Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online. I also made up most of the characters' names so coincidence of having a name similar to theirs is possible. Well, there is an exception for Liatris as I got her name from Macross. I am also changing the rating of this from K+ to T.

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PRONUNCIATION OF THE NAMES

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Pronunciation of the names:

Scyle – Sayl

Liatris – LA-ya-triz

Qiara – Ki-YA-ra

Hau – Haw

Van – Van

Margareth – MAR-ga-ret

Frieze – Friz

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THE ANGEL OF THE MURDERER

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Chapter Two: The Long Black Hair of the Past

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"Where are we?" she asked.

Scyle just ignored her and looked around. His cerulean eyes gazed at the entire view. He easily recognized their location; however, he wanted to make sure that he had the correct hunch.

"I am talking to you," Liatris almost shouted. Her patience was about to break loose if the assassin wouldn't budge to answer her question, "don't play dumb on me."

The assassin remained silent. His eyes were vigilant. It was as if he was sensing other life forms present near them. However, the priestess remained on the verge of breakdown.

"You could just answer my question," she said, glaring at the assassin. The young priestess wanted to swear on someone's grave that she would rather die than be left alone with the assassin. She thought of him too proud.

"Ssshhh," was the only sound heard from Scyle as he moved behind her and grabbed her body near him. His hands covered her mouth. She blushed a little and the assassin did not notice it with her face away from his.

"Your mouth might lead us to a lot of trouble," he whispered vigilantly and coldly, still trying to verify their location. A faint swooshing sound can be heard from afar.

She yanked his arms away from her, removing his hands from her mouth. She shouted, "you could just tell me where we are!"

"Glast Heim," he murmured his hunch. He had been to Glast Heim but their current location was something unfamiliar to him. Even though the location was unfamiliar, the structure of the place was too similar to Glast Heim.

"What?" She did not hear it because there was a noise coming out of nowhere.

"Glast Heim," he repeated as he started to look around, following the swooshing sound with his eyes.

"Glast Heim!" She was shocked, her hands on her mouth. The young priestess felt loud slams in her chest. She wondered how in the world they got into this place. She had never been to Glast Heim as rumors that even strong guilds experienced struggles in such location.

"But I don't know our exact location. I've never been to this exact location before but I heard that powerful monsters reside here," he sighed as he sat down on the cold bricked floor, "I have only been inside the castle. I never tried to explore the outside of this place."

She sat down a meter away from him, trying to avoid him at any cost. The assassin looked at her with an interest on his eyes, "never been here?"

She shook her head as it was the truth. She had never been in Glast Heim. Her answered made him laugh obnoxiously as if he was mocking her.

"With so many people in the world, I'm stuck with a rude and obnoxious assassin," she thought.

The swooshing sound that they were hearing became louder and louder as the time passed by. This alarmed the assassin as he felt an imminent danger close to the two of them.

"What was that noise?" Liatris asked as she suddenly jerked from her seat and looked at the direction where the noise was coming. Scyle immediately stood up and suddenly grabbed her arm. He said, "follow me."

He was twisting her arm as he dragged her towards the tall bush. She took her balance as she stood up and followed him. She had no choice. They had to help each other since they were the only people in this place. No presence of other adventurers can be sensed. Scyle hid behind the tall bushes.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she looked at him, hiding. He grabbed her arm again and said, "down."

Liatris obeyed. She knelt behind the tall bushes. She was a millimeter away from the assassin.

"What the heck is this-," she did not finish the sentence because Scyle covered her mouth again. She muffled behind his hands but stopped when the two of them saw five Abysmal knights passed by. Their armor-clad bodies smelt of blood and iron. The black horses that they were riding galloped their way. Liatris's amethyst eyes narrowed when she saw the five aggressive monsters, ready to kill them if they failed to hide. When the monsters disappeared under their radar, they stopped hiding.

"You know, if you only brought at least one blue gemstone," Scyle accussed the young priestess, "we wouldn't be stuck in here."

"I said," Liatris explained, "I didn't forget them; I don't know what happened – I know I placed them here somewhere."

She started yanking out the content of her bag yet none of them seemed to be useful for their situation. Scyle clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I have no idea what kind of training the Church gives to their acolytes nowadays. I'm pretty sure that they taught you never to forget essential ingredients for some skills."

"The Church has nothing to do with this," Liatris became defensive. The Church was after all the sanctuary that had given her an opportunity to have a meaningful life – to serve people, to heal people and to support people.

"Yeah, maybe it was not the Church who was incompetent," Scyle agreed, "it must be you. You are the incompetent one."

"I am not putting up with you," the young priestess yelled at him. She started walking out, leaving him. She had no idea where to go but she was more than willing to do anything rather than stay with the obnoxious assassin. She hated her and she thought that the feeling is mutual. They really hate each other.

"I definitely do not want to see his damn face," she thought.

"I dare you," he taunted the young priestess. His eyes glared straight to hers. It was as if an invisible current of electricity was exchanged between their dagger-like glares, "you, alone, wouldn't last long here."

The young priestess, however, did not stop. Cautious, the woman started walking away from the assassin. All she could think of is a way to avoid any kind of conversation with him.

