"I will not fight."
Every cell in Asha's body screamed for her to kill them, but she remained perfectly still as the cadre's Swords were pointed at her throat.
A twitch of Asha's fingers had Quetzalcoatl rising from its coiled position wrapped around her arm. But another and Quetzico vanished entirely.
She smiled. "I'm sorry, but I didn't realize that all of their attacks put together would be that powerful. If I had known, I wouldn't have used that transcendental."
Blyke and Daniel lowered their swords before reaching out to grab her wrists.
Asha's eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a fierce snarl as she knocked the blades of Amelia and Ethelyn's swords out of the way, ignoring the bite of the blades into her skin. She grabbed the blades of Tim's and Rosaria's swords, a boy with brown-red hair and the same eyes, and a girl with brown hair and red streaks with blue eyes that seemed to ripple like a pond's.
Asha flipped backward, the swords slipping form the grips of their owners. It was only a quick wrist movement and she had her hands on the hilts.
She raised Rosaria's blue sword, the small wave etches in the blade catching the light before she threw it at Blyke, Tim's red-brown blade with the foxtail crossguard at Daniel.
Asha snarled at them before turning and leaping, jumping over the tall barriers set in place around the stadium. She landed lightly amongst the spectators before leaping again, sailing completely over the rafters.
"She jumped over the bleachers!"
"She's going to kill herself!"
"ASHA!"
Asha activated Quetzico's second form, and huge turquoise scaled wings burst form her back. One flap, and she shot up, rising above the arena.
Asha's lips were curled in a fierce snarl, eyes eyes narrowed dangerously, practically glowing, as they looked down on everyone below. "You dare presume to touch me?! Don't kid yourself. Your penalty should be death!"
Blyke shouted, "Asha! What happened?"
Asha looked down on him. Out of everyone, Blyke was the most caring of all of them. That would get him killed, eventually.
Asha could bet that not even half of the cadre had killed before.
Asha raised a hand, preparing to strike.
"Asha, please! Please-- stop!"
Asha's eyes widened and she froze.
"_________, please! Please--stop! He's already dead! He's already dead!"
Her arms stilled, the black blood dripping down her arms, down the tip of the knife blade that was inches from a mutilated chest.
"What have you done, ________?"
"Arrest her. Throw her in the dungeons, for all I care. To think I once called you my daughter."
Asha's hand shook.
Disgust, pity, sadness, fury, and fear.
Those were the emotions she saw in the eyes of other people when they saw her true colors, saw the scars she hid so well. And these were the emotions she felt for herself.
The last thing Asha saw was a pair of amethyst eyes.
How long would those eyes follow her?
∽
Amelia's eyes widened as the Queen fell out of the sky, the scaled wings going limp as a strong wind blew her over the edge of the arena again.
But this time, Asha couldn't save herself, though.
Amelia felt the sudden rush of wind, eyes widening even further as Blyke rushed by her, those strange purple eyes fixed ahead.
"Shadower, second form!"
Shocked. That was the only word Amelia had as furry panther ears appeared on Blyke's head, the tail swishing, the retractable claws sinking out of sight.
And then he jumped.
"BLYKE!" people screamed, Amelia one of them. She ran to the edge of the stands, leaning over the rails.
Blyke plunged after Asha. When he reached her, he held her against his chest as the ground grew nearer and nearer.
"Blyke, you asshole!" Daniel roared.
"Don't worry!" Blyke's voice was faint as he fell further and further. Just before he smashed into the ground, his claws shot out, and as he hit the ground, the claws bit deep into the earth. His grin was wicked and sharp. "Cat's always land on their feet."
Claws of diamondsteel, Amelia realised, as they did not shatter.
"What a show-off," Tim muttered from beside Amelia.
Blyke's cat ears twitched as he straightened, still holding Asha up, keeping her from crumpling on the ground.
Then he turned his back to them.
Amelia's eyes strained to track the blur that was Blyke running with Asha. Damn, when he was transformed, he was fast as hell.
"Where did he go?" Ethelyn asked quietly from behind Amelia, making her jump.
Amelia was always on guard around Ethelyn. It was eerie how easily she could sneak up on people. "I don't know. Probably to her room."
"Or he kidnapped her," Tim offered.
"It's not like Blyke can do anything to her. He's still a child," Rosaria said from a dozen feet away.
"You sound like you don't believe Blyke could kill her," Amelia said, amused.
Rosaria turned from them. "He can't. It's not in his blood. If he ever does kill, he probably will gain some sort of trauma from it."
"You sound as if you've killed before."
A wicked smile. "And if I say I have?"
Amelia's brows drew together.
