Assassins

Today's lesson with Regina was magic maintenance and endurance. Well, it was basically just testing how long I could hold up a ball of notes in between my hands.

"Keep it steady," she warned from beside me. "The size is getting smaller, and the color is getting dimmer."

Minute changes were harder than simply conjuring up notes. But with improvement, I felt that I could at least control the strength of the magic ball as I willed... If I could at least last five minutes this time...

The fire sputtered and sparked. "No!"

Regina chuckled, her red eyes squinted in delight of my predicament. "Four minutes and 38 seconds. Not bad, for a child."

"... I was aiming for five," I grumbled, conjuring up another ball but when it started flickering almost at once, I hurled it towards a nearby target in frustration.

The Second Magician of Elrock stretched out her nimble body like a cat under the sun. She looked nothing like the magicians I have imagined, with their dark robes and heavy staffs. Rather, she looked quite the opposite with her fashionable, yet highly revealing dress, hugging her generous curves tightly.

I soon found my glaring face cushioned by her ample pillows. She cooed from above me, "Oh, controlling magic takes time, Princess Elly. If your own mind is struggling with something, then it's not so hard to believe that you'll be having trouble conjuring something as simple as a fire ball."

"... I'll just have to calm down and clear my mind," I said, and breathed in deeply after escaping from her deathly hug. This was a form of meditation Farseer once taught me on our travels. I would simply close my eyes, stand straight, and breathe in through my nose, and release the air through my mouth, while imagining all the stress and negative energy I had accumulated as the very air I dispel from my body. It was maddeningly simple, but quite effective. Soon, my heart had started beating steadily, and a sense of calm had entered my consciousness.

And, as though there was a whisper that signaled me to start, I allowed a certain amount of notes to gather into my palms, and lifting them up, I willed a fire ball to come into existence. Finally opening my eyes, I found myself staring at a blazing hot ball the size of my fist, in the glorious color of white. It was so steadily floating in the air that I would have believed it was a solid, marble ball and not a magic spell.

"Ah! I get it now!" Regina shouted suddenly, a pointed finger up in the air as though she had realized the answer to a question that was especially nagging her. "I know why you're so easily bothered these days!"

Sullenly, I forced myself to concentrate more, ignoring my supposed teacher. The fire ball kept steady.

"Princess Elly, are you perhaps feeling lonely?" she asked me, her voice lilting.

The fire ball shifted slightly, but kept its solid shape.

"I mean, that Charles boy did just hastily say goodbye, did he not?" she muttered. "I wonder why he was in so much of a hurry?"

It now started to chip away at some parts, red fire beginning to spread around the once perfect ball.

"Do you, perhaps, miss the young boy, Princess Elly?" she asked, and I screamed.

I hurled the now weaker fire ball straight at the poor target, causing it to finally explode into magically enhanced wooden pieces. I glared as the pieces lost its magical properties and started to catch on fire.

"Oh, was I right?" she asked normally, like she had done nothing wrong.

I stormed towards her. "Regina! I was concentrating so hard, and I finally did get to conjure a perfectly white fire ball, but you had to keep disturbing me!"

"Oh, I saw that, dear!" she said calmly. "And such a pure fire at a young age!"

Getting confused by her sudden string of compliments, I sputtered as my anger grew into confusion. However, I still managed to shout, "B-But that's not the point! I could have held on longer if you didn't keep on disturbing me!"

She tilted her head to the side, her long hair cascading down from her shoulders like a pool of yellow silk. "Oh, but too bad you didn't hold on for a longer time, then."

She still had her usual carefree expression, but her eyes held a certain graveness that seemed to tell me that I had missed an important point...

"The magician is right, Eleftherion." Farseer appeared from the Flower House's back door and into our training space. "It is your loss and you have only yourself to blame."

"But-" I started, but paused at his serious look.

"Imagine this, child," he told me, gripping his cane tightly. "You are on the battlefield and you need to conjure a spell that is far more complex than a mere fire ball, would the enemy soldiers allow you time to concentrate?"

"... No."

"It's good that you know," he finished quickly. "But sadly your little training will have to be put on hold. The High Monk Eva has summoned us again, and you are to accompany me."

"Can't Janmira go?" I grumbled, anxious to practice my control on notes more.

