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"Not crazy. I have been careless,” Elias chastised. Not Vivian, but himself it seemed, as he clenched an angry fist out in front of him and turned his body a quarter turn away from her. The whole gesture looked unnecessarily dramatic. And it didn’t help Vivian the least bit in understanding anything.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded feistily, the odd behaviour of the guardian unnerving her. Never mind that he somehow wore embroidery on his vest similar to the image on her necklace, something she’d owned for ages.
“I should have asked Master Johan or Master Aristar or any of the Water Masters if there happened to be a Reid on the premises.” Elias went on, apparently unaware of Vivian’s intervention. “I was careless. I cannot believe I made such a thoughtless error. How long have we even been in the same house together?” This time, he turned to Vivian. “We even completed a mission together.” He uttered a laugh, which sounded baffled rather than cheerful, “Not once did I learn what your surname is. Mother would surely laugh if she knew.” He snorted, “It seems like fate favours sharp irony.”
The fire wizard had just about enough. She was done being ignored and his enigmatic monologue was getting on her nerves (even more than he usually did). “Will you stop your dreaded tirade?!” she cried, throwing a hand in the air as to toss all of his words behind her. “I know you’re talking about me –for some reason- so stop acting like a diva and tell me what the hell is going on!”
She’d caught his attention this time. Vivian expected he was going to lash out at her in turn, but of all things, she didn’t expect he’d look surprised. “… You honestly don’t know?” he asked, his dark eyebrows rising so high they almost disappeared beneath his curly fringe. “… Not anything? Even a little?”
This irritated her even more. Did he get a little kick out of knowing things she didn’t? So he could go all clever on her? Of course he would, that seemed just like his thing. A part of her wanted to demand he told her everything, but the bigger part of her, the one fuelled by pride, told her differently. “Forget it!” she barked. “I’ve had enough of you! I’m out of here!” She promptly turned on her heel, ready to storm out of the Water Wing.
“No, wait! Stop!”
Nostrils flaring, she’d have been much more satisfied to disregard him completely and leave him standing there. Perhaps her curiosity had been bigger than she’d imagined, because it was something that make her stop in her tracks, her boots firmly on the grated floors. Though her frustration hadn’t waned in the least bit, she managed to turn around. Elias was standing there in a kind of position that suggested he wanted to run after her; one foot forward and an arm held out towards her. Once he’d observed how she’d turned around, he straightened up again, standing perfectly upright as always. His hovering hand moved to his chest and he rested it on there.
“I am a Blackwood,” he stated simply, like this explained everything. Vivian waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t, and for some reason he seemed as expectant of her as she was of him.
“Yeah, so?” she said, shaking her head in such a manner like that detail was unimportant. What the hell was he getting at?
Elias’ eyebrows rose again and he looked as perplexed as before. “You truly haven’t got a clue…” he said quietly, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Vivian’s annoyance flared up again, instantly. “If you get some kind of sadistic satisfaction out of people not knowing things you do then you’re--!”
“No, no!” Elias intervened, the hand on his chest fluttering away as to wave off her affrontedness. He approached her and Vivian stood her ground. Elias’ brows had furrowed together –a look she was used to, at least- but he looked confused rather than cross. Guarded, she narrowed her eyes as he came over. He halted at a rather diplomatic distance. He opened his mouth to say something, but then it seemed he didn’t know what to say. So Elias closed his mouth again and his eyebrows furrowed even more, considering the person opposite him. If at all possible, it exasperated Vivian even more.
“I’m not sure where to begin,” the guardian admitted, scratching the side of his face. It made rasping noises as his fingers ran across his stubble. His other hand was still holding the spear.
“How about the part where it involves me?” Vivian suggested heatedly, feeling this wasn’t going at a fast enough pace. Why was everything this guy was on about so dramatic and took eons? “I’m not an idiot, you said this means something.” She pointed at her necklace.
