7: Hollow Past

AN: This is a flashback chapter. This chapter is basically where my warnings start. So, prepare yourselves.

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Agate eyes – sharp, vivid and filled with untold hatred – glared at the man before them. Blood sluggishly runs down their owner’s face from the cut she bore on her forehead, as well as from the thin cut on her bottom lip.

Trembling in her arms was a copper-red haired little girl, who clung to her like a life line; burying her small, petite face into her chest. Besides her sat an amber skinned boy holding the head of an unconscious woman in his laps. He too was bleeding, as was the woman on the floor. The sharp azure eyes of the ash- brown haired boy was filled with equal hatred and rage as hers.

They both watched as the ash-blond haired man stalked out of the room, his fists and clothes specked with blood.

When the door closed, the owner of the agate eyes comforted the trembling child in her arms in a low voice. The boy beside her let go of the head in his hands, allowing the awaiting robot to pick up the unconscious woman.

Leilyn stood up with the child in her arms, and they all left the trashed room, the robot in the lead.

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A pain filled hiss passed through Leilyn’s clinched teeth as the brush once again made contact with the still fresh cut. Amharic gave her a sad smile in apology.

“There.” The dark skinned woman dropped the brush. “All done. You look good as new.”

Leilyn stared at the mirror before her with dull, dead eyes, turning her face from side to side. Her cuts and bruises were gone, hidden under the water and smear proof make-up. Only her beauty marks were still visible, both under her eyes.

“Mother.”

Amharic’s hand paused. She looked at her daughter through the mirror.

“Why haven’t you left yet?” The seven year old asked.

Amharic sighed through her nose, dropping the make-up brush. She turned to the girl, a defeated look on her face.

“I- I can’t.” Amharic croaked out. “I have nowhere to go. Even if I did, your father will still find me. And I… I still love him. No matter how many times he hurt and humiliate me and my children, I… I still love him.” Tears started brimming at the corners of her eyes. She held her daughter’s face in her hands. “I’m so sorry.” The tears finally won, falling down her bruised face, decorated with black and purple coloration. “I’m so sorry I can’t protect you all.”

The battered and bruised woman laid her forehead on Leilyn’s head, sobbing uncontrollable. Leilyn just closed her eyes, wishing that she could do something. Anything.

_______________________

Eight year old Leilyn stared through the glass window at the figure hooked up to machines in the sickening white room. Besides her stood Damien, who bore a look of rage on his face, hands balled up in tight fists; and her mother, who was on the floor sobbing uncontrollably, a gloved hand on her mouth trying – and failing – to muffle her cries.

The door opened, and they all turned their head to its direction. And in came the last person they wanted to see.

“You!” Amharic snarled. She jumped up to her feet and dived at him, landing a hard punch to his face. He landed on the floor, face filled with surprise. “What have you done to my daughter?!”

Amharic jumped on him and started throwing well aimed punches at his face. He tried to block them, but Amharic just punched them. Due to the rings on her fingers, her punches hurt.

Francis tried to shove her off him, but she didn’t budge. Amharic was in rage, and right now all her mind was set on was murder. She punched wildly, getting him on his head, nose, eyes, mouth – basically everywhere. Soon, Francis’ face was covered in blood, but Amharic never stopped.

The dark skinned woman’s shouts of rage and Francis’ pained cries got the attention of staffs, who hurried to break them off. But Amharic never gave up. She freed herself from their grips and kept diving at Francis, fists pounding and clawing at him. It wasn’t until they tranquilized her that it became quite.

Through all these, Damien and Leilyn watched impassively, a wicked glint in their eyes. When Francis saw those eyes, a cold shiver of foreboding dread went down his spin.

______________________

Leilyn stared at the lake below her, eyes devoid of any light or emotion. The wind howled in her ears, ruffling her hair and gown. The twelve year old looked up at the dark sky, a blank look on her face. Without further ado, she jumped off the bridge, plundering into the water. When she hit the cold, breathtaking body of water, filled with rocks underneath; she blacked out, the drug in her body kicking in before she landed.

______________________

Leilyn stared at the dying figure not afar of from her. The man was crawling away, blood trailing after him. She paused in her typing, a brow rising up. She turned to look at her Sensei, who was staring at him in amusement. The teen closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of exasperation.

“Shin. Just put the bastard out of his misery.”

A voice cackled. Shinji looked at her, a demented grin on his face.

“Sure thing, Lyn-Lyn~” The teen gave her a two finger salute before skipping over to the crawling man. The teen raised his tanto blade, bringing it down on the man. The sword went through his back and into the dying man’s chest, drawing a shrill scream from him. When the teen wrenched his sword out, blood followed suit, spurting wildly.

Shinji began to mercilessly stab the man, not caring if he was already dead. Some of the dead man’s blood got on Shinji, dirtying him. That only excited him, and he increased the force of his stabs, his laughter turning into a demented one.

Leilyn once again sighed in exasperation. She gave her Sensei a pointed look, making the man to chuckle in amusement.

