Assassin's Silver:
chapter four
by YamiHikari
Disclaimer- Is it just me, or do these things bother everyone else? Anyway, I don't own Demon Diary or its characters, so leave me alone. Or I'll scream.
YamiHikari's Note- Daaang, I think I'm coming down with a cold. Was sneezing and hacking my lungs out all day, not to mention the delirium when I was writing a paper. @_@ poor 'lil me... aiiiee, sadistic teachers! Too many big projects! No! No more! It's too much! *wails* Anyway, I love reviews! -_-;; that was random... I shall just shut up now... yah...
- - - - - - - - - - -
Aysel gazed out from her seat on a broad marble windowsill at the changing leaves on the trees. The days were growing shorter and colder. Eventually, soft, cold flakes of snow would fall from the sky, and coat the ground in their beauty. She drew her knees up and circled her arms around them. How long had she been there?
"I want to go back."
The quiet, just under a whisper, phrase startled her. She didn't recognize her voice until a couple seconds later, and then she was struck by the truth of the statement, and the lie in it. This demon castle had life, bright, vibrant life that was in no small part due to the charismatic demon lord and his naïveté. You couldn't help but like the kid.
It made her miss Haeon[1] even more. That was one of the main reasons, if not the only, that she wanted to go back. She had told him she'd come back, promised. Her despondent expression was abruptly replaced with a slightly thoughtful one, then almost a countdown. When she reached zero and turned, Erutis was whispering fiercely to Chris.
"Can't you move more quietly, babo!? She'll hear us!"
"If I'm supposed to move quieter, then you should shut your big mouth so that she won't hear you nattering on!"
A heaved sigh made them both look up with identical expressions of 'Oh crap'.
"It wasn't that bad this time; I only heard you at the door. If you had both kept quiet, I might not have heard you until you got a couple steps into the room. For next time, just don't talk at a-"
A poke in the back made Aysel yelp, then duck and come up with a spell half-cast in one hand. Raenef waved happily from his upside-down position hanging from the roof. He smiled.
"I did it right, right? You didn't hear me because of Chris and Eru?"
Exasperated, though she had to admit some of it was that he was right; she hadn't heard him, she nearly doused the spell, then thought better of it and held it up to his face.
"Do you know what this is?" she demanded.
His brow wrinkled as he squinted at the light in her hand. "Um... really, really bright?" he offered.
"No."
"What?!"
"It is bright, you gotta give him that," commented Erutis as she dusted off her knees.
"All right, it's bright. I will give him that. However, it's also a Class One weapon." At their questioning looks, she sighed, and explained. "It's designed to at least harm people when they come in contact with it, if not kill. Look.
"Tyrfli'ng[2], diamond 9."
One pale hand clenched around the light, which was suddenly a handle, then pulled it out and down to her side as if drawing a sword from thing air, which is pretty much exactly what happened. A large, blockish blade was formed from more of the 'really, really bright' stuff, and Aysel wielded it in one hand. It abruptly angled up at the tip, a sinister tooth to hook and tear.
As they gaped, she extinguished it. "And you don't want to know what it does when it comes into contact with something solid," she added.
She was right. They didn't. Not after the kitchen incident, which had mysteriously cleaned itself up overnight, although their breakfast had seemed to stare up at them the morning after. Well, it was a Demon Lord's castle after all, and these things probably just happened. Right? Right. At least, that's what they hoped whenever they saw vases move for no apparent reason and the statues in the halls differed from week to week.
The sky, already dark with clouds, dimmed further. The predicted snow seemed it would come earlier than thought. 'In fact, a LOT earlier than predicted,' Aysel thought to herself as she moved away from the window as cold flakes blew down and settled in the room.
"Snow!"
"What, we get snow here too?!"
"Yes! I love snow!"
The other three had rushed to the window and were leaning out with little to no thought of their own safety. Raenef had his mouth wide open to try and catch a taste of the sky in the falling snow. The elf smiled slightly. It was his innocence and complete trust in those around him that so reminded her of Haeon. Watching the snow with them, but at a distance, she made a note to herself to send him a message as soon as she had the time.
