My teacher is annoying enough to make me update in the middle of my Philosophy class. Merlin bless my cell phone.

Disclaimer: again? I thought we had already established that I don't own Victorious, goddamit...

Chapter 11 - Rise and Master

Assassin Realm. March 4, 2003

Quick steps echoed through the empty halls towards the main lounge, their owner, looking straight ahead without letting herself get distracted with the many things adorning her way. She was conscious of them, of course, but didn't pay them any attention as she had a lot of things to do. The most important of which lay ahead of her, across the double doors at the end of the hall.

She contained a grimace when the doors opened by themselves. She had always found a nuisance the fact that Hell's buildings had something similar to life, and thus were able to choose when to open or close, warm up or cool down, switch on or switch off. Demons weren't able of controlling them, either, and it kind of said that they were more powerful than Lucifer's subjects.

The twenty Demons lazing around jumped out of their seats when the centenary wood crashed against the stone walls, clearly taken by surprise – another reason for the newcomer to be irritated, since she couldn't believe Assassins wouldn't feel an approaching powerful being if they weren't hiding their presence. One of them managed to react quickly, although the known scornful grimace in his face made her whish he had stayed as a gaping statue.

"We were told there was some announcement" he snarled. "Figures it would be something as insignificant as this brat joining our clan."

"Actually, I am here as this clan's new leader" she stated, apparently unfazed.

"What? A U-kid commanding us? You cannot be serious" another said through gritted teeth.

"Get out, before you manage to drag us down" a third one all but ordered, being quickly seconded by her partners.

Sighing with something that could only be described as irritation, the other took out her cape and held her head high. The crest of the clan, hanging from its rightful chain, shone brightly on her chest. The girl, too thin and small to look strong, folded the cape on her right arm and stuffed the other inside her black coat.

The Demons stood silent for a minute, until another of them shoot up, face red with anger. "I was supposed to be the patriarch now!"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Mind explaining my pendant, then?"

"This has to be some sort of sick joke!" the first one shouted. "Some trick your class did to steal the power that belongs to us!"

"Make up your mind, will you? Either this is a joke or I am cheating."

"I will say it one last time" the one reclaiming the title growled, taking a step forward while trying to look menacing – well, he did look somewhat menacing, but the girl in front of him wasn't someone you could scare. "Get out of here now or we will use force."

"Would you attack a fellow Demon, who just so happens to be your superior... and twenty years younger than you at that? My, morals sure are ruined these days..."

"You are the one with twisted morals here" a fifth snarled.

When the girl simply looked at the clock as if she was utterly bored, one of the Demons couldn't take it anymore and shoot a magic ball to her head. However, the attack was deflected by some invisible shield and rushed right back to its owner. And suddenly, all of them were being held above the floor with something constricting their necks.

"I will say it one last time" the girl started in a volume just high enough for the others to hear. "I am the rightful matriarch of the Assassin li Damai, and I want you – no, I order you to treat me with the respect I deserve as it unless you want me to kick you down to the torture chambers. Are we clear?"

Slowly, their movements restricted by the same invisible force that held them in the air, each one of them nodded. As soon as one agreed, the spell set them free. The last one up was, oh surprise, the one that wanted to be the leader.

"H-hey..." a younger Demon said, appearing behind Rivot. He had to be the one that she had been told was in a mission. "What..."

"Our new... leader was... giving... us some... manner lessons..." a woman gasped.

The newcomer looked at the little girl beside him in utter disbelief, but seemed to accept it – although the subtle frown in his face told the matriarch he recognized her as a U-kid and was no happy with having her as leader. "Oh. And why is Berax hanging up there?"

"He refuses to let go of his stupid pride" the woman growled, rubbing her neck. Her glare to the floor made it obvious she valued more her life than her pride – Rivot didn't have to get creative to know she didn't accept her.

"As if that was a surprise..." mumbled the young Demon.

"He should be grateful" the matriarch commented coldly. "I could make him a V for attempted rebellion."

"I think he is better off getting choked" the guy besides Rivot grudgingly agreed. "But, will it be okay for you to kill him?"

