5 Normal day PART2

"Wallah!" came the lively yet shaky female voice from behind them. It was old Lilith, a Mera from the order that specialized in granting luck and divine intervention. She was around two hundred years old, not too gone for Meras who had long lifespans.

She paused from pushing on her trolley after glimpsing the tall beefy silhouette that rose several feet from the ground. Not long until she recognized it to be the Chief. She gave a small bow.

Rue left her father's side and rushed over to see inside the wooden mortar now grasped in old Lilith's hands.

"I brought something I'm sure will help. Be careful though child as it will burn the daylight outta yah before it starts working."

"Oh, now what do we have here?" asked a concerned Cronan. He came over and took the wooden mortar from her trembling hands.

"Your highness, it's nothing but a," --was all Lilith said before Rue slapped a hand over her mouth.

With a forced grin and the quick wave of a hand, "It-it's to help awaken my telekinesis," stuttered Rue. "Nothing to worry about, ha ha ha."

Old Lilith's eyes widened. She then slapped Rue's hand away from her mouth.

"Ah!" Rue looked down at the old lady that only reached her shoulders with bitterness.

Cronan's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Fine darling if you want to lie to your pah that's fine. You're an adult now you don't have to tell me anything"

Something inside Rue's chest burst. She hung her head towards the ground and her shoulders shrugged.

In a low voice that almost got carried away in the gentle wind, she said, "It's for my back Dad."

"...Oh," is all he said before an uncomfortable silence took over. He moved closer and placed one hand on Rue's shoulder pulling her close to him.

Rue had lost all liveliness so that her arms at her sides budged at the slightest movement from her father.

"Does this have something to do with why you and this chad are no longer together?"

Rue's head shot up, and she moved away. "What? How did you find out?" she asked with widened eyes.

"I'm your father, everything comes to me eventually. I'm only disappointed it didn't come from your mouth--"

"You didn't hurt him did you--"

"Of course not," --he snarled and the mortar crushed between both his hands, spilling green liquid that burnt the earth-- "arg!" He looked down at his hands in annoyance. "It never crossed my mind," he added low under a groan.

He lifted his head and a forced smile wiped unto his face before he said, "At least he was honest."

"Dad I know you're only looking out for me, but please don't get involved," --she put one hand at her chest as she reassured him-- "I'm old enough to deal with my problems, alright?"

He nodded.

"Tea anyone? I don't like this negative energy in the air," said Lilith who held out two cups filled with steaming liquid. "The demons may come out."

Eventually, old Lilith left the two.

Rue asked her father to remind her about her mother. Her name was Azura and she passed away several years ago when Rue was too young to remember anything about her now. Because photography did not exist, the only visual recognition Rue had of her were monochrome portraits drawn when she was alive.

Meras would tell Rue how kind and understanding her mother was. She was a relationship expert and would help Meras create ties not just romantically but also in other pursuits. Rue would often close her eyes and imagined her mother as she listened to the voice of her father. Having now heard almost all his stories about her, Rue was left with listening to the same things over and over but she didn't mind.

Cronan left Rue who went on to start her training.

Several Meras about her age were engaged in sword fighting. The blades were embedded with poison making them deadly for other species while being only a mild injury for the Meras.

As she walked into the slightly crowded temple, whispers and mumblings got louder with every step.

"Red is that you?" asked one in disbelief as he trailed behind her. Like most of the Meras in that temple, he was around her age. "We haven't seen you in three days--where have you been?" he asked.

Rue's feet stopped at a wall lined with swords, pulled one off by the handle before turning around to point its tip at his face.

He gulped and Rue looked dead-straight into his then shaky eyes.

"Be my practicing partner would you?" she asked ignoring his question.

Before he had time to open his mouth, the blade of another sword pushed against hers until it was no longer pointing at his face. Rue's unmoved eyes looked up at the one they called Jethro moving in front of her as the other Mera moved aside for him to take his place.

"Why yes I would love to, how kind of you to ask," he said.

He had shabby dark red hair, deep-dark purple eyes with a darker shade of pink skin.

Suddenly others began to move to the sides of the temple clearing enough space for the brawl that was about to begin.

Within a split second, both their swords started hitting against the other with Rue having to step back as he kept coming in. Sharp clangs ripped through the air from each hit of their swords against the other.

Rue's fast thinking caused her to jump several steps back missing the thrust of his sword before it pierced into her stomach. He smiled. Rue's eyes squinted in determination.

She ran straight at him, then started hitting her sword repeatedly hard at his. He had to step back several times, barely countering her hits with his sword from how fast she swung it.

His serious face started to break into a panic, as his eyes shifted from right to left at the confusing blur that split the air before him. He had to lean his upper body backward as her sword stabbed the air above him, missing his nose by an inch.

Gasps filled the air.

She pulled it back fast, and he transitioned into a backward somersault using only one hand. But Rue didn't allow him to get too far and rushed after him as he crouched to stand upright again.

The frightening resemblance to Callum's terrified face the second Jethro glimpsed up at her from the ground, caused a shock to run through her heart.

Jethro took the chance to swing his sword that was in contact with the ground from his crouched position, to hit the metal base of her shoe.

Rue didn't jump to dodge it in time, and before she knew it her left leg got lifted into the air before her back went smacking against the ground. "Agh!"

Rue leaned up from the ground to see Jethro's hand held out to help her up.

"Another defeat? Someone's losing their top ranking," commented a female Mera loud enough for Rue to hear. "It's been like this since that rumor about her getting dumped…"

Rue riddled with rage slapped the hand from before her, and stood up on her own. She shut her ears off to gossiping around.

"Wow you seem pretty steamed up," remarked Jethro. He dropped his hand to his side as she dusted herself off. "Maybe later you and I could maybe cool off--"

"I'd rather cross the borders than to go anywhere with you," interrupted Rue before she started to walk off.

Several bursts of laughter sprung up around the room. "Why do you keep trying?" asked one from the crowd.

This persistent call for Rue's affection from the males recently started once word got out that she was now single. She found it very annoying and believed within herself that they only found her interesting because she was the Chief's daughter.

However, Rue was not gentle when it came to utterly destroying their advances.

While the crowd began to break into groups to patrol the Kingdom and other specialized tasks, Rue and about seven others would head to the Metalcrafters on a day like this.

Unfortunately, her recent ex-Callum was affiliated there. They did metalwork for weaponry like dagger and swords to hooks and axes.

He didn't participate in the actual metalworks, but rather oversaw and checked off orders to be dispatched. However, his toned muscular arms and broad shoulders gave a different impression. He was tall and had black hair cut neatly above his defined cheekbones. She had to look up at him from how tall he was.

Rue didn't make it a habit of wearing her coronet everywhere she went, and so unlike the males in her order, he had no idea she was the Chief's daughter when they became friends. It was one of the reasons she liked him.

She hadn't seen him since their separation and Rue dreaded this day when she would see him again.

"Are you alright Rue? Your face is getting red," asked one of her companions. Rue ignored the question.

Indeed her face began to harden the closer they got, turning her cheeks from their normal pink color to a dark burning red. She couldn't hide it.