My muscles burned and screamed. I was doing pull-ups as normal, but the look on Caleb’s face said he had other plans for me. Ari was doing squats after her discharge, and Krishna was running on the treadmill. 

He had woken up a day after Ari did.

Caleb clapped his hands together in a signal for us to stop and listen to him.

“We are now going to work on your weapons,” Caleb said.

 What does he mean by that? 

Caleb looked at each of our faces as if picking on someone to torment. 

He settled on Ari’s face, “Ari, why don’t we start with you?” Caleb motioned for Ari to come to him, and she did.

 “I have been thinking how I could strengthen your weapons and y’all at the same time. I found old diaries from handlers and holders about how they had trained. So, today I’ll use those methods on you guys,” Caleb explained to us. 

This gave me a very bad feeling. 

“How about Krishna, you also do it with Ari since you’re a handler.” Krishna nodded and stood next to Ari. 

“I want both of you to sit down and place your weapons in front of you.” Ari and Krishna did as he said. Krishna placed his flute on the floor in front of him, and Ari took off her necklace and did the same. I sat down on the side as I watched everything. 

“Reika, do you know how you synchronized with your weapon?” Caleb asked me, but I shook my head in answer. He pressed his lips together, then turned his attention back to the others. 

“Try making a connection with your weapon. Instead of thinking of it as an object, think of it as a part of you,” he instructed them as he watched their every move. 

“That’s easier said than done,” Ari muttered out loud. Both of them closed their eyes, and after a while, their breathing fell into rhythm. Caleb sat down in front of them and didn’t take his eyes off. Their weapons suddenly began to glow a bright green, blinding me at first. Then the lights went out. 

“What was that?” I asked Caleb.

 “Bluetooth connecting?” He suggested. I glared at him in return. 

Yeah right.

 Ari began to frown as if she could see something behind her closed eyes. Besides, Krishna’s jaw clenched so hard I thought it would have broken. Their weapons began to glow once again, but this time there was a glow coming around them as if it were a second pair of skin. 

“Why do they look so tense?” I questioned. 

“According to one of the handlers, to become more connected to their weapon, they have to fight against their fears.” I glanced at the two. Beads of sweat coated their noses and foreheads.

Fears. 

Something Ari and I had lived with our whole lives. Fear of starving, fear of tight spaces, fear of dying, fear of loneliness, fear of darkness, and fear of thunder.

We had such a cruel childhood in which our fears had worsened. We still hold on to our fears, but we never talk about them.

Ari’s weapons suddenly stopped glowing with light around her. She collapsed on the ground, shocking Caleb and me. 

What just happened?

 I got up and rushed towards her, shaking her and calling out her name.

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Hey!!!! A.G. Preet here!!! 

I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter!!! Thank you for reading! 

Comment down below what you think might have happened? I might give the winner a shot out 😉

Anyway! See you all in the next chapter!!!