Chapter Two: A Family By Name Alone

*Since when were all mothers loving, kind, and warm? Serena still wanted to know. At the age of fourteen, she had been living in this desolate, abandoned, and cold castle ever since she could remember. The high ceilings and majestic arches still intimidated her. The walls of a substance unknown to her caused the temperature to go below freezing but kept the murky water surrounding them at bay. Almost the entire, icy, and transparent castle was underwater -- a few spires protruded from the dark waters. She desperately tried to brush away the fear that threatened to flood her and glanced at her fellow partner in crime, brother by blood, Duo.

He wasn't afraid at all. In fact, if it weren't forbidden, she could swear he would be whistling by now. Duo was ... fearless almost. Not the type that results from ignorance but rather from the certainty that all should fear him. Serena herself was different. Serena worried. Serena feared. Serena ... felt. Her mother had nonchalantly commented that some long dormant gene in the family had made itself known once again in Serena, earning her the official title of 'family oddball.' The fair-featured, dark-winged girl scowled at the unpleasant memory and buried it in the furthest reaches of her mind.

The nickname 'Squiget', derived from squirt and midget, had inevitably surfaced and taken its place. Next to Duo's 5'6", her mother's 5'3", and even little Hotaru's 5'1", she did indeed feel like a 'squiget.' So what if she was only 4'11" ?"

Entering the receiving room, the place where the meager interactions between mother and children occurred, they sat down and patiently waited for the appearance of the missing sibling and their elusive mother. Of course, she spoke for herself -- Duo was rarely patient and even faced with the wrath of the White Witch, he fidgeted and twitched.

Finally, a lone figure appeared at the end of the hall that connected the receiving room to the guest chambers. As the figure gradually got closed in on the two other occupants of the room, they could see her intense features.

Dark hair graced by purple highlights framed a thin, pallid face. Deep-set eyes that were usually clear and attentive were glazed over by exhaustion and seemed grotesquely large when compared to her other features. A straight nose, pale lips, and stubborn chin gave the impression that she was a soul fighting a losing battle, barely able to keep a small wisp of a life in her. Dark wings, just like the ones Duo and Serena wore, sprouted from her frail shoulders. Too many wings to count - at least a dozen, six on each side. Wings as dark as the night, no, darker, for it seemed to swallow the light around it and not give any back.

Duo jumped up with a cheerful greeting and Hotaru smiled faintly before following their example and sitting in a nearby chair, draping her wings over the back. A faint frown flittered onto Serena's face as Hotaru practically sank, but at the last moment restrained herself, into the chair and took on an energized posture.

"You are all here. Good." A delicate voice filled the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Serena saw Duo tense and then shakily relax as the temperature of the vast hall dropped by a not-so-delicate 10 degrees. The owner of the voice smiled genially at her dark jewels, her children, and nodded as cornflower blue eyes scanned Serena and Duo before skipping to Hotaru.

She was enchantingly and almost icily beautiful. As far as Serena was concerned, she always dressed in white. Where the dark wings sprouted from her own teenage shoulders, fairy wings sprouted from the Witch's. The Witch was so fair and so dainty and she had once wondered how such a concentrated amount of beauty was bestowed upon one person without the intervening of magic.

"Why are you here, Hotaru?" the delicate voice took a dangerous turn. Though she tried to smile, it was quite obvious that inside, she was livid with anger. The White Witch pursed her lips and suddenly, she wasn't so perfect anymore. Cutting in before the youngest in the room could answer, the Witch waved an impatient hand in her direction, indicating that she should leave. Very quickly.

The girl addressed got up and threw the Witch a look of tired defiance before striding down the hall. When she was out of eyesight, the distant sound of heavily flapping wings was heard. Hotaru was gone.

"Now, sweethearts, I have a small assignment for both of you which you'll most likely have no trouble completing whatsoever." The voice was once again sweet and endearing. Serena eyed her mother admiringly. Her mother had always been a fair, intelligent, kind, and yet, evil. The woman gave her the impression of concealed danger - danger covered with a thick layer of white, powdery sugar. Serena quickly pushed the treasonous thoughts away and forced herself to pay attention to the now honeyed voice of the White Witch.

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Her first assignment. She knew she should feel proud and excited -- that was certainly how Duo had felt, obvious from his dancing eyes and skipping gait, but instead, she found herself quaking with fear and pushing away an uneasy feeling that was reminding her of something she had forgotten. What was there to be scared of? She was raised well… After all, the mandatory exercises that her mother had created did well to keep her beyond a normal level of awareness. That, coupled with the knowledge that what she would do would benefit mankind, and womankind, was enough to make the average person unstoppable. However ... there was something wrong. She had never felt quite right around her mother, as much as she adored her. The Witch was secretive and mystic. To this day, the name of her mother hadn't made its way into this household. The White Witch had promised them all that the day they reached the sixteenth year of their lives, her name would be revealed but refused all other attempts to wheedle it out of her.

And these exercises. They simply weren't humane. At the infant age of 3, they were all taught how to break the wings of the tiny bats that flittered about in abandoned hallways. Their lessons progressed from that to torturing lizards, then birds, and so on. As a 7-year-old, Duo had questioned the Witch on this subject and from then on, the phrase 'we must be cruel to be kind' was repeated daily, taking on as much importance as bedtime prayers.

So what was this task that was so incredibly simple? She had to murder, or as her mother put it, eliminate somebody. He was young, thriving at the age of 15, and went by the name ... what was it? Anyway. This boy, though supposedly naive, is said to have an overwhelming amount of influence in today's society and politics. Apparently, too much influence brought about vanity and this teenager is making dealings with persons of ... questionable integrity. Why shouldn't she get rid of him? That would save a lot of people the pain and suffering that he would inevitably deal out. She unfolded and refolded her wings in confusion before quickly exiting her room in search of Duo. Ah yes, the boy's name was Quatre. Quatre Raberba Winner.

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He let his braid swing carelessly. The room was arranged in such a way that a with even a 'flick' of his powerful wings, he wouldn't knock miscellaneous items over so what could a braid do? The room was large - probably the resting chamber of some important personage back when there were inhabitants. It suited him nicely. Duo felt a smile creep up on his face and let it. His first task, and he absolutely could not wait another minute.

Of course the sibling of higher rank, Serena, would get the more vital mission, but it was absolutely not fair that she got to start first hers too. He resisted the urge to whine and instead stomped his left foot childishly. It simply wasn't fair. The braided boy paced about some more before walking through the doorway and down the hall, in the direction of Serena's chambers. Well, he had never been the patient type. He shrugged carelessly, one definite thing upon his mind -- Serena would know how to keep him busy. *