“Enrique! You’re too violent!”

“That bear knocked down my d*** hat!” He tipped said hat upwards.

“I can buy you another one!”

“No! It’s not the same!”

The pair of travelers walked through the woods. Enrique wore his orange cloak around him and carried at his waist his broadsword. The weapon was the color of fire, a searing red and orange.

“Is this Will of Flame thing activated? It’s changed color now.”

“No, it’s simply responding to your fire element.”

“Oh, okay. Well, three monster bears down, five more to go.”

Enrique scanned the path ahead of the dark green trees with a confident, calculating gaze in his brown eyes.

Vi had a curved sword in a black sheath at her side and wore her magically reinforced black top and shorts. She was calm, although she had already sensed danger.

The boy looked over at her. “It should be up ahead, right, Vi?”

Before she could reply, a blur of black leaped from a nearby treetop down towards her partner. At the same time, a shadowy figure flew towards him from behind. A bullet-like projectile suddenly appeared as well, streaking towards his side.

The fox woman whirled into motion. Her silver blade slashed out from its sheath and straight through the figure behind him. Simultaneously, one of her tails seized the black-clothed assailant from above, hurling the being to the ground. Another tail glowed with blue light and blocked the projectile before it could reach him, redirecting it into a nearby tree trunk.

The figure she had slashed vanished into wisps of black energy. She recognized it as a dark element clone, and the projectile as a magically reinforced bullet. The true attacker was the one from the treetops, and was now lying on the ground wrapped by three of her tails. Vi turned, flipped her sword, and held it with both hands to plunge into the chest of the assailant.

A hand reached out and grabbed her arm as she brought the blade down. She stopped, the tip of the sword a hair’s breadth from the attacker’s chest. She glanced at her partner.

“Wait,” Enrique said. “Don’t kill her, Vi. She might be useful to us.”

The fox woman’s eyes were cold and focused as they met the assassin’s. The attacker was glaring up at her with emerald green eyes, struggling to break free. She looked surprisingly young. A teenage Anima, perhaps sixteen, with black cat ears and a black cat tail. She was light-skinned and wore a black bodysuit, armed with knives and a sword at her waist. Vi’s eyes softened. She’s only a child.

“Aw, you’re cute,” Vi commented.

“F*** off, Azurelane!” the cat assassin shouted defiantly. “I know what you two did at the Diablo!”

Enrique and his Anima glanced at each other.

“The Diablo?” Enrique asked, puzzled. “We weren’t involved in the attacks there. There’s been a misunderstanding. Who sent you?”

The assassin closed her lips tightly. “I’m not talking.”

“What’s your name?” Vi asked coolly.

The cat girl glared at the fox woman as if doing so long enough could melt her away. “Alicia.”

----------------------------------------

Enrique tried to force his heart to stop pounding like crazy. It had all happened so fast. If he hadn’t been sharpening his reflexes hunting the bear monsters, he wouldn’t have even known what was happening. He barely even had time to register what his attacker looked like before Vi had almost killed her on the spot. The assassin looked barely older than him. Why did she attack me? What did I do?

Vi slowly released the cat girl. “Tell us what happened.”

Alicia glanced from Vi to Enrique. She spoke to him. “I was hired by a gang. They're called the Dire Wolves. They forced me to join them and they wanted me to kill you for revenge about some kind of kidnapping.”

“Oh.” Enrique backed away from the assassin. “Those bad guys with the bat things from earlier sent you. You said you were forced?”

Alicia nodded hesitantly. “There were a lot of them. I tried to run away, but they caught me.”

“Why are they kidnapping children? Why are those gangsters working with kidnappers?”

Alicia shook her head. “I’m not completely sure. The gang wants money and territory. The kidnappers kept speaking about some kind of ‘Kavistra’ demon they worship and how children are needed for the demon’s resurrection. I guess the leader of the kidnappers struck a deal with the gang for protection.”

“That’s f***ed up,” Enrique muttered. “Do you know anyone else in the gang? Or where their leaders are?”

Alicia shook her head again. “I don’t know.”

