A prologue and first chapter

[Angelic Assassin]

Prologue


The first and so far only time I saw the strange, muscular man with long white hair, green eyes, with the look and charm of someone in his mid-twenties, I had been a child on winter break in the second grade. I was out building a snowman in the front yard on my eighth birthday when he came, holding two small boxes wrapped in, instead of paper, gold cloth. He smiled at me when he entered our yard, a kind smile, though his eyes held something different, something that to this day exactly ten years later, I don’t know what it was. “Hello there young lady,” he said, coming down to one knee so that he could be at eye level with me (at which point I had what could be considered a premonition). “Are your parents home, I need to speak with them.”

I nodded as I continued to pack some snow around the base of the snowman. “Yes mister, they’re inside, what do you want to talk with them about?”

He smiled again and started to help make the small snowball I had been working on larger. “It’s nothing you should worry about right now, young one.” He stood slowly, giving my head a quick pat before he walked up to the door and knocked. My mother answered and ushered him quickly.

I don’t know what they talked about, but I do know that a few minutes later my mother stuck her head out the door. “Eris, it’s time to come in, it’s time for cake, ice cream and presents.”

I jumped up, my start of a snowman abandoned at the thought of new books and toys, as well as the traditional sweets, and dashed inside. The man was still there and sitting at my father’s place at the table, with Papa sitting to his right. Mama pulled off my knit hat, letting my long royal blue hair fall to my waist, and helped me out of my heavy parka, before leading me over to the seat that was to the left of the strange man and handing me a glass of hot coco.

The strange man smiled at me again as Mama brought out the presents, setting them on the table in front of me, the first of which was one of the boxes the man had carried not long before. I picked it up, looking at the tag which read “for Eris on her eighth birthday” in surprise, and carefully removed the cloth wrapping, tying it around my head like a scarf, revealing the four inch by four inch hinged box. I look at my parents and then him, all three giving me an encouraging nod, and open it to see a gold chain necklace with a pendant set with blue, green and red stones (I later found out that they were sapphires, rubies, and emeralds).

My parents smiled at me. “What is it Eris?” I turned the box around to show them and my mother’s eyes went wide.

My father looked at the man, his face calm. “Tia jhys,” he said to him, his voice cool, taking on an almost informative tone, though I did not understand what it was he said, and I still don‘t. “Os pandraes air olia ei tor, mes ei kos air sai aezalandral thys caes.”

The man shook his head, tapping on the table almost menacingly. “Eil mi air tia theresi shodi eil Ai mar koli caes sharaelaes kos Ai paes thor. Eiraes sor pae Ai shor byr mi caes thys sael os, saesaerysi Ai ter taji iar thys air byrn,” he responded to my father in the same strange language, a note of authority in his tone.

My mother stood quickly, looking between the two carefully and bowing her head in what looked to be a gesture of respect. “Shar tia ceral tael, tia jhys, air sar si kos cyr tysi balia sal shar oli seidolalia kolaer ei tor os Eris’s eindri. Ci tael bai oraeli shia cor shys,” she said slowly, as if trying to remember a language she hadn’t spoken in years.

The man smiled at Mama with a soft nod. “Vos usquequaque erant sapiens, Lucia. Verum exsisto memoratus, eram reputo of a piece aptus pro suus ut gero laxus in vita ut alius filiolus animadverto is eram mei,” he told her (at least I think he told her, since he mentioned her name). “But for now, let us celebrate young Eris’s birthday, after all a young lady only turns eight once in her life.”

My parents nodded with smiles of relief as they sat down. “Alright, Eris, time to open your other presents,” Papa said cheerfully.

The rest of my presents turned out to be mostly books, one chemistry set, and the toy glaive I had wanted. The man looked at me, an eyebrow raised in what could have been curiosity. “Such unusual gifts for a girl your age.”

I smiled at him, making a popping sound with my lips before responding. “No more than a stranger giving me a necklace that I didn’t ask for, I asked for these.”

He gave a low chuckle, almost shaking his head. “Touché jeune mademoiselle,” he looked at my parents disdainfully. “Well Lucia, Garland, aren’t you going to introduce me to your daughter?”

