Chapter 3

Aria had barely stayed in the town for a day, and she was already tired of it. The scent of fish clung to her, not getting any less disgusting as the hours passed.

"I need to take a nice, long bath, and a change of clothes once I get out of here," she mutters under her breath as she stares up at the ceiling. Night was settling in and she could feel her muscles cramping from the lack of exercise.

The single window in the room had no blinds or curtains, much to Aria's disappointment, but it hardly mattered as she rarely used the lights and it was nearly always dark outside. Even when the sun high in the sky, the smoke that seemed to come from virtually nowhere was thick enough to shield most of the sun's rays. However, that didn't mean that the heat was any less blistering.

Heading to the bathroom, Aria washes her face with semi-cold water before going and grabbing a pair of boots along with a few of her knives. One can never be too cautious although the likelihood of a fight breaking out was low. From what she saw during the day, the town was quite calm, but the man had told her to be on her guard at night.

She stops at the door, throwing a quick scan around the room before locking the door behind her.

A sigh escapes her lips as she walks through the empty roads, the soft breeze alleviating some of the heat. Everything is dead silent, only the ruffle of was leaves being scraped along the dirt by the wind can be heard. Despite having learned the skill of being quiet, it makes her antsy. She was used to the loud clash of weapons or the sound of galloping horse hooves.

Aria lets out a soft laugh. Barely five days, and she was already homesick. Everything here was unbearable. The scent, the heat, the smoke.

The ache to be back with her friends pressed down on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

She pauses for a moment and leans against a stone wall, the touch reminding her of her mother's gravestone. Shuddering, she backs away slightly before silently scolding herself.

To think that she was the most revered assassin, yet she couldn't even make it five days alone. If anyone heard of it, they would break down laughing.

"Get a grip," she mutters under her breath.

Suddenly, she hears footsteps in an alley not too far from her. Quietly creeping closer, Aria peeks around the corner, her eyes widening as she sees a girl cower down in front of a man. If she had to guess, Aria assumes that the girl is barely thirteen years old. The man's face was concealed by the cowl of his cloak, but even from a distance, she could see that he had a sigil marking him as part of the King's guard.

"Now come on," the guard says in a slimy voice as he leans down to cup the girl's face. "Someone as pretty as you shouldn't be out on her own."

Aria's eyes narrow and her whole body shudders in disgust. It was men like him that brought a bad reputation to the king.

Two other guards walk in from the other end of the alley. One peers down at the girl and grins. "You're getting lucky tonight, aren't ya?"

The girl lets out a small sob, the pupils of her eyes dilated with fear.

Having enough, Aria steps out from the corner, her hand gripping her blade tightly, the weapon hidden within her cloak. "Step away from her."

The men's head jerk up in surprise. As they take her in, she sees them smile. "What do we have here? Another pretty lady here to join us?"

Aria scoffs, her eyes flickering to the girl. If she hadn't been there, Aria probably would have had some fun gutting them up. However, all she cares about now is to protect the child. "I wouldn't exactly consider myself a lady. Now, I won't repeat myself again. Step away."

"Or what?" the first man asks, an eyebrow cocked. "Three against one, girly. And I'm not sure if I even consider you one."

"Why not?"

The man looks back at his friends, laughing. "Because you're a girl! Not even a woman. What do you think? Now, why don't you leave us men and go run back to wherever you came from. Or you could join us if you like," he says suggestively, his hand reaching toward the still weeping girl.

Instinctively, Aria flings her knife out, the blade cleanly going through the man's hand. Another dagger is in her grip before the other can even react. When he does, Aria revels in the sound of his screams. Who knew that men could scream higher than little girls?

"You little bi-"

"I wouldn't finish that if I were you," Aria interrupts. "Especially since you got my knife all dirty with your filth."

She stalks forward, and the other two men look cowed for an instant before school in their faces into a sneer. "Stop being a little baby, John," one says to the now whimpering man. "Just pull the knife out and be done with it."

The man glares at his comrade, tears streaming down his face. "You go have a knife stuck through your hand and then talk to me about being a baby."

Rolling his eyes, the man reaches down and yanks the weapon out, ignoring John's scream of pain.

Aria watches the man toss it to the side, silently seething. That was one of her favorite blades, and to think that she had used it in scumbags such as these.

Her eyes settle on the girl, who sat there paralyzed with fear. Through all the commotion, the child hadn't even moved. Shaking her head, Aria sighs. Did she really have to do everything herself?

Aria steps forward, and the men look up at her as her shadow falls across them. A small flame hovered above her gloved hand, casting a dancing light in the dark. "I've told you to leave. Now get out."

The men scoff, but their eyes rest on the fire with fear. As moronic as they were, they weren't that stupid. They cast one last look down at the shivering girl that they had been tormenting before slowly backing away.

Aria rolls her eyes and turns away to the girl. "Are you okay?" she asks in a low voice.

The girl nods, her gaze falling on Aria's magic before she meets her golden eyes. She stares at the assassin without a hint of fear. "Thank you," she whispers.

Smiling, Aria crouches down until she was eye level with the girl. "You're not scared of me?"

"No. You saved me. Why would I be scared?"

Aria raises an eyebrow. Interesting thought process, but the girl isn't a trained killer. She doesn't know that it really didn't matter who saved you. Everyone was an enemy. "What's your name?" Aria asks.

"Kira," the girl says. "What's yours?"

"I'm-"

Her voice is cut off by a scream and she turns to find one of the men that she had chased off back in the alleyway, but this time with a new friend. Or maybe not a friend to the guard, considering the fact that he had the guard's arm twisted behind his back and held a dagger at his throat. "Next time, don't turn your back on the enemy," the stranger says to Aria. She only rolls her eyes.

Swiftly snapping the guard's arm, he kicks the man to the side.

Beside her, Kira's eyes light up. "Raiden!"

"Kira," Raiden murmurs, her name like a sigh of relief. Coming forward, he pulls the girl into a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't here." He looks over at Aria and she nearly jerks back as she finds herself staring at a pair of unnatural amethyst eyes. She had seen those eyes before.

Rebel. She found them after all.

"You might want to shut off your magic," he says. "It attracts attention."

"What attention?" Aria glances around them pointedly. The alley is now empty save for them. Raiden laughs.

"Well, it attracted mine for one," he says. "Fire, huh? That one's rare."

Aria gives him a tight smile before relinquishing her flame. She hadn't wanted to bring out her power in front of the rebels quite so soon but it can't be helped now. "What's yours?"

"Barrier," he says distractedly. "I can also sense auras of other magic users. Yours is familiar for some reason." Aria's body tenses slightly but Raiden doesn't notice. Instead, he simply shakes his head and says, "Thank you for saving Kira. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here."

Kira peeks adoringly up at Aria. "You should have seen her, Uncle Raiden! She made that man scream like a little girl."

Raiden chuckles and reaches out to ruffle the girl's hair. "I heard." He lets out a sigh and leans back. "God, your brother is going to kill me."

"You're absolutely right."

Letting out a long sigh, Aria looks up to find the newcomer glaring daggers at Raiden. And to think that she had thought the night would be quiet.