The Last Swordmaster

The New Leader and the Fashion Designer Deputy

Jack came in after dinner to see me staring at the ceiling. "Scarlet-"

I shook my head and sat up. "Say my name. My real one."

He sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me. "Elaine, I-"

I put a finger on his lips to silence him. "Don't speak. Just stay like this for a little longer. Please."

He held me closer and put his head on top of mine. We sat like that for a few minutes before he pulled away from me. "You can't think that this was your fault, Elaine."

"I just feel like it is," I replied. "I'll be okay eventually, so it doesn't matter either way."

He held my hand and sighed. "I just don't like it when you get upset."

"Why does it matter? It's not like I'm your responsibility."

"Because I-" he stopped talking and shook his head, as if he decided not to say something. "Because we're friends. I wouldn't want you to feel upset."

I shrugged and stood up. "I'm going to get a roll or something."

He stood up and laughed. "Did your appetite come back?"

"Kind of. I'm really just tired, though. I'm probably going to eat and go to sleep."

Jack leaned against the wall. "You'll have to tell the other two about you being the new leader at some point, you know."

"I will, I will," I told him as I walked out of the room. He followed me as we walked towards the kitchen. "I just want to give them time to adjust and stuff."

"And stuff?"

I pointed at him. "Yes. It's been a long day, and I need some time to get used to this, too. More importantly, I need some sleep. And some food."

He rolled his eyes as we walked into the kitchen. "I swear you could sleep for ten years if you tried. You're like a sloth or something."

"No, it's called building up my energy reserves," I told him as I grabbed three rolls and a muffin. 

He laughed and flicked my nose. "If you build up so much energy, why do you need to sleep for so long every single day?"

"You can never be too prepared," I told him as I left the kitchen. "I'm going to sleep. See you later."

"Okay, bye."

I went back up to my room and flopped down onto my bed, eating rolls as I picked up the phone that Andras gave me. I scrolled through social media and news sites to keep up with the rest of the world. It was something Andras always did, so he wanted me to do it, too. I also secretly texted Blue Tremain, the girl that I met a few months ago while I was on a solo mission. She was my only human friend at the time, and talking to her made me feel like I was actually normal. We had random talks about different things, like right at that moment, when she was talking about a guy at school. I fell asleep in the of our conversation. My worried thoughts still revolved around my head as I slept, filling my dreams with nightmares.

*****

I woke up to the sound of a cat meowing outside of my door. I put on a black tank top and jeans to open the door. Axel stood there, looking at me with irritated eyes. "Finally, your group is arguing, miss leader."

I sighed and followed the cat downstairs to the dining room. Eve and Damon were in the middle of a fight, while Jack leaned back and sipped some tea. All three looked up as I walked in, and Jack sighed in relief. "Tell these two to stop arguing. They're making my head hurt."

"And you didn't try to stop it?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

Jack leaned back again. "I wasn't trained to handle these situations, love."

I rolled my eyes and turned to the others. "Guys, seriously. Knock it off."

Damon stood up straight. "I'm just saying that I'm now obviously our leader. Eve feels the need to argue."

"There is no way in hell I'm letting him lead us," she snarled. "He'd cause chaos!"

Jack urged me to tell them with his eyes, and I sighed. "He put me in charge," I told them. "He didn't want Damon to lead."

Damon's eyes filled with rage. "Do you have any proof?"

I pulled the document that Andras signed out of the pockets of my jeans and tossed it into the table. Eve picked it up and nodded. "This is definitely his signature. It also explains why you spent so much time together."

"Why would he pick her over me?" Damon asked furiously.

"It says here that you are too impulsive and that you don't think of consequences," Eve stated in a relieved tone. "Good. I'm glad you aren't in charge. Oh, and it looks like Jack is the deputy. So you don't have any authority anymore!"

Jack grinned as Damon turned to him. "That's not my fault. Scarlet chose me. Obviously, I mean she does love me."

"Not the time, Jack, and no, I don't," I replied, dismissing the statement.

"We'll talk about that later," he told me with a wink. "For now I suppose we should handle this mess."

"Obviously," Eve snapped. "But there's not much to solve. Scarlet's the leader, Jack's the deputy, and we need a new member. That's all there is to it." 

Damon looked at three of us and scowled. "You've got to be kidding! She's not even ready for this!"

"She's been training nonstop for the past three months," Jack replied with narrowed eyes. "She's more than qualified to do this."

Eve nodded. "It's what Andras wanted. Shouldn't we respect his wishes?"

Damon growled and glared at each of us. "You're all imbeciles! You'll see, this will be a disaster!" After that, he stormed off, leaving Eve, Jack, and me with wide eyes.

"He's so stubborn," Eve muttered. "Anyways, you need to to the ceremony to make you leader, which won't take long. Andras probably told you how to do it, so you and Jack need to get on that."

"Ah, yes," Jack interjected. "The two of us get to do it, all alone, in a darker room..." he grinned mischievously when I glared at him.

"You are as mature as a twelve year old," I grumbled.

"But I'm way hotter," he replied with a wink, causing me to sigh in exasperation.

Eve tapped her foot impatiently. "Sorry to intrude on your relationship conversation, but you guys need to do the ritual. Like, today."

Jack grinned. "No problem. It'll be done by the end of the hour!"

I frowned. "Wha-"

Jack shot up and grabbed my wrist, pulling me down the hallway. "One of us has to be responsible enough to start things like this," he told me with a cat-like grin.