DISCLAIMER- this is a work of fiction, it has Graphic violence and profanity. character names and places are mere coincidences. have a good read

She twirled her pen vigorously and tapped it against her desk “What was that?” She whispered under her breath “Is someone messing with me?” She wondered, not noticing that her pen was getting worse and worse with every hit. 

“Dammit! I can’t hear Mr Richardson’s voice over my own” she grumbled. Before long she noticed that her pen exploded onto her book, destroying her notes and staining the desk, Fuck!”. She stood up quickly, her chair slamming onto the ground with a loud bang. 

Skyler grimaced and looked around the room. All the students were looking straight at her with disdainful expressions on their faces, and a familiar voice bellowed out “I told you, devil, you have always been weak and unless!” It was Robert snickering at her. The other students joined in with the laughter. 

Skyler grabbed her arm and looked down as she squeezed it. “Oh look we hurt the devil’s feelings!” She glanced at him. Her eyes were changing from her natural colour to purple. “Stop it” she whispered, and Robert cupped his ear. “What was that, devil incarnate?” he counted from five down to one then Skyler busted out in anger, “I said shut up you fucking cunt!” the shadows started to rise and fall from behind her.

“Skyler stop!” Mr. Richardson said as he glared at her. Instead of listening to him, it made her angrier. Skyler in her enraged state said “No, I need to pay for the compliment in kind” as she cracked her knuckles.  

Skyler stumped over to Robert and grabbed his collar, pulling him towards her. “Were you the one who said I was destined for a blade?” He looked confused and grinned and whispered into her ear “What if I was? Are you going to attack me, baby?” She clenched her fist and pulled it back.

Before she could punch him Mr Richardson shouted “Skyler Amberlight! What are you doing? You might get expelled or even arrested by the protectors. Stop acting like a child!” She let go of Robert, who chuckled “Coward. And by the way, it wasn’t me, the voice you heard!”

She looked back, sighed, and whispered “Great”. She looked at Mr Richardson who had a disappointed expression on his face. “Um sorry sir, and I’m sorry Robert” 

She went back to her desk which still had ink everywhere and said “Um sir, I need a new book and pen …” 

Mr Richardson sighed and walked to his desk, pulled out a notebook and pointed at it “If you need a new book you need to pay 50 primrules like everyone else” Skyler looked at the book and groaned “That’s so much” Mr Richardson nodded and said gently “well that’s because it’s high-quality material” 

“It’s just a book, it shouldn't cost that much!” She thought and groaned as she sat back down “Well it’s necessary…” she sighed and looked down at the drenched things. “I might ask my dad to get it because right now I only have the money for food,” she pondered. 

She looked at the drenched notebook and she knew that she couldn’t take notes. “I need help to take notes” she thought as she looked around the classroom and saw many students just kept working ignoring her. “Right…because I'm an Umbra user no one will help” she muttered spinning the empty pen in her fingers. 

She stopped spinning the pen mustered up the courage and looked at her classmate next to her “Um…hey” she muttered nervously “Can I take a screenshot of your notes with my watch?” They nodded and she twisted her wrist. The watch’s face was facing their notebook. A loud ping was heard as It took a screenshot.   

After two hours of archaeology, the bell rang. Skyler got up from her desk, packed her things and went towards the entrance of the classroom. Mr. Richardson stopped her by asking, “Can I have a minute with you?” Skyler nodded and walked back to the front of the lecture room. She stood next to the desk as Mr Richardson looked up at her from his seat. 

“You know you’ve been handing in your assessments late. Are you okay? Is it too much?” Skyler shook her head in dismissal and Mr. Richardson sighed with annoyance “I know you’re lying. I know you hate archaeology. You’re just doing it for answers about your mother. Aren't you?”

Skyler looked away, and he put his hand on her shoulder. She answered with a sad tone in her voice, “Yes David, you don’t know how badly I need answers.” Skyler trembled with emotions, her legs gave out on her and she fell onto the ground, crying her heart out. 