“Now, now Daughter. Let your brother have a little fun.”

Leilyn sighed. “You spoil him too much.”

“And so do you Lyn-Lyn!”

Leilyn once again rolled her eyes in exasperation, before going back to typing on the holo-console before her, stealing the files they came from. She effortlessly ignores the sounds of mad laughter and of blade meeting flesh, along with the splattering of blood.

_____________________

Leilyn stared at the teen before her with amused eyes. Her look was returned in kind by the purple and black clothed figure before her.

“So… you’re the Monochrome Phantom, huh? This is a surprise. Who would have thought that you, my brother, will be my rival on the killing board?”

Damien chuckled. “I’m honestly surprised Leilyn. To think that my little sister is the Masked Valkyrie. This is truly an unexpected twist.”

The two Sinclairs turned to the direction of their teachers. They seem to be hitting it off and- wait, was Sensei blushing?

Leilyn blinked rapidly, not believing her eyes. “Wow…” She muttered. Sensei was blushing at the Demon Fedora – even though he was glaring. What in the-

“…this is actually the first time I’ve seen R flirt with anyone with that look on his face.” Damien said, blinking in surprise.

“Zoranne, please record this. Shinji is never going to believe this.”

The two – plus A.I, via Leilyn’s raised mask – watch as the fedora wearing hitman flirted with the Master Assassin. Like Leilyn, Sensei’s mask was in his hand.

R stepped in front of Sensei, looking up at him – the Assassin was three or four inches taller than him, but Cosmos be damned, he was way taller than both Sinclairs – with a flirty grin. His hands made their way to Sensei’s butt and he grabbed the latex suit cladded cheeks, giving them a good squeeze. His move got him a sucker punch to the stomach as a reward. He went down on his knees with a choked groan.

Leilyn winced whilst Damien hissed in sympathy. The sharp knuckle protectors of the Shi no Kage Guild was no joke.

The two watched as Sensei grunted in annoyance, before turning his back to R. He was about to walk away when R reached out and grabbed his ass… again.

Damien and Leilyn sighed as the hitman got a backhand punch in the face for that, knocking his fedora off his head, releasing his spiky blond locks. Sensei started stomping on the man, face alit with fury. R just took it all with a pleased, wistful grin.

Leilyn really couldn’t blame R. Sensei was thick for a tall, muscular man. And add up his ethereal beauty and charms; you get one thick, scowling Ikemen.

“Fifty thousand UPCs says he’ll be die by Sensei’s hand very soon.” Leilyn sighed, turning to look at her brother.

“One hundred thousand says they’ll fuck very soon.” Damien said with a grin, getting an amused look from her.

The two teenagers turned their attention back on the two adults, amused, as well as equally exasperated.

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“You… you want to kill him?” Hector stared at the eighteen and seventeen year old teenagers before him.

Damien was standing up, leaning on one of the office chairs before him; while Leilyn sat on the other, looking like a perfect lady.

“Yes.” Leilyn answered, her face emotionless.

“But… but he’s your father.”

“And you’re his best friend, yet you’re fucking his wife.” Damien cocked a brow.

“How did you-”

“She’s our mother, Uncle Hector. We were wondering what had her glowing and happy lately; so we decided to investigate.”

“You… you are not angry?” Hector frowned.

“Hector, if anything, we are ecstatic. It gives us more reasons to kill the cheating and abusive bastard of a father the universe forced down our throat.” Damien grunted. “What do you say, uncle? Ready for some much needed disposal?”

A chilling grin spread out on the teenagers lips. A cold shiver went down Hector’s spine.

These kids… they were serious. What happened to them on their days in Saerion and Aesia?

A cold smirk took over Hector’s lips. He rested his elbows on his desk, interlocking his fingers before resting his chin on them.

“Where do we begin?”

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Damien and Leilyn stared down at the cowering figures before them. Around them – inside and outside the house – laid the broken and utterly dead bodies of their father’s guards, either machine, human, or cyborgs. They stood tall, weapons in hands – a black steel ninjato for Leilyn and two guns for Damien –, clothes stained with blood and oil.

“Please, wait.” Francis raised a hand, the other pushing the woman and children behind him. “I’ll give you anything you want. Just name it.”

Damien and Leilyn decided to not wear their usual work clothes, instead optioning for midnight black full bodysuits which had hoodies. They wore equally non-traceable leather gloves and boots, and they also wore breathable full face masks – made by Leilyn with Nano-tech to mask everything about their facial appearances, even their voices. So right now, they were not associated with any of their Guild. They were simply on their own mission.

“I wonder if you’ll behave the same way as you do right now with our mother. But knowing you, father, that’s an impossible thought.”

“Fa- father?” The woman echoed, her baby blue eyes still blown wide with fear.

With a huff, Leilyn sheathed her sword into its sheath on her back, before taking hold of her mask; the thick clasp behind her head breaking down and going back into the mask. She slowly removed the mask, her short strands of hair falling on her face.