Vi spoke quietly. “She’s probably a low-level member. It sounds like there’s a large network of criminals involved. I think you know that leaders of these groups usually keep details to themselves, so she can’t provide useful information.”

Then what do we do with her? Enrique asked. Tie her up? Should we turn her in to the police or whoever?

Vi’s ears twitched and her tails swished around, as if in thought. Her eyes lost their cold gaze as she silently looked him over, ensuring he was all right.

She sheathed her sword, then approached Alicia and gave her a friendly smile. “Sorry for scaring you, Ali. Why don’t we help you escape from the gang first? Do you have a family we can take you to?”

Alicia glared at her suspiciously with her emerald green eyes. “No.”

“I see. You’re a victim in all of this.” Vi’s eyes softened. “Are you an orphan?”

Alicia nodded.

“Okay.” Her face brightened. “You can stay with me!”

Vi deliberately inserted herself between the assassin and her partner, then wrapped her black tails around the cat girl. “You’re such a cute little kitty cat. You remind me of an old friend I had! Like a more serious version of her.”

“A friend?” Enrique asked.

“Yeah! She’s like her distant ancest—like a fellow cat girl! Ha ha!”

Vi looked very happy as she spoke. She hugged Alicia with her tails. “I’m really glad I didn’t kill you. Let’s be friends!”

Alicia glanced at Enrique, a look of utter confusion on her face. “What’s wrong with her? Is she mentally retarded?”

“That’s a good question,” he mumbled.

----------------------------------------

Vi had covered Alicia’s face with a tail as they walked. “Are you ready to see your new home? It’s a surprise!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

“Sure. Whatever.”

Enrique walked alongside Vi, feeling uncomfortable and anxious. “This is weird, Vi. We’re literally going to let an assassin live in your house?”

“She’s a cat! She can be my pet!” Vi said happily.

Alicia hissed and swiped at the waitress’s tails wrapped around her body. “What the h***? I’m not a pet!”

“I’m kidding! Ahahaha! Here we are, Ali!”

Vi moved her tail off Alicia’s face. The disgruntled cat girl shoved the rest of her tails off and peered at the house for a moment. Small and unremarkable, with a blue roof, but she sensed a tingle of magic in the air.

It’s warded, the assassin realized. There was an entire layer of spells imbued in the place. She sensed one ward was a spell to hide the house’s location from spying, and another gave it magical shielding. As the trio stepped through the doors, she tried to send a message to Master.

Master, I’m with Azurelane and her partner now.

Master’s reply was strangely faint, as if speaking to her from a great distance, and her head didn’t pound like it usually did.

Continue.

His voice faded from her mind. Alicia guessed it was the wards. Maybe a spell had mental shielding, though she wasn’t sure what kind of spells existed that could have such an effect.

“We’re going to a funeral. I have some clothes more fit for the occasion,” Vi told Alicia and Enrique.

She turned to Alicia. “Let’s set some house rules. First, no weapons. No going into the kitchen.”

Alicia didn’t like the idea of being unarmed, but she supposed it made sense. She nodded. Vi silently reached a hand to her armored bodysuit and removed several knives strapped to her back and waist, as well as in three hidden compartments in the cloth. One knife had a ruby pommel and the three black claw marks of the Dire Wolves gang. Then she took a black sword from her waist. There was also a very small disguised gun. The fox woman placed the weapons on a table.

Vi continued with a smile. “Second, you have to stop being an assassin. No getting into fights or hurting anyone. If I think you’re going to do something bad, I might have to stop you. I don’t want to hurt you!”

Alicia nodded. “Okay.” Her main worry was how this would interfere with any future orders from Master.

Enrique certainly didn’t object to that, but he wondered why Vi was being so lenient and taking such strange actions towards someone who literally almost killed him. He stayed next to Vi as she headed towards the bedrooms and motioned with a tail for Alicia to follow.

Vi entered her room. “You can sleep here. Let’s get you dressed. I have a suit for Enrique and a nice dress for you. Step in the bathroom and give me your old clothes.”

Alicia went in and Vi handed her a black dress. “Why are you going to a funeral?” she asked.

“It’s for two of my old customers. Their names were Bernadette and Sean.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Alicia almost froze. She remembered the names. They were those two adventurers from before. S***.