Elias observed what she was indicating, though his eyes flew away instantaneously should she get the wrong idea a second time. His cheek still throbbed unpleasantly. “Well yes,” he countered, his eyes on one of Teddy’s tentacles that was diligently folding a towel that had fallen on the floor. “But to get to that part… I might as well start from the beginning.” The grey irises fell on her face this time, lifting one eyebrow as he collected his thoughts. Vivian simply stood there, silently stewing as she waited for him to elaborate.
“Have you ever heard of Cordelia Carmen Blackwood and Victoria Reid?” the guardian inquired, swinging his spear around in a surprisingly elegant motion so the bud came to rest on the ground. His other hand conducted him as he talked.
A short pause. “I’ve heard about Victoria Reid,” Vivian answered simply. She felt a little wary about the fact he knew that name. She wished he’d just get on with it instead of asking her questions she didn’t have half the answers to so she could stop feeling like a impertinent child. She was ready to tell him all these things, but she opted to bite her tongue, just this once, on accounts of getting this over with quicker. She couldn’t deny the mention of Victoria had ignited a tiny spark of interest.
“They are respectively your and my ancestors,” Elias explained. His voice acquired a somewhat solemn timbre and he spoke even more articulate than usual, like he was about to recite Shakespeare. Along with that, his eyes glistened with a lively gleam that reflected his excitement. He saw Viv’s eyebrows rise in confusion and possibly even mild shock. He figured why that was.
“Not communal ancestors,” he clarified. “Each our individual ancestor. We are not related.” He paused there a second, thanking the spirits for this. Vivian seemed to have a similar reaction. “Thank God,” she scoffed, “I have just about enough unnerving family members.”
The guardian didn’t press on that and simply went on. “Well see, back in 1709, our ancestors, Carmen Blackwood and Victoria Reid, had formed a pact. Victoria Reid, your ancestor, was, evidently, a wizard. My ancestor, Cordelia Carmen Blackwood was her guardian. The two of them shared such a strong bond, they wished to preserve and honour it. As such, they agreed on teaching their children and descendants about their heritage and asked of them to establish an unofficial pact with the other respective family.”
Elias paused second to see if the wizard was still following. Her eyebrows had knitted together, but she didn’t say anything, so he took it as a sign to continue. “Which comes down to this: both families agreed to look after each other. The Reids, naturally, spawn wizards mostly. The Blackwoods reproduce regular mortals for the most part, unless one of them marries a wizard. I don’t know much about other family branches but my own, which is guardians. Hence, the Blackwoods took up a tradition to raise their children to become guardians. They teach their children the ways of magic and the stories behind wizards, guardians, spirits, patrons and all the elements. All knowledge they can pass on. This is why I came to Dulcedomum relatively prepared. My mother is a Oreithyia Blackwood and she’s a guardian as well. She’s pacted to a wizard, so she’s a little under two-hundred years old.”
Another pause in order to not drown Vivian with information. The latter was watching him with apprehension, like she didn’t like where this was going. “Not that I don’t appreciate your life story,” she remarked, not sounding convincing, “But when does it start involving me?”
“I’m getting to that,” Elias replied, somewhat irked. He was affronted she showed so little interest in this tale, something that was near sacred to him. “So our ancestors instated the tradition of the Blackwoods look after the Reids and vice versa. They made a sort of agreement that when their descendants meet or happen upon each other, they will look after each other. They’ll watch each other’s backs and keep each other safe, just like their ancestors did before them. Up until one forms a pact of their own and they don’t need the traditional protection anymore. They do this to honour the connection the original Reid and Blackwood once shared.”
Vivian was about to interject, but Elias was on a roll and cut her off, “This is where the crests come in,” he went on and he saw how the wizard closed her mouth again, apparently curious enough to remain silent. Elias turned around and gestured at the symbol on his back again, talking over his shoulder as he did.