“Leilyn?!” Francis yelled, his eyes going wider in shock.

Damien, who had placed both guns back into their holsters on both of his thighs, followed his sister’s example. He removed his mask, showing his blank face to the five cowering idiots before them.

“Damien?!” Francis stood up, face alit with rage. “What is the meaning of this-”

Damien took out the gun from its holster on his right thigh, and promptly shot the man in both thighs. Francis went down with a blood curling scream. The teen hitman and assassin stared at him with bored expressions, before turning their attention onto the others.

“Hello.” Damien and Leilyn greeted monotonously.

“So, you’re the woman my shameless dog of a father is seeing behind my mother’s back, huh?” Leilyn smiled warmly. She took a step forward, making the woman and the kids to move scramble backwards. Leilyn’s smile became warmer as she walked up to them, passing her shouting father, and eventually cornered them. She grabbed hold of the blonde’s chin, looking straight into her eyes. “Hmmm, so you left my mother for a plain, mix blooded whore?” She released her chin and turned back to her father. With a chiding smile, she said, “How disappointing.”

“Why are you doing this?!” Francis gritted out through his pain. His eyes kept darting at Leilyn and Damien to Flora and the kids. “Did your mother send you?!”

Francis’ question got a deep chuckle from both of them. Leilyn slowly walked over to him. The endowed teen squatted in front of him, her smile still in place.

“On the contrary father, you brought us here.” Leilyn replied. Behind her, Flora and the kids began to move slowly away. Damien fired three warning shots at their feet, making them to scream and stop in fear. “Did you honestly think that karma won’t come back to bite you in the ass?”

The teen grabbed his face roughly. She looked into his eyes, her smile still warm and loving. “Did you honestly think that after many years of suffering, we won’t pay you back?”

Leilyn’s eyes narrowed into slits and the grip she had on her father’s face became tighter. “You, who ruined our lives and made us suffer unnecessarily. You, who made my mother, my siblings and I bleed for nothing but for your own sick game. You should have just ended your marriage with my mother. It isn’t a crime or offence to end a crumbling marriage. But you didn’t. You just kept her and us as your punching bags.”

Leilyn threw his face away. The teen nodded at Damien, who smiled dementedly. He wore his mask back, before using his now free hand to bring out a small, needle-free syringe from his jacket pocket. He uncapped the bottom before promptly jabbing it into Francis’ neck and pumped the liquid into his body; getting a yell of pain from the olive skinned man.

“Dear!” Flora called out, taking few steps forward. The children also shouted out ‘Father!’

Leilyn was beyond irritated now. The way her smile – to Damien’s eyes – became tighter and sweeter was very telling.

“Wha-” Francis tried to stand up, but he fell back down with a hiss, due to the pain in his thighs and a sudden wave of dizziness. “What did you give to me?!”

“Oh, nothing much.” Leilyn batted her hand dismissively. ”Just a little something to stop you from moving.” She intoned neutrally, watching as the man couldn’t hold himself up anymore and fell on his face. Damien placed the empty syringe back into his pocket before taking a fistful of his hair and used it to pull his upper body up. “It may have paralyzed your body, but you’ll still feel pain.” She smiled when he hissed at the way Damien was grabbing his hair.

“Please, stop!” Flora suddenly said, gaining their attention. She moved forward a bit, distancing herself from the two children. “Aren’t the two of you his children?!”

“But that didn’t stop you from becoming his side piece whore.”

The woman flinched at Leilyn’s words. The teen slowly stood up, eyes on the tan skinned woman.

“You knew he had a wife and kids, yet you still slithered your way into his bed.” Leilyn wiggled her fingers, taking slow steps towards her.

“I-”

“Since you came into his life, my father has been a mean piece of work.” Leilyn chuckled dryly. “The love he had for my mother literally dispersed into thin air, like literal smoke into the endless night. Then, he started his long time mission of making her and her children miserable. He hit us, humiliated us, injured us, and raped my sister!” She shouted the last part out, spinning around to look at Francis. “My sister, who was just six. Years. Old.” She spun back to face Flora, who had a wide, horrified look in her eyes. “My little sister has never been the same after that day. And it was because of him, and you.”

“I- I swear I didn’t know!”

“Of course you didn’t. He wanted to look good in the eyes of his perfect harlot. A good for nothing nobody, who ruined our happiness. You and him, along with the retched spawns he got from you, deserve to die.” A maniac glint appeared in her eyes, making Flora to take hurried steps back. “And you’re all in luck!” She chirped out in delight. “The time to receive your just reward has come~” She spread out her arms.

“NO!” Francis shouted, desperately trying to move his body. “Don’t do this!”

Leilyn turned to face him. “And why not?” The teen cocked her eyebrow.

“The Enforcers will find out! The moment the alarm was tripped, they were made aware! They are on their way as we speak!”

A snort escaped from Leilyn’s lips, then another, before she was full on cackling. Francis’ triumphant look melted from his face.

