Here's my oneshot, feel free to read it after this. http://royalroadl.com/fiction/3881
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I stay momentarily frozen in time as Anne, yes, that Anne, serves our table. What great luck I have. She doesn't recognize me, obviously, I always kept my face hidden. Will she remember my voice? It's been a while since I last talked to her.
"Sir?" I come back to reality. Anne's talking to me, "Your order?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll take the same as blue hair-" I try to stop myself but it's too late, I've already called her that nickname again. Everyone at the table stares at me, I just want to hide my face right now, it's good for avoiding Anne too.
Anne, taps her pen on the pad keeping her eye on me before she says, "Hehe. Blue hair huh? Alright, I'll get it here in a bit." she frees herself from our table to go into the kitchen.
"You call Ellar, blue hair?" Axel asks. "That's a strange nickname to give your partner."
"Ehe." I glance over at Ellar. She's tracing her finger over something carved on the table, it's obvious that she's avoiding me. "It, just kinda slipped out."
"Oh I see how it is Rai, it's what you call her in your head." he nods. "I see, I see." the others around the table look at us.
"I'd prefer if you don't say my name for the rest of the meal." I whisper to Axel.
"Why's that?" he whispers back using his hand to cover the side of his mouth. As if that's actually going to stop them from hearing us, but if one of them were good at reading lips, that would solve the problem.
"Reasons. I'm asking this as a favor." I say hoping that Axel would cooperate. I'd like to tell him the reason but I don't want to drag him into it ever. Just in case something like what happened in the Green City happens here too. I don't know how he managed to survive over there, maybe they weren't as strong but the ones here are most definitely pretty powerful.
"Gotcha." he replies.
"Got what?" the shortest one, Elis says crossing her arms looking tough. "I get that some conversations are private but it's rude to whisper at the table."
Whoa, I always took her for the hardheaded one, not the somewhat uptight one.
"He was just commenting on how pretty Anne was." Axel says as a cover up. He gives me a thumbs up under the table, I swear that it's reflecting some kind of sunlight. He also flashes me a smile and wink, can he make it any more obvious? Seriously, the thumbs up was fine but the others were overkill.
"Hoh. So that was it! Hmu. Anne is pretty." Elis nods holding her chin. She's easy to fool. I guess my original prediction wasn't too far off.
Blu-Ellar, I gotta stop calling her blue hair, just keeps tracing with her finger. If the table wasn't as nice as it is, she'd get a splinter.
"Hmmmm? So, Rainen. What did you guys do over there? I mean, in the Green City, Axel seems to have gotten a little something to remember the place." Iris says pointing to her cheek. I turn over to Axel, a scar is visible from when Dylan cut him with his sword.
"We were attacked by a few bandits." I say. "Hector protected us though."
"Is that so?" Iris leans back into her seat. She doesn't seem to be very friendly today. Especially not to me, did I do something wrong? "I've-all of us here, have seen you fight. You seem to be a pretty capable hands on fighter, and you're insisting that Hector protected you the whole way? Didn't you knock him out on the first day of school?"
Argh. Bringing up past events and asking the hard questions, truly what I'd expect out of the person who kept hounding me for personal information. Ellar glances up to take a peek at Axel's scar. She doesn't stop tracing though.
"Well that's true." Axel says suddenly before I can get a word in. "It's just that Hector wouldn't let us do anything, he ended up protecting us by himself. Now, we, Rai and I, came to learn about the lessons we missed. Can you tell us?" he asks with large watery, puppy like eyes. Nice change of subject Axel.
Iris sighs, "Well, how about you start El." Iris slaps Ellar on the back.
She suddenly shocks upright, "EH? Uh, yeah, sure." Ellar proceeds to tell us about angels and other lessons we missed. At times, blue hair's voice gets a little louder and she sounds more elated. That only happens when she's adding in some information that's not in the lesson. She'd get quieter when she noticed us staring at her. Iris seemed pretty impressed and at the same time interested at her extra tidbits.
"I-I'm done." she finishes awkwardly putting her hands back under the table.
"Done with what?"
"O-oh, Anne." Ellar says.