~
The electrum-eyed elven child ever-present in Aysel's mind also watched the snowfall, but from the entirely too formal and cold polished halls of the domain of the lord. However, in this realm of light, it was opposite the dark realms and was night, and not day.
"Haeon."
The quiet voice behind him made the boy turn. Sef was standing easily behind him, topaz eyes darkened and inscrutable.
"You should be sleeping."
Haeon turned back to watch the snow. "Noona's [3] not. And I just got up a couple of hours ago." His fair locks framed his pale, stubborn countenance, gold-silver eyes watching the dancing flakes.
The darker-colored spymaster sighed and ran a lightly tanned hand through his short hair. "She's not really your sister, you know."
"It don't matter. That's what she said. It don't matter, 'cause if that's what you think it is, then that's what it is."
Sef looked away down the hall, hands in his pockets. He remembered those words and the time Aysel had said them to him. That was before they had gone their separate ways and grown apart. His fingers stroked the cold edge of a small medallion.
"All right then. Stay up if you want. Later."
The elder strode off down the hall, noiseless bare feet immune to the chill of the stone and metal. He also would receive something from the assassin, but it would merely be a report of what information was gathered. There hadn't been much useful news lately, and he suspected that their lord would eventually order to complete the mission and return to the Fair Lands.
~
Absent-mindedly kicking a vase back to its former position as it attempted to shift to the other side of the hall, Aysel wandered the halls. The vase whimpered, and attempted to scuttle behind a desk to nurse its wounds, It got stuck halfway there, and whimpered again. This was just NOT its day.
The three behind her stared at the bizarre sight. "Is that supposed to do that?" Erutis whispered to Raenef.
"No clue."
"It's YOUR castle, isn't it?"
"Hey, I don't know how EVERYthing works around here..."
Chris craned his neck around to continue watching the futile struggles of the glazed piece of pottery. "... Wasn't that the one that tried to chew on your foot about two weeks ago?"
Green eyes became thoughtful. "Umm... no, I think it was that OTHER one... the one with the knot design or something..."
Any further conversation on what vase had decided that its master's foot was a chew toy was brought to a screeching halt. The halt's screech was then drowned out by the sound of heavy feet drumming a regular 'one- two, one-two' down the halls. And the sound was getting closer.
"I'm late! I'm late! I'm... SO DEAD!" A large marble rabbit with a pocket-watch came racing around the corner and zoomed past the gaping crew, attempting to keep ridiculously small spectacles perched upon a nose that was NOT built to hold any kind of vision aid upon it for any amount of time that was longer than .05 seconds.
They turned and stared as it disappeared around the corner. Not knowing what they were expecting, all four waited.
Five minutes later, they were not disappointed. A shriek reverberated down the hall.
"You were precisely ten minutes and fifty seconds late to your post! Off with your head! Off, I say! OFF!!"
A wail, presumably that of the rabbit's, then more thumps. Abandoning their former diversion and racing around the same corner that the rabbit had disappeared around earlier, the gang was just able to spot a fleeting glimpse of a quickly moving bobtail and the unmoving skirts of a rather large woman turning another corner. [4]
"... do you think that the statues do the cooking?"
"It'd explain why there's never anything really COOKED when we eat[5]..."
"True, true. I mean, imagine one of those things trying to handle something like glassware..."
Chris snickered. "Oh man... complete and total chaos..."
"You mean worse than that time that you were pureeing carrots and Rae got petrified, and there was poached egg all over the place?"
"Yes. ... well... maybe."
"The answer there is 'No', because of all the things that could happen, you found one of the most LETHAL weapons in the world in that kitchen, and a statue wouldn't," Aysel called as she meandered off to complete her interrupted search. "The worst that could really happen with statues is they drop shards of glass all over the place. However, with that frying pan, you could ALL wake up in the morning and be a couple of poached eggs which will slowly rot over time."