“Cordelia Carmen and Victoria designed a crest to represent their families. The Reid House was represented by the golden phoenix with the ruby eye, while the Blackwood family was represented by the silver kingfisher with the obsidian eye. They designed their crests in such a way that they can merge together and form a whole, to symbolise the connection between the families. At the same time, each individual crest stands on his own too. As you see, I bear the silver kingfisher of the Blackwoods and you show the golden phoenix of the Reids. It’s a symbol and a sign you see. Call it a kind of identification if you will. It’s how we recognize each other. It’s how I realized you are a Reid. It’s because I recognized the Reid crest.” He gestured at her necklace again.

Vivan felt dazed. His talking always had a way of making her nod off, but he had given her so much information that seemed sort of important that she didn’t know how to process everything. On the one hand she had a lot of questions, but on the other hand she didn’t want to care about this at all. A lot of those questions had to do with how come she hadn’t known about this at all, or if her dad had at all a clue about what this towering guardian was going on about. But at the same time she didn’t care for this information. A very crucial thing had stood out to her and that was the one that worried her most.
“So what are you saying?” she said after a moment’s silence. She sounded apprehensive and defensive. “With this whole looking after business...”
Elias was quiet for a second, his eyebrows furrowing. He seemed to be well aware of the predicament that was manifesting itself. Then, he shrugged lightly. “It can’t be helped,” he said. He swung his arm so his spear was now resting on his shoulder. “It’s not my pick who is a Reid or not, or who or what they are. I have a responsibility to maintain. I have to look after you. From this point on it’s my duty to stick by your side at all times and make sure you are safe whenever danger arises, and that no harm befalls you.”
Oh spirits, he was actually serious! Vivian’s eyes nearly bulged. He was actually saying these words. He even insulted her while he was at it. “Are you kidding me?! I don’t want anything to do with you!” she cried. Her voice was magnified in the large room as it reverberated off the slick walls, causing Teddy to tremble. The tentacle disappeared beneath the water’s surface with a loud splosh. “I don’t want you to look after me! What is this forcing a pact on me with--!”
“It’s not forcing a pact!” Elias retorted, indignant. In an absurd moment, he reminded her of Agnitus when he poofed up his feathers whenever he felt wronged. “It’s an ancient mutual agreement that honours the original bond between our ancestors and ensures the safety of—“
“I don’t care!” Vivian interrupted, lashing out her hand. “I don’t care about this stupid tradition or whatever! I’m not part of this!” The wizard promptly turned on her heel and stormed off. Whatever weird connection she had felt to this man only moments ago, she wanted to sever that immediately.
“Now wait just a moment!” Elias called after her. She heard his combats thud heavily on the floor as he followed her. She picked up her pace. “You can’t just run off like this! Don’t you understand what this means?? You are the first Reid I’ve ever had the chance of meeting! Don’t you realize how important this—!”
“I DON’T CARE!” Vivian hollered, “I don’t need anyone to look after me! Especially not YOU! I can take care of myself! Go to hell with your stupid traditions!”
“They’re not stupid!” the guardian retorted and she could hear the anger rise the volume of his voice. “If you weren’t so damn stubborn then maybe you would--!”
“Oh that’s rich!” Vivian howled, spitting the words across her shoulder. “Coming from the guy who keeps chasing me!” She was almost near the stairs.
“This is the first time I’ve chased—I’m not chasing you!” he correcting himself loudly after a splutter. “I’m simply trying to get you to listen for one measly little--!”
“I said I DON’T CARE!!” the red-head hollered, stomping on the stairs. The metallic clanking of her boots thundered through the Wharf. “Stop following me!! Go tell you stupid stories somewhere else!!”
“FINE!” it boomed from down the stairs. “I can’t believe why I even bothered!! Clearly you are undeserving of its traditions at all if you treat it with such disregard!!”
“FINE!”
"FINE!!”
“FINE!!!”
A frustrated roar from both up and down the stairs and a slamming door signalled the end of the argument.

