"Hey, did you hear the news?"
"The massacre, right?"
"To think Altessa's the one who came back to report"
"So the Reaper's at it again, huh?"
"Poor people. If only Dragon-san had asked someone else to go witness the events"
As the revolutionaries were talking casually in the hallway, someone had stopped at the corner, listening to them without really wanting to. Small, lightly tanned skin, long light blue hair tied back in two swirls, two strands still in front of her ears, the young woman took a deep breath, closing her slightly purple blue eyes. So, they were at it again. She lifts a her small right hand covered by a black glove, scratching unconsciously the scar of an old cut passing from above her right brown to under her left eye.
"It's not as if I want things to turn into a massacre or anything. I just knew..."
She opens her eyes, replaces the black and golden googles on the top of her head and turns around. She'd take another path, once again. Her fingers fall almost without noticing on the black belt strap tied around her neck with a golden buckle, her gaze being clouded by sadness for a moment before disappearing as she stars walking. Her black trench coat floating behind her, she removes some imaginary dust from her blue cardigan and replaces the collar of her white blouse. She barely felt the cloth of her light gray pants as she walked, her black combat boots not making a single sound on the concrete floor. She takes another deep breath, feeling the bandages tightened around her chest squeezing a bit, but luckily not ripping. As she walks without a sound, she suddenly hears a footstep coming from further and stops straight, stiffening. She shakes her head and keeps walking.
"Ridiculous. I'm not on mission. I shouldn't worry about people seeing me"
Though she still did. Since every mission she was sent to was to report back a massacre, people had started whispering and exchanging rumors about her. They called her "The Reaper", saying everywhere she went, people were bound to die. Well, many little details didn't help to ease their troubled minds. First, her favorite weapon was a scythe. Before being part of the revolutionaries, she was working with her family on a farm, cultivating the fields. She had always loved cutting the wheat and other cereals to bring them to dry and had developed quite the skills at swinging the tool around, which is why she had chose it as her own weapon. Second, she was the one choosing her missions precisely because there was to be a massacre. For as far as she could remember, she always had premonition dreams and visions, being able to tell when there would be a fight, an attack or anything that could cause a bloodshed or massacre. Only a couple of persons were aware of that gift of hers, Dragon being one of them, and having seen the actual act beforehand was helping her spot the exact place the event would occur. That is why she would go straight to Dragon whenever she had a vision, speak of what she knew and most of the time be the one sent to gather information. The problem with that ability was that she could not predict when the events would occur. She had never witnessed anything from the past, so she was certain the events were to happen, but it was hard to tell a date on a vision. At least for her. And last, her name meant "Noble Reaper", which explained where the nickname came from. How and why everyone had found out her name's significance when even she hadn't even bothered to searched? She really had no idea. That's still how it was.
The footsteps resound closer and closer until someone arrives in front of the young revolutionary, a tall blond, his hair slightly curly, dressed with a black top hat and trench coat, red gloves, a blue blouse, a white scarf, light gray pants and black boots and belt. A large burning scar covered his left eye, though that didn't really bother anyone around here. Anyone who knew the Chief of staff had stopped noticing the scar a long time ago, especially the young medium. Having a scar right in the middle of her face made it so she barely noticed anyone else's scar. What she did notice was his eyes. Two amber orbs that always seemed to shine of happiness whenever she saw him, just like now. A wide smile formed on the Chief of staff's face and he heads straights for her.
"Altessa! Long time no see!"
The young medium loses her stiffness, much calmer now that she knew it was him.
"It's barely been a week, Chief"
The young man stops in front of her, crossing his arms and faking anger.
"What did I tell you about the title?"
She grimaces a bit, looking away.
"But how can I not call you "Chief" ? You are the second Commander..."
"I told you that Sabo was fine. We were friends before you even entered the revolutionaries, so stop it with the formalities"
She sighs a little, lifting a hand behind her neck in discouragement.
"I'm sorry..."
Sabo sighs too, but pats her head, making her first widen her gaze, but chuckle lightly. That brought back the smile on Sabo's face as well.