"Now THAT'S a grim thought... imagine, one with such a genius as mine becoming something that came from a chicken..."
"Oh, drop it, you egomaniac."
"Mab, do you lot want to go outside or what?"
"YES!"
"Then hurry up and help me look for winter stuff. Or are you just going to go out and freeze to death?"
The three still standing at the spot where the rabbit had nearly lost its empty head raced towards the sound of the elf's voice.
"Hey, no fair, you're pushing!" Raenef protested as he jarred the table where the vase was still stuck, freeing it for the moment.
"All's fair in war!" shouted Chris as he edged in on Erutis, currently in the lead.
"Fair THIS, smart guy." The sword master loosened her cape while continuing to run and it fluttered off into Chris' face.
"AAAGHHH!! IT'S THE ATTACK OF THE RADIOACTIVE BRAIN-SUCKING HAMSTERS FROM SOMEWHERE NEAR MARS[6]!!! GET IT AWAY!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!"
"And I declare myself the winner! Now gimme that back." Erutis trotted back to the thrashing cleric and yanked her cloak off of him. Reattaching it, she found that their assumed finish line, Aysel, had disappeared.
"Hey, what the heck? She was just here..."
"HA! You didn't win YET! Victory will be mine, as the divine Rased is on MY side!" Chris pushed himself back up and took off.
"YOU LITTLE-"
"Seeya, Eru!" Raenef was hot on his heels.
"Ergh... OW!" Erutis leaned one shoulder against the wall while she tried to massage a cramp out of her leg. "Wait up!"
There was silence. She fumed slightly, then stretched the sore leg slightly. A white-hot lance of pain seared up it. "_OOWWW_!! Stupid (mumble mumble mumble)..."
A couple minutes later, she decided to just screw the pain and follow. The redhead set off, limping slightly. As soon as she had managed to turn the bend, she immediately saw the backs of the two boys.
"You DID decide... to... wait..." She trailed off when Chris motioned furiously with one hand behind his back for her to shut up. Looking up, Erutis saw the reason.
"... such a thick-headed twit. What, do you want me to let him keep running to you for every little problem that comes up?!" Aysel's fingers curled and uncurled slightly and one hand rose and began jabbing an accusing finger at Eclipse for emphasis.
"I don't need your help, I didn't ASK for it, and all YOU'RE doing is making him dependent on other people and WEAKER than what he'd be if he found his OWN path in life, you arrogant, sneaking..."
Her head tilted slightly to the left as she continued her tirade, momentarily exposing again the peculiar scars on the right side of her neck. Silver eyes flashed angrily, and Eclipse stopped listening to her words and stopped paying attention to the present.
How long ago was it? About 1000 years... or more, but possibly around there.
-- Begin Flashback --
One black-gloved hand reached out and jerked the unseeing, pallid face upwards. The girl's face contorted with hatred and disgust.
"Get your hand off of me," she hissed, blind eyes glaring.
The dark cloth that served as a mask twisted slightly as the raven-haired man smiled slightly. "How much do you hate me?"
The glare intensified. "Words fail me." Then her head jerked out of his grasp and she snapped at his hand. It was already drawn back, then came back around in a backhand that threw her into the mud, the mud of dirt and blood.
She tried to rise, but was booted back down by the young man in black. With her hands behind her back, she couldn't do anything to protect herself but curl up and wait.
Finally, as she was driven back against the fresh stump of a tree, he stopped. After the sounds of his footsteps in the mud faded, she heard, "Bring her to the archery court that they all love so much. And you know what to do with the other."
-- End Flashback --
"Now if you'll excuse me," Aysel said coldly, the words so formal as to be insulting. She slid past him, not even brushing one sleeve of his outfit as she did so. A chill wind swept through the hall, making everyone but Eclipse shiver. The demon had turned slightly to gaze after the retreating figure, shadowy eyes lost in thought, dark bangs wafting gently in the breeze.