“Do you really think we are stupid?!” The teen continued her cackling. She abruptly stopped, her demeanor changing. “Father, there are such things known as A.Is. And unfortunately for you, I built four. Four A.Is who can dissect the very foundation of the government and bring it tumbling down with just the snap of my fingers. A.Is who are superior to that of the pathetic, inferior ones you and all those other company built. A.Is that can infiltrate and evade the entire world law enforcement. Honestly father, did you really think that my intelligence will go to waste?” She gave the man a mock patronizing look. “I built them to interfere with the Enforcers. To hide our dirty laundries. The same way you hid your years of abuse of us from them; it’s the same way they will hide your death.”

“No.”

“Fitting, isn’t it?” Leilyn chuckled. “To be killed by the very children you treated as nothing but trash. What a happy ending~”

“Please, no! Leilyn please! Don’t do this!”

The teen put back on her mask. “Just enjoy the show~” She gave an exaggerated bow, before swerving around to face Flora once more. The teen unsheathed the dagger behind her waist and gave it a quick spin.

“Leilyn! Stop!”

“Matthew! Moraena! Run!” Flora pushed the kids away. She dived at Leilyn, trying to stop her from reaching the fleeing young teens.

Leilyn buried the dagger into Flora’s stomach, making the woman to gasp loudly in pain. Seeing as his sister was busy, Damien took the liberty of bringing down the fleeing children, shooting both of them in the head. They dropped like puppets who suddenly had their strings cut and their blood began to join the rest on the floor.

“NO!” Francis screamed.

Leilyn used her knife to rip Flora’s stomach wide open, the woman screeching in agony at the action. The teen moved back, staring impassively at the wailing woman; who tried fruitless to pick up her intestines or keep the remaining ones from falling out. Leilyn walked behind her, roughly grabbing a fistful of brown hair. Flora struggled weakly, still sobbing in agony and body becoming pale due to massive blood loss.

Damien tugged Francis head up higher, so that he can look right at Leilyn and Flora. Leilyn’s mask gave way for her eyes, allowing the man to see the malicious glint in them. The teen placed her dagger by the left end of Flora’s throat, her grip on the dagger tight.

“Always remember father; this was all your fault. What you reap is what you sow.” And with that said, Leilyn slowly cut open Flora’s neck, blood spurting out like a geyser. Flora grabbed her neck, trying to stop the blood flow.. Leilyn kept looking at Francis, who had tears streaming down his eyes as he watched his mistress choke on her own blood.

When Flora finally stopped twitching, Leilyn let go of her hair; the woman’s body dropping unceremoniously on the floor with a loud thud.

Leilyn calmly walked over to her brother and father, boots leaving bloody footprints.

“You will pay for this!” Francis spat out, eyes filled with hatred.

“How? When you’re about to die too.” Leilyn chuckled. She squatted down and wiped the dagger clean of Flora’s on Francis’s shirt before sheathing it. “Don’t worry father; you’re about to join your ideal family quiet soon. Your earthly possessions will be well managed by my mother.” Francis’s eyes went wide at that, realizing the meaning of those words. Her mask reformed into its full state as she stood back up.

Damien and Leilyn walked out of the destroyed house with Damien dragging the cussing Francis with them. They met a certain dark skinned cyborg outside, who chuckled in amusement.

“I see y’all didn’t go easy on them.” The smoking cyborg stated, a wide grin on his lips.

“I thought I told you to leave.” Damien glared at him. Even though he couldn’t see it, he felt it.

“And miss the Monochrome Phantom and Hell’s Valkyrie in action? Hell no.” The cyborg laughed.

“Then I suggest you start leaving, Borgat.” Leilyn said, the teens not stopping to address him. “Z, bring out his car.”

The sound of a car turning on was heard, and the garage door opened, allowing it to drive out. Leilyn and Damien walked over to it, and the doors automatically slid up. Damien hefted Francis up and placed him in the front seat. He placed the man’s hands on the starring wheel, before pushing on the seat belt button.

While he did all these, Leilyn stood back, and was joined by Borgat. The cyborg watched in amusement as Francis was strapped in like a baby. Once done, Damien tapped the hood of the car before walking away.

“No!” Francis tried to move, fingers twitching. Ahh, looks like the drug was about to wear off. “What are you doing?!”

“Giving you the last ride of your life. Safe trip father.”

And with that said, the door closed shut. The three watched as the car drove off, controlled by Zoranne. Zoranne made it far a bit before driving the car off the cliff. Although Francis’s model of hovering car had an inbuilt flying system which would otherwise start up when such accidents were about to happen, this one didn’t; seeing as Zoranne fried the program.

With one last scream, Francis plundered to his death.

The two hitmen and assassin watched as an explosion occurred.

Borgat whistled. “Wow, I’m impressed. Not only did you kill everyone who stood in your way, you also staged an accident. I applaud you both.” He grinned at them. “Even though he was an asshole, he paid good dough.”

