Chronicles of the Underworld - Soul Eater

2 - Family

"Did we do something?"

Alexandria fell onto her bed and stared at the ceiling whilst Aurel took off his jacket and sat down on his, taking his boots off.

"Have you seen us? Of course we did. But he hasn't caught us. So..."

"Right." She raised her eyebrows. "There's got to be something about all of this."

"We'll see tomorrow."

"Can we get coffee?"

"Always."

They did not spend too much time in the human world. Every time they did, they had to make sure it was worth it.

"Curious to meet your demon witch?", Alexandria asked.

"Absolutely not. If she is anything like you, I'm not getting too close to her."

"I'm nice."

"You wish."

She grinned at him and showed her teeth. They were longer than human teeth, since she wasn't human, despite her seemingly human appearance. She looked like a person, but she was an elf. A Shadow elf, a dark one with dark magic.

"I could tell that you wanted to bash his face in when he mentioned Lisbon.", Aurel said, stretching out on his mattress. "That they've been in the woods. You want to talk about it?"

"If I do, I'm going to bash your face in."

She closed her eyes. Thought about the city she was born in, the palace, and the place she grew up: the forest of the Dark elves, the Night elves. The outcasts. The palace and the Blooming City belonged to the elves of the Light.

Alexandria herself was an outcast of the outcasts: a child born from a Light elf and a Night elf. A Shadow elf, somehow in both worlds and neither at the same time.

"If they've done something to my people, I'll send Mortimer his hunter piece by piece.", she mumbled. "But I doubt it. My father would have given them hell if they had only tried and whatever they've done in the forest, the Night elves have probably given them shit for it."
Night elves were highly spiritual beings, the forest their temple. They were one with nature and if nature suffered, they suffered. They didn't like to suffer. Throughout their existence there had been enough suffering.

"It has probably nothing to do with the elves", Aurel said. "I can't think of anything they couldn't deal with themselves. Must've been something else."

"Something Mortimer wanted done."

"Exactly."
She opened her eyes. "Why does he always poke his nose where it's not wanted?"

"You see, that kind of sentence is probably why we're getting send on that mission."

-

They woke up in the early morning and went for a run, returned to their room in the Cathedral and got ready. They picked out their armour and their weapons. Alexandria shoved a small bottle with dark liquid into the pocket of her coat and just as she pretended to not have seen the guns under her companion's jacket, he ignored the vial. They had no secrets from each other.

"You're ready?"

"Absolutely fucking not, but here we go."

They left the Cathedral and walked down to the grey river. It was of ashen colour, just as almost everything in the crater that was Mortimer's city. Something had happened here, someone had happened here, and that was why the city laid in ruins. The only intact building still standing was the Cathedral, their home.

"Can't wait to leave this shithole behind.", Alexandria muttered.

She saw him grin. "I know you love it."

"Is there anything not broken here?"

"You tell me. There they are."

Are we late?

No. They're way too early. Expecting us. Oh... Hell, no.

Family, right?

They moved in and stopped before the triad and the man accompanying them. He was not Mortimer, but his right hand, the man in command of the cursed apprentices and their training. Connor, lover of hounds. Aurel's older brother.

What do you want here?, Aurel said, observing the soldiers before him. The woman, who could be no other than his short-term mentor stood behind one of the men. She was tall and slim. Her skin had the colour of coffee with a lot of milk and her hair was dark and shiny, falling in soft curves to her shoulders. Her eyes were yellow and reminded him of amber. 

She pissed off Egyptian demons, I'm swear on my wretched soul, muttered Alexandria in his mind. She was observing the triad as well, but he ignored her.

Good morning to you, too, brother, said the soldier dressed in black.

Reluctantly Aurel raised his gaze to look at him. Many people had taken them for twins: they had the same golden hair, it had about the same length, their eyes were of the same dark brown colour and even had the same golden specks. But apart from their age and rank there was one thing distinguishing them: Connor had met a creature and it had not gone well. A scar parted the left side of his face from his forehead down, disappearing in his hair at his left cheek.

What do you want? You have so little faith in me?

Aurel hated Connor with a passion ever since the accident happened. Deep inside he knew it had not been his brother's fault, but his brother was family, and his family was responsible for it. All of it.

I won't stay with you. I'm just crossing over with you, Connor said.

What for?

A mission.

Aurel raised his brows. What a coincidence when I happen to return to the human world, right?

It actually is.

Aurel cut off their connection and returned mentally to Alexandria. She stood next to him, motionless, and observed the hunter she was supposed to find the soul eater with.
We'll have company in Prague. Connor will be there as well, somewhere, Aurel said to her. Alexandria only focused on the soldier.