Chapter Four: Remember
"See? I told you that we could do this without much of a problem!" a young boy, about the age of nine, cheered, his arms carrying a big bag of food. He was grinning at a girl besides him, about the same age, only a bit younger, and a taller boy who was walking behind the smaller two, probably about fourteen.
"It was easy when Kei and I distracted her, Recca!" the girl retorted, folding her arms as the smaller boy sweatdropped.
"All you did was bat your eyes at the store clerk, Aoi!" Recca scoffed, looking away from Kei and Aoi. Recca had dark black hair, a scar along his left cheek, and bright brown eyes. Nothing about him seemed extraordinary, but on his right arm was a white cuff that was decorated with various black symbols.
Aoi, the female, had short brown hair and soft violet eyes. She was very lean and radiated a never-ending supply of energy. Kei, behind the two and obviously the babysitter, was also lean, but tall. He had long grayish hair that was held back in a ponytail and extended to his lower back. His eyes, like his hair, were a light icy gray that resembled a sheet of ice.
"I did not!" Aoi growled, looking ready to pounce on her male companion. "Without us, you would've never been able to steal that food and you know it!" Both kids stuck their tongues out at each other as the three continued to walk towards the Thieves' Capita on the eastern side of Benith City.
"I could of done it just fine on my o--" Recca was cut short as his feet caught on something and he was sent tumbling forward. The other two watched as a blur dashed directly in front of Recca and grabbed his bag, dashing away.
"Ah! It's got our food!" Aoi screamed, running after the blur with Kei, right over Recca.
"Ow…" Recca muttered, his face firmly planted in the sidewalk. Groaning, the boy got up and chased after his other two partners. The blur turned sharply, Aoi and Kei hot on its trail as the small figure led them through town at a fast pace.
"We're never going to catch it at this rate…" Aoi whined, starting to get winded from the intense speed. Whenever they started getting close, the thing took another sharp corner and gained more ground. It was an inexhaustible cycle!
Kei reached back and unsheathed his sword, planting it in the ground in front of him. The earth rumbled for a few moments before ice tore itself from the earth and buildings, directly in front of the path of the blurred figure. It tried to jump up onto the building, but three more shards erupted from the building and caught it in mid-jump, pinning it to the building.
"Yay!" Aoi cheered as Kei sheathed his sword and they walked forward. "There's no running from us!" The dust cleared and the figure could be seen, tightly clutching the bag of food. It was a small female with white hair and bright amethyst eyes. iShe looks so frail…/i Aoi thought to herself as they approached her from the side. Seeing them, the girl twisted her head around and hissed at them, sharp fangs bared.
"Whoa…what is it?" Recca asked, popping up behind Aoi and Kei. "An alien?"
"You should know…it would be part of your family," Aoi muttered, gaining a sharp glare from Recca. Ignoring him, Aoi turned to face the small girl. "Can you please give us our food back? We kind of need it."
The female's cat-like eyes narrowed and she thrashed, trying to escape from her bonds. Blood stained the ice from where one of the shards had caught the small girl in the shoulder and it dripped down to the ground into a growing puddle.
"Look…you're hurt and we need our food," Aoi tried to reason, reaching out her hand. "So, can't we just try to get along and find a compromise?" The other girl snarled and slashed at her, forcing Aoi to pull her hand out of reach rather quickly.
"She's insane!" Recca growled, pulling Aoi back as he glared at the thrashing girl. "There's no reasoning with animals." This caught the girl's attention, her glare getting even deadlier if possible. Reaching up with one of her hands, the trapped girl grabbed one of the icicles in her hand and ripped it to the side. The shard shattered into thousands of pieces under the pressure, cutting into her pale skin.
"Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!" Aoi shouted, trying to run up to the girl but being held back by Kei. Recca was about to attack the furious girl with his fire when a single wing, black and lined with sharp-looking feathers, swung into view due to the girl's new mobility. It violently slashed through the remaining shards, shattering them also.
"She's a Cursed!" Recca gasped, backing up and shielding his face from the onslaught of wind and shards from the wing. At his words, the female stopped thrashing now that he was free and glared silently at the other three for a few moments, her eyes searching for something. However, before they could move, the girl leapt up and onto the roof of the building above them and disappeared in a blur.
"…wow…" Aoi murmured, looking up after her. She had heard stories of one-winged angels, being she was a Cursed herself, but she had never actually iseen/i one. It was almost an honor to see something so rare and so powerful.
"Well…anyone for take out?" Recca asked as he turned to face the other two, shrugging his shoulders with a sheepish grin.
"Maybe if we're ireally/i quiet, Suiko won't notice us coming in," Recca reasoned, walking with the others into the Curseds' hideout. It seemed like a beaten up old Japanese-styled home, abandoned and uninhabited, but on the inside, it was fixed up into a rather cozy setting.