"Eh, following isn't an option now, I take it," Chris commented, staring in the same direction as Eclipse.
"No. Definitely not." Erutis slide down and finally eradicated that blasted cramp. "How did this happy little occasion come about anyway?"
"... let's just say she's a bit touchy about help, no questions asked, 'kay? 'Kay. Good. Now I'm staying here for the next five minutes at _least_." The cleric joined Erutis on the floor.
"Rae?"
There was an audible thump as the demon lord made his decision, and given the choices – going after a ticked off magic-wielding elf and possibly annoying her more or staying in the hall and maybe getting trampled by a statue – it wasn't too hard to make.
"..."
"What now?"
"We wait. Duh."
More silence in which little dots fill speech bubbles.
"Hey, can we play 'I Spy'?"
Some more awkward little dots. Then,
"Heck with it. Sure."
"Me first," Raenef insisted. "I spy with my little eye..."
"What are you talking about, that thing's huge! Look at yourself in the mirror!"
"Shut up! It's not my fault! And that's just the way the game goes!"
"Chris, don't be mean."
"I'm just saying, LOOK! IT IS! SEE!?" The brunette illustrated his point by holding up his circled thumb and forefinger to one of Raenef's much-debated green eyes. "HUGE!"
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Is NOT! What about you?!"
"LOOK! LOOK! NOT EVEN CLOSE!!"
The argument went on.
"Hey guys, Eclipse is gone."
"What? Was he playing? ... ARE NOT!"
"Are so!"
"... Y'know, if someone just came walking past whistling with a bloodstained shovel over their shoulder, you wouldn't even look up, now would you?"
"Are- ... AAAAHHHH! AXE-MURDERER!!"
"Shovel. Are so."
"Are not!"
"... I give up."
- - - - - - - - - -
[1]- Haeon is, as you can see, another original character. Yes, and no stealing extends to him as well. If you're REALLY interested, then go look on fictionpress.net for his story, also by me. Although you'll need to look for the title Haeon or the penname GinSaku. ^_^ I'd love it if you would *winkwink nudgenudge*... ehehehe...
[2]- I think I got this from Ragnarok by Myung-Jin Lee, another manwha artist. AAGGH! I LOVE THAT SERIES SOOO MUCH!! Anyway, the sword was something like tyrfing, the sword of sorcery, and I just kinda twisted the name a little, that's it. Hey, check out Ragnarok if you got the time, it is SOO GOOD! Well, I think it is, but that's me, so... if you're interested, DO IT! DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! And the first volume isn't that great compared to the others, and isn't Loki sooo BISH!?!?! ... I am SO off topic... moving on...
[3]- "Noona" is Korean for "big sister" from a younger male. Yeah. Nuff said.
[4]- Ahahah, a little bit of Alice in Wonderland. ^_^ I don't own that. Okay? Okay. Good.
[5]- I've never really seen ANYTHING that is still warm being served in the manwha – not that you really SEE food in the manwha... - soo... I'm assuming there's not many hot lunches there... just like my cafeteria! ^_^;; but even THEY have pizza once a week, and that could be classified as warm, soo... ...o.O;; you work it out.
[6]- I believe the original song title by Weird Al Yankovic is "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Somewhere Near Mars" and that was just the first thing that popped into my head when I was trying to get what Chris would yell. 'Course, it's a little twisted, but HEY! 's all good! ^_^Again, I don't own that. Weird Al, if by some random chance you read this, I beg of you... DON'T SUE!! T.T
YamiHikari's Note- Aaaahh... I had FUN writing this, in case you couldn't tell. ^_^ ... I want another cookie. Now I will abandon- I mean desert- I mean... take my leave of all my faithful readers (all TWO of you... but THANK YOU! I'D GIVE YOU BOTH A COOKIE IF I COULD! And Suzu-chan, DON'T suggest mailing it...) for food. Yes. Food. Ja! *runs off*
chapter four
by YamiHikari
Disclaimer- Is it just me, or do these things bother everyone else? Anyway, I don't own Demon Diary or its characters, so leave me alone. Or I'll scream.
