Holy cheese. I live! Things have been kind of hectic lately, hence the horribly belated chapter 3. Enjoy?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, kay?
Time and Space
Chapter III: Shades of Blue and a Crimson Rose
"Breaking in?" the cat asked as they walked around the back entrance of the church.
Only the sheer moonlight shone down over her soft features; she wasn't meant for this kind of job. The job of an assassin. Stealing. Hiding. Murder. This wasn't what she'd dreamed of doing while growing up.
"Yeah."
"Couldn't you just use the front door, Miss Memoria?" Tarot questioned. "It is a church, after all. Priests are friendly people, I'm sure they'll accept you."
The female frowned. "Tarot, I just can't ask for them to help me change my life. I have to do it myself. But, this is the last time I'm going to steal anything."
"I see."
Memoria waited until the last bishop left the building, and then she entered the sanctuary swiftly, silently; she knew what she had to do. The female knew it was wrong, sighing as she entered the room where the extra priest uniforms were kept. The assassin cross removed a few uniforms from their hangers and neatly folded them over her arm.
"Who's there?" A voice said.
The crimson haired girl then heard the soft tapping of heels on the marble floor; the footsteps of a nun, coming towards her at that, and she did the only thing she could. Memoria disappeared, exiting the church the way she came.
--
The high priestess made her way through the crowded streets of Prontera, to the southern corner, with the small cat riding on top of her head, his tail whipping against her now honey colored, shoulder length hair. Memoria made her way into the Prontera pub and sat down at the table in the far corner.
"Miss Memoria, I'm afraid the priest over there is about to come over here to talk to you," Tarot informed her, hopping onto the table in front of her.
Memoria took a sip of her Cosmopolitan and watched, and sure enough, he did approach her. A male stood in a snowy white high priest uniform, with a sapphire hued collar and cuffs of the sleeve, trimmed in gold.
"Hi." She smiled.
"Hello, I don't think we've met, miss," the male responded. "I'm usually always in the sanctuary."
Tarot hissed as the male sat down in the chair across from the priestess.
"May I ask your name?" he inquired.
"Memoria."
The blue haired man thought for a moment. "Memoria? I've never heard of that name before, either."
She winced. "T-that's because I've been on a special assignment!"
"Special assignment...? I see."
The female let herself gaze upon the man's features, at the high priest uniform that he had customized for him, the shades of blue bringing out those cerulean eyes of his, and the hair that seemed to be that of the same color; she noticed how the blue locks of hair seemed to enjoy hanging lazily in his face.
"Who's your friend?" he asked.
Memoria blinked and glanced at the black cat sitting on the table in front of her, which had begun lapping at her drink. "This is Tarot."
The blue haired high priest smiled, and put out a hand as a peace offering the kitty, which Tarot sniffed and bit promptly.
"Dammit Tarot!" The priestess flicked his nose. "You'll have to excuse him, he's a bit over protective of me, Mr... I don't think I ever got your name? But... You know, we are both priests after all, and we're supposed to know each other, and be friends and...umm..."
Dammit, dammit, dammit. Screwing it up already.
"My name's Kadien."
"Kadien. I've heard that name before." She lied, offering a smile.
"Have you really?" The man laughed. "Because I actually go by Skye in the church."
The emerald eyed girl blushed. What on earth was she doing? In this bar, without her beloved crimson hair, with this cat, and who did she think she was, talking to a 'Child of god.' But wait, she was one of them now.
"Miss? Your kitty seems to be having problems."
The two 'Children of God' watched as the black cat began to take a few steps away from where her now empty drink sat on the table; he staggered slightly, letting on front paw cross over the other, tripping himself, and thus hitting his little pink nose on the table.
"I believe your cat is drunk, Sister Memoria."
"Tsk. Such a low alcohol tolerance." The priestess laughed, scooping him up and laying the ball of fur in her lap.
Kadien smiled, letting himself look over her features. "I didn't think cats could get drunk."
"Tarot is a special cat, I suppose." She gathered the cat in her arms and stood up. "I should probably get him home."
"Would you like me to walk you home?" The male asked. "You know how Prontera can get after dark."
Memoria thought for a moment. The streets of Prontera were dangerous? This was something she didn't remember from her past visits to the city; then again, perhaps she didn't notice because it was her type that made them dangerous. Either way, the brown haired girl let him walk her to her room at the inn.