"Why not?" Rivot briefly looked at him, containing a flinch when she noticed the true meaning behind her subordinate's words. "Respect to the ones bearing a crest is one of the things no one who called themselves a Demon should neglect. And" she added as if an afterthought, "I have the law supporting me."

A few seconds later, the Gieri heir suppressed the spell and let Berax crash to the floor. Although none of his comrades attempted to help him, all of them were sending subtle glares towards their matriarch, who ignored them and walked forward until she had the coughing Demon at her feet. Her eyes when she looked down at him bore the dead cold red that would soon make her famous, first among her fellow U-kids and then whole Hell – which didn't mean she would be respected.

"Be grateful I am letting you live" she murmured, her words echoing in the silent room.

The Demons simply looked at her with different degrees of anger in their eyes, all the while ignoring their coughing companion, who was slowly regaining his normal skin tone and had his throat firmly grasped as if to protect it from future attacks.

Rivot turned around, not paying them any mind. Once in the doorstep, she stopped and talked without bothering to look back. "I will punish anyone who dares insult my talents" her underlings, although still angry, gulped when they could not sense any lie in that statement. "Be sure to never forget it."

Proof-Handling Realm. September 11, 2004

Raika Dravo stood in the doorstep to her guild's house, silently gaping at the cloaked figure before her and trying to make sense out of the visitor's sudden words – well, more than sudden... truth is she hadn't been expecting that Demon to be the one pronouncing them.

"I think I misheard" she breathed deeply, trying to clear her head of the thoughts of recognition over her counterpart's identity. "Why are you here for?"

The U-kid crossed her arms, already expecting that reaction. "I said I am here to take Kaira Dravo."

"I... I would have hoped for her designated Master to come..."

"I am her designated Master. And I would like you to hurry – I have to depart soon and I plan on taking her with me."

"But... you... I..."

The girl's lips almost twitched to show her disgust, but she refused to let any emotion show in her face and voice. "Yes, my Master was a fool who betrayed His Majesty. Boo-boo."

"But..."

"Dear Satan, how incompetent" Rivot almost growled. "Hurry now, woman. Where is my Alumni?"

Still hesitant, the woman turned around –the Mastering proof firmly clutched in her hand, knowing she would have to give it back so the U-kid could imprint the tattoo in her little daughter's flawless skin– and entered the fairly big building in search of the girl. Rivot stared at the slightly closed door with a blank expression for a few seconds before leaning on the wall, her eyes fixed on the sunny sky.

What a waste of a good day of work, having to pick up some stupid, prejudiced baby with even more stupid and prejudiced acquaintances. She didn't even want to be in charge of an ignorant kid in the first place, but Lord Vitaris had been utterly adamant when ordering her that she had to be a Master, even though no Demon had ever been chosen as one before turning twenty years old – and she was ten, for crying out loud! Even more so, she was one of the less accepted Demons in Hell, one of the relatively few magical immortals with a Fallen as a former Master.

It just didn't make any sense that she, a middle-ranked 10 years old U-kid, would be given the highest honor a magical being could receive. Like, at all. Never mind who her grandfather was, or what blood ran through her veins. She was the kind of Demon who was lucky if twice or thrice the effort an above-average non-U-kid put into their work was all they needed to reach a fairly respectable clan or guild – and that didn't even mean they were going to be accepted, either.

It sucked being a Fallen's former Alumni.

As she was reflecting on this for the umpteenth time, a young couple walked by holding hands, whispering and giggling and being all cute with each other – the kind of lovey-dovey crap Rivot hated. It seemed as if they didn't have a care in the world... until the younger boy spotted her, that is, because then he gripped tighter his companion's hand as if afraid of something. The older gazed in her direction and a disgusted grimace made its way to his pale face – she would've cringed if she wasn't so used to that already. Instead, she stared back, adding a trademark snarl that was soon poorly imitated. She snarled once again, while quietly casting a spell.