YamiHikari's Note- Daaang, I think I'm coming down with a cold. Was sneezing and hacking my lungs out all day, not to mention the delirium when I was writing a paper. @_@ poor 'lil me... aiiiee, sadistic teachers! Too many big projects! No! No more! It's too much! *wails* Anyway, I love reviews! -_-;; that was random... I shall just shut up now... yah...
- - - - - - - - - - -
Aysel gazed out from her seat on a broad marble windowsill at the changing leaves on the trees. The days were growing shorter and colder. Eventually, soft, cold flakes of snow would fall from the sky, and coat the ground in their beauty. She drew her knees up and circled her arms around them. How long had she been there?
"I want to go back."
The quiet, just under a whisper, phrase startled her. She didn't recognize her voice until a couple seconds later, and then she was struck by the truth of the statement, and the lie in it. This demon castle had life, bright, vibrant life that was in no small part due to the charismatic demon lord and his naïveté. You couldn't help but like the kid.
It made her miss Haeon[1] even more. That was one of the main reasons, if not the only, that she wanted to go back. She had told him she'd come back, promised. Her despondent expression was abruptly replaced with a slightly thoughtful one, then almost a countdown. When she reached zero and turned, Erutis was whispering fiercely to Chris.
"Can't you move more quietly, babo!? She'll hear us!"
"If I'm supposed to move quieter, then you should shut your big mouth so that she won't hear you nattering on!"
A heaved sigh made them both look up with identical expressions of 'Oh crap'.
"It wasn't that bad this time; I only heard you at the door. If you had both kept quiet, I might not have heard you until you got a couple steps into the room. For next time, just don't talk at a-"
A poke in the back made Aysel yelp, then duck and come up with a spell half-cast in one hand. Raenef waved happily from his upside-down position hanging from the roof. He smiled.
"I did it right, right? You didn't hear me because of Chris and Eru?"
Exasperated, though she had to admit some of it was that he was right; she hadn't heard him, she nearly doused the spell, then thought better of it and held it up to his face.
"Do you know what this is?" she demanded.
His brow wrinkled as he squinted at the light in her hand. "Um... really, really bright?" he offered.
"No."
"What?!"
"It is bright, you gotta give him that," commented Erutis as she dusted off her knees.
"All right, it's bright. I will give him that. However, it's also a Class One weapon." At their questioning looks, she sighed, and explained. "It's designed to at least harm people when they come in contact with it, if not kill. Look.
"Tyrfli'ng[2], diamond 9."
One pale hand clenched around the light, which was suddenly a handle, then pulled it out and down to her side as if drawing a sword from thing air, which is pretty much exactly what happened. A large, blockish blade was formed from more of the 'really, really bright' stuff, and Aysel wielded it in one hand. It abruptly angled up at the tip, a sinister tooth to hook and tear.
As they gaped, she extinguished it. "And you don't want to know what it does when it comes into contact with something solid," she added.
She was right. They didn't. Not after the kitchen incident, which had mysteriously cleaned itself up overnight, although their breakfast had seemed to stare up at them the morning after. Well, it was a Demon Lord's castle after all, and these things probably just happened. Right? Right. At least, that's what they hoped whenever they saw vases move for no apparent reason and the statues in the halls differed from week to week.
The sky, already dark with clouds, dimmed further. The predicted snow seemed it would come earlier than thought. 'In fact, a LOT earlier than predicted,' Aysel thought to herself as she moved away from the window as cold flakes blew down and settled in the room.
"Snow!"
"What, we get snow here too?!"
"Yes! I love snow!"
The other three had rushed to the window and were leaning out with little to no thought of their own safety. Raenef had his mouth wide open to try and catch a taste of the sky in the falling snow. The elf smiled slightly. It was his innocence and complete trust in those around him that so reminded her of Haeon. Watching the snow with them, but at a distance, she made a note to herself to send him a message as soon as she had the time.