"I'm only joking." Rosaria started walking away. "But some things can never be returned once they're taken."
∽
"So… your name is Asha, huh?"
"Yes."
"All along… I wonder why I never saw the connection."
"What about you, Trix? What will you do? With Inezirine? With the freedom you now have?" Asha asked, eyes sparkling in the fog.
The dark figure of Trix just shook its head. "We'll just have to see where the gods lead us."
"Believing in such things as the gods or a God is a mistake. They will fail you when you need them the most."
"They already have. But that's the importance of faith in them."
"Faith is a useless thing. I've learned long ago that anything you put faith in will betray you, eventually."
The scene faded out, instead a smile appearing in the mist. "Unclean. Unnecessary. Unwanted."
FIre spread, blocking everything out with their sickening ruby flames.
There was a flash of green and amethyst eyes before they vanished under the flames.
Hundreds of gruesomely grinning mouths and wide, made eyes appeared. "Unclean. Unnecessary. Unwanted. Unclean. Unnecessary. Unwanted. You need to die. You need to die. You need to die!"
Asha's eyes shot open.
She sat up quickly, eyes wide, breathing labored. She scanned her surroundings, eyes traveling over the familiar scene of her room.
Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a few dishes in the sink and a steaming bowl on the table beside the bed.
Asha reached for it, cautious. But when she saw it was just a bowl of broth with a few pieces of beef submerged below it, she was confused.
Then a sharp, fierce pain shot through her head, and Asha nearly dropped the bowl.
Hands reaching out to grab her.
A pair of clear purple eyes.
Grinning mouths and crazed eyes.
The white-hot brand moving toward the boy with green-gray and amethyst eyes.
Asha curled in on herself, arms wrapped around her knees, drawing herself into a ball. "I'm not how I was before," she whispered. "I am not unclean." She added in a snarl to nobody, "And neither is he."
Knock knock.
"Asha? Are you awake?"
"Is that you? Argo?"
"Who else?"
"Come in."
Asha's hand went under her pillow, fingers closing around the knife she kept for emergencies. Her eyes narrowed as the door opened.
"You were only out for about thirty minutes. Don't worry. I calmed the masses down." Argo had shiny, dark gray hair, like iron, and the same color eyes with flecks of gold. Her skin was near translucent, from the small amount that was showing. Only the skin around her eyes was visible, everything else covered in black.
"So, what have you come to tell me today, my precious info-broker?" Asha asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She was curious. Why would Argo come all the way to her? Especially when Argo had run out of their last meeting months ago, saying she was going to be busy for a long time.
"Just finished my job. It took longer than expected, but I found something you might like to know. It's about… him. Apparently he's not in Sophon anymore. However, where he went exactly is unknown. I do know that he's in one of the northern continents. Artemesa, or Kephri."
"Really, now? Is he stupid or something?" Asha asked. She stood, moving so she was toe-to-toe with Argo. Asha's hand moved up, hooking a finger around the veil covering Argo's nose and mouth.
But before she could pull it off, Argo's eyes flashed, and the top of a foot collided with the side of her head.
Asha flinched, hand going to where Argo had kicked her. If there were equals in this world, they would be Argo, Master, and Kaz Kyutaro.
And if there were people who could beat her, it would be Argo.
Despite over five years of association, Asha still had no clue about any of Argo's background. Where she was from, where she resided, other clients, et cetera. Asha didn't even know what was under the veil or the long, flowing, Eastern-style clothes going to the floor.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, Asha, I must be going." Argo turned and was halfway through the door before her voice called, "And, Asha? I'd be very cautious if I were you. I was doing a little digging… and I found something many, many people would like to get their hands on. Like your full title. Farewell for now, Young Mistress Asha Phantomhive."
Asha ran after Argo as the door shut, but when she managed to get it open again, Argo was gone. Asha ran her fingers through her hair. Argo wouldn't sell her out, would she?
But a figure walking up the path to her dorm house had her on guard again. She relaxed only slightly when she saw Blyke walking up the cobbled path to the house-like dorm room.
"What are you doing here, Blyke? Have you sniffed up the wrong tree, little puppy?" Asha asked, leaning against the door frame, a cocky smile stretched across her lips.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay. That was the first time I've ever seen you collapse like that." Blyke peeked over her shoulder before rounding on her in a fierce and almost protective tone. "You didn't eat the soup I made! Hurry up now, get in the room. Eat it. Now."
Asha's brow raised. "Ok, Nanny Blyke."
His lips curled up in a snarl. "Just because I'm not as cold as you are doesn't mean I'm any less of a fighter. It just makes me a better person."
