Dark Decline

I sighed, sliding down low on my seat. My mind was still trying to process the words I had just heard.

"What?" Eva asked from her desk, her hands clamped together under her chin.

Since she was no longer the head assassin in record, I had to meet her in her own quarters, which was a long way away from the trainee's sleeping area and study rooms. Actually, didn't I specifically have it hard since I had to transfer rooms a lot? I had combat, dark magic, and basic organizational history training inside the apprentice study area, but I still had to go back to the outer trainee area for general studies. Not to mention, my own bedroom was even farther out if I came from the inner parts of the Order. But, it's not like I still didn't know my way around the twisting hallways, but... I'd say I could still easily lose my bearings if I don't maintain my focus...

"I almost got lost again," I muttered, trying to hide my disappointment from my voice.

Her thin eyes squinted even more as she laughed. "All the more reason why I can't promote you as an apprentice yet."

"... I knew it was too good to be true," I grumbled, and then sighed yet again. "I even gloated earlier to Zepherin, but I guess it really is too early for me."

Eva hummed and then leaned forward towards me. I looked at her through my lashes.

"It sounds to me like you might actually desire to become an assassin?" she asked, staring at me with her purple eyes.

I quickly straightened myself on my seat. Months of informal speak with the assassin has made me forget how she was probably the most dangerous person in this underground base, and whose words held the most power. "I-I'm actually not sure yet... about that..."

"Humm, well," she said with a small smile. "You still have time. And anyway, training is never a race, and if you go too fast... Well, your innards might just implode."

I laughed wearily at her poor choice of words, but then turned serious again. "So, I don't think you would call me here just to say I'm still unworthy."

She laughed, and then said, "You may not be progressing as fast as Zeph did, but you're relatively quite a prodigy yourself. Once I asked Telly to revisit the basics on dark magic on her class, and yes, she did repeat the lesson just for you and the other new arrival, I had a suspicion that you might have a firm grasp on it by at least two months. But, Telly had you come up here at just the first month, so you have quite exceeded my expectations. After all, It's not easy to get a firm grasp on the magical balance in our world."

"... But I only gave her a... brief and concise summary," I told her in disbelief. Now, I wondered if I was really qualified to even be here.

"Oh, that's more than enough. I trust in Telly's judgment." Eva flicked my worries away with a confident roll of her eyes. And then, she turned to me with a grave expression. "Eleftherion. Or, rather, Eleftheria, I believe it might be time for you to leave your books and start with the doing."

My eyes widened in surprise. 'Does she mean I would start assassin training, even though she just told me I still wasn't ready to be apprenticed?'

"No, no. It isn't what you're thinking," she calmed me down. "It is just that... your training is really coming near its end, and now, I have to be there to see it through."

"... You're going to train me yourself?" I asked in shock, yet excitement started to bubble up inside me.

"You think quick, Eleftheria." Eva smiled. "Yes. From now on, I'll be overseeing your training from up close."

~~

"What's that? Aren't you too weak to even be considered a trainee?" a voice shouted at me just before I flung the combat boyman towards the ground with a rough tackle. As though sensing my irritation, the dummy exploded into pieces just so it might appease me. It did, and I smiled.

Looking behind me, I saw both Eva and Zepherin sitting idly inside the room instead of Assassin Ren's usual figure. My training didn't change much. I still went to my general studies and basic organizational history classes, but combat and dark magic training were now being handled by Eva herself.

And where there is Eva, there might be a clingy, little, white puppy called-

"Zepherin," I named her. "Can you simply leave me to train and not give pointless feedback?"

"Oh, I don't know about pointless, so I'll keep on providing feedback, princess." The white-haired girl smiled.

"Your ponytail isn't done straight," I countered at her irritably.

"Now, now, girls," Eva said in a singsong manner. "Don't go fighting with each other. You'll have plenty of time to do that when both of you are apprentices."

"If I-" I started.

"Yes, Eleftheria. If you decide to be an apprentice," Eva cut me off. "But I daresay, shouldn't you be more decided by now?"

"That's right!" Zepherin shouted out from beside her. "An assassin should be quick to decide!"

"I-I just don't know yet." I hung my head low. "... I'm sorry."

I could hear the tiny woman sigh. "Tell me, Eleftheria. Why do you think the Master warned me of your coming?"

"Well, I don't think I might be able to answer that," I mumbled. "Since I don't think that's even true."

"And that might just be the reason." Eva stared at me with a familiar glitter on her eyes. "You are simply too thoughtful and humble."

"I doubt that would make your Master take such great interest in me."

"Hah!" She laughed. "That's true. But I trust in my guts, and I do believe you really are the prophesied child as my dreams say you are."

"... What does that even mean? How does one become great in the first place?" I asked in exasperation.

She smiled at me, her eyes looking as though she had completely closed them. "I think that's up to the person to judge, don't you think?"

I glanced at Zepherin to see her looking at us with a greatly confused stare. And for once, I agreed with her emotions.

~~

"What have you learned from Sir Lancer?" Eva asked me while we walked through the dark corridors. Another lesson on the Order's basic history had just finished, and like most times, the long hours had made me groggy as a result.

"... Quite enlightening," I mumbled, and Birdy quacked back in agreement. After months together, the bird and I have learned to tell what the other was feeling.