"You grow more impudent the older you get, child," the old man chided me. "Janmira is busy with other things, and besides, you've been specifically invited this time."

"... Me?" I asked in disbelief. What would an assassin organization want with me?

"Oh, just go, Princess Elly," Regina slapped me on the back. "You won't always get the answers you want from asking all the time."

I sighed in defeat and went back inside to change into my clothes. Recently, it has become more normal to put on pants and shirts than shimmying on frilly dresses. Placing on some well-worn leather boots, I ran after Farseer, who had trudged on ahead of me.

~~

"Welcome back to the Order, Elmar the Farseer and Eleftheria of Saule." A new face bowed towards us as we entered through the fountain portal and past the literally sliding wall. It didn't really surprise me anymore when there would be different people to greet us welcome. It seems like once outsiders had been deemed as guests, no one bothered to hide their faces to them anymore.

"I still don't know why you're connected with this organization, Farseer," I told him quietly, keeping my pace brisk to keep up with the vigorous old man.

"Oh, just for this and that," he muttered. "Nothing quite as immoral as your young mind might be imagining."

I pouted at his short answer. Once we had arrived at the corridor just outside of the familiar waiting room, I started to bid him goodbye so I could enter the room, but he stopped me.

"Not this time," he said, a light hand on my shoulder. "Did I not tell you your presence was requested?"

I still didn't quite believe that it was true. All the times I was allowed to accompany him here, I would only be left to wait at the usual waiting room all alone. So, it came as a bit of a shock that the assassins would want to speak with me now.

I followed Farseer into the confusing and dark corridors. Once in a while, there would be small, barred windows in some rooms, placed far above us to actually offer us any view of what was inside. Sometimes, I would imagine wailing coming from these windows... The Order was definitely a creepy place.

"Are you scared?" a child asked, her face near enough to kiss my cheeks.

I yelped in shock. "W-Where did you come from?!"

"I was following you since you've arrived," the child said matter-of-factly. I could only stare at her. She had cat-like lavender eyes and a thin smile. She had hair as white as the fire ball I had managed to conjure earlier in the day. She was probably about the same age as my body's, and she definitely exuded the mischievousness of one.

"Uh..." I made an incoherent sound, still very much freaked out by her sudden appearance. I decided to ask Farseer if he had noticed her, and...

'Where is he?!' I searched for his figure from all sides and even dared to peek inside an open door. But, no Farseer.

Why does he always seem to disappear whenever we visit the Order??

"You okay?" the girl asked me, jumping onto the heels of her foot and tilting her head towards me like an excitable jester clown. "You weren't too dragged in by the voices, were you?"

"The- The voices?" I asked, remembering the crying sounds I had imagined from the barred rooms.

"Yep!" she answered brightly. "I mean, no one's really died because of 'em, but there's been one or two apprentices who would be led astray every month or so."

"Led astray?" I asked blankly.

"Yeah, I mean, aren't these corridors so confusing?" she shouted, moving her hands around with her words. "Once, I got lost for almost a whole week! Just because of that stupid voice! It kept enticing me with chocolate bars! How could I resist from the temptation of chocolate bars? It's so hard to get a steady supply of them here in Malaya. During that long time we had to travel across the sea, we had all but grain and hard bread to eat! Well, so yeah, I got lost and even when I thought I'd arrived at a familiar looking place, turns out it really wasn't it and that would make me so angry, and you could only imagine how hungry I was by the time Aunty Eva had finally found me! I managed to eat a whole pig by the end of the day! But, wait, aren't you lost too?"

My head ached from her barrage of random words. "Uh... I- Yeah, I think I got... led astray, by those voices you told me about."

"I knew it!" she jumped, entirely happy about getting it right. "I mean, I did see how that old man who comes visit sometimes get further away from you. Oh, but those voices can really drag away the unprepared even though you aren't alone. So, yeah! You better be thankful that I'm here!"

"Right," I muttered. "So, can you help me find that old man again?"

She thought about it, and even while she was busy thinking, she would still fidget around like a little ball of pure energy. Her pretty wild, mop of white hair didn't help out in making her look anything but a rabid child.

"Hmmm... Ahhh! No, nope!" she shouted after a long while, her lavender eyes wide. "No can do! You can't go there, nuh-uh!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"I said no!" she shook her head and pouted her lips. "No means no!"

