"And I'm telling you, it was wrong to let her in!"
"Come on, you're overreacting, Eugene!"
The two young men glared at each other, catching their breath, both
determined not to give in. Eugene was the first to break the
uncomfortable silence.
"I'm still the leader, Vergil, remember that," he said in a dangerously
low voice. "This is my guild,
and I do not want
that bitch here!"
Vergil, as he was called, clenched his fists, his face clearly showing
his growing anger. It was unusual for him to be mad at someone – but
this… this was too much! His dark blue eyes were full of sorrow, a
strange contrast to his usually rather boyish features and his messy,
spiky black hair. He was breathing hard, frantically trying to find the
right words.
"She just lost her sister yesterday," he muttered. His fists were
shaking as he continued, "We were supposed to protect that girl!"
"Are you saying I should let her join because her sister was killed?
Since when were we called 'Defenders of Pity'?" Eugene spat.
The other boy shook his head, annoyed at his friend's sarcasm. "You
know what I mean, Eugene. Asaya was her last living relative. She could
use a few friends."
"Friends my ass!"
Vergil just
looked at him, completely speechless. Even though Eugene
seemed to regret his words, both chose to remain silent. They never had
an
argument before, both being proud fighters and best friends who had
helped each
other to find their place in a world that only allowed the strongest to
survive. There was a bitter truth to that all of them had to face after
the corpse of their youngest and most innocent member had been found
the
morning before.
Why was Eugene trying so hard to ignore the pain he was feeling
himself? Just why was he trying to put all the blame on the older
sister that had arrived too late? Vergil tried to ask what was lying
heavily on his heart, but he did not find the strength to open his
mouth, the strength to voice what was eating him inside.
"Just to make something clear: I'm here to avenge my sister. I don't
need your pity."
Both Vergil and Eugene turned their heads at the sound of the harsh
female voice. A woman with short, striking red hair had entered the
small meeting room of the guild house, a cold smile on her face that
did not reach her eyes. Those eyes, reddish pools full of rage and
pain, were the only indication for the emotions she was successfully
preventing from breaking out. She was tall and slender, having an air
of confidence around her, and stood at the door, unmoving, as Vergil
and Eugene stared at her, both unable to say anything.
"How much have you heard of our conversation?" Eugene finally managed
to ask.
"Enough," was the simple answer. Her voice was deadly calm when she
added, "All I want is revenge. My apologies if I acted rude towards you
yesterday, Eugene, but I don't care what you think about me. And I
won't take back what I said." She took a deep breath. "I will, however,
leave your guild at once."
With that, she suddenly turned around and walked out, leaving no time
for any of the two young assassins to respond.
"It was her fault for calling me a coward," Eugene
mumbled eventually after his friend had thrown an angry look at
him.
"But she's right!" Vergil exploded. "All we did – all you did – was sitting here in
safety while Asaya was getting killed on the streets! We took her in to
protect her! Wasn't that what we had promised Kayis two years ago?"
"That doesn't give her the right to blame me for her sister's death!"
Eugene countered, getting desperate. "Asaya left us all on her own,
and…"
"That's not an excuse!" Vergil shouted and hit the wall with his fist.
"I'm going after her – go ahead if you want to throw me out, I don't
care anymore!"
He stormed out, leaving Eugene once again at a loss for words.
It was
getting dark and very cold, but the only coldness she really felt
was the one that was enveloping her heart. She looked into the clear
water of
the fountain and saw the hard features of a woman who seemed older and
stronger
than she actually was. Her red hair was messy, she noticed, but after
years of
living on the streets she had learned to not care about such things
anymore.
Was this cold face really hers? Was this part of all the training, the
desperate fights for survival she had been going through all her life?
Did
anyone know how easy this glass mask was to break?
Kayis threw a
stone into the water, destroying the her face's reflection.
She was already breaking.
"Hey…"
Surprised that she had not heard the footsteps, she saw into the boyish
face of one of the few people whom she actually called a friend. The
young woman managed to smile, but again, it could not hide the pain in
her eyes.