Asha's brow fell and her face turned cold. She stalked into the room, grabbing the bowl of soup. But instead of bringing it to her lips, she threw it as hard and as fast as she could at Blyke's head. As the broth dripped from his brown locks into the floor, she snarled, "Get the hell out of my room, asshole."
"This just proves I'm the better person."
"I don't give a shit! I don't give an eyelash if you're a better person than me. I don't need you to tell me that, either! Now, get out. I already know I'm a selfish, cold-hearted bitch." Asha sent a blast of wind at him, knocking him through the door, slamming it shut so hard that the windows on either side shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere.
Asha sucked in a sharp breath as one of the shards slit deep into her cheek, teeth bared, eyes blazing.
When her mind could no longer make the emotions rushing through her, Asha summoned Quetzalcoatl, his shriek covering her own scream as she unleashed her emotions and her magic on the house.
The great flash of light could be seen all the way from the Fief Castle, and the debris managed to smash into the walls of the school.
When the students had gone running to find the source of the destruction, all that was left were a few pieces of wood and metal, and the bowl that had contained the soup, miraculously intact.
∽
"I don't care what you have to do!" Headmaster Randolph shouted, dark skin and hair and eyes standing out as he stood on the raised platform in the courtyard. "Find her! Find the Queen of Luminine!"
"Yes, Sir!" the cadre answered.
They raced in different directions, all shouting.
"Where in the name of hell did you go, Asha?" Blyke hissed. He was barely a mile from that house, running as fast as his Shadower's second form allowed, when the one-story house exploded. And the first thought that popped into his mind was the argument they'd had not even minutes before. Was this whole thing his fault?
Asha had a bad history of disappearing suddenly for even weeks at a time, but she'd never blown something up before, and this time there was a provocation. What could she do in the time before the cadre found her?
Blyke had to admit: Asha was by far the most powerful of the cadre, and he had no idea how. They knew nothing of Asha's life before moving to Luminine, only that she had come in through the gates looking like an abused animal, and when the Headmaster tried to put a hand on her shoulder, she fought him exactly like one.
Blyke froze. When Headmaster Randolph had tried to touch her, she fought back. He'd forgotten about Asha's touch aversion.
Even as guilt coursed through his veins, he had to wonder: what had happened to Asha to make her react like that?
Blyke rounded the cobbled path to the main dormitory. The members of the Disciplinary Committee and Student Council and the top of the Hierarchy all had separate rooms, while everyone else slept two to five per room. Depending on their breeding lines, they could get less people, or more. The daughter of a Baron shared her room with the daughter of a Viscount. Both high-standing children of the aristocracy.
This world was run by the high-bred and powerful. If you were not born into a high, rich family, or if you did not have the power to destroy the people who stand in your way, you would be trampled upon.
Blyke grit his teeth. "Dammit, Asha. You can't just run away like this! Explain yourself!"
Then Blyke heard something. It sounded almost like a bell tinkling in the distance. He slowed his sprint to a faltering walk, torn between investigating and finding Asha.
Blyke had always been a curious person, so he turned sixty degrees and started running again. He was tracking the sound with his hearing alone, and a human's hearing is quite weak, but he followed, ears straining.
He found a maze, tucked far into the backgrounds of the school. The bell was coming from the center; he was sure of it!
Blyke started into the maze, using his Shadower's second form to catch the sound and judge the distance.
It was a high, gentle ringing, almost like a bird's call, and something about it was intoxicating.
Blyke was completely fixated on it, forgetting all about Asha, focusing only on that sweet ringing.
He cheated, jumping over a few hedges, but he managed to find the center of the maze. A tall, majestic waterfall sat in the middle of the square, benches lining the hedge walls. But the water made no noise as it fell into the pool. A silent torrent of continuous water.
His eyes scanned around for the source of the ringing, and he passed the figure once before realising there was a person on the other side of the curtain of water.
A person dressed all in black, sitting on the ledge to the pool that collected the water as it poured from the top of the fountain. In the figure's hands, pinched between the thumb and forefinger, was a shining silver bell.
Blyke took another step forward, and the figure turned to face him. Even from that far away, Blyke could see the gray-silver eyes. It was as if Death was staring him straight in the face.
The figure's brows drew together, the same dark black color as its hair, and stood. "You aren't who was supposed to hear the bell. But now that you've seen me, I have no choice but to kill you, now, do I?"
Blyke gaped. This person was beautiful, and he saw a scrap of fabric on the ground that looked as if it could be a veil. The features changed suddenly, turning more angled, colder, losing its softness.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, voice soft, like a breeze rustling leaves of a tree. "Do you realize the grave sin of looking at the face of a Reaper?"