Description

"Not crazy. I have been careless,” Elias chastised. Not Vivian, but himself it seemed, as he clenched an angry fist out in front of him and turned his body a quarter turn away from her. The whole gesture looked unnecessarily dramatic. And it didn’t help Vivian the least bit in understanding anything.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded feistily, the odd behaviour of the guardian unnerving her. Never mind that he somehow wore embroidery on his vest similar to the image on her necklace, something she’d owned for ages.
“I should have asked Master Johan or Master Aristar or any of the Water Masters if there happened to be a Reid on the premises.” Elias went on, apparently unaware of Vivian’s intervention. “I was careless. I cannot believe I made such a thoughtless error. How long have we even been in the same house together?” This time, he turned to Vivian. “We even completed a mission together.” He uttered a laugh, which sounded baffled rather than cheerful, “Not once did I learn what your surname is. Mother would surely laugh if she knew.” He snorted, “It seems like fate favours sharp irony.”
The fire wizard had just about enough. She was done being ignored and his enigmatic monologue was getting on her nerves (even more than he usually did). “Will you stop your dreaded tirade?!” she cried, throwing a hand in the air as to toss all of his words behind her. “I know you’re talking about me –for some reason- so stop acting like a diva and tell me what the hell is going on!”
She’d caught his attention this time. Vivian expected he was going to lash out at her in turn, but of all things, she didn’t expect he’d look surprised. “… You honestly don’t know?” he asked, his dark eyebrows rising so high they almost disappeared beneath his curly fringe. “… Not anything? Even a little?”
This irritated her even more. Did he get a little kick out of knowing things she didn’t? So he could go all clever on her? Of course he would, that seemed just like his thing. A part of her wanted to demand he told her everything, but the bigger part of her, the one fuelled by pride, told her differently. “Forget it!” she barked. “I’ve had enough of you! I’m out of here!” She promptly turned on her heel, ready to storm out of the Water Wing.
“No, wait! Stop!”
Nostrils flaring, she’d have been much more satisfied to disregard him completely and leave him standing there. Perhaps her curiosity had been bigger than she’d imagined, because it was something that make her stop in her tracks, her boots firmly on the grated floors. Though her frustration hadn’t waned in the least bit, she managed to turn around. Elias was standing there in a kind of position that suggested he wanted to run after her; one foot forward and an arm held out towards her. Once he’d observed how she’d turned around, he straightened up again, standing perfectly upright as always. His hovering hand moved to his chest and he rested it on there.
“I am a Blackwood,” he stated simply, like this explained everything. Vivian waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t, and for some reason he seemed as expectant of her as she was of him.
“Yeah, so?” she said, shaking her head in such a manner like that detail was unimportant. What the hell was he getting at?
Elias’ eyebrows rose again and he looked as perplexed as before. “You truly haven’t got a clue…” he said quietly, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Vivian’s annoyance flared up again, instantly. “If you get some kind of sadistic satisfaction out of people not knowing things you do then you’re--!”
“No, no!” Elias intervened, the hand on his chest fluttering away as to wave off her affrontedness. He approached her and Vivian stood her ground. Elias’ brows had furrowed together –a look she was used to, at least- but he looked confused rather than cross. Guarded, she narrowed her eyes as he came over. He halted at a rather diplomatic distance. He opened his mouth to say something, but then it seemed he didn’t know what to say. So Elias closed his mouth again and his eyebrows furrowed even more, considering the person opposite him. If at all possible, it exasperated Vivian even more.
“I’m not sure where to begin,” the guardian admitted, scratching the side of his face. It made rasping noises as his fingers ran across his stubble. His other hand was still holding the spear.
“How about the part where it involves me?” Vivian suggested heatedly, feeling this wasn’t going at a fast enough pace. Why was everything this guy was on about so dramatic and took eons? “I’m not an idiot, you said this means something.” She pointed at her necklace.