"Kayis… He didn't mean it."
"I know."
Vergil sat
down beside her on the edge of the fountain. A ghost of a
smile appeared on his face, but Kayis saw that the sadness of his eyes
was the
same as hers.
After a moment of sitting in silence, she finally spoke up again, "It's
not Eugene's fault, and I want you to know that I'm not blaming him for
my sister's death at all. I was calling him a coward because that moron
can't even face his own pain – and his responsibility. A member of his
guild died… and he acts like nothing happened."
She was staring at the
ground.
"You know very well that I've never been good with people.
That's what years of being alone on the streets do to you. I only had
my sister, and I never learned to get along with anyone but her. I…
should have been here when she needed me the most."
Kayis smiled again, a sad smile, and stood up so he could only see her
back – and not the tears that was forcing their way out of her eyes.
"She talked… a lot about you when she was with us", Vergil responded
carefully. "I think she thought of you as the perfect sister. You did
everything possible to take care of her, to ensure her safety… Please…
don't blame yourself."
"I can't help it." Those words were spoken very quietly – so unusual
coming from her…
This was the kind of situation he never knew what to do in. He had
always thought of Kayis as a strong, if a bit cold young woman who had
gone through numerous hardships, and yet… she was silently crying at
this very moment. Vergil was well aware of that, even though the
red-haired girl was quite good at hiding her emotions. She had always
been. He was one of the few who actually knew how much she was really
hurting inside.
"Believe me," he muttered, "if I had known she was supposed to meet
you, I would have never let her go alone… And neither would Eugene – or
any of the others."
Kayis turned around, looking directly into his sorrowful eyes. Slowly,
she said, "I do know she left week ago without telling any of you where
she was going. And I also know she had written in her note that she
needed time to be alone. I talked to the clerics in the church today.
They were the last to see her the day before yesterday. None of you
were at fault, and I know that."
Vergil looked up in genuine surprise. How did she find out so fast?
Her voice got quiet again as she continued, "I think she had asked the
clerics for some help in her training. Asaya had always thought she was
weak, that she was a burden to me. I brought her to the church to give
her the possibility of living a safe life as an acolyte, but she never
stopped trying to prove that she could be strong as well… And all that
time, she never understood that she, just by being herself, was already
strong – and that she was my
real strength as well. I could keep going on because of her."
"Did you…"
He was unable to finish the sentence, but she already knew what he was
going to say.
"They did let me see her corpse. She… had a quick death, at least."
Kayis looked into the distance, trying hard to control the emotions
that were taking over her. "It wasn't a pretty sight, but now I know
how she died, and where I'm going to look for the murderers. And I
swear – I won't stop until I have tracked every single of them down and
cut them into a thousand pieces!"
It was not the first time Vergil saw the determination and hatred
flaming up in Kayis' eyes, but each time, it amazed and scared him
anew. This was the Kayis that was able to kill without blinking even
once, this was the dangerous, bloodthirsty thief that was only able to
survive on the streets by being heartless and cruel ever since she was
small…
And Vergil knew that despite blaming herself, despite being in pain,
she would not hesitate to kill anything – anyone – standing in her way in
order to find the ones who were responsible for her innocent sister's
death.
"Kayis, you sound like you're leaving immediately," were the only words
he came up with.
He heard her sigh.
"I have to," she replied, "Eugene is not going to help me, nor did I
expect him to. I don't have any place to call home, Vergil. All that is
left for me is to get my revenge."
"Will you at least tell me where you are going? I mean… An attractive
woman like you should not go alone on such a dangerous trip," he
attempted to joke.
The thief laughed, though it sounded a bit forced. "I'm sorry, Vergil,
but tomboys like me will never fall for your sweet words. Your guild
needs you more than I do."
He stood up, trying to find the right words to hold her back, but
knowing very well that such words did not exist. All he could do was to
watch her going away and to realize how cruel this world was for always
taking away the most precious things in life.