“Hn. Z.”

Borgat’s holo-watch made a sound, and the cyborg blinked owlishly. He tapped his and a small holo-screen popped before him. His previous grin came back wider and he stared at Leilyn in excitement.

“Pleasure doing business with ya, Lady Valkyrie.” He tipped his hat. The cyborg waved at them before getting on his bike and flying off.

The siblings watched him go, eyes impassive. They stared at the scene of carnage before them. Above them, their plane lost its invisibility. Two ropes dropped down and they grabbed one each. They threw one last passing glance at the crime scene before they were pulled up into the plane. Once in, they took a seat and began to remove their bloodied clothes.

Without further ado, the plane regained its invisibility and zoomed off.

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It was a bright and sunny day when the corpse of Francis Sinclair was burned. The world watched on as the well-dressed corpse of one of the world’s most influential man was incinerated in a transparent capsule. People in black stood solemnly, eyes filled with pity as they stared at his family.

Unlike her children, who were silent and had on blank expressions, Amharic was sobbing uncontrollable. Damien, who towered over his family, had an arm around his mother’s shoulders, while Leilyn had hers around Alexandra’s. The youngest Sinclair look at the burning corpse, eyes blank. Inside, she was jumping for joy.

He was finally gone.

Damien and Leilyn threw a quick glance at each other, smirking inwardly.

People thought that Amharic was crying because she lost her husband, but her and her children knew the real reason for her tears.

They were finally free of the asshole.

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Leilyn’s eyes roamed room. Her bored agate eyes jumped from one person to another, taking them all in. By her left sat Damien, and to her left sat her mother, then Alexandra.

The family of four sat majestically in comfortable, single couches. They radiated raw regal energy and their expressions were blank. They all stared at the ten individuals in the room with them with impassive and cold looks; which made said individuals uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry I am late.” Hector walked in, a single file in his hand. He blinked when he saw the number of people in the room. “Umm… why are there much people here?”

The other people consisting of the company’s main board members and other unknowns, shifted in their seats.

“Francis once informed me that if he were to die, I was meant to be in the will reading.” A woman, dressed in an expensive 20th century attire, commented. Others echoed the same thing, getting silent snorts from Damien and Leilyn.

“Well, I’m sorry to say that you all won’t be needed here. Only Mrs. Sinclair and her children are expected here.” Hector said.

“What?!” A man shouted.

“What do you mean?! Our names are supposed to be in that will!” Another woman shouted.

The room became noisy due to the constant screaming. Having had enough, Damien stood up with a sigh. The teen placed his fingers on his lips and released a shrill whistle. Leilyn winced at the volume. Consequences of having sharpened hearing.

Once Damien got their attention, the toned teen folded his arms – making his impressive muscles to bulge – and stared down at them with a look that made them step back or shiver in fear.

“Can you all kindly shut the fuck up?” The room became so quite that you could hear a cricket in the background. “Thank you.” He turned to Hector, who gave him a nod of thanks.

“Now then.” Hector cleared his throat, carefully tearing the seal of envelope. He brought out a single paper, holding it gently. “This will is only meant to be heard by the family members I’m afraid.”

“It’s okay, Hector.” Amharic waved her hands dismissively with a small smile. “Please, go ahead and read it.” It wasn’t as if it was going to contain anything good, knowing her black hearted husband. Well, ex-husband now.

“As you wish.” Hector inclined his head. He cleared his throat once again before he began.

Once Hector finished reading the will, the room erupted with shouts of rage and disbelief. Amharic stared at her lover in shock, mouth agape. Heck, even Alexandra looked surprise.

With a deep chuckle, Leilyn rested her elbow on the armrest of the couch she was on, fisted her hand before laying her cheek on it, a smirk on her lips.

How amusing.

___________________

“Are you two sure you want to do this?” Amharic asked in a worried voice.

“Yes, mother.” Leilyn heaved a sigh for what felt like the umpteenth time. Beside her, Damien smiled, an amused look aimed at his mother.

“You know, with the money Francis left, there’s no need to do this. You two can just work in the company with me.” Amharic pointed out.

The two siblings threw amused glances between themselves before huffing.

“Mother, the company is yours. And when Alexa is ready, she’ll be the one to take over.” Damien said.

“Damien and I want to start something new. If we stay with you, we’ll become too comfortable and lose track of our goals.” Leilyn walked up to Amharic and pulled her into a hug. “Please, don’t be offended.”

Amharic sighed, hugging her back. “I’m not.” Leilyn lets go of her. The dark skinned woman took her face into her hands, a stern look on her face. “I know you and your brother want to make names for yourselves, and I’ll never be an obstacle in the way of your dreams. Just… please be careful.”

The teenagers nodded in understanding.

With one last sigh, Amharic laid a soft kiss on Leilyn’s head.

“If you both have any problems, your A.Is will be there to help you. Yours and Zoranne will assist you in looking after the company in our absence, mom. And if you have any problems, or just want to hear our voices, you can use them to contact us easily. Our A.Is will update each other of our health status and inform us if something is critically wrong with one of us.” Leilyn said.