"Haha. Don't be so surprised Ellar, I'm supposed to bring you your food. Here you go." she passes around the dishes, I keep my head down and angled away. I know she won't recognize me but there's a slight chance she might notice something. "Uh, here you go." she says. "It's not my place to ask but why are you looking away?"
"Because he thinks you're cute." Axel says. Axel, my friend, please stop. You're only making this worse, now she'll have a better memory of me. I was hoping to get away as that one guy who came and didn't say much. I smack my face with the palm of my hand.
"Oh." she says flattered. "Thank you."
"Y-yeah." I say it in a hoarse voice.
"Aww. Come on, don't be so embarrassed. Own your feelings." Feno says. "If you think she's pretty then you should ask her out."
Even worse, this guy is making this even worse. He seems to be pretty happy about this development, what's his angle? The atmosphere around the table got a lot more... intense. I can tell that Anne's not too disturbed by this but she's definitely feeling the tension.
If I talk now, I run the risk of her remembering my voice more. I could just wait and she'll eventually leave or someone else might talk. No, I should say something, maybe something that's a little bit off so that she remembers that more and doesn't pay attention to my voice.
Thankfully, Axel comes to my rescue.
"Wait!" he shouts. "I think you're pretty too!"
Anne laughs a little, "Hehe. Thanks. I better get going now, enjoy your meals."
"We will." Iris says. "Thanks Anne."
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After saying my goodbyes to the girls I head back to the dormitory with Axel and Feno. Feno's kinda like Axel, cheery but without Axel's ability to read the mood. Axel, although I can't always tell, he's pretty perceptive. Sometimes I wonder which one of us is hiding more from the other. So far, he seems open about his thoughts.
"Hey Rainen." Feno's a step ahead of me, he cranes his neck. "How well do you and Ellar get along? I mean, you call her a nickname but it didn't look like you two were on the friendliest of terms."
I scratch my cheek, "Well, I thought that we were getting along well. I guess that it changed after a certain event and the two week separation." I say.
A slight smile touches his lips, "Is that so? I've gotta do a few things, see you guys tomorrow." he says turning around leaving us behind.
"I've gotta go too." I tell Axel. "See ya bud."
"See ya Rai. Don't forget that you owe me a favor!" he yells after me.
"Yeah!"
The time that it took us to get from the restaurant back to the dorms was about ten minutes. During that time, I saw Anne leave, if I get to the warehouse in the next thirty minutes I wonder if she'll be there. The day, It's getting late, or at least, the sun is going down. I wouldn't be too surprised if someone told me that it was only five, the sun really goes down early during the fall months.
Bursting into my room, I rush to grab my black clothing. It's been a while since I hid behind the mask, just thinking about it makes me feel a lot more comfortable. I shut the door making for the alleyway where I hide my uniform. If someone were to find these here, hidden behind the dumpsters, I wonder what they'd do with them. I always have to be careful when I change, I've become kind of well known so if someone were to notice they'd be able to put the piece together fast.
After putting on the clothes I make my way to the warehouse. Upon making it inside, Henry immediately comes to greet me after seeing me.
"Yo!" he says raising his hand. "Haven't seen you around. Where have you been?"
"I was visiting my family." I say honestly.
"Family huh? Parents? Siblings?"
"Just my sister." I say.
"Why not your parents?" he stops himself and says, "Actually, how'd it go? Visiting your family I mean."
"Started off pretty bad. Turned out that the person I was sending the letters to wasn't my sister, I did send them to her, it's that she's not the one who responded. When I got there, my sister wasn't the happiest camper, if you know what I mean."
Henry sits down, "That's rough. Too bad that you couldn't patch things up."
"What are you talking about? We managed to work things out, I even got a magic scroll for her and I to communicate."
He furrows his eyebrows and leans back, "Well, I just assumed that you guys couldn't fix thing. I mean, who tells the whole story from the beginning?"
"You asked me how it went."
"Yeah. Most people answer that with a, yeah it was great, or it was eh, or it was fine." he turns his head away from me.