Alicia shut the door and quickly changed into the dress. She handed Vi her armored suit, feeling exceedingly vulnerable.

Vi silently inspected the damaged suit. “Where did you get this?”

“Someone gave it to me. I don’t know much about it.”

Alicia had decided giving vague truths was an acceptable policy for now. She needed to make sure not to let those two delve too deep. But how much did Azurelane already know?

Vi put the suit away.

“Why didn’t you kill me? Why do you want to keep me here?” Alicia kept her voice level and neutral.

“You’re sixteen,” Vi said. “You’re only a child. From what you’ve told us, nothing that happened was really your fault. As for keeping you, it’s because you’re adorable!”

“Cut the c***,” Alicia said.

“Bulls***,” Enrique said at the same time.

The assassin and her former target stared at each other in surprise.

“Awww, we’re all getting along so well!” Vi said happily. “How about this? We can trade secrets. One secret from you, and one from me.” She looked at Alicia as she spoke.

“Depends on what you want to know,” Alicia replied suspiciously.

“I’ll go first,” Vi responded with a reassuring smile. “Enrique, remember when I said I’m immortal? It really only means I can live forever if someone doesn’t kill me.”

He nodded. Alicia blinked once upon hearing this, but otherwise did not react.

“Once upon a time, there were four noble families with infinite longevity like me. They were called the Four Houses, and were chosen to protect the newly formed Anima Kingdom. To do this, they were also given a special role in the kingdom and a power unique to their family, passed down through generations. Following so far?”

Enrique and Alicia nodded.

“First was Violetlight, the kingdom’s mages. They had a power people say could change time and space itself. Second was Crimsonway, the strongest of warriors. Their power gave them really scary abilities on the battlefield. Third was Emeraldnight, the world’s best assassins. They could strike from the shadows, infiltrate enemy lands, and were experts in sabotage. Their power gave a set of abilities related to this. Last was Azurelane. We were advisors and strategists. Now the reason I want Ali with me, besides being cute, is—eye color!”

“Eye color?” Enrique cocked his head.

“Yes!” Vi beamed. “The families have a unique shade of eye color. They match the color of the jewels on the King’s crown. Violent, crimson, azure, and—”

“Emerald,” Alicia finished flatly.

“Aw, you’re so smart,” Vi complimented her.

“Shut up,” Alicia muttered.

“You’re saying she can live forever and have cool powers too? Not fair,” Enrique complained.

“Well, the truth is a bit more complicated.” Vi put an arm around Alicia as if they were old friends.

“Ali’s not a direct descendant. She wouldn’t likely be able to live forever or use all of Emeraldnight’s power, Death’s Hand. But, you know, I still feel attached to her, and this kind of power is very dangerous, you know? I believe she has started manifesting it already. I don’t want her walking around accidentally causing the end of the world!”

“I guess that makes sense,” Enrique said, scratching his head. “You’re the only one who knows about this power. Maybe you could help her.”

Vi looked over at the assassin. “Now I want to ask you a question. You said you ran away from a gang. My two customers were fighting that gang before they were killed, and I know you were there. Why don’t you tell me what really happened?”

Her tails wrapped around Alicia. The waitress’s blue eyes looked away and towards the window, and grew cold and merciless. Enrique looked worried at the change in attitude, and Alicia stiffened but remained expressionless.

The cat girl replied slowly. “I tried to run away from the Dire Wolves gang. I stole a weapon from their regional leader and they were trying to kill me. That’s when I met Bernadette and Sean. They wanted to protect me and fought the gang members, and then—”

She broke off. Then I killed them. Suddenly even mentioning the names of those two brought a nauseating feeling to her stomach. It was like the strange sickness she had felt and then ignored when she’d fought the other orphans in her first test. “It all happened so fast,” she choked out. “I didn’t mean to—I didn’t want that to happen.”

Vi’s eyes grew sympathetic and she patted Alicia with a tail. “It’s okay,” she said in a soothing tone. “It’s not your fault. There was nothing you could do.”

Alicia turned her face away and didn’t look at her.