"And maybe chocobos fly," Aoi muttered, still angry about the girl escaping with their food. They were able to get some more, but it was much harder than the first time and they weren't able to get all the food they had been instructed to. "That's near to impossible."
"What's near to impossible?" a cold feminine voice asked from behind the three. Recca, Aoi, and Kei turned around come face to face with a blue-haired girl with striking steel gray eyes. She had the air of authority and was definitely the boss of the Curseds by the way she carried herself. Behind her stood a brown-haired girl with amber-colored eyes and a bright smile.
"Ummm…well…uhh…" Recca stammered, looking up at the leader of the Curseds. "We…uhh…you see Suiko…" Rolling her eyes, the blue-haired girl grabbed the bag from Recca and sighed, seeing that not all of their supplies were there.
"What went wrong?" the brown-haired girl asked, frowning slightly, though not in anger but more concern.
"This girl stole it from us, Rika," Aoi explained, trying to think of the best words to use in from of Suiko. Obviously, they weren't the right ones.
"A thief stealing from thieves? Isn't that ironic?" Suiko scoffed holding up a hand as she showed her disgust. "Weren't you guys saying that you were some of the best thieves in the group? Do I have to do everything?"
"But she was different from everyone else!" Recca argued, gaining a critical stare from Suiko. "This girl was very fast and had only one wing! She had to be a one-winged angel!"
"Is this true, Kei?" Suiko asked, looking at the gray-haired boy that had been standing at the back of the group silently. He nodded and Suiko placed a hand up to her chin, contemplating about something. "A one-winged angel roaming these parts…she's definitely not from this world. The last one-winged angel to visit this world was the conqueror, Reign."
Suiko handed the bag of food to Rika and then looked at the other three. "Okay then. We're just going to have to recruit her before the hunters find her." Suiko smirked, a slightly sadistic grin crossing her face. "It's time to go hunting, guys."
Rei sighed as she walked along the street of Benith, the darkness veiling her from prying eyes. After the squabble with those weird kids earlier that morning, she had practiced stealing from a few merchants in the main part of the city for most of the day. Now it was time to head back to find a place to stay in the Thieves Capita, where she was sure that she would be remotely safe from bounty hunters.
iThey called me cursed too…maybe I really am cursed. Cursed with this damn wing that won't go away…cursed with no allies and no family. Maybe it's better that way. The most dangerous enemy is one who has nothing to loose and everything to gain. I have nothing to hold me back right now./i
"Shanna! Lyrie! Time to come in!" a man shouted, jerking Rei out of her thoughts and into reality. Stopping in the shadows, she watched as a man standing in his doorway greeted his two daughters, who happily bounded up to the door with stories to tell their prideful father. The inside of the home seemed warm and inviting, but Rei held herself back in the shadows, hidden from all view.
iFlashback
"Rei! Heaven! Come on, it's time to eat!"
"'K, daddy!" a small blond-haired girl shouted back, standing up from her spot next to another small girl. "Time to go and eat, Lani!" The other girl stood up, her amethyst eyes shinning brightly although her face was smudged with dirt. "Though…mom might not be too happy."
The smaller girl smiled brightly, not saying anything, though you could see the cheerfulness shining in her eyes. She laughed and ran ahead of Heaven, who yelped and ran after her as they rushed towards their smiling father standing in the doorway.
end of flashback/i
Rei shook her head as odd pictures of someone else invaded her mind, trying to push them away before continuing on. iI don't need anyone. I'm on my own./i Her wing twitched slightly as the wind became more chilly and Rei shivered, but kept walking on. Since winter was coming in Benith, the days had grown colder and shorter, making it harder for Rei to maintain a healthy state with her meager supplies and clothing. All she had on was a ragged shirt which hung around her shoulders, patched shorts, and sandals. At this rate, she was going to get sick.
"Damned cold…" Rei muttered, drawing her arms close to her. She wasn't far from the Thieves Capita now. Only a couple more blocks…
"Want me to put you out of your misery, child?" a voice asked from the shadows, causing Rei to tense from surprise. She barely had time to react before something wrapped itself around her neck and tightened, blocking off her air supply. The small child choked slightly and tried to pry whatever it was from her neck so that she could breath, but she was slowly beginning to loose air. "Now now…make it easy on both of us and just…die…quietly."
Rei hissed in pain as the material around her throat started cutting into her skin and her vision began to dance. Darkness was slowly creeping into the edges of her consciousness and spots swam before her eyes. "Let…go…" she managed to choke out, but her limbs were slowly growing numb and limp. iIs this how I'm going to die? At the trickery of some…stranger?/i
"LET HER GO!" a voice suddenly shouted, though it barely registered in Rei's thoughts. She felt the material around her neck slacken, slightly slimy with her own blood, and then give way. Not able to hold up her own weight, Rei collapsed to the cold, hard ground and laid still, her breaths coming in pain gasps.
