ELISE VELOR

“Be home before dinner!” I called out to Ikarus as I turned the corner back onto the street that led back to our house. “Soleis.” I communicated telepathically to the fox. Upon my request, I felt an eerie presence envelop my entire body. Everytime I underwent this process, it unnerved me. My body was now surrounded by a thin layer of something that seemed to be mana, but seemed not to be at the same time. It was currently translucent, and without the enhanced abilities I gained from Soleis himself, I likely wouldn’t have been able to detect it at all. To everyone else though, I was now entirely invisible.

I peeked back around the corner to face the Milbourne's manor. Ikarus was being welcomed in by a cute little Elven girl who looked to be a maid of some kind. My little playboy. The two walked out of sight from the doorway and into a hall. Ikarus probably wouldn’t be too happy to find out I was spying on him, but there’s no way I can trust these Milbournes enough to leave him in their care.

I slipped in the doorway just before another maid came to close it, and followed down the same hallway Ikarus had been led. I kept a good distance from others though, because my footsteps were only muffled, not silenced. Ikarus and the Elven maid went into a room that opened to a large indoor training facility, rivaling the one at Central Academy. They were “greeted’ by a blonde girl I presume to be Adela, the only female heir of the Milbournes.

After a while, Ikarus and the Elven girl seemed to begin a duel, which I thought was interesting. The white haired girl had the capabilities to fully control 4 separate icicles seamlessly, which was no simple feat for a child. In fact, she utilized mana remarkably naturally. Could she be of the Heirel bloodline…

But my little Ikarus still came out with the win. All thanks to me, I suppose!

After their fight, two men walked in and made a few announcements, both of which I recognized. One was the head of the Milbourne family, Leopold. He was a plump and disturbed man, who seemed to have lost all sense of morality. The other man was his son and lapdog, Luthor Milbourne. He had tried to attack my house the day after Ikarus originally got this job, which leads me to believe these guys are up to something.

I readied myself to defend Ikarus if he was attacked, but the two men left the room peacefully after their announcements. I was still skeptical of their intentions though. The children headed out front and loaded onto the coaches that would take them to the dungeon. Assessing the other children going on the trip, Ikarus had both the highest capacity and control of mana, which brought me a great deal of pride. The elf was a close second though, followed by a young blonde boy who I remembered to be Braxton, the younger Milbourne son. Most of the young girls had little to no talent for mana, except for a blonde girl who had an affinity to electricity.

I floated next to the coaches for a short while before taking a seat next to one of the drivers, who incidentally happened to be an old acquaintance. Piers hummed happily as he drove the coach, probably content with his pay.

I couldn’t hear any details of what was happening inside the coach, but I heard a small commotion at first before things seemed to settle down for the rest of the trip. I heard chatter from Ikarus and the elf, which made me glad he was making some friends his own age.

We arrived at the dungeon and all the children seemed extremely excited to explore. That is, except for Braxton. There was obvious conflict written on his face, but I didn’t know why. Nonetheless, the children enjoyed their dungeon exploit and continued until the main group of girls was so tired they could pass out.

““Yeah, you’re right. Maybe we’ll find something on the way back,” Adela finally conceded, allowing the group to finally return to the surface. I had been heavily on guard the entire time the kids had been in the dungeon, but it really did seem that there was no threat to Ikarus. I let my shoulders relax a little and breathed out a sigh, and in that moment…

“Ikarus!” A high pitched shriek rang out across the cavern. The white haired elven girl struggled to free herself from the four girls grabbing onto her, trying to slow her.

“Agh!” A blast of frost exploded from the girl's palm, knocking the four children back and allowing her to run towards Braxton, who was overlooking the cavern with clenched teeth. Four icicles materialized around the girl, and were then shot at high speeds toward Braxton. Just before the icicles reached their target, a cold voice brought her to a halt.

“Livi.” Adela stood up slowly, brushing herself off. “If you want to prevent the mysterious disappearance of your mother, I’d recommend you stop now.” The icicles dropped to the floor with a clang, the sudden noise finally snapping me out of the commotion.

