Smile

"Nice" Castriel said, reloading back her bow with a poison arrow, looking at the one she shot that hit its target accurately. "Clean shot".

"How clean do you think?" Someone said behind her, making her stand up and shot an arrow right behind her, and seeing that no one's there.

"Am I...dreaming?" She said to herself, clasping her head with one hand and the other with the tree branch she is positioned to.

"I can assure you" Someone said behind her again, now peeking on her  face to see if she is really alive and well. "You're not dreaming".

After knowing where the enemy is, she kicked him from the chest and the result is his body hit the trees, making the tree rumble, leaves falling, and apples detaching from the branch. He stood up and regained his posture, only to see the lady have her bow targeted at him.

"HANDS UP!" Castriel said, locking her bow to his chest, making sure that she won't lose sight of him. He raised his hand up, signifying his surrender and wanting a peaceful resolution.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" She shouted, gripping the bow and the arrow tighter, her hands becoming numb and tired after trying to get a clear shot of the enemy not too long ago. "STATE YOUR PURPOSE!"

"My name is Evan" He said, his hands becoming a bit tired of raising it up. His heart beating fastly, thinking of a plan on how to get the girl to his side. "And my purpose?". He used his shadow walk and meld with the shadow behind him, feeling the cold of the dark, and searched for where the location of the lady is. While Castriel searched around to see where the guy is, fearing that she might get ambushed and killed without even fighting, which is a dishonorable death for her. When she turned around, the guy is already at her ear.

"To get you to my side, of course"

"DON'T MESS WITH ME!" She shouted, shooting the arrow at where Evan is supposed to be, only to see that he's already gone.

"Since, I know your boss" He whispered behind her again, at her left ear. Balancing himself perfectly at the thick, wide branch that holds them both. He moved closer to her ear "And your purpose of serving him".

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" She replied, shooting again after turning around, only to see no one there again. She started to fear the power the guy has, as she never saw a spell nor Makyo like this before. Something that melds with that shadowy part of an object. If an assassin has this kind of power, it will be easy enought to assassinate nobles, and he'll be living with fame and fortune. She must never gave him and opening, no matter what.

She rotated around, searching to where he might reveal himself next. She didn't anticipated something, which made her an easy target for him.

"AHHHHH!!!!" She screamed, seeing that she is pulled down to the dark, feeling a hand down at her legs, like someone is dragging her to the abyss. She didn't get a chance to retaliate, as for when she realized it, she had been pulled in to the shadow. It only lasted for two to three seconds at most, but her body felt cold and around her is only pitch dark, making her feel that she is in the void, before getting pulled back in to a nearby tree.

Both her hands were tied up in the tree bark, as she struggled to break free but the man is too strong for her. She tried summoning her bow, knowing deep in herself that she could, feeling a sensation of cold in her veins. However, she couldn't summon it, no matter how hard she tried. She struggled and struggled, wobbling her body has hard as she could, moving in all directions while kicking swiftly at her target, only to know that she's been kicking at the air this whole time. Feeling that her legs were aching and her hands still tied to something she didn't know, she finally give up.

"Took you long enough" Someone said from the air, as she looked around again, and only saw the nearby trees and bushes, but not a person.

"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU COWARD!" She mocked him, trying to make him angry enough for maybe he would show up and then find a chance to free herself. But, she regretted her decision after getting dragged in back to the dark. She struggled and struggled again, but the force that has been tying her hands were too strong. She tried putting some strength down her foot, but it was no use. It felt getting sucked in to a portal. The only difference between the door is the dark.

She got dragged in at the dark, wobbling her body again and again, trying to scream at the top her lungs for help. But, she didn't have a voice. She can felt the vibration of screaming, but no sound came out. The extreme cold now making her shiver from top to bottom. She can't see anything, even her green camo she have worn for the whole day. She felt blind.

Lost.

Cold.

Helpless.

"Just give up and I'll free you" Someone said, his voice echoing at the vast, dark space she's in. Because of it, her ears ache at how loud it is, but she can't use her hands to clasp it, making her feel eternal pain. She move side to side but it didn't make her feel better. She closed her eyes but it only made it worse.

She tried to find a way to untie her hands, but she can't. Only she heard the voice over and over again. Making her scream even if she didn't have a voice.

Suddenly, the voice stopped.

She panted at exhaustion, thanking to whatever she could think of for the sound actually stopping. Even though it still echoed through her mind, it atleast gave her a rest, or so she thought.

She felt cuts all over her body, bleeding heavily as if she's dying from blood loss.

She felt her head tore apart from the headache she's feeling.

She saw countless illusions of the two most important people in her life dying and dying again, seeing but cannot move.

She screamed again, but remembered, she had no voice.

She felt different kinds of pain everywhere.

