Potest Esse Nur Unus: Part 4

Cat rarely left the barge since she had arrived except for when Duncan trained her in an abandoned warehouse or when Anne took Cat back to Franz' to collect what had been left there. While Anne was in one of the hall closets looking for boxes, she found a box wrapped in purple and gold for Cat. "Cat? There's a box in here for you." Anne said as she lifted the box down from the shelf.

Cat walked into the closet and took the box from Anne and went to sit on the couch. She just stared at it like it was a bomb ready to explode. "Should I open it?"

"It's up to you." Anne noticed a card sticking out from under the bow. "Here's a card. Why don't you read it."

Cat looked at the card before opening it and reading it. "To Caitlynn Jean on your sixteenth birthday. This saber has been passed down to the youngest child on their sixteenth birthday for ten generations. Now it is yours. Happy Birthday, love dad." she was silent for a moment. "It's my dad's saber."

"What are you going to do? Open it or save it?" Anne asked.

"I might as well open it since I will never turn sixteen."

"Well, not like other girls. It's up to you."

"Do you think my dad would mind if I opened it now?"

"No, given the circumstances, I think he'd understand."

Cat paused for a moment deciding what to do. She finally opened the package carefully. Inside laid the most beautiful saber Anne had ever seen. The hilt was silver with purple and gold braids crisscrossing all the way down with a band of purple and gold leading towards the guard. There, three tassels had been attached. There was two short gold ones and the longest one in the middle was purple. In the middle of one of the crisscrosses, laid a brown cross etched in gold. The blade was also silver, with a delicate design of a cross made of two swords. Under it were 10 machetes, one for each generation, curving upwards like blades of grass. Above the cross was a quote. "Potest esse nur unus. Carpe Diem!" Cat said looking at Anne questionably.

"Seize the Day. It's Latin, but it's been a while since I've studied it so I don't know the first part. It's beautiful."

"It's a one-of-a-kind-saber. It's been passed down in my family since the late 1600's. I'm the 10th generation to have it. I remember the first time I saw this. I was three years old and I fell in love with it. I never dreamed that one day it would be mine. Do you think Duncan would know what it meant?"

"Most likely. Are you ready to go? Duncan's expecting us back and we don't need to worry him." Anne said.

"I think so." Cat said standing up. "Let me take one last look. I'll meet you in the car." Anne left the flat, and Cat followed. When she got to the door, she took one last look at the room and shut the door. As she walked towards the car, she felt as if she was not only leaving behind her memories of all the times she had spent here, but life as she knew it.