Amidst blood and scattered pieces of human flesh, stood a little figure staring hard at the debris of a clansman and an enemy.
She was only twelve, and the heir to the chiefdom.
She stood, motionless, humming a requiem for her dead bretheren. Crows cawed as the sun began dipping into the horizon. The cherry orchard had turned into a battlefield. It wasn't even a fair battlefield, it was like a slaughterhouse where their clan was slaughtered mercilessly like cattle by their cousins.
She couldn't cry. Only, a shocked tear escaped her eye down her flushed cheek.
"Why, brother?"
Chapter 1
"May I participate in the TAILSI competition?" the young Princess asked her sister, Lady Sono. Lady Sono was in charge of the Shell Island, one of the three islands that constituted the island country of Oscea.
"Princess Chaya, I believed we had reached a fair agreement in the matter," she replied calmly, "you know very well that I have brought forth the matter to the King, and he had refused without a second thought. However, may I ask why you want to even endanger yourself in such a ridiculous manner? You're already a Princess, What else do you need or want?"
"Lady Sono..." she said, after a a thought, "I am not where I desire to be. What I want is to fulfil my duty. It is... intangible. Worry not, I shall speak to the King myself."
"Very well," the older of the two said and exited the little alcove.
The sea gushed beneath the princess and she sighed. Now only one thing was left to do: To leave the Kingdom of Euphoria by hook or crook.
***
There was chaos in the Zennylverette Estate.
Lan, the assassin heir of the business of the family decided to walk away from his family. No one tried to stop him, or made a fuss about him leaving. It was just a phase, or so they believed. It happened every generation.
He arrived at Shell Island of Oscea, right before nightfall. After paying the toll taxes and changing currency into gold coins, he entered, free as a bird. Spotting an inn, he entered cheekily, yet mannerisms resembling that of a King. It spoke millions about his posh upbringing. The Zennylverette Family possessed wealth equal, if not more, to that of a Royal Family.
"Is this an inn?" he thought aloud, Yeah, definitely an inn... I read about them sometime back in Mr. Sakia's class.
The inn was completely constructed with fine wood, and the decor was simple; it was a little shabby, but the inn seemed to be a favourite, given the amount of people in there.
"Welcome sir!" a young girl said cheerfully.
He nodded and sat down at the counter. A woman who seemed to be the inn owner greeted him with a smile. She wasn't as pretty as his own mother, but seemed way kinder.
"Ma'am, business seemed to be doing well," he commented with a friendly wave.
"Well, well... in Summer, there isn't much of a choice," she smiled back, "And, please call me Miss Rydere or just Helen."
"Umm... no?" he said, unsure. What was this peasantry? "I've always been taught to refer to others by honorifics, I'm sorry."
"Then use the correct honorifics, it's Miss, sir," she corrected him.
"It's Lan... just Lan, not sir," he said with a suave smile,
This boy is going places, she thought. He reminded her of her nephew who was preparing for the 'legendary' TAILSI tests. She thought it was a pity that he had to take it up. The poor boy... he wasn't even interested in that.
"But, I daresay... it's not quite normal... to see so many people in such a confined space; is there a reason?" he said, eyes narrowing into slits. It was a habit of his: to narrow his eyes during a negotiation, "Is there some... juicy gossip?"
She lowered her voice and glanced at him, "The usual TAILSI."
"TAILSI?" he repeated, and thought it was lame. "Tell me more."
She cleared her throat, and drummed the wooden counter. He dropped some gold coins. Collecting the coins, she spoke softly, "Three days, to the Northern Kingdom. You will need the passcode, though."
"And that is?"
"Figure that out," she said with a cheerful smile.
It was distasteful to him to be suddenly cut that way. With a stale face, he said, "Lodging for any clean room for a night or two."
"Sure, sure,"
"Helen, I want the usual rooms!" A person said, entering. Judging from his tone and demeanor, he seemed to be a regular to Lan. He wore a long robe, that boasted the emblem of an Elite Family of some Kingdom. Following close behind him was a man, in much humbler robes. Lan knew he had seen him somewhere though he couldn't place where he'd seen him before.
"Sure! Welcome Master Perseus!" The lady said, as Lan wondered whether she was really still a 'miss', he wondered whether she was divorced.
"Ken will take his usual as well," he said, speaking for his companion. They didn't bother to sit down at the tables but disappeared with the keys.
"Living a clean life may not be so bad after all," Lan said to himself, as he allowed himself to be engulfed in the merry atmosphere of the lobby of the inn.