Physically

Mentally

Emotionally

Everything, all at once.

After she opened her eyes, she saw light, trees, bushes.

She heard the chirping of the birds.

She felt the hard ground.

The hot, hot sun.

She cannot move, cuts and wounds all over her body, as blood trickled down her head, making her sight hazy from the blood on her eyes. Her body aching everywhere at once, feeling that she got tortured at every part in just a second.

"Now, will you accept my proposal?" Evan asked, offering his hand at her and smiling. He returned the hand and put it at his sides, as he remembered something.

"Oh right, after feeling that, you won't move for an entire day" He answered, still smiling at her which made her scared of him even more. "If you accept my offer to swore your fealty to me, I'll let you live". He opened his eyes, and she saw a monster. A lifeless monster who had no mercy at all. She felt her aura around, getting pressured down to ground, making it hard to breath much more than when she only need to bypass the pain coming from her whole body. But, what made it worst for her, is a thing coming from his back. As if she's staring at the dark.

"Now, nod, and you accept" He snapped, and a dozen of hands dragged her to the tree bark again. "Wave your head, and you'll feel it again, twofolds"

"No" She thought to herself "ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!" Even with her whole body in pain, she fastly nodded over and over again, making sure he sees that she agrees to his plans.

"Oh" Everything was gone, the aura, the pressure, the hands, gone, immediately. "Ok then" He picked her up in a princess carry, making her embarassed and scared at him at the same time. "I'll take you back to your husband, but you won't tell him anything about what you saw, or felt today" He looked down at her, with cheerful eyes.

She nodded again, not wanting to see that dark side of him.

"Ok then" He melded back again to the dark, with her not having the chance to react anymore. "Let's go to their fight".

They were gone.

>:T

After the fight, a day later.

"What do you mean yesterday by you knew my daughter?" She asked, trying to hold in the fear she had on him for a long time, just so she could get answers.

They teleported out in the middle of the forest in midnight. Knowing that both Ezekiel and Zach are now both asleep, still exhausted after yesterday's fight.

"Pierre told me he knows someone that can help you" Evan replied, leaning at a nearby tree and looking at the night sky, remembering how powerless he was two years ago.

"PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION!" She answered, now losing her strength on her legs and seemingly looks like that she was kneeling to him, even though it isn't that way. After seeing her, Evan walked to her, carrying her and making her sit at a nearby tree trunk that must've fell recently, as it was still hard and comfortable to sit on.

She didn't have the strength to resist him anymore, knowing that her daughter might be finally rescued from that jerk of a boss. Her rage and fear towards him is still burning, but, for her daughter, she's willing to do everything. Evan sighed and sat beside her, still looking at the stars at the night sky.

"Your daughter was kidnapped almost a year ago by him, right?"

"How did you know?...."

"Zach told me, while carrying you three down towards the town"

"Ah, he must've been very talkative while going out the forest huh?"She answered, now looking at the night sky the same as him.

"Yeah, It made me remember..." He paused, tears trickling down at his face and wiped a bit of it away. "Huh, why am I crying?"

"You know" She stared at him, and saw an innocent teenage boy, defenseless and vulnerable in front of her, totally in contrast to the merciless boy from yesterday, which surprised her, but continued to talk. "Judging by your behaviour" She looked at the glistening stars again. "Those stars makes you remember a very important person to you".

"Is it too obvious?" He replied, not looking away and still stared at the stars, and the deep, piercing pain down at his heart. He didn't bothered to wipe the tears anymore and let them fall down to the ground.

"Just a guess" She answered, feeling comfortable around him now but still remembers the torture, which made her shiver a bit. At first, she was hesitant to come with him in the middle of the night. But now, she's glad she did so, as she saw a side of him that she thought that never existed.

"What a lucky guess!" He said, cheerful and jolly, trying to change the mood before returning to the more serious conversation.

"Now, let's return to the main topic"

"Pierre found a lady that can help you find and save your daughter, meaning that once she is save, the contract is complete, am I right?"

Castriel looked at him in amazement, as she never told anyone about the contract she signed with Avilius.

"How did you know....." She paused and thinked for a while, then remembering her talkative husband. "YOU KNEW THAT JUST BY MY HUSBAND'S STORIES!?"

"I asked someone about contracts a year ago, and knew things all about it and thought that a sudden change in behaviour meant you struck a deal with him"

She stared at him with amazement, seeing how smart the kid is to know all of that from just a story.

"A lucky guess?" He looked at her and smiled. A genuine smile that made her heart beat fast in happiness(Not a lover, more like happy for a friend or a person).

"Now, knowing your contract. You're not allowed to betray him right?"

She nodded, following along to see if they could think of a plan around the contract.

"If the guy told you to give us some sort of clue to lure us into a trap" He stared at her seriously. "Make us a map and tell us how to make poison darts, ok?"