David looked at her, got up from his seat and knelt before her, wrapping his arms around her. He spoke gently in her ear. “I know, but it’s not your passion right?” Skyler looked at him, confused by his statement. She responded with tears in her eyes “My passion?” He nodded as Skyler took a deep breath and looked deep inside her.

Skyler was standing in a dimly lit room. A dark oak table appeared in front of her. “Ok that’s weird” she muttered. Then a book floated down from the blackness above. “What’s this?” she asked as she looked closely at it.

It was a diary with a title that said “dreams and aspirations”. She hesitated for a second, then grabbed it. The pages were worn but readable. “When I grow up I want to be a protector. I’m the weakest. How am I supposed to help?” She read aloud and fought against her thoughts. She carried on, “I liked it when I helped my mother with her things, like bringing smiles to her and people that were around us while she worked on a dig.” 

She smiled at the memories that were rushing into her brain and when she opened her eyes, she saw Mr. Richardson looking at her with a smile. “I want to be a protector. I don’t know why I forgot about it.” He hummed proudly “Because you've been fixated on finding the answer to the question of why your mother stabbed you and it was your only focus. Now then Skyler, what do you choose?” He stood up and walked to the desk, opened the drawer, got out a piece of paper and taped it. Carry on with this course or drop out and do what you like?”

She gulped, stood up and walked over to David’s desk to look down at the piece of paper. Skyler nodded, grabbed a pen and signed her full name. “I’m going to be a protector and I don’t care what people think of me. Being the weakest doesn’t define me, it's about heart!”

She looked up at David and smiled. “Isn’t that right, Dad?” He nodded, satisfied with her answer. He folded the piece of paper “You should still look for answers but don’t make it your whole reason not to do what you want to do.” 

Skyler smiled, hugged him tightly and muttered “Thanks for being you and taking me in after my mother’s car crash”. She looked into his eyes and let go of him. She grabbed her bag and walked off to the hallway. Mr. Richardson walked back to his chair, sat down as it creaked then laid back on it. “I don’t have all the answers, Skyler, you must find them out for yourself” he thought. He opened his drawer and looked at a faded picture of two young people: one of them resembled Skyler but slightly different, the other his younger self. 

“Because one day you will regret not pursuing the thing that you wanted the most in the whole world” A tear dropped onto the picture “I miss you, Jasmine” he sighed and shut the drawer.  

***

Skyler went outside and saw the setting sun over the other buildings surrounding the cathedral. The shadows of a tree covered the grass and made an image of a katana. “That's strange,” Skyler thought, but she went towards the tree and sat down underneath it. She rubbed her hair and hummed “So what was that voice talking about, and what is the blade called if it’s so important?” 

The banging headache returned and she heard the voice from before “It’s called the eclipse blade” Skyler looked around but did not see anyone. “Great… I’m going insane.”

The voice chuckled and sighed “Every time it's this when I talk to a new user. You're not going insane, I’m just communicating with you through the link between you and the blade.” Skyler looked confused and asked, intrigued and afraid “What do you mean?”

The voice hummed and spoke deeper. “I’m a spirit that is locked in a blade that roamed the earth about I believe 200,000 years ago.” Skyler’s eyes widened even more and she started to gag “What! A spirit like a ghost?” the voice hummed in disdain “No, no like, a phantom, not like you fucking humans!” 

Skyler's nose started to bleed and the voice sighed “It seems that your body isn’t ready for two beings just yet.” Skyler groaned but the pain stopped, and the only noise was the wind. “What does that voice mean by two beings, I never heard of the eclipse blade?” She wondered as she got up, wiped her bloody nose, and went to her dorm room. She dropped her bags and went to her desk, opened up her laptop and opened a browser.

She typed “eclipse blade” in the search bar but nothing popped up. “I knew it. It wasn’t real, it’s just stress” She sighed in relief and closed the laptop down. 

