My Mother Immortal

Chapter 25: Cruel Fate (Part III)

Abyssia and Eluia tore down the corridor at top speed, not caring if their two spectators could catch up or even knowing of their existence.

"This...is...pure...torture..." Hanalea gasped out, doubled over, while Abyssia and Eluia quickly vanished from view.

I thought it would come to this, Eirlys remarked, drawing a circle in the air with a finger.

A translucent bubble popped into existence, growing larger and larger till it had completely "absorbed" Hanalea and Eirlys. The bubble rose into the air, and Hanalea was thrown backwards as it jerked forward, rushing down the corridor at breakneck pace. Eirlys was somehow on her feet, an aura of intense excitement around her.

This is the life! Eirlys cheered, pumping her hands in the air and looking more animated and alive than Hanalea had ever seen her.

The bubble zipped down a maze of corridors and doors which flashed past them (how fast could the twins run anyway?), eventually slowing to a stop.

Abyssia and Eluia were standing behind a column in the cavernous hall they were in, identical marble columns from the one they were hiding behind soaring up towards the dome ceiling above. The veritable work of art displayed dozens of panes of mesmerising stained glass murals, and stone busts sat in display cases that lined the circumference of the hall.

Formerly a ballroom, now used for large-scale gatherings and the such.

Eirlys had regained her stoic, sombre expression and mysterious aura, and was looking down at a row of uniformed guards dressed in royal blue and gold livery, guns primed and ready to leap into action.

"Where's Giles? Too scared to stop us himself?" Abyssia shouted out, her voice reverberating off the walls to echo back at at all who were present in the eerie way of echos.

Where's Giles...
Giles...scared...stop us...
himself...self...

"Our Master's too busy to deal with your flights of fancies." one of the guards shouted back, slowly and silently advancing towards where the twins were.

"Master? My fancies? Watch your mouth!" Abyssia popped her head out from behind the column and fired once, twice.

Two guards- one being the one who had spoken crumpled to the ground, pools of blood forming round their still forms.

"And I am more deserving of respect, since I am more suited to be Head!"

Abyssia leapt out into full view, firing at the guards, while Eluia took careful aim, half-hidden behind the column, bringing down three guards by herself. The remainder opened fire on the twins, and Eluia hurriedly retracted the exposed part of her body back behind the column. Abyssia cursed loudly, flipping backwards on her free hand and scrambling behind one of the display cases.

Hanalea was unable to look away, so enthralled was she by the chain of events unfolding before her very eyes. Her breath had gotten caught in her throat, and she no longer remembered how to breathe. Her focus zeroed in one of the guards, who was levelling his gun at Abyssia and taking aim with a calm precision...

Abyssia cried out as the bullet grazed her shoulder, ripping her coat and the jumpsuit beneath it, a red blossom starting to flower there.

"Now you have done it!" Abyssia yelled, smashing her fist into the display case, sending shards of glass and droplets of blood spinning through the air, landing in an ugly mix on the ground.

She sandwiched the rifle under her arm and seized the heavy stone bust with both hands, hurling it towards the guards. It sailed in a flawless arc, the guards only having enough time to cross their arms over their heads to brace themselves for impact- and then the bust smashed down.

Abyssia and Eluia took the opportunity to shoot at the last three surviving guards, and sprinted for one of the hall's exits, with Hanalea and Eluia's bubble transport following suit.

The first of many injuries Abyssia was going to get, Eirlys said grimly, and Hanalea imagined that Eirlys was probably seeing Abyssia writhing on the floor in a pool of blood already.

"I suppose you will be supplying me with spoilers from now on?" Hanalea raised an eyebrow in Eirlys's direction.

Of course. Speaking of which, they are going to encounter the next "line of defense" in three seconds, Eirlys replied, holding up three fingers.

One finger went down.
Two fingers.
Then three.

Below them, the twins skidded to a halt, pressing their backs against the wall.

"Stop this meaningless resistance!" someone round the corner shouted.

"How 'bout 'no', Marin?" Abyssia reached round the corner and fired several times, retracting her arms quickly when the people round the corner returned fire, cutting long ridges into the wall.

The A rank assassins. In terms of rank, Abyssia would be Rank SS, Eluia Rank S. The A rank assassins won't last long, though they are rather skilled. Eirlys appraised Hanalea before nodding thoughtfully. You have raw skill, but no experience. A B rank, I guess, at least for now.

Hanalea glanced sharply at Eirlys. "I don't need to know how good an assassin I am."

Eirlys ignored her, keeping her line of vision angled dowmwards as their bubble transport rounded the corner. Hanalea sat apprehensively, mentally preparing herself to see a mix of full-grown adults and people around Abyssia and Eluia's age. Instead, to her surprise, she was greeted by the sight of four twelve-year-olds, six fifteen-year-olds and a single eighteen-year-old, all clearly armed to the teeth. Every single assassin looked prepared to use the weapons they had to their disposal.

A girl with long braids and a boy with a sprinkle of freckles over the bridge of his nose screamed something equivalent to a battle cry and rushed towards the twins' hiding place.

A ruse, Eirlys mused.

Sure enough, as Abyssia emerged, firing at the boy and girl, they sprang away from each other in different directions, circling round Abyssia. However, she evidently did not bear the SS rank for show, and she was not alone as well.

Eluia tossed her gun to Abyssia, who caught it in mid-air without sparing it a glance. Now with a rifle in each hand, she crossed her arms across her chest and aimed their barrels behind her. Two shots, fired in tandem, both hit their marks, and the two young assassins collapsed, utterly defeated. By now, Abyssia had already uncrossed her arms and had started shooting at the rest of the A ranks, Eluia backing her up with an automatic pistol.

"Why would you betray us, Abyssia, Eluia?" the eighteen-year-old advanced towards Abyssia and her sister, expertly dodging any bullets that were shot at her.

"I am betraying no one, Marin. I am attaining my freedom, and in my eyes, you all are the ones betraying us." While Marin's attention was on Abyssia, Eluia shot casually at the wall.

The bullet, travelling along a carefully calculated trajectory and at a precise angle, ricocheted off the walls, making its way straight for Marin.

She never stood a chance, since she was too focused on Abyssia and any bullets fired directly at her to see Eluia shoot, and the bullet went right into her head and onwards, burrowing into her brain. A spurt of blood exited the bullet's entry point and her head jerked sideways from the impact.

For a brief moment, Marin did not even know that she had been shot, that she had taken her last breath. That moment passed and she fell, eyes wide and void of the existence of any sign of life.

Abyssia passed a rifle to Eluia and they raced forward, lashing out with the butts of their rifles and parrying any knives that the remaining assassins threw or thrust towards them, feeling down to their bones that they were running out of time.

The distant footsteps that pelted down the corridor signaled the arrival of reinforcements, and Abyssia cursed loudly. She had been wounded in the fray- besides the bullet wound on her shoulder, she now had a deep cut above her eyebrow and a multitude of lacerations across her right arm. Eluia said nothing, though Hanalea saw her wrench a small knife out from her side.

Not much time left, for this Abyssia and her sister, or for you.

Hanalea was too caught up in the flow to question what Eirlys's words meant.