Another chapter, woot! I'm kinda surprised no one's flamed me yet, this fanfic sorta sucks. DX I don't expect it to be too good; it's like a prologue for a second story I promise will be much better, so stuck around! Also, Undertaker finally shows up, so yaaaaay!

Suzaku Darknight: (o.o)Er, the weapon Eve is described using is a scythe. Since I probably won't get this background info in the story I'll tell you a bit right now. Mages are magical beings. Like magicians, only awesomer and not fake. Each Mage has their own tool, called an Ace, in which they channel their magic. Could be a wand, a staff, etc. The shape can change with a sudden shift in its user's character or can be modified with the user's own in particular fights with a scythe. She doesn't like the fact that she goes around killing monsters with an agricultural harvesting tool, but she can't change it either because she doesn't have magic anymore. Really sucks for her.


Faye, meanwhile, had skipped home with lifted spirits. The seasons were changing, and her study term was ending for six whole months! She'd have more time to spend with her sister, and make friends, and all sorts of fun stuff. Most importantly, having turned twelve the previous month, she was finally legible to take small jobs as a junior mage. She worked hard and her grades were excellent: it should be no problem to get a few jobs a day caring for plants, or maybe taking part in the play that had a habit of being put together and shown in the middle of the summer. The best part was, Faye knew for sure, that she'd be able to start helping her family, that is, her and her sister, financially. It didn't matter how much Eve tried to hide it; Faye knew that living was tough for them. If she could do anything to ease her sister's burden, she'd be more than happy to help.

BEST.

SCHOOL DAY.

EVER.

"I'm home!" She declared as she burst inside, twirling and leaping like a ballerina, only to be greeted by a dark, gloomy room occupied by nothing but golden trinkets, wicked blades, and other things that fell in-between. Illuminated by the sunlight shining through the window, the shop portion of the building held no one inside. "Aw… where'd you go? I worked all break-time on that entrance." Banging her head against the nearby counter in disappointment, a creamy white sheet of paper caught her eye. "Eh? What's this?" The sheet, covered in her sister's handwriting, read:

Faye,

Went to buy more food and cloth. I didn't wait for you to come home because I was planning to get back and make dinner for you as a surprise. If you got back before me and got this note… well, surprise!

Faye blinked.

"Well that answers my question!" Faye piped up, throwing the paper behind her shoulder and she jumped up the stairs. Her hair flounced all over the place as she jittered with excitement. "But if she was planning to make such a nice surprise for me, it's only fair that I plan one for her. What to do, though?" She contemplated her options. What to do, what to do… there was no garden to tend to, at least, not anymore.

"I suppose my only option is cleaning." She said to herself, throwing open the door to the bedroom that she and her sister shared. There wasn't much inside; just two beds, a small desk, and a candle that rested upon it. It was probably the easiest room to start with.

Yet, as she took a step, she heard the sound of another being taken behind her. With a gasp, she opened her mouth, only for it to be clamped over by a hand with a tribal sun tattoo.

...

Meanwhile, Faye took a sip of a flask of water with incredibly inconvenient timing as her 'Faye is about to get kidnapped again' alarm rang. Pausing in mid-choke, she swallowed, then shook her head and lifted the flask back to her lips. "Meh. Good luck… you idiot."

"Let! Me! Go!" Faye wrenched the hand off and started screaming. Her kidnapper stopped her wild flailing but slamming her against the room. She returned the favor by using the momentum to send the stranger into the opposite wall. Despite her efforts, the attack fazed him, but didn't hurt him.

"Shut up!" He glared, yanking her waist-long braid and earning a little whimper. This wasn't a man Faye knew; his rugged features and close cut brown hair were unfamiliar to her. He did, however, have a tattoo signifying he was part of some kind of gang. Center's End did have a few skulking around in secret organizations, but most criminals came from surrounding areas, since the village was nomadic. (It didn't make sense to run a black market underground when the ground underneath them changed completely every two years.) Since the tattoo didn't ring a bell either, the man was probably the latter. "This is what's we're going to do. You're going to shut the fuck up and come with me. We'll be sending a ransom note to your mummy and daddy and then maybe, if they cough up and you're a good girl, we'll let you go. Don't call for help, because if anyone comes, especially your freak of a sister, I kill them!"

Crossing her arms stubbornly, Faye turned her nose up as is refusing to eat her vegetables. "No. Now go away and leave me alone!"

"Oh?" A devilish smirk formed on the man's face and he grabbed Faye by the throat. "And if I don't?"

"I'll scream."

"Go ahead. There's no one else to hear you."

Taking the man by surprise, Faye grabbed him by the head and said, "Good!"

And so she screamed.

Really loud.

Right into his ear.

And finally, five whole minutes later, Faye ceased her screeching. The stranger, having passed out, fell to the ground.

