You Are The Light In My Darkness

Side Story: Remembrance (Part 2)

"Tenchū."

Another day, another job.

"Tenchū"

Another life is taken.

"Tenchū"

Another one bites the dust.

"Tenchū."

Another corpse on the sandy ground.

"Tenchū."

Another Magic Council soldier on my tail.

************************************

I didn't even need to open my eyes at the sound of paper flitting to the cold stone floor. I let out a sigh.

I never wanted to kill.

Though the souls I've put to rest have never come back to haunt me, I hated killing. With the exception of some, I disliked ending innocent lives. But whenever I hesitate before I strike, a punishment awaited in this caliginuos dungeon.

No, I must.

Father's orders are absolute.

I touched the black collar around my slender neck, flinching slightly at the algidity. Feeling the obtrusion in the plastic, I scowl. I despised the lacrima that sent immense pain tearing through my frail body during Father's heartless punishments.

"Try taking it off, it'll electrocute you to death."

Father's harsh words rang in my head. I clear that memory away, reaching for the inked paper. The same process ensued as I thrust a numb forefinger into the weak adhesive and moved it horizontally in one swift motion. Removing the letter within the paper container, I stretch it out to smooth out the lined folds. My eyes widen at the man's picture on the profile.

Target: Makarov Dreyer

************************************

Streaking through the forest with ease, I didn't feel quite as light-footed as I always have.

Questions lingered in the depths of my six-year-old mind. Mainly,

Why?

I knew the short old man from memory. It was a long time ago, when I was around four years of age. It was the day Father was expelled from this weird place.

It was the last time I saw civilisation.

But that doesn't matter.

Father's orders are absolute.

Father's orders are absolute.

Father's orders are absolute.

The stoic voice in my head repeated the sentence over and over again like a broken record.

My eyes turned a dull baron red, my irises dilated. I could feel my body slipping away into oblivion. It was as if a translucent red veil had been lowered over my eyes.

Kill.

Kill.

Kill.

Kill.

Kill Makarov Dreyer.

Kill the target.

"Kill the target." I echoed mindlessly. My irises had disappeared, leaving behind two lifeless pools of carmine. In the shadowy vegetation, the red lacrima shone with burgundy refulgence.

Hypnosis.

************************************

An unceremonious crash through the cement roof made the short man jolt awake. In the piles of debris, a petite figure stood. Under the voluminous folds of the person's cloak, it was hard for him to postulate the gender of the ceiling's assailant.

Without waiting for him to ready himself, the attacker sprung forward, the katana the aggressor held slashing at him. He dodged swiftly, but he was a little too slow. Part of his baby blue and chrome yellow lined yukata was slit open.

His obsedian eyes widened at the invisible slashes delivered at an inhuman speed.

Using magic as a shield, he conjured up a wall of fire to block the consistent carving of the lightly curved long-sword. With some time to catch his breath, he recalled the killings going on for almost three years now. The only lead was the piece of parchment with the Raven Tail insignia printed on it.

So this is the assasin from Raven Tail...code named hitokiri. I never thought that Ivan had someone so skilled in swordfighting!

Through the blazing embers, realisation struck him. He caught sight of a pinprick of crimson light, gleaming under hitokiri's cloak.

Ivan's using hypnosis to make him do this. Assuming that it's a 'he', of course.

A flash of thunder shot towards the hooded person, but he was even faster. With a quick strike, he sliced the bolt in two.

"Laxus!" The old man gasped, with a fast gaze at his grandson.

"Who the hell are you?" The blonde growled at the mysterious cloaked figure.

He cast a sideways glance at the new enemy before opening his mouth for the first time.

"That is unimportant." His voice was imperturbable.

He has seen. He will die.

Die.

Die.

Die.

Die.

"Die." The emotionless word rolled off his tongue, hanging in the silent night air for a few short seconds.

Without warning, he spurred forward, his katana poised and ready to fight.

"Laxus! Distract her!" Makarov instructed, a plan forming in his head.

Her? Laxus questioned silently, following his grandfather's orders and shooting beams of electricity at the girl. Now that I think of it, I could hear the slightest bit of feminity in her robotic voice.

Fleet-footed slashes clash against his lightning with utmost precision, making them bounce away uselessly. There was an almost insane wildness in her apathetic cerise eyes. But it seemed wrong.

Instantly, the pieces clicked together in Laxus's brain. She was being controlled.

But that doesn't change anything. He was running out of magic power, and she didn't show any signs of fatigue. She was beginning to gain the upper hand, while he had too many openings. The fifteen-year-old youth panted breathlessly, the lightning pulsing out of his fingers starting to falter.

That's when Makarov attacked. She was going in for the kill, leaving her neck open. With a thin arrow of air, he shattered the fuchsia lacrima.

Her eyes expand in shock as sanity flows back into her frenzied mind. Dull red pools fade into a glimmering sapphire. She stops abruptly, her serrated blade inches away from the young man's face. Backing up in uncertainty and fear, she stared deep into his eyes by accident, but it was too late. Recognisation flashed through her eyes as her memories rewind to the time when she lived in the same dreary cell, but opposite stayed a boy many years older than her.

He seems to have remembered her scent as well, as the same memories--just from a different point of view--scintillate past his onyx orbs.

One word from the girl that hovers in the thick haze of risen dust from their fight confirms his anamnesis. Her voice soft and brimming with emotion unlike her previous tone, she let out a sliver of breath before crashing a palm onto the wooden floor, causing a burst of light to obscure their view and for her to dart out of the hole in the ceiling.

"Brother?"
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~To Be Continued~