~
The electrum-eyed elven child ever-present in Aysel's mind also watched the snowfall, but from the entirely too formal and cold polished halls of the domain of the lord. However, in this realm of light, it was opposite the dark realms and was night, and not day.
"Haeon."
The quiet voice behind him made the boy turn. Sef was standing easily behind him, topaz eyes darkened and inscrutable.
"You should be sleeping."
Haeon turned back to watch the snow. "Noona's [3] not. And I just got up a couple of hours ago." His fair locks framed his pale, stubborn countenance, gold-silver eyes watching the dancing flakes.
The darker-colored spymaster sighed and ran a lightly tanned hand through his short hair. "She's not really your sister, you know."
"It don't matter. That's what she said. It don't matter, 'cause if that's what you think it is, then that's what it is."
Sef looked away down the hall, hands in his pockets. He remembered those words and the time Aysel had said them to him. That was before they had gone their separate ways and grown apart. His fingers stroked the cold edge of a small medallion.
"All right then. Stay up if you want. Later."
The elder strode off down the hall, noiseless bare feet immune to the chill of the stone and metal. He also would receive something from the assassin, but it would merely be a report of what information was gathered. There hadn't been much useful news lately, and he suspected that their lord would eventually order to complete the mission and return to the Fair Lands.
~
Absent-mindedly kicking a vase back to its former position as it attempted to shift to the other side of the hall, Aysel wandered the halls. The vase whimpered, and attempted to scuttle behind a desk to nurse its wounds, It got stuck halfway there, and whimpered again. This was just NOT its day.
The three behind her stared at the bizarre sight. "Is that supposed to do that?" Erutis whispered to Raenef.
"No clue."
"It's YOUR castle, isn't it?"
"Hey, I don't know how EVERYthing works around here..."
Chris craned his neck around to continue watching the futile struggles of the glazed piece of pottery. "... Wasn't that the one that tried to chew on your foot about two weeks ago?"
Green eyes became thoughtful. "Umm... no, I think it was that OTHER one... the one with the knot design or something..."
Any further conversation on what vase had decided that its master's foot was a chew toy was brought to a screeching halt. The halt's screech was then drowned out by the sound of heavy feet drumming a regular 'one- two, one-two' down the halls. And the sound was getting closer.
"I'm late! I'm late! I'm... SO DEAD!" A large marble rabbit with a pocket-watch came racing around the corner and zoomed past the gaping crew, attempting to keep ridiculously small spectacles perched upon a nose that was NOT built to hold any kind of vision aid upon it for any amount of time that was longer than .05 seconds.
They turned and stared as it disappeared around the corner. Not knowing what they were expecting, all four waited.
Five minutes later, they were not disappointed. A shriek reverberated down the hall.
"You were precisely ten minutes and fifty seconds late to your post! Off with your head! Off, I say! OFF!!"
A wail, presumably that of the rabbit's, then more thumps. Abandoning their former diversion and racing around the same corner that the rabbit had disappeared around earlier, the gang was just able to spot a fleeting glimpse of a quickly moving bobtail and the unmoving skirts of a rather large woman turning another corner. [4]
"... do you think that the statues do the cooking?"
"It'd explain why there's never anything really COOKED when we eat[5]..."
"True, true. I mean, imagine one of those things trying to handle something like glassware..."
Chris snickered. "Oh man... complete and total chaos..."
"You mean worse than that time that you were pureeing carrots and Rae got petrified, and there was poached egg all over the place?"
"Yes. ... well... maybe."
"The answer there is 'No', because of all the things that could happen, you found one of the most LETHAL weapons in the world in that kitchen, and a statue wouldn't," Aysel called as she meandered off to complete her interrupted search. "The worst that could really happen with statues is they drop shards of glass all over the place. However, with that frying pan, you could ALL wake up in the morning and be a couple of poached eggs which will slowly rot over time."