"Now that's better. Stop fretting about every little thing and smile"
He removes his hand as she looks back up and nods.
"I'll try harder, I swear"
His smile gets even wider.
"Good. So? How did it go? You seemed excited to go to this mission, so I assume there was something you wanted to see"
She nods happily.
"If only you could have seen this, too. The whole manor was light up with different colored lamps, making it look like it was a scene. All the guests were dressed in gowns and suits and hiding their faces with masks all with bright colors and sprinkles. The way they danced and moved around the room was so graceful. The music played was beautiful, too! There were so many waltz of different tempos. And the violins ! Every violin player had taken such good care of their instruments, you could hear it with the sound they made. It is a shame the music was cut off straight, but hearing such beautiful melodies made my heart skip, you know?"
She chuckles happily.
"Well, it was nothing compared to your violin, but it was almost as enchanting"
Sabo blushes a little and lifts a hand behind his neck, embarrassed.
"Ah come on, Altessa"
"What? I'm being honest!"
She gave him a slight friendly punch on the arm.
"Stop blushing and accept the facts, Chief"
He looks down at her in a mischievous way.
"I'll do that when you stop using honorifics with me"
She pouts a little, crossing her arms.
"Hey! That's not fair!"
"So what?"
She sticks her tongue out, but laughs heartily. She calms down her laughter and smiles calmly.
"It was worth going, in any case. I don't go out that often, lately, so having the chance to see all of this made a change a decor"
Sabo nods lightly.
"Good to hear. You looked a bit down before having that vision, so I was getting worried about you. I know those rumors are starting to press on you"
Altessa looks down, her face slightly darker.
"Yeah...I was feeling a bit down"
She shakes her head and suddenly looks quite happier.
"But I'll be fine. You always make me smile back, Sabo"
Sabo's gaze narrows.
"Altessa..."
"I think I'll go and take some rest, now. I'm a bit tired from my mission and I promised some of the guys to train with them at the end of the day. I'll need all the energy I can get"
She bumps her fist on Sabo's arm again and leaves in light running.
"Later!"
Sabo turns around swiftly, but she is already out of sight. A sad expression forms on his face.
"Why does she keep faking a smile?"
Altessa closes the door in a swift movement, not making a sound still, and places her back against it, the fake smile not having left her lips. After a few seconds, it fades away to be replaced by a dark and sad expression. She had done it again. She had faked a smile. She knew he was able to see through her, he was her best friend after all, and she still did it. She sighs heavily and moves away from the door, walking in the dark unlit room. Not bumping against anything, she knew the room like the back of her hand, she reaches out and grabs a little chain, pulling on it. A lamp lights up the room, revealing a bed, a night table, a desk with a chair to work and a library full of books. On the desk was lying a large scythe, the handle's dark cherry wood glistening and the black blade turned so it wouldn't scrap the desk. Altessa removes her coat and gloves and walks toward the right side of the room to open a wardrobe and place it inside. She takes off her cardigan and unbuttons her blouse, revealing the white bandages covering her from the top of her chest to the waist. She stores the clothes inside, then lifts a hand to her googles, removing them softly before looking at them.
"I didn't want to worry him"
She tightens her grip on the googles, a determined look appearing.
"I'll have to work harder on my acting skills. I can't let anyone worry about me"
She closes the wardrobe and walks towards the bed, placing the googles on the desk as she passes it. She sits down on the bed and passes a hand on the bandages carefully, her finger stops on a small metallic pin and she removes it, keeping it between two fingers as she unwraps the bandages, letting her breast take back their form and allowing her to breath deeper. She stretches towards the night table and stores the bandages and pin inside a little drawer.
"I'll have to thank Iva-san for the trick next time I see her. It is way more practical during missions"
She removes her boots careful before letting herself fall on the white bed, sighting. She needed rest for sure. She places her legs and ends up facing the ceiling with her arms alongside her torso. She stays like so for a little while, then remembers the lamp and turns on the side to stretch out towards the little chain of the lamp, pulling on it. It was time to sleep.