It
was Kayis' sister who had been killed the night before, but Vergil
knew that he, too, would never be the same again.
Bright stars were decorating the sky, and most people had already
locked their doors. The lights were out – it was probably just before
midnight. As busy and bright Prontera was during the day, as wide the
streets and as pretty the buildings were, they knew none of
them would be safe anymore once the darkness had opened its wings.
But Vergil, just like any other trained assassin, welcomed the
darkness.
Slowly, he walked through the empty streets back to his guild, leaving
the lonely fountain behind. He knew he did not have to fear any
attacks, for he had mastered numerous skills the Association of
Assassins had taught him. Warriors like him were not meant to kill
people – they were skilled fighters whose main job was to get rid of
the nasty creatures roaming all over the continent. And just like many
other assassins, Vergil had been born into a poor family in the desert
town Morroc, having no other choice than to sneak into well guarded
places and to steal just enough to stay alive. The Association of
Assassins was there to support skilled thieves like he had been, and in
return, the members took on missions assigned by the Association.
Thinking of his own past, Vergil could understand perfectly well what
Kayis had been through, and he finally seemed to realize why she had
always refused to join the Association – she wanted to stay
independent, to only think of her little sister, to give everything she
had to her…
From what Kayis had told him, she had never known her parents, having
been an orphan as long as she could remember. She had somehow managed
to keep herself and her newborn sister alive when she was only five
years old, stealing here and there and teaching herself how to fight
with the simple knife she possessed. It was a miracle in itself. Until
she met Vergil two years ago, she had known no other friends but her
sister whose life she had trusted the clerics of Prontera Church with,
knowing very well she would only put Asaya in danger if they stayed
together.
For a long time, Vergil had wondered where Kayis' amazing strength came
from, where she always found the will to keep going, to steal and to
live a rough life on the streets… They only met occasionally when Kayis
was visiting her sister in Prontera, and it had been Vergil's
suggestion to invite Asaya into his guild. All those years, he had
never realized it was that innocent little acolyte that Kayis was
living and giving all her strength for, it was her sister that the
thief fought and survived on the streets for the whole time.
Vergil was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice he was
already standing in front of the guild's entrance – until a girl
suddenly opened the door, her face brightening up when she saw him. He
was startled, but his face soon relaxed when he realized who it was.
"Melt! You guys are back!" the young assassin exclaimed, completely
ignoring the angry looks Eugene was shooting at him from behind the
girl.
"Where have you been, Vergil?" she asked, her voice as clear as a bell.
Vergil was relieved to see that his three guildmates were finally back
from their daily mission in the culverts, for he did not know how to
treat Eugene after the fight they had in the afternoon. Especially
Melt, the only wizard in their guild, was a born diplomat, whereas
Deathstrike and Blademaster – whose real names he did not even know –
always sided with their elder brother Eugene.
"I just said goodbye to Kayis," he explained after a short moment of
silence, "she is going to look for Asaya's murderers."
"Thought so," Blademaster, the youngest of the boys, muttered, "that's
one tough woman."
"And what role do we
play in it?" Deathstrike wanted to know, always eager to fight. "Don't
tell me you left that chick alone? I mean, she kicks ass and all, but
still…"
Vergil, who actually enjoyed fighting just as much as the three
brothers, found himself unable to forget the deep sadness in Kayis'
eyes, and once again regretted not having followed her – even though
she would have refused his help. He looked to Eugene, very well
realizing Kayis would have never left so quickly if it was not for his
guild leader's words.
"Eugene was the one who made her leave in the first place," he finally
muttered, voicing his thoughts and mentally preparing himself for the
unevitable confrontation.
"That's because she was bitching at me!" Eugene snorted.
"She was being honest!"
Vergil gave back.
"I smell another quarrel," Blademaster commented. "And a stupid one at
that."
"I agree," Melt nodded, her long, blonde hair falling in waves over her
shoulders as she moved closer to the two angry assassins, "you are both
being childish for having an argument at a time like this! I, for one,
think we should just all go after her and save the discussion for
later. Kayis can be quite dangerous and also very careless when she's
mad. She cannot be too far yet, so we might be able to prevent the
worst from happening."