"Now THAT'S a grim thought... imagine, one with such a genius as mine becoming something that came from a chicken..."
"Oh, drop it, you egomaniac."
"Mab, do you lot want to go outside or what?"
"YES!"
"Then hurry up and help me look for winter stuff. Or are you just going to go out and freeze to death?"
The three still standing at the spot where the rabbit had nearly lost its empty head raced towards the sound of the elf's voice.
"Hey, no fair, you're pushing!" Raenef protested as he jarred the table where the vase was still stuck, freeing it for the moment.
"All's fair in war!" shouted Chris as he edged in on Erutis, currently in the lead.
"Fair THIS, smart guy." The sword master loosened her cape while continuing to run and it fluttered off into Chris' face.
"AAAGHHH!! IT'S THE ATTACK OF THE RADIOACTIVE BRAIN-SUCKING HAMSTERS FROM SOMEWHERE NEAR MARS[6]!!! GET IT AWAY!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!"
"And I declare myself the winner! Now gimme that back." Erutis trotted back to the thrashing cleric and yanked her cloak off of him. Reattaching it, she found that their assumed finish line, Aysel, had disappeared.
"Hey, what the heck? She was just here..."
"HA! You didn't win YET! Victory will be mine, as the divine Rased is on MY side!" Chris pushed himself back up and took off.
"YOU LITTLE-"
"Seeya, Eru!" Raenef was hot on his heels.
"Ergh... OW!" Erutis leaned one shoulder against the wall while she tried to massage a cramp out of her leg. "Wait up!"
There was silence. She fumed slightly, then stretched the sore leg slightly. A white-hot lance of pain seared up it. "_OOWWW_!! Stupid (mumble mumble mumble)..."
A couple minutes later, she decided to just screw the pain and follow. The redhead set off, limping slightly. As soon as she had managed to turn the bend, she immediately saw the backs of the two boys.
"You DID decide... to... wait..." She trailed off when Chris motioned furiously with one hand behind his back for her to shut up. Looking up, Erutis saw the reason.
"... such a thick-headed twit. What, do you want me to let him keep running to you for every little problem that comes up?!" Aysel's fingers curled and uncurled slightly and one hand rose and began jabbing an accusing finger at Eclipse for emphasis.
"I don't need your help, I didn't ASK for it, and all YOU'RE doing is making him dependent on other people and WEAKER than what he'd be if he found his OWN path in life, you arrogant, sneaking..."
Her head tilted slightly to the left as she continued her tirade, momentarily exposing again the peculiar scars on the right side of her neck. Silver eyes flashed angrily, and Eclipse stopped listening to her words and stopped paying attention to the present.
How long ago was it? About 1000 years... or more, but possibly around there.
-- Begin Flashback --
One black-gloved hand reached out and jerked the unseeing, pallid face upwards. The girl's face contorted with hatred and disgust.
"Get your hand off of me," she hissed, blind eyes glaring.
The dark cloth that served as a mask twisted slightly as the raven-haired man smiled slightly. "How much do you hate me?"
The glare intensified. "Words fail me." Then her head jerked out of his grasp and she snapped at his hand. It was already drawn back, then came back around in a backhand that threw her into the mud, the mud of dirt and blood.
She tried to rise, but was booted back down by the young man in black. With her hands behind her back, she couldn't do anything to protect herself but curl up and wait.
Finally, as she was driven back against the fresh stump of a tree, he stopped. After the sounds of his footsteps in the mud faded, she heard, "Bring her to the archery court that they all love so much. And you know what to do with the other."
-- End Flashback --
"Now if you'll excuse me," Aysel said coldly, the words so formal as to be insulting. She slid past him, not even brushing one sleeve of his outfit as she did so. A chill wind swept through the hall, making everyone but Eclipse shiver. The demon had turned slightly to gaze after the retreating figure, shadowy eyes lost in thought, dark bangs wafting gently in the breeze.
