A/N: How do you like that? Three chapters in one day!
Disclaimer: If you don't sue me for this, I won't sue you for the fish.
Abel didn't know what to say. What could he say? Sorry your sister killed your family? Sorry you were born a monster? No, those didn't even scratch the surface.
"Father Nightroad?" Stella turned over in bed and gazed at him fearfully. "Father Nightroad, if you want to stay here tomorrow, it will be all right."
Abel didn't feel the annoyance he did before because he knew what was going on with Stella. He knew how it felt to not want to get attached, to stay as far away as possible. He knew that the only time Stella had ever received friendship was from her brother, and he was gone.
"Stella, I'm coming with you. I'm your friend." Abel stated firmly.
The girl's eyes shone for a moment, and then she turned over. "Thank you."
Abel awoke to Stella shaking him. A thick braid hung over her shoulder as she quietly repeated his name until he woke up. When he did, she smiled faintly.
"Good morning, Father Nightroad, I hope you enjoyed what sleep you could." She said, a fake smile on her face.
She helped him up. Abel straightened himself out and found Stella had let him sleep rather late.
"What are we still doing here?" He asked, surprised.
Stella's smile shrank until it looks like nothing more than a grim upside-down frown. "There is no way we will surprise the Emperor, he is one of them and will know the instant I am within fifty feet of him. We will take our time and get as close to the castle as possible as," she linked her arm to his, "a pair."
"A… a pair?" Abel said nervously.
Stella pulled her arm away and glared at him. "Not like that. Sorry, Father Nightroad, but you're not my type." She put her arm out to him.
Abel linked his arm with hers and grinned sheepishly. "Eh… hehe."
They walked down the steps like normal humans and out onto the street they walked just like everyone else. When the troops came by, Stella would surreptitiously push Abel over so the troops could pass. She would glare and Abel kept his voice impassive as they received mixed looks from the men.
"So… erm…." They had been walking for the past hour and a half and they would talk whenever they were going through a large group of people to make the illusion that they were together seem real. As they came up to the people, Abel asked, "What is your type?"
Stella gave a quiet chuckle. "I suppose the no one type. I mean, its not like I can avoid trouble and everyone I'm with is in danger." She flashed a quick look in his direction. "Even you. You have to remember…."
"Yes, yes, I know. Be careful." Abel waved her doubt aside with his hand. Now this is odd, that is usually what I'm telling my partners. Hm… I wonder if I'm this annoying.
"It is either that or the indestructible type." Stella's chuckle became a silly laugh. "Well, your not that type, are you, Father Nightroad?" She asked, referring to his usual clumsiness.
If only she knew. Thought Abel reverently. At that moment, his feet decided to find the only rock in the entire clean road and stumble over it. Gasping, Stella pulled him up before his hands could even touch the ground. She hauled him over to the side of the road just in time. The troops passed by without a glance in their direction.
"No, Father Nightroad, you are definitely not that type." She gasped.
If only she knew.
(A/N: I could be a real bitch and end the chapter here like I wanted to, but I won't knowing that my faithful reviewers will jump down my throat.)
They stepped through the quieting streets as they entered the upper ring. A wall separated the upper part of society from the lower. The houses here were shaped and colored the same way as the lower ring, but the houses were in better repair and their colors were newer as if they had recently gotten paint jobs.
Stella stopped by a house after they had walked a mile beyond the gate. She stared at the house, a red brick house with many garden ornaments for a few minutes.
"Abel, I have some personal affairs to take care of so that no one tries to reclaim the Emperor's throne. Stay here if you want, or come in. Just stay quiet and don't look suspicious." Stella said as she walked up the three steps to the porch.
She knocked on the door. When no one answer she pounded and Abel could have sworn he heard wood splinter.
"All right! All right! I'm coming!" an angry voice yelled from inside. A man stepped out a few seconds later. The door opened and a man poked his head indignantly out. White frazzled hair stood out form the sides of his head. "What to you want?" He spat.
"Hello, Harrison." Stella said coolly.
The man's eyes widened. "St… Stella IceHeart?" He gasped.
"Let us in, Harrison." Stella commanded.
The man stood dumbly aside and Stella brushed past him. Abel, confused, followed her lead. Stella showed herself to a red couch. Abel sat next to her as Harrison took a seat across from them on the slightly faded couch that was across from them. Abel took in the room's state. It was neat down to the tiniest detail, and seemed to remain dirty. Everything was meticulously in its place and Abel could not detect a speck of dust or dirt. Still, there was a yellow to the room that was a sign of years of smoking, and something didn't feel right.
"No tea for your guests, Harrison? My, you haven't changed a bit. You always were rude." Stella's voice was calm, like that of an old friend catching up.
Harrison hurried to make tea. Abel and Stella sat in uncomfortable silence; at least it was for Abel. The trembling man set the tea on the table before them and took his position on the couch. Stella picked up her cup and raised it to her lips, but Abel noticed that she did not drink any of it. Putting it down, she smiled, cat-like at the man.
"You know why we're here, of course?"
"I know why you're here." Harrison pointed at Stella. "I'm not sure about him."
"Good. I hate you, Harrison, for what you did to my family. Are you the only one left?" Stella swung from one sentence to the other with amazing grace.
"Besides the High and Mighty one, then yes, I'm the only one left." The man answered in a gruff voice.
"Oh, you did not know that Daraloone would betray you? Why, his name itself should have explained it to you that none of you were going to get off." Stella's voice was laden with amusement. She chuckled. "The rest were too ambitious for him to let live. You, though…. 'stick them with needles' 'yes sir' 'kill them' yes sir' 'take away the girl's humanity' 'of course sir'." Stella imitated a commander and Harrison's voice rather well. Stella suddenly turned businesslike. "Well…" She said, clapping her hands together and standing, "you are lucky that I am busy, or you would have suffered."
With all the speed and lethalness of a cobra, Stella's hand cut through the air. A sharpened ice stake from all three teacups buried itself it Harrison's chest.
"Let's go, Father Nightroad." Stella said, her eyes filled with sadness.
A/N: Likee? No likee? Hell, you had better like it, this is my third chapter today!