The Unseen Chant was a short mantra that, if spoken correctly, made the flames filling Hell bend to the invoker's will, letting them made the blue fire visible to the commoner's eye and even follow around –the seen– a chosen target. It was the secret the almost almighty House of Gieri had kept hidden for over seventy-thousand generations, taught to its children once they grew up. On other hand, Demons had long forgotten the mysteries of Hell –the Gieris being once again the only ones aware of this particular point– and it wasn't difficult to trick them into believing they were suddenly combusting.

Kind of pathetic, really, how an immortal born and raised in Hell couldn't say for the life of it that the flames were warm rather than burning and that there was no pain. The pair currently running on an imaginary torture made Rivot contain a snort, knowing those two would spend the rest of their lives under the impression of their bodies inside a permanent bonfire unless a Gieri freed them – and currently, the only ones alive were herself, who would never bother to cast it away; Lord Mias, too preoccupied by his job to deign himself look out of the Dark Domain; and the King, who never got out of his palace because he just didn't care.

The Assassin looked at them as they ran away, noticing that onlookers were staring at them strangely, not knowing what to make out of the couple's strange behavior. She knew none of the U-kids, widely thought to be useless scum, would've fallen for such a trick. Her oh-so-called 'lower class' was worth more than any of the oh-so-called normal subjects.

The door opened and Rivot turned her red eyes to the little 4-years-old standing in the doorway, with the woman from before –who looked kind of disappointed, surely expecting the screaming Demon to be her– behind her and the regulatory moving bag hanging off her back in a way that was cute even if the older Assassin didn't think so at the time.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked coldly. The girl nodded. "Good. Say your farewells quickly and move."

"Are you my Master?"

Rivot contained a sharp comment pointing out that the deep black design impressed in the parchment held by Kaira's hands was the exact copy of the tattoo in the heel of her left hand, which wasn't exactly hidden. "I am" she said instead. "Now move, I have work to do."

"Ah, y-yes."

A few minutes later, they were walking down the street –the little girl rubbing the heel of her right hand, where Rivot had casted the first tattoo a Demon ever acquired– towards the teleportation square that would take them to the Assassin Realm, the only place the A class could teleport to Earth from.

"My name" the older started dryly, "is Rivot von Gieri, from the Assassin gen Tarump. I have lots of patience, but it will disappear if you are careless or disobedient. Understood?"

"Yes, Master" Kaira agreed somewhat shyly. She hesitated. "May... may I ask you something."

"Go ahead."

The younger Demon searched in her mind for a better form to ask than the one she had thought first, but couldn't come up with anything. As they were stepping over the square, she decided to be blunt. "How old are you, Master?"

Rivot barely looked at her for a second, their bodies glowing with the dark light that signaled the start of the magical artifact that somehow always knew when it had to take you. She recognized something like her own disbelief in her Alumni's face – Gieri looked way too young to be granted the position as someone's Master, and Kaira clearly thought she was older. Or wanted to think, anyways.

"I turned ten years a few months ago."

Kaira could only stare at her.

California, USA. March 5, 2005

Kaira followed her Master through the streets of Hollywood, her steps silent and quick and her breath steady, quietly muttering the spell that made them invisible so as to not call unnecessary attention from possible Guardian Angels or Archangels in the area. Rivot, too, was casting a spell – hers being a lot longer and more difficult, because it aimed to hide their magic from Holies.

It was about the fifth time the young Alumni was up in Earth, her Master being too used to move about on her own to consider bringing her along. And it was the first time she was allowed to use magic out of Hell – forget it, it was the first time Rivot let her do anything other than follow quietly and look without a peep. Gieri was a surprisingly good teacher despite her age, though one almost overly strict, and her teaching methods were kind of weird and completely different from any other Kaira had ever heard of. But she was happy, although a little disappointed she didn't get to do the things her friends were allowed to. The good side was that Gieri's way meant she already could use camouflage spells of almost every level with astonishing ease.

"If you cannot master illusion skills, you will have no future in this job and I would have just lost my time" the Assassin had coldly stated after Kaira complained about the difficulty of the assignment – and the fact that she had spent one month performing the whole Hidden Grimoire without the chance to look at any other of the books her Master had.