Recca, Aoi, and Rika ran up, all facing the dark figure that stood smirking over Rei's limb body. "Well well…more little rats for me to play with," the figure chuckled, his voice obvious masculine and quite raspy.
"A Hunter…" Aoi murmured in a cautious tone, turning slightly to look at Rika and Recca. It wasn't wise for them to get mixed up with a Hunter, especially since they didn't have Suiko or Kei with them, the best fighters of the group. "What are we going to do? We can't just leave her…"
"We can take him," Recca smirked, holding up his fist. His wristband started glowing brightly right before it caught on fire, lighting up the area around him. The faint light from the fire cast an eerie glow on the figure, exposing the attacker. He was about regular height and build and looked nothing more than an average man…his stance was even as sloppy as a normal human's.
"Here children children…" the man smirked, as if laughing at his own wit, or lack thereof. "I won't hurt you too much. It'll be quick and painless, I promise."
"Over our dead bodies!" Recca growled, pulling his arm back and then throwing a flame ball at the Hunter. The man dodged to the right, evading the flames just barely, as his shirt was scorched from the closeness that the attack had been at.
"That can be arranged!" the Hunter shouted with a sadistic grin, presenting a large knife. Recca's dark brown eyes widened and he parried with his wristband, just barely saving himself from being sliced open. Countering, the young boy thrust his hand forward and caught the Hunter on the stomach, burning him considerably.
The man screamed outloud and staggered backwards, eyes gleaming with fury and hatred. Again, he rushed forward and started slicing at Recca with his dagger. The young Cursed did his best to dodge or parry each attack while keeping his ground so that the Hunter couldn't attack Aoi or Rika, but he was quickly loosing ground. Without warning, the Hunter faked to the left but then slashed to the right, catching Recca completely off guard. The short blade dug deep into the small boy's shoulder, causing him to cry out and fall on his back from the explosion of pain in his head. Blood fell profusely from the wound, staining the ground beneath Recca.
Aoi screamed and covered her head, crouching into the fetal position. All of a sudden, stalagmites of earth shot up from the ground, taking the Hunter by surprise. There was another scream of pain as three earth-made icicles caught the man's two arms and leg, running them through. Blood covered the ground underneath him and the top of the stalagmites that had pieced through him.
Recca stood up and winced at the gory sight before him as Rika bent down by Aoi, hugging the smaller girl tightly. Aoi's power was that of earth and the sudden terror of the situation had scared her into doing that. The scent of blood hung strongly in the air, coming off the mangled body of the still living man. It took every ounce of will power Recca had to not puke as he looked away from the man.
"You…bastards!!" the Hunter screamed, his eyes wild as they swung around like a frantic animal's. He was sure to be dead in less than a few minutes, his wounds were too great and bleeding exceedingly. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! HAHAHAA—" The Hunter's words were suddenly choked off as if something had grabbed had grabbed him by the neck. Recca, Rika, and Aoi all looked up and watched as the one-winged angel brutally clasped her clawed hand around the Hunter's neck.
"Shut up," the young girl snarled before tightening her grasp. The Hunter tried to thrash out of her grasp, only contorting his body even further and causing more blood to splash to the crimson ground. Slowly, painfully slow, the girl's grip tightened around his neck until the man's neck burst between her fingers, spraying blood everywhere. Aoi gasped, her eyes wide in terror and fear.
"Wh-why…?" Aoi asked, her breath coming in short pants. Rika and Recca both kept eyes trained on the one-winged angel, unsure if she would attack them next. "How could you be that cruel to someone who was about die?"
The young girl turned around, her eyes dull and dead to the world around her. Blood dripped off of her fingers and splatters covered her pale skin. "If I had let him be, you are the one who would've killed him. You seemed too innocent for that, so I killed him for you. It doesn't matter much to me…I never had innocence to begin with."
Rika blinked, listening to the girl's odd sense of logic. iThat girl is barely eight or nine years of age…and yet she kills to save those with innocence? Normally, one would kill simply out of vengeance…but I don't see any hatred in her eyes. Only pain. Who is she?/i
Rei looked at the blood on her hands, her eyes dully studying the crimson liquid dripping off the ends of her fingertips. This wasn't her first kill…why should she be worried? Why did she still feel sad? People would always come. She would always have to kill. Why couldn't her heart just accept that? Rei looked up, her eyes falling onto the stricken children across from her. Why were they so surprised? Isn't it obvious that she was a demon destined to kill?
iWhy…?/i Rei could feel darkness creeping up into her conscious, her vision slowly leaving her. Why wouldn't the earth stop spinning round and round? iTime to sleep…/i Slowly, Rei closed her eyes and fell to the side, her hand grasping the thin air to try and find something to cling onto, but coming across nothing. She never felt her body hit the ground. She never heard the others cry out. All she saw was the blithe and wonderful darkness engulf her aching mind.