Judas Kiss

Historical Non-Fiction

Norah sat and watched the patrols come in. Luna was nowhere to be found--again--and she was honestly sick of it. Their home was at stake and she couldn't find the time to be there for one training class? They were both adults, dammit.

She got up after her mother didn't come back--again--and headed towards the library. She didn't know what she'd find, but she needed historical.

The place was filled with all the history of the Branch and Magi-Verse. The books from the Magi-Verse were salvaged by Spell Caster and other vivid readers.

She walked into the center and muttered some words to a spell. The books would know what she was looking for more then she was. Two books came towards her. One was leather-bound and looked older than most, the other looked more recent.

"Thanks, gimme both."

They dropped into her hands and she almost squealed in secession. Magic wasn't hard for her, but it was still exciting when it worked.

She hid in her room to keep someone from discovering her and muttered: "Spell Caster".

It flipped and flipped until it got to the middle. Then it stopped. Looking at it she started to read what it said.

Spell Caster, born to unknown parents--presumably those of the Shadow and Darkness race--became a terror to several villages. She would kill those who crossed her, and became an assassin for my people.

Soon she was brought to the duke of an unknown village for a job and never came back. She is dead, there is not doubt about it. Duke Wyrdern must have discovered and killed her.

Norah slammed the book closed in frustration. This was some journal, something called history!

"That wasn't very honorable." Norah chided the book.

Looking at the other she grabbed it at the page it stopped. It was ancient. And it was on the first page. Looking at it she realized it was her mother's handwriting. Skipping over several entries--as they were of foul language and sexual content, no surprise--she found someone's name she'd never heard before. Grey Shadow. She began pouring over it and realized Grey Shadow was another wicked person.

She used an image of my body to make herself look like me, Selena brought me back and I banished her to outside the Magi-Verse. She abused Nike and Mitch, two mortals with magic. Two mortals I have been looking for.

They are Guardians. But where are the other four? Lucy revealed nothing. But she knows, how can she know? I must befriend these two, since they seemed attached to Grey Shadow and since Mel is dead, I guess I can have my pick of the two. Since Mitch seemed interested, Nike is merely worried about something. Maybe being unfaithful. I can understand that.

Norah found this unsatisfactory and flipped through some more. Soon she found an entry on her and her sister.

I am pregnant. I don't know why my protection spell didn't work, unless Shadow somehow broke it, but how could he have known I was sterile? Fuck him. I can't. I can't carry them. I can't bear his children. But I can't kill them, they're innocent.

What if he comes back? For either of us. I won't go with him, I'll kill him. But I can't kill him, he's like us--fucking

It cut off there. Norah read her mother's despair and sighed. She wasn't supposed to be alive. She never should have existed. But Spell Caster loved her so much, that had been proven years ago, during her training.

Norah looked for something else and found an entry on Soul.

Crimson is dead to me. He will be dead permanently if I ever get a hold of him. I wish I hadn't been so stupid. How could Nike or Mitch allowed that? How could Maddie allow that? Did they truly believe I would kill them? I would have killed them in the womb if I wanted them dead.

Soul is different from the boy in the alley. He isn't what he said he was oh so long ago. But I can't trust him. How could anyone be so foolish into believing what he was smoking wasn't drugs? I can still hear every word spoken to me that night. I can hear every word of his is dipped in regret.

Norah wanted to continue reading but the book disappeared. Her head snapped to the other but it was still there. The newer book was still there.

"That was her journal." Norah realized. Her entire history was there. She just had been too stupid to look.

Norah got up and moved to find Mitch. There were some things she needed answered.

* * *

Mitch was hanging out with Nike and Soul. Norah smiled, no matter who they were with, there was always a friendship between Nike, Mitch and someone else. She'd seen it with Crimson.

"Hey, Norah." Soul said when he noticed her.

"Mitch, we need to talk." she said, ignoring Soul.

Mitch looked at her in surprise. "Since when do you talk to me, well, since you became an adult anyway."

"C'mon man, please?" Norah asked.

"I'm busy, kiddo. Later, maybe." Mitch replied.

Norah kept a sigh back and nodded.

C'mon, you know it isn't honorable to keep arguing.

She walked off and looked for her sister. She still had to yell at her for not showing up to classes again. Then she found Silver.

"Sup, Norah." Silver said.

"Where's Luna?" Norah asked.

"Probably hiding again. She hates this. I wish I could send her to the safe camps, but her values as a healer are too, well, valuable. If my healing magic were better, I'd take her place. But my sense of future emotion still overrides it."

Norah looked guilty. Luna was scared, she knew that. But Norah was too. But she tried to suppress it. She couldn't be scared. She was needed for justice. For honor.

"Crap, well, see you, Silver."

She went to walk away but Silver grabbed her arm. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I just need some alone time."
"You're scared. What's wrong."

Norah hated her half sister's emotion power.

"I found some stuff in mom's journal on me and Luna."

Silver smirked. "Are you sure you're not scared from some of the other things she's written?"

"No. Of course not. But there is no honor in reading about someone else's sex life."

"Honor this, justice that. You can be more relaxed you know."

"We're at war, sister. I can't be, "relaxed". How would you feel if you lost Ellie?"

Silver looked enraged that quickly. "You haven't the right. You have no right to tell me about Ellie, understood?"

"Are you that over protective?" Norah challenged.

Silver left and Norah stormed back to her room. There was no working with Silver sometimes, anything about Ellie was a touche subject.

"You know she doesn't like you, Norah, so why bother?"

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