Once Leilyn stepped away from her to go hug her sister goodbye, Damien took over.

“Take care of yourself and Alexa, mom.” Damien said softly, a warm smile on his lips. When he moved back, Amharic kissed his forehead.

“I will.” The woman nodded.

Damien moved over to Alexa, pulling the young teen into his arms. He told the girl that she was now the woman of the house, telling her to take care of their mother and herself. The teen nodded aggressively, promising to do so.

With a glare, Amharic made R and Sensei – alias Leon and Tenoshira – promise that they will take care of her children.

With another hug of goodbye, the teens went into their respective cars, their respective teachers behind them. And without further ado, they were flying off to their respective Teleportation Centers and off to their respectful continent.

______________________

Nineteen year old Leilyn stared at the two men with a tired, happy grin.

Finally, after many years of wooing and then courting, R was finally getting married to Sensei.

The fedora loving man was grinning happily at the dead fish eyed man of his dreams – who had a small smile on his lips.

R was dressed in a white three piece, looking handsome and regal than usual. His spiky blond hair was still the way it was, although his thick studs were gone.

Sensei wasn’t lacking in the handsome department either. The man was dressed in a white yukata with purple flower petals, looking all regal in his Japanese attire.

Leilyn and Damien were standing in the role of the man/maid of honor for their respective teachers. Damien was dressed in a three piece suit – as usual – while Leilyn was dressed in a beautiful kimono. The falling cherry blossoms petals fluttering in the air gave the four of them exquisite looks, and the small congregation were spell bound.

When the two men exchange vows and wore each other’s rings and finally kissed, Damien and Leilyn heaved sighs of relief, giving each other amused looks.

Finally.

______________________

Leilyn blinked owlishly at the scene before her. The twenty-two year old soon found herself gapping in shock.

The two before her paused in their activity once they realized they were not alone. They stared at her with wide eyes.

Leilyn closed and open her mouth, unsure of what to say. After a minute of being tongue tied, the woman finally spoke.

“When you two are done, come meet me.” And with that, Leilyn walked out of the garden. She went and sat on the outdoor couch, under the large as hell gazebo. Five minutes later, they came, half dressed.

The two men sat before her, eyes not meeting hers.

“So… when did this start?”

“…three months ago.”

Leilyn cocked a brow. “And you never told me… because?”

“We weren’t, and still aren’t, sure if… this will last.”

“Hn.” Leilyn stared at them. “When are you going to make it official?”

“Maybe after a year.”

Leilyn hummed again. With a smirk, she said, “So, garden sex huh?”

Damien and Shinji groaned in dismay.

______________________

Agate eyes watched as the ship blasted off into the sky. Leilyn smiled with pride as her inventions were flown into space from all corners of the world. The holographic screens around the large room showed their successful departure into space.

Once the satellites of Medicus were in position around the globe, celebration began. With a grin, Leilyn activated them.

Finally, she can walk under the sun without feeling like she was in the depths of hell. And maybe, just maybe, the Lunar Project could become a reality as.

______________________

Leilyn rocked the sobbing Alexandra in her arms. She comforted the bleeding twenty-one year old, whispering words of comfort into her ears. The twenty-three year old raised her head and settled her gaze on Damien, who was currently choking the life out of Amber Heartstone, Alexandra’s girlfriend of two years. The twenty-four year old Sinclair, now Sandros, had the twenty-five year old Amber dangling in the air as his large hand restricted her of oxygen.

How could Leilyn not notice that something was seriously wrong with her sister’s relationship? Was she that busy that she didn’t see the signs? Heck, no one even noticed, not even R or Sensei. Alexandra hid her situation really well that not even master assassins, hitmen or ever knowing A.Is got a whiff of it.

But why did she stay? Why did she put up with the bullshit? Was this what love is? It was no different from her mother’s relationship with their late father, or hers with her previous lovers. Amber wasn’t different from those two who claimed to love Leilyn or her father who claimed to love her mother, but in the end wanted to kill them.

Leilyn’s face was pinched in rage. The woman placed an arm under Alexa’s knees and the other on her back. With a silent grunt, she got up, her still sobbing sister secured in her arms.

“Damien.” Leilyn called out. The man turned his head and regarded her with a cold, side eye. “Don’t kill her. It won’t do any good to do so right now.”

The ash-brown haired man narrowed his eyes into slits, and the grip he had on Amber’s throat tightened. He turned his eyes back at the choking woman, who was trying to pry his hand away, her legs kicking in the air.

“Damien.”

The man dropped her abruptly on the floor. Amber held her throat, coughing and taking in precious air. Damien stared down impassively at her shaking form, eyes still cold.

“Damien. Leave her. We’ll take care of this situation later.”

Amber raised her head to meet Damien’s eyes and the look in his eyes chilled her to the bone. His eyes screamed death.