"Hmmm... Sir Lancer can be quite vigorous in his teachings, can he?" Eva asked while looking straight onwards. It was something every member of the Order must practice while walking through its halls: Keep your thoughts on your desired destination. Otherwise, you might just be led astray by ghosts and other things. I tried to look forward too.

"Sir Lancer is very loyal to the Order," I said, careful of my words. "He teaches us the organization's history with pride, and after a few months of his lessons, I wholly understand his strong feelings.

"The Order has been maintaining the balance and order of the world since time has long forgotten. With the assassination of many people, multiple nations have grown to prosper from them. Our deeds have brought to life the peaceful territories of Al Kandarid, fell the dictatorial regimes of countless nations, and kept relative order in our ongoing Continental Wars with the creation of the Treaty for Peace. Our organization has been the leading figure in committing such holy acts for the world."

Upon finishing my slight speech, I found that I had been speaking with as much vigor and pride as Sir Lancer had in his lessons.

I felt a hand grab onto my arm. "Don't just keep walking now. You'll fall straight down."

I halted just in time. Looking down on the small chasm right in front of me, I realized I had almost fallen into one of the sneaky traps laid here and there around the Order. My back filled with cold sweat.

"How long have you been training here in the Order, Eleftherion?" Eva asked, still firmly gripping my arm.

I breathed in shakily, still staring down on the dark hole. "I-I believe I've been here for... six months now."

"Right," she said. "And you almost fell for a familiar trap simply because of your pride and nonchalance."

I turned my head towards her. I've never seen her look so void of expression as she did now. "Forget your lessons with Sir Lancer. All of them."

I looked at her in shock, but dared not say a word.

"Forget all of those things, Eleftherion," Eva repeated. "In all my time as head assassin, I have never felt pride over the deeds we have done. And yes, child. Murder will always be murder, just as you have said when you were still starting your training. Don't ever forget that."

Then, she released me from her grasp, and started to walk away. Just as she was about to leave my sights, she whispered back to me, to which I had only been able to hear because of the extensive training I had done to my own body.

"Don't lose your way now."

~~

I haven't seen Zepherin, or even the other trainees, in a long time. Five months into my extensive training with Eva, I had been kept almost always on my own. I trained my body and I tamed my bird. I soon grew stronger and older. I'll be seven in a few days.

"How do you feel?" Eva asked from her seat, barely glancing up from her papers. Although she might not be the official head assassin in paper, she was still pretty much shouldering most of the role's responsibilities even now.

"Dark magic... feels different from notes," I murmured. "But they're familiar in a way?"

"Well, you can see them both as sisters," she said. "Or more like, you might see them as twins? They look alike in all ways physical, but each one is the polar opposite of the other from the inside."

"I-I have always felt like notes were benevolent and kind..."

"And what of dark magic?" Eva asked, finally looking up at me.

"... It feels off." I couldn't look her in the eyes. "It just... feels evil."

Eva stood up from her seat so fast that her desk shifted noisily, promptly rousing Birdy from its sleep. She approached me as though she was a predator and I was a shifty-footed prey.

"Can you conjure it?" she asked, her face barely masking her excitement.

I took a shaky breath. "... I believe I might be able to do it this time."

"Will you now?" The assassin crossed by me and laid a gentle hand on my companion animal. The bird edged its head a bit closer to the warmth of her fingertips.

"Well... Maybe not now," I mumbled, suddenly backing away from her challenge. "But soon. I know I'll be able to do it very soon."

"Good," she muttered, quietly petting at the bird's soft feathers. "Because you have long been ready."

~~

I should have known nothing would turn right. Nothing would ever be alright about joining an assassin group after all.

"Well?" the purple-haired assassin called out to me, her voice as gentle as a mother's to her mewling babe. "This is the last test, Eleftheria. And then, you'll finally be able to choose."

My mouth shivered and I knew I could never spout out anything coherent, so I simply chose to shake my head at the scene in front of me. My hands looked like it held a conflagration of pure darkness, and my skin festered underneath its deathly-cold touch.

I breathed in and out. In and out.

It felt like my chest might explode from the intense beating of my heart. Tears had long made my sense of sight groggy and twisted. My breathing had soon turned into contorted gasps for breath.

What did Eva once say to me?

'You still have time. And anyway, training is never a race, and if you go too fast... Well, your innards might just implode.'

Ha... I definitely felt like I might simply implode into dust, but alas, I surely had very little time left now.

"Just do it, princess," I heard a voice tell me calmly. "It'll only hurt more if you prolong the process."

I wanted to cry out in despair, or simply run from it all.

But I held a dangerous ball of power in my hands, and it was quickly siphoning out my own life from me.

Everything about me was shaky and confusing... but I knew the clock to my very own life was ticking mercilessly on.

I forced a foot forward. Then another.

Soon, I was right in front of it. It lay so obediently on the table just as I had commanded it. For months, it has proved as my only friend. My only companion.

"B-Birdy..." I cried. I can almost see its dark, beady eyes looking up at me with complete and utter trust.

'Just do it,' my thoughts commanded me.

And my body followed in turn. I released the magic through the air and straight towards it.

It might've been all my imagination, but I could almost see its beady eyes tearing up as it was swallowed up by the dark flames.