Prologue
The Ark shook.
A scream rang out in the air, despair dripping from the voice as it broke into sobs.
"Neah, you traitor!" Road's voice cracked, causing tears to gather in a woman's eyes as the young looking Noah screamed all her hatred towards her kin. She tried to block out all the negative colors from Road's aura by closing her golden eyes. The woman shook her head as her grey skinned hands covered her ears.
What did Neah do?
The woman heard a door burst open, followed by heavy breathing and an occasional hiss of pain. She opened her eyes and familiar colors assaulted her vision through the shield of plants she grew around her body.
She recognized him.
Even at his level of control, the female could feel several of the plants slowly disintegrating from how close he was standing. With a flick of her hands, the plants wiggled their way into the marble, and the woman stood up from her crouched position. In front of her stood a disheveled Neah, his body leaning against the doorway for support. In one hand, he was clutching his abdomen. In the other, his sword laid proudly with a black liq- that was Noah blood. Blood, that covered the blade. Her eyes flicked to his shirt. Dried and fresh blood stained his normally white button up shirt.
Her gaze moved to his face. He was peering at her with obvious relief in his eyes. "E'La," Neah whispered, probably to himself. "You're alive...thank God."
"Why wouldn't I?" E'La answered, her voice cracking in the middle of that sentence. "Neah, what did you do to our family?" The other Noah pushed off the door frame and slowly walked towards her, keeping his hands out in order to calm her. She took a step back, and Neah halted his movements. E'La glared at him, and through her will, some vines slowly wrapped around his legs, effectively trapping him. Sighing, Neah slowly set his sword down and pushed it towards her with one hand. "You won't kill me where I stand if I tell you, right?"
"No promises."
"Of course you would say that." The man in front of her sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "OK, long story short, since Mana went insane, and he won't listen to me, I figured the only way out of this mess he dragged us into would be to stop...kill him. But everyone else is - was too loyal to him, and I found that out the hard way...I-"
"They left you no choice but to kill them so you could get to Mana. Is that it?"
Neah flinched at her tone. E'La sighed grimly as he nodded slowly. "Who's still alive?"
"Road, Mana, Alya, and us. Everyone else is dead. Alya is going to try and cover for us." At this they both grimaced. It would be absolute torture to both the sisters if one of them went against an order Neah or Mana gave them. E'La shivered and wrapped her arms around her body, rubbing her hands on her arms to try and keep her grounded. She suddenly understood the blood-chilling screams of Road; constantly replaying in her head, torturing her from the inside out. Neah was a traitor against the Earl, and as long as she followed his demands, E'La would be painted as a traitor herself. And if found, she would die as well. She doubted she was going to see daylight again, even if she didn't help Neah escape.
Her twin would be dead by the time they escaped.
'So would we, if we don't leave,' E'La froze as she remembered her human family, and if she would ever see them again. By God, she would live for them, and for Neah. A face flashed through her mind, and a stab of fear hit her straight in the chest. Her little brother's face. She might never see him again, and she'll never see James mature and marry. Another face invaded E'La's thoughts. A small, chubby pale face with red eyes peered back into her's, silently judging the state her mind and thoughts are in. The little girl James had befriended was..peculiar, different from other noble children. She wasn't snobby like most children from a higher pedestal of wealth; Angelica Collins was calmer, rational, and kind. She wouldn't care if your position in power was below her. She would judge you by your character. It was a welcome change from the screaming, red faced children, who were attached to their parents legs, or "putting those below them in their place". E'La welcomed her into her family, silently hoping the two would like each other. It probably didn't help her mental matchmaking that the two children had an arranged marriage.
E'La shook her head as she watched Timcanpy pop up out of nowhere - of course Neah would leave him outside within earshot in case this conversation went downhill - and opened his mouth. A recording of Mana appeared, his face twisting disgustingly in a crazed look. A fake skin wrapped around his face, turning the once kind boy into a monster. His deranged laughter echoed out of Timcanpy's mouth before being cut off by the golem suddenly, his mouth snapping shut. Neah cursed softly before standing straight.
"It's worse than I thought...he's completely insane now," The bloodied Noah sighed sharply as he ran a hand down his face.
E'La slowly released her will on the dead plants wrapping around his legs. They immediately disintegrated into dust. "So, where are you planning on taking us?"
Neah looked at her. A few moments passed before a Cheshire Cat grin spread across his face. "Thank God, I thought you weren't coming."
"You honestly think I would leave my master behind? AFTER said master failed to fix his brother's mistakes?"
"When you're mad, it's hard to tell what you're thinking."
"Fair enough."
E'La's feet slowly touched the stone underneath her. Her eyes took in the buildings around her.
They were in a village, the clay buildings absorbing some of the light the Ark shone with, their shadows casting on them from the brilliant light behind them. The Gate had black splotches covering small parts of the white diamonds, making uneasiness settle in her stomach like a stone. E'La turned back to Neah as the Ark crumbled into nothing behind them. He was dressed in a trench coat, the shadows of the coat flaps camouflaging the black blood on his shirt. E'La, herself, had a black cloak covering her white dress and head, her now pale feet and face only showing.
She shivered as a gust of air hit her.
"Neah? Where are we?" She whispered as she inched closer to him. The Noah could see auras hidden behind the clay and paper structures.
"Edo, Japan." His whisper reached her ears and she nodded. She clung onto his arm as Neah started walking away, keeping an eye behind them as they reached the middle of the village. It was bigger than she thought it would be, and she estimated it to be three times as big in half a century from then.
A flash of black caught her eye when she turned her head backwards. E'La stopped, fear gripping her in a vice. She knew that aura...
She turned around and opened her mouth, tilting her body in preparation to run. "Ne-"
A sword ripped through her chest and her world turned black. She heard Neah's voice screaming, the sound quickly fading from her ears as the sword cut her in half and left her body.
E'La didn't register her body hitting the ground as black blood pooled around her and flowed out her mouth, the mass of flesh and muscle she used to call a body spasming.
Her senses left her as she died.
"Mother?" Someone shifted beside her. The humming stopped and the birds' singing came back, sounding happy they were no longer being drowned out even though the feathered animals were yards above them, hidden away in the branches. "You know I'm not normal, right?"
"Of course I do," A woman's voice reassured her fears. "There's nothing in this mansion that I would not know about immediately."
"And Alya?"
"I know as well."
She shivered. "Do you..do you still want us?" The shifting beside her paused, the knitting she knew the woman was doing for her baby forgotten. "E'La. You are an Angel. We welcomed you into our home, and we will fight tooth and nail for the both of you." The woman turned to her. She kept her eyes on the grass in front of her. "We want you as our child, and your sister."
A moment of silence erupted between them. "Mother?"
"Yes?"
"No matter what," She turned to the woman. "I'll watch over this family, and I'll protect it."
