Chapter 10 – "Ghost"

-

"Rusalka."

I halted at the sound of my name.

"Where are you going, Rusalka?" Karma's inquiring voice came from beside me. I had not noticed him there.

I wasn't sure where I was going, but I had decided to head out. Surely somewhere out there lays the secret I seek.

"Am I not permitted?" I had asked.

"Did Ice send you?" the black-haired man questioned lazily, gazing down at me through veiled eyes.

"No."

It seemed that he was waiting for me to speak further.

"I don't know where," I told him, meeting his eyes. "I'm going to...do some searching."

I believe he smiled at me. After all, hadn't he hinted for me to do so before?

"Is that so?" Karma moved past me. "If you encounter any difficulties, simply state that you are under the protection of Karma," he told me.

"But to do so…" …would mean I have not accomplished it on my own, with my own power.

He heard me. He made his way back to where I was standing, gesturing with one hand for me to look up at his face.

"Rusalka."

I looked him in the eyes like he wanted.

"I'm only making this easy on you, Rusalka, because your quest is a dangerous one…and because you remain hesitant." His amethyst eyes pierced me as he looked down unblinkingly. "Are you sure this is what you really want?" he asked me.

He was, I think, questioning my resolve to pass the contest and to become one of the elite of our guild. For whatever reason, I couldn't find the voice to answer him straight away. Karma nodded once and whispered the words I remember so well.

'…Once a killer…always a killer.'

As he moved away, he told me, "If you don't need my influence, then at least I trust you know how to handle a weapon when need be."

-

I stood outside the gate for a long time. I could afford to do that. No one else other than those who knew of the exact guild location came that far into the maze.

I had no idea where I was going, but once I started walking, my feet carried me there.

I went back to my old home. The site my circus, the Green Deviruchi, had been set up at.

It was a windy day. The deserted circus tents bearing our green and white colors flapped loosely against their supports. I wove my way between the tents, finding the place truly and utterly empty. It did not bother me, as I did not expect much else.

I did not linger there.

-

None of them wished to be approached by me. The ones I met as street performers, they would scuttle away before I came near. Each and every one of them recognized who I was even at a distance.

'Ghost,' they would form that name with their lips, their eyes widening as they said my name.

I did not even recognize all of them from our disbanded circus group. I did not think they were all ex-members of the Green Deviruchi. Wherefore, then, for the behavior?

"You are her, aren't you?" I had a little boy, too young to understand the fear of the adults, ask me. "You're the one he's been looking for."

"He?" I questioned, gazing down at his innocently curious face.

"The White-Cloaked Death."

I stared until his caretaker found him, grabbed him by the arm and ran.

…

…Do you believe in folktales, Majesty…?

…

-

"…Why are you not inside with everyone else?"

Lai looked up at my question. She had been averting her eyes up till then.

"No, no reason."

I glanced through the arched doorway to guildhall. A set of newcomers from another faction of the guild had arrived for the contest. Everyone had gathered for introductions.

"Rusalka," she said as I began to leave her be. I looked at her seated on the floor, her back against the wall. Her hazel eyes betrayed none of her usual perkiness and mirth. They were cool, serious, and…

"I hear you wish to compete in the contest a week from now."

I did not reply. She knew the answer through my eyes.

"I will not let you win."

The archer got up, rose to her full height as she faced me with determination. "I cannot let you win. I must past the exam. I must become Elite."

I did not know how to respond to her.

"If you wish to stand in my way…"

Ice's voice interrupted. "Rusalka, are you not coming in?"

Lai didn't glance at him or acknowledge his presence. But then, neither did he look at her. Without another sound, she made her way off, away from guildhall.

"Come in. They are waiting."

"…Yes," I replied. He did not glance back. I followed him.

Two long tables had been placed in the center of the room, people seated in chairs on either sides. Everyone looked up when we came into view.

"Go," Ice told me.

I went to the empty seat next to Jukuna, which I felt was left empty for me.

"This is Rusalka," Jukuna introduced me once I sat down, "the newest addition to our guild."

I received long, observant stares.

"So, Jukuna, is she really your relative?" the man I recognized as Sky, Charisma's man, questioned with a half-smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.

"No."

I looked to Jukuna. His eyes were on Sweet when he spoke these next words."It was to allow her to settle in easier." He patted my arm on the table with his hand as he glanced over to my side. "She is…lady mine."

Stunned silence. I daresay every single one of them I looked to wore the same frozen expression.

"About time you've finally moved forward, isn't it?" Charisma's comment brought a momentary deep hush over the two long tables. I do not think she would've said that if not for the drink in her hand. As I mentioned, I had served drinks before to guests back at the Green Deviruchi. I knew who was drunk when I see it.

Sky, who had always been the resilient one in such a situation, laughed away the tension and remarked, "Right, because Charisma belongs to me." He attempted to wrap an arm around her shoulders affectionately, but got halted when she looked at him blankly with unseeing eyes.