"In here." Leading the way, Faye pointed to the offender, whose hands and feet had been bound with rope. Setting her basket, now filled with goods to the brim, on the ground, Eve surveyed the intruder.

"I see."

The intruder scowled at the two, furious at himself for being caught, by a child no less. Turning to the younger sister, he opened his mouth to abruptly let loose a string of curses. Eve's eyes widened, and, sensing the profanity to come, quickly clasped her hands over her younger sister's ears. Despite the prominent vein in his neck and the impressive speed his jaws moved at, all Faye could make out was:

"You ******* *****! When I ******* get my hands on you, I gonna ******* **** the **** out of you! And your ******* **** sister! Your ***** are gonna be ****** by every ******* ***** I know! ******* ****! You'll be ******* ****** and then you'll have to **** sideways! *****!"

And so on.

And on and on and on…

"Are you done yet?" Eve said, seemingly disgusted by his words. Not waiting for an answer, she turned to her sister. "Faye, wait outside and keep plugging your ears." Nodding solemnly, Faye obeyed. When she had left, Eve redirected her attention towards the man tied up at her feet. "Right." She continued, summoning her scythe. Black as midnight it materialized, gleaming wickedly. "Let's get started."

The arrogant, indignant look on the stranger's face melted as he saw the scythe, felt what was going to happen. "Wait! You can't do this! You don't know the charges-"

"Your words don't matter; there's no use trying to get out of this." Eve interrupted him and planted her foot on his chest to shut up. Leaning her knee, their eye contact caused the man to tremble violently. If he kept if up, he may have been able loosen the ropes binding him. Unfortunately for him, he was too scared by the glare being shot at him by the girl in front of him. "Do you really think you're the first one to try this? I know Faye looks like an easy target; the daughter of a rich noble, living with no protection than a disowned sister estranged from lower and higher society alike? It's almost too good to be true. And it is. Faye is more than capable enough of protecting herself." Her eyes shifted to the wall she knew Faye must had been sitting behind, covering her ears like asked. "It's the only reason I allow her to stay with me."

"Despite scum like you, that keep trying and failing to hurt her." she repeated, raising her scythe over her head. "That deserves only death. That is the mistake so many of you made, and every one of you paid for it. You are no exception."

"No! Wait, n-"

The target never finished his words. He was sliced through from the top of his head to the bottom of his neck.

Faye regarded the corpse with a dead expression. Then she sent away her scythe in a black mist, and grabbed the dead body by the feet, dragging it out of her and her sister's bedroom.

The mess, I can clean up later. First, I need to get rid of the body.

"It's done." Eve grunted as she continued pulling the copse down the hall. "I just need to get this down to… him."

Faye glanced at the body, not the least bit fazed by the gory sight. "Okay. Do you want me to help?"

"Faye, are you sure about this? People are starting to stare. And gawk. And throw up."

Even Eve had to admit, of all the things she'd done, dragging the dead body of a young man with her sister wasn't the best thing for Faye's reputation. It was already tarnished enough from simply being near Eve, and in spite of her allowance of Faye living with her, Eve didn't want her to become like her. Unwanted… Unclean…

"I told you, it's okay!" Faye said, giving her sister yet another bop on the head. "I don't care what others think of me. It doesn't matter. The only thing that does," she exclaimed with one of her sweetest smiles. "Is that I'm with you!"

Once again reminded of her sister's almost unimaginable innocence and purity, Eve, for the thousandth time in her life, felt gratitude for her sister fill her as she gave a rare smile back. "Yeah."

And then she realized something. "Er, we should get back to carrying the body… it's just laying there right now…"

"Right, right." Faye scrambled to grab the feet of the corpse once more.

The siblings resumed carrying it until they came to a certain shop labeled "Undertaker". Was a peculiar door, thin, cramped, and set in-between two other buildings. Shouldering her way inside, she and Faye climbed up the rickety steps, body in tow.

"Ow!" Once again, lack of light (and eyesight) caused Eve to bump her head on the trapdoor above. Scowling, she pushed open the coffin shaped door to the cool air above, stagnant and dead. "Undertaker, are you in there?" Spying the silver-haired man giggling while perched atop his desk. "How stupid of me; of course you're in here. You never leave this place."

"How nice to see you again, my lady~" Undertaker giggled into his sleeve as Eve threw the body out from below her and set it down on the musty ground with a thump. "Would you like a coffin fitting-"

"Why do you ask that blasted question every time I come here, of course I don't need one!" Eve snapped, still in a bad mood from bumping her head."I told you before; I have no intention of dying anytime soon. I have another… guest, for you." She indicated the body with a kick. Faye climb out from the coffin they'd emerged from as she did so, flopping over the side as she did so.

