Land of the Hidden

Grim

A few days after Raphael and Ria had started training with knives Esmeralda came to check on them again. She watched them for half an hour before asking them to see her in the assembly room, just Ria and Raphael.
"Children," she began, "I see you have been working hard, your fighting is now good enough."
Confused Ria and Raphael looked at each other,
"Good enough for what?" Raphael asked
"Good enough for your first Grim, you children, are going on a trip. Clodagh will fill in the details." Again, Esmeralda disappeared.

"We are going to face a Grim?" Demanded Raphael.
"Yes."
The others came out of the training room. "You're going to WHAT?" Louise spat, Clodagh looked up at Louise
"They are going to face a Grim, they will be back soon enough." Clodagh put a hand on each of their shoulders and all three disappeared.

"You can freaking teleport?"
"Yes, Ria, I can. We have more pressing matters." Ria looked around, they were standing in the sand dunes in portnoo Donegal, "I don't believe it I, I used to come here with my best friend Lilly. Raphael looked around, "you would come here with Lilly?"
Ria nodded, "every Easter."
"Ria, it's Easter Sunday tomorrow."
"You don't think, Missy, or my parents would be here? Do you?"
"Possibly."
Ria bit her lip. "Clo? How do we kill this sucker?"

After they found a cheap hotel, Clodagh told them it was necessary to have an Elitian blade, she now handed each of them a bronze knife with an Elitian symbol carved into it on the wooden handle. "These will kill pretty much anything?" Raphael asked. Clodagh nodded, "even Elitians."
"Where do we find the Grim?"
"Well, once on earth Grim take a human form, they only revert back once they are either taken into the land of the hidden or killed"
Annoyed, Raphael sat down on the bed,
"So, this thing looks like any other person?"
"It does to you. To an Elitian it's eyes are black, even in human form."
"Do we just walk around trying to find this thing or...?" Ria looked at Clodagh, hoping for a better solution. Clodagh nodded, "I think that is what we must do."

They walked around the small town, eventually they came to a small harbour with a cottage next to it. A lump rising in her throat, Ria looked in at the window. Her little sister Missy was curled up on the sofa reading 'the hobbit' their mother walked in and sat down next to the little girl, wrapping her arms around her.
"I gave her that book for her birthday last year." Ria gulped. Putting his arm around her shoulders Raphael tried to comfort her, "it's gonna be okay Ria, when this whole war is over maybe our lives will go back to normal." Ria sniffed "maybe."

It was getting dark when Clodagh finally spotted the Grim, she was standing high up in the sand dunes
looking down jeeringly at the three figures. Ria pulled her knife out of the inside pocket of her trench coat, the Grim sneered. Both parties started advancing slowly, Ria and the Grim never losing eye contact. The amulet around Ria's neck started to glow but, caught up with grim, nobody noticed. "Well, well, well if it isn't tweedle dee and tweedle dum. Who's your special friend here? She reeks of self entitlement, all Elitians do."
"Don't talk about Clodagh like that." Ria hissed. Suddenly, the grim jumped at them like a cat, Ria created a force field, causing the grim to spring back. "Well aren't you a clever little mouse. I'm going to enjoy ripping apart your world. You can't protect that." Using his speed, it was not the speed of sound yet, but quick enough, Raphael got behind the grim. Twisting her arm back he held a knife to her throat. "Would you look at that? You've got me. You can kill me if you like, won't make a difference, I'm just one out of thousands. You five can't lead an army, you're just teens." And with that, she stomped down on Raphael's foot, hard with her boots, he took a step back "oh I do so love playing cat and mouse." She bent over Raphael and picked up the knife he had dropped holding it over his chest, "the cat always wins."
The grim gasped,
"not always you evil bitch." Ria pulled the Elitian blade out of the grim's back and wiped it on her handkerchief before stowing it away in her pocket Ria held a hand out to Raphael, he took it and she pulled up.
"Thanks."
Ria smiled, "it's no biggy." He punched her playfully in the arm. "Show off."

They stayed the night in the hotel. Early the next morning Ria headed out to the sand dunes. Raphael found her there, leaning against a small hill watching a little girl with blonde hair around nine years old and a girl with hair like a lion around thirteen. The girls were Missy and Lilly.
"I miss her." She blinked back tears
"Who? Lilly or Missy?"
"Both, all of them really. My friends, family even enemies. I miss my old life, I used to be worried about failing my classes now I'm terrified of letting down the whole freaking world." Raphael laughed, hollowly, "yeah, I hear you." The two girls came up holding a flag. "Morning." Lilly nodded at them. Ria smiled, "morning, cool flag." They grinned "we made it ourselves" Missy told them proudly.

Lilly looked closely at Raphael and Ria, "I'm sorry, do I know you two from somewhere?" Ria felt her eyes brimming with tears "no I don't think so." Missy grinned mischievously "are you two together?" Ria laughed and looked at Raphael. "No, he's, he's my brother. " Raphael looked up and grinned, "yeah I don't see how anyone would want to date you." Ria punched him "screw you".

Back at the hideout Tammika, Jared and Louise wanted know everything about the Grim. They left out their encounter with Missy and Lilly. Proudly Raphael told them how Ria had stabbed the Grim, Ria laughed and said that if Raphael hadn't gotten the grim to face the other way, she would never had managed. After the others had stopped pestering them Ria pulled Raphael out.
"I just wanted to thank you for leaving out Missy and Lilly." She looked at her blue DMs and shuffled her feet.
"No problem." He hugged her. "It'll be okay, you'll see."
"Thanks," and as an afterthought "bro" he laughed "get out."