“Yeah, it’s not your fault,” Enrique piped up. “The gang forced you to join them, then you tried to get away, and then it sounds like these two people Vi knew did their best to help you. Then the gang forced you to come after us. It’s all their fault.”

“There’s someone else behind all this,” Vi said. “Don’t blame yourself.”

Alicia chanced a glance at Vi’s eyes.

She doesn’t look angry. Maybe there is a limit to how much she knows.

The cat girl looked a little more at ease, if still somewhat dejected.

Enrique finished putting on his suit. It was probably one of the most formal pieces of clothing he’d ever had in his short life. Black and somber. He had a brief, faint memory of his brother wearing something similar when his parents died. “Let’s go.”

----------------------------------------

“Thank you for coming.” Bernadette’s mother had large brown squirrel ears and a tail, and her father had ears like a black grizzly bear. They dressed in dark clothes and their faces were kind, if heavy with lack of sleep.

Vi, in a slim black cloak with her sheathed sword, bowed to the two of them. “Mrs. Oakenstalk, Mr. Oakenstalk. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Vi.” Ms. Oakenstalk managed a smile as Vi handed her two bags. One had some fish and cake, and another had a set of spell amulets. Enrique knew from her account that the amulets themselves had cost about 50 full gold pieces. He wasn’t sure how Vi expected to recover that.

“Sorry for your loss,” Enrique said quickly, copying her bow.

Mr. Oakenstalk smiled and nodded. He could tell the boy was a new arrival, since such a formal action wasn’t truly necessary. It was merely a habit of Vi’s. “You remind me of Sean when he first came here. I hope you find whatever you need in the kingdom.”

Bernadette’s mother noticed Alicia. “Vi informed us Sean and Bernadette were protecting you. I’m glad you're safe. Please let us know if you need anything.” She looked worn out and her eyes were grieved.

Alicia opened her mouth and tried to speak. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to look the two parents in the eye and had settled on looking expressionlessly past them, like the hanger-on she was to the two visitors.

Vi looked at Alicia. “We all express our condolences,” she said softly. She put a hand on Alicia and made her nod. Alicia stared at the family’s feet but felt relieved at being made to do the gesture.

A human woman walked to the family. She had blond hair and ocean eyes, and wore a raven-black cloth over an adventurer’s dark purple armored suit. “Vi, was it? Sean mentioned going to your cafe a few times.”

“Yes.” Vi bowed to the woman. “Good to see you, Emily. I’m sure this must be difficult. I heard you and Sean were becoming close.”

Emily nodded and wiped a quick tear from her eye, but otherwise stood stoically. “I’m proud of Sean. And his partner was the best he could have had.”

The service began. Enrique saw there were not many attendees, merely a small smattering of humans and Anima.

“Where’s Sean’s family? Is it only Emily?” he asked Vi.

“She’s not his family. She could have been,” Vi corrected him softly. “They met here. Sean was an Original, not a Lucky.”

“What’s that?” he asked curiously.

“They’re informal terms. We call those who first arrive in the kingdom Originals, like you. That’s why Sean doesn’t have anyone related to him.”

“Anima and humans descended from Original partners and their Anima are sometimes called Luckies. Because they’re lucky to be born here, as natural citizens of the kingdom. Emily’s family is descended from an adventurer. I suppose they got along well despite that.”

“Oh. You’re saying she was, like, his girlfriend? I thought Bernadette would be because she was his partner.”

“You’re mistaken.” Vi’s voice became quiet. “Those kinds of Anima-human relationships are not as common as you think.”

“But I thought you and—Aurelius had one.” Enrique had paused, lowering his voice, and his eyes flitted to Alicia, but the cat girl remained silent and was observing her surroundings with a kind of subdued interest. She appeared as clueless as he was to what was going on. She followed Vi completely and didn’t interact with anyone or anything else.

Vi didn’t speak for a time. “He was a special case compared to other partners. I don’t like talking about that.”

Alicia abruptly spoke up. “What’s a partner, exactly?”

The two looked at her. Enrique then looked at Vi.

“Oh. I guess you didn’t go to an Anima school.” Vi smiled at her. “One way they describe Anima partners is as familiars or guardian spirits to humans who come here. Only, we are soul-bonded so it’s more like having a best friend.”