***
At Hilm City, Tylan Continent, the TAILSI Island's first island, 'Little Tail' hosted the Test's first tier that year.
Princess Chaya walked around, silently observing all the others, classing them as threats or no threats. She wore a black cloak, the cloak of her clan. She had had a struggle to reach there, the first hurdle being the King of Oscea.
All of a sudden, she felt a jerk on her elbow. She felt the same sensations of being pulled back... like the one that she felt when they were attacked. She remembered her brother that pulled her out and then the brother who betrayed them.
"Chay, you're alive?" Lan's excited and breathy voice made a chill run down her spine.
"Apparently, yes. Nice greeting though, Lan," she replied with a shrug, "I got involved in some governmental and monarchical codswallop, so I haven't been able to notify anyone of my survival... including Beast and Crystal."
"Mom would be overjoyed to know you're alive!" he said with a shrill whisper. His excitement turned into a bitter face as he remembered his mother's face. She looked too much like his older brother that he was always wary of.
"I know, I'm sure," she said, "Aunt Maria has been a hysterical person."
"Anyway," He said and embraced her for a whole minute, "You've grown taller, Chay."
"I guess," She shrugged, "speaking of aunt Maria, why aren't you at the Estate? Won't you be having more lessons? I missed out on a lot."
"Oh... that?" he said, the red of his eyes showing boredom, "I ditched being an assassin. It's so monotonous. They teach you to kill in several techniques, but in practice, we don't get to use those, right?"
Chaya nodded, "I see, you're following the path of all the leaders of the White Blood."
"Not that crap again," he rolled his eyes, "They probably let me loose without a fuss because they thought I'd return. But joke's on them, I'd rather kill myself than return."
"Dramatic, as per usual," she said, looking around, "After we got annihilated, I wasted a lot of my time for no purpose. I almost forgot my duty to the clan, as the heir... or so called heir. I remembered the call of my duty only a few weeks back. I'm ashamed of my carelessness."
"Don't be, Chay... it's not even your fault. You've had it rougher than me."
"Don't say that," She mumbled, "I need to find Beast and Crystal. A revenge scheme is the only thing that can redeem me now."
"Whoa... cool!" Lan said, arms raised.
"Stop acting like you actually want to join me," she rolled her eyes, "I know how you hate this shitty business of our families are draining the life out of you. You haven't changed one bit."
"You really do know me, don't you?" he grinned and sneakily added, "I'd return to the White Blood for you."
***
A young boy fumbled out his way through the crowd to somehow reach the island of Little Tailsi. His blue- black hair almost read to his eyes, and it only made him look more pitiful.
"So, this is it?" He thought. The test that was forced upon me?
"Hey!"
He turned around, afraid that he had tumbled into some trouble with rogues. But was surprised to find that in the place of macho, older bullies, there was a young boy, probably older than him, but definitely not very old. Aside that, he was beautiful; the young man's black hair looked silky and his eyes were of the palest red of dawn. His proportions and face was overwhelmingly attractive, with a feminine touch to his edges.
"Yeah?" He said, after staring for a while.
"This is yours, isn't it?" the young man smiled. He held a black knife with a skilfully carved hilt.
"yeah, where did you-"
"You dropped it just now," he replied.
"Thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do without it." He said.
"Be careful," he replied with a smile that could melt the hardest heart.
"Thanks again; I'm Vene Rydere." He said, a little pride to his family name. Almost everyone in the world of TAILSI knew the Rydere family. That was the only asset of being in the family, he thought.
"You're welcome," he said, unimpressed. "They call me Rain."
"He was really good looking. Why was he really good looking? And he looks kind. Why is someone with such assets in a place like this? And Was it possible that he didn't know the Rydere family?" It made Vene laugh, "It isn't such a small world, I guess,"
As he walked back and forth, in his monologue, another knife swayed off. Lan caught it lightly and called out, "Excuse me, but you almost dropped this!"
He turned around and immediately recognised the knife. It was a custom made knife, passed on to him by one of his distant cousin who died in one of his expeditions.
"Thank you so much," he said checking for any scratches. Why am I so clumsy? Am I nervous? Hell yeah. He glanced at Chaya and in a moment was down on one knee, "Forgive me but are you not Princess Chaya?"
"Princess?" Lan said, surprised, "Is this what you meant by monarchical codswallop? Well, you're nothing short of a Princess though."
"Precisely," she said nonchalantly, "How did you know... sir?"
"I'm a resident of Shell island. Rydere is my humble family." he said head still hanging.