Elias observed what she was indicating, though his eyes flew away instantaneously should she get the wrong idea a second time. His cheek still throbbed unpleasantly. “Well yes,” he countered, his eyes on one of Teddy’s tentacles that was diligently folding a towel that had fallen on the floor. “But to get to that part… I might as well start from the beginning.” The grey irises fell on her face this time, lifting one eyebrow as he collected his thoughts. Vivian simply stood there, silently stewing as she waited for him to elaborate.
“Have you ever heard of Cordelia Carmen Blackwood and Victoria Reid?” the guardian inquired, swinging his spear around in a surprisingly elegant motion so the bud came to rest on the ground. His other hand conducted him as he talked.
A short pause. “I’ve heard about Victoria Reid,” Vivian answered simply. She felt a little wary about the fact he knew that name. She wished he’d just get on with it instead of asking her questions she didn’t have half the answers to so she could stop feeling like a impertinent child. She was ready to tell him all these things, but she opted to bite her tongue, just this once, on accounts of getting this over with quicker. She couldn’t deny the mention of Victoria had ignited a tiny spark of interest.
“They are respectively your and my ancestors,” Elias explained. His voice acquired a somewhat solemn timbre and he spoke even more articulate than usual, like he was about to recite Shakespeare. Along with that, his eyes glistened with a lively gleam that reflected his excitement. He saw Viv’s eyebrows rise in confusion and possibly even mild shock. He figured why that was.
“Not communal ancestors,” he clarified. “Each our individual ancestor. We are not related.” He paused there a second, thanking the spirits for this. Vivian seemed to have a similar reaction. “Thank God,” she scoffed, “I have just about enough unnerving family members.”
The guardian didn’t press on that and simply went on. “Well see, back in 1709, our ancestors, Carmen Blackwood and Victoria Reid, had formed a pact. Victoria Reid, your ancestor, was, evidently, a wizard. My ancestor, Cordelia Carmen Blackwood was her guardian. The two of them shared such a strong bond, they wished to preserve and honour it. As such, they agreed on teaching their children and descendants about their heritage and asked of them to establish an unofficial pact with the other respective family.”
Elias paused second to see if the wizard was still following. Her eyebrows had knitted together, but she didn’t say anything, so he took it as a sign to continue. “Which comes down to this: both families agreed to look after each other. The Reids, naturally, spawn wizards mostly. The Blackwoods reproduce regular mortals for the most part, unless one of them marries a wizard. I don’t know much about other family branches but my own, which is guardians. Hence, the Blackwoods took up a tradition to raise their children to become guardians. They teach their children the ways of magic and the stories behind wizards, guardians, spirits, patrons and all the elements. All knowledge they can pass on. This is why I came to Dulcedomum relatively prepared. My mother is a Oreithyia Blackwood and she’s a guardian as well. She’s pacted to a wizard, so she’s a little under two-hundred years old.”
Another pause in order to not drown Vivian with information. The latter was watching him with apprehension, like she didn’t like where this was going. “Not that I don’t appreciate your life story,” she remarked, not sounding convincing, “But when does it start involving me?”
“I’m getting to that,” Elias replied, somewhat irked. He was affronted she showed so little interest in this tale, something that was near sacred to him. “So our ancestors instated the tradition of the Blackwoods look after the Reids and vice versa. They made a sort of agreement that when their descendants meet or happen upon each other, they will look after each other. They’ll watch each other’s backs and keep each other safe, just like their ancestors did before them. Up until one forms a pact of their own and they don’t need the traditional protection anymore. They do this to honour the connection the original Reid and Blackwood once shared.”
Vivian was about to interject, but Elias was on a roll and cut her off, “This is where the crests come in,” he went on and he saw how the wizard closed her mouth again, apparently curious enough to remain silent. Elias turned around and gestured at the symbol on his back again, talking over his shoulder as he did.