“Okay.” Alicia looked away and didn’t say anything further. Master’s only mentions of partners mostly described them as a threat to his plans. He had assured Alicia she would never have a partner because her “actions had eliminated that possibility”.

She was curious. She asked again. “When do people get one? Can Anima do something to make them not have a partner?”

Vi’s eyes focused on hers. “It depends. Immediately or years after school. If the System sees young Anima children being repeatedly too evil, they will be disqualified from having a partner. Otherwise the human could be hurt.”

After this Alicia stopped talking.

Bernadette’s family and Emily made short speeches.

“…Bernadette was always supportive and practical, always willing to help out. When she graduated from Anima Academy and then met Sean, it was one of the best days of her life. When they were selected as part of the Queen’s honor guard, and for such an important event as the five races’ Anniversary Ball, I’m sure she knew and was proud of that achievement, and what a privilege that was…”

“…One night after he stopped a beating, he told me his story. Sean started his life as a police cadet at his hometown. When his training was cut short due to a life-threatening injury, he ended up in the kingdom. He carried with him a sense of duty and justice, but he was always ready to crack a joke or relax with everyone. He was the best partner Bernadette could have.

“I’m sure if he had more time in this life, he would have done great things, and made the Heroes throughout the ages proud of his actions and self-sacrifice. He told me his desire for coming here was to uphold the law like an officer, the way he couldn’t back home. For me, at least, he had already got his wish.”

Sean’s body was brought forward in a glistening glass coffin. Folded in a neat pile next to him was Bernadette’s clothes, her bow, and a green amulet.

Enrique looked around and whispered, trying not to be rude. “Where’s her body?”

Vi replied in a neutral tone. “Anima die when their partner die, because the spirit is affected so much. Their body disappears. It’s called Fading. It’s tradition to put the Anima’s belongings with the partner.”

A flicker of unease passed through Alicia’s eyes. Vi caught it but it happened too fast for others.

Sean was dressed in clothing mixing a formal suit with a red cloak, a majestic but practical combo that he would have worn as the Queen’s honor guard. The body was lowered into a grave.

An unearthly song filled the air. The music was melodic and haunting, a melancholy tune without words. Enrique thought maybe magic was involved because for three minutes he stared at the body and he cried for two people he’d never met.

People came forward to pay their respects. Enrique was itching for action but he figured he should stay since it was somehow important to Vi.

It also reminded him of the night after his brother Jose was killed. Jose didn’t have a nice service like this. He’d taken five bullets to the chest and died bleeding on the street like a dog. Enrique had never forgotten the sight. The idea that this pair had been killed trying to protect others, maybe like Jose, by a bunch of vile thugs made his blood boil.

“Vi, we’re going to find the guys who did this and make them pay, right?”

He didn’t realize he was shaking, only relaxing his shoulders when Vi put a hand on him.

She tucked away a small flute she had been carrying in her pouch. Her only reply was, “We’ll find the source. Eventually.”

Vi approached the body and bowed deeply to it. Tears streaked silently down her face. She placed some roses down and spoke softly. “Farewell, heroes.”

Alicia was next. She stared at the corpse and the belongings. I killed them. I ruined this family’s lives. I’m sixteen. I’m a killer.

“I’m sorry,” she finally managed to say. “I’m sorry.” She tossed down the flowers and turned away quickly.

After the funeral, Enrique thought they would leave immediately, but Vi led him and Alicia to a massive onyx wall in a corner, a short walk from the grave.

The black wall stretched along the border of the entire gravesite. Inscribed on the spell-stone were the words, “Memorial of Heroes - The Five Kingdoms War” in large golden letters. Below the title were rows upon rows of names in small gold, cursive script.

“I requested for those two to be laid near here,” Vi explained. “It’s a very honored resting place. Normally it requires special permission and is very expensive to afford.”

She placed her fingers on the wall, tracing two rows. There were two names there.

Fennik Ironwing

Gavin Alsace

There was also one blank row she had reserved for Aurelius Lee.

She put her hand down, turning away and looking again at the grave of her two customers.

You and I have unfinished business…Allblades.