Ikarus!

I flew past Braxton and hovered above the cliff he had pushed my brother down. I dove downward at full speed, frantically scanning for him. I heard anger filled shouting from further down, so I knew I was getting closer. The screams continued to grow louder as I closed in, but they were suddenly cut off with a thump.

My breath caught. My throat felt dry as I continued to fly down to the bottom, clinging to any hope that he could have survived.

Stop.

Soleis’s voice resounded in my head, forcing me to a halt. Stop?! What do you mean ‘Stop’. My brother could be dead! I conveyed my outrage telepathically, but Soleis did not yield.

Look.

I begrudgingly focused on where Soleis had signaled, and what I saw sent a shock through my core. A violet outline of darkness in the shape of a cat slinked towards my brother's limp body.

“That’s—-” I whispered, my voice croaking.

I turned to Soleis with a ghastly expression. “Y-You said it wouldn’t happen yet. You said they wouldn’t meet for years!” I whispered agitatedly.

It took every fiber of self control I had in me to keep from screaming out and disrupting the violet cat’s path.

Elise, there’s nothing we can do now. You know that.

Even as Soleis tried to console me, turning away and flying back out of the cavern hurt more than words can describe.

LUTHOR MILBOURNE

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Two stagecoaches pulled into the front entrance of our house. A handful of children loaded off of them, including a group of four cheerful girls, and two older children with remarkably miserable expressions.

I approached the two older children, but Livi gave me an icy glare and rushed past me into the house. To think she’d already become attached to the Velor boy.

“So everything went well?” I asked my little brother, whose eyes remained transfixed on the floor.

“...Yes.” He mumbled.

Sigh. “Listen, Braxton.” I knelt down and put my hands on his shoulders. He looked up at me with teary eyes. “You did the right thing.”

He nodded with a whimper, and followed Livi into the house. I understood how difficult the first assasination was, but it was something he needed to get used to.

My father joined me outside, standing to my side with his hands behind his back.

“So the Velor boy is gone?’

“I believe so.”

“Ah. Good on that boy Braxton. How about we hold a celebratory dinner for him tonight?”

“I’ll speak to the chefs now sir.”

Looks like father is happy with Braxton’s performance. While it makes me somewhat envious I could not earn his approval in this situation, I am happy for my little brother.

An hour later the Milbourne family gathered in the dining hall to celebrate Braxton’s success. It was an exorbitant decorated room, with a silver chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling. After saying our prayers to the Dieties, the family began a toast towards Braxton’s accomplishment.

Braxton’s sour mood had changed since his arrival because of the repeated congratulations he received from all members of the family. The others were in a cheerful mood as well, such as my mother who was just happy her screw-up had not caused any real trouble, and my little sister ready to enjoy some ‘fancy food.’ My father sat at the end of the rectangular dining table with a grin on his face, and was currently expressing his pride for Braxton with a toast.

The only person putting a damper on the party was Livi, whose face seemed to be in a permanently fixed scowl. Her mother tried to get her to lighten up, likely out of fear of punishment for her daughter ruining the mood, but it was to no avail. Fortunately for the Heirels, there was no chance that one unhappy child would spoil the good mood the rest of the family was in.

“To the continued prosperity of the Milbourne family!” My father raised a glass in cheer, along with the rest of the family. “And to the success of my boy Braxton’s first difficult missio—-

*SHING*

A bloodcurdling slice rang out from the edge of our dinner table, followed by the splatter of blood landing all over the extravagant dinner. Time seemed to slow as I watched my father’s severed head soar past my face. My brain simply couldn't process the sight I was witnessing. My father. The man my entire household looked up to and held with the utmost respect and compassion. The untouchable and powerful figurehead that I aspired to be like one day. That man’s head had just hit the floor with a dull thump, rolling to my feet as I met his hollow eyes.

In a state of shock, I transferred my vision to the rest of his body, lying limp in his chair, missing its most vital component. I forced my vision upwards to look at the assailant, his weapon dyed red with my father’s blood, his brown jacket splattered scarlet. The curtains fluttered in the breeze of the open window behind him. My eyes widened as I took in the boy’s face.