"Shouldn't ask people those things if you're not going to listen to the story." Anne says. "Hey Thirteenth, how have you been?" she smiles letting it spread through her face. Her hair hangs down, unimpeded by any ties or the hood.
I cough a few times before speaking, "So do you want to hear the whole story or what Henry here expected?" I ask.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"I'll go with what's usually expected." she answers bluntly. I think that I'd listen to my story, this is work so I guess there are other things that need to be done.
"It was great. Started out badly but went great in the end. You know, if you minus the part where I almost got killed." I say the last part casually. I'm silently hitting myself on the head. I've said a bit too much, what if they know the other Twelve? That would be a problem, they would've definitely heard about the event by now if they did though.
"Almost killed you say?" she makes a gesture with her hand. "Go on, I'm too interested for you not to keep on going."
"You did ask for the short version." I say.
"But you said an interesting thing." she responds.
"It was necessary for explaining my feelings of the trip. If that part didn't happen, I would've had a better time, I can almost guarantee it."
"So you don't wanna tell us?" Henry leans forward suddenly interested in what I have to say. Where's Carlyle when you need him?
"Where's Carlyle?" I ask, turning my head away from Anne.
"I see. Avoiding the question." Anne smiles to herself and chuckles a little bit. "Hey guys, I just remembered something. It's not anything big but today, at work-"
I use this as my chance to stop her in her tracks. I know where this is going and I don't like it.
"You work? I mean, other than this dangerous job? Why?"
"We all do." Henry says. "Well, most of us." he looks at me. "I assume that you don't work other than this job?"
"Assuming is dangerous Henry." Anne says. She continues his explanation, "Not clear, but some of us do it to get away from the otherwise tense atmosphere that this job usually has. For some, it's a cover up for how we earn our money. This job doesn't make us as rich as those nobles but it pays well enough to make someone somewhere suspicious."
Anne lets out a sigh, "It's also a way for us to keep ourselves occupied, and... not dwell on things."
Dwell on things? What did Anne use to do before she became a server? Maybe she stayed home with her... pets.
"Story?" Henry asks. Please, don't make her bring it up. Why is everyone going against my wishes today? I feel like the world just wants me to be found out. I do doubt that though.
"Well, it's not too funny. I just found it kinda cute." Oh great, that's nice to know, thanks Anne. "There was this one boy, at work today. He, well not him, his friend said that he thought I was pretty. It was flattering, it was also cute that he was trying to hide his face."
You're missing the real reason why I hid my face. Actually, just keep on thinking that.
"And how does this tie into the Thirteenth here?" Henry asks.
"I don't know." she studies me carefully. "They seem kinda similar, you know, the way that they hid their faces. Of course, I can't see your face Thirteenth. It's just the body language looks the same."
These guys are dangerous, noticing the body language and all. Eventually she might come to the conclusion that the boy from the restaurant and I are the same person, I should get to doing what I came here for, other than confirming if that was really Anne.
"I came to tell Carlyle that I was back?" I say.
"Oh, right." Henry stands up. "He's not here right now. Not a big deal really, just come back tomorrow. Wait! Actually, isn't it your turn to go and patrol?" he asks.
"I did miss a whole week." I shrug my shoulders. Whatever gets me out of this situation. "Who am I patrolling with?" I ask.
Anne tilts her head, "When he says it's your turn, he also means it's his too."
"Don't give me that look Anne. Why do you think I got up?" he slaps my arm. "Come on, let's go clean the streets. Not actually clean the streets."
"I know Henry, I know."
I leave the warehouse leaving Anne with the other members of the group.
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I've been illegally, wait, when I don these clothes and call myself the Thirteenth I'm pretty sure it's legal. I spent most of the last two hours jumping from building to building, looking over the edges. No crime to stop, no person to save, just overall not much to do. Honestly, I'm a bit tired out.
The memory of falling down and not being able to do anything as Aisha called out to me really irks me. I've spent what? The last four years training with my master so that I would be able to help those that needed it, those that so desperately wanted it but couldn't get it because no one would pay them any heed. Beating up some thugs right now wouldn't be so bad, I'd at least be able to get more practice with my combat in. Maybe I should talk to Henry about it.