Soon enough, Kaira learned Rivot hated to waste time. Especially when she didn't want to do whatever thing it was in the first place. And she was a Master just under a Lord's order. And it wasn't long until she understood why the pressure to learn to cast all the grimoire dedicated to camouflage and illusion spells.

She was suddenly brought back to Earth when Rivot raised a fist, signaling her to stop, and looked through the window next to them – their objective's house. Kaira looked as well and her eyes widened when she saw the happy family eating lunch. The kids, triplets about her age and a baby even younger than her own little brother, were making a mess with the mashed potatoes while the mother tried to stop them and the father laughed while helping clean. Overall, it seemed like the classical American family.

"Master..." she whispered, only to be shushed.

"The man is a Guardian" the older whispered back. "The triplets will soon be."

Dravo gulped, but added nothing. She actually kinda understood why her Master's assignment regarded this group, but... to kill a human woman as well? It just didn't seem right.

"The woman..." she tried to voice her concern once more.

"She knows about our world and is an ally of Heaven. And before you bother me again, the girl is also bound to be a Guardian when she grows up. Now, you grow up and forget about mercy. If they could catch you, you would be shown none."

Kaira looked down. "Yes, Master" she mused.

Rivot studied the scene for a while before nodding thoughtfully to herself. "Kaira, keep up the spell. I will go in."

The Alumni nodded. Through the window, she watched, admired, as her young Master swiftly moved to the open kitchen and fumbled with something near the floor, coming back before a minute had passed by.

Thank Satan this window is so big, the girl thought when Rivot stood straight again. But she is insanely good... I doubt closed windows could be an issue to someone of her level.

Still amazed, Kaira contemplated as the Assassin made a one-hand seal –the only physical requirement for a level 10 material spell, whose grimoire she was going to start studying in a few weeks, as soon as she proved herself able of executing the Defense Grimoire– and all the doors and windows closed at once.

It took a while for the group inside to notice something was going on. The woman tried to do something in the kitchen, but judging from her face it didn't change a thing. The man moved, and Kaira noticed Rivot adding her other hand to the seal and the Guardian instantly falling down.

"Tch. I should have made this sooner" she muttered. "That idiot almost ruined my plan."

"The kids...?"

"Still training. And they would not be able of breaking my spells even if the three of them tried together."

Kaira nodded, understanding. Well, it's not like it was much of a surprise, either, for few Demons overpowered Rivot's magic levels – and she wasn't fully grown yet. A Holy kid had nothing to do against a Magical prodigy like Rivot von Gieri.

"Give me a hand" Rivot asked. "At my signal, light a flame inside."

The girl blinked. "But, Master... I cannot do two spells at once. And I have not studied the Blazing Grimoire yet..."

"Oh, for Satan's sake" Rivot growled, although she didn't seem mad at her Alumni – more like at herself for forgetting about the stage of her protégé's training... not like said Demon would be able to tell. "Copy my left seal" Kaira carefully did as told. "Now put it beside mine. At my signal, I will withdraw my hand and yours will replace it."

"Understood" answered the younger, although she didn't really get what was her Master planning to do.

Inside of the house, the man stirred for a second –the brief moment in which Rivot's seal gave way to Kaira's–, but it wasn't even enough for the others to notice. The Alumni didn't, either, all to amazed with this new discovery to pay focus to anything else.

"The Suppressor" Rivot started, not looking at Kaira, "needs a starting chant and supporting seal. Once it is done, you do not need to keep chanting."

"Like the Material Blocker" the girl understood, recognizing her Master's earlier spell for some things her older sister liked to brag about when she went to their mother's guild's house to visit. "The Sight Blocker does as well, right?" she asked, thinking of the spell most widely known as 'invisibility'.

"In a way" the older agreed. "Obviously you have not noticed you never use a proper seal to cast it or keep it, nor your voice nor thoughts."

"Makes sense. But if my hand is doing this seal..."

"Never mind. It still takes my magic."

