals, which were usually underground and complicated like a spiderweb. It felt kinda good to know that Alsa and James, not being the Masters of Iridescent, still took an interest in finding out what was behind the incident of the Dark Ages and whether they were using the incident only to take Iridescent crystals for their own selfish interests.

Because one thing I knew was that they sucked out our powers like leeches, draining us empty for the bond to be transported elsewhere. It was part of a bigger plan and we were just pawns up for a gambit.

As for me? Yoan and I were pawns. Catlin May used me to stall time, bringing everyone's focus (including Professor Allistar's) on me, for people to believe that I was either in big trouble or danger. Except, they wanted Professor Allistar to stop keeping an eye on Yoan, so they could take him and me later — put a display on releasing me in front of everyone in the school grounds and then let Marty take me to a reserved area for the perfect shadow ambush.

There were funerals.

We went to the one for two people, buried side-by-side each other, right next to a tombstone that was already there under a sycamore tree.

There was a group of people around the hole, made for the coffin. I could see Professor Mortimor and Professor Dumbar there. Professor Mortimor wore a black dress and no earrings, occasionally wiping her cheeks gently.

None of them knew where we were, we weren't next to them, we were up on a steep hill. There was also a hundred-year-old sycamore tree standing tall and strong, creating the perfect shade for the bench installed beneath it. Jaxton and I sat there, watched the funeral procession happen. None of us could muster the courage to be there because we both knew we wouldn't be able to keep our composure. It was better this way — the silence, the breeze, and the distance, as though it wasn't that intimate or personal, as though it wasn't that close or relevant, as though we were watching someone else's funeral.

The coffins were lowered, comforting words were exchanged and soon the soil was piled on top. People began to grow scarce. The last to leave was Professor Mortimor, under the encouragement of Professor Dumbar; a slow nod and a gentle hand on her arm. They soon left, crossing the road and went down the path directed to the shimmering lake.

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the park, where there would be willow trees, swans, a cup of tea in a lakeside café... but we were here and I could feel this looming sadness that didn't dissipate within my chest. The merrier this weather was, the sadder I became.

Jaxton was silently crying the whole time, a numbed look on his face as lines and lines of tears kept rolling down his cheeks at a steady pace. I'd rather that he bawled his eyes out and, if he didn't prefer to be that loud, then sobs... he could sob, he could let his sadness rattle his shoulders and chest, let it be written all over his face and then, maybe I'd believe that he was letting it all out rather than bottling it all in.

I sniffed and wiped my wet cheeks, watching him carefully. He was doing the same, except the efforts had proven futile, another stream of tears came right back down.

"What's on your mind, right now?"

"Besides the funeral?" He breathed, wiping his cheeks again and looking away. "Memories of Yoan."

"What's your favourite memory with him?"

Jaxton met my gaze, "Sitting on the roof to look at stars, drinking canned beer and talking about life, dreams and goals."

I let the silence run.

"He thought I could keep his dad alive. He trusted the wrong guy."

I shuffled closer to him, "I was there too. I also made a promise to him to keep Allistar alive but we couldn't. Yeah, maybe we could have tried harder, maybe we could've done this and that but... as much as I wished things would be different it isn't and I know Yoan isn't the type of person to blame."

"All the things you've said..." a pained look flashed by his eyes, "I get it. I get what you mean but it hurts. It hurts so bad."

His expression crumbled and his shoulders shook, he buried his face into his palms and I hugged him by the shoulder, letting my tears slip, "I know... I know..."

Sorrowful laughter escapes his lips, ending with a harsh breath, "what's funnier is that I've always thought Robin was innocent. I gave myself all kinds of explanations to his disappearance and none of them was relevant to becoming a bad guy. I chased him down everywhere like a fool. And the most stupid thing I've ever done was believe in him."

"He's your family, it's reasonable to believe in him," I quietly said. "Sometimes family can hurt us and disappoint the faith we had in them but it doesn't make your initial belief in them wrong."

He leaned away, breathing out a long sigh, "things will never be the same without him."

"It won't," I leaned close, taking in his scent and the comfort I felt being next to him, "but if you ever need someone, you have Vel... and you have me."

He shifted his head, his nose touching mine, "And I'm glad your mine."

"Am I?" Upon the question, I saw a spark in his eyes.

"So that's what you've been wondering about these days..."

"Sorry?"

"When I was talking you, you were kinda there but kinda not," he slanted a smile, "I forgot to ask you, I assumed you were already."

"Were what?" My smile was growing sly.

"Girlfriend," he said, a growing blush that was contagious. "Would you be my girlfriend?"

I almost laughed at the uncertainty in his eyes, as though I would still reject him.

"Thank you for the question but you have to wait three to five business days-"

He landed a quick kiss on my lips and then laughed, "No. Right now."

I grinned faintly, my palm against one side of his cheek, my thumb tracing his jaw and memorising each angle and shape.

"Of course."

THE END

***

A/N

Wow! 😲 It's over?

Why, yes, fellow travellers, the Iridescent journey is over.

There is potential for a Book 2 as there are many unanswered questions and space for plot + character development — but unfortunately, it won't be any time soon as I would be working on my other books.

Thank you for your support!

See you on another adventure 😉

L

P.S. Be sure to check out my other books!

"Flight" — adventure / a city in the sky / mystery / friendship / elements / power / romance

"Snowfire" — my first book on Wattpad / recently edited / adventure /powers / elements / romance / friendship