"Eh, following isn't an option now, I take it," Chris commented, staring in the same direction as Eclipse.
"No. Definitely not." Erutis slide down and finally eradicated that blasted cramp. "How did this happy little occasion come about anyway?"
"... let's just say she's a bit touchy about help, no questions asked, 'kay? 'Kay. Good. Now I'm staying here for the next five minutes at _least_." The cleric joined Erutis on the floor.
"Rae?"
There was an audible thump as the demon lord made his decision, and given the choices – going after a ticked off magic-wielding elf and possibly annoying her more or staying in the hall and maybe getting trampled by a statue – it wasn't too hard to make.
"..."
"What now?"
"We wait. Duh."
More silence in which little dots fill speech bubbles.
"Hey, can we play 'I Spy'?"
Some more awkward little dots. Then,
"Heck with it. Sure."
"Me first," Raenef insisted. "I spy with my little eye..."
"What are you talking about, that thing's huge! Look at yourself in the mirror!"
"Shut up! It's not my fault! And that's just the way the game goes!"
"Chris, don't be mean."
"I'm just saying, LOOK! IT IS! SEE!?" The brunette illustrated his point by holding up his circled thumb and forefinger to one of Raenef's much-debated green eyes. "HUGE!"
"Is not!"
"Is so!"
"Is NOT! What about you?!"
"LOOK! LOOK! NOT EVEN CLOSE!!"
The argument went on.
"Hey guys, Eclipse is gone."
"What? Was he playing? ... ARE NOT!"
"Are so!"
"... Y'know, if someone just came walking past whistling with a bloodstained shovel over their shoulder, you wouldn't even look up, now would you?"
"Are- ... AAAAHHHH! AXE-MURDERER!!"
"Shovel. Are so."
"Are not!"
"... I give up."
- - - - - - - - - -
[1]- Haeon is, as you can see, another original character. Yes, and no stealing extends to him as well. If you're REALLY interested, then go look on fictionpress.net for his story, also by me. Although you'll need to look for the title Haeon or the penname GinSaku. ^_^ I'd love it if you would *winkwink nudgenudge*... ehehehe...
[2]- I think I got this from Ragnarok by Myung-Jin Lee, another manwha artist. AAGGH! I LOVE THAT SERIES SOOO MUCH!! Anyway, the sword was something like tyrfing, the sword of sorcery, and I just kinda twisted the name a little, that's it. Hey, check out Ragnarok if you got the time, it is SOO GOOD! Well, I think it is, but that's me, so... if you're interested, DO IT! DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! And the first volume isn't that great compared to the others, and isn't Loki sooo BISH!?!?! ... I am SO off topic... moving on...
[3]- "Noona" is Korean for "big sister" from a younger male. Yeah. Nuff said.
[4]- Ahahah, a little bit of Alice in Wonderland. ^_^ I don't own that. Okay? Okay. Good.
[5]- I've never really seen ANYTHING that is still warm being served in the manwha – not that you really SEE food in the manwha... - soo... I'm assuming there's not many hot lunches there... just like my cafeteria! ^_^;; but even THEY have pizza once a week, and that could be classified as warm, soo... ...o.O;; you work it out.
[6]- I believe the original song title by Weird Al Yankovic is "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Somewhere Near Mars" and that was just the first thing that popped into my head when I was trying to get what Chris would yell. 'Course, it's a little twisted, but HEY! 's all good! ^_^Again, I don't own that. Weird Al, if by some random chance you read this, I beg of you... DON'T SUE!! T.T
YamiHikari's Note- Aaaahh... I had FUN writing this, in case you couldn't tell. ^_^ ... I want another cookie. Now I will abandon- I mean desert- I mean... take my leave of all my faithful readers (all TWO of you... but THANK YOU! I'D GIVE YOU BOTH A COOKIE IF I COULD! And Suzu-chan, DON'T suggest mailing it...) for food. Yes. Food. Ja! *runs off*