“Cordelia Carmen and Victoria designed a crest to represent their families. The Reid House was represented by the golden phoenix with the ruby eye, while the Blackwood family was represented by the silver kingfisher with the obsidian eye. They designed their crests in such a way that they can merge together and form a whole, to symbolise the connection between the families. At the same time, each individual crest stands on his own too. As you see, I bear the silver kingfisher of the Blackwoods and you show the golden phoenix of the Reids. It’s a symbol and a sign you see. Call it a kind of identification if you will. It’s how we recognize each other. It’s how I realized you are a Reid. It’s because I recognized the Reid crest.” He gestured at her necklace again.

Vivan felt dazed. His talking always had a way of making her nod off, but he had given her so much information that seemed sort of important that she didn’t know how to process everything. On the one hand she had a lot of questions, but on the other hand she didn’t want to care about this at all. A lot of those questions had to do with how come she hadn’t known about this at all, or if her dad had at all a clue about what this towering guardian was going on about. But at the same time she didn’t care for this information. A very crucial thing had stood out to her and that was the one that worried her most.
“So what are you saying?” she said after a moment’s silence. She sounded apprehensive and defensive. “With this whole looking after business...”
Elias was quiet for a second, his eyebrows furrowing. He seemed to be well aware of the predicament that was manifesting itself. Then, he shrugged lightly. “It can’t be helped,” he said. He swung his arm so his spear was now resting on his shoulder. “It’s not my pick who is a Reid or not, or who or what they are. I have a responsibility to maintain. I have to look after you. From this point on it’s my duty to stick by your side at all times and make sure you are safe whenever danger arises, and that no harm befalls you.”
Oh spirits, he was actually serious! Vivian’s eyes nearly bulged. He was actually saying these words. He even insulted her while he was at it. “Are you kidding me?! I don’t want anything to do with you!” she cried. Her voice was magnified in the large room as it reverberated off the slick walls, causing Teddy to tremble. The tentacle disappeared beneath the water’s surface with a loud splosh. “I don’t want you to look after me! What is this forcing a pact on me with--!”
“It’s not forcing a pact!” Elias retorted, indignant. In an absurd moment, he reminded her of Agnitus when he poofed up his feathers whenever he felt wronged. “It’s an ancient mutual agreement that honours the original bond between our ancestors and ensures the safety of—“
“I don’t care!” Vivian interrupted, lashing out her hand. “I don’t care about this stupid tradition or whatever! I’m not part of this!” The wizard promptly turned on her heel and stormed off. Whatever weird connection she had felt to this man only moments ago, she wanted to sever that immediately.
“Now wait just a moment!” Elias called after her. She heard his combats thud heavily on the floor as he followed her. She picked up her pace. “You can’t just run off like this! Don’t you understand what this means?? You are the first Reid I’ve ever had the chance of meeting! Don’t you realize how important this—!”
“I DON’T CARE!” Vivian hollered, “I don’t need anyone to look after me! Especially not YOU! I can take care of myself! Go to hell with your stupid traditions!”
“They’re not stupid!” the guardian retorted and she could hear the anger rise the volume of his voice. “If you weren’t so damn stubborn then maybe you would--!”
“Oh that’s rich!” Vivian howled, spitting the words across her shoulder. “Coming from the guy who keeps chasing me!” She was almost near the stairs.
“This is the first time I’ve chased—I’m not chasing you!” he correcting himself loudly after a splutter. “I’m simply trying to get you to listen for one measly little--!”
“I said I DON’T CARE!!” the red-head hollered, stomping on the stairs. The metallic clanking of her boots thundered through the Wharf. “Stop following me!! Go tell you stupid stories somewhere else!!”
“FINE!” it boomed from down the stairs. “I can’t believe why I even bothered!! Clearly you are undeserving of its traditions at all if you treat it with such disregard!!”
“FINE!”
"FINE!!”
“FINE!!!”
A frustrated roar from both up and down the stairs and a slamming door signalled the end of the argument.