Speak of the devil, Henry walks over to me.
"Alright, we're, you're done for the night. Thanks for your hard work." he says patting me on the back.
"C-could I ask you for a favor?"
"Hmm? Go ahead." he says turning around.
"Could you spar with me? I saw Garrett and Adrian do it before." I ask clenching my fists.
"Sure, I don't mind. Can I ask why though?"
"Remember when I said I was almost killed?" he nods. "Well yeah, that. Someone needed me and I wasn't able to get up during a crucial moment, I wasn't able to win. It turned out alright in the end but I can't always be depending on others to save me. So," I back up and go into a fighting stance. "ready?"
He sighs, "Yeah."
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Henry and I traded blows for quite a while. It's lasting longer than basically any real fight I've ever been in, mostly because neither of us are really trying to kill the other, we're just practicing our skills. I launch a few fireballs at him, not very strong ones but he dodges them anyways and they fly, illuminating the dark sky. At one point, I bring out my staff. The swings that I make with it are simple but strong, they hardly connect.
"Hey." he says while dodging. "Don't always do it like that. Go for some more," he whirls his arms and body. "swings like that. Usually, it'd be flashy and unconventional but I think that with your speed you could pull it off."
I allow my body to be more free with its movements.
"Yeah! That's it! No need for the firm and stiff attacks." Henry still continues ducking and weaving out of every single strike but I feel that I'm catching up to him. He puts up his arm as if to tell me to stop.
"Alright, alright. That's good enough." he rests his hand on my shoulder. "So, here's the critique. Thirteenth, you're fighting style is good, it's fast. But I can tell that your movements are still a little restricted even when you're fist fighting, even more so when you hold that staff there." he points to it. "I think that what you need to do, is to let yourself loose more, don't be so afraid to go wild with your attacks. With your speed and reflexes you could pull it off."
I nod. There used to be a time where I fought much more freely, that was before it came of course.
"Work your magic in too. Your hits are strong but with magic your fists should be able to bring down someone fairly quickly. Anyways, just remember to let your body move on its own, you've trained it, you should rely on it. Also," he taps me on the chest. "it's fine to rely on someone else ever now and then, okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks Henry."
He clicks his tongue, "Glad I could help." he turns to leave again, but I stop him once more.
"Hey, Henry."
"Heh. Yeah?"
"Something good happen recently?"
"So you've noticed?"
"Ever since our mission together." I inform him.
"Whoa, I guess you can really call yourself a member of the Twelve." he grins widely. "So, do you wanna know why?"
"I think it's already too late for me to say no. You seem excited to tell me."
"Heheheh. Yeah, just a little bit." he indicates the amount with his finger and thumb. "So you know how I have a sister right?"
"Yeah."
"And you know that she got married right?"
"No."
"Oh. Well, she got married." he says rubbing his hands together.
"That's great."
"Thanks."
"Is that it?" I ask.
"No no no. That happened a while ago. The real thing here is that she's pregnant!" he raises his open hands into the air.
"That's great too." I say, somewhat swayed by his happiness.
"I know, isn't that great? It's something she's wanted for a while. She's somewhere in her thirties, not even halfway to middle aged yet, but she really wanted a kid. I'm just happy that her wish finally came true."
"And how excited are you for the kid?" I ask.
"Heh. Pretty happy, I can't wait to be an uncle. It'll be pretty cool, I'll mess around with the kid a lot. Maybe annoy my sister a bit." he says.
"You must love your sister a lot." I say.
"Course, you know that story."
"Hah. Yeah." I nod. "Well, if it means anything, tell your sister that this random stranger said congrats. See ya Henry."
"I will, see ya later Thirteenth."
I hop building to building again. I don't actually need to go that far, the place where I put my clothes are really close by. I drop into the alleyway and slide my mask back down to my neck, I also remove the hood.
It's too dark to see in here. How late did I stay up patrolling the city? I hold my left hand out and channel mana through it creating a small flame.
"Hello?"
I quickly turn around and see Anne standing there with wide eyes. Oh fuck.
"Thirteenth?" she says.