"You've had a little too much…" I heard him tell her quietly. "Do you want to-"

"I'm fine," Charisma interrupted, rubbing her temples. Sky didn't protest.

Queen cleared her throat, successfully drawing the attention away from those two. "Now that every representative from two out of three factions is here…how about some introductions?" she declared.

Nods of agreement answered her. But one man, one of the new arrivals, hiked an eyebrow and asked, "Where's Lai? Did you see her when you were outside, Ice?"

"No," the assassin replied nonchalantly.

That's when Charisma set down her glass heavily on the table, causing a loud thud to sound.

"…No one can take his place…" she said in a soft, venomous voice.

"Charisma…" Sky went after her when she got up quietly and left.

No one else moved.

"You four must be weary from your trip," Jukuna said at last, calmly, his expression perfectly neutral. "We'll continue another time, when the others have arrived."

There were murmurs of agreement. Some got up and bid everyone a muted goodnight, while others lingered to have a word with our guild master.

Queen nudged my arm with her elbow as she passed. She was winking and grinning uncontrollably at me. 'Come with me,' she mouthed. I tossed a glance beside me. Jukuna was already conversing in low tones with one of the newcomers. I also looked around for Ice, but he was already out of sight.

"I knew it. I was one of the few who believed you're not actually his sister, but something else," Queen told me excitedly once we were outside by ourselves. "What Charisma said was true; it's about time Jukuna let go of the past…though she wouldn't have voiced that out loud if she were not drunk."

The red-eyed woman quieted down when I did not return the enthusiasm. "Charisma and Lai…"

"Ah…those two…so you noticed," Queen said to me, all at once drawing upon an air of anxiousness. "Charisma…she still believes that Lai is the cause for his death…the death of a guild member before you came."

A solemn moment elapsed. Queen let out a small sigh and sat down on the marble banister next to her. She spoke.

"Charisma is self-centered person, and an uncommitted lover, but there was one man whom she was deeply devoted to; one person who she'd live and die for…. Her brother, Carnelian," she said.

"He was a bright and considerate man, younger than her and wiser in ways of battle. He captured the attention of many fair maiden, of course. He was the reason Lai aspired to become one of us, you see."

Queen sighed. "Charisma opposed from the beginning. Lai was inexperienced. But her brother defended Lai because…I believe there was something between them. But…" She paused briefly before continuing. "One time Carnelian took Lai on a hunt by themselves, and were apparently on their way back when they were ambushed by enemies, unclear of which guild. Well…for some reason Lai was left alive, fueling Charisma's suspicion. Because it was a planned ambush, Rusalka," Queen told me.

…

One of us…which one? Who was the spy?

…

"Lai…" Queen said, "She's been trying the hardest. Sometimes I go to watch her and the progress she makes chills me. Her heart is set on becoming as good as Carnelian was."

I remembered her serious tone. The cold mask of determination on her face.

"Why?"

She arched a brow at me and answered, "Because you would do anything for the one you love."

She did not seem to be lying.

That, I believe, is when I first started to realize what Jukuna meant by what he said.

…

'Do not fall in love.'

-

"Ice."

He said nothing, silently coming up beside me on the terrace. We both watched the figure training alone down at the fields. I did not know what Lai was doing with her bow. Dark had long settled in, and she did not appear to be firing any arrows.

…

"Can she win?"

"Undoubtedly," his soft reply in the gentle breeze from the sea. "She has a reason worth fighting for, and she knows it."

I hesitated before asking him, "…Can Sweet win?"

It took him longer to answer. But what I sensed was not hesitation, no.

"Yes."

He knew of Sweet's feelings towards him.

I looked back to the field below us. I could hear the whoosh of Lai's bow in the silent night.

"…And I…" I inquired. What about me?

"Jukuna…" Ice's nonchalant voice explained to me, "…will never love you the way he acts in front of others."

I felt his gaze on me in the dark as he told me quietly, "He no longer has a heart."

I remember what I felt at those words. I still don't quite know how to describe it. Sadness, maybe. Perhaps pity.

I was not jealous.

"I may not be skilled…nor do I know about this thing called 'love'. But I must make it," I decided, and I told him that.

'…There is a spy amongst us…' Those words resounded in my mind.

"Because the only one Jukuna can trust…is me."

I could hear the ghostly smile when he reminded me simply,

"Two days left, Rusalka."

Two days to prove to him that I have potential to become an assassin, the title of something I did not even understand. I did not respond.

"…You can give up if you're afraid," Ice's soft, arrogant voice added a moment later. And I did not understand.

"What am I afraid of…?" I asked him.

…

"…Do you believe in folktales, Rusalka?"

If I didn't believe there was some truth in them, I wouldn't have spent the whole day seeking our storytellers back at the circus, now would I?

"…He will come for you soon, Ghost."