"Ok then" She looked at him and asked a question. "But, how will you know I won't betray you?"

"You won't"

"Wha...."

"I just feel it".

>:T

"That's pretty much what happened at our whole talk" Evan said, finishing his tale to the stubborn Ezekiel, while leaving out parts about the stars.

"Okay then" He replied, letting go of Evan on the shoulders. "But, why did she attacked me when we're almost out?"

"Must've been because she was ordered too" Evan answered, looking at him seriously, analyzing on how much his shadow walk could take and the strength he needs doing so, without making himself faint in the process. "Besides, the contract between her and Avilius is completed".

"Why?" Ezekiel asked, tilting his head a bit for a sign that he really doesn't now.

"Once her daughter is saved, the contract is done" Evan put his arm aroune Ezekiel. "That's why when I showed up, it means her daughter is rescued".

"Who saved her?"

"Well....." He said, trying to find a way to phrase it, but he knew that either way, he just needs to ready himself for whatever Ezekiel is gonna do to him. "Your sister saved him, that's why the contract involving you is done". He blocked his head incase of a retaliation, readying himself for the pain he's gonna get, but he didn't received anyway. He only heard a sniff and crying.

He removed both his arms to see Ezekiel crying a bit, thinking that it might be because he's screwed.

"Thank you, Evan!" He hugged him, making Evan feel a bit gay at the moment, trying to push him away because of the snot ruining his clothes. "Even if it's a year I'll take it. If it meant that someone will be save"

"Ye.....yeah" He said while stuttering, not knowing what how he should act really. After a bit of a joyful reaction....

Someone screamed in the distance.

They both stopped to what they're doing and ran at full speed to where Castriel and Miranna is.

When they both got there, Miranna is still lying unconscious down the side, while Castriel is somewhat levitating in the air, only for them to realize that someone pierced right to her chest, making her cough a lot of blood.

"I'm sorry"

She said.

Before she died.

>:T

A couple of minutes before her death.

"Seriously, what's taking them so long?" She said, after wiping and weeping in joy after knowing she is actually free now. Sitting while gripping both her legs with her arms. A little bit of snot still in her nose.

"Good thing they're far away you know?" Someone said from the door, walking in along with a hundred of men behind his back.

"EVAN! EZEKIEL!" She shouted, trying to gain the attention of the two.

"No one will hear you for a minute" Avilius said, readying himself to kill a lonely, traitorous lady at his side. He took off his white coat and the possessed men grabbed it, before it hit the ground. He stretched his hands and head, before readying himself in a stance. "Sadly, all I need is a minute"

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME YOU B****" She shouted, throwing away her blowpipe and summoning her bow in her right hand. Her mint colored Chronos revealing itself at her arm. The timer colored in olive green. It started to tick down.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// 030 : 00 : 15 : 21 : 02 : 56 : 00 //

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

She shot a lot of arrows at him, and he almost caught all of them, the remaining arrows pierced the other possessed men, who didn't even bothered to dodge and accepting their death as it is.

"50 seconds" He spoke, standing and broking all the arrows that she shot, making her grit her teeth. She tried running around and targeted the lackeys, as one by one they fell down to the floor.

"I see you're targeting them first" He said, pointing at her. "Attack"

With his order, the remaining fifty men from a hundred charged at her quickly.

"40 seconds"

She dodged at the one coming in front of her, and turned around while using the intersection made by the unidentifiable junk, and killed five at the process.

"30 seconds"

She ran on top to the junk pile where the throne sits idly. After reaching it, she threw it down to the ground even if its very heavy, killing three people at the process.

"20 seconds"

She ran around and jumped at each pile, until she reached the farthest corner to where Evan and Ezekiel is. She shouted and jumped towards them, but she got caught mid jump, and she got dragged to Avilius. Guessing their relaxed behaviour, they didn't hear her nor anything at all.

"10 seconds"

She was dragged from the floor very quickly, getting carried midway because it was very inefficient.

"Five seconds" Avilius raised her chin.

"Four seconds" He stared at her while blood dripped from her mouth.

"Three seconds" He raised her up in the air, suffocating her as he used her neck to raise her up.

"Two seconds" He pierced her right through her chest, seemingly close to her heart.

"One second" She coughed blood from the wound.

"Zero"

She screamed with all her might, as she heard footsteps running towards them, making her relax, even if she's dying.

Around her the memories flew by.

Her life as a mercenary

Her love with Zach

Their marriage

Their children

Everything

Coming

To

An

End

In front of her eyes

Apologizing to Zach for not making it

Remembering everything from her past

Apologizing to her daughter

For not making it back alive

And not seeing her grow

Not seeing her smile ever again

"I'm sorry"

She said.

Before she past away.

Smiling for the last time.