Mama blushed considerably. “I guess in the excitement of Eris’s birthday I forgot to do so, my apologies, Eris, is this an acquaintance of your father and I, his name is Criton, he’s the one you have to thank for the lovely necklace.”

I smiled at the man I now knew as Criton. “Thank you, Mister Criton, what was it that you said to me a few minutes ago.”

He gave another chuckle. “I said touché, which sort of means--”

I sigh, shaking my head. “I know what touché means, I do read, I meant the rest of it.”

He looked at me, his eyes wide, and then looked to my parents. “Eisi o mesi o shor thys caes sai shaer ti? Ai mar byr cyr air eindral o, tia maesal, ais o mae bai, mi air ei vaestasardi tor, eil shor taesolia shi eil eistajol shystal.” My parents nodded, to which he smiled before turning to me. “I said touché young lady, you really are quite intelligent, and please, call me Criton, no mister to it.”

I shrug slightly. “Thank you, Mis-- I mean Criton, most people in my class think I’m stupid, I just let ‘em, and when the right time comes I’ll make them wonder why they thought it in the first place.”

After I said that, my mother placed a plate in front of each of us with a piece of my favorite triple chocolate cake. “Eris, after you finish eating, I want you to leave Criton, your father, and I alone and go to another room to read while we talk a bit more, alright?”

I gave a nod as I dug in. “Yes, Mama, I have plenty of books here to keep me busy for a few days at least.”

Criton picked up his fork and began eating slowly. “You always were an amazing cook, Lucia, but this is probably one of you greatest masterpieces.”

My mother shook her head. “No, Adela has always been better.”

He smiled at her, shaking his head. “No, Adela’s cooking has always lacked something that you have in every dish, though I cannot figure it out.”

I finished my cake and picked up a book and plate, before looking at the other plates and picking up Papa’s empty plate. “I’m going to go put these up and go read.” I said before retreating into the kitchen and sitting down with my book in just the right place to over hear what was being said, little did I know that I wouldn’t be able to understand it.

* * *

Criton stayed in the guest room that night, and he left the next morning. To this day, I still don’t know who he was, or why my parents were treating him the way they did, but I intend to find out, somehow.



(Translations for what wasn't in english are available on request)

[Dante]

Omg Sarah I love it! please post more! I wanna see more. You should put up translations at the bottom, it would make it alot better to read ^__^

[Angelic Assassin]

Chapter 1


It had been just under ten years since Eris met the man she knew as Criton on that cold winters day, and she had matured into a lovely young woman. Her long blue hair came down to her waist, and was always pulled into a pony tail, while her gray eyes were framed by a pair of silver rimmed glasses that were elegant in their simplicity. She was not tall by any means, but she wasn’t short either. Her frame was what would be called willowy and she normally wore a simple blouse and sweaters with long skirts while the necklace Criton gave her sat beneath her blouse, coming out only on special occasions. The overall effect of her appearance made her seem to be a young librarian, which was, in truth, what she wanted.

She had excelled in high school, her grades phenomenal, though her grades in her magic courses were always noticeably better than those in science classes. Not only did she astound her peers in her seemingly sudden turn around, but she also graduated a year before her former class mates and even attained the honor of Valedictorian.

* * *

Eris sighed as she looked out the window of the restaurant from her normal booth, tapping her fingers against the windowsill as she watched the first snow fall. “It’s been nearly ten years and I’m nowhere near finding out who he was or what he and my parents talked about,” she muttered while she smoothed her peach colored tiered skirt with one hand and a thin, blonde haired girl with her long hair braided in a vain attempt to hide pale pink streaks and coiled into a partial bun though the braid still stopped just below her waist, clad in a long green skirt and a white fleece pullover slid into the booth across from her.

“Eris, please don’t tell me you’re hung up on that tired old topic again,” she said as she set her purse down next to her, sounding more than a little exasperated. “Every year for the past five, since my sister and I moved here with my foster parents Edan and Honoria, mind you, we’ve had the exact same discussion about the exact same event that happened when you turned eight, give it a rest already.”