Even though Vergil and Eugene were still glaring daggers at each other,
they both knew the young girl was right, and neither of them dared to
talk back to her.
"Sometimes, I wonder why you even put up with us, Melt," Vergil
murmured eventually, "you could have joined one of those big, popular
guilds, being the wealthy and talented girl you are." He winked at her.
"Then again, I know you can't live without me."
Melt just laughed while Eugene had such a funny look on his face that
his brothers could not help but grin as well.
"You alright?"
"I'm fine, Vergil, this is just a simple glowing spell, so I'll be able
to hold it for a very long time," Melt assured her friend.
They had just left Prontera through the north gate and were now walking
on a lonely, wide road, all the time relying on the light Melt had cast
on her staff since it was too dark to see anything – even for assassins.
"Why are you so convinced she took the north gate?" Blademaster asked
impatiently.
"I'm pretty sure she is going to Mount Mjolnir," was Vergil's reply.
"It's just a feeling, though."
"A feeling?"
Deathstrike scratched his head. "I hope you don't rely on your feelings when we get attacked
around here, buddy… or you'll be meat."
Eugene grinned and Vergil shrugged, then did the same.
Melt smiled slightly when she turned her head and saw the boys walking
next to each other peacefully, despite their goal being a dangerous
one. She knew it would remain unspoken between the two assassins, but
they had been through too many things together to forget they were a
team, and, most importantly, friends. And as much as Melt liked to
tease them about their sometimes rather childish behaviour, she knew
they were all reliable.
The five continued to walk in silence, always looking around to make
sure there were no nasty creatures waiting for them behind the bushes.
It was a quiet night, time passed slowly without any incidents, but
worries were clouding their minds, even though each of them had their
own ways of handling them.
The news of Asaya's death had hit Melt very hard, and though she had
prefered to stay with her guild and to perhaps meet Kayis, Eugene had
insisted on her accompanying his brothers on their mission in the
culverts – just to make them forget about the recent events, she
guessed.
But we will never forget,
Melt thought, for they all felt guilty for not being able to protect
the acolyte.
Asaya had
been one of the first to befriend her ever since her arrival in
Prontera. It had helped Melt to push away the memories of her hometown,
as there were too events she did not want to think back to. And Asaya
had understood her, even though the wizard had never actually told her
friend the whole truth. Now that it was too late, she wished she had.
She wondered if anyone knew about her
pain.
"Melt! Hey, you're going the wrong way!" Eugene called out to her.
There were three roads ahead, and Melt had been just about to take the
one
on the left which led to her hometown Geffen. Was it a
coincidence – or just the one place in her past she was unable to
forget?
Melt blinked, a bit startled, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was
lost in thoughts."
The boys turned around to look at her and shortly nodded at the young
wizard to show that they understood – and that, maybe, they had similar
feelings.
Eugene grumbled, "Just don't do that when we-"
"Behind you!" Melt
screamt suddenly. Her light was glowing stronger, reacting to her fear.
Eugene, who was the furthest away from Melt, unconsciously knew he was
the one being in immediate danger since the attacker – he could not see
anything clearly – was coming from the path they were supposed to take,
the path he was the
closest at. The attack came as a surprise, too quickly for the
assassins to react, for they were used to being the ones to sneak up on
the enemy – not the other way around. Eugene did not even have time to
turn around to see who was attacking him in the first place.
In fact, none of them really registered what was going on until they
heard the sound of something being sliced up, followed by a bloody arm
– was it an arm? – falling onto the ground directly in front of Eugene.
Since the moment of Melt's warning scream, no more than two or three
seconds could have passed. It happened all too quickly.
They could all only stare into the direction the sound was coming from.
Judging from what they could hear, the creature was being pulled back,
and its screams, reminding them of a pained animal, were a clear
indication for the nearing victory of the stranger who had saved Eugene.