Ikarus Velor let out a sigh, and shifted his gaze to me. His youth contrasted with his bloodstained appearance made for a truly eerie image. While he looked the same on the outside, his eyes were not those of the boy I remember. These were the eyes of a trained killer. A man who was no stranger to death. Eyes no boy of his age should ever have.

Rage overwhelmed me, a fury so great that I couldn’t muster a single rational thought. Memories of my father flooded into my mind, my entire childhood flashing before my mind as one thought prevailed over the madness and chaos inside of my head. Kill this bastard.

I infused every part of my body with a devastating electrical current, investing everything I had into activating blitz, and charged towards Ikarus with my blade aimed directly at his throat. The very air became electrified as my sword became coated in refined electricity, to the point of it resembling a streak of lightning. But just before I would have detached the bastard’s head from the rest of him, he popped a small white orb into his mouth and swallowed.

What on earth…

My body felt heavy as I faltered in the face of an influx of potent mana in the atmosphere, emitted entirely from one boy. A wave of nausea flashed over me, as I realized exactly what this feeling reminded me of. That beast woman. While not as potent, the power resembled that of the crazy woman that had defended the Velor home.

My sword sliced the empty air as Ikarus’s form suddenly disappeared from my vision, and in that moment all the anger I had felt earlier was forcibly replaced with despair.

“Please,” I said shakily as I turned around slowly, “Spare me.”

Ikarus stretched his fingers with a nonchalant expression. “How many times have you heard such pleading?”

My stomach sunk into itself as I replied quietly, “Many.”

“And how many times have you listened?” Ikarus said with a forcefulness that shook me to my core.

Ikarus held up his hand in a bizarre form, raising his thumb above his fist like a thumbs up and extending his index finger perpendicular to it, pointing it at me. I could feel wind mana swirling around the tip of his index finger, coalescing at an incredible rate. He whipped his hand up in a firing motion, and a small but razor-sharp blade of wind was launched from his finger.

My eyes widened as my entire body began to go cold. I felt myself drop to my knees, and I looked down to find a worrying slit where my heart was. I fell forward on my face as I lost feeling in my body, gasping for breath. The last thing I saw before my end was a small violet outline of darkness in the shape of a cat walking past me.

“Shadow… demo—-”

IKARUS VELOR

Earlier, when I had been pushed into the cavern’s depths by Braxton, I had felt immense fury and bitterness toward the boy. But as one with a higher mental age, I had deemed it unreasonable to truly blame him for this occurrence. Thus, my anger had been redirected at those who had put him up to it, and those I was more familiar with hating. Those with an “Unopposable power.” However, as time passed, my “hatred” for these two seemed to dwindle. I no longer felt the burning fire that would have motivated my revenge, to the point where I was questioning even returning to the manor. “Maybe I could just hide out from the Milbournes, allow it all to be resolved peacefully,” I thought.

But then a thought occurred to me. Luthor and Leopold Milbourne were not good men, and had committed heinous acts that were of no benefit to humanity. I now had the power to prevent these things from ever happening again. What kind of person would simply allow them to continue their misdeeds? Therefore, as my long journey had finally come to an end, and I approached the Milbourne house, I was no longer here for revenge.

I was here to pass judgment.

My wind-gun effortlessly pierced straight through Luthor’s heart. I watched his body go limp, his face contort in pain as he fell to the ground. It was not an unfamiliar sight, nor a welcome one.

“I’m not a fan of needless violence,” I turned to the rest of the room, infusing my voice with the powerful mana from the elixir to make it as authoritative as possible. “But I will not hesitate to take any more measures in order to protect myself and my family.”

The rest of the room shivered, taking in the fact that their only real defense was now lying dead on the floor.

“I will repeat myself once and once only,” I unsheathed my old dagger, and jabbed it into the center of the dining table, causing the remaining Milbournes to jump back in fear.

“Do not come near anyone with the name ‘Velor’ again.”