“Clíona, I thought we went through this last year, there was something fishy about that day, nobody gives something like my necklace to an eight year old, I checked it out for a portion of my final in Advanced Magical Theorem class, you were there, it has a strong protection enchantment attached to it, remember I got twenty extra credit points just for being able to identify such a rare charm, not to mention what those gems are. Then what about that vision I had when he stooped to one knee when I was making that snowman, you know, the one where he had a ring? Or what about the way my parents treated him and talked to each other in that weird language even after I had left the room?” Eris pointed out with a smile before a tall, muscular boy with medium brown hair wearing a flannel shirt and corduroy pants who was about Clíona and Eris’s age slipped into the booth beside Eris.

He looked at Clíona sympathetically. “Let me guess, the whole thing about this mysterious Criton again?” he said simply.

“Hit the nail right on the head for once, Blaze, seems she’ll only let it drop until around the time of the first snow,” Clíona stated with a grin.

“Clíona, I know you’re probably going to hit me for this, but she does have a point with the vision, she has had a history of premonitions after all,” Blaze said with a level stare at the red haired girl.

Eris rolled her eyes before turning to get a good look at them both. “I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about me as if I weren’t here, or deaf, you both know I’ve got good hearing.”

Blaze laughed. “Only because you’re vision without your glasses is only slightly better than the eyesight of a bat,” he commented, before prudently moving out of Eris’s reach to sit next to Clíona, who chuckled softly while she smacked him on the back of the head.

“I’m sorry it took so long, but I‘m afraid I only started a few hours ago,” a waitress with short forest green hair said as she approached the trio, saving Clíona and Eris from Blaze whining about how much Clíona supposedly hurt him. “Hello, my name is Caileigh, and I’ll be your server this afternoon, can I get you anything to drink?”

“I could use some hot coco, if you don’t mind,” Eris said with a grin. “And I’m so sorry, Miss Caileigh, if I had known that it would be someone’s first day, I wouldn’t have suggested that my friends and I come here, no one should have to deal with Blaze when they first start a job, I‘m Eris, and we‘ll probably be seeing a lot of each other since I come in frequently. Are you new in town, I don‘t think I‘ve seen you around?”

“Hey! I resent that remark,” Blaze said with mock indignation before looking to Caileigh with a smile. “I’ll have some lemonade.”

Clíona rolled her eyes with a grin. “I swear, you two act like an old married couple sometimes.” She nodded to Caileigh with an exasperated smile and a sly wink which Eris almost did not catch and Blaze never saw it at all. “You’ll get used to them, I did, and they ended up assimilating me. Anyway, I’ll have water with a twist of lemon and lime, please.”

The young woman nodded slightly and returned the wink. “I’ll be right back to take your orders and with your drinks, and yes I am actually,” she said as she turned and headed toward the back of the restaurant.

Blaze looked to Eris with a small smile. “Alright, Eris, you called us here to talk, now talk.”

Eris looked between her two friends with a smile. “Well, as you know, my eighteenth birthday is in two weeks, for some reason my parents have placed some sort of significance on this birthday in particular, and they’ve invited all of their friends to the party, and I want you two to be at the party.”

Clíona narrowed her gaze at her friend and nodded. “And you want us to snoop around to see if we can find any information about Criton, don’t you?”

“If you find out anything about him, I’d want you to tell me, but I just want you there because you’re my friends, and it’s my birthday, and I’ll need someone to talk to.”

“You know I’ll be there, will your mom be cooking?” Blaze put in with a smile.

“Mama is going all out, you’d think she’s planning a banquet with the number of people who are coming and the amount she’s going to be cooking.”

Smiling, Clíona shook her head. “As long as it doesn’t turn into a repeat of your sixteenth, or your graduation party, I’ll be fine. Edan and Honoria thought I was sick when I didn’t eat for a week, and when you think about it, I was.”

“Don’t worry about it, Clíona, just try a little of everything, and give what you don’t eat to me, you know me,” Blaze said with a cheery grin.

“We all know your stomach is a black hole for food Blaze, remember, you’re the reason why we can’t go to buffets, but I don’t think Mama will be happy with Clíona giving you her food,” Eris stated pointedly.

Blaze was saved from further humiliation by Caileigh’s return with the drinks, setting each one in front of the one who ordered it. “Have you decided what you’d like to eat?”

He looked at her with a smile, holding up the menu and ignoring Eris and Clíona’s pained groans. “I’ll have the entire left portion of the menu, please.”