"Ah, Rydere..." she said, "The legendary family with the most TAILSI membership recorded. I am quite aware of your family. So, are you here to increase the number of members?"
"Yeah..." he said sheepishly.
"Really?" Lan jumped in, evidently fascinated by it, "How cool would that be? All adventure and expedition!"
"Not really," Vene replied, "All members of the family have to be a TAILSI member or at least passed the tests. It is a binding rule, even for the sickly and infirm. If I had a say in the matter, I'd do away with it."
"My, my... mmm," the man from the inn said, all of a sudden, "If it isn't little Vene! What a delightful surprise!"
"Master Perseus, what are you doing here?" Vene excalimed, "I mean, you've already passed the tests, haven't you?"
"Yes, Ken, too," he said smiling brightly. Apparently, he was the only ball of sunshine in the gloomy atmosphere. He continued, "We can take the tests as often as we please. Sometimes, we are invited back to sort things out... which I can't tell you."
"I see..." Lan and Vene said.
"What are you doing here?" Chaya asked with a sudden grimness. Her hand was resting cautiously on the silver hilt of her sword. Ken and Chaya looked at each other, eye-to-eye. The silence was filled with hatred.
"Now, now," Perseus interruted them, hands flailing, "Peace ho! How has my aide offended you, Miss?"
She gave him a brief look, eyes still cold and showed no regard for Perseus. Lan tried to think of when he saw Ken before. He thought he'd seen him when he saw him at the inn, but now that he saw Chaya's reaction, he was sure he did.
"I'm speaking to the filthy Blue Blood here," she said coldly. She saw him at the battlefield. There was no mistaking. He was definitely there, behind her cousin, Elvie.
"Oh," Lan said, realising, "You were at the Assembly of the Blood! Now I know!"
"I left the Order of the Blue Blood two years back," he said, speaking for the first time. His voice was soft and eloquent.
"That does not take away the fact that you were a part of the massacre of thr Red Bloods. You're as guilty as any Blue Blood or even the filthiest of all, Reu." she spitted.
"Hey," Nene whispered to Lan, "What's going on? Why is the Princess so reeled up?"
Lan was enthusiastic. He didn't bother to whisper when he said, "If we are lucky enough, we will witness a very dope battle! Ahaha, I can't wait to see!"
"By any chance, was the Princess a member of the Assembly of the Blood?" Vene asked to which Lan nodded. "And you?"
"Uh huh" Lan nodded, "ex member actually. From the Order of the White Blood. Chay was from the Red Blood and that man, he was from the Blue Blood apparently."
"Are you guys not the deadliest assassins and marauders?"
"Excuse me," Lan said, frowning, "That is an insult to the deadliest assassins and marauders. I can hardly claim to be as strong as real assassins up the rung of the ladder. Chay was stronger than me, I don't know if she still is. You know, puberty and all that." Lan continued merrily, "There is this basic misunderstanding about the Assembly of the Blood. Firstly, Red Bloods and White Bloods are pure bloods, and we inter marry to keep the line pure. Secondly, not all of us are assassins and marauders. Specially whose from the Blue Line. There are hunters, gamblers, robbers, avengers, TAILSI and many more. Of course there are also purebloods, but most of them are from the outside or through matrimonial allegiance."
"I'm not sure if you're supposed to tell me this." Vene said.
"Oh, why not?" Lan said casually, "it's all over the net anyway. It's not like I know that just like that. I had to look for the correct sites online. Ah," He said dully, "There are too many flukes."
"I see," Vene murmured, "what are your ranks?"
"I was an A, Chay was a double A," He replied, "that dude over there was probably an S or a double S. All Blue Bloods are over A."
"Would that mean the Princess would lose?"
"No, it's unpredictable."
"Chaya, sheathe your sword," Ken said calmly which seemed to incense her more, "Shame not your master and teacher by this recklessness."
"Who do you think you are to order me around?" She smirked, "And don't you dare mention Zere ever again, crappy mouth."
She quickly walked away.
"Chay, wait up," Lan said, following her.
Vene watched their back in wonder. "It's not very surprising, is it? Princess Chaya was adopted a year back."
"Are you leaving, too?" Perseus said with a smile.
"Should I?"
"You better. They're your age, Vene. Friendship is better than kinship."
***
The mention of Zere had done the trick. She felt the guilt riding up her stomach to her throat.
"Chay!" Lan called out and half her shoulder jerking her to a stop.
"Are you all right?"
