Five Years

…

"Fei, let's go. The ceremony is over." A voice said beside her.

Fei opened her eyes.

The one who spoke to her was an adolescent that was wrapped head to toe in winter garments, with only his emerald eyes, his sharp nose, and small tufts of his golden hair visible.

Although his features still were that of a child's, there was a hint of maturity that had begun to surface in his demeanor.

Fei smiled. "Yes, Master." As she spoke, she left the prayer kneelers and stood up at once.

She took one last look at the transept of the cathedral; and like a dutiful bodyguard, she devotedly followed her master out.

Wading through the flock of people, the mutant saw from a distance a young woman with dull brown hair and gray eyes who was frantically searching for something. The woman wore a long leather coat and a stylish fur hat.

Eyrie.

Fei grabbed Carlos' hand and sped up their walk, rushing through the crowd. Before the young master could even process what was happening, the two had successfully escaped to the outside world.

Though he was a bit surprised at his bodyguard's movements and had a bit trouble balancing himself, Carlos soon came to his senses. "Oh man! Fei, you really gotta teach me some martial arts soon! That was freaking AWESOME!"

He laughed, lightly punching Fei on the arm of her coat. She was the one that wore the least, with a simple men's duster coat on. It was very light and comfortable to move around in.

The coat had been specifically chosen to suit today's occasion. In the Rochester mansion, Fei didn't wear many layers, even in winter. She simply wore a buttoned-down tunic.

The truth was: her body was just too resistant to temperature changes! The duster coat she wore today was merely for show, to prevent the prying eyes of others.

The mutant grinned and Eyrie, who they had landed in front of, did a facepalm.

"You two! Don't run around so much. Remind yourselves that this is a church, a HOLY place of worship."

"Yes, ma'am!" The two answered promptly at the same time.

But almost immediately after, Carlos bent over and burst out laughing again.

The corner of Eyrie's mouth twitched.

Can you even imagine what others would say if word got out that the successor of the Rochester family is running around in churches? Not to mention one of the oldest churches in the country.

To those people in power and to the public that shared the same faith, this would be disrespect for glorious history and God! It was well known that the Rochester family's faith lied in the Sun God, and even towards those that did not believe in Him, this would be disrespectful to religion.

Despite what she thought though, Eyrie couldn't bring herself to say such words and ruin the festive atmosphere. Her younger brother already has enough stress as it is; it should fine for him to rest since it is Christmas.

She sighed before gently nudging him on the arm. "Come on, let's go home."

The boy nodded.

There was a brief silence as the trio trudged along the road. But before long, Carlos and his older sister had struck up a conversation, like a standard pair of siblings that were out on a Christmas walk.

They were headed to the same building they had come from, the mysterious structure that was next to the Cathedral.

Bundles of snow had piled up high on the side of the streets that they walked through. Fei was no longer as excited to see the snow now as she was five years ago, during the first snow of the year.

Besides the two, she was keenly observing the surroundings, looking for any clue that people were tailing them.

Although her search was unfruitful, she didn't let down her guard.

There had been several assassination attempts on her master's life this year. Although none of them succeeded, it was better to be careful. As her master's closest bodyguard, it was her duty to protect him.

Fei didn't know how she would live if Carlos died under her watch. Even if others forgave her, she knew that she would never forgive herself.

I mean, she wouldn't even live if he died.

Literally.

After reading some updated information on mutants, Fei found out that the mutant will automatically self-destruct when their master is dead.

She thought the mechanism was ingenious! It worked because of some complicated procedures done on the brains of mutants, where the result was that the mutant would not want to live when it suffered the loss of their master.

Following this thought, they would automatically die.

It was scary, but Fei didn't mind. From the start, her duty was to serve Carlos.

Thinking about it, it's really hard to believe that it's already been five years since the first time the trio had gone to the Saint Rita's Cathedral.

Five years since she had first begun to serve her master.

In those five years, many things have changed.

But the one thing that hadn't changed for sure was her commitment to her master.

The corners of Fei's mouth curved up as she followed behind Carlos.