Burning Rose (A Cinder Fall Story)

Chapter 12

Roman was gone for about an hour before he came back with noodles, sauce, and some beef.

"I hope spaghetti works for tonight," he told us, setting the ingredients onto the dining room table.

"Yes, that'll work nicely," I told him. "I'll begin cooking. Emerald, would you be so kind to help me?"

Emerald smiled and nodded. "I've never really cooked before, but I'll try to help."

"Good. We can get to know each other too. Follow me to the kitchen."

Emerald carried the ingredients into the kitchen while I got to work on boiling the water.

"Are you from Vale, Emerald?" I asked her, stirring the water slowly.

"Yes. But I've been alone for as long as I can remember. Until you came along."

I looked over to her and smiled. "Could you hand me the noodles, Em?"

She nodded and handed me the box. I opened it very carefully and added the noodles in. After about a few minutes, they were beginning soften. I started cooking the meat shortly after.

"I need to speak with Roman about something," I told her. "Could you watch over the noodles and beef? All you need to do is to stir them a bit to keep them from sticking to each other. Same goes for the beef."

She smiled. "Of course, Cinder. I'll be here when you get back."

I left the kitchen and found Roman sitting on the couch Neo.

"Hey," I said. "I'm looking for a skilled assassin. Do you know anyone?"

Roman looked up at me. "The only  assassin known around here is Marcus Black. I'm not really sure where he is, but I know someone who might. Mind if I leave for the night and return tomorrow? I'll have the information by then."

"Why not have dinner first?" I asked. "You won't be able to do much on an empty stomach."

"True enough. I guess I can stay for dinner."

I left him with Neo and walked back into the kitchen, where Emerald was stirring the noodles and beef.

"You're doing very well, Emerald. The noodles look done. Now all we need is to drain them and add the sauce and meat."

Emerald went to work on draining the water, while I opened the sauce and began and stir it into the beef. Afterwards, I added it to the noodles and made a decent spaghetti.

"Wow... it smells amazing," Emerald said.

"I'm glad you think so. Could you help set the table? I'll let Roman and Neo know that dinner is done."

Emerald started to set the table when I heard Roman and Neo walk in.

"Damn. This smells great, Cinder. Who knew you were good at cooking?" Roman said, taking his seat at the table. Neo sat next to him, and Emerald sat on the other side, while I gave each of them a portion.

Dinner started off slowly and quietly. Until Emerald spoke up.

"So, you're Roman right?" she asked.

He looked at her. "Yep. That's my name."

"So... what is you do?"

He shrugged. "The usual. Steal things, break into buildings, kill if I must. I just recently joined Cinder here, along with Neo."

Emerald's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a criminal?! What if you go to jail?!"

Roman laughed. "Those cells are easy to break out of. Trust me."

Emerald looked over at Neo.
"What's you're name?"

"We call her Neo," I said. "I don't think she can speak. But she communicates well enough."

Neo turned towards Emerald and smiled. Emerald returned the smile.

I looked up to see Roman was finished eating, he rose from his chair and walked to the sink.

"Are you sure you're through, Roman?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Plus I need to find that information you were asking about. I'll be back by tomorrow. See you all later."

He placed his plate in the sink and walked towards the front door. I watched as it closed behind him.

Dinner wrapped up pretty quickly afterwards. And Neo went to relax on the couch.

"Do you happen to own a weapon, Emerald?" I asked her, while we were cleaning up.

She shook her head. "No. I just use my semblance to get away from danger. But if I were to choose, I'd want a revolver that can act like a sickle. That way, I can fight long range and short range if I need to."

I nodded. "I may have an associate in Atlas who can help with that. Would you like your own weapon, Em?"

I watched as her red eyes lit up with excitement. "Yes, please!"

I smiled. "I'll see what I can do once Roman returns. Until then, you're welcome to relax all you need."

Emerald yawned. "Thanks. I'm going to need it."

She went towards one of the back rooms and shut the door, while
I went to my own private room and eventually drifted off.

"Hey!" I heard a voice say.

My eyes opened slowly to see Roman looking down at me.

"What?" I snapped.

"I found that assassin. Apparently he's close the the island of Patch. I'll send you the coordinates."

Roman typed a few numbers, and my scroll vibrated a few moments later.

"Thanks," I said, still tired. "I'll do some looking around later today. Feel free to do what you wish until I return."

Roman left me alone in the room, and I laid there for what felt like hours. Finally, I noticed that the sun had gone down.

"Dammit," I hissed, getting out of my bed and waking out of my room.

"Hey, look who's finally woken up," Roman joked.

I shot him a glare. "I'm going to find that assassin. I don't want any funny business happening. Understood?"

Roman nodded. "No problem. I'll be sure to handle these brats."

"Hey!" Emerald snapped.

Neo poked him with her parasol.

Roman winced. "How many times have I asked you to stop doing that?!"

Emerald started to laugh and Neo grinned.

I smiled at them once more before leaving out the front door. I looked down at my scroll to look at the coordinates again.

Patch... I knew that place. But from where..?

The coordinates were close enough to the little island, so I could at least check it out.

"I can't make it there in one night," I told myself. "Flying it is."

I levitated off the ground and flew as fast as I could towards my destination.