looked into her innocent eyes, remembering the younger me who would put on a mask to prevent the world from seeing my true struggles.
"You know," she began with a big smile, "it's okay to be scared sometimes. When I'm scared, I go to Mommy and tell her what frightened me. She then tells me why it's not scary. If it is scary, I get to zap it!" She put her hand out to the side and shook it like she was holding a wand and sending out bolts of lightning.
Her innocent explanation made me smile as tears began to burn my eyes. Her grin grew, showing her white teeth as she reached out to pat my head.
"It's okay to be scared. As long as it doesn't stop you from protecting what you love," she whispered. "Familiars don't show it, but we get scared, too."
She's a familiar? I guess she's like Fuwa, who can take on a form.
"We have to fight really scary monsters! Some are big while some are small, but with the support of our Master or Mistress, we can do big things!" She spread her arms out. "So, don't be afraid! You have my support, and Elsa's, and Fuwa's, and Mommy’s!" She looked at Sebastian. "And the scary guy’s!”
I couldn't help but take a hint of a glance at Sebastian as his eye twitched, and my gaze moved to Silver, who carried a pride-filled expression.
Returning my attention to Star, I slowly nodded and decided to say what I'd been keeping back all this while.
"At the end of our semester exam, something bad happened. Someone we'd met during our vacation dealt with a fate that surely wasn't one they deserved. All the emotions thrumming around me was just too much to bear, and I broke down..." I paused to take a nervous breath. "Everyone thought that it was because of my gift that I struggled with the whole ordeal, but none of them saw what I saw."
"What did you see?” Silver inquired.
"I didn't see the victim hanging there. Originally I did...but the image changed. Instead of the victim, it was Brianne."
They didn't seem to mind my moment as the revelation sank in. "I knew that in my reality, she was standing there with the others, standing in the same room as me. But the view before me had her hanging there. Since then, I realized that if it wasn't for the exam, my father's hired goons would have done everything in their power to try and take Brianne away from me, and maybe they had the same intentions for Jax. Even with the distractions of this vacation, the image lingered in my head like a reminder of what was approaching, and I didn't know how to fix it. How would I be able to prevent it all?"
Lifting my hands, I looked at them in wonder as my tears fell. "I had a conversation with Jaxsin one night after a nightmare. I watched the scenario that occurred today. It wasn't everything, but I saw Brianne being shot. I couldn't fathom telling the others because it was just a nightmare. I'm not like Kaito, who can predict the future...but I also feared the idea of it becoming reality. That I wouldn't be there to protect Brianne, Jax, Finnick, and Kaito. When Jax was going to head back into our room, he was back before me as if I'd rewound time. It scared me...and though I knew I could ask Professor Phoenix, I decided it wasn't important enough to ask so soon."
I pressed my hands to my face and sighed into them, the muffled sound making it hard to not breakdown in defeat. "I thought if I took over the protective wall, I'd be able to ensure Brianne's safety. To stop what I saw in my nightmare because it was in my hands. I've always been confident in my abilities when it came to barriers and such. Anything in the realms of protection, everyone knew I'd be able to carry the weight of it all. However...for the first time, Kaito questioned it, and that upset me. It was so stupid because Kaito normally never warns me unless it's out of his own fear, but today was the day he held his weight and knew exactly what was going on. He could see something was happening. That I was struggling with multiple things but didn't want to succumb to such realizations. It hurt my damn pride!”
I shook my head and let hands fall