Damien turned and calmly walked over to his sisters, removing his long trench coat. He covered Alexa before taking her from Leilyn’s hands. With a last promising cold glance at Amber, they left.

__________________

“You know you don’t have to do this, right? You don’t have to prove anything.”

“I know, Damien. But, I want- no, I have to do this.”

“But why?” Amharic asked, her eyes filled with confusion and fear.

Alexandra, soon to be Alexander, heaved a sigh.

“Since that day, I have always felt so weak.” The young woman began. “Even though you enrolled me into defense classes, mother, I still felt so pathetic. Even with Amber, I couldn’t protect myself. I couldn’t do anything. Even though I have an A.I who’s superefficient and could have ruined her life, I couldn’t do shit. And obviously, I couldn’t call you three to come to my rescue, again. I wanted to take care of myself without you all babying me. I thought I could take care of myself… but I thought wrong. I’ve always felt as if I was doing things wrong. I’ve always felt as if I’m not in my right skin. And no, this doesn’t have anything to The Incident. I just…” The woman heaved a tired sigh. “For once in my life, I want to do something right. I want to be strong. Doing this, it will make me strong. Right now, I finally feel free, as if I’m no longer hiding who I am. I want this.”

“But you don’t have change yourself just to be strong!” Amharic intoned strongly. “Take a good look at your sister!” She gestured at Leilyn, who stood with her arms folded, making her toned biceps – which had golden bands on them – to bulge out. “She’s strong the way she is! Alexandra, this surgery is permanent! What if later on you regret and then you-“

“Mother.”

Amharic stopped. Her body went slack in defeat, and a heavy sigh passed her lips.

Leilyn walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Alexa knows what she’s doing; she’s no longer a child. She has already started her transition process, it’s time for her to finish it.” Her mother nodded sadly. “Don’t be sad. You might be losing a daughter, but you’re getting another son.” Leilyn gave her a small smile.

Amharic sighed again, before raising her head and looking at Alexandra with a warm, shaky smile. She bent down and gave the sited woman a kiss on the forehead.

“Good luck in there, my jewel. May She be with you.”

Alexandra smiled lovingly at her.

With their own well wishes, and warning to the doctors, Damien and Leilyn, along with their mother, watch as Alexandra was taken away for her surgery.

____________________

Leilyn hummed one of her favorite song to the fussing thirteen months old in her arms. The child began to calm down two minutes later, burrowing his face into her bosoms. Soon, the child fell asleep.

“Wow, you’re really good at this.” Shinji said lowly, his usual wide grin still on his lips. He gently sat on the couch Leilyn was on, dark blue polished fingers reaching out to gently caress the baby’s chubby cheek. “Hidemitsu has never gone to sleep so fast – until today.”

“Hn. Seeing as he has both yours and my brother’s blood in him, it’s no surprise that he’s a hellion.” Leilyn grinned, an amused brow cocked. She chuckled breathlessly when the Japanese progeny groaned lowly.

“Who knew a Birth Chamber Pod will make such an angelic demonlin?”

Leilyn chuckled deeply, which made the child to whimper in his sleep. Composing herself, the dark red-copper head continued her humming.

“Let’s just pray he won’t be as demonic as R’s and Sensei’s Lexus and Ihara.” She whispered. Her statement got a huff of laughter from Shinji.

___________________

A twenty-six year old Leilyn stared blankly at the burning corpses before her. Her mind was blank, as were her emotions. The sound of her mother wailing in Hector’s arms and the quite sobbing of Alex in Shinji’s arms were like background noises to her.

Her brother… was dead. Damien was gone. Along with R.

The woman slowly walked up to the view glass, bypassing Sensei – who stared at the scene before him with an unearthly cold impassiveness, eyes dead and expression blank.

Leilyn placed her palms on the glass, her forehead meeting it with a dull thunk. She stared as the bodies burned to perfect ash – bones and all. Her brother’s ashes, along with his teacher’s, were carefully poured into elegant jars.

Leilyn slowly fisted her hands, eyebrows furrowing in anger and teeth gritting in rage. Her breath came in heavy huffs and puffs, the veins on her forehead popping.

Those bastards. Those cowards. They took two of her family in the most dishonorable way. They killed them in the most cowardly way.

Leilyn pounded once on the glass, the sound loud and clear.

They were all going to pay. In blood and death.

_____________________

For a month, blood and death rained down in heavy doses on three of five continents. After the death of the infamous Demon Fedora and Monochrome Phantom – as rumored by the Underworld -, hell was unleashed onto the elites of the Continents.

The Masked Valkyrie went on a killing spree that even the public had no choice but to notice. Some of the dead victims were either beheaded, sliced in two or killed in various ways by a sword or gun; while the others, who seemed to be her main target, were displayed in horrific manners. Some were killed by what looked to be needles.

Those who managed to survive death narrowly were traumatized for life. When asked to give statements, they refused, clearly afraid for their lives. One didn’t get the memo and he was later found dead.