However, there was no time for the group to celebrate – the sudden
sound of numerous footsteps made them realize immediately that the
creature had not come alone.
"It would
have been too good to be true," Eugene
muttered under his breath as he
took on the first of the monsters with his katars.
His eyes were used to the darkness, and with the soft light Melt's
staff was providing, he could make out forms that reminded him of a
spider – there were four arms and four legs – but also of a human
being… and Eugene saw, as he quickly counted, about seven of them, one
of which the human looking stranger was fighting with, though the
person was too far away for him to recognize. Those were creatures he
had never faced before, and for a moment, he was worried about whether
they could win this fight.
Sweatdrops were forming on his forehead just when he barely managed to
dodge an attack. But Eugene would not be taken by surprise anymore.
This time, he was prepared! His face was contorted in anger.
The other three assassins did not hesitate for even a
second to join in the fight as
well, being young men who battled with passion, while Melt remained on
her spot and did her
part: magic.
She remembered the fear she had felt the first time she had to cast a
spell on a monster that was clearly out to kill her – but at the same
time, she remembered the way her friends were standing protectively in
front of her and how they took care of the attacker until she had
finished her casting.
Slowly, she moved her hands up, her staff floating in the air between
her arms, still giving off the gentle light that now became stronger
and stronger. A flaming red aura surrounded her, accompanied by mystic
words whispered in a language that seemed older than the world of
Rune-Midgard itself. She had taken those words with her when she left
the academy and her hometown, and even though the memories still pained
her every time she cast a spell, Melt thankfully felt the power of her
magic flowing through her veins – so strongly that she instantly knew
it was now time to set her spell free.
In a sudden movement, she opened her arms widely, the staff floating
even higher while her aura seemed to explode. For a second, a strong
light was blinding their eyes, then heavy, deadly bolts of fire crashed
down on one of the dark creatures that was giving Blademaster trouble.
At the same time, Eugene, Vergil and Deathstrike had managed to strike
down each of the remaining monsters with the help of the mysterious
stranger – who was, however, neither mysterious nor a stranger anymore.
After they had, in the heat of the battle, momentarily ignored the
person who had saved Eugene from the fatal attack, it was now clear it
had been no one but Kayis herself who had come to their rescue.
"I should've known it was you," Eugene groaned, faking annoyance, "now
I owe you and I don't like it one bit."
"Don't talk rubbish." The female thief glared at him. "You guys were
not supposed to be here! I was going to lure them away from Prontera,
but just as I was trying to get to the eastern road, they obviously
spotted you, probably thinking you had more on the bones than I have."
To everyone's surprise, she grinned. "Which is true."
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Eugene raised his eyebrows, but the look in
his eyes told Kayis he was really just kidding, and they both relaxed.
Then the young guild leader added weakly, "We were actually here to
save you."
"Let's just pretend we did, seeing as I don't believe she could have
taken on all of them by herself," Melt smiled and took a look at the
dead creatures lying on the ground. "Now, what kind of things are these? I don't think I've seen
them before."
Vergil got down on his knees and reached out for one of the ugly
beings, the one Kayis had cut the arm of. The skin looked very thick
and dark, and even though it did not look like a human being, the form
of the head, the arms – there were three of them left – and the four
thin legs reminded him more of a human than of an animal. Its body was
rather round and very big, having obvious traits of a spider. It was
ugly and creepy at the same time.
But apparently, it was also not
quite
as dead as they had thought, and as soon as Vergil moved closer, it
grabbed the startled assassin's arms with its remaining hands. Its grip
was surprisingly firm, and it would probably have successfully ripped
off Vergil's arms if Deathstrike, who was standing right beside his
friend, had
not been faster to react, ramming the
blades of his katars into the already heavily injured body
of the monstrous being.
"Death… upon you all!" it suddenly hissed, then finally loosened its
grip on Vergil and lay still.