Scyle sighed. The priestess was definitely a hard-headed one. He cannot come to a conclusion as to why he felt obligated to follow the priestess. He even cannot come up with an answer as to why he had to join a guild. For the longest time, he hadn't tried partying with other people. He would always prefer to do solo fights yet there was something about this group of people that made him reassess his life as an adventurer. He, then, decided to follow her secretly as he knew that the moment she learned about his stalking, she would definitely go berserk.

He also knew that the two of them would not even stand a chance against the monsters in the area if they were alone. Having each other would surely increase their rate of survival.

There was something about the girl that he cannot muster fully. It was as if he had seen her somewhere. He racked his mind for an instance wherein he had already encountered the woman.

There was something about her black hair. Her long black hair was definitely something familiar.

He was walking inside the Payon Cave. His strength and ability were definitely beyond the average for the zombies and other monsters in the area. Even with his eyes closed, he could make his way in and out of the cave. He had been here for half a year, searching for something rare out of the monsters.

He was walking near the entrance when he saw an acolyte, hitting a zombie with her mace. Her long black hair gently swayed as she swung her mace. He watched her for a while, analyzing her and the situation. Judging by the way she did the damage to the monster, it would definitely take a lot of time before she could even kill one. He sighed and muttered, "newbie."

Every time she would swing her mace, she would make one step backward. He watched her intently. Her face was angelic – an attribute to the apprentices of the Church. Her amethyst eyes were similar to the rare items from the undead. Judging from her physical frame, she must have been a few years younger than him, "too young to become a holistic person."

He was definitely not a believer of the Church. It was something he had never believed in, in the first place. There was something wrong with the way they preach, "save them, serve them."

For him, the task is too unselfish – self-sacrificial. It was too much to ask for a human being who is innately selfish in nature.

"What the," the woman worriedly said. She was already at the corner of the cave. It was already a checkmate.

Scyle sighed and approached the monster. With just one hit using his gladius, the undead squirmed and dissipated into thin air.

"Thank you," the acolyte answered.

"This is no place for a beginner," he coldly said, "you might as well go back to the rotten place called Church and remain praying for everyone's safety."

The face of the acolyte flushed with redness. The redness was a contrast to her porcelain skin. She answered back, offended by what the thief had said, "it is highly inappropriate for someone to call the Church as a rotten place."

"It is," Scyle answered with a smirk on his face. He was playing his gladius with his hand, swinging it around and trying to show off his skill to the lady, "asking people to sacrifice themselves for the others."

"One's sacrifice is another one's hope," she methodically answered. It was the exact passage from their lesson about the nature of being a servant of Church.

"And here you are, defenseless," he laughed, "is this what you call sacrifice?

She remained silent. It was the first time someone questioned the preaching of the Church.

"For whom is your sacrifice?" He asked.

"Stop making fun of me!" She cried.

He clearly remembered her. She is the servant of the Church, the one who can recite passages from the Church's preaching in a robotic way.

The only difference between the past acolyte and the present priestess is that they are wearing their hair in a different way. It has been five years since they met yet her face did not change a bit.

Liatris walked, leaving the assassin behind. She eventually found an abandoned building with a staircase. She sat on the stair and recalled something from her past.

For whom is your sacrifice?

She thought, "if this will be the end of my life, who am I giving my life for?"

She sighed as it was a question she can never answer, "I was not able to bid farewell to the people I care most."

The images of her guild mates flooded her mind and she wanted to cry. She wanted to see them. If she were to give her life, she would be willing to give it to them.

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"Qiara, are we not going to look for those two?" Hau impatiently asked as he watched the huntress, calm and composed, from his seat.

"Hau, those two are no longer children. They know perfectly how to protect themselves and I also think they knew how to get back here," she answered with a weak smile on her face, enjoying her cup of hot coffee.

"What do you mean with that smile on your face?" Frieze noticed this small detail. He was already impatient as well, "are you behind this?"

"I paid a priestess to warp them to Glast Heim," Qiara admitted as she started polishing her Gakkung again. Van watched their conversation from his position. He was sitting near the window, waiting for any sign from Liatris or Scyle.

"Are you insane?" Frieze shouted, furious, "that place is dangerous!"

"Dangerous if you go there alone. Scyle and Liatris must learn to stick together, even if they really hate each other," she explained, "besides, they can do it. I know they can. Scyle is a capable assassin who has been to Glast Heim and Liatris is already a strong priestess."

"You are a crazy bitch," Frieze was on the verge of attacking the guild master. He was stopped by Hau and Van as the two held both his hands.

Qiara added, "do not worry, Frieze. After five hours, I will personally take them out of that place."

"Calm down, Frieze," Hau said to the wizard. Somehow, what he said made the white-haired adventurer.

"Qiara, it is not the monsters that I'm worried of. It's Glast Heim. Some strong guilds are there," Van aired his sentiment in a calm tone, "what if our foe is there?"

"Are you referring to The Brotherhood?" Qiara answered with confidence, "it is unlikely to happen."

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Liatris was still sitting. She could not think of anything right now. Suddenly, two Abysmal Knights saw her and came quickly at her. The sounds made by their dark horses made her realize that she had been detected by the monster. She stood up and muttered, "oh no."

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TO BE CONTINUED

In the game, it was an abandoned castle. It has stairs, even at the garden of the castle.

Edited 9/4/2013 – for some elaboration as well as formatting and checking of grammatical errors / added a little flashback on Liatris and Scyle's first meeting (the start as to why the priestess despised the assassin)