Eris rolled her eyes. “I’ll have a bowl of clam chowder and if you feel the need put Blaze’s food on another table, he gets like this frequently.”

“More like he’s always like this,” Clíona stated cheerfully before looking to Caileigh. “I’ll have some clam chowder in a bread bowl please.”

Caileigh nodded cheerfully. “One of the easiest orders all day,” she commented as she walked off with a smile.

Blaze smiled as he watched her walk off, her short green hair bouncing slightly as she walked away. “So what do you think of Caileigh, Eris?”

She laughed while observing Clíona position her elbow near his side. “Blaze, I think you should be asking Clíona, the one who not even ten minutes ago called us an old married couple, and more importantly is poised to gouge her bony elbow into your side.”

He looked between the two, his shoulders drooping gently as he stands. “I don’t have to take this abuse, I’m moving another table.”

Clíona looked at her watch and begins to laugh. “I think that’s a record, not even fifteen minutes. What do you think, Eris?”

Shaking her head, Eris looked over her shoulder at Blaze as he sat down. “No there was the time when you--” she paused with a frown. “No this is a record. Hey, Blaze, you can sit with me, I won’t hit you for the eyesight remark, even though you deserve it.”

He groaned as he stood and slid into the booth next to her yet again. “No, you’ll just never let me hear the end of it.”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll just make a comment about how Clíona keeps offering to introduce her to her foster sister and has been for two years while you keep avoiding the topic like the plague.”

Blaze looked at both ladies before speaking, trying to choose his words carefully. “Ladies like you two are hard to find. It’s like how Clíona looks for gentlemen similar to her foster brothers, and Eris looks for gentlemen like me because we’ve been like siblings since the start of third grade. I want to find someone with your,” he nodded to Clíona. “Analytical mind and sense of humor as well as your frame which would more than likely make even a fae woman envious. And your,” he gave a similar nod to Eris. “Tastes in reading material and hobbies, ability to learn languages, and how you remember almost everything said in your presence if you have reason to, as well as someone with an unusual hair color.” He grinned at them. “Face it you are each one of a kind and will probably have to put up with me even after you get married because I will never find anyone with all of those qualities.”

Clíona cast a sidelong glance at Eris before laughing softly. “Well Eris, you’ve probably guessed, should I tell him or do you want to?”

The blue haired girl smiled, shaking her head as she looked down at the table. “You should probably tell him, but personally I think you should let him find out on his own, more fun for both of us.”

The other young lady smiled. “Blaze, were you or were you not checking out Caileigh?”

Blaze’s face turned a pale shade of pink as he nodded slowly. “Yes, I didn’t think it was obvious though.”

Eris laughed softly, shaking her head and tapping the glass of the window. “Blaze, you’re about as transparent as this window, probably more so and I can read you like an open book.”

He looked to Clíona who nodded. “Tell me what?”

Clíona smiled at him knowingly. “You’ll find out eventually, and you’ll wonder why you did what you did.”

Eris gave a brief nod as she resumed looking out the window with a sigh and she felt as if something heavy had been placed on her shoulders. “Do either of you get the feeling that something that’ll effect us in a major way is going to happen and fairly soon.”

Rolling her eyes Clíona looked to Blaze with a loud groan. “There she goes again.”

He shook his head. “Maybe not, Clíona, remember, more often than not, she’s right about this sort of thing, I just hope it’s nothing bad.” He looked at Eris and hung his head. “The normal feeling, I take it?”

She looked at him with a brief nod. “Yes, and it frustrates me when it happens because I never know what it is until a few moments before it happens and sometimes--”

“And sometimes not even then?” Clíona input with a shake of her head, to which Eris nodded. “Honoria has the same thing, it’s what caused us to move here and meet you.”

Eris smiled weakly at her. “There you can’t really criticize me for it, can you?”

Blaze groaned before clearing his throat. “Alright, Clíona, Eris, as of this moment, I declare this table to be an angst-free zone, so Eris, cheer up, and Clíona, quit encouraging her.”

Clíona and Eris were about to respond before Caileigh returned with two other waitresses in tow, each with a tray of food. “Here’s your order,” she said, placing a plate with a bread bowl filled with clam chowder in front of Eris, and a simple bowl of chowder in front of Clíona before stepping aside for the other two to place their burdens on whatever space was left on the table. “So should I assume you three are paying separately?” she asked as she stepped back forward, ignoring the fact that Blaze was staring at her.