"A reaper? Like Death?"
"We take the souls of the unworthy and destroy them. We steal the souls of the damned and cast them into Hell. We smother the unclean, the sinful, and each transgression has its own punishment. But we also carry and escort the souls of the people to the gates of Heaven."
Blyke laughed, but the noise died in his throat when a very cold pair of eyes glared at him. The eyes were so cold, Blyke could swear the temperature dropped forty degrees, and the pressure radiating from her threatened to pull him under.
Was this how the low tiers felt around the cadre?
No. This wasn't just radiating power, but every touch of that aura was a cold, oppressive caress of death. If he stayed here too long, that aura might just cause his heart to stop.
"Who- who are you?" he breathed, taking a step back.
"Our name is Azrael. My name… you can call me Argo. Now, Blyke Hagani, last of the Hagani line, prepare to die today!"
Blyke stumbled back as the girl, Argo, lunged for him. He bent backwards, narrowly avoiding the black-gloved hand reaching out to grab him by the throat. Then he reacted. "Shadower!"
His cat ears and tail and claws vanished before the shadows on the ground collected and rose to form the huge black panther with bright purple eyes. "If you claim yourself as Death, then why have there been no rumors about you?" Blyke demanded.
Argo covered her eyes with her fingers. The laugh that came from her was cold, dark, and more than a bit mad. "You want to know why nobody talks about me? Though I go around reaping the souls of the dead?" The laughing stopped. "Well, Young Lord Hagani, that answer would have to be…" Her fingers parted, and a pair of silver glowing eyes stared at him through them. "Dead men tell no tales, now, do they?"
Argo pulled her left glove off, showing Blyke the top of her hand. A crest of a raven with its wings outstretched behind a lance with a crossguard just below the blade shaped like a pair of raven wings.
Ravens, the symbol of death, Blyke realised.
"Spirit Spear Synaisthia!" Argo's crest glowed before shattering, and a long lance appeared in her hands. The shaft was easily seven feet, the blade another foot.
Blyke was barely under six feet, and Argo was easily the same height, but it seemed to him that Argo was looking down on him.
Blyke dodged the first stab of the lance, jumping back. Shadower lunged forward, claws and teeth aiming for Argo.
But Argo moved fast, dodging gracefully. The crossguard of the lance hit him hard in the shoulder, sending him tumbling over himself from the force of the blow. Blyke realised very suddenly that this was the first time he'd felt the dark, angry bloodlust he felt then. Not even Asha, when she was in a bad mood, had ever radiated this kind of feeling.
"Prepare to die, Last Lord Hagani!" Argo was above him, the lance aimed for his heart.
Blyke realised it then. He was going to die. He was going to die, and nobody would find his body for a long time. He was going to die, and his parents' death would be for nothing. He was going to die, and leave his parents' murderers intact.
A blue-green sword knocked the lance out of the way, the tip burying itself in the grass barely half an inch from his throat.
"You're a disgrace, Blyke. I can't believe such a weak attack nearly killed you. My attacks are at least twice as strong."
"At full power, Young Phantomhive, you still can't beat me."
Asha grinned from above Blyke. "I can still try, now, can't I?" Asha swiped at the lance again, knocking it out of the ground, stepping in front of Blyke. She smiled over her shoulder, but something about the way she held herself, the tone of her voice, the look in her eyes, was off. "Now you just stay behind me."
Blyke gaped. "W- wait, Asha--"
The two lunged at each other, Argo's veil somehow back into place. Asha locked her blade with the shaft of Argo's lance.
Blyke stumbled back, still on the ground. That same rage and bloodlust that had gathered around Argo was perfectly copied around Asha. Were these her true emotions? Her true fighting?
The dance of black and turquoise was deadly, fast, and startling. It was over before it had begun, the two jumping apart, Asha pressing a hand to a wound in her side.
"Damn, you're too good. You've always been too good, Argo," Asha said, hand pressing harder, like she could shove the blood back into her body.
"Argo, you can't kill people not on the list."
Blyke's eyes widened as another figure dressed in all black appeared beside Argo.
"You'll be punished if you kill them. It's not time for them to die, yet."
Argo sighed, and the spear vanished. The seal on her hand appeared before being covered by the black fabric of her glove. "Whatever. It looks like fate changed today. I recommend you use this time the best you can. Looking Death in the face is never good news. Farewell, Lord Hagani, Mistress Phantomhive."
The two figures turned, their forms just vanishing as they did.
Asha turned to Blyke, smiling. "So, how are you?"
Blyke glared. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
∽