According to him, she was accompanied by two others, their whole physic making it obvious that they were men. He mentioned that something was different about the Valkyrie. Instead of her familiar full mask which had a large smile and upside U eyes, she wore a black mask without any expression – only red tear marks were on the cheeks. One of the men had on an orange mask and wielded nothing but long metal needles as weapons; while the other had on purple mask and wielded a two headed spear, whilst bearing two guns hosteled on his laps. Like the Hell’s Valkyrie, their masks had tear marks on their cheek.

They were all brutal in their killings, the one with the purple mask more so than the others. He took great pleasure in making his enemies feel harrowing pain before killing them. Valkyrie and the orange one were more swift and quick in their execution. The orange masked man just threw needles out of nowhere at them in terrifying accuracy, killing them efficiently. No matter how many people were guiding their targets, they made quick work of them. Adding to the fact that they had a jet with heavy machinery, and with the aid of a handful of seemingly indestructible unknown robots, it was a massacre.

With more descriptions and investigation, the one with the orange mask was later identified as one of the world’s most deadly serial killer dubbed as The Silent Death, who had been said to have killed hundreds (more by the look of it) of people with the use of ancient weapons called senbons. He was known for making his victims into human sized pin cushions. If deadly senbons thrown into their eyes, skull or miraculously straight into their hearts didn’t kill them, then the poisons would. Those senbons leaked untraceable venoms in them when there forensic scientists looked into them.

The purple masked man was later on – many years after the incident – identified as The Savager, whose name meant what it implied. He was known for his savagery in his killings. His victims are either tortured to insanity or death, or are ripped or sliced apart, or simply both. He was one of the deadliest man on earth and he’s a kill on sight target to the Enforcers.

For these three killers to work together, someone had royally pissed them off.

Not even the Enforcers could stop them – as expected. The Enforcers who stood in their way by protecting their targets were simply cut down along with said target.

No one knew where they came from, nothing was known about them and why they did it. The cameras didn’t even get a whiff of them. It was as if they didn’t exist; as if they were myths or ghosts. But the bodies left in their wake made it very clear that they were not.

That month was dubbed the Month of Death, and the three of them were branded by the world as the Three Echoes of Death.

The number of people confirmed to be dead at their hands were one thousand, three hundred and forty-six (not counting the ten dead hitmen in the Underground). Among them were politicians and people of high positions. Heck, even the presidents of the Eurosia and Ameraetyr continent, along with their entire family and entourage, were killed. Even their cabinet members and their family were cut down. Everyone who the world knew were corrupt and those who had their hands in anything illegal, were cut down, and their crimes were aired for the world to see.

It was truly a bloody month.

Finally, after the death of Aesia’s Minister of Defense, the three death bringers vanished into thin air, never to be heard from or seen again.

________________________

“What is the meaning of this?” A twenty-eight year old Leilyn smacked a thick, heavy folder on her boss’s desk top. The files were picked up by said boss, and she read through it, her brows furrowing as her eyes scanned the papers in it.

“How did you get this?” Taesa Reinerzel asked, her narrowed eyes raising up to meet Leilyn’s. When she saw the look in Leilyn’s eyes, she froze.

“After all the warnings I gave you all, you still went ahead, behind my back, and pulled off this bullshit?” Leilyn hissed the last word.

Taesa gulped at her tone, beads of sweat starting to decorate her forehead.

Leilyn looked like death incarnate. Her aura screamed death, and her eyes pierced into Taesa’s very soul.

“Do not anger me, Taesa. I am not one you should cross. Fix this, or I’ll fix it for you myself. And trust me, you do not want that.” Leilyn chuckled darkly, making a cold shiver run down Taesa’s spine. “I’ve taken the liberty of deleting every blueprints of all my projects I have worked on with this company. That is the first step I’ve made for you. Now, you do the rest. If you don’t, both this company and the government will feel my wrath. Do not take my threats lightly. That is the last thing you should do.”

Leilyn gracefully spun around, heading for the door. She paused and turned back to face the director.

“Oh, by the way, I quit. After the opening of the Lunar Base, which you all have corrupted so, you won’t see a speck of me.”

And she walked out, ignoring the calls of her name.

______________________

“So, this is your new house, huh?” Shinji asked.

“Yep.” A thirty years old Leilyn replied, popping the ‘p’. She faced her family, arms spread out wide with a grin. “So, what do y’all think?”

“It’s so pretty, Aunty Lyn!” A nine year old Lexus said loudly.

“Pretty!” A five year old Hidemitsu echoed with a nod.

The ever silent seven year old Ihara just nodded curtly with a grunt. By the Cosmos, the girl took over from her papa (Sensei).

Leilyn’s grin widen the more. She clapped her hands together, her eyes closing.

“Now, who wants ice cream?”

“ME!” The kids replied as one; even the silent Ihara shouted.

With exasperated sighs from her mother, brother, Sensei and Shinji, they all went inside, the kids chatting incoherently.