The realization that the creature had finally died for real was not
nearly as big as the shock of actually hearing the primitive being speak. It was not quite a human
sound, having a very strange accent that would have been impossible to
imitate, but the words were indeed those of human language. They stared
blankly at the corpse, not knowing exactly if their feelings were those
of utter amazement, fear – or pure horror.
"Impossible…!" Melt was the first to find her voice back. "Monsters
cannot talk!"
Kayis had remained silent the whole time, but she could clearly hear
Melt's voice tremble. She sighed. This was going to be hard on all of
them.
"Dangerous times have come," the thief began quietly, "more dangerous
than ever
before, and these" – she pointed at the corpses – "are just the
beginning. They are camping everywhere around the towns now, on every
road, every path, waiting for the right moment to slaughter the
innocent. You're wrong in thinking they're as primitive as the
creatures you have faced so far. I would never dare to take on a group
of them all by myself, and if they had caught up to me when I was alone
just a while ago, you would have seen my corpse instead of theirs.
Especially their group leaders are not to be underestimated."
"Group leaders? You mean like
the one that almost ripped my arms off?" Vergil asked. He
looked puzzled. "Why do you know so much about them?"
"I'm wondering, too," Melt cut in, "you seem to be familiar with those
creatures.
And you weren't surprised at all when that thing talked. Just what are
they…?"
Kayis looked into the face of each of the five young warriors who were
staring at her. "I'm sorry, but you shouldn't get involved in this.
Take my words as a warning. I have wasted enough time here, it's time
for me to go."
The thief was already turning around.
"Don't you dare to run away now!" Eugene shouted all of sudden, his
face reflecting anger and something Kayis could not quite recognize
when she turned around again to look at him.
She saw him taking a step
forward in her direction, his voice firm and serious as he spoke, "Whom
are you kidding? You think you can do everything by yourself and shut
everyone else out. Weren't your words against me this morning just an
excuse to go off on your own? Wasn't it more like your way of saying
goodbye to us? You never expected me to actually help you. Do you think
I didn't know that?"
Her eyes widened, but he did not
give her time to cut in.
"Don't deny it, Kayis! I'm now
offering you my guild's help – take it
as a payback for saving me if you want, but if anything, you will be the coward here if
you leave again."
His guildmates were completely dumbfounded at Eugene's unexpected
speech. So he had thought
about helping Kayis after all!
Vergil could not suppress a grin when he realized that Eugene had
apparently hit Kayis' weak point. She was indeed not exactly the social
type, and it was not entirely unlikely that she was just protecting
herself by taking such a form of escape. No one could tell. It was so
hard to look through her.
Well, maybe they would not find out the truth anytime soon, but what
counted was the fact that Kayis did not snap at Eugene, but actually
took a step towards him, her face giving nothing away.
"You," she said calmly, "are not as dumb as I thought."
"Excuse me?!"
None of them would ever forget Eugene's hilarious facial expression at
that moment.
The wind was blowing strongly behind the church. It was dawn, the first
rays of sunlight were breaking through the clouds. A strange glow
seemed to surround the simple, grey tombstone, decorated by a few well
chosen, freshly bought white lilies.
Kayis, Vergil, Melt, Eugene, Blademaster and Deathstrike were standing
in front of Asaya's grave, praying silently for the kind soul that had
left the mortal world.
"Little sister…"
Her eyes were fixed on the stone on which the simple word 'Pure' was
engraved. Kayis knew there was no time to mourn, no time for regrets or
self-pity. Her sister's murderers were not waiting.
Never would she cry again.
"I will do whatever it takes to avenge you. I promise," she declared
with a steady voice.
"So will I," Vergil spoke firmly, "I swear I will find the ones
responsible for the murder and give them what they deserve."
The others nodded in agreement, joining in an oath that did not require
any more words. And it was not until they were on their way back to the
guild house that Eugene chose to break the rather peaceful silence.
"Hey, Kayis," he said, "I hope you realize that you're now one of us, a
'Defender of Midgard'. Be proud of your title, newcomer."
At that, she simply grinned. And this time, it did reach her eyes.