"Ewwww, it's so dusty down there…"

Undertaker burst into another series of titters as he nodded in greeting to Faye, or "My dear" as he often called her. Then he turned his attention back to Eve.

"Of course, of course. How fun, another guest! But first, you know what I want!"

"Another skeleton?"

"To see me lying dead in a coffin in front of you."

"A puppy! It's a puppy, isn't it?"

"None of the above!"

Undertaker cackled, jumped down from the desk, and seemed to dance around, giggling hysterically and maybe a little evilly at some unspoken joke. "Just the pleasure of a first rate laugh! The joy I've been craving of hearing a truly good joke! Just one, and I'll do anything!" He was leaning dangerously close over Eve, who deadpanned and instinctively stepped back. "Aaaannythiinng!"

"Do 'anything' like that again and I'll lock you up in one of your own coffins."

A first rate laugh. It's always a first rate laugh. What is it with me and having to give near impossible payments?

Faye, meanwhile, heard the word 'joke' and perked up immediately. "Ohh, a joke! I made up a new one in class earlier today that I really want to try out!" Pushing Eve towards the coffin/trapdoor, she put her finger to her lips. "But you wait outside, kay? Don't peek inside no matter what!"

Eve's eyes widened. "It's a dirty joke, isn't it? What have you-"

"Kthx!" Faye exclaimed, and closed the door on Eve's head.

"Ow…" Falling on her butt, Eve groaned and rubbed her temple.

Why always the head… she thought to herself, pouting as ear-splitting laughter erupted above her a few moments later.

Not soon after, the door above her head opened again, and Faye leaned in, her braid slipping to fall inside the 'coffin' a bit. "You can come out now!" She exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

Peeking over the edge, Eve made sure Undertaker was lying on the ground incapacitated by laughter, like he should have been, before crawling into the open for a second time.

No matter how alert of her surroundings she tried to be, Undertaker was always the only capable of constantly sneaking up on her. She'd once caught him putting a braid in a streak of her red hair, and to this day, much to her chagrin, it magically stayed tangled in.

How the Hell does he do that?

"So you'll do it?"

"Of course, my lady! Far be it from me to refuse business from someone who gives such high quality payment! You want the usual, yes?"

"The usual, then, my lady?"

"Yes, the usual. Just bury him in the ground where we don't have to look at him." Eve reminded him, though he didn't really need it. Eve had been using Undertaker's service for almost two years, he wouldn't be forgetting now.

"But also, I want you to keep note of this making here." Eve gestured to the triangles and spiral creating a sun on the corpse's right hand. "If any customers come in bearing this mark, it may mean they're involved in illegal dealings. I'd have to report it right away to superior Mages."

"Heh, it's always justice and following orders with you." Undertaker was stepping dangerously close towards Eve again. "Always hunting. Always collared. You rather remind me of one of my other customers." He somehow managed to get behind her as she turned away, whispering into her right ear. "Who will choke first, I wonder?"

Acting on instinct, she jumped forward and executed a backwards kick, sending Undertaker into a coffin. Spinning around, she whipped out her foot again to close the door on him, who, infuriatingly, was still laughing, as if he'd planned this to happen.

Eve shivered.

Again. How. THE HELL. Does he do that?

"Uh, that was sorta weird. Is he gonna be okay?" Faye asked, having seen the whole thing. She tried to peek into the now closed casket, but her hand was stopped by her sister's.

"You and I both know full well he can open the coffin at any time." Eve sniffed. "But he deserves that kick for sneaking up on me. Again. Come on, let's go."

With that, a disheveled Eve and a curious Faye left the building though the weird trapdoor. They didn't stay long enough to hear the knock on the door: Undertaker's next customers/victims.

"Do you really dislike him that much?" Faye asked her sister as they walked down the dirt street home. Her hands were entwined with her sisters.

Eve contemplated the thought. "No." She finally said. "He's one of the few people who actually gives me respect, so it's only fair that I return it. He's a little odd, maybe, but again, I'm not in a position to discriminate against him for that either… What I have to wonder," Eve shivered upon saying this, "Is why he's so intentionally creepy. And mysterious."

"Mysterious?"

"Look at how much he hides himself. He never leaves his shop, he wears ridiculously baggy clothing, and even most of his face is covered up. I don't even know how old he is. Judging by the bottom half of his face, I'd say around Kain's age."

"Well, how old is Kain?"

"… yeah, I don't know that, either."

"Wooooooooow."

"Okay, change of subject." Eve said abruptly, to, of course, change the subject. "How about when we get back, we make dinner together, to celebrate the festival coming soon? It's been a while since we've done anything like that…"

"Sounds good." Fay hugged Eve. Eve gave an awkward squeeze back.


Aside from her knack for committing mass murder, one of the few things Eve prides herself on is being a good older sister. Awwwww- wait, what?