Eris nodded with a laugh, changing immediately from what Blaze tended to call her angst mode to her cheerful self. “That’s one of the safest assumptions I have ever heard.”

Clíona looked at Eris, shaking her head in astonishment. “You never cease to amaze me, even after five years.” She smiled at Caileigh and nods. “Yes, it’s the safest way to avoid Eris and I getting stuck with sharing Blaze’s check, seeing how we were banned from buffets around here if he was with us.”

Caileigh laughed as she glanced at Blaze. “What I want to know is if he can eat this much and still look like that, where does it all go?”

“Clíona and I have a few theories about that, but nothing substantial as of yet,” Eris stated as she smacked Blaze upside the head. “Snap out of it.”

Blaze shook his head to clear his head. “Huh, what did I miss?”

“I’ll be back with your check in a while, enjoy,” Caileigh said with a laugh as she walked off.

“I wonder how magically endowed she is,” Eris mused out loud as she watched Caileigh walk away.

“Still trying to test that theory of yours, Eris?” Blaze asked between bites of his meal.

She nodded. “It makes sense, I know I have a lot of untapped potential, all my teachers have said as much. Same goes for Clíona.”

“But you don’t know that for sure. There is no scientific evidence to support that theory.”

“Blaze, it’s a logical thought, and you know it, after all, when could science explain anything about magic?” Clíona stated between bites of her chowder.

“You have a point, but still, if that is the fact, then why hasn’t it been noticed before?”

Eris looked to Blaze with a shrug. “Probably because everyone with that much ability have always gone to those who have been able to help them tap into their full potential, either the fae--”

“Who stopped letting mortals into their havens save by accidental means for about twenty-five years now,” Clíona supplied.

“Or the Great Ones,” Eris continued as if Clíona had never cut in, pointing up. “Who all seem to have disappeared about twenty to ten years ago.”

“Alright but that doesn’t explain why it hasn’t been noticed before,” Blaze stated stubbornly.

Eris nodded. “It doesn’t, yet at the same time, it does. Those who were accepted by the fae, tended to stay by their own choice, or left with a powerful glamer applied to hide it. Those who went to the Great Ones were often pressed into service by them and granted the ability to change minor features like hair and eye color. At least that’s what I’ve read.”

Clíona smiled. “That makes a lot of sense, now enough talk, Eris, you need to eat.”

The three friends ate in quiet for about half an hour and all three finished eating at about the same time.

“I’m stuffed,” Blaze declared as he leaned back in the booth.

“I don’t see how you couldn’t be stuffed, you ate half of what’s offered on the menu,” Clíona said, shaking her head.

At that moment, Caileigh came over and handed each of them a slip of paper with their respective bills scribed on them.

Blaze looked at his in confusion. “There seems to be a mistake, mine is half of what it should be.”

She made a wry face. “No, I made a bet with the chef and since it happened, I’ll cover half.” She looked at Clíona and Eris, her eyes filled with wonder. “I never realized that it was possible for someone to inhale food.”

Eris grinned at her. “That’s Blaze, defying both magic and science in one half hour.”

She nodded. “I’ll believe it, just pay me whenever you’re ready,” she told them before walking away.

Clíona smiled, shaking her head as she took out her wallet and placed the appropriate amount of tip on the table and the other two did the same while they waited for Caileigh to return just a few moments later, her face taking on another look of awe. “Well, the bill for all three of you has already been paid.”

Eris looked at her in shock. “Paid?” she said, her jaw dropping slightly and Caileigh nodded.

“By whom?” Blaze asked in confusion as he looked around.

Caileigh pointed to a corner of the restaurant, her eyes widening and she tilts her head, staring intently at the corner as if looking for something. “The gentleman who was seated in the corner, but he seems to be gone now, I don’t know how he did it.”

Clíona raised an eyebrow, studying the same corner with the same level of concentration. “What did he look like?”

“That’s the strangest thing other than this disappearance, he had long hair that was as white as the snow that’s falling out there, but he wasn’t old, at least he didn’t look old, other than his hair.”

[Dante]

omg omg I can't wait for the rest you know were to find me and I'll be checking up on this!