"But... you will help me out right? I am lost, and I'm not trained to resist these... voices," I pleaded with her with all my might. She looked like she was still unsure about helping me. So, I used all my cuteness arsenal and forced myself to look at her like a little puppy. "... Pretty pleaaassseee?"

She held back her head away from me, like she was repulsed by my very sight. But... I could see it! A crack in her demeanor. She seemed to struggle a bit more before finally exploding out, "Alright! Alright! I'll let you tag along with me until he gets out from there. Until then... Just... Don't cause too much trouble. I'm actually in a hurry."

"Oh, I'll be good!" I said in relief, firmly clinging onto her bare arms. Shockingly, now that I've looked at her properly, she was dressed in a thick leather chest plate and black leather pants. Her bare belly was openly exposed in her attire... How scandalous.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" she complained, and then dragged me forward, a slight blush on her child-chubby cheeks.

'Huh,' I thought. 'It seems like she doesn't dislike all this clinging...'

Going through the dark pathways once more, I was filled with gratefulness that this girl had found me when she did. If she hadn't, I would probably be wandering lost for more than just a week. Unexpectedly, though, the white-haired girl led me through some weird passageways. She made me pass through perfectly solid walls, creepily evil-looking doors that exuded a baleful aura, and even forced me to jump down a metal chute, which brought us into a curving slide and into bare, hard stone ground. If I hadn't had the cautiousness to shield myself with notes, I'd probably be a poor baby with a few broken bones already.

When she had finally stopped running, I finally had the time to pause and take a breath. Even as I panted with my knees bent, I dared not let go of her arm. Who knew when this little assassin might just up and leave me?

"Wh-Where are you... going in such a h-hurry, anyway?" I asked in between breaths. I glanced up at her while I was still busy clutching at my side. She looked down at me with a small frown.

"You're weak," she told me frankly, and then shrugged. "But not too weak. I'm already late for the inauguration ceremony, so if I don't get there on time, I won't get my title."

'So she really was an assassin...' I thought. 'Who knew children can be assassins?'

"Anyway, we're almost there, so come on." I complained inwardly but she had already grabbed for my hand and we started running yet again.

On the way, I deemed to ask, "What's the... inauguration ceremony?"

"Once a trainee assassin passes the entry level tests, she can go through the inauguration ceremony." She kept looking forward as she led us on. "I passed mine after barely three months, so now I can finally become a real apprentice. I hope I get assigned under Aunty Eva."

"D-Don't you think the... head assassin won't h-have time to be... mentoring a child?" I managed to reply.

"Hey!" she shouted, gripping at my hand harshly. "I'm not just some child, you know! I might just be the next head assassin! That's what the older people say anyway!"

"S-Sure," I replied, not bothering to argue.

Before long, and after passing through a few more of the weird passages the girl called, "shortcuts", we had finally arrived at the location. "We're here!!!" she screamed triumphantly at a set of silver, heavy looking doors.

I sighed, gathering some notes to strengthen my body and flush away some of the exhaustion.

"Oooh!" she cooed from beside me. "You have great magic control!"

"Hooo..." I let out a breath. "I guess so?"

"But, why didn't you circulate your magic more efficiently back then? You could've been less tired that way."

I blushed. Fidgeting, I mumbled, "... I couldn't concentrate."

She boomed with laughter. "Well, too bad. That means I'll probably be stronger in a fight. Anyway, come on."

I let out a weary laugh. I felt kind of hurt, because these days, my concentration has indeed been a bit bad. Months ago, I had no problem filling myself with notes and strengthening my body as I willed. But, ever since Regina has started training my magic control and endurance, I had become so conscious about it that I could barely function anymore as a magical medium.

I got so lost in thought that I hadn't realized my blunder until I was already deep into the room. A dozen, sharp gazes focused on me like I was the lone target of a couple of honing fire spells...

Inauguration ceremony...

How could I not think that we wouldn't be alone? And that I wouldn't be welcomed at all?

A full room of fierce assassins, some of large build and some as tiny as children, stared at me with hostility. All their predatory gazes were on me; obviously a foreign substance in the very air they breathe. I shivered and gulped down nervously.

'What in the God Solus' name was I doing here again?'