"Do I look like I'm all right?" She asked, laughing bitterly, "I'm sorry, I lost my cool back there, didn't I?"
"Peaceful assassins can be harsh, too." He mumbled, as they sat down at a corner.
He was correct. The Red Bloods were the Peaceful assassins that kept to themselves, only killing for money, not out of bloodlust. That was what they were like. Only, Reu, the eldest son of the strongest assassin decided to rebel.
"Ken," Perseus said, watching Vene's fading back, "don't allow her to kill you. That was downright a spirit of broken vengeance." He added darkly, "It's an order."
"I understand."
"Do you remember this?" Chaya said, holding a silver pendant suspended by a silver chain.
"You still have that?" Lan said with an amused smile, "How long ago was that anyway? Four years? Five?"
"Seven actually," She corrected, "I couldn't get rid of it. And you? You probably lost it, right?"
"Wrong," He grinned, taking out a similar one from underneath his shirt, "I thought it looked good on me."
"As per usual, the daily do we of who boost." She sighed heavily.
"Hey, Vene!" Lan called out, noticing the flop of blue black hair. He waved to Vene, beckoning him to go to them.
"Sit, sit," Lan said with a smile, "and tell me more about your family."
Vene smiled sheepishly and sat where Lan gestured. "Well, where do I start?"
"How about father?"
"I don't know much, but he was... "
***
Rain stood silently, gazing at a mold that had formed on the rusted wall. He could hear a fight breaking out behind him. Just as everyone else, he turned to watch the fight, mentally judging them.
"Hah," One of the apparent bully said, "You're weak!"
Rain saw the victim, who was a smaller man or... woman? He couldn't tell. The victim didn't protest. He watched, trying not to intervene.
"What, you're not going to apologise for being on the way?" The bully roared.
"You didn't watch your way and bumped into me when I was clearly at a corner," The victim said finally.
"What?" The bully said, getting riled up with madness, and began attacking the poor soul.
Rain was amused.
And angry.
"Mister, you're going to kill him this way," He said, stepping in between.
"Who the hell are you?" He yelled, "Pretty boy, is this your first time here? It's the Law of the Jungle here!"
"Okay...?" He said, unable to connect the dots.
"I'll throw you to the afterlife before the exams begins. It'll be a help to the examiners!" He said with a wannabe intimidating laugh, "So you know how many of your kind I've killed? A true blue blood!"
Rain laughed out loud, "Yeah, sure. My kind? You call yourself a Blue Blood? The only kind of Blue Blood you'll ever be is an octopus."
He remembered the bloody battlefield; was it four years or five?
"Why you little-"
"Rain!" A little girl's voice resounded.
They all looked at her direction. She ran to the men in the middle of a sassy war of words, clearly unperturbed by the heavy atmosphere.
"Rain, I have news!" She said with a bright smile. She was tiny, and her voice was sharp and shrill like that of a child's. "Let's go over there!"
He looked at her with a smile.
Rain gave him a dark glare, approaching him. He said in a low voice, loud enough only for him to hear, "You're lucky my little sister cane here. Don't ever joke about my people or you being a member of a higher species unless you're at least an A rank. Remember, bragging rights belong only to the strong."
He walked with her.
The man, getting furious, rushed to attack him. Somehow he was down on the ground.
"Don't you dare touch my Rain," The little girl said and continued walking with him.
"Hmm, what's the big news, Kari?" Rain asked later.
"Blue Bloods. In here and around here." She said grimly.
"And?" His smile was beautiful and terrifying.
"Purebloods. He doesn't smell like the ones four back, but he smells terrible."
His clear eyes reflected watery hatred. His rich black hair revealed an inner lock, red in colour almost as if his irises could not contain the redness and slipped off to his hair.
It was a major sign. He was a card of the Crimson Deck, an old clan of isolated people who minded their own business; massacred like the Red Bloods by the Blue Bloods.
***
"Did you sense that?" Chaya said softly. Lan wore an alarmed look.
"So it has begun?" He smirked, "I'm glad to have quit the White Blood. I'm not interested in this kind of drama."
***
Perseus looked at the bleak sky and sniffed, "So much malice. What a turn on, isn't it?"
Ken smirked, "I'm the reason, am I not?"
***
"A black lock turned red,
Implies blood shall be shed.
A lock of silver tuned black,
Will revive the past back."
Lady Sono murmured to herself as she sat, staring at the forlorn sea. She stroked a black lock of her silver hair and gave a nonchalant smile.
"How long shall it last?"