Recognizing the impatient tone at the end, Kaira shut up despite knowing Rivot wasn't playing attention to her, too focused on making the proper seal sequence. The young Dravo didn't think herself capable of recognizing such a spell... and even if she knew something about fire magic, the seal was way too fast for her eyes to catch up.

Suddenly, a blue flame lighted inside the house. Two seconds later, it turned a warm red. Kaira closed her eyes tight, prepared for a wave of materials crashing onto them, but felt nothing even though her ears confirmed an explosion. Hesitant, she opened her eyes.

The sight before her –all around her, actually– couldn't be described as nothing but amazing. Breathtaking, even.

The explosion had been indeed strong, throwing pieces of the house everywhere, but none of the things rushing in their direction touched them. Instead, it felt as if they were those ghosts humans were so fond of – everything got right through them.

"Ghosting Spell" she thought hearing Rivot say. The Master was looking ahead, turning her eyes about to take in all the explosion with her left hand crouched in an unknown seal. That was probably the one responsible of nothing hitting them.

In the distance, Kaira heard screams and 911 vehicles. Somewhat panicked, she triple-checked her own spell to confirm they were both still invisible to the Human and Holy eye.

"Kaira" Rivot called. "Check my pocket for a black notebook. Got it? Good. Open the bookmark and show it to me."

Awkwardly using a single hand, Dravo complied. Her Master glanced briefly at the pages and nodded.

"Master?"

"You can let go of the seal now."

So she did, imitating Rivot when she noticed her slowly moving her hand. The effect was immediate – it was as if her hand had never been stiff in the first place. She wondered how was it possible for such a simple motion to get rid of a magical pain.

"Did it work, Master?"

Distractedly, Gieri signaled to the book. Kaira blinked and looked down at the page. '410 – Cagliari Guardianship – 6' was the last entry.

"Mission accomplished, then" Kaira pointed out, closing the book. "Shall I finish...?"

"Not until we go back."

It was several minutes later that the smoke cleared and they were able to properly see the mess caused by Rivot's job... and the onlookers attracted by it. However, the Assassin was more interested in the ruins –if it was possible for someone as cold as her to be interested in something– and walked around while still keeping the seal, so Kaira chose to stare at the humans. She chuckled, noticing they were horrified but kept on looking almost without blinking. That confirmed all she had heard about humans being a morbid, self-destructive race.

But among the whole crowd, it was a couple of little girls who caught her attention. The brown-haired one had her widened greenish blue eyes stuck in the scene before her, and her arms were wrapped around her reddish-brown haired companion who had her face hidden in the crook of the taller one's neck. There was something off about them, besides the fact that they were the only kids in the crowd – it was something more like... some weird sensations they provoked on her. While the smaller made her feel uneasy, the other caused her confusion – certainly it wasn't normal for one to feel calm and nervous around a strange.

"Guardian Angel" Rivot mumbled, suddenly beside her. "This is no good. She is probably reporting to Heaven about my deeds..."

"Who?"

"The girl with red-brown hair."

"And the other one? What in Hell is her?"

Rivot looked at her. "Do you feel it too?"

"...Excuse me, feel what?"

"That girl... there is something off about her" Gieri, in a manner very uncharacteristic of her, frowned. "I do not like this sensation."

"Master...?" the older pair of eyes fixed themselves upon her and she knew she had to answer the question. "Yes, I do feel something... but I do not know what is it exactly."

"Is that so?" the Assassin seemed thoughtful for a moment. "I see. We better hurry back before this place is filled with Holies."

Kaira didn't question the change of topic. "Yes, Master."

And back to Hell they went. But Kaira didn't notice her Master looking at the girls once more before disappearing. And Rivot didn't notice a pair of blue eyes looking in their direction just before they disappeared.

I'm not quite sure of how things turned out this way. But I think it works anyway, so whatever. And I'm not in my laptop, so please don't mind too much my possible mistakes.

Virtual cake to whoever gets the last bit of the last scene. I'm hungry... And the teacher keeps on talking with that obnoxious voice of his. I'll get a headache.

Kyle~