--
She awoke the next morning with warm rays of sunlight peeking through the curtains, shining in her face. Memoria rolled over and sat up, looking for her ebony colored friend, whom she found sitting on the table, nibbling at a small plate of grilled shrimp.
"Good morning Miss Memoria." The cat noticed her, but didn't look up from the plate.
"Hello Tarot." She walked towards the table and gazed at a single scarlet hued rose, placed delicately over the corner of a note which she picked up and read aloud. "For you, a red rose. And for Tarot, a peace offering. Thank you for a wonderful night, Sister Memoria, and may you have a blissful day."
She pondered this for a moment. "Kadien was here this morning?"
"Yep," the cat replied.
"And you let him in!"
"Miss Memoria, there was tasty shrimp involved; I had to," Tarot said and took another bite. "And besides, he found it simply adorable that you were laying there asleep."
"So then you like him?"
"No," he responded through a mouthful of shrimp.
"Not even a little? I mean he brought you breakfast. He didn't have to do that."
"No. And he did have to do that."
The high priestess crossed her arms on top of the table and rested her head against the soft skin. "Why's that?"
"Or else I won't let him near you."
"I don't think you can stop him, Tarot," she challenged. "You're just a cat, after all."
His eyes left the plate and met with hers. "Just a cat? I am not just a cat, Miss Memoria. Normal cats do not talk."
"I guess you're right." The female walked into the kitchen and prepared hot tea, which seemed to be of the breakfast blend variety, with a spoonful of honey for herself, and walked back to the table with her cup and a saucer, which she placed down in front of the cat, and she then poured a portion of the liquid for him.
The cat lapped at the saucer's steaming contents and purred. "It's got peppermint in it."
"Uh huh." Memoria smiled and sipped her drink. "So Tarot, what do youdo, anyway?"
"One day the time will come, and you will see, Miss."
--
He walked through the sleepy forest town of Payon to a small house in the northeast, passing by a small group of archers, which were each taking turns aiming, pulling back, and shooting a dangerously sharp arrow across the walkway to the target which was nailed to the trunk of a tree. The azure haired priest knocked lightly on the door and it was promptly opened by a young woman with mocha colored hair, which was pulled back in a low sitting ponytail.
"Good morning." She smiled and let the man in. "Sit down. Can I get you coffee or anything, Kadien?"
"I'm fine, but thank you for the offer."
The gypsy sat down in a chair across from him. "So you wanted to talk with me?"
"I did." Kadien began. "It seems our artifact has been found."
"What? Really? Which one, and by whom?"
The male pushed a few strands of his sky colored hair out of his face. "Well, a priestess has it. I'm not sure how she got it, because I was told that assassins were going to be sent to retrieve it. I guess that didn't work out for them. But, either way, this woman has Time."
"That's the black one, right?" she asked.
"Correct."
"So..." The grey eyed girl thought for a moment. "What are we going to do then?"
"I'm not fully sure, but I think the cat knows that I've been looking for him. I went over to where the woman resides earlier this morning, and the cat said something to me... He told me that if I hurt Memoria he would kill me himself, and that if I thought it was going to be this easy to get what I've been after, then I was sadly mistaken."
"So they can talk?" She blinked.
Kadien chuckled. "Seems so. But, you know what bothers me is... I didn't even sense that the artifact was around. And honestly, the only reason I found it was because I wanted to talk to her. She's rather attractive."
"So, what do you want to do then?"
"Well... I think the cat likes her, and she really loves the cat. And I don't think it's in the wrong hands, which is what we were worried about; why not let her keep him?"
Her grey eyes gazed him. "Let her keep him? Wouldn't it be easy for one of these assassins to just kill the girl and take the cat?"
"I didn't think about that," the high priest responded. "You have a good point."
"She'll probably end up in a bad predicament, in the long run."
"So, you think we should stick around and protect her?" He leaned back in the chair, causing it to stand on its back two legs.
"Yeah. She might actually end up needing us, and I'd hate for that much control to end up in the wrong hands." The gypsy paused. "Hey, do you think that she has any idea how much power she actually has right now? Or what the cat even does?"
"You know... I don't really think she has any idea."
"Should we tell her?" The female asked.
"No, not yet."
That's all for chapter 3.
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