Skyler yawned “What's the time?” she thought and saw the clock reading 7 o’clock. She had bags under her eyes “Jeez, it's not even late,” she muttered and stretched. Skyler stood up and was about to walk to the bathroom.    

Then she heard a gentle knock on the door and went to open it. “yes”, she called out, and a voice responded, “Can I come in, Skyler?” The voice was Mr Richardson. She opened the door and smiled at him “Hello, David, what is it?”

Mr Richardson chuckled. He held a bag and looked at her with bright eyes “Just checking on you, that’s all. When we spoke after class, you were down in the dumps, and I know you’re struggling with finances. It’s my fault, I didn’t know that inflation would hit hard like this.” 

She rolled her eyes and sighed “Yup, you’re right about this” He put his left hand into the bag and brought out a new notebook for her. “Here's an early birthday gift. It’s coming up soon, isn’t it?” Skyler nodded and smiled happily as she grabbed the notebook from his hand “Yes, it is.” 

She walked to her desk and placed it next to her laptop. Mr Richardson entered, closing the door behind him “Skyler! You should think about tidying!” Skyler nodded and sighed “I should Dad, but I had no time. Now I have dropped out I could, before I leave this dorm.” 

Mr Richardson smiled and exclaimed, “I will help you, my dear daughter.” He rolled up his sleeves and Skyler laughed and rolled her eyes. “Jeez Dad you don’t need to do this!” Mr Richardson grinned and picked up the bin. He walked to the pile of rubbish “I know but I wanted to, and it gives me more time with you” 

Skyler sighed and hugged him. He hugged back gently “What was this for?” she put her head into his soft but sturdy chest mumbling into it. “Because you're awesome!” she said as she looked up from his chest. 

Mr. Richardson smiled gently and tightened his hold on her. Skyler sighed softly and whispered, “How did I get a nice foster parents?” Mr. Richardson patted her head. She let go of him and he did as well.     

They looked at each other in silence and chuckled. “This is awkward” she said and Mr. Richardson nodded “Indeed.” He said back at her with a smile. He came closer to her and leaned his face towards the top of her head. 

“Thanks for being the best person in my life” He whispered and kissed the top of her head “You’re welcome. Are you going to choose a name for me? Either Dad, David, or Mr Richardson?” 

Skyler nodded, and smiled at him “Yes. I’m going to call you Dad.” she looked down, hiding her face. “Because you have been my dad, ever since I was abandoned by my mother. Even after she stabbed me when I was seven.” Mr Richardson smiled and lifted her face softly. “I’m glad.”

Skyler suddenly got a huge headache again, with the voice speaking in a hurried tone “Fragment inbound, be careful!” After that, her headache stopped. “That’s strange?” Skyler thought. 

A fiery explosion outside the window caused it to smash, and they hit the wall behind them. They heard screaming and crying and both Skyler and Mr Richardson looked outside to see the cathedral was on fire. A giant monster with crystal spikes forming from its body was coming towards the dormitory. “A fragment?” Mr Richardson said weakly, and Skyler started laughing hysterically. “W-why is this happening” 

She hugged herself, took a shaky breath and thought “This is the second time in two days that something happened near me!” Mr Richardson looked at Skyler. She seemed terrified. He hugged her again “Skyler, look at me.” She did and saw how scared he was as well “Dad, this is the second bad thing that happened near me” He looked confused but smiled “Take a breath, Skyler, if you want to be a protector you will be facing danger. A lot of it.” 

She nodded and took a deep breath as her shaking dissipated. She looked at him, determined. “We need to help the people! The protectors won’t be here in time” Mr Richardson hummed “We just need to stall the fragment.” He put out his finger and drew a pen on the dirt on the floor, which created a real-life version of it.  “It's better to have a terra element” he winked and Skyler shook her head “Dad you don’t mean…”