SSC One-shot

"Eternity"

"It's been a while, hasn't it, teacher?" A young woman with short black hair stood in the rain, not turning to greet the man who appeared from the building next to her. She didn't have to. She already knew who it was, since only he could omit that warm, gentle aura that she now felt. Her eyes were turned up towards the tall spire of the tower that poked up among the other shorter buildings. She had no fear of the rain. She was used to it.

"Yes, it has," her teacher responded. He looked no older than she, a handsome man with brown hair and round amber eyes. Yet at the same time, he was clearly older than she was, as he had, alongside his warm, gentle aura, an air of wisdom. "How long has it been since you left the Society, two years? Four years?"

"Almost four," she responded. The mention of the Society brought back fond memories, and she smiled. Yet it was a bittersweet smile. She thought of all the friends that were lost, all that she had suffered, and the pain of being a member of the Guild.

Ah, the Guild. Many would say to her that they were jealous about the fact that she could be part of it, how lucky she was. She didn't feel lucky at all. The orb that she held, proof that she was worthy of being one of the Guild, was always bringing suffering wherever she went. But that was to be expected. After all, it was the Orb of Despair. It wasn't a misnomer. It was truly an orb of despair.

"Did you come back because you felt Shana's death?" The teacher's voice brought her out of her reminiscence.

"Yes, I was with my daughter when I felt Shana's life fading. It felt . . . " she could no longer hold herself back. Her emotions would finish her sentence. Tears poured down her cheeks, mixing in with the rain. Shana was her long-time partner of 16 years. Shana was permanently relieved from duty, while on duty. But she could not cry for long. Her teacher knew the answer to the questions that she had to ask. "Teacher?"

"Yes?"

"Who killed her?"

He hesitated. He knew what she was thinking. She is rash, he knew, she is going to make an impulsive decision. "It was Murmur and Furfur, two Servants of Satan." Yet he told her anyways. He told her because she had the right to know. She had the right to know the person who killed her best friend.

"Did they take her Orb?" his former student asked. She had walked to his side, and, like a young child in need of comfort, buried herself in his welcoming embrace.

"No. Lady Sicily managed to recover it. She was sent as reinforcement, but Shana was struck down just as she arrived, and was turned into dust. There was nothing Lady Sicily could do except to take the Orb to safety."

They stood there for several minutes in silence. The rain was dying down, and the skies were clearing.

". . . When will the Orb be placed into its new owner?"

"Two days. The suitable host has already been found. Yet I am personally against the procedure."

She looked up with surprise. Her teacher rarely ever disagreed with the judgment of the Council. If he ever did, there was an extremely serious reason. "Why?"

"Because the host is not ready for it. He is only four years old. He is much too young to hold it. We should keep the Orb within SOH until he is twelve."

"Is the Council so desperate for a new host?"

"Yes. I am having second thoughts about allowing the council to do what they wish. Lady Agra is also against the idea of implanting the Orb into so young a child."

She did not respond. She, having a child of her own, knew that she would never let her precious daughter be implemented with an Orb, even if it was the Orb of Security. "Teacher? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am. I'll always be here."

"Is my daughter still there?"

"Yes, she is."

"Do you think she'll be implemented with an Orb? As my daughter, she is already compatible."

He did not answer. He didn't have to. She already knew the answer. People able to contain an Orb were rare, and the Council wanted every single one.

"Why do you think people kill each other?" he asked her. He was curious. He was curious to see how a human like her would respond. Unlike a human, his motives for killing were different. In fact, he wouldn't kill if it weren't his job; he didn't even consider it killing, for those he "killed" had no minds or souls. They were inanimate puppets, only doing the will of its owner. But a human saw it differently. They, for some reason, saw those creatures as something that should be given pity.

"Power. Some people out there cannot get enough power to satiate themselves. They want more. No, they need more. They have a never-ending quest for power that, in the end, will only destroy them. From the beginning of creation, humans have been born with a desire to dominate others. Some humans have the instinct to be powerful, others, with the feeling to be meek and obey the more dominant ones." She wormed out of his grip, then went back into the open sky, spinning around like a child. "It'll go on forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, until we are all destroyed by our own foolishness."

As she ironically danced happily, a young, fresh voice resonated from behind the teacher. "Mommy!" A little girl with shoulder-length black hair ran out from behind a door, dashing over to her mother, who had stopped spinning to welcome her daughter in an embrace. "Mommy, can we go now?"

"Yes, we can. Do you want to go see Julie? She is staying with daddy right now."

"Yah, yah! I wanna see my sister!"

Her daughter was picked up by her mother, who then bid goodbye to her teacher, and left. He was now all alone, one man in a sea that was the city. He turned around to go back in.

"It'll be that way for all eternity, huh?"

END.